Chapter 86: Heading into the Fire

Six hours later I was sitting in the command chair watching the displays as the four Castle class ships struggled to get into position for the mass jump. Corsica was slotted in below and to the left of Zulu. The destroyer was fighting to hold position as an errant attitude thruster intermittently turned on.

Captain Prescott was holding position above the destroyer. His ship was bobbing a little as the helmsman kept over-reacting to the Zulu’s motions, but it was still in better position than the Castle ships.

“I can’t believe how bad those crews are performing,” Michael said absently as one of the Castle ships fired its main thrusters and jumped out ahead of the formation.

“Any word from the Admiral?” I asked Ensign Munfree.

“Nothing,” she said. “He has barely spoken on the squadron channel. I did catch one call from Cabra Castle. You could hear the Admiral berating the captain even though I was talking to the communications officer.”

“Wonderful,” I said quietly as I watched Donegal Castle engage its thrusters in a desperate attempt to spin away from Zulu.

“These guys are terrible,” Michael said quietly. “It’s not that hard to keep a ship steady, but they are all over the place.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” Jessica said from the tracking station. She had a hand over her right ear. “Captain, from what I can tell Zulu and Ipanema are in position. Can we start moving though, the castles might steady down if we were moving.”

“It’s the Admiral’s call,” I said firmly.

Ensign Munfree froze. “Captain. Captain Prescott is requesting a word.”

“Put him through, and then alert me should the Admiral call for us to start moving. Helm, do your best to maintain formation with Zulu and Ipanema and ignore the Castles,” I said.

There was a quick burst of static and then Captain Prescott’s voice growled from the speakers. “Are you watching this?”

“If you are talking about the Greek tragedy going on around us as the four Castle ships prove to be unable to hold formation, nope I’m pretending it isn’t happening,” I replied sarcastically.

Captain Prescott laughed bitterly. “I can’t believe they are that bad. How can the Admiral expect us to defeat the Sa’arm if most of the ships can’t handle a simple maneuver?”

“I’m not sure he thought out his plan,” I said. “This seems to be a thrown together task force.”

“Are we doomed?” Ensign Munfree asked. “Oh, Admiral Redmill is calling for all ships to start heading to the jump point. The Castles are supposed to form up as we accelerate.”

“We’re not doomed,” I said. “Zulu looks like they’ve trained enough to know what they need to do, and Ipanema has a core group of their crew who is experienced. We still have a chance.”

“It might be better than we thought,” Captain Prescott said. “If the Castles all continue to fly like they are now, they’ll attract every Sa’arm ship. It will be like throwing a crippled seal into the ocean in front of a shark.”

I could see all three ladies on the bridge wince at Captain Prescott’s words. “Nasty imagery there,” I said. “But I can’t entirely disagree. I wonder if Admiral Redmill understands the dangers.”

“If he did would he have ordered us on this assault?” Captain Prescott said. “Oh, I see Zulu is activating its thrusters.”

“Helm, make way, maintain position in the formation,” I said firmly.

“Easy to do,” Michael said as he began adjusting the helm controls. “I just hope the Castle’s start flying straight.”

“They do need to straighten up and fly right,” I said.

Ensign Munfree snorted. We could all see the viewscreens change as Corsica began moving forward. Two of the castle ships turned away. It looked like they were trying to circle. The others moved ahead of Zulu.

Ensign Munfree raised her hand. “Admiral Redmill for you, Captain.”

“Put it through,” I said.

She nodded and I spoke. “This is Corsica actual.”

“What?” Admiral Redmill asked.

“Isn’t that how a ship commander is supposed to refer to himself when communicating over a radio?” I asked.

“You are not military. I don’t expect perfect military protocols,” Admiral Redmill growled. “I did wonder how your ship is so good at holding formation.”

“I have a good crew and an excellent man at the helm right now,” I said.

“You have a crew of civilians who have less than three months of training,” Admiral Redmill said dismissively.

“We trained hard,” I said calmly. “And my crew understands just how important it is to perform at their best. We’ve seen the consequences of mistakes already.”

“I thought Corsica had never suffered casualties,” Admiral Redmill said.

“We had three minor injuries the last time we visited the system we are headed to. They were minor, but did require some time in the medical pods,” I replied. “And when we returned from that patrol we met Ipanema as she limped into Crucible after her fight.”