Chapter 87: A Mission to Complete

The task force jumped on time. A couple of the Castle ships actually entered a few second before Zulu opened up its jump point, but there were no major problems.

Admiral Redmill was livid at the level of problems in the navigation and helm operations. He kept trying to blame Ipanema and Corsica. My few communications with Captain Prescott during the short run to the jump point were tinged with anger as both of us tried to reign in sarcastic responses to the Admiral.

We entered jump and everyone on the bridge breathed a huge sigh of relief. The communications system we used would not work again until we emerged at Gee One Dash Six Five Nine. I smiled and looked over at Ensign Munfree.

“Ensign, you did very well, especially at deflecting Admiral Redmill’s constant verbal harassment.”

“What will you do about him?” Jessica asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “I may be part of his command since Crucible is considered to be part of the territory protected by the naval base at Yularaat, but I don’t report directly to him. Colonel Stiles is my commanding officer.”

“But the Admiral could bring charges against you,” Ensign White whispered.

“For what?” I asked. “I’ve obeyed every command he’s given, even the ones that may not be his to give. In fact, if you look at how the ships performed during the flight to the jump point, I’d argue that Corsica was the best out of all the ships involved.”

“The Admiral didn’t seem to agree,” Ensign Munfree said.

“It happens,” I replied. “Kels, Jess, call all the weapons crews. I’d like to hold a meeting in the cafeteria now that we’ve jumped. We’re running at a slightly reduced speed so we have time to prepare and I’d like to make the most of it.”

“Can do,” Ensign White said. “Can you give me any hints as to what this will be about?”

“Not right now,” I said. “Chaz, can you call Sergeant Kelly and let him know I’d like to meet him in my office immediately. And then let Ensign Daniels know he will take the first watch during the jump.”

“What about me?” Ensign Munfree asked.

“Sleep,” I said. “And I’m serious about that. We can’t have you passing out in the middle of combat this time.”

“But,” Ensign Munfree said softly.

“No, make the calls and then head to your bunk. When we emerge in the system we’ll need your skill on the comm system to kept us connected with Zulu and Ipanema. I know you want to do more, but right now I need you to get rest,” I said.

“But,” Ensign Munfree protested again.

“No more buts. Make the calls. I’ll be heading to my office to meet with Blaine. Once that is complete I better hear that you are in your bunk resting,” I said as I stood up. “And make sure Ensign Daniels knows he’s the officer in charge.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Ensign White asked.

“We need to get the crew ready. They know the basics, but they are the ones who have to execute this bad plan. Let’s give them the opportunity to think about it,” I said.

“We’ll see you in the cafeteria soon then,” Jessica said.

I nodded as I headed to the exit from the bridge. I could feel a slight increase in energy from the others.

When I entered the hall I could hear the loudspeaker crackle. “Everyone, we have jumped and are now on our way to the Gee One Dash Six Five Nine system. We are supposed to keep station with the other ships in the task force, so our expected arrival is in thirty hours. Captain Parker has requested all weapons crews meet in the cafeteria in ten minutes. You will be receiving a full briefing then.”

“She didn’t say anything about me,” I heard Blaine say. I turned to my right to find the senior helmsman leaning against the wall of the corridor.

He smiled. “I figured that I’d be running the helm once we arrive in the system, and that you’d want to talk once we were jumped and Admiral Redmill couldn’t interfere or demand attention.”

“Let’s head into my office,” I said with a smile. “It seems this will be a brief meeting.”

“I just hope it’s a successful one. This mission has to be bad if you are worrying,” Blaine said.

“I’d worry if we were part of a parade. This ship isn’t filled with former Earth military members. Many officers we encounter will have problems with that. So we have to be better,” I replied.

“We are,” Blaine said. “Terrence and I found that you can turn one of the walls in the cafeteria into a screen showing what you can see on the bridge. We watched the castle class ships stumble about.”

“That surprised me,” I said as we entered my office. I pointed to the corner area with the couch. “I expected ships coming from the local naval base to be much better prepared.”

“Why?” Blaine asked. “They don’t fear anything, and it looks like Admiral Redmill was saving them for this big attack. It would be like a pro football team told they have to play a high school team. The pro team wouldn’t prepare because they would be too confident.”

“I never thought about that,” I admitted as I sat down. Blaine sat on the other couch so he could face me. “I was thinking more about this mission. If you heard, Corsica and Ipanema have to escort Zulu all the way to the Sa’arm held planet.”

“Not easy,” Blaine said. “If we’re acting as an escort, we can’t move too much, which limits what we can do to make sure the Sa’arm miss. I can see why you’d want a meeting.”

“I need you mentally ready to come up with ways to dodge without exposing Zulu. Admiral Redmill is looking for us to make a mistake. Worse, the Sa’arm will jump on any mistake we make,” I said.

“It will be hard. You’re taking about us protecting a ship that is more than twice the size of Corsica as we cross open space to reach what we have to expect will be a well defended target. The big issue will be working with Kels,” Blaine said.

“Oh?” I asked. I suspected I knew the problem, but I needed to see if Blaine could articulate it.

“Our best weapon is going to be the rail gun, but firing that means turning the ship to face the target. That means I have to switch off control with the weapons officer on a regular basis without leaving the ship vulnerable. We practiced it a bit in the simulations, but this will be the first time we have to coordinate during combat,” Blaine said.

“I know you can do it,” I said confidently.

“What about the castle class ships?” Blaine asked. “They have turreted weapons and would be better at the kind of point defense we really need for this mission.”

“They are supposed to provide a diversion to help Zulu, Ipanema and Corsica get closer to the planet before the Sa’arm act to stop them,” I said.

“Not a good idea,” Blaine said. “But that fits what you described. We can get around that though I think. For now I’ll get some sleep and make sure Terrence and Michael understand that they’ll have to cover for me until just before we emerge from this jump.”

“Go,” I commanded. “I have a crew to brief.”

“I don’t envy you that,” Blaine said quietly. “This is going to be a nasty mission.”

“I’ll make sure the ship makes it home. I can’t promise what shape it will be in, but I’m bringing it home,” I vowed.

Blaine said nothing more. The man nodded and then stood up. He turned and headed out of my office as I sat there. My body shook as a surge of adrenaline faded.

“Captain, all of the weapons crews are in the cafeteria,” the AI informed me.

I stood up and started to walk out of my office. “My job is never done,” I muttered as I entered the passageway.