Chapter 2: A new ship

"Thank you, midshipman, tell your flight crew it was a good flight."

He then stood up, straightened his dress jacket, and placed his hat on his head, as he turned towards the exit, he continued, "Good day midshipman."

Steven walked by all the crew personal waiting for him to disembark before them. He walked down the gangway, where Steven noticed three officers waiting for him.

One of the officers is an ordinary looking woman wearing the insignia of a full commander, which he immediately recognized as his new second in command. To her left was a gentleman wearing the uniform of the Imperial Marines Corps, which he assumed was the commanding officer of the company of marines stationed onboard the ship, and by the decorations on his chest, he must be a formidable warrior. To her right was another gentleman, who was wearing the uniform of a Lieutenant Commander, which he suspect is his new third officer.

Lieutenant Commander Lisa Nirisha could not believe that this young man descending the gangway could be their new commanding officer. He was too young to hold the rank of captain. Then she saw two things of importance, the gold star on his left breast and the four silver bands on his cuffs of his uniform, articulating the rank of captain second class. This was indeed the new captain of the H.M.S. Swiftshire.

"Captain on deck," bellowed the Sergeant at arms, and with those words, the men and women on the hanger deck came to attention.

Steven reached the end of the gangway and walked up to his new second in command. Where he stopped and saluted her.

"Permission to board the ship?"

Coming to attention, Lisa returned the salute and responded to her new captain, "Sir, permission granted, and may I be the first to welcome you aboard the Swiftshire. May I introduce you to some of the senior crew?" With a nod from him, she continued, "Sir, to my right is Lieutenant Commander Alfred Verik third in command, and to my left is Colonel Harris of the Imperial Marines corps."

Steven looked over the officers, and as he nodded to the colonel, he could swear he knew him.

"Welcome aboard Captain Tallfeather," replied Colonel Harris, as he steps forward offering his hand, and continued, "And may I offer my condolences on the loss of your father, he was a good man, and a fine officer."

With a firm handshake, Steven responded, "Thank you, Colonel Harris. You knew my father?"

"Yes, Sir, I did. We served together on the old Lexington."

"That must have been years ago Colonel?"

"Yes it was, almost twelve to be in fact. Just before your mother's ship was lost with all hands. You had just entered the academy, and this bloody war had just started. Those were the days, we were kicking the hell out of the Gormarian's, and now we are losing systems faster then we can capture them."

"You can never tell Colonel we may still win."

"Sir, there are no winners in this war, billions have died on both sides."

"True colonel, but lets make sure that we win, at least we do not devastate whole planets," Steven said then turned to Commander Verik, and offers his hand as he continued, "Commander Verik I'm happy to meet you. Tell me, what are your duties?"

'Damn I knew he was going to ask that, ' he thought and took a deep breath as he shook his new captain's hand, "Sir, I am in command of tactical and sensors. I am also in command of the CIC, and the middies."

"Well Commander Verik, you and I will be working closely together on the evasive maneuvers I want implemented," Steven said as he turned to Commander Nirisha, and continued, "Commander, will you show me to the bridge."

Commander Nirisha turned and held her hand out towards the elevators, and said, "Right this way, Sir."

In the background a voice bellows, "Company dismissed."

Lisa led him to the forward elevator, where they entered the elevator, once in the doors quickly closed, she said, "Main Bridge."

The elevator quickly shot up into the bowels of the great ship.

Steven cleared his throat and voiced his concerns to Commander Nirisha, "Commander what is going on at the stern of the ship?"

"Sir, fleet maintenance is doing some weapon modifications to the ship. When they are finished, we will have four mark thirty-three laser cannons and six type six missile launchers to bow and stern armaments. In fact they are almost done. All they are doing right now is re-welding the armor back in place, and finish installing the new software."

While she was making her report she studied him. He is quite tall a little over six foot five inches tall, with broad shoulder. His black hair was cropped short in the military way, and his blue eyes are the color of morning sky. From reading his command jacket, she had learned that he was descendent of the Apache Indians, which left Earth when the British Empire pulled out. He is also an extremely handsome man. It was only too bad he was her commanding officer.

"Those weapons are mainly base stations defense weapons. Why the hell are they installing them on Swiftshire?" he said as he studied her while he waited for an answer. She was a plain looking woman of Asian stock, not beautiful, but not homely either. She stood just under five feet tall, with black hair and bright green eyes. Her military jacket was quite impressive second in her graduation class, first in advanced tactics and astrogation. This will be her first command as an executive officer.

"Well Sir, it seams that fleet is trying to slip some heavy ordnance into the cruiser battle lines. Six other ships of this class have been modified to stand up to the Gormarian battle cruisers. Which have been added to their cruiser fleets, making them fast strike fleets."

"I see. What weapons have we lost?"

"Well Sir. We lost missile bays one through four, and fifteen through eighteen, and laser's turret's one and two, and thirteen and fourteen to replacement. They have also ripped out laser turrets five, six, nine, and ten."

"What are we getting?" Steven asked.

"We received six, type six missile launchers and four, mark thirty-three laser cannons to bow and aft positions. They have installed the quad mounted mark three pulse cannons to replace the gutted weapons bays, and the new type three shield generators."

"Well, that is a good twenty eight percent of our lasers armaments. You said type three shield generators and mark three machine guns."

"Machine guns, Sir?" Lisa asked puzzled.

"Yes, that's what my father called them. They were unreliable, and the tended to over heat after ten bursts, then explode."

"Sir, these have been rebuilt, and the factory guarantees that they will not over heat after ten rounds."

"What are we supposed to do if they do over heat in the middle of battle, and we are blown to bits, complain to the company from the afterlife?"

The elevator came to a stop, and they walk down the hallway to a set of double doors.

"Here's the bridge, Sir."

The doors opened and Steven saw the bridge crew at their duties. A marine stood guard against the bulkhead, as he walked in he came to attention.

"Thank you, Commander. The conversation was quite inspirational."

The voice of the young marine guard echoed across the room as they enter.

"Captain on the bridge!" with the utterance of these words, all the crewmembers on the bridge stood, and came to attention.

"At ease everyone," Steven said as he looked around the immaculate room, everything is in its place, as he continued to scan the room his eyes settle on the young Midshipwomen standing in front of the communications panel, "Midshipwoman, will you open a ship channel."

"Right away, Sir," With a swift move of her left hand the young woman opened the channel. "Sir, channel open."

While the midshipwoman was opening the channel, Steven opened his orders. "Thank you, Midshipwoman. Attention to orders, all hands this is the captain speaking."

All over the ship, crewmen stop what they are doing and came to attention. They turned and faced the nearest view screen to see their new captain addressing them. With the sound of shuffling papers, he continued to read his orders, "From Admiral Thomas Victor Kincaide, Home Defense Fleet, Royal Alderian Navy."

While he is reading his orders in a clear calm voice, the crew begun to realize their new lord and master had arrived.

"To Captain second rank, Steven Tallfeather GSGA, BA, SS, Royal Alderian Navy. Twenty-second day, tenth month, year nine hundred and seventy-two after landing. Sir, you are here by directed and ordered to proceed aboard, His Majesties Starship H.M.S. Swiftshire. CA Ninety-Nine, there to take upon yourself the duties and responsibilities of commanding officer of a ship of the line. Do not fail in this duty. For his Majesty the King."

Steven fell silent and he glanced around the bridge making eye contact with as many people as possible. For over a thousand years, captains had been using these same formal words, to transfer command of ships of the Royal Alderian Navy. Placing the crew under his authority. The crew was now bound to obey all lawful commands upon pain of death. They had just become his crew to do with as he pleased. He put away his orders and turned to Commander Nirisha, and continued, "Madam Exec." He said in a clear formal voice. "I am now assuming command."

"Captain," she replied just as formally, "You now have command and welcome aboard. Computer transfer all command codes to Captain Steven Tallfeather."

A cold formal voice drifted from the speakers, "Command of the H.M.S. Swiftshire has now been transferred to Captain Steven Tallfeather."

"Thank you, Commander. Will you note in the log that I have taken command, and I will not be making any speeches. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and very little time. Madam Exec, you have the bridge, I will be in my quarters going over the ships logs."

With a nod of her head she responded, "Yes Sir," Commander Nirisha then turned and sat down in the command chair.

Steven stepped off the bridge and turned right towards his private elevator. He was thinking about his new command. The H.M.S. Swiftshire, of the Reflex class, built four years ago at the Dickens and Jamestown shipyards. Length seventy-three hundred feet, beam four hundred feet, height seven hundred feet, with a displacement of six hundred thousand tons. Armaments were fifty-four type two missiles in triple launchers with three thousand and forty missiles. In addition, twenty type twenty-one dual laser cannons, and sixteen type J fighters. Crew, nine hundred enlisted and two hundred officers, with ten squads of twenty marines each. For ground assault, she has ten pinnaces and ten cutters, and four apcs. With four fusion engines that produce eight hundred thousand pounds of thrust each. Which could hurl the ship through normal space at two point five million miles per hour, or through hyperspace at seven trillion miles per hour, she is one of the fastest cruiser around. Then remembering what Admiral Kincaide had said about his mission. He was going to need all that speed and possible even more, to complete his mission.

He passed between the marine guards into his personal elevator, "Level two," he said as he thought back to this morning, when he had received his orders from Admiral Kincaide chief of the Admiralty personally.

"Sir, the Admiral will see you now."

Steven looked up from the magazine he was reading. "Thank you, Midshipman," he said as he stood and straitened his uniform. Then he walked up to the admiral's door, with a sharp rap on the door, he waited.

From the other side of the door a voice responded.

"Enter."

Steven opened the door and entered the office. He saw Admiral Kincaide sitting behind a massive oak desk. Papers were scattered on the desktop, sitting on top of them was a rolled up scroll, and several computer chips.

"Take a seat Captain, and please be quiet."

Steven quickly took a seat.

"Yes, Sir." he responded as he waited for Admiral Kincaide to continue.

Behind the Admiral, Steven noticed an old painting of Admiral Horatio Nelson on board his flagship, the ship of the line H.M.S. Victory at the battle of Trafalgar, which now resided on the bottom of the North Sea. Along with all of England and Ireland, lost that dreadful day, when the two islands sank beneath the waves, in the year twenty-one ninety.

"Captain, here are your orders."

With those words, Admiral Kincaide handed him the scroll and the computer chips. "You are to proceed on board the heavy cruiser H.M.S. Swiftshire, and assume command of her. She is now being refitted at the naval yards. Now for your mission, up until now we have had no one to do this job. Oh! We could have picked anyone to do this job, but we needed someone who could be trusted to do it, and you got the prize. With the loss of your father to the enemy, you were chosen because we doubt you would betray your oath of allegiance to the crown."

Steven reached out taking the scroll and chips. Leaning back in shock at the admiral's words, he replied, "Sir! Betray my oath. No! Alderian naval officer would do that."

"Captain you are wrong how do think the enemy learned about your father's mission," Admiral Kincaide said and then took a deep breath and continued, "Your fathers fleet was betrayed by his chief of staff to the enemy. This is why the Gormarian's were ready for him at point Mary and that is why we sent the third and fourth battle wings to your rescue. When we realized he was missing from the hospital we knew something was wrong!"

"Velder? Sir! Are you sure about this? If so I want the privilege of killing him."

"Captain I understand your anger my own son was killed on the Defiant by his treachery, but you need to set it aside for this mission."

"I will do as you command, Sir." Steven said.

He felt his blood boil and he remembered what his tribe use to do to prisoners in the eighteen hundreds on old earth. The thought of staking Martin Adams Velder next to an ant hill, and covering him in honey and leaving him there to die. Was the first thing that came to mind, as he asked, "What is my mission, Sir?"

"Yes, back to your mission. Your job, captain is to carry nine hundred and ninety trillion in precious metals and gems to the planet Sagittarius. Along with as much of the art work that we can gather. All these items are to be stored in the vaults of the planet. It is to be stored there in case we lose the home planet, and are forced to flee. It will be used to free Alderian from occupation and rebuild our navy. This cargo will be stored in boat bay four where eight of the fighters are normally kept. Unfortunately, they will be had to be left behind, but you will have a very powerful escort to cover you. Your escort will consist of the heavy cruisers H.M.S. Ajax, Reflex, Dallas, Storm, and Glory and the destroyers H.M.S. Chamberland, San Juan, Portland, Justin, London, and Admiral Gallant.

"If the enemy learns of this mission, they will try to intercept your ships, and capture or destroy them. So if the Gormarian's do show up, we have made it difficult for them to find your ship. They should not know which ship is carrying your cargo, but to be on the safe side all the ships will be of the same two classes. You will be in command of the fleet but Minister Korlan will be in charge of the cargo. He has no say over military matters. If a ship is severely damaged it is to be left behind. You must not risk your cargo. Do you understand?"