Chapter 36

McCock, Evan and Sally were relaxing the next day with Des Avers and Algy Hardman in the Purser's Office with Angie playing hostess. They heard a vessel come alongside No5 hatch and the hatch cycle.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Let's have lunch and I'll attempt to fill you in" McCock addressed the two last of his returning captains, " if you aren't too tired?"

"No," Felix replied," we were able to get our rest time in the cubbys on "Shriek". A bit strange being a passenger with Slow as captain, though."

"I hadn't heard the bit about Slow taking "Shriek" herself."

"She did mention it;" Sally informed the group, "saying she'd detailed Peter Lowell to look after things; said she need some time back in command seeing Harryfor was working the frigate with Polack and she needed some time in cosmic and was going to take the opportunity with Algy's old crew."

"Yes, I'm sure there were perfectly good intentions behind her moves," was McCock's sceptical reply, "let's get lunch."

During the meal, McCock, aided by Sally and Evan, brought the men up to date. Both the Riders' masters were relaxed about their First Officers getting the command experience while they shuttled back to the farm to spend some time with the families. They admitted that if they stayed orbital they'd be tempted to 'see how things were proceeding'; so not to give in to temptation...

Felix and Algy decided they didn't really want to load missile nests, so they went looking for Sir Henry to discuss HAC simulator training. McCock joined them. They found Sir Henry in the 'puter area in A tween deck. He was sitting with ear bugs inserted listening intently as he watched a screen full of sinusoidal curves. Algy coughed and Sir Henry startled. He turned to see who had disturbed him and beamed at the intruders,

"Welcome to the voids of space. Listen to this." He reached forward to operate a toggle switch on the panel and the speakers he had placed about the tween deck sprang to life with a sibilant whispering hiss.

"The roar or space; isn't it wonderful." He looked from face to face and sighed, "it's an acquired taste, I suppose. I can listen to it for hours. Well, what brings you to my domain?"

"Something mundane, I'm afraid. Algy and I wanted to discuss the use of the 'puter on "Vector" for HAC training."

Sir Henry looked at him over his half glasses and sighed even deeper than before,

"You could have at least had an interesting thought." He got up and walked towards a shelf, at least that had been his intention until his ear bug leash pulled him up short. With a disgusted sound, he pulled his ear buds out and placed them on the control panel of the 'puter where he had been sitting and then returned to the shelf from whence he retrieved a 'puter tape — it wasn't a tape, actually, it was that a traditional usage of the term had persisted over the millennia of recording; it was a thumb sized 'puter insert more properly called a 'chip' of very large storage.

"Pop yourselves down at one of the stations."

His listeners did so to see the screen in front of them illuminate and hear a feminine voice from the speakers beside each screen tell them of the specifications of the HACs presently in service with 119 (Reformed).

McCock got up and sat beside his associate,

"I'm not sure I approve of the 'reformed', my friend."

Which friend smiled seraphically at him.

"While they are assessing your programme, give me your estimate of the numbers of missile nests we will be able to control from "Vector" requested McCock.

"About five thousand a salvo" was the immediate reply.

"That was quick;" replied McCock, "explain the working out just to satisfy me you have not just plucked a number from the depths of your convoluted thought processes."

"Aggy, you will have to learn to trust your subordinates more. The whole purpose of your recent thinking has been basically to obtain missiles. That led me to the next logical step; control of said missiles in a conflict environment. Unless you intend using them as decorations for your ships? No? See, we are thinking on the same page. Let me start basically from the middle where Mountserrat introduced the Keys. Each Key was tractored to the controlling vessel; each Key could, with the resources of that vessel's 'puter control sixty nests per salvo. The longer the range the fewer the salvos as calculations took time and there wasn't much 'puter capacity available anyway. Let me explain that as it appears to puzzle you.

In each warship is a 'puter which is used to manage and control automatically all the mundane but necessary tasks necessary to maintain life inside a sealed box in an extremely hostile environment, space. It automatically controls the power plant so that such things as oxygen, water, light and warmth are available; it takes care of the hotel tasks such as waste disposal, supply of food, and bedding; oh! there is human intervention there but only to twiddle about the edges. It controls the actual amount of power supplied on demand to move the warship around and to meet its own demands. All of that occupies just on half of the 'puter capacity. Another quarter, say, is used in the EW, coms and maintenance roles once the warship moves into its role. The nav and tactical calculations fit in there somewhere too.