by Max Jager
"Well, ma'am, I may have been distracted by other responsibilities which raised their heads in light of the command structure of the ship. I will freely admit that I have not been giving my section the time it deserves. Equally, I will say that I have not been wasting my time." Coren' voice was as cold as the heart of space. "I am sure they understand why."
"I am not so sure, Commander." Darnelle's voice had dropped in temperature to match Coren', even as her volume rose. "I think that they deserve the full, undiluted benefit of your attention. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I would agree," the volume of Coren' voice rising to meet hers. "Unfortunately that depends entirely on other members of the crew rising to meet their obligations with a similar level of duty, which I might add has not been the case thus far. Perhaps if you would step up and do the job, I wouldn't be so thinly stretched and I would have the time and energy to give over to making my section the efficient fighting machine Aaron deserves. The fighting machine I hasten to add that you have not made ready for his hand as is your duty!"
Darnelle was shocked silent for a moment, and then exploded in anger. "Commander, you are out of line and flirting with insubordination! I will have you brought up in front of the Captain for this. You cannot address a superior officer that way!"
–
"What happened out there today Coren?" Aaron demanded angrily. "You can't just lose it with a superior officer and not expect there to be any consequences!"
"I expect you to back me when I'm right!" Coren responded, every bit as angry. "She hasn't given you any reason to trust her. She hasn't done her duty. She hasn't even done half of it. You and I are slaving away and covering for her. If we weren't working overtime as it is, this ship would have gone to pieces. Exploded in a brilliant flash of command melt down. Why do we keep covering? What the hell has she done to deserve this kind of support?"
"Nothing." Aaron's reply was flat. "She hasn't done a damn thing to deserve this kind of support. I know both you and I are stretched to our limits covering. I know that this can't continue. But I need it to for a little while longer. At least until the end of the acceptance trials."
"Why is that the deadline?" Coren asked, his anger quickly translating to curiosity.
"It turns out Admiral Badim was the major force behind her being kept on as XO. I haver her assurance that if she doesn't shape up by the end of the trials, She will stand aside and authorise a request for a change of XO." Aaron said quietly.
"And if she does shape up?" Coren asked.
"Then I am honour bound to keep her on." Aaron said almost sadly. "From her jacket, she is exactly the kind of officer I should be able to work with extremely well. It's just that she can't see past the fact that she didn't get the command she wanted and that I got it instead. Which brings us back to the problem that got you and I here in the first place. Like it or not, she is a part of the ship's chain of command. And you were bordering on insubordination. What am I going to do with you Coren?"
"I don't know, sir." Coren had gained enough control of his emotions to have reverted to his role as Aaron's subordinate rather than his friend. "I suppose you'll have to write me up. Put an official note in my jacket. Dock my pay?"
"I will have to put an official letter of reprimand in your jacket. It would probably help matters if you made a formal written apology to her. We'll put a copy of that in as well. If she shapes up, we'll get her to put an official acceptance letter in as well, to show the incident is completely sewn up. If not, I will put one in telling of the extenuating circumstances. You will also work the dog watches for this next watch cycle." Aaron said at last. "And Coren, for the love of God, please don't let this happen again. I can't cover for this kind of thing twice."
"Don't worry Aaron, I won't."
Chapter 7
Chapter Seven"So what exactly is it you want to show me, Admiral?" Darnelle asked as the dishes from the light dinner they had shared were cleared away.
"Come with me to the lecture hall. I need to use to the holo projector." The Admiral continued as they rose and walked toward the hall. "What I am about to show you is not classified, but it is on restricted access. Unless you have a reason to have this information we are discouraging it dissemination."
"What exactly are you going to show me?" Darnelle asked.
"A series of recordings. You are going to be witness to the road that Aaron walked to get to where he is." The Admiral responded seriously. "He has not had an easy road, and it would turn the stomach of people not used to combat. His is a record forged in fire."
They entered the theatre and the holo tank came to life. What came up was familiar to any officer in His Majesty's service. It was the battle that had defined the Empire, long before it had become the New Solarian Empire. A thousand years previously, there had been two powers in the space now inhabited by the Empire, the Aturans and the Percians. Relations between the two of them had been relatively stable until an Aturan fanatic had assassinated the Percian ambassador. What had followed was a war which sapped completely the resources of both star nations and they had collapsed into warring anarchies. Out of this chaos had risen a power for stability. The newly self declared Star Kingdom of New Sol. Over time, her territory and influence had expanded and grown into the Star Empire. The turning point in the war had happened at the Fourth Battle of Pegasus, when the until then victorious Aturans had been routed by the Percians, who had destroyed large parts of the Aturan fleet and begun the real drain on the Aturan economy. What appeared on the screen was the beginning set up for that battle.
"This is where it all began." Admiral Badim began. "This is where he first caught the attentions of Admirals Andrews, Dorcas, and Dyer. While we don't have time to see the whole battle, I would like to point out some highlights."
For the rest of the evening, the two of them watched a replay of the campaign which had begun Aaron's career. The battle raged back and forth, victories and losses on both sides. Initially, the Percian commander tried to stick as closely to the historical strategy of the Percians as possible, attacking the same strongholds immediately following Fourth Pegasus that the Percians had historically attacked. It quickly became obvious that that was a losing strategy as the Aturan commander routed him repeatedly. After the Aturan commander had the realisation that Percian commander would not be sticking to the historical script, things became more even as the Aturan commander no longer had historical advantage to draw on to know where he needed to concentrate forces. Instead the give and take became much more organic with one side having a string of victories followed by running out of steam. The one thing that remained consistent after the first several campaigns, however, was that Aturan commander was never pushed back to his start point. He was obviously a quick learner, never making the same mistake twice. His campaigns after his initial losses had a net gain, even if it was extremely minor. Always a strategic point was taken, always a resource gained. It also became obvious that if he was unable to take and hold a system, he had no problem wiping out the picket force and then destroying the orbital infrastructure. Initially his tactical skill was barely up to the task of taking the Percian commander on head to head. His increase in skill made his victories that much more decisive. As time went by, his losses became smaller. He began to fight his fleets more effectively. When the holo projector finally died, more than half of what had been under Percian control at the beginning of the scenario was now under Aturan.
"So, who won?" Darnelle asked. "How did it end? Was Aaron eventually beaten? Did Admiral Andrews eventually take Perseus?"
"Andrews wasn't in command of the Aturans. Aaron was." Admiral Badim responded calmly. "As for if he took Perseus, no he didn't. Where it ended tonight is where it ended for Alexander and Aaron. At least as far as I'm aware, it is. Aaron went on his midshipman cruise and Admiral Andrews stayed at the Academy for another year, before being given 10th Fleet, ironically stationed on Perseus. Aaron went on to serve under then Captain Dyer on the Horatio Nelson. What comes
next is... more disturbing than a simulation. What you are about to see is Aaron's first time as a tactical officer in combat..."
For the rest of the evening, Admiral Badim showed Darnelle the defining moments of Aaron's career. Not the trumped up and exaggerated accounts of people who claimed to have been there, but the real, black-box recordings of combat. At the end of it Darnelle sat back and looked at Admiral Badim. They watched as he, as a Lieutenant Senior Grade, suddenly found himself in command of a light cruiser in the middle of a pitched battle with a pair of pirates. They looked on as he faced down a terrorist on a space station, holding his captain hostage. They watched as he took his desperately over matched destroyer against an unknown heavy cruiser, brutally mauling both in order that the merchantmen in his convoy could escape. The battle ending only when a freak missile managed to weave through the defences and strike in just the right spot causing the fusion plant containment of the heavy cruiser failed and it disappeared in a brilliant white ball of light, leaving a brutally damaged destroyer to limp home.
"We now know the heavy cruiser was actually one of the new Orindian designs. That was probably actually the first battle of the war." Admiral Badim said as the holo projector came to an end. "So, what do you think of your captain now?"
"I once told you I was deserved the command of Mission as much or more than Aaron and the only thing which made the difference between us was who we knew. I take that back. I don't deserve it more. I no longer know who deserves it more. But I also know he didn't get the command because of who he knows. He got it because he earned it with blood, sweat, and tears." Beth's voice was quiet at the end. "But I do know that he deserves my co-operation. If he'll have me, I'm his."
"If the Bureau of Personnel had their way, neither of you would be in commander of her. So what are you going to do about it?" Admiral Badim asked curiously.
"I'm having breakfast with him tomorrow, I will apologize then." Beth's response was a little stronger now, filling with confidence.
"That sounds like a good plan. Now, get you back to your ship, and get some rest."
–
Admiral Dorcas's face looked out of the screen at Aaron as he spoke. "I know it's early, and for that I apologize, but I thought I should check in. How are things going with your working up?"
"They are going well. The crew has begun to jell together well, forming a real team. Your were right, they are some of the best of the best. Engineering in particular had been squared away much sooner than I expected. Emily, excuse me, Commander Erstwhile has been working like a madwoman to get things organised and her people trained up, but it has paid dividends." Here Aaron hesitated, as though unsure about the next comment. "Surprisingly, the department taking the longest to work up has been tactical. Coren has been doing a yeoman's work, but there always seem to be more fires to put out than he has time for. I suppose it makes sense in some ways, as he is also shouldering about half of the XO's responsibilities. Which, if I'm honest, is as much my fault as it is Darnelle's or Coren'. It has just been easier to let him handle the interpersonal things and her the administrative things, simply because that seems to go more smoothly."
Admiral Dorcas frowned, "So things have not improved with her?"
"No, it's not that they haven't improved. She is... no longer openly hostile. She is no longer an actual impediment to the operation of the ship. But she isn't helpful either. I don't know. I remain hopeful for improvement."
"And you're sure you're not ready to remove her? I know I said she was non-negotiable but, if she is endangering the ship..." Dorcas sounded unsure of himself.
"No, She deserves the opportunity to redeem herself. If she hasn't by the end of our working up period, then I will reconsider. Until then, she gets the benefit of the doubt." Aaron said firmly.
"So other than your XO, how is you vessel?" Dorcas asked, now grinning.
"She's beautiful. I've never seen or heard of anything like her. In a simulation this week, we took her up against three of our best guesses of what the new Orindian dreadnoughts are like. She performed well beyond out expectations." Aaron's answering smile was slightly hungry.
"Who commanded the dreadnoughts? And what happened?" Dorcas was genuinely curious.
"Darnelle commanded the dreadnoughts and made all the right decisions. She actually did very well, considering I didn't do what she expected." Aaron said with a mischievous grin which suddenly turned serious. "As for what happened, we lost Mission with all hands but we took a dreadnought with us. We got off two stacked salvoes at a range of 20 light seconds. That was all it took. The first gutted her defences and left her shield-less. The second salvo breached her hull and she lost containment of one of her fusion plants. I don't know that we can count on that every time, but it shows that it is possible, at least based on what saw in the early campaigns. Our missile defences worked more effectively than we expected. Again it was a simulation, but it was using fairly pessimistic assumptions about their penetration aides. And again our assumptions were based on what we saw in the initial campaigns and what we know about our own ability to penetrate our defences. She is unbelievable."
"Good. We have more and more of her in the pipeline. I'm looking forward to being able to field them in large numbers. We also have dreadnoughts in the pipeline built on similar lines using a scaled up version of the tech used to build Mission. Initially the class was supposed to be a proof of concept but after some experimentation with it as simulation, we decided it was worth building them as an all up vessel. I'm glad the gambit paid off." Dorcas answered. "So, when do you think you'll be ready for deployment?"
"Admiral Badim has been doing her level best to expedite our departure. Provided Darnelle doesn't need replacing? Probably in about a week and a half?" Aaron said, sounding slightly unsure of his answer. "That is, of course, providing Mission passes all her acceptance trial."
"Good, good. Well, I had best let you get back to the business. Keep me updated as to your progress. Dorcas clear." And with that the screen blanked.
Aaron rose from the desk and began to move about the cabin, running through the rest of his morning routine. By the time 0725 rolled around, he was ready to face the day. He walked into the dining room and sat down at one of the chairs to wait. Jenny, with her usual quiet efficiency, appeared and set a carafe of coffee, a cup and a saucer at his elbow. He poured himself a cup and sat to wait.
Aaron looked up as the hatch chimed at 0730 on the dot.
"Enter," he called, and the hatch opened and admitted Commander Beth Darnelle. She crossed the floor and came to attention.
"The XO reporting for duty, sir." Her voice was clear and crisp, lacking the usual bitter edge to which Aaron had become accustomed.
"And here I thought we were just having a working breakfast, nothing so formal as all this." Aaron said, lightly joking.
"Begging the Captain's forgiveness, but I have a statement to make." She paused slightly, as if unsure how to continue. "Sir, I must report an officer has failed to fulfil her duty. She has not given the service required of her, nor shown respect to the chain of command as required by the Navy."
"And who is this officer, Madam XO?" Aaron asked, now slightly wary.
"I am, sir."
"And what does the XO suggest as discipline?" Aaron continued, voice carefully level.
"She deserves to be relieved of her duty and to be sent back to admiralty house with her tail between her legs." Commander Darnelle responded. "However sir, she has thrown herself on the mercy of the court. I believe that she is redeemable, sir."
"I see. Well Madam XO, I have to say that her actions have caused a serious disruption to the training and general readiness of this vessel. But if you think she is redeemable, I am willing to give her another chance." Here Aaron's expression switched from serious to a careful smile. "She will have to work hard to make up the ground that we have lost. As part of that, a certain incident between her and our Tactical Officer will have to be cleared up. An official let
ter of acceptance of apology would go a long way to smoothing things over. While he was out of line, he was also right. Do you think she is willing to do that?"
"I do, sir." Beth's reply was clear and confident.
–
Aaron sat in his sitting room, sipping coffee with his officers. They had worked hard to integrate Beth into the community they had already begun to build. To her credit, she had not tried to force her way in or to assume she would simply take what was her rightful place. Instead, she had worked hard to earn back the respect she had lost in the previous two weeks. The crew had responded in mirror of their captain. Aaron had been absolutely certain to ensure he treated Beth with the respect due her position and give her the ability to perform her duties.
"Well, I think we've done pretty well, if I do say so myself," Aaron said as he savoured the rich flavour of his coffee. The week had gone by in a blur. Mission and her crew had been pushed to their limits. But her acceptance trials were now over and she was ready for her official first deployment. "We have turned this sword blank into a real, live blade. Well done people."
