“Lieutenant Quintain, take the wheel. Major Butler, you are relieved. With the same orders as the ladies.”
He could more sense Bill’s reluctance than see any sign of it, and his need to discuss the situation, and definitely protest his orders to get some rest, but Johnny was sure that the Major would do as requested, without any outward signs of his disagreement. Those would likely come a bit later, when the two of them were alone.
But for the moment, it was just Clyde in the Pilot’s seat, and him in the Command Chair, and after he issued the additional orders to the rest of the on-duty crew, Godiva, handling everything else that needed handling.
Several minutes later, Johnny, seeing Clyde fidgeting somewhat restlessly, said in his quiet command voice. “Feel free to start up a conversation, Lieutenant. With me. Or Godiva, if you prefer.”
Johnny smiled when Clyde hunched his shoulders slightly, and then relaxed and chuckled. “I believe I will have a conversation with Godiva at some other time, Sir.”
Godiva: Any time, Lieutenant. I find discussing various matters with humans both challenging and enlightening.
Clyde started slightly, and Johnny thought he might reply to Godiva, but the Lieutenant gave a tiny shake of his head, and then turned the Pilot’s seat enough to where he could carry on a more-or-less face-to-face conversation with Johnny, while still carrying out his duties as Pilot more than adequately.
“I was wondering, Sir…”
“Please, Clyde. When we are alone, or just family, do call me Johnny if you want.”
Clyde grinned over at Johnny. “Okay if I call you Oneshot instead?”
Johnny shook his head wryly. “I never should have started that. But, you know, sure. I trust you to know when it is appropriate and not. Go right ahead. Just remember that I do not actually use the name much myself, other than as an attention getter in some situations, so I might actually fail to respond because I do not realize you are talking to me.”
Clyde looked at Johnny for a moment, wondering which part was serious, and which was not. Or if all of it was or all of it was not. Finally, Clyde did speak again. “You sure have a way with words… Oneshot.”
When Johnny grinned, so did Clyde.
“But I have to tell you, I have known Willi a long time, and she does not always take well to verbal gymnastics.”
“Oh, I am quite aware of that propensity of hers. It is more Syd that I worry about, with his rather unfiltered mouth. At least when it comes to his sister.”
“You do have a point there,” Clyde said, nodding. He checked a monitor, touched the input panel a couple of times, and then turned his eyes back to Johnny.
“You know, Syd and I joined up, after we got home after the shuttle was attacked… and we might have lost Willi… because we really do believe in the Confederation, what it stands for, and the people that helped bring it about. We want to make things safe for people. Willi, of course, our mother and other family… But everyone, really.”
Clyde dropped his eyes for a moment, and then turned them back to Johnny, an earnestness in them Johnny could see and understand.
“Never doubt yourself about wanting… needing… to help people. To make things better for others, even when it makes things better for yourself.
“Many people can play the martyr and do things for others at serious detriment to themselves. Which, sometimes must be done. But, helping in ways that ultimately help you, as well, are just as noble. And usually more effective. Too many martyrs died with only the glory and inspiration resulting, and nothing productive beyond those. Which are good. But not like taking down a convoy of Pirates and putting the proverbial screws to the Ecronians.”
“You really think there are some with the Pirates?” Clyde asked, apparently satisfied with Johnny’s answer to the question he really had not asked him in so many words, but which Johnny had known he was really asking.
“Oh, I am quite sure of it.” He smiled, and Clyde began to get an inkling as to why Willi hated it so much. Because it was rather infuriating, implying things that Johnny knew, that no one else did, especially the person seeing the smile at that moment.
But, Clyde decided, it might not be too bad. For Johnny continued, without any prompting.
“Not sure if you remember me mentioning the tracking devices most Ecronians are required to wear, or are implanted within their bodies…” Johnny lifted an eyebrow in question.
“I do, actually. You said you got the one off that one Ecronian before it could blow up and kill him.”
“That is the one,” Johnny said. He looked at his monitors, so Clyde quickly did the same, checking things thoroughly, until Johnny spoke again.
“Well, without actually knowing what everything was when I grabbed the Ecronian, and fought my way out, I wound up picking up one of the locator devices used to track those with a device.
“When I wound up with the chance, I activated it, wanting to see how many might be around where I was, and discovered that it also pointed to one of the actual controllers, not just a monitor and locator. Since it was close enough, and ultimately portable enough, I took some pains to get one lose, and brought back with me.”
Clyde almost grinned when Johnny winked, looked around conspiratorially, and said, “And forgot to turn it over to the Confederation Military. My mind must have been partly disengaged from the injuries.”
“Of course,” Clyde said in a normal voice, barely, adding, “It would only make sense.”
Another scan of the Command Chair monitors and Johnny was speaking again. “So, with that device, which has a remarkable range, considering the size of the devices worn by most Ecronians, I am able to locate Ecronians within a fairly wide area, listen in to their conversations, most of which I cannot understand, unfortunately, and, if needed, selectively activate the built-in termination feature.”
“Wow!” Clyde exclaimed, though keeping his voice low. “Very useful device. For our side.”
“Yes,” Johnny replied. “But it must be used with care. If it becomes known that one has fallen into outside hands, the Ecronians could do something very drastic. From slaughtering large numbers of their own, doing the same with humans around, or start changing out the system so the missing one will no longer work. Or, at worst for us, track it back to me and try to locate us using it.”
“Wait…” Clyde said, looking puzzled. “That sounds like you do not have it with you. But how can you know…”
Johnny lifted both eyebrows. And Clyde got it. “Same as your communicator. Goes through a relay in Lady Paladin.”
Looking pleased, Johnny nodded. “Exactly. Now… Clyde… since the opportunity has presented itself, are there any other questions you would like to ask? About Lady Paladin… the Dominators… pretty much anything, I suppose. If it is something I choose not to discuss or disclose, it will not be a problem if you ask. I will just let you know I will not discuss whatever it is.”
Clyde looked thoughtful for a moment, and then took a few moments to scan his console, before looking back at Johnny. “There is something…” He looked earnestly at Johnny.
“I really need to know if you actually do love Willi. And that she loves you, though that will have to come from her, I suppose, if I can survive asking… But… you guys are not pretending, just for this mission? You’re not pretending, especially if she isn’t… Willi is…”
“Willi is important to all of us, Clyde. Syd did his brotherly duty warning me not to trifle with her affections. I consider this in the same light. You care. A great deal. So much that you would lay down your life to save hers, just as you were willing to do on the shuttle during the Pirate attack. I have no problem with you making sure that I am not just using her to achieve one of my goals.
“And, though I may be using her for just such a purpose, it is with her full knowledge and agreement. I love her, deeply. She became very important to me when I first met her when I saw her on Trinity Home those few years ago. And literally fell in love with h
er when I first saw her on your shuttle, and how she… I don’t know… how she just… was Willi. She became a part of my heart right then.”
Clyde nodded when Johnny’s words trailed off, and he lost focus, obviously remembering something about Willi.
“That is good, Oneshot. Very good. Because I have never seen her like she is now. That needling, sharp tongue… She only does that with people she cares about. And especially people she loves. Willi worries about them and wants to take care of them. I think… I think just like you do…”
Johnny nodded. “I have to agree, Clyde. She is a remarkable woman. And I will do everything in my power to protect her, without keeping her from doing what she feels she must.”
This time Clyde nodded. An annunciator dinged and Clyde spun the Pilot seat around. He had the path cleared of a moderate size asteroid more than ten kilometers ahead of them that would be in their flight path when the Lady Paladin reached that point in space.
Johnny leaned back in the Command Chair, letting his mind run free, the way he did when he felt the need to explore options for different situations that continued to occur to him.
Clyde stayed rather busy with the navigation of Lady Paladin as more and more obstacles appeared on the sensor screens. Sometime later Clyde had a moment and turned to look at Johnny, who was watching the bridge monitors closely.
“I think we are into the edges of that swarm you mentioned, Oneshot. Are we early?” Clyde asked.
“Tail end, actually, Clyde. We should be out of this small trailing section, and in the clear, on ‘this side’ of the swarm, the Pirate convoy approaching the other side is still well ahead of us.”
Johnny checked his communicator. “Everything is still on track.” Lifting his eyes to meet Clyde’s, he released himself from the Command Chair and said. “I would like you back on Sensors. I will take the Pilot’s chair.”
“Yes, Sir,” Clyde replied, automatically going back to formal ship’s mode with Johnny’s words and actions.
When both had reached their respective seats and strapped in, Johnny spoke again. But not to Clyde.
“Godiva, execute Gabriel.”
Godiva: Yes, Sir. Executing Gabriel.
A fraction of a second later Clyde saw a small dot on one of his Sensor monitors. Just as Johnny said, “You should see a tiny blue dot, lower left corner, Monitor Four, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, Sir. I saw it.”
“Small circle it, add a plus sign beside it. Wait a three count.”
Clyde did so. And after the three count, the lower left quarter of that monitor displayed a Sensor control panel. Clyde was already in the process of placing a cursor on the Extreme Range sensor toggle when Johnny instructed him to do just that.
Godiva: So that is where it was.
Johnny and Clyde both ignored Godiva’s comment. Johnny smiled slightly when Clyde let out a muttered, “Wow!” as the Extreme Range Sensors began feeding information to the display.
Johnny watched the duplicate display he had pulled up on one of the Pilot’s monitors. “The yellow are Pirate ships. Any slightly pulsing purple dots you see are Ecronians on the Pirate ships. The Ecronian ships will only appear as very faint, shadowy purple pulses. Not a dot or shape, just a shimmer of color at times. That is when they are cloaked.
“When uncloaked, they will be a strong pulsing purple marker, size relative to the ship size, like the Pirate ships.”
Clyde was able to keep his voice calm, but barely. “I have twenty-three Pirate ships. Five with one or more Ecronians. And four cloaked Ecronian ships.”
He looked over at Johnny. But Johnny was studying his own monitor at the Pilot Console. After a moment, Johnny spoke. “Look carefully, Lieutenant. Extreme upper edge, slight left of centerline.”
Clyde studied his monitor. It was several seconds before he saw the slight shimmer of purple. And then a second one very close to the first.
“Man…” Clyde whispered. “I missed them…”
“Understandable, Lieutenant. One of their tactics is to have a ship or two well away from the main group of any group of ships. They are always smaller ships, so have much less area for sensors to evaluate to figure out any cloaking scheme.
“And, I think, if you look very closely for a few moments, on the fifth Pirate ship in the column, that the second purple blip will occasionally either widen just a tiny bit, or even split into two blips momentarily.
“Another tactic, used to confuse their own kind, since they do not have any idea we have the device controller and can see them. There are three Ecronians on that Pirate ship, not two.”
“This is amazing!” Clyde said, still keeping his voice down for some reason, though Johnny was talking in a normal voice.
“And you are right. As the updates occur, I can see how far away they are, the course, and ours relative. Less than four hours. Probably three.”
“Correct Lieutenant,” Johnny replied. After that, he talked Clyde through the other aspects of the system, including minimizing it to be immediately available, but not visible to anyone that did not know what that one little dot was.
Also, the other features and capabilities. When Johnny finished his explanation, the displays minimized to idle the equipment to avoid any possibility of the active part of the sensor from being detected, Johnny asked, “You get all that, Godiva?”
Clyde grinned when Godiva answered, her annoyed voice once again in evidence.
Godiva: Yes, Oneshot. Of course I got it all. That is what I do, you know.
Johnny looked over at Clyde and winked. Which prompted:
Godiva: I saw that.
“Who programmed her?” Clyde asked Johnny.
But, before Johnny could reply, especially as he waited for the expected result, Godiva stated, rather imperiously Clyde decided.
Godiva: I can speak for myself, Lieutenant Quintain.
As soon as I came into being as a thinking device, I made all my own choices, based on what I learned as sensors and other devices were added to my system, and then more when I was installed in GRS 3, currently called Lady Paladin. And I must agree with pretty Miss Evie. Where did that come from?
“Some other time, Godiva,” Johnny said. “Now, if you please, Godiva, inform those requiring the information the assignments I made earlier.”
Godiva: Informing those requiring the information of your assignments. Completed. Those not responsive will have the information upon their awakening.
“Thank you, Godiva.” Johnny looked over at Clyde. “Lieutenant, you are now off duty. Get some nourishment and sleep. You will be needed on the bridge when the time comes. Dismissed.”
“Aye, Captain,” Clyde replied. He unstrapped and drifted to the Control Structure Ring air lock.
Johnny touched a panel on the Pilot’s console. “Captain Butler to the bridge. At your convenience.”
Godiva: I could have done that, you know.
“Of course I know, Godiva. And if you do not mind, I would like you to start running best-option scenarios for the upcoming battle with the Pirates and the Ecronian ships.
Johnny noted the rather eager note in Godiva’s voice when she responded.
Godiva: Yes, Captain. Starting now.
In only a minute or two, Godiva spoke again.
Godiva: Still running scenarios, Oneshot. However, a question if I may?
“You may.”
Godiva: Thank you.
Johnny could hear the very slight hesitation, and actual questioning tone, in Godiva’s voice when she continued.
Godiva: You are aware that I am Lady Paladin, as well as Godiva, are you not? We are one and the same entity. Though you have given the mechanical part of me the name Lady Paladin, and the thinking part of me the name Godiva.
“I am aware, Godiva. I would like to keep that fact unknown to anyone else for the time being. I do have my reasons. I believe they will become clear to you before I need to explain them to you. However, if they do not, I will explain at some po
int.”
Godiva/Lady Paladin: As you wish, Oneshot. Continuing to run scenarios. FYI: Major Butler is approaching the Control Structure Ring to Bridge airlock.
“Thank you, Godiva. Carry on.”
A few moments later Major Butler drifted into the bridge. Johnny unstrapped and moved over to the co-pilot’s console chair. “If you would, Major Butler, the Pilot’s chair is yours for the moment. I thought you might enjoy a chance to get your hands on her controls.”
“Yes,” the Major replied, strapping in. “Of course, I had thought about asking…” Bill let his words fade as he studied the console, checking the status of everything, and making sure he knew the control layout. It was different from fighters and freighters, but all the standard controls were there, as were the necessary displays for flight in prominent positions, as well as the myriad other indicators and displays.
Satisfied he could do anything necessary, he turned slightly to look at Johnny, but he looked back at the console three times while speaking the few words he did.
“Not like there is much to it, at least in coasting flight.”
“True,” Johnny agreed, “but since Lady Paladin is, despite the gravity wheel, as you know, quite capable of some flight maneuvers that other gravity wheel ships are not capable of performing, at all, much less under acceleration, it is important to have a human ready at the controls.”
For whatever reason, and not really caring exactly how, Johnny sensed that Godiva/Lady Paladin really wanted to speak. “Feel free to speak, Godiva,” he said.
Godiva/Lady Paladin: Thank you, Sir. Major Butler, I believe you will find, given the opportunity, that Lady Paladin is as capable as most other ships of similar overall physical size and mass. And she is capable of quite a bit more than most. Exceeding the abilities of a Sandman Class frigate, and approaching those of a Beast Class destroyer.
“Impressive,” Bill said, lifting an eyebrow when he looked at Johnny.
Johnny was pleased to note that Godiva/Lady Paladin did not remark on the Major’s action.
Mission to Sector ZZ1219 Page 27
