by Ken Lozito
“Do you suspect foul play, General?” Lieutenant LaCroix asked.
“I’m not sure, Sergeant. I’m on my way to the bridge,” Connor said and switched off the comlink.
“It’s a good question,” Reisman said.
“I don’t think anyone deliberately sabotaged our food storage, but we need to rule it out. I am concerned that the senior officers were more affected than the others so far,” Connor said.
“I guess it was luck that we’re here,” Reisman said.
“If we were lucky, no one would be getting sick. The question is: what changed? The Vigilant has made multiple trips to the Titan Space Station,” Connor said and pressed his lips together. He opened a comlink to Sean Quinn. “Listen, I need you and your team to review the change logs for critical ship systems, particularly things like food and water, but expand it to filtration systems and our air supply. And we need a list of soldiers who’ve accessed those systems within the last forty-eight hours.”
“At once, General,” Sean answered.
Once the comlink went dark, Reisman cleared his throat. “Your protégé is coming along nicely.”
Connor arched a brow. “Sean is quite capable.”
“Yes, he is, and he goes to great lengths to serve at your side,” Reisman said.
Connor shrugged. “I’ll admit I do like him. He gets things done and has good instincts. Remind me to tell you how he came to be under my command.”
Reisman grinned. “Diaz already told me about that. The kid stored himself in a high-impact storage crate you promptly dumped out of the troop carrier for a low-altitude drop-off at that first training camp. Kid’s lucky to be alive.”
“You can say that again. Fortunate for him, he stored himself with some delicate equipment so there was adequate padding. Sean has proven to be quite a soldier. If we were back home, I’d have recruited him to be part of the Ghosts,” Connor said.
Reisman’s eyes widened. “Now that is high praise. Too bad Diaz prefers to stay planet-side these days he would have made a good addition to the Ghosts as well.”
Connor nodded. Juan Diaz was part of the Colonial Defense Force but was on leave now for the birth of his second child. Diaz had requested a post that allowed him to train infantry troops, which would keep him planet-side and much closer to home. Diaz was his first friend in the colony, and Connor made a mental note to check in on him when he returned to New Earth.
They entered the bridge and Lieutenant LaCroix surrendered the commander’s chair to him.
Connor sat in the chair and opened a broadcast channel to the entire ship. “Crew of the Vigilant, this is General Gates. A short while ago I was informed that both Colonel Howe and Major Hayes are in the medical bay due to a severe allergic reaction and are being carefully watched over by the chief medical officer, Major Richard Allen. Therefore, I’m assuming command of this ship. We will continue with our mission, which is to escort the cargo vessel Chmiel to Titan Space Station, as well as make our own delivery of supplies. Stay focused on your assignments and continue to execute your duties with the absolute excellence I’ve come to expect from this crew. Gates out.”
Reisman sat in the XO’s chair next to his.
“Comms,” Connor said, “there will be a medical briefing circulated throughout the ship. I want to be informed the moment it’s sent out.”
“Yes, General,” Sergeant Boers said. “Oh, General, I have Major Cross and Major Corwin standing by.”
Connor glanced over at Reisman.
“We’re scheduled to review their proposed solutions for the combat drill,” Reisman reminded him.
“Ah yes. Lost track of time. Put them through,” Connor said.
A few seconds later both Major Cross and Major Corwin appeared on the main screen.
“I apologize for the delay,” Connor said and told the two destroyer commanders what had happened. “Major Cross, as squad commander for the destroyer group, you’ll present first, but before you begin I have a few things I’d like to say to you both.”
Savannah Cross gave him a firm nod and Alec Corwin looked as if he expected to be yelled at.
“No doubt you and your crews have spent the last twenty-four hours going over the combat scenario that was part of the drill. You were tasked with providing multiple solutions to the engagement, and given the circumstances, I expect there to be some overlap in your approach, so don’t be alarmed if that happens. Is that understood?” Connor asked.
Both of them said yes.
Connor swung his gaze toward Major Corwin. “Let’s get the elephant out of the room, shall we, Major?”
Corwin looked startled to be spoken to and Connor felt his temper rising.
“Major Corwin, I expect nothing but complete professionalism for the duration of this meeting,” Connor said.
Corwin directed his gaze into the camera. “Yes, General.”
Connor glanced over at Major Cross. “I think we’re ready to begin.”
Over the next few hours, both majors presented their solutions to the combat drill engagement. As Connor expected, Major Savannah Cross had done her homework and improved on even his own plans for how the combat scenario should have been addressed. Alec Corwin did come up with acceptable solutions to the combat drill, but there was still a lingering doubt in Connor’s mind as to whether Corwin should remain in command of that ship.
“I think everyone here has learned a great deal. Savannah, I particularly enjoyed the solution whereby you used the Chmiel as bait to entice the enemy forces to come within the missile-defense platform’s envelope. It was a bold move, and I concur with the line of thinking that the cargo ship was already at risk and could, therefore, be leveraged as an asset while not increasing the risk to it,” Connor said.
“Thank you, General,” Major Cross said.
Connor gave her an approving smile. “We’ll use some of these solutions as the training standard.”
Connor swung his gaze to Major Corwin and pressed his lips together.
“Major Corwin,” Connor said sternly.
“Yes, General.”
“Is Captain Mattison with you?” Connor asked.
Major Corwin frowned for a moment. “No, sir . . . I . . . she’s on the bridge.”
Connor glanced over at Sergeant Boers at the comms station. “Open a comlink to the Wyatt’s bridge.”
A third window opened, showing a young dark-skinned woman. She was standing near the command chair and gave Connor a determined look.
“Captain Delta Mattison, I’m ordering you to assume command of the destroyer Wyatt as the ranking officer on the ship,” Connor said and looked over at Major Corwin. “Major, you are hereby relieved of duty as commander of the Wyatt. You are confined to your quarters until we reach Titan Space Station, and arrangements will be made to take you back to New Earth. Your performance in command of the Wyatt was reprehensible, and no amount of pathetic looks is going to convince me to give you a second chance. The soldiers serving aboard that ship would not get a second chance if they all died because you froze up at the first sign of battle. This next part is for all of you,” Connor said and glanced at the rest of them. “I know it’s become a popular notion to question whether there really is an attack force heading to this star system. Our job in the Colonial Defense Force isn’t to agree one way or another, but I think you know what I believe. Regardless, every one of us has to be prepared for the unexpected. We don’t have a fleet of ships at our disposal. We’re all we’ve got for the time being. It will be years before we build enough ships to defend the colony. Major Corwin, I want you to think long and hard about your performance and the road that led you to where you are today. You’re not commanding officer material, but perhaps there’s some other way you can contribute to the CDF. As commanding officers, we set the standard, and it would be outright negligence on my part to leave you in command of that ship.”
Major Corwin’s shoulders slumped and a flush swept across his face. A moment later he stood up
straight and gave a salute. “Yes, sir,” Corwin said, and the video feed cut out.
Connor softened his gaze and looked over at Delta Mattison. “Captain, are you equipped to carry out the orders I’ve given you?”
Captain Mattison stood ramrod straight. “Yes, sir.”
Connor bobbed his head. “Okay then. I’ll need a list of candidates who can serve as your XO, at least until we return to New Earth.”
“Yes, General,” Captain Mattison said.
Connor looked at Reisman. “Send the data burst to them now.”
Reisman opened a menu on his terminal and, after a few moments, said, “Encrypted orders sent, sir.”
Connor turned back to the main screen. “Alright, ladies, time for the real fun to begin. What Colonel Reisman has sent over is an updated mission plan for Titan Space Station. At the Chmiel’s best speed, we’re still several days out from Titan Space Station. However, we can and will go much faster than that. I expect you to review the plans with your crew. If you have any suggestions, I want to hear about it.”
“General, may I ask a question?” Major Cross asked.
“Yes, Major.”
“Colonel Douglass is in command of the Space Station. Won’t he expect something like this?”
“I know I’ve developed something of a reputation for springing training missions when you least expect them, and I’d hate to disappoint Colonel Douglass. He and I have served together for a long time. If anything, these surprise drills teach us how we will react in tough situations,” Connor said.
“Grace under pressure, sir,” Major Cross said.
“Yes, and if we succeed, you have my permission to lord it over Colonel Douglass whenever you see him,” Connor said.
“I’ll do my best, General,” Major Cross said.
Connor dismissed the two of them so they would have time to review the details of his planned assault on the space station.
“She’s right. Kasey is expecting something like this,” Reisman said.
“He better be or I’ll bust him down to private,” Connor said.
“I have a question, if you don’t mind,” Reisman said.
“Go ahead, Wil.”
“Major Corwin. Had you already decided to relieve him of command, or did you decide during the presentation?” Reisman asked.
“I meant everything I said before. If I wasn’t convinced he should be in command, then he was done. The thing I’m debating now is whether to send you over to the Wyatt to take command,” Connor said.
“Wouldn’t be my first tour of duty on a destroyer. If you give the order, I’ll go over there and whip that ship into shape, but you might miss me,” Reisman said with a wry grin.
“Watch it or you’ll draw that short straw to be the pregnant woman this time,” Connor said.
Reisman’s eyes lit up. “Samson Denton! God, he hated when that happened to him. Too bad we don’t have any of those Ghost combat suits here. I could have a lot of fun with that.”
Connor laughed. “Let’s go over our assault plan with the rest of this crew. I really want to catch Kasey off guard.”
“If you really want to catch him off guard, you should send Sean in with a small team to temporarily disable some key systems,” Reisman said.
Connor’s eyebrows rose. “That’s not a bad idea. Too bad we don’t have any stealth combat shuttles.”
“Therein lies the fun,” Reisman said.
Connor shook his head. “We’re not modifying our shuttles. The heat stabilizers are there for a reason and I won’t risk a shuttle for the sake of a training mission.”
“Fine,” Reisman said, feigning disappointment. “I’ll come up with another way.”
“I’m sure you will,” Connor said and glanced at the main holoscreen, which now showed a star map and their trajectory to the space station.
Connor studied the area beyond the space station and sighed. For everything they’d accomplished in the past seven years, they still didn’t know what was beyond the nearest buoy. Noah Barker had thrown himself at the problem, trying a multitude of ways to glean more intelligence from them. They’d even debated sending a deep-space probe out there as an early warning device. At least then they’d have some confirmation that an attack force was coming for them. But this was around the time Stanton Parish had been voted into office, and the proposal was denied. So Connor had devoted time and resources to Titan Space Station instead. The station was their first line of defense and he hoped it was enough. He’d much rather be the fool who was wrong than be right and have everyone else pay the price if the CDF failed.
Chapter Twelve
Noah ran his fingers through his short-cropped hair as he waited for the latest diagnostic to finish for the modified HADES IV missile system. He’d ditched his long hair years ago when he joined the Colonial Defense Force. Sometimes he missed it, though having long hair wasn’t the most practical of things to maintain. In truth, he liked not having to deal with it when he got up in the morning.
He was in a cramped engineering work area on Titan Space Station and had been for eight months, which was longer than he’d originally been assigned, but the work he was doing here was important. The bulk of Titan Space Station’s infrastructure had been taken from the original Ark. On more than one occasion Noah’d had trouble imagining that the space station was once part of the massive colony ship that ferried over three hundred thousand humans to this star system. The original intention for the Ark had been to be broken up and taken to the surface of New Earth to be used by the colony. Those goals had changed. The colony needed this outpost to monitor and scan for any threats that meant the colony harm. Titan Space Station was the first line of defense for the entire star system. They maintained their position relative to the nearest deep-space buoy. Over the years, Noah had come to appreciate the engineering marvel of the deep-space buoy network that was put in place as a means to bolster communication signals from Earth. He was also well aware of their shortcomings. For years he’d worked on trying to glean any piece of data off of the deep-space buoys that would give them some insight into what catastrophe had befallen Earth and whether there was an invasion force coming for the colony. He’d failed on both counts.
The powered door to the Engineering lab hissed open and Noah glanced behind him.
Kara walked in, carrying two cups of glorious, steaming coffee.
Noah perked up in his seat. “You’re a saint. Thank you.”
The edges of Kara’s lips curved upward into a smile that exposed an adorable dimple on the side of her cheek. She handed him his coffee and set hers down.
“Where we at?” Kara asked.
Noah took a sip of his coffee and relished the taste of the creamy brew. “Oh, attempt number eight hundred and thirty-six . . . maybe thirty-seven,” he said, bringing up the simulation iterance number and frowning.
“Only slightly off there, genius. You’re at eight hundred and forty-seven. What did you change this time?” Kara asked.
She rested her hand on his shoulder and peered at the holoscreen in front of them.
Noah turned toward her and caught the sweet scent of the lavender shampoo she’d used.
Kara glanced at him and smiled, then gave him a quick peck on the lips and sat down.
“When I stopped thinking of these things as missiles and thought of them as small spacecraft, I had the idea of adding additional systems. Primarily I added a secondary targeting array and had the shielding for it pop off during its flight. I even added a third, which will enable the guidance system to stay on target and not get blinded by other detonations or point defense systems,” Noah said.
Kara frowned and had the computer highlight the systems that were modified. “I can see that it’s longer, but show me—” She stopped speaking and took control of the interface. The simulation showed that the HADES IV long-range missile had reconfigured itself during its flight toward its intended target. “I can see why Colonel Douglass was so excited by this.”
“He just said that no matter what I changed, the missile still had to fit in the tube. But once it leaves the ship it doesn’t need to retain its shape, which gives us some flexibility. It’s not like there’s any aerodynamics in the near vacuum of space,” Noah said.
Kara frowned. “Yeah, but there is always a cost. The engines still need to push the added weight along. See, the range is cut down by twenty percent.”
“Yeah, but it’s more accurate. What’s more important—that we hit our target or how far away we can miss them?” Noah asked. He’d known the additional equipment would impact the range, but he’d rather stand a better chance of hitting his mark.
“Depends, and it’s not up to us, regardless,” Kara said.
“The range of the missile isn’t fixed, so couldn’t we modify that to get the twenty percent back?” Noah asked.
“We could. It just depends on how far away the targets are and it also depends on the warhead on it. Let’s run a few more simulations and then take it to the colonel,” Kara said.
Noah nodded and took another sip of his coffee. Kara was the lead engineer when it came to the defense systems of Titan Space Station. Noah had learned that with any weapons of war it was a game of give and take. Higher accuracy required more sophisticated systems, which impacted other things like weight and yield. There was always a price to pay.
“I’m not saying the colonel won’t like the idea, but we need to be upfront about the system’s limitations. However, given that we’re constantly being expected to accomplish more with less leads me to believe he’ll approve these changes,” Kara said.
Noah nodded and stood up. He stretched his arms overhead and worked out some of the stiffness in his shoulders.
“He’ll probably want to know how many HADES IVs we can modify,” Noah said.
Kara grinned and shook her head. “You’re learning, but it won’t be you and me modifying all these missiles. We’ll need to come up with a process so we can task my team with it.”
