Hawk Flight (Flight of the Hawk Book 3)

by Robert Little

  While he waited, Admiral Lee walked around the office, looking at a veritable forest of personal mementos of a long career in the Navy. Most seemed to consist of pics of the distinguished looking admiral, posing with a variety of luminaries, politicians and a select few civilian corporate titans. Precious few involved anything that would indicate the man had ever served on an actual ship.

  Admiral Lee ordered his assistant, “I want all this crap boxed up and out of here. Label it as evidence.” She said, “Yes sir. I’ve got a team on the way. They’ll perform a sweep and clear everything out, and then remove his furniture. Yours is five minutes out. Sir, does Admiral Gip know of the change of command?”

  Admiral Lee smiled like a wolf, “He will in just a few minutes. What furniture would that be?” She smiled, “Sir, out of stores. I’ve insured that nothing will be ostentatious.” She smiled at him and he laughed, “Careful lieutenant, I happen to know that Aditi could use a warehouse manager.” She attempted to look chastened, but failed miserably, “Sir, if you send me to Aditi, who would ensure that you have a supply of fresh doughnuts?”

  He shook his head in resignation, “Lieutenant, shame on you! Are you attempting to curry favors?” She stood to attention, “Sir, I can have my bags packed in thirty minutes. While I’m getting ready, I assume you will find someone who is able to write up my orders?” He laughed, “In this hell hole? I’m surprised they can find the mess hall.” She attempted to stifle a laugh, “Sir, based on the evidence, the personnel of Jupiter Base know exactly where their next meal is coming from.”

  He grumbled, “Lieutenant, I’ve been here two hours, but have yet to see one single doughnut.”

  She said, “Sir, by the time you have a desk you’ll have your doughnuts.” He narrowed his eyes, “Lieutenant, I just heard a promise.”

  She asked, “Sir, has Admiral Gip ever met you?” Admiral Lee looked at her for a moment, “He was two classes ahead of me. He was the one who removed me from command of the Champlain, transferring me to Fleet Maintenance Base Aditi. The man did everything possible to destroy my career and force me out of the Navy. Yes, we have met.”

  She asked, “I know your place in your class. Sir, what was his?” Shin Ho laughed, “Seventeenth.”

  He turned to face the door and a moment later the commotion in the outer office moved into the inner, in the form of an extremely angry admiral of the fleet.

  He spotted Admiral Lee and stopped in his tracks, not an easy maneuver in low gravity. He stared, “What the hell are you doing in my office? How did you get on this base?’’

  Admiral Lee smiled coldly, “As it happens, I’m not in your office, you are in mine. Admiral, as of 0800 hours, local, you are no longer in command of Fleet Base Jupiter.”

  Admiral Gip was furious, and demanded, “Unless and until you are able to provide me with an authorized set of orders, I demand that you remove yourself from my office. In fact, I order these Marines to place you under arrest. I’ll figure out the charges later.”

  Nobody moved, causing the furious admiral to glare at the two Marines bracketing him, “Move.”

  Admiral Lee said, “Admiral, you have been charged with one count of accepting a bribe, this particular bribe emanating from this very woman.” He held up a flat pic, showing Admiral Gip standing next to a smiling elderly woman. He added, carefully watching, “Much of the evidence was provided by her, in return for a reduced sentence.”

  Admiral Lee continued, “In addition, you will be charged with a variety of violations of Navy regulations; and, I am confidant, within a short time, another batch of Federation laws and regulations. We’re still compiling them, and it may take a few days. I trust that you shall be patient with us.”

  Admiral Lee sat down in the expensive chair and ordered the two Marines, “Escort Admiral Gip to a holding cell. He is not to communicate with anyone, is to be held in solitary. He is not to be allowed any special favors. None. I have already verified that he is not under doctor’s orders and is in good health, so his meals shall come from the general mess. That is all.”

  The two not-quite impassive Marines gestured to the admiral who stared in growing fury. Admiral Lee quietly added, “If he resists, you are authorized to use force.”

  That seemed to do the trick. Admiral Gip shakily turned and walked out of his former office.

  Chapter 37

  Over the next three days Admiral Lee was in nearly continual motion. He physically went through every section of the base. With a growing but small cadre of people he personally knew and trusted, he vetted each department head. Most of the existing personnel was honest, although many of those were barely incompetent.

  He finished his initial assessment and spent a day with his aide, and two officers from the Spruance, a cruiser that remained in geo synchronous orbit over the base, providing all communications to the outside world.

  He now held seventeen people on a variety of charges, some of them potentially carrying the death penalty. He ordered courts martial for all seventeen, and told his prosecutors, “I want seventeen convictions. Well, far more than that. I mean to say, I want all seventeen charged, tried and convicted on all charges. I want the maximum penalty the law allows. I will not settle, I will not compromise.”

  One of his first acts was to order Admiral Tretiakov to report to the mothballed Krakow, telling him, “I want that tub to transit to Jupiter Base, where we will bring her up to specs and outfit her with a full complement of personnel and fighters. Admiral, the Fleet is in bad straits and we have but a short time to make things right. Don’t fail me. If you require anything, or if your requests are not fulfilled, you are to comm me directly. In all probability you’ll speak to my aide, who has been briefed and who will insure that you get whatever you require. Our immediate goal is to relieve Seventh Fleet, which has been operating continuously for far too long. As soon as you have a handle on your own needs, I want you to begin compiling a list of the escorts you will need. I believe I can pull as many as five destroyers out of First Fleet, the rest must come from Jupiter’s graveyard. I’ve already begun compiling a list of possibilities, but I’m short on personnel, so it will take more time than either of us wish.”

  Ten days later, Admiral Tretiakov’s exec commed Admiral Lee, who happened to be eating a doughnut. The exec said, “Sir, we have a problem: six days ago we were to receive a full set of replacement Zerohm cabling, and have only received one partial shipment. We also ordered ten capacitors; to date, we have received three.”

  The admiral told the exec he was putting her on hold, and spent a few seconds swearing bitterly. He reconnected and asked, “With what you have received do you have the ability to lift up to Jupiter?”

  The exec considered all the ramifications of that second question, thought hurriedly and said, “Sir, in two days we should have enough power to get under way.”

  Admiral Lee told her, “Make it so. I’ll send you written authorization to make an emergency transfer, but don’t cut corners on safety. From this point forward please forward your personnel and hardware requirements to this office. I’ll directly contact Luna, so you should assume that from this moment you are now attached to Jupiter Base. Additionally, we’ll attempt to prepare for your arrival. Expect that just as soon as you arrive, my people will shuttle up to complete all necessary repairs to your ship.”

  He yelled for his assistant, and she appeared in his door, and smiled at him, “Sir?” He laughed, “Stop that. This is serious business, and you are entirely too chipper.” She smiled, “Yes sir.”

  She’d been monitoring his call, and he told her to proceed to cut the orders he’d just given.

  He fielded two calls from Earth, both connected to officers he had removed from office, both calls from connected civilians. In both cases he told them that the officer in question was guilty of all charges and was going to be convicted of all charges.

  One woman, an executive of an important fleet supplier threatened him. He told her, “First, thi
s call is being recorded. You knew that, therefore I can’t imagine what you would hope to gain from threatening me. Over the next several years the Navy will be making substantial buys as we attempt to bring our state of readiness back up to the level mandated by Congress. Your company has been one of several authorized suppliers, and you might consider that statement in any way you wish.”

  She protested, “Admiral Lee, I was most certainly not threatening you. I cannot believe that Admiral Gip or any of his subordinates are in any way guilty of the charges you have levied against them, but I can easily imagine why you might wish to pursue such a vendetta.”

  Admiral Lee nodded, “Ma’am, I understand that you have close ties to the admiral, as well as several other officers formerly stationed at Jupiter Base. In fact, according to our files, your relationship with Admiral Gip is quite close. Unfortunately for both of you, that relationship has come to an end, unless of course you wish to visit him in prison.”

  Admiral Lee smiled mildly and waited. She hesitated, and he could clearly see her mull over the two possible meanings to his comment. She chose to go with the one where she wasn’t actually visiting, “Admiral Lee, I protest your veiled threats. Neither I nor my company has done anything illegal.”

  He told her, “Wrongdoing, as you of course are well aware, is a matter for the courts to decide. Meanwhile, is there anything else you wish to discuss?”

  She angrily said, “Yes, quite a few in fact.” Admiral Lee told her, “Unfortunately ma’am, if you wish to discuss the evidence we are compiling against the admiral and his sixteen accomplices, as well as assorted others, I am not at liberty to reveal anything.”

  She paused again, “What ‘assorted others’? Is that yet another threat?” Admiral Lee told her, “Ma’am, it would only be a threat if the Navy had come into information linking you to the charges already brought against those officers – actually, if that were the case, it wouldn’t be a threat then either. I can assure you, if that were the case, if the Navy was preparing to charge your company, you would in due course become aware of whatever crimes were committed by officers of your firm. Meanwhile, I have an important meeting to attend, so I’m going to have to terminate our conversation. It has been a distinct pleasure talking to you. I might suggest that in the upcoming days you pay close attention to the bulletins issued by the Navy Procurement Office. I assume your company will wish to submit bids on some if not most of the upcoming contracts. You might keep in mind that you will only be allowed to bid as long as your company is not in violation of any of the terms of your existing contracts with the Navy. Ma’am, have a nice day.”

  He terminated the call, and yelled, “Close the door.” A moment later she complied, and in the deep silence that ensued, he loosed a string of profanity that would have made the most senior and verbally gifted master sergeant proud to be in the same navy. Admiral Shin Ho Lee had spent many years learning the craft.

  Chapter 36

  Admiral Alexi Tretiakov

  Fleet Carrier Krakow

  Alexi stood on the huge bridge as his exec slowly brought up main power to the engines. The huge ship shivered slightly and for the first time in over a decade began to ponderously move out of moon orbit.

  All over the ship, a minimal crew anxiously watched for any slightest sign that they would be forced to resort to the two civilian tugs that were standing by.

  Over the next few minutes, several minor alarms sounded in Engineering and were handled.

  His exec reported, “Sir, we are presently at thirty-one percent power, making two point three G’s. Nothing to report.” She added with a smile, “Well, nothing that would cause you to check your environment suit. Again.”

  He smiled, “Commander Bergman, I’m heading down to Engineering.” As he left the bridge, he could hear another alarm go off.

  In Engineering, he spent an interesting few minutes watching a lieutenant commander disappear into a crawl space, dragging a replacement cable one hundred meters to a junction box. He met her at the other end and helped her attach the heavy cable to a load leveling cabinet that shuttled power to most of the forward radar emitters on the ship.

  She wiped her hands on a rag he handed her and the two of them watched as the cabinet came back to life. Alexi waited for her to signal that the system was at full power before comming the bridge, “We have power to radar.”

  Five minutes later, Commander Bergman reported, “We’re up. Thank you commander. Let’s move to the next item on the list. Is the admiral in Engineering?” The commander snorted, “He’s on his hands and knees, tightening a bracket.”

  Commander Bergman said, “Will you please inform him that he has a comm from Jupiter Base?”

  Alexi got to his feet and accepted the call, “Admiral Tretiakov.” Shin Ho laughed, “What the hell! Now that you’re a ship commander you don’t take calls?” Alexi laughed, “Sir, I apologize. I was on my knees.”

  Shin Ho laughed again, “I know you are a religious man, so I’ll assume that your supplications concern a few problems rather than an exploding fireball.”

  Alexi laughed, “Sir, we’re making sufficient power to be underway, explaining the problems; however, not enough power to create that fireball.”

  Shin Ho laughed, “Excellent. Two days early. How many G’s?” Alexi snorted, “Sir, at present we are making two point thr...two G’s while we carefully monitor all systems. If, over the next two hours we encounter no major issues, we’ll go to maximum available power.”

  Shin Ho asked, “Which would be…?” Alexi laughed, “Two point four G’s.”

  Shin Ho laughed yet again and said, “Comm me with your expected arrival time. I have sufficient bottles and capacitors to bring you up to full power, and I’ve sent a FFC to Elyse for that missing Zerohm cabling. I’ve got your insufficiently padded equipment and personnel list and we’re robbing First Fleet for most of your people. You should have a portion of your complement waiting for you.”

  They talked about wives and children for a few more minutes. Alexi said, “My daughter is now a full lieutenant in the Marines, stationed at Lubya.”

  Shin Ho asked about her, wanting to know what she wanted for her career, as well as what her father might want. It was his experience that from time to time, they matched.

  Alexi finished the comm. and got back down on his knees to finish tightening the fastener. He told the commander, “Since we’ve found this one loose fastener, what are the odds of finding others?” She smiled, “Sir, if we look, or if we look the other way?” He nodded, “If you look the other way, you’ll find them at a most inopportune moment.”

  She smiled, “Yes sir. I’ll place that on our list.”

  He went to his stateroom, changed into a clean uniform and ate a quick lunch before returning to the bridge. It had been very quiet.

  As he entered, the Marine sentry announced, “Admiral on the bridge!” Alexi returned his exec’s salute and started to ask a question, but a klaxon interrupted him. A ComTech announced, “Sir, we’ve lost pressure on flight deck six.” Commander Bergman asked, “Are there any personnel on the deck?” He passed on her question and said, “Sir, all personnel evacuated.”

  Alexi said, “Any information as to the cause?” He replied, “Sir, a failed main door seal.”

  Alexi turned to Cdr. Bergman, “Send a crew. First, determine if we have replacement seals. If so, and it won’t require more than a few hours, proceed. What is our estimated ToA?

  Cdr. Bergman consulted her pad, “Sir, thirty-seven hours.” He asked, “Where are we on our repair list?” She smiled, “Item thirty-one, environmental controls, mess deck.”

  Over the next ten hours they waded through seven items. The replacement seals to repair the failed main door were so old that Alexi decided not to bother.

  They had fewer than two hundred crew to handle a ship that normally operated with over five hundred, not including flight operations, which, with a full complement of fighters, would bring the total ship
complement up to over eleven hundred personnel.

  As they began to decelerate to counteract Jupiter’s insistent gravity, Alexi forwarded a status report to Admiral Lee, who apparently didn’t yet have much of a staff.

  Alexi had grown up working on or around ancient equipment, and felt at home. Despite its relatively advanced age, this fleet carrier was extremely robust. He had concentrated their efforts on bringing up critical systems and ensuring they were functioning properly, and only then moving on to the next most critical.

  They had engines, environmental controls to some of the ship, plus radar and communications. They had one operating flight bay, hadn’t even aired up ten of the other eleven. Energy mounts and defensive missile batteries were also down, and in any event, the ship didn’t have missiles, and the powerful radar emitters that were the heart of the ship’s defenses were also still down.