Chronicles of Athena Lee

by T S Paul

  Didn't bother me, not MY circus, not MY monkeys.

  It was fun watching them scurry around. My biggest part in this was to just stand at attention. I shook some hands, resigned my commission in the PPL navy and was sworn in to the EOH navy. The Admiralty surprised me with a promotion to Lieutenant (jg). I guess they didn't want me to be the galaxies oldest Ensign. Everything was easy peasy, or at least you would think that.

  The newsies and the protesters where like swarms of annoying flies that just would not go away. The newsies were simply desperate for me to say two words in their direction. The protesters were either for or against me, or both. Very confusing. If I hadn't been in the middle of it, I would have thought it was a mob at a ball game.

  After the swearing in, I had a nice private dinner with the Admiral and his staff. She apologized for what she was about to do in sending me away, but after seeing the circus around us at the ceremonial I could understand her reasoning.

  The next morning I put on my new uniform and made my way down to the shuttle bay. Overnight I had received my orders along with a vid refresher course on military deportment. When I reached the shuttle bay I reported in to the chief in charge. I got in line with the rest of the transfers. Unlike some, I only had a small carry-on bag with me. I was the last to board and was strapping myself in when I noticed a commotion at the hatch.

  “Captain Whitfield, I'm sorry but this shuttle is full, there is another scheduled for..”

  “I don't want another shuttle Chief” the tall Captain argued “I need to be on THIS, shuttle!”

  “But, sir”

  “Dammit, Chief that's an order. You will bump someone or I will make sure that the waste disposal area gets a new basic rating. I swear I will bust you so low...”

  “Yes. Sir. Of course sir.” the flushed looking Chief glanced at his tablet. “Lieutenant, Lee? I'm sorry but you are being bumped. I will schedule you for the next available.”

  The smug looking Captain grinned at me as he pushed past me onto the shuttle.

  The Chief closed the hatch and cleared the shuttle for liftoff.

  A loud whine and screech tore me from my musings and I shouted at the crewman “Chief! Stop that shuttle! That sounds like a drive containment breech!”

  BOOOM BOOOM BAAAABOOOOOM!!!

  The massive explosion happened just inside the shuttle bay door.

  The shuttle blew completely apart raining fire and destruction all over the bay. A large chunk of what looked like a tail fin landed about a meter from me. Alarms began to wail. Crewmen in bunker gear swarmed into the compartment and began fighting the fires.

  I made my way out of the bay past the med-techs that were standing by. I was not injured.

  I returned to the security department, since I was the last one on and off they most likely wanted to talk to me. After my interview I reported to the Admiral's staff for my orders.

  “Lieutenant, thank you for coming in.”

  The harried looking Commander directed me to wait for the Admiral. Exiting her office Admiral Kane, saw me and asked me to follow her. The meeting room was full. I found a place at the back of the room to wait and listen.

  Calling the room to attention the Admiral began the meeting. “What do we know about the explosion? Was it an accident?” the room was silent.

  “Don't all speak at once! Captain Daniels what does the maintenance department say about that shuttle.”

  “Sir, that shuttle had just passed a recent inspection last week, it had new anti-matter injectors and and updated software. Engineering has determined that it wasn't mechanical.”

  Looking at me leaning against the wall at the back of the room, She said “Lieutenant you were on the shuttle, can you say what happened?”

  The other officers, recognizing who I was began to murmur to each other.

  “Before the Lieutenant Lee starts, let me say that she was bumped by one of the destroyer command Captains.”

  “Yes, I was bumped. As the shuttle took off it emitted a loud whine followed by a screech. It then exploded. Most likely it was the external pressure blow out valve that made the whine as it tried to vent the steam from the anti-matter tank. On those new engine's the valve vents, just before full power initiates. Something must have been blocking the vent. That's near impossible because of the placement of the valve cover and the new stop-gap preventer. That screech was the cover trying to move. But that's just my opinion.”

  Captain Daniels had a funny look on his face.

  He turned to the Admiral and said “ can I have her, Admiral? She just said what took my engineers three hours to come up with and we have the wreckage to study.”

  “Due to political reasons, the Lieutenant is on her way out to the EOH Empire training ship to learn her way in our navy.”

  She gave me a menacing stare “Lieutenant Lee and I will be discussing her knowledge of our newest shuttle craft engine. Captain Reynolds, you look like you have something to tell me?”

  “Yes, Admiral, surveillance of the shuttle bay prior to the event have shown some suspicious activity. A maintenance worker is seen working on the shuttle in question just moments before it began loading. We are truth-scanning all the maintenance staff now, for sabotage.”

  “Thank you Captain. OK folks get to work, if this is sabotage I want to know: Who they are and how they did this. So get to work. Lieutenant, my office please.”

  That was a bit unpleasant.

  I did not have to spill the beans about Wilson, but she was not happy about my having secret tech manuals before I was officially in her Navy.

  At least I know that my job prospects are growing broader.

  I spent the night in the BOQ(Bachelor Officers Quarters) and prepared to try again with the shuttle. As I was about to leave my link signaled a call.

  It was the intelligence Captain “lieutenant, glad I caught you. We identified the saboteur, it was an assassin. He was paid to cause that explosion. The that he charged fee was paid through third party sources, so we can't prove anything. Watch your back! It looks like it may be the Buckley family was behind it.”

  Great, just great. I caught the shuttle no problem and transferred to a destroyer, the Tokyo Bay, on the station. Several other transfers and I along with a hold full of cargo was soon outbound for sector 25 and my new posting.

  Chapter 6

  According to Encyclopedia Galactica, sector 25 is a lonely place .

  “One of the last sectors to be explored before the war, it has little to no economic value. The asteroid belt and planets hold no rare or hard to find minerals. There is very little commerce and few settlements. What is most visited in the area, is the Navy resupply depot with its comprehensive general store. It features all basic amenities including those hard to get items, such as cigars or nail clippers.”

  To the Navy, this was the perfect place to put a ship full of cadets and trainees. Nothing to break or to destroy, other than the station.

  If I hear “are we there yet one more time” I will just scream!

  I’m not the bored one this trip. That, would be Wilson.

  You would think that a ‘all knowing’super smart computer could find something to do on a long trip but no, he’s like a small child.

  This ship, unlike the carrier, is a closed system for Wilson. No fleet communications to investigate, no networks to play in, no real trouble to cause.

  I did try and keep him occupied, I let him tell me some stories. Toys that talk? And something about a red shoe? Such a weirdo.

  I was happy.

  I now have unrestricted access to most of the tech manuals and the occasional visit to ships engineering. I tried to not be a pest but, it was a long voyage.

  So far so good, no assassins no unexplained deaths. It’s difficult to keep one eye open while sleeping.

  My new assignment is to be an engineering third, basically, a gopher. Other duties to be determined sounds ominous, hopefully, its not too bad.

  Most days on this shi
p I sit in the mess hall, reading up on the 15 years of tech that I missed, trying to stay out of the crew's way. That of course doesn't stop crew members from talking to me. Seems I'm famous, more infamous really. It's that whole enemy thing, that and building my own space station.

  The trip out to the school was pretty long, about two weeks. This destroyer is a Delta class B, which means it was old when the war began. At 40 years old it’s ancient for a warship. The engines have at least been upgraded so, I guess, that makes it a B2 model. I would have to ask the chief. Regardless, it is mega-slow compared to the new Empire class ships.

  It was the ships alarm that roused me from my sleep. My first thought was “not again!”

  I threw on my uniform and went to my assigned emergency station. Although passengers were considered cargo for trips like these, we were still Navy officers and crew. In theory, we had the basic training to help fight the ship.

  The CIC was my station for whatever this was. On a destroyer the CIC is one of the most protected spots on the ship. If something happens to the bridge the CIC can take over and still fight. Since I was an engineer, I was put in with the emergency repair back up crew.

  As I entered, the Lt Commander in charge gave me our ships status. Three ships had been detected hiding in the nearby asteroid field. When we had hailed them, those ships attacked us. The attack vessels looked to be some sort of pirate or raider ships. Very unusual for them to take on a navy destroyer, even one old as this one. Our captain, a decorated war veteran, fought his ship with great skill and navigation.

  The first pirate ship, an old AA Stuka IV, was quickly destroyed using the ships main guns. After that, the other two pirates kept their distance.

  Pirate number two got a little too close on a torpedo run, and our point defense system took him out. Unfortunately for us, the torpedoes that the pirate had launched, hit us damaging our engines.

  At half speed we were now unable to outrun the last raider ship. That pirate began strafing our ship looking for weak spots in our armor. Damage reports from across the ship began filtering into CIC. The repair crew was sent out, including me. Engineering and life support had been hit the hardest. Our team was split up.

  I proceeded to life support with my part of the team. The ship was shuddering with the pounding it was taking. The Life support area was in a older part of the ship. The bulkheads here were starting or screech and groan with the strain of the ships maneuvers. The life support panel had broken loose from one such bulkhead. Fortunately we were able to shore it up and repair the damaged circuits.

  Soon the battle was over, the captain suckered the last pirate with a couple of fire and forget missiles and easily destroyed him. Engineering was a mess. Half our engines were out and the ship had several large holes to deal with. Repairs started immediately.

  The crew got the ship repaired just in time for help to arrive. It was the training ship Empire. Her rookie flight school patrolled the area, while we docked, using the aft docking ring. The wounded went aboard first. Not very many were injured in the attack.

  My first impression of the Empire as I stepped off the destroyer was, BIG. This was a big ship.

  Dreadnought sized it was the largest non-carrier ship I had ever been on. I knew, from my reading, that although it was a school it was still a active naval vessel.

  Flight school, officers academy, and technical intensive training were taught here. You got your basic training in the navy on a planet in sector 6. Here, this ship was the vocational school. Standing at the end of the walkway was a commander that looked as though he wanted my attention. I approached him, coming to attention.

  “Sir?”

  “Ah, Lieutenant Lee I presume? The captain and I had a very long communication from the Admiralty concerning you. We are looking forward to see what you can do. Follow me please.”

  As ordered, I walked with Commander Wang, he told me his name as we discussed my trip.

  He agreed with me that the pirate attack was unusual, in that they don't normally go after navy ships. The Captain was found on the bridge. She was a short, but stout, woman with gray hair.

  Captain Michaels signaled the navigation officer to take command of the ship. She turned in our direction, “Commander, in my ready room please. You too lieutenant.”

  The ready room was located just off the bridge for easy access.

  “You may be seated. Lieutenant, the Admiralty sent a very long message concerning you. I am aware of the political issues that your recent imprisonment may have caused. It appears, that none of it was your fault. It is the assassination attempt that is the main issue. Naval intelligence believes that the pirate attack against the Tokyo Bay was another attempt on your life.”

  My jaw just dropped open with surprise. “What Captain? Why? Have they discovered who it is thats trying to kill me?”

  “It appears that there is a $30 million credit bounty on your head. Intelligence thinks that the Buckley family is fronting the attacks. But they can't prove it. Just so you know, the former governor has been released. His political connections have kept him out of jail, but he has lost his government position. We think these attempts are all very personal.”

  “Why was he released? He had them torture and try to kill me!”

  Nodding her head, the Captain looked at me. “He was very careful to not have any written or vid records of him giving those orders. All the orders appear to be given by his staff. None ever came directly from him. All the evidence is circumstantial and to arrest a politician that is not enough to convict.”

  What kind of crazy galaxy have I come home to? I should have stayed on my station I thought.

  Catching my attention the Captain said “ What we plan to do with you is move you around on the ship to see what skills you have. Based on your prior navy experience and your actions aboard the destroyer, we know that you have engineering skills. I understand that that is your chosen career. However, you are in the Navy and there are other skills that you should know. Flight training is one of them. You can fix ships, now learn how to fly them. Contact my office if there are issues. Try and pay close attention to your surroundings. Security will be increased on this ship while you are here, but watch yourself. Commander Wang will show you to your quarters and get you set up with locations and orders.”

  The next morning, a 'bouncy' midshipman gave me a tour of the ship ending in the flight bay.

  Time to start my new job.

  I never dreamed that I would be flying the ships that I wanted to build.

  Flight instructor Macdonald greeted me as I entered the room. “Welcome, lieutenant, to your first day of flight training. We fly two different fighters here along with shuttles and assault craft. You, get to learn all of them.”

  At my grimace, he chuckled. “Don't worry, we are not making you into an expert fighter pilot. But we do want you to be able to at least solo in all of the spacecraft. Think of the performance details that you will learn. You can't say that knowing first hand, how a ship operates won't help when you repair it?”

  “Yes, sir. You are right. Being able the see a problem or malfunction will make repairing it easier.”

  It is time to hit the books. I had ahead of me several weeks of class tutorial to catch up on and then on to basic flight.

  Chapter 7

  It took about a month of class tutorials and cram sessions, but I was ready for my first solo.

  The instructors chose the Mark 30 shuttle craft for my first ship. Hard to damage, it was an easy to fly model.

  Each Mark 30 was unarmed but equipped with emergency escape pods.

  This was just a solo flight, not a combat mission. A small navigation course was laid into go up and around the 'school' and then back again. Easy. I did my pre-flight, walking around the ship checking off the list as I went.

  Powering up the shuttle was super easy as the flight controls were very simple.

  In my head, I heard Wilson say “Atomic batteries to power, Turbines to speed.
..Ready to move out!.” Such a weirdo for an AI.

  Soloing was easy. Why had I not done this before?

  As I finished up my course and headed back to the ship, the proximity beacon started to sound.

  Trouble.

  Switching on the communicator I heard “...not a Drill, This is not a drill!. Battle stations! ….Battl....” then a loud buzzing.

  Something was jamming the communication system. It is like deja vu all over again. The school was in some kind of battle and I'm trapped in an unarmed shuttle.

  Unable to get to the docking bay I hid my shuttle.

  What looked to me like a couple of pirate fighters flew past my position. They had not spotted me yet. I was parked in the shadow of the ship real close to the hull. I was hoping that these were regular pirates, not the bounty hunter kind.