Daily looked left and right down the hallway to see how close other people were and then waited until a crewman walked by before he answered.
“I’m working on a special side project,” he whispered.
Collins gave him a look as if to say - come on, tell all ready.
“As you know the Star Wolf originally had a A.I. computer for its main operating system but it was damaged in battle and we’ve been actually using the backup computer to run the ship,” Lt. Daily explained.
“Sure, I remember that you said we didn’t have the parts to repair the artificial intelligence system,” Mike said.
The computer officer nodded in agreement.
“Well, we found some parts that might work and a couple of technicians we freed from Austro Prime turned out to be the original computer techs from the Star Wolf’s crew. So with their help we are trying to get her up and running again.”
“That would be a big help as her stealth plating, fire control system, and even her reaction time in battle would all be improved or greatly enhanced,” Mike commented thinking of all of the possibilities that the ship could do with a functioning A.I. system.
“Hey I got to go, tell Rufo I said hi,” Martin said and headed down the corridor with his box of parts.
“Right,” Mike replied realizing he had better get a move on or he’d be late to the meeting.
Taking the lift to the bridge level he walked briskly to the captain’s day cabin. It was the old man’s office just off the bridge where he could do his work, relax or plan yet was close to the bridge in case he was needed.
The room much was pretty much the same as the last time he had seen it. It had been quickly decorated with a set of twelve leather-bound books on naval history, a marble bust of Admiral Horatio Nelson - Hero of the Battle of Trafalgar, and an old painting of a WWII aircraft carrier the USS Enterprise. Since then numerous books were added and now occupied the bookshelves along the walls. Several more naval paintings had been hung depicting old ships including one of the Battle of Hampton Road between the first Iron Clads - the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor.
The back of the room had an old wooden desk that’s surface was cluttered with books, computer crystals and loose papers. Sitting behind it was Captain Hope looking down at the built-in computer screen on his desk. Mike was sure he could have used the holo screen instead but he probably didn’t want anyone else to see what he was reading.
In front of the captain’s desk were several leather-padded chairs in a sort of a semi circle. Mr. Lucas, the captain’s steward, had transformed the once sterile room into an office that radiated a bit of warmth. Sitting in the leather chairs were Commander Richards and Commander Hutton. Both had their palm pads out and on their laps but they were also each holding a plate with a sandwich in one hand and a beverage in the other.
Mike moved to take a seat as Mr. Lucas came out of nowhere with a plate and a glass.
“A coke and a chicken salad sandwich for the young sir,” he said presenting him with the food and drink as Collins smiled in return and thanked him for the meal.
It always amazed him how the steward knew their drink and food preferences as well as how loyal he was to their old captain.
“Gentlemen, please finish your meals and drinks as we prepare for the next leg of our journey,” Hope commented.
Mike looked around and wondered where Lt. Peter’s was from the Spider. Before he could voice a question to that effect Peters came in with his executive officer Bre-Nan trailing behind him. The young Karduan ensign had a big smile when he saw him. Both officers quickly took seats as they accepted food and drinks from Mr. Lucas.
Hoped nodded to his command officers but didn’t smile. His old weathered face looked all business and Mike wondered what was up.
“I wanted to have this meeting to discuss our next move and the probable Karduan response to our attacks. We’ve taken out five enemy ships and have made ourselves once more a target for them.”
The Hawk paused for a second as his officers stared at him. Activating the holo viewer on his desk the system’s map appeared showing last known enemy locations, battle sites and possible enemy positions. Mike’s eyes went over it several times trying to see what the ancient officer had yet to point out to them.
“I believe that our next scheduled bend into Arcadia Prime could be an exciting one,” he said highlighting the system.
“There are several gaseous outer worlds near the bend point to hide in,” Commander Richards commented shifting in his seat.
“From the known positioning of enemy ships we seem to be missing quite a few ships,” Mike suddenly realized.
“You are both right,” Hope started his eyes looking not to his officers but to the holo image. “We know that there is at least one squadron probably two out here searching for us. From our recent encounter we know they had spread some of their lesser ships throughout the various nearby systems to monitor and or to guard them.”
“But where are their capital ships?” Hutton asked voicing the question they were all wondering.
The Hawk nodded his agreement with their astute assessment, one that he had come to several hours earlier.
“I believe over the last several weeks that the enemy has been narrowing their search as we have made appearances and then disappeared.”
Hutton nodded, “Yes, to the cost of five of their ships.”
“For two squadrons the loss of five lesser ships would be an acceptable price to get the Star Wolf,” Commander Richards added.
Hope made a face and looked to the Blue ensign sitting quietly in the back of the room.
“Ensign Bre-Nan, what do you think?”
The Karduan male hesitated for moment before he answered.
“You have already destroyed more than two full squadrons and are behind their lines so the loss of a few ships would be nothing for a Fleet Mistress to expend to catch you. Such a victory would give them much prestige.”
Again the old captain nodded in agreement.
“That’s what I thought,” he said and then scanned the faces of his officers. “So gentlemen, Acadia Prime maybe a trap.”
“Then we should avoid it and move onto another system,” Lt. Peters said sounding very practical.
“Options?” The Hawk said making it sound as if running wasn’t the only course of action open to them.
“I could take the Cody in and scout out the system,” Hutton suggested “After all that’s why we brought her along to blend in and do recon.”
Mike shook his head, “Sure but the last system we went into the Karduan ships ordered us to heave to and prepare to be boarded. I’m thinking that they are doing physical inspections to make sure new ships are who they say they are.”
“Agreed,” Hope said.
“So, we don’t know if they are sitting there by the gravity well waiting?” Peter remarked staring up at the three-dimensional holo map.
“Besides the system’s star, there are two gas giants with enough gravity to establish a stable gravity well. If they are guarding them then they’d have to deploy to cover all possible bend points and maybe spread out thinly,” Commander Richards pointed out. He was seasoned naval officer and knew that even a squadron would have a problem guarding so many possible avenues of attack.
“The outer worlds are mostly rock and ice but the two gas giants are in the middle of the system. Arcadia Prime is an industrial based world on a habitable moon around a metal world planet which they use to feed their industry,” Mike said and then paused as he looked at the holo screen.
“And your point Mister Collins?” Commander Richards asked with a slight frown.
“Just with all of those metal worlds near the colony there’d be plenty of interference even with a maser system,” he remarked.
Commander Hutton nodded in agreement, “In other words, lots of places to hide.”
“They might let us come right in, like a fly to the spider before they’d hit us,” Peters ad
ded with a big smile.
“Maybe?” Hope said unconvinced.
“So what should we do?” Bre-Nan asked from his seat behind them.
Mike answered quickly and without hesitation.
“We attack!” he said.
Hutton and Richards were older officers and full commanders. Both men frowned and looked skeptical at his remark.
“General Patton said - In case of doubt attack,” Collins explained.
“With all due respect to the dead General, there could be two super destroyers, two battle destroyers and a host of support ships waiting for us,” the Star Wolf’s XO pointed out.
“Agreed but they have to be spread out, therefore lacking mass and unit cohesion. They already think they have surprise but we are expecting a trap so no surprise for them.”
“And we still have a few trick up our sleeves,” Hutton said still thinking like a commando.
“Our mission is to ring the cat’s bell and get him to chase us out of the sector,” Mike said.
“Our ships are also faster than theirs,” Richards added thinking of the principles of flexibility and maneuver in battle.
“If there is no direct threat at the gravity well when we come through, then we could control and shape the battle-space around us,” Collins pointed out. Being able to control the battle-space would give them time to detect, track and destroy any incoming enemy force.
The room got quiet as the collected ship captains looked to their senior officer and squadron leader for guidance.
“All right, this is what we are going to do,” Hope said making his mind up to their course of action. Standing up he moved to the floating holo projection and preceded to layout his plan of attack.
As the ancient warrior gave his presentation Mike thought that if the enemy was hiding there then it could be one hell of a battle.
________________________________________________________________
Movement to contact - that what Lt. Collins was thinking. Locate the enemy, suppress the enemy, attack (if possible), consolidate and reorganize. It sounded simple but to do it meant the possibility of getting your ass shot off in the process.
Hurrying through the halls of the Star Wolf he headed to the lift that would take him down to the sickbay. He had planned a pit stop before he headed back to the Randori. He had also already signaled his command and gave his orders to Mister Cappillo to ready the ship for possible combat.
They were always at a state for readiness now but he wanted him to run a full diagnostic on their systems. The last thing he wanted was to go into battle and have the fire control system or bender drives to go out.
Lt. Cappillo stated with confidence that everything was in perfect shape and then turned to order a ship wide level four diagnostic. He then smiled a big Italian grin at his friend and captain before signing off.
Mike had at least an hour before he had to get back and he planned to use the time well. Reaching the sickbay, he moved through the outer area where corpsmen and nurses were busy tending to the sick and a few of their wounded from earlier battles. Most had been treated with the Heal-X family of regenerative drugs but a few severe cases needed rest as well as the modern miracle drugs.
Weaving his way to the back cabin he skillfully avoided Commander Dr. Edith Beilor, their ancient head physician and made his way to the doctors’ stateroom at the rear of the sickbay. The ship was designed to house their medical officers close to the sickbay to cut down on response time in the case of an emergency and this room was used by any doctor on the night shift.
Activating stateroom B’s door, he slipped inside to find that the main room was empty. The cramped living area had a dining table, a modern computer desk and a small kitchenette. Ignoring the empty room, he went back through to the bedroom and found his intended target.
Dr. Lt Angelique Duarte was sitting up in bed and dressed in a blue nightgown that stopped just above mid thigh. Her long smooth legs and feet were tucked away under a blanket but still left plenty of leg exposed, enough to stop a man’s heart. She was twenty-eight and thin with brown hair and brown coffee colored eyes. She was beautiful with classic features and a modesty that made you think she didn’t know she was pretty. Once more Mike was sure that in another lifetime she would have been the lead actress in a Shakespearean epic.
“Mon Dieu, où avez-vous été? Je me suis presque gelé à mort en attente pour vous!” she exclaimed as the French words rolled from her pretty lips sounding like music to his ears.
“What?” he asked not recognizing anything other than “Mon Dieu” which meant “My God.”
“Hurry over here, I’m cold,” she said throwing back the blanket from her long thin legs.
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” he said as he hurriedly pulled his clothes off and joined her in bed.
She kissed him softly and held her embrace with him.
“How long do we have?” she asked.
He shrugged as he kissed the nape of her neck, smelling the hint of jasmine on her skin.
“At least a half hour,” he mumbled pulling anxiously at her nightgown.
“Plenty of time,” she said as she easily undid her nightgown’s silken belt and letting the garment fall open to reveal her naked body underneath.
Mike took in a sharp breath wondering for the countless time how she ever fell in love with him.
“There is never enough time,” he said as he pulled her warm body close.
Their lives forced them to share only minutes together as they were stationed on different ships for this mission. Still, it was those brief moments together that kept them going and longing for the next brief encounter. Kissing her goodbye he slipped out of the bed and quickly dressed. He had to get back to his mistress-his ship and the war that was about to become very real to them once more.
Slipping out of the stateroom he once more tried to cross the sickbay unnoticed. This time however he didn’t make it more than a few steps.
“Lt. Collins!” a familiar voice called to him as he winced. Turning he saw that it was Doc Beilor.
“Commander,” he replied using her military title.
Her old face smiled, “I don’t suppose you brought Gunny over here with you?” she asked with a sly wink.
Mike smiled a little embarrassed. He knew that the old doctor and Gunny Masters had been a couple long before he knew either of them.
“Sorry, not this time,” he said.
She frowned at him but then smiled.
“That’s all right because you’ll do just fine now strip down,” she ordered.
“What?” he said confused as well as concerned.
“I need to check out your hardwire unit or have you forgotten you have one?”
Letting out sigh of relief he started to take off his shirt and let her examine him. After a few minutes a fully clothed Dr. Duarte joined them.
As he was undressing he noticed a familiar pale face walked by his examination room.
Grabbing his Krager gauss pistol he rushed out of the room to the surprise of his doctors.
Half naked and with pistol in hand he chased after the Karduan who he knew should have been locked up in the ship’s brig.
A few steps ahead of him was Lady Siel-Ca, the former Karduan ambassador that Mike had help to capture when they stole the Star Wolf. She was a telepath and very dangerous who should have been locked up. Instead, she was carrying clean sheets as she moved to a nearby bed where she proceeded to change the bed’s linens.
Doc Beilor and Angelique caught up with him just as he grabbed the Blue’s shoulder and spun her around.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded holding his pistol at the ready.
He wasn’t worried about her mental powers as it had turned out that he was Psi-Void that is someone who was immune to telepathy and mental intrusions.
Lady Siel-Ca also seemed surprised but smiled at him as he saw in that she was wearing a set of nurse’s scrubs. Her bald pale blue head and iris-less eyes
looked strange in the human uniform.
“I’m changing bed sheets, Lieutenant,” she said as he gaped at her. “If you want to you can help.”
Before he could respond Dr. Beilor and Angelique caught up with him.
His love grabbed him by the arm to try guide him away.
“Siel-Ca, please go over to Ward Two, I believe they need some help over there,” Dr. Beilor directed with a smile.
The blue Karduan nodded, looking impassively at the young officer once more before she left.
Mike looked to Edie.
“What is going on here? She is a dangerous telepath and a high ranking prisoner, yet you have her running around freely amongst our sick and wounded?”
“She not a telepath at least not anymore,” Angelique replied.
“What?”
“We have synthesized a neural inhibitor that blocks her abilities and has even made her, let’s say more cooperative,” Dr. Beilor revealed.
Collins looked at them in shock, doubt and bewilderment.
“I think you better explain in a bit more detail.”
“Come to my office and we’ll show you,” the Commander said turning towards her office door.
He hesitated looking towards the nearby ward where the former Karduan ambassador diligently worked.
“She is under electronic surveillance at all times as well as the two guards over by the far wall,” Edie pointed out.
Mike followed her glance and saw that two of the gray wolves were armed and armored by the wall. They also had Werewolf symbols on their chests indicating that they were some of the ship’s commandos. Collins knew them both having trained and fought with them. It also meant that they had training to resist telepathic intrusion.
One of the guards noticed him staring at them and nodded to him indicating that everything was all right. Mike nodded back and turned around as he was led into the office.
“So, Captain Hope is fine with this?”
“No, but he wants to see if she is faking or if our neural inhibitor is truly working,” Doc Beilor replied moving to her computer terminal and bringing up a diagram of the inhibitor’s genetic composition.
Wolf's Run: The Chase of War (Star Wolf Sqaudron Book 2) Page 11
