Valor At Vauzlee

by DePrima, Thomas

  When eyewitnesses testified to the veracity of the accounts offered by Ensign Carver in the courtroom, Galont had watched their faces closely. He knew those people weren't lying. They meant every word they said, and no face ever projected greater respect for another person than when they looked over at Carver sitting at the defense table. Galont was sure, by the end of the trial, that Ensign Carver wasn't a beautiful, helpless, young woman caught up in a series of events that seemed to stretch the boundaries of credulity. She was a beautiful, highly-competent, young GSC officer with the intelligence and force of will to do the things she tackled, and the innate ability to garner the loyalty and respect of those around her while inspiring them to do more and do it better than they ever thought they could. All too often, Space Marines were commanded by senior GSC officers who discharged their duties like effete dilettantes. They had climbed though the ranks during times of peace and prosperity, their battle skills untested. Few were strong, charismatic leaders of fighting forces. Carver was different. She knew judo and kick-boxing, and despite her diminutive size had killed an enemy guard in unarmed combat. She could have been a Marine officer. She was the type of gung ho Space Command officer that every Marine hopes to have as their ship commander, and so seldom does. It was unfortunate that she was merely an ensign.

  And then, suddenly, Ensign Jenetta Carver reported aboard the Song to take command of the ship. But now she was Lt. Commander Jenetta Carver. Marine Captain Galont could hardly believe the news when Sergeant Korby reported seeing her on A Deck. His first act was to contact the Prometheus and speak to the Marine officer in charge of security there. He learned that yes, this was the same officer that had been court-martialed, and yes, she had been advanced three grades, and yes, she was the second officer and acting XO on the Prometheus. Captain Gavin had sent her to the Song to restore the command structure aboard the stricken ship.

  "Don't get any ideas about her remaining aboard," Major Adrian Visconti had told him, jokingly. "We need her here. We don't have either a first, second, or third officer aboard now. She's only there to bail your sorry asses out of a serious jam and then we want her back."

  But Carver hadn't returned to the Prometheus. She had remained aboard the Song until emergency repairs were completed. And then she was ordered to take the ship to Earth, which meant that she would be aboard for more months. Galont didn't know if it was owed to her presence, or the fact that the entire command structure aboard ship had been shaken up, but he knew that there was a new vitality in the crew. Part of it was no doubt due to the new responsibilities heaped upon the shoulders of junior officers. They were being given a chance to show what they could do, and they were busting their backsides to impress their commanding officer with their abilities. But even the rest of the crew had shaped up.

  Carver had driven everyone hard to get the ship repaired and back in fighting trim, and ready for the return to Earth, but nobody was complaining. She hadn't held them to any higher standard than the one she held for herself. She was out of her quarters by 0700 every morning, and rarely returned, except for meals, before midnight. She might not know the name of every rating on board, but she certainly knew both the first and last names of all her officers and noncoms. She'd spent her days during the repair time learning every square meter of the ship through her inspections, and had even suited up several times to inspect the exterior hull while it was being patched. Galont had never even heard of another commanding officer who had done that. It wasn't that Carver didn't trust the engineers to do a proper job; she had proven time and time again that she did. No, Galont believed instead that she wanted to have her people know that there was no place she would send them that she was unprepared to go herself, and nothing she would ask them to do that she wasn't prepared to do herself. Marine Captain Galont had no intention of letting her down by not finding Nichols' killer.

  "…and of the hundreds of items found that are the approximate size, shape, and weight of the murder weapon, all have been discounted after laboratory analysis," Marine First Lt. Baccaron said as he wrapped up his report. "We've sealed the containers that we've searched so nothing new can be added to them until we find the weapon."

  Marine Captain Galont leaned back in his chair and stared at the overhead for a minute. Following the example of the Captain, he had recently donned a tox-suit and respirator and climbed into the garbage with his people to show them he wasn't asking anything of them that he wasn't prepared to do himself. It seemed to him that he saw a greater respect in their eyes since then. "I suppose it would have been too easy to find the murder weapon in the waste disposal system, but I can't believe that the murderer would hang onto a piece of evidence that could send him or her to a penal colony for life. I'm sure the Old Lady won't let us tear apart the quarters of any crewmember unless we have a reasonable suspicion that he's our man, so we'll tear apart everything else aboard this ship instead. I want to make sure that only place where the killer can hide his weapon, is among his personal effects. And when we find him, he'd better still have it if we don't."

  * * *

  Chapter Eleven

  ~ April 24th, 2268 ~

  Knowledge that significant personnel reassignments were intended once the ship reached Higgins didn't stop Jenetta from proceeding with a vigorous training schedule for the officers and crew of the Song. She immediately established an aggressive program of unannounced GQ drills and kept the Song crew at it until every crewmember could find his or her way to their newly assigned battle station while still half asleep.

  At the same time, she worked to see that everyone on board qualified as a laser gunner. Not everyone would qualify as ‘Expert', but any cook or stores clerk could jump in and take over for an injured gunner if absolutely necessary. No one was exempted, except the medical staff, which would probably have more than enough to do during a fight. However, she even allowed them to participate in the training schedule on a limited basis if they really desired to ‘get the feel' for the weapons that brought them so much work during a battle. Although it was always expected that some torpedoes would get through in a major engagement, she intended to raise the gunnery skills to such a level as to make the defensive perimeter as impenetrable as possible. The recent battle had shown that the skills of the Song gunners were lacking. Five torpedoes had struck the ship, compared to just two having struck the Prometheus. Granted that the Prometheus had more defensive weapons, but it also presented a much larger target, and was in the battle for a longer time. The Song was fortunate that the strikes had occurred in areas with the heaviest armor plating. It was just inauspicious fortune that a second torpedo struck at almost the precise location as one that had previously ripped away armor on A Deck.

  The third phase of Jenetta's training effort was directed specifically towards the command officers on the ship. Although it was rarely employed for that purpose, the Auxiliary Control & Communications center could be utilized for bridge simulation activities, either to recreate an incident under investigation, or to train command officers in much the same way that they were trained at the Academy and the War College. It was generally felt by most ship captains that junior officers had already received all the training they needed, and that actually working their watches on the bridge would give them the practical knowledge they needed for ascent to command. Jenetta felt that a continuous program of emergency and battle training should be a regular part of every bridge officer's duty schedule, just as the Marine fighter pilots were required to complete an established number of hours each month in a flight simulator. The simulations also provided her with an opportunity to evaluate the people in her command, enabling her to learn their strengths and weaknesses. Lieutenant Ashraf and Lieutenant Elizi supervised the training for all command officers, and each other.

  "I saw the results of your simulation from yesterday, Lori," Jenetta mentioned to Lieutenant Ashraf as they held their regular daily meeting in Jenetta's briefing room.

  "Katherine laid it on pretty thick," A
shraf said, grinning. "When the uncharted asteroid didn't faze me, and I managed to suppress the fire in the cargo hold, she hit me with a level-one containment failure aboard an unoccupied shuttle parked in Flight Operations Bay Two. I had just twenty seconds to remotely tap into the shuttle's control systems and disengage the magnetic skid locks, cut the gravity in the bay, open the doors, and hope that the shuttle floated out from the decompression."

  "But it didn't."

  "No, it didn't. The shuttle jammed sideways in the entranceway and a huge section of my ship was destroyed. What would you have done, Captain?"

  "The same thing," Jenetta said, smiling. "You have to remember that not all simulation scenarios can be resolved satisfactorily. None of us enjoy losing our ship in a simulation, but even problems without a satisfactory solution teach us valuable lessons. They make us think, and prepare us for almost any eventuality. Along the way we learn to remain calm in the face of danger. Losing your calm, whether to anger or fear, is the absolute worst thing that you can let happen, because your ability to reason clearly and objectively is lost along with it."

  "Yes, Captain."

  "Has Major Galont made any progress with his investigation into the death of Petty Officer Nichols?"

  "He's following up on leads."

  "Does that imply that he has no suspects yet?"

  "I'm afraid so. He hasn't even found a motive for the killing. Petty Officer Nichols was apparently very well liked. His only vice was gambling. He'd gamble on almost anything at the drop of a hat; sports, cards, dice, lottery, racing, it made no difference. Galont is trying to find out if Nichols owed anyone enough for them to kill him, or if anyone owed him enough to try to avoid paying up. Galont says that most murders can be solved by concentrating on the three basic issues of M.O.M."

  "Mom?"

  "Motive, Opportunity, and Means. The doctor pegged the time of death at 2345 hours, give or take five minutes. Galont suspects that Nichols might have been gambling with someone who had to report for third watch duty and an argument broke out over credits owed, or perhaps it was a dispute over who won the game. The storage room where Nichols' body was found is reputed to have been a favored gambling spot of his. The location is remote enough that crewmembers could go there with little fear of being seen entering or leaving. Since there's nothing of significant value or danger stored there, the door is never locked."

  "So Opportunity is wide open," Jenetta said. "Practically everyone on board had an opportunity to be there alone with Nichols."

  "Essentially. As to Means, Major Galont hasn't found the murder weapon yet. Suspecting that it might have been disposed of in a waste chute, he's had all his Marines sifting through the contents of the waste containers, looking for anything that could have been used."

  "Yuck. I certainly don't envy them that job."

  "Nor do I. When they didn't find anything there, they sealed the inspected containers and began a systematic search of every escape pod, storeroom, cargo hold, locker, closet, and tool box. They've removed vent covers and put bots inside to crawl around and search for anything that might have been used as the weapon then hidden. All engineering access tunnels have been searched, and even the parked shuttles, tugs, and fighters have been inspected. Galont wants to solve this in the worst way. It turns out he knows Nichols' family. They grew up on the same GSC base and their fathers are friends. Nichols didn't get into the Academy because of truancy problems in high school. He reportedly headed to the racetrack whenever he could sneak away. And he should have made CPO long ago, but his gambling addiction kept him on Captain Corriano's bad side."

  "Captain Corriano may have feared putting too much trust in someone that might let him down in a pinch. Addictions of any sort tend to make people undependable. And gambling debt can make you untrustworthy. Space Command will downgrade the security clearance of anyone who owes a lot of money, even for legitimate reasons, because they might be tempted to sell information or perform traitorous tasks for our enemies."

  "Nichols had the gambling sickness alright, but I never knew it to affect his performance. While on duty he was all business. His finances weren't the best, but he had a decent balance in his credits account. Galont checked that early on. There were no large deposits or withdrawals recently."

  "Did anyone leave the ship between the time Nichols was killed and the time we departed for Higgins?"

  "No, ma'am. Major Galont checked that immediately. The killer has to still be on board. Three engineers did go outside in a work party to work on a sensor, but all returned when ordered by Commander Rodriguez. Witnesses state that none of the engineers was carrying anything that could have been the murder weapon, so it wasn't disposed of while they were outside. Airlock vid logs confirm that."

  "I assume he checked for fingerprints and had the room vacuumed for evidence?"

  "Yes. A housekeeping bot had cleaned the room that morning, so all the collected material had to be from the day of the murder. Galont said that they found skin flecks, hairs, or fingerprints for eight individuals, besides Nichols, himself, and the doctor. That's not conclusive though. He didn't find any from you or I, and we were both there following the murder. Each of the eight crewmembers had a valid reason for entering the storage room during their watch that day."

  "So we're still at square one," Jenetta said. "Any of the twenty-one-hundred crewmen on board could be the guilty party."

  "I'm afraid so, Captain."

  * * *

  Admiral Bradlee took a deep breath and expelled it quickly and loudly. "This is extremely distressing news," he said to the other nine admirals seated at the large horseshoe shaped table in the Admiralty Board Meeting Hall at Supreme Headquarters on Earth. They had just viewed the initial report filed by Captain Gavin in which he apprised them of the recently discovered message about a planned attack on Higgins.

  "Especially coming on the heels of such a great victory over the Raiders," Admiral Ressler said.

  "Great victory? We lost an entire ship and most of its crew," Admiral Hubera said. Then added, "Thanks to Ensign Carver."

  "Donald, we've already discussed that at length," Admiral Hillaire said. "There is no way that a case can be made for laying any blame at the feet of Lt. Commander Carver."

  Using his right index finger to pointedly poke the table in front of him for emphasis as he spoke, Hubera said, "Captain Gavin ignored a first-rate attack plan developed by our best minds at the War College and followed one that he credited Carver with developing, didn't he, Arnold?"

  "Yes, he did," Admiral Hillaire admitted as he leaned comfortably back in his chair. "And the strategy was brilliant. The proof is that we saved the convoy while destroying thirty-four Raider warships. The Delhi was not lost in battle, Donald. It was lost following the battle, when a frightened Raider captain tried to run away, and engaged his sub-light engines before checking to see if he had clear space ahead. That could have occurred no matter whose battle plan was being followed."

  "Peabody lost over five hundred crewmen and we lost nine-hundred twenty-seven," Admiral Hubera said doggedly.

  "We, this board, made the decision to allow the convoy to be bait for the Raiders, not Lt. Commander Carver. And the Raider fleet lost fifteen-thousand six-hundred seventy-one crew members; most of whom were killed in battle."

  "And now Captain Gavin has appointed Carver to captain the Song," Hubera persisted.

  "He's following his orders," Admiral Hillaire said. "After this board decided to promote Carver, and place her aboard the Prometheus as the second officer, I contacted Admiral Holt and asked him to see that Carver had opportunities to show what she can do. He passed that request on to Captain Gavin, who appointed Carver as captain of the Song because of her command experience. I also requested that the senior SCI officer in that deca-sector, Commander Kanes, prepare a full evaluation of Commander Carver's time since graduation from NHSA. You probably recall that he worked with the JAG office to develop the prosecution's case for the Carver court-ma
rtial.

  "I admit that having Carver become captain of the Song is a bit beyond what I had intended, but according to Captain Gavin's reports she's done an outstanding job aboard the Prometheus as acting XO, and now she's done an excellent job of getting the Song's command reorganized after the entire senior staff was killed in battle. She's even managed to get the ship fully operational again after it withdrew from battle before the fight was over as the result of a crippling torpedo onslaught."

  Admiral Hubera was listening with keen interest, but saying nothing.

  "Why did you make such a request of Admiral Holt, Arnold?" Admiral Moore asked.

  "Instead of establishing a career path for Carver that would first see her attend the War College and then have her posted to a line officer position, we at the Academy steered her into becoming an astrophysicist. While I sincerely hope that Carver is the only officer whom we've failed to evaluate properly, I can't help but wonder if there were other superior command officers that were directed away from that career path because of our misjudgment. Oh, we all knew Carver was a brilliant student at the Academy, with a particular genius for mathematics and science. On IQ tests that don't require rapid response, she always scores in the genius range. She would excel at almost any task assigned her. But we misconstrued just how much her superior intelligence affected her performance in command and control exercises. What we perceived as indecisiveness was apparently a natural tendency to evaluate every detail in the extreme. She was over-analyzing every scenario. We should have been teaching her how to proceed with her first instincts, but instead we simply gave up on her and directed her to a career path in astrophysics that allowed her as much deliberation as she desired. Fortunately for us, she somehow gleaned the ability to make the split-second decisions required of a command officer on her own. I was hoping that by closely monitoring her performance I could determine what it was that made her change so remarkably."