Valor At Vauzlee

by DePrima, Thomas

  Although Jenetta hadn't related the details of her involvement with the tactics used in the two battles to her parents, she wasn't exactly trying to hide them. She had purposely evaded explaining about the injury for which she was receiving the second Purple Heart, but since she seemed sound of limb with no visible scars, her mother had not pressed the issue. If the press really did have the story about the assassination attempt, it would shortly become common knowledge, so Jenetta decided it was better that they hear the full accounts from her first. She related the whole story regarding Pretorious during the tour. Her mother clutched her arm tightly as she told them about hitting him with the viewpad, and then kicking him as he fired. Her mother insisted on seeing the wound immediately and Jenetta allowed her to open her tunic and raise her blouse to see the spot where she was shot, although it was hardly proper for a ship's captain to allow that in a corridor.

  "But there's nothing here, honey," her mother said. "Not even a scar."

  "I told you that it healed."

  "But there should be entry and exit scars if you were shot by a laser pistol, and haven't received corrective surgery," her father said.

  "I healed without scars. It seems to be a benefit of the DNA procedure that was performed on me. I heal exceptionally faster than most other people, and the injuries mend without leaving marks or scar tissue. Even the old compound fracture scar that I had on my leg, the one from when I was injured after falling out of the tree when I was seven, has disappeared. X-rays don't show any evidence that the leg was ever broken, nor is there any discernible evidence of a fracture from when my arm was broken during the seizure of the Prometheus."

  "And the battle tactics rumor?" her father asked candidly.

  "Alright," Jenetta said softly, smiling. "I'm guilty. I'm the one who came up with the insane plan to initiate our attack on the Raider fleet at Vauzlee with just the Prometheus so that we could cause as much damage as possible before the Raiders knew of Space Command's presence in the area."

  "That was you?!" her mother said in shock.

  "When one takes the time to study it closely, dear," her father said, "they understand that it wasn't insane at all. In fact, I believe that I told Jenetta that it was inspired back when I thought that Gavin was responsible for developing it. Having learned that my daughter was the architect filled me with— awe. And the defensive plans at Higgins? They were yours also, were they not?"

  "I made some suggestions, Dad. I haven't viewed the battle logs or the re-created simulations yet, so I don't know how closely they might have followed them."

  "The inside story I've heard is that they followed them to the letter. You've stirred up quite a controversy at the War College, honey. I understand that half the instructors have branded you impulsive and reckless, while the other half are insisting that your innovative tactics be immediately incorporated into a new Station Defense Operations Manual."

  "I seem doomed to be at the center of controversy," Jenetta said.

  "A famous showman once said that there's no such thing as bad publicity," her father said grinning. "As long as your name continues to be associated with outstanding success in battle, let the controversy reign. Admiral McGinty at the War College was so impressed that he asked me to drop over and see him."

  "Has he offered you a teaching position?"

  "Me? No. He doesn't want me, honey; he wants you. He wondered if I might be willing to help persuade you to accept a full professorship at the college. He'd like you to teach a course in Modern Warfare Techniques. He says that he spoke to Holt, but Holt refuses to release you from his command structure unless you request a transfer. McGinty says that he can promise you a promotion to full Commander within five years, and to Captain within fifteen if you transfer to the War College."

  "Me? A professor? I don't think so, Dad. I just got what I've worked for my entire life, a line officer posting aboard the best ship in the fleet. If I ever manage to make captain, I want it to be on a ship, not in a classroom."

  "I told McGinty that your heart was in space, but I also promised him that I'd pass along his offer."

  Sadly, Jenetta couldn't go planet-side with her parents following their special tour of the Song, but as she walked them to the Earth shuttle dock for their trip home, she promised to come down as soon as possible. Her security detail again fell in around her as she left the ship. They cleared the way and kept anxious admirers from getting too close to Jenetta and her parents. She later stood at a viewing port and watched as the small ship backed away from the airlock. She remained there until the ship was lost from sight. Her mother's perfume and her father's cologne were still fresh in her mind as she entered the Song again. The officer of the deck smiled at the expression of happiness that replaced the normally staid façade.

  The following morning the Song backed slowly away from the docking pier at Earth Station Two and made the quick trip to the Mars shipyard. The Geneva and Buenos Aires had traveled overnight, and were already berthed inside enclosed repair docks. The Prometheus and Chiron were scheduled to arrive at Mars later in the day.

  The ship yard at Mars is enormous. Located in fixed orbit above the red planet, seventy of the hundred ship berths are totally enclosed. Once the massive end doors are sealed, the berth is pressurized so that workers didn't need full E.V.A. suits. The enclosed berths are used both for laying the keels of new ships and for repairs and refits where the hull has to be opened. Once a new or repaired ship is fully pressurized, it can be moved to one of the ‘open' berths for completion. They aren't completely open, of course. A skeletal structure around the vessel offers a number of advantages, such as lighting and anchor points, but workers do have to wear full E.V.A. suits. So if enclosed berths are available, ships are kept inside. The extent of the necessary repairs justified the removal of five newly built ships, as yet un-pressurized, from enclosed berths to make room for the five ships returning from Higgins.

  As the Song waited for traffic in the yard to be halted so it could proceed to the appointed berth, its shuttles, tugs, and fighters were launched. The fighters proceeded down to the planet where they would be housed in an underground base for the duration. The tugs and shuttles were flown around to the rear of the berthing structure and parked in a docking bay from which they could be launched at any time. If the small vessels weren't stored elsewhere, they would be stuck inside the enclosed berth until repairs were complete and the dock opened.

  The gargantuan doors of the berthing structure were opened wide to receive the ship, but the almost kilometer long vessel was ordered to come to a halt outside and wait. Within minutes, yard tractors arrived and attached themselves to the ship. When all were secure, they took control of the ship and very slowly moved it into the enclosed space. It was another hour before all movement ceased. Tether lines attached to the ship held it securely in position.

  Although every damaged hull plate would be replaced, most of the ship would remain pressurized. Even if the berth structure suddenly lost atmosphere, the ship was safe for habitation. Half the crew had already departed and would spend the next month on shore leave, before returning to allow the other half to leave. Half of the Space Marine contingent would likewise remain aboard at all times to provide continued security aboard ship.

  At the yard director's office Jenetta inquired about turning over responsibility for the ship.

  "I'm sorry, Commander," Mr. Quintana said, "but many of the regulations have changed since the Raiders were able to steal the two battleships from our yard. Now, once a ship has been commissioned, only the next commanding officer can accept responsibility for it, unless the ship has first been decommissioned. I certainly can't accept it. Uh, do you know who will be relieving you?"

  "I haven't been told who will be taking command of the Song," she said. "I was only ordered to bring it here."

  "Might I suggest that you contact Supreme Headquarters?"

  "Yes, I will. Thank you, Mr. Quintana."

  "In the meantime, as the ship
's present commanding officer, you'll be available for regular consultation regarding the repairs and the schedule?"

  "I suppose that I will."

  "Excellent. And, by the way, welcome home, Commander. All Earth is waiting to greet Jenetta Carver and thank you for what you've done."

  "Thank you, Mr. Quintana," Jenetta said smiling. "I'm delighted to be home again."

  "Captain Charles Yung of the Frigate Roosevelt will be the new captain of the Song?" Jenetta repeated to the aide at the Admiralty Board that had finally been able to answer the question she had been asking everyone she could reach for the past hour.

  "Yes, Commander. The Admiralty Board has confirmed his COAC selection and appointment."

  "And can you tell me when he'll relieve me of command?"

  "He's received and acknowledged his orders. I understand that he's on his way to Earth now. He should arrive here in— oh about— seven or eight months, assuming no other delays or course deviations."

  "Seven or eight months?"

  "Yes, ma'am. The Roosevelt has been on patrol out in deca-sector 8667-1844. Captain Yung has hitched a ride back aboard the Destroyer Tokyo, but she's an older ship and it will take at least that long for her to arrive here. You're to remain in command until he relieves you."

  "I see. Thank you, Commander."

  "My pleasure, Commander. Welcome home."

  "Thank you," Jenetta said just before pushing the com cover down. She snorted slightly. She might be technically in command of the Song, which prevented her return to the Prometheus, but that wasn't going to keep her stuck aboard ship. She touched the face of her Space Command ring, and when a carrier was initiated she asked for Lieutenant Ashraf.

  "Yes, Captain," she heard in her head.

  "Lori, could you come into my briefing room please."

  "Right away, Captain."

  A few minutes later, Ashraf entered in response to Jenetta's command to the door interface.

  "You wanted to see me, Captain."

  "Yes, Lori. Have a seat." After the lieutenant had sat down, Jenetta said, "It appears that I shall be remaining in command longer than I expected."

  "Wonderful, Captain," Ashraf said smiling.

  Jenetta couldn't help but smile. Each extension of her command time aboard the Song had been greeted similarly by Ashraf. "But I need some time with my family. So I'm going to leave you in command out here while I enjoy some liberty time. You have adequate personnel to keep the bridge fully staffed, and you can always contact me if you have any problems. My folks live just outside the base, so my CT should function, but I'll bring a portable repeater with me to insure that you can always get through. Since the ship is sealed inside a space dock, I don't expect problems here to be many."

  "No, ma'am. I can't see many problems arising while we're in space dock."

  "If you have no further questions, I'm going to take a shuttle down to my parent's home."

  "Have a wonderful shore leave, Captain."

  "Thank you, Lori."

  The commander of a SC warship enjoys certain personal privileges not extended to most other crewmembers. One was full access to the ship's support craft. Since the square rigger days, captains had always had a small vessel reserved for their use. Although the Song didn't have a shuttle reserved exclusively for the captain, there were several from which Jenetta could choose, rather than waiting for one of the yard's shuttles that made regular runs to the orbiting stations. By having her own transportation, she would also be able to return to the ship immediately if a problem arose. Her parent's home was just off-base, in an area occupied exclusively by SC officers and their families. There was even a special gate onto the base from the adjoining, secure housing community.

  She received permission to land on the Potomac SC base without having to identify herself personally over an open communication channel. She was logged simply as a shuttle flight from the Song. Wanting to keep as much distance between herself and the newsies as possible, she then swore the grinning ground crew to silence about her presence once she had exited the craft. She knew that her presence must be reported to the base command structure, but she hoped that some overeager public relations officer didn't issue a press release.

  The base commander, upon learning of her arrival as she touched down, had immediately placed a military ‘oh-gee' vehicle at her disposal for the entire length of her stay on Earth. As she cruised towards the home where she had spent all of her young life before entering the Academy, she breathed deeply. This was her first time dirt-side since landing on Obotymot a year earlier and she enjoyed the smells that assailed her nostrils and the sounds that reached her ears. There was the familiar fragrance of the flower gardens meticulously maintained by armies of gardener bots, the sounds of happy children playing in a base schoolyard, and even the faint smell of saltwater from the not too distant Chesapeake. It was wonderful to have the sun on her face and arms, and the wind in her hair. The most difficult part of her drive home was keeping under the posted speed limit. She had a penchant for high speed.

  Jenetta slept in her own bed that night for the first time in more than twelve years. Initially, her parents had kept everything because her body hadn't been recovered. They'd clung to a tiny sliver of hope that she would be found alive. Later, when Space Command had listed her as officially ‘missing and presumed dead', they had just never gotten around to disposing of her things. Eventually, they'd packed everything up and stored it in the attic, but after learning that she'd been found alive and well, they'd reassembled the room to appear as it had when she'd left. They'd even gotten the gel-comfort bed's controls set the way that she liked them.

  Billy and Richie arrived home the next day. There was a dynamic reunion with lots of hugging and laughing, and discussions that lasted late into the night. The following days were more of the same. They had eleven years to catch up on, after all. Billy never let on that he harbored any jealousy towards Jenetta and she began to wonder if it was all in her father's imagination.

  On Thursday, Andy arrived home, and on Friday, Jimmy showed up. Each arrival was another occasion for celebration and more long discussions. Jenetta never mentioned it, but she was dismayed by how much older everyone seemed. For them it was twelve years since she had left Earth, but to her it seemed only a year and a half, and she neither looked nor felt much different than when she left. Her appearance actually made her feel much more like a ‘kid' sister than she had even before.

  Being together allowed them to discuss things they hadn't felt comfortable talking about in vidMail messages. Jenetta was shocked to learn that Billy had married. Three years after Jenetta's ‘death,' he'd married a young woman he met at Belagresue. Unfortunately, the marriage only lasted two years. She'd said that she understood there would be long absences, but wasn't really prepared when he didn't return home in the two years following the honeymoon. She divorced him before he again received leave and he had never seen her again. He'd come to realize during their separation that the marriage hadn't been a wise one to begin with because their interests were too diverse. He was now engaged to another woman, but this time she was a Space Command ‘brat'. The daughter of a Master Chief Petty Officer, she was one of three siblings. Her father had been away most of her life and was currently serving on the GSC frigate Washington. She claimed that her life had been wonderful at the base and was both fanatically devoted to the military and fully prepared for the long absences. Her parents heartily approved of the union. Billy and Regina were to be married as soon as he could arrange leave and travel to Concordia SCB. He showed Jenetta and everyone the latest images he had of her. In one she was sitting with her sisters. The three attractive blondes didn't stop laughing during the entire thirty seconds that the animated image ran. Jenetta wished him all the happiness in the galaxy with his bride to be.

  Richie was likewise engaged to be married. His future bride lived on the Sebastian Colony. The daughter of a vintner, they had met three years earlier and Marisa had twice trav
eled to meet with him when he could arrange leave on a suitable planet. They were hopelessly in love and he showed Jenetta an animated image that he always carried with him. Jenetta liked the auburn haired beauty's smiling face and she told Richie how happy she was for him. The couple planned to settle on Earth after they were married, although he would be gone more than he was home. His future wife had already met Mom and they'd hit it off right away. If he could arrange for housing in the area, his new wife would have family nearby.

  Andy and Jimmy both had special people in their lives, but hadn't advanced to the point of talking marriage yet. Andy's girl was a lieutenant aboard his ship. He and Linda were on the same watch, although she was a supply officer while he was a line officer. Jimmy was involved with a Lieutenant(jg) who was a nurse. Unfortunately, they were on different watches and that made their lives difficult. She was always going off watch when he was going on. Even on the same ship, love can be difficult.

  Her brothers asked Jenetta if she had met that special someone yet, but she replied that she hadn't had time. She said she had been too busy kicking Raider butt to think about love. That drew a loud avalanche of ribbing and several jealous comments about her being out where the action was while they were stuck in backwater sectors where the most exciting thing to happen was when a smuggler tired to evade their checkpoints.

  * * *

  Councilman Strauss was the last to arrive for the special meeting of the Lower Council. Rather than taking his usual place he sat down in the chair at the head of the table that Chairman Gagarin usually occupied.

  "I have an announcement," he said. "Chairman Gagarin has retired from the company. Apparently, the severe losses we've suffered while he headed the Lower Council have led the Upper Council to institute a few changes. I have been named as his successor."