Isaac shrugged. “Well, I would have been, but Al-shira came up and gave me orders to bring these reports to you.” He handed Jacob a reader with a smirk. “I guess she wanted to make sure they got to you without some ensign screwing them up.”
Jacob set his jaw. “I’m sure she did.” He looked over the reports. “So there have been more strikes along the border?”
The question sobered Isaac a little. “Yeah. It looks like the Odurans are warming up again.” He glanced around the small room, his eyes glancing over the simulation. “From what I can tell the internal mess over there has only gotten worse, and now they’re winding up for something big. If something doesn’t change soon, we might end up the only working part of the Navy.”
Isaac’s tone was wry, but Jacob could sense the worry behind the words. Scanning quickly over the reports of Oduran raids, Telosian attacks and other skirmishes, he was forced to agree. Things were not looking good for the Union.
“So what’s this?” Laurie’s question brought his attention up from the reports. Jacob saw her staring at the simulation, adjusting the controls to examine the formations of the ships. He stifled a groan.
“Nothing. Some simulations I was running through.” It was his desperate hope she wouldn’t realize the losses he was taking. Even with the modifications to the ships, his forces were barely eking out a victory. The casualty list would have made Wayward pale by comparison; had they been real and Jacob had survived, the Council would have had him shot.
“Is that so?” She gave the simulation another, closer look, and Jacob shifted uncomfortably. His discomfort grew when Isaac stepped over to take his own look at the shifting warships. Then the Gunnery officer looked over and smirked.
“So I see you’re already testing the new designs out, huh? How are they working out for you?” There was an undisguised pride in Isaac’s voice, and Jacob smiled in spite of himself.
“They’re doing pretty well so far. In simulation, at least.” Jacob raised his eyebrows. “To be sure you’ve actually pulled it off, we’re going to have to do some actual flight trials. How are the repairs going, anyway?”
Isaac turned away from the simulation; Laurie began to tinker with the projector’s controls, rewinding the progress of the battle as she watched the ships. “Well, I think we’re doing just fine. The cleanup work is already moving along, and the new riftjump generators and Capistans are already being put in.” He shook his head. “That brother-in-law of yours is a piece of work, Jacob.”
“He’s not my brother-in-law.” The words came out a bit more stubborn and harsh than Jacob intended, and he had to ease back a little before he continued. “But you’re right. We’re lucky to have him. The new Capistan design is going to be very effective.”
Laurie was distracted from her study of the simulation long enough to give him an exasperated look, but Jacob didn’t add anything to his acknowledgement of Michael’s work. The grudging praise probably fell short of what the young engineer had accomplished, but in Jacob’s view it only barely balanced out the fact Michael was still seeing Catherine on a regular basis.
Rather than a single, easily damaged Capistan in the center of the ship, Michael had installed two smaller Capistans, each nearly a quarter the size of the original one. Both were hooked up to a standard destroyer riftjump generator, feeding the energy they drew from dark energy currents into the system that jumped the ship between the stars. They had each been built with redundancy in mind, meaning if one of the Capistans took a hit, the other could continue functioning, albeit at a slower pace.
Normally a smaller Capistan, even two of them, meant the destroyers would take nearly three times as long to charge for a jump, if not longer. The difference was, as Jacob understood it, in the power of the sails the smaller Capistans had been given. While a larger sail might capture more dark energy current across its greater sail surface, Michael had instead chosen to increase the intensity of the sail generated by the Capistan. The standard dark energy sail caught only a fraction of the energy flowing through the universe, but it was more than enough to generate unreal amounts of power. Michael’s sails caught nearly fifty to eighty percent more, which meant the double Capistans could easily generate enough energy for a jump. There was still a slight delay compared to the normal arrangement, but it was only an average of twenty to thirty percent longer than normal jumps took, and if that was the cost of thicker armor, Jacob would have paid it gladly twice over.
It didn’t mean he had to be best friends with his sister’s boyfriend, though. At least, neither Al-shira or Catherine had told him so yet.
Before Laurie could offer her opinion, Jacob asked his own question. “Laurie, how are the reporters treating you? Have you had any problems with the conferences?”
Laurie’s rebuke vanished as she made a gallant attempt at a solemn expression. Her eyes betrayed her amusement. “I’m afraid they aren’t nearly as well attended as they used to be.”
Isaac snorted, and Jacob had to fight to keep from adding a chuckle to the mix. “Is that so? How disappointing.” In truth it was exactly what he had expected to hear, given Laurie’s method of reporting on the project. “They weren’t interested in the material you gave them?”
Her smile began to twitch at her lips. “Well, I suppose they weren’t. I can’t imagine why. I mean, you can learn so much from reading dispatches from the Office of Fleet Legal Codes and Regulations out loud. We’re all the way up to Section 4-b12: Acceptable Waste Removal!”
Jacob had no hope of avoiding a chuckle this time, not when Isaac’s smile showed he was so obviously proud of his devious wife. “What an appalling lack of dedication on the part of the media. How many are still coming?”
“Three. But only Nicholas stays through the whole thing.” She shook her head. “I think he mostly wants to talk to me about my experiences aboard the Wolfhound. And he enjoys the catering, I suppose. Everyone else has stopped pestering me, and there hasn’t been anyone trying to get to the workers to interview them, so I think we are secure.”
“Glad to hear it.” Jacob felt a short burst of relief at her confident tone. Before she had started her strategy of sheer monotony, there had been quite a few attempts to breach the project’s security. To hear she had been able to bore the press corps out of paying attention to Jacob’s activities was incredibly good news.
Not that any of them were about to forget about him. He’d hadn’t had much of a chance to watch the news lately, not with both the reconstruction of his ships and the simulations to worry about, but even four weeks after the event, he was still seeing video from Nivrosky’s court martial. The dedication the news reporters showed to that particular portion of the trial mystified him, but it seemed to have stopped Kenning’s plans to use his files as blackmail. No sudden breaking announcements relating to those reports had surfaced, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t. Jacob still felt the danger of that threat hovering over him sometimes, but at the very least he wouldn’t have reporters crawling all over his project when it did.
He stopped a sigh and turned back to Isaac. “So how are we doing on the rest of the reconstruction? Are we on schedule?”
Isaac nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely we are. Wolfhound is about ready to start trials again, and Beagle is not far behind. We could probably have the engineers do their pressurization tests and basic maneuvering tests next week.”
Jacob let out a low whistle. The speed at which those two ships had been refitted was a testament to both the dedication and the skill of the yard workers at Reefhome; the dedication and motivating influence of a certain Lieutenant Turley couldn’t be discounted either. True, those two ships had been the easiest to refit, but the accomplishment wasn’t any less impressive. “So you’ve already got all the high-speed guns shifted over to Beagle?”
The Gunnery officer’s smile grew exponentially. Jacob could almost hear Isaac reserving the position to supervise those weapons for himself. “Yeah. I can’t wait to see them in actio
n. Twelve high-speed railguns on one destroyer? The Odurans won’t know what hit them.”
Laurie, who’d turned back to the simulator, let out a small sigh. “Boys and their guns. What are the sane officers in this Navy supposed to do?”
Isaac only grinned, and Jacob found it hard not to match the smile himself. While the reconstruction work moved forward, Isaac had not wasted any time before he started rewriting the tactical handbook for destroyer weapons design. Each of the four destroyers had been assigned a role in the ‘wolfpack’ he had created in his initial concept, and Beagle was Isaac’s favorite demonstration of the concept. The heavy gun decks had been stripped out completely, making room for the longer ranged guns from Feist and Setter. The extra high-speed guns extended the effective range of the ship’s fire at the cost of her close range efficiency.
Wolfhound, to Jacob’s relief, had been left with her standard loadout as a general-purpose stock model of the new destroyer class. With nine heavy railgun mounts and three high-speed railgun turrets, the Wolfhound had proved herself the bane of any small craft within reach. At point blank range, the heavy turrets were devastating, while the longer ranged high-speed guns had provided a decent punch at medium range as well. Not that Jacob did not appreciate the changes Isaac was making, but it would be a relief to have his squadron flagship be something predictable and easy to adapt.
Unlike, of course, the last two ships in his squadron. He cleared his throat. “What about Feist and Setter? Have you figured out how you’re going to adapt the design plans?”
A shadow of discomfort crossed Isaac’s face, and he crossed his arms. “Well, it turns out the weapons we needed turned up. We can start installing them as soon as the decks are cleared out.”
Jacob blinked in surprise. “You’re kidding. I thought you were planning on installing missile and torpedo launchers on Setter and plasma lances on Feist. The Navy said they didn’t have any available.”
Isaac nodded, a hesitant expression plain on his face. “True. I guess they must have found some, because they came on a transport yesterday.”
Laurie grunted. “Yeah. They were originally supposed to go to New Vermont, but what do you know, they ended up here.” Isaac shot her a glare she ignored with queenly dignity. Jacob was glad neither of them had been looking at him. His jaw had nearly hit the floor.
New Vermont was the Navy headquarters and the most massive shipbuilding area in the Union. It was only a matter of time before someone in the New Vermont yards noticed something, and Jacob was sure it was going to be a headache when they did. He hesitated. “So has anybody noticed the, ah, misdirected weapons shipment?”
The question actually broke Laurie’s concentration for long enough her to smirk back at him. “Not that we’ve noticed. Who would’ve thought a shipment like that one would have slipped under their radar so easily?”
Isaac’s apparent discomfort increased, and Jacob could sympathize. He could already hear the complaints of superior officers filling his ears—they sounded suspiciously like Captain Upshaw—when they finally tracked down where the lost shipment had gone. Not that they could do much more than complain at that point; knowing Isaac, the “misdirected” weapons were already being grafted into place as quickly as possible and would soon be impossible to remove without serious trouble.
Not that he had any intention of complaining to Isaac about it. The original designs Isaac had come up with would have terrified any rational Navy planner. Feist had been left with no long-range capability remaining at all, sacrificing those abilities to become a short-range nightmare. The damage to her port and starboard gun decks had been initially seen as a liability, but Isaac had taken the damage as an opportunity. The gun mounts had been completely torn out and the decks themselves heavily modified to make room for two plasma lances. The lances doubled the amount of heavy, close range lance fire that had allowed the Bloodthorne to become so feared. Four heavy railgun mounts had been shifted into the lower arm, supplementing the point blank firepower, while the electronic warfare modules had been moved to what had been the upper gun deck.
Such a concentration of short-range firepower would have left Feist open to longer ranged assaults. Isaac had kept the possibility in mind when he designed Setter. The destroyer’s gun decks had been so thoroughly savaged by shrapnel and shell fragments he had once again simply had them removed. In their place he had installed three missile launchers, complete with a large storage bay to allow extended long-range firepower. The upper gun deck, which had been nearly destroyed, had been rebuilt into the home of a pair of torpedo launchers, giving Setter the power to threaten even cruisers and dreadnaughts from a safe distance.
Both designs had their share of critics outside the project, but most of them were steadfastly ignoring the situation, likely in the hopes the Plowshare Project would die a lonely, funding-starved death. Without Isaac’s creative efforts to secure those needed weapons the project likely would have stalled, and if his opponents knew how much the project had already accomplished, they would probably start limiting his resources even more harshly. Jacob sighed. “So how quickly do you think we can get those two up and running as well?”
Isaac exchanged a thoughtful look with his spouse. Then he grinned. “Probably before they figure out the weapons are in the wrong spot, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Jacob shook his head, trying to hide a smile of his own. He looked over at Laurie, who was still studying the images of the simulation. She started to switch back through the various situations the High Admiral had given him, a speculative look on her face. “Laurie. What do you think about the squadron’s combat effectiveness? I know Isaac here’s in heaven, but I need someone sane to balance him out.”
She answered without abandoning her examination of the projections. “That depends. If any one of them was caught alone, they’d be in trouble. Especially if the Odurans figure out where each version is weak and focus on exploiting the flaw.” The ships in the projection had almost reached their starting positions where the computer would display their capabilities and designations. At that point Jacob would have no way to avoid her questions.
“As a formation, though… Setter could soften up an enemy task force from range, while Beagle and Wolfhound engage enemies at mid-distance. Anybody who breaks through all that would have to get through Feist, and I’m betting those lances will carve straight through most ships.” The simulation came to a halt, and she straightened up. “As long as we keep all four together, they’re going to be a tough nut to crack. I almost feel sorry for the Odurans who face them.”
Isaac rolled his eyes. “Glad to hear you’re on my side with this one, honey.” Laurie shot an outraged glare at Isaac, and her cheeks went red. For his part, Isaac looked as if his brain had caught up with his tongue and he was now seriously regretting his words. Jacob spoke up before Laurie could lay into Isaac; even before their marriage, she never had appreciated it when he was overly affectionate in front of other officers.
“What has you so interested in my simulations, Laurie? You seem to be almost as obsessed with them as Al-shira thinks I am.” The distraction was enough to spare Isaac Laurie’s immediate wrath, and the Gunnery officer gave Jacob a look of gratitude. Laurie either ignored it or didn’t notice as she turned her attention to Jacob.
“I was curious as to the choices for your stress tests, Jacob.” Laurie touched a control and restored the projections to the original circumstances, with the ships in their starting formations. “I can understand wanting to put versions of the ships through their paces, but the situation is a bit stacked against them. Why in the world would you have picked the Battle of Terragin for a stress test?”
Jacob’s embarrassment came to a skittering stop. “The battle of what? What are you talking about?”
She gestured to the simulation. “The Battle of Terragin. It was one of the worst defeats the Royal Fleet suffered in the past fifty years. The ship models are all updated—and the projected stats for the
new Hunter class destroyers look accurate, by the way—but that doesn’t change the basic layout.”
He looked from her to the simulation, and then back again. “You mean this was an actual battle? This was something that happened?”
Laurie looked baffled. “Well, yeah. It’s not a very widely known battle, even as disasters go—ninety percent casualties against Telosian pirates are something nobody brags too much about—but I scored high in most of the history classes, Hull. I know what I’m talking about.”
Isaac winced. “Ouch, Jacob. Even I’ve heard of that one. You must have really wanted to put my designs through the wringer, huh?”
Jacob walked over to the controls and switched it to the next simulation. “Did you recognize this one too?”
She nodded. “The Battle of Turngate. Not a very good one either. I don’t know if anyone got home from that one. We only knew about it because some of the prisoners got traded back by the League.”
Suspicion was roaring in Jacob’s mind, and he switched to the next one. “How about this one?”
From her expression, Laurie was starting to get a bit put out by the questions. “What is this, some kind of test?” He gave her a stern look, and she sighed. “Yes, sir. The Battle of Jefferson. That one goes back nearly to the start of the Royal Fleet. Again, pretty much a disaster.” She grimaced. “Not that it could have been much else. The only ships there were modified merchantmen against cruisers. Not even a genius could win that one. Or any of these battles, really.”
Then Laurie caught sight of his expression, and her face grew a bit alarmed. “Hull? What’s going on?”
Jacob forced himself to stay calm. Anger leeched into his voice, making his words cold and harsh. “It’s nothing, Laurie.” Her face showed her skepticism clearly, and he relented slightly. “These are the same simulations Admiral Nivrosky put me through on Badger. The only thing I changed was to add Isaac’s designs into the mix.”
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