"You're exhausted," Doctor O'Hara said. "If you don't slow down and get some rest, I'm going to relieve you of duty. I've been telling you for months to stop working so hard and now I mean it."
"Just a few more weeks, Doc," Admiral Vroman said. "The wall is almost done and then I'll take some time off to rest."
"That's exactly what you said at harvest time, exactly what you said when the forge was being built, and exactly what you said when you directed the cutting of trees across the river so the cleared area spelled out a message which could be read from orbit. If you don't stop now, you won't be around to say it during the next project. You're trying to run around like a sixty-year-old, but you're not a sixty-year-old. If you don't immediately schedule some time off and get some rest, I'll relieve you of duty. As the chief medical officer, I have that power, Admiral."
Admiral Vroman scowled. He knew the doctor was right. He knew his health was declining because he was pushing himself too hard. However, he had to keep pushing to get his people through this difficult time, but he also couldn't afford to have the doctor relieve him of duty. "All right, doctor, I'll slow down."
"No, you'll stop for one week. Then you can return to duty for two hours a day if I approve. It's up to you, Admiral. Get plenty of rest and you'll be upgraded a little at a time until you're back to an eight-hour day, but there will be no more eighteen-hour days."
"Yes, doctor. I'll go tell Captain Lindahl," he said as he started to get off the examination table.
"No, I'll have Captain Lindahl sent to you. You'll stay in your cabin for the next week, except for lavatory use. I'll have your meals brought there and you will do no work. No meetings, no planning sessions, nothing for one week."
Admiral Vroman sighed loudly. "Very well, you're the doctor. Am I permitted to sit outside my shelter for a few minutes each day?"
"Just for a few minutes at a time. The weather is getting cold and I don't want you to get a chill in your condition. Your body is not strong enough to fight off influenza and our medications are limited."
"Very well, Doctor."
"Come," Admiral Vroman said in response to a knock on the door.
Captain Lindahl opened the door and stepped into the shelter, pushing the door closed behind him. Admiral Vroman was sitting on the edge of his bed, his head hanging wearily. Lindahl had watched the Admiral drive himself tirelessly for months and always marveled at the strength of the octogenarian. As he moved closer to the bed, he said, "You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Yes, Captain. The doctor has ordered me to get some bed rest. You'll have to take over my duties and select someone to assume yours."
"Aye, Admiral. For a couple of days?"
"No, I'm going to be stuck in here for at least a week and the doctor says I can only slowly resume my activities after that. Better figure on performing most of my duties for as much as a month."
"Aye, Admiral. Get your rest and don't worry about a thing. You've got us running pretty smoothly and we'll carry on until you're better."
"Good. That's all, Captain."
"There is one thing I've wanted to discuss with you, sir, but I've been holding off until the North Pass wall was completed. Since we're quickly nearing that point, I guess now is a suitable time."
"Go on, Captain."
"It appears we're likely to be here for awhile. I believe we should send out some small expeditions to explore the surrounding territory. We could use additional food items since our diets have become pretty static."
"I'd like to approve such trips, but we know that great dangers exist outside our valley. We're not yet prepared to face down dinosaurs without walls or barricades."
"But the dinos have moved north until spring. We have months before they return."
"We don't know that for sure."
"No sir, but everything points that way. If we wait until spring, the dinos will be back and we'll definitely be stuck inside the valley again. We have the gelks for transportation and we can move pretty fast if we have to."
"If we had decent weapons I'd consent in a minute, but without weapons the explorers would be almost defenseless. Spears, knives, and bows aren't substitutes for a laser pistol. We still have much to do in the valley. For example, we need an entire road system so we can travel to any part of our valley and back in one day."
"Unless we leave the valley, we may never have any better weapons. We've made a few flintlock rifles, but we don't have any gunpowder. We produce charcoal for the smelter and the forge, and we can make potassium nitrate easily enough from excreta and rotting vegetable matter, but we need sulfur, the final ingredient, and we haven't found any in this valley. We also need lead for bullets, another item we haven't found in this valley. We have to get out and explore, sir."
Admiral Vroman knew they'd eventually have to send expeditionary teams out of the valley. Now, before the dinosaurs returned, and before it got too cold—if it was going to get colder—might be the best time. "Okay, Captain. No more than two teams of five crewmen should be sent out initially."
"Aye, sir," Captain Lindahl said smiling. "Commander Fannon will lead a team of foragers looking for new food sources and plants we can transplant to the farm, and Lieutenant Rimes can lead a team searching for the minerals and ores."
Admiral Vroman smiled weakly, trying to cover a sickening feeling of impending tragedy. No one knew what dangers existed on this planet, but the presence of dinosaurs was a good indication that the environment outside the valley was extremely hostile. Anything able to survive had to either be pretty fast or pretty damn nasty itself, so the dinosaurs probably weren't the only danger.
* * *
"Commander Jacoby to see you, Admiral," Jenetta heard as she sat at her desk reading a report.
"Send him in, Lori," she spoke back at the com unit.
A few seconds later, Jacoby entered her office and stopped in front of her desk. Her two cats sniffed the air and then relaxed as they recognized his scent.
"Have a seat, Derrick."
"Yes ma'am," he sat, selecting the chair that faced Jenetta from her left side.
"Almost two years ago you estimated we could have sixty of the former Milori ships ready for service in three years. According to your reports, you've completed thirty-eight so far. How many more do you think we could have completed by April of this coming year?"
"April? Is there a particular reason for that date?"
"Yes, there is. What I'm about to tell you is top secret and you mustn't repeat it. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Our intelligence information indicates that the Milori will attack this station before the middle of May. We must be ready to defend ourselves with every ship available by the end of April."
"Wow."
"Now, understanding the reason for my question, how many of the former Milori ships will be ready?"
"All sixty that I promised if I can delay unnecessary work."
"Define unnecessary work."
"All work which is not related to the performance of our spacecraft. For example, clearing waste disposal chutes in quarters where people have tried to jam objects too large for the chute instead of taking it to a large central chute in one of the corridors. The only one affected would be the one who caused the problem by improper use and they'll just have to take all their waste to a central chute until we find the time, manpower, and bots to clear theirs."
Jenetta grinned and chuckled. "Permission granted to delay such work."
"Okay, Admiral, we'll have the sixty ships ready by April. Perhaps a couple extra because we have the fourteen that were just brought in. A few are repairable."
"Excellent, Derrick."
"Uh, that figure includes the three ships that have already gone out on patrol.
"I understand. Thank you, Derrick. Dismissed."
"Aye, Admiral."
Jenetta had time to have a cup of coffee before her next appointment arrived. This time it was Commander Hammonton, the base's personnel offic
er.
"I know most ships are back to full strength now," Jenetta said, "thanks to the replacement crewmen that have arrived over the past year, and I need to put together some crews for ships that will be entering service for the first time. You're aware that Space Command Headquarters has promised the personnel to staff the new ships, but we can't wait for them to arrive. We must start putting the crews together now."
"How large should the crews be?"
"At least large enough to handle a destroyer in a fight. We'll need a full bridge complement, full gunnery complement, and about half the usual engineering complement. We can skip the fighter jocks and shuttle pilots, along with flight operations. We'll need a few cooks, a couple of doctors, half a dozen nurses, and whatever other support personnel are required for a basic crew complement of about two hundred."
"How many crews are you putting together, Admiral?"
"Sixty."
"Sixty?" Commander Hammonton croaked. "That's twelve thousand personnel."
"Yes, but I don't need them all immediately. I'd like to get them as soon as possible so they can begin training on the new ships, but I can wait until January for the entire group."
"But Admiral, most of these people would have to come from the personnel already assigned to ships on patrol."
"About three quarters of the ships in this command will be reporting back here before January. You can pull all the crews we need from them, Commander, and then refill key positions in the decimated crews from the remaining quarter when they arrive. I expect all ships in this command to be in port no later than May 1st."
"Is something big coming down, Admiral?"
"Yes, the biggest, but keep that under your hat. I have thirty-five new ships ready to go right now and as soon as you can get me some crews they'll begin training in their operation."
"The former Milori vessels?"
"Yes, we're going to need them very soon and the crews must be proficient."
"I see," Commander Hammonton said, nodding. "I'll get working on this immediately, Admiral."
"Make everyone understand this is a temporary re-assignment. Once the new personnel arrive from Space Command, and they're trained, the reassigned people can return to their former posts."
"Aye, Admiral."
"Thank you, Leslie. Dismissed."
* * *
Trader Vyx took a circuitous route to Admiral Carver's office to ensure no one was tailing him. When he was satisfied, he calmly entered the outer office. As Admiral Carver became more and more disassociated from the station's day-to-day business, her contact with anyone other than Space Command personnel or the representatives of planets in her sectors decreased substantially, so there was no one waiting to see her. Commander Ashraf announced his presence and he was invited to enter the Admiral's office almost immediately.
"Good morning, Admiral," he said. "I received your message. Do you have something for us?"
"Good morning, Trader. Coffee or tea?"
"Coffee sounds good."
"Help yourself and then have a seat."
Jenetta finished the report she had been reading while Vyx prepared his coffee and took a seat in one of the overstuffed chairs facing her desk. She looked up when she was done.
"What can we do to help, Admiral?" Vyx asked.
"I have a little project in mind for your team that should keep you busy for several months. Is your new ship ready and provisioned?"
Vyx nodded. "We can leave within an hour."
"Good. I'd like you to leave for Scruscotto today."
"We're ready, Admiral. Just tell me what you need."
Over the next ten minutes, Jenetta outlined her plan as Vyx listened intently, nodding occasionally.
* * *
Chapter Eleven
~ September 25th, 2279 ~
Commander Fannon led the two expeditionary groups out the North Pass gate and through the narrow mountainous pass. Each member of the expedition anxiously scanned the steep cliff walls that seemed to stretch endlessly towards the sky, alert for any sign of danger. Several kilometers later, they emerged on a ridge above a flat, heavily forested expanse. A magnificent snow-capped mountain range was visible in the far distance. Not knowing what they'd encounter, they hadn't been able to make specific plans for the two teams, so he and Lt. Rimes sat on their gelk mounts and quickly decided the direction each group would take. The foragers would turn west and travel down to the forest below, while the geologists would turn east and stay on the ridge that ran along the mountains. Each team consisted of an officer, three crewmembers that had knowledge useful to the expedition, and a Marine guard who would protect their rear and flanks. Both teams were carrying sufficient food and water for two weeks on pack animals. They intended to stay out for as long as possible, although they had standing orders from Admiral Vroman to return immediately if they encountered dinosaurs. The Admiral had insisted that each team take one of the power-nailers, an ample supply of nails, and two extra power packs. That, plus steel-tipped spears, steel knives, and crossbows with steel-tipped arrows, constituted their full array of weapons.
After a few more minutes of idle speculation about the vast panoramic scene before them, the two teams split up to begin their independent investigations. They'd made no plans to meet again before traveling back into the valley because they'd be without a means of communication once they'd lost sight of one another and wouldn't be able to coordinate their travels.
Commander Fannon's group picked its way slowly down the slope, all the time watching for signs of danger. They didn't need to remind one another that this was an alien and hostile world with potentially deadly threats at every step and turn. Fannon, the fully loaded power-nailer hanging by a lanyard around his neck, held his crossbow at the ready as he scanned both the trail ahead and the ground in front of his gelk, looking for signs of danger and animal tracks. As they moved into the forest, the dense overhead canopy of tree branches and leaves cut the light considerably, but it was still early on a cloudless day and they had adequate daylight for their work.
Most of the trees and plants were similar to those found in their valley, but they began to spot new species as well. Since this was an expedition to find new plants for food, medicine, and other practical applications, they stopped and cautiously took samples whenever they spotted something unique. Fannon made indications on a crudely drawn map of where they found each sample as they continued their trek. Small animals scampered through the forest undergrowth and swung or darted through the trees, but the foragers didn't bother with them as long as the animals appeared not to pose a threat. Most were similar to the small animals found in the valley. They also began to see dinosaur tracks, but the tracks were not fresh. The edges of the footprints were indistinct and they could discern the tracks of other creatures inside many of the dinosaur footprints.
* * *
Lieutenant Rimes' team rode along the ridge examining the rock and mineral structures from the back of their gelks until they saw something interesting. Each time they stopped, they took a small sample and made a notation on a hand-drawn map. Just a few hours into the trip, Lt. Rimes knew they'd have weeks of work examining and identifying everything that had captured their interest.
As the ridge slowly disappeared into the rock face of the mountain, it was necessary to work their way down the slope to where the edge of the forest met the descending wall of grey rock. They continued to stay close to the mountain as they moved further and further away from the narrow pass that led into their valley.
* * *
The foragers made their first encampment in a large clearing they happened upon several hours before sunset. Having come across few such clearings, Commander Fannon decided to stop there for the night rather than risk an encampment in the dense woods. After setting up their camp, they had plenty of time to investigate the surrounding vegetation and examine the ground for unusual tracks. Their saddlebags were beginning to fill up and they had to make sure any new samples were in f
act unique before adding them to those already gathered.
As night fell, they started their campfire, the consensus being that a fire would keep away the smaller creatures and perhaps even make larger ones more wary. So far, they hadn't seen any sign of dinosaurs; the largest creatures had been wild gelks. After watering the gelks, they constructed a simple corral of sorts around a good grazing area using ropes and wooden branches. The hobbled mounts could easily push their way out if they tried, but the hobbles would keep them from moving very far away. A sentry, armed with a crossbow and the power-nailer, would remain awake, waking his replacement after two hours. The power-nailer wasn't very accurate beyond five or six meters, but when testing it on the carcass of a dead dinosaur on the day after the herd attack, they found that from six meters away the nails would penetrate up to half a meter if they didn't strike bone.
To judge the time for guard duty, they'd brought along a simple wooden timepiece constructed by one of the Lisbon's engineers. It wasn't accurate enough for telling time, but it provided a consistent measurement. It would serve well as a timer. Dinner consisted of pre-cooked fish warmed over the fire, boiled tubers, and bread. They wouldn't eat anything newly discovered until the doctors back in the valley had checked it. They had enough pre-cooked fresh food for a week and then they'd be eating jerked gelk because they didn't have a means of preserving fresh food any longer than that while traveling.
As soon as the sun had set, the temperature dropped dramatically, but gelk hide blankets kept them warm and comfortable, even without the heat from the fire. It was difficult falling asleep that first night outside the valley, but weariness eventually won out over apprehension and sleep cocooned each of them until it was their turn to stand guard.
On the fourth day outside the valley, the foragers encountered a wide, slow moving river. Fannon was about to attempt a crossing when Chief Petty Officer Paula Corinth noticed a skeleton beneath the water a couple of feet from the shore. A closer investigation showed it to be the skeleton of a dinosaur. Commander Fannon used a tree branch to dislodge a bone, working it along the bottom until he got it ashore.
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