Empty Casket Conspiracy (Terran Patrol Book 1)

by Lewis Dually

  “Sir, you should hear this.” Warren said as he patched an AM radio signal into the ship wide P-A.

  “That’s her boys.” The bellowing voice on the radio proclaimed. “The Cruiser Dawn Rising. Commanded by the best damned skipper in the whole damned Navy. Commander Allen Paul and his intrepid crew just back from the battle of Neptune where they gave one royal ass whipping to no less than three Alien Battleships.”

  So much for keeping a low profile I thought. I recognized the announcer as Ray Bishop and keyed the mike to respond. “Make that the best damned CREW in the entire Navy Mr. Bishop.”

  “Yes Sir Commander Sir!” Ray replied.

  “Ray, would you meet me on the promenade?” I asked.

  “Sure thing. I’m parked in dock seven. I’ll meet you at your gangplank.” He answered.

  Ten minutes later Chaffey maneuvered us into dock number one and the mag clamps locked us down. Opening the ship wide channel I addressed the crew.

  “This is the skipper speaking. Just a reminder that level two security protocols are still in effect. Damage parties will start repairs on the hull and internal systems. I need a security team to transfer our cargo to the station and medical crews will start moving our injured as well. We will conduct a memorial service for Ensign Blair at twelve hundred hours tomorrow. Lieutenant Schmitt will have the bridge. That is all.”

  I nodded at Gale and asked. “You got this?”

  “Yes Sir.” She replied.

  I left the ship with Walters and we were met by a cheering crowd as we exited the gang way. Ray Bishop was in the middle of the gathering and we made our way to him while enduring a rash of back slapping and congratulations.

  “Ray, how did everyone find out about this? It’s a classified mission.” I shouted over the roar of the crowd.

  Ray grabbed my hand and shook it hardily. “Some dang fool in the U E coms room screwed up and broadcast your report on an unsecure channel. Every ship in ten thousand miles heard it.”

  “Well crap!” I snorted.

  Ray turned to Walters and said. “Hey darlin, how’s my favorite niece?”

  I turned and looked at the two of them as she gave him a bear hug. “Niece?” I inquired.

  “Sure.” Ray replied. “Didn’t you know? Sara is my sister’s girl.”

  Giving Walters a questioning glance I said. “No, I didn’t know.”

  “Sorry Sir. I didn’t know you knew Uncle Ray or I would have told you.”

  Before I could say anything else two security officers stepped up. “Please come with us Commander. Admiral Albright is waiting.”

  CHAPTER 15: You Can’t Fix Stupid!

  We followed the security officers to Albright’s office near the top viewing deck. Being the only Admiral in charge of space opps. had its advantages. Albright had a fantastic view from his top deck office. The entire outer wall was one long curved window running floor to ceiling. As the station rotated he would get a panoramic view of the Earth, Moon and deep space every twenty two minutes. He motioned for us to take a seat as he finished up a conversation on his desk phone.

  When he finished he asked. “How’s it feel to be a hero?”

  “A little unsettling.” I replied. “I wasn’t expecting such a greeting after returning from a classified mission.”

  “Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. Lieutenant Marrow screwed up and broadcast your report to half the solar system. ENSIGN Marrow won’t make that mistake again. But I’ll say this, it’s been good for morale. The hand full of people who were aware of your mission have been walking around here like whipped pups with their tails between their legs. Their poor attitudes were rubbing off on everyone else. The whole station was getting a serious case of the blues and most of them didn’t even know why. The news of your victory has sparked new life into this place.”

  Albright paused while he fished a cigar from his inside jacket pocket. He looked at it as if he were surprised to find it in his hand and then put it back. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to quit and the urge was still in control of his hands or maybe he just remembered the station wide moratorium on smoking.

  Finally he said. “We don’t have a lot of time so let’s get down to business. I want to meet the Croiddan. Do you think they can help us decipher the information you recovered from the Krueg medical computers?”

  “Joydeus might be able to do that.” I replied. “He’s a radio tech but he might know a little about their computers. I was thinking about Ohven myself. He’s the MIT grad I mentioned in my brief and is supposed to be an expert on Krueg weapons. I’m willing to bet he knows their computers well enough.”

  “Good idea.” Albright agreed. “We can send a security team to pick him up. After you told us about him we tracked him down. He came back from the Belt three months ago and took a job in San Francisco for a research company with Navy contracts. He also worked for one of the developers on the GUTM reactors. The PDA has put a surveillance detail on him and as far as they can tell he’s not up to any mischief.”

  “Maybe it would be better if I took Joydeus and went for him. I have built some trust with Joydeus and he knows Ohven. It might speed things up, trust wise that is.”

  Albright considered that for a minute and then said. “Well I had other plans for you but you might be right. Before you go, help me with a decision. We have two new frigates just finishing up space trials and I want to send them out to meet the Krueg with the rest of the fleet. As you know, we only have four frigates, one cruiser, that would be yours, and one carrier in service, the Constellation, so two more will make a big difference. The problem is that nearly all of the crew on both ships are rookies. Even the Commanders are straight out of OCS training. We need seasoned commanders for those ships. Commanders who have seen combat. In other words commanders from your crew. I was going to promote Lieutenant Barnes to Lieutenant Commander and give him one but he’ll be at least three months recovering from his injuries. You promoted Schmitt to Lieutenant Second Grade. Why her instead of Chaffey or Warren?”

  “She has better command potential.” I said. “But she’s not quite ready for command yet. Chaffey is just as good but Schmitt has a year’s more experience so I chose her.”

  “What about Warren?” Albright asked.

  “He’s good at his job but he doesn’t have, nor will he ever have, the ability to command, Sir.”

  Albright fiddled with his watch for a few seconds and then looked up at me. “Ok then. I’m promoting Schmitt to Lieutenant and giving her command of a new Frigate, UES 185 Crimson Moon. She’ll have to step up and be ready. I assume you’ll want Chaffey for your First Officer so I’ll promote him to Lieutenant Second Grade. Will that work?”

  “Yes Sir. Will she have anyone with experience on her crew?”

  “Master Chief Emit Bailey is the Cob on that boat and he’s an eighteen year veteran sea dog. This is his first space deployment but he pulled seven years on a sub and he’s as good as they come.”

  “What about the engineering crew?” I asked.

  “All rookies, every last one of them.” Albright said and almost groaned as he did.

  “Well in that case I would appreciate you putting Seaman Lloyd with her. He’s young but very capable and I’m recommending him for a battle field commission to Ensign.”

  “Done!” Albright agreed. “And you can go down to OCS and pick out two cadets to fill your bridge crew. Take a shuttle and drop Schmitt and Lloyd on the Crimson Moon, pick up Ohven and get your cadets.”

  “Yes Sir.” I said. “Two more things. First, do you have any word on Dr. Shaw’s condition and second, I want to promote my aide to Lieutenant Second Grade.”

  Albright looked at Walters and said. “Absolutely, Ensign Walters you are hereby promoted.”

  “Thank you Sir.” She replied. “And Dr. Shaw?”

  “Shaw is in San Diego and the last I heard he was still in the coma. They plan to bring him out tomorrow. We’ll just have to wait and see how that goes. I thought you weren�
��t very fond of Shaw?”

  “He grew on us.” I replied. In fact I was really starting to like the man.

  I left Walters to do some more investigating into the missing persons reports from the belt. I had come to the conclusion that the missing persons were actually Croiddan refugees heading to their outpost but Walters was still digging. What she was looking for I didn’t know, but I had learned to trust her judgment so I let her run with it while I returned to the ship and met the Croiddan as they were leaving. I shook hands with Antwon and assured him I would look after Joydeus. Then I found Gale and called her into my ready room.

  “Have a seat and let’s talk a bit.” I said.

  Gale sat down on the corner of the coffee table in front of my desk and started giving me an update.

  “We have refueled and taken on one hundred TSP’s, that’s the official designation for the tungsten steel rounds, and we are setting up for the memorial service in the shuttle bay. The station chief has started replacing the damaged hull plates and they are going to apply the new EMP shielding over that. They have fabricated panels of the stuff that will fit like a glove so we won’t look like a giant rock zipping through space. Personally I like the rock look, Sir. It’s kind of like camouflage. They estimate completing our repairs and upgrades in seventy two hours.”

  “Excellent” I said. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. Albright has decided to promote you to Lieutenant and give you command of a new frigate, the Crimson Moon UES 185, just finishing up space trials. You will be an acting Lieutenant Commander and you will take Lloyd with you. He has been given a battlefield commission to Ensign.”

  Gale just sat there looking at me like I was talking in some foreign language. Finally she said. “Say what?”

  I grinned at her and said. “Congratulations SKIPPER.”

  “I’m not ready for that Sir.” She blurted out. “Not ready at all. I’ve been your first officer for less than two days and now I’m supposed to command my own ship?”

  I walked around my desk and sat down on the corner of it across from Gale. “I admit it’s a little sudden but you’re the best qualified officer we have.”

  As soon as the words were out of my mouth I wished I could take them back. You are our only option wasn’t exactly a morale booster. It was like saying I wish we had better but we’ll have to settle for you.

  I reached out a hand to her shoulder and said. “That didn’t come out right. It’s like this. That ship needs a skipper who is battle tested and you are battle tested. You instinctively took command when I was knocked out and oversaw the restoration of our power and gravity as well as sending the Marines to set up surveillance on the Krueg. That instinct is something they can’t teach in OCS. You’ve been right there on the bridge for every action we’ve been in for the past two years and you know the ships systems inside and out. I know you’re ready. You just have to realize that for yourself.”

  Gale turned her head and looked back towards the bridge door. “It’s not the command of the ship that bothers me Sir. It’s the command of the crew. I’m afraid I will get too personally attached to them to be an effective commander.”

  “That happens to a lot of commanders during their first command. It’s part of that learning process that you will go through.” I assured her. “You’re not going to have time to get attached to them right away. We are expecting the Krueg in two days and the Dawn Rising won’t be out of space dock for three so you’re going to be thrown into the thick of it right off the bat. You can get to know your crew after the battle. Right now you need to get over there and make sure the ship and crew are battle ready.”

  Gale stood up and reached out a hand to shake mine. I took it and said. “You will do just fine. If you have any questions or problems I’m just a call away on our new subspace coms. Good luck Skipper.”

  “Thank you Sir.” She said. “I won’t let you down.”

  We shook hands and then Gale went to her quarters to pack as I headed for the bridge.

  “Give me a ship wide channel.” I ordered Warren.

  “You’re on Sir.”

  “Attention crew. This is the Skipper. Ensign Chaffey, front and center.” Chaffey snapped to attention and I continued. “Ensign Chaffey you are hereby promoted to Lieutenant Second Grade and will take over as First Officer of the Dawn Rising. Congratulations.”

  I shook Chaffey’s hand and continued with the broadcast. “Gale Schmitt has been promoted to Lieutenant and is taking command of the frigate Crimson Moon UES 185. She’s packing her bags for immediate departure so you better say your goodbye’s now. That is all.”

  I looked at Chaffey and said. “I’m taking Gale to the Crimson Moon and then going to the surface. Probably be about twelve hours. You got this?”

  “Yes Sir. We’ll have all systems repaired in forty eight hours. Give Gale my best Sir.”

  “I will.” I said. “Forty eight hours seems a bit presumptuous when the station chief says seventy two. Are you trying to impress me?”

  I had always suspected Chaffey was capable of much more than his performance revues showed. He was one of those people who didn’t crave command so he didn’t advertise his abilities. I was about to find out just how good he really was. Gale was the one I worried about. She had the smarts and common sense to command but she had that super bright and cheery personality that might be a liability for her. I retrieved a dossier on Ohven and met her, Lloyd and Joydeus in the shuttle bay.

  “Sir.” Gale said as we departed. “Any words of wisdom for your former helmsman?”

  “Yes as a matter of fact, I’ll give you four things to remember. First, don’t let the crew run the ship. You’re the Skipper, it’s your way or the air lock. The Skipper is always right even when he’s wrong. Just don’t be wrong. Second, in this case the Skipper is a she. Some of the male crewmen won’t like taking orders from a twenty six year old prom queen. Maybe if you were ugly and gruff it would be better but you’re not. And your sunny disposition could be a disadvantage too. Third, find a friend. It’s lonely at the top and you need someone to confide in. Just make sure you don’t talk about the crew or ship’s operations with them. Keep the command stuff out of it.”

  Gale interrupted. “You mean like you and Granger?”

  “Yes. If you can find your Granger you’ll do ok. Fourth, and this is probably the most important. You can’t fix stupid. You can teach the ignorant and train the unskilled but stupid will always be stupid. Stupid is contagious and it will get you and your crew killed. If you have stupid on your ship, get rid of it fast.

  We carried on our conversation for another ten minutes or so until Lloyd called out. “Sir, there she is.”

  Gale stepped forward and peered out the front window at her new command. The UES 185 Crimson Moon was the first of the new Daystar class frigate. She was four hundred feet long with a forty six man crew and armed with forward and aft facing five hundred millimeter rail canons and ninety millimeter rapid fire guns.

  “That’s my ship Sir. What do you think?” She asked.

  “I think she’s a lucky lady.”

  Gale looked at me and proclaimed. “That’ll be her nick name Sir. The Lucky Lady.”

  Lloyd docked us with the Lucky Lady and we entered the assembly deck. The Crimson Moon’s entire crew was turned out in formation and they snapped to attention as the yeoman called out. “Officer on deck, all crew present and ready for inspection Sir!”

  Lieutenant Junior Grade Holmes stepped forward and saluted Gale. “Welcome aboard the frigate UES 185 Crimson Moon Sir. I relinquish command of the Crimson Moon to you Commander Schmitt.”

  Gale looked back at me for a second and then saluted the Lieutenant and said. “Thank you Lieutenant Holmes. I accept command and from now on you will address me as Skipper or Ma’am. I am not a Sir!” Then she commanded “Chief of the Boat.”

  Master Chief Emit Bailey stepped forward and shouted. “Yes Ma’am.”

  “Chief of the Boat, we have
a fire in forward battery room number two.”

  The veteran sea dog didn’t miss a beat. He turned and shouted to the crew. “FIRE DRILL, FIRE DRILL, MOVE IT PEOPLE, YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW GET TO IT. IF YOU DON’T WANT ME ON YOUR CASE THEN GO FASTER!”

  Gale’s new crew reacted surprisingly well. No panic or confusion, just quick orderly movement to their assigned duty stations. Gale turned to Lloyd and said. “Ensign Lloyd this isn’t a holiday.”

  Lloyd jumped and said “Yes Sir, Ma’am I mean.” and headed to the first officer for his duty assignment.

  Then Gale turned to me. “Thank you Sir. See you in the black.”

  “You bet.” I said. I took one last look at the proud new Skipper and then went back into the shuttle, closed the port hatch and sat down in the pilot’s chair. Watching Gale greet her new crew and adopt my habit of issuing a surprise fire drill had swelled my head with pride. I don’t have kids of my own but what I was feeling was the next best thing to it. I was as proud as all get out. I just hope it’s not the last time I see her. War was coming and all bets were off.

  CHAPTER 16: An Amazon Warrior.

  I looked over at Joydeus sitting behind the copilot chair. “The view is a lot better up here.” I said. He jumped up and climbed in beside me.

  “Thanks. Can I take her down?”

  “I don’t know, can you?” I asked.