"Ok it's been six hours, almost, so what do we think?"
They all looked at Miho Ito.
"Well, six hours waiting is three light-hours range. I checked, and that's beyond the activation range of the FDR. If it's out there, it should have responded by now. If it's further away than that it won't hear the activation signal."
"Thanks. Thoughts?"
Surveillance Officer Ryan Lewis spoke up.
"The enemy is gone, sir. Let's get the long-range radars up and see if we can find anything of Otbara. We might also find some enemy wreckage. "
"You're not worried about being seen?" Navigator Alex Williams asked.
"Not immediately, no. If they show back up we'll just shut it down and run like hell."
The group laughed a little at that comment. Even the usually dour Williams smiled at the image. George looked at Ito.
"Lieutenant Ito, how long have you been up here?"
She looked at the clock.
"Uh, dunno, twelve hours maybe."
"OK, you pass off your status to the techs and get lost. After you get me Columbia, that is."
"Yes, sir."
"Lieutenant Lewis, go ahead and fire up the long-range radar. Let's see what's out there." George walked back to the Command position and picked up the handset. Talking to the Columbia XO, LCDR Barry Wood, they agreed it was time to start actively looking for signs of Otbara and anything else that might be useful. They also agreed to send Otbara a SLIP message in case she was nearby but remaining quiet for some reason.
ROUTINE 207805120900UTC
TO: OTBARA
CC: CINCFLEET
FROM: COLUMBIA
WITH ANTARES IN VICINITY GJ 1061
THREAT ELIMINATED
END
Ryan Lewis passed off the search task to the now-rested Ensign Jayvon Dean and headed for his quarters. He, like some others, was starting to lose track of the hours and days on and off duty. To a point, he didn't really care what day or time it was. He was the chief of the Surveillance section, and he'd make sure that they got the job done the best it could be. On the other hand, he knew if he were up too many shifts or didn't get a decent rest once in a while, he'd be pretty useless in surprisingly few days. Commander Michael watched her crew's rest and made an example of herself as well, passing the watch to XO George on a pretty consistent basis to stay rested.
Dean picked up the radar search from Lewis. He concentrated on the area where the enemy had been clustered. There was some wreckage around, but not enough mass to add up to Otbara. After an hour he moved on, gradually working his way out from the enemy position.
But there was nothing. Big rocks, lots and lots of little rocks, but no trace of Otbara, her name Russian for ‘valor.’ It was a shame, Javon thought, such a mysterious end for a ship with such a noble name.
ISC Fleet HQ Operations Section
Ft. Eustis, VA
Friday, May 13, 2078, 0800 EDT
Admiral Cook was not pleased with Columbia. Not pleased at all.
The reports of a strike going bad at GJ 1061 disturbed her. This was a SAR mission, not search-and-destroy, and in her opinion, they should have just kept quiet and watched. But it was too late now to change any of that. Columbia was damaged, but still on duty. There had been a loss of life which she regretted. She needed Antares to investigate Beta Hydri, which they had not yet examined. It was a long way, and if they were going to get there and back with the supplies on board, they could not afford to linger at GJ 1061 much longer. She made up her mind before she arrived at the office, and just stopped at Mark Rhodes' desk on her way in.
"Good morning. ma'am," Mark said as he stood and greeted her pleasantly, as usual.
"Good morning, Mark. Please cut an order for Antares to proceed immediately to Beta Hydri. I need them to get on with their schedule. Copy Columbia. They can keep searching for now."
"Yes, Admiral. Right away."
ROUTINE 207805131330 UTC
TO: ANTARES, COLUMBIA
FROM: FLEETOPS
ANTARES IS RELIEVED OF SAR DUTY AND WILL PROCEED BETA HYDRI ASAP.
END
ISC Fleet HQ Plans Section
Ft. Eustis, VA
Friday, May 13, 2078,1555 EST
It had been a long week in Plans. Joanne Henderson had been out of the office several times this week and most of the day today. It wasn't unusual for senior officers like Fiona or Joanne to be gone for significant periods. They sometimes briefed more senior officers, ship captains, or outside military or political representatives on the state of the war. It wasn't always easy or pleasant, but it came with the territory. They were both pretty good at sucking it up and not letting on to their audience how much they hated being there.
This time, however, unknown to the staff in Plans, she had been in CINC's office and then with the Chief of Operations. CINC had replaced Admiral Gerhard with Admiral Patricia Cook a month ago. Patty Cook had commanded Freedom and later served as XO on Yorktown before moving to staff work at HQ. She had most recently been the senior staff assistant to CINC Connor Davenport and so was handy when he decided to fire Gerhard. Davenport handed her a star and told her to get to work cleaning up the mess in Operations. It wasn't quite as terrible as Davenport had thought, but a few outright firings, demotions, and reassignments later she felt that the section was working.
Ben Price noticed that Joanne was gone more than usual this week. They had become close in the months since his wife had bugged out, finding in each other that most indispensable of relationships — a dependable friend. Neither wanted anything more from the other but what they already had. Just as it was, it was best for both of them. The Plans Division was working on improving the search load balance among the available ships and to ensure that the crews got some reasonable time off, either home at Earth or at one of the starbases. That meant expanding the supplies to those bases as well as upgrading, as best they could, shipboard resources. More and better food, better entertainment options, more education and advancement opportunities. The most significant downside of a randomized search was that ships did not necessarily follow the most efficient route through their assigned stars. This meant a longer trip, with some target star combinations that didn't make any sense to the crews. That time enroute needed to be constructive, not just marking time. Joanne had started a project to find college or technical course curricula that matched the expertise of the officers or crew on a particular ship. With so many second-career technical crew members in the Fleet, they sometimes found that an enlisted tech or chief might happen to have a Master's degree in some other field.
Joanne returned to the office late in the day, to find Ben head-down in his spreadsheets. He looked up to see her at his desk, a serious look on her face.
"Welcome back. What's up?"
Joanne looked at him for a second, then shook her head.
"Not now. Eight?"
"Sure," he said.
She paused, clearly something on her mind, then turned and headed out of the office. It was already past four, and he'd been there since before seven, so he wrapped up his spreadsheets and closed down for the day. Something was up, he knew. Captain Collins didn't look her usual cheerful self, either.
Ben entered the bar a little before eight, to find Joanne and Fiona Collins in their usual corner booth. He wandered down the bar and slipped in next to Joanne. They had the same somber looks he had seen earlier.
"Ok, what's going on? You both look like somebody either died or is about to."
Fiona looked over at Joanne, who started to speak as the bartender delivered Ben's drink that he hadn't yet ordered. Good to be a regular, he thought.
"I'm getting a ship. Intrepid," Joanne said flatly.
Ben looked from one woman to the other and back.
"So why are we not toasting your good fortune?"
"I don't really want it."
"She's got a promotion, too," Fiona added.
"And you're not happy about that, either?
" Ben asked, more incredulous than amused.
"I like where I am." Joanne hesitated, then continued. "Promotions are always nice, sure, but this one comes at a cost."
"Well, formerly-Commander-Henderson, I, for one, am happy for you even though I will miss your overbearing, annoying presence in the office."
Fiona and Joanne laughed a little at that. Fiona kept looking at Joanne. Clearly, something else was on their minds. Finally, Joanne spoke.
"Maybe not," she said evenly, keeping his eye. "Wanna come along?"
With that nugget dropped, she downed the last of her drink and waved for another. Ben now realized why Joanne had seemed so closed off all day. He leaned back, surprised but intrigued by a chance to go to the fleet.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Chief of Intel. It's usually a commissioned post, but I got Cook to agree to it if you're willing."
"You've been working on this for a while, haven't you?"
Fiona answered for her.
"About a week. Cook has been dithering a little on which ship, but today finally made the call to send her to Intrepid. They need her."
Ben stalled for time to think, taking a couple sips of his drink.
"Captain Collins, I need your honest opinion."
She nodded.
"Our friendship," he said, indicating Joanne, "is no secret here. Won't it hurt her credibility to assign me there?"
Fiona gave that some thought and then responded.
"It could. There's no getting around that. Up to now, you two have served together, but you both work for me, so there hasn't been an issue. Now, you will be working for her."
She thought a little more, then continued.
"Your friendship has been good for both of you, and, frankly, for me. You will have to set that aside now. Can you do that?"
She looked from one to the other. Ben worked a little more on his drink then turned to Joanne.
"We've worked together long enough by now, I think we can."
Joanne nodded her agreement.
"So, can I decline this? Can you?" Ben asked Joanne.
"You can. But orders are orders even for new Captains, Ben. I have to go."
Ben thought it over for just a few seconds, considering the options he had. He could stay in Plans, warm and safe like he always had, or he could get out on a ship, and possibly into the fight that was going on all around them.
"Yes, I'll go. "
He turned back to Fiona.
"Captain, would it help you if I went a little later? That way we wouldn't both leave you at once."
Fiona brightened as Joanne leaned back in her seat.
Joanne turned to Fiona. "Can we do that?"
Fiona nodded. "Patty'll go for it. I can talk to her. He'll need a couple weeks with Ron Harris' people anyway. It really would work better for Plans, so I'm sure she'll agree."
Another unordered round arrived from the bar.
Ben smiled as he raised his glass.
"To Captain Henderson and the good ship Intrepid..." he said seriously.
They celebrated the toast and started talking about dinner instead of war. It felt really good, really comfortable, to have one more evening together. They laughed a lot that night.
A week later, Joanne packed up her desk and headed home. Monday, she would report to Intrepid and try to see just what kind of hand dear old Patty Cook had dealt her.
Antares
GJ 1061
Saturday, May 14, 2078, 0725 UTC
Communications Officer Miho Ito was on the Bridge when the message arrived. She was surprised at the contents.
ROUTINE 207805131330 UTC
TO: ANTARES, COLUMBIA
FROM: FLEETOPS
ANTARES IS RELIEVED OF SAR DUTY AND WILL PROCEED BETA HYDRI ASAP.
END
She forwarded it to the Captain and the XO, who was at the command station.
"Message from Fleet Operations, Commander George. Orders to Beta Hydri."
George read the message then called Terri.
"It finally came, Captain. Proceed ASAP Beta Hydri." There was a pause as he listened to her response. "Very well," he said, finally.
He looked back at Ito.
"Get me Columbia, Miho."
"Yes, sir."
She walked back to the Comms station and activated the laser link to Columbia. The link came up quickly, but there was now about a four-second time delay each way.
"Commander Reynolds, sir, good morning, James George here."
Eight seconds seemed like a lifetime in a conversation.
"Yes, sir, as I am sure you've seen we've been ordered to get back on schedule. We'll be pulling out in an hour or so."
Another eight-count.
"Yes, I will have Lieutenant Lewis send what data we have before we go."
Then, finally.
"Yes, sir, thanks and I will pass that along to Commander Michael."
He hung up.
"Pass what along?" Terri Michael asked as she stepped up to the command platform.
"Thanks, and good hunting."
"Oh, nice," she said, sounding both skeptical and sarcastic.
She looked at her ship status display, then turned to the Weapons station.
"Weaps - let's get the rotaries in. We're leaving."
The tech acknowledged the order and pulled the launchers in. Navigator Alex Williams was at the Nav station.
"Alex - need a course to Beta Hydri, leaving 0830."
"Yes, Captain, we'll be ready."
When it came time to leave, all the section heads were on the Bridge, ready in case of any problem. Alex took them up and out of the plane of the system before engaging the Drive at full power for Beta Hydri. It was over 16 light-years, so another two-week-plus transit between targets. Like most of the section heads, Carol was glad for some time to review her status and ensure that all was ready for whatever they might encounter at the next star, but also dreaded the slack time that inevitably came after a few days of activity. But, this was the job they had, and it was up to all of them to make the best of it.
Columbia
Vicinity GJ 1061
Monday, May 16, 2078, 1200 UTC
Commander David Reynolds knew days ago that the search for Otbara would end soon. When OPS released Antares to go on to Beta Hydri, he figured they had decided that there wasn't much point in continuing. And to be fair to CINC and Operations, they hadn't produced any evidence of Otbara. They had tried three times to wake up the FDR, but there was no response. They'd punched the enemy in the nose when they got here but took a slapping themselves. Reynolds knew he had letters to write. He'd work on those on the next transit.
They might never know what happened to Otbara, or they might learn someday in the far future. The distances were unimaginable, and a distress call in normal space would take years to get anywhere and might be too weak to detect in any case. No, he thought, something terrible has happened. But we don't know what, or where, or even when. It was painful to contemplate leaving, but it was no surprise when the order came. The surprise was the destination.
ROUTINE 207805142200 UTC
TO: COLUMBIA
FROM: CINCFLEET
TERMINATE OTBARA SAR ACTIVITIES NLT 207805161600
RTB EARTH
END
Earth? Kapteyn was only 3.7 days away, Tranquility II only 9.5. Earth was 12 days away. The order coming from CINC and not Operations was also unusual.
"I’m screwed," Reynolds said to his XO as he got up from the command chair and walked back to his duty cabin.
He could hardly disagree.
Intrepid
Earth Orbit
Monday, May 23, 2078, 1200 UTC (0800 EDT)
Captain Joanne Henderson caught a shuttle up to Intrepid early Monday. It was just Joanne and the shuttle crew, which was fine with her. With only one passenger to deliver, the shuttle skipped the ShuttleLock and docked at the port access point on the big ship. As Henderson stepped off, Execu
tive Officer Lieutenant Commander Alonzo Bass, was waiting. The previous Captain, an older Commander named Landen Ali, had departed the night before, leaving Bass in temporary command.
"Good Morning Commander," she said pleasantly, extending her hand.
"Good Morning, Captain," he replied, returning a sincere handshake. She held his hand for a moment.
"I relieve you, sir."
"I stand relieved, ma'am, and glad to be so."
They began to walk down the passageway towards the Captain's office.
"Will you be bringing on a new XO, Captain?"
She shook her head.
"I have no intention of that, Commander Bass. I do have a number of concerns that we'll have to work through but my initial assessment is that the XO hasn't been the problem."
They moved through the outer office into the Captain's office proper. A young admin tech stood as they entered, but deep in their conversation, the officers didn't notice him. Bass closed the door behind him.
"Good to see you again, Alonzo. I can see it's been hard."
"Indeed, it has, ma'am."
"Joanne while we're alone — we've been at this together long enough."
"Thanks. Honestly, Joanne, Ali was just out of his depth here. We've been stuck on the outer patrol line since it was set up, and frankly, the boredom got to the crew pretty bad. The Commander would not take action to improve their morale, and so lots of secondary problems start coming up."
"Like the weapons prep failures, sensor breakdowns, fist fights..."
"Exactly. I told Ali we needed to get some distractions out there — more media, more education, more of everything since they were getting no combat, no search work. We just sat there looking out at empty space. I mean, there are cargo or transfer shuttles that can bring us this stuff, or some of it we could get by data link."
"But he did nothing?"
"That's correct."
"OK, we'll deal with that. Also, we're not going back on the line. We're going out."
"That will be welcome news to the crew."
Joanne shook her head.
"Nothing about that to them yet. We have to get this ship back together first." she passed a document over to him.
Silver Enigma Page 22
