"That's what it looks like, Sir."
"Let's head on in and see what they do. Squadron orders. Ahead full."
The four Lautadan light cruisers began accelerating to Pahaadon at 1.7 gravities.
Jan was standing watch on the bridge of the Hu Mingli when the hyper transition was detected.
"Sound general quarters."
"Sounding general quarters, Ma'am."
"What have we got, Tactical?"
"Four light cruisers at zero-one-zero mark zero-three-zero on the sun, Ma'am. They're powering up. Outer colony design. They're heading toward Pahaadon at 1.7 gravities," Ensign Robert Dunleavy said.
The Hu Mingli was one of the two ships in Admiral Xi's squadron pretending to be a battleship this cycle. It was up to her and the Aluna Kamau to close the door.
"Navigation Plan Red-5 at six light-seconds."
"Executing Red-5, Ma'am."
Jan got out of the command chair as Captain Rodriguez came on the bridge. Lieutenant Commander Bhatia also arrived and took up the secondary tactical console. They were all seated before general quarters timed out and they went to zero g as the normal-space drive was cut to zero thrust for transition to hyperspace. The best modulation technique for each situation had been programmed into the navigation computer per the standard book and no longer required manual entry.
"We have four light cruisers at zero-one-zero mark zero-three-zero making a run at the planet, Ma'am. We're executing Red-5, five light-seconds.
"Excellent, Commander. Let's see if we can't catch them. Tactical, what are our squadron mates doing?"
"All are heading toward the bogeys at their best speed, Ma'am."
At that point, they transitioned into hyper and could no longer see the action.
"Stand down disguise."
"Standing down disguise, Ma'am."
"Those two battleships just hypered out, Sir. The heavy cruisers are headed toward us at 1.4 gravities," Aronsky said.
"OK, I think we've seen enough. Flip ship, and then bring us to one-sixty-five mark fifteen on our inbound vector. Let's not show up where those battleships are going to be. We'll aim for that gap in the heavy cruisers," Gaudet said.
"Flip ship and come to one-sixty-five mark fifteen, Sir. Executing."
"They're flipping ship, Sir," Lieutenant Commander Petra Adams said from tactical.
"Let's see what vector they take. Start preparing for hyper," said Captain Sven MacAllen, captain of the CSS Ikaika Kalani.
"Their flip is completed. They're making their turn. Looks like one-six-five mark zero-one-five on their original vector, Sir. Steady on one-six-five mark zero-one-five, at 1.7 gravities."
"Plot their course."
"Plotted, Sir."
"Transition to hyper. As soon as we transition, send the plot."
Red-4 was a general maneuver to place the ship outside the designated mark, usually a bogey, and drop back into normal space. Red-5 was the same command, but to hold in hyperspace. CSS Hu Mingli and CSS Aluna Kamau were standing by in hyperspace when CSS Ikaika Kalani transitioned to hyperspace and transmitted the bogeys' course, which traveled the distance between the ships, in hyperspace, in seconds.
"Navigation Plan Red-2 at six light-seconds," Rodriguez said.
"Red-2 at six light-seconds, Ma'am."
"Coordinate down transition with the Ikaika Kalani. Firing Plan Beta. Guns free."
"Coordinating with the Ikaika Kalani, Ma'am."
"Firing Plan Beta, Ma'am."
"Sir, one of those heavy cruisers just made a hyperspace transition," Aronsky said.
"How the hell can they do that this deep inside the system periphery?" Gaudet asked.
"Well, they know their own system better than we do, Sir."
The horrifying possibilities hit Gaudet like a hammer.
"Evasive maneuvers!"
The Hu Mingli and the Ikaika Kalani dropped out of hyperspace directly behind the four Lautadan light cruisers and with overtake velocity. They had turned ship, but there had not been enough time to build the side vector needed to take them out of the reach of the heavy cruisers' guns. Per Firing Plan Beta, the CSF ships spread their fire over the targets. They heavy cruisers fired three times each. All four targets were destroyed.
"That went extremely well. Congratulations, all of you," Rear Admiral Xi said.
It was a video conference among the ships of the squadron, held in hyperspace to minimize time lag. The destroyers CSS Howard and CSS Pomona, detached from Admiral Pulaski's squadrons at Pahaadon, stood picket in normal space in the outer envelope to watch for any incursions. Either could transition to hyperspace to alert them while the other continued plotting. The video conference included all eight ship's captains, all eight executive officers, Admiral Xi, and her chief of staff.
"Admiral Pulaski passes on her compliments. Given our success, she has abandoned the original plan to delay closing the southern approaches and has ordered Admiral Patel to take the same defensive posture now. His ships have been practicing, too, in order to be ready, so we are now in a position to shut down Pahaadon against these incursions.
"Even better, examination of the wreckage of the intruding force indicates they were the LNS Defender, LNS Enforcer, LNS Protector, and the LNS Vindicator of the Lautadan Navy. That allows the Foreign Minister to take this up with the Lautadan ambassador.
"And one final note. The operation was so successful, and so convincing, Admiral Pulaski has decided six ships are sufficient to maintain patrol at any given time. She has authorized one-in-four rotations for R&R on Pahaadon."
They had been spacing pretty hard trying to cover against the incursions, with supply ships restocking them in position and no opportunity for planet leave. This announcement therefore drew a round of applause.
"It's kind of hard to draw numbers out of a hat in hyper, so we're going to have to do that for you here. But you'll all get your turn, and then we're on rotation."
There was one more incursion, of two heavy cruisers, before Lautada decided sending ships into Pahaadon only to have them disappear without a trace was not a winning strategy. That was on the southern approaches, and Admiral Patel's squadron dispatched them with the same cold efficiency.
About five months into the Hu Mingli's deployment in Pahaadon, the secure electronic dispatches to command personnel included an electronic copy of a new book on tactics, "The Science of Surprise: Creating Military Advantage," by Commander Jan Childers, PhD, CM, SM(2), DSM(2), VA(4).
Command personnel included executive officers, and, when she received hers, Jan was surprised to see they included her fourth Victorious Action ribbon, for the combat against the Lautadan light cruisers here in Pahaadon. She wouldn't receive it until end of tour in Sigurdsen, but it had apparently already been recorded.
Over the next two months, Jan received dozens of congratulations or kind words from admirals, captains, and executive officers throughout the CSF, both from friends and from people she had never met. That included nice messages from Admirals Pulaski, Xi and Patel.
And, while the book was secret, with distribution limited to command personnel only, word the CSF had published Jan's tactics book leaked below decks.
They held a party for her in the Goat Locker. They had cake.
Alliance
After a year, Jan returned to Sigurdsen from the deployment to Pahaadon aboard the Hu Mingli. She was once more esconced in a furnished temporary apartment in an officer's housing block near the Tactical Division building.
Two hours after Jan arrived, there was a delivery of flowers with a simple card: "Remember me? W.C."
She punched a familiar number on her phone.
"Campbell."
"Well, it's not likely I would forget you."
"One can't be sure. You know those up-and-coming Tactical Division types, Captain."
Jan laughed and invited him over. It was like nothing had changed, like no time had passed at all.
After the first thrill of seeing
each other again had worn off a bit, Jan asked him about it.
"I would think a brilliant, handsome, young officer would have the ladies eating out of his hand. And lieutenant commander to boot. What gives? Lose your touch?" Jan asked.
"I did try. I just couldn't get interested. After the best, there's just the rest. You spoiled me for life."
"For life?"
"Well, for twelve months, anyway."
Jan laughed, then grew serious.
"You know I'm going to get assigned out again."
"Yeah, I know. I don't want to think about it."
"I have a month's planet leave, so let's not think about it. We have what we have."
"I have to say, Captain Childers, your book of maneuvers made a huge difference for the heavy cruiser squadrons in Pahaadon. They had been powerless to respond to the repeated incursions by Lautada, even to figuring out who it was doing them. With your book, Admirals Xi and Patel completely shut down the Lautadans. And the diplomats have been able to handle it from there," Vice Admiral Stepic said.
"Thank you, Sir."
Jan had received her promotion to Captain, as well as another Victorious Action ribbon, on the return to Jablonka of the Hu Mingli. She was twenty-four years old.
"Also, "Science of Surprise" has been getting rave reviews from readers across the CSF, including people I would normally consider to be at odds with each other on various issues. It's been gratifying to me to publish something that got good reviews almost across the board, rather than 'Great!' from one side and 'Terrible!' from the other. I imagine you've been getting some direct feedback as well."
"Yes, Sir. It's been a little unbelievable."
"Well, in my opinion, it's the best addition to the field of tactics in at least fifty years. We're going to re-design ATS, and set it up to teach the book. The exercises will be re-designed to allow innovative solutions, and will be scored by the results obtained."
"That's really good to hear, Sir."
"I'm going to want you to stop back through Sigurdsen once they have the course together and go through the materials for me. Make sure we've got it right, and square up any place where it isn't. It won't be long. Maybe six months or so. That will also help us sell the new course to higher, if you're directly involved. You've got some new fans where it counts, Captain."
"I'll be happy to help, Sir."
"But that will be a little while yet, so let's come back around to your career. I think one thing you could use is a broader view. You've got a lot of experience by now with individual ship and squadron operations, but those are just the means to an end, which is protecting Commonwealth systems. Somebody's starting to stir up trouble in Calumet, and I think they could use a little boost to their tactical depth out there until they get it buttoned down. I was thinking Senior Tactical Officer in the Planetary Combat Information Center for a year or so. Senior Tac in a planetary C.I.C. is a captain's berth, usually after a stint shipboard, but you're just coming off a shipboard assignment, so it works for me. And it would give you a system-wide view, at the center of the sensor net. How does that sound to you, Captain?"
"That sounds interesting, Sir. It'd certainly be a different view of things."
About two days after Jan received her orders to deploy as Senior Tactical Officer for the Calumet Planetary Combat Information Center, using "fastest available transport," Bill had some news.
"Jan, I made discrete inquiries. One of the things we Intelligence Division types are supposed to do in a career path to senior rank is to have assignments on other planets of the Commonwealth. Not become a Sigurdsen rat, who knows nothing beyond headquarters. So I asked around, and there's a lieutenant commander's berth open at the Calumet Planetary Intelligence Center. If I want to do a one-year stint on Calumet, I can."
Jan's heart leapt, but she clamped down on it hard.
"Is that really what's best for you? For your career?"
"Well, I have to do some planetary assignments. Truth be told, I've been holding back a bit, because I didn't want to miss your swing through here between assignments. And they've been pushing me. I seem to be one of those up-and-coming types, too, though it's harder to get promotions out of the zone in Intelligence than it is for you combat types.
"So, yes, it's good for me, if it's what you want. We never really talked about the future we both knew we didn't have, but this assignment's a whole year. Given that both positions are on Calumet Fleet Base, if we put in for it as a couple, we can even have a larger apartment together rather than two separate. If that's what you want."
Jan released the clamps on her heart.
"Yes, it's what I want," she said, throwing her arms around him. "What a dumb question. I thought they called you guys Intelligence."
Jan's orders specified "fastest available transport," which turned out to be a passenger liner making the Jablonka-Calumet-Kodu run. It also meant "not on standby." Bill's orders didn't include that phrasing, so he would normally space on standby or take military transport, but they had put in for couples housing on Calumet, so they traveled together, and their joint transport to Calumet went on the higher-priority orders.
The accommodations were also set by the higher-ranked of the two. While a lieutenant commander would space economy class, a captain or above would space business class. It wasn't first class, but it was a huge step up from economy class.
The result was that they had a business-class cabin for two on a passenger liner, the CPS Star Surfer.
The passenger liner was built on the same scale as a CSF battleship, but with eight even larger cylinders and no guns. Two of the cylinders – the two that would be 'topside' on a CSF warship – were crew quarters and ship functions, while the other six cylinders – 'below decks' on a CSF warship – were passenger accommodations. One cylinder was first-class, two business class, and three economy class. It had the same belts of containers around the bows that a warship would have, for reaction-mass tanks and stores, the same four large radiators aft of the cylinders to radiate away excess heat, and the same shuttle accommodations on the bows.
There were two dining rooms aboard, the economy dining room and the first class dining room. Business class passengers ate in the first class dining room. Further, unlike a freighter, the liner would maintain a one-g cruising acceleration throughout the voyage for the comfort of passengers.
Their cabin had a bedroom with a double bed, a small bathroom, and a small outer room with two comfy padded swivel chairs at a small desk. The cabinet above the desk held two head-and-hands VR kits, but the swivel chairs included immersive VR interfaces for people with implants. The swivel chairs also included swivel locks and seat belts for the inevitable zero-g maneuvers.
The bathroom contained a toilet and a sink, and had a hand-held showerhead on the wall. There was no shower curtain; the whole four-foot by two-foot bathroom was the shower stall. And water was unmetered, fresh water being drawn from the reaction-mass tanks in the bows and gray water returned to them in sequence. The ship used the gray water tanks first when under way.
"This is tiny. Are you sure this is business class?" Bill asked.
"Are you kidding? Two rooms? This is a palace for shipboard accommodations. This is the size of a Senior Captain's cabin on a battleship," Jan said.
"Well, I don't space much. Actually, never."
"Never?"
"I was born and raised on Jablonka, and never left the planet."
"How did you get through the Academy?"
"Intelligence track from early on. We don't do the shipboard parts of the curriculum. We have a different sequence."
Jan stared at him. She had spent probably half of the last seven years living on board ship. Being in cramped quarters aboard seemed like coming home to her. She looked around the cabin, saw the universal symbol on a cabinet above the desk. She opened it, looked over the contents, then extracted a small bottle.
"Here. Put this in a pocket and carry it with you everywhere," Jan said, handing Bill
the bottle.
"What are these?"
"Weightlessness pills. If you don't know that you can tolerate weightlessness, take one any time the zero-g warning sounds. Being weightless-sick is no fun."
"What about you?"
"I found out weightlessness doesn't bother me after I got to Sigurdsen. They tested me for it on first deployment. But one-third of people can never get used to it. When I was on my initial trip from Earth to Jablonka, I took them religiously just in case, rather than find out the hard way."
There was a soft chime from the door. Jan pushed the open button and the door slid away into the wall. An assistant purser was at the door, and he handed Jan a small gift-wrapped package.
"Captain's compliments, Ma'am."
"Why, thank you." She looked up at the purser. "Just to satisfy my curiosity. Is this something every passenger gets?"
"Oh, no, Ma'am. A lot of us aboard are former CSF, Ma'am. Captain is, too. We stay in touch with our friends. We're happy to have you aboard, Ma'am."
"Give the Captain my regards, please, Purser."
"Yes, Admiral. Thank you, Ma'am."
The assistant purser saluted and left. Jan pushed the button to close the door.
"It seems your reputation precedes you," Bill said.
"So it seems."
"But Admiral?"
"You ground-pounders. There can only be one captain aboard ship, and one dare not address someone below their rank, so the custom is to call any visiting captain Admiral."
"Ah."
Jan opened the package. It was a gold ship's medallion for the CPS Star Surfer, as would be given to senior officers of the ship at the end of a stint.
"Oh, my. How special."
Jan opened the card.
"We've been requested to dine at the captain's table in the first-class dining room throughout the voyage."
"Really?"
"Yep. 'It would be my honor to welcome you to dine with me at the Captain's Table for the duration of the passage to Calumet.'"
Childers Page 14
