Captain William Brighton
From his memoirs, "A Renewed Hope"
13-18 September
I stopped at the door and mentally went through my personal checklist. I straightened my grey uniform jacket and was caught momentarily off guard by the color. Even after ten months in command of the heavy cruiser CFS Redoubt, I would have been much more comfortable wearing my WSN uniform. In spite of the black and crimson piping that designated a Warner Space Navy officer posted to a ship within the Earth Forces Combined Fleet, the gray cloth seemed incongruous to me as I prepared to enter the office of Admiral Conrad Cosina, head of Research and Development for the Warner Space Navy. When my mental list was complete and everything was in order, I tucked my soft uniform cap under my belt and knocked twice, sharply, on the wooden doorframe.
"Come."
I quickly strode into the office and came to attention before the center of the desk and saluted. "Captain Brighton, reporting as ordered, sir."
Admiral Cosina looked up from the report he had been studying and crisply returned the salute. "Have a seat," he said indicating the chair to the left of the large desk. I sat rigidly on the front edge of the chair and waited for the man I had served with twice, and who had three years ago recommended me to the Board for promotion to captain.
"Thanks for coming in so quickly, William," Cosina said. "We need to pull you off Redoubt," he continued without any preamble. "A situation has arisen that will need your special talents. I need you to take command of Pathfinder. She is a prototype exploration/survey ship that is nearly ready to begin final testing. You will be taking over command from Edward Teach, who will stay on board as your executive officer. He has been Acting CO since the death of Captain Vanderjagt, three weeks ago."
I was astonished at this unexpected news. I had never heard of the Warner Navy pulling an officer out of the mandatory Combined Fleet duty for reassignment. "Admiral, I'm sure you realize that I have fourteen months left on my commitment to Combined Fleet. We will have a stiff penalty if you pull me out early," the statement came out before I could stop myself.
"Yes, the two officers have already received their orders," he said, as if complying with the 'two for one' provision of the Combined Fleet Charter was an inconsequential afterthought.
"I certainly would not want to second guess the Board, sir, but isn't this a lot of effort for something that could be accomplished much more simply? What about Commander Teach? Wasn't he in line for the command?" I asked. "He certainly has the seniority for it."
Cosina studied me a moment before answering. "Normally, yes," he said finally, "he would be in line for the slot, but there are some very special security conditions that call for us to stay away from 'normal' solutions. Therefore, we went completely outside the project for the new CO. Will there be a problem working with Teach?" he asked after a slight pause. "I would prefer not to move anyone out of the project until its completion, for security reasons again, but if leaving him in place after he has been in command will cause problems..."
"No sir, absolutely not. I have worked closely with him in the past, and I will have no problems working with Commander Teach."
"Good. Now let me outline Project Argo for you," he began. "The project is designed to create a ship that is capable of creating its own jump gate independent of any external jump gate generators. The implications are obvious to you, I'm sure. This is the first step in developing a true Jumpship, capable of jumping from any point to any other. Also, as a side benefit, any ship with this technology will be able to bypass the normal tariffs that are imposed at jump points. As near as we have been able to determine, no other Families have been able to duplicate our power system and the balancing needed to make the system work. That said, it appears that we may have a leak feeding this information to one of the other Families." He continued on that topic for some time, outlining what was known, along with his fears and suspicions.
"What we need from you are two things. First, we need you to carry the prototype through to production. Finish the testing, work out all the bugs. Second, we need you to plug the leak and make sure that it stays plugged. Can you do that, Captain?"
"Can I assume that I can count on whatever support I need?" I asked.
"Absolutely."
"Then I feel confident that I can accomplish both goals. I would like to request Major Sheli Chowdhury be assigned to replace the security commander that was lost. I understand that she is fairly senior to head up a security detachment that small, but there is no one better and certainly no one whom I would trust more."
"That can be arranged," Cosina replied after only a slight hesitation. "I should have thought of her myself after that Humboldt mess. You two have a fairly tight bond there. Anything else?"
"Not that comes immediately to mind, sir, but I'll notify you if that changes."
"Very well, I'll cut Major Chowdhury's orders this afternoon and the two of you can meet up with our courier at Hugo Station and head out to Pathfinder.
I could tell a dismissal when I heard one, so I rose to my feet and saluted.
Cosina returned the salute and I departed through the door and out into the corridor. Cosina could have selected any captain in the fleet for this assignment, yet he had singled me out. He had gone to great lengths to do so, and I determined then and there to prove that he had chosen the right man for the job.
xxxxx
I straightened at the knock on the door of the office I had appropriated for my use since arriving at Hugo Station in the Betre System. I had been engrossed in the schematics of the power system of my new command. This was my fifth command and I had developed a routine that I followed with any new vessel. I was working on the third step of that routine, which called for the memorization of all the systems and sub-systems. This was done in the same way that all tasks should be done, thoroughly and methodically. Nothing was left out. Before I step on board a new command it is my duty to know more about the ship than any other single individual serving there.
I knew who must be at the door, and the proper appearance would be expected of me. I stood and crossed to the coat rack in the corner of the room and took my uniform tunic from the hanger, smiling to myself as the black tunic with crimson front and back panels now startled me as much as the CF gray had done earlier. I donned the jacket and finished buttoning the second row of buttons all the way to the shoulder before calling, "Enter."
The door opened quickly and a tall, muscular, dark-haired Marine officer entered crisply. She took two graceful steps to the front of my desk and gave a salute that would have been appropriate on any parade ground in the fleet academy. It struck me again that she always seemed to prowl rather than walk. "Major Chowdhury reporting for duty, sir."
"At ease, Major. Please sit," I said, motioning to the chair in front of the desk. This was the opening volley in an ongoing game that had developed in the seven years that we had known each other. I had purposely put her into a situation that she disliked, seating her with her back to the only door. I watched as she settled into a waiting game with me. Earlier that day, I had set her chair carefully so that it was a few centimeters from giving her a view of the door in the reflection from the glass of a picture behind my desk no matter how she moved. As she sat, I resumed my own seat and moved the printouts and data disks from the center of the desk into a stack at the left edge. As I looked across the now pristine desk at the officer in her Marine Dress Blacks, I realized that this had been a tactical error. I began the briefing, making no comment on the fact that the chair had somehow moved those few centimeters without the slightest sound while my head was turned. She wins another round, I thought. But then, she always does. Eight minutes had been my best effort, but that had been years ago, early in the game.
As was our custom, I made no mention of the game. "Welcome to Project Argo, Major. I know that you have had very little information on what you are stepping into, so I will give you a rough outline. Pathfinder is the prototype ship designed as a testbed to prove that ships can create their own jump gates without the massive fixed generators that are currently necessary. As you can imagine, with any project this important, the security has been very tight. Up until a few weeks ago, it was believed that the security was unbroken, but Captain Vanderjagt was on his way to Earth with his security chief to discuss something that he had found when his shuttle was destroyed and they were killed. Security has almost certainly been compromised. I would like you to take over the remaining security detachment and unearth our mole. We have a shuttle set to depart at 0800 tomorrow morning. Here is everything that I have on the security arrangements and possible threats," I said, handing her the appropriate data folio. "Collect anything that you think you may need and meet me at docking bay six at 0745."
"Yes, sir," she said, collecting the folio. "And, by the way, sir, it's good to see you again." She gave me a mocking bow and a slight grin lit her dusky face as she turned to go.
"And you as well," I murmured. I was certain I had the right woman for the job.
xxxxx
The three day trip out to Pathfinder was uneventful. Sheli had ample time to study the folio I had given her. The lack of any windows or viewports in the courier shuttle gave her little opportunity for anything else. She recognized my need to concentrate as I studied datafolios. She knew from past experience that I would be useless until I had completed these self-imposed tasks, and did not seek to interrupt. We spent some time at meals discussing possible scenarios and strategies we might employ. The courier crew left us completely to ourselves.
"Docking in thirty minutes," the annunciator called. These were the first words we had heard from the crew in two days. The courier crew handled the connection with the ease of a crew long used to ship-to-ship docking. Within minutes of the appointed time, the hatch opened and Major Chowdhury and I made our way through the hard passageway and into Pathfinder.
Considering the welcome I had anticipated, the scene before me was far from ideal. The crew was not lined up at attention with shining faces showing eager anticipation of their first glimpse of their new commanding officer. In fact, Commander Teach and Lt. Commander Leung would have been the sum total of the greeting party, if the shocked looks on their faces did not make it clear that they were not there to welcome anyone.
Anger boiled inside me at this unprofessionalism. "Attention to orders," I bellowed. Those crewmen who were just beginning to relax came immediately back to attention. "By order of the Department of Human Resources for the Warner Board of Directors, I, William Brighton, do hereby assume command of the Armed Survey Ship Pathfinder, hull number WNC-628."
In the silence, I surveyed the assembled crew. Pathfinder was designed for a crew of eighty. Presently, there were only forty-six on board, apart from the two of us just arriving. Of those, there were only about fifteen in the boat bay. All of the faces showed various levels of surprise. Most were glancing toward Teach, as if waiting to follow his lead. Teach now had a look of consternation on his face.
"We were not expecting a new commanding officer, sir," he said with only the slightest hint of emotion in his voice. "Am I to be relieved, then?"
"No, of course not, you will continue to serve as the Executive Officer," I said with pleasure, then, lowering my voice, I added, "It is great to see you again, Edward."
"And you as well," Teach mumbled.
"Would you care for a tour of the ship?" Commander Leung said into the ensuing silence.
"Not just yet," I replied, and moved toward the aft bulkhead. I felt the slight lurch that signaled the courier boat disengaging and moving off. When I reached the control panel mounted on the aft bulkhead, I reached up and pushed two buttons in quick succession. The second button started a strident, undulating, atonal siren. Chowdhury jumped slightly as if she had not expected the noise, a point for me in our game, but she immediately glanced at her chrono. Leung and Teach both stood rooted to the spot where they had stood. Leung seemed to recover first.
"What are you doing, Captain? That is the evacuation alarm," she shouted over the noise.
I said nothing, merely noting the time on my own chrono and settled in to wait. The assembled crewmen looked uncertainly from me to the engineer and then the XO. They were torn between the ingrained need to enter the lifeboats and their knowledge that I had manually set off the alarm and was making no move to evacuate the ship. Training won out in the end and they headed for the lifeboats at a run.
Thirty-five minutes later, I addressed the assembled officers and crew. "Twenty-seven minutes from alarm to completion is absolutely not acceptable. There is nowhere on this ship that is more than four minutes from this boat bay. That is the acceptable limit of time that I will allow you.
"There are many issues on this ship. All will benefit from proper discipline and training. I understand that many of you are new to your jobs and in some cases creating those jobs from scratch. That is no excuse for laxity. Laxity in space can get you and your shipmates killed. That is not an option!"
Turning to the communications officer in the front rank, I said, "Lt. Rex Jhonsruud, how often do you download message traffic from the beacon?"
"Every twelve hours, sir."
"And how long does it take you to decode and get that information to your commanding officer?"
"Well, sir, normally that can be accomplished in two hours but we have been running a heavy load, so the times vary."
"Tell me, if you can, what is the decode time limit on a Fleet Priority message?"
"Sir, by regulation a Fleet Priority message must be decoded and in the hands of the commander within fifteen minutes of receipt. All other traffic is bumped to the bottom of the queue and all available personnel are to be assigned to the decode," he answered as if reading from the pertinent regulation.
"Given those numbers, Lieutenant, can you explain why a Fleet Priority message that was sent to this ship thirty-four hours ago has still not been seen by her commander?"
"Sir, I have not seen any FPM's in our traffic."
"Then I suspect that one of three things has occurred. Either you are incompetent and did not recognize the priority when you saw it, you purposely deleted it from the queue when it arrived, or you were too lazy to check the downloads as they came in. Which is it, Lieutenant?"
The lieutenant wisely avoided the question which had no correct answer and simply said, "I have not found any FPM's in our traffic. If I had, I would certainly have alerted Capt…er…Commander Teach."
"We shall see, Lieutenant," I said in a quiet voice, then raising the volume called, "Sergeant Aichele," turning to address the Marine in his jet black class B uniform. "Why was there no security team in the boat bay while the courier boat was unloading passengers?" The Marine turned red under the scrutiny. "This is a flagrant violation of SOP. Major Chowdhury, I am extremely disappointed in the readiness of your section." Aichele turned his attention to his new superior and any flush on his cheeks was replaced by a ghostly pallor as he took in her expression.
"No excuse, sir. It won't happen again, sir," she responded, never taking her eyes from her team.
"Very well." I knew without doubt that it would not.
"I expect nothing short of perfection from this crew. Don't disappoint me."
I waited several seconds for these words to sink in. "Dismissed," I called finally and strode out of the boat bay amid the silence.
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