Adapt and Overcome (The Maxwell Saga) (26 page)

She giggled. “That’s what I call an offer I can’t refuse!”

~ ~ ~

LCS
Nightingale
departed on her shakedown cruise around the system the following morning. As well as her crew, she carried an additional half-dozen Rolla NCO’s to understudy the Fleet NCO Heads of Department, and two additional officers. Senior Lieutenant Dippenaar was one of the designated future Commanding Officers of patrol craft, and Ensign Castle had just graduated from Rolla’s OCS equivalent and its Deck Officer course, and was on his first space assignment. The extra souls on board meant that some of
Nightingale’
s crew had to hot-bunk with them, which was never popular, but with such limited accommodation available there was no alternative.

Steve took her out to the asteroid belt, which would shortly become a much busier place as the mining project got under way.
Starting at the proposed initial location for the accommodation and refining ships, and for a future dedicated mining platform, he took
Nightingale
in ever-widening orbits of the area, mapping every asteroid, plotting their trajectories, preparing the most detailed survey of the area that had ever been undertaken. He knew the project office on Rolla was waiting eagerly to receive it, and the more extensive surveys that would soon be conducted. While the ship’s radar and other sensors recorded every detail, the crew was put through its paces, slowly at first, then more urgently. Simulated emergencies were staged from time to time to test their mettle.

On the fourth day of the cruise they finished the initial survey.
Steve was about to head back to Rolla orbit when the NCO operating the Plot announced a new development.

“Plot to Command, hyper-jump signature detected on the system boundary on the direct line to Lancaster. Gravitic drive emission signature suggests a large freighter, Sir.”

“Command to Plot, very good. Break. Command to Communications, listen out for her arrival message to System Control.”

“Communications to Command, aye aye, Sir.”

A few moments passed, then, “Communications to Command, arrival message received, Sir. She’s the
Gertruida Maria,
registered to the Hollandia Corporation out of Ijsel. She says she’s here to establish… orbital
farms,
Sir?” The Petty Officer’s voice was puzzled. “I don’t get it. We already have one.”

“Command to Communications, thank you.”
Steve decided an explanation was in order, and looked around at his OpCen team. “I was expecting her, or something like her, to arrive soon. Rolla’s present orbital farm is only big enough to supply the System Patrol Service and the few merchant vessels that visit here.
Gertruida Maria
will set up much larger hydroponic farms to supply the asteroid mining project and the increased traffic it’ll generate. Asteroid miners and support personnel work hard and get hungry, and if they don’t get good food, they get annoyed. There’s more than enough work for them all over the settled galaxy. If one planet can’t keep them happy, they’ll just move somewhere else, so the mining project’s going to make sure it keeps its people satisfied. Within three months you’ll be producing ten times more fruit and vegetables in orbit, plus vat-cultured proteins. We’ll benefit from them, too. SPS ration packs are about to become a lot tastier and more varied.”

The
Communications NCO grinned. “Can’t happen too soon for me, Sir!” A chuckle ran around the OpCen.

“There’ll be at least one more ship like her arriving before long. There are several companies competing with each other in this line of work. I’m sure some of them have already been informed about your asteroid mining project, and how big it’s going to become. You can expect at least two or three to set up shop here. Competition will keep their prices reasonable and their quality high.”

“I get it, Sir. I guess they’re here to get things moving before the project kicks off?”

“That’s right.
There’s no point in bringing a bunch of asteroid miners and construction workers to your planet until you’re able to feed them. The ship will set up the farms in her holds while she builds more permanent orbital structures, then transfer the farms to them for long-term operation.” Steve thought for a moment. “I think we’ll use this as a training opportunity.”

He flipped up the cover over the General Quarters alert button and pressed it. Klaxons blared throughout the ship, a cacophonous
‘aaa-OOO-gah!’
refrain, and a recorded announcement summoned
Nightingale’
s crew to their action stations. Footsteps pounded up and down her corridors and companionways as they raced to their posts. Reports began to flood in from the various departments, confirming that they were ready for whatever emergency had jolted them out of their usual routine.

As the last report came in, Steve glanced at the time display on his console. “Five minutes and three seconds. Not too bad for this stage of working up, but I want to cut that down to three minutes over the next few weeks.” He glanced at Ensign Castle, whose temporary action station was in the OpCen. “Ensign, I presume you’ve been instructed in the theory of making an interception in space?”

“Aye aye, Sir.” The young man flushed to find himself the focus of attention as everyone in the OpCen looked at him.

“Have you ever calculated one yourself outside the classroom?”

“Er… no, Sir.”

“Well, they do say there’s no time like the present. Sit down with the Plot NCO and calculate a course, speed and turnover point for a minimum-time interception. Since this is your first attempt, I won’t be annoyed if you make mistakes, so don’t worry about that. Concentrate on getting it right.”

“Aye aye, Sir.”

Castle crossed to the Plot console and sat down in the chair next to the operator. They conducted a muted conversation, with both entering figures into the console and checking each other’s calculations. Steve ran calculations on his own console to check theirs.

At last the Ensign looked up as a course line was displayed in the three-dimensional Plot image. “Here’s our solution, Sir. From this position it looks like four-point-three hours to interception. I’ve allowed for turnover halfway there, but we could do that a lot closer to her if necessary.”

Steve nodded. “That’s not bad for a first attempt, Ensign. Now, let’s consider tactical issues. Your solution would bring us alongside her as she moves towards the planet, right?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“What if she’s not what she seems to be? Remember, de Bouff masqueraded as an ordinary tramp freighter, right up until he let fly at your Customs boat with a laser cannon. By then he was so close to the planet, and to
OrbCon and
Mauritania,
that it was too late to keep him out of range. What if that ship turns out to be another pirate pretending to be a merchie? We don’t want to sail up to her, all fat and happy, only to have her aim a laser cannon at us or fire a barrage of missiles as soon as we’re within range. How would you handle that?”

The young man thought for a moment. “Sir, the after-action report on the
Mauritania
incident said that
Blanco’
s missiles were more than a hundred years old. They’d been refurbished several times, judging by the mix of components in each of them. They had a max powered range of only one million kilometers, less than our defensive missiles and a lot less than our main battery weapons. Should I assume that any pirate we encounter is likely to use similar missiles?”

Steve shook his head. “Never assume that your enemy is less capable than he may be. Sure, most pirates get their weapons as cast-offs from minor systems. Corrupt officials sell their outdated missiles on the black market rather than use them up during exercises. The buyers then refurbish them. That’s almost certainly how de Bouff got his weapons. However, freighters delivering shipments of more modern missiles have
sometimes been pirated. By offering some of the missiles free of charge to planets that couldn’t otherwise afford them, or mercenaries or others who wouldn’t normally be allowed to buy them, pirates can get expert help to crack the encryption of their guidance systems and warheads. If they succeed, the missiles can be reprogrammed and put into service. Remember what happened to LCS
Lakshmibai
a few years ago?”

Most people in the OpCen winced collectively, some sucking in their breath between their teeth as they remembered the incident. The
Hero
class destroyer had intercepted a pirate ship, only to be severely damaged by the enemy’s missiles. Over fifty per cent of her crew had become casualties, with her captain among the fatalities. The pirate vessel had escaped unscathed.

“Yes, Sir.
We studied that engagement during OCS, particularly how the pirate had sucked her in. She didn’t suspect a sneak attack, following up the main volley of missiles.”

“That’s right. The pirate’s missiles came from a captured shipment
of modern weapons.
Lakshmibai’
s rescuers picked up one that had malfunctioned, and BuIntel were able to trace it. Therefore, it’s not a bad idea to assume that a pirate has weapons at least as good as your own. If you’re wrong – and most of the time you will be – you’ll lose nothing by being cautious. If you’re right, you’ll have planned your approach in such a way that he won’t be able to take you by surprise with them, and your defenses will be ready to deal with them.”

“I see, Sir. May I recalculate the approach, please?”

“Go ahead. While you’re doing that, we’ll revert to normal duty stations. XO, make it so, please. Officers and NCO’s under training in the OpCen are to stand fast.”

The ship’s company stood down from General Quarters and returned to their regular watch schedule as the Ensign and Plot console NCO worked together. Eventually they looked up as a new course line, this one green instead of red, joined the fist in the Plot display.

“We’ve refigured the approach, Sir,” Castle announced. “Time to approach is now four-point-five hours. We slow down more as we get nearer to the target, matching her course and velocity at a range of ten million kilometers, where our sensors can get a closer look at her. The next step would be at your discretion, Sir.”

“That’s better. Keep that in mind for future approaches like this. Always err on the side of expecting trouble, even if that seems ridiculous. I’m sure the possibility of a pirate attack in planetary orbit seemed ridiculous to Orbcon until de Bouff arrived.”

“Aye aye, Sir.”

“Very well, Ensign, you can relax; but we’re not finished yet. Senior Lieutenant Dippenaar, I’d like you to tackle the next approach problem. For exercise purposes, assume that we’ve received intelligence warning us that
Gertruida Maria
may be a disguised pirate, trying to repeat de Bouff’s approach. We want to intercept her, but without her knowing precisely where or when we’re going to do so. How would you go about that?”

Dippenaar frowned thoughtfully. “She already knows where we are through our drive emissions, Sir, so we couldn’t disguise that. We’d have to conceal our approach, but we can only do that by limiting gravitic drive power to low levels, so its emissions can’t be tracked by shipboard sensors.”

“That’s right.”

“But we need higher power levels to catch up to her before she reaches Rolla orbit.”

“Also correct. Ideally we want to meet up with her at least two to three hours before she gets within range of any ships or facilities in orbit.”

“Hmm… I’ll see what I can do, Sir.” He crossed to the Plot console and sat down.

Steve looked around the OpCen as Dippenaar set to work. “I want all of you to understand why we’re doing this. Any of you might be involved in calculating an approach like this, or having to take factors such as these into account – not just in an exercise, but in dealing with a real-world situation. Problems can crop up without any warning, so try to analyze everything with which you’re confronted in those terms. If something were to go wrong, right here, right now, how would you cope with it? If your superior officer or the ship is disabled by something – illness, accident, enemy attack, whatever – what will you do to save the situation? If you’re constantly thinking along those lines, you won’t freeze in shock when the proverbial brown substance hits the rotary air impeller, and you’ll be that much closer to finding a solution to the problem.

“That applies to you NCO’s
as well. There are normally only two officers in this OpCen. If they’re disabled, you may find yourself in temporary control of the ship until the third officer can get here – and if whatever’s gone wrong is bad enough, he or she might be disabled, too. What will you do in that case? Do you know how to conn the ship? If not, you need to learn. I know that’s technically not an NCO’s responsibility, but in an emergency, particularly aboard a patrol craft like this, you do what you have to do. If you don’t, neither you nor the ship may survive.”

A murmur of understanding ran around the OpCen. Steve was pleased to see that everyone was looking very thoughtful, particularly the NCO’s.

After a few minutes, Senior Lieutenant Dippenaar looked up from the console. A third course line, this one yellow, appeared in the Plot display.

“Sir, if we don’t want
Gertruida Maria
to know when or where she may be intercepted, we can’t use a converging course – that would give away our intentions. I’ve accordingly plotted a course back to the planet, starting with acceleration at full power. When we reach point two five Cee, I’d cut back the drive to ten per cent but maintain full gravitic shielding. I’d change course to an interception trajectory at that point, which would involve a long, gentle curve at low power rather than a sharp change in course under full power. I’d then rotate the ship and begin gradual braking.” He traced the course line in the plot display as he spoke. “We’d lose velocity very slowly, of course, with so little power available, but we’d broadcast minimal gravitic drive emissions for anyone to track. I’d also turn off our transponder beacon so we couldn’t be tracked by radar.