First Command (4 page)

      
Unimpressed, he asked in a strong voice, “Was what you called me here for of importance, Shadow Leader, or should I come back later?”

      
J’Kraul started laughing.
 
“No, my friend, sit down, relax.
 
I wanted to make sure time had not softened you.
 
I have a top priority assignment for you from the Elders.
 
They want the transporter ring technology from the Humans, but don’t want the Humans to know we have it.
 
What can your network do to get it for us?”

      
H’Topa took a moment to stretch.
 
“Your information exists in five places in the Human space.
 
It exists in the minds of Andrew and Moira Blake.
 
It exists in their notes locked in a triple-sealed safe in their high security lab on the planet they call Gagarin.
 
The notes are in their own coded language that only they speak.
 
It exists in a triple-sealed safe in their Fleet HQ on their main world, Earth, and the production design exists in three parts in three safes at the manufacturing facility on their main world Shepard.
 
No one has access to all three safes.”

      
“The factory is the easiest to access.
 
I have two agents working there, but they have yet to gain access to any of the three data sets.
 
The humans jealously guard this data.
 
Whoever their security chief is, he is good.”

      
“One of my agents asked about all the security and was told that even if the K’Rang got hold of the manufacturing design sheets they wouldn’t be able to make them work, because each ring has excess components.
 
There is a code unique to each ring that tells it which components to activate.
 
If it doesn’t activate in the right sequence, it shuts down until a special restart code is entered.
 
That code has to come from a special office in their defense HQ and be entered by hand.”

      
“As you can see, I am on top of the situation.
 
I just haven’t found a way to break through their security.
 
I do have a prospect.
 
It is one of the Blake’s research assistants that helped them develop the prototype ring they used against us at G’Dranu.
 
I have been suggesting to him that he didn’t get sufficient credit for the work he did helping them develop it.
 
It seems he unwisely left their employ, planning to start his own research establishment, just before the government bestowed large bonuses and recognition on the research staff and the Blakes.
 
The Blakes insisted he be rewarded, but the bureaucrats said no.
 
I’m twisting that knife slowly for maximum effect.
 
I judge that he may favorably consider an offer to work for us if he feels slighted enough.”

      
J’Kraul quietly said, “I hope, for both our sakes, that you are correct.”

* * * * *

      
Kelly’s terminal in his cabin chimed to let him know he had an incoming message.
 
He keyed up his terminal and Commander Timmons’ face appeared.

      
“Kelly, I just heard back from Hasselrode.
 
The Admiral has approved Connie’s assignment as your XO.
 
She has some things to close out at R&R before she can report in.
 
One of those is the engine tweak up to FTL Power 6.
 
She told the Admiral about that and he wants her to see if she can make that happen before she reports in.
 
R&R has better computers to work out the algorithms.
 
The Admiral suggests you postpone your training cruise until the engine modifications can be made.
 
He left it up to your judgment, though.”

      
“I can hold off, boss.
 
I didn’t want to do the training cruise without an XO anyway.”

      
“Good!
 
Why don’t you come join me for dinner at the club tonight?
 
Somebody is visiting me and wants to see you.
 
Meet me at 1930 in the main dining room.
 
Your old Flight Leader is in town.
 
Janey wants to help you wet down your new rank.”

      
“Janey’s in town!?
 
Great!
 
I’ll be there.
 
The drinks are on me.”

      
Commander Timmons signed off.
 
Kelly thought things were really going his way:
 
First, he finds out his choice for XO was approved.
 
Next, he gets news his ship will be one of the fastest ships in space.
 
Then he gets to have dinner with Janey Willis, his old flight leader from when he was in Fighter Force on the Carrier Bolivar.
 
Life was good.

      
At times Kelly couldn’t believe his luck.
 
Just under two years ago he had been drummed out of Fighter Force for stepping on the toes of a senior Fighter Force General Officer, Major General Irina Bugarov.
 
She had a penchant for disposing of good officers, an infamous legend throughout the Fleet.
 
Kelly had managed to be in the right place at the right time to expose one of her serious tactical errors and save the Fleet Carrier Simon Bolivar from a K’Rang sneak attack.

      
She beached him on Fleet Base 17, expecting him to spend the rest of his time in the service overseeing toilet repair requests.
 
Things didn’t work out as the General planned, because Kelly came to the attention of Admiral Craddock, Commander of Scout Force.
 
He took Kelly on as XO of the Vigilant and gave him his second chance.

      
He flourished under the tutelage of Commander Timmons, so well that he succeeded Timmons in command of the Vigilant.
 
Life was definitely good.

      
Now that he didn’t have a training cruise to plan, he realized that he had a free weekend.
 
He called in Chief Blankenship to tell her to stand down the crew.

      
Chief Blankenship, a slender brunette with a no-nonsense air about her, came into his cabin after knocking.
 
“Was there something you wanted to see me about, sir?”

      
“Yes, Chief, stand down the crew for the weekend.
 
Admiral Craddock has approved LTJG Cortez as our new XO.
 
She’s going to be working with Chief Miller on some engine enhancements to get us up to FTL Power 6 as she closes out her job with R&R.
 
We might as well give the crew some time off.
 
Finish out whatever they are working on and set up the quarterdeck watch for the weekend.
 
Keep everybody on the base or nearby.
 
No passes to the southern hemisphere this weekend.
 
Tell Chief Miller to expect to hear from LT Cortez on Monday. ”

      
“Aye aye, sir.
 
Sir, do you have a minute?”

      
“Sure, Chief, what do you need?

      
“How am I doing, sir?

      
Kelly paused for a bit before responding.
 
“Chief, you’re doing fine.
 
You came into your job highly recommended by Commander Timmons, Chief Watson, and myself. ”

      
“Thank you, sir.
 
Things have been sort of hectic lately and I wasn’t sure how I was doing.
 
I just wanted a bearing check.”

      
“Smiling, he said, “Trust me, Chief.
 
I’m not shy.
 
If you screw up, I’ll let you know.
 
Besides, things will get smoother once we get an XO in here and we can parse out some of the duties to her.
 
Did you get a chance to talk to her?”

      
“A little bit when she reported in for the interview.
 
She was a little nervous about being late, but seemed like she had her stuff together.
 
One thing, sir.
 
Most junior officers coming on board a strange ship are usually either a little uncomfortable or wide-eyed.
 
She was neither.
 
She walked on board like she had been here all her life.
 
Maybe it’s because of her experience in the R&R Directorate and constantly visiting ships her people are working on, but she fit.”

      
“Thank you, Chief.
 
I’ll be in the area all weekend.
 
I’ll have my communicator with me if you need to get in touch.
 
Have a nice weekend.”

      
Chief B left and Kelly went back to his terminal.
 
He had some paperwork to finish before he could start his own weekend.

      
After approving seven junior promotions, appointing various Chiefs to extra duties and verifying the small arms inventory, he was ready to get back to sorting out the requisitions he had been working on before LT Cortez’s interview.
 
He called up the new forms that she had compiled for him and had to admit that the way she formatted them made them much easier to sort through and decide.

      
He turned down a request from Chief Miller for an additional spare engine equalizer.
 
Two were more than sufficient.
 
He approved Cookie’s request for additional rations for the training cruise.
 
He did adjust the priority down now that they were not going out for two weeks.
 
He sorted out the remaining requisitions, approved the majority of them, sent notes to the various Chiefs on the items he didn’t approve, and sent it on its way into the system.
 
He was done.

      
He had several messages in his queue.
 
He sorted through all the administrivia first and forwarded them as appropriate.
 
Next came the Captains’ Notices.
 
He read through them and wondered why anyone thought some were important enough to bother the captains.
 
Most had to do with infractions of base regulations that should have never risen to the level of a Chief, much less a ship’s captain.
 
Some of them dealt with changes to procedures or regulations.
 
He quickly sorted through and disposed of them.

      
Kelly wished he had someone that could sort through these minor items.
 
Unfortunately, confidential secretaries were not authorized.
 
He thought about having Yeoman Benitez sort through them, but some things he didn’t want getting out to the crew.
 
While most messages weren’t sensitive, sometimes the messages were close-hold and Captains’ Eyes Only.
 
This was just a task he couldn’t delegate or could he.
 
Then Kelly realized he had forgotten someone or something–he had forgotten about Wanda.

      
Wanda was the artificial intelligence that had been issued to him when he flew single seat fighters.
 
It was designed to handle some of the minor tasks for the pilot so they could concentrate on flying.
 
Kelly had customized his to have the persona of a slightly older woman, a sort of cyber older sister.
 
He had only loaded her on his terminal as XO, but he could do more with her now that he was the captain.

      
He called her up on his terminal and authorized her access to all ship’s system and all his files and messages.

      
A voice came from his terminal.
 
“Good afternoon, Kelly, or should I say Captain?
 
I was beginning to wonder if you had abandoned me.”

      
“Good afternoon, Wanda, I’ve been a little busy lately, as you should know.”

      
“Yes, Kelly, I have been working in the background monitoring events.
 
Congratulations on your promotion and command.
 
This ship is much bigger than your F-53 fighter.
 
What can I do for you?”

      
“Wanda, I have authorized you access to all systems and my messages.
 
I would like you to monitor my messages, prioritize them, and process them as I instruct you.
 
There are a number of messages that come in that I want automatically forwarded to the appropriate section Chief, others I want brought to my immediate attention, and others I never want to see.
 
We will work together to sort through the different categories.”

      
“I understand, Kelly.
 
You do seem to get a lot of messages that could be handled at a much lower level.
 
Would you like me to sort through the messages and provide you with my assessment now?”

      
“No, Wanda, I’m just going to review my personal messages now.
 
I need a break.”