Scout Force (12 page)

      
The storm arrived with a fantastic display of pyrotechnics.
 
At times the lightning strikes were so close that they were both blinding and deafening at the same time.
 
One particularly close strike caused Candy to jump into his arms.
 
He had to admit she felt awfully good against him.
 
She was a little slow in disengaging, so he assumed he felt pretty good to her, too.

      
The storm blew on and the night progressed.
 
About 2200, CMDR Okanma and his wife expressed their gratitude to their hosts, said farewell and left for their quarters.
 
This started the exodus.
 
The unofficial protocol for one of these receptions was to not be the last person to leave.
 
This sometimes made for a bit of creative jockeying around the front door.
 
Admiral Craddock asked Kelly to hold on for a bit, making him the last to depart.

      
Mrs. Craddock and Candy moved the party detritus into the kitchen.
 
The admiral motioned for Kelly to follow him into his study and Kelly tagged along.
 
He waved Kelly to a large wingback chair in front of the fireplace and walked out of the room.
 
Kelly perused the decorations and awards on the walls.
 
He also checked to make sure the chair wasn’t an antique.
 
The admiral came back a few minutes later with the unfinished bottle of Vidal Blanc and a wineglass.
 
He closed the door behind him, poured wine into his glass and offered the rest to Kelly.
 
Kelly topped off his glass and waited.

      
“Don’t worry, I didn’t bring you in here to have a father-suitor chat.
 
I want to talk to you about your parents.
 
Do you know they are going to be here in a few weeks?”

      
“Yes, sir, I got a message from them just before I came here tonight.
 
They said they were coming here for a few months to work on a project for Fleet.
 
They didn’t say what it was.”

      
“Your folks have worked magic again.
 
They've come up with a way to have almost instantaneous travel anywhere in GR space.
 
We’re going to test it here.”

      
“Scientists and science fiction authors for centuries have predicted that almost instantaneous travel from point to point was possible.
 
Your folks have figured out how to make it work.
 
It's based loosely on their FTL communications technology, but transmits solid objects, not digital signals.
 
The strategic value of such a system is enormous, but the impact on the Galactic Republic will be almost inconceivable.
 
A series of these set up near the frontier and we no longer have to maintain multiple battle fleets at the far reaches of Republic space.
 
They can be kept at fleet bases outside the reach of K’Rang forces, but almost instantly available in an emergency.
 
Logistics and distance are no longer a limiting factor.”

      
Kelly was impressed.
 
He had lost track of his parents’ work since he left for the academy.
 
“How does it work, sir?”

      
“I don’t know the technical details, but the system will consist of a series of transporter gates, essentially giant rings.
 
The production models will be enormous, large enough for two carriers to pass through at the same time.
 
A ship enters at one gate, programs in its travel to another destination gate, and the ship comes out light years away in a matter of seconds.
 
The only limiting factor is that there has to be a gate where you want to go.
 
You can’t use this to go where there isn’t a gate.
 
I'm very much looking forward to your parents' arrival.”

      
“I am too, sir.
 
I haven’t seen them since my graduation from the Academy.”

      
Kelly drank his wine at the same pace as the Admiral.
 
When they had both finished, he thanked him and bid farewell.
 
Mrs. Craddock walked him to the door and handed him his hat.
 
Candy walked him out to an awaiting shuttle.

      
Kelly thanked her for the guided tour and a very pleasant evening.
 
As he climbed into the shuttle, she leaned in and gave him a kiss.
 
She tasted pleasantly of strawberries.

      
“Don’t be a stranger.
 
I want the opportunity to give those other two girls some competition.”

      
On that she closed his door, turned, and did a sultry walk back to the house.
 
Kelly’s eyes followed her all the way inside.
 
He punched in his destination and thought about Candy all the way back to the Q.

Chapter Five

      
The next morning Kelly had breakfast and caught a shuttle to the shipyard, where he identified every bump, antenna, and blister on the Vigilant.
 
After an hour, he felt he had a good handle on all the external sensors.
 
He then went inside and traced every weapon circuit on the ship.
 
This took another hour.
 
The next hour was spent tracing the flight control circuits.
 
By the time his stomach would no longer let him ignore it, he had worked through all primary and secondary flight control circuits.
 
He would have to wait on all the other systems until the refit was complete.

      
Kelly found a shuttle in the nearest lot and asked it to take him to the Officer’s Club.
 
After a few short minutes the shuttle pulled up in front of the club.
 
He avoided the front door.
 
His coveralls wouldn’t be appreciated.
 
He walked around to the snack bar in back.
 
Feeling a little nostalgic, he ordered a burger and fries.
 
He had a beer while waiting for his lunch to arrive.
 
LT Bell from the Vehement came over.

      
“Do you mind if I join you?”

      
Kelly looked up, recognized LT Bell, and said, “No, sir, I don’t mind at all.
 
Can I buy you a beer?”

      
“Uh, yeah, sure, whatever you’re having,” he replied.

      
Kelly waved the barmaid over to bring another beer.

      
When it arrived, Kelly took a sip of his and asked, “How did you like the admiral’s party last night?”

      
“I got a kick out of listening to the admiral’s stories.
 
I understand you and the admiral’s daughter got along pretty well.”

      
“Candy has a lot of trouble making friends, considering she is the boss’ daughter.
 
I offered to be her friend.
 
The admiral seemed alright about it.”

      
“Great, she’s a really nice lady, and not hard on the eyes either.”

      
At that point Kelly’s burger arrived and the topic changed to the Vigilant’s refit.

      
“So how is the refit going?
 
Are they going to get you done by the end of the month?”

      
“It seems to be going pretty well.
 
I just spent the morning learning all the systems that are complete.
 
I traced all the weapon circuitry and flight control circuits.
 
It’s easy, now that most of the bulkheads are down.
 
I don’t know if the yard has asked that your crew keep off the ship and out of their way.
 
If they do, make sure your Chief Machinist Mate stays on board.
 
Chief Miller has been very good at keeping the yard crew honest.”
 

      
“Watch out to make sure the yard crew follows the wiring diagram.
 
They will misroute the cabling and then wind up with the wires being too short.
 
These guys don’t splice worth a darn, especially with fiber optic cable.
 
If the wiring doesn’t match the schematics, make them do it over.
 
You will be the one tracing down a wiring problem on patrol, not them.
 
That’s why I spent my morning tracing circuits.”

      
“Chief Miller and our chief have talked.
 
Ours is right in the middle of the yard crew.
 
They were more than willing to have a knowledgeable and free helper.
 
Their experience with your chief helped us to convince the yard crew.”

      
LT Bell moved over closer.
 
“Can I give you a bit of advice?”

      
Kelly, thinking it had to do with the refit, said, “Sure, what is it?”

      
“Be very careful if you are thinking of getting friendly with the admiral’s daughter.
 
More than a few officer’s careers have come to a screeching halt for trying to advance their careers by dating the boss’ daughter.”

      
“I don’t think I have anything to worry about in that regard.
 
I offered to be her friend.
 
That’s all I’m interested in at the moment.
 
Besides, the admiral had a talk with me about it last night.
 
He was alright with me taking out his daughter, if I wanted.”

      
“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

      
“Okay, I’ll consider myself warned.
 
Thanks.”

      
Kelly and LT Bell left together and caught a shuttle to the Q.
 
Kelly used the time in his quarters to clean up, change for the party at the O Club that night, and catch up on messages.
 
His message queue contained a video file from Angie.
 
He clicked on it and her face came up on the screen.
 
“How you doing, wingman?
 
I waited to give you time to get settled in with your new unit.
 
How did it go?
 
Who are you with now?
 
Old Bugger Off didn’t screw you too badly, did she?
 
Send me a message and let me know how you are doing.
 
CPT Willis, John, and even LTC Matthews have been asking about you.”

      
“I have some good news for you.
 
Old Bugger Off is being reviewed for mandatory retirement.
 
Seems she is beyond retirement age and the Fighter Force Personnel Center has her up before a board looking at whether she should be kept on active duty.
 
We’re all rooting for her retirement.
 
There is a rumor running around Flag Country that a number of Flag Officers complained about her and this board is just a way to move her out.
 
You may be famous for being the last officer she cast aside.”

      
“Send me a message and let me know how you are doing.
 
I miss you watching my six.”

      
As she signed off, she backed up from the camera, turned around, and was wearing something less than she had ever worn around him on the Bolivar.
 
It was a shame she was several hundred light years away.

      
Kelly sent Angie a quick synopsis of his current situation, cut and pasted the earlier video of him in his mess dress uniform, and sent it off.
 
He finished clearing out his message queue, looked at his watch, and realized he was going to be late for the party, if he didn’t get a move on.
 
He closed out his terminal and went out to catch the nearest shuttle.

      
He got lucky again and found a shuttle waiting for him at the nearest lot.
 
He climbed in, punched in his destination, and headed off.

* * * * *

      
When Kelly arrived at the junior officer’s bar, the party was already going strong.
 
He walked in and Ensign Nielsen called out to him almost immediately.
 
Young male officers surrounded her, but she shrugged them off and came over to Kelly.

      
She flashed that dazzling smile.
 
“It’s about time you got here.
 
I thought I was going to have to hold off all those guys by myself.
 
Here, let me wrap my arm around yours and maybe they’ll take a hint.
 
It’s a real zoo in here tonight.
 
I forgot that the landing ship crews had arrived to take their ships out of the yard.
 
There must be ten guys to one girl in there.
 
Come on, let me buy you a drink.”