Scout Force (18 page)

      
“Thank you, sir, now please get your coffee out of here.”

      
Kelly left, laughing, and went back to the galley.
 
Cookie had his favorite, biscuits and gravy with two eggs, ready and waiting for him.
 
He sat down with Corpsman Kumar and asked about Stinson.

      
“He’ll be all right, sir.
 
I warn these guys about the local establishments down south, but they don’t all listen.
 
Stinson might listen to me in the future.”

      
LCDR Timmons came in, loaded his tray, and sat down with Kelly.
 
“How’s it look, Exec?

      
“I just did a walk around from bridge to engineering.
 
Looks pretty ship shape to me, Captain.
 
I think we’re ready.
 
The extra equipment you had me order came in last night.
 
It’s stowed in engineering.”

      
“I haven’t seen Chief Watson yet, have you?”

      
Kelly looked up.
 
“Here he comes now, Captain.”

      
Chief Watson went through the chow line and came over and sat down.
 
Corpsman Kumar finished eating and left to give them the table to themselves.

      
“Chief, are all the crew aboard and ready for patrol?”

      
“Yes, Captain, all present and either at their duty stations or here in the galley, except Stinson.
 
He’s in his bunk, recovering from a case of stupid.
 
As soon as he gets well, his butt is mine.
 
Kumar told him the places to stay away from down south.”

      
“Okay, then.
 
We’ll secure the quarterdeck watch at 0900.
 
Request permission from Port to launch and be on our way.
 
Nobody leaves the ship without my permission.”

      
Kelly excused himself and went to his cabin to check for last minute messages or changes to their orders.
 
He had transferred Wanda’s personality file into his personal terminal.
 
He wasn’t the captain, so couldn’t load his old fighter’s AI on the main computer, but she didn’t seem to mind being in just a terminal.
 
She told him there were no official messages, but he had a few personal messages.
 
One was from his parents, telling him when they would arrive and that they would be staying in VIP quarters on base, rather than having to do the daily shuttle from the civilian sector east of the base.
 
Kelly sent them a message that he would see them when he got back.
 
The second message was from Candy Craddock, wishing him a bon voyage and to be careful.
 
She also said that she hoped he would come see her when he got back from patrol.
 
The next message was a video file from Tammy, obviously created shortly after he left, she started the video wearing a towel, and got dressed for work while telling him to be careful and that she would be here when he got back.
 
The last message was from LT Bell, wishing him good luck and thanking him for the suggestions helping to make their refit go smoother.
 
Kelly looked at the time display, locked the computer and went to his launch position on the bridge.

      
The captain was already in his seat.
 
Kelly sat down beside him.

      
LDCR Timmons keyed his mike and said, “Chief Watson, bring up the gangplank and secure the quarterdeck watch.”

      
Kelly heard the gangplank come up and lock in place.
 
He felt a slight pressure change in his ears, signifying a good seal on the gangplank.
 
Chief Watson joined them and reported the gangplank up, locked, and the quarterdeck watch secured.
 
The ship was ready for space.

      
The captain keyed his mike again.
 
“Antares Base, this is Vigilant requesting permission to take off.

      
“Vigilant, this is Antares Base, you are cleared for take off.
 
Good luck and good hunting.”

      
“Helmsman, take us up.
 
Yeoman, start the log.”

      
Kelly consciously kept his hand away from the controls.
 
He was the exec, not the pilot.
 
The ship rose smoothly, made a slow turn to port, and moved out to the west.
 
After the ship was over the lake, the helmsman added power and pulled back on the yoke.
 
The ship smoothly rose up, as the blue of the sky turned to the inky black of space.

      
“Chief, would you enter our course?”

      
“Aye aye, Captain.
 
Navigator, your course is coming up.”

      
“Helm, as soon as we clear the minimum safety distance, engage power 3 light speed and let’s get out of here.”

      
The helmsman replied, “Course is locked in, minimum safety range in five seconds, four, three, two, one, engaging power 3 light speed.”

      
The change over to FTL was smooth and the only indication of the change in speed was a slight blurring of stars in the view screen.
 
The captain got up from his seat and said, “Exec, you have the conn.
 
Chief Watson, join me in my ready room.”

      
Kelly answered, “I have the conn.”

      
The captain and the chief went into the ready room.
 
Chief Billings came up and took Chief Watson’s seat.
 
One of the galley crew brought fresh coffee.
 
Kelly kept up a sharp watch on the sensors until they left the orbital plane of the farthest planet of the Antares system.
 
They were now in clear space.
 
It was never safe for FTL ships inside a system.
 
There was always the chance that an in-system ship without a flight plan would move into their path.
 
Kelly relaxed slightly and increased the sensor range as the helmsman increased speed in accordance with the course specified by Chief Watson.
 
Chief Billings was just about to make a correction when the navigator increased the navigation shield’s strength in sync with the greater speed.

      
Chief Watson came out of the captain’s cabin and motioned Kelly to the captain’s cabin.
 
The chief took over the conn.

      
“Captain, you wanted to see me?”

      
“Yes, Kelly, sit down.
 
We’ve got some time here.
 
Tell me how a 2LT earns the Joint Meritorious Service Medal.”

      
Kelly paused to gather his thoughts and began.
 
“Well, sir, I was involved in an action to capture a K’Rang Scout ship well on our side of the frontier.
 
My lead pilot and I chased the scout down until they employed their self-destruct mechanism.
 
We at least kept them from transmitting their data on the fleet back to the K’Rang Intel.”

      
“I bet there was more to it than that, but that’s fine for now.
 
It doesn’t always serve you well to display too much humility.
 
If you don’t toot your own horn, don’t expect anyone else to.
 
That is all.
 
Thank you.”

      
The ship settled into patrol rhythm quickly.
 
The concept of day and night or a 24-hour day did not apply in space.
 
The three watches rotated through the watch schedule in turn, one six-hour watch in an eighteen-hour day.
 
Each individual was on six hours duty, then 12 hours to sleep, relax, do off-duty maintenance on the ship, and study for rating exams.
 
The captain, Kelly, and Chief Watson weren’t in the watch schedule, but they tended to stick with a different watch team, the captain with the red watch, the chief with the yellow watch, and Kelly with the blue watch.

      
Kelly wandered the ship during his watch.
 
He would relieve the helmsman occasionally by taking over the helm controls from his position.
 
He sat position in the sensor section to gain a better understanding of the sensor grid.
 
He never tried cooking again, but he would now and then filch a snack as he passed through the galley.
 
Chief Pennypacker ran drills for his gunners and Kelly would periodically sit in to keep his gunnery skills up.
 
Chief Miller, at first, merely tolerated Kelly’s presence, but after Kelly beat him to the solution of electronic problems a few times, a new respect took hold, as long as Kelly didn’t come into engineering with his coffee cup.

      
After four days of cruising, they arrived in their patrol area.
 
The captain, Kelly, and the chief had worked out a course that would allow them to sprint and coast through their patrol area.
 
The plan was to come up to speed and throttle off the engines.
 
They would cover the greatest distance, have the greatest sensor range and sensitivity, and emit the least signature.

      
They followed this pattern for thirteen days before they got the slightest indication out of the ordinary on their sensors.
 
It wasn’t much, but anything unusual was subject to investigation.
 
Kelly called the captain to the bridge.

      
“What do you have, Exec?”

      
“We’ve got emissions from across the frontier in open space.
 
Something is over there.
 
I recommend that we move to these asteroids to starboard, park next to one of them, and monitor this area for any further activity.
 
Those emissions could be nothing more than our K’Rang counterpart doing what we’re doing, but it's the first activity we’ve seen.”

      
“Good call, Exec, move us over to the K’Rang side of that big rock and park us above it.”

      
Kelly ordered, “Helmsman, all stop, move us slowly over to that asteroid to starboard and position us 100 meters above it.
 
Use thrusters only.
 
Keep us parallel to the frontier.”

      
“Aye aye, sir.”

      
The ship moved slowly under thruster power to a position 100 meters above the asteroid.
 
Kelly went aft and found the entire sensor section up and monitoring their systems.
 
Kelly had Chief Blankenship send two-thirds of them back to their quarters.
 
This watch would go on for hours, maybe days.
 
It wouldn’t do to have the entire sensor section dead on their feet this close to the K’Rang Frontier.

      
Kelly moved aft.
 
Chief Blankenship knew her job.
 
She didn’t need him hovering.
 
He went to the galley, refilled his coffee, snagged a handful of cookies and went back to gunnery.
 
Kelly found Chief Pennypacker.

      
“Chief, keep one gunner on the top turret at all times.
 
Rotate them through to keep them fresh.
 
If something comes through the frontier at us we want to be ready.”

      
“Aye aye, sir.”

      
Kelly went back to the bridge.
 
The captain was waiting for him.

      
“How are things, Exec?”

      
“We’re good, Captain.
 
I had to send most of the sensor section to bed.
 
They all were back there monitoring their systems.
 
I told Chief Pennypacker to keep a gunner on the top turret and rotate them through to keep them fresh.
 
There are fresh chocolate chip cookies in the galley.
 
Here, have a couple.”

      
The captain took two cookies.
 
“Thanks.
 
Good work, keep everyone on the watch schedule.
 
This will be a long patrol.
 
We need to keep the crew rested and alert.”

      
The intercom buzzed.
 
“Bridge, Sensors.
 
We’ve got movement across the K’Rang frontier.
 
It hasn’t reached our side of the frontier yet.”

      
The captain headed back to Sensors.
 
Kelly keyed the intercom and said, “Sensors, the captain is on his way.”
 
Kelly keyed up Sensors on his monitor and tried to analyze what they were up against.
 
He overlayed the two frontiers and buffer zone on his screen and plotted in the known locations of the target, gaining a rough course plot.
 
The target was moving from several hundred thousand kilometers beyond their frontier.
 
If it kept on current course and speed it would cross the frontier in an hour.
 
It was in no hurry.