Tipping Point in the Alliance War (2 page)

Chapter
2

“You
made quick time Captain,” Fleet Admiral Wall’s holo says.  “I thought
repairs were going to take at least seven more days.”

Captain
Niles’ holo, in the Admiral’s office, smiles as he speaks.  “That is
correct, Admiral.  We do have seven more days of ship repair before we are
fully operational.  I asked the Repair Depot to give highest priority to
those repairs which require the Space Station facilities.  The remainder
of the repair work is to be accomplished during the seven day transit, to the
edge of the Sol-system gravity well. 

The
repair crew will complete their work, and will then be returned to the Space
Station via a shuttle craft, which the Station routinely uses for emergency
in-space repairs.  That shuttle craft is on our flight deck, at this
moment, and the repair crews are busy working.”

“What
will you do, if the repair work isn’t finished by the time you get to the warp
area?” asks the Admiral.

“Then
the necessary members of the repair crew will go with us on the mission,” replies
Captain Niles.  “That should be good incentive for the repair crew to work
diligently.”

“Indeed
it should,” the Admiral’s holo laughs and nods.  “I understand that the
Marine detachment has been installed on your ship, and I received a call from
the Marine Commandant.  Major Dawkins reported that the installation was a
seamless operation.  She gave a glowing report about your officers and
crew.”

“I’ll
have to thank the Major for that,” replies Captain Niles.  “We have a
meeting scheduled within the hour.  I plan on spending the next three
weeks of travel time running practice exercises for various emergency
scenarios.  The Marines and the crew need to learn to work together“.

Fleet
Admiral Walls’ holo nodded in approval. “Good plan.  Give me a call, before
you go into warp-space.”

“Aye
sir.”

“Walls out.”

***

Courageous
Command Conference Room

“At
ease, Major Dawkins.
….. Have a seat. ……. Would you care for
something to drink?”

“Coffee
will be good, Captain Niles.” 

(That
request is received by the ship’s computer steward, and the coffee is dispensed
by the replicator, prepared to Major Dawkins personal preferences.)

“Major,
I believe that you have met my First Officer, Lieutenant
Znnu
.”

“Yes
sir,” responds the Major, as the two females shake hands.  “Lieutenant
Znnu
was of great assistance to us during the load-in”.

“I
have been including Lieutenant
Znnu
in most of the
ship’s preparation and strategy meetings, so that she is prepared to assume
command, if that becomes a necessity,” says the Captain.  “In turn, she
briefs the Bridge Crews and Engineering Officers.”

“That’s
a great idea, and it explains why everything works so smoothly on the
Courageous,” responds the Marine.  “I’ll follow your example and include
my Second in Command in future briefings.”

“Oh,
good,” says Captain Niles.  “You could implement that policy right now if
you would like.  Give your Second a call.  We can chat about the war
effort, while we wait for your officer.”

***

Major
Dawkins calls Captain
Baarg
and orders her to report to
the Command Conference Room, with ‘all deliberate speed’. 

(Marine
‘captains’ and
Navy
‘captains’ have the same title,
but it is universally understood that the Navy captain outranks the Marine
captain.  The Navy ‘captain’ is equivalent to a ‘bird colonel’ in the
Marines.
)

***

The
wait gives Captain Niles opportunity to thank Major Dawkins, for her glowing
report complementing the ship’s officers and crew.  Then, the three
officers trade their thoughts on the war and each of them speaks briefly, about
their homes and families.  It’s good for people who are preparing to enter
battle together to have a personal relationship, as well as a professional one.

That
is especially true for Lieutenant
Znnu
who is a new
member of the Courageous crew.  She is replacing First Officer Tan, who
was killed in the recent
Gomolus
Empire
conflict.  As a member of the
androditin
species, Lieutenant
Znnu
is part of a small minority
aboard the Courageous, and she probably can use some personal relationships to
make her feel more at home. 

Captain
Niles already knows some of Lieutenant
Znnu’s
personal history, from previous discussions.  One thing that he didn’t
know, is that Lieutenant
Znnu
is going to request a
‘personal leave’, when this voyage is complete.  It is time for her to
‘mate’, so she is going to return to the
androditin
home planet, in order to search for a suitable partner. 

(
Androditins
don’t usually marry or stay together in a
monogamous relationship.  The purpose of the mating is to produce an
offspring, and after mating the individuals usually go their separate ways.)

The
human and
androditin
species are both bipedal
humanoids, with some minor differences. 
Androditins
are cat-like in appearance and have a soft fur coat.  They have six
fingers on each hand, with an opposable thumb, and six toes on each foot, with
an opposable toe.  Also, the
androditins
have a
tail.

Androditin
and
human environments are similar, which enables members of both species to
coexist in the same ship environment, without the use of special survival
equipment.  That is not usually the case among the sentient species in the
Alliance.

Alliance
fleets usually include ships with differing habitats, which are suited for a
particular species but are toxic to others.  That is all well and good,
until there is an emergency which requires assistance from other species. 
In order to compensate for this weakness, each Alliance vessel has habitat
sections, which can be quickly configured for use by the other member species.

***

Major
Dawkins, who is human, is probably not well acquainted with the
androditin
species, because
androditin
are rare in the Marine Corps - probably because they tend to be smaller than
humans.  The physical strength requirement for Space Marine Corps
personnel is much greater than the requirement for Navy personnel. 

Then
the Captain observes, to himself, that Major Dawkins looks surprisingly small
for a Marine.  “She must be packed solid with muscle,” thinks the Captain.

When
the Major gives a little thumbnail sketch of her personal life, she highlights
the fact that she has a male child, who is 7 years old.  Her child’s name
is
Nevin
and her husband’s name is Zack.  Her
husband is a stay-at-home-father who is raising the child, and they follow the
Major from place to place, as her assignments change.  She has holograms –
and shows them off like a proud parent and wife.

***

“Enter,”
the Captain says, at the sound of the knock.

“Captain
Baarg
reporting as ordered, sir.”

Captain
Baarg
almost growls the words, as she leaps from the
doorway to a position of attention in front of Captain Niles. 

***

(The
minstock
are another species who are able to survive in a
human habitat - although, not very comfortably.  Captain
Baarg
is a
minstock
of the
‘warrior caste’ and she, therefore, relishes discomfort.  Living in
discomfort is viewed as just another challenge, which will work to improve her
character. 

The
minstock
warrior caste is bred for war and their societies
are almost always at war - usually with each other.  Since the war with
the Confederation began, the
minstock
planets have a
common enemy and they are enjoying being at peace, within their species. 

The
minstock
familial relationships are similar to humans, in
that the couple often remains in a family unit for a long time – sometimes, for
the duration.  Captain
Baarg
doesn’t volunteer
any specifics on her familial relationships, and Captain Niles is careful not
to ask.

 Captain
Baarg
is massive, as compared to human Marines. 
She is well over 7.5 feet tall, with long arms, short legs, and a large head -
which gives her an appearance somewhat like an earth gorilla - but without
fur. 

Captain
Baarg
is also, obviously, very pregnant.  Being
pregnant is of no concern to the
minstock
warrior.  It is just a little more suffering, which will work to improve
her character.  The pregnancy is, however, making it a very tight fit to
get into her space-armor.)

***

Following
some more pleasantries and personal interaction, primarily centered on Captain
Baarg
, Captain Niles gets to the purpose for the meeting.

“I’m
sure that everyone here knows about the loss of the Alliance fleet in the
Capernic
system.  Our mission is to go to the location
of that battle, in order to assess damages, collect information, and search for
survivors.  There is a possibility that we are entering a hostile
environment, with Confederation ships awaiting our arrival.  The purpose
of this meeting is to plan for that possibility.

While
we are in warp, the Courageous will go to Alert Level 4, which is just one
level below Battle Stations.  There is no reason to expect hostilities
while in warp-space, but we do know that the Confederation forces can detect
activity in warp-space, and that they can pull ships out of warp.  We need
to be prepared for that scenario.  We need to be combat-ready at all
times.

Work
quickly to familiarize every Marine with the layout of the ship.  They
need to be able to deploy to any part of the Courageous, on command. 
Also, make it a practice to keep a Ready Team of Marines suited-up, in Space
Armor, for every shift.  I think that 10 member teams will be
sufficient.  I’m not expecting that the ship will be boarded, but it can’t
hurt to be prepared.

I want
us to consider this relationship to be a mesh of Navy and Marines, rather than
two separate groups living together.  We have 6 more days in transit,
before we reach the edge of the Sol gravity well.  And then we have 17
days of warp-space travel time.  I want to invest that time - as opposed to
merely spending that time - by planning and drilling, so that the Marines and
the crew can work as a single unit. 

There
are computer simulation stations in crew lounge areas and in the Training
Center.  Appoint officers to select combat simulations, which will improve
teamwork between Marines and the ship’s crew.  Rotate everyone through
those simulations until they are proficient.  The simulators should be
constantly in use.  In addition to the simulations, conduct combat drills
involving the Marines and crew.  Everyone should know their way around the
ship.  Everyone should know how to put out a fire.  Everyone should
know how to kill an enemy attacker.

For
the officers, I want brainstorming sessions - with Marines officers and ship’s
officers together - to imagine possible scenarios and develop appropriate
contingency plans.

 
We need to be razor sharp when we drop out of warp, and we have about three
weeks to get that way.  When we exit warp-space, I want to have everyone
at their Battle Station positions, with their fingers on the triggers.”

***

Captain
Niles notices the special icon flashing on his PID.  He answers the call,
in privacy-mode, and says; “Hello Doctor.  How are you today?”

“Just
fine, Roger.” Doctor Kei responds.  “I was wondering if you might have
time for dinner, with me tonight.”

“I
would love to have dinner with you. 
Your place or
mine?”

***

There
is an age old rule, which prohibits sexual relationships between Navy or Marine
personnel, of different rank.  The purpose of the rule is to prevent
higher ranking individuals from coercing lower ranking personnel, into having
sexual liaisons.
(It often happens anyway.)

That
rule would leave the ship’s Captain alone at the top.  But, since the
rules are made by high ranking people, you can expect that the Alliance Navy
will leave a few loopholes.  The ship’s Captains are permitted to have
sexual relationships with the ship’s doctors and the ship’s counselors. 
It is reasoned that, since their promotions are not under the Captain’s
control, there is no conflict of interest.  The gender of the ship’s
doctor and counselor is often a good indicator of the Captain’s sexual
preferences.  In the case of the Courageous, both of those officers are female
humans.

Dr.
Mei Kei has followed Captain Niles for his last two changes of assignment, and
is the Chief Medical Officer aboard the Courageous.  Dr. Kei is in love
and is considering having children.  Roger Niles has left that decision to
her.  They both know that his ‘first love’ is the Navy, and that he is
married to that relationship, first. 

If Mei
decides to have a child, she can continue her Navy career, but the child will
not be permitted to live on a ship-of-war.  Mei has already decided that
if she has a child, she will leave the Courageous and take a position
planet-side.

***