Castle Vroman Page 4

"But you told me that your orders are to retain your rank after you leave here."

  "Yes, I'm a bit confused about that. I can see having me remain as a flag officer while I'm here, but once I leave for Higgins it doesn't make sense."

  "Perhaps they're only extending the honor for the duration of the trip," Eliza said. "Admirals are treated differently than mere captains when traveling as VIP's. Perhaps Admiral Holt will formally return you to your permanent rank when he gives you your new assignment. Do you think you'll be getting a new battleship? Maybe one shielded with Dakinium?"

  "I have no idea, and they haven't given me a clue yet. As far as Dakinium is concerned, I haven't heard anything about it since the Colorado returned to Mars for additional testing. Perhaps an almost indestructible hull is just a pipe dream."

  "Pipe dream?" Christa said incredulously. "The Colorado was very real. The Raiders didn't leave a mark on you when they targeted you with their laser arrays."

  "But what's the value of being impervious to laser fire if you can't move? We found ourselves in hostile space unable to re-engage the Light Speed drive. If they had resolved the problem, the Prometheus would surely have received its scout ship back by now and the Chiron would have received its new scout ship. We could have really used them in our fight with the Milori."

  "But the Colorado also used a radical new engine design," Eliza said. "Perhaps that was the problem and not the Dakinium?"

  "I don't know. I suppose we'll find out eventually."

  "Think you'll have a chance to go home and visit Mom?"

  "If I get anywhere near Earth, I'm going to make the time. I have a lot of leave coming because I haven't been able to use any during my tour here, and by the time I get to Higgins I'll have a full six months of time owed to me."

  "That's not enough," Eliza said. "It's three months travel time from Higgins to Earth at Light-375. You'll need six months just for the trip, if you travel by battleship."

  "Not if I'm getting a new ship. I'd have to travel to the Mars shipbuilding facility to pick it up. From Mars to one of the orbiting Earth Stations is just a fourteen-minute ride at Sub-Light Ten, and then another half-hour for docking and such."

  "But what if you're not getting a new battleship?" Christa asked. "New captains are supposed to pay their dues by starting with a destroyer and working their way up."

  "I've paid my dues by performing jobs that I didn't want. They owe me. Besides, the rules only state that a newly promoted captain receive a destroyer for his or her first command. My first command was the battleship Prometheus and my second command was the heavy cruiser Song. I should be exempt from the normal progression plan, shouldn't I? But if they ignore that, then I'll work my way up. With the number of new ships being built, the list should move pretty fast for the next decade."

  "What if you're not getting a ship at all?" Eliza asked.

  "I won't even contemplate that. Admiral Holt as much as promised me a new ship when my tour here was up and I feel that I've earned it by spending five years doing a job I didn't want. I won't accept anything else."

  "Are you saying you'll resign your commission if you don't get it?" Christa asked.

  "I–– don't know. I don't know what I'll do. Hugh told me that I couldn't be happy as a freighter captain, and I think he might be right. I'm too used to military life now. If they don't give me a ship, I don't know what I'll do. Now that I'm a senior admiral in the Nordakian Space Force, I can't even get a ship there."

  Arriving back at her quarters two weeks later after an arduous day of work, Jenetta found a message from Hugh among her personal messages. She played his first, smiling as soon as his face appeared on the com unit.

  "Hi honey. Well, I did it, I re-up'd with Space Command. From now on, I'll have to salute you when we meet, but I'll be saluting you as Commander Hugh Michaels. Space Command upgraded my rank, as you thought they might. I'm to report aboard the GSC destroyer Bonn, commanded by Captain Marie Simpson, when they dock in a couple of weeks. I met Captain Simpson when she was just a Lieutenant, and I'm sure that we'll get along well. I'm replacing Commander Jessica Billsworth as the ship's first officer. She's receiving her own ship as soon as she can hitch a ride to Mars.

  "Since the Bonn is one of the older ships in the fleet, I expect that we'll stay in this sector and handle patrol duties. When you get here, I should have some leave time accumulated and maybe we can get together. Have you received any clarification on your orders yet? Are you getting a ship? I know that you won't quit the service if you don't, but don't tell them that. Let them continue to think that you might leave if they snub you another time.

  "I can't wait to see you again. Do you realize that it will be more than three years since we last touched? I guess my stasis sleep has dulled the edge on that a bit, but I sure do miss you and I can't wait until we're in the same sector again, or better yet, the same sub-sector. And if we can't get together, at least it won't take two weeks to exchange messages.

  "Time to go. I love you and I'll be counting the days until you get here. Take care of yourself until then." Hugh kissed his forefinger and then pressed it to the vid lens in the com unit.

  "Commander Hugh Michaels, message complete."

  * * *

  Chapter Four

  ~ May 24th, 2278 ~

  The combined engineering staffs, under the direction of Commander Jacoby, completed repairs on the destroyers Geneva, Ottawa, St. Petersburg, and Beijing a full month ahead of schedule. As they had with the battleships and cruisers, the engineers had eradicated all visible signs of battle damage. Also as with the battleships and cruisers, a number of newly designed sensors now graced their hulls. Incoming torpedoes would now be automatically detected, tracked, and destroyed by a special computer module installed in the weapons control system, that is, once the Weapons Research section completed and perfected the systems software.

  Tests of the new system had been promising. From the very beginning, the system was almost as good as the best gunners. With each computer code upgrade, the success rate improved against torpedoes fitted with dummy warheads. Captain DeWitt and her team were striving for a one hundred percent kill rate, although that might not be technically feasible. The system still tended to get confused when three or more incoming torpedoes received the same threat assessment value. At least one of the torpedoes always got through to the target because an array would try to divide its fire among the targets instead of concentrating on each one until destroyed. This was very similar to what human gunners did as trainees, but with stringent training, they learned to overcome this tendency. Captain DeWitt promised to resolve that software problem soon.

  The destroyers Asuncion, Buenos Aires, and Cairo were the last to receive the attention of the entire engineering group. The small work parties assigned to the three ships for months had worked every bit as hard as the full teams assigned to the other ships. They had managed to complete most of the structural framework repairs. With the full attention of the main workforce now focused on the ships, the work would speed up immensely. With luck, the engineers might complete the work on the three destroyers by the end of September.

  As Jenetta's time on the base grew shorter, she found herself with more and more time on her hands. The new bureaucratic layer of captains insinuated immediately beneath Jenetta was functioning effectively now, but Jenetta was having trouble letting go. She had to force herself to place some distance between herself and the lower officers. She remembered the lessons she had taught others about micromanaging, and now strove to follow her own advice.

  Most of Jenetta's workday now consisted of reviewing reports from her senior officers or having meetings with them or visiting dignitaries. Her promotion to Rear Admiral, Upper Half, brought with it full responsibility for all ships in her sectors. Where before she could alter patrol routes that originated with Space Command Supreme Headquarters, given sufficient cause, her office was now fully responsible for establishing all patrol routes and all ship captains reported
directly to her as the Supreme Military Commander for this entire area of space.

  The number of ships on patrol presently numbered twenty-eight, with more than half assigned to patrol routes in the Frontier Zone. In years past, the number of ships patrolling in the Frontier would have represented only a small percentage of a command's available warships, but Jenetta used her authority to change the policy in her sectors. Taking a page from the Raider handbook, Jenetta dispatched most of the small ships captured in engagements with the Raiders or seized during interdiction activities, and established them as a network of spotter outposts to watch ship traffic and report suspicious activity. Their hull plating was not up to Space Command warship standards, so they had standing orders to avoid any confrontations. If challenged, they were to disable their ACS and go to FTL at the first opportunity. They moved frequently so the Raiders wouldn't be able to identify their positions and simply avoid them.

  In the coming months, the warships re-assigned by Supreme Headquarters would begin arriving at Stewart. Once they restocked their supplies and rested their crews, they would join the other ships on patrol. Jenetta had already established patrol routes that would utilize all but five of the ninety-nine ships assigned to Stewart, giving substantial coverage to its assigned territory. The Stewart Base Protection group would always consist of five warships. Ships returning from patrol duty would immediately become part of that group, freeing up a ship for patrol. When the system was operational, no ship would sit in the base for longer than thirty days. That would give adequate time for personnel to enjoy some R&R and get them back out about the time they started getting bored and antsy.

  * * *

  In early September, a message from Admiral Vroman aboard the GSC Destroyer Lisbon appeared in Jenetta's message queue. As she tapped the play button, the image of a very distinguished looking octogenarian in a Space Command uniform filled the screen on her com unit.

  "Hello, Admiral Carver. I've heard your name so much and seen your picture so often that I feel like I know you. But since we haven't met, I'm still a stranger to you. I hope that will change, and that we'll become friends. We expect to arrive at Stewart in mid-November, so I'll have a few weeks to adapt to the base operations before I assume command. I'm very much looking forward to meeting you.

  "Thaddeus Vroman, Rear Admiral, Upper Half, aboard the GSC Destroyer Lisbon, message complete."

  Leaning back in her chair, Jenetta smiled. This certainly didn't fit the image of Admiral Vroman that she'd created in her mind. She'd seen pictures of him and heard stories of how he could turn an ensign into a quivering mass of jelly with just a look. Admiral Holt and Captain Gavin had this ability and she wondered if she'd ever manage to perfect such a look. She certainly had a long enough time ahead of her in which to work on it, she thought with a giggle. She sent a quick reply telling Admiral Vroman that she was looking forward to personally welcoming him to Stewart's sectors.

  A few days later, Jenetta was reviewing a performance report on the newly repaired ships when her aide, Lt. Commander Ashraf, informed her that a Wolkerron was requesting a few minutes of her time. As surprised as she was to have a Wolkerron visitor, Jenetta was also curious and she immediately said to send him in.

  The Wolkerron entered confidently, smiling widely in the toothy grin of his species that appears so ominous to the uninitiated, until he spotted Jenetta's two Jumakas. His momentary hesitation and change of facial expression was enough to make both large cats rise to their feet and assume a stance that clearly announced they were prepared to spring if they detected the slightest hint of a threat. Black as space, with yellow eyes that seemed to glow, a steady gaze by the potentially dangerous duo was normally enough to halt any visitor in his or her tracks.

  "Cayla, Tayna," Jenetta said, "down. Come in Ker. That is the usual salutation for your race, isn't it?"

  "Quite so, Admiral," the tall, gaunt, anthropomorphic creature with yellow skin and large black eyes said. "I'm Ker Sopherra, and it's my pleasure to make your acquaintance."

  "I'm pleased to meet you, Ker Sopherra. What can I do for you?"

  "I have a gift for you, Admiral," he said, holding out a very small package.

  "A gift? From whom?"

  "The sender did not reveal himself. Another courier delivered it to me. My task is only to deliver the parcel to you. I naturally checked it for dangerous chemicals and contaminants before I accepted it, as did your security personnel before I was permitted into this part of the station."

  Jenetta reached out and accepted the tiny parcel. "Is there a card or a message?"

  "Nothing else, Admiral, just the package. That concludes my business. Good day."

  "Good day, Ker."

  The Wolkerron turned and left as Jenetta sat back down at her desk. What he had said about security was true. Base security would no doubt have scanned both him and the package thoroughly before allowing them through, so there was no obvious threat. Unwrapping the parcel revealed a clear acrylic jewelry box containing a ring. A close examination of the wrapping paper turned up no clues about the identity of the sender. Since the box wasn't hermetically sealed, it should be safe to open, but she took a small sensor device from a desk drawer anyway and checked it once just to be certain. When the sensor indicated that it was perfectly safe, she opened the box and took a closer look at the ring.

  The simple silver band with a delicate filigree lattice around the outer surface had a smooth interior without any visible inscription. Jenetta ran the sensor over it once again, but the readings remained the same, proof that the metal band offered no chemical or biological threat. The sensor device further confirmed the absence of chemicals in the paper that would cause a message to remain hidden to the naked eye until some condition such as a temperature variation occurred.

  Satisfied that there was no danger, Jenetta removed the ring from the box and examined it from every direction. Her scrutiny revealed nothing untoward. About to return it to the box, a thought occurred to her so she opened the media drawer on her desk and touched the ring to the data spindle used to read and write information to data rings. Her com screen immediately filled with garbled bits of data. "Ah-ha," she said, recognizing that her hunch was correct. The ring was definitely a data ring. Undoubtedly, the sender would have encrypted any message, but there was no indication of where she might find the key needed to view it.

  It had been a long time since she'd used her skills as a hacker to break encrypted messages, but she couldn't pass up such a challenge. Forgetting the report she'd been working on when the Wolkerron arrived, she began to work on decrypting the message. She ignored lunch, only pausing for scheduled appointments and meetings during her efforts to crack the code.

  It took her six days to break the cipher that protected the message; it was the most difficult decryption that Jenetta had ever worked, requiring every bit of her math and computer skills. Engineering had since analyzed the packaging and box, and found nothing dangerous. The wrapping paper came from a genus of trees not recorded in the SC database and the structure of the acrylic like box was actually crystalline. Apart from those anomalies, there was nothing unusual or noteworthy. The ring appeared to be the only puzzle that required solving.

  When an unscrambled image finally appeared on the com screen, Jenetta knew that she had cracked the code, but now she faced a new puzzle because the image on the screen appeared to be that of an alien species known as Hudeerac. The Hudeerac were borderline anthropomorphic, using the broadest definition spelled out in the Space Command Handbook. Their average height was between six and seven feet, but their mottled greenish-brown skin was scaly, like that of a reptile. They had two arms, a torso, and two legs, but their hands only had three thick, main fingers, plus a smaller opposing thumb, and the males always had a short reptilian type tail. Although she had seen pictures and art representations, Jenetta had never met one. She wondered why a Hudeerac would be sending her a message, especially in this unusual manner.

  Tap
ping the play button, she leaned back to watch the message, not even knowing if the translator would be able to handle the Hudeerac language. Apparently, it could, because she heard, "Greetings, Space Command. This message is for Admiral Jenetta Carver only. Please forward it to her immediately because it will play only once, and then be erased. Stop your machine now."

  Jenetta quickly stopped the playback and set the com unit to record a copy before restarting the message. There was a long pause before the Hudeerac appeared again.

  "Greetings, Admiral Carver. If you're receiving this message directly from the encrypted ring, then you are the only one to have seen it. As a safeguard, this message will self-scramble after one playback, making it unrecoverable. Although the messenger, Ker Sopherra, is reputed to be most trustworthy, the self-scramble feature of the playback is our guarantee that neither he nor anyone else has viewed it. Since we don't have retinal scan data for recipient verification, we must use this extreme method. The encryption algorithm is acutely complex and it was felt that only a highly sophisticated organization such as Space Command would be able to crack the encryption code in time to view it. A second protection has the message scramble if it isn't played within a limited time frame that commences when first access of ring data is attempted. I applaud the efforts of your decryption people.

  "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Vertap Aloyandro, and I'm the Minister of Intelligence for the Hudeerac Order. I'm sending this message on behalf of our Sovereign, King Jamolendre, who feels that it might be advantageous for us to work together against our common enemy, the Milori. News of your outstanding victory against them has greatly buoyed the spirits of our people. Until a decade ago, the Hudeerac lived in relatively peaceful co-existence with our space neighbor, despite the fact that Maxxiloth's great-grandfather seized much of our territory during his reign. But when Maxxiloth killed his father and proclaimed himself Emperor of Milor, the state of affairs changed again. He's revived the old ideas of galactic conquest originated by his great-grandfather and has systematically waged war against us, driving our people out of most of our remaining territory. We tried to resist, but his fleets have been too strong for us. We've pulled back, abandoning planets, moons, and space stations to consolidate our forces within our home solar system. The Milori haven't yet come to believe that our final eradication is worth the potential losses to the Empire, but we don't expect that sentiment to prevail forever. Maxxiloth will eventually decide to finish us off. If he had sent those three hundred ships against us, they would surely have destroyed us. Maxxiloth has enslaved the people on the worlds that we can no longer defend and they suffer greatly under his heavy hand.