Federation Reborn 2: Pirate Rage (93 page)

“Thank you, sir. I'm looking forward to the distraction,” Firefly stated.

Renee's eye light with mischief. “Me too, sir.”

“Good. Now I,” the commodore rose to his feet, “need to be about more business for my sins. Carry on,” he said. He waved Renee down as she struggled to rise. “At ease, Captain. Save it for later if you must. Get well soon.”

“I'll try, sir,” she said softly. “Good luck and goddess speed wherever you end up, sir.”

“I'm not gone yet,” the commodore replied dryly. She bobbed a nod in reply as he left.

Chapter
54

Horatio enjoyed his dinner with Renee but he would have enjoyed it more had it been under different circumstances. He felt strangely like a traitor; in a way the dinner was under false pretenses.

But not totally. He really did want to talk with Renee over dinner in a less stressful and definitely less duty-oriented situation. They made small talk throughout the dinner, but he knew it wouldn't last long.

She finally made the first moves as they started to finish up and his steward began to clean up.

“Okay, now that I'm full, you can give me indigestion. I know it's not good, but just how bad is it, sir?” she asked, eying him thoughtfully as she picked up her wine glass.

He frowned thoughtfully. “I probably shouldn't be discussing it with you, Captain,” he warned, using her rank as further warning of the distance between friend and subordinate. She nodded, but her eyes implored him for more information. “I think you know you didn't cover yourself in glory. You've definitely become the example that all ship commanders are pointing to about being overconfident,” he intoned.

She winced but then nodded. Her expression said she already knew that, but she wanted more. He exhaled slowly and then decided to give it to her. “What the hell,” he said, dabbing his mouth with the linen napkin. “This is armchair quarterbacking, and I bet you've already been doing your fair share of it. More if I know you,” he said. She nodded grimly. “Yeah, that's what I thought. The thing to keep in mind is that hindsight is twenty-twenty. You screwed up.”

“Royally,” she agreed.

“Bad enough.”

“How will this affect my career, sir?”

“Well, you know you screwed up. You are also showing signs of confidence issues. From a tactical view, you one, didn't scout. You didn't send in recon drones ahead, nor along your flanks. That was stupid.” She nodded.

“The review board will undoubtedly point out that you didn't have a cap flight out, nor anyone on standby despite being on alert.” She nodded.

“In short, you got caught out. But it is what you did when you were in the trap that will save you,” he said as her face fell. She looked up in surprise. He snorted. “Come on! You were facing four cruisers of comparable strength to your own in an ambush situation! Not to mention the fighter strike! You managed to get your ass out of it and destroy one of the cruisers in the process. And your fighters managed to fight off the enemy fighters despite being outnumbered by what, six to one?”

“Closer to five, sir, but I see your point,” she replied with a nod. “They did an outstanding job.”

“Yes, they did. You had superior fighters. They had superior numbers and surprise, yet they still got the job done. Your team took on four cruisers and their admittedly crappy missiles. The fact that you got off alive at all is a testimony not just to our quality over theirs, but also your skill and leadership,” he said.

“Yeah, but I had half my drive and a quarter of my crew were torn apart in the process,” Renee said quietly, contemplating the glass in her hand.

The commodore eyed her for a long moment then nodded. “That's it, then isn't it? You know you screwed up. The threat of getting beached or worse doesn't bother you half as much as that. War is hell. We all know we will get hurt, not just the enemy. We put it out of our minds; so when it does happen, it comes as a nasty surprise. We think we did something wrong.”

“In this case I did.” She played with the glass a bit, setting it on the edge of its base and then watching the liquid contents within self-level before righting it. Then she rolled the rim around a bit as he studied her.

“Yes you did. Do you intend to
learn
from the experience?” he asked, eying her.

She grimaced, setting the glass down carefully. “I'd rather not have had it in the first place, sir,” she replied sourly. “But yes, if I have another command.”

“Afraid if they don't beach you, you'll be stuck at the academy or worse, you'll be running a garbage scow?” the commodore asked. She winced. “Hopefully, for your sake as well as your next crew, you
do
learn from this encounter. You're going to be less cocky, more wary, So will other ship captains. That's probably for the best. We've all had a bit of arrogance,” he said, looking up and away. “We know we're better—better ships, morale, training, personnel, and spiritually. We've got the high ground. Well, the enemy thinks they've got the last one, and the rest they know they are behind so I'll bet they are now working hard on to redress.”

“A bit too hard,” Renee replied dryly.

“Always fight someone better than you, Captain, it keeps you honest. It shows you the example to strive for. Don't get cocky or your ass is grass.”

“I'll try not to, sir.”

“Good.

---<>))))

“How is she?” Admiral Irons asked over the ansible link. “Not just physically, how is she handling things, Horatio?”

Horatio frowned thoughtfully. John had asked for him to have a private talk. He'd suspected why, but this clinched it. Sometimes he wasn't subtle he thought. Sometimes you couldn't be; you had to go in for a frontal attack to face the demons that are in your way. “She's been reduced,” he said carefully. “Her confidence has taken a bit of a hammering. Psychological … I can't tell. That's up to medical. I don't know if she is in counseling or not. She hasn't mentioned nightmares but I'm betting she's had her fair share.”

“So is she still effective?”

“I think getting her back in the saddle will show us that, sir,” Horatio replied.

“Trying not to get caught between loyalty to a friend and duty old friend?” Irons asked.

“It is … hard. I think she needs to get back into the saddle as I said. I think her time off is good, it'll let her heal, but it's also forcing her to dwell on her mistakes. It's also making her worry about the damn review.”

“That's a good thing. We need all our captains to be a bit more careful with the crews and ships they've been entrusted with. That was sloppy, and you can tell her that from me.”

“Yes, sir.” Horatio frowned. “But in her defense …”

“Yes I know. She got out of it, hopefully learned from it, and is an example to others on what
not
to do. Fine, fine. Is she on duty?”

“Medical wants her off totally to help her finish her recovery. Physically she's back on her feet and a bit stiff but working out the kinks. She's taken light duty. She insisted on it; I think as much to keep busy as to keep her hand in things. Admiral White doesn't want her to be on a ship, so he's got her on San Diego at the academy. She's doing a bit of sim work while also taking the lecture circuit when she feels up to it.”

“Ah.”

“It's helping to rebuild her confidence I suppose, but it is just that, sims.”

“Has she been up against a good opponent yet?”

“No, sir. Not to my knowledge—sims and lectures.”

“Find a couple of our best in the star system; get them to give her a run for her money if you can arrange it. Surprise her too. It will make or break her. We need to know either way.”

“I'll see what I can do, Admiral,” the commodore replied thoughtfully. “I'll have to talk with the other department heads. Ops to be sure,” he said.

“You do that. Tell Phil I want her back up in the saddle or if she needs more time, benched at the academy. That sim will help us determine it either way.”

The Commodore straightened, now sobered. “Aye, sir.”

“Antigua out.”

---<>))))

It was almost over now, she thought, watching the courtroom with a small corner of her mind as she kept her composure. A week of testimony from her crew and the investigators leading to this point. The review was in; the board had voted.

She, like all of the officers and enlisted in the room, was in full formal uniform. The media circus was decidedly absent. Court reporters were allowed to attend in the galley of seats behind her, but like in civilian court proceedings, they couldn't carry any recording devices. They had learned after the first day to send in sketch artists.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as one worked with a set of pencils. Hopefully he got her good side she thought pedantically.

Invariably, as they waited for the board to convene, her errant mind turned to the sim. Not any sim, but one she hadn't had since Admiral Irons had set up the first exercise before his departure so many years ago from this very star system she thought. She'd never had to work so hard for a win, not since then.

They'd challenged her. They'd certainly made her sweat! She hadn't had time to think about the surprise to dwell on it. They'd come in hard and fast and she'd fallen back onto her training to get her out of the fix.

It hadn't been fair, but she'd learned that there was no such thing as fair in a fight. She'd acquitted herself well, she knew it. The hot wash afterward had proved it. She hadn't hesitated. She'd kept the book in mind, but when she saw an opportunity present itself to her, she'd lunged at it and won the engagement.

That had probably surprised her opponents she thought. Too many had been waiting in the wings for her now that she had slipped up. There was nothing like tearing a wounded hero down just to prove they are mortal she reminded herself.

Her shoulders straightened as the Marine guard opened the hatch door near the dais and stomped as he came to attention. That got everyone's attention. “All rise,” he intoned sternly.

Renee like the others rose dutifully.

Here we go, she thought as the officers filed in.

“Captain Mayweather, remain standing, this won't take long,” Admiral Subert said. She remained standing, hands down and thumbs aligned with her seams. Her Veraxin JAG lawyer hesitated to sit back on his pad. After a moment he too remained standing. The indecision made her think of smiling.

But one look at the rear admiral's stern face banished such sympathetic whimsy.

“We have completed the review process of the battle of Epsilon Triangula. Mistakes were made, which the fleet will learn from. Captain Mayweather are you ready to receive judgment of this review?”

She nodded once.

“I'm sorry; we have to have a formal admission for the record, Captain,” the Veraxin captain said.

“Yes, sir,” Renee replied.

“Very well,” Admiral Subert said, eying the tablet in front of him and then looking directly into her eyes. “A lot of the process of a review is hindsight. It is a formal review to present what went wrong and what went right to the navy. It is a means to judge performance but also to present it to the navy at large as a learning experience. The experience is trying and tortuous. It is however a necessary part of the process,” the admiral intoned seriously.

“Senior Captain Renee Mayweather, it is the decision of this board that you be formally reprimanded for your reckless decision to go into combat without fully knowing the situation. You will also be demoted to captain junior grade for those same mistakes leading up to the battle. If you wish to contest this decision, a full court martial can be arranged,” he said, eying her sternly as if daring her to do so.

She shook her head but didn't say anything. She didn't want to go through the circus again. After a long moment of studying her, he continued. “You went in with the best of intentions, and some would condone that. You and your bridge staff saw what the enemy wanted you to see. You let your desire to end the slaughter override your tactical sense.” She didn't even flinch when he said that. “I keep reminding myself that a certain path is paved with good intentions, however. You should do well to remember it as well,” the rear admiral said, eying her severely. She nodded once. She felt like hell, but pride made her spine stiff. She stood tall, but a small corner of her mind was glad it was Admiral Subert, a man she'd never met doing the review and not Admiral Irons. Commodore Logan was also a member of the board, as was a Veraxin junior captain she was unfamiliar with. The testimony had gone smoothly, but this was the telling point. She forced herself to focus. “Fighting spirit is commendable, but it must, it
must
be tempered with cold logic and awareness,” Admiral intoned.

“But, you went in following the finest traditions of the Federation Navy. A world was under siege and thousands of people under our protection were dying. You put yourself and your ship into harm's way to put a stop to that. Sailing in without stealth was reckless, but you did so to draw the enemy out. You succeeded in that,” he said in winter dry tones.

“Upon finding yourself in a trap, you did a commendable job fighting your way out of it. Your ship was outnumbered four to one and out massed by nearly three to one, but you survived. The fact that you not only did so, but also destroyed one of the enemy warships in the process and damaged others, is a testament to your skills as a ship's captain as well as to the courage and tenacity of your crew.”

He seemed to study her for a moment. “You maintained command despite your injuries, and that is in your favor, Captain,” he said. “You are stubborn; I will give you that. A lesser being would have given in to the pain and allowed someone else to carry the load. This too is in your favor.”

“Thank you, sir,” Renee said softly.