Junkyard Dogs 1: The Scrapyard Incident (37 page)

"I
know." Her own look grew sad. "I think...I know...I'm going to miss
you...quite a lot in fact!"

"If I wrote
to you, would you write back?" he asked, daring to hope. "We could
send long distance email via the Military stage two network every two weeks or
so?"

She brightened up
at that. "Really? I'd like that very much."

He looked
relieved. "I suppose I should go. You must have a ton of things to do to
before morning."

"Yeah, I'd
better get to it," she said. Still, she made no move to open the door.
Their eyes met and Harris thought he detected that same look he'd seen back on
the bridge of the
Terrier
before the
final battle.

"There is
one more thing before you go...," said Carlisle.

"What is it,
Tamara?"

"I...I'd
like it very much if you would kiss me goodnight."

Epilogue

...This portion of my dissertation contains
previously unpublished, indeed, previously unknown information. The author was
able to obtain access to the original ship's log records from the Federation
Orion Class Destroyer
Terrier
on a
recent foray to the Federation's New Ceylon Reclamation Center. These logs
contain information on field modifications that were made to the
Terrier
and her sister ships
Osage, Fairmont,
Dakota,
and
Albany
. What follows are actual transcripts of the
Terrier's
log as recorded by her
commander, Captain Eliza Evans, prior to and during the final battle of The
Great War of Succession. The information contained in this log is contrary to
the currently-held viewpoints on the final battle, particularly the conduct of
Janssen's battlecruiser forces and Arthur's heretofore much maligned destroyer
force...

...According to Captain Evans' account,
modifications were performed on the destroyer's projectile weapons to render
them powerful enough to significantly damage the enemy's battlecruisers and a
protectant material was applied to the hulls of the destroyers sufficient to
shield them from several pulse beam hits from these same enemy battlecruisers.
More information on these modifications is contained in Appendix C (projectile
weapon modifications) and in Appendix D (hull protectant material)...

...Perhaps of even greater importance, the
Terrier's
log reveals that Arthur's outgunned
destroyer force did indeed hold off the enemy battlecruisers, even disabling
the enemy flagship with concentrated projectile weapon fire targeting the enemy
flagship's bridge. Their heroic actions allowed Jannsen, who was very slow to
take advantage of the opportunity provided for him by Arthur's small squadron,
to attack and ultimately defeat the larger enemy battlecruiser force. It has
been well documented that Arthur lost his life in the battle. Until now, the
true nature of what he and his small force accomplished has remained lost to
history...

The excerpts that follow are taken directly
from the
Terrier's
log, specifically
the bridge recorder. The words are those of Captain Evans...

"October 5, 2538, 1:35 PM NCZM
 
Time ...Lieutentant Bates, Commander Arthur
has ordered us to attack the enemy battlecruiser force directly. We're to
concentrate fire on the bridge area of the lead battlecruiser. Crank those two
forward guns up to the maximum rate of fire. Let's see how well those bastards
handle fifty rounds per minute..."

"October 5, 2538, 1:51 PM NCZM
 
Time ...Damn it! That fool Janssen has
frozen; he's holding back for some reason. What the hell is he waiting for, an
engraved invitation? Keep firing, Lieutenant, we have to stop those
battlecruisers if we can, or at the very least, slow them down or they'll take
our battleships from the flank and this battle will be lost..."

"October 5, 2538, 1:55 PM NCZM Time
...Captain Eliza Evans log entry. This is amazing, I wouldn't have believed it
if I hadn't experienced it myself. I have personally seen several of our
destroyers take direct hits from enemy battlecruiser pulse beams and keep on
going. As we were told, though, a ship protected by the reaction fluid coating
can only take a limited number of hits, the
Dakota
took a third hit and disintegrated completely. The debris cloud did
horrific damage to the
Osage
as
well...

...I never would have dreamed that a small
force of obsolete destroyers could stand up to an entire task force of
battlecruisers. These old tubs certainly are stout! It helps that the enemy is
having a hard time hitting us; we're small targets and our evasive maneuvers
have been more effective than expected. The hypervelocity forward guns are
doing a surprising amount of damage. More importantly, it looks like our
harassment has given Janssen time to get his head out of his ass and begin to
move on the enemy ships..."

"October 5, 2538, 2:15 PM NCZM Time
...Captain Eliza Evans supplemental log entry. The
Terrier
is drifting without power. We took a direct
hit from a battlecruiser pulse beam and suffered a collision with the
Fairmont.
We have a substantial hull breach on the
starboard side and our projectile weapons are no longer functioning. I don't
have a list of casualties as yet but I fear that our losses have been heavy.
The engineering crew thinks we'll have emergency power up within a half an hour
or so. I have lost contact with Commander Arthur and with the other destroyers.
We personally witnessed the total destruction of the bridge on Arthur's ship.
Thank God, Janssen has finally attacked the enemy battlecruisers. We may win
this battle yet...

End of transcript.

Hartwell Wrist
Comp reference note highlighted for further review by Tamara Carlisle. Excerpt
is from "New Information Regarding the Role of Commander Tobias Arthur's
Destroyer Squadron in the Final Battle of the Great War of Succession" by
Dr. Tamara Carlisle, Ensign, Federation Navy. Submitted to the Federation Naval
Academy Graduate School as partial requirement for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in Military History.

The efforts of
the three survivors of the New Ceylon Reclamation Center attack and the
Resistance group on board the orbital station could not stop the next war from
coming; perhaps nothing could have. What their actions did accomplish however,
was to slightly alter the alignment of adversaries. A slim majority of the
Muslim worlds aligned themselves with Meridian and came in on the side of the
Federation and a significant number of those that did not elected to remain
neutral. These developments represented a subtle shift in the winds of chance.

Would it be
enough?

The End.

Note from the author
.

Thank you for purchasing and reading
Junkyard
Dogs One: The Scrapyard Incident
. Take a
moment, if you would be so kind, to write a review for the book. Short or long,
it doesn't matter. Tell me what you liked about
The Scrapyard Incident
and what you didn't. Your time and effort
will be greatly appreciated.

Yes, I am working on the sequel,
Junkyard
Dogs Two:
The
Veritian
Derelict,
as I compose this message. The
new book will be available as soon as I can get it ready.