TFS Theseus: The Terran Fleet Command Saga – Book 2 (2 page)

“I think that’s probably a valid assumption at this point. Thank you, Ensign.”

Patterson removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes momentarily, then stared once again at the holographic table display while wondering exactly what he was missing, just as commanders at all levels had wondered throughout history.
Well, there’s the situation laid out for me with a ridiculous level of detail,
he thought.
If Admiral Spruance would have had this kind of visibility before the Battle of Midway, I guess he wouldn’t have had much of an excuse if things had gone to hell on his watch.
He paused and noted the AI’s projected path of the Guardian spacecraft
. Then again, the Yamato and the rest of the Japanese ships didn’t have him outgunned a hundred to one.

Resigning himself to the fact that there was nothing further for him to do at the moment, the admiral grabbed a tablet and took a seat at one of the Command consoles near the center of the CIC. He had noticed just before the Guardian’s arrival that TFS
Ingenuity’s
AI had transmitted its after action report, and this was as good a time as any to take a look.

Before the advent of ultra-sophisticated artificial intelligence systems aboard naval vessels, it had long been the duty of ships’ captains to complete a detailed report of their activities upon returning to port. While this was still the case to a degree, any report the captain chose to submit was now supplemented, and to a large degree replaced, by a standard mission log generated by the cold, unblinking eye of the vessel’s AI. On the plus side, the admiralty was provided with an unvarnished, objective account of everything that had transpired onboard. In addition, the captain was relieved of the administrative nightmare required to sufficiently describe the details of a starship’s mission. On the other hand, there was no longer much of an opportunity for a captain to “spin” his way out of a tongue lashing (or worse) with a skilled turn of phrase in his written report. Privacy truly was a thing of the past in modern society, but this was particularly true aboard TFC vessels. The AI-produced report was arranged in a hierarchical style, allowing the reader to “drill down” to the minutest details, when required. Interested in comparing the number of times a specific weapon system was discharged with another? It’s in the report. Reactor power output and efficiency? It’s in the report. The meal choices made by an engineer’s mate during dinner last Tuesday, including the … results of that dinner on his digestive system? It’s in the report — and with a level of scatological detail that would have caused even the young man’s personal physician to wrinkle his nose in disgust.

It took Admiral Patterson only a few moments of reading to realize that the already dangerously unpredictable situation had just gotten significantly more complex. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as he realized the implications of the Guardian gaining access to
Ingenuity’s
mission report, particularly the details regarding Human interactions with members of the Sajeth Collective and the presence of Admiral Naftur aboard
Ingenuity
at this very moment. Patterson checked his progress momentarily and reread the previous section after noticing that Naftur was not only aboard, but currently sitting on the ship’s bridge at a Command console.
Really, Prescott?
Filing that tidbit away for later, he quickly checked the document’s transmission time index and cross-referenced it with the GCS’ arrival — or at least when the RPSV flight had
detected
its arrival. There were roughly ten minutes separating the two time stamps, so it was at least possible that the information had not been intercepted. In reality, Fleet had no way of knowing if their secure communications channels had been compromised by the Guardian spacecraft, but the Science and Engineering Directorate steadfastly insisted that their standard encryption algorithms were all but unbreakable. Being a student of history, however, Patterson knew better than to take such assertions at face value. Based on the data the Sajeth Collective had provided thus far, it seemed prudent to assume that anything transmitted in the presence of the Guardian was no longer private.

“Ensign, I need Captain Prescott from
Ingenuity
shuttled over here immediately. Please let Captain Davis know that we are going to risk the flight. Depending on how that goes, we may go ahead and allow
Ingenuity
to deorbit within the hour.”

“Yes, Admiral, sending now.”

TFS Ingenuity

(5 km astern of TFS
Navajo
)

“Captain,” Lieutenant Dubashi reported from the Communications console, “
Navajo
is transmitting the ‘captain repair aboard flag’ signal again, sir.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant. Please let Flight Ops know that I will be departing after all.” Prescott turned to Commander Reynolds and Admiral Naftur with a disconsolate look on his face. “I’m guessing that means he just got around to reading the AI’s mission report.”

Naftur studied him for a long moment before replying. Then leaned forward and spoke into his tablet in a low voice, pausing the translation before handing it to Prescott for a reply that only he could hear. “I would counsel you to avoid spending too much time worrying about the importance of your role in this story so far, for better or worse. The same can be said for all of your other officers, for me, and for Admiral Patterson as well. Nor does responsibility for the ultimate outcome rest on any one set of shoulders alone. I understand the anxiety you feel, and I share it. Keep in mind, however, that Admiral Patterson’s view of the situation has a completely different frame of reference. You must not assume that his desire to speak with you in person as quickly as possible has anything to do with any impropriety on your part. I would be very surprised and indeed disappointed if that were truly the case. I can assure you that he has much more pressing matters to which he is attending. If it helps you feel any better, I believe I can objectively say that I can find no fault with any of your actions since our rendezvous at Gliese 667 C, and doubt that he will either. What you
do
have is critical, time-sensitive information. This, he
does
require immediately in order to make the best decisions possible. The ship’s report will have provided some of the information he needs, but there is no substitute for a face-to-face conversation with his battlefield commander. Take heart, young Captain, you may yet survive to fight another day.”

Prescott stared intently at the Wek’s expressive, leonine face as the tablet played back the translation using a perfectly synthesized facsimile of the admiral’s actual voice.
Well, then,
he chuckled to himself,
I think I may have just become the first Human being to receive an ass-chewing from an extra-terrestrial … and the funny thing is that I absolutely had it coming! Let’s see, summarizing in Human terms, he said, ‘Suck it up and drive on, kid, because none of this is about you!’
Prescott looked around the bridge momentarily, letting out a long sigh before replying, “I apologize, Admiral. You are absolutely right and I greatly appreciate your candor. Even in the midst of momentous events, it’s all too easy to start thinking in a selfish manner. I know better and will do better.”

Naftur chuckled on hearing the playback of Prescott’s reply and simply nodded in return — also aware that he had just issued a mild reprimand to a member of a different species. As a senior military commander in an alliance spanning seven star systems, however, managing subordinate commanders from multiple civilizations was just a routine part of the job.

TFS Navajo

Although the
Navajo
-class cruisers had been developed primarily as a massive weapons platform, the design still provided significant capabilities to handle flight operations. Just as with the much smaller destroyers and frigates, the stern was dominated by the ship’s primary flight apron, used for launch and recovery of various types of smaller spacecraft. This included the ubiquitous
Sherpa
Autonomous Space Vehicle, often referred to by TFC personnel as simply the “shuttle.” Although they tended to rack up more flight time than just about any other type of small spacecraft, due primarily to the wide range of missions they handled, they were widely considered one of the least attractive ships ever produced. In fact, their less official, and certainly less sophisticated moniker was simply the “turd.” Anyone seeing their shape for the first time was immediately clear on where the nickname had originated, and the standard, brownish-gray color scheme widely used by TFC only served to further reinforce that impression. Despite her many detractors, the
Sherpa
had an ingenious, modular design, many features of which had been in use well before the introduction of Pelaran-based technologies. They were relatively fast for a utility/transport vessel, and could be quickly reconfigured to handle various types of missions from cargo delivery to personnel transport. In addition, a heavily armored (and similarly armed) version of the ASV with more powerful engines and gravitic systems, known as the
Gurkha,
was currently being deployed as TFC’s first assault transport.

As Captain Prescott emerged from the cargo ramp at the rear of his shuttle, the
Navajo’s
AI sounded the traditional boatswain’s “Pipe the Side” call, followed by the announcement “
Ingenuity
, arriving,” to signify the presence of a visiting ship’s captain aboard.

Flag Captain Ogima Davis approached from the forward entrance to the hangar deck with an outstretched hand. “It’s quite an honor to have a living legend aboard,” he said with a mischievous grin.

“Uh huh, you clearly haven’t read
Ingenuity’s
mission report yet. The ‘legend’ part I humbly accept,” Prescott mocked, bowing his head slightly, “but the ‘living’ part may only last until Admiral KP gets me alone somewhere. In fact, you might want to assign me a Marine security detail,” he laughed.

“What did you do now, Prescott, fly off on another top secret mission in that super frigate of yours and start a war or something?”

“Something like that, yeah. Hey, maybe your ‘babysitter’ will let you read my report if you behave yourself,” he said, raising his eyebrows. It was unusual for two senior officers to be afforded the opportunity for an open, friendly conversation aboard ship without being behind closed doors. In this case, however, the activity and background noise on the cruiser’s massive flight deck provided the two captains a rare moment of privacy.

“Oh yeah, the old man’s gonna have nothing but love for you.”

“In that, I have no doubt, my friend. It’s good to see you, Ogima. How’s life as a ‘flag captain?’” Prescott asked, referring to Davis’ current assignment as the officer in nominal command of the admiral’s flagship. Since the days of sailing vessels, the job had been considered somewhat of a dubious honor since the admiral’s presence aboard tended to significantly diminish the captain’s authority to exercise command of his own ship. For that reason, the role tended to be assigned to relatively junior captains even though the flagship itself, which was typically a major combatant, would normally warrant the presence of a senior captain nearing their own promotion to admiral.

“I can’t complain, or at least I don’t complain
much
… especially since there’s no one to complain
to
when you’re the boss. In all seriousness, most days I feel guilty and selfish for enjoying my job so much. You know, with the world coming to an end and what not,” Davis said, smiling broadly. “All the simulator training was great, and very accurate, but in no way did it prepare me for the reality of this ship. This thing is an absolute
beast
, Tom, and if we can get some downtime to incorporate all of the features the Science and Engineering guys are talking about …”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Prescott said, nodding his head. “Unfortunately, time is a commodity that’s in precious short supply at the moment.”

“True enough, and you know how much my ‘sitter’ loves to be kept waiting, so I had best get you up to the CIC. Right this way, my friend.”

Guardian Spacecraft

(1500 km from TFS
Navajo
)

In spite of their occasional failure to apply history’s lessons as a guide for their actions, the Makers were dedicated students of the past. In fact, documenting the cultural and technological effects of Pelaran intervention on cultivated species was an important aspect of the Guardian’s mission. The period of time immediately following direct contact was of particular interest, since it tended to be a reliable indicator of how well the cultivation program had been applied to date, as well as the likelihood of its long-term success.

So far, the signs were gratifyingly positive. The Terrans were going out of their way to avoid any sort of aggressive posture, which had often not been the case for this species when they perceived an obvious threat. In addition to discontinuing their use of active sensor scans, there had been no spacecraft launches from the planet’s surface since its arrival. Vessels already in orbit and in the immediate vicinity of Earth were holding their positions and very little activity between vessels had been noted. The single exception to this, which was clearly the Humans’ command vessel based on its emissions, had approached slowly and taken up a position at a respectful distance.