Valor At Vauzlee (16 page)

"Yes ma'am."

"Carver out. Lieutenant, see to setting up that temporary morgue. And tell the mess halls to get lots of coffee and sandwiches ready. It's going to be a very long night. The ensign here is going to take me on a tour of the damaged areas."

"Aye, Captain."

Checking the portable holo-tube again, Jenetta said, "Ensign Willis, escort me to Deck Three, Section Fourteen."

"Yes ma'am."

As the com link went dead, Commander Rodriquez turned to the E.V.A. suited lieutenant next to him. "It sounded like she said her name was
Jenetta
Carver. You don't suppose she could be…"

* * *

Jenetta had barely arrived aboard the damaged warship before scuttlebutt about her appointment began to ripple through the crew. In spite of their preoccupation with matters related to rescuing crewmembers trapped in airtight compartments, the recovery of bodies, and the sealing and re-pressurizing of the ship, the news seemed to spread with the speed of a DeTect beam.

On Deck Four, Petty Officer 1
^st
/c Serge Kaliskov dropped to the deck next to Petty Officer 2
^nd
/c Patrick O'Malley for a moment of rest after searching a damaged section for survivors or bodies. There were quite a few crewmembers still unaccounted for. Battle damage to the ship's sensor systems has kept them from locating the missing crewmen by triangulating on signals sent to their CTs or ID chips.

"She's really here," Serge said. "I just heard it from a buddy who heard it directly from Sergeant Korby, the Marine detailed to stop anyone from trying to enter Corridor 0 up on A Deck."

"What are you talking about? Who's here?"

"Who? Haven't you heard? The Prometheus sent over their XO to replace the Captain."

"Oh. Yeah, I knew that someone was coming. So?"

"Well, it's not just someone, it's her, Jenetta Carver.
The
Jenetta Carver. The Ice Queen herself."

"It can't be. Carver's just an ensign. Perhaps the most beautiful and deadly ensign in the service, but still just an ensign."

"She
was
just an ensign, but not anymore. She's a Lieutenant Commander now, and the XO on the Prometheus. Or at least she was. Now she's our new captain."

"I'll believe that when I see it with my own baby blues and not before. Space Command doesn't just promote ensigns directly to lieutenant commander and then make them the XO on one of the powerful warships ever built."

"But most ensigns haven't fought the Raiders on three separate occasions and kicked their asses up between their shoulder blades every time. Most ensigns haven't taken on a destroyer and a medium cruiser, while commanding an old bucket of a freighter, and left the Raider ships in pieces, if they were lucky. Most ensigns haven't single-handedly destroyed a Raider base, killing tens of thousands of the enemy, and destroying dozens of Raider warships in the bargain. And most ensigns haven't captained one of the most powerful warships ever built. Carver has."

"Yeah, I saw the court-martial too. Um, you're sure it's her? It's really Jenetta Carver?"

"I heard that Sergeant Korby is as sure of that as he is that he can't just duck outside the ship for a quick smoke wherever he feels the urge."

~ March 27
^th
, 2268 ~

With Ensign Willis leading the way through the unfamiliar ship, Jenetta visited each of the areas where the hull had been seriously breached. They used the ship's transit tubes to traverse the length of the ship, and the lifts and local corridors to reach the specific locations. In each damage area, they passed groups pushing ‘oh-gee' stretchers with body bags. Along the way they passed crewmen posted at emergency doors to keep people from entering non-pressurized areas. Portable monitor screens were rolled out on bulkheads near each breach location so she was able to see the damage and observe initial repair efforts.

Although the act of saluting aboard ship is only required when entering or leaving the vessel, on occasions when flag officers are aboard, or when being called before the captain and leaving his or her presence on that same occasion, every rating and NCO that Jenetta encountered, stepped back out of her way, came briskly to attention, and held their salute until acknowledged. She returned the salute casually but definitively, and mumbled, "As you were," as she passed each. Only about half the officers actually saluted, but all stepped back out of her way and braced to attention until she had passed.

"Is this formality usual aboard this ship, Ensign," Jenetta asked Ensign Willis. "Did Captain Corriano require such behavior?"

"No, ma'am. The Captain actually preferred a pretty relaxed environment."

"I see," Jenetta said before relapsing into silence. Although the crew of the Prometheus had become used to seeing her on a daily basis, she had to remember that she was still probably a bit of a celebrity here. She knew they'd get over it soon.

After visiting each damage site and receiving a personal assessment of damage to the hull and repair progress, by the engineering officer or noncom in charge of overseeing the repair effort there, Jenetta had Willis show her the way to the sickbay. It was like the sickbay on the Prometheus, but much busier. The outer waiting area was filled with crewmen with minor injuries, who were naturally sitting, standing, or lying by while more serious injuries were handled first. Lastly, they visited the temporary morgue. Bodies in black cadaver bags were already laid out in two long rows, and those from the bridge hadn't even been recovered yet.

In the next cargo bay, hull plates were being manufactured. A machine cut out the proper shape from huge, flat plates of Tritanium according to specifications already in the computer, then heated it until it glowed white hot. After being sculpted in an enormous press, it was allowed to cool in the new shape. Jenetta didn't understand why Lt. Commander Rodriguez's assistant couldn't handle the process since it appeared to be done completely by machine once the exact location of the needed plate had been determined, but this wasn't the time to raise such an issue.

Within four hours, new tritanium bulkhead plates had been welded into place around the bridge and the radiation shielding replaced. Once the bridge was pressurized, the bodies of Captain Corriano, Commander Harant, and sixteen other officers and noncoms could finally be recovered and taken to the temporary morgue. Then it was just a matter of cleaning up. Jenetta had shaken her head sadly as the bodies were carried past her vantage point near the bridge entrance because someone had really dropped the ball. All off-duty command officers, other then the captain and first officer, should have been in the AC&C instead of on the bridge. It had been Harant's job, as XO, to enforce that SC regulation. It would have been more cramped in AC&C, and it didn't have the larger monitors that the bridge had, but when the bridge perimeter had been breached, a normal command structure would have remained in place and the ship wouldn't have had to quit the battle.

Once the bodies were removed and the bridge cleaned, the electronic technicians moved in and started performing diagnostic checks on every system. Within two hours they certified the bridge to be fully operational, with the exception of the control panel where the wall had been breached. For that they took away the damaged electronics and began replacing them. By 0800 hours the rebuilt panel was ready for use, completing the bridge repairs. It was impossible to tell that there had ever been a problem on the bridge. The ship's hull beyond the bridge was still open to space, but the bridge was fully functional.

As Jenetta approached the Captain's briefing room, a smaller, more austere version of the one aboard the Prometheus, the doors opened automatically. Someone, most likely Lieutenant Ashraf, had apprized the computer system of Jenetta's appointment as captain of the ship, and it recognized her as such now.

Captain Corriano's personal effects in the briefing room had already been itemized by the ship's stores officer, boxed up, and moved to storage. The stores officer had the unenviable job of doing that for every officer, noncom, and crew-member killed in the battle. He and two ratings had been at it for hours, and many more hours of such work faced them.

From the com station on her desk, Jenetta summoned the ship's personnel officer to the briefing room. The assistance of Lieutenant Sammarco proved invaluable. Jenetta was able to quickly appoint three temporary bridge crews. The Lieutenant would contact each of the individuals and have them report to the bridge.

Ashraf was the first to arrive. The briefing room's computer interface softly announced, "Lieutenant Ashraf is at the door, Captain," when the lieutenant moved into sensor range outside the room.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Ashraf said a little hesitantly as she approached the desk, sure that she was about to be severely reprimanded for her earlier remark now that they had some privacy.

"Yes, Lieutenant. I've put together the temporary bridge crews and I've designated you as Acting First Officer."

Ashraf stiffened in surprise. All she could say was, "Me, ma'am?"

"I don't know how long the duty will last. Captain Gavin may have other ideas about assignments once things are sorted out, and may even transfer other officers to the Song to fill the senior positions, but for today, you're it."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."

"The rest of the bridge crew for this watch will be reporting to you as soon as Lieutenant Sammarco contacts them. Here's the list," Jenetta said as she held out a portable viewpad. "Your first priority is to ensure that every crewman, on each watch, is familiar with his or her duties and responsibilities."

"Aye, Captain."

"Questions?"

"Will you be remaining aboard as Captain until we reach port?"

"I expect to be returning to my duties as XO aboard the Prometheus within twenty-four hours. By then Captain Gavin will probably have found a qualified replacement with the rank of full commander, or at least someone with more time in grade than myself. But I fully intend to have the command structure aboard this ship back in good order, and the repairs proceeding efficiently, when I turn over command."

"Yes ma'am."

"If there's nothing else, you're dismissed."

"Aye, Captain."

As soon as Ashraf had gone, Jenetta called up the damage reports on the console and observed that the work was progressing well. Lt. Commander Rodriguez might be a micro-manager, but he was an efficient one. Two of the larger hull breaches were already repaired, at least to the extent that a first layer of new exterior plating allowed the areas to be pressurized. Work on installation of the self-sealing membrane and interior plating was just beginning. Applying the additional outer layers of plating that formed the ship's armor in those areas would be left until all emergency repairs were complete and the engineers had an opportunity to reforge the damaged plates by melting tritanium scrap to fill holes and then shape the reconstructed plate. All other damaged tritanium plates would be reforged, reshaped as flat sheets, then stored until needed after some future engagement.

As much as she would have preferred to be doing something physical, there was ‘electronic' paperwork and a growing queue of message-work to attend to, so she dove into it. Her first order of business was to prepare a complete report on the state of the ship based on her earliest observations. She listed what she had found when she arrived, and the actions she had taken to restore a command structure, along with an estimate of the time required before the ship would be able to function normally. She knew that the report would most likely make it to the highest levels in Supreme Headquarters, so she took great pains to craft a document that was accurate, organized, and complete. She signed the finished document as ‘Lt. Commander Jenetta A. Carver, Captain, GSC Heavy Cruiser Song GSC-CH502'. She'd debated with herself whether to include ‘Acting' before the title of Captain, then decided against it. It was normally used where a senior officer was absent from duty for any of a variety of reasons, including death or injury, and a subordinate temporarily takes over in their stead. While her appointment by Gavin was a temporary one, and would never be confirmed as a permanent appointment by Supreme Headquarters, a battlefield appointment by the senior officer at the engagement was nevertheless an official appointment.

She appended a copy of the ship's imaging logs from one-half hour before the battle to one-half after, and marked them for immediate transmission. Gavin would file a report from the Prometheus that covered his ship's performance, as well as a full report of the action in his role as task force commander, but the captain of every ship involved in an ‘incident' was required to make their own full report directly to Supreme Headquarters within twenty-four hours. Since Captain Corriano was deceased, the duty requirement fell to Jenetta. The ban on outgoing communications was still in effect, but that didn't extend to reports to SHQ and other such official communications.

The requests from her officers took the most time to handle. Every one had to be read, and responded to individually. Most were requests for temporary personnel reassignments to handle specific problems not normally handled by a particular rating's class, or requisitions for supplies and equipment from emergency stores. They were the sort of requests ordinarily handled by the XO, but there hadn't been an executive officer when the messages were queued, so they were routed to her. She would have passed them on to Lieutenant Ashraf, but the acting XO would have her hands full for quite a while just getting the new command staff organized, and the requests couldn't wait.