Valor At Vauzlee (40 page)

"She had to know that she was risking her career when she deviated from course," Admiral Margolan said. "A board of inquiry might even have found her guilty of dereliction of duty if she had guessed wrong."

"Of course she knew," Gavin said. "But I doubt if it made her hesitate for more than a few seconds. Her perspicacity has never been in question. She correctly assessed the situation and took the only course of action that her intelligence and sense of duty would allow."

"I'm glad your orders didn't specify that she come
directly
to Higgins," Admiral Holt said. "Her sense of duty might have forced her into following the
letter
of those orders. The Raiders were giving us a damn rough time there at the end. I doubt that the Song's weapons could even have made that much of a difference in the outcome, when you consider that with three of our seven ships completely out of the action and the other four seriously damaged and almost out of action themselves, the Raiders, with sixteen ships still able to fight, had a considerable edge in fighting effectiveness."

"We're just fortunate that so many of the Raider ships were of Tsgardi manufacture," Captain Powers of the Chiron said. "The Uthlaro ships, while still inferior to our own, held up substantially better. If the entire Raider fleet had been Uthlaro built, we would have been far worse off. And I shudder to think what might have happened if their ships were as tough as ours. If not for our advance knowledge of the attack at Vauzlee and our subsequent victory there, they would have outnumbered the base protection force by twenty to one. With those odds, the station would have fallen for sure. By the way, I've seen the simulation of the Battle of Vauzlee just released by Supreme HQ to the media. The victory appears all the more impressive when viewed from an outside perspective. Commander Carver should be officially commended for developing the battle strategy for that engagement."

"She deserves a lot more credit than that, Steve," Gavin said, chuckling.

"What do you mean, Larry?"

Gavin looked towards Admiral Holt to confirm that it was okay to brief the group. Holt decided to answer the question himself.

"Simply that all eight of the India plans we prepared for the defense of this station were devised by Commander Carver," Holt said grinning. "Larry contacted her right after your ship and the Prometheus arrived here. With my approval, he relayed our situation, then subtly asked her what strategy she'd employ. Her tactics revolved around a prediction that the Raiders would most likely arrive as one force, and fire a full salvo of torpedoes at our ships from a great distance rather than waiting until they got closer, believing that we'd just sit on our— positions, and try to knock down all incoming torpedoes. Commander Carver's proposed response to the arrival of the Raider armada, India-One, required me to throw away the book.

"I don't mind telling you that her battle plans scared the hell out of me at first. If we followed the first two, we'd be giving the Raiders a clear path to the station. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was the only viable solution if the Raiders did as she predicted. And with the number of torpedoes they initially launched at us, and the Echo-Three constraint that we hold position and knock down all incoming birds, we would have seen our protection fleet destroyed at the very outset of the battle. Having us align ourselves in front of the station as if we really were following Echo-Three was inspired. The Raiders no doubt believed that we were following Echo-Three and totally wasted their first volley. And if they didn't attack as she expected, we could still follow the scripted actions of Echo-Three.

"But if India-One was successful, Commander Carver gave India-Two a ninety-eight percent chance of being just as successful. As you know, those two maneuvers alone reduced the Raider force by a full
thirty
warships, with fourteen more severely damaged. That represented
half
of their strength. India-Three could have taken another third to a half of their remaining force, but we never got to implement it because the first two maneuvers were so enormously successful. The late Admiral Nazeer, of the battleship Glorious, saw us whittling down his ships and decided to use what vessels he had left to wash over us in two large assault waves while he still had a force large enough to accomplish that. India-Four was Commander Carver's response if and when they took that action. And she knew that following that point, the attack would devolve into individual ship attacks. The other four India plans were our responses in case the Raiders didn't arrive as one large force, but rather attacked initially from multiple points less than two minutes weapons distance from our ships, immediately pinning us in a defensive posture between them and the station."

"I believe," Gavin said, "that if we had followed the standard tactics developed by the War College for the defense of GSC orbiting stations, we wouldn't now be sitting here calmly discussing said tactics. They're probably perfectly adequate for defense against two or three ships, or even half a dozen, but certainly not for an attack like the one we faced."

Kanes began chuckling loudly. When the others at the table looked at him, he said, "I should have recognized Commander Carver's hand in those tactics. They're very unlike
anything
you're going to find in a Space Command battle strategy handbook. While India-Two was
spectacularly
devious, India-Four even surpassed
that
. I can't imagine where she got the idea of covering the keel of all seven warships with mines that could be released to create an instant minefield in front of an attacking enemy. It always seems that whatever she comes up with is— unique."

"Throughout this past year," Gavin said, "Carver has repeatedly proven her brilliance as a military tactician. Prior to the Battle at Vauzlee, she spoke to Commander Kanes and myself of the Austro-Turkish War of 1683, specifically mentioning the Battle of Vienna. She said that the battle marked the turning point in the three-hundred-year struggle between Central European kingdoms and the Ottoman Empire. I believe that the Battle for Higgins will prove to mark the turning point in our decade old battle with the Raiders."

"She certainly doesn't lack guts either," Captain Payton said. "I've viewed the image logs she submitted of her attack on that Raider battleship. It has to be the most formidable looking warship I've ever seen. She just barged in there, dropped her envelope, and fired her torpedoes without worrying about being outgunned twenty or thirty to one."

"I'm not trying to derogate her bravery," Captain Simpson of the destroyer Bonn said, "when I say she expected to be gone before they could return torpedo fire. She certainly could have found herself in a situation well beyond her control. But since she had already planned her exit, I have to admit that it was a most intelligent attack strategy."

"Yes," Captain Hoyt of the destroyer Calgary agreed. "Carver is an intelligent young officer. But perhaps she takes too many risks. Conservative isn't a word you can apply to any of her tactical plans. I must admit it alarms me a little, and I genuinely fear for the safety of the people under her command. Every plan seems to be an
all or nothing
line of attack."

"I think that I know her well enough by now to say with complete confidence," Kanes said, "that you can be quite sure all risks have been calculated from every possible angle before she acts. Provided, of course, that she has the
time
to consider her actions. And where she doesn't have time, her native intuition has proven uncanny. Your perception might come from the fact that she doesn't shrink from a fight. She believes in taking the battle to the enemy wherever and whenever she feels the odds are in her favor. And I happen to agree with her. We won't win this war by avoiding conflict."

"It sounds like you're a real fan, Keith." Captain Pope of the destroyer Geneva said. "Have you tried to recruit her for your Intelligence Section?"

"Yes, I have, as a matter of fact. The recruiters at the Academy slipped up royally by not considering her. I would love to have her in my section. Unfortunately, she has her heart set on being aboard a warship."

"She seems to have recovered well enough from her wound that she can walk without any sort of aid," Admiral Holt said.

"What wound?" Gavin asked.

"Didn't you know?" Admiral Holt replied. "She was shot in the midsection the evening before the Song arrived here."

"What?! No, I didn't know. Her ship's been on picket duty. And since I don't currently have an XO, or at least one I can depend on to do the job properly, I've been totally involved with supervising my emergency repairs. You say she was shot in the midsection?"

"The shot narrowly missed her stomach as it entered her midsection just above her navel and plowed through twelve centimeters of abdominal muscle before exiting. The doctor reported that only skin and muscle was damaged. Although the laser sealed the wound as quickly as it was made, the doctor said in his report that the pain from the damaged muscles must have been excruciating."

"Who shot her?" Captain Powers asked. "One of her own crew?"

"No, the Raider officer that gave us the information about the attack at Vauzlee in exchange for his freedom; a Commander Pretorious. Following the battle, we released Pretorious and gave him a shuttle loaded with a year's supply of emergency food packs. If he didn't screw up his astrogation, it should have been sufficient to get him to the mining colony on Sasone where he could get a ride to wherever he wanted to go. But instead of leaving, he stayed near the battle site. During the confusion he snuck aboard the Delhi and stole a Space Command uniform and laser pistol, plus a large cache of weapons he intended to sell on Sasone. Then he flew to the Song and docked, using the excuse that he was Commander Carver's assigned pilot. Since he was flying a shuttle registered to the Prometheus, the petty officer in the flight bay bought the story. I imagine that things were pretty confused aboard that ship during the first couple of days following the battle."

"Did you know about this Keith?" Gavin asked Kanes.

"I received a copy of the report from the Song's chief security officer after the battle here was over. According to him, after Pretorious made it aboard, he located a vacant suite on the visitor's deck and moved in while he formulated a plan to assassinate Carver. We know now that his scheme was to attack Carver just before the task force departed for Earth, then slip away in his shuttle. But the petty officer who'd observed his arrival questioned his continued presence on board. Pretorious feared that the PO might report his suspicions to security, so he lured him to a remote location under pretext of a high stakes card game, then killed him and tried to make it look as if the PO had been killed in a gambling dispute. When the planned attack on Higgins was uncovered, Pretorious was required to modify his own plans. It was impossible to leave the ship while it was traveling FTL. In total, he spent almost two months aboard the Song, hiding out in the visitor's suite during the first and second watches, and then sneaking to a mess hall for food. During the days he hacked his way into the main computer system and played havoc with the code. He caused one serious ship-wide problem after another. His only mistake seems to be sneaking into Commander Carver's quarters to carry out his assassination plot. She stopped him, permanently."

"I've been so busy that the reports have been stacking up on me," Admiral Holt said. "But I've had my senior aide reading them and alerting me to anything that required my attention. He spotted a reference to the shooting incident in Commander Carver's report, so I read the security officer's report and then Commander Carver's full report of the incident. It seems that Pretorious waited until the Song was nearing Higgins so that he'd be able to get off the ship undetected. If he tried to kill her earlier, and succeeded, he'd be stuck aboard while the ship was turned upside down in a hunt for the killer. He got into her quarters by following a laundry bot, disabled her steward, then waited for her to return. She says in her report that he wanted to gloat a bit, rather than killing her immediately. He was distracted for just an instant when her first officer came to her door and she was able to launch a viewpad across the room and into Pretorious' face with enough force that he dropped the pistol. She immediately charged, but he managed to recover the pistol before she reached him. She leapt up and spun, aiming a kick at his head that broke his neck just as he fired."

"Incredible!" Captain Simpson said breathlessly.

"You haven't heard the best part," Admiral Holt continued, chuckling. "According to her chief security officer, the chief medical officer tried to administer pain killers but she refused to be treated. She said that she wasn't going to be napping when the ship arrived at Higgins, in case the Raiders attacked before then. He insisted, to the point of even threatening to relieve her of command for medical reasons, as is his right under Space Command regulations when the chief medical officer believes the captain to be incapacitated. She then promised to toss him in the brig if he took any action that threatened the safety of her ship or crew. Since she seemed to be in complete control of her faculties, the doctor backed down. Marine Captain Galont said that he was very relieved that he didn't have to decide whose order to obey."

"It was fortunate for us," Captain Powers said, "that she was able to continue in command. I doubt that anyone assuming command in her place would have deviated from course and taken out that command ship. It's not the kind of responsibility that an
acting
captain would ever dare take on."