The Burden of Command, page 8
part #14 of Empire Rising Series
“No more than an hour,” McKay replied. He tapped the cable he was working on. “That is, to confirm whether or not the problem is with the energy transfer cables. If it’s not them, we’ll have to open up the shift drive itself. That would be a protracted exercise, and we don’t even have all the tools I’d like to make the attempt.”
“Then let us hope it is the cables,” Jake said. He waved towards the shift drive. “Carry on Petty Officer.” For several minutes, Jake watched the engineers continue their work. Then he began to pace back and forth across the length of the hangar. An hour to identify the problem was bad enough, never mind carrying out the necessary repairs. Alpha-three is getting away, Jake feared. For twenty minutes, he kept moving back and forth working out his frustrations. It was only when Jake looked up and caught one of the engineers staring at him rather than carrying out her work did he realize the effect he was having. No one liked a senior officer looking over their shoulders. “I will go to the bridge, inform me when you have an update,” he called out to McKay. When the engineer nodded, Jake turned and left the hangar. “I may as well relieve you Lieutenant,” he said to Lydia as he entered Python’s bridge. “I’m not getting any more sleep now. Go and rest and I’ll let you take over again once we know what’s happening next.”
“Of course Lieutenant,” Lydia said. She placed a hand on his elbow as she passed him. “Don’t worry, we’ll get this sorted and get after them.” Jake flashed her a smile. He didn’t quite share her optimism, but he saw no need to quell it.
Moving to the Captain’s chair, he threw himself into it and pulled up a number of reports his crew had generated since he had retired to his quarters. Most were of little importance, just routine reports on how they were familiarizing themselves with Python’s systems. With nothing else to do however, he tried to pass the time by reading them. They barely helped. Time seemed to drag by as he waited for an update from McKay. Finally, his COM unit beeped. Jake tapped it at once. “Go ahead.”
“Lieutenant Jackson, we have identified the problem. One of the power uplinks in relay seven is faulty. We found several replacement parts in one of Python’s storage compartments. We are checking them now to see which one has the best energy transfer efficiency. With your permission, we can pull out the faulty uplink and replace it. It shouldn’t take any longer than an hour to an hour and a half.”
“There’s no way we can continue on and carry out the repair once we reach Hitachi-two?” Jake asked.
“I would strongly recommend against it,” McKay answered. “Maybe we could risk trying to get back to Zika-seven. The relay could hold out for another ten or twelve hours possibly. But it’s two more days to Hitachi-two. The relay could blow out and cause a cascading overload, damaging several more. We might not even have enough parts to repair them all. We could be stranded.”
Jake had to hold in a sigh. “Very well, begin your repairs Petty Officer. Thank you for the update.”
“We’ll let you know as soon as we can jump back to shift space,” McKay promised.
Jake tapped his COM unit to end the channel. Unconsciously, he began to tap his command chair. On the chronometer on the main holo display, he counted down every minute as the next hour and a half slowly passed.
“Lieutenant, we have done it,” McKay finally reported. “We have replaced the uplink. Permission to activate the shift drive and run a diagnostic on the transfer cable?”
“Granted,” Jake replied. He had to wait five more minutes for McKay to confirm the repairs had been successful. As soon as the engineer did, Jake jumped Python back into shift space. Two and half hours, he thought to himself. Alpha-three had just gained a significant advantage over them, but he still had a chance to catch them. Please, he thought towards Python as he patted his command chair. Don’t let us down again.
*
Python, Hitachi-two system 23rd August 2508 AD. (two days later).
Jake jumped Python out of shift space right at the edge of the Hitachi-two system’s mass shadow. It was a calculated risk. Alpha-three could be waiting to ambush them, but he suspected the pirate ship would be well on its way to the next shift passage out of Hitachi-two. For a couple seconds, Jake’s body tensed ready for an attack, even though he thought it unlikely. When none came and Python’s active sensors detected no ships in the immediate vicinity of his command, he relaxed. “Take us into the system, maximum acceleration,” he ordered. “Have we got anything on the gravimetric sensors?” He asked next.
“Negative Lieutenant,” an officer replied.
Jake’s eyes narrowed as he studied the holo map of the Hitachi-two system. Even if the pirate ship had pushed its reactors and engines over their limit like they had at Zika-seven, there was no way they could have reached any of the system’s other shift passages. That meant they were in stealth. The question was: were they trying to hide somewhere in the system, or were they cruising towards one of the shift passages? If they were trying to hide, there were a hundred different places within the system they could be. Several thick asteroid fields jumped out at Jake. So too did one of the gas giants in the system. It had a very thick atmosphere and a low gravity. Theoretically, the pirate ship could slip into the gas giant’s atmosphere and hide even if he put a recon drone into orbit. He brought a hand up and rubbed his jaw as he thought. He could launch a spread of recon drones. Python actually had a number of them. Though they weren’t up to naval standards, neither would alpha-three’s stealth capabilities be. Yet if he waited to search every nook and cranny of the system, if alpha-three was making for a shift passage, they would be long gone by the time he confirmed they weren’t hiding somewhere. Jake pulled up a star map of the local systems. Alpha-three had fled Zika-seven in a direction that would allow them to head towards The Wilds. If they still wanted to head that way, there were two shift passages they could be heading towards. Reaching into one of his trousers’ pockets, Jake pulled out a gold coin his father had given him when he had joined the Admiralty. Supposedly, it was hundreds of years old. The image on it was of a man in a very fancy looking naval uniform which included a strange, peaked hat. Admiral Lord Nelson, Jake knew. Give me luck, he thought as he flipped the coin into the air. Reaching up, he snatched it out of the air with one hand and then set it in the palm of his other. Lord Nelson was looking at him. Heads. “Alter our heading,” Jake ordered. “Lay in a course to the Hitachi-five shift passage.”
“Aye Lieutenant,” Python’s navigation officer responded.
“You think that’s where they’re headed?” Lydia asked.
Jake showed her his coin. “I’m guessing.”
Lydia’s eyes widened when she saw the coin. Jake guessed she recognized the Admiral. Though she was from the Connecticut colony, everyone who went through the naval academy learned something about Horatio Nelson. Emperor Somerville had made sure of that. “Does it bring you luck?” She asked as she nodded to the coin.
Jake looked down and considered it. “My father gave it to me. I keep it close, but I’ve never thought about it like that before. I guess we’re going to find out.”
They got their answer just ten minutes later. “Contact report!” Lydia shouted excitedly. “New gravimetric contact. Ship bearing dead ahead. It’s lighting off its engines.” Jake grinned. The pirate ship knew if it stayed in stealth, he was going to catch it. It was making a run for it. He had guessed right! “Contact is seven light minutes ahead of us,” Lydia continued to update. “They have a momentum advantage. It’s not too significant, however. Getting a firmer read on their engines now. Confirm, contact is alpha-three. Plotting their flightpath now.”
On the holo display, a path to the Hitachi-five shift passage appeared in front of alpha-three. It showed the pirate ship would reach the shift passage in another three hours. With her greater acceleration, Python was going to bring alpha-three into missile range in just two. Jake nodded. They had the pirates. That meant the pirate’s next action was obvious. Sure enough, alpha-three’s acceleration increased again. “They’re risking their reactors and engines to get away again,” Jake commented. Eagerly, he sat forward in his command chair. Risking such a move for twenty or thirty minutes to get away at Zika-seven was one thing. Doing it for three hours was playing with fire. Thinking it all but inevitable, Jake sat back in his command chair and rolled his shoulders to relax. If the pirate ship blew itself up, it would make his job even easier.
To everyone’s amazement however, as the minutes ticked by, the pirate ship continued on its course unabated. When an hour passed, and no signs of reactor or engine problems were being detected, Jake began to grow concerned. By the time two hours had gone, his hand was tapping his command chair again. Somehow, alpha-three was going to make it to the shift passage ahead of him. He glanced at his father’s coin. Whatever luck it had brought him hadn’t lasted long. Suddenly, he found himself facing a new dilemma. Captain Domingo had given him permission to pursue alpha-three across Hitachi-two, but no further. What was he going to do now? He was certain that if he did continue the chase, he could catch and engage alpha-three in the next system. If it hadn’t been for the repairs McKay had needed to carry out, they would have caught the pirate already. Yet, Hitachi-five was three more days’ travel away. Going there and then coming back would add another week to how long it would take him to return to Resolute. And that assumed Captain Domingo would wait for them. All of a sudden, Jake felt very alone on Python’s bridge. He knew he could ask Lydia for her opinion. No doubt the other officers would have their own thoughts as well. Yet the buck stopped with him. He couldn’t send a COM message to Captain Domingo for advice. Whatever he decided, he would have to live with the consequences. He tried to weigh his options as best he could. Giving up the hunt and going back to Zika-seven was the safest option. Domingo would understand, he would just be obeying her orders after all. He would also be taking the crew out of harm’s way. Yet, as he stared at alpha-three, the same thoughts that had made him pursue the pirate ship in the first place stirred within him. He was certain the pirate ship had already attacked Human freighters in the past. That meant her crew had likely killed as well. If they got away, they would do so again. He didn’t want that on his conscience. He’d rather have Domingo mad at him than know he let alpha-three go free to attack other innocents. Jake made his decision. “Have McKay go over the shift drive one more time,” he ordered. “We’re going to reach the Hitachi-five shift passage in two hours. I don’t want any problems delaying us this time. Alpha-three is not going to escape us twice.” Lydia met his eyes before replying. She gave him the slightest of nods to show what she thought of his decision. Then she turned and began to give orders to the other officers. Jake refocused on alpha-three. He watched the contact until it disappeared from Python’s sensors as it jumped into shift space. Keep running, he thought towards it, we will be right behind you.
Chapter 8
As I emphasized in Empire Rising, many of our greatest naval commanders went to great lengths to stress to those who would come after them that there is a great difference between reading about a military campaign and actually being in one. Now, I too may add my own voice to this warning. Simply studying war will never equip a naval cadet to go through a real one. There is no substitute.
-Excerpt from Empire Ascendant 3015 AD.
Python, Hitachi-five, 26th August 2508 AD, (three days later).
Jake paced back-and-forth across Python’s bridge. He couldn’t help glancing at the holo display every few seconds. His ship had entered the system four hours ago. For the second time, there had been no sign of alpha-two. This time however, there was only one shift passage out of Hitachi-five that led further on towards The Wilds. Yet, when he had set course towards it, alpha-two hadn’t revealed itself. Python was now just one hour away from reaching the shift passage. If alpha-two had been trying to sneak to it, he should have caught up to the pirate ship by now. Python’s sensors hadn’t detected anything, however. Just as frustrating, two hours ago he had launched twenty recon drones deeper into the system to search it. They were sending back constant reports. Yet none had spotted anything. Every time he looked at the holo display, Jake hoped for a contact report. He was disappointed time and time again.
A sense of failure was building up within him. He tried but failed to regain the confidence that had led him to continue to chase alpha-two. If he returned to Captain Domingo empty-handed now, she would be upset, and he would have nothing to justify his decision. If she’s even there, he reminded himself. She was as likely to give up waiting for him and leave a drone to relay whatever orders she had when he finally returned. Or worse, she might think we are into danger and come looking for us. If Captain Domingo had found some important intelligence that she needed to get back to the Admiralty and yet felt forced to waste a week or more searching for him, she would be livid. Feeling helpless, Jake continued to pace. There was nothing else he could do.
As Python approached the next shift passage, Jake felt his bridge officers glancing at him. Reflexively, he picked up the speed of his pacing. It matched the speed at which his mind was working. He had a decision to make. He desperately didn’t want to return to Captain Domingo empty-handed. If his drones hadn’t detected the pirate ship deeper within the system, the chances were high that it had somehow found a way to beat him to the shift passage and was already in shift space. Yet, how could he justify taking Python to a third system? The shift passage in front of him led to Hitachi-nine. It was a four-day journey. Stopping his pacing, he stared at the holo display and the point where Python could jump into shift space. Jake shook his head. He couldn’t justify it. He had already risked his career and upsetting Captain Domingo enough. Coming to a decision, his shoulders slumped. The pirate ship had defeated him. “Turn us around,” he said quietly. “Plot us a course back to Zika-seven.”
Lydia opened her mouth as if she was going to say something. When she saw the look on Jake’s face, she shut it. Instead, she simply nodded. “And recall our stealth drones,” Jake ordered. “They can keep searching, but put them onto trajectories to rendezvous with us at the shift passage.” Jake moved to his command chair and sat down. Pulling up a number of data files, he tried to find something to distract him from his sense of failure. As Python completed her turn, silence descended on the bridge. Everyone picked up on Jake’s mood and no one wanted to speak. Jake was happy to be left alone. More than an hour passed with the bridge officers speaking to one another only when it was absolutely necessary.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jake saw Lydia turn around in her command chair. “Our sensor drones still haven’t picked up any sign of the pirate ship,” she reported.
Jake didn’t glance up from the report he was reading. “I’m aware.”
He sensed Lydia nodding. “I was thinking…” she continued. Jake bit back a sigh. Reluctantly, he raised his head. Lydia gave him a quick smile. “If the pirate ship is still in the system,” she continued. “It will look like we have given up.”
“That might be because we have,” Jake said, holding out little hope that the sensor drones would find anything now. If the pirate ship was still hiding in the system, it was well hidden.
“But what if we haven’t?” Lydia asked. She continued before Jake could reply. “Once we get to the shift passage back to Hitachi-two, we could carry out a micro jump. The pirates will think we have left and might reveal themselves. We could leave a couple of recon drones in the system. If the pirate ship is hidden, they might detect it, even if it tries to stay in stealth as it leaves.”
Jake’s complexion changed. It was a long shot, of course. But suddenly, he had hope again. He wanted to kick himself. He had given up too easily. He remembered a phrase his mother had often told him. ‘There’s always more than one way to skin a cat.’ Of course, she had been talking about something else entirely. Yet the proverb rang true. He gave Lydia a warm smile. “A sneaky idea, Lieutenant. I like it. That’s exactly what we are going to do. Make the preparations.” Before Lydia turned away, Jake mouthed ‘thank you,’ to her as well. She smiled, nodded, and then got to work. Suddenly more interested in what was going on, Jake watched eighteen of the twenty drones he had launched hours ago continue to make their way through the inner system towards the shift passage Python was headed towards. He smiled as he watched Lydia park two of them in orbit around two of the system’s inner planets. Both planets had rocky planetary rings that would help to mask the drone’s presence from the pirate ship. If the pirate’s ship was still in the system, and their passive sensors were in any way competent, they would probably have picked up several of the drones intermittently. However, with luck, they wouldn’t notice that not all of them were returning to Python.
Three hours later, Jake was still on the bridge when Python, having collected the drones, jumped into shift space. Just a couple of seconds after the tremor from the transition rumbled through his command chair, another one followed it as Python reverted to normal space again. Keeping her reactors and engines in low power mode, Python then turned and slowly began to cruise back into the Hitachi-five system in stealth. Jake felt like he was on the edge of his seat as he anxiously waited to see if the pirate ship revealed itself. As the minutes ticked by however, he found himself slowly edging back. An hour came and went without any sign of the pirate ship. One hour turned into two, and then three. Still neither the sensor drones nor Python detected anything. The frustration Jake had been fighting began to raise its head again. As more time passed, he felt the pressure building on him. He couldn’t hang around forever. For all he knew, the pirate ship had made it to the shift passage and left the system hours ago. Another impossible decision was before him. The burden of command, he thought as he remembered a lecture from the Naval Academy. He hadn’t understood the concept then. Even a month ago, he hadn’t really grasped the concept. Yet now he did. With every decision he faced, responsibility that weighed on his shoulders grew and grew. Letting out a sigh, Jake opened his mouth to order Python to be turned around once more. Something made him hesitate. Examining his emotions, Jake tried to figure out what it was. The last vestige of hope? Or a desire not to disappoint Captain Domingo? He wasn’t quite sure. One more hour, he bargained with himself. One hour and we turnaround. With his decision made, the minutes suddenly began to pass by far quicker than Jake would have liked. Every minute that came and went without the pirate ship being detected brought him closer to failure once more. Then, the hour finally came and went. Deflated, Jake prepared himself to turn Python once again. He didn’t get a chance to give his order though.
