The End of Winter -- Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Crew Rotation

August 3^rd, 2808

Chimera and Misha met in Curt’s office, at his request.

“Behemoth, please turn off your listening and recording of this meeting. Return to normal recording after this meeting ends. Well, Chimera, this is one of those administrative meetings I promised you you wouldn’t have to attend!”

“Grrrr…”

“Actually, this is important. Things are changing fast, and I want to stay ahead of the curve. I want to do something…unconventional.”

“You?” Misha said, “Something unconventional? I’m shocked!”

“Oh, shut up and listen. This is actually a good idea. I want to appoint Behemoth Captain of this vessel.”

“Behemoth? He’s not even a person!”

“Says who? He makes good decisions, and he has more combined space experience than a big fraction of the fleet Captains combined. You’ve talked to him. Is he a real person? Of course he is! And I’d rather have him as my commander than half the other officers I’ve met. Not that I ever said that…”

Misha thought for a bit, and then looked at Chimera and said, “He’s right, you know. This could actually work. The Council has become very fond of Curt recently. If you and I work our combined contacts…we can make this happen.”

“Fine by me,” Chimera said. “I like most machines better than I like most people anyhow!”

“Excellent! Misha, if you could take point on this, that would be great. You’re a bit more…diplomatic…than Chimera. OK, next issue. I have two more captain positions to fill. Misha, are you interested?”

“Are you nuts?” Misha replied sharply “I still don’t know how you suckered Chimera into the Admiral job, but there’s no way you’re getting me into a combat command position again! I’ve done my time! Forget it!”

“OK, OK, I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. How about Amazona? Smart, dedicated, and she would never get any lip from a crewman.”

“A bit young, don’t you think?” Misha said.

“Well, I guess I have a different perspective, but I don’t see 1500 years old as ‘young’.”

Chimera looked at Misha and said, “She would be good, you know. Like Curt said, way better than half the silly bastards we have in command now (not that I ever said that). She’s smart, she works like a demon, and she’s completely unflappable. I think it’s a good idea.”

“Works for me,” Misha said.

“OK, one more to go. Cygnus is clearly too young, even by my standards, although I may promote him to Commander. Any ideas?”

“Keri?” Misha asked.

“Nah,” Chimera said. “He’d be great, but he’s too good at what he’s doing now. Do you know how hard it is to find competent chimeran officers? Leave him where he is. He loves his job, anyhow.”

“Other thoughts?”

“Let us ponder for a bit,” Misha said.

“OK, you’ve got a day, but that’s it. All this is going to be done before that damned conference.”

“I have a couple of additional items, sir. Oooops…I guess I don’t need to call you that anymore.”

Curt Smiled “I won’t tell if you don’t!”

“You’ve promised I won’t have any admin work to do, and I have complete trust in your honesty and sincerity, but I don’t believe you. I’m going to get sucked into this crap whether I like it or not (Misha giggled). I’d like to bring Ensign Philip on board as an apprentice.”

“The kid you sliced up?”

“Yeah, he’s turned out to be really good. I want to leave Behemoth in good technical hands.”

“You’ll get no argument from me about adding good technical staff, but you’ll need to tell Keri.”

“He’ll get over it.”

“Anything else?”

“Oh, one minor thing. I’m officially promoting you to Vice-Admiral.”

“What?”

“I figured it would be easier for me to stick you with all the admin work and meetings that way. Besides, you deserve it. You’re one of the finest officers in the fleet, way better than most Admirals I know (not that I ever said that). Congratulations!”

“Thank you, ma’am…I guess.”

“Not in private, Admiral. None of this ma’am crap.  I want to be a real person whenever possible.”

“You got it, Chimera!”

 

August 5^th, 2808

Completion day!

“Well, Captain Keri, the performance of your crew has been nothing short of stellar,” Curt remarked.  “Behemoth is now fully operational, and the fastest Grand Imperial in the fleet!”

“Yeah, and you swiped my best cadet to boot!”

“Oh, you’ll get over it. Speaking of personnel issues, I need a third Captain for the new squadron that’s getting put together. Now, you can call me a racist if you want, but I’d like a chimeran if possible. We considered asking you, actually…”

“What?”

“But, Chimera said you were too good where you are, and that you loved your job.”

“Well, Admirals, I’m honored by the consideration, but Chimera’s right. I do love my job. I’m the senior technical officer for the entire Imperial Service. How much better can it get than that?”

Chimera said to Curt, “You know, this bastard is making me jealous.”

“Yeah, me too!” Curt said.

“OK, back to business. Captain suggestions?”

“You know,” Keri said, “there is this guy who’s a senior Commander a couple of sectors over. A bit young…less than 1000 years…”

“Watch it! Remember, I’m only 58!”

“Sorry, sir! Anyway, he’s really good. His actual name is Nimitz, but they call him Moose, because he’s abnormally large for a chimeran…about 6 feet tall and 250 lbs.”

“Two hundred and fifty pounds? Jesus! You little guys are intimidating enough as it is!”

“Yeah, Moose doesn’t get a lot of grief in bar fights. Let me see if he’s available.”

“Chimera?”

“I know this guy, Curt, even though it’s been a while. First Class. You could do far worse.”

“Alright, then. Captain Keri, I will look forward to the results of your inquiry, and thank you again for your outstanding service!”

“You are more than welcome sir. It’s actually been fun working with the two of you…even if you did swipe my best cadet.”

“Oh, quit whining,” Chimera said. “You’ll get over it!”

 

August 6^th , 2808

“Misha, a word please?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Who’s actually running this conference that’s coming up?”

“Well, it’s a little vague. There was a huge clamor of interest, and the Council agreed to the conference, but it’s a little vague as to who’s running it.”

“Great. That means no one is running it…and that means we have to run it…and that means…”

“Oh no, you don’t! We are not going there!”

“Misha, I’ve done my homework here. You are hugely respected throughout the Ancient world. More than I had even suspected, actually. Never mind your sheer technical competence, if you run this, it will work. And we need it to work. The entire political structure of the galaxy is being re-ordered, and we are at the center of it. And you are the best one possible to make this happen.”

“Grrrrrr…”

“So, you’ll do it?”

“Yes, I’ll do it, you slimy bastard! I’m starting to understand how you suckered Chimera into the Admiral job…”

Curt wandered over to the security station, and said, “Amazona, I trust you are well!”

“Well indeed, sir!”

“What’s your power level?”

“Well, with all the excess power from the Reagan, I’m up to 100%.”

“Excellent! Amazona, I have some new challenges for you.”

“Bring ‘em on, sir!”

“You know that a new Guardian/AIS squadron is being created?”

“I’d heard rumors, yes sir.”

“Well, it’s real. I’m looking for a Captain I can trust for one of the vessels. Interested?”

A very short pause, then, “Absolutely!”

“Excellent! I know you’re a little young for this by Ancient standards, but I’m only 58, so what the hell. You’ll be getting a brand new ship, the Resolution, fresh off the line. Also…”

“Sir?”

“I need you to help Misha with a project. We have this conference coming up, and if we don’t run it, it’s just going to be a mess. Intellectually, Misha could eat any of the attendees for lunch, but her physical stature is an issue. But, if the two of you worked together, the striking physical contrast would be enough to get everyone’s attention. Plus, these events can get a little rough sometimes. With you as Misha’s escort…well, let’s just say I’ll be able to sleep well at night. So, can I get you to do this, Captain?”

“Absolutely, sir! Working with Captain Misha is always an honor.”

“Excellent! I’ll leave it to the two of you to work out the details.”

 

August 7^th, 2808

“Curt?”

“Yes, Misha, good morning!”

“Damn, you are always so cheerful!”

“Only when things are going well. When people are dying, I tend to get a little testy.”

“Well, OK, I get that, but I have good news! Commander Nimitz, Moose, has accepted your offer as the third Captain in the squadron!”

“Well, damn, that is good news! OK, get his furry butt out here straight away. I want us as integrated as possible before that damned conference.”

“You got it!”

It’s convenient to be able to talk to someone wherever you are, so Curt just said to the air, “Behemoth, a word please.”

“Of course, sir! What can I do for you?”

“I have an unconventional request.”

“You sir? Unconventional? I’m shocked!”

“Dammit, Misha told me the same thing just yesterday! Am I really that weird?”

“Yes sir, but I find it quite refreshing. And, after what we’ve been through together, I doubt you can surprise me much.”

“Well, we’ll see. I want to get you officially commissioned as Captain of this ship.”

“Uh…. sir?”

“Captain…in charge…you know what that means, right?”

“Well, of course, sir, but…I’m not even a corporeal being! I’m just a collection of circuits and databanks.”

“So, that makes you inferior to me how? You make good decisions. Hell, you instructed me when I first landed here.”

You could almost imagine Behemoth blushing. “I apologize for that, sir, but there just wasn’t time. I just did what had to be done.”

“Exactly. So, what do you think a Captain’s job is…making decisions, and doing what needs to be done!”

“Well, yes, sir. I guess that’s true.”

“So, you’ll do it?”

“Not up to me, sir. Nothing like this has ever happened before.”

“I already have Guardian Council approval.”

“What?”

“Combined, Misha and Chimera have remarkable connections. It’s a done deal, but will you do it?”

“Uh, this will be an amazing honor! Yes sir, I’ll do it!”

“Excellent! So, my command staff for the squadron is now complete.”

“If I may ask, who else do you have?”

“Amazona has agreed to command one of the ships.”

“Excellent choice! And the other?”

“There’s this Senior Commander from a nearby squadron called Moose. Real name is Nimitz. Chimeran. He comes well recommended.”

“Hmmm…I don’t really have good data, but the fragments I have about him are all positive.”

“Well, I wanted a chimeran. And, frankly, I wanted a machine, too. Call me a racist if you want to, but this is the right answer.”

“That thought would never occur to me, sir.”

“Then let’s go have fun together, shall we?”

 

August 8^th, 2808

Moose arrived without any particular fanfare. Admiral Chimera met him at the airlock.

“Well, Captain Nimitz! Welcome aboard. We don’t have a lot of time, but Admiral Jackson wanted to get us together as soon as we could. You’ve heard you’re getting the Constellation, yes? New Grand Imperial Class starship, straight off the assembly line?”

“Uh, no ma’am, I hadn’t heard that…damn!”

“Yeah, well, you’ll need to get used to that. Admiral Jackson has a fundamental disrespect for what’s been done before. He makes weird shit happen. He really couldn’t care less about what’s happened in the past. And…(Chimera looked around the hall)…in private, we don’t do any of the sir/ma’am/Captain/Admiral stuff. It’s just smart folks, getting things done. You got it?”

“Yes, Chimera!”

“You learn quickly, kid. That’s good! And, Admiral Jackson is really good with the time issue, probably the best you’ve ever met among Normals. We actually had a meeting once where I sliced off one of his fingers.”

“Bullshit!”

“Fact. Ask him yourself. He finds it more amusing than annoying. Now, we’re going to introduce you to Captain Amazona, the new Captain for the Resolution. Some people find her a bit intimidating.”

Moose looked over himself, and at 6’ tall and 250 lbs, he said, “Admiral, I don’t intimidate easily.”

“Well,” Chimera said, “You haven’t met Amazona!”

“I look forward to it!”

Moose and Amazona met in the break room. Moose was clearly impressed.

“Finally,” Moose said, “someone bigger than I am!”

“And, someone who isn’t intimidated by my size!” Amazona said.

“Why should I be intimidated?” Moose said. “I could cut every one of your limbs off in less than three seconds.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Amazona said. “Well, this is great…the more power you can get in a fight, the better. Welcome aboard, Captain!”

“Thank you, ma’am!”

Curt was just beaming. These guys were clearly going to get along famously.

“Oh, and Moose…” Amazona said.

“Yes?”

“I may not be quite as slow as you seem to think I am!”

“Good to know. But, if we’re fighting together, that really isn’t a problem, is it?”

Moose and Amazona went off together to talk shop.

The End of Winter -- Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Resurrection and Return to Space—Phase 2

July 27^th, 2808

An odd sense of normalcy pervaded the ship. The air was clean and pure, and the temperature was warm and comfortable. The crew was playing cards in the lounge, and giving each other grief. Without warning, Amazona stood up, and just listened. There was no obvious reason for this.

“Fascinating,” Chimera said. “I’ve only seen this in textbooks as the Cantilian 6^th Sense. I think we’re in for an interesting day.”

Seconds later, alarms sounded all over the ship. There was incoming traffic approaching!

Misha looked out the viewport and said, “My God, they sent the Royal Repair Crew! And a new engine!”

Misha immediately went looking for a private conversation with Curt. They met in the hall.

“You could have told me about this.” Curt said.

“Actually, I couldn’t. There are huge aspects of this that are classified, and I didn’t hear about this ahead of time.”

“OK, so what’s this about?”

“Behemoth is going to be space worthy and battle ready before your ESF buddies arrive. Cost is no object.”

“Forgive a poor old space jockey, but I don’t know what ‘Cost is no object’ means. Help me out here.”

“Did you look outside? They have a new engine for us. NEW! That shiny ship you see is the Royal Repair Crew, with ten chimeran technicians. Do you have any idea what ten chimeran technicians can do with five terawatts running at full power? These folks are serious!”

“Hmmm…looks like my life as a pilot/engineer is over, and my life as a politician has started.”

“Suck it up, kid, but I’ll be there to help every step of the way.”

Misha jumped on Curt’s neck, and they just thought for a bit.

An hour later, Curt was a little nervous as he got on the shuttle to meet Captain Keri. Chimera, who was with him, assured him the guy was great, but it was still weird. After all, he hadn’t met an Ancient at all until a couple of weeks ago! The docking went without incident, and the two were escorted to the Captain’s office.

“Chimera, you old space dog, how are you?” Keri said.

“Well, sir! Thanks to this Modern, I’m at least alive, but my ship is pretty messed up.”

“Well, maybe we can help with that. Captain Jackson, welcome aboard! I have heard amazing things about you…not all believable.”

“I do what I can, sir. I want to convey my extreme gratitude for your deployment of these resources. We were doomed otherwise.”

“Politically, that’s for sure. We’re here because your ship can’t be fixed before the conference otherwise. Oh, you didn’t know there was a conference? More on that later then. The discovery of an Ancient ship has caused quite a stir in the Modern world. With you dead in the middle of it. So, let’s cut the bullshit. Can you handle that?”

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” Curt said. “As always, I’ll do the best I can. But, I can say this--I don’t rattle easily.”

“OK. Chimera, give me the straight story. What’s this guy like?”

“With only a few possible exceptions, Captain Jackson is the most honest, capable, and competent officer I have served with in 2000 years.”

A long pause.

“That’s a pretty strong endorsement. How does he deal with the time issue?”

“Well, he’s only had to deal with that issue for a few weeks or so, and that under conditions when I was still pretty slow moving. He’s still shocked, but that will pass. Now, if you would help me train him…?”

“Captain Jackson,” Keri said, “You know that we Chimerans are….different…when it comes to time. You’ve had some small exposure to this. A great many Normals can’t handle it. Is this going to be a problem for you?”

Curt replied, “Chimera and I have worked together for a couple of weeks now. She plays time tricks on me at least twice a week (Chimera: Who? Me? I do not!). But she works hard, is fast beyond my comprehension, and most of the time, she’s actually entertaining. We’ll be fine.”

“Then let’s get this ship back into space! How long do we have?”

“About two weeks, sir.”

“Dammit…can’t those folks at home ever give me an easy job?”

 

July 29^th, 2808

The coordination of the repair of Behemoth by the Reagan went well. Tasks were identified, problems solved, progress was made.

Until all Hell broke loose.

Every alarm in the complex went off. By coincidence, Captain Jackson and Captain Keri arrived at the site at the same time, and their simultaneous command of “Freeze!” was hugely effective. Chimera was in the center engineering stage. Bleeding slightly, but not seriously damaged. Grinning, almost. A cadet from the Reagan was on the landing, doing much less well, with three limbs missing. Jackson gave the nod to Keri to manage the incident.

“Ensign Philip.”

“Sir!”

“What’s going on here?”

“Sir, Lieutenant Chimera gave an incorrect instruction, which I refused to follow.”

“Oh, she did, now, did she? You are aware, of course, that insubordination is a terminatable offense?”

No response.

Captain Keri took his time to look at Chimera, and Capt Jackson, and just consider his options.

“Ensign Philip, do you know who you’re dealing with?”

“Uh, Lieutenant Chimera, sir?”

(A long pause, and then an even longer laugh). “You silly kid. She’s playing with you, son! She always was a smartass. She could kill you any microsecond she wanted to. Did you notice that she has six limbs attached, and you have only three? And the only reason for that is that she didn’t want to embarrass you by leaving you helpless on the ground.

“Ensign Philip, meet Senior Technical Commander Chimera, Captain rank in the Ancient Imperial Service. She outranks me by at least two grades; I’ve lost count of how many at this point. She also has battle experience you will hopefully never see. Captain Chimera, how long would it take you to kill Ensign Philip in battle? Eight nanoseconds?”

“Well, I’m getting old, sir. Probably ten nanoseconds.”

“Ensign Philip…do you get the idea? You may hurt, but she was just playing with you. You would be dead, if she wanted you dead.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Do you still want to serve in this unit?”

“Yes sir!!”

“Very well. Lieutenant Wakemen, please patch Ensign Philip back together, and assign him ten extra watches. Ensign Philip.”

“Sir!”

“This opportunity to learn from Captain Chimera only happens once in a lifetime. If I ever have to deal with you for insubordination again, you will not like the results.”

For the entire duration of the repair, there was not a single additional discipline incident.

Later, back on Behemoth, Curt said, “Captain Chimera, a word, please.”

(Chimera: Oh, shit, I knew this was coming….)

“Captain Chimera?  And you were going to tell me this when? You’ve been my superior ever since I got here, and never bothered to mention it? Hell, if you outrank Keri by two grades, you’re my superior now! You were only semi-conscious for the first day or so, so I’ll give you that for free, but after that….what the hell?”

“Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“You damned well better!”

“Sir, I hate management and administration with a passion you can’t imagine. Chimerans generally suck at management. I was unconscious after the crash, and when I woke up, you had things so obviously well in hand, I figured ‘What the hell, I’ll just do what he needs done!’ I want to do things, sir. I want to make things work. I don’t want to mess with paperwork or personnel stuff.”

“You seemed to handle Ensign Philip pretty well today.”

“Punk kid. Smart kid. Smartass. He should actually do well.”

“Captain, let’s make a deal. I won’t give you any administrative assignments of any kind, if you agree to handle every personnel issue regarding a Chimeran that comes up during our mutual term in office. Agreed?”

“Agreed, sir!”

“Also, it might be a little weird for me to refer to you as Captain in public all of a sudden. Would you be offended by the term Commander instead? We’ll work up to Captain later.”

“Not in the slightest. In fact, I’d prefer it.”

“Very well, then. Back to work for both of us.”

July 30^th, 2808

Lifting day!

The plans were all done, and the crews were ready.

“Captain Keri, are we ready to go?” Chimera said.

“Absolutely!”

“200,000 tons. You know that, right?”

“Not a problem. With the engines at full power, we’ll have plenty of reserve.”

“Then let’s get this done.”

(Reagan: Well, this is the big day. You ready?)

(Behemoth: Absolutely. With Chimera running the show, I couldn’t be less concerned. Your Captain Keri seems like a pretty sharp cookie as well.)

(Reagan: Yeah, I guess)

(Behemoth: You guess? How old are you, son?)

(Reagan: A little less than 1000 years)

(Behemoth: Aha! I thought that was water I saw behind your ears! Trust me, you’ve got a good one with Keri. They won’t all be that good)

(Reagan: So….what do you do with the bad ones?)

(Behemoth: You do what you’re told, and if they’re really bad, sometimes you’ll die. But you can…influence them.)

(Reagan: How?)

(Behemoth: We’ll talk later, kid. Things are about to get interesting!)

The final alarm went off throughout the complex.

“Attention all crew. Lifting is about to begin!”

“Captain Keri, are you ready?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Behemoth, are you ready?”

“Ready and eager, ma’am!”

“OK, to review the plan, the Reagan will ramp up to full rated power, and the tractors will lift Behemoth approximately 100 feet off the ground. The technicians will install support struts as appropriate. This whole process should take about an hour. Any questions?”

Silence.

“Then let’s do it! Reagan and Behemoth, commence now!”

From a short distance, the view was simply awesome. A 100 yard diameter ship, lifting a 200 yard ship off the ground! There was a blur of activity as the technicians installed the supports. You literally couldn’t see them. Once the supports were in place, the Reagan set Behemoth gently down on the supports, and moved away.

“Hey old man,” Chimera said. “I’m obviously going to win our bet about getting you back into space.  Want to up the ante?”

“Captain Chimera, I am never going to bet against you again.”

“Don’t call me that!”

“Uh, yes, ma’am. Sorry…”

Once the lifting and set down were complete, Curt went back to the bridge and said: “Behemoth?”

“Sir!

“Captain Chimera?”

“Oooops…”

“Yeah, ooops. OK, I never explicitly asked, so I can’t beat you up for that, but it’s time for a no bullshit conversation. Your explicit instruction in this conversation is to give me the information you believe I would find most useful, not only the information I explicitly ask for. Are we clear?”

“Clear sir!”

“OK. Give me a quick summary of the experience of all the crew members.”

“Captain Curt Jackson, age 58, formerly of the Earth Space Force.”

“You know what? I knew that. And actually, I retain my commission in the Earth Space Force. I have a dual commission.”

“Can you do that??”

“I guess we’ll find out, won’t we? Anyway, update your records to reflect my continued commission with the ESF. Next?”

“Starship Behemoth, Grand Imperial Class, approximately 12,000 years old. Oldest operating Imperial class ship in the fleet.”

“Ahh, but what you might not know, is with this new engine, you will also be officially the fastest Grand Imperial in the fleet. You like that idea?”

“Uh, sir, this is the first I’ve heard this. Hell yes, I like the idea!”

“Well, that’s the spirit I like. Next?”

“Captain Misha, about 12,000 years old. Captain Misha supervised my initial construction. She is also a former Chairman of the Council of Guardians.”

“Damn! You two have known each other for 12,000 years? No wonder you were so happy when I told you she was still alive.”

“Sir, words can’t even begin to describe it. And then, when you brought her back to life…you have a dedication from me beyond any conceivable military obligation.”

Captain Jackson, not easily embarrassed, blushed at the response.

“OK--next?”

“Senior Technical Commander Chimera, Captain rank, 4^th grade. They’ve tried to promote her to Admiral three times now, but she threatened to resign if they did. Her agreement with the service is that she gets whatever assignment she wants as long as she stays on. She chose this assignment because she wanted the oldest ship there was.”

“Why am I not shocked by that? Next?”

“Senior Lieutenant Amazona, Chief Security Officer. She took this position as a promotion to an Imperial class starship Security Officer. Bad call, huh?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Do you think so?”

“Actually, I don’t. Thank you sir! Next is Lieutenant Cygnus. New kid, but as you saw from the battle in space, very good. Any more questions, sir?”

“No, that will do for now. Thank you. But Behemoth.”

“Sir?”

“As a standing future order, your instruction is to tell me what you think I need to hear, in addition to any specific information I ask for. Are we clear?”

“Clear sir!”

 

July 31^st, 2808

“Chimera! I trust you are well?”

“Very well indeed, sir! The repairs are moving along well ahead of schedule. That Royal Repair Crew is just astounding. The structural repairs are complete, and we should actually be ready for a flight test in a few days!”

“Actually, about that. I need your help, Captain.”

“Captain, eh? I don’t like the sound of that.”

“I need you to accept your promotion to Admiral.”

“What? I’ve successfully resisted that for over 1000 years, and now you expect some snotty nosed Modern kid to change my mind? Forget it! Sir.”

“Chimera, I need your help.”

Chimera, shrugged, and relaxed. “Well, you did save my life after all, so, I guess I owe you something for that. But why me? And why this?”

“Captain, what’s your clearance level?”

“Level 20, sir.”

“Level 20, that’s interesting. I’m only a Level 12, so I guess that won’t be an issue here. I assume you’ve heard the Guardians and the AIS are going to become active again in this sector? The debate has gone on for centuries, but the discovery of Behemoth by the Moderns has kicked them into action.”

“I’ve heard rumors, sir, but nothing specific.”

“Well, it’s real. Working with AIS, they are going to kick off a squadron of three Grand Imperial class starships, to keep order and peace in this region of the galaxy. A squadron of that size requires an Admiral to run it, and Misha got a full ration of shit just to get me approved as a Modern to Captain an Ancient Starship. There’s no way they’ll let me run this.”

“You want me to run a squadron? Buzz off! Sir.”

“No, of course not, you don’t have to run it. I’ll deal with all that. I’ll find good Captains for all the ships. I’ll continue in daily command. You won’t have to do any admin, none of that. Just the technical work, which you’ve been doing so superbly well already. Oh, there will be some state dinners and such, but I can handle almost all of that.”

“Hmmm…no admin work?”

“None!”

“And you’ll handle all the politics?”

“Like I say, there will be a few official functions you’ll need to attend, but other than that, I’ll deal with it all.”

“Hmmm…let me think about this.”

“You’re a chimeran. That means you should need, what, about ten seconds to think about it?”

“Smartass!”

“So…you’ll do it?”

“Yes, dammit, I’ll do it! I never thought I’d get sucked into this.”

“Well, things change. Life is different for all of us now. And Chimera…thank you!”

“Grrrrrr…”

 

August 1^st, 2808

“Admiral Chimera, good morning! I trust you slept well? (Captain Keri was way too cheery for Curt’s early morning disposition).”

“News travels fast, I see. Captain Keri?”

“Yes ma’am!

“Would you like to be assigned latrine duty for the next month?”

“Uhhhh, no, ma’am, that wouldn’t be my first choice.”

“Then I don’t see any need to discuss my new assignment any further, do you?”

“Uh…no ma’am.”

Chimera sat down, and relaxed. “Look guys, I just don’t want things to be different. I understand the need for public formality and all that. Curt and I talked about that before I ‘agreed’ to this assignment. But when it’s just us in private, I just want it to be us, getting things done as always. None of this Sir and ma’am crap. Can we do that?”

“Yes ma’am.” Captains Jackson and Keri said spontaneously together.

There was a brief moment of tension, and then an outburst of laughter. “We didn’t plan that, Chimera, we really didn’t. Of course you’re still one of us. Part of the engineering strike team, as always. And, I won’t hesitate to call you on it when you’re wrong,” Curt said. Then, he felt an odd tingle, and noticed that his left index finger was severed, and lying on the floor.

“Uh, sorry about that,” Captain Keri said. “We’ll get that fixed for you straight away.”

“Oh, just give it to me,” Chimera said. “No need to involve others in this.”

Curt’s finger was re-attached and working in about six seconds.

“That’s amazing!” Curt said, flexing his finger. “I knew it worked in theory but…this is real. You guys can really do this!”

“You wouldn’t want us to let you get bored, would you?” Chimera said with an evil smile.

 “OK,” Curt said, “So what’s this ‘conference’ about?”

“Well, it’s annoying,” Captain Keri said. “Some dipshit at Earth Space Force command leaked that an Ancient ship had been found, and now, every species in the damned sector wants to check it out.”

“Great. This is just great.”

“It’s worse than that. Did you know that Earth Space Force command intends to take possession of Behemoth?”

“Never happen, Captain. I’m clear on that. Although, this is going to give me more than a few political headaches.”

Chimera smiled. “Captain Jackson, your clearance level just went up to 15.”

 

August 2^nd, 2808

Flight test day!

The new engine was installed, the critical flight systems all checked out, and Behemoth was ready to go. The new shields didn’t work yet, and there were numerous smaller systems that still needed to be repaired, but basically, he was ready to fly.

“So, Behemoth,” Curt said, “You ready to fly, and lose that bet with Chimera?”

“I am vibrating with anticipation, sir! If these are the results I get, I’ll need to bet against Admiral Chimera more often.”

“Remember not to call her that in public. You know she hates that.”

“Uh, yes sir!”

“Actually, I have a question for you. Where did you get your training in spacecraft design?”

“Uh, training sir?”

“Yes, the Phoenix, for example. Smoothest damned ship I’ve ever flown. Where did you learn to do that?”

“Well, sir, to be honest…I have no training in spacecraft design. The Phoenix is the first I’ve ever done. I just sort of looked at the requirements, designed it in my head, and printed out the results.”

“You’ve never designed a spacecraft before?”

“No sir. I just did what needed to be done.”

“Hmmm…clearly, you have too much unused capacity. We’ll speak more of this later.”

The flight test was flawless. If anything, the performance of the new engine exceeded design specs.

The Grand Imperial Starship Behemoth was back in space!

The End of Winter -- Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Return to Space—Phase 1

 

Misha didn’t talk much. But she would talk to Curt when asked.

“Misha, I need advice.”

“By all means.”

“Behemoth hasn’t had a functioning shield or 3^rd engine for a year. Granted, the resources involved are huge, but you can’t run a fleet like that. What’s up with this?”

A long pause…

“The politics have been odd. There’s no real central government. The Guardians just want an honorable society. While all Guardians are powerful, some Ancients are good, and some are…less so. You and I are fortunate to have met well.”

“Absolutely, but we need to make this work. The time for drifting is over. I feel an odd instability…an opportunity! With the upcoming meeting on Behemoth, we have few options. If I was certain I could get Behemoth space worthy and battle ready by the time of the arrival, I’d be OK with just doing that for now. But I don’t think I can do it. The structural damage, the shields. I can probably get him in the air, but in any real fight…he’d lose.

I need your help. I can’t do this alone.”

“And you shall have it,” Misha said. “I will be occupied for a day or so.”

“Thank you!”

Curt went back to the crew lounge area to relax for a bit.

“Hey, Boss, where’s your ear muff?”

“Misha will be occupied for a while…and show some respect!”

Behemoth said quietly “Well, this should be interesting.”

Amazona responded “Why?”
And Behemoth replied “In the 12,000 years I’ve been watching, a council meeting of the Guardians has been good most of the time, and sometimes produces awful results. But I can tell you this, it’s never boring. That’s what Misha’s doing now.”

 

July 25^th, 2808

The Commander staggered out of bed as was his habit, and Cygnus (as was his habit) rushed up to greet him.

“Sir! I have something to show you!” They went a few yards, and there was ….something.

“What the hell is that?” the Commander asked.

“The new ship, sir! Chimera finished it last night.”

“What do you mean she finished it last night? I never even saw the plans!”

“Well, then, don’t sleep so much,” Chimera said.  “We are so far below my energy capacity I’m starting to get bored. Which means, I’m going to start to build things. Do you really want that?”

“OK, OK, but what is this? It looks like a truck.”

“Well, it sort of is,” Cygnus said. “We have the old #1 TriStar engine providing power for Behemoth. This has the other two engines ready to go. We thought you might want to go on a scavenger hunt!”

“You guys are so full of shit. It’s way too early in the morning for this…”

“But sir, Chimera said--suppose we could bring back half a dozen engines we could make work?”

Curt was instantly fully awake.

“Lieutenant Cygnus, I’d be honored if you would accompany me as first officer on this mission.”

“Absolutely, sir!”

“Then be ready to go by 1000.”

They christened the new craft Phoenix. It was certainly completely transformed from its earlier configuration!

Cygnus was just beaming--his first flight with the new Commander! And he was going back into space! He was bouncing off the walls with enthusiasm.

When Curt came out, the two met to confer.

“OK, here’s the deal. You will be the pilot for take off, and orbital flight. We’ll go scout around the debris field, and if we can find at least two good engines, we’ll bring them in. I will do the landing, and the announcement of success. Clear?”

“Clear sir! This is an honor sir!”

“It’s an honor for me, because you are a galaxy class pilot. I checked.  But let’s be 100% clear about this: this is an experimental spacecraft, and you are a better pilot than I am, and I know it. If this thing acts squirrely, or doesn’t work right, you are in command, and I will follow your lead. Are we clear?”

(Pause)

“Are we clear?”

“Yes sir!”

“Then let’s go saddle up, kid!”

The launch of the Phoenix was largely uneventful. Everyone came out to watch, but the launch was flawless.

For the first time since the battle, the crew was in orbit. Although a different crew, and a different ship, to be sure.

The orbital field was a complete mess. Chimera had rigged a detector, but it was still tough navigation. By the end of the mission, they found four renegade engines that didn’t seem so bad. One decent looking TriStar engine.

The Phoenix was amazingly smooth (he’d have to comment to Behemoth about that), and the landing was flawless.

Once they came to a stop, Curt opened the canopy, and said “Ladies and gentlemen, the crew of the Great Ancient Starship Behemoth is now space borne again!”

The applause was thunderous!

Later in the evening, Curt was sitting at his desk. He had spent hours going over the project plans. The structural damage was the worst. How do you lift a 200,000 ton spacecraft to fix it? He put his head down on the desk to rest for a bit.

Misha came up, and purred next to him, which was always incredibly soothing.

“Curt,” she said. “Do you trust me?”

An odd question.

“Well, as long as we’re not locked in a plastic container together, absolutely!”

Misha bit his nose, and said, more somberly, “Curt, this is important. Do you trust me?”

“Absolutely. With my life, and the lives of my crew.”

Misha visibly relaxed. “We have our customs of course, as you do. Did you know that I am Captain of this ship?”

Curt was appalled! “Ma’am, I never meant any disrespect. People just did what I told them to do. It never really came up. I…just did what had to be done…”

“Relax, Captain. Note the title. I will be announcing your official appointment as Captain of the Grand Imperial Starship Behemoth tomorrow. This has been approved by the Council of Guardians, but that’s still classified. For your information, this is the first time in history a Modern has been appointed Captain of an Ancient ship. As you’ve realized, we can’t get Behemoth fixed quickly enough, so things are going to need to change. Your life will never be the same again.”

“Let me guess,” Curt said. ”I won’t be bored?”

Misha bit him on the ear this time.

 

July 26^th, 2808

 

 “Attention crew. Captain Misha requires your attendance at a crew meeting at 1000 on the bridge.”

Cygnus whispered to Behemoth “Captain Misha? What’s that about?”

Behemoth said “Well, she IS Captain of the ship after all”

Cygnus replied “Well, of course I know that, but this formality is so odd.”

And Behemoth said “Maybe something formal is going to happen.”

With a crew of six (one virtual), meetings are pretty easy to schedule!

At 1000 precisely, Misha said:

“You all know I’m a person of few words, so this will be brief. We have had an interesting week or so. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows that without the efforts of Commander Jackson, we would all be dead by now.  Every one of us. He has a supernatural ability to figure out what’s going on, and come up with the right answer. Effective immediately, I am resigning my commission as Captain of the Grand Imperial Starship Behemoth, and appointing Commander Curt Jackson to that position. Behemoth!”

“Ma’am!”

“Please record this transfer in the official ship’s log. When Captain Jackson authorizes external communication, forward the change to central records. Captain Jackson, you are now officially in command of the Grand Imperial Starship Behemoth. The success and life of the crew are now your responsibility. Discharge it well!”

“Ma’am, I accept this challenge as an honor and a privilege.”

Cygnus said quietly to Behemoth,  “Well, I’ll be damned!”

And Behemoth said “We will do well. I’ve only seen two others as good as he is in 12,000 years. And if you quote that, I’ll denounce you as a filthy liar!”

 

The End of Winter -- Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Damage Assessment

 

July 23^rd, 2808

 

Curt called the crew meeting for 0900. “Well,” he remarked, “for the first time, we have a full crew…up and running! We’ll make this fast. 20MW isn’t going to cut it. Chimera needs much more than that for her light speed operation. And, even though all of us are alive, most are sick or weak. Let’s do an inventory.

“With the exception of a few…accidental injuries… (Misha was busily licking the Commander’s  wounds), I’m in good shape. Misha is weak but basically OK. Amazona, what’s you’re power level? Any damage?”

“No unrepaired damage, sir. Power is at about 5%.”

“Five percent? But you’ve been charging for three days!”

“High capacity, low charge rate…it takes a while. I should mention, sir, that my 5% is more than the rest of the crew combined, not counting Chimera. Wouldn’t want to be greedy…”

“Good point. Speaking of…Chimera? Your status?”

“Fully functional, sir! At this point, I am strictly energy limited.”

“What’s your maximum flow rate?”

“About 0.5 terawatt, sir.”

“What?”

“I can process about half a terawatt on a continuous basis. At 90% of the speed of light, you won’t even see me most of the time. Nobody really knows how this works.”

A pause. “More on that later. Cygnus?”

“Just give me something to fly, sir.”

Curt smiled, “Well, we may just see if we can do that! Behemoth? I trust you are charging happily?”

“Oh, very happily, sir!”

“Well, we may need to change that. Our most urgent need is for more power for Chimera. I’m also not happy with just one engine running. We are going to devote 50% of total power output to Chimera for a while. I need a full and complete assessment of both of the other two engines on the TriStar. How long will that take?”

“Oh, five or ten, give or take,” Chimera said.

“Five hours seems like a long time, Doc…”

Amazona knelt down to the Commander and whispered “Seconds, sir, not hours. She works on a different timescale than we do.”

 “Ahh…”

“Report ready at your convenience, sir,” Chimera chimed in before Amazona could even fully stand up.

“Before we go any further,” Curt said, “I need to get something cleared up. I had an exceptional view of the battle. Better than I might have liked, actually. First, the gunnery on this ship. Is that equipment from another dimension, or what? I’ve never seen laser cannon move so fast! And, while I obviously couldn’t watch it all, I didn’t see a single miss. How did you do that?”

Embarrassed, Cygnus said, “Behemoth and I have been working together for a long time, sir. We are…exceptionally well tuned…almost one mind when it comes to battle.”

“What were the results?”

“Well, given the shield issue, I assumed all the targets were my problem. 197 impacted the ship. We successfully splashed the other 2303.”

“How many were left?”

“Left, sir?”

“At the end of the battle.”

“Uh…none, Commander. I didn’t begin atmospheric entry until all targets were destroyed. They were faster than you were. I couldn’t leave any strays running around.”

The Commander was stunned into silence. “Cygnus, Behemoth, you saved me and my entire squadron. I will never forget this.”

“With respect, sir,” Cygnus said. “It seems to me you’ve more than returned the favor by now.”

After an awkward silence, Curt said, “OK then, now to this shield business. Spacecraft shield technology is older than dirt. Why don’t we have one that works?”

“Design flaw, sir,” Behemoth said.

“Explain.”

“About a year ago, we had a very tough battle with pirates, and lost the #3 engine.”

“What happened?”

“A small anti-matter tipped missile got past our old shields, and made it into the #3 engine.”

“Ouch. That had to hurt!”

“It was worse than that, sir. The power circuits were insufficiently isolated, resulting in multiple cascading failures. The shield circuits were completely fried, and we’ve been operating without them--and, obviously, without a #3 engine--since.”

“No shields for a year?”

“Not our first choice, of course, but as you noticed, Cygnus is pretty good….”

Something wasn’t right, and it niggled at Curt’s mind. Isolating circuits…multiple cascading failures…Earth Space Force had solved that problem 500 years ago…

“Behemoth!”

“Sir!”

“How old are you?”

It suddenly grew very quiet. “Well, sir, different systems are different ages, and there have been many patches…”

“Don’t bullshit me, crewman. Roughly, how old?”

“About 12,000 years old, sir.”

“Twelve…thousand…YEARS?”

“Yes sir, give or take some variation for different components.”

A very long pause followed. Not a soul was going to speak until the Commander did.

“Hmm, well, OK. Looks like I can’t shoot the silly son-of-a-bitch that made that design mistake. But, let’s put that on the list of things to fix, shall we?”

“Yes sir!” Behemoth said. Behemoth didn’t breathe, of course, but you could almost imagine he’d been holding it.

“Behemoth. I trust you have turned on your internal sensors again?”

“Yes sir. The ones that work anyhow. To quote an eloquent engineer I recently met: ‘You are the most messed up friggin’ machine I’ve ever seen in my life’.”

Curt tried to hide his smile. “OK. What’s the hardest problem for getting this crewman back in to space?”

“Sir, no disrespect intended, but it’s just not possible. I am now a derelict.”

“The hell you say!“ Chimera burst out. “We don’t abandon our people! I can absolutely get you flying again. It’s just a question of power!”

“Unfortunately, that’s exactly right,” Curt said. “What’s the status on those TriStar engines?”

Chimera said with a smirky grin, “Oh, well, the #2 is now running fine, and I tweaked the #3, so it’s in good shape too. We’ve now got 100MW continuous power, with 400MW available for short periods. I’ve got some connection parts problems with the #1, though. I can fix it, but it will take a little time.”

Curt did a double take. He didn’t believe what he had just heard. “You mean the #2 engine is fixed? It’s RUNNING?” He had just expected a diagnosis!

“Well, sure. I had to do something while you guys were jawboning in here.” Over the next month, Curt would come to know that smirky grin very well.

Misha, still around Curt’s neck, just said, “Get used to it…”

Well, hell, maybe this might work after all.

“OK,” Curt said, “but power is still the problem here. Chimera: assuming only what you have available, how long to fix that #1 TriStar engine?”

“Several hours, at least…maybe a day. It’s jammed up in there pretty good. Lots of connection damage…”

“What if you can take it out, fix it, and leave it out?”

“Leave it out? 60 minutes total, tops. Piece of cake.”

“Then get it running, and hooked up to the power grid. How long to repair the TriStar so that it’s space worthy again? Without the #1 engine attached?”

“Hmmm…aerodynamics isn’t my specialty, sir. Too computational. I can do it, but it would take maybe a day for me to do the design work. Maybe two.”

“I’ll have full construction specs and blueprints available and printed within the hour,” Behemoth said. “After all, what good is all this computational capacity if I can’t use it?”

You could almost hear him smile.

“Cygnus, you wanted something to fly. Get ready to saddle up, son!”

“Yes, sir!” His smile was so broad it looked like his face would break.

“OK, next item. What’s the limiting factor getting this structure in the air?”

“Basically, we’re all busted up. “ Behemoth said “The notion of ‘structural integrity’ is a joke. Chimera has MedLab and the bridge in pretty good shape, but other than that, there isn’t one other chamber….not one, other than anti-matter containment and fuel…that will hold air.”

“So, what caused that?” Curt asked.

“Rocks. Big ones. We hit hard. Oh, and 200 impacts and explosions from suicide renegade hits didn’t help either. We have a bunch of minor holes and such, but we have at least five huge structural failures to fix.”

“Ouch. OK. Engine power. We all know #3 is charred rubble. #2 was running at impact, but Cygnus was apparently doing some weird things to it to keep it that way. #1 looks bad, but might still be usable.”

“Sir,” Behemoth said, “even if #2 was factory new, we’d still need to start it. These puppies take a gigawatt just to get fired up. Where are we going to get that kind of power?”

“Actually, I have an idea on that, but we’ll deal with that later.  Chimera!”

“Sir!”

“I know we’re not talking about the bottle rockets we use in the TriStar. How long for an estimate of the condition of engines #2 and #1 on Behemoth?”

“#2 doesn’t look too bad at a quick glance. Don’t know about #1. My apologies, sir, but these are big. It’s going to take a while. Would a noon report tomorrow be acceptable?”

“That would be fine. Faster than light drive?”

“We have no reason to believe it will work, but the anti-matter containment chamber is in good shape. Of course, since we’re here, that’s probably obvious…”

“Navigation?”

“Actually, good news on this one. Most of the antennae are on top, and they’re fine. Work to do, but no crisis.”

“Power distribution?”

“Good shape. Unless you want to do something weird…and then we’ll need to talk.”

“You guys are learning…system and helm control?”

“Well, if we had any systems that worked, I might be able to answer…” Chimera said.

“Smartass. Communication?”

“As far as we know, everything is fine. We can turn it on at any time.”

“Really?” Curt said. “That’s not what I heard. I heard there was at least another week of testing needed. The Comm system is not to be turned on without my specific personal approval. Is that clear?”

“Yes sir!”

Amazona said quietly “What was THAT about?”

And Behemoth whispered “I don’t think either of us wants to know.”