He beckoned To-Ling. “What do you think, San? Have we lost Starhopper?”
The tiny woman shrugged, but her expression was grim. “Too soon to say, sir. Her nav comp was slaved to ours, so in theory she should have emerged at the same time and place we did. But we know so little about Jump space,” she continued. “She could emerge at any moment or perhaps not for two or three hours.”
“If she emerges at all,” Kas finished. To-Ling nodded soberly.
Despite To-Ling’s obvious disapproval, Kas remained on the bridge, hovering over sensor techs and pacing until he learned that the damage control team was returning aboard. With a scowl, he returned to his cabin to await Commander Roi Tremling’s arrival.
While he was waiting, he fleshed out the glimmering of an idea he had suppressed before. By the time Tremling arrived, Kas was almost cheerful.
He was unsurprised when Tremling appeared unkempt as ever. He restrained himself as the officer gave a detailed account of the damage Rekesh had suffered.
Kas relaxed somewhat when Tremling concluded his report. The only serious damage had been caused by only a few hits by destroyer-based weapons. The smaller weapons of the corvettes had been unable to inflict more than minor damage. It could have been much worse. More important now was the fact that none of the repairs would require special expertise. Only normal damage control would be required — which left him free to deal with Tremling.
The man was staring at him with a wary, frankly hostile expression.›From his oddly stiff posture, Kas suspected Tremling was carrying a concealed recording device.
Kas straightened. “Very well, Commander. Now all I have to deal with is you.” He glared at the dumpy, rumpled figure. “Upon consideration, I have decided that you were correct before. I probably do not have the authority to reduce you in rank, even temporarily. Nor do I have grounds to confine you to your quarters, much as I would like to.”
The wary expression began to fade into a satisfied smirk as he continued, “What I do have the authority to do is determine your duties. You are hereby relieved of your duties as Engineering Officer. I’m assigning you a special project.” The smirk faded to alarm.
With grim satisfaction, Kas gave his orders. Starhopper ’s crew had made use of one of Rekesh ’s shuttles during the quest for a plague cure. First, they had stripped out the food synthesizer to install in Dr. Kor-Nashta’s improvised quarters in the bio lab. Later they had stripped out some of the vessel’s accommodations to give Ro-Lecton room to synthesize the plague serum. Now the shuttle would provide Kas with an excuse to remove a serious irritant from the crew. Since the hangar deck had to remain unpressurized to preserve the bodies stored there, and Kas had forbade the crew to operate in suits alone, Kas gave Tremling four hours to move from his cabin to the shuttle. He would remain aboard while he examined “every bolt, nut, circuit board and connection” on the shuttle, and made repairs as necessary. “And I don’t mean just running diagnostic programs. I want every piece physically examined and checked out!” Kas finished.
Tremling was shocked. He was well aware that this was a sentence of solitary confinement for an indefinite period, but he suspected that Preslin had found a pretext for the action that fit within Fleet regulations — barely.
Once they installed a spare food synthesizer, there was no reason Tremling could not live aboard in comfort indefinitely. Since the shuttle was designed to serve as a lifeboat for forty people if necessary, it carried full ‘fresher facilities and food and water supplies for a month.
“You can’t do this!” Tremling exclaimed.
Kas shrugged. “I think you’ll find I can,” he replied in a satisfied tone. “But I suggest that while you are moving aboard, you arrange to hookup to the ship’s library. Perhaps you’ll have time to review Fleet regulations. Particularly those referring to the authority of the commander of a warship in time of combat. You might also,” he added, “review the standards of hygiene and conduct for Fleet officers.” As soon as the engineer stormed out, Kas summoned Tremling’s assistant, Lieutenant Commander Wor Sha-Tren. Sha-Tren seemed only a small improvement over Tremling insofar as appearance was concerned. At least Sha-Tren bathed regularly, though his shipsuit looked as though he slept in it.
Kas merely stared at the man for a few moments. Aside from meeting him for a few moments at his awakening, Kas realized he had not even seen the man since he had come aboard. Evidently, Sha-Tren wasted little time on social contacts.
More importantly, the man seemed angry for some reason. His every movement was calculated to offend. For some reason Sha-Tren wanted Kas to know he was angry.
After a moment, he remembered. Sha-Tren felt that he had been betrayed. He claimed to have had a “deal” arranged that permitted him to remain permanently on Prime. Given the man’s abrasive surliness, Kas suspected that Sha-Tren had made Lieutenant Commander only because his wealthy family had bought him the promotions. Even without his obvious display of anger, Sha-Tren was rough-edged. Clamping down on his temper, Kas explained that Sha-Tren was now Rekesh ’s Chief Engineer, and told him why.
The man’s eyes widened as Kas explained Tremling’s “special assignment”, but Kas noted that he immediately straightened, and his replies to Kas’ questions and comments began to be sprinkled with ‘sir’s’. When Sha-Tren left, he walked with a stiff straightness, and even threw Kas a clumsy salute. It appeared that Kas’ actions with Tremling were already showing dividends.
However, while personnel matters occupied a lot of time, there was no shortage of opportunity for Kas to worry about Starhopper and her crew.
After delaying for three ship ‘days’ Kas could wait no longer. Every hour they stayed in this system was another hour of danger for Rekesh. With a sense of despair, he gave the order to begin accelerating toward their programmed jump point. Nevertheless, he ordered a continuing watch for Starhopper. Though the Astrogator focused on the approaching jump point, the main bridge screen was directed aft. Kas knew that even if Starhopper emerged she would not be visible at this distance. However, he could not bring himself to realign the bridge screen. It would be a betrayal, somehow. A final admission of Starhopper ’s loss.
They were less than half an hour from the jump point when the Comm Officer shouted, “Emergence, sir! A ship!”
Kas whirled. “Is it Starhopper?”
The lieutenant frowned. “The ident beacon’s wrong, sir. She claims to be Starhopper, but the beacon is not the usual automated one. Either their ident beacon was damaged or…”
“… Or someone’s making a crude attempt to impersonate her.” Kas finished. “All right. All sensors on that ship. We have to know if she’s Starhopper within the next ten minutes if we’re to abort jump.” He turned to Til Be’Rak, Rekesh ’s Astrogator. “Is that about right, Commander?”
Be’Rak flashed him a blinding grin. “We could stretch that a minute or so if we had to, sir, but for every minute of delay, that’s a minute we’re accelerating at. 5G away from her.”
Kas grinned back. “Right. Thank you, Commander. I…”
“Incoming transmission, sir!” the Comm Officer interrupted. “Vessel continues to identify as Starhopper, but transmission is voice only.”
Kas frowned. “Well, now we’ll know. Put it through.”
The large bridge screen flared for a moment, then faded to blackness. “ Starhopper to Vir Rekesh,” a voice began, “This is Captain Rom Reffel aboard Starhopper. Mayday. I say again, Mayday. We have taken serious battle damage. Captain Ler-Traken was badly injured, and had to be placed in a stasis pod. Most of the rest of the crew are injured to various degrees. Request assistance.” Rom’s voice continued, but Kas was no longer listening. He could play it back later.