“Take a peek at what?”
“What we think may be the home planet of the aliens,” Kris said. That brought on louder groans from the merchants and longer chuckles from the Navy types.
When quiet returned, a young woman stood. “I’m pushing the Altair, ma’am. Me and mine wouldn’t mind talking a bit more about that scout mission, if you will.”
Kris had to work real hard not to hear some of the comments from the other merchant types. “You can join me at my table for a drink after we finish here,” Kris said.
The woman sat down and pulled her chair a bit away from the other merchant skippers.
“Now, for the fleet. We’ve got warning buoys six jumps out. One of the outer ones has gone silent. We haven’t checked to see if it just broke or if it’s been shot up. I don’t intend to. The fleet that’s here will stand by to fight when, not if, the aliens come at us again. For that fight, we need to reorganize.”
Kris turned to her old squadron mates. “Commodore Kitano, you will command BatRon 1, with two divisions of four frigates each.”
“Aye, aye, Admiral.”
“Commodore Hawkings, you and the Lorna Do contingent will form BatRon 2, with two divisions.”
“Yes, Admiral. Pardon me for asking, ma’am, but we were dispatched as a frigate squadron. Battle squadron?”
“You’re packing 20-inch lasers, Commodore. Our ships may be frigates, but we’re forming battle squadrons. Does that answer your question?”
“Certainly, Admiral.”
“Commodore Bethea, Savannah will form BatRon 3.”
“Glad to, Admiral Longknife.”
“Commodore Miyoshi, you have BatRon 4.”
“Honored to serve with you, Admiral.”
“The Helvetican division will form independent Division 9. If we can knock together some lasers, you may have some of the auxiliaries up-gunned into fighting ships with you.”
Several of the auxiliary skippers looked more than willing to follow that path.
“Captain Drago,” Kris said, and the old sea dog stood, now in a full Navy captain’s uniform. “The Wasp and the Intrepid will form independent Division 10. I’m aware of the handicap your slower reload rate places on you. You will continue to be my flag, and we will accommodate your ship’s limitations.”
“The Wasp is a very good ship, Admiral.”
“I know very well that it is, Captain,” Kris said, then turned back to the fleet in general. “Tomorrow, at 0900, the battle fleet will sortie for a speed run to the nearest gas giant. We will proceed through the asteroid belt and use them for target practice. No asteroids larger than one meter will be targeted. We don’t want to spoil any miner’s claim. We will launch pinnaces and refuel from the gas giant. Any questions?”
There were none.
“Then, all hands, as Viceroy of Alwa, let me thank you for coming to the aid of both the colonials and natives of this planet. Know that we are in for a fight, but that there is every prospect that we will be the victors in it. Now, enjoy your first night on Canopus Station, and yes, we have a policy restricting you to two drinks. Sorry, but the resources of the planet beneath us are being pushed to their limits to support us. I appreciate the agricultural gear you brought, but must point out that it may be several months before a new crop comes in.”
Kris paused to see how this sank in. From the looks she got, their logistics problem was not a surprise. She’d have to check in with the commodores after the meeting to see just how well supplied they were. “Again, thank you, and please enjoy our hospitality.”
The room broke out in talk. As Kris expected, the four commodores quickly gravitated to her table. All were young, clearly advanced ahead of their time. The war would show if they truly merited the honors. No surprise, their supply ships were loaded. All expected to be self-supporting for the next three months. That took a load off Kris.
It was newly promoted Commodore Kitano who caused Kris to cancel the next day’s sortie. She asked if the other frigates had been modified to permit high-speed jinking? That brought blank stares. She and Captain Drago explained the need for dodging and the required mods they had made to their ships. Instead of drills, the next day would need to be devoted to bringing the new frigates up to Alwa fighting standards. Both Kitano and Drago promised to share expertise with the newcomers.
All the time this conversation was going on, Kris kept catching the skipper of the cargo ship Altair waiting close but not too close. Only after the commodores moved off to share schematics of changes and schedule visits by chief technicians, did the young skipper and the two women who worked for her settle down at Kris’s table.
“An all-woman crew, Captain?” Kris asked.
“No, just most of the officers willing to serve with me,” the woman skipper answered.
Kris introduced Penny to Jade O’dell. “Penny is my intelligence officer and will be nominally in command of the frigate Endeavor.”
“You already have a ship?”
“No, but when your ship is respun, it will be a frigate with six 18-inch lasers.”
“Nobody said anything about fighting,” her engineering officer said.
“Three guns will point aft and three forward. With the bastards we’re dealing with, you don’t want to just have running as your only option though I’d prefer it.”
“Okay. I got engineering, but I don’t have anyone trained with guns,” O’dell said.
“The Canopus Station manager wanted to have some protection. He mounted the smaller lasers from the Wasp and hired Alwans to fire them. I plan to borrow both.”
“Reprogramming my ship into a warship,” O’dell mused. “Mounting guns manned by aliens. Any more surprises?”
“The boffins are standing in line to go with you. Half the scientists want to get a look at the alien world. They all figure they can extract the real meaning of the place.”
“So we’ll have a mob of eggheads,” the first mate said.
“No,” Penny said. “You will have only as many as I and Professor Labao say go. Fifty, a hundred at most.”
“Passengers,” the chief engineer said, and made it sound like a dirty word.
“Many have sailed with me,” Kris said, “and I can vouch that they are housebroken. If they don’t behave themselves, Penny here will activate their reserve commission and make them toe the mark in uniform.”
“And us?” the captain asked.
“Penny and I are used to having a contractor commanding our ship, the Wasp. Penny will make the call where you go and when you run. Any problem with that?”
“How many years you been with this Longknife?” the engineer asked.
“Over five, and I’m still alive and kicking,” Penny said.
“Sounds good enough. We’ll get a chance to do something important. See the galaxy. Have a story to tell and shame those prissy boys. Win all around,” O’dell said.
Kris watched them go. On lesser things great victories had turned.
Then she turned to her next problem. Making sure that the other merchant skippers didn’t try to make a run for it with their cargo still aboard.
“Not a problem, Kris,” Nelly said. “I checked. Their tanks are as bone dry as you can get. One jump. Not a bit more. Oh, and their ships have two reactors and aren’t programmed to spin off a pinnace. I checked.”
“So, they have to stay. Good planning on someone’s part.” Which left her wondering whose. Just how twisted was Grampa Ray’s mind? Or had he just delegated that to someone like Commodore Hawkings?
She glanced around and spotted Jack talking to several other Marines. Their eyes met, and Jack quickly finished up what he’d been doing.
“You ready to head home?” he asked as he joined her.