''Yes, sir.''
''And Longknife, why'd you miss them as we went by?''
''Rate of closure and rate of change on the defilade shot exceeded the capacity of the system, sir.''
''I didn't ask why the computer didn't give you a shot, I asked why you didn't take a shot.''
She didn't want to waste the laser energy, but that wasn't the answer the skipper wanted. ''No excuse, sir.''
''That answer may keep me from chewing your tail, Ensign, but it won't keep the enemy from cutting this ship open and spilling your shipmates into vacuum. You see a shot, you take a shot. Let me worry about my energy budget. You understand?''
''Yes, sir.'' Kris also noticed there were no euphemisms now. Earth ships were enemy, pure and simple. It was getting harder in her fatigue-fogged brain to remember that her Grampa Trouble said he was doing his damnedest to keep that from happening. Kris's hands were trained.
They were fighting the ship's lasers all day; no wonder they were fighting the ship's lasers in her sleep. Like a well-trained automaton, she was reacting with little or no thought. That was what Thorpe wanted; that was what Kris gave him. The quick smiles he rationed her were worth it.
She didn't get that many smiles the rest of the afternoon as gravity wells swung the simulated Typhoon here and there, giving Kris damn poor shots. Kris was a zombie as she made her way to her stateroom that night. Surprisingly, Bo was still up.
''Crew's a bit edgy,'' the chief said as Kris stripped off her sweat-soaked uniform. Bo took it from her and ran it through the cleaner. ''The skipper hasn't posted the ship's route on the mess room screen.''
''That's peacetime practice,'' Kris mouthed, pulling on a nightshirt. ''We're on a war footing.''
''Yeah, but isn't that pushing it a bit?''
''You know Thorpe better than I do, but from where I'm sitting, I wouldn't put anything past him.''
''We jumped early today. Did you notice it?''
''Went right past me. Nelly, what jump did we use?''
''Ninety-nine percent probability we used jump point India.''
''India!'' Kris struggled awake. Alpha, Beta, Gamma were the most frequently used, in that order, jump points of a system. India was never used. ''What's India's safety factor?'' Jump points wandered, understandable since they orbited two, three, or more stars. The more they wandered with respect to anyone star, the more likely they were to send a starship on a sour jump in the bad old days. Still, even today, passenger liners only used levels A and B, and did it at a slow speed. The Navy was a bit more daring; they used C and D jumps.
''Cambria's jump point India is an F on the index.''
''We are on a war footing,'' Chief Bo breathed.
''Nelly, project the shortest course from Cambria jump India to the Paris system. Display.'' A holovid shot from Kris's shoulder to dance in the air between Kris and Bo. Three long jumps took them far away from human space, which in and of itself violated the Wardhaven Treaty. Still, the last one brought them right back to where they wanted to go.
''We will arrive at Paris jump Kilo. It has not been used recently. Assuming it is still within fifty thousand klicks of its last reported position, it will put us here,'' the holovid expanded on the Paris system. Five suns did a wild jig around each other and, in the case of the two smallest suns, through the orbits of several of the fifteen planets and the asteroids that marked the wreckage of two more. Two gas giants provided refueling stations to the six jump points that supported dozens of major shipping routes. If Olympia gave access to much of the Rim in four jumps, this train wreck of a system did the same in three…with Earth thrown in as well. A great transfer station for the last eighty years, was it about to become a great place to start a war?
''What's the nearest often-used jump point?'' Kris asked.
''Alpha.'' A square in the system turned red. ''It is on the main route between Earth and many of the Rim worlds.''
''Wardhaven?''
''Yes. Traffic from Wardhaven used the Delta jump point.'' A second square halfway across the system turned green.
''We're going to be right next to the jump the Earth battle fleet is most likely to use.'' Bo frowned.
''And about as far from Wardhaven's as you can get,'' Kris finished. ''Assuming, of course that we use this route. Nelly, estimate times required between these jumps. Report to me when I am not on the bridge if this ship's jumps match that course.''
''Good thinking, ma' am. But even if this is our route, what does it mean?''
''I have no idea,'' Kris admitted. Kris also had to admit she was tired, wasn't going to get much sleep, and desperately wanted a lot more than she was likely to get. She would think about this in her spare time tomorrow. Right, like she'd been getting a lot lately. Kris drifted off within seconds of hitting the sack. Her dreams were vivid. No matter how hard she fought, the Earth ships were always there first with their lasers. No matter how fast she got her shots off, the Earth lasers were already slicing into the Typhoon. Time after time she watched Tommy and Bo and her marines' faces as they gasped for air in the vacuum.
Next morning, breakfast wolfed down, she was headed for the bridge but found Corporal Li facing her. ''Ms. Longknife, the captain hasn't posted the course. These jumps don't fit any of our other trips out. Some of the marines are kind of worried.''
''Trust me,'' Kris told the corporal who'd dropped with her to rescue the girl forever and just two months ago. ''This ship is headed for the Paris system. Skipper's just taking a different route. Got to quit thinking like peacetime.''
''Is it gonna be a war, ma'am?'' The corporal's face was a mixture of emotions, leaving Kris to guess what answer he wanted.
''The prime minister and a lot of other good folks are doing everything they can to see that this all ends peacefully. But you know the old man. If it comes to a fight, he wants the Typhoon to be the best there is in the fleet.''
''Yeah, that's the skipper. Thank you, ma'am.'' And the man was gone, and Kris was late for the bridge, but she suspected what she said would be through half the ship before lunch.
''So glad you could join us,'' Captain Thorpe said as Kris slipped into her seat at 0600 exactly. ''Ensign Lien, you've been getting off too easy. Addison and Longknife haven't let the ship take enough hits. I'm putting you on your own set of sims. Addison, you're still not using gravity wells for all they're worth. The Typhoon is fast, and we operate independently. Forget about staying in formation with the rest of the squadron. Push it. Work it. Longknife, you're still waiting too long for the computer to offer you shots. Think ahead of the damn machine. I know you've got the killer instinct. Use it.''
The captain drove them hard that day. He was none too pleased when Kris missed two shots; both when the Typhoon went through real jumps. ''Ensign, you took three minutes to set the ship up for that shot, then you miss. Damn it, that should never have happened.''
''Sorry, sir. The jump disoriented me for a second. It won't happen in battle.''
''You bet it won't. Addison, Longknife, take a break. XO, Comm, meet me in my day cabin.''
''Yes, sirs'' answered him.
Kris and Addison dropped down to the mess room. Kris wrapped both her hands around the hot mug, willing the warmth to soften the knots in her fingers and the palms of her hands.
''Bet you can't wait to get some Earth ships in your sights. I'm so sick of steering the ship and not feeling her move under me. Let's get this thing on for real!'' Addison crowed.
''We're not at war yet,'' Kris pointed out.
''What's the matter, you like Earth? They've been kicking us around for eighty years. It's about time we show Earth that space belongs to the Rim.''