Chapter 19
I reported to the naval base on Echo, a small planet with a more Earth-like gravity than Beulah. I reported into the Headquarters there and was warmly received by the Fleet Admiral of that sector. He had received an electronic letter from Fleet Admiral Reason and was well-versed on what I was going to try to accomplish. Not only that, but he had seen first hand some of my handiwork already in the person of Commander Majel Remm, who was doing her best to carry on in training some of his officers. However, she was skilled in individual ship training and not in the refinements I made to squadron training and attack. Her work on Echo was the only bright spot in the whole defense.
He said, “Captain Oden, I’ve taken the liberty of giving you a suitable cruiser, just overhauled with four Mark IV quads, four Mark III quads, two Mark III duals, and four Mark II singles. She has a fitting name considering your own last name. The Valhalla is all yours, along with the other nineteen ships of her command. Because this is a larger squadron than what you’ve been working miracles with before, I’m going to ask you how long you need to get ready instead of giving you a deadline.”
I thought for a moment about the fact that the last squadron took a week, then a week of patrol, another week off, and then the successful patrol where we defeated a slightly larger squadron. Then I spoke. “Sir, I’ll have an effective squadron ready in one month. Have I got full discretion and authority?”
He replied, “Wouldn’t have it any other way. You’ll either succeed or fail on your own merits. If you fail, then I’ll ship your ass off to where you came from. If you succeed, then I’ll personally pilot your ship for a month.”
I said, “I appreciate your candor, Admiral, but I hardly think that you’ll need to pilot my ship for a month. I’ll settle for being shown where the enemy is most of the time and where the personnel records are kept for all the officers and crew members. I also wouldn’t mind having Commander Majel Remm as one of my squadron ship captains. She’ll give me an extra resource to draw upon when I want something demonstrated. Also, what’s the rest of the squadron ship types? How many of what do I have? I don’t want to go out badly mismatched.”
He said, “You do try to cover your bases. All right, you’ve got Majel. Your squadron has three light cruisers. The rest are destroyers much like you’re already used to. Nothing lighter.”
I said, “Fine. Also, Commander Remm may want to take some of her crew with her.”
“You don’t want her ship?” he asked.
“What’s she got?” I asked.
He answered, “She’s been working with the regular destroyer class ship like you’re used to.”
I replied, “No. I intend to put her in a light cruiser, so she’ll probably want to take along some of her personnel.”
“All right, it’ll be arranged. One month, huh? I’m really looking forward to this. Do you still do weapons testing on orbit?” he asked.
I answered, “Almost every time, sir. Gives the crew some reassurance that their weapons are functioning as well as getting some of the nervousness out of their systems. Now, sir, if you’ll give me directions on where to find my squadron, I’ll get started.”
“What about the records?” he asked.
I replied, “I’ll start with those after I see the ships. I want to get started on any modifications or repairs that might be necessary. In all likelihood, they’re in fine shape. But sometimes, things get overlooked and I don’t like that. I want every man and woman out there to have the best chance for success and survival I can give them.”
The Admiral furnished me with a driver and a hover because of the distance between the 17th Squadron and Headquarters. I arrived at the squadron site and poked around the ships, going in one and out after looking at everything I could get into. Not once did anyone challenge me, although it was kind of obvious that I wasn’t an Ape-oid. Still, they weren’t acting professional. They needed shaking up and then some building up.
The Admiral was right. My last name and the name of the cruiser did go together. I figured on using it, if necessary. I couldn’t call the 17th Squadron the Mad Dogs. I had left that squadron behind along with the Rust Bucket. This squadron needed something just as bad-ass sounding. Something they could live up to. Valhalla was a Viking term, so I punched up the Vikings on a terminal and did a little quick reading. It didn’t take me long to find the perfect name for the 17th Squadron. I wanted something that implied we were crazy and would charge anything. Berserker fit the bill perfectly. My new squadron would become the Berserker Squadron.
As I continued to look around the ships, I spotted small deficiencies that wouldn’t make any difference in the performance and others more serious, yet somehow overlooked. Those last ones were the ones I would concentrate on.
I found the officers at their recreation hall not far away from the ships and walked in among them. Not one of them recognized me at first. Either they hadn’t seen my image, despite the fact that the Navy showed it off nearly everywhere, or they didn’t know that I was their new squadron commander. I decided to get tough with them first. I walked into the center of the recreation hall where they had gathered, reached into my hidden holster, removed my antique projectile weapon, and pointed it at the ceiling of the one-story building. I released the safety and pulled the trigger. I got their attention immediately. Everyone stopped and stared at me as if I was crazy. That’s what I wanted them to think.
“Gentlemen, ladies! I presume that you are the officers of the squadron outside! I see that most of you are present! That’s good! I hate repeating myself! I am Captain Dave Oden, your new squadron commander! Inside of five minutes, I want everyone of you standing beside your ship with your crews lined up behind you! I do not mean five minutes and ten seconds! I do not mean five minutes and five seconds! I do not mean five minutes and one second! Move out!” I ordered loudly.
I stood out of the way as close to a hundred officers hurried to the exits to get out of the building and over to their ships. I watched out the window to see which ones went after their crews as instructed and which ones didn’t. I wanted to know who could follow orders. Individual initiative could start the next day. I made note of the faces of the male and female officers who ran to get the crews and tried to determine if there was any communication among the officers to split the tasks. If so, I would give them credit for teamwork. As soon as the last officer was out of the building, I made my way to the exit. I continued to watch as I casually walked over to the ships at a pace that would get me there in four and a half minutes.
The officers apparently didn’t make their instructions clear to some of the crew members about being in line in precisely five minutes. Most of the officers from the recreation hall were standing at attention beside their ships, but only a few of their crews were present. I looked at my watch. When the five minutes were up, I fired a second round from my antique weapon into the air where it would fall harmlessly. Almost everyone stopped and stared when they heard the sound from my gun.
I ordered, “You and you! Come over here! Everyone else, remain exactly where you are! Don’t you dare move one muscle closer to those lines or I will shoot you!”
The two officers came over to me and stood at attention. From the looks in their eyes, I felt sure they believed I was a mad man.
I said, “I want everyone behind me to line up into one formation and I want you to have them run around this field once. Then I want them brought to me to hear some encouraging words. Move out!”