January 23rd, 2262. 17:15 CNS Des Moines – John’s room
John had managed to pilfer several tools from across the ship over the last couple of days. In fact, he felt like a shady fuck for being a thief. They were all spread out on his desk. Along with several holo-emitters that he had removed from the stealth suit that he not only stole but ruined.
But there was a legitimate need for this madness. John was absolutely certain that an accident would befall him during the course of his rescue. That would result in others getting hurt or killed. This meant the need for secrecy was critical.
Several members of the crew would readily call John a paranoid freak. They wouldn’t be wrong for thinking that either. Nevertheless, John persisted in modifying the holo-emitters. They weren’t built to interface with the standard power armor systems. John’s suit was anything but normal.
He had been working on this array of emitters for six hours. This was the third set that he had worked on in the last couple of days. Practice makes perfect, right? Not so with these emitters. Each one is different enough that the modifications have thus far been unique and bespoke to each array.
The frustrating thing was that there were three more arrays to work on still. And if that weren’t bad enough, he still had to make some serious modifications to the zero-g harness. John tossed the small solder gun on his desk and leaned back in his chair.
“These are going to be the death of me,” John said as he stared at the ceiling, “I also have to figure out how I’m going to get to the station without being seen.
John took a break from engineering and began bringing up the space station he hopes to bring the ship to. Once his information has been transferred than any attempts on his or his crew’s life would likely cease. Or at least that was under his working presumption.
And his assumptions were nearly always right. Thus, that meant John needed a plan. Naval Intelligence does not have people on every base, but they have a noticeable presence on the larger stations. They weren’t as likely on a smaller one that is focused on commerce or industry.
Getting into those would be very easy. Gaining access to the communications room would be much more difficult though. Not impossible though. The route from an industrial hangar to one of the many rooms on board that could facilitate the transmission of encrypted data was found and memorized. Backups were also made, if John had time to make one plan, then there was time for two, three, or four more as well.
The planning was interrupted when his cabin’s speakers turned on suddenly, “Captain, need you on the bridge.”
“Arghh…” John grumbled as he stood up and pressed the green button on the small wall terminal, “Be there in two.”
There was still well over a week’s worth of traveling left before they’d get to safe territory. Though John is the person that he is would much prefer to have a solution sooner than later. That wouldn’t stop him from running ideas through his head while he was outside of his room though.
17:45 CNS Des Moines – Bridge
The viewscreen showed the slip wave they were currently surfing. It was noticeably smaller than it was two days ago, and the more troubling issue was that it was being nudged in a direction they didn’t want to go in. They were being directed towards a new, and much larger, wave. The two would merge soon and make a much larger one very soon.
Kepler Secondus was still reachable, but it was on the outer range of what the crippled ship could reach. On a ship that was functional, there was generally a huge gap between what is recommended and the ship’s upper threshold.
“Prince, bring up the map and calculate the ideal point to jump the waive and head to KS.”
The view screen is updated. The power reserves weren’t as maxed. Though it was making a giant assumption that the route between points was calm. With the shape, their ship was in that wasn’t a strong assumption to use.
“And also highlight backup systems using that route.”
“We’d be in the range of TC.8 and Algol A, but TC.8 isn’t what I’d call a good option,” Prince said.
Rebecca was confused and asked the obvious question, “Why is that?”
“It’s a three stellar mass black hole,” Prince said.
“And to add more detail, slipstream generators get a little fucky near them. In a functional ship it’s not that risky,” John chuckled, “In this scrapheap, no fucking way I’m getting near a singularity. What’s in Algol A?”
“An old shipyard, a couple of asteroid belts, and three civilian colonies. One of which is a penal colony technically,” Prince said.
“That’s our fallback then. From that system how far into confederate space can we jump?”
The calculations didn’t paint a rosy outlook. Under ideal conditions they’d have minutes, not hours, to spare. A mouse fart could actually negatively influence those estimates. From Kepler Secondus though, it was a straight shot home.
“Twenty-seven hours until we need to make a decision. Stick with Plan A or go with B. What are the forward scans telling us of slip space?”
“They aren’t perfect sir. There’s no chop, but we’re not sure how long we can stay at this course and heading with this wave. We may get turned around again,” Prince didn’t sound confident of their course.
“We keep riding it. Send me the readings at the top and bottom of the hour,” John said.
“Aye aye, sir.”
John was about to turn around and head back to his room, “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but since you're up, engineering wanted to see you. And Perry wanted to talk, supposedly to offer a proper apology.”
“Right,” John said sarcastically, “To engineering, I go then.”
“One more thing sir,” Rebecca said, “It’s about the ship’s logs.”
John shook his head, “I’m already making detailed logs.”
“It’s about the personal logs of the decedents.”
John shook his head, “No fucking way. I am not going there.”
“Sir, an investigation is required. Those personal logs may have evidence of a conspiracy to attack or of criminal negligence. We are duty bound to investigate.”
This was a most surprising turn of events. John did want to get into Kory’s logs. He couldn’t lie and say he didn’t want to know that information. He hadn’t pushed it because it wasn’t done very often. The case law supported his actions was dangerously light.
“Send me the relevant regulations. I’ll take this on advisement but I’m not touching those unless it’s a rock-solid case.”
“You’ll have them within an hour.”
00:12 CNS Des Moines – Engineering
Only a minimally staffed crew was in engineering. The engine was outputting more noise than normal but that was to be expected. As was the distinctive buzzing sound that the slip generators vibrate throughout the ship.
“Burning the midnight oil Chief?” John said with a smile as he walked over to his station.
“The welds are holding better than I expected.”
“We were due to have some luck on our side for once during this shitshow of a deployment.”
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“In truth, the shitshow was only at the end.”
“I hear you wanted to chat?”
Deniz looked around and motioned John to come closer, “I’m not convinced we can make a third jump. I should know the feasibility of that after we jump back to real space the first time.”
“Right now, we’re still gung-ho for Kepler Secondus. The backup is Algol A. Which adds complications.”
Deniz looked down at his terminal and found the system. He plugged in the power requirements for the jump. The results left him holding his head as he stared at the desk.
He didn’t raise his head, “We probably won’t make it there.”
“So, and don’t shoot me, but the main issue facing us is the slip generators produce garbage and we’re limited on how much we can store right?” John asked, “Or am I way off base here?”
“Yes, we discharge that slip energy when we are back in real space. What are you getting at?”
“Can’t we just drop some of that garbage back into slip space?”
“No. Absolutely not. No,” Deniz stammered, “You are not going to make to do what you’re planning.”
“Why won’t it work?”
“Because we’ll be blown to bits.”
“If we try to dump all of it at once, sure. But I’m talking about little itty-bitty drips.”
“Your faucet analogy is noted, but the answer is still no.”
John frowned, “Because why?”
“Captain, in order to pull that off we’d need to have a lightning rod. Said rod would most likely be destroyed in the process.”
John looked around engineering, “Hey petty officer. How many plasma lances do we have on the ass end of this thing?”
“Two, sir.”
John then gestured to Deniz.
“Are you fucking insane?” Deniz exclaimed.
“No big deal. Pull the power connections. Plug the slip-caps into it, then release a steady amount of energy bit by bit. That’d extend the duration we could stay inside ten percent or so.”
“Closer to fifteen, though the efficacy of this plan hinges on how quickly the lances are destroyed.”
“And obviously we’d have a kill switch for when the damage got to a specific point.”
“I hate you.”
John smiled and slapped Deniz’s shoulder, “Have fun. You want to talk to Guetta in my place?”
“No, I’d rather stay here,” Deniz sighed and looked defeated, “Thank you very much.”
00:45 CNS Des Moines – Brig
The brig now had three souls in it. One of the marines was watching a replay of a soccer match. He had muted Perry’s cell. A fact that irritated the imprisoned lieutenant to no end. His demeanor changed when John entered the room, that observation was not lost on John.
“Corporal, why don’t you give me five alone in here.”
“Yes sir,” the marine stood up and began walking out of the room and whispered, “Would be easier to just space him.”
John grinned, “Not as shameful though.”
He leaned over the console and pressed the unmute button. John walked over to the side of the room and picked up a chair. He walked over to Perry’s cell and sat it down in the center of the force field.
“I hear you wanted to speak to me,” John said as he stepped over the chair and sat down.
“I’ve had plenty of time to think about my actions in here.”
“Two hundred sixteen hours isn’t long to have a come to Jesus’ moment,” John said dismissively.
“Nevertheless. I do feel terrible. I’d like a chance to prove myself to my peers again.”
John sat there emotionless. He didn’t need to be a psychic to read Perry. His body language was all wrong. This wasn’t a humble and contrite man. There was an angry man that was simmering in that cell.
“Are you sorry that you were caught, or are you sorry for disobeying a superior officer’s orders?”
“Of course, I’m sorry for disobeying orders,” Perry said quickly.
Once again, the body language was all wrong. John continued to watch Perry but still held his hand. It was too soon to do that.
“The orders that were given by your superior officer?”
“Yes, those orders.”
“Perry, do you honestly believe me to not be able to spot an opportunistic liar? I would respect you bluntly saying the truth, or at least your version of the truth rather than listen to this bullshit you think I want to hear.”
John stood up and kicked the chair to the wall to his left, “You’re a weasel. You’ve always been one, and you always will be one. But I won’t be the one to render final judgment on you. The tribunal will decide when we get home.”
Perry’s faux innocent look dropped, and, in its place, a caged madman became present, “You motherfucker. My true captain’s orders were perfect.”
John laughed, “Perfect enough to get us killed. Jesus, you are cut from the same cloth. Enjoy your time here. I doubt you’re going to hang for your betrayal here. I’m sure your family will rally around their precious golden child, and you’ll have to find something else to do down the road.”
Perry then began screaming and frothing at the mouth like a rabid animal. John calmly and casually walked over to the center console and pressed the mute button. He then walked out of the brig. The marine frowned when he peeked in the room and still saw Perry there.
“If he doesn’t calm down, he’s going in the tank again. Impress upon him the consequences of non-compliance.”
“With pleasure.”
January 24th, 2262. 13:01 CNS Des Moines – John’s room
John had a busy day. After running around from department to department he took a break and had lunch. Or maybe it was dinner, it was hard to determine what meal was what normally. Breakfast was the easy meal to figure out.
After his meal, he returned to his quarters and patched up one more holo-emitter before turning in for the day. He only managed five hours of sleep. When he got up, he managed to wrap up the last two emitters in just over an hour.
“Lieutenant Moreland,” John said as he held a finger on the communication button, “I’ll be in my quarters reviewing a legal matter. You have the bridge.”
“If you need any moral support to fry our former captain, I’ll be happy to help, sir.”
John chuckled to himself and began reviewing the regulations that Rebecca had sent him. He had to use the onboard Legal VI to assist with the research. Legalese wasn’t John’s strong suit.
“Computer, does this check give an acting captain these rights? If so, are there any cases on record that this happened?”
The computer was processing the question and then displayed six cases of an acting captain reading the personal logs of officers and crew. The most recent incident occurred five years ago when a captain’s orders resulted in damage to the ship and ultimately killed the captain. The first officer read the captain’s personal logs to see if they had planned to take that course of action or if it was spontaneous.
John wasn’t disappointed in Rebecca. Far from it, in fact, he was impressed by her knowledge of the situation and of the legal green flags. But he was distressed nonetheless at reading or hearing someone else’s log. Doubly so for people of higher rank than he was.
After pacing back and forth in his room for ten minutes he sat back down in his chair. He entered a brief log entry into the ship’s official log. He was opening an investigation into the captain’s orders and would begin the process by reviewing Commander Shephard’s personal logs. He added the relevant case law as justification and that when they got home, he’d be requesting an official inquest to occur.
“Computer, unlock Commander Shephard’s personal logs. Authorization code Four-Charlie-Tango-Foxtrot-Niner-Eight.”
The computer’s voice played over his speakers, “Please state the justification and scope of the investigation. This will be noted in the ship’s log.”
“Acting Captain John Lief is opening an investigation into a breach of orders and unlawful attack in hostile territories. The scope of the investigation is to see if a cult of persona was active in the fleet and whether or not a conspiracy amongst the captains was present. Entering the applicable codes of conduct that were violated now.”
“The authorization code is accepted due to acting captain rank. Please be advised that a review of this request will be made upon docking. Should the authorization not be valid you may face legal consequences for this breach of privacy.”
“Understood. Unlock the logs.”
“Logs have been unlocked; they will be restricted to playback only in this room while you are individually present.”
John nodded to the computer and activated his own VI. He began programming the way it would scan the contents of the logs. He wanted mentions of the other captains and agreements made with one another. John was also very curious about the attack orders and how widespread they were shared and to confirm whether or not Kory was being honest in believing the attack would be successful.
The number of logs was surprising. John made logs, but only when it was required. As acting captain, he made daily logs at the end of his shift to highlight their progress. But since the start of their deployment, he only made three personal logs in total.
Kory on the other hand made multiple personal logs a day. Damn near every one of his logs fit John’s initial criteria. He had hoped that he could find the needle in the haystack right away. In truth, something like that never happens in an investigation. Until it does randomly once and then that is then expected forevermore from that point onward.
“Playback this log,” John pointed at a log on the screen.
The screen flickered, then Kory appeared in his quarters, “First Lieutenant Kory Shephard, Day is May something. Academy graduation day. It’s just my luck that I got assigned a peon that reaches too high. The other captains said ‘absolutely not’ to transferring him to their ships. Well, it is what it is I suppose, I don’t quite have the pull to countermand a placement just yet. We’ll be back in St. Mary’s in three days. Looking forward to some R&R. I did notice in my fleet simulations that our movements haven’t been as effective as they were in the past. I’ll have to reach out to my father to see if I had the simulation programmed wrong.”
John shook his head. That was a waste of time. Though it did confirm that Kory didn’t want him on board. He didn’t need confirmation of his elitist attitude, which was already well borne out.
“Alright, I can’t do this anymore. I need to focus. Play the one immediately after the big meeting before the attack.”
Kory once more appeared onscreen. This time there was an amber spirit in a glass, and he looked disheveled. And very angry as well.
“That fucking peasant. He had the audacity to call out my plan of attack. What the hell does he know about space combat anyways? Father was right that we haven’t executed his fleet patterns properly in quite some time. With this attack, I’ll be accomplishing two things. Proving my father’s combat theories once more and getting our names out there. The captains in this wing are already indebted to me for helping them get their commands, but I want them to share in the accolades. It won’t be long until I move up to bigger and better ships,” Kory raised his glass and took a drink, “Oh, a third thing I can prove in the attack, is that I’m better than Lief.”
John paused the log and sat back in his chair dumbfounded. What more could he say? This log along wasn’t enough to convict him though. It was however the tip of an iceberg. This was no longer a fishing expedition. That was unfortunate in a way for John. Now he had this bullshit to deal with as well.