he will grant leave!”
Hoskins put his head in his hands, sighed and looked again at his first officer.
“I am sorry, Shen Knui. My son is ill and I can’t do anything about it here. I don’t know how serious it is and I know damn well Shenke, will not want me to leave. I was just sounding off. I will be requesting a direct comm. link though, that is probably the least he can do, if he refuses my leave request.”
Shen Knui smiled. She was getting used to her new commanding officer. Like most humans, he had his good moods and his bad ones, his strengths and his weaknesses. The human’s emotional side was always a difficult one. She could only comprehend so much.
“I will take us in directly alongside the Viceroy. I am sure your son will be okay, but I understand your need to verify.”
Shen Knui was getting better at understanding human emotions,
thought Hoskins
. We will make a human of her yet.
* * * *
Within two hours, the Halo 7, pulled alongside the Viceroy, Admiral Shenke’s new A class Star Ship and Hoskins sat on one of the ample sofas in the Admirals state room.
“Jonathan. The loss of your fleet is unfortunate, but it is no reflection on you. What have we learned about our missing Kryl ship? Clearly she is not a standard cruiser.”
Hoskins outlined his theory on the Kryl vessel and its commander and Shenke nodded without commenting until Hoskins had finished.
“It’s a good theory but we must not rely on it. We need more Intel from fleet before we can commit to a specific strategy for dealing with this. Okay, I suggest you stand the Halo 7 down and assume a tactical position within the fleet.”
Hoskins acknowledged Shenke’s response and then took a deep breath before requesting his shore leave.
“I sympathize but it is totally out of the question. We need you here. I would normally say ‘no’ to the direct comm. link too but I can see how important this is. I need my senior commanders at their best. Take a shuttle out of the system and communicate there but make sure you are clear of any other vessel. I don’t want to start a precedent and I don’t want the Kryl intercepting our discussions with Earth.”
Hoskins thanked Shenke and headed straight for the main hangar bay. He had no wish to wait for a shuttle launch to be coordinated. That would take too long and he wanted to speak to Sarah, the urgency of the situation here demanded that he addressed his personal issues as quickly as possible. He headed for the Jump Ship bays and approached an assistant CAG, who he hoped would accept his authority and quickly arrange a Rapier for flight.
“We don’t usually release Jump Ships to just anyone. Sir. Not without official orders.”
“I am not just anyone, I am a four star commander and I have a priority mission which requires some discretion on the part of those involved. I need you to take this in good faith and verify my flight orders with fleet command after and I repeat after, I have departed.”
The Assistant CAG looked puzzled for a moment before responding.
“I need this to be ratified immediately on your departure. We would still bring you back if your orders do not correspond.”
“Fine. These processes are in place to prevent the misuse of Alpha vessels. Which of your vessels are ready for immediate departure?”
“Sub Bay 65. I’ll have the ship ready for departure in five minutes. You need to get suited up.”
Six minutes later, Jonathan Hoskins expertly piloted the Rapier 6 out of the exit shoot and headed away from the fleet and the wormholes at maximum acceleration. By now, they would be verifying his orders and within a minute or two, they would attempt to recall him. Too late, by then he would be out of range.
Fifteen minutes later, he brought the Rapier to standstill. He was in deep space, some distance from the wormholes, but still within the system. Here, he was out of range of either Alpha or Kryl detection. He opened a clear channel to Alpha One and
Hoskins put his head in his hands, sighed and looked again at his first officer.
“I am sorry, Shen Knui. My son is ill and I can’t do anything about it here. I don’t know how serious it is and I know damn well Shenke, will not want me to leave. I was just sounding off. I will be requesting a direct comm. link though, that is probably the least he can do, if he refuses my leave request.”
Shen Knui smiled. She was getting used to her new commanding officer. Like most humans, he had his good moods and his bad ones, his strengths and his weaknesses. The human’s emotional side was always a difficult one. She could only comprehend so much.
“I will take us in directly alongside the Viceroy. I am sure your son will be okay, but I understand your need to verify.”
Shen Knui was getting better at understanding human emotions,
thought Hoskins
. We will make a human of her yet.
* * * *
Within two hours, the Halo 7, pulled alongside the Viceroy, Admiral Shenke’s new A class Star Ship and Hoskins sat on one of the ample sofas in the Admirals state room.
“Jonathan. The loss of your fleet is unfortunate, but it is no reflection on you. What have we learned about our missing Kryl ship? Clearly she is not a standard cruiser.”
Hoskins outlined his theory on the Kryl vessel and its commander and Shenke nodded without commenting until Hoskins had finished.
“It’s a good theory but we must not rely on it. We need more Intel from fleet before we can commit to a specific strategy for dealing with this. Okay, I suggest you stand the Halo 7 down and assume a tactical position within the fleet.”
Hoskins acknowledged Shenke’s response and then took a deep breath before requesting his shore leave.
“I sympathize but it is totally out of the question. We need you here. I would normally say ‘no’ to the direct comm. link too but I can see how important this is. I need my senior commanders at their best. Take a shuttle out of the system and communicate there but make sure you are clear of any other vessel. I don’t want to start a precedent and I don’t want the Kryl intercepting our discussions with Earth.”
Hoskins thanked Shenke and headed straight for the main hangar bay. He had no wish to wait for a shuttle launch to be coordinated. That would take too long and he wanted to speak to Sarah, the urgency of the situation here demanded that he addressed his personal issues as quickly as possible. He headed for the Jump Ship bays and approached an assistant CAG, who he hoped would accept his authority and quickly arrange a Rapier for flight.
“We don’t usually release Jump Ships to just anyone. Sir. Not without official orders.”
“I am not just anyone, I am a four star commander and I have a priority mission which requires some discretion on the part of those involved. I need you to take this in good faith and verify my flight orders with fleet command after and I repeat after, I have departed.”
The Assistant CAG looked puzzled for a moment before responding.
“I need this to be ratified immediately on your departure. We would still bring you back if your orders do not correspond.”
“Fine. These processes are in place to prevent the misuse of Alpha vessels. Which of your vessels are ready for immediate departure?”
“Sub Bay 65. I’ll have the ship ready for departure in five minutes. You need to get suited up.”
Six minutes later, Jonathan Hoskins expertly piloted the Rapier 6 out of the exit shoot and headed away from the fleet and the wormholes at maximum acceleration. By now, they would be verifying his orders and within a minute or two, they would attempt to recall him. Too late, by then he would be out of range.
Fifteen minutes later, he brought the Rapier to standstill. He was in deep space, some distance from the wormholes, but still within the system. Here, he was out of range of either Alpha or Kryl detection. He opened a clear channel to Alpha One and
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