badly.”
“Very well.”
“That reminds me,” the commander added. “How’s your little training project going?”
“Lieutenant Scott and Ensign Taylor are at least trying to work together. They still have a long way to go, but I think it might do them some good to get out of the simulator and into real space.”
“I hope you’re right,” the commander cautioned. “I’ve seen some of their training tapes, and I’ve gotta tell, Skipper, those two scare me.
“Okay, so I guess I can tell Command that we’re ready enough, then.” The captain leaned back in his chair for a moment before continuing. “There’s going to be an inspection tomorrow morning by Admiral Yamori. Let’s make sure we’re ready for it.”
* * *
As the Fleet was only about thirty years old, there were only four admirals in the ranks. Admiral Yamori was in charge of fleet development, which included the special projects division as well as the design and construction of new ships to fill out the Earth’s burgeoning space defense force. Prior to his service in the fleet, he had commanded several sea-going warships in the Eurasian navy. Once the Data Ark had been discovered, he had retired from the navy to study physics and advanced spacecraft design at the European campus of the Ark Institute. He was the only admiral in the fleet that had never actually commanded a space vessel. But then, his position was about building them, not operating them.
“You’ve made remarkable progress, Bill,” the admiral praised, as they strolled the corridors of the engineering section. “Especially considering how under staffed you’ve been.”
“Thank you, Sir,” the captain responded. “We’ve been working around the clock to try and get her ready. But a lot of the credit goes to the station crews, Sir. They’ve been working their tails off, every minute of every day. We couldn’t have gotten this far without them.”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“It also was a big help to have most of the components available in our hangar bay, Sir,” Commander Montero added. “We never had to wait for anything to be shuttled up to us.”
The admiral had started his tour at the bridge, worked his way aft, and had just finished up in engineering when they met up with doctors Karlsen and Sorenson in the corridor.
“Ah, Doctor Karlsen,” the admiral greeted. “And Doctor Sorenson. A pleasure to see you, as always. I hope everything is going well for you?”
“If you’d like to take a look for yourself, Admiral, we are ready.”
“Excellent.” The admiral turned to the captain and the XO. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen. I’ll meet up with you later on the bridge.”
“Yes Sir,” the captain agreed. The captain and the commander, snapped to attention, saluting the admiral as he departed.
The admiral followed the two doctors past the armed guards that had been at the entrances to both the port and starboard shield generator bays since the special projects team had come aboard.
“I’d love to be a fly on that wall right about now,” the XO commented as they headed for the bridge.
“I have a feeling we’re going to know all about it soon enough,” the captain assured him.
CHAPTER 4
The day had started off like any other, up at six in the morning and breakfast at seven. Only today Nathan felt far more optimistic than he could remember since coming aboard. It might have been the time spent on the bridge the day before, where the simulations that he and Cameron had run seemed to have gone more smoothly than usual. He didn’t know if they were finally developing a working rapport, or if it was just that on the bridge, there were far more eyes on them.
But his good mood could also have been the result of a shorter than usual work day. Because of the inspection, the captain had given the entire crew the evening off, with none of the usual after dinner training or work teams that usually lasted right up until bedtime.
But most
“Very well.”
“That reminds me,” the commander added. “How’s your little training project going?”
“Lieutenant Scott and Ensign Taylor are at least trying to work together. They still have a long way to go, but I think it might do them some good to get out of the simulator and into real space.”
“I hope you’re right,” the commander cautioned. “I’ve seen some of their training tapes, and I’ve gotta tell, Skipper, those two scare me.
“Okay, so I guess I can tell Command that we’re ready enough, then.” The captain leaned back in his chair for a moment before continuing. “There’s going to be an inspection tomorrow morning by Admiral Yamori. Let’s make sure we’re ready for it.”
* * *
As the Fleet was only about thirty years old, there were only four admirals in the ranks. Admiral Yamori was in charge of fleet development, which included the special projects division as well as the design and construction of new ships to fill out the Earth’s burgeoning space defense force. Prior to his service in the fleet, he had commanded several sea-going warships in the Eurasian navy. Once the Data Ark had been discovered, he had retired from the navy to study physics and advanced spacecraft design at the European campus of the Ark Institute. He was the only admiral in the fleet that had never actually commanded a space vessel. But then, his position was about building them, not operating them.
“You’ve made remarkable progress, Bill,” the admiral praised, as they strolled the corridors of the engineering section. “Especially considering how under staffed you’ve been.”
“Thank you, Sir,” the captain responded. “We’ve been working around the clock to try and get her ready. But a lot of the credit goes to the station crews, Sir. They’ve been working their tails off, every minute of every day. We couldn’t have gotten this far without them.”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“It also was a big help to have most of the components available in our hangar bay, Sir,” Commander Montero added. “We never had to wait for anything to be shuttled up to us.”
The admiral had started his tour at the bridge, worked his way aft, and had just finished up in engineering when they met up with doctors Karlsen and Sorenson in the corridor.
“Ah, Doctor Karlsen,” the admiral greeted. “And Doctor Sorenson. A pleasure to see you, as always. I hope everything is going well for you?”
“If you’d like to take a look for yourself, Admiral, we are ready.”
“Excellent.” The admiral turned to the captain and the XO. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen. I’ll meet up with you later on the bridge.”
“Yes Sir,” the captain agreed. The captain and the commander, snapped to attention, saluting the admiral as he departed.
The admiral followed the two doctors past the armed guards that had been at the entrances to both the port and starboard shield generator bays since the special projects team had come aboard.
“I’d love to be a fly on that wall right about now,” the XO commented as they headed for the bridge.
“I have a feeling we’re going to know all about it soon enough,” the captain assured him.
CHAPTER 4
The day had started off like any other, up at six in the morning and breakfast at seven. Only today Nathan felt far more optimistic than he could remember since coming aboard. It might have been the time spent on the bridge the day before, where the simulations that he and Cameron had run seemed to have gone more smoothly than usual. He didn’t know if they were finally developing a working rapport, or if it was just that on the bridge, there were far more eyes on them.
But his good mood could also have been the result of a shorter than usual work day. Because of the inspection, the captain had given the entire crew the evening off, with none of the usual after dinner training or work teams that usually lasted right up until bedtime.
But most
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