Last Measure of Devotion (TCOTU, Book 5) (This Corner of the Universe) by Britt Ringel Page A

dual Lyle GP laser turrets on her lower deck and two
additional dual GP turrets capping either end of her missile ports on her mid-deck. 
The four heavy lasers and ten GP lasers made her the equal of nearly any corporate
line ship in the Lesser Magellanic Arm.
    Heskan
seated himself and confirmed the second officer’s assertions with a quick
glance at his chair arm panel.  To his left, Cottineau mirrored Heskan’s
actions from his own station.  “We’ve got a busy day ahead of us,” Heskan said
to no one in particular.  Eight hours of planned exercises, he thought
while running down the status of the fleet.  His ships were already formed into
their planned sections with Dioscuri leading a four-ship vanguard
trailed by Ajax’s six-ship main.  After several minutes of initializing
the exercise program, their computer-simulated enemy appeared 10 lm ahead
of the fleet.  Based on Sade’s order of battle, Heskan knew they would be
facing twenty-eight ships ranging in size from a second-rate down to
corvettes.  While the exact composition of Wallace’s ship sections would remain
a mystery until the day of the battle, Heskan assumed a nearly equal
distribution of ships among three sections.
    Nguyen
advised him that past a certain point, having vastly superior numbers in a fleet
section was counterproductive in the line battles of corporate warfare.  It
limited the entire section’s maneuverability while providing little benefit, as
the outnumbered opposing section usually sailed past engagement range before
the trailing elements crossed its path.  Instead, a fleet commander with
grossly superior numbers usually placed the excess ships into a reserve that
would be eligible to join any section that needed bolstering after a pass.
    Heskan divided the
twenty-eight simulated adversaries into three sections of nine ships each with
a reserve of a single corvette.  The Saden vanguard held twice as many ships as
Heskan’s own.  It was shaping up to be a bloody day.  Eight hours of being
pounded by phantoms, he thought morosely.
    *  *  *
    “Six
degrees starboard!” Commander Vernay barked as she premeditated where the two
lines would reach their closest points on the tactical plot.  Ajax’s navigator worked feverishly to determine the precise amount of thrust needed
from each of the line ship’s sixteen thrusters.  Precious seconds passed as
calculations were made, inputted and adjusted.  All the while, the captain
glanced anxiously toward her first officer.
    Lieutenant
Commander Ricot shrugged helplessly at Vernay before resuming his intense focus
on the ship’s navigator, as if his concentration alone could shave seconds off Ajax’s response time to her captain’s order.  After what felt like an eternity, the
ship pushed her bulk to an orientation that would better present her batteries
to the oncoming phantom enemies.  Ricot looked back to his captain, intending
to give her a more confident gaze but saw her head was already down and
studying her chair arm console.
    Beginning
with the first day of exercises, Ricot noticed that Commander Vernay opened an
additional window on her console and duplicated Ajax’s weapons control
panel.  While the display did not contain an override feature that would grant
her control over the ship’s batteries, it gave the enigmatic captain the same
view as Ajax’s weapons officer.  For the duration of the week, she had
spent considerable time with her nose in those displays.  It worried Ricot. 
Neither Commodore Johnston nor Captain Nguyen had ever shown such a keen
interest in such minutia.  Instead, they had focused their attention on
commanding Ajax and coordinating with Admiral Cooke.  Ricot tried to alleviate
his fears by telling himself that Hollaran captains fight their ships
differently than Seshafians, but the fact that Ajax’s new captain appeared
unwilling to trust her juniors after the long week of exercises filled Ricot
with dread.
    The
battle pass