thought. One more thing to worry about during this watch . The bosun sounded the alert over the ship's general announcing system, then as reports came in from different parts of the ship declaring their status Paul tabulated them and confirmed the reports against the remote read-outs on the bridge. The ship as a whole was always air-tight, of course, but maximum air-tight integrity meant sealing every internal hatch and nonessential opening inside the ship. That way, if anything punched through the ship's hull, the fewest possible compartments would lose air. Of course, if the Maury herself comes through our hull a few closed hatches aren't going to help much .
Sam Yarrow naturally wasn't thrilled to have to come on watch early, but he couldn't gripe too loudly with both the CO and XO on the bridge. He did managed to drag out the relieving process as long as possible just to aggravate Paul.
Yarrow studied the maneuvering displays again as he strapped into his seat. "Too bad nothing's near us."
"The Maury 's pretty close, Sam."
"So? It would've been nice to spring out on some fat, dumb and happy SASAL ship that thought it was alone out here. The two of us suddenly there, right on top of the guy. That'd impress them."
"I'm worried enough with just the Maury out here."
"What's the matter, Sinclair? No guts, no glory."
I'd prefer to keep my guts inside my body, Sam, glory or not . But Paul didn't say it out loud, not with Lieutenant Isakov still within earshot, and not after the mocking comments she'd made about his not being a hero.
Combat had more than the usual compliment of watch standers hanging around. Paul's own sailors were obviously curious or concerned, as well. "How's it look, Chief?"
Chief Imari made a face as she studied her own display. "Not as clear as I wished it'd look, sir."
"Yeah. For what it's worth, we're going to be ready to jump out of the way."
"Let's hope we have time to jump if we have to do it."
Paul nodded, then strapped in at his console. He rarely made use of the Michaelson 's internal video system, since he didn't like to think he was being watched when on duty himself, but now he wanted to have a heads-up to what the captain was thinking. Paul activated a window in his display to show video from the bridge and routed the audio from the bridge to his headphones. It'd be a distraction, but in this case he figured one worth the need to monitor the captain's intentions.
Time appeared to crawl after that. Combat seemed unusually quiet, without much of the usual conversation and wise-cracking among the sailors. When Paul glanced up he could see everyone intent on their displays.
At thirty minutes prior to the time when both ships were to reveal themselves, hopefully in close formation and going the same way at the same speed, a time counter popped into existence on the displays and began scrolling downward. Paul tried not to look at it, since the time counter made the minutes seem to drag even longer, like an old fashioned clock in a classroom that never seemed to move if watched too closely.
Five minutes. Paul took another look around Combat. Everyone seemed ready for anything. The fuzzy ball that represented the Maury 's estimated position had thankfully shrunk considerably, but enough uncertainty remained to keep everyone on edge and the Michaelson 's maneuvering systems in a constant tizzy about the threat of collision. On the bridge, no one was talking, either, every eye and full attention focused on the maneuvering displays. If something is seriously off, though, it won't matter. I know that. We'd have maybe a couple of seconds to react, which wouldn't be fast enough even if we could move the Merry Mike 's mass instantaneously. But if even one second makes a difference, we'll be ready .
Chief Imari's voice sounded in his headphones. "What do want to bet they're sweating just as bad on the Maury , Mr. Sinclair?"
"I wouldn't doubt it, Chief." He wondered where Jen was. If the Maury 's
Sam Yarrow naturally wasn't thrilled to have to come on watch early, but he couldn't gripe too loudly with both the CO and XO on the bridge. He did managed to drag out the relieving process as long as possible just to aggravate Paul.
Yarrow studied the maneuvering displays again as he strapped into his seat. "Too bad nothing's near us."
"The Maury 's pretty close, Sam."
"So? It would've been nice to spring out on some fat, dumb and happy SASAL ship that thought it was alone out here. The two of us suddenly there, right on top of the guy. That'd impress them."
"I'm worried enough with just the Maury out here."
"What's the matter, Sinclair? No guts, no glory."
I'd prefer to keep my guts inside my body, Sam, glory or not . But Paul didn't say it out loud, not with Lieutenant Isakov still within earshot, and not after the mocking comments she'd made about his not being a hero.
Combat had more than the usual compliment of watch standers hanging around. Paul's own sailors were obviously curious or concerned, as well. "How's it look, Chief?"
Chief Imari made a face as she studied her own display. "Not as clear as I wished it'd look, sir."
"Yeah. For what it's worth, we're going to be ready to jump out of the way."
"Let's hope we have time to jump if we have to do it."
Paul nodded, then strapped in at his console. He rarely made use of the Michaelson 's internal video system, since he didn't like to think he was being watched when on duty himself, but now he wanted to have a heads-up to what the captain was thinking. Paul activated a window in his display to show video from the bridge and routed the audio from the bridge to his headphones. It'd be a distraction, but in this case he figured one worth the need to monitor the captain's intentions.
Time appeared to crawl after that. Combat seemed unusually quiet, without much of the usual conversation and wise-cracking among the sailors. When Paul glanced up he could see everyone intent on their displays.
At thirty minutes prior to the time when both ships were to reveal themselves, hopefully in close formation and going the same way at the same speed, a time counter popped into existence on the displays and began scrolling downward. Paul tried not to look at it, since the time counter made the minutes seem to drag even longer, like an old fashioned clock in a classroom that never seemed to move if watched too closely.
Five minutes. Paul took another look around Combat. Everyone seemed ready for anything. The fuzzy ball that represented the Maury 's estimated position had thankfully shrunk considerably, but enough uncertainty remained to keep everyone on edge and the Michaelson 's maneuvering systems in a constant tizzy about the threat of collision. On the bridge, no one was talking, either, every eye and full attention focused on the maneuvering displays. If something is seriously off, though, it won't matter. I know that. We'd have maybe a couple of seconds to react, which wouldn't be fast enough even if we could move the Merry Mike 's mass instantaneously. But if even one second makes a difference, we'll be ready .
Chief Imari's voice sounded in his headphones. "What do want to bet they're sweating just as bad on the Maury , Mr. Sinclair?"
"I wouldn't doubt it, Chief." He wondered where Jen was. If the Maury 's
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