Willis on Hood had seen Shebanova take command of the Fortitude , the fleet’s first post-Contact War battleship. Like Hood she ’ d been in mothballs when the war started, but unlike Willis ’ s ship, she was still considered useful for frontline work. It must have been quite a kick in the teeth to have got her through battle, and then have her taken away. Shebanova ’ s establishment rank of commodore was sufficiently senior to command a small cruiser squadron. She wondered whether a hostilities only promotion to Rear Admiral was as much about sweetening the pill as any command requirements.
“ We are going to have to be cunning Commander. That is the truth of the matter. The Second Fleet always had the advantage of overwhelming strength. If the Riri or any other Tample nation moved against us they could have been crushed, individually or combined. Now we don ’ t have that luxury, so we must be more clever. ”
“ We’re going to have to use a lot of misdirection. There may be things we can use at Dryad. ”
“ I see you’re already thinking Commander. That is good. I can see we are going to work well together. ”
11 th September 2066
Willis let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief as the ships of the Eighteenth Cruiser Squadron re-entered real space at the edge of the Dryad solar system. Ahead of the ships, the weak Dryad star glinted. On the main bridge display, the passives started to bring up the positions of the system ’ s half dozen major planetary bodies.
“ Ready to become a ship ’ s captain again Commander? ” Admiral Shibanova asked quietly from behind her.
Hood had once been the fleet ’ s flagship. On both the bridge in the centrifuge and the one in the conning tower there was a space for a second command chair, to give a flag officer somewhere to sit. Those chairs had been removed to make room once Hood’s days as a flagship came to an end. But now that the ship once again had an Admiral the chairs were back. Willis couldn’t help but wonder why on Earth the second command chair had been placed to the left of her chair but about fifty centimetres behind. It meant the Admiral was effectively looking over the Captain’s shoulder. Some designer’s idea of social commentary perhaps? Whatever it was, it was a pain in the neck, literally as well as metaphorically.
“ Very much so, sir, ” she replied. “ It’s been a long trip here. ”
“ Yes, longer than we expected. I think next time we’d be better off towing Onslaught , ” the Admiral agreed. “ Carry on Commander. ”
“ Yes sir. Commander Horan, contact the tug, I want us free and clear to navigate within twenty minutes. Communications, pass my thanks to Captain Tew and wish them safe journey home. Navigator, make the calculations to jump to Dryad Two. ” Even as she gave out the stream of orders Willis could feel the subtle vibration as the ship’s generators started to spin up. After three and a half weeks hanging under a tug ship Hood was finally coming back to life. It had certainly been a long trip though.
Hood , like most ships of her generation, had been designed for operation within Earth’s solar system and simply didn’t have the fuel or heatsink capacity for interstellar journeys. Most of the ships of the squadron therefore had to be towed to Dryad. The one exception was the old raiding cruiser Onslaught , which did have the range to make the passage under her own power. In theory. In practice the raider started suffering mechanical problems almost as soon as they left Earth. What was scheduled as a brief refuelling stop at the fleet depot halfway to Dryad became a week-long stay as Onslaught’s engineers wrestled with the ship’s antique machinery. For days the rest of the squadron were left sitting on their hands as Commander Nef insisted his engineers could cope. While the Admiral’s communications to Onslaught remained polite, he finally lost patience and in a very calm manner
“ We are going to have to be cunning Commander. That is the truth of the matter. The Second Fleet always had the advantage of overwhelming strength. If the Riri or any other Tample nation moved against us they could have been crushed, individually or combined. Now we don ’ t have that luxury, so we must be more clever. ”
“ We’re going to have to use a lot of misdirection. There may be things we can use at Dryad. ”
“ I see you’re already thinking Commander. That is good. I can see we are going to work well together. ”
11 th September 2066
Willis let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief as the ships of the Eighteenth Cruiser Squadron re-entered real space at the edge of the Dryad solar system. Ahead of the ships, the weak Dryad star glinted. On the main bridge display, the passives started to bring up the positions of the system ’ s half dozen major planetary bodies.
“ Ready to become a ship ’ s captain again Commander? ” Admiral Shibanova asked quietly from behind her.
Hood had once been the fleet ’ s flagship. On both the bridge in the centrifuge and the one in the conning tower there was a space for a second command chair, to give a flag officer somewhere to sit. Those chairs had been removed to make room once Hood’s days as a flagship came to an end. But now that the ship once again had an Admiral the chairs were back. Willis couldn’t help but wonder why on Earth the second command chair had been placed to the left of her chair but about fifty centimetres behind. It meant the Admiral was effectively looking over the Captain’s shoulder. Some designer’s idea of social commentary perhaps? Whatever it was, it was a pain in the neck, literally as well as metaphorically.
“ Very much so, sir, ” she replied. “ It’s been a long trip here. ”
“ Yes, longer than we expected. I think next time we’d be better off towing Onslaught , ” the Admiral agreed. “ Carry on Commander. ”
“ Yes sir. Commander Horan, contact the tug, I want us free and clear to navigate within twenty minutes. Communications, pass my thanks to Captain Tew and wish them safe journey home. Navigator, make the calculations to jump to Dryad Two. ” Even as she gave out the stream of orders Willis could feel the subtle vibration as the ship’s generators started to spin up. After three and a half weeks hanging under a tug ship Hood was finally coming back to life. It had certainly been a long trip though.
Hood , like most ships of her generation, had been designed for operation within Earth’s solar system and simply didn’t have the fuel or heatsink capacity for interstellar journeys. Most of the ships of the squadron therefore had to be towed to Dryad. The one exception was the old raiding cruiser Onslaught , which did have the range to make the passage under her own power. In theory. In practice the raider started suffering mechanical problems almost as soon as they left Earth. What was scheduled as a brief refuelling stop at the fleet depot halfway to Dryad became a week-long stay as Onslaught’s engineers wrestled with the ship’s antique machinery. For days the rest of the squadron were left sitting on their hands as Commander Nef insisted his engineers could cope. While the Admiral’s communications to Onslaught remained polite, he finally lost patience and in a very calm manner
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