dispatched Hood’s Chief Engineer. Guinness was a re-enlisted retiree who remembered the days when the equipment was state of the art and managed to bandage the problem within a day.
The delay did at least give the tugs towing the cruisers Typhoon and Cyclone time to catch up after previously falling a week behind. As a result they had arrived at Dryad as one group. For Willis however, Onslaught’s problems further illustrated those of the entire squadron. The ships were old, their machinery obsolete, clapped out and, worse of all, unfamiliar to the crews that were supposed to work it. One hand on the controls and the other on the instruction manual was not a good way to fly a starship.
“ Skipper, we’re ready to detach from the tug, ” Commander Horan reported.
“ Thank you, Commander, ” she replied before switching on her intercom. “ Bridge to Engineering. Chief, how are we doing back there? ”
“ The reactors are online and producing power, ” Guinness’s voice crackled back across the link. “ The generators are spun up so we are ready to detach from the tug ’ s power grid. Engines One, Three and Four are available for thrust. ”
“ Thank you, Chief, ” she replied before breaking the connection.
It was another unwanted reminder of the state of her command. They ’ d blown out Engine Two just getting to the battle at Alpha Centauri. Guinness had managed to resuscitate it afterwards but a very firm suggestion was passed forwards to the bridge that it be regarded as strictly for emergency use only, and even then not to count on it.
“ Releasing docking clamps in two minutes. Tug will be moving upwards and away, ” Horan called out.
“ Understood. Helm, when released use docking thrusters to move us downwards and away. ”
“ Understood. ”
“ Releasing clamps in ten. ”
Willis flicked her intercom to ship wide.
“ All hands, this is the bridge, prepare for docking release. ”
From the outer hull came a series of echoing clunks as the tug’s mag-clamps released their grip on Hood . On the main display the merged signals of the tug and Hood started to separate.
“ Captain, we have separation from tug of five hundred metres and opening, ” the helmsman announced.
“ Signal from tug: ‘ Wishing you an uneventful tour ’ , ” the communications officer called out.
Willis was pleased to see that Hood was the first ship to get underway. Within fifteen minutes the whole squadron was formed up. She could see the tugs on the main display, already several thousand kilometres away. Soon they’d be spinning their jump drives back up as they began their journey back to Earth.
“ I would have liked to have retained the tugs as part of my command to give us some degree of strategic mobility, ” Shibanova said quietly before shrugging. “ It wasn’t to be. ”
“ We never know what might be assigned to us in a few months, sir, ” Willis said.
“ Hmm, best not to make too many optimistic assumptions on that point. Still one or two post-war cruisers would make a difference, ” he replied. “ However in the immediate term we must look towards training. Ship handling is not good. That is no slur upon any officer or crewmember. They are not used to their ships. I will be drawing up a training schedule that will give them that opportunity. ” Shibanova stood up. “ Commander, as soon the squadron is ready, take us to Dryad Two. The sooner we get started the better. ”
___________________________
Chief Engineer Guinness whistled cheerfully as he allowed himself to drift along the starboard engine room’s primary access way, making notes in his computer pad as he did so and drawing up the maintenance schedule for the week ahead. Even when new the Hood’s machinery had demanded a lot of attention, but now … the phrase ‘ running battle’ barely did it justice. With so much to maintain it was easy to get swamped. That was exactly what had happened on board Onslaught ,
The delay did at least give the tugs towing the cruisers Typhoon and Cyclone time to catch up after previously falling a week behind. As a result they had arrived at Dryad as one group. For Willis however, Onslaught’s problems further illustrated those of the entire squadron. The ships were old, their machinery obsolete, clapped out and, worse of all, unfamiliar to the crews that were supposed to work it. One hand on the controls and the other on the instruction manual was not a good way to fly a starship.
“ Skipper, we’re ready to detach from the tug, ” Commander Horan reported.
“ Thank you, Commander, ” she replied before switching on her intercom. “ Bridge to Engineering. Chief, how are we doing back there? ”
“ The reactors are online and producing power, ” Guinness’s voice crackled back across the link. “ The generators are spun up so we are ready to detach from the tug ’ s power grid. Engines One, Three and Four are available for thrust. ”
“ Thank you, Chief, ” she replied before breaking the connection.
It was another unwanted reminder of the state of her command. They ’ d blown out Engine Two just getting to the battle at Alpha Centauri. Guinness had managed to resuscitate it afterwards but a very firm suggestion was passed forwards to the bridge that it be regarded as strictly for emergency use only, and even then not to count on it.
“ Releasing docking clamps in two minutes. Tug will be moving upwards and away, ” Horan called out.
“ Understood. Helm, when released use docking thrusters to move us downwards and away. ”
“ Understood. ”
“ Releasing clamps in ten. ”
Willis flicked her intercom to ship wide.
“ All hands, this is the bridge, prepare for docking release. ”
From the outer hull came a series of echoing clunks as the tug’s mag-clamps released their grip on Hood . On the main display the merged signals of the tug and Hood started to separate.
“ Captain, we have separation from tug of five hundred metres and opening, ” the helmsman announced.
“ Signal from tug: ‘ Wishing you an uneventful tour ’ , ” the communications officer called out.
Willis was pleased to see that Hood was the first ship to get underway. Within fifteen minutes the whole squadron was formed up. She could see the tugs on the main display, already several thousand kilometres away. Soon they’d be spinning their jump drives back up as they began their journey back to Earth.
“ I would have liked to have retained the tugs as part of my command to give us some degree of strategic mobility, ” Shibanova said quietly before shrugging. “ It wasn’t to be. ”
“ We never know what might be assigned to us in a few months, sir, ” Willis said.
“ Hmm, best not to make too many optimistic assumptions on that point. Still one or two post-war cruisers would make a difference, ” he replied. “ However in the immediate term we must look towards training. Ship handling is not good. That is no slur upon any officer or crewmember. They are not used to their ships. I will be drawing up a training schedule that will give them that opportunity. ” Shibanova stood up. “ Commander, as soon the squadron is ready, take us to Dryad Two. The sooner we get started the better. ”
___________________________
Chief Engineer Guinness whistled cheerfully as he allowed himself to drift along the starboard engine room’s primary access way, making notes in his computer pad as he did so and drawing up the maintenance schedule for the week ahead. Even when new the Hood’s machinery had demanded a lot of attention, but now … the phrase ‘ running battle’ barely did it justice. With so much to maintain it was easy to get swamped. That was exactly what had happened on board Onslaught ,
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