Mission's Edge Read online

  As they had been talking, they had passed into the Admirals office where waiting for them was a woman in a commander's uniform. She was half a head shorter than Aaron, her dark hair pulled up into a clip behind her head, her uniform was immaculate, the expression on her face was one of slight disapproval as she examined Aaron, as though she had weighed him, measured him, and found him wanting. She reminded Aaron deeply of a kestrel, built for speed and every inch a deadly weapon.

  "Aaron, this is Commander Beth Darnelle, she was on the tactical development team for the HMW Mission and will be your Executive Officer. She is one of the best tacticians I have ever had the pleasure of training and has a combative edge I'm sure you will appreciate. Beth, this, as I'm sure you've worked out, is Captain Aaron Hawthrone. His reputation makes any further introduction unnecessary, so I will simply say that he is one of the best officers I have ever encountered and deserves everything he has ever received from the Navy."

  "I'm pleased to meet you commander, I hope that our relationship will be as fruitful as the Admiral obviously expects," Aaron said as he held out his hand to shake with the beautiful woman. Her return look was not quite as warm as winter and her hand shake was brief and perfunctory.

  Dorcas sat behind his desk watching both of them. "Please, both of you, be seated. You two are going to have a hell of a job working this ship up. There is nothing quite like her in all of space right now. We are near completion on four other Reprisal class ships, but they are at least a month or a month and half away. Mission, on the other hand will be ready to leave her slips about two days from now. She already has the lion's share of her crew on board and ready to go. Commander Erstwhile will be your engineering chief. This will be her second section all to herself so she knows what she is about, even if she doesn't yet fully understand what will be required of her on a ship like Mission. Lieutenant Commander Barden is a fantastic communications officer. He was last posted with Admiral Mast in the Home Fleet, but got a little too senior for his position as Assistant Communications Officer. Solid man. Lieutenant Cameron is a fantastic Electronic Warfare Officer. She also was involved in the development of Mission's electronics warfare suite, which will make her an asset. Lieutenant Spindren is another find of Admiral Mast's. He did a tour as Mast's Flag Lieutenant and needs a little experience in the trenches as it were. He will make a good Assistant Tactical Officer. Your astrogator, who is already on the Anvil, is Lieutenant Commander Soren Kim. She is good, very good. Served with me as a lieutenant on my last fleet deployment before they stuck me here. You still have a few positions to fill, and in those I'm willing to give you pretty well a free hand. Poach who you want from where you want. The Navy is your oyster."

  The command structure of any ship in her majesty's navy is largely similar no matter the size of the ship. At the very top, master after God, is the ships commanding officer, referred to by law and tradition, regardless of rank, as the captain. Most ships also have a dedicated Executive Officer, referred to as the XO. He or she is the captains other personality, responsible for the training and maintaining of the ships crew as a ready weapon for the captains hand when the ship is thrown into battle. The ships is then split into departments of descending size, Engineering, Tactical, Communications, Astrogation, and Medical. Engineering was split into several specialities and on larger ships might even have specialist officers for each section. Tactical, by contrast was always split into two branches. The main tactical branch, whose responsibility was for missiles, beam weapons, and counter missiles in both defensive and offensive action and Electronics Warfare, the side of combat which was fought with jamming, countermeasures, etc. There were also embarked on every vessel a compliment of marines who manned weapons stations and acted as the primary boarding unit when necessary.

  "I'd like to slot Surgeon Commander Chandler in the Senior Med slot, sir," Darnelle spoke up. "I've had a think about who should fill the tactical slot and there are a handful of names that come to mind, Admiral. Commanders Jacobson, Jacks, or Ching or Lieutenant Commanders Thurgood, Thompson or Ryers would all work well. As speed is of importance, we'd have to take whoever was closest; the sooner we get them here, the better."

  "What do you think, Aaron?" Dorcas looked to Aaron, expecting him to object to the Commander overstepping herself, deliberately using Aaron's first name to underscore the respect the Admiral held for him.

  "Eva is good people, sir. We served together on my second deployment on the Horatio Nelson. I don't expect any problems from that quarter. As for the Tac Officer, if Lieutenant Commander Chant is available, I would dearly love to bring him on board," Aaron replied evenly.

  "You can, of course, have Surgeon Commander Chandler. Lieutenant Commander Chant is actually now Commander Chant, but he should be poach-able. I counted on you wanting him and kept him from being deployed on the Nelson as soon as we heard the shoe had dropped. He was five minutes from departure and thoroughly confused when he got called off the shuttle. Though once everything was explained to him, he was thrilled with his reassignment. As senior Tactical officer, he has since been kept in the loop," Dorcas smiled. "Your legendary partnership with Commander Chant gave us a pretty good idea of who you would want for that slot. While I would love to keep having this discussion and get it all nailed to the floor, it is getting late and we all need to find out beds. Commander Darnelle, you are dismissed, Aaron if you wouldn't mind staying a little longer."

  The Commander rose, saluted, and turned with the grace that her form implied. After the door shut behind her, Dorcas turned back to Aaron. "I apologize for her behaviour Aaron. I didn't think she would react quite like that."

  "I'm afraid I don't understand, sir," Aaron responded. "She seems to have already decided that I am not worth her time. I don't remember having slighted her."

  "It wasn't you who slighted her, Aaron. It was the command staff and me," Dorcas said with a tired tone of voice. "We weren't as prepared for the shoe drop as we thought. The Orindians have caught us so badly on the wrong foot. We were deliberately trying to give our best officers down time recently, in anticipation of this. Unfortunately, they could not have timed their attack better. More of our best than usual were in the down cycle when this came. We have had to scramble to get them back in service. As part of that, we have had to slight some of the up and coming officers to get people like you into command slots. Beth was supposed to be given command of Mission when she came online. Instead, her promotion has been pushed back and she has been made your XO. That, for the record, was not my decision. The rest of the command staff insisted she would be invaluable for developing practical command and operational doctrine. I said she would be resentful of being shuffled aside and placed under another officer. I didn't expect it to be quite that bad though. She's acting almost as though she was still in command. For my sake, be firm but gentle with her. She really is a good officer, even if she is a little blinded right now. She has almost as much experience as you do, but just hasn't had the same curse of being given opportunities to shine."

  "I can understand where she is coming from, sir, but to be honest, I would much rather have her shifted to command one of the other Reprisal's. I would prefer to have Commander Chant as my XO and take Lieutenant Commander Thurgood take over the tactical section," replied Aaron. "Having an XO at war with her captain is always a bad idea."

  "I'm afraid the XO is the one position which is non-negotiable. The rest of the command staff would only let you have Mission on the condition that you took her with Beth. I'm sorry."

  "Sorry is not good enough. The ship won't work if you leave it like it is," Aaron, allowing his anger to show through.

  "Aaron, if you don't take Mission, you won't get another ship for at least six months. We don't have anything else in the pipeline we could break loose for you sooner. We need you and your talents, now more than ever." Dorcas's tiredness became evident in his voice. "Please take her."

  "I will, on the condition that I get Thurgood as ATO," Aaron said at
last. "And understand that I take Commander Darnelle under protestation. Not on the record, but off."

  "Why do you want Thurgood?"

  "While Spindren may be ready for ATO, I doubt he is ready to be ATO for Coren on a brand new ship, creating brand new doctrine. Thurgood will synergise well with Coren and show Spindren first hand how a good ATO/TO relationship works," Aaron explained with a half smile. "Plus Spindren is still a little junior for the position, wherever he was previously."

  "Fair enough, fair enough. Your logic is sound, though I'm sure Lieutenant Spindren will be slightly disappointed. And now, Captain, I think it is time to call it a night. We will reconvene with the rest of your staff at 0900 tomorrow."

  Chapter 2

  Chapter TwoArthur woke with a slight start, his head pounding from lack of sleep as a result of the late night before. He got out of bed sluggishly, glancing at the clock on the side of his bed. 0701 meant that he had roughly two hours before his meeting that morning. Moving with a little more purpose, he headed toward the shower, the first step in his morning routine. By the time he stepped out, his comm was sounding insistently. Quickly throwing on a shirt and his uniform trousers, he strode over and hit the activation button. His mother's face filled the screen.

  "Good morning. Today, you and I are going to meet Mrs. Spectre and her daughters, Anastasia and Natasha, for lunch at the Iolian. Now, our reservation is for 11:30, so make sure you're ready to go by 11:00 when I will swing by and pick you up. After that, you will be escorting the girls to an afternoon garden party at the Holman's. Make sure the suit you pick is suitable for both, because I don't think there will be time to change."

  His mother's voice rambled on, continuing to reel off social functions for dinner and the evening, all further involving someone's daughters. Finally Aaron, had had enough.

  "Mum, there is something I need to tell you," he said with a little more force than he originally intended.

  "Has some girl in particular caught your eye? If it's one of Mrs. Spectre's daughters, then we can cancel the evening appointments. Or is it one of..."

  "No, mum, it's not about a girl. I've been recalled to active duty. I have a preliminary briefing this morning, before I head up to the Anvil to take command of my ship," Aaron said, quietly but confidently.

  "When were you planning on telling me you had been recalled? I could have spoken to someone and had the orders rescinded. Your responsibilities are here, with me!" his mother demanded.

  "I was only given the orders last night. I'm not the only one who has been recalled. Almost all the reservists who are still of a useful age have been called back up. We have been attacked, on several fronts, by the Orindians. They finally pulled the trigger and the Empire needs all the skilled and able spacers it can get," Aaron responded. "I was planning to call you after I finished breakfast. Please extend my regrets to the Spectres."

  "But Aaron, they can't... I need... You need... Where have you been assigned?" his mother finally managed to get out.

  "I have been given a new command, a battle cruiser called Mission. She is the first of a new class. It is a great honour. I hope you can understand. I'm sorry to be leaving you, now more than ever, but I am needed," Aaron said with quiet sincerity. "I will call Andrew later today, to let him know he will have to spend more time on Earth in the future."

  "Be careful, Aaron. War is a dangerous business. I know you know that, but sometimes I think the young are not so aware of mortality as they should be. I love you, goodbye," she said with a sad smile.

  "I love you too."

  –

  Dorcas and Lieutenant Carlyle stood, waiting just outside the briefing room as Aaron came to a halt, snapping to attention.

  "Captain Aaron Hawthrone, reporting as ordered, Admiral."

  "At ease Captain. The rest of your staff are waiting just down the hall. I know it's uncommon to brief both a captain and his staff at the same time, but necessity makes all things permissible. What you need to know is that your entire senior staff has been nailed down, and though not all are present. Chant is looking forward to seeing you again as is Thurgood and Chandler. Remember that even though Darnelle may know more about the ship than you, you are still the captain."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Something else you should be aware of," Dorcas continued, "your new status as a battle cruiser captain entitles you to a steward. Yours, a Steward Jennifer Weinstein, is already waiting for you aboard the Anvil. She's a solid sort, dependable. Shall we?"

  Lieutenant Carlyle opened the door, and the Admiral went in first. As the assembled officers began to rise, Dorcas spoke. "As you were people, be seated. We don't have a lot of time so let's be about it. For those of you who don't know, this Captain Aaron Hawthrone, your commanding officer. He will be the master after God of the Emperor's ship Mission. We are here this morning to tell you little bit about the ship you all will be running. Basically, I will not be speaking a lot until the end and most of the briefing will be coming from your XO, Commander Darnelle. Commander?"

  "Thank you, Admiral. Mission is a battle cruiser in the twenty-three-thousand tonne range. She mounts a total of 40 broadside missile tubes and 20 heavy energy batteries. Her primary missiles are the new Mark 16s and carry 23 megaton heads and can accelerate at 1700 gravities under their own power and come out of the tubes at .6C relative to the base velocity of the ship. The broadside tubes can throw a salvo out every six seconds and will shoot your magazines dry after 100 minutes of continuous fire; so you have a lot of magazine space. Your energy armaments are in the 28 megawatt range, which means they will do a little more than blister the paint of a dreadnought. Four of them are situated on the spine of the ship, two above and two below. Her chase armament uses the four spinal mounts and missile tubes on the bow and stern, which throw either Mark 16 or 17s. The 17s are a variant of the Mark 16 which are quicker and longer legged, but with a reduced yield. She also has the newest electronics warfare suite, whose capabilities you will receive a more thorough briefing on later."

  "She has the newest Cherenkov drives and inertial compensators which mean that she can run all the way up 28C in relative space and can accelerate at 900 gravities. She is quick as can be and can out pace and run down everything heavier than a destroyer. She is powered by a pair of fusion plants. They have the new fusion mag bottles so are able to put out far more than the energy requirements of the ship. You could run the whole ship off one of them, and still have a little more to spare."

  "Her mission profile is as broad spectrum as anything on the market. While she can be used in the wall of battle and as a screen, what she has really been developed for is rear area raids and commerce protection. Her speed and magazine space make her ideal for long term missions. She will be extremely useful behind enemy lines and will cut a swathe through just about everything that appears in her path. I will now turn over to Lieutenant Cameron for a briefing on the ship's EW."

  The young lieutenant at the end of the table rose and smiled at the assembled officers. She had black hair and dark, honey coloured skin. Her eyes were dark and at a pronounced cant. Small and obviously slightly self-conscious in such august company, she began a little nervously, "Admiral, Captain, my fellow officers, Mission has the latest and greatest EW suite in the known galaxy. In addition to the FTL capable recon drones that have been becoming a fleet standard, she has a completely new compliment of countermeasures ranging from drones completely capable of mimicking us in space to simple strobes of electrostatic interference. As I'm sure you are all aware, a full textual briefing is in the document you have all received..." Lieutenant Cameron dwindled out as Aaron raised a hand to forestall any further speech.

  "Document, Lieutenant?" Aaron asked, military courtesy never wavering.

  "Yes, sir. The XO sent out a full digital briefing on the ship to all members of the command staff this morning... I'm sure you should have got it, sir," the lieutenant sounded unsure of herself for the first time.

  "I don't seem to ha
ve it. Commander?" Aaron said, turning toward Darnelle.

  "I apologize, sir. I thought I included you. I must have just sent it to the original crew," Darnelle responded. "Give me a minute and I will send it to you."

  Aaron glanced down at the computer in his hand, and then looked up at Darnelle again. "If only the originally assigned crew got it, then Commander Chant and Lieutenant Commander Thurgood will both need copies as well, Commander. Lieutenant, please continue."

  The tension in the room was palpable for the rest of the briefing. Eventually the meeting was over and the Admiral and Lieutenant Carlyle departed for other duties. Aaron and his staff left to prepare for deployment to the Anvil, the space station where the majority of the building of the Imperial Navy occurred in the home system. Situated in orbit around Voran, the third planet in the system, it was within easy reach of the asteroid belt where deep space mining made construction easier.As they were moving out of the building, Commander Christopher Chant caught up with Aaron.