Aurora: CV-01 (10 page)

“Enough, already,” Nathan objected. “Okay, fine. Tell me what you hate about me.”

“You sure you’re ready? I mean, we could be here awhile.”

“Okay, let’s make it easier. Just give me your top three reasons.”

“You’re a cocky, arrogant, pretty little rich boy, and you’ve probably always gotten by on your charm, good looks, and your daddy’s money. And I seriously doubt that you’ve ever taken anything seriously your whole life.”

Nathan paused for a moment, a little taken aback. “Well. I’m pretty sure that was more than three reasons. But, I will admit that there is probably a little truth to
some
of that.”

“Some?”

“Okay, most.”

“Most?”

“Don’t push it, Ensign.” Nathan took a deep breath before continuing. “You’re right, about all of it, actually. But that was
before
I enlisted. Since I got into the Academy, I’ve actually been
trying
to do my best. For the first time that I can remember, I actually
believe
in something, I actually
care
about something.” He paused to look at her. “Something other than myself, I mean.”

“And I’m just supposed to believe you?”

“Well, I guess you don’t have to. But it is the truth.”

“Okay. Fair enough, I guess.” Cameron wasn’t quite sure what to believe. Nathan was opening up to her, which was something that she wasn’t used to, at least not from men. And certainly not from Nathan. Most guys had found her too cold and calculating to ever get close to her in any real sense of the word.

“So,” Nathan said, breaking another uncomfortable silence. “My turn?”

“Fair is fair.”

Nathan began an exaggerated ritual, rubbing his hands together and pretending like he was loosening up for something really big.

“Alright already! Out with it!”

“You’re cold and dispassionate, you refuse to admit when you’re wrong, and you’re always trying to prove to everyone that you’re better than me.”

They sat there for a few moments, each thinking about what the other had said, trying to decide what was true and to come to terms with it.

“Well, you make me sound like a real bitch,” Cameron mumbled.

“I wouldn’t say that. I may have overheard others toss that word around, but…”

Cameron cut him off with a slap of the back of her hand against his shoulder.

“I am not dispassionate,” she objected.

“Maybe that was the wrong word.”

“So what do we do?”

“I don’t know, call a truce maybe?”

“I guess I can live with that,” she resigned.

Nathan held out his hand, which Cameron reluctantly shook. “Alright then.”

Cameron rose from her perch and made her way down the step ladder. Once back on the deck, she turned back to Nathan. “You know, I wasn’t
trying
to prove that I’m better than you,” she explained as she turned to walk away. “I already
know
that I am.”

Nathan just smiled and watched her walk away, thinking,
she really is a bitch.

* * *

It had been a long walk back to his quarters from the hangar bay. And all Nathan wanted to do was climb into his bunk and stay there. The day had been long and exhausting, at least emotionally if not physically. And he suspected that despite their truce, the next few days were not likely to be any easier.

Nathan was sure that he had done everything possible to try to work with Cameron. In fact, he had purposely avoided giving her a direct order whenever possible so as not to make her feel like anything other than an equal partner. But after listening to the captain, he was starting to wonder if that had been a mistake. Nathan had never cared much about rank. He followed and respected it, after all, the Fleet was a military organization. And like any other it depended on rank and discipline in order to function, which he understood fully well. But
having
rank had never meant much to him, personally. Of course, that could’ve been because until now he had always been pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole. Nathan liked his job. He loved piloting the ship. But as far as being in charge was concerned, it was starting to feel more like a punishment than a privilege.

“There you are!” Vladimir declared from his bunk as Nathan entered their quarters. “I was starting to wonder if you had fallen asleep in the simulator!”

“I’ve spent the last couple of hours being verbally assaulted,” Nathan explained as he took of his uniform shirt.

“What are you talking about?”

Nathan kicked off his shoes and fell onto his bunk, rolling over onto his back before continuing. “First, I was getting chewed out by the captain. Then I got an ear full from Cameron’s roommate.”

“The little red head?” Vladimir inquired. “She is full of fire, that one.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Then, I had to do a little verbal jousting with Cameron in the hangar bay.”

“This does not sound like a good time,” Vladimir sympathized. “What did the captain want?”

“Let’s just say that if Cam and I don’t get our act together and start playing nice over the next few days, you’re gonna have a new roommate.”

“Bah! It will never happen, my friend. You will do fine, you will see.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Vlad. We’ve been screwing up the simulations left and right! If I was the captain, I wouldn’t let us fly a cargo shuttle, let alone a starship.”

“Nathan, you worry too much. These simulations they put you through, they are crazy! They could never happen! These people who make them, they are reading too much science fiction. Trust me on this, such things do not happen to people such as us.”

“I don’t know,” Nathan objected.

“Listen, when they give you normal stuff, you know flying around, dock with this, dock with that—this you do okay, yes?”

“Sure, but…”

“…The captain, he knows this, trust me.”

“Maybe, but it’s not about flying the ship. It’s about Cam and I not getting along.”

“Yes, of this I have heard.”

“What?”

“Everyone knows this,” Vladimir explained. “They say you are like old married couple,” he laughed. “Hey, maybe you should sleep with her!”

“Oh, that would really help!” Nathan protested.

“Okay, then maybe I should sleep with her?”

“Get serious.”

“It’s a big sacrifice, yes. But for you, I am willing to do this.” Vladimir joked.

“No thanks,” Nathan chuckled, “That won’t be necessary.”

“Are you sure? I can go right now. I am always ready to serve.”

“Enough, already!”

They both had a good laugh over the idea, after which Nathan decided to change the subject. “So, speaking of woman problems, how are things going in your part of the ship?”

“Better,” Vladimir said. “She is not as bad as before. She is still a pain in my ass. But at least not as often.”

“What happened? Did you sleep with her?”

“No, of course not,” Vladimir protested. “Not that I wouldn’t, because of course I would if necessary.”

“For the good of the ship?” Nathan teased.

“Yes, for the good of the ship!” Vladimir announced proudly. “For the Aurora!”

“For the Aurora!” Nathan laughed.

* * *

Captain Roberts entered the briefing room at exactly 0800 hours, his data pad in one hand and his coffee mug in the other. “Good morning gentlemen,” he greeted, as he made his way to the head of the table and sat down. Commander Montero, his executive officer and his chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Patel were already seated at the table. “Thank you for coming. I know you all have more than enough work to do since we’re still so short handed. So I’ll try to keep this meeting as brief as possible.”

The captain took another sip of coffee before continuing, calling up his notes on his data pad as usual, to ensure that any pertinent information he might need would be at his finger tips. He was a man who believed in being well prepared whenever possible.

“The reason for this meeting is that Fleet Command is anxious for us to get underway on a limited test run of our primary propulsion systems. It seems that there is some concern over the efficacy of their design, as well as their projected performance capabilities. If that turns out to be the case, Command would like to be able to address these problems before the Celestia is fitted with the same propulsion systems.”

“Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Patel interrupted, “I am not aware of any of these concerns you speak of. In fact, our simulations predict that we should be able to reach eighty percent the speed of light, instead of the original projections of seventy-five.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you at all, Chief,” the captain assured him. “I’m quite sure you’re correct. All I know is that Command wants us to be ready to depart for a basic lap around the block in twenty-four hours. If there’s some other reason for these orders, they’ve decided that I don’t need to know. What I do need to know is are we ready for a basic test sail?”

“All flight systems are online and ready, sir,” the chief assured him. “And main propulsion has been ready for several days now. However, we do not have all of our weaponry installed, and we have no energy shielding installed, as the team from Special Projects is still using those spaces.”

“Well, do we have any weaponry?”

“Yes sir, we have most of the forward rail gun turrets installed and ready, but all guns aft of amidships have yet to be hooked into main power. We also have the forward torpedo tubes ready to go, but the aft tubes still need to have their loading systems installed. All of those components are still sitting in the main hangar bay.”

“That reminds me,” the captain interrupted, turning to his commander. “We need to move as much of that stuff in the hangar bay into the cargo holds for the time being. We’re going to need room for shuttle craft to operate out of the flight deck if anything goes wrong during our first sail.”

“Sure, Captain,” the XO promised. “But some of that stuff is pretty big.”

“Well, move the smaller stuff out, and slide the bigger stuff off to the sides out of the way. We don’t need the whole bay, clear. Just enough room for five or six shuttles should do it.”

“Yes sir.”

“I’ve also insisted that we at least get ammunition for our rail guns, and a dozen torpedoes, just in case. Something about sailing out in a warship without any bullets just doesn’t sit right with me. Even if it is just a few laps around the block.”

“Captain,” the chief asked. “I just want to remind you that we’ll be operating with only half our designed reactor capacity, since the Special Projects people hijacked the other half.”

“Really?” the captain asked, somewhat surprised. “That’s a lot of power. What the hell are they doing with it?”

“I really do not know, sir. They aren’t talking. Best I can tell is that it involves the shield emitters, since they’ve hijacked them as well.”

“Maybe a new type of energy shielding?” the XO theorized.

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Any idea when they’ll be finished?” the captain asked.

“Not really. But they haven’t been asking for as much lately, so maybe that means they’ve completed their work.”

“Let’s hope so,” the XO added. “Those people make me nervous.”

“Well, will two reactors be sufficient?” the captain asked Chief Patel.

“Yes sir. More than enough, for a little trip around the neighborhood. But we won’t be able to use our FTL field emitters until after we get our other two reactors back.”

“Understood. Okay, so that brings us to the crew,” the captain said, turning toward Commander Montero.

“We’ve got one full skeleton shift trained and ready, Captain,” the commander responded. “I wouldn’t want to go into battle with them, but they should be able to handle a basic test sail without screwing anything up too badly.”

“Very well.”

“That reminds me,” the commander added. “How’s your little training project going?”

“Lieutenant Scott and Ensign Taylor are at least
trying
to work together. They still have a long way to go, but I think it might do them some good to get out of the simulator and into real space.”

“I hope you’re right,” the commander cautioned. “I’ve seen some of their training tapes, and I’ve gotta tell, Skipper, those two scare me.

“Okay, so I guess I can tell Command that we’re ready enough, then.” The captain leaned back in his chair for a moment before continuing. “There’s going to be an inspection tomorrow morning by Admiral Yamori. Let’s make sure we’re ready for it.”

* * *

As the Fleet was only about thirty years old, there were only four admirals in the ranks. Admiral Yamori was in charge of fleet development, which included the special projects division as well as the design and construction of new ships to fill out the Earth’s burgeoning space defense force. Prior to his service in the fleet, he had commanded several sea-going warships in the Eurasian navy. Once the Data Ark had been discovered, he had retired from the navy to study physics and advanced spacecraft design at the European campus of the Ark Institute. He was the only admiral in the fleet that had never actually commanded a space vessel. But then, his position was about building them, not operating them.

“You’ve made remarkable progress, Bill,” the admiral praised, as they strolled the corridors of the engineering section. “Especially considering how under staffed you’ve been.”

“Thank you, Sir,” the captain responded. “We’ve been working around the clock to try and get her ready. But a lot of the credit goes to the station crews, Sir. They’ve been working their tails off, every minute of every day. We couldn’t have gotten this far without them.”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“It also was a big help to have most of the components available in our hangar bay, Sir,” Commander Montero added. “We never had to wait for anything to be shuttled up to us.”

The admiral had started his tour at the bridge, worked his way aft, and had just finished up in engineering when they met up with doctors Karlsen and Sorenson in the corridor.