Battleship Destroyer (76 page)

Jack left the Bridge to the sound of. "Captain leaving the bridge." He had to stop just outside the hatch for a few seconds in disbelief before continuing down to the
new Captain's Cabin. Telling himself that it was only The Game.

Stepping into the
Engineer's/Captain's Cabin Jack said. "Are you crazy making me the fracking Captain of this hulk? Hell I was a fracking First class a couple weeks ago."

"You ever hear of the phrase
. (Promoted into incompetence.) So far you have been doing everything competently. Not that you have not made mistakes but everyone makes mistakes and you usually learn from your mistakes. Besides, The Game never lies."

"Damn it Admiral.
This is real life. There are no do overs and people really die."

"There are no do overs in The Game after level 6 Commander Turner."

"Hell there isn't. All you have to do is start under a new name and...”

"And The Game figures out who you r
eally are after only a few days or weeks and starts bumping you up the chain of command as you qualify weather you like it or not or it doesn’t. But it is never the same and it still takes a whole lot of time to get back up to where you were before. If you make it, The Game can realize incompetence and the second time around it does not make the same mistake. Some players never make it to the same rank again. I noticed you restarted 3 times using the same name and each time you advanced even farther. Why did you try a fourth time Commander?"

"
Like you said, time. The Game kept promoting me when all I wanted was to be a ships pilot. I even tried as a simple fighter pilot and it insisted on giving me command of a fracking ship even after I refused to take it. But I never went from Ensign to Commander in a few weeks Admiral."

"No you didn't but
this is real life and we don’t have time to frack around like The Game has. I needed a Captain to fix this ship's engines and get it back to the Rock and you are the only even halfway qualified person close enough to get the job done in the few hours we have. I had no choice but to make you a Commander or scrap this ship and I am not going to lose another ship if you can help it." Taking a deep breath as she stared into Jack's eyes. "Now pay attention because I have a lot to tell you and not much time or you are going to be one hell of an incompetent ship's Captain lost in that fracking cloud until you starve to death or the ship just falls apart around you. The damn ship is already a frigging HULK. It wouldn't be the first time. We find ships all the time that have been lost in that cloud for years or decades and even a few that have been missing for hundreds of years. Hell, half the sensors have been placed in that maelstrom simply trying to find lost ships and not intruders."

-------------------------------------

Jack walked into the Starboard Engine room to the sound of the Chief Engineer yelling at someone. Looking around he could not believe how clean and well maintained the space was compared to the rest of the ship. He had taken a tour around the accessible sections of the bow trying not to be shocked by everything he saw and start butting in to help the marine recovery crews who did not want his help but it was hard. Now he had just finished going through the other engine room and was again sick at their basic condition and lack of even basic maintenance and how fast a ship could turn into junk without it.

The Chief saw him and came walking up. His eyes flaring hate as the man
stared at him "This engine is ready Captain but the Port engine is going to take time. I can't see how it will ever get repaired"

Jack smiled knowing from the game and personal experience that hate could be a power full motivator. He almost felt sorry for the man but realized that that was the last thing this ass hole needed right then. "So what Chief!" Jack spat back at him. "This engine was ready when you abandoned ship.
Why aren't you in getting the other damn engine going?"

The Chief was taken back at Jack's attack. "I. I was just getting more help. I am leaving a skeleton crew here and taking the rest to work on engine two Captain. I sho
uld have it up and running in a couple hours after I get all the junk off of it."

"Some of the engineers from my old ship have just arrived to help. They are damn good engineers, treat them with respect and they will do wonders for you. All you have to do is get them what they need and shut up. Got that"

"I will get the damn engine running Captain!"

"Just see that you do Commander or you are going to get mighty lonely aboard this hulk when it plunges into the cloud at a hundred times the speed of light. What about the rest of the
ships auxiliary system?"

"What the hell. You said…
I don’t have the time to worry about anything but the engines if you want them any time soon now get off my back." The Commander stormed out of the engine room.

Jack walked up to the First Class standing at the control board in front of the engine and re
ad the engineman's name printed across above his pocket. "How is it going First Class Quincy?"

"It is running but that is all I can say about it."
He was not a happy camper.

"Good work, Keep it that way." Then turned and left the engine room going to the main
engineering control compartment between the two engine rooms.

A Chief was sitting at the
auxiliary control console.

Jack smiled. He had already stopped
by most of the critical auxiliary equipment compartments and knew that the damage was light in all of them and was mostly lack of proper maintenance. It would only take time to get them up again.  "How are you doing Chief Stark?" Jack said with a smile to the NCO (None Commissioned Officer) Chief. I just finished taking a look at the auxiliary equipment spaces and they need work."

The Chief looked up at Jack frowning. "As does every
thing else on this bucket sir. That is except the brass. You should have seen the bridge, the ward room, the Captain's Cabin and hell all of officers country. They sparkled." The Chief looked like he wanted to spit. "As long as the Captain's shitter sparkled he did not care about anything else." The Chief waved his hand around the control room.

Jack looked around and realized that the control room had an enormous amount of sparkling brass and crystal and silver all polished up. The deck looked like you could see
yourself as you danced on it. Four crewmen were in the process of polishing the gages and trim. "What the hell?" He suddenly remembered that the Chief Engineers cabin had been just as ornate but he had been to shocked and busy to notice. Shaking his head Jack turned to the NCO Chief. "Chief, if I see another crewman polishing the silver I am going to space someone. You have 30 seconds to get those crewmen doing something useful. Preferably fixing the damn air conditioning and oxygen systems aboard this garbage scow of junk before we suffocate." The Chief turned to Jack getting a big grin on his face. "The emergency Auxiliary maintenance Crew just arrived from the fleet. Tell them what the priorities are and get them what they need to get them going. Do you have any questions Chief?"

"Ah,
what about Engineering Chief Buttonbutt sir. He gets very upset if the brass is not polished to his liking sir." 

Jack
took deep breath. "Your priorities are maintaining this ship not polishing the damn brass!" Trying to control himself he turned around to leave.

"Ah Captain Turner
sir. Commander Buttonbutt gave me direct orders not to leave the control room as well as a strict polishing regimen sir."

"You no longer tak
e orders from Commander Buttonaaa whatever the hell it is, Chief Stark." And walked out of the control room without looking back.

The ships only remaining
Bridge, the emergency bridge was only a few decks above the engines and as Jack walked into it he heard. "Captain on the Bridge." Taking the Command Chair he bit his lower lip trying to wake up from his nightmare but then The Game took over.

Looking around at the bridge and the crew that he did not even know most of the names of
, he wondered what the hell he was supposed to do but he had to do something. Jack took a deep breath. Accessing the ship's equipment and damage schematic Jack got a small shock. Then tapped the comm icon. "Transport control. This is Captain Turner, what is this I see about the portside boat launch bay being empty and locked out?"

"Ah Captain Turner?
The south hatch is malfunctioning and Commander Buttoner put the bay out of commission. We opened the North hatch just long enough to launch the shuttle boats with the rest and then closed it down as per Captain's orders sir."

"Damn it
, we have boats sitting off ship waiting to get aboard and you have a fracking bay closed." Jack counted to 5. "Open the North hatch on the Port bay and get those gigs aboard. Start using your fracking brains." Taking a breath as he cut the connection. "Ok maybe it is my fault. I did not realize how bad it was on this ship and relied upon crewmen to use at least a little common sense."

Jack hit
the general ship's comm.  "This is Captain Turner. Your new C.O. Your ship has been hit hard and you have lost many good crewmates but you survived thanks to all of your hard work and some of you going above and beyond. Just be satisfied for now knowing that we got the bastards that killed your friends and in time we will get the rest. Now the Navy needs every ship it can get its hands on so instead of scuttling this girl, I am taking this ship with your help to the Rock for repairs and crew replacements. I would like to show them when we arrive just how good a crew I think this ship has but that will be all up to you and for you to get us there. To get this ship there instead of blowing it up or plunging it into the cloud to destroy it while we become second class orphaned refugees in a fleet that does not want us because we were not good enough to make the simple needed repairs and get her back to The Rock."

Jack let that sink in while he tried to decide how far to push it.
"You must all realize and come to grips with one simple fact. We are on our own. No one is going to come hold our hands or rescue us if you frack up. That means you all are going to have to do your jobs the navy way. The way you have been trained and not the way you have degenerated down to. I am not your old Captain, good or bad and I don't care what has happened in the past. All I care about is the future and getting this ship back to The Rock so we do not becoming the laughing stock of the fleet. I know you can do your work right and properly and I expect you to do your work right and proper. I am not going to check up on you to make sure you are doing it right because I just don't have the Frigging time. I have my own job to do and that does not include worrying about you all doing your damn jobs right. The problem is that if each and every one of you do not do your jobs the best you can we are all going to die. Your only job is to give me a ship in proper working condition and running at its best and my only job is to get this ship safely home. You give me this ship working the way I know you can and I will get you all home safely. That is all. Captain out."

"Captain, Admiral on the Comm sir."

"Well, put her on the main screen."

"
Captain Turner. Can you make repairs on that bucket or not?"

"Yes Admiral. We were just about to get under way on one en
gine while we work on the other sir."

"
Good. How long do you think it will take you to finish repairs?"

"
The crew will have them repaired in time Admiral."

"Time is something you do not have a lot of Captain Turner. We are picking up the boats now. I expect to have the fleet un
derway in an hour at 400 Gee's. I expect you to have at least two engines running by then. Otherwise you are going to have to abandon the ship as planned. You cannot out run the enemy fleet on only one engine. Is that clear Captain?"

"Yes sir. Should be plenty of time
for repairing the engines Admiral. But even if I cannot make it in time, it is going to take longer than that to finish cutting out my trapped crew sir. Most are individuals that are going to take time to get out when the crews are freed from the ones they are working on now."

"Very well Captain
Turner. The last of the Cabbage survivors are out and the ship is in the last stages of being abandoned. I will have the rest of the recovery squads sent over. Good luck. Admiral out."

Jack tapped t
he comm for Engineering. "Engineering Chief, how is it looking down there? Are you going to be able to given me that second engine yet?"

"That is impossibl
e, it will take days to get the Port engine in shape again. As you already know, I got you the Starboard engine working."

"Well that is not good
enough Chief.  I have looked at that engine and know there is nothing that wrong with either of them except bad maintenance. Which is why the hits in the bow knocked them out in the first place. If I have to come down there and finish your job for you there will be no reason to keep you adored ship and I will kick you out the lock. Now get me that Port engine."

"Why you littl
e shit. I just heard one of the crewmen from your ship talking about you being a fucking Gravity Tech a few weeks ago and now you are trying to tell me how to do my job."