Clidepp Requital (29 page)

To his aide, he said, "Play the message."

"Good Lord," Admiral Bradlee said when the message had ended. "The ship's captain, Lieutenant(jg) Marcola, has suffered two broken legs while trying to acquire a replacement generator because we forgot about them?"

"Plus they've lost an engineering officer, and the Chief is completely immobilized by serious injuries," Admiral Platt said.

"And they're hiding inside the cone of a dormant volcano to avoid the Clidepp military," Admiral Woo said, shaking his head. "I haven't even read a fictional story this crazy in years."

"Let's remember that this Lieutenant Marcola is the same one who saved the
Perry.
" Admiral Hillaire said.

"Yes, her actions and courage under fire are the main reasons Captain Lidden named her to head this mission," Admiral Moore said. "We discussed all this months ago."

"What have we been waiting for?" Admiral Bradlee asked. "As I recall, Raihana requested a day to do some investigating, and then reported back that she was trying to locate a freighter from the GA that made regular trips into the Clidepp Empire which would hopefully agree to take a generator to Yolongus. That way the military wouldn't be involved. Isn't that why we tabled this issue?"

"Yes, that's true," Admiral Ahmed replied. "We began searching for a ship's captain we could trust to perform this mission, but most of the cargo companies have cancelled all operations to Yolongus and even into Clidepp space because of the war. I turned the matter over to one of my officers, but I'm ashamed to admit I've been so busy with other matters that I haven't followed up."

"So what do we do?" Admiral Bradlee asked. "If the Clidepp military is on high alert following the kidnapping and is now investigating the break-in at the reclamation center, which has been attributed to Terrans, do we dare send another ship to rescue the first we sent?"

"It hardly seems necessary now," Admiral Plimley said. "I deeply regret the loss of life and injuries to our people, but they now have a generator. Since the
Justice
seems to be well hidden and has plenty of food, water, and other supplies, let's just hold off until things settle down on Yolongus. Although they don't yet know if they can make it work, let's give them a little time to solve their own problems."

"You're asking us to ignore the plight of a valiant Space Command crew?" Admiral Ressler said.

"No, I'm merely suggesting we allow them some time to solve their own problems rather than risking another mission into Clidepp space."

"I hate myself for doing this," Admiral Moore said, "but let's have a show of hands for those who favor Admiral Plimley's motion that we wait— sixty days, to allow the
Justice
to resolve its own dilemma."

* * *

"I just heard from SHQ," Lidden told his XO during their daily morning meeting.

"Are we going into Clidepp space, sir?"

"No, they've decided to table the issue until further notice because the
Justice
was able to acquire a generator. We're still forbidden to try a rescue."

"Then we're just leaving the crew of the
Justice
to their own devices?"

"That's about the size of it. I've given the matter a lot of thought recently. When I received the most recent message from Marcola, I began to have new doubts about selecting her for this mission. There wasn't any doubt about her ability but rather about the
appearance
of placing a jg in command. However, the more I've thought on it, the more sure I've become that it was the right decision. I would rather have Sydnee in command of that ship under the present circumstances than any jg or lieutenant in the fleet I could name. She was my choice, and if any junior officer can bring that crew home, it's her."

* * *

It was difficult, but Sydnee managed to remain off her feet for a full fourteen days, although she probably couldn't have done it without the help of Kelly MacDonald and Jerry Weems. They brought her meals and provided company during their off-duty time, and Kelly assisted her with bathing and dressing.

Although she didn't have anywhere near the famed recuperative power of Admiral Carver, the nanobots substantially reduced the time for healing. Where a simple break might have once taken twelve to fifteen weeks to mend naturally, the nanobots should make it happen in six to eight.

If they had been aboard the
Denver
, Sydnee would have had access to an oh-gee brace after her first two weeks. When strapped to it, it raised the patient off the floor and had small air jets to provide propulsion. Far better than crutches at keeping the weight off mending bones, the brace greatly assisted mobility during healing.

Two Marines devised a sort of substitute using two oh-gee freight blocks connected together by a wooden crosspiece. The blocks, wrapped in cloth for comfort, slipped under each armpit. Holding the remote in one hand, Sydnee could raise or lower herself. There were no air jets for propulsion, but she could usually count on there being someone around to give her a slight push, or even guide her to where she wanted to go. She was even able to visit the Marine habitat. She simply positioned herself over the access tube and lowered the freight blocks until she was at the level she wished to visit. The sickbay was in the habitat, so the device enabled her to visit the Chief.

"That's a nifty device, Captain," Luscome said the first time she visited.

"I'll loan it to you when you're ready to get up, Chief."

"I won't need it for several months, I'm afraid. The doc says I won't be able to put any pressure on my back until the broken disc is completely healed."

"There's no rush, Chief. As long as you're not in pain and the little nanobots are slaving away to fix the broken parts, everything is good."

"But I want to get back to GA space. And I'm more than a little nervous about hiding in a volcano cone, even if the volcano is dormant."

"I've lined up a couple of Marines, Staff Sergeant Padu and Lance Corporal Addams, to help us do exactly that. As soon as you're ready, we'll begin."

"Not for several months, Captain. I'm stuck here for the immediate future."

"What I was thinking is that you could supervise using a monitor mounted over your bed. The Marines would provide the hands, and you would provide the brain. They're both intelligent and have good mechanical skills, but they don't have your knowledge of the subject, so they need direction."

"It might work. When do we start?"

"As soon as you're ready. We've cleared a work area in MAT-Two and have the old generator and the replacement generator just sitting there waiting for someone to begin work."

"I'm ready now."

"Okay, I'll get the guys to mount a monitor in here, and then we'll give it a try."

The next day, Luscome and the Marines tried out the new system. They had mounted four stationary cameras from their surveillance equipment locker and added a floating camera that Luscome could move to whatever position he chose with a simple joystick controller. Using the joystick only required using the muscles in his right arm, so it wouldn't affect the requirement that his torso remain absolutely rigid.

The disassembly of the recently acquired generator went smoothly. It didn't appear that the unit had suffered any damage, other than to the outer case when it was knocked off the oh-gee blocks at the reclamation center. And the outer case couldn't be used anyway because it wasn't made from Dakinium and wouldn't allow a double envelope to fully coalesce.

The basic disassembly of the generator was the easy part. Any decent mechanic could have performed it. The real test came when the two Marines were required to perform highly complex tests of the intricate circuitry and then make adjustments that would allow the generator to work with military spec equipment. The progress slowed considerably, but they continued to move forward.

* * *

Sydnee was reclining on her bed when the ship began shaking. It'd been six weeks since her legs had been broken, and one of the two inflatable casts had already been removed. The doc said he would probably remove the other in a week. Although all bones had knitted, he felt that one break still needed a bit of strengthening.

Sydnee jumped up and hobbled to the bridge, which fortunately was just meters away. "Is anyone outside the ship?" she asked loudly.

Weems, sitting in the command chair, said, "The Marines working with Chief Luscome are outside."

As more violent shaking occurred, Sydnee said, "I'm relieving you, Lieutenant."

Weems jumped up out of the command chair and Sydnee practically fell into it.

"Is this shaking owed to some testing with the envelope generator?" she asked.

"Negative, Captain," Lt. Olivetti said. "The tectonic plates beneath the volcano are shifting."

The doors to the bridge opened and Blade entered. "What's going on?" he demanded.

Sydnee ignored him and said to the com chief, "Tell the Marines they have twenty seconds to get back inside."

After passing on the message, the com chief said, "They say it will take at least twenty minutes to disconnect the new generator and bring it in."

"We're not staying here twenty minutes."

The com chief relayed the message and then said, "They say they can't leave it."

"Is the repository open?"

"Affirmative," Weems said. They're making connections to test some circuits."

"Chief, tell them to get inside the repository and hunker down as much as possible, then hang on to their asses and whatever else they want to save because it's going to get damn windy damn quick." To the tac officer, she said, "Sound the emergency signal and tell me when the ship is secure."

A few seconds later the tac officer said, "All access hatches are closed and sealed."

"Chief, are our Marines in the repository?"

Chief Lemela relayed the question, listened for a couple of seconds, then said, "They're inside and hanging on."

"Take us up, Lt. Caruthers. Veer away from the cone as soon as we're above the rim. Head upwind. Speed Plus-Point One."

It was a tense five minutes as the small ship rose out of the volcano and headed north. Plus-Point One speed was six kilometers each minute.

"Tac, split the bridge screen. Half back, half forward."

"Aye, Captain."

The large monitor at the front of the bridge immediately showed two images side by side. On the left was the image provided by a rearward facing camera on the hull, while the other was provided by the forward-looking camera.

A plume of black smoke was now rising from the center of the cone they had just left. Sixty seconds after leaving the cone, the small ship was six kilometers away. If not for the Marines hunkered down in the repository, they would have been traveling ten times faster, but Sydnee feared they might be sucked out if she increased the speed. As it was, the ship was traveling three hundred sixty kilometers an hour, and the Marines were probably hanging on for dear life.

As the small ship achieved a distance of almost eighteen kilometers from the cone, the entire top of the mountain blew apart. Dust, dirt, rock, and ash filled the sky. After a couple of minutes more, a flow of molten rock could be seen winding its way down three sides.

"How are the Marines in the repository?" Sydnee asked the com chief.

"They say they're okay so far but want to know if they can please come inside now," the com chief said.

"Are they okay to hang on for another five minutes?"

"They say 'aye.'"

"Tell them we'll set down as soon as we reach a safe distance."

"Aye, Captain."

Sydnee leaned back, took a deep breath, and released it. "What's going on?" she asked, belatedly repeating what Blade had said to her earlier. "Just another boring day in the life of a Space Command officer, Major."

Blade scowled, nodded, and left the bridge without comment.

As soon as the ship was a hundred kilometers away, Sydnee ordered it down so the Marines and the equipment they were testing could be brought inside. When that had been accomplished, she said, "Navigator, plot us a course to that tropical island where we spent the night a couple of months ago."

"The first volcano would give us better concealment, Captain," Lt. Olivetti said.

"Perhaps, but I've had my fill of volcanoes for a few days."

"Aye, Captain," she said with a grin as she forwarded the course to the helmsman.

* * *

During dinner with Kelly MacDonald and Jerry Weems in her compartment, Sydnee said, "Wow. I hate volcanoes. They're just too— unpredictable. Don't tell Lt. Olivetti I said that."

"I'm glad you came to the bridge when you did," Weems said to her quietly. "I probably would have given them the twenty minutes they requested, and we'd have been caught in that explosion."

"Saving the ship is always the most important consideration."

"Even if premature action meant we don't get home?"

"The ship and the people aboard first, last, and always."

"You didn't seem to feel that way the night you saved our asses at the package's home," Kelly said with a grin.

"That night I was only risking my own life. If I'd picked up the SO team as the Major ordered, it would have been a different story, and you might now be prisoners of the Clidepp military."

"Is that the way you always think?" Weems asked.

"Pretty much. I can risk my own life, if I choose, but I won't normally risk anyone else's unless we've been backed into a corner. And before you mention it, I know that as we climb higher in rank and responsibility there will be times when we must make tough decisions that favor the good of the many over the good of the few."

* * *

"How are you feeling, Chief?" Sydnee asked Chief Luscome three days after arriving at the island.

"Better every day, Captain."

"Great. Best estimate, how close are we to having FTL?"

"The test results have been very positive, Captain. We could have FTL in as soon as two days."

"Two days?" Sydnee practically shouted.

Luscome smiled. "That's the absolute soonest. Perhaps we may not have it for two weeks."