The Void War (Empire Rising Book 1) (27 page)

Slightly embarrassed, James knew not to contradict a superior officer but he couldn’t help himself. “I’m sorry sir, but have you seen the damage reports on
Drake
? I allowed my command to be turned into a wreck.”

“Nonsense,” Jensen insisted waving her hand as if the damage was nothing. “You did better than anyone could have expected and from the way Governor Olsson tells it you’ll be receiving the Swedish Medal of the Sword. It’s the highest military medal they can award to a foreign national. You should be proud.”

“I am sir,” James quickly responded. “Proud of
Drake
and her crew but I didn’t expect to receive any praise for my actions. I was just doing my duty, that’s why we were at New Stockholm in the first place.”

At that last sentence Jensen lowered her eyebrows and gave James a piercing stare. “I must say, I was surprised to see Vice Admiral Cunningham send you to New Stockholm. After your contributions so far I thought you would have come in useful at V17. Have you and the Vice Admiral a history?”

Wincing, James tried to control his emotions before replying, her change of tact had caught him off guard. “We knew each other from the academy. He took advanced tactics and I was in his tutorial group for the simulator side of the class. Before we met here two months ago, I counted him as a mentor of sorts.” Looking down James reluctantly let out his next sentence, “I believe the Vice Admiral received a message from the King before he departed for the Void.”

“I see,” Jensen said carefully, a look of concern on her face. “Well, as I’m sure you can guess everyone is familiar with the news reports about Princess Christine. I guess it’s not too hard to read between the lines.”

Sitting down again Jensen motioned for James to join her at the other side of the desk. “In that case I have some good news for you. I’m not as close to the King as Vice Admiral Cunningham and I know a good officer when I see one. I have an offer for you. You may have noticed we have a few more ships here in Excalibur than strictly necessary, my own flagship included.” As James nodded she continued. “Well, we’ll be departing as soon as we finish up our repairs. We’re needed back at V17 as soon as we are ready.”

James nodded again; he assumed something had happened at V17 to let the four destroyers escape to attack New Stockholm.

As he didn’t say anything Jensen continued. “In order to break the blockade we have set up around V17, Chinese Admiral Zheng feinted a large attack with his battleships. As we gathered our fleet into one unit a number of fast destroyers broke from the Chinese fleet and managed to get to the hyper limit. We tried to stop them but the Chinese Admiral brought his fleet into range and we exchanged a number of missile salvos. We only received minimal damage, as did they, but it was enough of a distraction to allow the destroyers to escape.”

Though he didn’t want to delay the good news, James also couldn’t help asking, “What about the three destroyers that escaped from New Stockholm?”

“Sadly for them they decided to make a run at Excalibur,” Jensen said grinning. “They came out of shift space almost right on top of my squadron as we were returning here for repairs. Once
Voyager
and the other pursuing ships got here, they were all but trapped. Two of them were destroyed and the third took some damage before it reached the mass shadow and jumped out. Vice Admiral Cunningham sent word back to say that it managed to slip through the blockade and return to V17.”

“Good,” was all James said though on the inside he was more than happy. Any Captain that was prepared to be involved in a mission whose’s goal was to fire on civilian ships deserved getting caught under Jensen’s guns.

As Jensen continued James’ interest perked. “You can read the report of course. Why I’m telling you this is because one of the destroyers under my command took a proximity hit that momentarily knocked out her inertial dampeners. A quarter of her crew were killed and another two dozen severely injured. Her Captain was among the dead. I want you to take command.”

As she paused to await James’ response, he tried to speak. Feeling like he was back in sickbay aboard
Drake
he worked his jaw to try and say something as his mouth had gone completely dry. As the shock wore off he managed to get out a response.

“I’m honored sir, really I am. But I don’t have command experience on a warship. Surly there is a frigate commander with the experience to make a more appropriate Captain?”

Smiling Jensen answered, “under other circumstances you may be right but we are at war. You may only be the commander of an exploration ship but you have proven yourself in combat. I’ve requested that you be seconded to my command from Commodore West’s. She has already said yes.”

Pushing over a datapad to James, she continued, “I have given you a field promotion to Captain. I’m sure if you prove yourself the Admiralty will be happy to make it official at a later date. Right now I want you to go over to
Raptor
and officially take command. Once you have a feel for the situation there, you’re going to need to begin to fill in the missing personnel. You’ll find some men and women from among the other ships here in Excalibur that are ready for a promotion and so can fill in some of the gaps aboard
Raptor
. For the rest I suggest you take as many as can be spared from
Drake
.”

Nodding, James asked, “What is to happen to her?”

“I plan to put Second Lieutenant Gupta in charge. She’ll have to make do without the crew members you’ll take but once she has completed enough repairs she will be taking
Drake
back to Britannia and then maybe to Earth. I suspect the Admiralty will want to give her command of
Drake
once the repairs are complete. Your report on her abilities certainly speaks well for her.”

“Thank you sir,” James said with relief. He was half afraid Jensen was going to appoint someone else to take command of
Drake
and take her home for repairs. “
Drake
will be in good hands with her.”

“Very good Captain, now you have a lot to do. I suggest you make your way to
Raptor
and get to work. After you officially take command and get settled in, I want you to report to HMS
Ghost
at sixteen hundred hours. Captain Lightfoot is expecting you. The rest of the squadron and I will be returning to V17 but the Admiralty has something else planned for you two.

Recognizing the dismissal James rose. Before turning to leave he shook Rear Admiral Jensen’s hand again. “I want to thank you again sir, I won’t forget this opportunity.”

*

As James approached HMS
Raptor,
he couldn’t help but stare out the shuttle’s viewport with an open mouth. He had always thought Chinese ships were beautiful but
Raptor
had a beauty all of her own. At twenty eight thousand tones
Raptor
was the largest destroyer the RSN had yet built. She was three hundred and four meters long and at her widest point she had a beam of sixty meters and a height of fifty. Armed with four heavy plasma cannons, each of which made
Drake’s
look like peashooters, she could handle herself in a close fight. For longer-range engagements, she had two forward and rear missile tubes and a broadside of six missiles tubes on both her starboard and port sides. Her streamlined construction reminded James of a cross between a battleship and a submarine from the old 20th Century wet navies. Her sleek hull mimicked that of a submarine while the large plasma cannons poking out above her superstructure gave her the menacing look of those ancient battleships.

With a crew of two hundred she was designed to easily defeat anything smaller than herself and the strategists back at the Admiralty believed that with the RSN advantage in missile ECM she should be able to take on a Chinese light cruiser and put up a good fight. That was yet to be proven, for only six of the
Crusader
class destroyers had been finished when the war broke out. To his knowledge none had seen real close quarters combat yet.

As the shuttle rose up over the bow of
Raptor
to approach the shuttle bay James caught a glimpse of another identical ship orbiting Excalibur. With the shuttle’s view screen he zoomed in on the ship to see her name. HMS
Ghost
. So it seemed the Admiralty had a plan for their two
Crusader
class destroyers in the Void. As the shuttle docked, James took a moment before stepping off the shuttle and prepared himself to officially take command of his first warship.

Destroyers are the workhorses of any fleet. In peace they are typically used as system pickets, convoy escorts and pirate hunters. In war, their fast acceleration and impressive stealth capabilities make them ideal for operating behind enemy lines. Yet, when larger fleet battles break out, they are always in the thick of the action helping to protect their bigger sisters.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD

21
st
April 2465 AD, HMS
Raptor
, Excalibur.

Stepping off the shuttle, James was greeted by a loud shrill noise bombarding his ears. After a few seconds, it began to break apart into the recognizable sounds of a pipe and drum band welcoming their new Captain aboard. As both feet came to rest on
Raptor’s
deck he offered a crisp salute to the assembled officers and crew. Not all the crew could fit into the shuttle hanger but a great many had tried.

A young looking man in an officer’s uniform stepped out of the crowd and offered his hand. He had to shout over the din of the welcoming band, “Welcome aboard Captain, my name is Lieutenant Romanov.”

James had to push down the tension that suddenly gripped his body. For the last half-century the Russians had been the bogeymen of children’s bedtime stories. Yet, after the Russian government had fled Earth with a significant part of their population, hundreds of millions had been left behind. At present, the old geographical area that had been Russia was a war torn patchwork of rival warlords. Some of the surrounding nations had begun to claim territory for themselves but with the possibilities in space no one wanted the expense of having to pacify a militant population. The costs simply outweighed the benefits. Over the years though, many Russians had escaped old Russia and sought to make new lives throughout Earth, and indeed, all the human colonies. No doubt Lieutenant Romanov’s parents or grandparents had been such people. Still, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was sure Romanov had struggled in the RSN because of his background. If James’ initial reaction had been one of caution, others would react with outright hostility.

With that thought James resolved to give Romanov all the respect he deserved as a RSN officer. Pushing away the last tension that had coiled around his body, he refocused on what the lieutenant was saying. “I was the third Lieutenant aboard
Raptor
but when our inertial dampeners failed Herrick, our First Lieutenant was severely injured and sadly Second Lieutenant Sanders died with the Captain on the bridge. I’ve been acting as the senior commanding officer for the last two days.”

Nodding, James made a mental note to review everything Romanov had done in the last two days. It couldn’t have been easy to be thrust from Third Lieutenant to senior commanding officer in the blink of an eye. James knew from personal experience; although he had been given a small survey ship not a damaged warship! A mistake or two would be understandable. As the last vestiges of the bos’n’s pipes and drums died down, James replied, “Thank you Lieutenant Romanov, you have put together a fitting welcoming reception.” Speaking louder for everyone to hear James continued, “I have to say that as the shuttle approached
Raptor
I got a good look at her. In my humble opinion she’s the finest looking warship in the British navy. I’m looking forward to taking command and I’m sure you all will live up to the reputation the late Captain Hooker has already established for
Raptor
, thank you all for your welcome.”

As he eyed the assembled crew he knew he had chosen the right words. On the shuttle ride over he had been able to briefly review R
aptor’s
files and he had seen enough to guess Captain Hooker had been well respected and would be missed. No doubt the crew were apprehensive about getting a new Captain and he wanted to win their trust as soon as possible. With whatever Jensen and the Admiralty had planned for them, they would likely need to be working as a team fast.

Lowering his voice again James turned back to face Lieutenant Romanov, “Do you have the necessary ship wide COM set up?”

“Yes sir,” Romanov replied, “this way.” As Romanov led him through a gap in the assembled crowd, James fished in his jacket pocket to pull out his orders. They were printed on an old fashioned piece of paper. It was a tradition going back almost a thousand years in the Royal Navy and it had been carried over into the Royal Space Navy. When they came to the podium, Romanov stepped out of the way and allowed James to stand behind it. When Romanov had taken his place back among the assembled crew he shouted, “Crew, about turn.”

With a single motion the crew turned through one hundred degrees and stood to attention with the sharp clang of their leading feet stamping on the shuttle deck. Looking down, James could see the podium was keyed into the ship wide COM so every crew member could hear him.

“Crew members of HMS
Raptor
,” he began in a slow measured pace. “I am Captain James Somerville. I have with me orders issued by Rear Admiral Orla Jensen on behalf of the Admiralty, they read; ‘Captain James Somerville upon receipt of these orders you are to report aboard HMS
Raptor
and assume the full responsibilities of the commanding officer. You are to carry out your duty in service to your country and your King. Upon reading these orders aboard
Raptor
to her crew you will be designated her Captain.”

Folding the piece of paper, James carefully put it back in his jacket pocket. He knew he would be getting it preserved as a keepsake. Then he looked back at the assembled crew. This was the point when Captains were often expected to make elaborate speeches to introduce themselves and impress the crew. James had already dismissed that idea; there was work to be done. “Crew members of
Raptor
, it’s a pleasure to have the privilege of being your Captain but I’m going to end the formalities here. I believe we will be getting new orders to leave Excalibur within the next twenty-four hours. That means we all have work to do if we’re going to be ready in time. I’ll be making a full inspection of each department once I have reviewed the ship’s logs. Until then I trust you to carry out your duty. You are all dismissed.”

As the gathered crew began to disperse, Romanov approached James and asked, “can I give you a brief tour of the ship sir?”

“Not just yet,” James replied, “take me to my office if you don’t mind. I’m scheduled to meet with Captain Lightfoot aboard
Ghost
at sixteen hundred hours. I’m going to be reviewing
Raptor’s
logs until then so I don’t want to be disturbed.”

“No problem sir,” Romanov assured James, “I’ll have a shuttle prepped and awaiting you in shuttle bay two.”

“Very good,” James answered, “now tell me, what state is
Raptor
in?”

“As you probably saw on your shuttle ride over here sir, outwardly she is almost as good as new. The proximity hit caused minimal damage; the valstronium armor absorbed most of the explosive force. It was a freak accident that our inertial dampeners took part of the shock of the explosion and overloaded. The repair crews at Excalibur have been very helpful. We’ve replaced the sections of armor that were damaged and reapplied the stealth coating to them. We’re practically as good as new.”

Lowering his head to speak quieter his expression changed as he continued, “inwardly it’s a different matter. Everyone has lost someone they were close to. It’s strange sir. We look around and everything looks the same. There’s no battle damage or sign of what happened, only the missing faces. We all respected Captain Hooker and I think many of the crew still turn around expecting to see him checking in on them or coming down to oversee some repairs being carried out. He was a very involved Captain.”

It had not occurred to James before but as Romanov explained it, he realized
Raptor
was in an unusual position. Normally if a ship suffered causalities it was as a result of severe battle damage. The ship itself would have to go back to a repair yard and the surviving crew would get some down time to mourn and work through the trauma of combat.

A ship’s inertial dampeners effectively created an artificial gravity field on board the ship. They also compensated for the g-forces a ship felt when it was accelerating or maneuvering. Without them, ships would be severely limited in what they could do as they couldn’t accelerate or maneuver more than their crew members could tolerate without blacking out. When
Raptor’s
inertial dampeners had failed it hadn’t caused any secondary damage. Instead it had simply thrown the crew around with the force of the maneuvers
Raptor
had been undergoing to avoid the incoming Chinese missiles. Thankfully, the failure lasted less than a second before the backup systems came online. Yet their failure had been enough to cause injuries to most of the crew. Those unlucky enough to be thrown at the wrong angle or to be close to something solid had been severely injured and many had died, including Captain Hooker.

So
Raptor’s
crew had lost many close friends without seeing the typical physical trauma to the ship. They would also not have the time to properly mourn their losses, as instead of returning to Earth or Britannia they would be going straight back into combat. James hadn’t thought of this or the problems that might arise from it but it was clear Romanov was already encountering them.

“What steps have you taken to help the crew through this?” James asked.

“I have kept everyone as busy as I can over the last two days sir. That hasn’t been hard as we’re so down on personnel. The bodies of the dead have already been removed for transport back to Earth but I have a memorial service planned in the main shuttle bay at sixteen hundred hours. I’ve given all the crew two hours off duty before the service to prepare themselves and ready any tributes they want to make.”

James was impressed with Romanov’s initiative. Normally a junior officer wouldn’t make such a bold arrangement with a new Captain on his way to assume command. “Very good Lieutenant, I’m sure that will go a long way towards helping everyone process what happened. I’d like to attend the service. Can you contact
Ghost
for me and inform them of the service and leave a message for Captain Lightfoot that I will report on board
Ghost
as soon as the service is finished.”

“Aye sir,” Romanov said eagerly, “the crew will be happy that you’re joining us.” Pointing to a large door in front of them he continued, “this is your office sir. Your quarters are adjoining on the starboard side.”

“Thank you Lieutenant, you may contact me when it’s time for the memorial service. Until then I don’t want to be disturbed,” James said as he stepped through the opening doors into his new office.

He was impressed by the size.
Raptor
was about a third larger than
Drake
but a significant amount of
Drake’s
internal space had been given over to fuel tanks. Despite being a warship,
Raptor
had been designed with some level of comfort for the crew who would have to spend years serving aboard her. His office was over twice the size of the one he had aboard
Drake
and he guessed his living quarters would be the same.

Settling down at his desk, James promised he would give himself time to enjoy his new surroundings later. For now he had to get on top of what state
Raptor
was in before he met with Captain Lightfoot. After entering his RSN passwords into the main computer and being recognized as the new Captain he first opened the Captain’s logs, went back six months and began to read.

Five minutes later he was disturbed with a beep from the door admittance system. Frustration caused him to lose his train of thought.
He had asked not to be disturbed
.
Before he could give permission for whoever had requested entry into his office to come in he heard the whooshing sound of doors opening. Swinging round in his chair towards the main doors out into the corridor, James shouted in anger, “who gave you permission to…” His outburst was cut short when he realized the main doors were still shut and there was no one in sight.

Instead from over his left shoulder came a slightly shaky voice. “Excuse me Captain, I’m sorry to interrupt. I thought I should introduce myself and see if you need anything. I am the Captain’s Steward, Arthur Fox.”