Silent Running (The Hope Island Chronicles Book 3) Page 9

  “Yes, I’ve heard,” Nathan said. “Senior Engineer?”

  “The square heads decided to have a tinker with the reactor,” Lt Cmdr Tollini said. “At least they had the common sense to close it down before they started. It’s completely cold.”

  “Any damage?” Nathan asked.

  “Not sure.”

  “You have reinitialized it?”

  “Not yet. I was waiting –”

  “What?” Nathan said. His mood darkened. “You’re sitting here while the reactor’s cold?”

  He looked first to the D-O then to Moe.

  “I ordered Lieutenant Commander Tollini to fire her up,” Moe said. “Apparently, Captain, he doesn’t recognize my authority as second in command of this boat.”

  Nathan fixed a cold stare at the senior engineer.

  “It’s SOP aboard this boat. Captain Winstone insisted—”

  “Do I look like Winstone to you?”

  “No, but still the orders of the Captain stand.”

  “Order revoked,” Nathan snapped. “Anything else of difficulty in maneuvering?”

  “Not that I can find.”

  “Captain,” the D-O snapped.

  About time.

  “Or do you question his authority too?” Moe asked.

  Tollini cleared his throat. “Captain.”

  “Talking of authority, Commander, if you receive an order from either Lieutenants Okuma or Ruvera, it’s as good as from me.” Nathan’s tone became frosty. “Are you reading me mister?”

  Tollini sat bolt upright. “Aye-aye, Captain.”

  “Good, now get out of here and fire up the damn reactor. Any problems report it immediately to one of the three of us. Understood?”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Go.”

  As he disappeared through the hatch a few half-formed smiles edged onto the younger officer’s faces.

  “Moe, what have you done with Riley?”

  “Brig, Captain.”

  “Good. Let’s move on. Lieutenant Keirn?”

  “Captain, like maneuvering the square heads have stuck their beaks into my departments. I’m still running a diagnostic on damage control but so far it’s looking all right. Stores on the other hand have been ransacked.”

  “How about V suits?”

  “All bar three are right where they should be. With Captain Winstone gone and two of our crew dead we’ve broken even. However they’ve cleaned out our food stores. They only left K pack rations. Sadistic bastards. They’ve also rifled through some of the containers and stock is missing. I have two of my people scouring the base for what’s missing, Captain.”

  “Very complete report, Fischer. Well done.”

  “Thanks skipper.”

  Moe leaned into his ear and filled in one of the many gaps in his knowledge.

  “Very well, Fish, I’ll let you get back to work.”

  As he walked to the hatch Nathan turned to the Weapons Engineering Officer.

  “Lieutenant Applebee?”

  “Captain, same thing I’m afraid,” the WEO said. “They’ve tinkered with the port pulsar. It’s a mess but I have a team working on it. They took a couple of torpedoes but I asked Fish to have his people keep an eye out for them. The rest of the inventory looks good.”

  “Can you get the pulsar working?” Nathan asked.

  “I can try, Captain.”

  “Thank you Roma, off you go.”

  He sniffed the air. “Seems that the Environment Control Center is in working order, Lieutenant Wanganeen.”

  “Aye, Captain,” he said. “I think the square heads are too stupid to figure out how it works.”

  “How’s your duty NCO?”

  “He’s good, sir. And a pretty decent stores NCO from what Fish told me.”

  “Good to hear, Leroy. You may go.”

  He gestured for the boat’s tactical officer, Ensign Willet to continue. Damn, he’s so young.

  “I got lucky, skipper. Tactical is working perfectly. I ran a diagnostic to make sure, but it looks like the Pruessens left it alone.”

  “Good to hear. Thanks Rudi, you’re dismissed.”

  He stared at the marine officer. She didn’t look happy.

  “Let’s hear it Lieutenant Noffke.”

  “They’ve cleared out my weapons lockers, including the L50’s. They took one ‘droid and left the rest. I’ve activated them and the D-O has put them to work around the boat. I checked the Pruessen arsenal and my weapons aren’t there. I’ve got Corporal Sinnott looking for them and Fish’s people as well, Captain.”

  “How about the Pruessen weaponry.”

  “It’s useable though a tad unsophisticated,” the marine said. “They’ve got a couple of weapons that could match our L50’s but I wonder if they’re necessary.”

  Beside him Moe chuckled.

  “I have, for some years, advocated that a monitor needs more protection to her stern quarter,” Nathan said. “I want two of those weapons placed into the boat bay to cover our six.”

  “Captain, they each weigh at least a hundred and twenty kilos.”

  “Then what are you going to do about that, marine?”

  “I can’t use anti-gravs on them or it’ll scramble their guidance circuits, so I guess I’ll have to man handle them.”

  “Grace, detail a couple of cans to the marines.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “Next time, Jacinta, just ask for help. All right?”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  “All in all not too shabby,” Nathan said as the marine left. “But why isn’t this boat in pieces?”

  “We’ve only been here for six days, Nate,” Moe said.

  “It’s our belief that it took time to set up this base,” Grace said. “And I think they were waiting for specialists to be shipped in from Midway. From what we’ve overheard they were supposed to be here on the last supply run but they didn’t show up.”

  “I guess Pruessen bureaucrats are as bad as ours,” Moe said. “If not we wouldn’t be here and the boat would be in worse shape than she is.”

  “When we get back home we’ll raise a glass to pen pushers everywhere,” Nathan said. Then a thought struck him. “Winstone?”

  “They must have taken him,” Grace said. “No one’s seen him since the boat was captured.” She snorted. “If they think they’re going to get valuable intell from that numbskull they are going to be sadly disappointed.”

  One less moron to mess up Monitor Corps.

  He stood, tilting his head to avoid the low overhead. “Anything else?”

  Moe and Grace shook their heads.

  He stepped into the Captain’s cabin and rummaged around. Locating Winstone’s spare flight suit he tore off the enemy uniform and donned monitor black. It hung off his taut frame but it felt good to be back in uniform. Taking a deep breath he stared into the mirror. “Don’t fuck this up,” he whispered. He stepped from his quarters and set course for the hatch.

  “Where are you off to?” Moe asked.

  Nathan stopped at the hatch. “This being my first command, I’m going to walk the boat.”

  ***

  Walking the boat, Nathan checked on every crewmember he encountered. They appeared to be surprised that he knew their names. Setting to memory Adroit’s crew roster before leaving Deception turned out to have unexpected benefits.

  “How are you feeling, Wilkinson?” he asked a junior rating.

  “Good sir.”

  “Looking forward to getting home.” Of course she is, idiot.

  “Aye sir,” she said. Like most of the crew she carried the cuts and bruises meted out by the square heads. “Anywhere will be good after this place.”

  He moved on speaking with other crewmembers. Nathan checked in with the department heads, encouraging them to do all that they could to get the boat back to first-class fighting order. Deliberately, he started at the bow and worked his way sternward.

  Entering maneuvering he made his way to the shie
lded reactor room. The reactor had been activated. Tollini sat at a console watching the steadily climbing power levels.

  “How’s it going,” Nathan asked.

  The senior engineer jumped. “Jeeezass, don’t sneak up on me, fuck you.” As he turned to face Nathan his face sagged. “Sorry sir, ah, Captain.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll wear a cowbell next time.” With the previous reaming behind them Nathan grinned. Tollini’s face lit with relief. Nathan nodded toward the panel.

  “She’s on the way,” Tollini said, “but cold starts are notoriously tricky. We should be ready to go in about three to four hours.”

  Nathan glanced at his countdown watch. Two hours nineteen minutes remained. He leaned in close and spoke in an urgent whisper.

  “What I’m about to tell you stays between us.”

  Tollini nodded.

  “In two hours a high caliber nuke is going to drop onto the roof of this base. Amos, I for one would really like to be somewhere else at that time.”

  “Fuck my brown dog,” Tollini hissed. His eyes had changed, fear dominating. “Two hours?” Nathan nodded. Amos rubbed his chin then looked his Captain in the eye. “I don’t know how, but I’ll have her ready to launch by then. You have my word on it, Captain.”

  Nathan shook the offered hand.

  CHAPTER 20

  Date: 25th July, 326 ASC

  Position: Saint Joan.

  Status: N plus two hours thirteen minutes.

  Two guards snapped to attention as Nathan approached the brig.

  “Knock it off,” he barked. “And before you say it, check the face. I’m considerably better looking than Winstone.”

  The guard’s relief was reflected by their immediate change in attitude. Monitor Corps never forgot discipline but such extreme formalities had no place on a boat as small as Adroit.

  Nathan palmed the grip of his sidearm. “Have they given you any trouble?”

  “Not a peep out of them, Captain.”

  “Very well. Stand ready.”

  It pleased Nathan to see that someone had taught them the right way of guarding prisoners. One backed through the adjacent hatch the other moved a few meters down the corridor.

  Nathan nodded and both guards brought their pulsar rifles to their shoulders. He opened the hatch and stepped to the coaming.

  All of the prisoners were conscious, their fearful anticipation casting dark shadows over every face. Except for Reinhardt who glared at him, the full brunt of his rage on open display.

  “Doctor Jahn?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have you seen to your crew’s injuries?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Grab your bag of tricks and come with me.”

  While Jahn packed his medical supplies Reinhardt continued his staring contest. Once the doctor stepped over the coaming the hatch snapped shut.

  “You’ve seen the tall one, the Captain?” Nathan said to the guards.

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Be very careful with all of them, but especially him.”

  “Aye, aye, Skipper.”

  Nathan escorted Jahn to the infirmary.

  “Take a seat,” Nathan said.

  “What’s going on?”

  “My crew are in need of your services.”

  “Very well.”

  “Starting with me,” Nathan said.

  “Is your hand bothering you?”

  “I took a hit and it’s been acting up ever since.”

  Jahn reached into his bag and ran his scanner over Nathan’s shattered hand.

  “Did you use the painkiller I gave you.”

  “Ran out,” Nathan said.

  “Then you shouldn’t be alive.”

  Nathan chose to take a chance with the Pruessen doctor. “I gave it to Jaeger.”

  “All of it?” Jahn asked.

  Nathan nodded.

  The doctor smiled. “Good riddance to bad rubbish.”

  “Why doctor, that sort of talk could get you into very big trouble with the HRS.”

  The smile fled from Jahn’s face. “You don’t need to tell me about those evil thugs.” He examined Nathan’s hand before staring at a wall. “My wife ran afoul of them. She got ten years in a labor camp.”

  “Sorry.”

  “So am I. At least the pricks informed me when she died.” He shrugged although his face darkened with pain and rage. “I was a boy when the, ha, reformation began. Pruessen has always been hard but in the last thirty years it’s become intolerable.”

  “Then why stay?”

  Jahn snorted. “Do you think I can take the next transport heading south?”

  “Yes, you can.”

  Jahn blinked. “On your ship?”

  “It’s a boat, but yes.”

  Jahn stared into nothingness for a time. “What do you estimate your chances of escape are?”

  “Fifty-fifty.”

  “They’re the best odds I’ve had in years. I’m in.” He thought about his hasty decision. “What happens if, ah, when we arrive in league space.”

  “You apply for asylum,” Nathan said.

  “I can do that?”

  “A few years back we cleared seven thousand Talgarno refugees.”

  “I’m not Talgarno.”

  “No. I’m not saying it will be easy but considering the alternative …”

  “Is it true that Athens has a truth tester?”

  “Yep.”

  “Good. When do we leave?”

  Nathan glanced at his watch. “Soon.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Date: 25th July, 326 ASC

  Position: Saint Joan.

  Status: Z plus one hour thirty two minutes.

  Nathan had taken Moe’s advice to heart. He couldn’t do everything himself. Command meant delegation.

  Grace Ruvera had hacked the base computer with ease and found the information Nathan needed. She also downloaded an enormous amount of intell. Lieutenant Noffke and Corporal Sinnott had escorted the landing boat pilots to the six heavy haul landing boats, and the preflight checks were underway. Space within the LBs would be a little tight for the eighty-two scientists, their families and the square head military, but for the short term it would work. Amos Tollini gave him regular updates on the progress to their power supply. Everything looked good.

  Nathan gave PO Krupinski the unenviable duty of guarding the Pruessen doctor. He wanted to believe Jahn’s story, but long held prejudices made him loath to do so. Still, Jahn had emptied his sick bay and transferred the contents into Adroit’s looted infirmary. Moe and Grace worked in concert with him to fill in the gaps.

  Nathan wandered the base and the boat showing the colors. After Winstone’s appalling mishandling of the boat, the crew needed time to adjust to the new Captain. They especially needed to know that he had faith in their professionalism. Unlike his time aboard Courageous, this crew were all handpicked professionals. So far, Nathan considered, everything looked on track for an early departure.

  His comm beeped. “Captain.”

  “Captain, the first LB is ready to go,” Lt Noffke said.

  “Very well.”

  Entering the mess a room of anxious faces greeted him. The civilians had decided in advance who would go first. The children plus a few adults to calm their nerves and supervise. They carried blankets, food and water. A waiting guard escorted the fifteen civvies out.

  “How soon?” Lance asked.

  “As soon as possible.” Although he would forever hate Pruessens, he felt a slight stirring. One parent to another. “Don’t worry, Lance, you’ll be together with your son soon.”

  “What if Cormorant doesn’t turn up on schedule?”

  “I’ve had additional supplies loaded aboard all boats. Just in case.”

  “I don’t understand you, Hans. I’ve heard that leaguers kill their prisoners.”

  “And yet you’re still breathing,” Nathan said. “Pruessen propaganda is spectacularly inaccurate, Lance. If I were
you I wouldn’t believe everything you hear.”

  The Pruessen nodded.

  ***

  Landing boat six passed through the environmental force-field, leaving hangar area three behind.

  Nathan glanced at his watch. Twenty-eight minutes to go. It would be tight but they’d make their escape in time.

  By now Deception should be nearing orbit. He keyed his comm. “Deception this is Adroit, respond to my signal.” A hissing in his earpiece but no response. Three times he tried to contact the boat that sped to destroy the base, and each time no reply. We should be out of here before she fires.

  He walked into hangar four that had been allocated to Adroit.

  “How’s it going?” Nathan asked.

  Moe, Amos and Technical CPO Gomard labored over the hatch controls.

  “A bit of a glitch, Captain,” the senior engineer said. “Environmental force field is acting up. Don’t worry we’ll work it out.”

  Nathan checked the time. Twenty-six minutes.

  “So, not a problem?”

  “Captain,” the tech said, “it’s a simple system and shouldn’t be giving us the slightest problem. I think there’s a subroutine we have to find to activate it. Like the Commander said, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

  Nathan’s forehead furrowed. No EFF would cause big problems.

  He stared at Moe. ‘Chill,’ she silently mouthed. He hid a smile.

  “The reactor, Amos?”

  “No problems. Well, actually, lots of problems but she’ll be fully online in about five minutes. Lieutenant Jackson is overseeing it. We’ll launch on time, Captain.”

  “Well done.” He cleared his throat. “Keep me appraised.”

  Minutes later he took the Captain’s chair beside his D-O.

  “How are things looking?”

  “Good,” Grace said. “All departments have checked in and the boat is almost green across the board. Just awaiting the final confirmation from maneuvering.” She sighed, sat back and looked at him. “All preflight conditions have been met and I’m preparing to button us up. I think we’re going to make it off this rock.”

  A nagging doubt still loitered at the back of Nathan’s consciousness. His Prep had been pulsing gently but regularly for hours. What have I missed?

  Feeling restless he walked to the helm station. Ensign Perrie covered her board while Moe worked on the EFF. Young but competent, Moe had described her. On her second cruise, she had never experienced the stresses of combat.