He Who Dares: Book Two (The Gray Chronicals 2) (13 page)

“Again, if the ship is running normally, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I’d like to look around and see if I can pick up two qualified helmsman, sir.  Sally Goldman is good, but we need her in communications.”

“Yes, can’t have you at the helm all the time, beside which, you are Chief of the Boat, Conner, and I definitely need another officer, three isn’t enough.”

“No luck at all there, sir.  The Admiralty made it perfectly clear that we would have to do with what we had.”

“I’m going to have a word with Admiral Rawlings, he has to have a few lowly Ensigns running around underfoot, you never know, he might want to get rid of a couple of them.”

“Ensign, sir?”  Using the Marines was bad enough, now Ensigns?”

“Don’t look so glum, Conner, I was an Ensign when you met me.”  Conner smiled and nodded, keeping any other thoughts he might have on the subject to himself.

“I’ll go and move things along, sir, and try and find the other helmsmen.”  He saluted and left the cabin.

Sitting on an equipment crate, Mike switched on his computer, and brought up the Naval Data base.  He then pulled up the Ensign list and went through it.  Some of the names he recognized from his class, most long since posted, and promoted, thanks to family connections.  The few he knew, but he wouldn’t want them anyway.  Then a name jumped out at him, and he requested information.  Nodding to himself, he punched the number for Admiral Rawlings.

“Admiral’s office, Flag Leftenant Vargas speaking.”

“Hello, Rolly, how you doing.”  Mike beamed into the video pickup.

“Mike, great to see you, hear it's freezing down there.”

“It is, and I am.”

“Love the way you’ve decorated your quarters, early construction motif.  Very original.”  He grinned, peering around Mike’s shoulders at the bare walls and dangling wires.

“Funny man, ha-ha-ha, is the old man available?”  Seeing Rolly smile in response.

“Let me check, hold one,” the screen switched to the flagship's emblem for a moment, “he has time for a quick word, Mike, then he’s off to some official Christmas party or other.”

“Okay, this won’t take long.”  The screen flickered a moment, then the Admiral came on.

“Good day Leftenant Gray, how are you?”

“As well as can be expected, sir.”

“I know what you are going to ask, and before you do, the answer is no!”

“Actually, Admiral, I was going to ask about Ensign, Janice Fletcher, sir.”

“Fletcher?”

“Yes, sir, she graduated from the Naval Academy the same time I did, and I see she is still an Ensign and assigned to the Cruiser, H.M.S. Sutherland.”

“Oh yes, so she was.”

“Was, sir?”

“Yes.  At the moment she’s confined to quarters pending her discharge.”

“Oh no!  Why, Admiral, she was brilliant at the Academy?”

“Off the record, Leftenant Gray, she struck a superior officer.”  The Admiral looked glum.

“Ouch!  Who did she hit?”

“Her Captain, James Heartmore.”

“Good God!”  Mike sighed  "They weren’t the best of friend at the Academy.”

“Well, it flared into open combat, not that I blame her.”

“No, sir, from the information in the Naval Data base, Heartmore received a promotion to First Leftenant, then Junior Captain within months of his first posting.”

“Yes, I’m sorry to say he did.  Family connection, his Uncle is an MP.”

“But why on Earth would she hit him, and why no court martial?”

“Because at the time he was trying to rape her, and she threatened the go public with the whole sorry mess.  Under pressure from his uncle and her family, the First Sea Lord gave her the option of resigning her commission instead.”

“And there’s nothing you can do about it, sir?”

“No.  She isn’t exactly in the mood to listen to senior officers right now.”

“Can I have her, sir?”

“What?”

“Well, technically, she is still in the Navy, unless you’ve all ready processed her application to resign.”

“No, it's sitting on my desk, the Admiralty’s closed until after the New Year.”

“Then put her under guard and ship her down on the next shuttle, I think I can talk her out of resigning.  If you can get Heartmore to withdraw, or reduce to charges against her.”

“Ummm, that’s a thought, get him to reduce them to ‘Conduct unbecoming’ and ‘Insubordination’ or something like that.”

“Yes, that’s Captain’s Mast, sir, and transfer to my command might be seen as a punishment.”  The Admiral chuckled hearing that.

“Yes, it might, since many the ships Captains are dumping their unwanted crew members on you.”

“Oh?”

“You might not be too happy with what you get, Mike.”

“At the moment I’ll take anyone I can, sir.”

“Yes, I’m sorry I had to kill all your direct requests for transfers, but Brue personnel was catching on.  The Naval Inspector's office doesn’t usually have as much of a staff as you have.”

“I understand, Admiral, and thank you for all your help so far.”

“If I do this, Mike, you will be on your own, as my standing will take a bit of a beating.”

“I’m sorry, Admiral, I didn’t mean to get you into the position.”

“Oh, it’s nothing I can’t handle, I’m a little too far up the list now for them to hurt my career.”

“Happy New Year to you, sir.”

“Same to you, Mike, and good luck and God’s speed.”  The connection went dead, and Mike sat back with a sigh.  From now on, he’d have to avoid the Admiral.  He’d stuck his neck out about as far as he could, so now it was all up to him.

*  *  *  *  *  *

Ensign, Janice Fletcher paced back and forth across her tiny cabin.  The dark look on her face getting darker at the sound of the head flushing on the other side of the thin steel bulkhead for the tenth time in an hour.  Without warning, or a knock, the door unlocked, and two men stepped in, both officers, and both wearing Naval Police armbands.

“Ensign Fletcher, you are to pack your things and come with us, now.”

“What!”

“Orders from the Admiral, Ensign.”

“I protest, I resigned.”

“Not yet, Ensign, not until the Admiralty says so.”  They gave her a stone face look and stood back, waiting.

In fury, Janice Fletcher packed, not that she had much to pack; the rest of her things were in storage.  They then marched her to the launch bay and climbed aboard a waiting transport, but she wasn’t alone.  Nine other crew personnel sat around the passenger bay, looking at her as she sat down between the two MP's.  Sitting in the corner, she tapped her foot on the deck, as trying to get the two men to tell her anything was useless.  Eventually they’d have to let her talk to a superior officer, or let her near a comm unit.  The trip took three hours, and it was only the sound of atmosphere rushing passed the hull that she had any idea where she was going.  At least they were taking her planet side, and that was something.  Snow whipping through the open hatch caught her unprepared, and no winter wear, and by the time she got inside the hanger like building she was frozen to the bone.  Inside the ship looked like a wreck.  Not that she had much time to see the outside as her escort marched her up a gangway and inside.  This looked worse than the outside, and the dim was incredible.  Naval and civilian personnel were everywhere, working frantically on every conceivable system.  The last time she’d seen anything like this, it was at the Academy in a combat simulation working a damage control party.

“I’m looking for the Captain or the XO, Chief.”  One of her escort asked a tired looking CPO.

“Oh yes, been expecting you, I’ll take it from here.”

“Chief?”

“You heard me, you are dismissed, sir.”  Conner hunched his massive shoulders, like a bear about to attack.

“I need to hear that from the Captain or the XO, Chief.”  The young Leftenant said his voice sounding unsure.

“You heard it! Dismissed.”  A voice behind them cut through the din like a rapier.

“Yes, sir.”  Both men came to attention and saluted as a grime covered Pete Standish came up behind them.  The only thing that wasn’t covered in grime were his shoulder applets.  He quickly dismissed them after signing the release form, detailing one of the crew to see them safely off the ship.  Once bitten, twice shy and he wasn’t about to have someone slip something else in the works and bugger it up.

“You’re Ensign Janice Fletcher?”  Pete asked with a slight sniff as he looked the shivering girl up and down.

“Yes, and who are you?”  Janice asked, sounding none too pleased.

“That’s sir, to you Ensign!”

“I resigned three days ago, SIR!”  She snapped, about out of patients with the whole mess.

“Your resignation was rejected by the Admiral.  You have been transferred to this command, as of now.”

“What!  You can’t do that, I had an agreement with the Admiral!”  Janice snarled, bunching her fists.

“Yes he can.  Now follow me and report to the Captain.”

“Then I’ll just resubmit my resignation to this Captain, or go public with the story if I have to.”

“Your choice Ensign Fletcher, but only after you have spoken with the Captain.”  Janice bit back an angry remark and followed the XO down the passageway.

She could always walk ashore and made a few calls.  It took ten minutes to reach the Captain quarter, and something akin to an obstacle course.  They had to climb over, under, around, or negotiate scaffolding, and squeeze passed standing equipment.  At times, they threaded their way through a jungle of dangling power and communications cables, until at last the XO stopped and knocked on a blank steel door.

“Is this a ship or a joke, sir.”  Janice tried brushing some of the dirt and dust off her uniform, and understood why the XO looked so filthy.

“It’s half way between the two at the moment, Ensign.”  Pete answered coldly.

“Come in!”  A muffled voice shouted from within.

“Go on in Ensign.”  Without acknowledging the XO comment Janice opened the door and walked in.  A tall man sat behind a wooded packing crate he was using for a desk, he back towards her, and without even saluting, she launched into her demands.

“Captain, I made a deal with Admiral Rawlings.  I resigned my commission in the Royal Navy three days ago, and now I’m told that he’s canceled the deal!  Let me tell you right now...”

“Are you in the habit of coming in front of a superior officer and not saluting Ensign?”

“No, sir, but...”

“Is that what they taught you at the Academy, Janice?”  Mike turned round to face her.

“What the... Mike?”  Her face registered complete surprise, then shock.  “You can’t be the Captain, this is a joke, right?”

“No, it isn’t Jan, I’m the Captain of this wreck, and you have been assigned to my command.”

“Like hell I have, I resigned!”