Black Dawn (19 page)

Captain Butler had quite a few things to discuss at the White
meeting as a matter of fact. He took a deep breath before going into
the room where all the other senior officers sat. He was going to get
some people mad today.

“
Good morning everyone,” he greeted them as usual, even
though “morning” was relative fiction on a space vessel. Well, then, he
reasoned, no one could tell him he was wrong.

He gave everyone the update on construction and crew. He
also outlined the plan to take Coy Lamont to Riga to seek medical assistance. No one outside of Ken, Bon, Ceal and Asch really knew
what had happened. The rest of the Fleet simply knew it had some sort
of attack and was in a coma. Most herms came from Riga though, so
no one argued with the reasoning that someone there could help. He
then gathered the department reports as usual.

The next topic was what he was dreading.
“Now, then, before
I outline my next subject, I want a few things said up front. Number
one, neither me nor anyone else will ever argue who made this Fleet.
And made it work. Nothing I do now or at any other time will change
that. Number two, Coy Lamont is in a coma and is incapable of running this Fleet. Number three, said Coy Lamont hired me and put me
into the job of Fleet Exec knowing full well that I would assume command at such a time. Number four, I have assumed command and I
intend to run this Fleet to the best of my ability. Many of my decisions
will be very different than what the commodore would have done. To
be blunt, get used to it. Until the time when Commodore Lamont is
back in charge, I will be calling the shots. Any questions?”

There were a few sideways glances, but no one spoke for a
minute.
“We know the Skipper put you in charge,” Schiff broke the
silence. “If you are asking for our loyalty, you’ve always had it.”
There were other murmurs of agreement around the table.
Michaels was the only outsider in all of this having never even met
Coy Lamont. He had, however, heard of little else in the short time he
had been with them. All those Stories Butler had mentioned. If they
were true it was no wonder this commodore was so revered.
“Thank you Major,” Butler nodded at Schiff. “Now for business. The first thing I am going to do is change the hiring. Going over
the rosters I have noted some gaping holes that I believe we need to
plug. Engineering and Medical both need more help. We still need
more pilots.
“I’ve been thinking that some of our people might want to
train for a shot at the fighters. There are several that are good pilots in
other types of vessels. I’m willing to give anyone the chance that wants
to cross train. But that would mean we would have to fill their current
spots. We are also going to need crews to take care of thirteen fighters.
And I want full time Tac Com officers for each ship. Altogether, I
would like to get the Fleet to approximately two hundred people.
Soon.”
Another silence met all of this.
“And how are you going to do that?” Bon asked quietly. “Put
out an advertisement?”
Come on, Raeph, Ken thought, I need you behind me. “I’m not
going to post any notices on bar walls, no. But I am going to encourage, let’s call it, word of mouth advertising. Any time we are in dock,
we raise questions. Don’t always wait for people to come to you.
Strike up conversations. Word will get around quickly enough. Send
anyone
with potential to Captain Bon, Major Schiff or myself.”
“What about command of the
Raven?”
Hendricks asked, evenly. “It looks like you’re going to be a little busy.” She looked at him
steadily, with no apparent sarcasm or bitterness. The lack of emotion,
however, was louder than words.
“I have been considering that issue as well. I would prefer not
to move command staff around at this time. Everyone has forged a
good working team on their ships. I don’t want to interfere with that
any more than I can help. I am thinking, for now, I want an Executive
Officer, and I will continue technical command. If anyone has a junior
officer you think would be a candidate, I will take any suggestions.
Otherwise, I might hire from outside for that as well.”

“An outsider flying the Skipper’s ship?!”
Rebel was unable to
contain himself any longer.
Butler took a breath and worked hard not to respond in kind.
“Every ship in this Fleet belongs to Coy Lamont,” he said evenly,
“And every single person in this room was once an “outsider” in case
you’ve forgotten that. The next person I interview has as much a right
to a second chance as we all did… Any other comments?” He looked
them each in the eye as he went around the table. A few nods of support, a couple cool return looks. That was okay. He’d take cool over
cold. Michaels, he had. Schiff had already given his word. Byars was
okay. Asch would do whatever he asked. Bon he would definitely hear
from, he had no doubt about that.
“Sir?” Schiff formally requested attention. “I suggest Lieutenant Tony Knepp to be considered for the position on the
Raven.”
Heaven bless Walter Schiff two times today. Let Rebel or
Hendricks argue with that! Everyone knew it was Knepp’s quick thinking that had saved the troopers from certain death. He should have
thought of it himself. A war hero. Lamont had even mentioned giving
him some sort of commendation. Command of the flagship seemed an
adequate reward.
“An excellent suggestion, Major. Asch, make a note for me to
discuss it with the lieutenant soon.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Byars, have the commodore moved over to the
Nighthawk.
Captain Hendricks, prepare to depart as soon as possible. Report daily
via direct com.”
“Aye, sir.”
He looked around briefly one more time. “Dismissed.”

It would take the
Nighthawk
a little over twelve days to even
reach Riga. According to her orders, Captain Hendricks reported in to
the Fleet every morning. The tachyon transmission let the parties talk
in real time despite the distance between them. But real time or not the
message was the same each transmission. There was no change in the
commodore.

Meanwhile, life on the
Raven
and the
Rook
centered on learning to fly the
Talons
. With the nine pilots and gunners Lamont had
kept with the ships and the eight Michaels had brought in they still had
nine spots to fill. Not to mention crews to take care of the ships on a
regular basis. As Ken had said, he opened up the training to any current BlackFleet members who wanted to give it a try. Three men that
had come on board with Drake made the list, having already had some
time in similar craft. Chen Marcus had requested to stay and train
when the
Nighthawk
left orbit. Butler was glad he had granted it when
he saw the skill with which Marcus handled the simulator.

Michaels decided to keep the last
Talon
as his personal fighter. Which brought it down to three spots. Sweggert, Pierce, Knepp and
McKinney, all having varying degrees of experience with small craft,
also requested to try. What they lacked in expertise, they made up for
in drive. These were some of Lamont’s original recruits. Perhaps it
was some of their grief, which drove them to exceed even their own
expectations.

Butler took all the candidates who passed the simulator testing
and divided them up into three squadrons – two to be housed on the
Raven
and one on the
Rook
. The
Rook’s
squad, true to Coy’s wishes
would be an elite
group. The most cross-trained in the Fleet. Marcus was promoted to
Flight Captain and put in charge of them. One of Michaels’ finds, one
Danielle Cheny, was made Flight Captain for the
Raven
. The new pilots and gunners were immediately promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

Almost all of the candidates.
Lieutenant Tony Knepp stood in shock staring at the postings
on the vidcom. His name was not even on the list. He worked hard to
stay modest and humble, but in point of fact he knew he had flown
rings around some who had gotten in. He was half way to finding
Marcus for a little ‘chat’ when he was summoned to Captain Butler’s
quarters. He changed his direction in the corridor much easier than he
changed his state of mind.
Taking a breath to prepare himself for whatever, he pushed the
buzzer to announce his presence.
“Come.”
Knepp went in and found the Captain busy making a pot of
coffee. He waved a cup in Tony’s direction. “Want some?”
“No thank you, sir.”
Butler frowned at the pot.
“Nobody ever seems to want my
coffee.” He poured himself a cup and sat down at his desk. “Sit, Lieutenant.”
Knepp sat as directed.
Butler’s frown was now directed at him. “I suppose you know
what this is about.”
What?! Tony swallowed. “I didn’t make the fighter squad..?”
he ventured.
The captain nodded. “Thanks to that little stunt you pulled on
the derelict in the battle for the
Raven
.”
He had nothing whatsoever to say to that. Stunt
? Stunt!?
But Ken Butler carried on as if he didn’t notice Knepp’s
stunned face. “Now on top of all that, another problem has come up as
well. You see, with the Commodore on the sick list so to speak, and
me in charge of things until…it returns, the
Raven
is bereft of a commander on deck. This is where you come in.” Butler counted off reasons on his fingers. “Due to one- your incredible act of quick thinking
and bravery which saved the lives of the entire boarding party, two –
your perfect record of following orders and adapting to whatever was
asked of you, three – your outstanding performance in the simulated
battle sequences this week, and four – being one of the few people in
this entire outfit with tactical training of any kind, I am offering you
the rank of Lieutenant Commander and the post of Exec of the
Raven
.”
Knepp sat and stared at him for a couple of minutes. “You
have an interesting method of working up to promotions – sir,” he finally told him.
Butler smiled. “I’m glad you like them. Think you can deal
with my methods for awhile?”
He gave up on the modest and humble and grinned unashamedly. “It will be an honor and a privilege to serve on the bridge of the
Raven
,
sir.” They both stood and shook hands. “And I think I’ll take that coffee. Now that I know I’m going to have a head to drink it with.”

Ceal watched out of the portal as the
Nighthawk
settled into
close orbit around Riga. From up here, it looked like a perfectly normal, even attractive planet. Not the blues and greens of her native
world, but pleasant just the same. Mostly reds and tans. Very little
cloud cover. It was an arid planet with virtually no original life forms.
Mankind had taken it over early in Beta Region’s colonization due to
its wealth of ores, plentiful energy and distance from other inhabited
worlds.

The last reason was the real one she was sure.
This was not someplace that she ever thought she would be.
As a physician, the thought of experimenting on humans just for money gave her the creeps. Except for Coy Lamont she had never met anyone who had actually been associated with the planet and its less than
ethical line of work.
At that thought, she looked behind her at the still form in the
medical chamber. The blinking light and soft beeping was the only
indication that her commodore lived. And that was only because she
had made the decision to hook it up to total life support. Glancing back
at the planet below, she wondered if she had been right.
They had been in the system for four days now, waiting for a
response. The trip here had been long but that had been the least of
their problems. The defense net around the planet had kept them at
bay for the first two days while they tried to convince someone on the
other end of the com who they were and what they wanted.
The local law enforcement”, Ceal mentally snorted at the description, had finally escorted them to their present orbital position.
Then came another two days of trying one lab after another attempting
to find someone, anyone who could or would claim knowledge of the
decades old contract.
Vennefron had tried every trick in his book to gain the information they needed before they had even left the fleet, but found every
path blocked. These people worked on a very strict need-to-know basis. And evidently the BlackFleet didn’t need to know.
“Bridge to Byars,” Mara Hendricks’ voice came over her com
link startling her out of her reverie.
“Byars, go ahead.”
“Ceal, I think we’ve made contact with the right lab this time,”
the captain told her.
“You’re sure?”
“No, but at least they aren’t outright denying it. That’s probably as close as we’re going to get.”
This was it. “Alright, put them through.” She settled in front
of her vidcom and tried to look as cool and professional as possible.
The man whose image formed was white haired and gentle
looking. Not at all the monster she was expecting. “This is Dr. FloydScot. How may I help you?”
“Dr. Scot, my name is…” she hesitated for a split second. She
usually did not go by the honorific since she had never officially graduated from the medical school she had attended. But she figured this
man would not respect a mere Med-Tech. “…Dr. Ceal Byars. I have a
situation here that I am hoping you can assist me with. A member of
our crew has had some sort of physical breakdown and is now in a coma. It is an hermaphrodite by the name of Coy Lamont and according
to the medical file I received, it may have originally come from your
lab.”
The man looked extremely puzzled. “From our lab? Working
for a mercenary fleet? I don’t believe we have done any work in that
area…”
“I don’t believe that was the original intent. It was on its own
when it came to the BlackFleet. “
“Hmmmm.” He rubbed his chin. “Most peculiar. The name
means nothing, of course. Probably picked it up along the way. On its
own, you say? How interesting.
If I understand you correctly, it seems
to be a discard – a product that was not picked up by the original contractors. But I’m not sure what it is exactly that you want from us. If
you are not the original customer no sort of guarantee would be in effect.”
Ceal’s train of thought sputtered at that totally unexpected remark. “I’m not interested in arguing about an expired warranty,” she
managed, hoping she didn’t look as surprised as she felt. “ We would
like our officer back. I need to know what caused the break down,
what we can do medically now to assist recovery as well as what long
term effects we can expect.”
“You said you have a file. Can you send me any information
that I can use to identify this particular specimen?”
Internally seething at the words “discard” and “specimen”,
Ceal smiled through gritted teeth. She would do what it took to get
help. “Of course, Doctor. I will send it now.”
She sent the information over the link to his vid. Ceal watched
his expression as he read go from puzzled to shocked to almost angry.
“Is this a joke, Dr. Byars?” he asked.
She blinked in surprise. “A joke? No, sir. Why would you ask
that?”