Against All Odds (A Galaxy Unknown, Book 7) by Thomas DePrima

Author:Thomas DePrima
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw
Publisher: Vinnia Publishing
Published: 2011-04-03T05:00:00+00:00

An hour later, the Light Speed engines of the Tsgardi battle group were shut down as they encountered the electronic debris field. Within seconds, before they had even issued the call for all hands to go to battle stations, the WOLaR torpedoes were exploding in their midst. When the Space Command vessels arrived seconds later, the officers were screaming at their com operators as they tried to communicate with the remaining ships. The fight was over in ten minutes.

Later that day while the cleanup was under way, Jenetta had a visitor aboard the Colorado.

"Commander Cleviss is at the door," the door interface announced.

"Come," Jenetta said, pushing down the cover of the com unit.

As the officer entered, Jenetta said, "Welcome aboard, Commander."

"Thank you, Admiral."

"Have a seat."

"Yes ma'am."

"Your ship did well in the battle, Commander. I'm glad to have you with us."

"Thank you, Admiral. Your plan was brilliant. I was amazed at the lack of fire coming from the Tsgardi ships."

"The plan was developed by the captains of the ships in the task force. We all had a hand in it."

"Yes ma'am."

Jenetta looked at the officer intently. He obviously had something on his mind, but he didn't know how to begin. She decided to wait until he found his tongue.

"Ma'am," he finally said, "I would be remiss in my duty if I didn't report something. Commander Stephan Cross of the Nile was clearly unhappy with having to wait until the task force arrived. I believe he might have deliberately arranged to confront the Tsgardi battle group, although I made your orders quite clear. I even told him that if he alerted the Tsgardi to our presence I'd bring him up on charges."

Jenetta leaned back in her chair and looked at the nervous officer without saying anything for almost a full half-minute. "That's a very serious charge, Commander."

"Yes Ma'am. I know. I've known Stephan since the Academy, and he's always been a bit— bold."

"There's a very old saying from the early days of aviation on Earth that goes, 'there are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are very few old, bold pilots.' We want officers who aren't afraid to take the fight to the enemy when necessary, but we also want our officers to follow their orders explicitly unless they are out of touch with senior command or the conditions have changed dramatically. Do you have any proof he violated his orders?"

"No, ma'am, no specific proof. It's just a feeling, knowing how he felt and how impulsive he can be at times."

"Well, he's required to submit his bridge logs of any action, but it's possible he could have arranged a confrontation just before the start of the log period he sent. I could order he submit his bridge logs for the prior hour to see if he first encountered the Tsgardi from a distance and, after determining their speed and course, deliberately set a course that would have him confront them. Do you feel we should do that, Commander?"

"Uh, I don't know, Admiral.

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