Cripple Squadron (The 1st Solar War) by Fred Hughes

Author:Fred Hughes [Hughes, Fred]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16. Reconnaissance

The mood in the US Space Force conference room was somber. The damaged carrier Hornet had arrived at the Space Force dockyard facilities at Lagrange Point Four and a preliminary evaluation had been conducted. It wasn’t a good report.

If Space Force could put the carrier into a drydock, they could complete repairs in three to four months. But there was only one dock large enough to work on her, and to use it they had to pull out the carrier Yorktown that was currently under construction. Doing that would significantly delay its completion and delivery to the fleet.

There was a second option available. “We can repair her outside of the yard, but it will take longer, almost twice as long,” Rear Admiral Scott Murphy, the head of Space Force building and construction, said.

“So, four months if we put her in dock, but we delay the delivery of Yorktown by the same amount,” General McNair, commander of US Space Force, said. “Or seven to eight months if we don’t put her in dock. It sounds like a simple decision to me. Scott, make preparations for pulling Lexington out and putting Hornet into dock.”

“I think that’s the wrong move,” Admiral Arnold Buckner, commander of the US Space Fleet, stated emphatically.

“I think you’d want the carrier back in service as quickly as possible,” Commodore Joy Drake, McNair’s chief of staff, said.

Arnold Buckner didn’t think much of Commodore Drake, considering her McNair’s chief flunky and mouthpiece. “Of course I would like Hornet back as soon as possible,” Arnold responded, a touch of irony in his voice. “I also want to protect the United States and our allies and putting Hornet in drydock affects that.”

The commander of the US Space Force Fleet turned to Admiral Murphy. “Scott, if we put Hornet into space dock, how fast could we get her back out if we desperately needed her?”

Murphy leaned back in his chair and pretended to ponder. Scott and Admiral Buckner had discussed this prior to the meeting. “Since the reason for using the dock to speed up repairs is that we’d be cutting open the landing bay, it’d take at least a week working round the clock for her to get back out.”

“And if you worked on her without going into the dock?” Arnold continued his line of questions.

“If we work on her without going into space dock, she’s essentially always available for use,” Murphy stated.

“But it would only be half a carrier,” Commodore Drake said.

“Actually, a little more than that,” Buckner said. “I spoke with Captain Rogers, Hornet’s CO, before the meeting. He’s moving his squadrons around on the carrier. Remember, he can still launch fighters out of both bays, but can only land them in the starboard one. Each bay can handle five squadrons, and he’s going to fill the starboard landing bay with five squadrons of Mustang fighters.”

“What about the rest of his space group?” Vice Admiral Edgar Danforth asked. He was in charge of all Space Force fighter operations and had a vested interest in the situation aboard the damaged carrier.

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