Effie by CJ Williams

Author:CJ Williams [Williams, CJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-19T22:00:00+00:00

10 – Strategy

“It never gets old, does it?” Captain Horn asked rhetorically.

Thirty days had passed since Effie’s meeting with Van den Broeck. She and Horn were staring through the picture window of an executive lounge that Mortenson had added to the shipyard’s headquarters building. Vanguard’s skids rested on a reinforced grid of steel beams, allowing her to receive yet more scheduled maintenance and upgrades. The summer sun was particularly welcome for the workers.

“Not for me,” Effie agreed. “But this must be an unusual view for you, looking at her from outside.”

“Not really,” Horn replied. “I schedule myself for a Kobra mission at least once a week, so I’ve seen her from every angle. That’s how I keep up my flight proficiency.”

“Oh, of course. That makes sense.”

Horn nodded at Vanguard’s sister ship, under construction. “How is Vengeance coming along?”

“Gary says she is on track, but I don’t really understand what that means anymore. Vanguard has been operational for a year and yet you’re still discovering defects that should have been caught during the initial build. It kind of bothers me.”

“It shouldn’t,” Horn said confidently. “It’s true we found a few issues, but nothing like we used to get in the navy. Back then we were dealing with really major problems, such as propulsion and weapons systems. A lot of time the contractors were still struggling with system limitations or how to integrate all the systems. Vanguard has been a dream. Your design team is just out of this world.”

Effie nodded vaguely. “More or less.” The actual fact was that Bailey was the design team. She had once asked him if they should hire some designers just for appearance’s sake, but he simply scoffed. To Horn, she said, “We do a lot of virtual testing. They run simulations on every part of the ship before going into production.”

Horn said, “All I can say is you have the best group of engineers I’ve ever come across. I’d like to meet them someday. Just wanted to tell you.”

“Thank you for saying so. I’ll pass it on.”

“I’m guessing you want to talk about personnel for the new ships.”

“You heard about my discussion with the Secretary-General last month?”

“I did, and quite frankly I was glad. I hope you’re serious.”

“I am,” Effie said. “But I want to be positive you are okay with going in that direction. You put this whole plan together, but if you think it’s a mistake, please tell me. I’m always willing to reconsider.”

Horn shook his head. “It’s a good plan. As long as we can afford it, creating our own navy would be the best move you could make. I was worried about interoperability with NATO forces. Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to combat, their soldiers are great, but the chain of command gets dicey when you have multiple sovereign nations trying to carry out a single mission.”

“I realize that now,” Effie said. “To answer your question, money itself is not a problem. But when we leave, I’m not sure how long we’ll be gone.

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