Starhunt: A Star Wolf Novel by David Gerrold

Author:David Gerrold [Gerrold, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction
ISBN: 9781939529497
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
Published: 2014-01-28T00:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

The only constant in the universe is change.

—I CHING

The opposite of change is not resistance to change, but change in the opposite direction.

—I CHING

The only thing you can be sure of is that you can’t really be too sure of anything.

—TOM DIGBY, twentieth-century

American philosopher

On his way back to the bridge, Korie stops at the radec room. “Rogers, Bridger—”

Bridger looks up; Rogers keeps his gaze fixedly on his monitors.

“I just wanted to tell you to keep your scanners wide open. We’re starting a prolonged search of the bogie—you two are the key part of it. If you don’t do your job, we might as well not go. But you’ll do your jobs; I—have confidence in you.” He looks from one to the other. “You haven’t let me down yet.” He looks at Rogers in particular, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. The boy is rigid before his console; the brace across his back gives him a bulky, hunchbacked appearance. “Well, carry on—” The first officer continues on to the bridge.

He drops into the Command and Control Seat familiarly. “Donnelly,” he calls, even before he has settled himself; the officer at the pilot console looks up. “What’s our warp factor?”

“A hundred lights.”

“Increase it to a hundred and thirty. Continue on the same search patterns.”

“Yes, sir.”

Korie checks the controls of the seat then; satisfied, he begins to reassure himself as to the ship’s operational status. Everything is still at workable levels—fine . . .

He taps the intercom. “Engine room—”

“Yes, sir.”

“Put Chief Leen on the line, please.”

“Yes, sir.” After a pause, “Leen here.”

“Chief, this is Korie.”

“Yes, sir?”

“I just wanted to compliment you and thank you.”

“Sir?”

“Your crew did a fine job during this morning’s maneuver. We didn’t catch the bogie, but your men seemed to be at peak efficiency. I’m pleased with them.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’ll tell them for me, won’t you?”

“Yes, sir—but if you’d say a word to them yourself, it might be better appreciated.”

“Yes, of course; you’re right. I’ll try and get down there later.”

“Mr. Korie—?” The chief’s voice is cautious. “About the gym—”

“Chief,” Korie cuts him off. “Let’s forget about it.” He chooses his words carefully. “I’m sure there’s a good reason why it wasn’t properly secured.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We have more important things to concern ourselves with. We’re still going after that bogie; we’re in a search pattern now. We’re going to keep searching until we find him. I’m only concerned now that you keep your generators running tightly and your crew on top of every situation; so let’s not worry about the gym. If the engine room crew continues to perform as well as they did this morning, there won’t be a word said about it.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll do our best.”

“Fine—uh, Chief, there’s one more thing.”

“Yes, sir?”

“We’re not through with the drills. I’m scheduling a new set of them. Three hours a day for each watch.”

There is silence from the other end. When he does answer, Leen’s voice is noticeably colder. “Yes, sir.”

“These will be full battle simulations, but they’ll be a different kind of problem from the ones we were working before.

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