Survival is Never Free (The Death Prophecies Book 5) Read online

  Cam’s eyes narrowed and he turned and looked at the huge monitor as the video started playing.

  “This is the new Prophet Class Warship. It’s designed to deliver a crippling blow to any aggressor that threatens humanity. It carries Four Wings of Attack Ships with ten thousand vessels in each wing.” Cam’s eyes widened and he looked at Admiral Hart who nodded to him. The Attack Ships are capable of carrying six of the major missiles along with three hundred of the wasp missiles. There are six main blasters on the hull and its force field rivals the Essay Class Warships.”

  Cam looked at Steve, “What about the ship’s force field?”

  The video immediately said, “The force field on this class of warship is more than six times more powerful than the Essay Class Warships and its blasters are three times as powerful.”

  Cam looked at Steve, “Sir!”

  Steve paused the recording, “What is it, Admiral?”

  “I thought you said this was not an attack vessel.”

  “It’s not. It’s designed to take on any aggressive force and defend itself. It isn’t as maneuverable as the Essay Class Warships and to try to take it into a space battle invites collisions and encourages enemy vessels to pile on. Two of the Motherships could destroy the ship if it’s inside an active combat zone. You should finish watching the tutorial and hold your questions until then.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  The video continued and Cam was stunned by the giant vessel’s capability. But by the end of the tutorial, Cam knew the Admiral was right. This was not a ship that could go in and punch an enemy in the face and survive. This was a ship that would put its back to the wall and take on all comers. The punch of this vessel was its Attack Ships. Steve looked at him, “Do you need to see it again?”

  “No, I think I’ve got it.”

  Amy smiled, “What’s the power of the blasters?”

  Cam smiled, “It’s not just the power. The blasters have two reactors connected to them that work in sequence. When one beam ends, the second starts without delay. These blasters actually operate like a cutting tool that can be swept across an enemy vessel.”

  Amy smiled and looked at Steve, “I think he’s got it, Admiral.”

  “Do you want us to stay during the meeting with your staff?”

  “No, but I may need you to replace some of them.”

  “Let me know. I’ll have personnel prepared to make it happen. Why do you think you’ll need to replace some of them?”

  “Sir, everyone on this ship knows that the coming war isn’t far off and they’ve sat on their butts and have done nothing to get ready. That is inexcusable.”

  Amy looked at Cam, “Commodore O’Hara is in command of the ship’s bridge and defensive arsenal. She doesn’t command the Wings.”

  “Was she put in command of this vessel until I arrived?”

  “She was but she is junior to three of the Wing Commodores.”

  Cam looked at Steve and he shrugged, “We’ve been too busy to come on board and set up the chain-of-command.”

  “Then she gets a bye on this one. However, it won’t happen again.”

  Steve stared at Cam and said, “You’re really angry about this?”

  “You bet I am. This is a new ship and the small ships on board are also new. They should have been getting prepared to go to war. They didn’t and I intend to find out why.”

  Steve looked at Amy, who nodded. He turned back to Cam and said, “Let me know what you need.”

  Steve and Amy walked out of the room and Cam went to the command chair behind the front console. He pressed a button and said, “Doc, are you situated?”

  “I have some things to get resolved but for the most part, I’m operational.”

  “How do you like it?”

  “It’s going to take some adjusting.”

  “Notify my Commanders to report to my conference room.”

  “Sending the order now.”

  Cam sat back in his chair and thought about what was the worst that could happen in the coming meeting and prepared for it. He, of course, hoped for the best.

  Chapter Three

  The Ship’s Commanders filed into the room and Cam saw the five commodores move to a chair in front of their junior officers. Each of the Wing Commodores had twenty Squadron Commanders lined up behind them. Commodore O’Hara had the twenty heads of the ship’s various departments sitting behind her. Everyone moved to their chairs and stood at attention. Cam stared at them for a long moment and then said, “Be seated.” Everyone took their seat and Cam saw some agitation on the faces of the senior officers. He turned and looked at Commodore O’Hara, “Did you issue the instructions I gave you?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Please insert the data cube on the maneuvers that have taken place.”

  O’Hara looked extremely uncomfortable as she said, “Sir, we’ve not conducted any maneuvers.”

  Cam stared at her and said in a slow steady voice, “Have you been in command of this ship?”

  “Yes, Sir, I have.”

  “And you’ve not ordered any maneuvers to be done?” O’Hara was extremely nervous and Cam said, “It’s a very simple question, Commodore. Have you ordered any maneuvers or not.”

  A fleet Commodore spoke up, “Sir, she requested us to do some maneuvers but we told her we would await your arrival.”

  Cam looked at the Commodore still sitting on his chair and said, “Is that the way you address a superior officer, Commodore?” The Commodore stood up and stared defiantly forward. Cam turned to Commodore O’Hara and the Wing Commodore started to sit down, “Keep your feet, Commodore, I’m not through with you yet.” He turned back to O’Hara, “Commodore, are you aware that the war between the Builders and Families is expected to begin within nine months?”

  O’Hara’s eyes widened, “No, Sir. We were told it would be a year or possibly more.”

  “And you think you have the time to sit on your hands and do nothing to get this ship’s forces ready?”

  “Sir, I asked the Space Wings to start maneuvers but was overruled by their Commanders.”

  “Are you in command of this vessel or not, Commodore.”

  “I’m in command of the ship’s operations. I am junior to three of the Wing Commanders and they declined to follow my suggestion.”

  “So you were of the opinion that they outranked you and didn’t have to follow your orders?”

  “I was never informed otherwise, Sir.”

  “Which Commanders declined to perform maneuvers?”

  The Commodore still standing said, “I declined, Sir.”

  Cam turned to him, “Go to your quarters and pack your bags. Report to Fleet Personnel for reassignment.”

  The Commodore’s face turned red and his eyes squinted, “I was serving in this Navy when you were a child. I earned my rank the hard way, I earned it!”

  Cam stared at the Commodore and stood up. He walked in front of the Commodore and put his nose one inch away for the irate officer, “Who is your best pilot?” The Commodore’s eyes opened slightly as Cam said, “How long does it take your best squadron to move into formation following launch? How much room do you have between your wings to fully organize your ships?” The Commodore continued to stare at Cam in silence. “I asked you a question, Commodore!”

  “I don’t know!”

  “Then let me try one you can answer; how many ships do you have under your command?”

  “Ten thousand!”

  “That’s how many lives you care nothing about and have endangered due to your laziness and lack of initiative. You are dismissed!” Cam stared into the Commodore’s eyes and the Commodore broke the stare first. He saluted, did an about face and walked out of the conference room. Cam turned back to O’Hara, “You mentioned two others that refused to do maneuvers.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “And they are?”

  “Commodores Mitchell and Levette.”

  Cam turned around, “Commodores Mitc
hell and Levette, Please stand.”

  Two Wing Commodores stood and Cam looked at them, “Pack your bags. Report to Fleet Personnel for reassignment.”

  “Sir, we were both ordered by Commodore Michaels not to start maneuvers.”

  Cam looked at the other Wing Commanders, “Is that true for all of you?”

  All of them stood up and said, “YES, SIR!!”

  Cam walked around Commodore Mitchell and looked at the Squadron Commander sitting behind him, “Why didn’t you take your squadron out?”

  The Commander stood up and said, “Sir, we weren’t ordered to go out.”

  “So you waited for orders to do the right thing?” The Commander stared at Cam and then nodded. Cam stared at him and he saw the young pilot knew his days in the service were over. Everyone take a seat.” The entire room went down like a falling piece of lead. Cam walked back and stood in front of his console, “I should bust every Wing Commander is this room and send you packing. However, I’m only going to do half of that. All of you are demoted to the rank of Captain.” One of the Wing Commanders stood up to protest and Cam went over in front of him and said, “Pack your bags and report to Fleet Personnel.” The officer opened his mouth and Cam said loudly, “IMMEDIATELY!” The Commodore turned and left the room.

  Cam turned back to Commodore O’Hara and he saw the fear in her eyes. “Commodore, you were placed in an untenable position on this ship. Do you think you’ll have any issues with getting the Wing Commanders to follow your…” Cam turned around and looked at the attendees. He turned back to O’Hara, “suggestions now that you out rank them?”

  “NO, SIR!”

  Cam looked around the room felt the silence. “Let me make this abundantly clear to all of you. It is your responsibility to prepare your subordinates to be able to defend themselves and this vessel against any enemy. You have all failed in that duty and I would replace every one of you but I’d probably be given a new group of commanders just like you. If any of you don’t do what’s necessary to prepare your warriors to fight, I will bust you out of this Navy faster than you can imagine. You got that!!”

  “YES, SIR!!”

  Cam smiled, “Now I know some of you are thinking that here is a squadron commander that’s been promoted too fast and is playing the part of a hard ass with us. However, I fully intended to come here and listen to my Commanders and get up to speed on what you’ve learned. And then upon my arrival it has become clear that you are all next to worthless. I’m about to demonstrate just how worthless all of you are.”

  The attendees all looked at each other as Cam looked up. O’Hara thought, “Oh please don’t do it!”

  “Doc.”

  “Yes, Admiral.”

  “Sound Battle stations and order all ships to launch.” The alarms went off at full volume and Cam looked at the officers in the room. “You should go to your commands and get them formed up.” The room emptied like a bucket with a missing bottom. It still took more than an hour to get all the Attack Ships launched. Cam waited and then had the ship’s computer send out a message to all of his Wings, “Return to the ship immediately. Return to base!”

  Cam looked at Commodore O’Hara on the bridge as she maneuvered the giant vessel to receive the returning Fighters. Cam watched her and finally said, “Give it up, Commodore. If they’re this disorganized, imagine how they’d be during actual combat.”

  O’Hara turned to him, “We’re not this bad, Admiral!”

  Cam nodded toward the main monitor, “The evidence says otherwise. I want the Wing Officers back in my conference room as soon as this fiasco ends.”

  “Yes, Sir.” O’Hara watched Cam walk off the bridge and couldn’t decide if she hated, admired, despised, or welcomed him. She resented his promotion over her but she was quickly realizing she wasn’t prepared to command this ship. She didn’t know enough about flight operations and the tools she had to get things done just weren’t there. She decided to attend the meeting even though she wasn’t directly invited.

  • • •

  Cam sat in his chair as the Wing Officers walked in. He saw Commodore O’Hara enter with them and he raised his eyebrows, “I thought you wanted everyone that was in the first meeting. Cam shrugged and nodded toward her chair.

  Once everyone was in their seats, Cam said, “Why did it take you so long?”

  Commodore Mitchell stood up, “We were all in this room when you sounded Battlestations. Our units had to wait for us to arrive before they launched.”

  Cam stared at Mitchell and looked around the room shaking his head, “Are you telling me that each unit’s commander is the first ship in their launch tube?”

  Mitchell turned red and said, “Yes, Sir.”

  Cam stared at Mitchell in silence and looked at O’Hara who could only shrug. “So you’re telling me that if we have to launch ships in a hostile environment, we’re going to send all of our leaders out first to attack the enemy?”

  Mitchell stared at Cam and then said, “That does sound rather stupid.”

  “It doesn’t just sound stupid, it is. The unit leader in the start of the launch line should be the last ship launched. We have three hundred and eighty launch tubes on this ship for one reason.” Cam stared at them and shook his head, “So that every Attack Fighter on this vessel can be launched in less than sixty seconds. We have all of the vessels on the rails and our launchers can send two ships out every second. All forty thousand warships should have been out of their tubes in less than a minute. It took you more than an hour. Do you want to know why it took that long?”

  There was absolute silence as Cam said, “It took that long because if the first ship in each line isn’t manned, the entire line behind that ship isn’t going anywhere.” Cam shook his head and looked around the room, “Take notes! Starting this moment forward, the front fifty ships in each line will have their pilots either in them or next to their ships for eight hours. After eight hours, the first fifty ships will be rolled on the rails to the back of the line and at that point, the next fifty pilots will stay with their vessels. Eight hours later, the next fifty will move forward. To ensure that all of your pilots are proficient at launching their vessels, I will be sounding Battlestations randomly and I expect to see the first fifty vessels in the three hundred and eighty launch tubes out of here in less than twenty-five seconds. Once recall is sounded, I expect them back on board, in the order they launched, in the recovery bay where they will be rearmed and put back on the rails. In the time you’re out of the tubes, I will be timing how long it takes your units to form up and move into their defensive positions around our ship.”

  Mitchell looked at Cam, “Defensive Positions, Sir?”

  Cam looked at Mitchell, “If you tell me I am going to have to tell you where to send your ships when they launch, I really don’t need any of you.”

  Mitchell shook his head, “No, Sir. We can set them up.”

  “I would recommend you do that immediately. I’m giving you three hours to get our lines set up and your pilots assigned to their work shifts. You have the same time to get their Defensive Positions assigned and I will be watching how you set them up.”

  Cam looked at Commodore O’Hara, “Do you have any questions?”

  “Uhhh, No, Sir!”

  Cam stood up and the attendees jumped to attention, “You’re dismissed.” The room emptied and O’Hara waited for the last Flight Officer to leave, “Sir, why did you ask me if I had any questions?”

  Cam looked at her and lifted his right shoulder, “I assume that if I leave this ship that I will need someone to command her when I’m gone. You are the obvious choice.”

  O’Hara’s eyes narrowed, “Why is that?”

  “Because you command the bridge of this vessel and you will be seeing everything our scanners uncover. You will have to decide what we will do if we’re threatened by an enemy force.” Cam paused and said, “If I’m not on board.”

  O’Hara looked at him and said, “Permission to speak f
reely, Sir.”

  “Go ahead, Commodore.”

  “When I learned that a Squadron Commander was promoted over me to command this ship, I was furious. It wasn’t fair. After observing what’s happened since you arrived, I have to confess that I am not up to doing it. If I were you, I would not leave this ship for very long, Admiral. I am not prepared to keep her out of trouble.”

  “No one is, Commodore.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This is a completely new warship with a brand new set of limitations that must be understood to keep it out of trouble and maximize its chance of surviving. I will show you what I see and try to help you understand how space warfare operates with small warships. I want you to instruct me on just how this vessel actually functions. Perhaps between the two of us, we’ll be better for doing it.”

  O’Hara stared at him and then smiled, “How do we go about making this happen, Sir?”

  “Both of us will wear an ear receiver and anytime either of us has a question, we will ask and the one receiving the question will attempt to answer it without resentment.”

  “Why would there be resentment?”

  “Ever had a five year old ask you anything?” O’Hara nodded. “I can be very inquisitive and too many questions can cause resentment.”

  “I’ll be patient with you, Sir. But there’s a lot I don’t know about our Attack Fighters. I have a lot of questions as well.”

  “Good, we’ll both benefit from working together.”

  O’Hara turned to leave and looked at Cam, “Why did you break our units down into thirds? Wouldn’t it have been better to be able to launch all of our ships at one time?”

  “Yes, it would. However, in order to launch all of them, the first fifty have to be ready to go the instant Battlestations is sounded. That allows the second fifty to arrive at their ships and get on board. The last third will have forty seconds to get to their ships.”

  “Can the pilots get to their ships that quickly?”