032-1120
 |
A badge for the Boxing Kangaroo |
Brickley
looked forward through the iris valve to the bridge opened; seeing Zabiyah on
the left, and Hassan on the right. Forward of them sat Chishan at a console set
up for master weapons, and Able Spacehand Hall to his back. The ship was nearly
rigged for lift, with all equipment in the hull, and hatches locked. The only
thing remaining connected was the power umbilical.
Brickley
stepped through the valve, as Marine Yap stepped out from the ship’s locker and
shouted “Attention on Deck!” taking their attention. The young man braced
against the locker iris valve, as Brickley passed him in the narrow passage.
“Carry
on. Captain has the deck,” was Brickley’s mild reply, but heard throughout the
space. He stepped up to the acceleration chair mounted in the center at the aft
end of the compartment.
“Captain
has the deck, aye,” Hassan replies, noting the time in the log. “Sir, all
departments report ready for lift. Clearance has been received from Alice
Springs Central, we are scheduled for one hour from now.”
“Very
well,” Brickley replied as he plugged in his personal comm to the ship’s
systems and keyed the general announcing circuit.
“All
hands, this is the Captain. We will be lifting in one hour. This is our first
flight with the Boxing Kangaroo, and we will bring our new ship home.
Our mission is simple here. We jump out to Ceres in the Belt, and then shoot an
asteroid, and come back through normal space in time to get back to Terra for
fixing any issues. I have every faith in you that we’ll make it without a
problem. Carry on.”
The
bridge crew looked at him with the understanding they’d be lifting soon. The
indicator for an internal call came on. Brickley pushed his answer button.
“Bridge, Captain.” The idea of saying that still came as new to him.
“Captain,
we’re ready to start up the plant for this first time. Plant is in condition to
start up in accordance with POP-1,” came Brand’s collected voice back to him.
“Engineering, you have my permission to start the power
plant in accordance with POP-1,” he replied. “Note that in the log, initial
operation of the power plant under ship’s force control.”
“Right
team,” Brand spoke to her people when she got off the line with Brickley, “The
skipper said it’s time for us to start her up. Maurer, you got the procedure
up?”
“Yes, MM1,” the small woman spoke up. The team entered in
to the procedure to start the main plant. Brand began the operation that would
start the power plant. As she brought it up, Kidd, her other assistant,
disconnected the umbilical. Brand called the bridge, reporting the ship was
successfully on internal power.
“Sir,
Central has given us clearance, we have 10 minutes to boost,” Hall spoke from up
forward.”
“Very
well,” Brickley replied, after taking Brand’s report as well. “Astrogator, make
checks of all spaces.”
“Make
checks of all space, aye-aye,” Hassan replied, then spoke into the main
announcing circuit, “All spaces, make final reports to the bridge before
boost.”
He
turned to a clear area of his console, and with a grease pencil, stood by for
reports.
“Bridge,
common area,” Sergeant Valdez came across, “We are ready for boost.”
“Ready
for boost, common area, bridge, aye,” was Hassan’s reply. He got the same
reports from Brand in Engineering, Owen in the Missile magazine, Castillo in
the cargo bay, and Afari in the boat.
Hassan
turned and looked at Brickley, “Sir, final reports from all spaces report ready
for boost.”
“Very
well, astrogator,” Brickley replied before continuing, “Pilot, stand by to
boost on my mark.”
“Stand
by on you mark, aye,” Zabiyah replied.
“Engineering,
bridge make the maneuver drive ready to answer all orders from the helm.”
“Bridge,
engineering, make the maneuver drive ready to answer all orders from the helm,
aye,” came Brand’s report. A minute later she replied that it was in fact
ready. The readout for the timer in the corner of his HUD showed 1:30 remaining
before the Kangaroo’s turn to boost.
The
slow wait got to everyone, as the ship felt unnaturally quiet. As the seconds
clipped away, the nerves seemed to grow in anticipation. 15, 14, 13, 12….
“Pilot,
ready to boost….” 5, 4, 3, 2 1 “NOW!” Brickley spoke as Zabiyah’s hands got the
ship off the ground easily. The thunder of the ship’s lift boosted them to
orbit quickly. He knew it would be about two hours for the ship to get to the
100D limit.
“All
hands, this is the captain,” he began, “Relax watches until rig for jump.”
Chishan stood up from his console, and walked aft, likely looking to get a
quick snack.
Two
hours passed uneventfully, and shortly before the 100D limit, Hassan looked up
from his console. “Jump plotted, Captain. Do you want to check it over?”
Considering
his basic astrogation skills, Brickley paused, and said, “I trust you here.
It’ll be good enough.”
“All
hands, stand by for jump. Engineering, divert power to the Jump Drive.”
“Power
diverted,” came the response on the direct channel from engineering.
“Pilot,
take us to jump!”
The
INS Boxing Kangaroo shuddered for a brief moment, and the
universe went to nothingness.
“Astrogator,
set J-watch, section 1.”
“Set
J-watch, section 1, aye, sir.” Hassan replied, “All hands, set J-watch, section
1.”
For
the next week, the ship was in the quiet rotation of a jumping starship, even
though the distance was far too little to be really worth Jumping for. Each day
was heavily involved in administration and prep for the upcoming commissioning.
Marines First Class Appledorn and Fini were practicing their pipe and drums in
the Ship’s Boat each day, and somehow working into a harmony. Brand and Valdez
were working to ensure that everyone’s uniform would be nearly perfect, and it
seemed everyone was working well enough to ensure a quiet trip. 161 hours after
jump, the ship precipitated out near Ceres.
“Senors,
OOD?” Brickley asked Chishan as they precipitated in to N-space.
“I
show nothing, sir. Contacting Ceresport now,” was the reply.
“Very
well. Keep the ship fixed relative to Ceres while we wait.”
Shortly,
a text only reply was received, it told them an asteroid 400,000 km ahead in
the orbit was what they were authorized to target with all weapons. It had long
been fitted with a couple of beacons for target practice with powered down
lasers, and few missiles were authorized for expenditure on it. A short burn
got them in position.
“All
hands, Man battle stations for space engagement,” followed a gong of an alarm,
rousting everyone from their places. The crew hastily donned their light vacuum
gear, to plug into stations. Brickley took his location at the aft end of the
bridge. Zabiyah at the right, Hassan left. Father forward, Hall and Castillo
buckled into remote directors for the lasers, with Chishan and Owen taking the
missile mounts. Brand and her juniors were ready to go in engineering, donning
hardsuits. The Marines were standing by in the cargo bay, ready to either board
the boat or the G-carrier.
“Sensors?”
Brickley asked.
“Clear,”
came Hassan’s answer.
“Range?”
“40,000”
“Open-“
“Wait,
sir, I’m getting a jump emergence, range 50,000, bearing 358!” Hassan
interrupts,
“Transponder?”
Brickley responds. Shifting gears, he calls down to Chishan, “Do we have any
warshots?”
“There’s
twelve, sir. Three barrages per turret, and about 15 minutes for Owen and I to
ready them by the book. We have to pull the telemetry”
 |
| I found this in my copy of the Traveller Book Too good not to use. |
Before
he could hear the reply, Hassan spoke up, “Sir, it’s the Free Trader Mudshark
by the transponder. She’s Fenris registry.”
“Ask
them what happened to jump out here.”
“Coming
across now, they’re coming from Prometheus, and headed to Ceres with a cargo or
robotic parts. Looks like a slight jump problem”
“I’m
sending the Marines over to ensure they’re legit, along with you as the
boarding officer, XO. Draw a pistol on the way.”
As
Sub-Lieutenant Hassan and the Ship’s Boat made their way over to the Mudshark
for a papers and quick inspection. As the boat came closer, they saw a
battered, aging Empress Marava-type ship, with the exterior only showing
a simple sigil. On the Starboard side, at the passenger deck, Afari expertly
docked the boat. Checking the tell-tales, Sergeant Valdez told Hassan, “Sir,
we’ve matched up and there’s nothing incorrect on the other side. Me and
Appledorn’ll go first, then you. The squad’ll file in except for Corp and
Franke, as the boat crew.”
“Sounds
like a plan, Sergeant. You heard him, we’re going.”
The
Captain of the Mudshark, a middle-aged man with the name “Thu” on his
ship suit stand next to another in a cheap suit. Valdez and Appledorn step out
to either side.
“Captain
Thu, isn’t it? Sub-Lieutenant Hassan, Imperial Navy, off the Patrol Cruiser Boxing
Kangaroo. We’re going to conduct a brief inspection here, and ensure your
ship’s safe.”
“Not
a problem, but I’ll be looking for a new astrogator soon. I like getting back
to the wife and kids, here,” the Captain replies. “Mr Tazewell here is a robot
seller, and is looking forward to getting to Ceres to sell his wares, while I
get some ores to take home to Fenris.”
“Thank
you, Captain; Sergeant, start the inspection,” Hassan replied. “Are there any
other passengers?”
“Nope,
only Oggie here. It’s me, my nephew running the plant, a cousin who’s the
steward, and a couple of hired hands. A good one for my nephew, a horrible one
whose Astrogating. Need to find a relative who can astrogate.” Thu claims as he
thumps Tazewell on the back.
“As
the good captain introduced us, I’m Ogleston Tazewell at your service, my
friend. I am a free-lance dealer in robotic parts. I sell Naasirka and
Ling-Standard in the Sol and Dingir Subsectors.” Tazewell replies.
“Right,
did you get lishun?” Hassan asks.
“Oh,
free pratique, we cleared that at Prometheus. I’m sorry, you Imperials do
prefer that term ‘lishun’.” Thus replies, and asks, “About how long will it
take?”
“Depends
on if the Marines find anything. May I review your papers?”
“Of
course, you can. If you’d like, I can get Cousin Verda to get you something,”
the Captian replies as he hands a data pad with the ship’s info on it to
Hassan.
“No
thank you, Captain.”
After
his review of the papers, Hassan returns briefly to the ship’s boat, and
informs the Kangaroo of the progress of the search. The gunners are all
working to reinstall the telemetry packages on the missiles.
After
an hour docked to the Far Trader, Afari calls, “Message for you, sir.”
Nodding
in acknowledgement, Hassan answers, “Boxing Kangaroo, this is the
boarding officer.”
“Boarding officer, Boxing Kanagroo. We got
clearance back from Copernicus Down; this guy’s been check-mated, let him continue,”
Zabiyah answers with near disinterest.
“Affirmative. I’ll get the Marines back here, and we
can resume the shakedown. Boarding officer, over.” Hassan quietly walked back
to the waiting Captain Thu.
“Sir, we regret the inconvenience, and you are free
to carry on at this point,” Hassan states to him, offering a hand shake. “Once
I call the Marines, we’ll get off your ship.”
“Of course, of course! At some point, I may have to
bring the family along, on one last voyage. Many have not seen the wonders of Earth!
I hope the other officers of the Imperial Navy turn out as professional as you!”
Thu ebulliently responds, pulling the Sub-Lieutenant in awkwardly.
Stepping away, Hassan calls “Valdez, round everyone
up. We’re letting this ship get on with her business.”
“Aye aye, sir,” Sergeant Valdez responds. “Marines!
We’re clear.” The team is back aboard the boat with in a couple of minutes. “All
present, sir.”
“Very well, Sergeant.” Hassan replies to the order.
“Captain Thu, we’ll be clearing your airlock momentarily. Save travels as you
shape your voyage home.”
“Of course! And the same to you.” Captain Thu
replies, shutting the iris valve between him and the boat. Hassan walks through
the air locks, cycling the boat’s as he head back to his seat just off the
flight deck.
“Corporal, take us home.”
“Taking us home, aye,” Afari responds, in his
Terran accent. The Marines are a bit more frantic than normal, seeing as were
doing something rather than the nothingness of ship’s troops duties.
Even a perpetually barely breaking even Far Trader with no interesting contraband
is new compared to being locked into a starship with little to do. The trip
back to the Boxing Kangaroo is uneventful, as is the docking. The
Marines get to their post operation routine of equipment care as Hassan returns
to the bridge.
Strapping
himself in, Hassan tells Brickley, “Just another fellow trying to make a
credit. I think a robotics salesman had him chartered.”
“I
see,” the captain replied. “We’re getting back on schedule. I’m setting a
modified battle stations here so the Marines can complete their work.”
“Did
it really relax?” Hassan asks rhetorically.
“No
sir,” came Zabiyah’s response.
“Right
then,” Hassan replied, as he keyed the mike and announced, “Naval personnel,
man battle stations for weapons test.”
The
two junior gunners came up, and manned their stations forward of the bridge,
setting them up to take the laser turrets. Chishan and his junior gunner
reported the missile battery manned and ready, as did Brand in engineering.
“Astrogator,
range to target?” Brickley inquired
“30,000”
“Open
fire, Laser 1”
“Laser
1, open fire, aye.” Spacehand Hall replied. Direct hit, and unaided.
“Laser
2, open fire, with full fire control assist,” Brickley ordered.
“Open
fire with full fire control assist, aye,” Castillo, her counterpart at the
other station acknowledged. Again, a direct hit, results similar to the first.
The
ship closed the range to 10,000 km off this rock, and repeated the procedure
with the missile battery. Chishan’s hit, as did Owen’s.
The
only thing left was the distance burn. All telemetry was sent to the Naval base
at Theophilus on Luna. About a half hour later, the Kangaroo got her
results back; pass in all regards, take the fifty-hour burn in back to Terra,
and the ship and crew were accepted for commissioning. The impromptu boarding
exercise would count for small craft operations.
The
return was uneventful, and Zabiyah stuck the landing at Alice Springs
perfectly. A small crew was there to meet them, including Admiral Taugolo,
informally congratulating them on a job well done. Next week would be the
formal congratulations and commissioning.
