Orbital Havoc: HAVOC REIGNS, #2

By J. Scott Nelson

“She’s not responding to my calls. She left the ship when we docked yesterday. I think she’s still angry with us.”
“You mean me. Protecting her is your highest priority.” Abernathy disconnected.
As the Admiral’s image faded from the screen Garner mumbled, “What makes Willa worth the effort? Or the cost? She’s brilliant, sure, but I’ve already lost two pilots, and four fighters trying to protect her.” That’s when he noticed that he was talking to himself.
The dialog with himself continued internally, “Dozens of people have died in attempts to kill her, both innocent victims and attackers. Why? We don’t even know who is trying to kill her.
“He ordered me to protect her, and her secret. A secret he won’t even trust the Navy to have. I’ve got a carrier to run, weapons systems to develop, a solar system to protect, and this one reckless woman is my highest priority. 
Collision warning klaxons began to sound throughout the ship. Garner was sprinting before he heard the command, “Captain to the bridge! All hands brace for collision!”

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. Scott Nelson
• Release date: Dec 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9780990362210

Book preview

Acknowledgments

This book was written concurrently with Havoc Canyon, so the people who helped and encouraged me are the same for both books. I won't repeat it all here but I will repeat my thanks to my family and personal friends; my wife, Marquita, and my daughters Brooke and Aubrey, also my son-in-law Cory. Roger and Annette, Megan, and Janae, thank you all, for all your help and encouragement.

Thanks also to all the authors and podcasters who taught me self-publishing. The acknowledgments in Havoc Canyon list the details of my thanks.

Scott

Introduction

She's not responding to my calls. She left the ship when we docked yesterday. I think she's still angry with us.

You mean me. Protecting her is your highest priority. Abernathy disconnected.

As the Admiral's image faded from the screen Garner mumbled, What makes Willa worth the effort? Or the cost? She's brilliant, sure, but I've already lost two pilots, and four fighters trying to protect her. That's when he noticed that he was talking to himself.

The dialog with himself continued internally, "Dozens of people have died in attempts to kill her, both innocent victims and attackers. Why? We don't even know who is trying to kill her.

"He ordered me to protect her, and her secret. A secret he won't even trust the Navy to have. I've got a carrier to run, weapons systems to develop, a solar system to protect, and this one reckless woman is my highest priority.

Collision warning klaxons began to sound throughout the ship. Garner was sprinting before he heard the command, Captain to the bridge! All hands brace for collision!

Friday October 26, 2096

––––––––

UEA Challenger, Spaceport America Complex, New Mexico

2219 Hours

________________________________

Second Lieutenant Perren Denard, the sensors officer spoke up, Damascus took out the missiles but she's stopped firing.

Good shooting Moore. Can you re-engage? Garner spoke into the comms screen at his station.

Captain Moore Taylor on Damascus said, We only had a tiny window, and all we could target were the missiles. If we fire anything else, we'll cause casualties on the ground. Damascus had a direct overhead view of the action. While Challenger on the other side of the world, could see her feed. Garner couldn't direct any of the systems involved.

You kept my people alive for now, Rattler flight will have to do the rest on their own.

Taylor was well known in the Navy as the man with the most confusing simple name in the history of names. His first name was usually a last name, and his last name was common for both. I received orders to remain at this datum and assist.

"Confirmed. If you see something that needs to be done, don't ask for permission. My orders are to keep the passengers on Alsatian safe."

One of your fighter pilots just punched out. The other is doing a barrel roll and firing weapons. Now the second one has punched out too.

That second fighter is still locked on a target and rail guns are still firing. It took out two of the four missiles targeting the Starbursts. The second one's thrusters just blew. I guess that's why they punched out. The explosion took out the last of the missiles. That was some flying."

Oh God, the first fighter just impacted on a village. I'm dispatching Basset but I've only got two corpsmen and her AutoDoc is one of the old ones.

I'll send Jack Russell and my doctor. Garner paused while he issued orders and then, My sensors say that the hostile ship was hit.

The second shuttle fired two missiles at it and it looks like he took it out.

She took it out. Where are my pilots?

"The first one is near the southern border of Sudan. The other is several hundred klicks south of Madagascar. I'm sending Akita after the second pilot first, then we'll pick up the first one."

Is either pod indicating medical distress?

Not yet. But the second one just splashed down. The seas are rough; her condition might change.

Keep me posted. And bring her back to me. Garner's bridge crew noticed the possessiveness in his voice and the omission of concern about the CAG, but no one said a word. Nor did they let their thoughts show on their faces.

UEA Challenger, Spaceport America Complex, New Mexico

2315 Hours

________________________________

Miss Harmon, it's good to see you again. You look much better than you did the first time I saw you. Garner was standing on the rear ramp of Challenger's flight deck.

Thanks. Just so you know, I like girls, but that was still a terrific way to impress a girl.

Garner's smile faded at the remark and Willa couldn't tell why. "Welcome aboard Challenger. We are scheduled to lift just after 1530 hours tomorrow."

The Captain appeared to be in his early thirties, but nanites could make age assumptions misleading. He was an average sized man, a decidedly good looking average man. He was one point seven eight meters tall and seventy-five kilos. He didn't show any obvious athleticism or indications of exceptional intellect. He had a face of a spokesman for advertisements or a news anchor with an easy smile that was warm and open.

Willa guessed that his being the Captain of a space carrier meant that he wasn't average in any way at all.

Preparations were already well underway for and inspection of Alsatian. Engineering crews were removing inspection covers and bringing equipment over. The ship had already been secured in the hangar bay of the flight deck in just a few minutes. Willa could already see a dozen people working on the little ship.

Willa was impressed by the carrier's size this was the first time she'd gotten to see one with her own eyes instead of just as an image on a monitor.

Very few people ever saw them from outside except through the eye of a camera. Challenger was grounded for her first time. It was only the second time a carrier had ever landed.

The news media called these vessels starships. Willa thought starship was a little too ambitious a name for them. Few people knew what they were capable of the way she did. Her father's company Field Dynamics Corporation built most of the ship's systems. Many of those systems were based on Willa's developmental concepts. Navy personnel as a rule simply called them carriers.

While aboard, all you ever saw was the inside of a steel box. Any external views of the ship were always on a screen of some kind. Even on another ship or a station the only way to see outside was on a screen. See through windows had become rare because windows let radiation inside where the people were.

Call me Willa.

And I'm Garner.

No first name?

Oh I've got one, it's Baird. But call me Garner; no one ever uses my first name, not since I was a child.

Why not?

I don't really know. Everyone just uses my last name all the time. Same for my Dad and his dad. But I really must ask you to call me Captain if we are in a public or official place, or in the presence of crew or other military personnel. He smiled that easy relaxed smile again, the kind that made women's knees wobble. Willa's did just a little, even if she'd never admit it. I hope you can understand, protocol, military discipline, ordinary prevention of confusion. There are a lot of reasons for the use of the title.

Willa smiled back and said, No promises, I'm usually half way through the sentence before I think about being polite.

The smile was back and this time there was a mischievous twinkle in his eye. He tilted his head to the side, the expression was an unspoken question.

I don't believe in misrepresenting myself, I won't lie to you about the way I think or feel, I may not tell you all there is to tell, but if I tell you about feelings or behavior, it will be true.

I'll do my best to meet you on even ground. He'd noticed the qualification in her statement, just as she noted it in his. He'd learned from the Admiral that she wrote some of the most advance software currently in use by the Navy. She hadn't said that she would be honest when discussing that.

He motioned toward Willa's luggage, Palmer had your luggage delivered. Those bots are nice but I can't allow them to be used aboard ship. If you can stow them my crewmen will take the luggage up for you.

Willa made a clicking noise with her tongue and the bots abandoned their task. They moved toward Willa, folded up until they looked flat, and then reached out with mechanical arms to clamp themselves onto some hardware mounted on the uppers of her knee high boots. Once attached to the boots they appeared to be an intricate filigree decoration around the uppers. They're good for carrying luggage, but not much else.

I'd say they have a lot of potential.

Oh, sure. But who's got time to develop something so frivolous?

Willa was wearing her customary personal clothing. Nice high grade clothing with the emphasis on comfort and not fashion. With her height she was mistaken for men occasionally, especially when she put her hair up in her cap which was her habit, like now. Invariably she wore a tight fitting T shirt with a loose and open button down shirt over it, jeans and her bot boots. The boots were decidedly out of fashion for both men and women, but Willa preferred function over appearance anytime.

Do you normally meet all the passengers personally? I thought Captains were busy people.

Only if that passenger was dead the first time I saw her. Not to mention that protecting you cost me a squadron of fighters. She looked a little sheepish at that remark.

What did you do to my shuttle? he asked indicating Alsatian.

Me? I don't know what you're talking about.

Garner looked at her hard but didn't challenge her lie, so soon after she promised to tell him the truth. Changing the subject he said, There's another shuttle inbound with the pilots of those fighters that had to bail out.

We heard that you had two fighters shot down. So these are the pilots, they're all right?

No, these pilots bailed out over Africa. The two that were shot down were over Colorado and Kansas. We lost one. The first one over Colorado was killed. The other ejected and was recovered. He looked at her hard, almost as if he blamed her for the loss. These two chased the hostile and one of them shot it down. They burned out their thrusters and had to punch out.

Willa nodded but didn't say anything more. A tall older man, thin with gray eyes and matching hair, walked up to Garner, Captain, the thrusters appear to be just fine, but I'm going to swap them out before we launch. I've got to run some test on them. Commander Calder walked away before anything else could be said.

Willa asked, What's that all about?

"Alsatian accelerated almost four times faster than any shuttle ever has. The thrusters had to have been overpowered to do that. They should have exploded halfway through the overpowered thrust but those show no sign of a burn through. So you can imagine why we're a little curious about them."

So why did your two fighter pilots have to bail out?

Overpowered thrusters. Garner was controlled and tense, but he decided to talk to Hughes before challenging Willa. The funny thing about that, the fighters have thrusters that are rated to three times the power and twice the life of those used on shuttles.

Really?

Garner looked hard at her and thought, 'She deserves an award for best actress.'

Warning lights began to flash and horns sounded to signal the arrival of the second shuttle. It was an older model, noticeably worn in comparison to Alsatian.

UEA Akita Indian Ocean, Sudan and Spaceport America

2325 Hours

________________________________

Akita was an older shuttle without an AutoDoc but it carried a survival pod retrieval system. Usually shuttles equipped like Akita would work in tandem with shuttles that carried an AutoDoc, but Bassett had been needed in Ethiopia.

When Akita found Arelly's pod the rough seas didn't hamper the rescue. The shuttle settled just above the waves and extended the retrieval grapple which lifted the pod into position to be opened and Arelly was pulled out of the pod directly into the shuttle.

After the pod was resealed it was hoisted up onto the top of the shuttle's hull. It would be refurbished and used again.

The rescue operation took thirty minutes or so. After that, half of that was travel time from Madagascar to Sudan where the other pod was retrieved and placed on top of the shuttle with the first one. It took them another thirty minutes to find the CAG Commander Albert Thomas. By the time he was brought aboard he'd suffered some mild dehydration and a moderate sunburn from the desert sun.

It had taken the rescue jumper ten minutes to verify that Arelly was uninjured and she complained the whole time that she was okay. It took him twenty-five to treat the CAG's sunburn and to hydrate him. The CAG just lay on the decking and moaned some.

While Thomas was being treated he stared at Maynes and she could see his temper boil. Akita was over the western Gulf of Mexico inbound to deliver the pilots to Challenger when the rescue jumper finished with him.

Maynes, what the frack were you thinking? Thomas shouted.

Confused she asked, What?

I ordered you to punch out. You didn't. You stayed with your fighter when it was about to explode.

Magnetic containment was still at fifty percent integrity. Thrusters don't blow until it's below twenty percent.

I don't care what the numbers say. I ordered you to bail out.

Akita landed and the ramp extended for them to exit.

As they walked down the ramp Arelly shouted back, I saved your life. My continued fire stopped a missile that had targeted your pod.

You fracking disobeyed my orders.

Report. Garner's order brought the two pilots to a stop and to attention.

As the ranking officer the CAG addressed his ship's Captain, "Sir, at your order we overpowered our thrusters and caught up with the hostile over Libya and fired our missiles. The hostile continued to pursue Alsatian until friendly fire destroyed the missiles it had fired. Then the hostile turned and attacked us evading our missiles in the turn. Thruster failure alarms began to sound, I ordered the Lieutenant to bail out. She refused the order and counter fired on the hostile's missiles. Her Starburst exploded four seconds after she punched out. She disobeyed orders in a reckless manner and almost got herself killed."

Garner looked at the Lieutenant, Do you have anything to add to the report?

The alarm goes off when the integrity of the magnetic containment field degrades below fifty percent. Thrusters have been known to explode when containment degrades below thirteen percent. I bailed out at twenty-five percent. That gave me time to set up protective fire against the incoming missiles, that fire and the thruster explosion stopped the missiles.

What about the order to bailout?

The CAG's order was premature. If he had waited until thirty percent he could have helped defend against the inbound fire. Instead his early bailout gave the missiles a chance to lock onto his pod. Also, if he had waited, the fighter would have crashed at sea instead of hitting that village.

Maynes, that wasn't your call to make. You're on report.

Garner said, Stow it CAG. We will discuss this tomorrow.

This isn't over Maynes. Thomas was shouting again.

Garner didn't raise his voice, in fact it was even quieter now, I gave you an order too Thomas. Then he turned to the petite woman and said, Well done Lieutenant, excellent flying.

She saluted and walked up the ramp into Challenger to the deck crew's applause.

The CAG followed her through the same crowd of deck hands. He received nothing but stony faced silence and hostile expressions from the deck crew. By now the entire crew had watched the sensor feed of the battle.

UES Challenger, Spaceport America Complex, New Mexico

2335 Hours

Garner turned to Willa and was surprised to find that she hadn't stepped away from the angry confrontation. Garner said, I'd like to show you around the ship but I better take care of a couple of issues first. Besides, it's too late. How about I meet you at your quarters in the morning, say 0900? She agreed and he followed the two pilots up the ramp. A young deck hand was leading the way with her luggage.

Garner found that he'd been right when he entered flight briefing. He found all the pilots gathered around Arelly and Thomas. She was standing at attention while he yelled at her. You had to do your twentieth century acrobatics. I've warned you about that. Space fighters don't need to change attitude to bring weapons to bear. Thrust can be directed in three dimensions on modern craft. That crap is wasted energy and costs time. Both can get you killed in combat.

Garner seldom came down to pilot territory. It was the CAG's domain. He made his way past four or five pilots before one of them paid enough attention to fall back on protocol and shout Attention on deck.

A path formed in front of Garner putting Maynes and Thomas front and center for Garner. Lieutenant, please explain the purpose of your barrel roll.

I set the fighter's autopilot to intercept the missiles, but I couldn't have the rail guns sweep the vector to ensure that the fire would sweep across the path of the missiles. The roll created a cloud of slugs instead of a string of slugs all following a narrow path.

Lieutenant, that was remarkable thinking and awareness in combat. I'm putting you in for a commendation.

Next he turned to Thomas. Commander, don't you agree that the Lieutenant displayed excellent situational awareness to properly monitor the condition of her ship, target the enemy and counter his fire while destroying the enemy vessel?

Thomas was fuming at attention and didn't reply.

I asked you a question Commander.

Sir! Thomas shouted like a recruit on the parade ground.

It was a yes or no question Commander.

Sir, yes Sir.

Commander, your newest pilot has consistently shown exceptional capabilities but I have never seen a single entry in her records commending those abilities.

Sir, can we step into my quarters.

Are you embarrassed to be criticized in front of your personnel? You aren't showing a member of your crew that same courtesy. In fact, it looks like you've woken up your third shift pilots in order to make it a bigger spectacle. A spectacle I specifically ordered you to table until tomorrow. How do you expect your personnel to learn that following orders is an absolute requirement when you model the opposite behavior?

You are relieved Commander. Be off my ship before we lift.

Lieutenant Commander Huggins.

Yes sir.

You are the acting CAG until I can get a replacement for the Commander.

Saturday October 27, 2096

––––––––

UEA Challenger, Spaceport America Complex, New Mexico

0900 Hours

________________________________

When Garner knocked on her door, Willa answered and seemed totally relaxed. He'd expected some anxiety after all she'd been through over the last week. I've wanted to talk to you ever since the rescue but we haven't had a chance outside a meeting. Are you recovered now?

The Docs said complete healing would take several months even though all the wounds look well. I've been fitted with a nutrient pump on my arm to feed the nanites.

Garner smiled his understanding and asked, You seemed tense at the press conference before the attack. What was bothering you?

I hate wearing clothes like those, being put on display like a good little girl. I don't put myself on display to attract attention or love. This is what I wear. I don't wear makeup either.

He nodded and said, Your bio indicates that you don't go for high fashion.

What bio? I do a lot to keep my online profile non-existent.

The Navy maintains security profiles and information on all contractors authorized to work on the fleet.

What did it say about me?

It was the thinnest contractor's profile I've ever seen. You've got a high access rating but there isn't any indication of the kind of work you do.

What I do for the Navy is classified. I can only talk about the security software I write for S3, the work that's already public information.

Well you look more comfortable and confident like this. I like you better this way, I think.

If I have any say about it, no one will ever see me dressed like that again. This is me. Unless I'm required to wear an S3 uniform, this is how I dress.

As they talked Willa noticed that Garner often seemed to lose focus in his eyes. His attention would be diverted, though it never amounted to more than a second or two. There were just some odd momentary breaks in his stream of conversation and little shifts in his attention.

He checked his military version of a wrist comp before turning back to Willa. Have you ever been aboard any military ships?

Yes, I've worked on several, but I can't discuss the ships or anything about what I was working on.

I understand; the Navy takes its secrets seriously.

Willa hoped that he would link her evasion more with her S3 work and not snoop about her systems development for the Navy. She really didn't want to explain what she'd really done aboard the ships. Military secrecy gave her an excuse to avoid explaining her own secrets too. Her personal secrets were entirely self-imposed but with the support of Admiral Abernathy she could claim military necessity for them. I haven't been aboard this class of ship, but I worked on its predecessors about ten years ago. Everything that she had said was true; there was just a gaping chasm in that truth. It was a chasm so big that you could hide a mountain range or two in it a dozen times over.

Good, then I shouldn't have to tell you what not to touch, or where not to go.

I plan on spending my time in my quarters. I need to work on the logistics software before we get to Newton.

Great! The Admiral will be glad to hear that. But you'll have to join me for meals. I want to hear the unvarnished version of the encounter in the canyons.

You've heard the story.

Not the real one. That gun was a hundred-year-old collector's piece, not something a drug smuggler would have. He smiled that smile again.

Willa didn't reply to that, but thought, What am I going to say to him now?

We've got one errand that's a top priority. Then we'll be going to Newton Station.

This was Willa's first chance to see a carrier from the outside using her own eyes. Willa's memory put every detail right there for her to see, but size, weight, distance, and feel are not carried in technical imagery, only shape and function.

Challenger was eight hundred thirty-six meters long and comprised of five main sections. The first section was weapons. The second, crew quarters and living quarters. The third contained cargo, the bridge and the sensors suite. Behind that was engineering and propulsion. The fifth was the flight deck and flight operations, a large rectangular tube that hung under all but the forward half of the weapons section.

Overall, the ship resembled a giant hammerhead shark drawn by a two-year-old. The weapons section being twice the width of the rest of the ship resembled the shark's head. Thruster pods gave a vague impression of fins and auxiliary weapons modules adding to the appearance.

The Hab, short for habitation,