All That Glitters Ch. 16

"Stand-by for FTL jump," she called out through ship wide comms.

She sent the data back to Nav and Pilot stations.

"Solution set, ready for jump." Nav confirmed.

"Ready for jump," the pilot confirmed immediately afterward.

"Punch it," the captain ordered.

The pilot flipped a switch and power cycled through the vanes. Space distorted around the ship and she disappeared from real space to re-appear almost instantly five light years away.

"Jump coordinates are a match, we came in exactly as predicted," the Nav Tech informed the bridge crew.

"We are carrying more speed. We are now showing C.32 after the jump, but the ship is having trouble maintaining that speed," Hans reported.

"Let her slow down to whatever speed she will settle at," the captain ordered.

"ChEng, what is happening back there?" Abigail asked of her Chief Engineer.

"Power draw was good, showing the expected draw for a short jump," the ChEng advised the captain. "The engines were straining to keep her at C.30 plus but once we let her settle, they came back to normal specs. I advise that if we pick up speed like that again exiting jump, that we just let the ship come back to whatever speed she wants to be at.

"The M/A gens are already starting to cycle up, we can probably do a max leap in fifteen to twenty minutes, or go to the max power draw now and wait an hour to see if we can do a max leap, Captain," the ChEng finished.

"Your call, Commodore," Abigail informed Fiona, who she knew was listening. "Going to forty-five will confirm our previous max, but we'll have to wait an hour to jump again."

"Let's take her to her previous max, Captain," Fiona ordered. "We will run her full out until we are ready to jump, that will let the ChEng see what she is doing. After the jump, we'll run her again full out for an hour unless the ChEng tells us to stop. That should be a fairly good test of the systems."

Fiona looked around the at her captains and smiled. "Damn, I like this little ship," she told her officers, who all grinned in return. "And to think, Cdr. Seldon is going to have a ship that is almost as capable as The Valour," she said, giving them a little virtual shot to the guts.

They cycled through a jump and were exactly were they had predicted they would be.

The ship had now run for over twenty minutes a C+ speeds, and completed two jumps, still showing no signs of major strain on the engines or systems.

Fiona looked at the Pallanders Chief Engineer, Pascal Dejeu, who smiled back at her.

"The new engines are very powerful. Are all of the Princess Class vessels receiving the same engine?" she asked Pascal.

"These particular engines are Military Spec Engines," Pascal stated. "They are about twenty percent more powerful than those on civilian ships. We knew they would be fast, but we did not anticipate the capability to crack C so easily."

"The military needs that power for manoeuvring, civilian vessels only need power to get them up to acceptable speeds for a jump," Fiona remarked. "It should remain that way, with only military vessels or presidential transports receiving these particular sub-light engines.

"There will be pressure on Pallanders to provide the special engines if people know about them, so I advise that you just don't tell the public they exist. Pallanders will make a fortune off the military selling the up-powered engines at a reasonable rate.

"The Princess and Sprawl Class vessels are more than capable enough for their intended purposes," Fiona mused.

Pascal thought about that for a moment and then nodded. Pallanders was going to wind up getting the refit jobs for a number of military vessels when the navy saw the capabilities of the three recently modified ships, The Wanderer, The Valour, and soon the Churchill. By the time they finished the refit of the entire navy, there would probably be even more capable engines.

"Can you go to the bridge and see what the weapons will do at these speeds?" Fiona asked of him.

A few minutes later, Pascal manned the weapons station. The turret was activated, and the controls slaved to the ship's external sensor array, but the guns could not lock onto a target at C plus speeds. They would have to wait until the ship slowed to test the targeting system. Pascal drew data for the Pallanders team.

The little ship ran at C plus speeds for over an hour until she was ready to jump once more. The Nav solution appeared at the captain's monitor. She was surprised to see that they were going to make a sixty-five light year leap.

"ChEng, the Nav solution indicates a sixty-five light year leap," Abigail stated. "That will put us nine light years beyond Lirmor-23. Will we be able to pull from the M/A gens for the sub-light engines to allow us to immediately short-jump back to Liramor-23?" she asked.

"Can't confirm that right now," the ChEng admitted. "If you asked me to do that now I would say we might be able to do it. When we get to the other side, I'll know for sure, Captain."

"Roger that," Abigail confirmed then sent the solution back to Nav and the Pilot.

"Stand by for jump," she sent ship wide.

"Solution set, ready for jump," Nav reported.

"Ready for jump," the Pilot verified.

"Do it," she called out, and the ship jumped.

"Report," Abigail ordered when they reappeared.

"Ma'am, we are almost exactly where we are supposed to be, with less than a 100 meter disparity over sixty-five light years," Nav said, a little surprise showing in his voice.

"Damn," Fiona's voice came through ship wide. "That's one hell of a Nav Comp."

Abigail had to agree. It was several orders of magnitude better than any Nav program she had ever heard of.

"ChEng, how are the systems holding up?" she asked.

"Everything is optimal, Captain. The ship is holding out well. This data is going to blow the minds of senior navy staff," she advised her boss.

"I've checked the sub-light M/A gens and we don't have the burst draw available for a short jump at this time. However, we can still maintain our current output for at least another six hours before we would have to come down under C.

"If we reduce speed in increments, I can tell you how much more operating time we could gain for the sub-light engines, and when the sub-light M/A gens would be able to give a burst draw. It might be worth knowing that," the ChEng advised.

The ship slowed to ninety-five percent light and Pascal activated the turret again. He found that a targeting solution was now available. Pallanders would have to work at producing a solution matrix for C+ speeds. Not that they would likely need to use rail guns at that kind of speed.

Twenty minutes later they had all the data they needed. The M/A gens for the sub-light engines had developed enough for a burst draw for a ten plus light year short jump and they were able to make the jump into the appropriate lane at Liramor-23.

Pascal Dejeu would do a once over of the ship to add his technical expertise to the report. He was sure his boss would not be the only one impressed by the new vessel's capabilities.

The last thing they needed to do was to put rounds in the gun turret and test the weapons systems, but he would leave that to the navy.

The Wanderer, Test Circuit, Liramor Prime, Liramor System

The ship eased itself away from the exterior construction bay it had sat in for the last few months during the refit. The bridge crew consisted of navy and Pallanders personnel and a member of the office of the Inspector General Commercial Shipping for Liramor Prime, who watched everything like a hawk.

"She's responding well to station keeping thrusters, ma'am," the Pilot informed Capt. Noor.

"Roger, keep her moving on thrusters until we are 500m from the bay before you engage sub-lights. Inform me when we are there," she ordered.

"Aye, sir."

"Sir, I'm now showing 500m distance from the bay," the Pilot reported, half-a-minute later.

"Engage sub-lights at minimum thrust until we clear the restricted zone around the shipyard."

"Aye, sir."

"Accelerating smoothly, sir, we are now outside of the restricted zone."

"Very good, Pilot, take us slowly to twenty percent light," Noor ordered.

"Aye, sir. Advancing to twenty percent light. Sir, acceleration is very crisp. We are already at twenty percent C," the pilot returned seconds later.

"What was the push?" Noor demanded, referring to the power setting.

"Five percent, ma'am."

"And that brought us to twenty percent C that fast?" Noor asked.

"Aye, sir."

Noor looked around the bridge, people were smiling all over.

"Pilot, bring us up in increments of five percent until we are at fifty percent C, report each increment as we hit it," Noor ordered.

"Aye, sir, advancing to fifty percent light," the pilot read through the increments until they hit fifty percent.

"Sir, I'm showing our speed at fifty percent light," the pilot informed her.

"Very well, maintain this speed while engineering goes through their check lists. Who on the bridge has a check list, call it out," Noor ordered.

"Pilot, checklist at fifty percent, at seventy-five percent, at eighty-five percent, at ninety percent and at ninety-five percent if we get their ma'am," the pilot intoned.

"Nav O, check list at fifty percent and at every ten percent increment thereafter, sir," the Nav O stated.

"Comms, check list at fifty percent, at seventy-five percent, at eighty-five percent, at ninety percent and at ninety-five percent if we get there, ma'am," the Comms O reported.

"Tac O, no check lists ma'am, as the station is closed for the next two weeks," the Tac O told her with a smile.

"Weapons, the boards are locked, sir, until we go to the range later in the trials," one of the Weapons Officer responded.

"Engineering, continuous checklists, ma'am, but I'm only monitoring from this station. All the checklists are being run in engineering by the ChEng and Pallanders reps. If we have an issue, the report will likely come from the ChEng, sir," the engineering rep reported.

"Science, we have no specific checklist at this time, sir. We will have that later when we start using and configuring the FTL probes. We are continuously monitoring the external sensor array, but the Nav O is only one using it at this time, sir," Science stated. The science station was currently being manned by a Pallanders rep with one of the crew at his elbow.

"Bridge, ChEng," came the ChEng over ships comms. "The engines are running as expected, in fact, a little bit better than expected. The draw from the generators is right where it should be. We are ready to increase power on your command, sir."

"Roger that, Pilot take us up in five percent increments until we hit seventy-five percent C," Noor ordered.

The pilot acknowledged the order and eased the accelerators forward calling out the increments until they got a rumble through the hull at sixty-five percent.

"Sir, my speed is at six five percent and holding," the Pilot reported, knowing that the captain would want him to hold the speed until the rumble was corrected.

"Acknowledged, Pilot," Noor replied. "Thank-you for the initiative," Noor said, letting the pilot know she was happy with the response.

"Engineering?" Noor asked of the engineering rep, not wanting to disturb the ChEng, who was probably busy.

"Sir, I'm showing an imbalance between the engines that the engine room is currently attempting to correct. I advise maintaining this speed for the moment, Captain," the Pallanders rep replied.

They waited for five minutes as the rumble settled back down and finally disappeared.

"Bridge, ChEng, we had an imbalance between the engines that we managed to correct internally. We should be able to push it a little more, Captain."

"Roger, ChEng, Pilot, dial our speed back to forty percent and bring her back up to sixty-five percent in increments," Noor ordered.

"Aye, sir, reducing speed to forty percent.

"Sir, I'm showing my speed at forty percent, ready to advance on order," the pilot informed her a few moments later.

"Roger, bring her up slow, if we have a repeat of the rumble hold there unless I order otherwise," Noor said.

"Aye, sir, advancing the stops to sixty-five percent,"

The ship smoothly accelerated to sixty-five percent.

"Sir, I show my speed at sixty-five percent light," the pilot informed.

"Roger, ChEng, how do we look?" Noor asked.

"Bridge, ChEng, we are looking good, no further fluctuations. We'll look at it further when we get back, but it looks good for now."

"Roger, Pilot, take us to seventy-five percent light," Noor commanded.

"Aye, sir, advancing to seventy-five percent light," the Pilot replied, advancing the throttles.

"Sir, I'm showing my speed at seventy-five percent light," the Pilot advised.

"Acknowledged, ChEng, what do we have?" Noor asked.

"Bridge, ChEng, we are seeing a harmonic vibration in the engines. It's not noticeable to us, but the sensors are seeing it.

"I think we should end the exercise for today and return to the barn. We will have to look at the engines before we take her back out again. I will let you know later today if that will be tomorrow or another day," the ChEng advised.

"Roger, ChEng. Pilot, reduce speed to sixty percent light. No need to damage the engines. Nav O, I need a plot back to the barn,"

"Aye, sir, reducing speed to sixty percent light," the Pilot returned.

The plot came up immediately on one of her monitors. She swiftly scanned, confirmed it, sent it back to the Nav O and forwarded it to the Pilot, plus sending it to the main monitor for all to see.

"Sir, I'm showing my speed at sixty percent light," the Pilot confirmed shortly.

"Roger that, follow the track back to the barn."

"Aye, sir."

Noor turned to look at the Inspector General's rep.

"Not bad for a first day," he told her. "You would be surprised how many vessels don't get to fifty percent light on their first day, never mind further.

"The engines need some tweaking, but your sensor array is functioning brilliantly, your internal comms is excellent, your Nav comp is doing quite well, and your crew and the Pallanders' reps are working well together.

"The next time you come out, you can open your Tactical array and see how they work with the external sensors. That will give your bridge crew more to work with. But not until you deal with the harmonics in the engines.

"Over-all it has been a good day for you," the rep told her with a smile.

Noor looked over at the other seat to Raymond Clark, her boss.

"I've never been on a ship in testing after refit, but I have heard stories," Raymond told her. "From what I have heard, I agree with the inspector. The ship is responding well despite the glitches. Which is why we test, to find those glitches and fix them."

Noor knew that of course, but it was nice to hear it from her boss. Nice to have one that was sensible. It was never good having a testy boss because his new toy wasn't up to what he wanted it to do.

Conference Room One, Liramor-23, Piscium System

The morning brief was an interesting one for Fiona. The new navy Supply Officer had received much of the equipment that was going to be used for The Wanderer.

The list included, twenty-four missiles and twelve torpedoes for the six 360cm bow tubes, eighty missiles and eighty torpedoes for the ten 280cm bow tubes, and forty-eight missiles, ninety-six torpedoes, and twenty-four programable FTL probes for the twelve 150cm bow tubes, and twenty-four missiles, forty-eight torpedoes and twelve programable FTL probes for the six aft 150cm tubes.

Also included was 6,000 mines of various types, and 192,000 rounds of ammunition for the fifty millimeter rail guns. This was considered the 'Basic Ammunition Load' for the new vessel.

They had also received new Combat Support Shuttles and Combat Drop Shuttles both modified with the new M/A generators, navy Combat EVA suits, specialized drop equipment for space jumpers, and by the way, the Marine Company was supposed to arrive after noon local time today.

Today was shaping up to be a busy one for Fiona.

Fiona had just finished the morning brief when the alarms started sounding in the Control Center.

"Unexpected FTL event in the inbound commercial lane," came the voice of SOps.

"Transponder indicates PV 'The Princess'," the Ops O informed.

"Liramor-23, this is Annette Liramor, inbound from Green's World with a passenger for your platform," came Annette's voice. "Requesting berthing. Over."

"Roger, Princess. Construction Bay Eleven is open for you at this time. Out," the Ops O sent back.

Fiona headed down to the bay to watch as The Princess came in and settled next to The Valour.

The system cycled and she went through the airlock to greet her friend and the passenger.

"Fiona!" Annette cried out as she came out of The Princess. "What the hell have they done to your ship?" she asked in surprise.

"She's now the lead ship in a new Navy Class, 'The Valour Class'. They put a gun on it for me!" Fiona replied.

"Damn, Fiona. Thenton is going to have a hardon!" Annette shrieked.

Fiona laughed at her friend's antics. "Not just Thenton. They are all going to go nuts when they see the data from our recent flight back.

"Who did you bring me from Green's World?" Fiona asked.

"I was there on business and was asked to pick up someone who I originally took to Liramor Prime some time ago," Annette replied.

"Do you remember Nurse Heyya?" she asked of her friend.

Fiona nodded that she did.

"Well, ta da! It's Doctor Heyya, now!" Annette said waving Heyya out of the airlock hatch.

Fiona shrieked and grabbed the young doctor in a bear hug, completely surprising Heyya. She didn't remember Fiona being this gregarious before.

"Congratulations, Heyya! I'm so happy for you," Fiona said with the biggest of smiles. "But now we are one doctor too many and one nurse too few.

"Don't worry, we'll fix things," Fiona told her.

Fiona's comp suddenly interrupted with a warning.

"Unexpected FTL event in the commercial inbound lane! Transponder indicates PV Delilah," SOps' voice came through.

"There's no room left in this bay, you'll have to put them in the other," Fiona informed.

"Already on it, ma'am," SOps confirmed.

"You're going to have to install a commercial grade gangway so we can leave the main doors open," Annette laughed.

They all walked over to Construction Bay Twelve and watched as the Delilah came in and settled on her struts. They waited patiently for the interior pressure to match platform norms and then cycled through the airlock.

Liea came out of her ship and jumped down to give her friends a hug.

"Liea, do you remember Nurse Heyya?" Fiona asked of her friend.

"No, I know the name, but we never met when I was here on the platform," she admitted.

"Well, it is no longer Nurse Heyya, but Doctor Heyya," Fiona told her friend.

"By the Gods! Really?" Liea shrieked.

Heyya was blushing furiously as no one on the platform had ever paid her this much attention before. She didn't really know how to handle it. Liea noted her reticence and decided to defuse the situation a little.

"Well I have a little present for you, Fiona," she said and waved to someone inside the hatch. They all watched as Fayad Ouihya waked out into the bay.

"Fayad! So good to see you again!" Fiona said to the young man. "How are your French studies going," she asked, just to see him blush.

"They are doing well, considering that I have not had any French speakers to practice with for the last three weeks," he replied.

"We'll get a report once you settle in," she told him. "In the meantime, a certain lady needs to explain what she is doing here on my platform while her ship is going through acceptance trials?"