station. Opinions varied greatly aboard ship about whether she would be returning in favor or disgrace. She did not have detailed interior scans of the Dreadnought, but she had proven that it could be fought successfully. Valthyrra herself was very pessimistic. She remained very embarrassed over the incident with the incomplete water line that fueled her conversion generators, even if that had been the responsibility of the station construction crew. And that was directly responsible for the damage that she had suffered.
She also felt that she was very much to blame for the sabotage attempt and Walter Pesca’s subsequent death. She had known that he had been wandering the remote areas of the ship, spying, but she had assumed that it had been a part of his linguistic research and she had not anticipated that he would do her any harm. He certainly should not have been able to steal an entire conversion-warhead missile from out of her own launch tube. She saw that as giving her very bad marks for carelessness.
Captain Tarrel was delighted to point out that there was one advantage to the Methryn’s lame condition: The carrier was no longer capable of crushing accelerations. Valthyrra was herself polite enough not to' respond that she could still make at least one person’s life very miserable, even on only two main drives. They eventually made something of a running joke about it, which helped to restore a better mood aboard the ship. Although Tarrel was somewhat annoyed when the Kelvessan were so endlessly fascinated to find that she did indeed have a sense of humor.
She had accompanied Commander Gelrayen on a final inspection of the major comppnents of the ship. The star drives had been ready for some time and the functional main drives had not needed repair in the first place; they had only been moved. The two damaged main drives had been mounted into the two empty forward slots, being too valuable as salvage under the circumstances. Although the Starwolves never said a word on the subject, Tarrel suspected that they were also reluctant to leave large pieces of their machinery drifting about in Union space. With the inspection complete, they took a lift directly to the bridge to prepare for immediate departure.
“Well, everything worked well enough when we powered up for a static test earlier,” Gelrayen remarked as the lift hurtled along the length of the ship. “Of course, we will know nothing for certain until we are actually underway, especially where those star drives are concerned.”
“We have to take the chance,” Tarrel commented. “Just as long as there were not too many parts left over, we should be all right.”
Gelrayen looked uncertain. “Actually, there were about a hundred thousand parts left over. I wonder if that is relevant, considering the size of the task.”
“Is that supposed to be funny, Starwolf?” Tarrel asked. She was still very worried about those star drives, knowing that the carrier would be going nowhere without those.
“I am very sure of my drives,” Valthyrra assured them over the lift com. “Captain Tarrel, the entire bridge crew wishes to express its delight that you do not need the protection of your armor due to my incapacitated state.”
Tarrel was not allowed time to wonder why the Starwolves would have been concerned about that, since the lift drew to a stop in the next moment and the doors snapped open. When she stepped out onto the bridge with Gelrayen, they could both see what the bridge crew had in mind. They were all seated at their stations, ready for duty, except that each and every one was completely naked.
“Kelvessan do appreciate a good joke,” Gelrayen said very softly as they went directly to the upper bridge, ignoring the dozen and more naked Starwolves who were studiously pretending that nothing had happened.
“I suppose that they must, considering the great lengths they will go to for the sake of a bad one,” Tarrel observed. She lifted herself into the seat at the Commander’s station. No matter how lame the Methryn might be, she would not try to ride out any acceleration standing up.
“Valthyrra, are you ready to get underway?” Gelrayen asked. She brought her camera pod around. “I am as ready as I can be.”
“Secure all bays and locks for flight and begin warming up your main line of generators.”
Kayendel glanced over her shoulder. “Commander, the members of the bridge crew would like very much to step outside for a moment to collect our proper uniforms.”
“No, I need for you people to stand by your manual controls until we see how those main drives are going to handle,” Gelrayen replied, as if refusing them with great reluctance. “We have a long haul ahead of us, and every minute counts. You can certainly understand that.”
They understood that he was taking advantage of the situation. “Commander, the Maeridan is moving clear,” Valthyrra reported. “Khallenda Maeridan reports that she will stand by until she knows that we are away, before she returns to her patrol. I have sent her and her crew my regards, in the innocent hope that I am going somewhere.”
“Well then, feed some power to those drives and we will see what happens,” Gelrayen told her.
There was really no reason to worry that the main drives would not work properly unless the Starwolves had not put them together right, and the static tests would have detected that. As it happened, everything functioned exactly as expected. The two rear drives engaged and built thrust to cruising power smoothly, phasing flawlessly all the way across that range. Although the Methryn did not leap forward with her usual vigor, she was still moving out smartly by Captain Tarrel’s standards.
“No worries or surprises,” Valthyrra reported. “I am increasing power slightly to move us on up toward threshold.”
“If you feel that you can handle it,” Gelrayen agreed. “The real test, of course, will be those star drives.”
“Commander, if the ship is performing well…” Kayendel began, turning in her seat to look up into the upper bridge.
Gelrayen motioned for her to turn around. “I understand your desire to maintain proper appearances, but I believe that we really should not leave the manual controls unsupervised until the Methym is safely in starflight. You do agree, Valthyrra?” “Oh, most certainly,” the ship insisted, swinging her camera pod around to the upper bridge. “I would feel better about it. Besides, Kelvessan hardly need to wear clothes in the first place. I doubt very much that you could be cold.”
“Well, I was thinking about Captain Tarrel,” Kayendel remarked.
“Are you bothered, Captain Tarrel?” Valthyrra asked.
“Not in the slightest,” she replied. As a matter of fact, about the only thing she could see of the Starwolves at the moment was the backs of their seats. But as far as it went, she did not think that the curious frames of the Kelvessan looked ail that human in the first place. Since they were without exception powerfully muscled, and were by design incapable of carrying any real fat, the natural state was actually quite becoming to them.
“The ride home is going to be a long one, “Valthyrra observed in a softer, less contrived tone of voice. “We will need fourteen days at our present speed to reach Alkayja. I do hope to adjust phasing on the star drives to run them slightly hot, which will give us an extra ten to fifteen percent. That might cut things to nine or ten days.”
“No danger to the drives?” Gelrayen asked.
“None. If we actually do get into starflight, that is. After that, my only concern is for what happens next. I believe that I have some feel for the way the Dreadnought behaves, and I wish to continue my mission. That will depend upon whether the Great Powers are pleased with my performance so far, or if they see only my mistakes. And if they have four new main drives to give me any time soon.”
“Finding parts for you will be the only problem,” the Commander assured her. “There is no question about whether or not you deserve them.”
Captain Tarrel said nothing, but she knew how unpredictable the Great Powers could be. She remembered how reluctant they had been to allow the Methryn to go out the first time, when actual battle had not been the purpose of her mission. No matter what they thought of her performance, she still might find herself passed over in favor of more experienced ships. Although Tarrel would not mention it aloud, she even wondered if the Methryn, rather than receive the repairs she needed, might find herself stripped of useful parts to keep some of the older carriers flying. Valthyrra might very well be going back into the construction bay for months, or even years.
For her own part, she suspected that she would be watching the next stage of this battle from the bridge of yet another ship. She even had to admit that it probably would be best for the Methryn if she did have to wait out the rest of the battle with the Dreadnought. She knew that it was largely a sentimental response on her own part, that she wanted to see this young carrier get her chance to fight. If she was asked, Tarrel certainly intended to testify that Valthyrra had proven herself quite clever and resourceful enough to have earned special
