forward.”
Kelly followed him toward the nose of the ship.
“If you look right above your head and you look real close, you'll see part of the sensor grid. They’ve done a pretty good job of blending it into the ship’s skin, but you can just make out the circular indentions where the sensors were faired in. Now, if we move to the bow, you can see the three forward-firing plasma cannons. When they first laid out the plans for this refit, these three cannons were left off. I convinced Admiral Craddock that even though we live by stealth, we die by lack of firepower if stealth doesn’t work. So, we have a little more sting. It gives us a bit more flexibility in tight situations. We don’t always have to hide with pride.”
“I can see where that could come in handy. Tell me sir, is there a simulator for this class of ship on the base?”
“As a matter of fact, that's our next stop. Come on. This is all there is to see here for now. We’ll do a more extensive walk around when they finish the refit.”
They left the warehouse area around the yards and proceeded to a three-story, squatty-looking building near some hangars.
“Exec, this is the flight simulator facility. They can build you almost any bridge of any ship in the fleet. The Vigilant’s new bridge is ready for a test flight. Come on in.”
Kelly followed Timmons inside, where an attractive female Chief Electronic Technician met them in the entrance. Her name tag said Blankenship.
“If you’ll follow me, Captain, I’ll get you both set up in the simulator.”
They followed her down the hall and into a large triple height room. In the center was a large box suspended above a gimbaled mount. They followed her up the stairs and inside, to an exact replica of the Vigilant’s cockpit.
Exec, you take the helm position. I’ll sit back here in my chair. Chief, will you get us up and flying?”
“Aye aye sir, strap in and hold on.”
Kelly didn’t quite know what to expect. He pulled hard on the four-point harness and braced himself. He had spent hours in fighter simulators and knew how much they could throw one about. He was unsure how something with the mass of the Vigilant would react.
The simulator lights dimmed. He felt the gimbal mounts kick in and lift the simulator away from the steps. He waited for something to happen.
“Uh, Exec, now would be a good time to turn on your console.”
Kelly turned red. He had been waiting for something to happen and had forgotten to fire up his console.
“Roger, sir. Just getting the feel of her first.” Kelly hoped he’d covered up his screw-up. He toggled on his controls and the simulation started. He found himself looking out at a generic planet that they were obviously orbiting.
“Okay, Kelly, let’s move out of the solar system. Navigation information is appearing on your screen.”
Kelly accepted the course plotting on his display and moved the Vigilant out of orbit and into open space. He verified the plotted course wasn’t passing near any of the planets or major objects in the system and gradually increased his speed.
“Kelly, hold up on making the jump until we pass the last of the orbital planes.”
At the touch of a button, the orbital plane of the system’s planets appeared in his display. He was a minute away from clearing the last orbital plane. He took that time to study the console more closely. He had full engine controls, weapons control over the stationary plasma cannons, and the ability to overlay maps or sensor data over his display. He also had partial control over the navigation shields. He could increase the forward shield intensity, but complete shielding was controlled on another console. He focused back on his job and watched as he crossed out of the system.
“Exec, new course data is coming to you. Let’s turn onto the new course and jump to FTL.”
Kelly did a quick check on the new course, accepted the course change, and throttled up to light speed. The sensation in the simulator was almost exactly as it was in reality.
The simulation was very good. The floor conveyed a faint vibration as would be felt in flight. The view out the front screen made that peculiar shift and blurring brought on by moving at light speed and higher. It had the unpleasant effect of making some people queasy. Kelly never had that problem.
“How does it feel?”
“It feels great, Captain. I don’t have any experience with this ship, but it feels like my past experiences on other ships, right down to the slight vibration through the floor. How does this feel compared to the real thing? How fast will she fly?”
“Its pretty realistic, but the mass feels slightly heavier than the Vigilant. Of course, some of this could be based on differences from the refit. Top speed will be near power 6 light speed.”
“Okay, now take a little time to get the feel of the ship. Engage in free flight. See how she handles.”
Kelly took the control yoke and put the simulator through its paces. He dropped to sub-light speed and ran through a number of drills from his fighter flight training. The mass of the Vigilant wouldn’t match the maneuverability of an F-53, but it was remarkably responsive. He toggled on the stress indicators on his display. He stayed well within tolerances. He kept pushing the envelope to see if there were any maneuvers that caused more stress on the ship than others. It was important to know the structural limitations of a ship. He dove, climbed, rolled, yawed, and looped the ship. He knew he was in a simulator, but it was amazing how real it felt. He was just about to try some maneuver thruster drills when a proximity alarm went off. Kelly looked at his display and saw an asteroid in their path. He had three options: change course, increase shields, or blast it out of their way. Kelly, still a fighter pilot at heart, toggled on weapons and blasted the asteroid to small bits that were easily repelled by their navigation shields.
LCDR Timmons chuckled, “Chief Blankenship owes me a beer. She was sure you would try to jockey us around the asteroid. I said you’d blast it.”
“I guess I’ll have to work on being more unpredictable, sir.”
“Just don’t forget you almost always have more options. In this business we may not be able to blast our way out of situations. Sometimes we need to employ a little finesse.”
“Time to head for the barn. Chief B, that’s all we have time for now.”
The lights came up, the outside view and Kelly’s display went blank. He felt the simulator lower and lock itself into the steps. Chief Blankenship opened the door to let them out. Kelly followed LCDR Timmons out and down the stairs, thanking Chief Blankenship as he passed out the hatch.
Kelly and Timmons power walked back to their offices. They passed several bemused officers and enlisted. Kelly was determined not to break into a trot. When they got back to the building Kelly had significant shin splints, but he had kept up. He wasn’t about to limp or complain in front of the captain.
The two went into their respective offices and collapsed in their chairs, rubbing their sore legs. Each was convinced he had achieved a victory over the other. Chief Watson and the yeoman, who had watched them come in, smiled and chuckled quietly.
Chapter Four
On the K’Rang home world of G’Durin, Shadow Leader M’Trang conferred with his superiors. He stood at attention, resplendent in his maroon cape and glistening fur.
“Excellencies,” he began, “our agents in the human space have made contact with people so without honor that they will sell us any information we desire. They will condemn their own kind for some useless shiny rocks. They assure us they have access to anything we need.”
“We will be starting slowly with this source to test its veracity and ability to get us the information we need. We will carefully ask for information we already know and information we have no interest in to ensure we are not being lied to or that will give away our intentions.”
The High Nobles appeared to be concentrating on something before them just out of M’Trang’s eyesight as they sat behind the high bench. They seemed almost disinterested in his report. He was about to continue with his briefing when the Senior Elder looked up.
