burn-time remaining and the maneuvering display on which the marker representing the Michaelson and her course slid steadily onto the desired vector. The main drive cut off, and a few moments later the actual and desired vectors joined as one. Paul swallowed hard and gritted his teeth as his inner ears and stomach protested the many and varied changes in gravity conditions as well as the sudden return to zero g.
Lieutenant Tweed pivoted in her chair to face the captain. 'Maneuvering completed successfully, Captain. The Michaelson is on course for intercept.'
'Hmmm. Very well.' Wakeman unstrapped himself, then moved away unsteadily.
'Captain's left the bridge!'
'Thank you, bosun,' Herdez replied. 'And next time we maneuver, try to restrain your enthusiasm.'
'Aye, aye, ma'am.'
'Good job, Lieutenant Tweed.' Herdez left even as Jan acknowledged the praise.
Tweed rubbed her neck. 'Ahhh. So much for excitement.' She noticed Paul staring intently at the maneuvering display. 'What's up?'
'I was just wondering. Is it possible for a human to maneuver the ship anything like that?'
'Sure it is. Just like that. You just have to feel her motion, anticipate the right moments to kick in different thrusters, and not try to haul her around like a bag of bricks on the end of a rope. You don't look like you believe me.'
'I'm sorry, but… the maneuvering system computers handle complex problems in a flash. How could any human do what they just did?'
'By feeling the ship. Look, you've been real straight with me, Paul, so I'll tell you a secret. If you promise not to tell anyone else.' Paul nodded, frowning in puzzlement, as Jan tapped her display. 'Here's the automatic ship's log for the maneuver we just completed. What's it say?'
'It says… it says the automated maneuver controls were disabled. The maneuver was controlled from-' Paul checked the words again in disbelief. 'From the officer of the deck's watch station. You handled that maneuver? Manually?'
'Yeah. I disabled the automated controls beforehand. The maneuvering control relays are right here on the chair handles, so you can manipulate them easily while everyone else is staring at the displays.'
'Geez. If Wakeman had found out-'
Tweed grinned nervously. 'He won't. Not from you. Right?'
'I promised. But that's amazing. You're a great ship handler, Jan. That maneuver was perfect.'
'Thanks. Now remember what I told you. It's a secret.'
'But-'
'A secret. Nobody else hears a word of it.'
'If they review the log-'
'Nobody looks at the log. They're too busy handling whatever's going on right now to worry about what happened five minutes ago. Don't tell anybody else what I showed you, Paul.'
Tweed's face was firmer than Paul had ever seen it, so he nodded in assent. I guess she just wants to prove to herself how good she can be at something. But why not let the others know? I don't understand. Good thing no one spotted her working those controls. Paul frowned again, remember the XO's eyes on him when he snagged the tiny bit of flotsam. Herdez doesn't miss anything. Does she know? She must know. That 'Good job, Lieutenant Tweed' bit. Why would she say that about just activating an automated maneuvering sequence? But it's like she's keeping it a secret that she knows Tweed's secret because she knows Tweed needs it to be a secret for her own reasons. Paul shook his head, slightly dizzy from following his last thought train. Jan flicked another nervous smile his way and he nodded back to her in reassurance.
'The SASAL ship is running.' Paul glanced up in surprise at Lieutenant Sindh's calm statement. 'They, or South Asian deep space sensors, must have spotted us when we maneuvered for intercept.'
'They're going to get away?' Paul felt a mix of regret and relief.
'Maybe. We're calculating course options now, trying to see if we can still manage an intercept inside the US zone.'
Lieutenant Bristol looked up from his meal. 'What if they can't? Can we intercept them outside the zone?'
'We can. The question is, may we?' Sindh glanced at Paul. 'What do the orders say, almost-a-JAG?'
Paul snorted at the nickname, then concentrated on remembering the twists and turns of their convoluted orders. 'There's a lot of room in there for the captain's discretion. But, orders aside, we don't really have legal authority to stop another ship which isn't in an area we claim.'
'Even if he used to be in our area?'
'That's right. If we don't catch him inside our zone, we're not supposed to haul him over outside of it. It's sort of a jurisdictional thing. Just chasing him out of our zone enforces our claim.'
Jen Shen swung over to grab another tube of coffee. 'Unambiguously?'
'Well, no. Not like actually catching him in our area.'
Sindh looked around the wardroom as if evaluating her audience. 'Chasing another ship out of the zone isn't going to generate lots of good visibility for the Michaelson. Or her captain.'
Paul bit his tongue. She's saying what we're all thinking. Wakeman isn't going to let a potential career boost like seizing that ship slip through his fingers.
'If we do that, seize the SASAL ship outside our zone, won't it generate bad visibility?' Bristol asked. 'Since it'd be illegal?'
Sindh made a face. 'I don't think Paul said such a seizure would be illegal. He said we're not supposed to do it by international standards.'
Paul nodded. 'I'm no expert, but it seems to be really complicated. The XO has had me draft some point papers to try to explain it all to the captain-'
Jen snorted. 'Explain complicated stuff to Cap'n Pete? Good luck. He's so dense he bends light.'
Sindh suppressed a smile. 'Jen…'
'Okay, okay. I'll watch my words. But the point's the same. Trust me, if there's room in our orders for our captain to figure he can grab the SASAL ship in or out of our claimed area, he'll try to do it.'
On the heels of her statement, the bosun's pipe shrilled on the all-hands circuit. 'All hands prepare for maneuvering in five minutes. Secure all objects and materials. Undertake no task that cannot be completed prior to maneuvering.'
Sindh looked toward the speaker. 'I suppose that means we've calculated a new intercept trajectory. We'd best get comfortable. If the Captain is going to try to manage an intercept within our area, this might be a long burn to build up sufficient velocity.'
Jen hoisted her coffee, then dropped the tube back into storage undrunk. 'Yeah. 'Damn the torpedoes,' but since we don't know how long we might be pinned down I'm not drinking this.'
'High-g acceleration is hell on a full bladder,' Sindh agreed.
It felt strange. They were in a chase, heading at high speed toward a point where they should intercept the fleeing SASAL ship just inside the American area. But, as if in a dream, the huge distances to be covered caused the chase to play out in slow motion over days and weeks. On maneuvering displays, the vectors of the Michaelson and the other ship continued converging, but at an apparent snail's pace. Physically, the SASAL ship was off the Michaelson 's starboard bow and about ten degrees above the plane of the Michaelson. As the ships converged, that position never changed even though the distance to the other ship steadily decreased. Constant bearing and decreasing range had been the formula for intercept or collision for as long as ships had sailed, and it applied just as surely in space.
Inside the Michaelson, activity had the same hurry-up-and-wait feeling. Preparations, planning, and training for the impending encounter were run-through and then run-through again.
It's like they expect us to intercept the SASAL ship in a couple of hours, but then we come out of the training sessions and realize it's still a couple of weeks away. How's anybody supposed to keep their adrenalin pumped for
