— 10 —
The nervous tension on the bridge doesn't subside, and even the normally calm manner of the men and women on the radar is less than a hundred percent steady. Every blip of space dust makes Emerald's heart jump
"Coffee?" Hodges asks, handing Emerald a mug of the steaming brew, "Hope black is okay," he adds, with a clear twinkle in his eye.
"Black is just fine." she grins back, appreciating the open recognition of her color. She also appreciates the quality that makes him a fine officer. Yes, he respects her; and yes, she is under a lot of strain; and yes, this is his way of easing the strain.
She finishes the cup, gets up, and stretches. "Might as well hit the head, while 1 can."
"Good move. I think it was a Terran statesman named Churchill who said something about never missing an opportunity to piss. Don't know when the next one will come."
"Right." She leaves the bridge, jogging down the deck, trying to loosen up. She hears the sound of many boots jogging in unison, headed her way. Around the curve in the hall come the unit of Sea Slugs, the commando unit on board. They took the name when one of the men discovered a unit from old Earth called the Seals, who were reputed to be the toughest commandos ever trained. With that knowledge and a little zoological research, the Sea Slugs were born. If the Seals were sleek, the Slugs were disgusting, but that is only for them to say.
Their CO salutes as he jogs past, never missing a beat. Emerald routes her exercise back to the bridge, cheered by the lean, mean Slugs.
But trouble isn't over.
"Ma'am, the Brooksville is on the line."
"Put it through," Emerald orders, puzzled.
"This is Captain Lee here. We have a problem."
"Sheller here. What's up?"
"We have a red-line situation in the CT system. I am ordering a power down."
"Do it. Any guess what the cause is?"
"Not a clue. I'll get back to you as soon as we know anything. Over."
"Yeah, Jim, keep me posted. Out."
"Oh, great!" one of her lieutenants groans.
"Okay, let's think this out," Emerald instructs her staff. She is learning that command is as much teaching as performing, and that teaching in turn leads to more learning for herself as well. "Dixon, read it over to me."
"It's time versus firepower, the way I see it. The Brooksville is slower than the Inverness but carries more and bigger guns. It's a risk either way. If she is down for good, the longer we wait, the further behind schedule we get. If we leave her behind, she'll never catch up, unless she can get going, full speed, pretty quick. Then we'll be down one cruiser."
"Good, that's it. Now what do we do? Lieutenant?" she asks, responding to the bright look on the face of a lieutenant j.g. named Jackson.
"Could we hedge the bet? I mean, could we give them an hour, or even half an hour, to assess the problem and then decide?"
The decision is Emerald's in the final analysis.
First mark 1 hour off your chart for cruising time.
If Emerald decides to leave the Brooksville behind, go to section 11.
If Emerald decides to decelerate the fleet while the Brooksville looks for the problem, go to section 12.