promoted for political reasons rather than command acumen, so he could be trusted to keep things in motion. Smart but not brilliant in the way of some of his subordinate officers. Nobody back at Ladaux interested in advancing his career. No great options, until he had the luck to be serving under her.
“Denis, this is going to be much bigger than Auberon . That you will see shortly. I’m going to be far too busy commanding a squadron to be engaged in the day–to–day operations of things here, although I will most assuredly be reading your reports much closer than Kwok ever did. Your job will be to keep everything and everybody on an even keel. When we go into combat, and we will, you will be commanding Auberon at the tactical level while I handle strategy. I know you can do that, and do it very well. Keep that up and we will have the opportunity to do great things together. Good enough?”
She watched his eyes as he processed. According to the file, he was also a chess player, and pretty good. Jessica was a fencer. It was an entirely different way to think and move, but he would complement her well, if she could rely on him. What she needed was to know if he had that spark left, after being a babysitter for so long.
“Aye, sir,” he finally said. “We’ll give them hell.”
She shook his outstretched hand. So far, so good.
Chapter IX
Date of the Republic October 4, 392 Jumpspace outbound from Kismayo system
In some ways, it was an entirely new sound, but not anything unique when she thought about it. Jessica stood quietly in a side hallway with the door opened and listened to the Flight Deck Commander call the roll.
Iskra Vlahovic was a rare bird in the fleet. She had been a pilot until she’d been shot up enough that she couldn’t fly combat missions any more. Instead of retiring to a desk job or piloting shuttles, she had gone back and gotten advanced degrees in engineering and eventually taken command of the flight deck of Auberon .
If she couldn’t fly, according to the information in her personnel file, at least she would keep others going.
From the discipline records, the woman ran a tight ship. Infractions were closely logged, and punishments paid out without regard to rank or station. Crew either learned from their mistakes or transferred to other ships. The survivors of her wrath thereafter maintained a very high rate of excellence and included a number of seriously over–qualified crew members who had later gone on to other posts and shined.
Jessica counted the names as they were read off. It was an all–hands meeting, so there were twenty–one pilots and flight crew present, plus one senior engineer. They sounded generally bored, perhaps a touch sullen, as if meetings were beneath them.
Based on the pilots she had known, any time not out–ship flying was generally time that was wasted. Opportunities lost. Years of chasing pirates down and rarely catching them would wear.
That was going to change, too.
Jessica perked up as Iskra’s voice changed timber. It was never soft, but it gained something, like what you would use to drive nails through boards.
“Okay,” the woman said. “You’re all here, you’ve heard the news, the rumors, and the gossip. We’ll leave Jumpspace at Simeon in twenty–six hours.”
That was greeted with groans and hoots. About normal for people who considered themselves hotshot pilots.
“Iskra,” a man’s voice cut through the noise. “Don’t you have anything better for us? I’ve flown the range at Simeon seven times now. It’s getting predictable.”
The voice sounded like it belonged to a young man who was used to giving orders. The tone was a good, rich, penetrating baritone. It probably went over well with the ladies at ports of call and dockside bars. Reviewing the roster in her head, Jessica was pretty sure who the owner was, as well.
“Well, Jouster ,” the Flight Deck Commander replied, hard, heavy, “I’d like to be the one to ruin
“Denis, this is going to be much bigger than Auberon . That you will see shortly. I’m going to be far too busy commanding a squadron to be engaged in the day–to–day operations of things here, although I will most assuredly be reading your reports much closer than Kwok ever did. Your job will be to keep everything and everybody on an even keel. When we go into combat, and we will, you will be commanding Auberon at the tactical level while I handle strategy. I know you can do that, and do it very well. Keep that up and we will have the opportunity to do great things together. Good enough?”
She watched his eyes as he processed. According to the file, he was also a chess player, and pretty good. Jessica was a fencer. It was an entirely different way to think and move, but he would complement her well, if she could rely on him. What she needed was to know if he had that spark left, after being a babysitter for so long.
“Aye, sir,” he finally said. “We’ll give them hell.”
She shook his outstretched hand. So far, so good.
Chapter IX
Date of the Republic October 4, 392 Jumpspace outbound from Kismayo system
In some ways, it was an entirely new sound, but not anything unique when she thought about it. Jessica stood quietly in a side hallway with the door opened and listened to the Flight Deck Commander call the roll.
Iskra Vlahovic was a rare bird in the fleet. She had been a pilot until she’d been shot up enough that she couldn’t fly combat missions any more. Instead of retiring to a desk job or piloting shuttles, she had gone back and gotten advanced degrees in engineering and eventually taken command of the flight deck of Auberon .
If she couldn’t fly, according to the information in her personnel file, at least she would keep others going.
From the discipline records, the woman ran a tight ship. Infractions were closely logged, and punishments paid out without regard to rank or station. Crew either learned from their mistakes or transferred to other ships. The survivors of her wrath thereafter maintained a very high rate of excellence and included a number of seriously over–qualified crew members who had later gone on to other posts and shined.
Jessica counted the names as they were read off. It was an all–hands meeting, so there were twenty–one pilots and flight crew present, plus one senior engineer. They sounded generally bored, perhaps a touch sullen, as if meetings were beneath them.
Based on the pilots she had known, any time not out–ship flying was generally time that was wasted. Opportunities lost. Years of chasing pirates down and rarely catching them would wear.
That was going to change, too.
Jessica perked up as Iskra’s voice changed timber. It was never soft, but it gained something, like what you would use to drive nails through boards.
“Okay,” the woman said. “You’re all here, you’ve heard the news, the rumors, and the gossip. We’ll leave Jumpspace at Simeon in twenty–six hours.”
That was greeted with groans and hoots. About normal for people who considered themselves hotshot pilots.
“Iskra,” a man’s voice cut through the noise. “Don’t you have anything better for us? I’ve flown the range at Simeon seven times now. It’s getting predictable.”
The voice sounded like it belonged to a young man who was used to giving orders. The tone was a good, rich, penetrating baritone. It probably went over well with the ladies at ports of call and dockside bars. Reviewing the roster in her head, Jessica was pretty sure who the owner was, as well.
“Well, Jouster ,” the Flight Deck Commander replied, hard, heavy, “I’d like to be the one to ruin
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