Federation Reborn 1: Battle Lines by Chris Hechtl Page B

way and the necessary skill set to handle the job.
    “No,” the admiral said. “I don't want to bollix it up. We'll report our success once we've had time to set up in Protodon.” He knew a major kick to morale was his projection of confidence in them and their ability to handle the upcoming mission. He didn't want to sound too overconfident though.
    “Aye aye, sir.”
    “Are the ships prepping?”
    “Yes, sir. Per your plan we are breaking out the weapon drones, missile pods, and platforms now and attaching them to the hulls of the warships.”
    “Good.”
    “Are you still considering keeping the gunships back with the fleet train, sir?”
    “Yes. But I'll make the final decision in Protodon space.”
    “Then, if I may pass on a suggestion,” the AI paused a beat. The admiral nodded. “Thank you, sir. Ensign Lovejoy suggested the gunships be passed over to the freighters now. They could then be detached by them in Protodon and remain with the fleet train giving the other warships the flexibility of moving in right away if you so desired.”
    “Interesting,” the admiral murmured, rubbing his jaw. “Lovejoy is …”
    “Fresh from his midshipman's cruise and is an engineering ensign, sir, on board. He served briefly on a tender as well as a gunship, sir.”
    “Do we have a ship that can take them on? Without effecting their speed in hyper?” That was a concern. Strapping a ship or other device to the outside of a ship's hull could affect its hyperdrive slipstream. Or it could be ripped off the hull by the grav nodes if it was too close to one or more of them.
    “I am checking that now, but processing the signal intelligence is eating up most of my processors and memory, sir,” the AI replied. “I can't run a simulation at this time.”
    “Unless it involves the ships and message traffic between them, drop the priority of the signal traffic and work on that. Get Lovejoy involved as well. Consider it an extra homework assignment.”
    “Yes, sir. Punishment?”
    “No, but some people stick their necks out too readily—idle hands and all that. I want this done with time to implement it before my deadline. Understood?” the admiral said, brown eyes locking with virtual ones to show his intent was serious.
    “Calculating …” the AI frowned. “Yes, sir,” he finally said with a nod. “It will be tight. I am passing the orders to the ensign. The tactical department is requesting another simulation.”
    “And you have some extra processors now so I suppose everyone wants to use them,” the Admiral said with a shake of his head. “Check that first. Farm out some of the other projects to the other ships.”
    “Yes, sir. That is an idea,” the AI said.
    “Do I have to think of everything?” Amadeus demanded. Before the AI could remind him of his limits, he waved a dismissive hand. “Never mind. Just get to work.”
    “Aye aye, sir.”
    ---<>---<>---
     
    Jamal kept shooting Lovejoy the occasional sour look, but he ignored it. He was happy; he was in his element and damn proud of it. He loved space almost as much as he loved tinkering in engineering.
    “Hey, be happy we've only got the four. Can you imagine what it would be like if we had say, twenty?”
    “Oh shut up,” Jamal growled as he continued to tack his mounting bracket to the hull of the ship.
    “I like it. You can't beat the view,” Lovejoy replied, looking around to the stars and fleet beyond.
    “Quit rubbernecking and get back to work,” Jamal complained.
    “Spoilsport. Hey, I was thinking about something else. Another project …,” he winced when Jamal's groan over the radio nearly shattered his ear drums. “Well! You don't have to be like that about it!”
    ---<>---<>---
     
    When the fleet was ready, they formed up for the jump to Protodon. The 5.4 light year journey would take 2.5 weeks in the sixth octave of gamma band. The warships were in a flying wedge formation in the lead with the fleet train in the pocket behind