Wing Commander #07 False Color by William Forstchen (novels for students TXT) 📗

work on unsettled frontier worlds, had been pressed into service to manufacture whatever the Kilrathi derelict might be lacking right on the spot.

The last member of the assembly was an olive-skinned, attractive woman, Wenona Springweather, from the planet of New Plains poised on the boundary between the Landreich and the Confederation. Settled mostly by a mixture of Native American tribes, the planet had tried to stay out of the political rivalry between Kruger's government and Terra, and Captain Springweather was typical of the frontier scouts who operated out of the free port at New Plains. Her scout ship, Vision Quest, was the only civilian vessel in the fleet. She was along to help the Goliath team locate and investigate the hulk she'd stumbled across . . . and, to hear her talk, to make sure that she wasn't swindled out of her finder's fee by the sharpies working for Max Kruger.

Springweather and the salvage specialists gravitated into orbit with Admiral Richards and Geoff Tolwyn, seemingly at odds with the voices of authority represented by the purely military members of the operation. As for Bondarevsky himself, he was torn in his loyalties. He sympathized thoroughly with the battle group officers who had to plan for God alone knew what contingencies out there in the Vaku system, but at the same time he considered the supercilious Galbraith and his immediate juniors a poor substitute for the combat veterans he'd served with in the war. The worst of it, he thought, was the fact that they reflected their maverick Commander-in-Chief, Max Kruger. Bondarevsky was used to the common bond between the officers in the Confederation, products of a uniform academy training system and a rigid code of conduct. Out here in the Landreich individual eccentricities seemed to be the norm rather than the exception, whether it was Galbraith's ultrafashionable uniforms, Bilina's unsavory mercenary past, or Bhaktadil's old-fashioned adherence to the ways of his Gurkha ancestors. It emphasized the almost amateur nature of war out here on the frontier, and Bondarevsky had never regarded warfare as a fit subject for amateurs.

But these were the men and women he'd have to learn to work with, not just on the Goliath Project but afterwards as well, whether the mission succeeded or failed. The combat ships of the battle group, minus Independence, were slated to become the supercarrier's fighting force if the derelict could be re-commissioned.

Bondarevsky hoped they'd all grow to understand one another well before the time came when they had to rely on each other in a combat situation.

He forced himself to focus back on the conversation around the table. Camparelli had finished his opening comments and slumped back into his chair, letting Galbraith take over the operational briefing with the assistance of the carrier's XO, Mary Roth, and Camparelli's Flag Lieutenant, Commander O'Leary, who manipulated the controls of the holo-projector while Galbraith spoke.

"The deployment for the first stage of the operation is relatively simple," the carrier's skipper said languidly. According to Miss Springweather's reports—"

"That's Captain Springweather," the woman corrected loudly. "Just because I don't have one of Max Kruger's instant commissions doesn't mean I'm not captain of my own damned ship."

That earned her a look from Bikina as well as Galbraith, but the only response came from the senior officer, who cleared his throat. "Yes, of course," he said with an ingratiating smile. "Captain Springweather's survey of the system spotted the jump point closest to the derelict, roughly thirty thousand klicks away. It hooks up with the jump point here in the Oecumene system. My intention is to deploy Xenophon and Durandel first, to get an initial tactical scan of the area in case there should be any hostile activity around Vaku." His tone made it clear that he didn't expect any such thing. He was going through the motions, Bondarevsky thought, hoping to impress the brass with his thoroughness even though he really didn't see the point of going in expecting trouble. That probably wouldn't matter at Vaku, unless the Cats were preparing some sort of elaborate trap for the Landreich. But it could spell trouble later on if Galbraith carried that same attitude into a real combat situation.

Hopefully Bondarevsky would be far away if and when that came to pass. But poor old Tarawa—and any of his friends unfortunate enough to be aboard under Galbraith's command—might be in for trouble.

"Once the initial scan is completed, Durandel will relay an all-clear signal by drone through the jump point, and we will send in the rest of the battle group. Independence will go through first and immediately launch her fighters to cover our approach and conduct a close-in examination of the target. Commander Tolwyn, I will expect the fighter squadrons to do a thorough job of sweeping the region in as short a time as possible. I do not want to keep the battle group waiting around on full alert for any prolonged period. If there is a danger to be dealt with, I want to be able to move as quickly as possible to deal with it. And if there's nothing to block our closer investigation of the Kilrathi carrier, I want to be able to close in and start the detailed survey job ASAP. Is that clear?"

"You won't have any problem with my people, Captain," the younger Tolwyn said, the slight emphasis his own sign of irritation at the captain's usurpation of authority over the flight wing.

"I trust not," Galbraith said, unruffled. "The order for the rest of the battle group will be Sindri, then City of Cashel, then the factory ship. Vision Quest and Caliburn will bring up the rear."

"Do we really need a rear-guard in an operation like this?" Pamela Collins asked. "It isn't as if we have any enemy activity to worry about in these parts."

"We'll do this by the book, Captain," Galbraith said. "If something should happen to one of the non-combat ships I want a destroyer on hand to deal with it. And I particularly require a