Chapter 26 – Around the Horn

It was almost 0500 in the Captain's ready room. Renee stood at attention in front of a wall mirror and stared at her lean yet athletic Latina profile from different angles. She adjusted her uniform and noted it was a little loose in places. This was her first mission that required long duration stasis and she recalled being told to expect some muscle loss. As she turned to look one more time at her side profile, she said to herself, "It'll take a little time to get back, but at least it didn't turn to fat."

She reached up and pulled her long dark hair back and tied it off with a blue and gray hair band that matched her uniform. She paused for a second and leaned closer to the mirror and noticed a streak of gray in her hair that hadn't been there before. A frown crossed her face as she considered what to do with it. After a moment of staring into the mirror, she giggled and muttered aloud, "They said the Captain's chair would come with a price. I guess the gray hair is a down payment."

IVAiN commented, "Nonsense, Captain. Gray hair has traditionally been a symbol of wisdom and authority, both of which you have in abundance."

Renee smiled, "Thanks IVAiN for trying to cheer me up."

"My pleasure Captain. By the way, it's almost 0500."

She instinctively glanced at her watch. It read 0458. She reached over to pull her tunic off the wall hook and paused for a moment. She stared at the mission patch on the tunic's left arm as she ran her fingers across it. Her thoughts lingered on the details of the message she'd transmitted to Earth a few minutes ago. The patch was oval with the images of both Earth and Pandora side by side surrounded by an infinity symbol. At the top it read "UNSS VIGILANCE" and across the bottom, "Two Worlds - One Future." Her demeanor turned very serious as she put the tunic on and walked out the door.

The bridge conference room door opened and someone in the room called out, "Captain on deck!" Everyone jumped to attention as Captain Lopez walked into the room and took her place at the head of the large conference table. At the center of the table a 3D rendering of the Vigilance floated and along the walls were screens showing a variety of ship's data. Renee said, "Be seated. We have a lot to cover in a short time."

She took a moment to look around the room at the attendees, some of them she'd not seen in person since the crew went into stasis. The room was quiet with exception to the rhythmic hum of the ship in the background. Renee could plainly see the worry and fear in their faces. It was no secret that something had gone wrong and rumors, like most bad news, always made the rounds ahead of the truth. On the wall the clock read 0501.

Renee leaned forward in her chair and stated in a firm tone, "Before we go around the horn, I know something you should all be aware of. The source of the sabotage was Earth. It came in the form of amended orders for IVAiN just after we reached nav point one. To put it bluntly, someone back home attempted to murder every member of this crew and they came awfully damned close to being successful." She paused a moment to judge their reactions. The room was utterly silent as an air of fear lingered over the conference table.

Renee cleared her throat and continued, "However, it appears our adversaries were successful on other fronts. Even though we couldn't transmit, Vigilance received several transmissions while we slept. The communiqués indicated that Augustine Science Station was destroyed and Pandora's planet-side forces were bombed with strategic thermobaric weapons. As far as we can tell there were no survivors, with only one possible exception, but we'll get to that soon enough."

Renee stood, leaned over the table, and pointed toward the floating image of the Vigilance. "I don't credit our survival to pure luck," she paused as she glanced around the room making eye contact with each person seated around the table. "I credit our survival with the fact this is the best trained crew Earth has ever sent into space, period." She sat back down.

The facial expressions of those seated around the table appeared to relax some, but remained tense nonetheless. Renee cracked a slight grin, "I've read a lot of reports in the past several hours and I'm aware that our enemies intentionally cut me off from my crew."

She paused a moment and leaned back in her chair, "What they didn't expect was a crew that was prepared to do their jobs independently, a crew willing to take responsibility, and get the job done without orders or calling home. For that I'm proud of you all." She abruptly stopped speaking and looked around the room again. She could tell her pep talk was working, but it wasn't hard to raise morale when it's the truth you're using, she thought.

She glanced over at her chief engineer Lt. Commander Karl Russo for a second who was busy taking notes and continued, "You should all be aware of the ultimate sacrifice Lt. Joseph Geiger made to save the ship and all of our lives." Karl looked up from his pad. She continued, "He lead his Damage Control team on a daring space walk to manually reset the ship's course. They succeeded, but it cost him his life in the process. Ladies and gentlemen, he has set the bar high for us to follow. For his bravery under the most extreme conditions, just before I came to this meeting, I transmitted my recommendation that he be posthumously awarded the United Nations Medal of Honor for his actions that not only saved this ship but its vital mission as well."

There was silence throughout the room for a few moments. Renee continued, "Put whatever fears you may have aside and know that our safe arrival at Alpha Centauri was not by chance. This crew made it happen and as a great poet once wrote, 'we all have promises to keep and miles to go before we sleep.' Am I understood?" Everyone in unison with vigor and volume said, "Yes Ma'am!" She noticed the fear in their faces had vanished, replaced with pride.

Renee leaned forward again placing her elbows on the table. "Now that we've dealt with our worst enemy, let's carry on with the business that brought us here," she grinned, "about 30 hours ago, ship to Earth communications were restored. Since then we've made contact, to Earth's surprise no less. It appears we lost contact shortly after we made our first navigation point in conjunction with the amended orders I mentioned earlier. Nonetheless, the mission control center back home has been reconstituted to provide support. Once we've gone around the table I'll have a few more comments." Renee looked over to Lieutenant's Miller and Samadi.

The two stood up and Lt. Miller said, "Captain, we've finished our flight path calculations. We only needed to make a few minor corrections to Lt. Geiger's original course adjustments and we're presently here," she pointed toward a wall screen. Lt. Samadi held up a small holo pad and with the motion of his hand swept the data over to the wall screen Lt. Miller was pointing at. Instantly, the ship's current location, projected course around Polyphemus, and distance to target appeared. She continued, "Currently, we're just under 28 hours away from our intersection window where we'll begin our run around Polyphemus' dark side.

Renee interrupted, "I know you'll come to it, but what does the timing look like for the Trooper and Constable?"

Lt. Samadi quickly punched away at his holo pad and pulled the data up on another wall screen. Lt. Miller said, "ISVs Trooper and Constable's links were never broken with Vigilance. Therefore the assumption could be they were destined for oblivion as well, but of course that didn't happen. The good news is they are right where they're supposed to be, approximately nine to ten days behind us, running silent just as originally ordered."

Renee glanced at Giles, "Excellent. I'm sure their Captains will have plenty of questions when we can finally break the comms blackout. Please carry on with the rest of the your brief."

Lt. Miller added, "All bridge systems are working normally and fully interfaced with IVAiN. That's all we have, Ma'am."

Renee nodded as both of the lieutenants took their seats and she turned her attention to Doctor Anya Markov. "Speaking of IVAiN, with exception to some odd choices in ancient music Doctor, what can you tell us about our recovering A.I.?"

Anya blushed for a few seconds and replied, "I'm sorry Captain; I honestly thought you'd enjoy the music." Renee nodded with a smirk on her face but didn't reply. An awkward moment passed before Anya continued, "IVAiN has been functioning normally for over 2 days now and I've fully reintegrated NiAVI and the Mission Rules Override computer. I've located all of the remaining malicious malware and I've managed to remove most of it. The parts I haven't cleaned yet are all quarantined." Anya noticed Renee staring at her when it occurred to her that she'd forgotten to explain why she was removing malware. "I'm sorry, I guess I should start from the beginning. So much has happened, I just…well never mind." Her demeanor showed a hint of frustration.

Renee said, "It's alright. Just tell everyone else here what you've already told me." Anya nodded.

She said, "It was an extremely complex set of viruses and other malware, a very nasty combination designed just for IVAiN."

Giles interrupted, "How so?"

Anya quickly replied, "Super dense holographic memory A.I. computers all have their own unique programming structure. Because of the crystalline structure of the memory, every one of them is slightly different than the other, despite the fact they may be of the same series. Therefore to build a virus for it is time consuming, expensive, and shows an absolute premeditation to attack one specific computer and only that computer. Thus the sabotage the Captain mentioned earlier, sir." Giles nodded.

Renee spoke up, "How long before the rest of the damage has been repaired?"

Anya closed her eyes as she thought, her fingers acted as if they were counting in the air. She blurted out, "Now that we've pulled all of IVAiN's systems back together, I should have him back to 100% in 48-60 hours give or take a couple of hours, ma'am." Renee and Giles both nodded as they glanced at one another with concern in their faces.

Renee turned her attention back to her Chief Engineer, Lt. Commander Karl Russo. With exception to Renee's earlier comments about his deceased engineer he had sat quietly the whole time listening and taking notes on his handheld holo pad. After a few seconds, he realized Renee had turned her attention back in his direction and he sat the pad down on the table, stood up, and straightened his tunic.

Karl stretched his neck once as if to work out a sore muscle. He said, "Captain, before I continue, myself and my engineers appreciate what you've done for Lt. Geiger. He was an outstanding young officer and he'll be missed on the engineering deck. Most important though, we hope that one day his wife and children will understand why he was honored and know he did not die in vain." Renee slowly nodded

After a short pause, he walked over to one of the large wall screens and pulled up a schematic of the Vigilance. "The moment the lockdown ended my teams dispersed throughout the ship to begin repairs on areas they couldn't safely reach previously. As you can see from this diagram, we have a good deal of damaged areas identified. They've been prioritized and my teams are working double shifts to get the most critical problems resolved before we begin our run into the dark.

He turned to point out several areas of external damage obviously caused by the meteor shower. "These are the areas I'd like to get done before we lose our natural light. The internal sections that aren't deemed critical can be handled once we're in the dark." Renee and Giles both nodded

Renee interrupted him, "We have less than 10 days before we're going to come face to face with the Black Jack. Will we be 100%?"

Karl's face turned sour as he replied, "No Captain, but our critical systems should be good to go and that includes all conventional combat and defense systems. The non-critical systems that aren't absolutely necessary to make this ship combat ready are secondary at this time."

Renee said, "I see. In that case get with me after this meeting. I want to go over the priorities with you again to be sure we have our people working on the most important issues." Karl nodded and sat back down.

Karl looked over at Ensign Lim seated in one of the two chairs that would normally be occupied by the Battle Captains. She had sat perfectly still in her chair throughout the briefing exhibiting the nervous demeanor of a junior officer who felt in over her head. There was an awkward silence as the Ensign slowly rose up out of her chair. She started to speak once but froze. A few seconds passed before Karl looked back to the Captain. He quickly stood back up and said, "I'm sorry, Captain. We can't promise the Coil Cannons will be operational by the time we engage the Black Jack. I only feel comfortable promising you the conventional systems right now, but we'll do our best to have them ready, I just can't guarantee it. The damage was extensive, from both the meteor shower and the damned malware tearing up most of the software. In combination they did a hell of job on them," he glanced back over at Ensign Lim who appreciatively nodded at him. Karl sat back down.

Renee turned her attention back to Ensign Lim. "I know you didn't expect this Heidi, but I've got confidence that Commander Rolfe and Lt. Commander Yamada chose you as their third officer because you've proven your ability. I understand you're not checked out on the main cannons, but you are on all the conventional combat and point defense systems. I want you to focus on them, just as you would if they were here. Understood?"

The young Ensign nodded and replied, "Aye Captain," and quickly took her seat.

There were a few moments of silence while Renee considered her next words. She turned her attention to her Chief Medical officer, Doctor Jennifer Koszuta. She said, "Doctor, I've scanned over your preliminary medical report. For now, the rest of the paperwork will have to wait. Hopefully it won't grow too much between now and when we're done with the Black Jack." Jen nodded. Renee continued, "What I'm most concerned about are the wounded. I understand you have nine patients in sickbay, which includes one of my Battle Captains, Commander Evan Rolfe." Jen nodded and stood up as she prepared to speak

Doctor Koszuta had a reputation for being headstrong and speaking her mind. It was rumored to be one of the reasons Captain Lopez selected her for the mission, besides her medical accolades. Despite her medical professionalism, she prided herself at being sociable with every member of the crew. It was well known among the officers that the crew held her in high regard. That's the way Jen liked it.

Jen said, "Thank you, Captain. I know you have a lot on your plate right now and I agree. The dead can wait; it's the living we should be most concerned about right now."

Renee interjected, "Do I hear a Doctor's recommendation coming?," as she grinned.

Jen paused for a moment, not amused by the comment. "Captain, it's my job to continually assess the crew's physical and mental health. They've been through a lot with everything that's happened of late. I just want to be sure you keep that in mind as you prepare them for the next engagement."

Renee replied, "I think I understand what you getting at Doctor and I'll keep it in mind. Please continue."

Jen nodded and continued her report. "As previously reported I have nine patients in sickbay at this time. Three will be back on their feet in a couple of days the others are in serious to critical condition and two of those are in a coma. All but one of them was injured in stasis during the meteor shower. The exception was hurt while serving on a damage control team making repairs to reactor number 3 in flight. Thankfully they were able to get him back into stasis since they couldn't reach sickbay due to the ship wide lockdown. It saved his life."

Renee nodded, "What about Commander Rolfe?"

Jen said, "I was about to get to that, but first I felt you should know storage bins 22-25 were heavily damaged by the meteor shower. They were being used to store medical supplies, namely our neutral human clones. All eight of the male clones and six of the eight female clones were destroyed. We can create new ones but it will take two or three weeks for the biomass to grow into adult maturity. More specifically for the brain matter to become mature enough to support the avatar connection."

Giles said, "So to clarify, we have two useable female clones at this time?" Jen nodded in answer to his question.

After a moment of silence at the table Renee spoke up. "I think I understand the issue. How long before Commander Rolfe can be revived?"

Jen scratched the side of her head and ran her hands through her hair as she thought about the question. Finally she answered, "about four weeks and at least that many more for rehabilitation."

Renee said, "Very well then. Based on your report, I'll sign off on the use of one of the clones to revive Doctor Olivia Custis until her body has healed. Next to you she's our most experienced doctor and we can't go without her skills. As for the other female clone," Renee paused as if in deep contemplation of what she was about to say. "I'm authorizing the revival of Commander Rolfe using the last clone."

After Renee gave the authorization everyone in the room appeared to freeze in place for a moment as if they were still processing what she'd just said. Renee turned to Giles whose face was expressionless and said, "Exec, we need him if the Black Jack decides to fight. With his experience our odds of success go way up and without him, well you do the math."

Giles remained silent for a moment as he stared intensely into Renee's eyes while he gauged her seriousness. After a few seconds without breaking his stare at Renee he muttered the words, "Doctor, the first officer concurs with the Captains assessment. Do it."

Jen exclaimed, "You both realize what you're doing right? I know we really need him for this fight, but…" She paused and looked around the table. She could tell no one was happy about the decision, but their faces conveyed their unanimous agreement nonetheless. Jen knew ethically this was wrong, but her instincts agreed with the Captain, it was necessary to give the ship a decent chance of survival. Finally, she just nodded at the Captain and said, "I don't like it, but I think your right, we must have his help, his experience."

Renee said, "I don't care how you do it, just do it. I'll take full responsibility for the legal consequences when the time comes. Doctor, don't take chances, you have two clones, and we critically need both of them. Do what you have to do to ensure success for both."

Jen quickly replied, "That's the easy part Captain, I'll see to it as long as you can live with it." Jen's expression was cold and professional at this point.

Renee stood up and sternly stated, "That's my job Doctor."

Jen nodded, glanced around the room and replied, "I'll be in sickbay breaking a few laws if anyone needs me," then walked out of the room.

Renee turned her attention towards Lt. Colonel Michael Redcloud. With an annoyed tone she asked, "Colonel, do you have anything pressing right now?"

Michael had several years of command experience under his belt and could see the look on Renee's face. He could tell she was ready to end this meeting and replied, "I don't have anything that can't wait Captain." Renee nodded at him appreciatively.

After a few seconds of reflection Renee said, "I believe we've covered all the immediate issues. I want each department head to provide progress reports to Commander Burton every six hours until further notice. If you need me, don't hesitate, I'll be available. We have less than 28 hours to deploy the Whisperer, and dispatch our liaison, Sergeant Thibodaux to Pandora. His mission remains essentially unchanged. Make contact with the natives and provide firsthand reconnaissance of the situation on the ground. Any questions?" She only paused a couple of seconds before she followed up with "Dismissed."

While her senior officers filed out of the room, Renee sat back down and put her head down on the table. Giles said, "Take your time, Captain. I'll be on the bridge trying to narrow down a location for that Avatar beacon if you need me." She didn't raise her head, but mumbled, "I forget to…okay; I'll be up in a few minutes." The scene faded once again into a blurry fog. When it came back into focus, Renee was seated in the Captain's chair on the Vigilance's bridge.