Chapter 2
January 31, 2262, Neptune-Beta.
"We are now going live to the commissioning ceremony for Earthforce's latest warship, the EAS Rasputin, first of the new Warlock class advanced destroyers. Designed with all of the latest technology, including artificial gravity, this vessel is destined to become the flagship of the Earth Alliance fleet. As we mentioned in our report yesterday the Rasputin will be commanded by Captain Susan Ivanova, hero of the war against president Clark. As you can see from the pictures we are now receiving they are just about to begin, so we now go live to Neptune."
Susan unsuccessfully tried to hide a yawn as the ISN crew focused their recorders on the warship behind her. She was still tired from her restless night and it had been very difficult dragging herself out of bed this morning to face the reporters. Still she had done it and had even managed to make herself look presentable, mainly thanks to a clean uniform that someone had thoughtfully left in her quarters while she had been off having dinner the previous night. She hadn't noticed when she returned to her temporary quarters last night, but this morning was glad it was there, especially as she had spent the night sleeping in her old uniform. This might explain why she hadn't slept well at all.
She was annoyed that the reporters were here, as it seemed obvious to her that Earthforce was only allowing them in to demonstrate to the alien governments and Sheridan's new alliance that the Earth Alliance still strong, despite the destruction of a large number of ships in the recent civil war. The ISN crew was certainly being allowed plenty of time to examine the ship, especially the heavy weapons and the fighter bays at the front. She disliked the whole thing, in fact, she disliked reporters in general, but the Admiral had insisted that she be here. As the first captain of one of the new Warlock destroyers, Susan could understand the need for her presence, but it also seemed to her as though she was part of some sort of perverse publicity campaign.
At least she had finally been able to meet her crew this morning. The problems with the Artificial Gravity had been fixed apparently and everyone had gathered in one of the station's docking bays, the one closest to the massive bulk of the Rasputin so ISN could record plenty of vid images of the new ship. The senior officers of the Rasputin were a very diverse bunch, even compared to the Babylon 5 command staff.
Her executive officer was Gregor Petrov, a thin, wiry, Russian from the Moscow megacity. He seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face, but at least he appeared to have taken a likening to her, perhaps because she too had been born in Russian Consortium. He was likely a conservative like her father, one of those who still wished for the good old days of the past when all the nations were independent of each other and only Russians could guide the destiny of other Russians. Still she decided that she also liked him, as it was likely that he had disliked Clark and Earthdome as much as she had.
Alister Schmitt and Vincent Dreyer, in charge of the fighter squadrons and ships weapons respectively she was less sure of. Both were from the European Union, and both had the look and demeanour of career officers, the sort who would never ever disobey the orders of their commanders. They had probably served Clark's side during the war, and this could probably lead to trouble. After all, she had been one of the leaders of the rebel force and it was only because of the amnesty that Sheridan had managed to drag out of the new Earth Alliance president that she was not facing a court marshal right now, instead of being given command of the new Earth Alliance flagship.
The other two members of the command staff she had liked however, at least at their first meeting. Philip Moore, the Polynesian engineer still looked as cheerful as ever, despite probably spending most of the night working on the ship's repairs. He had waved to her when she had arrived for breakfast, appearing worn out from her nightmare-filled sleep the night before. She didn't know exactly what to make of Amanda Taylor, the ships doctor though. She was from Mars according to her record, and had only joined Earthforce three years ago. Why she had been given such a high profile posting Susan didn't know, but the blonde woman seemed nice enough when they had met at breakfast.
Admiral Kiernan had told her that the rest of the command staff, which as far as she could tell meant only the commander of the ship's marines, was waiting for her at Mars, apparently the first port of call for the Rasputin after it left the station. For now, the ship was only operating with a skeleton crew, with almost a thousand new crewmembers awaiting her arrival on Mars to come aboard. The few that were here were more than enough for the short journey through patrolled space, with no trouble expected in either hyperspace or in space near Mars, despite recent reports of raider trouble near some of the inner colonies.
Her thoughts about her crew were soon interrupted though as Admiral Kiernan turned to her and invited her up onto the podium to introduce her, the ISN recorders turning to watch her again. With a forced smile, she crossed the room to stand beside him as he spoke. "And now I would like to introduce Captain Susan Ivanova who will be commanding the Rasputin."
Susan smiled mechanically for the ISN crew as the Admiral continued to describe the vessel, how it was the pride of the Earth Alliance fleet, and the ship that would show to the other races that Earth continued to design warships as well as them, if not better. She barely concentrated on his words, instead trying her best not to look bored or too tired for the recorders. Then she realised that he had finished talking and was looking at her. She felt a sudden fear, not knowing what to say or what he had been saying, but then noticed his finger, hidden from the ISN reporters by the podium, pointing toward a button and realised what he wanted. With another smile for ISN, she turned towards the window looking out on the warship and waited until the station rotated enough for the Rasputin to come into view again. Then when it was coming into view she pushed down the button and the recorders turned to watch as the arm of one of the maintenance robots, which had been positioned outside the docking bay, tossed a bottle of champagne across space towards the hull of the Rasputin in the time honoured ritual used to christen a new ship.
She watched the bottle's flight, following its path as it spun slowly through space before shattering against the thick hull of the new warship, just below the section of hull where the ship's name had been inscribed. A cheer went up from the crowd gathered in the docking bay, and continued for about ten seconds, before the warship moved out of view again as the station continued its rotation. Susan smiled as she thought of the maintenance bots that would likely now be rushing to collect all the shattered glass from the bottle. Even the tiniest piece of glass could be deadly if it struck a fast moving fighter craft like a Starfury. The station's sensors had probably been tracking the bottle through its whole flight, so what was left of it could be gathered quickly. It seemed a silly thing to do given the risks to vessel, but tradition demanded that the ceremony be performed as it always had been, despite the fact that modern vessels no longer sailed the seas of Earth, but the depths of space.
She soon turned away from the window and went to join the rest of her command staff and the researchers that had gathered in the docking bay. They were busy handing around glasses of champagne, and trays of food. She didn't really feel like eating anything more right now, but took a glass of the champagne. With gritted teeth she managed to fight her way through the long party that followed, smiling nicely whenever someone came to congratulate her on her command, and answering the questions of the ISN crew and nicely as possible, despite the annoyance that she felt at their presence. Inside she could only hope that it would all be over soon. Despite her experiences with diplomacy on Babylon 5, she still didn't like standing around drinking and chatting with people. She was a woman of action not a desk jockey like Kiernan, who was certainly in his element here, holding court on the far side of the docking bay, describing the herculean efforts of his researchers as they had designed and put together the Warlock and Rasputin. She on the other hand tried to stay out of his orbit as much as possible and avoid the spotlight if she could.
"Having fun yet Captain," the voice of Philip Moore asked from behind her.
She turned around and saw the engineer and Amanda Taylor, the ship's doctor, standing close behind her. "Of course," She said with a slightly sarcastic smile. "Who wouldn't be enjoying this."
Philip laughed, recognising her sarcasm for what it was. "Don't worry captain, you will soon be aboard. I think you will find it quite an amazing vessel."
"So I have been told time and time again," Susan said. "I would like to see for myself though, before passing any judgments."
"Don't worry Captain," Amanda spoke up. "The Rasputin has all the latest advances, and even I was impressed when I saw the medical facilities. Very nice indeed, a lot better than what I expected on a warship."
"Well I look forward to seeing them then," Susan said, still not really impressed, especially after her experience with the White Star's, and the other Minbari vessels. "I suppose at least the beds will be horizontal."
Amanda and Philip looked a little confused by this, not knowing the Minbari practice of sleeping at a forty-five degree angle. "Well you won't have long to wait now," Philip said. "In fact it seem that we are about to head off now. The Admiral has just finished giving his speeches, in record time by the looks of things."
Susan turned around again and saw that Admiral Kiernan had indeed finished talking and was motioning for her and the rest of her crew to come over to his side so they could board the shuttle that would take them over to the Rasputin. She noticed with no small amount of pleasure that the ISN reporters were being guided out of the docking bay and the only ones left were the Admiral, Dr Kozlowski, her crew, and the pilot and crew of the shuttle.
"Come on Captain," the Admiral was saying. "We want to get moving as soon as we can. You might like to sit up front with our pilot though and get a good look at your ship before we go aboard. I am sure you have been anxious to have a close look at her." The Admiral pointed out the ladder to the shuttle's cockpit.
"I certainly have Admiral," she agreed, grabbing hold of the small ladder that lead into the Phoenix class shuttle's cockpit, and preparing to drag herself upwards. Before she could though a hand reached down from the cabin and hauled her aboard, and she found herself being welcomed into her seat by the young, sandy-haired pilot. She smiled nicely at the young pilot, while refusing his offer of the shuttle's controls. After all, she was a captain now, and that meant getting others to do the work for you.
The pilot did not seem to mind her turning down his offer and soon had the shuttle under way, the four thrusters on it's underside lifting it smoothly off the deck of the docking bay and then into space. The large thrusters at the aft of the shuttle began to chew through the hydrogen fuel as they pushed the vessel out of the gravity field generated by the rotation of the docking ring and into space. Then with another quick burst of power from the aft thrusters the shuttle began gliding toward the Rasputin.
From her vantage point in the cockpit of the shuttle, she could see the huge warship slowly come into view, its silvery-grey hull sliding slowly into view from behind the bulk of the station docking bay. Susan was surprised how it made her feel, almost excited about going aboard, despite her fears about the Shadow Technology that it contained. It was truly a magnificent ship, over two thousand metres of pure beauty, and power. Unlike the older destroyers, the new Warlock class no longer had the appearance of a collection of boxes cluttered along a central hull. This new class was obviously designed to impress, with smoother lines and highly visible weapons. It made the old Omega's and even the vast explorer ships, vessels she had always wanted to serve on, look like ugly ducklings when compared to it.
At the front of the vessel Susan could see the lethal looking barrel of the heavy particle cannon, sitting just below the fighter bays, which sat ready to pour fighters out at any enemy that came within range. Then behind the bow she could see the smooth, slightly bulging upper hull that contained the habitat sections of the ship, dotted with a number of turreted heavy weapons and interceptors. Gone was the rotating section that had provided gravity for those on board the older destroyers. Instead, the bridge and rest of the crew decks were hidden, just another part of the hull, no longer the obvious target for any attacker that they had been on the Omega class. Roughly halfway along the hull two huge missile pylons jutted out from the sides of the ship, their combined capacity providing enough missile silos for a sustained planetary assault. Behind the missile pylons, Susan could see the entrance into the ship's shuttle bays, as well as what appeared to be the engineering section with its refuelling lines for tender ships and finally, the six huge engines.
The shuttle then began to turn and run parallel to the hull of the Rasputin, bound for the large, dark opening of the shuttle bay Susan had seen near the centre section of the ship. Up close, the hull began to lose some of its shine, and she noticed that it appeared somewhat similar to the hulls of older earth warships, with slightly overlapping armour plates covering the outer surface. These seemed to have been moulded to the ship's frame better than any she had seen before though, and it was almost impossible to see the joins. However, if what Philip had been telling her was correct though this vessel was designed differently, with the main hull beneath the surface, and just a thin metallic layer covering the outside. She didn't really want to think too much about it right at the moment though. During the short flight, she had been avoiding looking towards the black silhouette that was the Warlock, in its own dock on the far side of her ship.
The flight looked like it was nearly over now though, as the young pilot began to fire the forward braking thrusters, slowing the shuttle and preparing for landing. Susan watched intently as the shuttle slowed, coming ever closer to the large opening that was the shuttle bay, appearing to her as though it was about to be swallowed by some sort of gigantic mouth. T hen it was through and, with one last burst of the forward thrusters, which bought it almost to a stop, the shuttle came to rest on the floor of the vast airlock leading into the shuttle bay.
Susan didn't really know what to suspect, so was a little surprised that the shuttle bay looked much the same as the other earth-designed docking bays she had seen on Babylon 5 and elsewhere. Because of the size of the destroyer, it even had a lift platform that would collect the incoming shuttle and cycle it through the large airlock before it was lifted by large clamps mounted on the roof. The lift then slid away and the shuttle was lowered gently by the clamps until it was resting on the floor of the main docking bay.
Below her, on the docking bay floor Susan could see the same scattered collection of crates and tools that had been common place on Babylon 5, and the scurrying crew members who hurried to get the boarding ladders up to the shuttle's main doors, situated somewhere behind her. Susan undid her restraints and pushed open the cockpit door, before swinging around and climbing down the ladder the pilot had thoughtfully extended. It didn't hit her until she had reached the ground, but the docking bay had gravity. The Rasputin's artificial gravity was not quite as strong as Earth normal, but it was close enough to barely notice the difference. Obviously, the AG system had been fixed now, although she could still see several torn up sections of flooring not to far away, with tools piled around them and the blue arches of welding equipment shining up from below.
She had only just reached the bottom the ladder by the time the Admiral and the rest of the shuttle's occupants were beginning to walk down the stairs. Walking quickly, she moved to intercept them, making sure they saw how impressed she was with what she had seen of the Rasputin so far. Admiral Kiernan noticed her admiration and could not help boasting about his ship. "Pretty impressive is it not Captain, artificial gravity on almost every deck now. Makes a bit of a difference from the old days of the Earth-Minbari war when you had to strap yourself into your station, or even your bunk, for most of the time."
"You were in the war Admiral," she asked, a little surprised that he had been involved as he didn't really seem the sort who had ever been a soldier.
"Sure was, attached to the Vega fleet. We saw a fair bit of action too, very lucky to get out in one piece. Our ship's electronics were taken out once and we were left to die by the Minbari in deep space. Luckily we were rescued before life support failed all together, but we still had to spend a fair amount of time freezing our butts off in our environment suits."
Susan nodded. She knew only too well what it would have been like, trapped in a dying starship with failing life support, it was one of her greatest fears. In space, the heat and oxygen provided by the life support system were the most important things needed for survival. If heat failed then the cold darkness of space would quickly creep through the thin hulls and into the vessel and its crew would freeze, and if oxygen failed, or the hull was breached then they would die even sooner from decompression. She had only once been forced to rely on her environment suit, when she had been forced to eject from her Starfury outside Babylon 5, but even that one time had been enough, and it had only lasted for a few minutes.
"But that was all a long time ago now," the Admiral continued. "After the war I was promoted and eventually ended up posted here to Neptune-Beta. Never thought we would ever see anything like this beauty coming out of here though, makes me wish we had these Warlock's back when we fought the Minbari."
"Well we have her now, Admiral," interrupted Commander Petrov as he squeezed past the Admiral to join Susan on the deck of the shuttle bay. "I for one am looking forward to serving on her."
"Indeed Commander, she is a fine vessel." The Admiral then suddenly realised that he was blocking everyone else from exiting the shuttle and quickly walked out of the way of the ladder. "Well, Captain. Shall we take a quick tour?"
"Sounds like a good idea, Admiral. I am certain eager to learn more about my new command. Will you be showing us around?" Susan asked as she stood to one side and watched as the rest of the crew filed down the stairs, Dr Kozlowski the last of all. He quickly moved over to have a look at the work that was still being done on the artificial gravity, still carrying a pile of papers and a data pad.
The Admiral watched him go, and then realising that he probably wouldn't be able to get the doctor away from his work smiled and gestured for Susan to follow him down the towards the end of the shuttle bay. The rest of her crew tagged along behind her, Gregor Petrov taking up a position by her side as she walked. Philip Moore was soon left behind the small group though as he joined Kozlowski in examining the work that was being done beneath the shuttle bay floor.
As he walked, the Admiral pointed out the lumbering shape of another Phoenix class shuttle on the other side of bay, sitting quietly on the deck. "As you can see we have two Phoenix shuttles here, as well as the four atmospheric capable light shuttles." As he spoke, he pointed towards four large doors, two along each side of the shuttle bay, indicating where the much smaller vessels were kept. "We also have the new prototype troop transport vessel in the rear section. You might be interested to see that."
Susan indicated that she would and the Admiral led her to another airlock, this one much smaller than the one they had passed through in the shuttle. The other side of the airlock must have been pressurised as it took only a moment for the cycle to be complete and for the other door to open. Susan was not ready for what was in the bay beyond though.
Lights set high in the roof of this new docking bay shone off the glistening black hull of a large spiky shape, something that at once reminding her of the shadow vessels. It sat like some sort of hideous spider, right in the middle of the bay. Even the Admiral couldn't resist a slight shudder at the sight of it. "Nasty little bugger isn't it. The Akira class troop transport they are calling it. It can hold a hundred marines and can fly through the atmosphere of a planet at high speed, some sort of new atmospheric shielding, or so I've been told. As you can see, the floor of this bay opens up and the ship can drop right out. That is why we keep this section clean of any crates or when the ship goes, they go with it."
"Well except those crates over there," Petrov pointed out, indicating four huge plastic boxes that were stacked against the wall of the bay."
"Those are the tanks, latest thing from R&D on Mars. They are supposed to attach to the transport somehow and then when it reaches a certain height in the atmosphere they detach and float down, ready to do fight off anything nasty that might be waiting. They have a heavy plasma cannon, large enough to punch a hole in most starships. The crew should be around here somewhere. They arrived a couple of days ago, so you will probably meet them before long."
"Well I would like to see a little more of the rest of the ship first," Susan spoke up, eager to be away from the hulking sight of the troop transport. "We can meet the rest of the crew later."
"Of course," the Admiral said, agreeing with her. "We will take the lift to the upper decks."
He turned back towards the main bay and yelled towards Kozlowski and Philip. "Is deck 8 open yet."
The doctor, who was crouched over the workers, who were busy welding below deck, looked up as he heard the Admiral's voice and consulted his notes before replying. "No not yet, the gravity is still shorted out there. The water wrecked most of the circuits in there. We will probably have to leave it closed for the moment. There is nothing important left in there though."
Susan turned to the Admiral and asked, "What was that all about. I heard him mentioning something about water yesterday when I arrived. If it something that is important to this ship then I should probably know about it."
The Admiral looked a little surprised she hadn't already been told and he quickly supplied the information. "Oh nothing bad. One of the water tanks on deck 8 burst yesterday morning when one of the welders cut through the plasti-steel while he was fixing a minor fault. It shorted out almost all the circuits on deck eight and flooded several sections. Trapped most of the crew on the upper decks and with the artificial gravity down it was a bit hard for them to get down to the shuttle bay. They have the lifts back online now though."
"What is in deck 8?"
"Just the water storage tanks, recycling equipment for the entire ship and the small botanical section. It should be easy enough to clean up. I think all they have to do is patch the tank and then pump out the water. Fortunately, each of the decks on this ship is self contained and sealed off from each other. From what I was told, it only shorted out the gravity and the main lift. Unfortunately with the lift down the only way onto the shuttle bay was for the crew to wade though the water and then climb down on the emergency hatches, not the easiest trip so most decided to stay on board last night."
"That was why we were not able to be there to meet you when you arrived last night Captain," spoke up Alister Schmitt from the back of the group.
"Yes," agreed Vincent Dreyer, the gunnery commander. "We were both stuck up front in the fighter bays for some time. They drained out most of the water last night though and the lift was back up and running again this morning."
"Speaking of the lift," Admiral Kiernan said, "we had best be using it. We do want to get this ship under way sometime today. We don't want those reporters thinking something has gone wrong now do we."
"Of course Admiral," agreed Susan. "Lead on."
The Admiral smiled and walked back into the main bay and towards the middle where Susan could see the twin turbo-lift system, the doors of one lift carriage already open and waiting to receive them.