Chapter 5

Once again dress uniform, she left her berth, flight bag in hand. She pressed the admittance chime on the armsmen hatch and the door opened. Robert and Nate stepped out, looking smart in their dress uniforms.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Are you, m'lady?" Nate asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied. Hipper, in his skin suit, hopped onto her shoulder and chirped. He was ready for another adventure.

In Boat Bay Two, she found the XO and Chief Miley prepping her assigned pinnace for departure.

"Well, you look ready," Commander Newberry said. "I'm your second pilot, and the chief here is our flight engineer. We go way back."

"Welcome aboard, chief," she said and shook his hand.

"Thank you, ma'am."

The chief opened the main hatch, and they boarded the pinnace. She and Commander Newberry took their seats in the flight cabin, donned their headphones, and Rachel began pre-flight checks.

"Check check, comms check," she said.

"Green over here," the commander said.

She looked back into the cabin and the chief gave her a thumbs up.

"Control, this is delta tango zero two, comm and signals check, over."

"Pinnace zero two, good comms, over."

"Roger, control. Transmitting flight plan, time now."

"Transmission received, over."

She went through the rest of pre-flight and powered up the pinnace.

"Control, I am good for departure. Request permission to depart, over."

"Pinnace zero two, you are cleared for departure. Safe flight, control out."

She made sure her helmet was securely racked to her seat, activated the standard reverse thrusters, and left the boat bay. Her first destination, HMS Intolerant, was a short twenty-minute flight. She loved flying, no matter how short the flight, so she enjoyed it while she could.

"Solid departure," the commander noted. "Nervous?"

"About the flight? No sir. About the mission? Somewhat," she replied.

"At least you're honest about it," the commander said.

When they were in open space, she looked back at Hipper, sitting in Nate's lap.

"All right?" she asked.

Hipper signed yes and flicked his ears.

"When we get to the Intolerant, I'm staying put. The Admiral's flag lieutenant will meet you in the boat bay and escort you to him," the commander instructed. "My only part in this is being your second pilot, that's it."

"Yes sir."

"Off the record, you're a sport for doing this. I've never heard of any middie doing something like this. All you should be doing is what you've been doing, learning the job of a junior engineer. For what it's worth, it'll look good on your record."

"Yes, there's that, sir."

#

When the pinnace reached the outer bands of the Intolerant, an incoming signal requested the pinnace's the IFF codes. She transmitted and waited.

A half minute later they heard, "Delta Tango Zero Two, this is the Intolerant. We have you on approach for bay three. Stand by for tractor and thruster shut down, over."

"Confirmed, control."

"Power down thrusters in three…two…one…now."

There was a slight shudder when she powered down the thrusters and the tractor locked on to the pinnace.

"Thrusters powered down, control."

"Good lock," the chief relayed.

"Control, good tractor lock."

"Acknowledged, good tractor lock."

She kept her hands free in case of a tractor malfunction and the Intolerant loomed larger with every passing kilometer. Lights blinked around the outside of the bay they were headed too, and the pinnace again shuddered when she deployed the landing struts.

"Impressive ship," the commander said.

"Agreed, sir," she replied.

When the pinnace was settled into its place, crewman scurried around the pinnace to attach the umbilicals and docking clamps. The pinnace shuddered again when the boarding tube attached.

"Good seal, ma'am," chief stated.

"Control, touch down, bay three. We have a good seal."

"Acknowledged, welcome to the Intolerant."

Rachel conducted the post-flight checks, the chief opened the main hatch, and she, her armsmen, and Hipper departed the pinnace. They swam the tube until they reached the red line that indicated they were at the end of the tube. She caught the nearby hand-hold bar and settled on her feet, glad to have done a smooth arrival with no stumbling. She came to attention and saluted the boat bay officer.

"Midshipwoman Mayhew requesting permission to come aboard, sir."

"Granted, you're expected. Follow the lieutenant," he said, waving his memo board to his left.

"Aye sir."

She stepped aside and saluted the lieutenant. He returned her salute. "At ease, I'm Lieutenant Tarpley, Admiral Terehkov's flag lieutenant. If you'll follow me?"

As they made their way through the ship to the command deck, the party of her, a treecat, and two armsman gathered attention.

"Sorry about that, this is the only way to get to the flag bridge," the lieutenant said when they entered the lift.

"Not a problem, sir."

When the lift reached their destination, he again nodded for her to follow him. At the hatch for the flag bridge, he gave she and her armsman a brief once-over and pressed the button on the bulkhead for them to enter. Rachel glanced around the flag bridge, noting that it wasn't much bigger than the David Taylor's bridge, but looked more streamlined. Her guide stopped at an admiral with his back to them, looking over the astrogation terminal. The lieutenant cleared his throat and a commander nodded over the admiral's shoulder. Admiral Sir Aivars Terekhov turned around and she came to attention.

"Midshipwoman Mayhew reporting as ordered, sir."

"Welcome aboard, Miss Mayhew," he said and extended his hand.

She returned his handshake and he beckoned her to follow her from the flag bridge to his briefing room. Robert waited in the corridor while Nate took a position in the corner of the office, and Hipper perched himself on her lap.

"Have a seat," he offered and gestured to one of the two chairs in front of his desk. She waited until he was seated and sat down. His right hand twitched and he spoke.

"You've been briefed on the mission?"

"Yes sir."

"Do you have any concerns? I might be able to assist, I did spend some years in the foreign office. You may speak freely, Ms. Mayhew."

She took a breath and started. "Sir, I'm just an engineering middie. I'm not sure how offended the President will be when someone of such a junior rank is presented to him."

The Admiral nodded in acknowledgment of her concern. "I understand your concern. However junior your rank in the navy, you are the daughter of the Protector of Grayson. That carries some diplomatic weight. The President hopes that when you talk to your father again, he'll be presented in a positive light. He's grateful for the ships, even more so because they cost hundreds of millions less than Manticore or Haven was asking."

She nodded. "Dad said as much."

A steward came into the officer with a serving tray and poured a cup for the admiral. "Would you care for a cup?" the admiral asked.

"Yes, thank you, sir."

The steward nodded, poured a cup, and held his hand above the sugar. "Two, thank you."

They chatted about shared academy experiences, their families, and he outlined how the meeting would proceed.

"Today's meeting is mainly involving President Retallick, the head of his navy, and High Admiral McDonnell. The president will make a speech, the admiral will make a speech, they'll close the transaction, and there will probably be some pictures taken. I'm not sure why my presence was requested, but we must make nice with planetary presidents whenever possible."

"I'm to be seen and not heard is what Captain Wozniak suggested," she said.

The admiral chuckled. "While that's true with 99 percent of midshipmen, that's not going to be possible in this instance."

He glanced at the clock on the wall and patted his armrest. "It's time we headed out."

#

During the 45-minute flight to Sidemore Station, she heard the Admiral chatting with Nate and Robert while Sidemore Station requested the pinnace IFF signals.

"Ever docked to a station?" the commander asked.

"No sir."

"No time like the present," the commander said, and she transmitted the shuttle's IFF codes.

"Delta Tango Zero Two, we have you on approach. You are cleared for docking in bay two. Slow to standard approach velocity, copy."

"Copy, Sidemore Station. I have the beacon for bay two, standard approach velocity. Over."

As she flew toward the blinking lights lining the bay on the hull of the ship, she imagined a path of lights projecting from them and steadied her course.

"Good catch on the port thruster," he said.

She saw a crewman waving his flashlights to guide her into the umbilicals and clamps where she was to land.

"Delta tango, adjust your position eight degrees aft, steady as you go."

"Adjusting, Sidemore."

The crewman waved his flashlights downward for her to land the pinnace in its place on the deck. The pinnace shuddered when she touched down and the crewman gave her a salute and thumbs up. She heard the thump when the tube locked on to the pinnace, and the hiss when the connection was complete.

"Good lock, ma'am" chief Miley reported.

"Aye, good lock, thanks Chief," Rachel replied and slipped off her ear buds.

"Good flight, solid docking, I'll do the post flight. Take a deep breath, look yourself over, and have fun with the admiral," the commander murmured.

Admiral Terekhov poked his head into the flight cabin. "Good advice. Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, sir."

Chief Miley opened the hatch and everyone waited while the admiral departed the shuttle first, followed by Rachel and her armsmen. They swam the tube and when they reached the station side, an Sidemore Navy honor guard was waiting. When Admiral Terekhov touched down, he straightened and reported to the boat bay officer.

"Permission to come aboard, ensign?"

"Granted sir! Welcome to Sidemore Station!" the ensign said and returned the salute.

When he stepped aside and saw High Admiral McDonnell, the honor guard saluted with their weapons and music started playing.

"Aivars, good to see you," the high admiral said over the music and extended his hand.

Rachel reported to the boat bay officer and followed the admiral, Hipper on her shoulder, her armsmen at her back. Personnel stared, pointed, snapped pictures as the group followed the President's aide throughout the station. They arrived at an observation gallery, where the aide pressed the button for entry and waved the group through. Rachel walked the high admiral, but she was a little taller than him, so her desire to remain unnoticed wasn't going to happen. President Maynard Retallick was there with his wife, three children, and several aides. His biography said that he was 77, but with prolong, he didn't look a day over 30. The youngest child giggled and pointed in excitement when she saw Hipper and the High Admiral spoke.

"President Retallick, may I present Admiral Sir Aivars Terekhov, Royal Manticoran Navy, the convoy fleet commander."

The admiral came to attention as the President stepped forward, all smiles, and held out his hand. "I'm honored to meet you, Admiral. Welcome to Sidemore Station. I hope you'll allow me to take you on a tour of the station, so that you can see what we have to offer. I think you'll see that we've grown a bit since Admiral Harrington was here."

"I would be pleased to see your station, Mr. President."

The High Admiral spoke again. "Mr. President, allow me to introduce Midshipwoman Rachel Mayhew, Grayson Space Navy, presently of the David Taylor."

The high admiral gave a barely perceptible nod toward the President and Rachel stepped forward.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Mayhew. You have the look of your father, although you're a bit taller. I suppose you've heard that before?"

"Yes, Mr. President, I have. I'm honored to be here, thank you for the invitation."

"Please, come and meet my family."

The group walked to the Retallick family standing by the window that looked out to space. "This is my wife, Vivian. My children, Brannon, Dannica, and Cora."

Vivian welcomed them to the station and shook each of their hands, and Cora was beyond delighted when Hipper extended his true-hand to her.

"They're read about treecats and seen pictures of them, but they've never met one," Vivian explained.

"What's his name?" Cora asked.

Hipper hopped off her shoulder and sat in front of the children so he could be properly admired.

"Hipper."

"What's that from?" Brannon asked.

"That was the name of an admiral from the old Earth navy," Rachel explained.

Vivian nudged her oldest and he stopped staring at Rachel. Blushing, the twenty-three-year-old Brannon cleared his throat and spoke. "We would be pleased to have all of you for dinner at our home this evening."

He looked to his parents, and they nodded approvingly at him, to which he smiled in relief. The admirals looked at each other and nodded.

"Thank you for the invitation. We'd be happy to dine with you," the high admiral replied.

The President clapped. "Splendid! Shall we begin the tour?"

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