Chapter 19 - The Advisor[]
FSS Kentares NR-001
Kentares- Class Corvette / Ram Ship
New Syrtis Star System
Federated Suns
3155
[Day 180...]
The trip through former FedSuns space had been plenty of time for Anh to instruct Major Foch on how to cut transit times with off-axis jumps, recharge unseen in the outer limits of star systems, and generally sneak past DCMS pickets.
The Tharkad agreement was holding up, so far, but as they crossed former Fedsuns territory. The mood on the ship had darkened. She understood the feelings as, perhaps, the Fedsuns' allies did not.
She'd felt the exultation of driving the Falcons from Lyran worlds they'd held for a century, smashing an invader that had seemed once to be insurmountable.
New Avalon might have been moved to New Syrtis but, that was just a center of outrage for the men and women bringing her to their 'new' capital world.
It showed in how the lingua lessons changed as well. More officers than enlisted were attending LaFayette's French lessons. Grilling her on tactics in French, methods in French, techniques, and experiences from the war, in French.
It felt like some of the 'war training' exams run by Nikki Minh in the Guard or it felt like Sharon Ngo's briefings and counter-briefings on the way to relieve Tharkad.
Analyzing lost battles, victories, and what could have or should have been done differently.
This mood manifested with the crew, as well. More and more crewmen moved through the corridors of the ship in EVA suits, with less and less carelessly leaving hatches undogged, lockers unsecure.
Anh's little 'walks' on the hull between jumps became well-attended classes in themselves. She found herself teaching officers nominally superior to her in the old FedCom hierarchy how to observe, astrogate, and examine the evidence of their own eyes in the blackness of deep space.
Three jumps into former Fedsuns territory, she joined Major Foch and Major Allbright. In removing the safeties from the Jump controller and the hardwired components being removed with a halligan rescue tool. The coolant lines rerouted to bypass the removed limiters, after which, Allbright wrote a software patch to the nav-com computer which effect was removing the software blocks. After that, they practiced 'short window' jumps. Bypassing monitoring in an even dozen systems. Going right past both Republic, and DCMS picket lines without being seen.
Today, in the New Syrtis system, Anh recovered from Jump-sickness, and signed off. "You are now a qualified Navigator, Major." she said, "Six minute transition. Excellent progress."
The officers in the brid-the CIC, applauded awkwardly in their EVA suits.
"We're going to have to do something about those suits though." she added, "You can't live in those things full time!"