Midshipman Henry Gallant in Space (The Henry Gallant Saga) (5 page)

“There's a feeling of independence and self-reliance that I find grand. It makes life an adventure. Usually it's tranquil, but it can turn terrifying in a hurry,” he said.

"I know what you mean," she replied. “But it sounds like you've found a home - in space.”

Gallant simply nodded.

Eventually the topic shifted to the space service and Gallant asked, “Why did you join up?”

“It’s necessary for someone to stand guard on the frontier. Everyone back home depends on us,” said Kelsey with a quiet gravity. “I just knew it was the right thing for me.”

“So you’re a patriot?” asked Gallant with a grin.

“Yeah,” she looked at him and wrinkled her nose, “right back atcha.”

Gallant crawled along the ductworks between the bulkhead and outer titanium hull of
Repulse
until he reached the pneumatic-hydraulic plasma discharge valve for the starboard antimatter engines. There he cast the light he had attached to his wrist onto the automatic control setting and checked that it was in the closed position. The green status light indicated that the automatic closure feature was operating normally, as well. Having completed this final step in his Junior Officer of the Deck (JOOD) walk-through, he wiggled out of the duct and back into the corridor.

The pre-watch walk-down had taken Gallant nearly twenty minutes, but it was part of the process required for each on-coming watch section. The pre-watch walk-down check-off sheet fostered accountability and helped remind him of the required tasks in preparation for standing a watch on a combat ship. It required him to make a visual inspection of all the ship’s main spaces and any unusual activities that were underway. His physical and visual inspection confirmed what the ship’s AI computers were automatically reporting, thereby verifying the continued safe operating condition of the ship.

Gallant picked his tablet off the deck where he had left it, and tapped the last item on the watch stander's check-sheet.

Chief Howard said, “That’s the hardest valve to verify, but we can’t operate safely without it.”

Gallant said, “I would have been crawling along that duct forever, if you hadn’t told me exactly where to find it. Thanks.”

Howard chuckled, “It’s a favorite stumbling block on officer’s training check-offs. I’ve seen some young go-getters get lost for hours looking for it.”

Gallant said, “I appreciate the hands-on tour.”

Howard said, “That’s what they pay me for.”

“While I'm at it,” Gallant added, “Thanks for the help with division records.”

“They’re nearly up to date now. I’ll have Petty Officer Haggman finish them by next week’s inspection.”
Then Howard yawned, “I’ve already finished my watch cycle, so I'm heading to chiefs’ quarters. I need to check my eyelids for leaks.”

Gallant smiled as he watched the chief saunter away, then he turned toward the engineering spaces.

There were still several requirements necessary to evaluate the readiness and material condition throughout the ship. He went through engineering spaces and checked-in with the EOOW to learn if there were any unusual conditions, or any unusual repairs that would be undertaken during the watch. Then, he stopped in Combat Information Center (CIC) to get their latest information. He quickly perused and initialed the CO’s Standing Orders and Night Orders.

When Gallant appeared on the bridge, he looked at the status display console. It showed the ship’s course, speed, and contacts. He tapped the screen for communication and radar updates.

It was 11:55 pm ship-time when he reported to the current JOOD, Midshipman Neumann. Neumann had already completed his engineering qualification during his first year on
Repulse
and was only now working toward his Deck qualification just like Gallant. Neumann gave him a patient look of distain, as if he were just waiting for him to make a mistake.

“I am ready to relieve you, sir,” said Gallant.

“I am ready to be relieved,” replied Neumann. “The captain has retired to his cabin. We’re orbiting Jupiter, standard speed and distance, no contacts, no special orders, and one minor repair operation just getting underway in the forward missile compartment.”

“Oh, I didn’t see the repair team. Maybe I should walk through that space before—”

“I said it was a minor repair. It's correctly isolated from normal operations and GridScape is monitoring it. No need for you to make a project out of it. It’ll be complete before you can raise a sweat.”

Gallant took a deep breath and then said with resignation, “Very well, I relieve you, sir.”

“I stand relieved,” said Neumann. Then he spoke loudly to the bridge personnel, “Mr. Gallant is the Junior Officer of the Deck.”

Five minutes later, Lieutenant Mather relieved the OOD and the two of them began their six-hour watch cycle. As JOOD, Gallant had to seek all the training opportunities each watch had to offer, despite Lieutenant Mather's lack of interest or enthusiasm.

During the next hour, Gallant accomplished a number of minor ‘housecleaning’ tasks. He called back to the engineering spaces to discuss some errant reading with the Engineering Officer of the Watch. The issue turned out to be a non-problem. A little later he adjusted the ship’s minimal shield strength to optimize power consumption while continuing to provide adequate protections against meteorites. He examined the radar contacts and identified merchant ships transiting between Jupiter’s moons and the space station. He also checked messages originating from the Ganymede Research Laboratory.

Jupiter Station was in orbit around Ganymede, just as Ganymede orbited Jupiter. Jupiter Station was an immense facility. It had twenty main docking ports for ships as large as a battle cruiser or tanker vessel. It also had hundreds of minor docking ports for small craft. The ports could refuel, repair, or overhaul ships. The station’s central core connected all the ports and outer structures. The space station was a city unto itself, with a population of over thirty-two thousand residents and workers. Since it was first constructed, over fifty years ago, it supported the settlements on Jupiter’s moons and the nearby asteroid miners. It provided repairs, maintenance, and refueling of military ships, as well as commercial transport, merchant, and ore ships that were primarily owned by the private conglomerate, NNR Shipping, Inc.

The station had defensive laser and missile batteries, as well as, a complement of marines. The nearby moons included a dozen small pioneer settlements of tens of thousands of colonists each. The total population of Jupiter Station and moons was 352,000.

While administering the routine ship activities kept Gallant busy, his main interest was in qualifying on the Conn and actual learning to drive
Repulse
. Unfortunately for his training effort, she was in a Jupiter orbit, keeping pace with Ganymede, and there wasn’t any maneuvering required.

Gallant was mindful that driving
Repulse
through space was fundamentally different than flying an Eagle. A fighter pilot used his neural interface to maintain an intimate contact with the sensors and controls of his craft. His thoughts controlled the reactors and engines just as he controlled his own arms and legs.
Repulse
was far too big and complex to be handled by a neural interface. He thought that might change one day, but not for some time to come.

Traditionally, driving
Repulse
required the captain, or OOD, to set all the operating parameter values, including the ship’s orientation, the effect of gravity wells in the vicinity, the equipment and reactor status, and then to analyze the strategic and tactical needs. Then the orders can be given verbally to thehelmsman and crewmen who manually input directions into GridScape. The AI then handled all the details of adjusting nozzle flow rate, fuel temperature, and thruster directions, to reach the desired course and speed. While GridScape operated at the speed of light, it required a great deal of human direction. In contrast, the neural interface let a pilot control his craft at the speed of thought, which though slower, relies on the massively parallel processing capacity of the brain to evaluation situations and make judgments in real time.

The watch progressed quietly for Gallant, until 02:11 am when the ship’s fire alarm sounded.

Mather said, “GridScape report the source of the alarm!”

“The fire is in the forward missile compartment,” blared the AI voice.

Repulse
resembled a supersized nuclear submarine with its propeller replaced by a de Laval nozzle. It was 160,000 tons with a length of 1880 feet and a beam of 330 feet. Its armament included eight bow missile tubes and four aft missile tubes, ten plasma short range weapons, forty laser guns deployed amidships, armor belts and force shields, with electronic warfare decoys and sensors. Its crew of 2814 officers and men were highly trained and fully capable of dealing with accidents in space.

Mather keyed the ship’s speaker system and broadcast throughout the ship, “Fire in forward missile compartment! Forward Damage Control (DC) party, proceed immediately to the casualty.”

He turned to Gallant. “Mr. Gallant, take charge of the DC party in the forward missile compartment. Report the status of the fire as soon as you get there.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

As Gallant bounded toward the forward hatchway, he nearly ran into Captain Caine making a beeline for the bridge.

Gallant threw himself forward at each hatch until he reached the forward missile compartment. The hatch was sealed and locked, but the damage control team was already, there pulling gear out from nearby lockers in anticipation of entering the compartment. They began dressing in fire protective clothing and donning breathing apparatus. Several members were priming handheld fire suppressant apparatus.

Chief Howard said, “Mr. Gallant, DC team one is assembled — all accounted for — fire extinguishing equipment at the ready. Two watch standing personnel escaped from the compartment, but two repair team members remain unaccounted for — presumed overcome by smoke near the source of the fire. Ready for ingress — we require access override codes to enter a volatile compartment.”

Howard looked expectantly at Gallant, and then added, “You need to don protective gear, sir.”

“Oh, right,” said Gallant. He grabbed a set of protective coveralls and a breathing apparatus, but before he put them on, he ordered, “GridScape open forward missile compartment hatch number 11289-B. Security safety lock override code Alpha-Alpha-19-Omega, authorization Midshipman Gallant, Damage Control Team Leader.”

The elliptically shaped hatch was five foot high and three foot wide and rose off the deck six inches. Its bulky reinforced alloyed-steel frame had a wheel handle in the center and a bar latch across it. An access keypad and video view portal were just above the wheel handle.

GridScape blared, “Hatch unlocked and open for ingress of DC party. The hatch will be immediately resealed. Future override can only be authorized by the captain. Acknowledge.”

“Acknowledged.”

The hatch automatically retracted the mechanical latching mechanism and swung open.

Gallant tried to look into the compartment, but it was billowing smoke out the hatch – the siren continued to blare and the overhead fire suppressant system was expelling fire extinguishing chemicals. Despite this, the fire was still alive and burning at several electrical panels.

His eyes stung from the fumes. He coughed as his throat and lungs inhaled the acidic smoke.

“Follow me,” said Gallant without hesitation, his adrenalin pumping.

He stuck his left foot into the leg of the protective coveralls and stepped over the lip of the hatch into the compartment. He was still struggling to pull up his coveralls and thrashing about, when he dropped his breathing apparatus mouthpiece. Not wanting to inhibit the team’s entrance by stopping to look for it in the dense smoke, he just kept going.

Gallant thought,
the most likely source of the fire is where the repairmen were working.
But he didn't know where that was. He plunged forward anyway. His assessment of the situation was that the repairmen were probably without respirators and unconscious. He judged that they would not last long in this atmosphere, and adding more fire suppressant would only make it more difficult for them to breath. His only real option to rescue them was – speed. He had to reach the missing crewmen before it was too late.

Gallant stumbled forward several steps, all the while gasping to breath. “Here take a gulp,” said Howard pulling out his own breathing apparatus mouthpiece and stuffing it into Gallant’s mouth. The welcoming breathe helped Gallant get his bearings. As his head cleared, he said, “Thanks,” and plunged forward once more. After a few more steps, he was able to identify the fire source. It was a chemical fuel fire with additional ignition electrical sources on the port side near the missile refueling station.

He called to Howard, “Kill all the electrical panels on the port side, then shut all the port side isolation valves for missile chemical refueling piping.”

It took a minute for Howard to find a replacement mouthpiece for himself and then he began dispersing the DC team to fight the fire near the missile refueling station.

Gallant staggered through the smoke toward the center of the fire source. Flame shot out at him and he felt the heat reaching for him. As he moved forward, he nearly fell over the repairmen. He managed to grab them by their shirts – one in each hand – and began dragging them away from the flames.

After a dozen steps, others from the DC team helped evacuate the injured men to the entrance hatch.

Howard came back to the hatch and said, “The fire is out. We need to ventilate the compartment.”

Gallant tapped his comm pin and said, “Captain, the fire is extinguished. DC team leader requests emergency ventilation of forward missile compartment. Also, I request the compartment hatch be opened momentarily, to permit evacuation of injured personnel.”

“You better get your hands looked at, sir. Those look like bad burns,” said Howard.

Gallant looked at the pealing flesh of his raw blistered hands and felt their pain for the first time. He coughed several more times and waited for the hatch to open, so he could take his first real breath.