Learning By Doing, Les Shaw [highly recommended books txt] 📗

“Lieutenant Kirov, recording. Our mission to Cestus III is complete. We are orbiting Mars and taking on new crew before heading to the Solarian/Earth trade route for training exercises. Afterward, we will receive new orders.”
 Kirov filed the report in the data log and glanced around the bridge. Only he and Cmdr. Konero remained of the original bridge crew. Captain Hitachiin had left to take command of the ‘Excelor’.
Lt. Lesta Tellers now sat in Hitachiin’s place at the helm. Dave Walters was at engineering control. Ted Nelson was at weapons control. And, T’Vaut, a half Valkanian/half Venusian, was on main sensors. Cmdr. Kearney was still head of the engineering department. The only other changes were that Sliva’ak was no longer First Officer, but Captain. And James Hart had been promoted to Admiral.
Sliva’ak spoke, bringing Kirov back to the present. “Take us out of orbit, Mr. Tellers. Kirov, lay-in course for Solarian/Earth trade route.”
“Leaving orbit, sir,” Tellers acknowledged.
“Course laid-in, sir.” Kirov acknowledged.
“Execute course. Proceed at warp five.” Sliva’ak ordered and settled more
comfortably in his chair.
“Aye, sir.” Tellers replied and reached to comply.
When trouble struck a week later, without warning, neither Captain Sliva’ak, nor Admiral Hart, was on the bridge. T’Vaut was in command, Kirov had moved to sensors, and Walters was now at navigation. 
‘Nemitz’ was cruising on impulse when, bypassing an asteroid, it was confronted by a Telarian ship. T’Vaut barely had time to register its presence before it fired. She immediately did three things: told Konero to sound red alert, Tellers to use evasive action, and called engineering for a damage report.
The lights dimmed to red as Tellers swung the ship to starboard. Port would have put them into the asteroid. Now, it was behind them.
Kirov spoke. “Sensors show three Telarian ships. They have us cut off, sir.”
Kearney’s voice over the intercom followed. “Engines and pulsars are fine. Damage was to the torpedo tubes. They’re out, sir.”
“How are the shields?” T’Vaut asked.
“Fine, but another couple of hits like the last and they’ll buckle for sure.” Kearney answered.
T’Vaut looked at Kirov. “Shields are holding at sixty percent.” He answered her unspoken question, then leaned back over his sensor hood as the second volley of fire rocked the ship. “Shield numbers two, four, and six just buckled, sir.” He reported.
The third volley of fire pitched the ship violently to port. T’Vaut was unprepared and was flung from her chair. When her head struck the deck, she went limp.
Quickly, Tellers opened a comm channel.
“Medical. We need a doctor up here, stat.”
The reply of, “Aye, sir.” was immediate.
Closing that channel, she opened another. “Mr. Kearney. Damage report?”
“We still have warp drive, but that’s about all.” He replied.
“Repair what you can, but prepare for warp drive immediately.” She ordered. “We’ll be going in reverse.”
“Did you say reverse?” Kearney asked disbelievingly.
“Correct, Mr. Kearney. I’m taking her down and backwards. Two second bursts at warp two.” Tellers replied and closed the channel. ‘Kearney probably thinks I am crazy. But, if I can get behind the asteroid, I might be able to swing away and get some maneuvering room.’ She thought.
Bringing the ship to a full stop, she switched the screen to aft, and set the warp mode to two.
“Kirov. I need the height of, and our distance from, that asteroid.”
“You will need a seventy degree angle, or more, to drop down and under it, sir.” Kirov replied, having anticipated her request.
“I want to scrape by it by the skin of our teeth, Kirov. Transfer the data I need.” She ordered.
As the information transferred, the intercom buzzed. She answered, “Tellers, here.”, but kept working.
“Where’s T’Vaut?” Hart demanded, sounding angry.
“Unconscious. Where are you, sir?” She answered as Dr. McCord stepped from the stairwell.
Hart spoke. “We’re stuck in the lift. Sliva’ak is with me. What’s going on up there?”
She looked at Nelson. “Brief the Admiral, fully. Then call security about getting them out.”
She changed the screen forward, saw the Telarians moving in, and changed the screen to aft again.The ship looked quite dead at present.
Konero spoke. “The Telarians are asking if we’re ready to surrender, sir.”
“Put it on speaker, Commander.” A quick grin and she continued. “This is Lt. Tellers. Commanding the Coalition Starship—U.S.S. Nemitz. You can take your terms of surrender and stick them where the sun never shines honey.” Her southern drawl predominated at the end. She waved to Konero to cut communication, and opened the ‘all-call’ channel. “Everyone prepare for downward and reverse thrust immediately.”
She slowly counted to seven, then hit the controls. Nemitz gathered herself and sprang.
Her sudden action probably caused a few injuries, but there was insufficient time for everyone to brace themselves.
As the asteroid slipped out of the screen, Tellers changed the screen to forward view. She had intended to slip under just as the Telarians fired. What she sees proves that she had not acted too soon. Their fire either went past the ship or struck the asteroid.
She leveled off, waited for the asteroid to pop into the screen, then cut the engines and pivoted the ship. Activating forward thrust, she went to warp and headed for open space.
Kirov spoke. “No sign of the Telarian vessels, yet, sir.”
Tellers nodded and spoke. “Thank you, Kirov. Keep me posted.” She opened a channel. “Mr. Kearney? How are the repairs coming?”
“Pulsars are operational, sir. I can’t give you torpedoes or shields yet, repairs are still ongoing. Also, you can’t run at warp seven much longer, or you’ll burn out the engines.” Kearney answered, sounding shaken.
“Thank you, Mr. Kearney.”, was her distracted reply. She was busy planning.
Kirov spoke. “The Telarian ships are rounding the asteroid. They will be within firing range in forty-five minutes.”
Glancing at the screen, she saw an asteroid to starboard and adjusted her course towards it.
“Kirov. I want to put that asteroid between us and the Telarians. Feed necessary data to me.”
She dropped to warp three, reducing the ‘to firing range’ time by fifteen minutes. Kirov transferred the data, and she began course changes just as the intercom buzzed.
She answered, “Tellers.”
Hart sounded mad enough to chew nails. “What are you trying to do, Lt., kill us all?” He demanded.
“No, Admiral. Merely remove us from the immediate vicinity of the Telarians.
Are you still in the lift, sir?” She replied, only halfway listening.
She nodded at Nelson. He got the briefing job again. “When you finish, keep the channel open so the Admiral will know what’s happening.” She ordered.
He nodded in acknowledgement.
When they reached the asteroid, Tellers swung the ship behind it. She cut the engines, allowed the ship to coast as she turned it to face the asteroid. They now had open space behind them, just in case.
If her calculations were correct, the Telarians would come from both sides, starboard first, and then over the top. She adjusted the ship’s angle to meet the first ship, and opened a channel to engineering.
“Mr. Kearney. How are those repairs coming?”
“Shields should be repaired in less than ten minutes.” He answered, distracted.
“Thank you, Kearney.”
Closing the channel, she prayed he would come through with those shields.
Without them, it would be a rough ride; and, there would be a LOT more casualties.
Glancing around, she noticed that Dr. McCord was still kneeling beside T’Vaut. His return look seemed to say, ‘I can’t get her to sic-bay by myself.’
She ordered an unknown cadet. “Help Doctor McCord get T’Vaut to sic-bay. Do it as quickly as possible. We may need you.”
“Aye, sir.” Was his reply as he moved to lift T’Vaut and follow Dr. McCord into the stairwell.
Kearney contacted her seven minutes later to say that the shields were repaired.
As Walters reached to raise them, the negative shake of her head stopped him.
“Not now, Walters. But be ready. Nelson, I want pulsars forward. Lock on and fire – on my order. Use maximum power. ”
“Aye, sir.” He replied, then brought pulsars forward and powered them up.
The first Telarian slipped around the asteroid, just as the intercom buzzed.
“Bridge.”, Tellers answered.
“Kearney. Repairs to the torpedo tubes are finished, sir.”
“We’re about to be in the midst of a battle. Keep our defenses and weaponry operational.” She answered, her eyes never having left the screen above her.
Glancing at her console, she saw that Nelson was locking pulsars on target.
“Hold your fire, Nelson. Lock torpedoes as well. I want them closer. Walters, keep those shields down!”
Having started to raise them, Walters made it look as if they fluctuated, then failed. He received a smile from Tellers for his effort.
Looking forward, she could feel the tension on the bridge. That Telarian ship was getting pretty close!
“Is everyone ready?” She asked.
Affirmative nods greeted her glance around the bridge. “Okay. Let’s give them what for gentlemen.” She took a deep breath. “Nelson, if you please. Walters, lay-in course change. Be ready to swivel this lady eighty degrees to port.”
Pulsars were fired as course change was laid-in.
“Direct hit amidships. She’s swinging away.” Kirov reported.
“Torpedo, please. I want her stopped, Nelson.”
A torpedo was fired.
“Direct hit on the engines. They’re dead.” Kirov reported happily.
“The fight isn’t over YET. Walters, swing her. Pulsars and torpedoes forward and ready, Nelson.”
Hopefully, the disabled ship could not call her sister ships to warn them. Her entire strategy hinged on them not being able to.
Tellers nodded as the second ship appeared. Nelson locked weapons and fired. The Telarian ship seemed to shudder, then silently disintegrated.
“Direct hit – engineering. There is scattering debris.” Kirov reported,
“Walters, shields up. Nelson, transfer weapons control to me. The last one is mine.” She ordered.
Adjusting to face the asteroid, the ship sprang at full impulse, headed for the top.
As it did, Tellers patted her console. “Sorry old girl, but it’s them or us.” She did not realize she spoke aloud.
When the Nemitz crested the asteroid, the Telarian ship was waiting.
Tellers swung the ship to port, so that their fire struck the starboard shield without effect.
“It’s too late guys. Now, it’s my turn.” She said and fired, pulsars to fore and torpedoes to aft.
As the Telarian ship exploded, she hit the ‘all-call’. “Prepare for shock waves.”
Hart and Sliva’ak burst through the stairwell door just as the first shock wave hit. Sliva’ak grabbed the door and doorjamb. Hart didn’t think, just dropped flat on the deck.
Before the second wave hit, Tellers moved the ship around the asteroid, using it as a shield. Cutting all engines, she stood to attention. “Admiral is on the bridge.” She said.
Hart picked himself up and spoke. “At Ease everyone, and well done, Lieutenant.”
“The last Telarian is moving away at impulse, sir. Should we pursue?” Kirov reported.
“No, Kirov. Let her go.” Hart answered and moved to the command chair. He opened a channel. “Damage report Mr. Kearney.”
“Most of the damage is repaired. The rest is minimal.” was his pleased reply.
“Thanks, Kearney.” Closing the channel, he turned to Sliva’ak.

   “Your theory that the Cadets must ‘learn by doing’ has been proven, Admiral. Tellers would seem to have learned – not only her job – but ours as well.” Sliva’ak stated with a half smile.

Hart grinned. “We’ll just have to watch our step, won’t we?” He seated himself.

After a moment, Sliva’ak moved to sensors, Kirov to navigation, and Walters to engineering again.
Hart nodded at her. She sat and asked. “Course, sir?”
Hart glanced at Sliva’ak.
“Indulge yourself, Mr. Tellers.” Sliva’ak said.
“Aye, sir.” Tellers replied with a smile of delight.
The Nemitz moved forward at warp three and everyone relaxed to enjoy the ride.
-THE END –