Read Black Fleet Trilogy 1: Warship for Free Online Page B

before Jackson could respond.
    “Pleasant young man,” Singh said blandly.
    “Lieutenant Commander, would you please give Commander Wright and I some privacy,” Jackson said. It wasn’t a request.
    “Of course,” Singh said, raising one eyebrow as he left the conference room, keying the hatch shut as he did. Jackson waited a moment longer before turning to Celesta.
    “Explain yourself, Commander,” he said.
    “Excuse me, sir?” she said, clearly startled.
    “There was no misunderstanding as to the attendees of this meeting,” Jackson said. “Why did you claim otherwise?”
    “Sir,” she floundered, off balance from the question. “I was simply trying to get Lynch off your back. I apologize if I overstepped my bounds.”
    “Commander, if the day comes when I can’t handle some senator’s self-important toady then I will resign my commission as I would be clearly unfit for command,” Jackson said. “Until then, I would prefer to speak for myself. Clear?”
    “Clear, sir,” Celesta said stiffly. “Is that all, sir?”
    “That is all,” Jackson said, leaning back. “Please report to the bridge and check our speed and heading. We’ll be increasing velocity soon and deploying the warp drive. I want you to be there for that to familiarize yourself with the procedure on a Raptor -class vessel.”
    “Aye aye, sir,” she said, still biting off each word. Once she had left Jackson was able to chuckle out loud about how she’d yanked Lynch up short before it had really turned into a pissing contest. He believed he was still right to correct her, however. While he appreciated her instincts to deflect irritants away from him at the expense of bringing heat upon herself, they hadn’t served long enough for her to know when it was appropriate and when she needed to simply sit and keep her mouth shut.
    ****
    “Helmsman, steady as she goes … ahead full,” Jackson ordered. “OPS, start the clock … mark.”
    “Ahead full, aye,” the helmsman said, running the throttles all the way up to the stops.
    “Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Peters, the second watch OPS officer said. Instantly there was a clock that appeared up on the long, narrow display that ran the length of the bridge, just over the forward "window" (that was in reality a ultra-high resolution display which wrapped around the bridge.) It began ticking with elapsed time, the ship rumbling and shaking as the main engines came to full power.
    “Hold this course and acceleration for fifteen minutes,” Jackson ordered, re-checking his data on his own display. “At mark plus fifteen go to zero thrust and begin shutdown of the main engines. Navigation! Where are my calculations for warp transition?”
    “Coming, sir,” the chief spacer standing by the navigation station said. He was a burly man with a salt and pepper crew cut and was currently looking over the shoulder of a nervous spacer third class who looked like he could have been the man’s grandson, so great was the age difference. “Warp data for transition from Alpha Centauri to Tau Ceti going to your station now.”
    Jackson began breaking down the data for the different course profiles in his head and compared it with the telemetry coming from the OPS station. The Blue Jacket would be carrying some extra velocity when they engaged the warp drive, but better too much than too little. After a moment’s consideration he decided to stick to his original course and speed.
    “Navigation, you’re approved for transition course Bravo,” Jackson said after looking over the rest of the data. “Finalize your calculations and disseminate the data to the appropriate departments. Let’s make sure Engineering gets the correct power requirements. I’d prefer not to have a repeat of the Asteria incident.”
    “Of course, Captain,” the chief said gruffly, apparently not appreciating the reference.
    “The Asteria incident?” Celesta said quietly, leaning in towards Jackson.
    “We were leaving the