A Faded Star Read Online Free

your cabin. You can contact me on the comm when
you're done talking to the captain.”
     “Yes, ma'am.” Patho watched for a few seconds as the
executive officer strode away, her long legs making her move quickly despite
her relaxed pace. He turned and tapped the admittance chime to Stokes' office.
The door slid open almost immediately.
     “Mister Patho. Good. Please come in.” Stokes stood
behind his desk and waved the younger man inside.
     Patho made his way in and sat at one of the two chairs
Stokes indicated. “Thank you, sir.” Patho fixed his face into an expression of
patient attentiveness, waiting for whatever Stokes had to say.
     “I've just returned from my briefing with Admiral
Vesper. Although I haven't yet officially taken command of the Rampart, I
wanted to take a moment to welcome you aboard. I understand you've been
promoted to your current rank more than three years early because of your
performance in the tactical drone program?”
     “Yes, sir. The officer in charge and I worked closely
together to get the drone performance parameters in the simulators into sync
with the real world drones.” The combat drone program was brand new, designed
specifically for the Rampart and follow-on ships in her class. No ship had
carried drones during the Karn-Ebrim war. “Once we had the performance right in
the simulator, I just kept using them to the best advantage.” Patho felt a bit
of pride at his accomplishments in the simulations. “Sometimes, they would put
me up against three or four other students at once. One time, I beat every
instructor at the school at the same time. That wasn't their fault, though.
They thought the overwhelming numerical advantage they had was enough to crush
me outright. Combat drones are much more effective when you use them like a
needle instead of like a hammer.”
     “Well, the recommendations your instructors wrote
based on that, and other training events certainly helped your military career
along, Mister Patho. I know you're quite young for your post, and you must know
you will be in command of officers and men who are older than you are. If you
have need of guidance, you should come to Commander Hanlon or myself.”
     “I understand, sir. Thank you.”
     “When I was given my first department to command, I wasn't
much older than you are now. That was during the war, of course.” Stokes paused
to observe Patho's reaction to the mention of the war. Patho's eyes narrowed
slightly, but he gave no other indication of his thoughts. “One of the enlisted
men was nearly twice my age. His insight into how the men think and carry
themselves was invaluable. I have assigned a similarly experienced man to be
your leading chief petty officer. Chief Hogan will liaison between you and your
junior NCOs and enlisted men. You also have a division officer, Lieutenant
Junior Grade Fuchs. I want you to teach him everything you know about
commanding drones in a simulation. We leave space dock in three weeks to begin
our shakedown cruise, and I need the most highly trained team in the fleet.”
     “Understood, sir.” Fuchs had been in tactical training
school with Patho. He'd graduated weeks earlier because Patho had spent so much
additional time improving the training curriculum. “I'll do everything I can to
pass my expertise along to everyone in my division.”
     “Miss Hanlon will assist you in drawing up a drill
schedule. All personnel are expected aboard within the next two weeks. Once all
assigned crew members have reported aboard, and all of the space dock personnel
are gone, we will drill hard and fast. The Rampart is expected to begin long
range operations in two months, provided the shakedown cruise goes well.”
     “If I may ask, where are we planning on going?”
     “Initially, we are going to explore the comet shield
surrounding the Lashmere System. As you know, our system went supernova about
four billion years ago. The debris and gasses may help us in