No Way to Start a War (TCOTU, Book 2) (This Corner of the Universe) Read Online Free

time around, but he still felt uneasy.  It
may not be my first ride in the chair but this chair is a lot bigger than the last .  It’s my first command in a war fleet, and we’ll be going into war doing
things nobody else has done before .
    Until
now, the role Brevic escort destroyers played had been long defined: protect
the capital ships of the Brevic Navy.  This usually meant they shielded the
large command cruisers and dreadnaughts of the fleet from missile attack,
sometimes at the expense of their own defenses.  However, for the first time, the
Brevic Republic was deploying spaceborne carriers along with the traditional battle
fleet.  Despite ongoing problems inherent in fighter craft operations at the
speeds required in combat, the Brevic General Council had determined that it
could no longer afford further delays.  The Hollaran Commonwealth had
successfully fielded at least two carriers in their latest attack on the
Themisto star system and had devastated the Brevic task group defending that
system.  The Brevic carriers were needed now.  Some members of the General
Council had even theorized publicly the end of traditional dreadnaughts and the
birth of a new era dominated by carriers.  History may be repeating itself ,
Heskan mused.  The only thing for sure is that we’re going to be infants taking
our first steps with new technology in the middle of a war zone.   Heskan
wondered how many times they would stumble.

Chapter 2
    The
week passed quickly and the normal pomp and circumstance of launching a new
ship was bypassed for expediency.  The only tradition adhered to was the hurling
of an Anthe equivalent of a champagne bottle toward Kite’s bow.  All the
bluster of speeches and the decorum of parades could be skipped, but the time-old
tradition of christening a newly launched naval vessel remained inviolate.
    Heskan’s
assumption of command was even less elaborate.  He simply walked onto Kite’s bridge and entered the order into the ship’s holo-log in the presence of the
Anthe chief shipyard inspector, two civilian contractors and Lieutenant
Commander Shane Durmont, his escort squadron’s (CortRon) commanding officer. 
Even the new ship’s flag was absent, with BPC still debating its design.
    Less
than three hours after Heskan assumed command, Kite’s crew began to
report for duty.  First, nineteen crewmembers from the operations section came
aboard, well short of the twenty-nine billets assigned to Operations on the escort
destroyer, and prepared for the enormous task of in-processing the remaining one
hundred thirty-seven men and women of Kite’s crew at Anthe.  Once ready,
the rest of the crew streamed in over the course of twelve hours.  All but twenty-eight
civilian contractors left Kite , their positions at her stations replaced
by the newly arrived navy personnel.
    The
entire surviving crew of Anelace had requested transfer to Kite ,
save one.  That individual, formerly Spaceman Denise Gables and now Officer
Trainee Gables, had been reassigned to the Officer Training School facility at
New London over a month ago.  Heskan had personally contacted BPC and adamantly
requested that the future Ensign Gables be assigned to Kite upon
completion of her training, but his bid had been denied.  To his surprise,
Heskan learned that OT Gables had been accepted into the fledgling fighter
pilot program and was concurrently completing both Officer Training School and the
second phase of Flight Training.  Gables, already a fully certified shuttle
pilot, had skipped the first phase completely.
    I
could use a competent damage controlman like Denise but I’m glad she’s pursuing
her dreams, Heskan
thought as he reviewed his ship’s personnel files while sitting comfortably in
a plush chair inside his cabin.   Still, Kite is so shorthanded that I have
ensigns in lieutenant billets and able spacemen in petty officer slots.   He
frowned slightly, adjusting the ship’s projected organizational