In-Depth Reconnaissance 5

"In that case the only concern I have left to address is your plan to deal with the possibility of an extended period of consciousness."

"I don't have one."

"Ha?"

"I don't have one. The ship was designed to work while shadowing a fleet, be it ally or enemy. It is a prototype, and most of the systems involved are meant to operate independent of human interaction. I only mark targets because it makes your lives easier. I could sleep during combat if I felt like it and you would see little drop in the fleet's efficiency. The only issue is that there is no way bar positional anchoring to automate movement."

"It can do all that but it doesn't have autopilot?" The pilot remained confused.

"It doesn't have the luxury of being able to shrug off contact with an asteroid like a capital ship does."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Before you answer him Donovan, let ask him something in turn. How do you think autopilot works?"

"It gets you from point A to point B without hitting shit right?"

"That is so far from right it might be left. Listen, that might be true for really large asteroids, but for the most part we just run straight into them and let the armor take care of the work." The Admiral showed some displeasure at his lack of understanding of something like this. Surely even he had felt the vibrations of fairly large objects making contact, even if they were mitigated by the numerous onboard systems.

"I would take it a step further, Admiral. One of the purposes of Capital ships besides firepower is that they act as the space equivalent of icebreakers. In the case of unforeseen space debris making an entrance, smaller and more vulnerable ships are supposed to hide in their shadows." Donovan recited what he had learned as if he was reading from a textbook. "With that said Captain, I simply don't have the mass to be able to ignore running face first into a lump of silicates. Depending on relative velocity I might end up dead from impact."

"I can see why that might be a problem."

"Which still leaves the question of how you plan to deal with sleep."

"I could probably set up a 6-2 sleep schedule for myself, rigging an alarm to sound if an object is within a minute of impact. Other than that, nothing comes to mind."

The room remained silent for quite a time. Ranger made an appearance at some point, sitting down next to the Admiral and laying her head on her lap, receiving pets in turn.

"Have you tried Pervitin?"

"What?"

"Pervitin. You know? Pilot salts?"

"I know what Pervitin is, I'm just wondering why you are suggesting meth."

"Its a middle ground. You can't avoid sleep, but if you absolutely need to stay up that extra hour you can take a dose."

"I am strongly opposed to using drugs to increase performance."

"I have to agree with Tommy on this one. You may not like it, but if it will increase your chances of success I need you to take it. Tommy, how much Blitz-Chocolate can we spare?"

"All ten boxes of it. The Colors use the tablets, they act faster."

"Very well. I'll have five boxes delivered from the locker. That should last you a month. Keep in mind that these chocolate bars should not find their way into your dogs mouth under any circumstance, am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"With that I authorize your sortie. Get off my ship."

"Godspeed Beacon. I'll be sure to invite you to the wedding." He heard a thump from under the table. Coincidentally, Thompson bit his lip. "Shoot me a message when you get back, ok?"

"Sure thing. Mercedes! Let's go!" The pup came out of the back room with her ears perked up and tail wagging. He hated to split her from her family, but he didn't want to be alone for a month.

Keeping her attention by jogging, he stopped before turning the corner. He had almost forgotten! "Oh, don't forget to wear protection when you go for your own 'In-Depth Reconnaissance' Tommy." Cackling, he scurried away to the Noah.

It was going to be a long month.

-----

As the Captain took his seat on the bridge of his ship, he gazed apprehensively at the clock projected in the air.

"Has the timer changed at all?"

The deck was silent, giving an answer louder than words. No matter how hard he pushed his crew, nothing was going to get them there that two days faster.

"Captain, do you think that their lifeboat will be able to rendezvous with us before its destroyed?"

"If they built the pulse shield to the proper specifications, it should last a month. They will be fine." The stout man answered the officer's inquiry. "The only concern is whether or not they were able to get enough materials for one, and whether they were of a high enough quality."

"Fortunately, they were able to make enough for one. Unfortunately, they were ONLY able to make enough for one." The Captain was the only one present on the bridge who had the pleasure of contacting those living around the Sun.

As far as he was aware, he was also the one with the best understanding of how impressive the feat they had achieved was. This was a humanity that was unable to utilize Split at even the lowest of levels.

It was thanks to their collective efforts (and some help from a very scared scholar) they were able to create the core for a pulse shield. They even had the ability to test it, though how they had managed to do this was beyond his ability to comprehend.

The fact that these Humans were so industrious was just as much a relief as it was a disappointment. Their deaths would no doubt be an extreme loss to the Sanctum.

The next few days would be hell for him mentally. It was only a matter of time before his failure to command became official.