Truth and Beauty 13-1

Truth and Beauty updates (most) Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays
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Chapter 13
The Achilles, and even the orbiting facilities scented with exotic spices, wafting into the very ships themselves, including the afterdeck cabin of the Moons of Jeopardy where Lieutenant O’Brian sat waiting for his interview with Admiral Lavery. Several small scuttles opened into the space beyond, and through one he could see his Roth, roughly centered, docked at another part of the sprawling station. She looked particularly shabby in comparison with the spit and polish of the flagship, but as his meeting with the unknown admiral drew nearer, Jack stole frequent glances at her.

The cabin door opened. “Commander O’Brian?” asked a Marine, resplendent in deep scarlet and bright white.

“I am Commander O’Brian.”

“The Admiral will receive you now. This way, if you please.”

The Marine led Jack down a carpeted, paneled corridor to the Admiral’s day cabin, where he knocked and announced Commander O’Brian on the wall-mounted intercom.

“Send him in,” replied a tinny voice, and the Marine unlatched and opened the door. “This way, sir. The Admiral is a little deaf, so you’ll need to speak up a bit.”

Jack stepped through and the Marine withdrew, closing the door. This was a spacious cabin - acres of space that separated him from the Admiral, who sat behind a richly carved wooden desk, his back to a noble spread of glass through which sunlight streamed, casting the great man’s face into shadow. Jack saluted.

The Admiral returned the salute and gestured to a chair. “So,” he said. “You’ve met the Libre.” Showed up about a month ago - god-damned nightmare. Took fourteen transports and merchantman, hulled Pallas when she was lucky enough to find her, or unlucky, given what a hash Compton made of it. Man’s an inveterate ass. But I digress. Nice sleight of hand, getting away from her like that, but don’t expect her to fall for it again. Never show the same trick to the same audience, and all that; and Dupree’s no fool.”

“Thank you, sir, I shall bear that in mind,” said Jack, relieved to to have to reply to the more charged part of the Admiral’s observations.

“You’re welcome. You deserve it. Just don’t let it go to your head. I’m sending you back to the Neva system as part of a convoy, with the Vindictive, Chambers. Between her guns and yours, and those of the rest of the convoy, if they aren’t captained by old women, you should have no trouble if you run into her again. The Libre, that is. And maybe if Dupree sees that we’re running convoys he’ll disappear, become someone else’s problem for a while. Have you any questions?”

“No, sir,”

“Good. Get your cargo off-loaded, you’ll have more coming aboard tomorrow early. I’ve held the convoy to fit you in; there’s not a moment to lose.”

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Truth and Beauty 12-8

Truth and Beauty updates (most) Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays
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Their health was good, Doctor Russ, in this respect at least, meeting or exceeding Jack’s wildest dreams in keeping his crew sound. But Jack was obliged to admit - to himself if not in the report - that they were not entirely behind him. Minor crimes such as muttering were too frequent. Hands favored a bold, skilled commander, he knew, who was at the same time careful with his crew’s lives, and though he had shown himself to be bold in handling the French frigate, that jump into hyperspace did not suggest skill.

There was nowhere in the report to share these observations, though, even if he had wanted to. The punishment log did form a part of the report, “but they never look at that,” he muttered, “unless there’s an inquiry.” Perhaps he was misreading the situation. He leaned back and rubbed his eyes.

“Bollwerk,” he called, but in the five seconds before the man appeared he changed his mind. “Er, a glass of wine, red, if you please,” he said, not to have called his servant in vain.

Bollwerk drew off the glass and handed it to Lieutenant O’Brian, who took a large sip - almost a gulp - to prove that he really did want it, then said, “thank you. You may turn in.” Bollwerk excused himself and retreated, closing the door behind him, and Jack was alone.

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Truth and Beauty 12-7

Truth and Beauty updates (most) Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays
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He did not find the Roth’s receipts on the table, and so crossed to the stern lockers, now mercifully shut and locked, the armorer and Mr Veidt having finished their work that morning. The sheaf of printed receipts lay on the pistol locker, bound with a red clip, and he returned with it to his table. 10,062 barrels grade AA carbon slurry, he typed, transp. XXX klicks Neva-IV to Achilles depot. The number of klicks he would fill in once he had actually off-loaded the cargo and had an accurate count off the odograph. He tapped through to the next part of the report: Roth’s Statement of Condition.

Originally a hand-written paragraph that would typically fit into a half sheet of foolscap, the Statement of Condition had over the years grown to a staggering 25 § monstrosity of checkboxes, radio buttons, and text entry blocks. For the check boxes, there were no ‘check all’ options; for the text entry, no copy-and-paste; for these might have bred laziness that might accidentally (or intentionally) ignore some trivial point of critical data. Instead, skippers numbly checked the 623 boxes, hoping to retain enough alertness to leave the appropriate boxes empty. By the time Bollwerk entered with supper, Jack’s hands had started to grow cold, a sure sign that he was spending too much time with the mouse and keyboard.

Nevertheless, after a hasty meal, he picked up where he had left off, clicking his way through the starboard gun deck gangway, the port gun deck gangway, the starboard spar deck gangway, the port spar deck gangway, the starboard boat deck gangway, the port boat deck gangway, pump room 1, pump room 2, pump room 3, the bridge, the rooms of the officers’ recreation suite, the hangar and each of its bays, the entry port, the cargo entry port, and the docking stanchion.

Time ground on. Bells rang. Occasionally, Jack stood to collect a glass of wine or mug of coffee, as much for the interruption as for the drink. Eventually, he reached the section regarding the crew.

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