The Crucible. Joaquin De Torres

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СКАЧАТЬ losing patience with his obstinacy. She turned back to her laptop; she had work to do and deadlines to make. She felt her armor of professionalism starting to strip away. She took a deep breath and faced him again. And as usual, he began barking.

      “With our surface radars, we can detect enemies hundreds of miles away. No ship in the world could intrude our NTDS, much less shut it down!”

      You don’t think she knows that!? Becca shot another thought arrow into his throat. Kristina stood from the laptop and took a step toward him. Becca smiled in anticipation as she watched Kristina look down at Wilcox. Here it comes, asshole!

      Kristina in a low, respective voice whispered.

      “That’s because, Captain; and I’ll say this slowly so you can understand, an intrusion signal would not come from a ship, but from a satellite beaming that signal on you.” Wilcox, unnerved by her words, and the and I’ll say this slowly so you can understand part, put his hands on his hips and raised his chin high.

      “I’ve been the CO of three combatants and even in the most extreme conditions, the power--not once--has ever gone down.”

      “With all due respect, Captain, you’ve never taken such a lethal missile hit.” Kristina’s eyes burned with the authority forged from personal experience. Wilcox smirked and his voice wafted in the air with a patronizing tone.

      “And there it is, isn’t it, Commander? You have such experience under your belt, don’t you? Well, let me just tell you that that experience could never happen to this ship. The captain of the McClusky was an idiot.” His face tightened as his eyes drilled into hers. “I, on the other hand, am not.”

      “Jesus Christ already!” Becca roared, no longer able to contain it. “Commander Torres, I’ll go to the bridge and take the damned readings!” She moved quickly towards the hatch, her patience exhausted. Wilcox wheeled around.

      “Stand fast, Commander!”

      “Why don’t you just let us do our jobs, sir?” Becca volleyed.

      “I’m warning you, Raven; so far I’ve been patient with your lip! If you want to make the next pay grade I suggest you keep your mouth shut unless you’re spoken to!” Becca took an aggressive step forward bringing her full Amazonian height into his personal space.

      “And I suppose you have the power to do that, don’t you?”

      “Becca, back off. Please,” Kristina said calmly. But it was too late--Becca was pissed.

      “You, as a full-bird captain, have more authority than Admiral Armocida? Well, the last time I looked a four-star admiral outranked an O-6!”

      “Becca, please!”

      “I work for Commander Torres, sir. And I suggest you realize that while we’re on this ship, so do you!”

      “GET OUT OF COMBAT, RAVEN! YOU’RE RELIEVED OF DUTY!” he thundered. Kristina took a step in between them.

      “No, she’s not.” She turned her back on Wilcox and stepped towards Becca, whose emerald eyes sizzled with rage. With pursed lips, Kristina whispered forcefully.

      “Ease it down, Becca. Let me handle this. Just calm down.” Switching into her command voice, she continued. “Lieutenant Commander Raven, go to the bridge and prepare to take sightings. I’ll give you further instructions later.”

      “Yes, ma’am.” Becca’s eyes remained locked on Wilcox’s glare. She took a step.

      “STAND FAST!” His booming voice quaked the control room, icing the spines of its silent members. The group of about 30 enlisted sailors and officers sat breathless at their consoles. Wilcox snapped his head to Kristina.

      “Who the hell do you think you are!?”

      Kristina could smell the stale stench of coffee and cigarette smoke on his breath. “This may be your program, but this is MY SHIP! Everything goes through me!”

      “Then let this go through you one last time.” Kristina’s voice was a quiet roar. “I don’t care who drives this ship. If the Getty takes a missile hit near engineering or CIC, the power will go down. My system will enable a cold re-start and re-animation within eight minutes. The testing of this is the only mission I care about. When our mission’s done, you will have your ship back and you’ll never see me again. So, whether it’s you, the XO, or Lieutenant Commander Raven--I don’t care, someone has to go up there and do it.”

      She stood unnerved, the triton of authority firmly gripped in her hands. His ice-blue eyes narrowed; hers didn’t flinch. Wilcox looked around the room, seeing his crew sitting rigidly in shock. He had to regain their confidence; he could not be bested by this woman on his own ship. He needed to let them know that he was still and always will be, in command. For her part, Kristina felt a measure of shame at what had transpired in front of his crew as she scanned their hesitant expressions. It was totally unprofessional on all their parts as senior officers.

      “Captain, please,” she whispered. He looked in her eyes and realized that she was trying to help him. “Let's defuse this. The crew is watching.” He knew she was right and nodded his head approvingly. It was damage control time, officer style.

      “Very well, Commander. I’ll go to the bridge. I just wanted you to feel reassured that the Gettysburg could never be in such a situation with this fine crew.” His air of positional supremacy laced his words. “We train for combat everyday; we don’t suppose it, imagine it, or simulate it. My crew is too well-trained and too disciplined.” He tried to save face. Right on cue Kristina played her part to salvage his dignity in front of his people.

      “There’s no doubt, Captain. They are the best trained crew I’ve had the pleasure of working with.” She looked around the room and smiled, temporarily teaming up with Wilcox to sever the noose of shame that was slung around his neck.

      “Very well. Carry on, Commander Torres.”

      “Thank you, sir.” Wilcox stepped toward the hatch and eyed Becca with utter repulsiveness. Becca returned the glare without blinking. When he exited the space, the crew exhaled loudly, shaking their heads. Becca stood in the middle of the room shaking her head as well. Seeing the tension taut on the crew, she thought it best to loosen them up.

      “I’ll give you one thing though;” she looked around. “He’s pretty spunky for a little guy!” The crew exploded in laughter.

      Back in Kristina’s living room with Becca, the visions of those events began to dissipate from Kristina’s eyes. Becca slipped another spoon of ice cream between her lips.

      “You were marvelous commanding that ship. You directed us to a successful testing phase. I gotta hand it to you, you were magnificent.”

      “Yeah, whatever.” Kristina waved her hand dismissively.

      “And Wilcox, all he could do was keep his mouth shut and follow your instructions. God, his ego hated that. You dismantled him.”

      “I don’t take pride in that.” Kristina shot her a hard look. “Especially in front of his people. I was wrong.”

      “No. He was wrong. He tried to upstage you and you held your ground. You may not take pride in that, but take no shame in it either. When you’re in СКАЧАТЬ