Black Fleet Trilogy 1: Warship Read Online Free PDF Page B

commands from the helm.”
    “Thank you,” Jackson said. “You may depart at your convenience, Lieutenant McCord. Feel free to remain until we have our gravitational field stabilized.”
    “If it’s all the same we’ll get moving now, Captain,” McCord said, maneuvering himself around in the microgravity like the seasoned professional he was. Now that the tugs were no longer accelerating everyone was experiencing the gut-flipping sensation of freefall. “My crew has two more departures and an arrival scheduled today. I can make it down to the airlock without the gravity active.”
    “Suit yourself,” Jackson said. “Thank you for the smooth flight.”
    “Our pleasure, Captain,” McCord said. “Stay safe out there, sir.” Jackson simply nodded to him as he walked off the bridge.
    “How much longer until gravity is up?” he asked once the docking pilot had gone.
    “Reactor four is now providing power, gravimetric generator is coming online,” Ensign Davis said. “Engineering is telling me another ten minutes and we’ll start feeling it. The plasma generators have been started in all four main engine nacelles; another forty minutes and they should be providing thrust.”
    “So all this time to cold-start all our systems while gliding out to the edge,” Celesta said. “By the time the mains are up we’ll be ready to shut them down and bring the warp drive online. It would have made more sense to let us stay in dock and prep for departure there.”
    “As I said, our orders were fairly specific,” Jackson said. “We operate in situations that are often less than ideal. This is no great obstacle.”
    “Of course, sir,” she agreed, leaning back in her seat. Jackson made a mental note to speak to her about her demeanor on the bridge later when they were alone. His ship already had a reputation for discipline problems, deserved or not, and that was among a squadron known for a certain lack of professionalism that concerned the brass at CENTCOM greatly. Not enough for them to allow Jackson to start weeding out the troublemakers on his crew, but enough that he never seemed to get a very good score during his review boards. Either way, he’d prefer she kept her complaining about orders and procedures to herself as it did nothing but give the junior crewmembers an opening to do the same.
    He sat patiently, beginning to feel the pull of gravity as the machinery in the belly of the ship created a localized gravitational field that pulled everything on the ship down at a steady, stable 1G. It was a dynamic field that also nulled out the effects of inertia on the crew when they were underway, but it wasn’t perfect. During hard acceleration or violent combat maneuvers there would occasionally be a noticeable lag from when the accelerometers detected the change to when the generated field could adjust and compensate for it.
    “Magnetic constrictors are active and plasma pressure is building in the mains,” Davis said as she watched the status reports from half a dozen sections stream across her display.
    “Just let me know when we can begin to accelerate,” Jackson said as he felt the gravity stabilize. He took the opportunity to get up and stretch his legs. Looking at the status of the engines over his operations officer’s shoulder he decided he had enough time to head down to the wardroom and grab a coffee.
    The ship felt alive under his feet, seeming to wake up after being dragged out away from Haven with barely enough power to run life support systems and start the rest of the powerplant. Now there was an ever present thrum of machinery and the hiss of blowing air from the environmental system ducts.
    Walking into the wardroom he grabbed one of the lidded, spill-proof mugs that were secured to the wall and went over to the coffee machine. He had to fiddle with the spout since it had locked down automatically when the gravity had been removed. Eventually he was able to fill the mug up, taking an