第88页
UNSC destroyers had nearly two meters of titanium-a battleplate on their surfaces. Commander Keyeshad abraded throughall of it. He had breached every bottom deck of theIroquois . The jagged serratededges of the plate curled away from the wound. Men in EVA thruster packs were busy cutting off thedamaged sections so new plates could be welded into place.
The underside was mirror smooth and perfectly flat. But Keyes knew that the appearance of benignflatness was deceptive. Had the angle of theIroquois been tilted a single degree down, the force of thetwo ships impacting would have shorn his ship in half.
The red war stripes that had been painted on theIroquois ’ side looked like bloody slashes. Thedockmaster had privately told Commander Keyes that his crew could buff the paint off—or even repaintthe war stripes, if he wanted.
Commander Keyes had politely refused the offer. He wanted them left exactly the way they were. Hewanted to be reminded that while everyone had admired what he had done—it had been an act ofdesperation, not heroism.
He wanted to be reminded of how close a brush he had had with death.
Commander Keyes returned to theIroquois and marched directly to his quarters.
He sat at his antique oak desk and tapped the intercom. “Lieutenant Dominique, you have the bridge forthe next cycle. I am not to be disturbed.”
“Aye, Commander. Understood.”
Commander Keyes loosened his collar and unbuttoned his uniform. He retrieved the seventy-year-oldbottle of Scotch that his father had given him from the bottom drawer, and then poured four centimetersinto a plastic cup.
----------------------- Page 149-----------------------
He had to attend to an even more unpleasant task: what to do about Lieutenant Jaggers.
Jaggers had exhibited borderline cowardice, insubordination and come within a hairbreadth of attemptedmutiny during the engagement. Keyes could have had him court-martialed. Every reg in the booksscreamed at him to . . . but he didn’t have it in him to send the young man before a board of inquiry. Hewould instead merely transfer the Lieutenant to a place where he would still do the UNSC some good—perhaps a distant outpost.
Was all the blame his? As Commander, it was his responsibility to maintain control, to prevent acrewman from even thinking that mutiny was a possibility.
He sighed. Maybe he should have told his crew what he was attempting . . . but there had simply been notime. And certainly, no time for discussion as Jaggers would have wanted. No. The other bridge officershad concerns, but they had followed his orders, as their duty required.
As much as Commander Keyes believed in giving people a second chance, this was where he drew theline.
To make matters worse, transferring Jaggers would leave a hole in the bridge crew.
Commander Keyes accessed the service records ofIroquois ’ junior officers. There were several whomight qualify for navigation officer. He flipped through their files on his data pad, and then paused.