CHAPTER 14 – A WOMAN IN CHARGE
14:44 (New Dawn Time)
Wednesday, January 6, 2332
Command conference room, Executive Deck
A.M.S. NOSTROMO, in orbit over Providence
Alpha Centauri B System
Tina, along with Janet Robeson, Dana Durning and Spirit, got up on her feet when Karl Langemann entered the command conference room of her ship, accompanied by a small retinue of aides and bodyguards.
‘’Welcome aboard the NOSTROMO, Mister Chairman.’’
‘’Thank you, Tina! Aah, I see that everybody I wanted to see is here. Excellent! First off, I must congratulate you for your prompt and effective actions against those invading Predator ships. You probably saved Providence from destruction at the hands of those monsters, on top of saving the survivors of our battle fleet.’’
‘’I only did my duty as best I could, Mister Chairman.’’
‘’Please, simply call me Karl, Tina: we have been working hand in hand for over sixteen years now.’’
Langemann, along with his aides, then sat down at the conference table, facing Tina and her own team.
‘’Now, let’s get to the meat of things! This morning, I fired Admiral Fenton from his posts of Minister of Defense and of Commander of the Navy. He showed poor judgment in accepting Vice Admiral Ramsay’s attack plan with next to no scrutiny or tactical analysis. He also failed to prepare adequately our navy for the fight against the Space Predators and wasted precious time by not prioritizing the retrofit of our battlecruisers, something that must have heavily contributed to our defeat in the TOI 1231 System. After reviewing the actual chain of command of the Navy this morning, following my firing of Admiral Fenton, I was not, to say charitably, much impressed by the list of potential successors to Fenton. Most of those admirals have little to no combat experience and, while technically qualified, could be called a bunch of desk-flyers and paper-pushers. As for the position of Minister of Defense, I now realize that it was a mistake to cumulate two such important positions under one man. Fenton may have been good at the political and budgetary sides of the job but that detracted from his need to properly lead the Navy. I have thus decided to separate the two functions from now on, for good.’’
‘’A wise move I must say, Karl.’’ said Janet Robeson. ‘’Our navy has grown way too bureaucratic to my taste during the last couple of years.’’
‘’An opinion I completely share, my dear Janet. As for who could best fill this position now, the answer was obvious to me from the start: you, Janet!’’
‘’Me? But I retired from politics two years ago and now live on the NOSTROMO.’’
‘’I know, my dear, but I can’t think of a better candidate right now for the post of defense minister in this critical time for the survival of the Spacers’ League. You led the Spacers’ League through the war for independence from the Terran Federation, then guided its expansion through the stars closest to the Solar System. You would be perfect for the job.’’
Janet Robeson took a deep breath, then nodded her head once.
‘’Alright! Gerald is going to kill me for this but I accept your offer. Could I name an assistant-minister to help me in the job, Karl? I am not sure that I can truly count on the bureaucrats presently populating the ministry. There are a lot of Fenton toadies in place there. Also, could that assistant-minister be also the head of the Navy, or must that position be an actual admiral?’’
That last question surprised Langemann, who hesitated for a second.
‘’Huh, I don’t know, to be frank. I would have to check the legalese about that.’’
‘’The position is customarily held by a serving flag officer, generally meaning the most senior and highest-level admiral in the service, but nothing in the charter of our navy makes that a mandatory fact, Mister Chairman.’’ then said Spirit’s avatar, surprising about everyone. ‘’Historically, the old British Navy was led by what was called the First Sea Lord, who was not always an admiral. Winston Churchill is a historical example of such a civilian First Sea Lord and he served as head of the Royal Navy during World War One.’’
‘’Oh! I didn’t know that. Thanks for the information, Spirit.’’
‘’You’re welcome, Karl.’’
‘’So, Janet, who would you like to have as an assistant-minister and head of the Navy?’’
‘’Spirit! Or rather Spirit’s avatar.’’ answered Janet. While Langemann was stunned by her answer, both Tina and Spirit made gentle smiles on hearing Janet. ‘’Of course, this would be a temporary assignment only, until we could get out of the hole Fenton dug ourselves in.’’
Karl Langemann scratched his prominent chin for a moment while thinking, then nodded his head and smiled to both Janet and Spirit.
‘’Agreed! When would you two be able to take your posts?’’
‘’I could pack quickly and move to New Dawn tonight, to whatever residence you can offer me there, and could officially start my new job tomorrow morning.’’ answered Janet Robeson.
‘’Excellent! My personal aide, Miss Wong, will help you in that respect. What about you, Spirit?’’
‘’Me? I only need to pack a couple of bags and to move into one of the visitors’ suites of the Navy Headquarters and I will be good to go. As the new head of the Navy, I would need to give a couple of directives right away, in view of the urgency of the situation.’’
‘’What would these directives be, Spirit?’’
‘’First, with Providence now being directly threatened by the Space Predators, I will order the three remaining battlecruisers of our fleet, which are presently in other systems, to rally Providence, so that they could guard the system alongside the three Drazts cruisers of Admiral Dozna Wiss. Second, I will have the repair dock of the New Horizon orbital station made for ultra-heavy ships freed up, so that the NOSTROMO could enter it and be rearmed and refitted in it prior to going on its next combat mission.’’
Langemann frowned and threw a look of concern at Tina, whose expression was an impassive one.
‘’Has your NOSTROMO suffered some battle damage during that fight with those five Predator ships, Tina?’’
‘’Not a scratch, Karl. I simply need to refill my missile magazines and get a new paint job.’’
‘’A new paint job?!’’ could only say a flabbergasted Chairman of the High Council.
