Free Empire in Crisis by Dietmar Wehr Page B

arrived at the
Palace, DeChastelaine had changed into something more fitting of his title.
Running around the Palace in a silk bathrobe in front of his personal staff was
acceptable, but interacting with visitors called for clothes that conferred a
little more dignity.
     
    It didn’t take Hood long to drop the next
bombshell on her Emperor. “My Emperor, I’ve checked the service records of
Corvosier’s senior officers. He has three two-star admirals under him. I regret
to report that the best of the three is only marginally better at combat
tactics than Corvosier himself. The difference is so small that there’s not
much to be gained by promoting Corvosier’s replacement from within the 107th.”
     
    DeChastelaine was seated close to Hood and
Logan at a computer station. He turned to look at Logan. “If you have any
suggestions on how we can prevent the loss of an entire fleet, SubCommander,
I’m willing to listen.”
     
    Logan exchanged a quick look with Hood and then
cleared his throat. “I can think of two options, My Emperor. Commander Hood and
I can scan the service records of every officer in the 107th and try to
identify the ones who are best at combat tactics. Hopefully that fleet will
have at least one officer who is significantly better than average. If we find
such an individual, a personal message from My Emperor could be sent ordering
Admiral Corvosier to listen to and follow the tactical recommendations of that
officer without officially putting that officer in command of the fleet.”
     
    “Hmm. If Corvosier is capable of putting his
ego aside, that might work, but I wouldn’t want to have to count on that. You
said you had two ideas. What’s the second one?”
     
    “We find an exceptionally good tactician here
and send him or her out to the 107th with an Imperial Warrant authorizing them
to assume temporary command and hope they get there in time.”
     
    DeChastelaine turned to Hood. “How fast could
we get someone to that fleet, Commander?”
     
    Hood had the answer within seconds. “A hundred
forty-three hours from the time the ship leaves orbit. It would have to be a
light cruiser. Luckily Capital Fleet still has some.”
     
    DeChastelaine turned to look at Logan. “So we
can either spend time looking for someone who is as skillful as you are, or I
can just send you. Here’s your chance to command a fleet, SubCommander Logan.”
In spite of the seriousness of the situation, DeChastelaine was able to see the
humor in Logan’s momentary look of panic
     
    “May I remind My Emperor that officers who have
just received their first star typically spend a year at the Flag Officers
College where among other things they receive training in advanced fleet combat
tactics. The training at the Academy for cadets is usually ship-to-ship or
involving small formations. Without the advanced training, I may not be any
more competent than Fleet Admiral Corvosier.”
     
    DeChastelaine mentally chastised himself for
his oversight. He had gone through the Academy himself, and he now remembered
those combat simulations. Sending Logan in cold to command a fleet without any
previous experience or training was not only unfair to Logan, but was also asking
for a disaster that would kill or ruin an officer with a lot of potential. An
idea came to him.
     
    “You raise a legitimate point, SubCommander.
Here is what I want both of you to do. Commander Hood, you will initiate a
search of records for officers in the 107th and identify the best three. Logan,
you will perform the same kind of search of officers in Capital Fleet and SFHQ.
Start at the top of the command chain and work your way down until you either
find an exceptionally good tactician or I tell you to stop, whichever comes
first. I’ll want a briefing from both of you in…four hours time. Any
questions?”
     
    Neither had any, and DeChastelaine left them to
get started. He quickly made his way back to the video conference room and had
the