CROSSFIRE - Atlantis DSV - New Cape Quest

smile of thanks as Roderick pushed aside several files. She stared at them both for several
long seconds, and then offered an approving nod. “Good job, both of you.”
“Thank you, ma‟am,” they replied sharply in unison.
“Few other pilots would have kept their heads in that situation... And we probably
wouldn‟t be having this conversation, otherwise.”
Roberts and Coyle didn‟t break their gaze and Roderick glanced sidewards at
Richards. “Now... Speak your minds.”
Roberts gave Coyle and assuring nod to take a lead, and the Dark Angels‟
commander pursed his lips. “Ma‟am, despite the communications blackout, we know what
we saw. It‟s going to take a small miracle to prevent this getting out.”
Roderick nodded. “I expect as much... But I‟m going to have to ask for some
discretion just the same. This situation is delicate, and I can‟t have you throwing fuel on this
one.”
“Captain, it might be too late for that,” Richards said dryly. “If Ainsley is siding with
Hornsby-“
Roderick glared at Richards icily, and then eyed the two officers on the other side of
her desk. “I want all of you to understand: we aren‟t choosing sides.”
Richards bit his lip, and Roderick looked at each of them again before sighing in
resignation. She knew Richards was right. The rift between Ainsley and Banick was clear,
and Hornsby‟s appearance had only fanned the flames. A dangerous game was being
played out by someone who had so far been content to remain in shadow – and everyone,
including Banick, Hornsby, Ainsley and even Adamson - was being used for an end that had
been concealed.
The only thing that has become clear was the level of mistrust that was steadily being
rooted within the highest levels of Ainsley‟s supposed command. “I admit,” Roderick
continued, “The tensions between some of this fleet‟s staff are looking like we‟re going to be
put in to a position of some difficulty-“
“-You mean we‟re going to be asked to choose sides,” interrupted Roberts
sardonically.
“It is my intention, commander, that we won‟t need to. I have to assume that Aquarius
is still operating some kind of a sea wing, and that means she has a CAG.”
“You want to find out who?”
A light rapping came from the Roderick‟s office door, making the captain smile as the
other pilots‟ heads shot around to meet the noise. A junior ensign, one who Roberts and
Coyle were not familiar with poked his head around the door frame nervously and saw
Roderick sitting in the desk chair between the two fighter commanders.
“Should I come back at another time, Captain?” the ensign asked apprehensively.
Roderick shook her head an ushered him in with a wave of her hand. The officer
marched up beside Roberts and saluted sharply, which Roderick again returned casually.
“Ensign Jules Parish, reporting as ordered, Captain Roderick.”
“Stand easy, ensign,” she said coolly. “Your timing is good, thank you.”
Parish nodded politely before regarding Roberts, Coyle and then finally Richards with
a nervous smile. Roderick produced a data slate from beneath a pile of papers, and set it in
front of her.
“Ensign Parish is assigned to Ops in the CIC,” Roderick explained. “Commander
Roberts had Chief Adams lodge a service request for some sonar data the Rapiers logged
during their last sortie.”
Roberts nodded, an eyebrow raising curiously as she eyed Parish with a measure of
suspicion, having nearly completely forgotten about the find in the chaos of the last day. It
impressed Roberts that Parish had actually managed to follow it up as quickly as he did.
“Sufficed to say, I asked the Ensign to meet you to discuss what he found. Mister
Parish?”
The ensign looked taken aback by the unexpected invitation and after a moment‟s
hesitation and an impatient shuffle from an increasingly irritant Commander Richards, he
nodded and gestured to the monitor at the side of Roderick‟s office. “May I, Captain?”
- 154 -