CROSSFIRE - Atlantis DSV - New Cape Quest

personally from one of your officers on the state of this ship‟s morale. Don‟t bullshit me. I‟m
not an idiot.”
“Admiral, if my crew had an issue, they would have brought it to my attention,”
Ainsley nodded. “-Which is a statement in direct conflict with what Captain Roderick
told me not half an hour ago. From what I understand, she approached you yesterday
morning asking for a reprieve from this sort of flag waving, and you declined that request
outright.”
“This is not a democracy. The opinion of a single officer-“
Ainsley nearly exploded. “She‟s your fucking CAG! Captain Roderick came to you
with an official report on the mental health of your sea wing telling you – and I quote:”
Ainsley picked up a sheet of paper that was sitting atop his desk, and read from it
word for word. “...That „the state of readiness of pilots and flight deck personnel based on
mental health and morale is in a state of such doubt that that I am forced to question the
status of this sea wing as a fighting unit, and will be given little recourse but to terminate
active rosters based upon a professional assessment of being combat ineffective pending an
official review from the ship‟s physician.‟”
Ainsley stopped, and slid the page over the desk towards Banick. “Last I checked,
Captain, when the wing commander of a carrier‟s sea wing is prepared to call her entire wing
combat ineffective, the Captain should be obliged to act on that officer‟s recommendations.”
Banick stepped forward, his tone suddenly gaining a very dangerous edge. “Admiral,
I‟ve been losing members of my crew for the last month. At the very least, I owe it to their
memories, for their sacrifices, to honour them. What would you have me do? Throw them out
the nearest airlock and carry on like it never happened?”
The Admiral shook his head and stood up, beginning to pace around the desk.
“Banick... my God. This is a war, and in war rules need to be flexible. I appreciate your
sentiment, and believe me, I sympathise with you more than you could know. But you cannot
drive this crew to such distraction if it‟s going to mean that this ship ceases to operate as a
unit. Especially now. I‟ve told you the orders that I‟m here to carry out, and I am not
questioning your authority in the running of this ship‟s day-to-day operations, but if we are
going to have any hope in hell of pulling this stunt off then I need your people at their very
best, and given we‟re so short on time, that‟s going to have to start now.”
Banick twitched. “Understood, sir.”
Ainsley sighed and stared back out the window of the office. “Jim... I‟m not your
enemy in this. This ship – your command... you got here on your own merits, and I recognise
that. She‟s the finest ship left in the fleet, and that‟s no small part in thanks to the way you‟ve
commanded her. I‟m not here to take that off you.”
The Captain finally softened for a moment, but his bitterness was still clear. “I
appreciate that, sir, and will that be all?”
Ainsley turned for a second to meet Banick‟s unwavering gaze. “No.”
Banick continued to stand at ease, waiting for the Admiral‟s elaboration.
“My understanding of yesterday‟s action is that the Chaodai fleet is reporting us as
dead, is this correct?”
“Yes. I only found out myself a few minutes ago. The noise we created yesterday has
more than just the Chaodai thinking we‟ve foundered. CIC‟s been getting status requests
from every regional command from Tokyo through to Fort Grace.”
Ainsley nodded. “Good. We‟ll use it to our advantage while we can. As long as the
Chaodai think they‟ve put us down, they‟re unlikely to send out anything in force. I suggest
you reduce the CAP, and try to give your pilots some time to turn around.”
Banick nodded. “That was my intention, sir.”
“Good. For now... Just remember that this crew is dangerously close to snapping,
and I need you to turn that around. She‟s your boat, Captain, and I will do as little or as much
as you need to make that job easier, but I will not permit this command to fall apart. We don‟t
have the luxury of being inflexible in this... as much as you probably wish we did.”
- 81 -