"What if the other person doesn't blink first?"
Lieutenant Sindh shook her head. "Then you end up with what the Brits would no doubt refer to as a 'regrettable turn of events.' "
Captain Hayes glared around the bridge. "Combat, do you still have a data link active with the Nelson?"
Garcia's voice held weary resignation. "They're telling us they can't read our link."
"So they can transmit but not receive?"
"Yes, sir. That's what they're saying."
"Oh, for-" Hayes bit off the rest of his comment, his fingers drumming on the arm of his chair as he glowered at his display. "They're pulling that stupid 'blind eye' trick. Just because they're named after Nelson doesn't mean they have to pretend that they are Nelson!"
Paul took a moment to recall the captain's reference. Oh, yeah. Copenhagen. The British commander sent up a signal ordering Nelson to withdraw and Nelson put his telescope to his blind eye, looked toward the signal and said he couldn't see anything. Then he went on to win the battle. Paul studied the display again, watching the red symbol marking the probable collision point blinking with increasing urgency. They won't move, will they? Sindh's right. The Brits won't back down.
"Captain?" Lieutenant Sindh asked. "Should I alert our rescue teams to be prepared for action?"
Hayes snorted, pointing at the screen. "Look at the closing rate between those ships, Lieutenant. If they hit at those speeds there won't be anything to rescue but dust particles."
Paul stared at the display, transfixed by the sight of two massive warships deliberately racing directly toward each other at tremendous velocities. Above the symbol indicating each ship, two time markers scrolled rapidly downward. The first marker, indicating time to collision, was less important at the moment than the second, which displayed the time remaining for one of the ships to maneuver to avoid the other. If either tried to take evasive action after that point, it'd be too late for the ships' drives to alter their paths through space quickly enough, and momentum would carry the ships into collision regardless. Even a glancing blow at those speeds and with that mass would be devastating to both ships.
The Michaelson 's maneuvering system spoke clearly across the now otherwise silent bridge, its composed voice at odds with the urgency of the message. "HMS Lord Nelson and SASAL warship Tamerlane will collide unless at least one maneuvers within five minutes of my mark…. Mark. Recommend advise both ships to undertake coordinated maneuvers to avoid collision."
Captain Hayes answered the Michaelson 's system without looking away from his display. "We already thought of that."
Kwan leaned toward the Captain. "Maybe if we fired ahead of the SASAL ship, it'd be scared and-"
"No can do, XO. That'd definitely be a confrontation. I'm not free to do that."
"Can we fire just in front of the Nelson, then?"
Sindh answered this time. "No, sir. The firing angle is too oblique given our relative positions."
"Four minutes remaining before collision between HMS Lord Nelson and SASAL warship Tamerlane becomes inevitable," the Michaelson 's maneuvering systems reminded them.
Captain Hayes triggered his communications again. "HMS Lord Nelson, this is the Exercise Movement Coordinator on the USS Michaelson. For God's sake maneuver to avoid collision."
The Nelson 's captain sounded as unruffled as ever. "I'm afraid that's quite impossible."
"I notice you can receive my transmissions again."
"What's that? Say again, please."
Hayes closed his eyes briefly.
"Three minutes remaining before collision between HMS Lord Nelson and SASAL warship Tamerlane becomes inevitable."
Captain Hayes looked around the bridge. "I'd appreciate any suggestions anyone might have."
The red collision point symbol on Paul's display had grown larger, now pulsing continuously, and the time markers had also become much bigger and impossible to miss or ignore as they spun down toward zero.
"Two minutes remaining before collision between HMS Lord Nelson and SASAL warship Tamerlane becomes inevitable."
Paul caught Lieutenant Sindh's eye. Sindh shook her head. Paul looked back at his display.
"One minute re — "
Paul had to double check, then spoke with exaggerated care, his voice sounding louder than usual on the silent bridge. "We have thruster firings and aspect change on the SASAL ship." No one answered, but all bent closer to their displays as if willing the other ship to move. "We have main drive firing on the SASAL ship." Paul glanced at the time marker. Ten seconds from the point at which collision would be inevitable. The projected path of the SASAL ship began curving upward with agonizing slowness. The Nelson, still unwilling to maneuver, held her course and speed even though she could've taken her own action to further lessen the chance of collision.
The moment of closest point of approach came and went in a blur a tiny fraction of a second long. "How close were they?" Captain Hayes asked in a soft voice.
Sindh studied her display before replying. "Our system estimates CPA at about 800 meters, Captain." Then, in an undertone only Paul could hear, she muttered, "There can't be a single pair of dry underwear on either one of those ships right now."
Hayes shook his head. "Mad dogs and Englishmen." He punched his communications again. "HMS Lord Nelson, request the status of your maneuvering systems."
"This is HMS Lord Nelson." Captain Vitali's reply sounded cheerful. "Our maneuvering systems are fully operational."
Captain Hayes rubbed his forehead as he replied. "It appears your communications systems are fully functional again as well."
"Why, yes, they are. Brilliant. HMS Lord Nelson is ready to proceed with the maneuvering exercise."
"Do you anticipate any further system failures in the near future, Captain Vitali?"
"Oh, no. Not at all. We're fully prepared for the next shed-yuled event."
Paul glanced at Lieutenant Sindh. "'Shed-yuled'?"
"Scheduled."
Captain Hayes was watching the SASAL ship's track arching away from the combined formation. It would take it a long, long time to slow down, reverse course and cause them any more trouble even if the SASALs intended doing so. "Captain Vitali of HMS Lord Nelson, this is Captain Hayes of USS Michaelson. You owe me a drink."
"You're a man after my own heart, captain. Your ship or mine? Oh, wait, I suppose it'll have to be my ship, won't it? You U.S. Navy types being dry and all."
"I'm afraid so." Hayes laughed at Captain Vitali's reference to the US Navy not being allowed to serve alcohol onboard its ships except under exceptional circumstances. "All ships, this is the Exercise Movement Coordinator. We will restart the exercise time line as soon as all ships can resume relative starting positions. Request you advise me of estimated times until you can regain positions."
Over the next few hours the five ships wrestled themselves back into starting positions. The SASAL ship didn't try returning, instead heading back toward the transit lane while the Michaelson filed a report that would be used to issue a diplomatic protest to the South Asian Alliance over reckless actions by its warship.
By the time Paul's watch ended, the ships had managed to reform the huge pentagon and were preparing to form what the crew had begun referring to as the "flat football" formation. Over the next twenty-four hours they formed the "empty ball" as well as the "big O" and the "more or less line-ahead" formations. Paul was in Combat when the last formation was completed, and a ragged cheer went up from the watchstanders.
The foreign ships took their separate departures, the Nelson 's captain reminding Captain Hayes he had a drink waiting and inviting the rest of the Michaelson 's officers as well, the Franco-German ship once again ignoring any messages sent in English, and the Russian ship demanding to know how well each of the ships had performed even though Hayes repeatedly assured them there'd been no evaluation or ranking process conducted.