Yamamoto's Admonition

Shirish sat stiffly in the chair as Carstairs reviewed data across the desk. Shirish was quite anxious and tried his best to hide it behind military bearing.

Carstairs put down the datapad and spoke. "Alright son, what's the problem?"

Shirish laid out the facts. "Sir, I failed in my mission. Not only did my group fail to hold the blocade firmly but they managed to get through with enough Quantium-40 to build a small fleet of jump engines."

"True. If you had to let something through, this wasn't the one to miss. But that's not what I'm talking about."

Shirish was confused. "I don't follow you, sir."

Carstairs was a good judge of people's emotions. He could read most people like a book and Gonzalez was in big print. "You think you're in trouble... That you're going to lose your command, don't you?"

Shirish looked down for a moment and took a deep breath before answering. "The blocade was my mission. It was my responsibility and I take full responsibility for failure."

Carstairs pursed his lips. "Are you familiar with World War Two, Gonzalez?"

Shirish was not a historian but he read a lot and knew enough to follow a conversation on the war. "Germany invaded Europe while Japan invaded China. Conquered France and bombed Britain until the United Stated entered the war. The United States used the first nukes on two Japanese cities."

"And do you know who Admiral Yamamoto was?"

"Japanese High Admiral, managed a number of strong victories and was assassinated by American forces?"

"Yes, him." Carstairs replied. "Yamamoto said something about war that has been my guiding philosophy when it comes to military strategy. He said 'War is a series of mistakes and the winner is the side which makes the fewest mistakes.' Do you know what that means?"

Shirish thought before he made his reply. "I made a mistake that has threatened this entire campaign."

Carstairs let out a disappointed huff of air. "No. It means mistakes happen. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose and you just have to keep going and try to win more than you lose. Every strategist has said it. Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, Eauclaire, Tsien Chin... They've all said it and it's as true today as it was for the Warring States or Renaissance Europe or the French Expansion or the War of the Rising Star. So why are you beating yourself up like this?"

Shirish furrowed his brow. "They're going to have more jump capable ships because I didn't stop them."

"No. They're going to have jump capable ships because they found a good supply of Quantium-40, put it on fast ships and managed to slip through a blockade hindered by radiant output from an ancient jump gate." Carstairs leaned forward. "And you didn't answer the question. Your ability in the captain's chair is almost without peer. You're competent and capable and a shark to be feared. Why are you beating yourself up like this? Why have you turned into a nervous Nancy all of a sudden?"

Shirish looked down at the floor. What can I say? he thought. How can I explain?

Carstairs knew it was time to back off a bit and act like the father and not the commanding officer. He leaned back in his chair. "Son, this is off the record, just between you and me. This isn't the Shirish Gonzalez in your record. What's going in there?"

There was silence for a minute as Shirish composed his thoughts. "Sir, when I take out a ship, I'm there and if I make a mistake, I pay for it along with my crew. I've never had the kind of command where I send people out to do things in my stead. I can risk myself but..." His words trailed off and he sat back as if a weight had been lifted from his chest.

Carstairs thought for a moment. "Do you know who Robert E. Lee was?"

"Confederate commander, American Civil War."

"Correct. He said something else I remember at times like this. 'A good general loves his army. A great general must be willing to send to death the very army that he loves.' I think you're a good officer. If you weren't, I wouldn't have requested you. But you're not a great officer yet. The war's not over so there's time and there's hope." Carstairs could see the gears of understanding turning behind Gonzalez's eyes. "Can you do the job, son? If you can't, let me know now."

Shirish understood. "Yes, sir. I can."

"Then go out and be great."

Shirish felt a little better. "Yes, sir."

Carstairs shifted in his chair. "Good. Now I've been thinking about the blockade. The energy field wreaks havoc with engines and weapons systems. We don't have enough ships to conduct the blockade from a longer distance so we're going to start having scouts closely watch what they're bringing in and follow their shipments. Something's going on here and we just don't know quite what. I want you to coordinate with the scout vessels and hunt down any of their incoming materiel. Try to keep out of the energy field whenever possible. Besides, they have a base close to it. Let them burn energy keeping it going that close to the gate."

"Understood, sir. And thank you for your confidence."

Carstairs cracked a smile. "You're welcome. You've earned it. Dismissed."

Shirish saluted and when it was returned, he turned and walked out of the office. He didn't make a mistake before and he wouldn't make a mistake again.

Carstairs sat back. I sure hope that fixes the kid. He pressed a button and brought up VicCom. "Give me the new consumption reports along with the projections and resource logs. And I want them by the time I get back from the head."

The voice acknowledged. "Yes, sir. Right away, sir."

He stood up but stopped at the window for a second. I've traded flying for paperwork, he thought. Glory for gravity. Maybe I made the mistake here...