Mission's Edge

by Max Jager

  "What was that about in there?" Coren asked. He was a man of medium build with light brown hair. With aristocratic features and an almost arrogant appearance, he was often underestimated by those who did not know him. Quick to smile and open to a joke, he was well liked by most people he encountered. His friendly exterior, however, covered an unequivocally competent officer. Second in standing only to Aaron through the Academy, only chance had conspired to keep him behind Aaron in rank. He was also Aaron's best friend.

  "An unfortunate side effect of being recalled to active service on short notice with little planning. I will simply have to work a little harder than normal to win the respect of my XO is all," Aaron responded evenly. "And that is an end to the matter Coren."

  "As your best friend and the only one in that room qualified to tell you when you're making a mistake, I have to tell you this is a bad idea. A ship with it's captain and XO at war with one another won't even function, let alone perform well," Coren' exasperation with his friend overrode his usual stoicism. "What on earth possessed you take the damn command?"

  "Dorcas pressed all the right buttons. New command, hour of need, six months before I could get another command, the ability to steal you," Aaron responded casually, a slight smile quirking his lips. "You know how it is."

  "I don't like it. A captain has the right to the unconditional public support of his XO, even she disagrees with him in private. How do you plan to make this work?"

  "Very carefully. While I can't say I've been where she is, I can understand where she is coming from. We will just have to make it work between us," Aaron said with finality. "We should catch up with the rest of the officers. We cannot allow you to become the de facto XO. Commander Darnelle deserves the opportunity to perform her duties."

  "Aye-aye , sir. I understand. Just remember, I'm there for you," Coren answered him with a sad smile.

  –

  By the time Aaron got home, it was 2100. He had moved from briefing to briefing all day, from the new technology to the strategic situation in detail to force appreciations to the new tactical realities given what they had seen in the initial battles in the periphery. Feeling as though he had nothing left to give as he began his process of making dinner. There were three messages waiting for him on the recorder. He hit the play button and began to listen to the messages.

  "Good afternoon Aaron, it's your mother calling again. I know you won't be able to make any of the appointments today or tomorrow, but if you could find the time to come see me before you take off into space again, I would greatly appreciate it. We have some things we need to discuss and it is best done discreetly. Be careful, I love you."

  "Is it true, Aaron? Did the Orindians really pull the trigger? Call me back as soon as you can. Both Tanya and I want to hear your take."

  "Aaron, it's me, Andrew. We just heard the news about Orionis and Draconis. Have you been called up? Do I need to move back to the Capital?"

  Aaron smiled and called up the comm screen again. "Computer, call Andrew."

  As he waited for the call to connect through vast distances involved, he began chopping the vegetables for a stew.

  "Hello," a sweet, melodious voice came from the speakers of Aaron's kitchen. It matched perfectly the woman to whom the voice belonged. With short, golden hair; smooth, honey coloured skin; expressive, chocolate eyes; and petite frame, she was a woman who radiated joy and good temper like a candle illuminating a room.

  "Hey, Marissa, is Andrew around?" Aaron asked, smiling at his sister-in-law. She and Andrew were married two years ago; despite the fact that Aaron and Andrew's mother didn't particularly like her. Their mother felt that Andrew had married below his station by marrying the daughter of one of his chief engineers. Aaron felt she was a good match for Andrew, particularly in the way her calm and steady temperament balanced out Andrew's vision and impetuosity.

  "Sure, give me a second, he's in the office" she replied.

  She disappeared and a moment later reappeared with a young man with a slightly dishevelled look to him. He looked like Aaron might if he was a few years younger, and much more absent minded.

  "Hey big brother, you look tired and you're in uniform. I take you had a long day," Andrew's voice was smooth and modulated, the kind of voice it was difficult to panic around.

  "I did. To answer your question in the message, yes I have been recalled. I've been given command of a battle cruiser and am headed out your way about midday tomorrow to take command. She's beautiful Andy. A dream come true. She's big, but quick and looks like she will manoeuvre by thought rather than by physics. She's not quite a prototype, but will be the first finished product in her class. The Anvil is just putting the finishing touches on her. She starts acceptance trials as soon I manage to get to her," Aaron told his brother with a proud smile. "And she is all mine. Well I suppose I have to share her with Coren."

  "She sounds gorgeous, Artie. Do you have any idea where you will be deployed to?" Marissa asked.

  "She is primarily designed for rear area security and commerce raiding. I imagine I will be spending a lot of my time either riding herd on freight haulers or behind enemy lines making their lives difficult," Aaron responded quietly, not sure how the pair would take the news.

  "So we'll have to look at moving back to Capital then," Andrew said. "Mum will need one of her sons around. Has she gotten any better?"

  "In terms of her illness, it is manageable, but she's still slowly fading. The doctors just don't know what to do or what is causing it. In terms of her attitudes, she is still the same old school bourgeois, upper class lady she always was. I had three appointments with her friends' daughters before the military took control of my life again," Aaron said smiling again, this time in shared exasperation.

  "So, it's safe to say that her attitude toward Marissa won't have changed."

  "Well, maybe it has. With me being called back into active service and the chances of my death increasing, she may look upon you as the hope to continue the family name. Marissa, therefore, will become the mother of the future of the family. That might elevate her in our mother's mind. I'm going to go see her tomorrow before I ship out. I'll try to smooth the way for the pair of you. Will you need somewhere to stay?" Aaron encouraged his brother.

  "We could use somewhere to crash until we get ourselves situated," Marissa's bemused half smile was evident in her voice.

  "I'll leave the access codes to the apartment with our solicitor. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want. Just don't tell me what you get up to," Aaron offered with a laugh. "Is there anything else you need?"

  "I don't think so," Andrew said. "If I think of something I will let you know."

  "How is business?"

  "Growing. We keep getting new contracts and will have to expand in the near future. We're thinking of opening an office on Capital, for the purposes of having an administrative centre which is more accessible to our clients. This will be a good opportunity to scout locations for that office. We'll make the most of it. Mother will just have to put up with the second favourite until you manage to kick the Orindians asses up between their ears." Andrew had always been an unflappable sort. Despite his dishevelled appearance, he was every bit as intelligent as his older brother, and equally capable of adapting to changing circumstances. His talents tended toward the practical side of ship building and design rather than that of command, but he had nevertheless built an impressive business designing and constructing high end yachts for businessmen and politicians. Lately, that business had been branching out into military courier boats, the fastest, smallest interstellar ships in space.

  "The Mark 9 is almost ready to test bed for your Office of Naval Shipbuilding. She's quick Aaron. The fastest thing I've ever seen or heard of. We had her run all the way up to 1000 gravities the other day. We haven't seen how fast she'll run on the Cherenkovs, but the efficiency we've managed to get out of the inertial sumps has been unbelievable. We estimate she'll max out at 43C in relative space. Carryin
g capacity isn't really a problem either. It looks like the courier system is about to get a lot faster. It's all very exciting."

  "It's a shame that a lot of the R&D Andrew and the boys did that has gone into the courier boats won't be directly transferable over to the yachts. The military has a lock down on most of the technologies that went into it. Which, in some ways, is fair since they footed a lot of the bill, but it seems a shame that we are unable to make use of the technology we've developed. It does however make sense that they would want to keep a lid on the compensators." Marissa was a usually gentle soul, except when she felt her husband had been slighted. Aaron did not envy those who managed to raise her ire.

  "That's good. It'll mean that it will be easier to keep in contact with you and with mother while I am away. Andrew, you will look after the business while I'm away making sure we still have an empire in which to do business won't you?"

  "Absolutely Aaron. We'll keep your taxes and finances in order whilst you are away. I can't promise we won't poach some of your clients though. Fortunately we don't compete on much. If at all."

  "I love you both. I'll miss being within com distance."

  Marissa gave her brother-in-law a rueful smile. "All good things must come to an end, huh?"

  "Yeah. Keep your heads up and your eyes on the event horizon. I'll be sending you letters as often as I can spare the time."

  "Right back at you, bro. Love you."

  Aaron terminated the connection and turned back to the cooking surface. The water he had put on earlier had come to a boil while he was talking and he deftly began to chop the carrots with a little more speed. Within a few minutes he had a respectable stew well on the way to being ready to eat and was searching for bread rolls in the fresh cupboard when the door chimed. Abandoning the search, Aaron moved to the door and opened it to find Commander Coren Chant, Surgeon Commander Evelyn Chandler, and Lieutenant Commander Erik Thurgood.

  Eva was the first to speak. "I heard about the briefing today and thought you could use some company tonight. I coerced Coren into telling me if you would be at home tonight and then recruited Erik to come with us. We've got ourselves a pickle Skipper."

  "It's not really any of your place to say so Eva, but I appreciate the thought all the same. Come on in, I've just finished the stew. What have you brought?"

  "I brought buns!" Erik Thurgood was a man of powerful build and dark skin with an open face. His kinked black hair clung close to his scalp, apparently in the longest part of the fluctuation from bald. For all his apparent innocence, Erik Thurgood was one of the most devious tacticians Aaron had ever met. He had a penchant for taking wild risks which, for reasons no one had ever adequately explained, worked out for him in a way which laughed in the face of Murphy's Law. His quick sense of humour often got him in trouble with stricter commanding officers, but made him a fast favourite among his peers and subordinates. He projected an aura of geniality and fun which should have made him the furthest thing from the competent and deadly tactical officer he was.

  Evelyn Chandler, by contrast, could not have been more of Thurgood's antithesis if she had tried. Small, petite, and pale as snow, she looked every inch the razor sharp medical professional she was. Her long red hair made her easy to pick out of a crowd. Never pulling any punches, either in her personal evaluation or medical prognoses, she was known throughout the fleet for her forthright manner. It was she who had first made the observation that Aaron seemed to attract to him the insanely talented, but tragically flawed officers of the fleet and managed to get the best out of them, will they nill they.

  Coren smiled ruefully at Aaron. "And I have a bottle of that Ben Nevis you love so much. Eva brought a salad of some description. I know it's not well paired but..."

  "But he eventually saw sense. At the beginning of a difficult deployment you need to be surrounded by friends and food. No question about it." Eva was always adamant that Aaron was the best cook known to the Empire and took any chance to sample his cooking.

  Passing into the apartment, Coren whispered the end to Aaron. "I tried to talk them out of it, but Eva wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. You know how she gets."

  "It's all right. I counted on it and made enough as soon as I found out she was in system. It's too bad she missed the briefing."

  They all congregated in the dining/kitchen/living area of the apartment, each finding their customary place. While this was their first deployment together as this particular team, all four of them had come together in this apartment at various times in the past before deployments, most memorable before their second deployment on the Horatio Nelson. Aaron, then Tactical officer with Coren as ATO, Erik as EWO and Eva as Surgeon Lieutenant, they had all got fall down drunk and attempted to find out why Eva preferred their company to that of her female friends when deployment time rolled around. They all woke up the following morning with splitting headaches and no recollection of the answer, if they had ever got one. They had sworn then and there never to open the question again and to never get that drunk again.

  After a pleasant, if poorly matched dinner and fun and funny conversation, they all settled down to serious business.

  "So... who is going to talk about 500kg neo-tiger in the room?" Erik asked with typical good humour.

  "No one. It's not open to discussion." Aaron tone brooked no argument, though he was fairly sure Eva would give one anyway.

  Predictably, Eva opened her mouth. "We have to at some point Aaron. The ship won't function if the XO and the Captain are at odds. Care to share what it is that is between you and Beth?"

  "Not really. It's not something that anyone can alter."

  "If we know what's wrong, we can help alleviate some of the tension. That's the job of senior officers. Chant here seems to know something, but won't spill the beans." Eva looked Aaron in eye, accusation written across her face.

  So they sat and listened as Aaron explained how he had come to be at odds with his XO and why he felt that the damage was almost irreparable. This was not the first time, nor would it be the last, that the three of them had sat together and discussed a problem they all shared. The added tension this time was that they had technically skipped the chain of command and excluded one of the necessary parties.

  Finally, Eva spoke. "I know that you may not see it now, but Beth is a good officer. She is dedicated and capable. Unfortunately, she has been knocked so far off her kilter that the chances that she will regain her balance before deployment are almost nil. So, the three of us whose names do not begin with A have a responsibility to bring her on board with the program as quickly as possible. Coren, this means you will have to consciously not take your normal place as Aaron's strong right hand. You need to give her room to grow into it. Erik, you and I will have to be intentional about not doing an end around on her and going straight to Aaron with our problems. This is going to take work, but we need to get the lost sheep back into the fold."

  "Ultimately though, she has to want to be back in the fold. If she doesn't want in, she doesn't want in." Coren' response was typical of his realism.

  "We have to make her want in. We have to show her that regardless of her feelings, she has to get herself straightened out."

  "Thank you. I don't know if I could do this one my own. It will take a lot of work, but I think we can make this work." The tone of voice Aaron used clearly communicated the depth of feeling and friendship that existed between them.

  "Ah, what are friends for except to alternate between making your life hell and making it heaven?" Eva's sardonic smile spoke for all of them. "Just remember this, next time you want to strangle me for convincing your steward to put sleeping pills in your secretly decaf coffee in the evening to ensure that you actually sleep."

  Chapter 3

  Aaron stepped into the foyer of the family home at precisely 0815. He was dressed in his uniform, once more looking every inch the commanding officer he was. He was met by the family majordomo, who after a slight bow, held out his hand to Aaron to
take his coat and hat.

  "Welcome home, my Lord. Your mother is in the drawing room, if you would like to make your way there."

  Aaron grimaced inwardly at the form of address used but was too fond of the man to show his dislike outwardly. "Thank you, Henry."

  The opulence of the home had never really suited Aaron or his brother Andrew. Nearly 500 years old, it had been built by one of their distant ancestors as both the family home and the corporate administrative centre for his rapidly expanding business empire. It had since been re-purposed to be solely a home, but despite that the sense of shock and awe that it had initially been designed to inspire was still visible. Built on a grand scale, in a classical revival style, the house looked like something out of the 1800s on Old Earth. It was three floors of overstated magnificence, built of native slate-grey stone found in the region, it now housed only one member of the family. Filled with a plethora of what Aaron felt were useless rooms, it was nonetheless a grand old house.