Fractured Alliance

by Robert Stadnik

  Tears started to well up in the old man’s eyes. He wanted to feel what the captain felt: like he had a place to belong. Andre felt he was grasping at straws trying to fit in. “I don’t know if I can ever feel like that. Maybe I made a mistake coming here. I thought about trying to make a concerted effort reconciling with Mikal, but he wants nothing to do with me.”

  “I’ve never been a father,” John said. “All I can say is kids grow up and have their own minds and personalities. You can’t control how he thinks or acts.”

  “I go back and think what Adriana and I could have done differently with him. But we gave him a good life. We couldn’t have changed anything. That’s why I don’t understand why he turned his back on us.”

  John could see Andre had a lot of anguish regarding his son. He decided to get him focused on life here. “You have to give it some time,” John assured. “You lost someone you spent most of your life with. It’ll take time, but you’ll adjust to being here.”

  “You think so?” Andre looked like he was almost pleading with John to convince him things would be okay.

  “I know so,” John promised. “Once you see what this ship has to offer, you won’t regret coming here. I promise.”

  “I really needed to hear that. You’re the captain. If you say I can be happy here, I’ll believe it.”

  John smiled. He would do whatever he could to help Andre make a new life for himself on PHOENIX.

  ********

  “Come in,” Bret said as the door chime rang. He didn’t look up to see who entered his quarters. He was engrossed in reading the communications logs from yesterday, trying to identify errors in any of the protocols. Once they began venturing into deep space, Bret would be responsible for establishing a satellite network to facilitate sending messages back to TERRA.

  “I’m not disturbing you, am I, sir?”

  Bret looked up. “Shelly! Of course not.” He motioned her to sit down as he turned off his holographic DAT. “What can I do for you?”

  “I wanted to catch you after the senior staff meeting, but you rushed out.”

  “Yeah, I had to take care of a little emergency,” Bret explained. “With the ship getting ready to head out, everyone’s scrabbling to send messages back to their homeworlds. Rudov and I have our hands full, but you don’t want to hear about communications issues.”

  “No, I’m…” Shelly struggled with approaching someone on the senior staff about this. “I’ve been having a hard time and wanted to get someone’s opinion.”

  “About living here with the aliens? It’s not that much of an adjustment. You just have to…”

  “It’s not that,” Shelly interrupted. “I’ve been struggling with my duties. I don’t think I’m qualified to be senior operations officer.”

  Bret was surprised to hear this. “I haven’t heard anyone complaining about you. Being an operations officer is complex. You seem to be doing well.”

  “If I was an operations officer on a capital ship. But I’m the senior operations officer of the largest ship in the fleet. I’m expected not only to do the job but perform as an example to the other officers who work under me.”

  “You don’t think you’re up to snuff?”

  “I just graduated from the Academy, and this is my first post. No new graduate should be a senior officer, especially in the ops position. I don’t understand what the captain thought when he assigned me.”

  “Have you asked him?” Bret asked.

  The young woman shook her head. “I couldn’t let him down by telling him he made a mistake. He chose me for a reason, I just don’t know what it is.”

  “I think you’re just having nerves working here,” Bret said. “You’re not just working on a TERRA starship, you’re working on their flagship that’s commanded by John Roberts. There’s a lot of pressure and scrutiny that goes with being here. You don’t want to screw up. None of us do. But you can’t doubt your abilities. You’re straight out of the Academy, so what? You’d be having these same worries if you were serving on any other ship. I’ve heard from seasoned officers the same concerns you told me.”

  Bret’s words did resonate with her. “I suppose you’re right. But handling operations on a capital ship is a lot less complex than doing it on a ship that can hold 50,000 people. PHOENIX has so many unique operations that aren’t on the other ships. The farm deck, ore processing, bot manufacturing…”

  Bret interrupted her. “All I can tell you is that you haven’t done anything that’s impeded ship operations. Until you cause a huge power failure or blow up the main engine, you’re doing fine. Trust me, no one thinks you’re a weak link.”

  Shelly realized he was using humor to communicate his point. Bret was one of the original senior staff who served since the ship was launched. If he was confident in her abilities, then maybe she was worrying over nothing.

  “I’m sorry to have bothered you about this, sir,” Shelly apologized.

  “It’s Bret,” the communications officer corrected. “Remember, we don’t go by titles or formalities with each other, just with Captain Roberts. And don’t be sorry about coming to me. We’re here to support each other.”

  His words brought a huge relief to Shelly. She spent her entire childhood competing to get a spot at the Academy and four years competing with her classmates to score a slot on a TERRA ship. Even though she accomplished the impossible by securing a senior officer position on PHOENIX, she felt that she still had to compete with her peers. However, she realized her fellow officers were not out to get her but work with her for the collective good of the ship. It was different from what she heard went on aboard a capital ship. Officers constantly worked to position themselves for promotion to become the next ship commander. That included undermining one another if it served their purposes.

  Although Bret had alleviated her concerns, she still needed one question answered, and only one person on this ship could answer it. For her own piece of mind, she would talk to Captain Roberts and find out why he selected her.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  John’s walk down the corridor on deck forty was brisk. He had just finished a call with Admiral Vespia, head of TERRA’s command council, and Chadwick Effen, the liaison between TERRA and the government. Their discussion centered around the Cresorians on the PHOENIX. The captain was on his way to deliver some unpleasant news to them. Given what he learned occurred the previous night in Central, he was eager to tell them what he discussed with Vespia. He had been more than accommodating to them, and they stomped on his good intentions. His goodwill had come to an end. He knew Drix would respect his decision. He had the welfare of the crew to consider.

  Benjamin Ravarius was waiting at the main entry door to the detention center. “I received your message. What did the command council say?”

  “You’ll learn soon enough,” John said as he hit the wall button to open the detention center doors. “No reason to sugarcoat this.”

  Ben wasn’t about to question the captain. He was clearly mad, and the attorney had no intention to press him. He’d find out along with the Cresorians shortly.

  Inside, the pair found Captain Olson and Chief Davers at the console station situated in the middle of the detention center. John approached them, with Ben following right behind. The attorney noticed many of the cells were occupied with groups of Cresorians. There were far more Cresorians here than just the four who caused the commotion at Homeworld Decadence yesterday. It looked like they were all assembled here.

  “Are they all accounted for?” John asked Davers.

  “We rounded them all up.”

  Ben didn’t like what he’d just heard. “Captain, what are you doing? I thought you were only detaining the ones who caused the skirmish last night?”

  Roberts ignored Ben’s questions. “Julie and Ben, with me.”

  Julie spoke to John right after his call with Vespia. She already knew what he was going to tell the Cresorians. She was saddened about the council’s decision but und
erstood it. The safety of the crew superseded any feelings she may have about Drix’s race. Maybe if Drix was still alive, he could have been an example for his people, and all of this could have been avoided.

  John randomly approached one of the cells. He had no idea if there was an anointed leader for the group. His approach elicited a reaction as all the Cresorians knew he was the ship commander of the PHOENIX.

  One of them shouted at him. “Captain Roberts! Why have you imprisoned us? Not all of us were involved in the disturbance yesterday.”

  John was quick in his reply. “Number one, pretty much every one of you has been involved in at least one altercation on the ship. Number two, I can’t risk any of you running freely with the news I’m about to give you.”

  None of them responded to the captain, so he continued. “I informed my military superiors and government about what’s occurred here. As you’re probably aware, your government has been mandating all Cresorians return to the homeworld to help rebuild the planet. We’ve given you plenty of chances, but it’s apparent none of you know how to live peacefully with the others here. Therefore, you’re all to be put off the ship.”

  “You can’t do that!”

  “We have rights!”

  “We don’t want to leave!”

  Ben nudged John’s arm. “Captain…”

  John stepped away from Ben. He had to finish what he wanted to say. “I advocated on your behalf to keep you here, but I have the welfare of the crew to consider. Despite repeated warnings, you continue to be a disruption. Now I have a crewmember recovering in medical because of you. I neither have the inclination nor desire to consider your wants or needs. A Cresorian ship will be here tomorrow to take you all back home.”

  “You can’t do that!” a Cresorian shouted. “We won’t go back!”

  “If I need to order every one of you stunned or sedated to get you off this ship, I will.” John stepped towards the cell he was in front of. “The decision’s been made. I’m telling you this as a courtesy, not to debate. I don’t care what you think.” He looked over to Davers. “Did you receive the instructions I sent to you earlier?”

  The chief nodded. “Yes, captain.”

  John looked at his executive officer. “I sent a copy of my conversation with Vespia and Chadwick. We can talk about it tonight.”

  “Yes, sir,” Julie said.

  “Captain, we need to talk about this,” Ben interjected.

  “With me,” John said to Ben as he headed out of the detention center. “I’ll expect an update that they’re all ready to go,” he instructed the chief.

  “I’ll make arrangements for their belongings to be brought to the hangar.”

  As Captain Roberts and Ben left, Julie joined the chief back at the console station. The Cresorians remained vocal, demanding to be heard.

  “You okay?” Davers asked her among the noise.

  “Not really,” Julie admitted. “The Cresorians are going to be the only member of the alliance not represented here. It doesn’t seem right, but what other choice do we have?”

  “It sucks,” Davers lamented. “I was hoping to get to know some of them and learn more about their culture.” He looked at Roberts’s instructions on his DAT. “I’ll get started on this.”

  As Julie was about to leave, a Cresorian called out to her. “Captain Olson, you hold the same human military title as Captain Roberts.”

  Julie approached the cell. The decision had been made, so it didn’t hurt to hear one of them out. “What’s your name?”

  “Limex,” she replied. “You hold equal title with Captain Roberts. Can you not block his order?”

  “It doesn’t work that way,” Julie explained. “I may hold the title of captain, but on this ship, I serve as Captain Roberts executive officer. He’s the highest-ranking officer here.”

  Limex seemed deflated hearing that.

  “And it still wouldn’t matter even if I did outrank him,” Julie added. “This order came directly from our military superiors. The captain has to follow those orders.”

  “You must be able to advocate…” Limex started, but Julie interrupted her.

  “I’m sorry, but the decision’s been made.” Julie walked away from the cell. This was heartbreaking, and she needed to walk away before her emotions got the better of her.

  “Is there nothing that can be done?” Limex called out. Her question was met with silence.

  ********

  John was walking so fast down the corridor, Ben could hardly keep up. “Captain…Captain Roberts, please!” John finally ceased his walk and looked at the attorney. “What was the purpose of having me there if you were just going to ignore me?”

  “Your presence was nothing more than a courtesy,” John replied.

  Ben felt insulted and marginalized by his answer. “I thought you valued my opinion and wanted my legal advice.”

  “Your opinion’s irrelevant here. The decision’s been made.”

  “You can’t kick them all off the ship,” Ben argued. “They have rights.”

  “The decision’s been made,” John reiterated. “Even if I wasn’t ordered, I have complete authority to remove anyone from this ship.”

  “You said you wanted a legal framework for everyone living on this ship,” Ben continued. “Legal rights involve a process. You can’t claim to want equal rights for the crew and then arbitrarily take those rights away. Things get tough, so you just toss your good intentions aside because it’s convenient?”

  The captain felt he was being personally attacked, something he did not appreciate. He stepped towards Ben. “The decision to remove the Cresorians was made by our government. If you want to argue rights, take it up with our liaison. You can whine to him until we’re out of communications range.” He was about to walk away but added one more thing. “But let me make myself clear. I’m in complete agreement with this decision. If you want to advocate for them, you do it without my support. Do we understand each other?”

  “Crystal.” Ben now felt he was being personally attacked. He said nothing more as the captain walked away. The attorney felt he had been duped. Did the captain really want his skills to make the ship a better place for everyone to coexist? It sure didn’t seem that way. If this was Earth, Ben could get an injunction from a judge, but PHOENIX was a military vessel. Military rules dictated that the ship commander was ultimately the judge on any legal matters. Until that changed, Captain Roberts could override any of the attorney’s decisions.

  Ben had all this legal expertise, but at this moment he felt completely powerless. The captain did a good job feeding him a fantasy. He couldn’t help but feel his skills would go to waste here. He should have never come to the PHOENIX.

  ********

  Vun slid itself into medical to see Mu, who was recovering from his injuries at the hands of the Cresorians. After being questioned by security, the Gercol was exonerated for its actions. Several crewmembers testified that Vun defended itself and Mu from an unwarranted aggressive attack.

  “What brings you in here?” Doctor Howl asked, one of the chief medical officers, as she approached Vun. “You weren’t injured in that attack, were you?”

  “No. I sustained no injuries. It takes a significant effort to harm one of my kind.”

  Howl was relieved to hear that. “Good, because we still can’t make heads or tails of your biology. Your homeworld has refused to provide us with any medical data. Treating you would be difficult.”

  “My homeworld does not like interacting with outsiders,” Vun said and looked around. In the distance, he spotted the person he wanted to see. “I am here to visit Mu. Is he able to engage visitors?”

  Howl brought up the Rifva’s medical status on her holographic DAT. “He’s out of sedation and not in any pain. I think some company would do him good. You want me to bring you to him?”

  Vun slid past the doctor. “I can find my way.” It approached the medical bed where Mu was lying. Some of his skin was a deep crimson red
, a contrast from his normal orange skin color. The Gercol felt an overwhelming good sensation seeing the Rifva.

  As Vun came up to the bed, Mu looked over to the Gercol and blinked his three eyes in unison. “I am told I have you to thank for protecting me.”

  “Anyone on this ship would have come to your aid,” Vun replied. “I am grateful I was the one to protect you.”

  “You put your life in jeopardy,” Mu pointed out. “You could have been hurt.”

  Vun’s body shook a little. “I was never in danger. Their weapons posed no threat to me. Even if they could hurt me, it would not have mattered.” A portion of Vun extended out and gently took one of Mu’s hands. “You have shown me so many new wonders. The thought of any harm coming to you does not agree with me.”

  Mu was touched by the Gercol’s genuine concern for him. The Rifva gently squeezed Vu’s gelatinous appendage. “There are many more wonders I look forward to sharing with you.”

  Vun’s body vibrated in agreement. “It pleases me to hear that. If you like, I will stay with you.”

  Mu smiled. “I would like the company.”

  In the distance, Doctor Howl watched the pair in wonderment. She could clearly see something was developing between the two. It was a remarkable sight, individuals of two distinctively different races building a personal relationship. It was in these rare moments that Howl remembered why she joined the ship.

  ********

  “You have not touched your dinner,” X remarked as it watched John slowly pace around. When it announced dinner was ready, and it placed the plate down on the table, he continued meandering around the living room. The bot recognized this action meant John was deep in thought.

  “Sorry, I have a lot on my mind.” Davers informed John earlier that all arrangements had been made to transport the Cresorians safely off the ship. He met with Julie to discuss the situation. She agreed with the government’s decision to hand them back over to their homeworld. They had become too much of a danger to the crew and couldn’t risk keeping them on board. Although the decision was made in the best interest of everyone on PHOENIX, it disheartened both the officers. As angry as John was for what they had done, a part of him wanted them to stay. “Vish, what time is it?”