by Knox, Barry
The crew was allowed to walk around the ship for a few minutes, familiarizing themselves with the external locations of escape hatches, docking bay doors, communications-access panels— anything they might need to know if they ever found themselves outside the ship in space.
Eventually, the maintenance crew, already aboard, opened the ship’s rear-access door and lowered a ramp. Hydraulic motors and pistons whined until the ramp touched the docking bay floor with a metal clank.
A senior maintenance officer walked through the open access doors and halted at the bottom of the ramp. He acted as the officer of the deck and began the traditional boarding of a US naval vessel crew.
Mary led the officers, enlisted crew, and scientists to the ramp. She stopped, saluted the flag of the United States of America stenciled on one of the open ramp access doors, and then turned to the acting officer on the deck, saluted him, and asked, “Permission to come aboard, sir?”
“Come aboard,” the acting officer on the deck said, returning her salute. The rest of the crew followed and used the same protocol.
Once they were aboard, maintenance personnel escorted the crew to their quarters so they could change into their mission uniforms and attach their Anna to their forearms. As expected, the sailors and scientists followed an escort in one direction while the marines followed an escort in another.
The enlisted marine’s quarters was a large bay, which could easily accommodate thirty marines.
“Gunny, take charge. Have the men change, stow their gear, and stand by,” Captain Neubauer ordered.
“Aye, aye, sir,” Xia said.
Captain Neubauer and Gideon followed their escort down the same passageway and were shown their individual quarters.
“Lieutenant, after you’ve changed and are squared away, report to my office in the armory.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Gideon said.
***
Gideon’s quarters contained three bunks, three closets, a large desk, a chair, and a latrine. He unpacked his duffel bag, stowed his clothes and toiletries in a closet, changed out of the white jumpsuit, and put one of his new green mission uniforms. Finally he attached his Anna to the left forearm of his uniform using the micrometal velcro and turned Anna on.
“Welcome to SRS Stephen Hawking, Gideon,” Anna said into his implant.
“Thank you, Anna.”
“I have access to the ship’s main computer. Let me know if I can be of assistance.”
“Can you direct me to the marine armory?” Gideon asked.
“Sure, Gideon.”
Anna guided him through the maze of passages and bulkheads. Gideon memorized everything he saw, read, or heard so he wouldn’t have to ask for directions to get back to his quarters.
As he walked, he noted that everything was colored navy standard gray. Nothing was painted; instead the manufacturer had added the gray color to the plastanium as it was being produced. It looked as if everything was constructed of plastanium. If so, the cost of the ship had to be astronomical.
Plastanium was state-of-the-art spacecraft building material. It was lightweight, strong, durable, and nonconductive. And if a small projectile nicked or punctured it, it would self-seal.
Biochem light panels were mounted and used throughout the ship to supply visual lighting for the crew. Automatic detectors and configuration settings on the panels turned lights on or off and adjusted the intensity of light when necessary. The panels were constructed of bioluminescent materials, which copied the chemical reactions used by certain insects and fish to produce light. The biochem lights were another costly feature.
A few minutes later Gideon arrived at the ship’s marine armory and reported to Captain Neubauer.
“Since you’re my exec, we’ll be on a first-name basis when we’re alone. That okay with you?” Captain Neubauer asked as he motioned Gideon to take a seat in front of his desk.
“That’s fine, Rezin,” Gideon said.
“Okay, first things first, Gideon. Have you talked to your Anna yet?” Neubauer asked with a smile.
“I have.”
“Is it bizarre, or is it just me? You know, talking to it like it’s alive?”
“It’s certainly going to take some getting used to.”
“Yes it will. Anyway, let’s review our training schedule before we brief the men.”
Neubauer pulled up the training schedule on his desk’s holographic display, and they reviewed the schedule in detail for a couple of hours, discussing specific plans and making minor modifications.
Captain’s Quarters, SRS Stephen Hawking
1345—February 15, 2372
Mary sat at her desk familiarizing herself with the sailors, marines, and scientists aboard the Stephen Hawking. Mary read personnel file after personnel file. Every file she read surprised her. The men and women aboard her ship were indeed amazing people with one exception: Petty Officer Third Class Joseph Sipes. While everyone else had special skills or above-average intelligence, Sipes was just an average sailor with only one skill specialty. She would ask Admiral Frank about him during their next private communication.
Meanwhile she decided to meet each of the crew in her quarters and have an informal conversation just to get to know them personally. She’d discovered that talking with her crew one-on-one about their homes, family, dreams, and so forth…helped her know exactly what she could expect from them.
She pulled up a list of her crew on a holographic display and looked at it.
Navy Crew
Officers
Captain Mary Bowser, Captain SRS Stephen Hawking
Commander Nebo Steward, Executive Officer
Ensign Matthew Young, Communications Officer
Lieutenant Temani LaPalm, Navigation Officer
Lieutenant Commander Buz Vanderver, Engineering Officer
Commander Abilene Pettway, MD Ship’s Surgeon
Enlisted
Master Chief Petty Officer Andrew Ostrow, Ship’s MCPO
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class, Thomas Wong, Medical
Petty Officer 1st Class Hiel Zettler, Electronic Repairman
Petty Officer 1st Class Candace Roe, Weapon Systems
Petty Officer 2nd Class Jesca Pezant, Propulsion
Petty Officer 2nd Class Tarah Afriday, Life Support
Petty Officer 2nd Class Joel West, Electrical/Hydraulics
Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Sipes, Hull Maintenance
Marines Contingent
Officers
Marine Captain Rezin Neubauer, Contingent Commander
Marine Second Lieutenant Gideon Klaxton, Platoon Leader
Enlisted
Staff Sergeant Bartholomew Manelly, Green OPS NCOIC
Sergeant Peter Kindle, Green OPS / VTOL Crew Chief
Corporal Jesse Gault, Green OPS
Gunnery Sergeant Michael Xia, Black OPS NCOIC
Staff Sergeant Reuben Mucha, Black OPS
Sergeant John Tidwell, Black OPS / VTOL Pilot
Scientists
Seth Harper, Physics, Lead Mission Scientist
Heli Jones, Astrophysics
Aaron Kastriva, Quantum Physics (pending assignment)
Rachel Bailey, Cosmic Biology (pending assignment)
Vashni Qasim, Computer Engineering (pending assignment)
After reviewing the list, she began scheduling individual meetings, starting with Petty Officer Sipes at 1900 that evening.
Halfway through her scheduling, her desk communication holographic display appeared, requesting her to answer a communications request in the ship’s Triple C. She closed her display and stood there for a second.
“Anna?” Mary asked.
Anna’s voice responded. “Yes, Captain.”
“Please direct me to the Triple C,” Mary said.
“Yes, sir. When you leave your cabin, turn left and…”
Mary followed Anna’s directions and in a few minutes was at the Triple C. The Triple C, like all combat control centers aboard US naval
ships, was located in the center of the ship because in theory it was the safest place aboard the ship during a battle.
She entered the Triple C and authenticated her identity using her ID card and a DNA scan. No one was there, so she sat at the nearest command console and pulled up a communications interface. She selected “Accept Transmission” from the communications display, and Admiral Frank appeared.
“Hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time, Captain.” Admiral Frank said.
“No, Admiral. As a matter of fact, I was going to contact you later,” she said.
“Great. You go ahead and let me know what I can do for you first, and then we’ll discuss why I’ve called,” Admiral Frank said.
“It’s really nothing important, Admiral,” she said. “I was reviewing the crew’s personnel files and noted that all of my crew, with the exception of Petty Officer Third Class Joseph Sipes, have either specialized skills or above-average intelligence. Why was Sipes assigned this mission?”
“Simple, Captain. Our first choice for the position couldn’t report in time for the mission’s planned departure. We needed a hull specialist with plastanium experience, and Sipes was the closest available crewman. He might not be the best and surely not the brightest, but I’m sure you noted during your review of his records that he is dedicated to his work.” Admiral Frank paused for a second and continued. “Does that answer your question, Captain?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is there anything else, Captain?”
“No, sir.”
“Good. The reason I called you on an ultra-secure channel is to set up a private, secure communications system between you and I during the mission. We’ll be using QMAC for communications when the Stephen Hawking leaves Phobos, and we won’t be able to communicate privately. There may be, on occasion, some information I want only you to know, and there may be something you only want me to know. We’ll use encryption keys to transfer and receive encrypted messages between our ATCCS—or should I say Anna?—systems when the QMAC is being used. We’ll have our Anna piggyback our messages through the QMAC using the QMAC ship-to-Earth maintenance and status communications channel. Any questions?” Admiral Frank asked.
“Sir, is there something going on that leads you to believe that we’ll need this secure communication channel?” Mary asked.
“Not really, Captain. It’s just that neither of us has ever had a mission like this.” The admiral paused and leaned into his video camera. “Frankly, as I mentioned, we might want to share need-to-know information that we may not want the scientists on the Stephen Hawking or here at Mount Mitchell to know.”
“Very good, sir,” Mary said, though she didn’t quite buy his explanation and decided to let it go for now.
“All right. I’m transmitting the encryption keys now. Have your Anna receive it and verify it with my Anna,” Admiral Frank said as he reached for and selected a holographic switch on his display.
“Anna, receive the encryption keys being transmitted on this channel and verify authentication with Admiral Frank’s Anna,” Mary requested.
“Yes, sir,” Anna said. A second later Anna added, “Received the encryption keys and have authenticated with Admiral Frank’s Anna. It is operational.”
“I received and authenticated the encryption keys, sir,” Mary told Admiral Frank.
“Excellent, Captain. That’s all I have for you now. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Thank you, sir,” Mary said, and the communication was terminated.
***
Admiral Frank leaned back in his chair after the communication link was terminated. Deep in thought, he reassured himself that the secure communication channel was needed, and he would use it when he thought the time was right.
SRS Stephen Hawking
1530—February 15, 2372
The crew, scientists, and marines began their training schedule by familiarizing themselves with the ship. In groups, their Anna led them to every compartment aboard and explained its function. Duty stations were noted during normal work and during emergency situations.
After the ship orientation training, the enlisted marines and sailors headed back to their designated areas of the ship. The marines and sailors met each other in the ship’s main corridor that extended from the bow of the ship to the stern.
Joseph was trailing behind a group of sailors, looking at the corridor walls and ceiling, and noting how the plastanium hull was engineered. He recalled what he had been taught about repairing such material. As he looked and walked, he strayed into the middle of the corridor and didn’t see the marines coming.
Gunny Xia was leading the marine team and couldn’t avoid Joseph when he stepped in front of him. The big man hit Xia and knocked Xia to the deck.
“Sorry, Gunny!” Joseph exclaimed as he reached down to help Xia up. “It was my fault…I, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
Xia pushed the big man’s hand away and stood.
“You’d better start watching where you’re going, squid!” Xia yelled as spittle flew from his mouth. “You ever run into me again, or even touch me, and I’ll make you wish you’d never set foot aboard this ship.”
Xia started to walk away, stopped, and turned. “How could a dumb, useless, backwoods ancestor of slaves ever be assigned to a mission like this anyway?”
Joseph’s jaw dropped, and his eyes widened. He looked at Xia and said, “Like I said, Gunny, I’m sorry.”
“Just stay out of my way!” Xia yelled back and stormed off with the rest of the enlisted marines following him. The marines laughed at Joseph as they walked away, and even some chuckles from the sailors could be heard as they continued on their way.
Joseph waited a few seconds before he followed as tears welled up in his eyes. He didn’t want anyone to see and wished he had a friend aboard he could talk to.
***
The enlisted marines arrived at their quarters a few minutes later, and Xia was still mad. He told his men they were going to have an inspection in an hour and they’d better be squared away. A second later Xia left and stormed down the corridor.
“What’s wrong with him?” Gault asked the other marines.
“He’s always had a short fuse,” Sergeant Mucha started to explain. “Plus he’s prejudiced against just about anyone…be it race, nationality, planet, or what they eat! He’s not the most pleasant person to be around, but when you’re in a firefight, you’ll be glad he’s there. He’ll cool down after the inspection, so let’s make sure we’re squared away before he gets back.”
“I’m loving this mission more by the minute!” Gault said as he finished a hospital corner on his bunk.
Sergeant Manelly finished his preparation for the inspection and walked into the corridor while the other marines were still busy. He hurriedly typed a message to Gideon on his Anna forearm interface display.
Lieutenant, there’s been an incident with Gunny Xia that I think you should know about. Contact me when you’re available to talk.
Manelly sent the message, and a second later he saw Xia coming down the corridor.
“Are they ready for inspection?” Xia asked Manelly in a now- calmer voice as he neared the quarters.
“I hope so, Gunny,” Manelly said and followed Xia inside.
Marine Armory, SRS Stephen Hawking
1635—February 15, 2372
“Gideon, I have a message for you from Sergeant Manelly,” Anna said.
Gideon was taking inventory in the marine armory, making sure that everything on his manifest was indeed accounted for.
“Read it to me, Anna,” Gideon said as he continued counting the number of assault weapon power packs. Anna read the message, and without stopping his work, he told Anna to send Manelly a reply to come to the armory as soon as possible.
A half hour later Manelly arrived at the armory and told Gideon what had happened between Xia and Sipes.
“Thanks for the heads-up, Sergeant; I’ll take it from here,” Gideon
said.
“Yes, sir,” Manelly said and turned to leave.
“By the way, we never had this discussion,” Gideon added.
Manelly stopped, turned to Gideon, and said with a smile, “What discussion, sir?”
Gideon stopped his inventory and walked toward Captain Neubauer’s office in the corner of the armory, thinking as he walked that he should’ve already talked to the captain about Xia.
Gideon rapped on the captain’s door and heard, “Enter!”
Gideon walked in and stood at attention.
“Permission to speak to you about a matter concerning Gunny Xia,” Gideon said, still standing at attention.
Captain Neubauer stopped what he was doing, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Gideon.
“At ease, and for goodness’ sake, Gideon, when we’re alone we can suspend marine protocol,” Neubauer said, and then he added, “What did Gunny Xia do this time?”
The captain’s response surprised Gideon. It was as if he already knew Xia was in some kind of trouble.
“I overheard a sailor taking about an incident with Gunny Xia. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bring something like this to your attention, but I’ve noted several things in Gunny Xia’s records that concern me.”
With a sigh Captain Neubauer said, “Very well, fill me in.”
Gideon told the captain about what had happened, and when he finished, Captain Neubauer didn’t look surprised.
“I’ll take care of it, Gideon. I’ll order Gunny Xia to stay away from Sipes and stay out of trouble.”
“Can I ask you a question—off the record, Rezin?”
“Shoot.”
“Why was Gunny Xia assigned this mission? Looking at his record, I think he’s a liability.”
“He wasn’t assigned to the mission,” Captain Neubauer said, sighed again, and then continued. “I requested him. I had to go all the way up to the marine commandant to get it approved.”
“Why’d you want him so bad?” Gideon asked, confused.