by Ryk Brown
“Don’t you think that’s a bit obvious?”
“It’s obvious 'cause it works, Cam!” Now plot the course I asked for!”
“Fine, if you want to take unnecessary risks, just remember I’m on record as being against it.”
“The course?” he pleaded.
“It’s coming.” Cameron began plotting the course, but in no particular hurry.
But it was too late, as the ship was already entering the debris field. And with the radioactivity from the debris scattering their sensors, Cameron wouldn’t be able to plot a course with any degree of accuracy.
“Well, great,” Nathan exclaimed in frustration. “Forget it, Cam. You’re too late.”
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked as she realized they had already entered the debris field. “I didn’t get the course plotted yet!”
“No kidding,” Nathan said. It was the third time today he had been forced to ‘wing it’ because Cameron was too busy arguing with him to do her job in a timely fashion. And each time the scenario had ended poorly. It had been much the same way for the last few days. Every time he asked for a course, she objected. Every time he tried to deviate the slightest bit from flight protocols, she would quote the manual, chapter and verse. A few times she had been right, and Nathan had been the first to admit it. Even if it had been after the fact on a few occasions. But most of the time, he had good reason to stray from protocol. And to make matters worse, he knew damned well that she was aware of it despite her usual objections.
“You’re too far below your proposed route,” she insisted.
“How do you know?”
“We’ve been on this course for two minutes. You changed your angle slightly on the way in to avoid that large piece of debris in our path, and you didn’t compensate with a course correction afterward.”
“Probably because my navigator didn’t give me a course to begin with,” Nathan mumbled.
“You still need to come up at least two degrees.”
Nathan was getting tired of her games. “You know what? Thanks, but no thanks. If I’m gonna screw up, I’d rather do it on my own.”
Cameron said nothing. And a few minutes later they exited the debris field, out of position, the sensors immediately triggering a contact alarm. Nathan could feel his heart sink as the inevitable downward spiral that had recently ended so many of their simulations was about to begin.
“I’ve got four Jung ships, closing fast dead ahead,” Cameron announced, satisfaction evident in her voice.
“Like we didn’t see that coming.”
“They’re firing missiles. Tracking twelve inbound. Impact in three seconds.”
For a split second, Nathan contemplated maneuvering to avoid the incoming ordnance. But with the missiles only three seconds away, there wasn’t much use. And the simulation ended poorly, yet again.
Cameron felt a slight bit of guilt as Nathan resigned to inevitable failure. But as far as she was concerned, it his own fault for not listening to her in the first place.
The lights came up, and the screens again switched back to pale blue as the back half of the room swung slowly open.
“Scott and Taylor, you’re ordered to take a fifteen minute break, and then report to the captain’s ready room,” the sim controller announced over the comms. It had been entertaining to the sim technicians at first. They all knew there was going to be friction between the two of them after the captain had promoted Nathan. But after three days of the same old arguments, it was beginning to look like they were never going to get past their differences. And apparently, the captain had grown tired of it.
“You know, if you’re gonna keep sabotaging me at every opportunity, we’re never going to get out of this simulator and onto the bridge,” Nathan said.
“Don’t try to blame me because your crazy ideas never work.”
“They never work because I never have any solid navigation behind them! And who’s fault might that be? Oh, I don’t know, the Navigator, maybe?”
“You just want me to sit idly by and watch while you fly us into who knows what? Well that’s not the way my job works, mister.”
“That’s Lieutenant to you, Ensign!” Nathan knew that pulling rank on her was not the best strategy. But of course, that hadn’t stopped him from saying it.
“I believe, Sir,” she responded, emphasizing the word ‘sir’. “That it’s my job to point out available alternatives, Sir.”
“Point out, yes! But you argue with me until my only choice is to do it your way or fly by the seat of my pants! I’m pretty sure that’s not in your job description, Cam. But I’m sure you’ll check the book and let me know if I’m wrong.” Nathan got up and left the simulator. He needed to be as far away from Cameron as possible right now, even if only for a few minutes.
Cameron topped the ramp leading to the command deck and turned toward the bridge. It had not really come as a surprise when the simulation control officer told them to report to the captain. She knew that Nathan and her were not meshing as a team. But she was equally sure that she had been correct to point out the flaws in his unorthodox solutions. It wasn’t her fault if he couldn’t admit when he was wrong. If he would just heed her advice more often, she was sure that they would be doing a lot better in the simulations.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt like he was out to get her, to make her look bad. But surely the captain would see through his little charade? Surely the captain would recognize that Nathan had no discipline, and no respect for procedure. The guy just jumped in and made things up as he went, with no planning or foresight. That was probably just fine for him before, when his daddy’s money and power could pull his butt out of whatever fire he inadvertently jumped into. But this was different, he might be taking the entire ship into the fire with him.
Cameron tried to calm herself. After all, he was just the helmsman. It was the captain that would be making such decisions, not Nathan Scott. And the captain knew what he was doing. He had an exemplary record, she had checked. He had demonstrated the ability to innovate while respecting established protocols and procedures. If the captain veered away from policy, it was for good reason, and with the full understanding of not only what, but why he was doing so. The captain would never ‘wing it’ as Nathan had so frequently done.
Cameron turned the last corner before arriving at the bridge. She was mentally preparing to defend herself in front of the captain against any unjustified attacks that Nathan might launch at her. She would make sure that any decision the captain made was based on the truth, and not on the wild accusations of Lieutenant Nathan Scott.
Cameron’s determined pace suddenly slowed as she saw Nathan standing outside the entrance to the bridge. She was instantly curious as to why he was standing there, apparently waiting for her. But all she could bring herself to say was “Lieutenant.”
“I thought we should enter together,” Nathan said. “We are supposed to be a team, after all.”
The gesture surprised Cameron, but she wouldn’t let it show. “As you wish.”
They entered the captain’s ready room together. Only this time, as the senior officer, Nathan would announce their presence.
“Lieutenant Scott and Ensign Taylor, reporting as ordered, Sir.”
Both Nathan and Cameron raised their hands in salute.
“At ease,” the captain instructed, adding “close the door, please, Ensign.” He waited a moment for Cameron to close the door and return to stand at ease next to Nathan before he began. This time, his tone was far more formal than it had been in previous meetings.
“It has come to my attention that your performance in the flight training simulator has fallen far below acceptable levels. The report states that on multiple occasions you failed to act as a team; you let personal differences interfere with the timely performance of your duties; and you failed to achieve the goals of the given scenario on at least thirty percent of your simulations.” Captain Roberts leaned back in his
chair. “Thirty percent? Hell, I should’ve canned you both at five percent.”
“Sir, I take full responsibility for our poor performance,” Nathan said.
“Well that’s certainly admirable, Lieutenant. But I don’t remember asking for your opinion just yet.” The captain sat there staring at Nathan, waiting for him to say something else. But Nathan only swallowed, hard. He looked at Cameron next, but her eyes were staring straight ahead, and as usual, her expression was cold and emotionless.
“I spent the majority of what should’ve been my rack time last night, reviewing the video logs of your simulations. And I have to say that I am appalled. In fact, I’m not really sure which one of you I should be chewing out. Hell, if you two were married I’d be advising you both to seek divorce lawyers.”
Captain Roberts got up and walked around to the front of his desk, just as he usually did when he was trying to make a point. Only this time, he stood in front of his desk instead of sitting. He folded his arms in front of his chest, looking long and hard at each of them.
“Normally, I’d send you both packing and call up any cadets that have passed their sim qualifiers to replace you. But since we’re due to start trials in a few days, I don’t have that luxury. I know the two of you can fly this ship. And since I’m going to be on that bridge telling you what to do, all you have to do is execute my orders,” he said. “And you will do so without hesitation. Is that clear?”
“Yes Sir,” they responded in unison.”
“And just in case, by some horrifying twist of fate, you should have to take action without orders, I’m going to give you some right now, so there will not be any confusion.” The captain turned to Nathan, speaking to him directly. “Lieutenant. You shall follow standard flight operational protocols, without deviation, unless you are one hundred-no, make that one hundred and fifty percent sure that doing so would result in unacceptable risk to this ship or her crew. Is that understood?”
“Yes Sir!” Nathan answered.
The captain then turned his attention to Cameron. “Ensign Taylor. You are the ship’s Navigator. That means you plot her course. But it also means that you do whatever is necessary to help the helmsman fly this ship. Yes, it is your job to offer alternatives. But if the helmsman says he wants to fly this ship into the sun, you’d damned well better give him the course he asked for before you offer alternatives. Is that understood?”
“Yes Sir!” Cameron responded, swallowing hard.
“Dismissed, Ensign.”
Cameron snapped a salute, turning and exiting in proper military fashion. Nathan continued to stand, frozen, wondering what would come next. Apparently, the captain had a bit more butt chewing specifically targeted at him.
The captain waited for Ensign Taylor to leave before continuing. “Lieutenant, I think we have a bit of a misunderstanding going on here. I’m pretty sure that when I made you helmsman, I put you in command of the flight team. Granted, at least for now that only means you’re in command of Ensign Taylor, but you are in command. That’s why I made you a lieutenant in the first place. But after watching you two love birds squabbling in my flight simulator for the last few days, I’m not so sure that was the right call.” Something he had just said triggered a thought in Captain Roberts head. “Wait, you two aren’t, I mean, you’re not together, are you?”
“No Sir,” Nathan protested.
“You don’t want to be, do you?” The captain knew he was probably over-stepping his bounds, as there were no set rules against such fraternization, as long as it didn’t interfere with one’s duties. But it would’ve explained a lot.
“God no, Sir,” Nathan reassured him.
“Good.” The captain breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had just dodged a bullet. “Just make sure you keep it that way.”
“No problem, Sir.”
“Listen, Lieutenant, the most important part of being in command, is being able to make the call when it needs to be made. Now there’s nothing wrong with listening to the advice of your subordinates. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with admitting that they’re right and following that advice. But you do not debate the issue, Lieutenant. Not on the flight deck. That’s what briefing rooms are for, son. Just remember, right or wrong, any decision made too late, is a bad decision.”
The captain rose from his desk and made his way back to his chair. “Now I suggest that you go and work things out with Ensign Taylor before you turn in for the night. I don’t want to find you lying in Medical later with a knife in your back.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Now fix this, Lieutenant, or I will.”
“Yes Sir,” he assured, snapping a salute.
The Aurora’s hangar bay was only dimly light, allowing just enough light so that a person could make their way through safely. Although the facility was finished and ready for operations, the Aurora’s spacecraft and flight personnel were not due to arrive until well after the first shakedown cruise. For now, the massive space was being used as a staging area for components and supplies waiting to be installed or put into storage.
Nathan wandered between the stacks of boxes and equipment. “Taylor!” he called out. “I know you’re in here!” He was lying, as he wasn’t really sure she was there. He had gone to her quarters after leaving the captain’s ready room, looking to make peace with her. He nearly had to order her roommate to divulge her location. Even then, she was only guessing that Cameron had come here, as it was one of the few places still left on the ship where she could be alone with her thoughts.
“Come on, Cameron! We need to talk!”
“What the hell do you want?” she finally answered.
Nathan spun around, trying to locate where her voice had come from. “Where are you?”
“Back here.”
Nathan looked toward her voice. She was sitting on one of the rolling step ladders normally used for accessing the cockpit of fighters. There were a row of twelve of them neatly arranged against the far wall of the hangar. She was sitting at the top of one of the middle ones.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked as he approached.
“This is where I come to think.” Her voice had a melancholy he hadn’t heard from her before. “But you must’ve talked to my roommate to find me, so you already know that.” She was being logical, as usual.
“Why here?” Nathan asked as he reached the row of step ladders. He was trying to establish some sort of rapport with her before hashing out their differences.
“I don’t know. I guess it’s because it’s the largest open space on the ship. I mean, everywhere else is so cramped. Well, not cramped really, just no wasted space, you know? It kind of boxes you in, compartmentalizes your thinking. Here, everything is wide open.” She looked down at him, standing at the bottom of the step ladder next to the one she was sitting on. “I know, it sounds stupid.”
“Actually, it sort of makes sense when you think about it.”
“So, what do you want, Nathan?”
“We’ve got to figure out how to make this work.”
“That’s easy,” she quipped. “Resign your commission.”
Nathan was pretty sure she was joking, but decided not to test her.
“You know,” he began as he started up the step ladder, “the captain asked me if you and I were together.”
“Oh God,” she exclaimed, realizing what he meant. “I hope you set him straight!”
“Of course I did,” he assured. “I mean, come on, you and I?”
“Please, you are so not my type,” she insisted.
“Me neither,” he agreed as he sat down at the top of the step ladder next to hers. “I mean, nothing personal,” he added, realizing he might have offended her. “I mean, you’re really cute and all but…”
“…You can shut up now, Lieutenant.”
“Okay, then. Moving on.” There was an uncomfortable moment of silence, as Nathan tried to figure out what to say. “Listen, I know you hate me. But we have to
find a way to work together.”
“You’re right,” she agreed. “I do hate you.”
Nathan didn’t know how to react to that. Finally, he turned towards her to say something and noticed a big grin on her face. “Oh, that was real funny,” he admitted, a bit relieved.
“And it felt really good, too,” she laughed.
“Let’s be honest with each other,” Nathan suggested. “Let’s get everything out in the open.”
“I thought that’s what I was doing,” she added. He was making it too easy for her.
“Enough, already,” Nathan objected. “Okay, fine. Tell me what you hate about me.”
“You sure you’re ready? I mean, we could be here awhile.”
“Okay, let’s make it easier. Just give me your top three reasons.”
“You’re a cocky, arrogant, pretty little rich boy, and you’ve probably always gotten by on your charm, good looks, and your daddy’s money. And I seriously doubt that you’ve ever taken anything seriously your whole life.”
Nathan paused for a moment, a little taken aback. “Well. I’m pretty sure that was more than three reasons. But, I will admit that there is probably a little truth to some of that.”
“Some?”
“Okay, most.”
“Most?”
“Don’t push it, Ensign.” Nathan took a deep breath before continuing. “You’re right, about all of it, actually. But that was before I enlisted. Since I got into the Academy, I’ve actually been trying to do my best. For the first time that I can remember, I actually believe in something, I actually care about something.” He paused to look at her. “Something other than myself, I mean.”
“And I’m just supposed to believe you?”
“Well, I guess you don’t have to. But it is the truth.”
“Okay. Fair enough, I guess.” Cameron wasn’t quite sure what to believe. Nathan was opening up to her, which was something that she wasn’t used to, at least not from men. And certainly not from Nathan. Most guys had found her too cold and calculating to ever get close to her in any real sense of the word.