Expeditions of the Mantis

by Jim Henderson

  Yarvin stood up and said, “Thank you Captain. Get some rest.”

  Then she announced, “Ok, everyone who’s not wounded or treating wounded, huddle up.”

  She explained the situation and the general plan, then worked with everyone to recalculate ship space and passengers. Most of the shuttles and a couple ships were heavily loaded and took off while Mantis and several other shuttles remained, loading valuable equipment and the wounded. Raiza put several severely wounded, including Doyle, in Mantis’ cryo chambers. They also loaded most of the rest of the lightly wounded in the cargo bay. Yarvin briefed Ximon that Mantis would need to drop some cargo, and a few pax, at their first stop, Usalirlabius. So that was their first step.

  Mantis was the last ship off and followed the rest to Jaje 13. The Navy outpost there was about the same size, but slightly more permanent and advanced than the station at Jajedix had been. At Jaje 13, some wounded got some additional medical care, some ships got repaired, and cargos and passengers were balanced out a bit. Then, one by one the Jajedix ships jumped out of the system.

  Mantis felt pretty full with her load. They had some miscellaneous cargo, 16 pax, and 4 wounded in cryo chambers. They didn’t have nearly enough cabins for all of them, so they had to do some ‘hot swapping.’ Raiza and Peter stowed most of Doyle’s personal effects to free up his cabin. Then they configured the 4 cabins not being used by the crew for double occupancy and Raiza made a schedule. The way it worked out, every person got a shared room for half the day. Peter also set up all the passenger seats in the cargo bay, so there were places for the pax when they weren’t using the cabins. It was pretty crowded, but as long as people stuck to the schedule, they could get some good rest and the remainder of time they could either sit, or lay, in the cargo bay or hang out in the galley. Raiza was on duty in, or near, the galley most of the time to monitor the situation and ensure people had sufficient food and drink. Peter was on duty in the cargo bay most of the time, ensuring things didn’t get out of hand there.

  Lt Yarvin was one of their passengers on this leg of the journey. As the senior, non-crewmember present, Ximon had offered her a cabin, but she had refused, knowing that the Mantis would be cramped, and they needed to do everything they could to reduce congestion. Instead, Elsbeth offered her a space in her cabin which she certainly wasn’t going to offer to the regular mix of pax. Yarvin accepted this and Elsbeth configured the room for two bunks. During this time, Peter, usually Elsbeth’s roommate, essentially ‘lived’ in the cargo bay. Weeks later Elsbeth confessed that the sneaking around that she did during this time to find places for her and Peter to spend time together was kind of exciting and then went on to mention sex in the engine room, in the cryo chamber room, etc.

  It was a cramped trip, but the pax were generally well behaved. They were all pretty used to cramped quarters, schedules, and the like and many were exhausted, wounded, or grieving for lost friends. Yarvin knew all of them so she really helped to keep them working together.

  They made it to the Usalirlabius without incident. When they jumped in, they received orders to drop Lt Yarvin, most of the cargo, and 5 other pax at the station there. The Republic was planning how to revive the operation in Jaje and Yarvin and these 6 were going to be part of that effort.

  Yarvin explained, “The Republic can’t afford to lose Jajerus, so we’ll keep that resupply mission going somehow. The Navy will keep operating there, but we (the KSF) will have to come up with a new plan for how we contribute. Me and these 5 will, at least temporarily, set up here as a forward base to work from. We might just have ships like yours just jump from here to Jaje, refuel, run in to the planet, and run out. That makes for a real long trip, but it has some pluses. What I’d REALLY like to see is the Navy commit enough resources that they can really have space control in the system, and they can just send in THEIR transports and download cargo, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards. We all know that ships like Mantis aren’t designed for that kind of op.”

  The Mantis spent a day on the ground at Usalirlabius. It was nice to see actual ground and atmosphere again, it allowed everyone some breathing room, and it gave the crew a chance to off load cargo and resupply. Raiza had kept the ship well supplied but there was no way she could have planned for 4 times the number of people on board for more than a week.

  The pax all made it back for the next leg of the journey. Several were later than the predetermined return time that Ximon had given them and Ximon counseled them on it. However, since he had given them a return time several hours before they REALLY had to be back, it didn’t delay things. As both ship captain and the senior Scout present, he got to make the rules.

  They took off and then jumped briefly to Larasirob, but only stayed there long enough to refuel at the gas giant. Then they jumped back out, headed for Manud. This total of 13 days in a cramped space frayed some nerves and caused some tensions that got the better of their discipline. There were several arguments over the use of cabins or showers, arguments over loud noises or music, complaints about the seats in the cargo bay (though they were fine), etc. Raiza was able to smooth many of these over diplomatically, but a few got out of hand.

  One big, young guy refused to listen to Raiza and decided to grab her, apparently under the notion that since she was a companion bot, anyone had license. She immediately issued a mild shock in response and alerted the crew. The guy was startled by the shock, but kept pressing it, kissing Raiza on the neck as she resisted. Both Ximon and Peter soon arrived, grabbed the guy, and threw him in the airlock and closed the inner door. As they did, the guy screamed, “What the hell? You can’t space me – you need me. She’s just a robot.”

  None of this went over well. Ximon talked to the guy through the air lock door, “Specialist Stevens, you are being charged with sexual assault. Since this is wartime and we are on a war footing, I may just space you to save the paperwork.”

  Stevens was defiant at this, “You can’t space me. She’s just a robot.”

  Ximon was about to explode at these words, “Stevens, you are apparently the dumbest bag of rocks there is. Raiza is a member of this KSF crew and SHE IS MY WIFE! If you say those words of yours again on this ship, you will find yourself in space. DO NOT TEMPT ME!”

  “I didn’t know. I just thought she was a maid robot.”

  Ximon, “Again, you’re a pretty dumb bag of rocks and obviously didn’t listen when you were brought on board.”

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t hurt her.”

  “If you had, you’d already be outside the ship … in vacuum … in jump space.”

  Stevens said pleadingly, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Don’t space me.”

  “For the time being, this is your room. Be silent.”

  “You can’t leave me in here.”

  “You can shut up in there or you can go outside.”

  Stevens gulped and shut up.

  Ximon went to check on Raiza. She was fine and not ruffled by the event.

  “Ximon, I am sorry I could not properly control the situation. I will review my handling procedures.”

  Ximon held her, “Oh, love. As usual, you did everything perfectly. Sometimes we all just have to deal with idiots. Are you sure you’re OK? You’re not hurt? That shock didn’t damage you?”

  “I am fine Ximon. The shock is a built-in protection mechanism. It is routed such that it cannot damage any of my internal mechanisms.”

  “Well, I sure hope so. That’d be a pretty dumb protection if it hurt you in the process.”

  “I would certainly agree with that logic. However, there are some bots where the protection mechanism IS configured so that the shock is more severe, and the robot is damaged in the process. In these cases, the intent is to harm the offender rather than protect the robot.”

  “Well, here all I care about is protecting you. I’m sorry this happened.”

  Raiza knew just how to defuse the situation, “Thank you for protecting me Ximon. You’re my hero.”r />
  Ximon kissed her and said, “Please, go do a diagnostic on yourself and double-check that you’re OK.”

  Elsbeth found Ximon a minute later and pulled him aside, “Ximon, you know that you can’t space the guy and you can’t keep him locked in the airlock for several more days.”

  Ximon said defensively, “I actually think I COULD space him if I wanted to. I could call it mutiny or something.”

  “You know you’re not going to do that.”

  “No, I guess I won’t, but he and the rest need to learn. Sleeping with space just on the other side of the door might be good for him.”

  Elsbeth, “Sure, that DOES bring focus, but let’s sit down and talk about this.”

  It wound up being a three-way conversation with Mantis, discussing criminal procedure and judicial authority. They eventually worked out a plan.

  In a couple hours, Elsbeth and Peter, both in uniform and wearing side arms, retrieved Stevens and escorted the “prisoner” to the captain. Along the way, Elsbeth reminded him, “You will report to the captain and then shut up and listen. You’re lucky you’re still breathing.”

  Ximon was sitting in a makeshift office, in uniform, with Mantis’ telepresence bot standing nearby as witness and videographer. One of the other passengers, a senior NCO, Chief Patterson, also stood nearby. Stevens reported and then stood at attention.

  Ximon announced, “Read the charges against the prisoner.”

  Mantis intoned the charges, “Specialist Devon Stevens is charged with sexual assault, article A783.4; assault and battery, article A785.4; disorderly conduct, D98.2; and disrupting a military vessel in wartime, article G234.2. This stems from an attack whereby …” She then went on to summarize the event.

  Ximon then placed a tablet on the small table in front of him and said, “Specialist Stevens, you are charged with several serious charges, on an active vessel, in war time. However, due to the expediencies of wartime and your previous acceptable level of service, you are being given a choice. You may accept non-judicial punishment at this time, or these charges will be formally filed, you will be delivered to Manud in chains, and you will face a court martial for these crimes. I cannot predict how such a court will rule, but the charges carry the possibility of 2-10 years at hard labor.”

  “Chief Patterson will serve as your command advocate and ship’s computer Mantis will provide you access to any and all relevant legal material. You will now be given 60 minutes to consult and decide whether to accept non-judicial punishment or be remanded to the court on Manud for court martial. The terms of the non-judicial punishment are here on the tablet. Signal the guard when you have decided.”

  Ximon, Elsbeth, and Peter left the room, and Peter was then stationed outside as the guard.

  They didn’t take long to decide. Ximon was called back in about 25 minutes later.

  “Has the prisoner made a decision?”

  Patterson spoke, “Yes, Specialist Stevens has opted to accept non-judicial punishment as described here.”

  Mantis spoke and recorded, “Does the prisoner accept non-judicial punishment of his own free will, without threat of force or coercion, and fully aware of the implications?”

  Stevens answered this time, “I do accept and do understand.”

  Ximon took over, “Very well. You are being punished under KSF regulations related to ship and unit commander usage of non-judicial punishment. You are found responsible for actions contrary to good order and discipline and impinging on other members of a military vessel in wartime. You will read the following statement …” Ximon handed him the tablet.

  Stevens read woodenly, “At 1330 hours, I, Specialist Devon Stevens, engaged in an altercation with Specialist Nguyen over the use of shared quarters. I refused lawful direction by Ship Steward Raiza Sabo to end the altercation and return to my room. I then laid my hands upon Ship Steward Sabo, touched her in unwelcome ways, and kissed her against her will. This continued until ship leadership arrived and physically removed me from the scene. I understand the severity of my actions and accept non-judicial punishment as directed by LCDR Sabo, captain of the Mantis.”

  Ximon, “Very well. Your punishment is as follows: 1) Extra duty for 30 days, starting immediately; 2) Forfeiture of 10% of pay for 90 days, to be implemented by offices on Manud; 3) The composition of a hand-written apology, of at least 5 pages to be delivered to Ship Steward Sabo after its approval by Engineer Petra; and 4) The delivery of a briefing to the entire ship’s complement at 1800 hours tomorrow on the evils of sexual assault and mistreatment of fellow service members, to be pre-approved by Engineer Petra. Do you understand?”

  “I understand and will comply.”

  “Very well. This will be entered in the record. Engineer Petra will oversee the terms of your punishment. Give this ship no reason to regret its leniency. Any similar violation on this ship will be dealt with swiftly and severely!”

  The rest of the trip went well. The other Pax were sobered by Stevens arrest and punishment. Stevens’ briefing was OK and a good reminder to the rest of the pax, though Ximon wasn’t sure how heartfelt it was. His written apology was fairly good, though Elsbeth later said they’d had to spend almost 5 hours writing it. Stevens extra duty was cleaning the communal bathrooms and showers every day. As this was something that Raiza typically did, it gave her more free time which Ximon enjoyed.

  The remainder of the trip was uneventful, with no further incidents. They jumped into Manud and headed for the Scout base there. Mantis duly forwarded the transcript of Steven’s non-judicial punishment as they approached.

  When they landed, the passengers all disembarked, and the crew breathed a sigh of relief. A medical team arrived to take the wounded in cryo chambers to the hospital and Raiza provided them with a complete medical report, probably far more complete and precise than they normally received. Elsbeth arranged for some repairs on the Mantis over the next few days. Ximon went and reported to command, taking with him a full report of Mantis’ involvement, letters of commendation he’d written for Doyle and Yarvin, and another report of the Stevens matter.

  He met with a LCDR Joe Sparc, who collected all this and briefed him on the situation. “Ximon, while we knew you’d be arriving, command hasn’t yet figured out what your next orders will be. They’re still assessing that situation in Jaje and a bunch of other stuff going on. You and your crew are authorized 7 days leave at Manud while your ship is repaired and you’re waiting for your orders to be finalized. Initial assessment of Specialist Doyle’s medical condition suggests he will likely be reassigned, but that will be evaluated based on his progress.”

  Ximon, “I’m glad his condition is looking good. Thanks for the leave. We can certainly use the rest. It probably goes without saying and may be irrelevant, but we’d probably rather NOT go back to Jaje.”

  Sparc smiled and replied shortly, “Noted, understood, and probably not relevant.”

  “Yeah, never is” Ximon said with a sigh.

  Ximon informed the crew of their leave, though Elsbeth would almost certainly spend some time overseeing the repairs.

  Ximon considered Mantis his home, but he was glad to have several days on solid ground with open sky and fresh air. He took Raiza to stay at a nice cabin tucked back into some thick woods with a nice, private lake nearby. When Elsbeth wasn’t overseeing repairs, she and Peter stayed in a lively hotel near the city’s main bar ‘hot spot.’

  It was good to rest.

  Jaunt Four: Eapalian Summit

  Ximon checked with ops in a few days to get a status on Doyle. Doyle was recovering but had been reassigned to the hospital to rehabilitate. Ximon and Raiza visited him in the hospital and took him all his gear. Doyle had quite a few bandages on him but appeared to be in good spirits.

  Ximon, “Hey, Doyle, how are you holding up?”

  Doyle smiled up, “Pretty good, Cap. They got most of me crammed back inside me, so that’s good. And I get to take it easy here for a month or two. Plus, there’s
some cute nurses.”

  Raiza smiled and said, “Hello Doyle. I hope you are well.” With that she started to examine Doyle’s medical chart and the medical equipment he was connected to.

  Ximon, “Glad to hear you’re doing well. When we couldn’t reach you during that attack on Jajedix, we weren’t sure what to think. They said that you probably went down in the first blast so we might have been talking to rubble.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I heard. I’m lucky the area I was in didn’t decompress.”

  “Yeah, luckily they build those shelters well. Anyway, we brought your gear and wanted to thank you for the good work. You really saved our butts out there a few times.”

  Doyle, “I may not be good for much, but I’m pretty good on the guns.”

  Ximon, “That you are and we’re glad for that.”

  Raiza interjected, “Doyle, do you feel that the staff is doing enough to sustain your hydration levels? Do you feel that your pain medication is at tolerable levels?”

  Doyle responded, “Thanks for asking, Raiza. I think they’re doing a good job.” With that, he held up a small remote, “See, they even gave me a remote control to dope myself up. They’ll only let me go so far and I think that amount is decreasing daily, but I’m feeling fine.”

  Ximon stepped back in, “We’ve got a couple things for you.”

  Raiza stepped forward and presented a tray and a few small boxes, “I hope you’re hungry. I made you some of your favorite foods from the ship. The steak and pasta are still warm. I’ll put the others in the fridge, and you can warm them later.”

  Doyle, “Thank you. I do love your cooking. That was very thoughtful of you.”

  Then to Ximon, “You’re a lucky man, cap. I may have to get me a girl like her someday.”

  Ximon, “I heartily recommend it, though there’s none quite like her.”

  Raiza kissed Ximon on the cheek, “You’re right about that.”

  Ximon then said to Doyle, “I’ve got something else for you. Specialist Doyle, by order of KSF headquarters, you are hereby awarded the Order of the Moon for valor and skill in space combat. Raiza, will you read the citation?”