They’d tested us.
Now they were fixing their weaknesses in regards to targeting and defending from the missiles, as they planned an attack of some kind. Worse in a way, we’d proved we were most definitely a danger to them, even if we were far behind them technologically. For all I knew, they’d dropped their tiny sensors with FTL communications in the system when they’d come in the system, and were tracking all our ships from 82 Eridani to other star systems. I hoped not, but it hadn’t taken my paranoid mind long to come to grasp that possibility.
It’s what I would’ve done in their place if I had the technology, and assuming the aliens weren’t as smart would be stupid in the extreme. Although, maybe they never expected us to win the battle and didn’t bother, I supposed that was possible.
The two hours went fast as my mind spun the possibilities in my head over and over, as I tried to put myself in their position. My conclusions were at best, that we’d need a lot more than just four missiles to pull off a kill in the future. At worst, it would turn out to be a one trick pony. I hoped that wasn’t the case, or we’d be screwed.
“Three, two, one,” the burn cut off, “Transition.”
We sat at a full stop, that was another weird thing about subspace, no matter how fast you went while going inside, or how fast you were going when you came out, that inertia was bled off completely somehow. The scientists claimed to understand that part, but I had my doubts.
“Ally, navigate a course to Mars please, and pass it to my board.”
It didn’t take long, and I nailed the button. After a short pause for an acceleration alarm, the ship took off. That safety feature was disabled in battle, but otherwise made sense, and prevented injury as we slowly ramped up to one G of acceleration over ten seconds or so.
Almost a whole week to get in system, which reminded me about another thing that hadn’t made the daunting list. Jumping to the inner system in subspace, safely. Which, was kind of scary, most of our military ships in Sol were between earth and the outer planets, which meant the aliens could just pop out at Earth and attack it?
Damn.
My heart rate spiked, and I rolled my eyes when Amy started playing Jazz…
Chapter Thirteen
It was two hours after my shift, but I was still on the bridge. There would be no other shifts for me on the Columbus, at least not before refit, and it was highly doubtful we wouldn’t all be split up into different assignments anyway. Once refit, Columbus was probably bound for another one year leg of exploration toward another star, may it be far more peaceful next time.
I was still on the bridge, because I wanted to watch as we came into port. Mars was the center of the United Earth Defense Force, and had three large habitats in orbit which refined and shaped the raw metals required, as well as ship building and repairing platforms in orbit of Mars moons, Phobos and Deimos. There were also some mines on the planet, as well as out in the asteroid field to supply what we needed.
The military wasn’t exactly shunned on Earth, but Earth’s orbit held mostly civilian habitats and having us on Mars increased operational security. It worked out.
A smaller fourth habitat in orbit of Mars itself, was central command. It was a long central tube with thousands of attitude thrusters on it, and eight large rings spinning in opposite directions giving the outside rings one gravity using centrifugal force. Half the rings were for officer and non-com training, the other half for the admiralty, staff, and everyone else needed to take care of and organize such a large force, including intelligence and counter-intelligence.
We docked inside a large platform over Deimos, and then waited as shuttles were dispatched to pick the seventeen of us up, which was a bit tricky as our bay was open to space, we’d need to wear our bubbles and grab oxygen. From there we’d be ferried over to central command for debrief.
The captain said, “Not sure if I’d call it a successful mission, but it’s good to be home.”
“Yeah, not dying was a success, but starting an interstellar war…”
She smirked, “I suppose Michael, but we’ll get in the history books.”
Katy started to giggle, but suppressed it quickly.
The captain said, “After debriefing and we’re on leave, let’s all meet in the officer’s lounge in ring three. Toss back a few for Johnson, Bishop, and Collins.”
We all said, “Aye captain,” at the same time.
Katy reported, “The station has us maam, and says we can stand down.”
The captain took one last look around the bridge that had gotten us through so much.
“Dismissed.”
We all moved to grab oxygen, and leave the ship. The moment was a bit bitter sweet. On one hand, the last year had been extremely lonely at times with the rules on fraternization at my rank. Yet… I think I’d miss it, although not as much as I missed by best friend…
The debriefing was a grueling process that lasted two days. They were lackadaisical over the first fifty-one weeks of our trip, but for the last two weeks that we’d all lived through, I felt like I was on trial as they asked me the same questions over and over. I tried not to speculate, and only state what we’d learned by inference, but I didn’t want to appear uncooperative either as they asked me all sorts of questions I couldn’t possibly know, and could only guess about the aliens.
All speculation I’ve thought of a number of times the last week.
It was close to the end of the second day, and I was really short on patience, when the never ending stupid questions finally came to a close. I was more than ready to drink some to those we lost, and quite possibly more than a few for my own sanity.
An ensign came in the interrogation, I mean, debriefing room, and said, “Commander, please follow me.”
“Where are we going?”
The ensign shrugged, “A mid-sized conference room sir, as to who else is there or why, I have no idea sir.”
I sighed, and stood up. I tried to subtly stretch my leg muscles and back before I moved, I felt stiff. No doubt more out of tension than sitting.
“Lead the way ensign…”
“Porter sir, ensign James Porter.”
“Okay James, let’s go.”
I followed him to the lift on one of the spokes of the fifth ring, and we took it up to the central tube, and over to the second ring, and back down again. I looked longingly back at the third ring and the elusive O club. I admit I was being a bit whiny inside, but I felt stretched out, it’d been a stressful week, and the debrief team had almost been worse than the aggressive aliens we’d barely survived.
I followed James off the lift, and just three doors down the stark white corridor he gestured me inside. I walked in and for some reason was surprised to see the other sixteen living members of my crew. I walked over and sat next to the captain.
“Hey Sam, any idea what’s…” I trailed off as the back door opened, and in walked none other than Vice Admiral Bernie Clemmons, three stars and the current leader of all our forces. Along with two other admirals, one an upper, two stars, and one a lower rear admiral which was one star.
She gave me a look as if to say she had no idea. I also got the impression by looking around, that everyone else in the room had been through debrief hell the last two days as well, and just got out.
Clemmons cleared his throat, and we all looked his way.
“You’ve all done an excellent job in impossible circumstances. Despite that, due to our own short sightedness, you’ve also started a war with the first aliens we’ve ever run across. Normally, after a year mission, we’d split you up, send you on a well-deserved month long leave, and then send you to your new duty stations well accustomed to your new ranks.”
Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen, what was the old man leading up to?
He continued, “I’ll need you for another quick one month mission before we break you up and reassign you. Some shuffling of personnel was required to make this happen. You’ll also be granted an extra w
eek of leave. I, and the rest of the admiralty board, felt the derelict alien ship you found was to be classified above top secret, which means anyone who doesn’t already know, better have a damned good need to know, or heads will roll.
“This means, I need your people to run another mission, to go collect it. It also means you won’t be getting any more people to do it, luckily your captain is one of the best pilots out there. It shouldn’t take more than a month, including the out-system travel time. The scout ship Armstrong is currently being loaded with special equipment and the four scientists you’ll need to deploy it, which will take one to two weeks. Once your there and the equipment is deployed, you can tow the enemy ship through subspace to Sigma Draconis where there is a top-secret base in one of the moons. When you reach the system, you will disengage from the alien ship, a specialized tug shuttle will be launched which can take it the rest of the way while you return to Mars, there is no need for you to know where that base is.”
“Rear Admiral Jason Dawes,” he gestured to the one star, “will be responsible for the work done on the ship, and your guest. He is not in operational command of the ship, but he does command the general mission, and you will heed his orders in regards to towing the alien ship. The ship will not be loaded and ready to go until the morning, so you have tonight to enjoy yourselves on the station, the quarters you were assigned last night are yours again tonight. You will report to the rear shuttle bay at nine hundred hours. Any questions?”
The captain said, “Yes sir. In anticipation of a possible second alien ship, we were able to modify forty-eight more missiles before we ran out of the needed parts. Can we get them transferred and loaded on the Armstrong as well? I don’t think the aliens will take note of our presence several light hours outside of their system, but they might.”
He turned to the other admiral he hadn’t named, “Make that happen,” he turned back to us, “Anything else?”
“No sir, we won’t let you down,” Samantha said.
He nodded, “Dismissed,” and we all stood as he walked out of the door.
“Not every day you get a mission briefing from the head of the UEDF.”
The Captain smiled, “Come on Michael, we have unfinished business,” then to the general room, “Officers follow me, I’ll see the rest of you on time tomorrow morning. If you have family, you can let them know your leave was put off for a month, but that’s it, no details. Not even that it’s a mission, understood?”
A chorus of, “Aye maam,” followed, and we all piled out of the room.
Next stop, the O club. I was actually smiling despite the fact we were going to toast the dead, that’s how damned happy I was to escape the debriefing and responsibility for a night…
Chapter Fourteen
Luckily, the club had a relatively empty area we could all claim, with a few tables. It was a little dimmer, and had more color than the rest of the station. Most importantly it had alcohol, and a waitress to bring it to us.
There were nine of the bridge crew, and two more officers beside that, Cassie our cook and purser, and Carl Jones, who was the senior lieutenant in engineering. Strangely, or perhaps not, we’d sat by rank. The captain and I were in the corner in a table for two, and right next to us caddie cornered had the four ensigns at one larger table, and then the five senior lieutenants at the other table.
The captain ordered the first round of drinks, and shots. When they came out everyone grabbed the shot glass, and their faces grew a bit grim in reminder of the price in blood we’d paid for our success.
Samantha said, “To Johnson, Bishop, and Collins. Three fellow warriors who will be missed, and whose sacrifices will be honored and remembered. To lost comrades.”
“To lost comrades,” the rest of us echoed, and threw back the shot.
I chased mine with a sip of beer, and sighed in thought. A year was a long time, but exploration was also the shortest of missions, though most others allowed shore leave and communication with family and friends. I was glad we’d be together for another month, at the same time I wondered if I’d ever get a vacation. I’d have to message my sister and mother later and let them know I’d see them next month.
Sam asked, “Did you know Timothy long?”
I nodded, “Nine years, ever since the academy, he didn’t really have a family, or at least they’d had a falling out. I guess it’s too late now to make up, he always swore he never would though. I took him home on leave a few times, he was like a brother to me. I was planning on letting my mother and sister know in person, they loved him too, especially my sister, but I’m not sure I should hide it for a whole month. You have family Sam?”
She nodded, “My immediate family is complicated. I’ve got a five-year-old son I only see a few times a year, and an ex-husband. He’s a good man, just couldn’t take it anymore, me being on missions all the time I mean. My parents are alive, as are my grandparents, no siblings. I do however have a whole lot of cousins, aunts, and uncles.”
“I have a few cousins I never see, my mother was an only child, and my father didn’t get along with his brothers.”
Sam took a sip of beer, and I took one of mine.
She smirked, “Family life is hard for our kind.”
I nodded, “That’s why I never let things get serious, but I’m not sure that’s the best thing anymore. Of course, meeting someone just got a lot harder. Do you think we’ll get bigger ships when we’re reassigned?”
She shook her head, “I doubt it, with all modesty, we’re too good to be wasted as second or third officers, or as a head of department. They put the highest rated commanders and Lt. commanders on scouts as the captain and first officer. The satisfactory ones get posts and more time to grow under the top command structure.”
“All modesty Sam?” I quirked an eyebrow.
She chuckled, “It’s just the truth. You impressed me this last week, as did the rest of our crew. Quick thinking and no hesitating under pressure, even none of the ensigns turned out to be duds in that area. You know how it is, half the ensigns usually get reassigned to a desk position after their first battle with pirates. This was a hundred times worse than that, and not a bad one in the bunch. Not that I’m judging the others, some people just collapse under that kind of pressure.”
“You weren’t so bad yourself, if you were nervous you didn’t show it at all.”
She shrugged, “I’m human, I’m sure I was as scared as you were, and you didn’t show it either.”
She changed the subject, “So any stories you want to give up on Timothy? I knew him well enough after a year, but all I have to share is bridge banter, which is rather tame.”
I thought about that for a moment, and then said, “Well there was this one time…”
I told her a story about our first year in the academy, which was actually on this station. We’d set up some zero G races in the central tube in the middle of the night, with bets on the outcome on the nights before our off days, which was once a week. Technically, it wasn’t against any regulations, probably because no one had ever thought of doing it before, which meant our A.I.s should have kept quiet about it.
Regardless, on the third week a rear admiral must have been feeling restless that night, and while heading to his office was mowed down by Ensign Timothy Johnson moving way too fast down the corridor.
Sam snorted, “How many demerits did you all get?”
“Twenty, and if it matters, I won the pot that night. We were all new to zero-G at the time, fresh from Earth and all that. But our little race club was banned just three weeks in.”
At that point, we all got another round of drinks and shots. It would probably be prudent to stop at two of each, we had to wake up early the next day. I felt a wistful sadness, but a lot more behind it and memories of my best friend filtered through my mind. He was nuts, and he got us in a lot of trouble over the years, but then, so did I. Pilots loved going fast, and weapons specialists loved to blow things up, we were quite a team.
I raised my shot, “The Columbus,” and everyone else echoed me, and threw back their shots.
She touched my arm, “I should make the rounds and talk to everyone at this impromptu wake,” and she got up and sat with the ensigns.
I took a drink of my beer. I missed Timothy, but I also felt loose, and a little buzz coming on which was a relief. I wasn’t a big drinker, but it had been a year since I could truly relax and not worry about being called to duty on a moment’s notice. Tomorrow started another mission. Screw it, I drank down the beer like a frat boy at their first keg party, and waved down the waitress for another.
I gave serious thought to joining the Sr. lieutenants, last thing I wanted to do was sit and drink alone, but before I moved Katy got up and sauntered over to claim the captain’s old chair.
She smiled, but I could tell she was making a real effort to do it, “Hanging in there, sir?”
I waved a hand back and forth, “Are you okay Katy?”
She waved a hand back and forth too, “Sort of. I hope you don’t mind it’s just…”
I said, “When I said anytime I meant it. Just what?”
She looked me in the eyes, “You know how it is, most of their grief is about their own fears of mortality, they were Timothy’s coworkers at best. We mourn the loss of our comrades, and I feel every death, but Timothy was… more. I’m not being judgmental of that, I mean I feel a little like that with Bishop and Collins, it’s human nature. Point is, you’re the only other one on the ship who really loved him, and is truly grieving. If it’s not inappropriate, I kind of feel a connection with you, partly because of that.”
“Me too.”
It was the truth, for a long time, while being lonely, I’d kind of thought of her as nice eye candy, look but don’t touch. In my defense, I didn’t really know her. After the other night though, her beauty and body weren’t all that important. I guess what I was working to in my mind, was that I stopped seeing her as merely a sexy woman, and more that she could be true friend. It was all confused though, I’d entertained a few fantasies in the past, but that was back before I knew all what I knew now.
Scout Ship: Rise of the Empyrean Empire: Novel 01 Page 10