by T. J. Jones
“It’s crazy to think that some of those stars have already winked out and extinguished, and we won’t even know for centuries or even thousands more years,” a female voice called out from behind him.
He turned around noticing a short blonde-haired woman with long wavy locks trussed up in a sort of half pony tail. She had a cute youthful curve to her features. She couldn’t be more than a few days into her rank. She noticed his own rank and stiffened. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Relax, relax. Just stargazing. Commander Adrian Rain, and you might be?”
“Lt. Mary Jo Hunter. I’m the chief science officer.”
He nodded and shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Hunter.” He gestured for her to join him and she shook her head politely no. He figured it was because of his rank, but that was ok. Best to let the crew warm up to him on their own. He figured he’d excuse himself, so he wasn’t disturbing her.
“Well, I’ll be going then. Enjoy your evening and keep an eye on your inbox. I’ll be pushing out the first duty roster and muster times for proceedings tomorrow.”
Mary Jo nodded and turned back to space as he left the lounge. On his way out, the thought occurred to him that they would need to nickname it. Every lounge had a nickname. Not having one was a bad omen. On the Indy, it was nicknamed Mick’s after the barkeep. He was not sure who their barkeep was, though. Something location derivative then? Tenaport. He liked that.
“Computer, I’d like to visit the hangar bay with the fighters in it.”
“All Hornet Class Alliance Fighters are stored in Shuttle bay 2.”
“Well then, lead the way, computer.”
The computer uploaded a GPS coordinate on his comm device with text instructions to follow as well verbal commands. It was going to be a bit of a walk but that would give him time to finish his meal. He inhaled the sandwich in large bites, and washed it down with his tea. He felt guilty eating in the corridors, but there weren’t many crew onboard yet, so no one would notice it happening this once.
He passed the sick bay area halted when he heard female voice. “Commander,” It called out. Frozen, he rolled his eyes. He was hoping this could wait. Apparently not. It was the ship’s chief medical officer Dr. Dorren. He about-faced and smiled. “Doc Dorren. I wasn’t expecting you on the ship so soon.”
She was a pinch taller than average, at about 5’7” with a mane of orange-red hair that curved around her face, framing her green eyes. With her arms folded, she stood next to an examination bed wearing a white medical jacket over her uniform. She wore glasses, which struck him as odd. Most people just had their vision corrected anymore. He wondered if she preferred the look.
“I decided to get an early start and unload some of my libraries. You would be surprised the kind of research one is required to know with the entire member races of the Alliance.”
He had never thought of that. “That sounds like a lot of late night reading.”
“You have no idea. I didn’t stop you for idle chit chat though. I stopped you so we could knock out your prelaunch physical.”
“Doc, I’m fine. Honest.”
She pulled a scanner from her pocKet and held the portable sensor booster in the other hand. She waved them back and forth slowly. She nodded finally when it chirped a positive result. He tried not to look at the sensor probe oddly, but felt a little awkward with it held so closely.
“See? Fit as a fiddle.”
Her lips compressed. “I’m not sure I’d go that far, but yes, you are in good shape. That will do. Be sure to let the captain and anyone else you bump into know to stop by. It’ll save time on the back end if more people knock out their screenings before the scheduled time.”
“Will do, Doc. Have a good one.”
“You as well, Commander.”
Chapter Two
His trip to the hangar took him on a mild detour through the engineering section of the ship. He got to the power core for the Odyssey — the biggest drive core he had ever seen. Most ships had a core that spanned a few meters in diameter. The Odyssey’s was easily twenty meters. No doubt to facilitate the quantum travel. Most ships used an Alcubierre warp field for travel, but the Odyssey was fitted with a special quantum tunneling drive to boost the speeds it could travel using the Alcubierre principle. In short, if most ships were rated with speeds of one to ten, with ten being the highest, the Odyssey’s speed rating while quantum tunneling would hit somewhere in the high thirties.
That is how Chief of Engineering Tia Axoi explained it. Adrian liked to keep up on the latest tech trends. One never knew when that knowledge would come in handy. Being something of a closet engineer while being a fighter pilot had bailed him out of tough spots on several counts. He continued his trek to the fighter bay while he mentally chewed on what he had learned. The QT drive upgrade sounded bleeding edge tech. He was curious if that was the aspect, Danny had helped design. Danny’s head was always in the clouds. He rounded a corner and bumped into a purplish-blue-skinned man with several diagonal tattoos on his forehead and down the sides of his neck.
“Oh! Sorry. I must have had my own head in the clouds.”
The man noticed his rank and stiffened up. “Sir. Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention either.”
“Well, seems we’re both at fault, so let’s just agree that cancels the whole thing out then, eh?” He gave the man coy wink. “Now then, I’m Commander Adrian Rain. Pleased to meet ya.”
“Lt. Commander Ben Zezai. I’m the ship’s commander air group officer.”
Adrian beamed. Of all the people to bump into, he would find the man who was holding the job he made his own career in. “Ben, nice to meet ya. I was just on my way down to the hangar bay myself. Wanted to have a look for old times’ sake.”
“You can join me if you like, sir?”
Adrian nodded, falling into step alongside Ben. “So. You are a Morealilian, right. Ben’s not a terribly traditional name for them is it?”
Ben smiled. “No, sir. Not traditionally. My adoptive mother is human. They felt it would be best to bridge my dual cultural heritage through my name.”
Adrian smiled. Only in the Alliance was this kind of story possible. Sure, the member states did not have to interact, but it was the Alliance fleet where everyone tended to blend.
“How about you, sir? Where are you from, if you don’t mind my asking? I’m not familiar with the accent,” Ben asked.
Adrian grinned sheepishly. “Well, ya’see, I’m from the southern United States on the North American continent of Earth. Back in my area, folks call this a ‘country’ accent. Me? I just think of it as a little extra flavor is all.”
Ben stifled a chuckle as they approached the reinforced shuttle bay doors. The interlock released and the massive doors parted revealing a pristine runway and six fighters wing tip to wing tip while hangar crews and technicians did their preventative maintenance. Adrian could not help an impressed whistle.
“I knew it. It is easy on the eyes. Careful, Ben, if I get bored on the bridge I might just be moving in down here with you.”
Ben laughed. “Well you at least are calling me Ben now, so maybe I’ll consider allowing it.”
Adrian paused thoughtfully. That he did. He beat himself for the momentary lapse of discipline. He was still getting used to being this high up in command.
“I suppose I did, didn’t I?”
“Yes, sir.”
Adrian peeked around for a moment and then nodded approvingly. “Well, I won’t keep ya from your work. Carry on Lt. Cmdr. Take good care of those birds!” he shouted over his shoulder on the way.
Ben gave him a parting wave.
The corridors were much quieter than the hangar had been. Sometimes he found the silence unsettling. If he listened and calmed his mind enough, he could hear the ebb and flow of the power core humming when a ship traveled at high warp. He wondered if this one would be the same way. If there would be a soft thrum
in the deck plating, the way there usually was.
He worked his way back to his quarters and wound down for the night, figuring that tomorrow was going to be a busy day and he was going to need all of his energy for it. He finished the night off with a little reading time and a glass of almond milk. He took care of his hygiene and then laid down in his bed noting it was actually quite comfortable. He tossed the furnished pillows aside and threw down his own pillow. It had a fleece pillow case made by his mother. Something from home to keep him comfortable no matter where he went.
The next day he was awake first thing at 0600 hours on the dot. Sometimes he hated that he slept so lightly, but this time, he wasn’t bothered by it. He wanted to spend some time on the bridge reviewing the personnel files and getting more familiar with the people he would be putting into teams. He’d learn where he could maximize the gains on his shift schedules. After all, he needed everyone to work as a well-oiled machine.
He ordered a tea from the food printer port in his room and shuffled back to his bedroom to get his uniform. He tugged it around a little to make sure it looked proper per regulation, then snatched his tea up, and made his way to the lift. The bridge looked like a proper functioning command center when the lift doors parted open. The lights were at full illumination, all the consoles seemed active and serviceable, and no engineering techs were on their backs elbow deep in anything. As far as he could see, the ship was ready to set out on her mission.
The bridge was empty and that suited him fine. Since the ship was still in space dock, there was not a need for a bridge staff to operate anything, and they would go through the checklists before setting out when the time was ready. Folks were still filing in.
He settled into his chair and let the leather hug him. Definitely a lot more comfortable than being strapped into a five-point harness in his old Falcon. The newer gen Hornets were much better fighter interceptors. Still, he could make that Falcon dance like a Russian Ballerina. He logged into his personal workstation and started reviewing the crew rosters. Many of the command staff he already met, even some of the junior officers in his wanderings around the ship.
For Alpha shift, he went ahead and slotted everyone at his or her stations. Laddie daddie everybody, all hands on deck. They were going to be pushing off from Star base One, and he wanted to make sure they did so at their absolute best. All senior staff at their primary positions with all junior officers on shift and working with them. Gamma shift would compose the bottom half of the roster. The beta shift would stand down once the ship was out of port and everything seemed green.
“No need to burn anyone out,” he mused aloud.
No, there would be plenty of time to work late. He made a few more entries, wrapped up the roster, and sent it to the captain’s inbox for her review. He closed that tab and went to studying some more of the crew rosters. They had some truly strange races joining them this go round. One junior officer, an Alborian, had to have special accommodations in her quarters since her species derived its nutrients much in the same way plants did, by pulling them from the soil and through photosynthetic reactions in her epidermis. That sounded fascinating. He made a note to meet with her later.
“Commander Rain, you’re at it early today,” Captain Garrett said from her office doorway.
He glanced up and smiled politely. “Ma’am. I didn’t realize you were already working. I just wanted to get —”
“An early start?” she cut him off and finished his sentence for him.
He smiled bashfully, nodding. “Yeah. Pretty much.”
“Same here,” she said carrying a cup of coffee to join him in her own chair. “Thanks for taking care of your assignments so quickly, by the way. It makes my job a lot easier knowing you’re on top of yours.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You’re quite welcome, Mr. Rain. So now that you’ve finished your chores for the day, what’s on your menu?”
“I’m not sure, ma’am. I figured I’d just stay put here and direct people as needed. We’re expecting the rest of the crew to board today. I figured I’d start piecing together our prelaunch checklist of activities. Make sure everyone dots their i’s and crosses their t’s.”
Captain Garrett nodded approvingly. “Good plan.”
“The whole of Alpha Fleet is going to be watching us, so I want to make sure we step off without a hiccup.”
“I see your time on the Independence wasn’t all fun and games.”
“No, ma’am. We may have been a rowdy bunch, but we knew how to keep things disciplined and get our work done. I’d like to bring some of that to the Odyssey as well.”
She nodded and gestured to the bridge around him. “By all means, Commander. Be my guest.”
“Thank you, ma’am. Your confidence really does mean a lot.”
“If I didn’t believe in your ability, I’d have chosen someone else for the spot.”
He bowed his head thankfully. She chuckled at him for it. His brow quirked upward curiously at that. What could be so funny?
“Your records paint a picture of a genius fighter pilot who tends to skirt the rules and be a bit of a reckless hero. But it doesn’t mention anywhere in there about you being so humble and polite.”
His face flushed and he grinned bashfully. “That would be my mother’s fault, ma’am.”
“Your mother’s fault, huh?” Garrett replied with a smirk.
“Yes, ma’am. She taught me that no matter what you always put your best self forward. When people think of you, you want them to think of you at your best, not your worst. Respect and manners were one of the first things I learned as a kid growing up. Sometimes they were painful lessons.” He chuckled.
Garrett’ brow arched as she twisted in her chair to face him better.
“There was more than one occasion where my stubbornness got the best of me and my mother had to beat her wisdom into me.”
“Ouch.”
He laughed. “Yeah, but it didn’t happen often. I might be stubborn but even I figured out where the boundaries were.”
She fought back a smile. He was convinced it could have spilled over into laughter if she was not more composed.
“Well then, I’ll take your mother’s educational methods into advisement if you get too stubborn with me as well.”
“I uh…er…yes, ma’am,” he stammered. His face was flushed and he felt about ten degrees hotter suddenly. That finally got some laughter from her. She patted his shoulder playfully. “Relax, Mr. Rain. I’m just playing. Mostly.”
He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. Was his face still red? It felt red. “So uh, what time are we scheduled to push off from space dock?” he asked, trying to redirect the conversation.
“Twelve hundred hours tomorrow. I want the ship prepped and ready for launch by 1100 hours. Have Alpha shift report for work at 0800. That should give us all ample time to settle into our stations and inspect everything. Not that I don’t trust the station techs. I just want to make sure our own people are on top of any lingering issues. It’s going to be our ship for the next few years, so it’s as good a time as any for folks to become intimately familiar with it.”
He nodded. “I agree completely. Might not even hurt to have Lt. Axoi spends some time with anyone who’s got some issues and teach them some troubleshooting and repair tricks. We’ll need everyone on their A game regarding maintenance for this mission.”
“Spoken like a man who’s experienced it firsthand. I like that.”
“I’d be lying if I said knowing more than I’m supposed to for maintenance hadn’t saved my skin on a few occasions.”
She folded her arms scrutinizing him. “I never had you pegged for a closet mechanic. I mean, I guess I should have since you were a fighter pilot, but it never occurred to me.”
“Kinda runs in the family. Danny, my little brother, got the bug more than me.”
She snapped her fingers, “Wait, Danny. You mean Lt. Daniel Rain. The engineer who designed
the quantum tunneling device for the warp core?”
“Er, yes. That would be him.” He felt a little embarrassed he didn’t know that specifically beforehand. He knew Danny had a hand in it after his chat with him on the phone and his trip to engineering the other day, but Danny did not comm much unless you pinned him down between projects. R&D always kept him busy. The more he thought about it though, the more it made sense. The drive core itself was just large but anyone could have whipped that together. The Quantum Tunneling drive though? That was all Danny’s mind. “He was always so flaky. I wasn’t sure he’d pass the academy at first. But when he was offered a chance to work at the Kaku Institute, I knew he’d found his home.”
“He struggled?”
Adrian shrugged as he sought the right wording. “Eh, more like he wasn’t challenged enough. Once he got the fundamentals down, everything became rather dull for him. He was answering warp calculation problems off hand without even paying attention to them. Everyone else would be ferociously pecking away at his or her pads. Myself included.”
She grinned and nodded. “So the savant gene isn’t completely hereditary?”
“Sorry, ma’am. I’m not too bad with applied engineering. Just don’t expect much from my imagination. I spend more time breaking the rules or machines than I do dreaming up new ones.”
She nodded. “I recall hearing about a particular incident during the war. You shunted all your available power into your exhaust manifolds and blew out the coil to use it as a smoke screen.”
“The charged protons in the debris cloud confused the Domi’s sensors. After that, I did a hop and drop, and bagged him.”
“Gutsy.”
“Yeah…didn’t please the deck mechanic none too much with that stunt, though. Threatened to send a letter of reprimand up the chain if I intentionally broke my fighter again.”
“So that wasn’t the first time?”
He paused a moment before replying diplomatically, “Officially? No.” He glanced around with shifty eyes. “But! I always brought my bird back. Even if it was in pieces.”