Star Odyssey - Rain's Gambit

by T. J. Jones

  Adrian tried his best to grin. He glanced around to all of his crew, giving each a thankful nod. “Well. I didn’t do all of it myself. I had help.”

  “We will remain in this airspace and help you with repairs and assistance as needed. Arbitrator out.”

  Adrian nodded, sagging a little under Dekav’s arm. “Commander Rain. I believe we need to spend some time together.” It was Doctor Dorren.

  He ran a hand through his hair and laughed gently, wincing in between. “Heh-ooh. Yeah. I meant to head down, you know, as soon as I got back aboard. There was this thing. Y’know, which was a problem. I had to help up here. Help me out here. Someone? Anyone?”

  They all smiled and shook their heads no. He sighed. He was a wreck and he knew it. His gaze fell to the floor defeated. “Ok, Doc. Take me in.” He held his hands out pantomiming handcuffs on his wrists.

  Several nurses flushed out from behind Doctor Mirrel Dorren and took over supporting the commander from Dekav. “We’ll take it from here, sir.”

  Dekav nodded. “Rest well, Commander.”

  Adrian jokingly mouthed the words “help me” while the nurses helped him limp off the bridge. In the lift car, Dr. Dorren gave him a tired and annoyed look. “If dodging your medical checkups is going to become a routine, Commander, I’m going to have to start posting medical escorts to you.”

  “Cut me some slack, Doc. I did just save the ship and crew, and the Alliance even.”

  She sighed. “I’m well aware. I’m also aware, based on this scan, that you have several broken ribs, a skull fracture as well as a mild concussion, a number of deep muscles bruises and hairline fractures in just about every joint and potentially some internal bleeding.”

  He grinned. “But I didn’t die.”

  “Yet,” Dorren said with a steel-laced voiced. “Not if I have anything to say about it, at least.”

  “Y’see? It all worked out.”

  When the lift doors opened Adrian gingerly stepped out. The nurses helped down the corridors at a slow, steady, and painful pace. “Easy, boys, easy.” The slowed up a little. “That’s a tad better.”

  “What you did was foolish, but it paid off,” Dorren said, picking up the cause again.

  He sighed and instantly regretted it. She gave him a shot of painkillers. “That should help.”

  “Thanks. I did what I had to. Reckless or not, if it wasn’t me, someone else would have had to.”

  “You are aware that I could object to your going away on missions, right?”

  He looked down, the humor in him subsiding for a moment. “Yeah, I am. However, the crew needs someone they can believe in. They needed to believe in me.” He paused, adding after a moment of thought. “I needed to believe in me.”

  Dorren was running some deep tissue cranial scans looking unimpressed. “Well, I trust that you’ve worked this out of your system, Commander.”

  He grinned playfully. “Maybe, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”

  She rolled her eyes and escorted him into sickbay to an empty bed. When he laid down, she activated the restraining barrier. He looked up feigning innocence. “Come on, Doc, is this really necessary?”

  “Doctor’s orders. You are to think of nothing other than healing up and getting out of here.”

  “And doctors wonder why no one wants to see them.” He pouted.

  “And patients wonder why they get injured and die,” Dorren shot back.

  “Well, I don’t. Usually, when I get hurt it is because I’ve pissed someone off. Often someone bigger than me.”

  She leaned over and looked him up and down. “So I’m noticing.”

  He blinked from the one eye that wasn’t nearly swollen shut. “Hey, what’s that mean?”

  She shrugged, setting down a list of treatments on a tablet and walking across the med bay to check on a chirping bed. “In the meantime, Commander, I would suggest you rest. Or I’ll put you out myself.”

  He grinned. “Say it like ya mean it, Doc.”

  “I do,” she said with a deadpan expression.

  “Alright, alright.” Adrian closed his eyes and tried to let his exhaustion take over and carry him to sleep. He spent the next few days down in the med bay, living on soft foods and medicine while his injuries were treated. While the Doctor was fixing his body, Tia and the Eaons were repairing the ship, fabricating a new warp core using materials from the nebula along with spare resources from elite ships too damaged to make the return journey home.

  From what he knew, the repair and refit work was proceeding nicely. Tia and Dekav were able to help coordinate the efforts greatly. Much of the senior staff came down to check on him periodically to make sure he was getting better and to tend to any of his comfort needs. He was mostly interested in the progress reports on the ship’s repairs. Most of the superficial damage was well in hand, and the new warp core was coming at a nice pace.

  Based on Doctor Dorren’s estimates, he would be back on his feet and able to serve lightly at about the same time they were able to get the warp core back online. Many of the Eaons had come aboard to visit him and the crew to thank them for the help in toppling Vay and getting them one-step closer to freedom from the prophets. He disliked the idea of helping this insurrection, but it was unavoidable.

  Well, maybe unavoidable was the wrong way to phrase it. His face scrunched in thought as he struggled to find a better way to think about it. He could do that now without it feeling like someone was resting an anvil on his face. The blood in his eye had cleared too, so now nothing had a weird Valentine’s Day filter look.

  He had taken advantage of the time to catch up on a lot of the reading and reports that had backlogged. He was also starting to realize there were going to be many next of kin notifications to send out as well. The last thought dragged him down some. It was easy to think of everyone who had made it through the ordeal alive as lucky. Much of the crew and families could have become slaves if he had retreated when it was tactically viable.

  Someone had to keep the faith, though, to believe everyone would be ok. He just prayed that legacy would be enough to console those who had lost someone to this conflict — to know their sacrifice had prevented the loss of trillions more.

  That ruthless calculus of war, sacrifice some here, for the many there. He rubbed his jaw. It had been broken in his fight. The doc said that there was not really anything to do about it, though. It would still just pop now and shift out of place at times. That was not exactly appealing. He also had a few light scars from Vay’s punches.

  Just the memory of being hit by that guy hurt his face. It was something he tried not to dwell on. By the fourth day in the med bay, Doc finally cut him loose. He walked sorely to his room and took a seat alone on his couch. He poured two shots of whiskey and sat back. To his right on his desk sat a huge pile of tablets that would all carry the next of kin notices. For now, though, he didn’t want to think about it. Therefore, he drank a shot for himself and a shot for the captain.

  This was definitely one of those times he had to stay flexible as a leader and not dwell on how unprepared he was. Because this was probably, the hardest thing he would face yet. The captain’s next of kin tablet was at the top. He sighed, snatching it off the stack and tucked it into his lap. His throat felt tight and sore. This was the cruel reality of command. “You can’t save them all.” Jack had said those words. At first, he thought they applied to wing mates lost. Never did he anticipate it would be for his commanding officer. For someone who had chosen him, only to be replaced by him.

  Funny how five words could drag a man down so hard? Well, six words if you don’t count the contraction, but anyway. He could still hear her telling him that. Lightyears away and he could still remember the way she sounded. The accent in her voice, it sounded European. However, she was a Stollan/Lavran. They didn’t have those accents on either of those two worlds, did they?

  He shook his head. “You’re getting sidetracked, Rain.” He sighed and bopped his forehead a few times.
Eventually, he mustered up the will to commit himself to filling out all the next of kin notifications. Doctor Dorren had told him she had treated all the bodies they could recover and had them prepped for a ceremony. He would use the quantum communications grid to report back later and see how the families wanted to handle the remains. Now that the QT drive was back online, they could use more of its fancier bells and whistles.

  He dropped the last tablet onto the pile. It settled with a plastic clacking noise. Finally forcing himself to stand up, he shuffled off to his bed, collapsing into it for the first night’s sleep in it in almost a week.

  The next day he woke up following his usual routine. He shuffled out dreary eyed and ordered a chai tea. Then he shuffled back into his bedroom and threw on is uniform. He decided to forgo a shave this morning, so he was looking a little scruffier than normal. He half zombie walked along the deck toward Tenport. He stumbled in squinting as the light of a nearby star shone in brightly into the lounge.

  He sat down with a ‘hmph’ and gestured for Linara to come over. She was unusually cheery this morning. Alternatively, maybe he just wasn’t big on mornings. A younger officer was seated opposite him to keep the sun from his face. The officer noted the way the commander was squinting and smiled to himself. Adrian barely noticed.

  “Good morning, Commander. You look much better today.”

  He nodded without saying anything. “So what can I get you?” she asked.

  “Bagel,” he replied simply. She smiled and nodded turning back to the counter. Adrian continued to sip his tea. A minute later Linara returned with a bagel for him. He lifted it up lethargically and began to nibble at it. The whole time the junior officer at the other table continued to watch him squint while eating.

  He peeked out through his squinted eyes and noticed an Eaon frigate was in front of them. The frigate was just this side of the star in the nearby system.

  He used his comm device and called up the bridge. “Heeeyy, its Commander Rain…. could you shift our bar pat, yeah, one six five? Thanks.” Then set the device on the table. Ever so slowly, the bright yellow circle on his face rotated off and his squinted expression relaxed back to the bleary-eyed zombie look.

  The young officer watching him looked partially amused and stunned. Adrian gave him a wink and grinned. The young man laughed. Eventually, Adrian finished his bagel and returned to the bridge to see the arbitrator there. He lit up instantly.

  “Arbitrator. Good to meet you in person finally.”

  “Well, I had to come personally meet the man who dared to challenge Docent Vay to a melee match using nothing more than his face and poor humor.”

  Adrian grinned rubbing his jaw. “Yeah, well it worked.”

  The arbitrator laughed. “I suspect it was your tactics and the pistol you recovered more than anything.”

  “So did you come for a tour? Or just to rib me some?”

  The arbitrator grinned. “No, I’ve already gotten a tour, thank you. Your crew has been more than hospitable. They were also quite educational as well. The things we have learned working with your people have given us a hopeful outlook on the future. The things your Alliance has achieved, the harmony it has built. We seek to emulate that here in our worlds.”

  “It won’t be easy. Folks will not always agree. The trick is being flexible and having some faith in everyone.”

  “You make it sound so easy.”

  He shrugged nonchalantly. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty and all that. If unified peace is your goal, and you are genuine about it, it will happen. Some won’t be as trusting and others will react with violence, but as long as you show them your sincerity, in the end, you’ll win them over.”

  “Thank you, Commander. I look forward to developing this future. Perhaps someday you can return to inspect our progress.”

  “Thanks, Arbitrator. I might just do that. As soon as I figure out how to come here without it being a freak accident that is.”

  “Legan, Commander. My name is Legan Subass.”

  He nodded with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Legan.” He extended a hand to shake.

  The arbitrator looked at his hand uncertainly for a moment then extended his own and took Rain’s hand firmly. As Adrian shook Legan’s hand, he felt confident in the impact he made here. Maybe someday, when the time was right, and the situation was ideal, they would become members of the Alliance as well.

  “Until next time then, Legan.”

  “Next time, Commander.” The arbitrator let go and nodded. “Thank you. All of you. It has been a pleasure fighting alongside you all. My people will know of the crew of the Odyssey for many megacycles to come.”

  “I’ll walk you to the teleporter room,” Dekav offered. Adrian fell in step with them as the two Eaons walked ahead.

  “Acolyte Dekav, I understand you’ve submitted a request to remain with the commander and his crew?”

  “Yes, Arbitrator. These people are wiser than we first estimated. I would like to stay with them to study. Learn from their ways so that I could return and help our own people.”

  Legan looked at him then to Dekav and back. “I have no objections if the commander does not.”

  “Oh, Dekav is always welcome with us if that’s what he wants. But I can’t promise we’ll have any of this wisdom he’s after.” He grinned.

  Dekav nodded. “It is what I would like, yes.”

  Legan bowed his head then as he stepped onto the teleporter pad. “Very well then, Commander. He will remain with you.”

  Adrian bowed his head back in return. “We’ll take good care of him. I promise.”

  Legan smiled. His silver armor gleamed a little in the well-lit pad room. “As he will take good care of you, I’m certain. Safe travels, Commander.”

  Adrian nodded and saluted the arbitrator. “Safe travels to you as well.”

  The arbitrator disappeared in a brilliant flash of light as he was broken down at the atomic level. The pad darkened and Adrian turned back to Dekav. “So. I understand we’re almost ready to get headed home?”

  Dekav nodded as the two left the porter room. “Yes, Commander. Lt. Axoi reported that engineering had finished installing the new core and has is fueled and ready to initialize.”

  “Outstanding. We couldn’t have done it this fast without the help of your people, Dekav.”

  He nodded with a smile. “Perhaps. However, we could not have done what we were able to as fast without the help of your people. I would say that makes us fairly even.”

  Adrian nodded with a smile. “Right you are. Too right you are.” When they stepped back onto the bridge, Adrian paused and looked around. The ship looked pristine. Clean and polished like the moment it rolled out of space dock. It was nice to see all the injuries had healed. Physical and emotional.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “Is the Quantum Communicator ready?” Adrian asked.

  “It is, sir,” Mary Jo replied.

  He turned and then stopped, looking back over his shoulder. “Where is the damn thing again?” To be fair, he did not remember where it was because he was not exactly sure they would ever have to use it. Most of their communications went out using a dispersed buoy network broadcasting on a wide band range. This far away from home, though, the only thing that would report with any kind of speed was the Quantum Communicator. He still did not trust anything that had to do with spinning up the quantum drive, but part of their mission was to test the technology.

  “It’s in the observation lounge. Sir, a question before you go.”

  “Sure?”

  “Why didn’t you use it before? After we’d first become stranded.”

  He paused. “Well, the drive was damaged initially, remember? And by the time it was back up to speed, we had bigger fish to fry.”

  Mary Jo nodded with a smile. That seemed to satisfy her. He turned to make his way back. Once inside he cleared his throat. “Computer, activate Quantum Communicator. Dial in Admiral Jacquinna Howell, Alliance Centcom Alpha F
leet.”

  The lights dimmed as the meeting table retreated into the floor and revealed a holoprojector. A moment later Admiral Howell flickered into view cast in a blue glow. She looked as though she had just beamed in via teleporter and was front lit by a blue spotlight.

  “Commander Rain,” she greeted him. There was some relief in her voice.

  “Admiral. Good to see you, ma’am.”

  “Likewise. We’d become concerned when the ship failed to report in.

  “Yeah, there were some complications that got in the way of that.”

  She nodded, lifting a tablet up. “I’ve been going over your report. Several times in fact.” She sighed for a moment, setting the tablet down. “What you and your crew were able to accomplish out there is nothing short of a miracle. Setting aside several breaches of the Uniform Code of Conduct.”

  He was not expecting that. Well, maybe he should have. “Would it be best if we stayed out here? We haven’t started home yet.”

  She shook her head. “No. No need for that. I was able to fight the dogs. Admiral Shorn especially. He was calling for the end of your career the moment word spread that you guys had survived out there.”

  “Bastard. Please tell me he’s in the stockades or something.”

  “Commander,” she chastised him. “No, he was able to worm his way out of it somehow. I do not like him one bit. Something is fundamentally wrong with him. But he’s too high up in the Admiralty to act against without harder evidence.”

  Adrian leaned against a rail rocking it angrily. “Dammit.”

  Jack’s face softened. “Adrian, it’s not over yet. We will find a way to make all this right. I promise. For now, you just focus on getting your crew home. Understand?”

  He sighed, nodding. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Hey. Just because I’m your superior officer doesn’t give you the right to go all formal on me.”

  He blinked feeling dumbfounded. “Uhm ok, Jack?”

  “That’s better.” She smiled.

  Seeing that made his day a little brighter, took some of the edges off. He smiled back. A silence settled in between them. It lingered a moment until she cleared her throat breaking it and dragging them both back to the moment. “Well then, if that’s all?”