by C. R. Daems
“Commander, we need to scan her body to determine the extent of her injuries,” someone said. “She doesn’t have any compound fractures, but her body is black and blue from head to foot. She might have a concussion. Corporal Seams, get her moved to the Scanning unit.”
“No,” I managed to squeak out. “No. Salve and bandages but no medication or other treatment.”
“She must be delirious, Doctor.” The voice sounded like Jacklin’s.
“She may be, but I can’t touch her without her permission. It’s part of the medical instructions on her ID, with an SAS no exceptions order.”
“That’s stupid!”
“Yes, but I can’t. If she were unconscious, I may have ignored the no exception order, but you heard her say ‘No.’”
I heard people come and go, and muttered voices, but couldn’t remember what they said. Two days later, Thalia returned me to full consciousness.
“Nurse, can I’ve something to wear? I’m leaving. How is Petty Officer Embert doing? I’d like to see him before I leave.”
“You blocked most of the blast. The doctor released him yesterday.”
This time they didn’t argue. It was, however, obvious that they weren’t comfortable with me leaving. They gave me a patient’s gown, and I returned to my room. I felt a little foolish walking through the corridor with only a hospital gown and robe. I got some strange looks but no comments. I entered my cabin and didn’t bother removing anything. I flopped on the bed and slept for two days. When I woke, I felt starved and almost normal.
Her amusement tingled. Still in the gown and robe. I wandered to the navy mess, which was almost empty. After a double helping of lunch and lots of strange looks, I returned to my room and stood in the Kleanzer for what seemed like hours. Feeling refreshed, I dressed and made my way down to my unit. Akers was on duty.
“Ma’am, we thought you’d die.”
“I’m too young to die, Akers. How is everything going?”
Just then, Rucker and Jacklin interrupted us. “Reese, why are you here? You should be in sick bay or your room.”
“I’m fit for duty, Sir.”
“The doctor said you wouldn’t let them treat you. Why?”
“I’m a Riss-human. The doctors aren’t familiar with a Riss-human and may have caused more problems then they fixed. Thalia, my Riss, took care of my injuries.”
“I don’t understand, but you seem to have recovered without their help. Petty Officer Embert said that someone had intentionally clogged the filter and ignited the gas while you and he where in the shaft. Do you know who?” Jacklin asked.
I thought I did but didn’t have any proof.
“No, Sir.” I saw Rucker shake his head in obvious frustration.
“The Captain said he wants to see you when you return to duty. I can postpone it for a couple of days, if you want.”
“No, Sir. Let’s get it over with.” I sighed.
< Here we go again.>
Amusement rippled through me.
Chapter 15
Jacklin and I were admitted immediately along with Commander Riddler. I’d barely stepped through the door when Gebauer pointed a finger at me, his face red and angry.
“I knew this would happen. It’s going to take weeks to fix the damage you caused. I’m relieving you of your duties,” Gebauer said. I remained silent.
Jacklin and the XO remained silent.
“You win, Captain Gebauer.” It was the last thing I wanted to do, but he left me no choice. Gebauer smiled and leaned back in his chair. “XO, we, Lieutenant Nadya Reese and Snow glistening on the mountain top, demand you send at message to Vice Admiral Zann requesting a board of inquiry. It’s to include the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the senior Riss representative. I’m formally accusing Captain Gebauer, on the SAS Peregrine, of intentionally attempting to sabotage the SAS Riss-human project.”
“Who do you think you are, giving my XO orders?” The Captain’s chair snapped up, his eyes narrowed and his lips pressed tight. I looked at the XO but remained silent.
“Her ID specifies several indefeasible rights granted her by the SAS. One of those is the right to an inquiry by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a Riss representative, which can be Vice Admiral Zann.” The XO shrugged. “Captain, I would obey any order you gave me. I won’t disobey a right specifically granted by the SAS. I would be subject to court-marshal and confinement.”
The Captain sat quietly, glaring at me with naked hate. Slowly, he dropped his eyes for a moment before looking up. “Let’s compromise. I’ll guarantee that you’ll be treated fairly, and you rescind your request for an inquiry.”
“No. I can’t trust you, Captain. You’ve a history of attempting to discredit me. I’ll make you a compromise. I’ll add an addendum to the message asking Vice Admiral Zann to hold the inquiry until I can talk to her. If you’ve treated me fairly by the end of this tour, I’ll ask her to withdraw it. You’ll probably get a comment in your personnel file stating that you shouldn’t be allowed to transport Riss-humans, which should please you.”
“What privileges do you expect for you to decide to withdraw your request for an inquiry?”
“None. Your crew considers you hard but fair. I only ask that you treat me the same as you would any other officer under your command—no better, no worse. You don’t have to like me.” I paused. “What would you’ve done if someone had attempted to kill Commander Jacklin?”
“I would have torn this ship…” He lapsed into silence. “You’re right. I accept your compromise, but to be honest, I can’t promise I’ll ever like you.”
“I can accept that.”
“Jacklin, how would you rate Lieutenant Reese’s performance?”
“Very good. Because of her rank, I put her in charge of the unit. I’ve noticed an improvement in morale and the performance of the JGs under her.”
Ironically, he excluded any mention of Daber.
Gebauer was quiet for a moment, then spoke. “XO, I’ve decided rotate Lieutenant Reese to Navigation. I want you to ensure that she receives all the assistance she needs to succeed.” He turned to Jacklin. “Jacklin, I want a comprehensive inquiry into the explosion. Is that fair, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Gebauer returned my salute, and I exited with the XO, who steered me into the Captain’s conference room.
“Sit, Lieutenant. Captain Gebauer has always been fair, but this project has thrown him off balance. He hasn’t been fair with you. Although you backed him down, I’d ask you not to gloat over your victory or to talk about it.”
“Sir, I’m only concerned about the Riss. I didn’t confront the Captain to embarrass him. I fight for the Riss, not myself. The Riss deserve the chance to prove they’ll be a valuable partner to the SAS.”
“Thank you, Reese. You can count on the Captain to honor his word, and you’ll have my full support. Let’s go see Commander Uchida. She’s our senior Navigations officer.”
* * * *
Thalia and I thought we’d entered the home of the Gods. Being on the command deck was like being inside the brain of the Peregrine. Dozens of monitors lined the walls registering its many activities. In the center of the room, a hologram displayed the Peregrine’s view of the outside universe. Six people sat in front of consoles filled with electronic equipment. Riddler broke my trance by touching my arm and pointing to a tall thin woman. Her short midnight-black hair framed a narrow face, which looked like it seldom smiled—if ever.
“Commander Uchida, this is Lieutenant Reese. The Captain has decided to rotate her to your gentle care.” He grinned. She glared
at him.
“How many years has the Captain given me to qualify her?” She shook her head and turned to look directly at me. “You’re the Riss-human who has everyone distracted. Here you’re a Lieutenant in training. I don’t want anyone distracted. Do you understand?” Uchida waited for an answer.
“No, ma’am, I don’t. I’m what I am, and it’s difficult to hide it.” I pointed to my tattoo. “I can control what I do. I can’t control what others think or do.”
Uchida gave me a look colder than space.
“I’ll settle for that.” She pointed to a vacant chair. “Come, let’s get started. You graduated Hephaestus so you’ve had Navigational theory. Let’s see how much you remember and more importantly, understand.”
Inhabitable systems had an insertion point that enables a spaceship to travel from one point to another—like a river with multiple tributaries. Once inserted, you traveled faster than light. That calculation was easy, because the time between any two inhabitable systems was well documented. Unpredictable anomalies, however, could and did occur which affected the calculations. If not compensated, they could result in exiting in the right solar system, but weeks from the intended planet—or worse, in an uncharted system.
It would have been difficult working with a genius like Uchida if not for Thalia. The Commander reviewed three semester’s material in three weeks, which included multiple tests. I survived because of my third semester Navigational project at Hephaestus. There Thalia and I had begun to develop the Riss’ math using symbols. They approximated the pictures the Riss used to represent equations. We’d only just begun when the school term finished; however, we’d continued developing the system in our spare time. By now I’d begun to think in our new symbols, which we called Symath.
In the fourth week, Uchida began new material. “Now you’ll begin to work on real problems. At Hephaestus, you learned the theory and associated math. Computing the time to exit is easy when you’re given a specified anomaly. In the real universe anomalies aren’t predictable. You’re likely to encounter several during a fight that will require you to recalculate the exit time. We’ll take our time working up to realistic problems.”
I found bombs exploded slower than Uchida’s approach to navigational reality.
On my free time, we loaded the navigational problems into my System Interface Device—SID—which provided me personal memory and limited access to the Peregrine’s computer. With the work we’d already done, creating additional symbols went quicker than I’d anticipated. I hardly slept during those weeks, as we expanded our database and verified the expanded Symath, using the computer.
* * * *
I continued to work out with the Wasps. The morning workouts invigorated rather than tired me. It wouldn’t have mattered; I liked working with Valk and his class. We’d grown close and the Wasps were friendlier since we’d returned from Saipha.
“Our group’s earned countless free drinks telling what happened on Saipha. You could get the whole battalion to volunteer to go with you if you needed to go again,” Terril said, when I questioned her about the friendlier attitude.
Several weeks later, Valk called me over.
“You’ve significantly improved over the months. I imagine if you used the speed I witnessed in Saipha you’d be hard to beat.”
“Speed would help, but I’d prefer the skill that comes with training and experience.”
“It takes years, but it’s worth the effort.” He paused and lowered his voice. “On a more serious note, rumor has it that someone means to do you serious harm.”
“Thanks, Gunny. I’m used to people hating me for no reason, but I do object to them trying to kill me.”
* * * *
“Reese, today is your mid-term exam. I’ve set a problem into the computer, which will last two hours. You’ll encounter several anomalies. When you do, you’ll compute the necessary corrections. You’ve one hour to study your notes before you begin.”
I split the screen into four sections. One to display my personal area on the system; one to display the Symath I’d use for the calculations; a third to monitor the system running Uchida’s simulation; and the forth to post my solution to the problem.
I calculated the time to exit based on the initial parameters set by Uchida. When I entered those numbers, the simulation began. Nothing happed for the next hour. Then in the space of forty minutes three anomalies occurred. Shortly afterward, the clock stopped and the simulation ended. I closed all my windows and sat back, exhausted.
Uchida opened my file and reviewed my entries. Then she examined several other areas.
“Commander Riddler, come over here. I want a witness,” Uchida said while glaring at me. She portrayed little emotion when she worked with me, so the reaction startled me. Riddler walked over and nodded. “I prepared the problem set in file U87S6 for Reese to calculate. It ran for two hours. I placed my answer in an open area that Reese could read, if she chose. I placed a trap that anyone opening it would trip. In that case, the user name would be recorded.”
She paused and looked at me again, shaking her head. “I’ve reviewed her answers and they’re correct, but a review of the system files shows she didn’t use the system. The only possible conclusion is that she opened my file and used the information to enter her solution. I want a witness when I open the file. Lieutenant Reese, do you’ve anything to say before I open it?”
Thalia’s response caused me to give a small laugh, although I fought to suppress it.
“You think this is funny. This will result in you failing this rotation and a letter of reprimand in your record.”
“Yes, ma’am, it’s funny in a sad sort of way. I’m too tired of this to even get insulted. Open the file, please, and get it over with.” I waved to the monitor. Uchida scowled and opened the file. The trap revealed only Uchida’s initial entries.
“Ma’am, Sir, may I pleased be excused? I’ve got a headache.”
Chapter 16
When I entered the Bridge the next morning, Commander Uchida stood.
“I obviously owe you an apology; however, it had nothing to do with you being a Riss-human. I couldn’t care less. I would have suspected anyone under the similar circumstances. I still need to know what you did to come up with the answer.”
Attempting to stifle a laugh, I produced a snort.
“Sorry, ma’am.”
“All right, I want to know what you consider funny—today and yesterday, when you knew I intended to have you reprimanded,” Uchida asked. She didn’t smile but produced a small shrug, indicating resignation and not anger.
“Ma’am, the Captain has ordered me to stop including the Riss when I talk about myself, and indirectly, to pretend she doesn’t exist.” I wanted to scream. Everyone wanted me to pretend I wasn’t a Riss-human, but treated me like a pariah because I was.
“You can tell the Captain that I gave you permission, if he asks. It’s apparent that’s the only way I’m going to get any answers. First question, what was so funny?”
“Thalia, my Riss companion, made some comments that were funny under the circumstances. I couldn’t restrain a laugh, although I tried.”
Uchida stared at me.
I tried to explain. “Just before you opened the file yesterday, she said ‘Surprise.’”
“I guess that qualifies. So...Thalia is a completely unique, intelligent being in your mind. The two of you can converse and share thoughts?” Uchida’s eyes turned downward, as if thinking out loud rather than talking to me. “I presume this has something to do with the Navigation problem?”
“Yes, ma’am. The Riss have developed their own mathematical systems. Their algorithms for wind currents and dynamics parallel navigational computations. The Riss, however, have by necessity had to simplify their mathematics because they don’t have computers, paper, or pencils. The Riss must do the calculations in their mind. Thalia and I’ve been working on symbols to represent their system and equate it to the SAS system. The symbols help me to think in their terms, although I can’t work complex problems in my mind.”
“What? In...their minds with no other help? It currently takes the system’s computer to do the calculations. Will you show me what you and Thalia have been working on?”
“Thalia is happy to share her knowledge with you. What she knows, I know, and we, pardon ma’am, are part of the SAS.”
For several hours, Uchida and I went through the simpler symbols and the associated algorithms. She asked questions best explained by Thalia, which I merely relayed. After several hours, she shook her head and leaned back in her chair.
“My head’s spinning. Out of curiosity, although it doesn’t matter since...Thalia and you are one. Did she do your exam?”
“No, ma’am. I try to make sure I understand and apply what Thalia teaches me. I’m beginning to understand the Riss logic, but I can’t do the calculations in my mind, yet. It’s the reason for the symbols. Using those stored in my personal area, I did your test on my own, but Thalia did verify the results.”
Uchida laughed long and hard. It became obvious she didn’t laugh often, if at all, since the entire Bridge turned to look at her. The XO walked over.
“Having fun, Uchida?”
“Sure am, XO—I think I’m going to volunteer for the Riss-human program.”