Trampship Wars 2

by L. D. Roberts

  “That is Ok Mr. Collins, I am now officially your Squadron’s aid and by the looks of it, you need one.” The Boson shepherded him into the elevator. “ But don’t worry. The Air Chief and I have gotten the squadron organized for you while you were gone. The pilots are even training late tonight. ”

  A marine ran up the ramp into the ship yelling for the Truck Chief. “A bunch of Port emergency fire and rescue trucks have pulled up looking for a crashed truck that hit the side of the ship at 300 knots. They want to know how many casualties we have inside the ship and how bad and where is the fire.” One of the new APCC’s slid through the hatch behind the marine starting a whole avalanche of other activities. Forcing scores of people to stop starring at Mark and start running to take care of the new trucks and getting out of its way . Marks glasses showed a whole string of APCC”s lined up about 15 seconds apart on final approach to the truck deck with an even longer line of the smaller APC’s behind them. It was going to be a busy night for the truck deck crews. A sense of pride swelled up inside of Mark as his stomach rumbled and growled.

  The elevator doors closed as the fire alarm went off. Mark smiled. The fire alarm was because they thought he had hit the side of the ship. He found that hilarious. "It serves them right for not having steak and lobster tonight like they promissed promised ."

  Chapter 14: Assaulting the English Base

  Mark opened his eyes. A new uniform hung on the outside of his closet. The crisp clean sheets felt nice with the blanket neatly over him. His old glasses sat on the counter next to the bed where he vaguely remembered putting them days before. He tried to remember how he got there but the night before was a bit elusive. Something about going to Sickbay and getting looked at and a shot or two and a few scratches taken care of and thank god they had stopped him from seeing Dian even if he was a butt about it last night. The last thing she needed was him upsetting her. But damn! He had even tried to go back after Tom of all the stupid things. A shower and a steak and lobster dinner that he hardly touched but what he did eat was so good as it melted in his mouth and well. And yes his mother spent hours with him talking which was the last thing he wanted at the time but Mickey had insisted for some stupid reason after she hypnotized him to make the session more productive . He must have gotten to bed and now he felt great and Godstar he was starving.

  Swinging his legs over the side as he sat up , he suddenly found a lot of sore spots and muscles that hurt. “Ya Shit.” Finely deciding his stomach could wait he grabbed a towel and his shower kit and headed for the showers at the back of the dorm. A lieutenant with a couple of ensigns where waiting in line for the two shower stalls. One of them slapped the side of one of the showers and then stepped aside. An Ensign jumped out dripping wet with soup still in his hair and stepped aside at attention with the rest, leaving the water running. "Ok?" Mark thought to himself as he hung his towel and kit and stepped into the shower. The other stall went through several showers as he stood there under the hot streaming relaxing downpour. The next guy in line banging on the other stall or chiding the guy showering if he took too long. Mark waited for someone to bang on his stall or say something when his turn was up as he lost himself in the hot water tu r ning the temperature it up hotter each time it started feeling cool. Finely with the shower room empty and steam boiling out of his shower, Mickey reminded him of the time and reluctantly he climbed out and shaved, dressed and headed for what was now the lower officer deck’s Mess.

  Grabbing a tray and plate to join the serving line, Mark heard a loud cough repeated several times and looked up. His aid stood staring at him next to a table with a plate loaded with eggs bacon and hot cakes with juice beside it. Putting the tray back, Mark walked over and sat down as he looked around the mess with all the other tables partially full and his the only one not. Several officers at the serving line looking at him and his Aid.

  “Is there anything else you need sir?”

  “Ah no but thank you Boson.” Leaning over closer to his aid he whispered. “What the hell is going on with this B b oson?”

  Leaning over the Bosom whispered. “Sir, your breakfast sir. If you need me I will be over by the hatch sir.”

  Famished, Mark didn’t argue and dug in slapping gobs of butter then pouring a river of syrup over his hot cakes. Deciding that milk would go good with them he pushed his chair back to find the bosom next to him again. “Sir, can I get something for you?”

  “Ah, ya, sure. Ah, milk would be nice.” As the Bosom quickly walked to the drink bar cutting in front of the lieutenant there as Jack sat back down and took a bite of his eggs. Thinking about weather Tom was getting a good breakfast or not he asked, "Mickey, try and get a hold of Tom if you can." Tom appeared in front of Mark. An almost full sized holograph of him in his hospital bed with a nurse next to him checking a machine. A tray of food sat in front of him. Every eye in the mess was suddenly starring at Marks table.

  Finishing chewing with his mouth full before swallowing. w ith Mark smil smiled ing . “How you doing cripple.” Relieved at how well he looked and thought about going to visit. “They treating you ok?”

  “No. It is like a dungeon here, they don’t feed you and the nurses are the ugliest beasts I have seen in 20 star systems.” Tom said without knowing he was on video. The nurse slapped him across the top of his head as she smiled. “They even torture me relentlessly. Couldn't sleep a wink last night. I don’t know if I will survive here a couple more days.” He reached up and put his bandaged arm around the butt of the nurse as she wiggled it at him and took a bite of jam covered toast with his undamaged arm.

  “Well, we would not want you to get tortured to death. I will come right over to rescue you from such a dastardly fate.”

  “No. That is ok old pall. I would not want to put you out. I know how busy you are. Besides my injuries require much specialized care still. I don’t think the Doctor would let me go yet.”

  “Yes I heard your injuries are so severe that we may have to leave you here when we lift.

  “What? NO! No I am sure I will be much better in a few days in plenty of time to catch the ship. Don’t worry buddy I will make it even if I have to crawl to the ship.”

  “What dedication Tom. The ship is proud of you. Talk to you later bro.” Mark smiled as the hologram faded and he took a big bight of maple syrup drenched hot cakes and followed it with a big swig of cold milk.

  “Mark, Supreme Admiral Ridgway is trying to call you.”

  “So put him on and we will see if I am an outlaw.”

  The Admiral appeared in front of Mark. The back half of the table becoming the Admiral’s desk as he sat across from Mark. Surprised, he had been expecting a phone call and not video. Not to mention that he could only vaguely remember the Admiral . before t hough he had seen him on the transport he had taken to orbit and then only a few minutes in the tower core cavern. Mark had been busy with other problems to worry about more than glancing. But now Mark noticed t T he name plaque sitting on the corner of the desk saying Supreme Admiral of the Realm Ridgway, across it, suddenly making Mark realize that the Admiral was a lot more powerful than the average Admiral. Mark had not realized that the Admiral with too many stars in the transport boat and then in the damn cavern was the Supreme Admiral of the damn English State. Feeling stupid for going out of his way to ignore him before.

  The Admiral sat their shuffling papers for a good 40 seconds before he finely looked up surprised and said. “I am Admiral Ridgway. Admiral Edwards has left on assignment and I dare not hand this off to someone else. To damn many lose lips are already in on the damn project and that damn Captain Summers is just as likely to shoot hang you as talk to you. So that leaves me. I see you are doing well my boy after yesterday's fiasco. Which is why I am calling. I need a full report on my desk by the end of the day to help clear up a few details of the investigation. We still have a lot of important questions about that and the other AI’s serving the State. I would like your report to include any suggestions or in
sights you may have on the incident in the tunnel s if you would please." Popping a couple of candies into his mouth. "I see you passed your Qualification tests for the 10,000 gross ton class transport yesterday and even though the Captain was just keeping her certificate current; I bet you want 4 of them now." The Admiral leaned in closer. "Don't hold your breath too long even though you did a bang up job piloting. I have heard some nasty rumors about you pepper spraying an MP and something about steeling a 13th APCC. Try to help you Tramps and this is how you reward us by stealing from us."

  "Oh aaa What? Steeling Admiral? Never! Your guys gave them to us. Not our fault they can't count. I just brought it back to the ship figuring it was a baker’s dozen and that you knew we needed it. Sorry. And as far as the MP goes; he squirted himself in the face with his own pepper spray when I was trying to cooperate with him since we are allies. I had my hands raised over my head at the time. Some of those cheep cheap spray cans can be tricky. My apologies again Admiral but there was nothing I could do to help the pore officer so I left . As for the 13th APCC; I can bring it back this morning if you really want it back. I hear you are just going to scrap most of them anyway and we could actually use a 14th Admiral to replace our hundred year old school bus before it kills a load of school kids scattering them across a couple miles of farm lands . As far as the transport boats; I just cannot see my Captain letting me scab 4 of those things on the side of the Star Queen anyway." Mark listened to Mickey for a second and smiled. “The report you want is on its way and should be on your desk momentarily. If you have any questions, I will be here for another few days. As far as incites go, all I can suggest is you take a close look at your other AI’s. Even isolating them.”

  It took almost 40 seconds for the Admiral to react to what Mark had said as Mark stuffed more syrup dripping food in to his mouth and washed it down with milk. Finely the Admiral spoke again. “Already in the works Commander and I would like you to help in that respect when we visit them. I will accept your apologies for the misunderstandings and I expect that 13th APCC to be back at the base this morning when you report to Captain Summers that I have put in charge of overseeing checking out is going over to visit the other AI tower installations since she is our liaison to you. You will be as they are helping inspect ed for anymore discrepancies like we found yesterday and install safety cutouts the m ilitary have been using for yea rs in ships into the towers to make sure it won't happen again."

  “Now Admiral just one minute there. I damn near did not survive the last encounter. Why do you think I would like to try it again?”

  40 seconds later the Admiral looked up from his desk to watch the screen for a few seconds before he replied. “Because you saved many lives and I expect you to do it again. We can't have our AI's going rogue on us ever again. To Too damn much is at stake here.”

  “Oh. Really Admiral. I saved many lives? There are a hundred dead troopers down in the tunnels that would argue with you if they could.”

  After another 40 seconds the Admiral turned red as he puffed up and said. “No they wouldn’t Mr. Collins. That monster almost cost us the war as well as millions of lives already and would have cost millions more as he became more deranged if you and those dead troops had not stopped him NOW! No! Don’t you eve r n dare say that again in front of me Mr. Collins ! . Those men and women gave their lives to save others including yours. That is what they signed up for and they did their duty. D d on’t you ever forget that. Now it is your turn to do your duty and I will accept nothing less. You can have anything you want or need for the job. I will expect you at the base by 0900 hours.”

  “Admiral , I am flattered but you will have to go through my Captain sir. Captain Cook. I am but a lowly Lt. Commander.”

  Fourty Forty seconds later the Admiral looked at Mark with incredulous eyes. He could not believe anyone not jumping to obey his orders. “Very well Commander; I will contact your Captain immediately. Thank you for volunteering.”

  “Did I miss something? When did I volunteer?” Mark smiled as he talked to himself knowing that it would take 20 seconds before the Admiral herd. “That was slick.” As the Admiral disappeared before he could hear his objections .

  “Commander Collins Sir.” One of the lieutenants stood up at attention. “Sir; I would like to volunteer for this mission sir!” A half second later half the mess had volunteered, standing up ready to go.

  “My Godstar people! Over a hundred well-armed and trained troopers died yesterday in ways I do not even want to remember and the Admiral is asking me to do the same thing not just once but at least 2 if not 3 times. Hell, I don’t even want to go into what could be AI hells that are expecting us with the best defenses this system could provide. If I have to go and that is very doubtful since the Captain has to approve it. Half of you could be dead by the end of the day if not all of us.”

  Half of the volunteers dropped like bricks back into their seats. Several others looked around and settled slowly down as they became very interested in their breakfasts or the back bulkhead. Looking at each and every one of the ones still standing, Mark was pleased with the mix. They were all the good officers he had gotten to know over the years as a Cade t . Several looked scarred to death but they still stood firm. “Very well if I go I will request your company gentlemen. At least I will die with good shipmates.” Mark went back to eating his breakfast, the memories that tormented him last night that were so real, now seemed to be so distant and dreamlike without the urgent terror he felt the night before every time his mind wondered in that direction. "Mickey; it all feels like a bad dream yesterday. Did it really happen?"

  "Yes Mark. It happened but it took me half the night with you under hypnosis and your mother’s help to make it that way before I let you you could sleep to imprint the faded memories into permanent storage ."

  "What? You hypnotized me last night? Why?"

  "So I could continue your mothers work when it would do you the most good . I was able to do a weeks' worth of therapy before you slept and all those bad feelings, visions and impressions got locked into your permanent memories. Once locked in, it would have taken years to root them all out of the many corners of your mind they would have been shoved into, even if we could have found all their hiding places."

  "What?"

  "The human mind is a wonderful peace of work. Each time you sleep the sub conscious spends the time storing all the day ’ s memories away for future recall in their proper place or places before it wipes its short term memory in preparation for the coming day. That is one reason that you have to sleep periodically or the mind over loads and quits working. The problem is that the more drastic or terrifying the days events actions are, the more places the mind stores and associates those memories with others to o make sure they are not forgotten. It is a defensive mechanism from caveman days. That is why people suffer what they call post stress syndrome or psychoses , for years , even after long intense therapy. By treating you before you slept, I was able to dampen the severity of your feelings and stresses concerning yesterday's actions before they were made permanent all across your mind. Preventing you from becoming a basket case. One reason your hypnotizing Dian so soon after the fighter attack worked , is that her mind had not yet had time to make the actions she took that day permanent. When she finely did sleep you had already made the changes in her perceptions of the day’s activities and her sub conscious did the rest making the lie the truth in her mind and the truth a distant fleeting fantasy that hopefully was forgotten and will never even be a nightmare."

  Captain Summers popped into the seat across the table from him. Startling Mark for a second. “Damn it Mickey worn me next time.” He whispered.

  “Good to see you Commander. I hope you had a nice night after steeling all those APC's. Though I don't know how you missed your 14th APCC. You are lucky the Admiral just decided possession is 9/10ths of the law even for the 13th but don't count on anymore." She sneered at him and then softened. "Your mechanic is doing fine an
d can go home as soon as you like though he will need medical care for another week.” Shaking her head. “You left a few piles of junk scattered around the parking lot. I expect you to clean up your mess this morning. Though we are using them for target practice this mor ning to make sure you cannot use them again. " She looked around the mess compartment at the ensigns sitting around her. “What? Where are you located at Mr. Collins?”

  “In the Junior Officers Mess Captain. I am having breakfast. That is if I can find the time to eat it before it gets cold.” Mark took another big sloppy bight of hot cakes and eggs and washed it down with milk. Making it a big production just for his enjoyment bugging her.

  “Do you always conduct ships business in the Junior Officer’s mess Commander?”

  Swallowing he smiled as he had a little juice. “You called me Captain. I really did not have a choice in the matter since you asked. But as far as picking up the junk, you will have to ask my Captain. But I would love to after I check on my bomber squadron. It is a shame you cancelled all the other stuff the Vice Admiral ordered for my ship. We could have used the new armored suits and weapons.”

  "To bad; but I am not going to waste any more English money on a Trash Tramp ship as fucked up as yours is." Shaking her head with a strange look on her face that quickly disappeared back to business. “I will contact your Ship’s Captain about you getting your damn junk off my base.” The Captain disappeared.

  Mark got a few more bites down before his phone beeped with Mickey telling him it was the Truck deck Chief. With his mental ok, the Chief appeared across the table.

  “Mr. Collins; I hate to interrupt your breakfast but could you tell me what your plans are for all these APC’s? We do not even have room to work down here and I am sure the Captain is going to want an answer at the morning staff meeting.”