by Alan Black
Numos grinned. “It is the same all over, Mister Stone.
The security force member who had administered first aid to the male shooter stepped up to Stone. The suit’s visor flipped up at exactly three meters away in a salute, revealing a woman.
“I am Senior Chief Garza, Captain. I apologize. Those two are…were Admiral Shalako’s personal valets. They are…were authorized to be armed and to be here. I didn’t think they would attack you. I offer my resignation.”
Stone shook his head. “No Senior Chief. I need you here. Your team responded as well as can be expected. However, I want this deck cleared of all weapons except for marines, your detail and the EMIS agents.”
“Captain?”
“Senior Chief, I found out today that I don’t like to be shot at. Bridge crews are required to be armed during general quarters, isn’t that correct?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“I want you to take only navy security forces with you. I want to you to go into the bridge and collect every weapon there. I am broadcasting this to the bridge crew so they know you are coming. Trust me; this is for their own good. I am taking my drascos with me in there and you saw that they are getting hungry. Any more attempts to shoot me and I will let them eat. I am also taking marine bodyguards with me. They are also hungry, if you get my drift.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“The bridge crew is listening, do you think they understand?”
The Senior Chief looked at the overhead video cameras and nodded. “Yes, Captain Stone. I am sure they understand.”
“Good, clear this entire deck of weapons.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
The door to the bridge slid open. A full commander stood in the doorway holding a blaster in his hand. “Captain on the bridge,” he shouted. He handed his blaster to the navy rating at the door and stepped back inside.
One by one the bridge crew brought out weapons and handed them to naval security. Most of the bridge crew carried more than one weapon with them. From the doorway the Senior Chief ran a scanner around the bridge. She did not step into the bridge proper.
“All clear, Captain.”
“Thank you, Senior Chief.” Stone walked to the bridge hatch. He stopped in the doorway. He was not sure he really wanted to go on the bridge. He half expected to be shot, half expect to be jumped on and beaten, and half expected to be arrested for impersonating a captain. Instead he faced a room of officers, all very much senior to him.
The commander stepped up to Stone, came to attention, then parade rest and then back to attention.
Stone wanted to reassure the man, but he did not know what to say. He had never even been on a bridge before, much less been in charge. How was he to respond? Here he was facing a man whose rank was so exalted Stone had not ever expected to reach its heights. Yet, Stone was technically in command of the man and every other officer here. He almost came to attention himself.
“Um…Commander, do you know who I am?” Stone asked.
“Yes. You are Midshipman Blackmon Stone and according to my database you are both simultaneously dead and in command of the Periodontitis.”
“Yes, sir,” Stone said. “That about sums it up. You don’t know quite what to do with a midshipman who is a captain, do you, Sir?”
The man smiled “No Captain, this is a first for me. Do you want to take the con?”
“Sir?” Stone asked.
“Ah,” The commander looked about him. “I am Commander Melendez. I am the commander of the central tower and first officer on the U.E.N.S. Periodontitis. That is, I am in charge unless you are here to relieve me like Admiral Shalako?”
“No, sir,” Stone shook his head and winced at the pain.
Melendez looked at Stone’s face. “That is going to be a real shiner unless you get medical to check it out.” He called over his shoulder, “Goobie, find out why that doctor isn’t here yet.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
“Does that hurt?” Melendez said.
Stone shrugged, “Not as much as this.” He held up his arm where he had lost a layer of skin when he scrapped it across Jay’s side in the hanger. “Or this.” He twisted around to show the tatters and scraps where Peebee had sat on him in the Atrium.
“Ouch,” Melendez said. “You definitely need to put something on those. And we are going to have to get you a new uniform.”
Stone nodded. “Yes, sir. I didn’t show these minor injuries to you because I was expecting sympathy. Fact is, these are all my fault in one way or another. I just point this out because when I step onto the bridge I am bringing my drascos with me and they are the ones that did this damage.”
“Drascos? Is that what you call those creatures, Mister Stone?”
“Yes, sir. They are also part of my personal defense detail, sort of.”
“Understood, Captain. I asked if you wanted to take the con. I mean, Mister Stone, do you want to take control of the ship now.”
Stone shook his head, “Not quite yet, Commander. Can I be on the bridge and not take the con?”
“Certainly, Mister Stone. As captain that is your prerogative,” Melendez said.
“Good. Because I would like to come in and sit down for a while. It has been a busy day so far.” Stone walked into the room.
The bridge was almost a circular room. There were three tiers of workstations stair-stepping up in a semicircle. An officer sat at each station. Most of the officers were watching Stone. A few officers remained focused on their duty stations.
The remaining bulkhead from deck to ceiling was a real time display of Tamvor Station and surrounding space. The only thing on the deck was a conference table with a dozen seats.
Melendez pointed to the chair at the head of the table. It had its back to the bulkhead display. “That is the captain’s chair, Mister Stone.” Melendez looked over Stone’s shoulder. He winced slightly. “Mister Stone, standing orders are that marines are not allowed on the bridge, certainly never armed marines.”
Stone turned around, bumping into Peebee, scrapping his knee against her side. He saw Allie and Hammermill standing just inside the front door.
Turning back to Melendez, he asked, “Whose rule, sir? Is it navy regulation, ship’s rule or just bridge tradition?”
Melendez looked at Jay and Peebee as if they were a lot less objectionable than marines. “Mister Stone, it was Admiral Shalako’s standing regulation that army and marines were to wait in the atrium.”
Stone nodded at his drascos. “No problem with pets, sir?”
Melendez shook his head. “Oh no, Mister Stone, the admiral often brought his Pekinese onto the bridge.”
“Is that a dog of some sort, Commander?”
“Yes, Mister Stone, it is a rather obnoxious and yappy little puddle-making sort of a dog. Are you suggesting that we consider your marines pets?”
Stone laughed. “I wouldn’t suggest it, Commander. The Hammer is quite obnoxious on occasion, but I wouldn’t call him yappy to his face.” He glanced at the two marines. He tried to look past them to see where Numos was, but he could not see around their bulk. “You know, Commander, someone very recently did call them dogs.”
Allie laughed. “Sir, if it eases your mind, the old United States Marines back on Earth One were often called Devil Dogs by their enemies. We can live with that.”
“Well I can’t,” Stone said. “First of all, they are not my marines. They are the Emperor’s marines, just as this ship is the Emperor’s ship. These two are actually assigned as staff on this spacecraft. What I am suggesting is that since Admiral Shalako is no longer in command that we change the regulation!”
“That is acceptable, Captain,” Melendez grinned. “I certainly wouldn’t want to be the one to try and throw these marines off the bridge. I suggest we change the regulation to read, ‘authorized personnel only.’ It is well within navy regulations and allows us to say who or who is not allowed on the bridge.”
“Thank you, Commander. Um
, we do consider my drascos to be pets.”
“Sir, they appear to be well behaved at the moment, but I have seen them in action both in the atrium and the hanger deck. I do not mean to question your right to have pets on board, you are the captain, but are you sure they are safe?”
“Safe? From what?” Stone looked around. “I don’t see anything that can hurt them in here.”
Allie said with a chuckle, “No, Captain Stone, I believe Commander Melendez wants to know is if he is safe from them.”
“Oh,” Stone said. He looked at his drascos. They swiveled their heads around as they watched everything going on, but they looked relaxed. “They do seem to be calm right now, sir. They are not the type of pets you actually pet. Don’t try to touch them and you should be okay, I guess. And they are a bit protective of me, so I wouldn’t try to touch me either when they are around.”
“Mister Stone, I heard you say that they were hungry and…um…well…”
Stone grinned. “Commander, I apologize for that. Jay and Peebee are vegetarians, or what is that word…herbivorous. They don’t eat people.” He grabbed Jay around the head and pried open her mouth with his fingers. “See, Jay only has flat grinding molars.”
Jay snapped her head around and grabbed Stone’s hand holding it gently in her mouth. The action drew gasps from several officers around the room.
Stone ignored Jay and the officers, leaving his hand in Jay’s mouth. Looking back at Melendez, he said, “Commander Wright assures me they don’t eat meat.”
Melendez shook his head. “Son, you may be comfortable enough to stick your head the in the mouth of a lion, but those things have big enough teeth to take a big bite out of someone whether they intend to chew and swallow, or not.”
“I guess they do at that,” Stone said. “I do think they might be hungry. It has been a long day and they haven’t eaten in a while.”
He looked up at Allie. “Lieutenant Vedrian, do you still have my knife?”
“Yes, Captain.” Before she could actually finish the words, she drew the knife from her belt and held it out to him, hilt first.
Stone glanced at the tiers of officers around him. He felt like he was on stage in an amphitheater. He was not particularly shy, but he was not used to having his every move scrutinized by fifty pairs of eyes.
He slid his hand out of Jay’s mouth and pulled out a block of golden ooze from a pocket. Jay and Peebee’s eyes locked on the bar. He carefully cut the dried tree sap into two even pieces. The bar had been whittled on for a while and was pretty small, but it still made a bigger piece than they were used to getting as a mid-morning snack.
Jay stood up on her hind legs, stretched her neck, puffed her chest out, waved her arms, and wonked loudly. The officers near the rail on the first and second tiers quickly backed up. Peebee shook her head and wonked louder.
Stone pointed a finger at Jay. “Listen, Miss Greedy, just because you are trying to look bigger than your sister, doesn’t mean you get a bigger piece.”
He tossed one piece high in the air. Jay jumped, snapping her teeth around the ooze and landing with a thump. He held the other piece out to Peebee. She took his whole hand in her mouth, but spit his hand out without the ooze.
He tossed the knife back to Allie. Even though she had been watching everyone in the room except for him, she still caught the knife and slipped it into her belt. She continued watching the room as if she did not trust anyone in it except him, Hammermill and his two drascos.
“Commander Melendez, I am sure you have read the important parts of the EMIS Agent’s Writ that put me in charge of the U.E.N.S. Periodontitis?”
“Sir, it is a long document.” He waved a hand around the room. “There are a lot of officers here because of the general quarters alert. We have many more officers here than we would have for a normal station sub-light departure. We each took a few pages to summarize, so we do have the gist of its meaning. May I speak freely, Mister Stone?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“I am appalled at these criminal allegations.” He glanced around him at the men and women. “Frankly, I can’t imagine any of these fine officers being involved in such activities and I am angry that my friends and crew are being unjustly investigated.”
“Fair enough, Commander. I can tell you that you cannot be angrier about unjust investigations than I am about having been drugged, stuffed into an escape pod and shoved into hyperspace. All-in-all, I do get your point. I doubt if any but a small percentage of officers or crew even had any knowledge about what has been going on.”
“Yes, exact-”
“Yes,” Stone interrupted with an angry edge to his voice. “But why didn’t you know? It is your ship too, right? You are the first officer, right? Why didn’t you know? It can’t be that hard to miss, if a lowly midshipman found out about it. Oops, sorry, sir. I shouldn’t have said that. I guess it is my own anger coming through.”
Melendez did not speak.
“Okay. What else, Commander?” Stone asked.
“Speaking freely,” Melendez emphasized the phrase, “with your permission Captain, and nothing personal, but…I understand the need for the investigation. And while, I am appalled we are being investigated without cause, I am more appalled that we have to submit to the command of the most unqualified midshipman on board.”
Stone nodded. “I get it, Commander. Thank you for being so polite up to this point. I really appreciate it. And believe me; I do appreciate your honesty. But, and this is a big but, the range of the investigation is stated in the Emperor’s Writ. Feel free to gripe to the Emperor the next time you see him. I can’t do anything about it. As to the other, let me check something first.”
He pulled out his p.a. and called Numos. “Major, are we secure for now? I don’t want to hold everyone at general quarters any longer if I can help it.”
“Captain,” Numos responded quickly. “We are as secure as I can make it right now. How far do I trust the navy security forces?”
Stone said, “I am going to leave that up to you. You trust anyone you have to trust until you hear anything different about any specific individual.”
He glanced at the drascos. Peebee had finished her ooze and fallen asleep. Jay was still chewing her ooze slowly, but her eyes were looking droopy.
“I am going to sit right here at this table, Commander. You still have control of the ship. I suggest you release the ship from general quarters for now. Please tell every officer here they are free to leave the bridge and return to their quarters if they will not submit to my command.”
Melendez started to speak.
“And,” Stone continued, “if we fall below whatever number of officers is required to fly this ship to its next destination, please poll the second and third shift until you get enough officers up here. Let me know when you have done that and if you want, then I will take the con from you at that time, and you’ll be free to leave. Does that work for you, Commander?”
“Yes, Captain. That is more than fair.”
“Yep, that is me. Try to kill me and I just become a fair kind of guy…sir.” He swiveled his chair around and began calling up random bits of data on the table. He was reminded of the bar top the old gunnery sergeant had used to show him software data. He thought about it as he shuffled various screens on the table.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
The next thing he knew he was jarred awake by shouting behind him.
“Oh crap!” he thought. “I wonder if anyone noticed I was asleep. Maybe I only drifted off for a second and no one saw.” He knew sleeping on duty was a major sin. It always had been and probably always would be. He did not even remember being that sleepy, just a bit tired from all of the running around.
He looked at the table in front of him. It had a time indicator in one corner, but it did not matter since he did not remember what time it was when he sat down. He cleared his throat and reached for a bottle of water in a container set in the center of the table. He winced as th
e movement caused shooting pains pulsing through his head.
He recognized one of the loud voices. “Maggot, this is a small room. Is it necessary to shout so loud?” He spun his chair around. Maggot and Melendez were standing toe-to-toe, both with red faces and clenched fists.
Allie glanced at him. “Are you okay, Mister Stone?”
“I think so. I was…um…just resting my eyes for a bit.”
Allie said, “Yeah, that’s what I call it too. You missed the doctor. He did a couple of scans on your head. Once we could convince him that the drascos wouldn’t eat him, that is. He said to let you ‘rest your eyes’ a bit longer. The doc said you don’t have a concussion, just a little tired. Then these two start going at each other.”
“So, Maggot, what is that all about?” Stone asked.
“Commander Melendez has set course and gotten us under weigh without consulting me,” Maggot shouted. “You tell him to turn around. We are going the wrong way.
“And why should I consult you?” Melendez spat back. “You don’t set the schedule for the navy. Captain, please explain to this civilian that he shouldn’t even be on the bridge.”
“Don’t shout,” Stone said. “Please? I have a headache from getting punched in the face. And you know, I am really getting tired of people telling me what to do, okay? Can’t you two figure it out?”
“You are the captain, Mister Stone,” Melendez said with a cold edge to his voice.
Stone looked at Allie. She nodded in agreement although she did not look at him when she did so. She and Hammermill continued to scan the room, watching everything at the same time. Another marine stood side by side with a security force member in the atrium doorway with their backs to the bridge.
He looked around at the officers on the tiers. He did not recognize any of them, but they looked like the same bunch that had been there before. Most of them should have left if they had been released from general quarters, even if Commander Melendez had left for their next space station. A few of the officers met his gaze, most would not. He did not know if that was a good thing or not.