by Alan Black
“Why did I join the navy?” he thought. “If I wanted people to keep telling me what to do all the time I could have stayed home. At least when Grandma told me what to do she just said do it, not make a decision and make someone else do it. Crap! Aren’t these the grownups?”
“Okay,” Stone said with a sigh. “Agent Storovitch, you are first. What is your issue?”
Maggot shouted, “This moron has-”
Stone held up a hand to stop him. “Agent Storovitch, Maggot, if you can’t keep from shouting and name calling I am going to have Lieutenant Hammermill drag you out of here until you can behave like an adult. Got me, you clod?”
Maggot closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath and sighed.
“Better now?” Stone asked. “Okay, remember I am just a lowly midshipman, so explain things to me in terms that even I can understand.”
He heard Allie snicker, but when he looked she was studiously avoiding his gaze.
“Mister Stone, I have delivered an approved Emperor’s Writ that gives me the right to investigate any activity on this ship I deem appropriate, to make such arrests as I deem necessary and to appoint anyone in command that I require to facilitate the investigation.”
Stone nodded. “I got that part. That is why I am sitting here in the captain’s chair instead of having ice cream back on Brickman’s Station.”
“Yes, Mister Stone, everything we have done so far has been done to get the Periodontitis to Lazzaroni Station for lock down and a complete investigation.”
“I got it, Maggot. So what is the problem?”
Maggot exploded and shouted. “He won’t go!” He jabbed a finger at Commander Melendez.
“Really?” Stone said. “Lieutenant Hammermill, please drag this civilian out into the atrium. He is not allowed back on the bridge…no, he is not allowed back in my presence until he learns not to shout in polite company.”
Maggot started to protest, but Hammermill grabbed him and practically carried him off the bridge before he could get a word out.
Stone turned to Melendez. “Commander?”
“Thank you, Mister Stone. I am glad you agree with me,” Melendez replied.
“I didn’t say I agreed with you, Commander. As a matter of fact, I agree with Agent Storovitch. Someone on this spacecraft tried to kill me and if we have to go to Lazzaroni Station to find out who, then that is where we are going.”
“But you can’t go to Lazzaroni Station. You don’t understand-”
“No, and I am not going to understand.” Stone interrupted. “Not until you quit telling me what I can and cannot do and start giving me a good reason to listen to you. Or would you rather continue yelling at Agent Storovitch in the atrium. I am sure the Hammer will be glad to show you the way out.”
“I am sorry, Mister Stone. Do you know where our next station is?”
“Commander, I don’t know squat,” Stone answered with a sigh. “Please explain to me in complete, but simple terms as if you were talking to a lowly midshipman who doesn’t know anything except moving metal boxes around in tower three.”
“Mister Stone,” Melendez said. “Our next stop is the front lines of the Hyrocanian War.”
“We are on a direct course to the front lines?”
Melendez nodded. “It is just as direct a course as I can make it. We are only a few minutes away from a hyperspace jump in that direction. What did you expect? This is a navy warehouse and supply ship. We carry everything our front line troops need to keep the Hyrocanians from attacking and slaughtering all across human space. Why do you think we gather up all of the missiles, food stuffs, and even replacement marines? Is this all just for fun? We are at war here. Our supplies are required at the front or our people die.”
“Oh,” Stone said.
“Oh?” Melendez spat back. “Yeah, oh! That agent picked a bad time to replace an admiral who had years of combat experience with a midshipman who does not have enough experience to get off third watch. But you’re here now, what are you going to do?”
“How long to Hyperjump, Commander?”
Melendez yelled over his shoulder, “Navigation, how long to hyperjump?”
A voice shouted back, “Now, sir.”
Stone closed his eyes. He took a shallow breath and thought about how he had been complaining that everyone had been telling him what to do. “Now I really wish I had someone telling me what to do,” he thought. “This isn’t good. I can defy the Emperor’s Writ and go where I might have a chance at getting killed again. And if I am not killed by the war, then when I get back I could be killed for refusing a direct order from the Emperor in a time of war. Or I go to Lazzaroni Station and other people die because I didn’t supply them.”
Stone looked up at Melendez. “Hyperjump now, Commander. Please continue on your original course.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Melendez said.
There was a smattering of applause as if the officers present agreed with him, but most of the officers swiveled in their chairs and attended their monitors prior to the jump. A voice swiftly counted down and then announced that hyperspace had been achieved.
“Commander Melendez, do I really have to take the con?” Stone asked.
Melendez looked surprised. “No, Midshipman Stone, you do not. You are the captain. You may be on the bridge to advise and to give consent, leaving the actual con to the officer on deck. Admiral Shalako often gave advice and consent from his stateroom.”
“Yes, sir,” Stone snorted. “But his stateroom is right down that hallway. Mine is about fifteen kilometers down.”
Melendez smiled. “I think we can find something a bit closer, sir. By ship tradition Admiral Shalako’s quarters is really the captain’s cabin. Since he has been relieved of command you can order him moved and you can move in there.”
“No,” Stone said. “He is an admiral and he may be not guilty for all I know. I think his rank should allow him to stay where he is comfortable. Speaking of his comfort, can you get him another personal assistant or two? His last two were sort of damaged.”
“That has already been taken care of, Mister Stone. But nice thought.”
“I need to explain my actions to Agent Storovitch. He is not going to be happy.”
“No Captain, he is not. But with your devil dogs and your drascos behind you, I don’t think there is much he can do,” Melendez grinned. “And while you were ‘resting your eyes’ we had a new uniform brought up for you. It is in your ready room.”
“Thank you, sir,” Stone said. “Can you give the con to someone else and join me in the admiral’s conference room?”
“Yes, Captain,” Melendez turned and called out. “Light Commander Gubicza, you have the con.”
A voice floated down from the third tier. “Aye, aye, sir.” Ignoring the stairs and ramps, the athletic young officer vaulted the third tier rail, bounced on the second tier, fairly flew to the first tier, and then landed on the deck.
“All right, you landlubbers,” he shouted. “We only have four weeks of hyperspace to get ready, so no slacking off up there.” He was deluged by a rain of styluses and empty drink cartons. “Commander Goobie has the con, sir.”
Melendez shook his head, “The Emperor help us all.”
“The Emperor help us all, sir,” Goobie shouted. “Amen. Can I get an amen from the gallery?”
A chorus of amens rang in the room. Jay and Peebee awoke and wonked back. Soon the bridge was shouting amen and wonking with equal abandon.
Melendez ushered Stone down the short corridor to the admiral’s conference room.
“Commander?” Stone asked. “Is the bridge always that rowdy?”
“No, Mister Stone. We can be very sedate and serious when we need to be. That type of shenanigans only happens when the admiral is off the deck. Admiral Shalako doesn’t approve and if you find it objectionable then I can have it stopped, Captain.”
“No, Commander. You feel free to run the bridge any way you want to. Since, as we both
know, I do not know what I am doing, I want you to take complete control of the bridge. Just let me know what is going on so I am not so far outside the loop that I will be in further violation of the Emperor’s Writ than I already am.”
“Aye, aye, Captain. Trust me Mister Stone, the ship won’t see any activity for the next month while we transit hyperspace.”
Stone looked grim. “You mean other than tossing a few officers into escape pods and sending them in to the gray to die?”
Melendez paled. He started to speak. Stone stopped him.
“Commander, I want to put a lock-out on all escape pods. We can’t use them in hyperspace, so no one even needs access to an escape pod.”
“Sir, the escape pods will need to be prepped prior to our jump into the war zone.”
“No one goes near them without an approved escort,” Stone replied with a nod. “I know there are a lot of ways to kill people on a spacecraft this big and I can’t lock them all off. But I can prevent someone from being thrown into hyperspace.”
“Yes, Captain. May I ask who constitutes an approved escort?” Melendez asked.
“That would be up to Agent Storovitch or Major Numos.”
Stone turned to Allie. “Lieutenant Vedrian, would you contact Major Numos and ask him to join us? And Lieutenant Hammermill, please see if you can locate EMIS Agent Storovitch and ask him to join us as well.”
Bob and Jake were already set up in the conference room. They jumped to their feet when Stone and Melendez entered the room.
Stone looked back at Commander Melendez. “Sir, the bridge may be quiet during hyperjump, but I can tell you there are other rather unpleasant things that have happened to me and others during hyperjump on this spacecraft.”
Melendez looked thoughtful. “Mister Stone, I don’t understand how you could have been pushed into hyperspace and still be standing here.”
“That is a very long story, sir. A story for another time,” Stone relied. He handed his p.a. to the commander. “Please review the areas I have marked while we wait for the others to join us. That data should give you a very good summary of why this investigation must go forward, even as we go to the war’s front lines.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” The man said as he began scanning the data.
Stone said, “If you would all excuse me, I need to go to the ready room. I need to change and freshen up a bit.”
Allie followed him down the short corridor.
“Major Numos is on the way, Captain.”
Stone grinned. “Thank you, Allie. You don’t need to come with me just to watch me change clothes.”
“Wrong, Captain,” Allie said. “As your security escort I need to check the safety of your ready room before you go in. I will stand guard on the hatch as long as you are in there. I will guard from the outside.”
Stone reached out to grab her hand but she pulled away. He frowned, “Are you mad at me?”
Allie shook her head, but she would not look at him. “No, Captain. But our personal relationship is over-”
“What!” Stone interrupted. “Why? What did I do?”
“You took over as captain of this ship, that’s what you did. My feelings for you have not changed one bit. But, I report to Major Numos; he is my boss. The major reports to you; you are his boss. That puts me directly in your chain of command and any relationship between us, except strictly professional, is extremely inappropriate. Got it, Mister Stone?”
“Crap! I didn’t think of that.”
Allie shrugged, “Captain, please don’t take this personal, but I have to think like that. Being a marines is my career; I don’t have a rich family to fall back on.”
“Okay. We will get past this as just as soon as I can. Maybe I should just turn us around and head back to Lazzaroni Station?”
Allie shook her head. “Not on my account, Captain. There are marines out there that need resupply.”
Stone nodded, “Okay, Allie…Lieutenant, can you do me one favor, please? Check my ready room quick. I am going to wet my britches if I don’t get into the toilet in the next few heartbeats.”
He listened to Allie chuckling as she swept through the small ready room. She called all clear and let Stone rush into the room followed by Jay and Peebee. She stepped into the corridor closing the hatch behind her.
Stone used the facilities, washed up quickly and stripped. A new uniform was hanging from a hook. He changed as quickly as he could. But he stopped his hand just as he was about to hit the hatch controls.
He looked at Jay and Peebee. They looked back at him.
“Okay girls, what did I get myself into? I mean, I can’t take a navy ship into a war zone, not even an old warehouse ship. All I know about space warfare is what I see in the videos and maybe playing ‘Iron Commander’ with Jimbo in a vid-arena. And Jimbo beats me almost every time…of course, he cheats. Don’t look at me that way, Jay. Of course he cheats; just because I never caught him at it doesn’t mean he doesn’t. How else can he win every time we get together?
“Crap! Now Allie won’t even let me hold her hand until I am not captain anymore.”
Peebee slid closer and grabbed Stone’s hand in her mouth and held it.
Stone grinned and patted her head with his other hand, “That’s right, holding my hand.”
He looked at Jay. “Now I have to go into another meeting and get yelled at by both sides. And you two haven’t eaten since we left Aunt Ruth’s, plus you probably have to take a bathroom break as much as I just did. Hold on for a bit and I will see if I can get you over to Commander Wright’s tower as soon as I can.
“I wonder if they have a manual for what captains are supposed to do. Yeah, Military Commanding for Dummies, that is what I need. Grandpa was always telling me about leadership and what to do when you’re in charge.
“So, when I start getting yelled at, you two behave yourselves and don’t eat anyone just yet, okay? So, let’s go get yelled at.”
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Stone looked around the table in the conference room. He would have liked it if they had mixed up their seating, but Commander Melendez and Major Numos sat next to each other on his right. The light commander in charge of ship security forces sat next to Numos. The EMIS agents sat together on his left.
Melendez looked smug. Maggot was fuming, barely controlling his anger. Bob and Jake were fiddling with some contraption. Numos was so unreadable he might have been made from stone. The light commander looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but here.
Allie and Hammer were nowhere to be seen, but Stone knew a pair of marine guards and security forces stood outside both conference room entrances.
No one said anything for a few moments.
Finally Maggot started to speak, but Stone waved him silent.
Stone gave a small internal shiver. Each military officer in the room was better suited to command this ship than he. Yet, it had fallen to him to command. He did not see any way out other than to resign and that was not much of an option. He could try and convince Maggot to replace him, but he doubted that the EMIS agent would find any officer tempted to turn tail and run away, now that they were on the way to supply the front line troops.
Stone thought, “No, of course he can find an officer to run away. It is a big ship. But the man…or woman would be a coward if they ran away and would be unfit to command.”
Finally, there was a knock at the hatch and it flew open. Hammermill held the hatch for Admiral Shalako. Once the man was in the room, Hammermill slammed the hatch shut again.
Stone and the other military officers stood at Shalako’s appearance.
Stone thought “He is an admiral and may not be guilty of anything. But, whether he is or not, the rank deserves my respect.” He glanced at the EMIS agents who remained seated. “Still, if Shalako is guilty of ordering someone to try and kill me, then I have just been polite to a murderer.”
Stone gestured to the other end of the table to an empty chair. “Admiral, if you please
?”
Shalako shook his head. “Midshipman, I am an admiral. I do not sit at the foot of my own conference table. Since I am not used to being summoned by a lowly midshipman, I will stand.”
“I apologize for the tone of the request, Admiral,” Stone said as he tried to smile. “I meant it to be a request for you join us, certainly not a summons.” He stepped away from the chair at the head of the table. “Please Admiral, take this chair. This meeting will benefit greatly from your advice.”
Stone walked around the table to stand behind the chair at the foot of the table. He could hear his Grandpa’s voice booming in his ears that all things were negotiable and giving up a small concession early would not weaken a strong position, but it might make the weaker side relax until you bring the house down around their ears.
“If everyone would please be seated,” Stone said. He watched while the military officers settled into their seats, then he took his seat last.
Bob leaned over to Maggot, whispered something in his ear and pointed at a readout of his p.a. Maggot read it and grinned.
Stone continued to sit without speaking. It was not a negotiation tactic. He just didn’t know where to start.
Finally Shalako said, “Why am I here? Is this some kind of sick joke or is it the start of my inquest?”
“Admiral,” Stone said, “the Periodontitis has set the original ordered course for the Hyrocanian front. I asked you here for your input on preparations and your advice on what we might expect to find when we come out of hyperspace.”
Shalako looked skeptical. He glanced at the EMIS agents.
“Of course, you are still under investigation and everything you say is being recorded,” Stone said. “I would expect you to avoid incriminating you-”
“Ha!” Shalako exploded. “You honestly expect me to believe you called me here to ask advice when you know well and good I ordered that idiot Vaarhoo to take care of you?”
“Admiral,” Stone said, “I assure you I haven’t seen any evidence to that and-”
“You haven’t seen the evidence, but I can assure you, that your pet E.M.I.S. agent has seen it. I am under no illusions that everyone had their p.a. shut off or that some security camera didn’t record my conversation with Second Lieutenant Vaarhoo.”