“Course plotted for a straight-line exit out of the solar system. We’ll pass near Jupiter, but the trip should be smooth sailing out of the system.”
“Adjust course to take us to Mars,” Dewis ordered.
Jacob turned to the captain. “That will delay our departure from the system.”
“I’m aware of that, commander. But I’d like the people of Mars to have a chance to see the first capital ship of TERRA that will be leaving the solar system.”
As far as Jacob was concerned, most people would think of the SOLARA as the second TERRA ship to leave the system, the first being the PHOENIX. If the captain wanted to indulge his illusions of grandeur, the commander wasn’t going to stop him. The commander was pretty sure no one in Crimson City was going to be racing outside to try and catch a glimpse of them.
Jacob nodded. “Very well, sir. Navigation, adjust course to Mars.”
“Course adjusted,” Nalus acknowledged.
Jacob looked over to David, who seemed to show no emotion to the news they’d be passing by Mars. The lieutenant’s last post was at the comm station on the planet, but the news of them heading there didn’t seem to affect him. Maybe David kept his emotions in check, like Jacob, because of being alienated from his peers. The commander decided if he was going to be friends with anyone, it’d be the only other person here who had served on PHOENIX.
********
The rest of the commander’s duty shift was uneventful. SOLARA did reach Mars, and Captain Dewis wasted no time contacting the communications center. He made a grand speech about how it was a privilege to command a ship that will be taking the first steps into a new frontier. It was typical self-indulgent behavior Jacob expected from a TERRA officer. Take something and make it sound so important when it wasn’t a big deal. Jacob remembered when Captain Roberts made a speech just before the PHOENIX jumped out of the solar system. His words were inspiring and encouraged the crew to do their best, whereas Jacob rolled his eyes several times during Dewis’s speech. After he finished, the captain ordered SOLARA to do a loop around Mars before continuing its destination out of the system. Tomorrow morning, they would reach the outskirts of the solar system and jump away. Jacob expected another long-winded speech by the captain before they jumped.
The rest of the day was uneventful. It consisted of monitoring ship operations and consulting with some departments. As the early evening hour approached, the commander made his way down to the mess hall for dinner. The hall was a typical cafeteria style setup, with lines of tables connected in rows. There were a few round tables at the outer ends of the area. The other capital ships had similar setups. No fancy restaurants or cafés here. That’s another thing Jacob missed about PHOENIX. He could live being in much smaller quarters and working with far less sophisticated technology, but he hated to give up the restaurants and food options PHOENIX offered in Central, its artificial city. On SOLARA, the crew was stuck eating whatever meals the bots whipped up for the day. Breakfast was usually cereal or oatmeal. Lunch and dinner was always a surprise. Unlike the other capital ships, the bots on SOLARA had been programmed not to announce what was going to be on the dinner menu. It had become a quirky tradition on this ship. Some of the officers even made bets what would be served each day.
As Jacob got in line, he saw the dinner menu was chicken with sourdough bread with three options of sauces for the chicken. So much for getting a rare steak with garlic potatoes and mixed vegetables. Jacob sighed as he grabbed a plate and placed it on his tray. He went and grabbed a glass of water, avoiding a bot moving up and down the tables picking up empty trays and trash. Senior officers had the privilege of having an alcoholic beverage, but Jacob wasn’t one to drink.
As he proceeded through the mess hall, he noticed the looks he was getting from the crew. No one smiled at him or even muttered a hello. He could have grabbed an empty seat anywhere. If the people around him wanted to move, they could. Instead, he headed to an empty round table and took a seat there. He began eating his meal in solitude, going over some reports in his mind. He hardly noticed the random stares at him. Maybe from here on out he’d take his meals back to his quarters.
“Looks like you could use some company.” Jacob looked up to see Lieutenant Walters and Chief Gimron, each holding a food tray.
Jacob didn’t agree. “Not a good idea. You may lose some popularity points with the crew.”
“That’s the nice thing about being a senior officer,” Michelle said as she and Jonas sat down. “We can do whatever we want and not get any back-lip from our subordinates.” She turned around and looked at the officers in the mess hall. “Any of you got something to say?” The officers turned back to eating their meals, not replying to her. Michelle turned back to the commander and smiled. “See, we know how to keep them in line.”
Jacob couldn’t help but crack a smile. Michelle extended her hand. “I’m security chief Michelle Gimron. Pleased to finally meet you, sir.”
Jacob shook her hand. “Likewise, chief. It’s nice that you’re not opposed to me being here.”
Michelle began picking apart her chicken. “I’ll be honest. I wasn’t thrilled when I heard about your post here, but Lieutenant Walters told me all about you and thinks highly of you. If he believes you’re an asset to the ship, then so do I. I’ve learned never to doubt my friend.”
Jacob smiled at Jonas. “I appreciate the vote of confidence. Although lieutenant, I’m still not sure why you’re giving me a chance. Soon as people learn I was part of PHOENIX’s crew during the Screen mission, they usually treat me like a parasite.”
Jonas dismissed that notion. “They’re just jealous. They’re only like that because they didn’t get to enjoy being heralded as heroes by the public like you were when you returned. They feel better to bad talk anyone who served on PHOENIX. It’s going to take years to change that mindset. Believe me, I’ve experienced it firsthand.”
“How so?” Jacob asked.
“My sister’s serving as the senior operations officer on PHOENIX,” Jonas revealed. “She did me proud, getting posted to the flagship straight out of the Academy.” Jonas had no idea how Shelly got the post. He questioned her extensively and even she was at a loss as to how she was selected. “A lot of my peers, who never met her, were quick to bad mouth her.”
“I didn’t know you had a sibling on that ship,” Jacob said, who didn’t recall it in the engineer’s personnel report.
“It’s not discussed publicly here,” Michelle explained. “Lieutenant Walters got into a fistfight with two officers he overheard talking crap about his sister.” She gently nudged Jonas in the ribs. “Luckily, he has pull with the security chief and only spent one night in a cell.”
Jonas winked at his friend. “After that, the crew learned to keep their mouths shut about Shelly. They won’t even badmouth you to me.”
It made more sense to Jacob why Jonas was so friendly towards him now that he knew the engineer’s sister was on PHOENIX. In a sense, Jonas had a personal interest in that ship. “Captain Dewis assures me that I have his full support,” Jacob stated.
Michelle leaned forward. “I know we just met, but I have to ask, commander. Why are you here? I know you served at the engineering bureau for a year before coming here. But why leave PHOENIX at all? From what I heard, only a handful of the original officers left.”
Jacob wasn’t interested in rehashing the past. “It’s complicated, and it’s not worth getting into.”
Michelle quickly determined Jacob wasn’t going to reveal why he left PHOENIX. She wasn’t interested in putting in the effort to coax it out of him, but she gave it one last try. “You do know rumors are circulating as to why you left.” The rumors were, as expected, varied. Some speculated that Commander Diego had personally insulted John Roberts and was expelled from PHOENIX, others said that Diego was captured, tortured by the Screen, and had deep psychological scars from his imprisonment but refused to resign his commission to get proper medical help. The most ou
trageous rumor was he got an alien pregnant and escaped PHOENIX so as not to face the responsibility of caring for a human/alien hybrid.
Jacob had to resist rolling his eyes. “Let them speculate. I’m used to it.”
When the chief realized she wasn’t going to get the story out of the commander, she moved on to the next topic of interest. “Did you know Lieutenant Block? He served on PHOENIX for a short time after the Screen mission.”
“No,” Jacob replied. “He joined the ship after I’d already left.”
“It’s pretty remarkable to have two officers who served on PHOENIX here,” Jonas quipped. Out of all the officers who left PHOENIX after the initial mission, only a handful remained in TERRA. A couple resigned their commissions, but most joined Earth Security.
“You don’t know why he left that ship?” Michelle asked Jacob.
“No idea.” The commander did go through the lieutenant’s personnel file, but it didn’t yield anything to explain why he left PHOENIX after only a few short months. Jacob had his reasons for leaving that he wanted to keep private, but he felt it was important to know why David left the ship. A good executive officer made it a point to know his officers’ motivations, whether to help or hinder their career prospects.
“Wells to Chief Gimron,” came the voice over the chief’s pip.
“Go ahead.”
“Chief, that security program you put in my terminal has locked me out.”
“Damn it to hell!” Michelle blurted in anger.
“Sir?” Wells replied over her pip.
“I’ll be right there. Gimron out.” She pushed her tray away as she got up. “So much for a nice sit-down meal.”
“Need any help?” Jacob offered.
Michelle shook her head. “No, you two enjoy your dinners. It was good chatting with you, commander. I’ll see you and Jonas tomorrow.”
“Don’t punch the terminal,” Jonas joked as she left the mess hall.
Jacob waited until she was gone before saying anything. “I like her.”
Jonas smiled in agreement. “She’s great. She comes across as tough, but she’s a nice person. She’s quick to let you know if she likes you or not, kind of like Lieutenant Nalus.”
“As I recall, the lieutenant didn’t directly say what she thought of me,” Jacob recalled, referring to what happened during the staff meeting.
“She was just being a bitch.” Jonas saw the commander’s eyes widen. “Well, it’s true, isn’t it?”
“Let’s just say her behavior was unbecoming of an officer.” Jacob was trying to be diplomatic. Despite the low opinion he had about the navigation officer, as executive officer it was expected for him not to be disparaging about anyone serving under him. Even though he liked Jonas and was starting to consider him a friend, he still had to adhere to protocol.
Jonas realized the commander’s position dictated he had to save face. “That’s okay, commander. I know you can’t say anything. I will tell you what she did wasn’t right. She doesn’t know you and needs to give you a chance. Yes, I know you’ve got that stigma of being a rebel, or traitor, or whatever the hell they’re calling you. But people need to give each other a chance. Next time she gives you shit I will reprimand her. I do outrank her,” he said, referring to his first rank lieutenant class versus her third rank.”
Jacob couldn’t help but smile. “You seem pretty passionate about this.”
Jonas realized he had become emotional. “I guess because I experienced it firsthand with what people said about my sister.”
“I appreciate where you’re coming from lieutenant, but I can fight my own battles. Let me have the contentious relationship with the crew.”
“I’ll try, commander but I can’t promise what’ll happen next time she, or anyone else, gives you lip.”
It was more than Diego expected, but he was glad he seemed to have made a friend on the ship. “About your sister, how’s your family handling her serving on the PHOENIX?”
“My other sister Natalie is thrilled for Shelly, but mom and dad are not happy. When Shelly told them about her post, they tried to talk her out of it. They don’t like the idea of their little girl being out in deep space. They think she’s going to get killed.”
It was rhetoric Jacob heard numerous times. “A lot of TERRA family members never expected their loved ones to serve on a ship doing space exploration.”
Jonas shook his head. “No, mom and dad have always been weird about traveling off world. They’ve never left Earth and refused to take us kids. When Natalie was twenty-nine, she snuck Shelly and me off to Mars. Our folks flipped out when they found out what we did.”
Jacob was enjoying this story. “Why even tell them?”
“We didn’t. Natalie tried to sneak us into a bar and we got caught. I was seventeen and Shelly was only nine. I don’t know how Natalie thought we could pass as legal age. Crimson PD called mom and dad, and we were put on the next transport back to Earth.” It was the one story the three siblings enjoyed reminiscing about whenever they got together. “But that trip solidified it for Shelly and me. We both decided to join TERRA.”
“What about Natalie?” Jacob asked.
“She’s always been a bit of a wild child. She never had the patience or the grades to try to get into the Academy. She’s married, lives in Savannah, and has three kids. She’s constantly talking mom and dad down from their worries about Shelly and me.” Jonas realized he had been rattling on for a while. “I’m sorry, I’m talking to much about myself. What about you commander? Any family?”
Jacob slowly shook his head. He didn’t want to discuss his family situation and kept the answer simple. “No, my parents have been gone for a while. I’ve got no one else.”
“Ah, a career officer then.”
“Something like that,” Jacob remarked. He tried not thinking of his past. The one benefit about keeping busy here and back at the bureau was that it didn’t give him much time to reflect on some of the choices he made back then, choices he regretted.
Neither the commander nor chief engineer noticed they were being watched. On the other side of the mess hall, Lieutenant Kelly Nalus was observing them. She couldn’t understand how Jonas could be sitting there with a smile on his face chatting away with the new commander. She’d worked with him for many years. Surely, he had the same opinion of PHOENIX officers as the rest of the crew. And for Chief Gimron to join them? What the hell was happening on this ship? It was as if they had already given up trying to get rid of Commander Diego and were going to roll out the red carpet for him. It was a revolting thought.
“Keep frowning like that and you’ll get wrinkles,” remarked Doctor Morrell, who was sitting with her.
His calm demeanor surprised her. “How can you sit here and eat seeing two of our senior officers sitting with Commander Diego?”
“Because I’m hungry.”
“You can’t be happy about the commander’s presence here.”
Morrell put down his fork and looked at the navigation officer. “I’m not happy about it, but there’s nothing I can do. Like you, I logged my official protest with the captain. Obviously, that did nothing as the commander’s still here.”
Nalus wasn’t done complaining. “It’s not right. Commander Diego betrayed TERRA. Just because the alliance defeated the Screen shouldn’t mean he walks away without facing any consequences.”
Morrell nodded. “I agree, but public opinion is squarely in favor of the PHOENIX crew. TERRA’s hands are tied. You’ve seen the government removing most of our key officers and replacing them with Earth Security.”
“Rumor is they’re planning to merge Earth Security and TERRA into one organization,” Nalus added. That was a notion that made her nervous. If ES could take over TERRA, the organization she was so fond of would fundamentally change.
“If that happens, you know they’ll stack the key positions with ES people,” Morrell pointed out. “No, I’m afraid we’re stuck with the good commander, at least for th
is mission.”
Nalus sat back in her chair. It wasn’t the opinion she wanted to hear, but Doctor Morrell had served in the fleet for fifteen years. She respected his thoughts. She didn’t want anything to stand in her way of climbing up the ranks in the fleet. Given the hostile exchange between her and Commander Diego at the staff meeting, she couldn’t imagine being promoted while he was the XO here. That’s all it took sometimes, one bad exchange with a superior officer and one could find their career stagnant.
********
Lieutenant Block was lying on his bed doing some reading. He was caught up on his duties as senior communications officer. Reading was the one luxury that afforded him a chance to escape his problems in the real world. He ate one of his ration bars kept stocked in his quarters. It was preferable than going to the mess hall for dinner. He didn’t enjoy being around people and did whatever he could to avoid social situations. He heard several crew members complaining about Commander Diego’s presence on the ship and assumed officers would have the same feelings towards him. It was best to lay low when not on duty.
Crew quarters on the SOLARA were compact. The one advantage to small quarters was that each crew member had their own private space. The downside was they only had basic amenities. The quarters consisted of a bed, a desk, a personal shower and small bathroom area, and a closet to store clothes and a few personal items. David was glad he brought only a single suitcase of things. He arranged to have the belongings he left in his apartment on Mars to be sold or donated.
The door chime caught David’s attention and he quickly sat up in bed. “Come in.” He was surprised when Commander Diego walked in.
David got up and stood at attention. Jacob raised his hand. “At ease, lieutenant.”
“Is there something wrong, sir?” as David relaxed.
“No, I just wanted to see how you were settling in.” Jacob looked around. It seemed the lieutenant didn’t bring much with him. The quarters were bare, not even so much of a picture sitting on the desk or hanging on the wall.
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