Snippet 5 - The Admiral

Chapter:

    The former intelligence officer, looking very harried and overloaded, caught back up with me on the Flag Bridge.

    I was sitting in the Admiral’s chair (or throne as I still thought of it, especially since it was the only chair on the bridge big enough to take my power armored enlarged bulk) watching the half trained bridge crew go about the job of scanning near and far space inside the solar system.  In the background I listened as the bridge damage control center coordinated with the engineering and damage control parties, as they went about routine maintenance and  repairs.

    Everyone sounded nervous and in some cases like they didn’t really know what they were doing.  Occasionally I’d clump my way to a position of interest and peer over the shoulder of someone.  I was trying to get a feel for what they were doing, but I was having limited success.  By 'limited,' I mean I had absolutely no better idea what they were doing after observing them than I did before observing them.  Unfortunately, having someone in power armor looming over you tends to make most people nervous, so I tried to limit myself to the desk controls on the throne as much as possible.

    I was busy mirroring the display of a sensor operator when my First Officer cleared his throat.

    I turned my head to face him.  “Yes?” I imagine I sounded more than a little irritated, but it had little effect on the already flustered junior lieutenant.

    “Engineer Spalding told to me to inform you that he refuses to waste time on staff meetings on the bridge when there are more important meetings in engineering, or better yet actual work to be done on the ship.”  Raphael Tremblay said, reporting on our wayward Chief Engineer.

    “I take it they freed him from the brig, then,” I said a little too sharply and I knew it.

    “Yes, Admiral,” he nodded.

    “What else?” I consciously tried to moderate my tone now.  Too many outbursts simply wouldn't do here on the bridge.  People were tense enough as it was.

    “Sir?” the former intelligence officer said.

    “What else did he say,” I replied.  “Our Chief Engineer is quite the character, I’m sure he had more to say than he wouldn’t be showing up at a meeting.”

    “Other than disobeying a direct order and generally being abrasive and insubordinate?” Lieutenant Tremblay asked disbelievingly.

    I gestured with my hand for him to get to the point.  Servos whined in response, and I think my new First Officer flinched at the sound of the power armor's mechanisms.

    “He complained about everything from the state of the ship to the former Imperial crew, and even the former Caprian crew who, in his words, ‘Deserted  the ship.'  He also claimed engineering had lost the most people of any department on the ship.”

    I'm afraid I wasn’t able to keep my eyes from widening at this news.

    The new first officer rolled his eyes in response.  “Engineering only lost about a quarter of its people.  From the initial reports most other departments lost half or more.”

    I tried to hide a sigh of relief at this news, bad as it was.  “Not quite as bad as I’d feared, then,” I said in a measured tone.

    Raphael Tremblay made a back and forth movement of his hand.  “Better than most but I wouldn’t say it even approaches the level of good news.   Initial reports are that most of those still with us are hopelessly junior or out and out trainees.”

    From what I’d seen so far I had to agree with him.  Still it wouldn’t do to talk down about the crew where they could hear him.  Images of Jean-luc and his traitorous crew had formed a permanent presence in my mind's eye.  I raised my voice above the general din of the bridge and said, “Everyone who stayed with us is worth two of those disloyal jackanapes who left with the Imperials.”  The former intelligence officer opened his mouth but I quickly cut him off.  “As for training, that just takes time. I have no doubt that our ship can and will be the equal of any Imperial crew, given the chance.  What's more, they now know they are surrounded by comrades who won’t abandon them in the middle of their mission,.”

    The speech appeared to have the desired effect, as I saw some of the crew on the bridge straighten their shoulders.

    Lieutenant Tremblay slowly closed his mouth and glanced over at the bridge crew before deciding not to continue that line of conversation any further.  The bridge crews lost over three fourths of its people, including the Captain and all the senior officers, and we have no trained tactical officers at all,” he said instead, trying a different approach.

    “I know that,” I replied shortly, silently congratulating myself on identifying this particular Lieutenant as a threat to my budding command.  I drew a measured breath.
   
    Lieutenant Tremblay’s mouth quirked but he didn’t look pleased, “I understand we are instituting a new training program to fill the holes.”

    “I'm glad to see you've made yourself aware of such developments, Lieutenant,” I said with a cold, practiced smile.

    The Lieutenant gave a fleeting smile and then frowned, “If I’m going to be your First Officer, its important I know I’m responsible for something like a new training program before I’m approached by crewmembers looking to apply.”

    “You've already demonstrated that you've got your finger on the ship's pulse,” I said unrepentantly.  "I have the utmost confidence in your ability to continue displaying such attention to details which concern ship wide operations."  All of those one-sided public debate defeats with my cousins were starting to pay dividends, I thought to myself with a smirk.

    “I mean it!” he said angrily.  “If you don’t want me to be your first officer, that’s fine with me.  But if you do, I need to be in the loop on things like this.”

    I narrowed my eyes and considered.  “I suppose you’re right,” I finally agreed.

    The former intelligence officer lowered his voice.  “Why do we even have a training program in the first place, Admiral?  We lost our training cadre when the Imperials boarded the Invictus Rising,” he said, then continued in a harsher tone.  “For that matter what’s this I hear floating around the decks about us going to retrieve those pirate ships we captured, before the imperials make off with the crew’s prize money?”

    “The first thing we should do is head to the nearest port and report in,” Tremblay finished more loudly than perhaps he’d intended.

    By the stiffened backs of several members of the bridge crew, I was aware that they must be listening with at least one ear cocked in our direction, I paused before also replying loudly enough to be heard across the bridge.  “I have every intention of taking the ship straight to an official port, but only after we’ve secured this crew’s prize money.”  I think I managed to keep my voice fairly steady and measured.

    “Prize money!” blurted the new first officer.  “This ship may need a lot of things, but prize money has to be near the bottom of the list.”

    “Maybe prize money ranks low on your own personal list, Raphael, but while a couple of months’ worth of pay for a common crewman may seem like an  inconsequential amount to you, I assure you it’s not inconsequential to many of the crew.” I retorted smoothly.  I knew for certain that the money was important to Lieutenant Tremblay and thought many of the crew had to feel the same way.  “More importantly, however, as the flagship we have a  responsibility to the rest of the patrol fleet and we will have the opportunity to meet with two of the larger ships in our fleet, while at the same time securing our prizes.  They need to know about the Imperial withdrawal as well.”

    Lieutenant Tremblay visibly pulled himself up short and closed his mouth tight.  Disagreement still radiated off him.

    I softened my voice.  “Besides, it hurts nothing to have a training program for filling critical spots that have no one to man them.  The downside is that the crew wastes sometime learning they have absolutely no talent for the position they’ve always dreamed about.  The upside is they find themselves on the bridge of a battleship a longtime before they ever dreamed possible.  If something does go wrong, we’ve got a few more semi-trained people to help deal with it.”  I was doing my best to extend an olive branch while simultaneously maintaining the upper hand.

    Tremblay gave me a long, accusing look.  “After we get those prize ships we’re heading straight to the nearest port,” he asked, obviously still suspicious.

    I gave a tight smile, “Well, the nearest one with a space dock and a full service salvage yard at any rate.  We wouldn’t want to go to all the effort of retrieving those two ships, only to have them disappear into some local planetary defense force.  Or find ourselves saddled with a poor evaluation that loses us half the prize money because we didn’t take it to a place with a top salvage evaluator."  At this was point I was working entirely off of holo-drama  knowledge of space operations from a popular vid-series, but it at least sounded reasonable.

    I have to admit that by this time, I had been considering just exactly what a share of prize money could do for my own career.  Combined with the courses I had already completed, Imperial accredited courses at that, there was good chance I could afford to enter a top Caprian University.  If parliament ever decided they were willing to let me out of their sight for more than two minutes, I thought glumly.  I sighed, as my dreams once again came crashing down around my ears.

    Junior Lieutenant Tremblay finally spoke after a long silence.  “Considering the circumstances, I have to think the planetary parliament,” he pointed out, “and the system defense force, will be very interested in getting this ship back safe and sound.”

    “I don’t see a great deal of danger in retrieving a couple of prize ships.  Do you?” I asked, an edge returning to my voice.

    “Not danger, per se, but what if the Imperials get there first, or even while we’re getting ready to take the ships to a salvage yard?”  Tremblay was looking cross again, his composure teetering on a knife's edge.

    “If the Imperials show, we’re not going to pick a fight,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders, “so barring criminal stupidity, like attacking an Imperial command carrier, I see no obvious danger.  I don’t foresee any problems we can't manage.”

    The former intelligence officer hesitated.

    “Do you see a problem, Lieutenant?”  I demanded, looking him in the eye.

    “No,” he said then added, “Admiral.  But something might still come up.”

    I shrugged again, “Well as far as I’m concerned, there you have it.  No obvious danger.  Let’s remember, Officer Tremblay, this isn’t a luxury cruise.  Part of the reason we were sent all the way out here is to stop danger from reaching civilized space.”

    “As a trained officer in the Caprian SDF, I’m aware why we’re out here.” Tremblay said.

    I could hear the implied rebuke when the other man used the words ‘trained officer’ but there was nothing I could do about my lack of training.   Other than resign, which I wasn’t even sure the parliament would let me do.  On the other hand that luxury cruise comment had probably been over the top.  I decided to ignore the whole thing and let it pass.

    “Well now that you’re officially informed about the new training program, why don’t you go see to that or one the other many things you’ve got on your plate.  I think I can handle the bridge while we’re parked in an empty solar system.” I gave an airy wave, putting all my royal training into the motion.

    Tremblay spun on his heel and left the Flag Bridge, obviously unimpressed with the dismissal.

    I breathed easier, having successfully circumvented one confrontation.  I was treading on the thin ice and I knew it.  I was a complete fraud when it came to Admiraling.  My only hope was that no one else realized just how out of my depth I really was.

    That’s why I was still in powered armor.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep the suit on forever, could I?




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