17:30 Naval Docking Ring -- CNS Des Moines Berth
John had been waiting impatiently for nearly thirty minutes outside of the CNS Des Moines’ primary docking door. Despite having very clear orders that specifically point out to anyone that can read, the posted guards forbade him from entering the ship until they received approval from inside. Neither guard looked comfortable with the unusual order but they were nevertheless resigned to following it.
He stood there motionless and without showing any hint of emotion, despite raging internally. At precisely 17:31, exactly sixty seconds after his orders stipulated to arrive onboard the vessel was clearance given. Internally John was just itching to pick a fight with the asshole, or assholes, that instigated this. This was pettiness at its worst.
He was taken by surprise though by the first officer greeting him in the doorway, “Your late.”
“Sir!” John saluted, “This officer was here on time and early, thus I must disagree with such an assessment. The unusual command to forbid entry of an assigned officer to this vessel made me late. If you would like me to quote the sections in the uniform code of conduct for officers, I’d be happy to regurgitate the applicable regs.”
“We’ll overlook this for now,” Lieutenant Kelly Page motioned John to follow her, “Just this one time. Commander Shephard would like to speak with you.”
The Oslo class cruiser wasn’t a recent design, but it was at least at least a post-war design. That meant the hallways were a more comfortable width to walk through. The living quarters for both enlisted and officers were significantly better and larger as well.
But, since John wasn’t an ensign that meant he got to skip past the shared quarters. Skipping a rank off the bat wasn’t the worst thing to happen. His presumption was proven right when they walked by the officer’s quarters.
“Well, since you’re not technically a newbie you’ll skip that room. You’re in room 219,” Kelly casually pointed in the general direction of the room as they walked by them.
John followed the lieutenant towards the command-and-control room at the center of the ship. The captain’s office was connected to the main room. The door to the CNC opened and revealed a drab room full of terminals and desks. Only a handful of people were in the room, none of which looked to be doing any work of any kind.
“Captain’s office is right there,” Kelly pointed and turned around to walk out of the room.
“Thank you, ma’am,” John said as he strode forward.
John pressed the announcement button on the door and waited patiently for it to open. True to form he waited there another five minutes. The others in the room were sizing him up. By the time the door opened the only read they had on the new officer was that he was steely.
“Enter,” a voice said over the intercom.
The doors then slowly opened. John walked forward and stopped in front of his new commander’s desk. He saluted immediately.
“Third Lieutenant John Lief reporting as ordered, sir.”
“At ease Lieutenant. You are late. I expect promptness in my officers.”
John stood there stoically and spoke without any hint of emotion, “Then perhaps you’d like to speak to the officer or officers that received my request to board the ship at 17:05, 17:11, and 17:23 and then failed to respond to the requests until 17:31. CNS regulation 245.2a states that docked ships that are staffed must respond to any lawful requests to board a vessel within five minutes. As I had my orders, and they were transmitted with each request to the officers on board, this vessel was actually derelict in their duty.”
Lieutenant Command Kory Shephard set the data slate down and sat back in his chair, “The rumors I hear about an eidetic memory are true then?”
“They would be, yes, sir.”
“And what of the others regarding your telepathic capabilities?”
“What rumors have you heard sir? I’m afraid they are as varied as they are many.”
“That you’re a terrifyingly powerful one masquerading as a much weaker one.”
John stood there motionless, “That may have been true at one time, but no longer. I cannot read your mind nor anyone else’s. Though I suspect the telepath that you have in the other room is rather confused with what she’s seeing.”
Kory pressed a button on his terminal, “Lieutenant, come in please.”
Second Lieutenant Rebecca Linton walked in and immediately walked over to Kory and whispered something. The two had a brief, but very heated conversation. Rebecca was repulsed to her very core by whatever it was that she was asked to do.
John pulled two data slates from his coat pockets and handed each to the two other officers in the room, “You’ll need to read and sign that. To paraphrase you’re not allowed to speak to anyone, under threat of a general court-martial, of what you saw telepathically and what she told you, sir.”
“Then it’s really true, you’re no longer a telepath?” Kory asked once again.
“That is correct sir, sir.”
“What are you? I’ve seen all kinds of men and women. Murderers, psychopaths, sociopaths, and plain normal people. I have never felt such an empty maw of nothingness.”
“I wish I knew ma’am. I am effectively a walking psychic scar it seems.”
“Becky, you are not to speak of this conversation ever again. Read through that and I expect it signed on my desk by the end of your shift. I was given a heads up about keeping this condition secret.”
The lieutenant walked out of the room and sat down at a seat directly across from the door. She looked back at John as the doors shut. The look on her face spoke volumes. It was one of disgust and loathing. She had dared to attempt to probe deeper than anyone else and was perilously close to being swallowed up by whatever John was.
“Take a seat lieutenant. I owe you an apology for our initial contact. My father was reluctant to discuss his questionable slush fund, but he did in fact confirm that the majority amount he lost was in fact only around five percent of the net value of it,” Kory signed the data slate and clicked on the submission button, “Now, the big question I have is what to do with you. Were you an ensign it’d be simple to drop you in some menial position, but thanks to the Academy they’ve made you a rather difficult commodity to handle now.”
“I only want to serve sir. All I ask is a fair opportunity.”
“I’m going to have you serve in CNC. Intelligence and reconnaissance analysis is your specialty. You’ll be reporting to Lieutenant…” Kory held up a figure as he looked for something, “Ah here it is. I received a request to stow a suit of power armor. I’ve not seen this variant before.”
“It’s a bespoke version of something Naval Intelligence was curious about creating. They’ve lost interest in the project so I’m self-funding it.”
Kory cocked his head as he looked at the lieutenant, “Lieutenant, did you just say your self-funding it now?”
“Yes, sir.”
“If I’m reading this correctly then the armor is a new plasteel and ceramite alloy. I am by no means an engineer or metallurgist, but that is not something that is mass-produced yet," Kory gave a dismissive look at John, "Which means it’s horrifically expensive.”
“That is true sir. To speak freely, it’s a bit of a dick punch when they break. As to how I self-fund this project, I started day trading when I was too young to legally trade and also married into a hilariously wealthy family.”
Kory chuckled to himself, “Well if you are breaking any with our normal actions then things have gone horribly wrong. In any case, I’ll add you to the roster for ship boarding activities and training. Go ahead and drop off your gear in your room and then you are excused for the rest of the day. Our shifts start at 08:00, morning chow starts at 07:00 in the officer’s mess.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to serve under you.”
“Off the record, what do you think of the current state of things?”
John sighed, “I had expected a military action within five years against the Alliance. The food exports that we cut which resulted in increased export prices angered them more than we presumed. The Mercs are being duplicitous assholes as they always are as they can smell a money-making opportunity from light-years away.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Then why haven’t they pushed beyond that system?”
“Either they are looking for something very specific there or that’s the only system they wanted. It is well known that their systems lack some of the minerals necessary to make ceramite alloys, which are abundant there. They probably knew we weren’t going to counterattack that hard by taking that system. Though had Seventh and Eighth Fleets sent assets immediately we could have destroyed their fleet and taken the system back.”
Kory nodded, “What would you do?”
John walked over to the terminal on the wall to his right and pulled up a star map. It was zoomed in to a specific point along the northwest border with the Alliance, virtually on the other side of Confederate space. He pointed at six systems.
“I’d faint attacks by massing fleets here and here. Each one has a several-hour slip jump to the target. Meanwhile, I’d have assembled a fleet here, well inside our space but still within jump range to this system here. It’s a system not unlike the one they took from us. The difference though is there are minerals here that our industry could benefit from having. Minerals that the Alliance has less use for currently.”
“Very interesting. Have a good evening lieutenant. I should warn you that the powers-that-be are keen to see how you handle this commission.”
“I will endeavor to excel in it.” John saluted and left the room.
19:45 Granny Smith’s Home Cookin’
Alice both laughed and loved John’s recommendation for the first restaurant to try out on the station. She was sure John was going to pick some stuffy, albeit highly recommended, three-star restaurant. Instead, they went to a hole-in-the-wall-style place that the junior officers and enlisted assigned to the station loved.
The tables had a flannel style covering on top of them. The menus were incredibly plain as well, a single laminated piece of paper. Breakfast and lunch were on one side with dinner on the other. But this joint made everything by hand. No packages to reheat or pre-measured portions like many of the chains used.
“Honey, perfect pick. This is just so homey,” Alice smiled as she took in the seating area.
John was playing with the cheap utensils, “Right? Heard about this place from a couple of seamen on the Des Moines. I didn’t really have it in me to deal with a fancy place tonight.”
“We have plenty of time to dress to our nines, don’t we?”
John nodded as he took a healthy drink from his mug of beer, “How’d your intro go?”
Alice lit up, “Oh my god. My CO is amazing. The workload is way less than expected. Which is nice given my studies too,” she took a drink of her wine, “How was yours?”
“I have a feeling most of the senior officers would like me to be elsewhere. Captain seems to be less down on me than before, but I don’t see him being all that excited for me to be on board. Pretty sure the first officer was trying to get me to take some blame for being late.”
“Threw the regs in their face?”
John smiled, “You know it. Captain got promoted to lieutenant commander, so he might not be long for this assignment. He likely will be reassigned after one or two more deployments.”
“Six to nine months of pain and annoyance?”
John shrugged, “One can only hope. We are forward scouts, but he doesn’t seem to be a glory seeker or an idiot. We shouldn’t get into any trouble.”
Alice squinted at John because she clearly didn’t like the tone he was taking, “Look, John. This conflict with the Alliance has me worried.”
John reached over the table to squeeze one of her hands, “Don’t worry. Even when we go into enemy territory our fleet’s focus is on some backwater systems that don’t have much presence there. Basically, we go in, peek around, and run scans and drills. Then bounce out and come home. Easy peasy.”
“I just don’t like how we’re basically at war.”
John took another drink, “Technically we’re not. Despite the annexation and theft of that system, the civvies are calling this a conflict and that system is contested. If we do decide to acquire one of their systems, it’ll be interesting to see if they escalate things any.”
“Have you heard what any of our other fleets are doing?”
“Well, everyone is on edge,” John chuckled to himself for the bad joke, “Seventh and Eighth have hit some patrols here and there but we haven’t done much besides harry and harass.”
“I will try to worry less, but you know me,” Alice took a sip of wine, “Oh, I heard from Kristin. They are tentatively planning to get married back on Earth sometime next year.”
“Neat.”
“Me getting home to see it is probably going to be easy. But you?”
John sighed, “Yeah, easier said than done. That applies to her as well you know. But the military will allow some leeway with one of their own getting married. Those of us on the outside are less lucky.”
“Jess also sent me a message. Her roommates are annoying, but the ship is fine.”
John laughed, “I lucked out with skipping over ensign. Got my own private room on board,” John looked way too proud of his non-accomplishment, “Kevin sent me a message earlier today. The main engineer has taken a liking to him. Apparently, my running of the mouth constantly rubbed off on him and he gave her his blunt opinion.”
“Kevin was never afraid of sharing his opinions though, especially when it came to his area of expertise.”
“That’s true. It helps that could back his talk up though.”
“Theresa passed her boards, so she’s finally been to work properly,” Alice said, “Oh, I also met one of our neighbors. Older couple. They did say though that a couple of the units near us are our age.”
“My guess is owners or executives. Not many junior officers in the Navy are going to live there.”
Alice giggled, “Whatever gave you that thought?”
The couple continued with their conversation bouncing from subject to subject. The food was served, and it exceeded expectations. This was no hole-in-the-wall restaurant, it was legitimately good. They would come back here in the future.
When their meal was over, they paid with a smile and walked back to their apartment. John took Alice on a detour around the green space near their new home. There was a Japanese Zen Garden in a section. Several trees native to North America were also planted there. A man-made stream flowed through the area. The couple took deep breaths in and enjoyed the fresh air.
Eventually, they made their way back to their home. When they got there it was as if a switch was flicked. They both headed straight to bed and got ready for sleep. John did this by simply dropping his clothes in a pile and crawling into bed in his underwear.
Alice went to the bathroom and saw her husband dead to the world on his side of the bed. She could only think “gross” about how he hadn’t brushed his teeth before going to bed. Those thoughts didn’t last long though, she was asleep moments after she crawled into bed.
06:50 Unit 3-B12 – Master Bedroom
A beam of light was shining through the blinds and right on John’s left eye. He grumbled under his breath and looked at the time. He chuckled to himself when he saw the time. It was a rare day to get ten hours of sleep, but he wasn’t complaining one bit.
John stretched as he climbed out of bed. He was refreshed for the first time in what felt like years. Those thoughts quickly were sent to the back of his mind as he walked to the dresser. It was time to get cleaned up and head to the ship to work for the day.
He walked into the bathroom and immediately brushed his teeth. His mouth felt disgusting, he knew Alice was going to bring that up and use it against him on something. The morning ritual transitioned to that fantastic first piss of the day.
Their alarm was going off just as he finished drying himself off from the short shower he took. He walked back into the bedroom and dug out a duty uniform from the closet. Alice was moving at a snail’s pace.
“Morning honey. I’m going to be having breakfast on the ship. I’ll pick something up at the store on the way home and cook for us. You get home at 18:00?”
Alice rubbed her eyes and let out a big yawn, “19:00 if I’m lucky. Pasta. I want pasta.”
John slipped his shoes on and leaned down to plant a kiss on his wife, “Your wish is my command.”
“Love you. Don’t blow up anything,” Alice grinned as John waived to her as he walked out of the room.
There was a secure route that John could walk from his apartment directly to the Naval docking ring, but it took two to three times as long. That was far too much time walking in the morning. So, John did what any lazy person did, take the most direct route.
That meant walking through the commercial district, which was far busier than he had expected. John paid little attention to the crowd and focused on the tablet he was reading. Apparently, the busy time of the day starts around 06:00 and lasts until 22:00. He managed to bump into only three or four people on his route to the Naval docking ring.
Just as he was walking to the Naval security checkpoint a call came in, “Lieutenant, what the hell is going on?”
“Ma’am? I’m on time like I was yesterday. Currently outside of checkpoint Delta-Four.”
“No, it’s about your leave request that I’m denying,” Lieutenant Page said.
“I have not requested any time off. I’m not even sure why I would even bother asking for any.”
“Come to the bridge before you have chow.”
John looked at his watch, “Be there in five ma’am.”
He put his tablet in his pocket and walked over to the security checkpoint. The guards wasted no time in verifying John’s identity and authorizing him through. His pace of walking was faster than normal. The guards outside of the ship waved him through as well.
John entered the ship and hung a right to walk up the stairs three flights to get to the bridge. He held his duffel bag behind him as he walked up the stairs to not bump into the other crew in the stairwell. When he got to the first deck, he took a left and walked to the bridge door.
He paused for a moment to take a deep breath and pressed the button to request entry. After what felt like an eternity, which was five or six seconds in actuality, the door opened. John walked into the bridge and stopped short of the first officer.
“Lieutenant, apologies for the delay.”
“At ease,” Page said as she handed a data slate to John, “I’m all ears lieutenant.”
John gritted his teeth and said, “That fucking bitch.”
Lieutenant Page grinned, “Out with it Lief. What’s this marriage stuff with the royal family here. Hate to burst your bubble, but you aren’t exactly king shit in the military.”
John sighed as he handed the data slate back, “Back during my third year in the academy the ship I was captaining came across a certain idiot royal who had sped ahead and dismissed her escorts. They were under attack from Mercantilist Union source masquerading as pirates.”
Page laughed, “Saved a princess and she took a fancy to you. How fun for you.”
“I’d like for her to forget about me. My wife wants to destroy her. After chow, I’m going to submit an official complaint against the royals. They are not legally allowed to impair the military from doing their job. Because this is ongoing harassment any future communique will need to be routed through central fleet command.”
“Whatever floats your boat, Lief. Settle down and get some chow. I’ll finish declining the request. Let me know when you're done with your paperwork.”
“With pleasure ma’am.”
John spun about and walked out of the bridge. He was fuming. If only he were lucky enough to not see that bitch of a princess. His proximity to her now only made her more likely to push her agenda. An agenda that was destined to fail. Now she and her family crossed a line, interfering with his career, and that would not stand. He resolved to find some ways to harass and annoy them in secret, with the upcoming deployment he’d have plenty of free time to come up with such a plan.
In the immediate future, he wanted to get his gear stowed in his room on the ship. Then there was chow. He definitely needed breakfast. Today was his first proper day as an adult, and his career had finally started after long last. He chuckled that it started with some bullshit request, it could have been far worse though. At least no one tried to kill him.