Two weeks after the fight in the smoking lounge, Brinus’s new commander sat across from Brinus, looking at him. He had his arms relaxed and his body posture in proper military posture. The commander was tapping his stylus on the desk and shaking his leg.

His Commander’s office was four hundred square feet. It had a solid oak wood desk with a mini black powder cannon on the top and five shelves filled with holographic books against the wall. His family coat of arms was over the white marble fireplace. The walls were polished dark wood-paneled walls in eight-block style paneling. The floor was green and red floral carpet.

The commander looked at Brinus after adjusting his seat. “Do you understand why you’re in here?”

Brinus sat still in proper military posture. He said, looking his commander in the eyes, “Yes, sir. NIt’s ’cuz of the fight I got into my first night.”

He smiled and put his hands behind his head. “You’re right, Cadet Stinkball. The official stance of the Navy is that fighting is not allowed.” The commander tapped his fingers on the desk and adjusted his coat. “Are you familiar with Kobchi?”

Brinus shrugged his shoulders and said, “I've heard of it but don’t know much, sir.”

They looked at Brinus and made a note on his pad. “Kobchi is a competitive martial art designed to hurt the opponent and do damage without killing the other opponent. It has quite the following and a large competitive league in the Confederate Navy. You could clean the plasma conduits with a toothbrush or join the ship’s fight club.”

Brinus didn’t even hesitate as he said in a hurried voice while leaning forward, “I’ll take the fight league.”

The Commander leaned over his desk and smiled. “If you drop out of the program, your punishment is going to be carried out. I will let the trainer know you are signed up for the program. Dismissed Cadet Stinkball.”

Brinus stepped outside of the office and into the hallway. He didn’t understand why he was being punished. He was pretty pissed at the entire situation, as he was only asserting dominance. Brinus could only think about how much he hated military life, but it was either being in the Navy or prison. The syndicate was not an option.

The Captain’s Office...

Thirty minutes later, Captain Plato Had a glass of whisky next to him and an eye drop vile sat next to the whisky bottle. The Captain looked at the found Person’s report from the Magi for Brinus. Wondering how to break the news, he stared at the pad screen in disbelief at who Brinus was actually related to.

Someone knocked on the door. “Enter,” yelled the captain over the music playing in the background.

The person who entered was the Chief Engineer. “I just met Brinus. I don’t know if he will make a good team member.”

Captain Plato’s whiskers twitched. “Would you like a drink Commander Theodore? I put some rage in it for you.”

The Commander Theodore sighed and crossed his arms. “Sir, it isn’t even the noon watch yet. Shouldn’t you be cutting back?”

Captain Plato poured the commander a glass anyway and sat back down. “Sit. No doubt you heard about the coup. The third task force has been dispatched to sector twenty-two in district district twelve. The Navy AI has determined that an invasion is most likely to take place there. I want you to run battle drills during the afternoon watch in the reactor room.”

Commander Theodore rolled his eyes and scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “If you’re worried about battle readiness, people like Brinus will only hurt my team.”

Captain Plato leaned back into his chair, crossed his paws over his chest, and his whiskers twitched. “Really? You’re bringing up this bullshit now? You knew Brinus was a criminal when you took him in, and training him would take longer and be more intense than with a normal cadet. I put him on your team two weeks ago. You were happy to have a metallurgist on your robotics crew. I thought you were here to discuss war business.” Captain Plato took another swig of his spiked drink. He wanted to throw it on his chief engineer.

The Commander shifted in his seat and looked Captain Plato in the eyes. “Sir, he is a convicted felon. He wouldn’t be in the military under normal circumstances. I want him discharged.”

Captain Plato’s fur became puffy, and his ears went back against his head. He stared at his commander for twenty seconds with a silent death glare of irritation.

Commander Theodore took the hint and swallowed. He had a wide-eyed expression as he sat in military posture in the chair.

Plato leaned forward, putting his paws on the desk. He said calmly and assertively, “Here is how it will be! You will make this work. He has promised me he would not engage in criminal activity anymore. Thus far, nothing valuable has gone missing. For the most part, he seems to have put his life of crime behind him. I realize it has only been two weeks. Now, do you have any war business to discuss?”

The commander shrugged his shoulders and stood. “Sir, you need to consider what having a syndicate member on an engineering crew will do.”

“Dismissed, commander,” Captain Plato snapped in an aggressive tone, waving his hand to say shoo. His pupils dilated, and his patience was wearing thinner by the minute.

“Sir...”

Captain Plato’s pupils dilated, his ears pulled back, and he let out a cat hiss.

Commander Theodore saluted and came up from his seat.

On his way out, Captain Plato said, “I don’t like being ambushed like this. Don’t come back to me again with concerns about Brinus unless he has done something worth bringing to my attention. I have twenty thousand men, women, and humanoids under my command, and I don’t have time for your petty interdepartmental squabbles.”

He saluted and said, “Yes, sir.”

Engineering Bay...

Brinus’s robotics workstation was well organized. There were boxes with labels on them. The replacement parts were all neatly stacked. The floor had metal shavings on it and cigarette butts and replicated plastic bits from the replicator.

He welded a servo motor onto an atsromech leg with welding goggles on his face. He was listening to some loud heavy metal music from a famous rock star on, Otis Datis, and was shirtless. The room was hot from the various drones and androids. It was smoky as Brinus had smoked at least two and a half packs in his workspace.

The first watch bell had rung to signal the mid-morning watch. His uniform shirt and undershirt were folded on the workbench behind him. Finally, he removed the hydraulic cylinder on the left leg and put the new screw on the plates which held the cylinder with the drill. He then...Suddenly, the music was deactivated.

“What the fuck?”

Brinus turned and saw his new lieutenant. A tarken tea cig hung from his lips in a look of anger and surprise. he was shirtless and glistened in a layer of sweat from the heat and smoke in the workshop.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Brinus couldn’t believe someone had the audacity to shut off his music and interrupt his flow. He took off the welding goggles and put them on his forehead. She looked angry but not as pissed as he was.

“Are you fucking blind?” Yelled the Lieutenant, getting into Brinus’s face.

Brinus blew smoke into her mouth and eyes.

The Lieutenant looked at him with an open mouth and eyes. “Can you repeat yourself? Cadet Stinkball?”

Brinus laughed and realized he was in deep trouble. “No, ma’am, I will not.”

“I want you to give me 50 push-ups and 50 jumping jacks right fucking now, Cadet Stinkball, and you will lift that steel plate over your fucking head and hold it until your arms shake like a tree in a Friday night windstorm!”

Brinus crossed his arms and sneered, “Seriously?!”

The lieutenant went into his right ear and screamed at the top of her voice, “It is Lieutenant Ma’am! Do it fucking now, or I will report your ass to the commander! You will do it or face worse consequences, Cadet Stinkball! Oh, and now it is 60 push-ups and 60 jumping jacks, and you need to run in circles around the lab until I say stop! Now, Maggot!”

He put out the cigarette and put it in the ashtray. He then did the exercises while his new commander screamed profanity and insults at him. Because of the heavy smoking, He struggled with the jumping jacks and barely made it to sixty.

He was so out of breath that he was coughing like he had an asthma attack. However, he did pass medical, so they guided him through a deep breathing exercise to help him catch his breath.

Lifting the plate was relatively easy. Holding a 150-pound steel plat, however, was challenging. His arms started shaking after 25 seconds. He ran out of breath again. The lieutenant guided him through a breathing exercise to help him catch his breath again. He dropped the plate, making a loud bang like a gunshot. He ran 15 laps around the Lab until he couldn’t run anymore.

The lieutenant went into Brinus’s face and screamed. “Now, next fucking time, you will fucking address me as lieutenant ma’am, ma’am, or lieutenant. How are you able to weld without burns and PPE?”

"I have always been resistant to burns ma'am."

"Dismissed, Cadet Stinkball."

She looked at him with a tilted head and slanted eyes --- it was as if studying him.

He walked over to the industrial replicator and replicated a lab coat, uniform, gloves, and safety vest. He then went back to changing out the hydraulic cylinders with the drills and playing the loud headbanging music.

Brinus was annoyed with all of these rules and didn’t know why his superior had just smoked him. He knew it was wrong to blow smoke in the face of a superior officer. He knew he violated safety procedures by welding without a shirt and safety vest. It was all deserved.

Already pissed at having been smoked military-style, he was now told to join some fight club over what he felt was a justified ass beating. All of these rules!

The Fight Club Master

Brinus worked on the reports for all the droids he repaired before and during the noon watch. His office was very vanilla and very much an interstellar navy workshop office. It had a generic office chair from the office supply store, a basic glass desk, and an ashtray with twenty-two butts next to the computer terminal.

“Come in!” Brinus yelled as someone knocked on the door.

An older man who looked to be in his 60s with silver hair and a physically strong body entered Brinus’s office.

The man crossed his arms and sneered. “So you’re my newest recruit. I read up on your service record.

Brinus looked at the older man. He looked up with a sneer in his voice as if he was judging him. “What’s your name and rank, sir?”

“I am Master Chief Petty Officer Norrie Tor Sa Norra from the star system Katoria. You can call me master chief or master chief, sir. I understand you served with the pirate Long Ho for ten years and are a convicted felon.”

“Yes, master chief, you are correct, sir,” Brinus said with a sneer in his voice, looking up from his computer terminal.

The older man smiled and then laughed. “Coming onto a navy vessel after ten years as a pirate and a professional burglar. The rules must be infuriating.”

Brinus leaned back, put his arms behind his head, and smiled. He looked the older gentleman in his eyes. “Part of me just wants to clean plasma conduits to say fuck you to my commanding officer. He’s a fuckin’ asshole. I was right to kick those bitch’s asses.”

Master Chief Norra put his hands on his hips and threw his head back. “The captain recommended you for fight club. The Chief Engineer didn’t even want you in his department.”

Brinus rolled his eyes and slammed his stylus onto the desk. “What if I just go away in the middle uh the night or walk off my post ’n go back to my crew?”

The man laughed, folded his arms, and tilted his head with his left lip curled. “Is that what you are? When things get tough, you just quit? Do you want to spend the rest of your life in prison? Be my guess. I understand you put in a leave request. You can disappear into the crowd. I will give you three days if you show up by the start of the night watch, when we arrive on saffron. I will know you are serious.”

Brinus scoffed, rolled his eyes, and waved his hand dismissively. “I’ll be there tomorrow after I get off m’ shift.”

Sorra Norra smiled and left the office.

After Supper...

After supper, Brinus worked on a servo motor with multiple stripped screws. In his left hand was a device called a magnetic screw drive which was an electric screwdriver with an electromagnetic head designed to drill into the screw instead of a screw head with magnetic force rather than mechanical force.

Simmie entered the room as Brinus removed stripped screws and carbon scoring from the servo motor. And he quietly grabbed a giant carbon-steel alloy plate, hiding his footsteps behind the music.

Over the loud music, Simmie screamed as loud as he could, “Guess who!” as he threw the plate as hard as he could onto the floor. It made a deafening bang and vibrated the room.

Brinus jumped, dropping the screwdriver on the floor. Out of reflex, he jumped out of his chair and drew his fists in a fighting position until he realized it was Simmie.

Brinus dropped his fists and started laughing out of relief and anger. “Holy gods! Fuck! ’ya scared me! I could’ve killed ’ya! Don’t do that again!”

He turned and faced Simmie as they were now nose to nose. Brinus rested his arms on the top of Simmie’s shoulders and smiled. Simmie put his hands on Brinus’s waist.

Simmie asked, smiling at Brinus, “Are you packed?”

Brinus shrugged, smiling back at Simmie. “I don’t know what to pack—never been on a camping trip like this here before. When I looked up survival campin’, it recommended different shit on different sites. I put in the paperwork like ‘ya asked. My lieutenant still hasn’t responded. Being in port is the only chance we got of gettin’ work done on some of the components. I may not get the time off.”

Simmie and Brinus smiled at each other for a couple of minutes, and then he said, “Just pack some basic survival gear. I will send you a list by the fifth bell tomorrow. It isn’t much.” Simmie laughed and tapped Brinus on the side of his face.

Brinus sat back down after ruffling Simmie’s hair and returned to work. “Fer real, don’t do that again.”

They both laughed.

Simmie picked up one of the motors and looked at it. “The ball bearings are worn down, and you need to break the seal and replace the balls. That was why you can’t fix it.”

“Thanks, Mr. Obvious. Get lost.” Brinus and Simmie both laughed.

He snatched the motor from Simmie’s hand, and they both laughed until the lieutenant walked into Brinus’s workshop.

The lieutenant looked at Brinus. “You’re leave was approved. I understand you have some temporary dental work that won’t tolerate the camping trip. I saw you two filed the fraternization paperwork with your boyfriend.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Brinus slapped Simmie on the butt, and they both laughed again.

The Bridge

Captain Plato was on the bridge; he looked through the spyglass at the trans-warp bubble. “Something is off. I can feel it in the inertial dampeners and chronoton benders. Also, the transwarp bubble’s colors seem slightly different from an hour ago.”

The commander came up to Captain Plato. “We may be coming on a subspace disruption. Do you want to end transwarp and go to light light speed?”

The commander came up next to the captain and said, looking at the bubble. “Light speed will use too much fuel too quickly. This change feels more like an obstruction of some sort. Helmsman 3rd class! What do the scanners say?”

The sensor officer said, “Scanners show clear space ahead.”

Captain Plato closed the Spy Glass and put it in front of him. “Helmsman shut down the transwarp core.”

“Aye, sir!”

The ship exited transwarp. Four Federation cruisers surrounded it.

The captain and commander exchanged confused glances and then said to the communication officers. “Hail them.”

The commodore of the cruiser convey onto the the screen. “Confederate Command ship, you have entered Federation space. Turn around or be fired on.”

Captain Plato laughed. “You can’t be serious!? The Federation gave up its claim to this sector 400 years ago! Your junta is declaring war on the Confederacy! I tell you what; turn around, and we won’t destroy your ships and kill your crewmen. I will pretend this shit show didn’t happen. What do you say?”

“Confederate Vessel, you have 30 seconds to turn around, or we will open fire.”

Plato looked at his communications officer and made a cutting motion on his throat with his claw, and the screen cut off.

Captain Plato took command of the bridge, sitting in the captain’s chair. “Communications officer second class, send out a distress call on a rotating frequency of twenty million hertz to ninety million hertz on subspace frequency one. Weapons officer, Raise shields. Red alert. Battle-stations. Brace for impact. Commander, dispatch the fighters and bombers. Chief Petty Officer, wake the admiral and tell him the Federation just declared war on the Confederacy.”

The sensor officer yelled over the sound of alarms, “Sir. Four more Federation signatures just jumped out of warp in the northwest quarter of the map!”

“It’s an ambush!” someone yelled from the back of the bridge.