“Senior staff meeting,” said Zhu. “Right now. Astrometrics, astrophysics, and comms, you’re invited.”
He paused to pull a phone out of his pocket, and his thumb dashed across its screen.
“Meeting room is one door down,” he said without looking up. “Leave whatever you were doing to a subordinate.”
With that, he turned towards the hallway and pocketed his phone in one motion, moving off with a visible sense of urgency. Ioane hurried after him.
A low chatter filled the room once they’d left. Henry pulled his own phone out and opened the group text with Sevchenko and Becker.
> You
>
> Hey you two, I’m getting pulled into a meeting. One of you needs to come back to the bridge and monitor the terminal
>
> Sevchenko
>
> ...
>
> Becker
>
> ......
>
> Sevchenko
>
> ............
>
> Becker
>
> ......….On my way
>
> Sevchenko
>
> 😂
Rolling his eyes, Henry pocketed his phone and headed for the hallway. Art and the good-looking astrophysics woman followed him out moments later.
The meeting room was only ten or fifteen meters down the hallway from the bridge, and its door was labeled: “Senior Staff”. The room on the opposite side was surprisingly small, just large enough to contain a single long table and a dozen or so comfortable looking rolling chairs. In the middle of the table sat what looked like a smooth metal lump, shaped around a small projector that was aimed at the room’s right wall. A small speakerbox sat atop the projector-lump, along with a few random buttons scattered across it. Adjacent to the lump sat the projector’s illuminator slide, integrated smoothly into the table itself.
Zhu and Ioane were already seated on the table’s right side, occupying the two seats closest to the projector-lump. Ioane beckoned Henry and the others inside while Zhu focused on his phone.
“C’mon in, take a seat wherever. We’re waiting on two more.”
Art and the astrophysics woman took seats next to one another down at the table’s far end. Henry sat across from Ioane, and soon noticed a small camera mounted above the door to the hallway, aimed down at the table.
Ioane noticed Henry’s attention on it, and smirked. “First time sitting in on a senior staff meeting?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, you get to experience the many joys of being recorded in an official setting. Everyone wave to posterity!”
Henry, Art and the astrophysics woman all gave the camera a half-hearted wave. Before they’d lowered their hands, Kaya and the older brown haired woman who'd been working on Studebaker strode into the room, both now fully dressed in their uniforms. Stress was immediately evident on their faces.
The situation with Studebaker had been so frantic that Henry hadn't been able to take a proper look at Kaya's companion. She was thin and somewhat short, with mousy good looks that made her easy on the eyes. Her collar had a golden caduceus pinned to it on the right side and a Mars pin opposite, exactly like Kaya. Henry guessed her to be somewhere in her middle forties.
Zhu set his phone down and greeted them.
“We won’t keep you for long. Take a seat.”
Kaya wordlessly took the closest available seat, but the mousy woman remained standing by the door, casting an angry stare at Zhu.
“Why is this happening?” she asked. “We have a thousand other things that need to get done. I think a meeting can wait, don’t you?”
“There’s been more developments you’re not aware of,” he said. “And we need to make sure the leadership is all on the same page. Sit, please.”
A frown spread across her face, but instead of putting up further resistance she chose to take a seat next to Kaya.
“Let’s begin the meeting,” Zhu said. “We’ll start off by stating who is present for the sake of the recording. Starting on my right we have Artemis Chukwu, our senior astrometrics officer. Next to him is Aahana Agarwa, our bridge astrophysicist. Across from me sits Captain Henry Forger, the senior FTL comms officer.”
Zhu then gestured to Kaya and the mousy woman. “At the bottom end of the table sits Kaya Grimsdottir, who is the Vanuatu’s bridge duty nurse, along with being one of our age treatment specialists. Next to her is Genevieve Minsky, our chief medical officer. Sitting beside me is Major Keahi Ioane, the ship’s executive officer. The senior deck officer will not be present for this meeting, but she will be given access to the minutes. As for myself, I am Grand Admiral Leonard Zhu. Currently I’m the acting captain of the Vanuatu, for reasons we’re about to get into. Before assuming overall command of the Vanuatu I led the ship’s complement of military personnel.”
“I have something to say about that,” said Genevieve, eyes narrowing with suspicion.
“And we’ll get to it. First we need to address the elephant in the room. As of—”
He quickly glanced at his wristwatch.
“—right now, oh nine twenty hours, I’ve been in command of the Vanuatu for about five minutes. We should state directly for the recording that Captain Studebaker perished roughly thirty minutes ago as a result of hibernation complications.”
“Captain Studebaker and three other crew members,” said Kaya, accusation heavy in her voice.
“Yes, Studebaker and three others. Mister Chukwu, do you have some good news for us?”
Art seemed surprised to be the sudden focus of attention. “Uh…do you mean about the SAIs?”
“The fuck else would he be asking you about?” Ioane growled.
“Uh, right…well, cursory scans showed no irregular presences in the system. However, there’s quite a few sensor blind spots behind planets and other bodies they could be hiding in, but considering that we didn’t get blasted the moment we entered range? I'm willing to bet they aren’t present.”
“Good,” Zhu nodded, then turned to Ioane. “I want Kotel and Berkowicz to get to work checking those blind spots once the shuttles are ready.”
Ioane pulled a phone out of his pocket and spoke with his attention on it. “Combat loadout?”
“Of course.”
“Fantastic,” said Genevieve. “Now that we’ve established that the ship hasn’t exploded yet can we please get to the pressing matter at hand?”
Ioane looked up from his phone to shoot Genevieve an angry look, but Zhu seemed unperturbed.
“Tell us why they died, doctor.”
“It’s too soon to know for sure,” she replied sharply. “All we have for now is a working theory. Kaya?”
Kaya’s gaze briefly settled on Henry before it passed to Zhu. “...First of all, we don’t think the AI in charge of monitoring us had anything to do with it. After looking at the logs, it doesn’t appear like it had the opportunity. In any case, the deceased were all men above the age of fifty. Right now we think the sheer shock of being awoken after decades of inactivity is what caused them to enter cardiac arrest. Their medical records indicate that none had ever experienced serious heart trouble before, but each of them did have heart troubles in their family histories. ”
“Didn’t you tell me that hibernation is safe?” said Henry.
“It is,” Genevieve replied. “The rest of the crew woke up with no trouble. But the technology has never been put under this kind of strain before. If we’d been able to actually conduct proper long-term testing—”
“I’m above fifty,” Zhu interrupted. “And despite some discomfort after waking up, I feel relatively fine.”
Kaya shook her head. “You should count yourself lucky. If they had undergone age treatment before entering hibernation they would all probably be alive right now.”
An awkward silence quickly settled over the room. It was well known that some older men past the age of forty-five sometimes refused age treatment, most often for reasons of vanity but occasionally for other reasons, such as religious beliefs. What Kaya had just said could easily be considered insensitive.
Faint traces of anger were in Zhu’s expression as his attention returned to Genevieve.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Your department is going to have to submit to a judicial review. I’m sure you understand.”
Genevieve’s eyes narrowed. “When the captain dies on a civilian ship it’s customary for the crew to gather and elect a new one. I’m sure you understand how the military taking over seems just a little bit like a coup.”
“It’s what the situation demands,” said Ioane. “We’re extremely fucking far from help out here. If the SAIs do show up—”
“How would having a civilian in charge make a single bit of difference if that were the case? Even I know the Vanuatu only has defensive armament, it isn't a warship.”
“We’ll discuss this later,” said Zhu. “In private.”
Genevieve looked as though she were about to raise further protest when the door opened behind her. A young, dark skinned woman wearing marine fatigues walked into the room, carrying a thick binder full of papers between both hands. She had a buck sergeant’s rank pip on her chest, and her name tape read: “Milley”. She headed straight for Zhu.
“What’s this?” Ioane asked as Zhu reached out to receive the binder.
“The status report,” said Zhu. “Thank you, Milley.”
“You’re welcome, sir,” she said on her way out.
Zhu placed the binder onto the table before him and began to flip through the pages, giving each page a quick scan. Everyone else looked on in silence, though some had more patience than others.
“For God’s sake, stop keeping us waiting!” Genevieve cried out.
“Just give me a moment.”
He flipped to a page that looked to be an inventory sheet. After looking it over for a moment, he tore the page out of the binder and placed it onto the projector’s illuminated slide. It detected the page automatically and sprung to life, casting an enlarged version onto the wall behind Zhu and Ioane.
Everyone sat up a bit more to peer at it. It seemed to be an extensive cargo inventory listing various water-borne apparatus, such as ballast tanks, air compressors and dive suits. More immediately interesting than the list was what someone had hastily scrawled in pen across the blank space filling the bottom of the page.
Why do I have all this extra BULLSHIT in my shuttle bay???
“What is this,” Ioane said, squinting. “A fucking…aquatic landing adaptation kit? The hell is that?”
Aahana then spoke up for the first time, drawing everyone’s attention.
“What—what the heck is going on? Does this list mean what I think it means?”
“...Excuse me?” asked Kaya. “What are you talking about?”
“Go ahead and tell them, Miss Agarwa,” said Zhu.
Aahana looked around and took a deep breath, as if to gather up some courage.
“Uhm…we can’t confirm it until we take some actual readings. But it seems very much like both of the planets are not nearly as dry as we expected. In fact, they appear to be the complete opposite. They’re…ocean worlds.”
“Ocean worlds,” Genevieve repeated slowly. “As in…they’re covered in water?”
“Yes. That’s how it seems.”
“Hold on,” said Kaya. “Weren’t we coming to colonize a moon that’s similar to Mars? As in, a cold desert?”
“Yes, we were,” Aahana said miserably.
Confusion spread across the table, all except for Zhu, who looked lost in thought.
“I don’t understand how we have all this extra shit in the first place,” Ioane said, gesturing to the projection. “The ship’s inventory was locked up tight before we went into hibernation. I inspected it all myself. Signed off on all the fucking paperwork, too.”
Realization then struck Henry, and he immediately put voice to his thoughts.
“Did they load it up after we went into hibernation?”
Shock rippled across the table, and one by one everyone’s gaze settled on Zhu.
He gauged the room with a troubled expression before speaking. “Your guess is as good as mine, people. I didn’t know anything about this. Maybe Studebaker knew, but I didn’t.”
“That seems very unlikely,” said Art.
“It’s the truth. I can’t imagine why Congress wouldn’t tell us about this. Maybe as a security measure against the SAIs…?”
“It somehow always comes back to that,” Genevieve snapped. “Every awful lie and inexcusable injustice committed by any government in the last thousand years gets explained away with that reason.”
“It’s a pretty good fucking reason,” Ioane growled.
Zhu turned to him. “I want a complete inventory done of every item on board the ship. And I mean every item.”
Ioane nodded. “We’ll count every last nut and bolt on this bi—uh, ship.”
“Good, and Forger—”
Zhu was interrupted by the door opening once again. To Henry’s surprise, Becker walked inside carrying a stack of papers the size of a textbook.
“What the fuck?!” he nearly shouted, instantly drawing startled looks from across the table.
“I have a message from Sol,” Becker said. “It’s marked as Captain’s eyes only.”
“Hand it here,” said Zhu.
Genevieve looked quite irritated but said nothing as Becker transferred the stack to Zhu. He placed it next to the status report binder and immediately began to flip through the pages.
“Thanks, Becker,” said Henry.
“Of course, sir.”
Zhu looked up at her when it became clear she wasn’t willing to leave without being dismissed.
“That’ll be all for now.”
Disappointment was etched on her face as she turned towards the door. She clearly had wanted to know what was in the message. Henry couldn’t blame her.
Their first message to us is book-length? The fuck is happening?
Kaya turned to Henry. “Why’d you curse just now?”
“Because that’s a gigantic message,” he said. “The only thing they should know about us is that we’re alive and in orbit.”
“Oh….”
Suddenly, Zhu pulled one of the papers out of the stack and placed it onto the projector slide. Henry's mouth fell open, horrified at such a blatant disregard for the sanctity of top secret documents. Ioane simply grinned.
“They’re changing our mission,” said Zhu.
Everyone gave the page being projected onto the wall their full attention. At first glance it appeared to be the first part of a fragmentary order.
----------------------------------------
From: The Joint Congressional Committee on the Intersolar Colonization Effort
To: Bast Studebaker, Captain, USF Vanuatu
Subject: Priority 1 Fragmentary Order (FRAGO)
References: Operation Shining Dawn
1. SITUATION:
Important new enemy developments have occurred in Sol during your long journey to the Newton Theta 56 solar system. The new threat environment we find ourselves in necessitates us making a large-scale readjustment to your original operation order (OPORD).
2. MISSION:
Your new mission is to build construction, defense, and habitation facilities in orbit above Newton Theta 56 A-1A. Absolutely no structures are to be constructed on either planet’s surface. All other considerations are secondary. Interaction with A-1A’s surface is to be strictly restricted to designated science personnel whose activities are to be closely monitored at all times. Level three quarantine procedures are to be put in place for any personnel who visit the surface. The USF Vanuatu and her crew are restricted to phase zero of the OPORD until the USF Bora Bora arrives in-system fifteen years from current date.
3. EXECUTION:
A. Concept of Operations:
Construct basic industries in orbit of A-1A in order to facilitate future exploration and settlement efforts.
B. Tasks to Subordinate Units:
Conduct limited scientific exploration of A-1A. Source and develop adequate materials from local asteroids for orbital construction efforts.
C. Coordinating Instructions:
Current overlay remains in effect. Maintain a high state of combat readiness until the USF Bora Bora arrives. Additional instructions to follow.
4. SERVICE SUPPORT:
No changes to OPORD.
5. COMMAND AND SIGNAL:
No changes to OPORD.
ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT AND CHANGE OF MISSION.
----------------------------------------
The room was silent for what felt like a long time as everyone read the projected page.
“What does that word at the top mean? FRAGO…?” Aahana eventually asked.
“Just means they’re changing our mission,” said Ioane.
“I’m not sure I understand this,” Genevieve said, frowning. “We aren’t allowed to build on the surface? But why?”
Zhu turned to her. “Phase one involves constructing habitats on alpha one-alpha and subsequently transferring the Vanuatu’s civilian population to the surface. This is saying we’re no longer allowed to proceed to that phase. In fact, it seems as though we’re prohibited from interacting with the planet beyond sending science teams to the surface. As to why, it doesn’t say.”
Genevieve was incensed. “...What?! You’re saying we have to stay on board this ship for the next fifteen years?!”
“Yep, that’s what being stuck in phase zero means,” Ioane said.
This is way too convenient, thought Henry. All that crap in the cargo hold, and the fact that they had this message primed and ready to go. They must’ve known all along that we weren’t going to a Mars-like world.
“That’s just one page?” asked Art. “What about the rest?”
Zhu began to flip through the stack. “It seems to mostly be guidance on what we’re meant to build. Instructions for the science teams…that sort of thing.”
“That’s a ton of stuff to dump on us all at once,” said Henry. “There’s no way they didn’t have this message prepped and ready.”
“Give me some time to go over all this, Forger,” said Zhu. “Then you and I will get together to send our response.”
He turned to Aahana. “Before I set you all loose, is there anything else you can tell us about the planets, Miss Agarwa?”
She visibly hesitated before replying. “...We’d have to take a closer look at them. For now it seems that everything else is what it should be. The system’s companion star has two gas giants as expected, with dozens of moons each. Things there seem…normal. At first glance.”
“Normal is good,” said Henry. “I’m really starting to appreciate normal.”
Zhu gave Aahana a firm nod, then turned to Genevieve.
“How long will it take for the autopsy reports?”
She still looked quite angry about the news, but somehow managed to respond to Zhu’s question with grace.
“We’ll need twelve hours, minimum. Not all of us are full to bursting with youthful energy even after hibernation like our young Captain Forger.”
Chuckles sounded around the table.
“I feel attacked,” Henry said, grinning.
“Alright people,” said Zhu, rising from his seat. “We’ll wrap up here, before anything else blindsides us. The galley should be open by now. Go and get your first breakfast in eighty years, and then get back to work. Doctor, before you leave I’d like a word with you.”