Mei Ruo sat in the central command seat of her state of the art destroyer, Bao, or “Protection” in English. It was her first deployment as the captain of a starship but not her first time in the command seat. She had been the leader of an escort flotilla tasked with protecting Tiantang submarines in the Sea of Iron during peace time.
Space combat, in theory, was very similar to naval combat until you had to start factoring in the distances involved and the time that it takes light to travel to your sensors and eyes. Also the fact that there is no sea level, or even an up or down to orient your vessel. The ships of the United Dottir Militia would usually orient themselves in relation to the Planet with the northern hemisphere being “up” and the southern being “down” but this was just to help everyone stay in an orderly formation.
The idea that the space above Dottir would be akin to international waters was not favored by all nations with space capable ships, but it was understood by them all. New Vista and Tiantang, Ancient Chinese for "Paradise", being the first two nations to field warships, caused tension among the nations but the Republic of Svoboda rushed several of their own into orbit and the Neutrality of Orbit Treaty was signed.
Every nation with ambitions to reach into the stars with their military would have to sign the document or risk being treated as pirates and blown out of orbit. In the years to follow, Dottir orbit remained peaceful with only the three main nations out of four being able to achieve a successful space program. The people of New India were not far behind but the eastern continent of Dottir suffered from violent and unpredictable weather for six months of the twelve month year.
Ruo was nervous at the thought of her new position, so she tried not to think about it as being any different from commanding a destroyer on the Sea of Iron. There were officers above her to make any tough decisions with the flagship Xi’An in immediate communications range should anything be stirred up. Likely her tour of duty would be quiet and consist of mostly administrative duties. She pulled on her sleeves and straightened her pant legs before looking at the ship clock and giving her second order of the day.
“Zhao, sound the change of shift.” She said to her second in command.
Zhao was the same rank as Ruo, Lieutenant Commander, but lacked the command experience. Some day he would have his own ship, that was all but guaranteed, but he was assigned to the Bao to learn the nuance involved in dealing with people and higher ups before taking on the task.
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“Yes Ma’am, sounding shift change.” He said, and sounded a soft tone that would be heard in every room and corridor of the ship.
“You have command, I’ll be in my quarters until breakfast if you need anything.” She said and gave him an extra nod to convey the unspoken “Seriously, if you need anything.”
“Yes ma’am, lets pray for a quiet night.” He replied and sat down in the recently vacated command seat.
Ruo hit the button to close and lock the door to her quarters before flopping face down on her rack, boots and all. She sighed and rolled over, looking at the pictures taped to the frame of the vacant top bunk. It would be silly to house another sailor with the captain but only one type of rack was produced for the Tiantang Navy so it was installed in every quarters aboard the destroyer regardless of rank or occupation.
She lay there for a few more minutes before kicking off her boots, trousers, blouse, and closing her eyes. The relief that she felt having shed the stuffy dress uniform was immense but short lived as fifteen minutes later, her tablet began calling for attention with a loud chime. It wasn’t an emergency voice call, but it was a priority text message so she walked the five steps across her comparatively spacious quarters to see it.
“New Vistan cruiser on collision course, please advise - Zhao”
“Hold course. They will adjust. They would be a bug on our windshield. -LCDR Ruo”
With that handled, Ruo settled back into her rack, this time pulling the blankets over her head but hearing the tablet chime once again as her mind drifted off to sleep.
What now she thought with far more aggravation than she had the first time. How is someone supposed to command a warship without sleeping once in a while? She wasn’t mad at Zhao personally, he was only doing his job, but he needed to at least try to be independent. The message however was not from LT Zhao, it was from her daughters back home in New Shanghai. It was a video message showing the two girls, eight and four years old, doing their best to wear her old naval academy uniforms and singing a song. Ruo felt a tear welling up and a smile come across her face simultaneously.
It was a strange mix of emotions. Unconditional love, intense happiness at seeing them, but crushing guilt for not being home every day to see them in person. To take them to the school bus, to cook them dinner, to celebrate the holidays and teach them how to do their homework. She could do none of that from a destroyer, she was missing it all, and for what? To defend the planet from what? It was said that the militaries of her people's home world, Earth, were responsible for it's destruction.
Why now did military vessels orbit the planet with weapons capable of doing the same immense damage. Ruo closed the tablet again. She couldn’t reply, not in her state of mind. She knew she would feel better in the morning and would tell them how much she loved and missed them without crying. As she drifted off to sleep, she thought of them. Their sleeves far too long, the boots like flippers on their small feet, the hats falling down over their eyes, and she smiled as the fatigue took her.