“This is unacceptable, chief,” Yang stated as he glared at the engine from behind the glass partition wall. “You built this thing, now you’re telling me know don’t know what’s causing this power drain?”

Amanda Berkins was seated to the right, overlooking her console monitor showing the output of the engine’s energy field. She tapped the icons on the side, bringing the image up to full view for the first officer to see. She pointed at the middle of it, a fluctuating wavelength that turned from blue to red, and quivered in random intervals.

“I know what’s causing it, commander.” She exhaled. “There’s a point zero-zero five imbalance at the heart of the QMD’s core. It needs to be calibrated.”

“So… do that then.”

“I don’t have the necessary equipment on here to do that.”

Yang was not impressed. There was a growing expression of anger in his face as he heard that response from her.

“God damnit, Berkins!” He stated loudly. “What kind of unprepared mega-genius, child are you? You’re overconfident of your creation of this thing, boasting about how well it should work perfectly, and now you’re talking like a first year engineering student that can’t figure out the assignment they’ve been given.”

Amanda fiddled with the ends of her long black hair, and gave a frustrated sigh.

“How many times do I have to tell you norms…” She paused for a second, realizing that Yang didn’t care for that insult. She quickly corrected herself. “To you people, that this was still a work in progress, and needed a precise and careful installation. I wasn’t there when they built it into the ship. They rushed it, now I’m having to clean up the mess.”

Yang paced back and forth viciously, even more frustrated than before. He grumbled to himself as he tried to calm himself down, giving her an irritated look from time to time. It was hard for him to chew her out like this. She looked so young, so innocent, a teenager, but with the mind of an adult of superior breeding. Yang was reminded of his cousins on Mars, they were probably about the same age as her, but didn’t have the same responsibilities like this one. The average teen’s behaviour has been a constant since human history began. They are rebellious, flippant, and tend to have moods that can be all over the place.

Would an Omega Group teen be any different? Probably not, but, nobody outside this special group would ever know. Yang had to remember that she wasn’t a typical teenager, he had to treat her like any adult member of the crew.

“Okay-okay-okay…” He floundered, rubbing his face while trying to calm down. “So, you need it to be calibrated, fine… is that possible to do at the Neptune station?”

“Yes,” She nodded factually. “There’s already an established Omega Group facility there.”

“Of course there is…” Yang exhaled sotto voce.

“I’ve already contacted them to prepare for my arrival.” Amanda stated. She stood up, walked over to the glass partition, and stared at the large hovering engine core suspended by large magnetic coils pointed at it. “Once I, and my team there, get it resolved properly, we can finally be on our way out of the solar system.”

Yang, who still paced about, paused and glanced over to her.

“You’re team?” He peered at her. “I think it best to take this ship’s staff with you to oversee repairs. Or at least, help them in learning about how to do such repairs in the future. Don’t you think?”

The teenage chief engineer ignored him and focused on the engine. She watched the crew members working diligently with their tools and scanning devices. Yang folded his arms as he patiently waited for an answer.

“Yes, I suppose that would be the prudent thing to do.” She conceded. “Hopefully, they’ll absorb some aspects of it and be capable of understanding the complexities of such advanced piece of technology.”

Yang then rolled his eyes at her comment, lifting his hands as if in defeat. He then stood by her side and looked on at the busy crew. They were doing their jobs well, as far as he could see. These were qualified engineers, of varying ranks, and working professionally.

“So what’s her problem with them, I wonder?” Yang thought. “Just because they’re not special like her, she’s unwilling or incapable of guiding them? Something doesn’t feel right about this. Why is she here? Why did it have to be her specifically? Ego, perhaps? Pride? I can’t remember of any Omega Group member doing something like this. Never have they expressed any interest in joining Norms on missions, let alone, join the military as part of their crew.”

Commander Yang let go of his frustration, gave a quick calming deep inhale, and informed the young teen girl of his decision on the matter.

“Make sure you show them everything. I want a full report of the team’s performance and who worked on what during the re-calibration. And you will, explain it to them, detail-by-detail, if need be. Do you understand, Chief?”

“Sure…” She shrugged.

“I beg your pardon, Chief? Try that again, as an officer this time, not a civilian, which you are not, anymore.”

Amanda turned to face him and stiffened to a rigorous salute.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Aye-Aye, Commander Yang! Is that better?”

“Let’s get one thing straight here, Berkins…” Yang glared at her. “You may be the smartest person on-board this ship, and placed yourself here as the Omega Group overseer of this QMD, but, you signed on as a military officer, Those people in there, worked hard to get to their promotions, continually climbing the ladder of rank to achieve a life for themselves. They might not respect you if you treat your position as some throwaway symbol of authority. So at least pretend like you give a damn about it, and to all of them under your command.”

Amanda walked back to the console she was stationed at earlier and sat back down. She concentrated back on her job and ignored Yang’s stare.

“There’s a lot to get done here, sir.” She responded to him. “Ill inform you when the repairs acre complete. You’ll have the report in a few days. If there’s anything else?”

Yang was unpleased by her attitude. He wanted to say more, opening his mouth up, but shut it afterwards. What more could he convey to this know-it-all lil’ brat? He gave her and the engine one last passive glance, and stated his last words to her as he headed out of the engine room.

“Get it done, Chief… get it done.”

* * *

The crew of Deep Contact had very little duties to perform as it continued to slowly drift its way to the orbital station on Neptune. Most of them had gone into a status chamber, keeping them asleep for the duration, whereas many others just kept to their barracks, watched a few movies in the ship’s forward lounge section, and then there were those who like to keep fit in the gym. Even though this ship had gravity plating, about Earth-level G-forces, many other ships in the ECUF didn’t. The soldiers would often have to keep to a strict regimen to maintain muscle and bone density. The weightlessness of space tended to diminish that for long extended periods.

Combat training and vigorous exercise was standard for all. They had to be ready for any or all unknown elements, both militarily wise or exploration of a planetary surface. Being prepared for anything is the difference between life or death. That was what the ECUF instilled on all of their soldiers, no matter the rank of command. Ensign Scott Robinson was a firm believer in that. He opted to continue his routine of daily exercise, not only to keep himself in great shape, but to look good for all the ladies as well. When he wasn’t busy keeping track of his number of power-lifts, he was keeping an eye out for any potential future date.

“Looking good Robby!” A female officer said walking by while he was in mid-lift. She laughed and blew him a kiss.

“Thanks, Tina!” He grinned back playfully. “You’re looking just a sweet darlin’, how bout you come over here and spot me one.” He waggled his brows at her. “I’ll do the same for you.”

The woman laughed, shook her finger at him, and walked away. She joined up with another pair of colleagues and joined them on the tread mills.

“Aw, come on,” Robinson smirked at them. “Don’t be like that… shoot.”

He let go of his weights and let them drop to the ground. It made aloud thud and caught their attention. The group laughed and waved at him, He took his white towel off of the floor near it and wiped the sweat off of his bare chest. He was still grinning at her, giving a slight wink, which made her giggle even more.

“Robinson!”

A deep booming voice came from behind him, he quickly turned about and saluted. He knew who it was, and reacted immediately.

“Yes, sir, Chief Taggert, sir!”

Security Chief Taggert was an older man, with a square jaw. The man was much shorter than Robinson, but seemed to have the authoritarian presence of a rough, no-nonsense military commando. He looked like old leather, he smelled like old leather, and had a hard stare that would put the fear of God into anyone he came across.

“I hear you put in a request to be placed in my security team, is that correct?”

“Ye-ye-yes, sir, I did, sir.”

Taggert circled around the tall blonde man, and kept his intense glare on him. Robinson felt uneasy, he wondered if this fiery old man was about to take a swing at him. He’d heard of Taggert doing that to another ensign under his command, to test his reflexes and to see if the young officer was prepared for any surprise attacks. Scott kept a close eye on the old soldier, making sure his fists were primed and ready for whatever came at him.

“Yeah…” Taggert grumbled. “You look the sort for that job. Ya got a good build, lots of stamina, and I’ve checked out your weapons training. Outstanding performance…”

“Thank you, sir…” Scott grinned.

“But we’ve got a problem, son.”

“Problem, sir?” He winced. “What’s the problem?”

“You,” Taggert stated, as he stopped in front of him. “You’re the problem. One that we need to fix, ASAP!”

“I don’t… uh… understand…”

“You and that pecker of yours, boy!” Taggert pointed. “As in, keeping it where it belongs! You get me?”

Their loud conversation was gaining the attention of everyone in that gym. Even the girl he’d been flirting with before. This embarrassed Robinson and averted his eyes up to the ceiling.

“Oh, I know all about it, son!” Taggert stated in an evil grin. “How you got demoted… oh, yes indeed, a good friend of mine told me about that whole incident. Perhaps you know him? Billings?”

Robinson’s eyes flared, he couldn’t believe his bad luck. He remained silent, standing there at attention and focused on the ceiling like never before.

“Well, you probably know his pretty little wife more, I’m sure.” Taggert grinned. He then adjusted his uniform shirt, as if straightening it, and continued on. “He, uh, told me you’d probably request a spot on my team. Knowing you might want to advance in the ranks to get back where you were before. He thought I should give you the chance.” Robison looked confused and glared back at him. Taggert enjoyed that reaction and grinned wider. “Not because he’s giving you a glowing recommendation, oh, no… that’s way off base, son. No, he wanted me to make sure that your advance was slow, painfully slow, and that I’m to watch over your ever step of the way, to keep that little pecker of yours…” he pointed at it, “under control, and make you too busy to do anything about it.”

Taggert came closer to Scott, rasing his head up to meet the man’s eyes, while he gritting his teeth and scowled. “We’re going to fix you, Robinson, oh, my yes… you’re going to have no time for any of that fun anymore.”

Scott gave a slow gulp, and came back to viewing the ceiling above. It seemed that even out in space, his past was still hanging around his neck like a bad penny.

“Fuckin’ Karma” He thought.

Taggert looked around the room, as if he sensed that everyone had halted to listen and were staring at them. The old gruff man puffed out his chest and pointed at them all.

“As you all were!”

Everyone did as they were told. Nobody wanted to deal with Taggert’s anger. Scott continued to stay in place. The old man patted him on the back and snickered.

“Welcome to the team, Ensign. I expect you to be here at seventeen hundred, along with the others that signed up for duty, to begin the first wave of your punishment… uh… special training.”

Taggert found amusement in his own words, as he giggled while walking away from Scott, who was still standing at attention. He turned back one last time before leaving the room and grinned again.

“Don’t be tardy to the party, son.”

Once he was gone, Scott collapsed to the floor. He sat there, defeated and solemn. Tina, whom he’d been flirting with before, came up to him and shook her head in pity.

“Sucks to be you, Robby.”

“Ain’t that the truth, darlin’,” He mocked back. “Ain’t that the fuckin’ truth.”