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Welcome back. Besides the Guardians, Kyle and the Heinlein officers find out that they will probably have to deal with change in the structure of the Explorer Program in the near future.
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CHAPTER 27
CHANGE IS COMING
By Douglas DD
Assisted by Zarek Dragon
<Captain’s Ready Room>
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5
0800
The captain’s ready room on the Heinlein was actually three rooms. It consisted of the captain’s office, a drawing room, and a restroom. Kyle was sitting on the couch in the drawing room with his brother, Ronnie, discussing a family issue.
“Are you still second guessing yourself?” Kyle asked.
“Not a single bit. Mom and Greg were both big helps, and so were you,” Ronnie said. “You’ve become a really good brother to me. Plus, you’re becoming a damned good captain.”
“I know you were totally looking forward to taking the maiden voyage of the Gordon.”
“Oh, yes, I was. I started looking forward to that voyage from the second I saw the name Vincent Gordon painted on the hull of that ship.”
The brothers were referring to the passenger transport Vincent Gordon, a ship they had seen at Deimos Gamma Assembly Station as they approached Mars a couple of weeks ago. Ronnie’s father was Vincent Gordon, who had given his life saving the lives of the kids in the ship’s youth center by successfully fighting a fire on the passenger transport Galactic Traveler.
Ronnie’s mother, Alicia, had pulled some strings so that the Heinlein would be routed past the assembly station in order for Ronnie to see the Vincent Gordon under construction, and in particular, see the name of the new ship painted on the hull. It had been an emotional moment for Ronnie and became even more of one when he talked to his mother. Alicia promised Ronnie she would arrange for him to accompany her on the ship’s maiden voyage which was slated to take place sometime in February or March.
But that promise was made before the Heinlein’s first full mission was scheduled. It would be nowhere near Earth at the time the Gordon’s maiden voyage would be taking place. Alicia consulted Greg Robinson to see if there was anything he could do so Ronnie could take the maiden voyage. Greg was the Commander in Chief of the Explorer Program.
“I talked to Bill, and he said that Space Fleet protocol dictated that the only way he could go would be to request and immediate transfer from the Heinlein, which he would approve,” Greg had told her. “The Heinlein could then return to Spencer Planet Colony where he would then catch a transport for Earth.” Bill was Bill Mirah the Admiral in Chief of Space Fleet.
“That was a tough message to relay to you, since I knew how badly you’ve wanted to take the voyage from the moment you saw the ship,” Kyle told Ronnie.
“It was a tough decision to make, but I think my decision to stay on the Heinlein was the best way for me to honor my father,” Ronnie said. “As I remember him, he was a big believer in doing one’s duty. His last act as an officer and a human being was because he did his duty and saved the lives of those kids at the cost of his own life. The best way for me to honor him would be to do my duty and remain on the Heinlein. Kai would make an excellent chief engineer if I left, but I was the one who interviewed for and took the job.
“I talked to dad, to mom, to you and to Admiral Mirah. I knew the decision had to be made quickly while we were still close to Spencer. I told everyone I wanted to stay and why and everyone agreed. Mom cried when I told her, both from happiness that I was truly honoring my father by staying but also because in her heart she wanted me on that flight.” The man Ronnie was referring to as dad was Admiral Greg Robinson, who was his adoptive father as well as Kyle’s natural father.
“Thanks for remaining a key member of the Heinlein crew. I know that when the Vincent Gordon departs you will feel some tugs on your heartstrings,” Kyle said.
“It won’t be leaving entirely without me,” Ronnie said.
“Oh?”
“I plan on making a video to be played during the voyage. I plan on talking about duty and loyalty and how my father displayed those traits, not only when the fire broke out, but also as a father I’d always loved and respected and who helped start me on the road to being the officer I am. I’m sure there will be more, but that’s going to be the basic idea.”
Kyle gave his brother a hard, heartfelt hug. “I love you bro,” he said. “You are truly one of a kind. You honor the Robinson family. And I’m sure you will have a lot of video of the voyage to look at.”
“Hey, bro, you and I know you’ll be watching them with me. Mom marrying Greg gave me a new father who’s been totally epic and a brother who is the same.”
“And on that note of brotherly love, let’s take care of our morning breakfast to help us get primed for this morning’s officers’ meeting at oh nine hundred.”
“Sounds like a plan, Captain Robinson,” Ronnie grinned.
<Holodeck Meeting Room 3c>
0900
The officers were seated in holodeck meeting room 3c. First officer Devin French welcomed everybody and brought the meeting to order. The officers attending the meeting were the three senior officers: Second officer Steve Boyer, third officer Brad Kanye, and the first officer. The other officers were the department heads: chief of tactical and security Kage Enzan, chief astrogator Mituti Tudupe, chief engineer Ronald Robinson, and chief science officer Logan Wilson. Steve (operations) and Brad (information services) were both department heads as well as senior officers.
Chief medical officer Riku Tatsu and Chief pilot Danny Robinson were also in attendance. Their voting rights were restricted to proposals that would concern their departments directly.
“You can find the agenda and the minutes on your communication devices if you’d like to follow along,” he said. “Shasho will now read the minutes.”
Shasho then read the minutes of the previous meeting, which he had taken, and the group voted unanimously to accept them. Devin asked if there were any announcements. Ronnie announced that he would not be seeking an immediate transfer from the Heinlein. “I will be staying on because I signed up to take on the duties of chief engineer; duties I take seriously. I feel with all my heart that this is what my father would want me to do.”
Ronnie’s announcement had everybody talking at once and most giving him a pat on the back as they sent their comments his way. The comments were all positive, thanking him for his loyalty to his shipmates.
Devin brought the meeting back to order and turned it over to Kyle. “As you all know from the agenda this meeting was called to let you know more about the meeting of the ad hoc committee on Explorer Program Protocol Changes,” Kyle said. “You’ve all seen the agenda. Space Fleet Commander-in-Chief Mirah and the Admiralty Committee have chosen the members of the committee. Those members are posted on the forward screen so you can follow along.
“They are all admirals except for Hal, who is a Commodore. But for all intents and purposes he is an admiral. We all call him admiral. He’s pretty much waiting for his promotion to be made permanent and publicly announced.”
(Here is what the Heinlein officers saw on the screen:
Admirals
Greg Robinson, Commander-in-Chief of the Explorer Program (meeting chair)
Adam Wyman, Space Fleet Chief Financial Officer
Linda McKenzie, Chief of Human Resources
Harley Benson, Head of Logistics Department
Robert Orlando Crusoe, Chief of Explorer Program Logistics.
Hal Tietokone, Commander of Explorer Task Force 1
MC Minor, Director of the Space Academy)
“Here is what is on the agenda,” Kyle went on. “Proposal One is to change the minimum age to serve as a ship’s captain from thirteen to fifteen.”
“Yikes! Does that mean Kyle will lose his position?” Steve shouted out. That started a rumble in the room that stopped when Kyle raised his right hand straight into the air as Devin reached for the gavel. The instant end to the noise was indicative of the respect that Kyle had from his senior officers.
“You didn’t give me a chance to finish, but I appreciate your support,” Kyle grinned. “There are currently four captains under the age of fifteen: Michael Woo of the Constellation, Corbin Hoffman of the Endurance, Kurt Morrison of the Henry Hudson, and me. The other three are all fourteen, making me the only thirteen-year-old. Providing we scored in the 92nd percentile on the captain’s qualification test and having superior evaluations on our quarterly review we will be grandfathered in and be able to keep our jobs.”
That statement led to a round of applause from the senior officers. Kyle smiled and gave his officers a quick salute of appreciation before continuing. “Proposal two is that all of the Earhart Class ships under construction or in the planning stage be assigned to Space Fleet.”
Devin raised his hand and Kyle acknowledged him. “I thought the Charles Lindberg was going to be assigned to the Explorers as a prototype co-ed ship.”
“I thought that was the plan, too, but that isn’t what the proposal says.”
“Maybe somebody will propose an amendment to that mess,” Security Chief Kage Enzan said. “We should get at least the ship that was promised to us.”
“Who wrote that proposal, anyway?” Steve asked.
Kyle looked at his printout. “It appears that Admiral Benson wrote it.”
“Isn’t he noted for having no use for the Explorer Program and even less use for Kyle?”
“How about we keep the discussion on the proposals and stay way from personalities,” Kyle said. Kyle, Brad, Steve, and Devin felt that Benson was the guiding force behind the Guardians, but Kyle didn’t think it was relevant to his presentation of the proposals.
“Sorry, Kyle. It’s just that I don’t like seeing our program get short changed,” Steve said.
“Understood,” Kyle said. “Proposal three is for a co-educational ship to be assigned on a trial basis. It is to be staffed by three adults; one as an overall adviser and one as a counselor.”
“Well, at least they’re giving us that much,” Brad said.
“Proposal four calls for the eight Explorer ships to be removed from the Explorer roster, starting with the oldest ones, some of which will either be scrapped or refurbished and then reassigned.”
“Space Fleet is trying to wipe us out!” Steve said.
“Calm down, Steve, and think things through. There are three factors at work here,” Kyle said. “The oldest ships in the fleet were old when they were turned over to the Explorers. Great maintenance by Space Fleet and by us had them operating at their best. But old is old, right Ronnie?” At sixteen, Chief Engineer Ronald Robinson was the oldest of the department heads.
“But old also means being very wise,” Ronnie grinned.
“I wonder how you managed to engineer that statement?” Kyle asked. His pun was met by a round of boos from the officers, which they managed to cut short so Kyle wouldn’t have to bring the meeting back to order. Kyle grinned and gave another of his short salutes.
“What is the second factor, Kyle?” Brad asked.
“The introduction of the Darastixian space drive into Space Fleet has made the chief reason for the large program moot since Space Fleet ships will now be able to cover more locations at greater distance without members of the crew keeling over from old age. Missions that now take years can be completed in fraction of the time. The need for crews made up of kids like us is lessened considerably. The Heinlein’s top speed was 2.5 times that of the original Explorer ship.
“And the third factor?” Steve asked.
‘Brad and Steve are certainly keeping me on my toes,’ Kyle thought. ‘But, that’s what senior officers are supposed to do.’ “Simply put, the Explorer Program has become too big,” Kyle said. “Too many cadets are being sent to star ships without being adequately trained and the Space Academy no longer has the number of cadets needed to run an efficient school.”
Logan Wilson raised his hand to be recognized. His peers could see that the young science chief didn’t feel confident enough yet to simply make his comment out loud. They knew that Kyle had been doing some one-on-one tutoring with him. They assumed it was regarding his lack of confidence in a group setting with the senior officers and his fellow department chiefs.
Kyle pointed to Logan and told him he had the floor. “Captain, did your father tell you what to say about the cutbacks or are you telling us what you think? I mean shouldn’t this proposal be opened for discussion?” Logan’s candor stunned everyone in the room. Nobody had expected him to be assertive.
“What I gave you is the official Space Fleet position, which I am obligated to tell you as your captain. If this was a proposal for us to vote on then we would have an open discussion. But the decisions are being made by Space Fleet admirals, and we pretty much will have to accept them. I’ve only known the details since Monday.”
“What do you mean by pretty much have to accept them?” Steve asked. “You make it sound like we might have some say in this.”
“Anything passed by the ad hoc committee has to be approved by the admiralty for it to become official,” Kyle said. “The admiralty generally meets on Monday. Since today is Thursday, that means you will have to work fast. And, yes, I will send your thoughts to my father who is on the admiralty committee. He will be sure they get read. I will tell you this; that while he will no doubt be sympathetic with your viewpoints, he also understands why Space Fleet wants to make these changes.”
“Hey, look at the bright side though,” Ronnie said.
“What’s that?”
“The ad hoc committee might not approve the proposals.”
Brad couldn’t help but chuckle. “In your dreams, Ronnie. In your dreams.”
“To finish up, the hearing will be broadcast on the screens in here,” Kyle said. “This room will be available for you and your top assistant to come and go as you can. The three senior officers and I will see to it that the crew is told what proposal is being debated and what the vote was. The first proposal is scheduled to be discussed at 0900. After that it’s up in the air. All I know is that there will be a break between proposals. And with that, I will turn the meeting back to Devin.”
Devin spent ten minutes going over the logistics of informing the crew of how the ad hoc meeting was playing out and answering questions. After the questions were answered, Devin dismissed the meeting.
0930
SS LIBERTY
<Captain’s Ready Room>
“The warp drive and the generator appear to be running smoothly,” Captain Eric St. Pierre said to Chief Engineer Dennis McDonough, who occupied a chair in front of the captain’s desk. “So, tell me, Dennis, what are the chances that those things will continue to run smoothly?”
“All I can say is that they will continue to run smoothly until they don’t,” Dennis said.
“Well that certainly makes me feel comfortable.”
“It’s all about the equipment being old and us being far away from Earth or a space station, so we didn’t get the maintenance and upkeep we should have been receiving.”
“What you’re saying, in a diplomatic fashion, is that this ship should not have sent out on a long distance exploration,” Eric said.
“That is exactly what I’m saying.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden jolt followed by the ship vibrating. Dennis could tell right away that the warp engines had been hit by a power surge. Eric suspected the same thing.
“The generator is acting up again,” Dennis said. He stepped over to the view screen on the bulkhead to the left of the captain’s desk and punched in a command. The screen was filled with the readouts of the ship’s warp engine and generator. “The generator appears to be ramping up to normal.”
Dennis called the engine room on his communicator and talked with Nick Stephens, the assistant chief engineer. Dennis pressed a button to connect his communicator with the ready room’s audio/video screen so that Eric could hear the conversation. Nick told Dennis the steps he had taken to bring the generator back to its normal output. Dennis approved of his approach, mainly because the generator was back to operating normally. He was pleased to have an assistant engineer as competent as Nick. In fact, he had said in Nick’s last evaluation that he felt Nick was ready for a chief engineer position.
Eric took a sip of coffee from his mug and said, “Now that all of the systems are working, I think I’m going to take care of something now instead of when the next issue crops up.”
Dennis picked up his mug of coffee, tapped Eric’s mug “Here’s to nothing else going awry between here and Earth.”
“To smooth sailing.” The two senior officers each took another sip. “But it never hurts to be proactive.”
Dennis left the ready room for engineering and Eric contacted Chief Petty Officer Mary Fitzhugh, his yeoman. “Mary, could you please look up the name of the commander of Space Station 7 for me.”
“No need for me to look it up, Captain. The commander is Vice Admiral Nikita Ivanovich.”
“Thanks, Mary. You’re the best. Now, could you please contact him and tell him I would like to speak to him at his earliest convenience.”
“Yes, sir. Will do.”
While Eric waited Chief Engineer McDonough entered his office. “Greetings, Dennis. I hope that your coming back here this quickly isn’t the harbinger of bad news,” Eric said.
“I’m afraid it is. The replacement part Nick installed in the generator appears to be faulty. It’s working at the moment, but the computer is warning of an impending failure.”
“I take it this is a spare part and not replicated part.”
“That’s correct. Not only is the part too large to be replicated, but we don’t carry the materials to make an attempt at reconstructing the part piece by piece.”
“Why don’t we have the proper materials?” Eric asked.
“Because we carried a spare part,” Dennis replied.
“And since we used the spare part to repair the generator, we no longer have a spare part.”
“That’s how it pans out.”
“So, we now have a balky generator to go with a balky condenser. And we don’t have spare parts for either one.”
“Well, actually we can replicate the part for the condenser,” Dennis said.
“If we can replicate the part, why did we need a spare?”
“The manual says it’s much quicker to install a spare part than it is to replicate the part and then install it. And speed is of essence in changing parts.”
“Why did we have just one spare part for the generator?” Eric asked.
“It comes back to size. It’s a large part and takes up a lot of space.”
Eric shook his head. “This is a large ship and should have room for two key generator parts. Without the generator we’re dead in the water. Or maybe they could have used two or three smaller parts. This old bucket needs all the help it can get.”
Eric’s communicator sounded with an incoming communication from Admiral Ivanovich. “This is Captain St. Pierre,” Eric said. “Greetings Admiral.”
“Hello, Eric. What can I do for you?”
“You know that the Liberty is having issues with its propulsion system.”
“Indeed, I do.”
“My understanding is that the nearest ship to us, by far, is the Heinlein, an Explorer ship commanded by a young child.”
“That is correct,” Admiral Ivanovich said.
“On top of our propulsion problems we have potential issues cropping up with our replicator—there seems to be a lot that it can’t do. From what I see developing here, there is a good chance that ship may have to pick up some parts at your space station.”
“We’ve been preparing for that eventuality.”
“What I am asking is for you to take command of the ship to ensure a mature adult is running the show. I don’t want the fate of my ship to be in the hands of a thirteen-year-old.”
“There are three potential problems involved that I can see. One is that it goes against Space Fleet protocol. I can’t take over a command unless the captain and first officer are incapacitated, and even then it has to be with the authorization of Space Fleet Command.”
“How old is the first officer,” Eric asked.
“Fifteen.”
“Unbelievable. Kids operating starships. There has to be a way to bypass that. What’s the second problem.”
“I’ve never commanded a starship. I’ve been an administrator for most of my career.”
“Phooey to that. Those kids are obviously not total idiots. You give them your plans and they take care of the basic operation of the ship. And the third problem?”
“The captain’s last name is Robinson,” the admiral said.
“And why is that a problem?”
“That’s Robinson, as in Admiral Greg Robinson.”
“Shit. So the little boy gets command of a billion-credit starship because of who his father is. Totally unbelievable.”
“That said, I am going to assure you that if the Heinlein has to come to your rescue, I plan to ensure that there will be adult leadership on board.”
“Thank you, Admiral,” Eric said. “I know you and your staff will find a way to make that happen." Eric felt the ship shake. “But right now, I have to see if we can keep this old bucket flying. Thanks for your understanding. Captain St. Pierre out.”
Eric then contacted Chief Engineer McDonough to see what the shaking had been about.
1045
SS ROBERT HEINLEIN
<Captain’s Ready Room>
“The day is moving on calmly,” Devin said to Kyle.
“Maybe we’re finally getting into a routine, although I wouldn’t bet my chocolate chip cookies on it,” Kyle said as he picked up one of the three cookies on his plate and took a satisfying bite.
“But the Guardians have to be frustrated with their efforts to disrupt the Heinlein getting them nowhere. I think they just might be ready to give up their miserable try at rebellion.”
“We both know that long trips in space can get boring if we don’t keep everyone busy. Otherwise, they might find ways to keep themselves busy that aren’t always within the rules. And the Guardians seem to be pretty good at finding ways to break rules without getting caught.”
“I agree. Which leads me to changing the topic. What do you think of what the ad hoc committee has accomplished so far this morning?” Devin said.
“It’s no surprise they voted to propose raising the minimum age to be a captain from thirteen to fifteen. It passed 4-2. Hal Tietokone and Admiral Crusoe voted against it. I know my dad would have voted against it if had been a proposal he would have had to vote on.” As the meeting chair, Greg Robinson could only vote to break a tie.
“What about the grandfather clause?”
“Funny you should ask. Harley Benson proposed an amendment to the motion eliminating the grandfather clause, but it died for lack of a second,” Devin said.
“And we both suspect that Benson is the power behind the Guardian throne, so it’s no surprise that he would propose the amendment. I have no doubt he has it in for me. He all but told me as much when we had that little run in at HQ right after I was appointed captain of the Heinlein. And since I scored a 97, I won’t be due for my first quarterly review until January fifth. But Admiral Valdez did give us a kick ass write up about what he saw on his visit on the Heinlein. Even though it was an unofficial review, it still went into my file.”
Steve came into the ready room and joined Kyle and Devin’s discussion of the ad hoc committee meeting. “We were just getting ready to discuss the second proposal,” Kyle told Steve. “It proposed that all Earhart ships under construction or planned be turned over to Space Fleet. Hal proposed an amendment that the Lindberg be an Explorer Program ship as originally planned. It was seconded by Admiral Minor. The amendment passed 5-1. The amended proposal passed by a 5-1 vote as well. Needless to say, Admiral Benson was the no vote on both proposals.”
The discussion moved to the third proposal. “Here’s a surprise,” Kyle said. “Crusoe proposed an amendment proposing that the co-ed ship would not be the Lindberg but rather the Joseph Hooker.”
“What reason did he give for that?” Brad asked. He had sneaked into the ready room as Kyle started his report on proposal three.
“He felt the co-educational experiment should be on a ship everyone had been made familiar with during their academy classes and student trips. The Hooker is in Earth orbit finishing up a retrofit and should be activated in six weeks. It will be be turning over most of its crew, including the captain, and it was felt the change to a co-ed ship would be much smoother using the Hooker.”
“The vote on the amendment was 5-1 as was the vote on the proposal,” Devin said as he decided to give Kyle a chance to catch his breath. “Linda McKenzie was the no vote. She wanted the girls to have the new ship to train on, even if it meant it would mean the experiment starting a few months later.” He then turned the meeting back over to Kyle.
“And the fourth proposal to pare down the size of the Explorer fleet generated the most discussion, but there were no amendments proposed,” Kyle said. “The proposal was to cut the size of the fleet by retiring the eight oldest ships. Interestingly, this was the proposal that attracted the most attention of the crew.”
“Probably because most of them just learned what was going on,” Steve said.
“Could be. The vote was tied at 3-3. Admiral Robinson cast the tie breaking vote, so it passed 4-3. Hal, Crusoe, and Linda McKenzie voted against it. The entire ad hoc meeting will be shown twice on the cabin TV sets and in the room set up on the holodeck for the crew to watch. It will now go to the admiralty committee for a final vote.
“And here is another piece of news that was sent to me by Admiral Mirah. The admiralty committee members what to give the figures of the Explorer program, from grades, to class hours, to numbers assigned to a ship, to the overall budget, and who knows what else, a thorough audit. Bill said their vote won’t be happening until January. Now, let’s go get some lunch.”
Nobody argued and the senior officers headed for the dining room.
1415
<Donald and Everett’s Quarters>
Donald Nixon turned to Everett and grinned. “I think the time is ripe for a little slowdown,” he said.
“How do you know Ronnie and Brad haven’t figured out how defeat it?” Everett asked.
“Because our chief engineer needs the information services chief to do his job of finding and stopping our little device and Logan, the science chief, as well as our “official” boss, assures me that Brad and his information minions have no clue as to how to defeat our little toy.”
“If you say so.”
“Don’t be so negative. You should be pleased as to how well our plan to disrupt and break the baby captain has panned out. Hell, if it doesn’t do some major disrupting I’ll let you top me tonight,” Don said.
“I should be able to do it, anyway. You know you like it.”
“Oh, I like the sex part. But there is also the fact that as the leader of the Guardians, I have to maintain my own dominance by topping you most of the time.”
Everett nodded as he wondered how he had come to enjoy having Don dominate him sexually. At least Don let him have his way occasionally. Besides, in the end, he really looked forward to their romps in bed.
“Let’s do it,” Everett said.
“Do you mean do sex or slow this puppy down?”
“I mean doing our job which, as you know, is serious. The sex can wait until tonight when we’ll be less serious and laughing at Captain Kylebaby.”
Don pulled his communicator out of the pouch attached to his belt and contacted Wade Green. “Hey, Wade,” he said. “We seem to be breaking the speed limit; perhaps you can slow us down before we get pulled over. I see you’re in position to do so.
“I’ll get right on it and love every second of it.” Wade, who was in the maintenance corridor, pulled a remote out of his pocket and punched in a trio of numbers. The remote sent a brief pulse to a device placed next to the warp drive control panel. He could immediately feel a change in the vibrations coming from the warp drive.
<Engineering>
Chief Engineer Ronald “Ronnie” Robinson walked the engineering section doing his daily inspection. He checked the dials and gauges, taking notes on his tablet to help him put together his weekly report to HQ. He turned and headed for the engineering ready room to prepare the final copy. He sat at his desk and started typing. He’d just completed the first page when he sensed a change in the warp drive’s vibrations.
“Oh shit,” he mumbled. “Not again.”
He checked the dials and readouts and noted the readings were nothing like the ones he had seen twenty minutes earlier. The ship had been moving at 80% warp, which was its standard cruising speed. It was now down to 38% warp. One hundred percent was the ship’s maximum speed.
“She’s not responding to my commands to add speed,” Larry Rockford said. Rockford was third in command of the engineering department.
“I’ll see what information systems can tell us. Brad said they were getting a handle on controlling the disruptions.” If Ronnie had been able to overhear an argument happening in a corridor on the command deck, he might not have sounded so positive.
<Captain’s Ready Room>
As soon as the gauges in his ready room confirmed that the Heinlein had been slowed down, Kyle picked up his communicator and connected with department heads and senior officers. “I want to see you in my ready room NOW!” They were all in the captain’s ready room within twelve minutes of Kyle’s command. Ronnie was the last to arrive.
“I’d like to think that ten minutes is more than enough time to get here, even from engineering,” Kyle barked at his brother and chief engineer.
“In case you haven’t noticed, we have a problem in engineering, and I needed time to tell Kai and Larry what I wanted them to do. In fact, we would be better off if I went back to engineering and had Kai attend this meeting,” Ronnie said. He knew exactly what Kyle’s reaction would be, but he had to say what needed to be said. Kai was Ronnie’s assistant chief engineer and Ronnie felt he was needed more in engineering than in some stupid emergency meeting which would consist mostly of Kyle letting them all know what a lousy job of keeping the Heinlein operating properly and safely they were doing.
“Like anything was being accomplished while you were there. The same goes for you, Brad.” Brad cringed at hearing Kyle snarl his name. “I was under the impression information services knew what was causing the slowdown glitches and had the problem all but solved.”
“You were under the wrong impression,” Brad said in a controlled matter of fact voice. “Close to a solution isn’t the same as knowing the exact cause.” Brad was trying to bring a hint of calmness to the room to contrast the ranting of the Heinlein’s captain. The ranting was so unlike Kyle that he wasn’t real sure how to react to it.
“For the record I want it on the record that I understand where the chief engineer is coming from. I feel can accomplish a lot of more in information service than I can at a meeting that seems to be spinning his wheels.” Brad nodded and sat down.
Chief Science Officer Logan Wilson was recording the meeting on his communicator, and he knew exactly what he was going to do with it. He knew that while Shasho taking the minutes of the meeting, Kyle was insistent that only official meetings called for by Explorer or Space Fleet command be recorded. Logan was making an unofficial recording that he planned to share with an intimate group of crew members.
“So, tell me, Commander Kanye, why it is that even though you are working closely with another starship you haven’t found a way of detecting and stopping these surprise attacks on our ship’s systems?” Kyle didn’t mention that the ship he was referring to was his previous billet—the SS Sooloo.
“I’ve told you my theory.”
“A theory I have judged to be a pile of bullshit,” Kyle said. “I don’t mean that the Guardians might not be behind it, but I can’t see them having somebody at HQ pulling their strings.”
“On the other hand, I don’t see the Guardians as being smart enough to pull this off by themselves,” Steve said.
“I thought we agreed that name wouldn’t be mentioned in our meetings until we have proof that they’re behind this. All we have now is speculation because they have formed their own little faction. And since this meeting seems to be getting nowhere, I am going to dismiss you to return to the tasks some of you think are more important than us solving this problem as a group.”
The officers rose and left the ready room amidst a great deal of grumbling.
1540
<Holodeck Room 3a>
The Guardians’ executive board of Don Nixon, Everett Belmont, and Jim Maxwell gathered at Don’s behest in the special holodeck room Perry Fox of operations had created for them. Ben Kennedy, Terry Broxton, and Mark Winters came to the meeting on their own volition after receiving Don’s communication regarding the upcoming meeting since they were off duty and able to attend.
Logan Wilson was at the meeting because he had recorded the emergency meeting in the captain’s ready room. He had gone straight to Don’s quarters after Kyle had abruptly ended the department head/senior officers’ meeting. Don and Everett had listened to the recording and grinned.
“It’s time to free the Heinlein from the clutches of the mystery power at
Space Fleet Headquarters,” Don had told them.
Since Ben, Terry, and Mark were not on the executive board they couldn’t vote, but they could involve themselves in any discussion. Logan played his recording for the group. “Wow, it sure sounds like our captain was losing his cool. I love it,” Ben Kennedy said. Everyone knew that there was no love lost between Ben and Kyle.
“We were hoping we’d get a chance to break Kyle when we hit the Heinlein with a glitch when it was involved in a stressful situation. But right now, the ship is working into a routine as we head to the Planck Nebula and the useless toddler is starting to come apart at the seams.
“What we have to do now is keep the pressure on while making sure he and his officers can’t prove we’re behind the ship’s problems. I’m more worried that his ass-licking senior officers might catch on than the loser. Those three have more than half a clue and could nail our asses if we aren’t careful. One thing going for us according to our sources is that Kyle doesn’t have much, if any, faith in their opinions.
“That said, Everett, Jim, and I have discussed what we’d like to do tomorrow and are ready to share it with you.”
“Does it have to do with the drills?” Ben asked.
“Good thinking, Ben. I knew I liked you for more than your total lack of respect for our so-called captain.” Just as Don started to address the group, Ricardo Joseph, from operations, and Rashad Khoury, from security, entered the room. Rashad had entered the code to unlock the door.
“Sorry to be late,” Ricardo said, “but we just finished our assigned duties and met along the way here. Is it okay if we stay.”
“Of course it is. You guys did the right thing and now you get rewarded for it by getting to stay. I was just going to tell everyone what your executive board has is mind for our next little glitch.”
“It sounds like it’s going to be something different,” Ben said.
“Plus, it will be something that they absolutely will not be able to blame us for.” Don then went on to tell them what he had in mind. The discussion was overwhelmingly favorable. The executive board voted 3-0 to send their little present the next day.
SS LIBERTY
1600
Captain Eric St. Pierre and First Officer Arnie Baylor entered engineering where Chief Engineer Dennis McDonough was standing next to the main generator. “I take it that we’re still having generator issues,” Eric said.
“It’s running okay so far, and the instrument readings are in the normal range. But it doesn’t feel right to me,” Dennis said.
“Which do you trust more, the readings or your gut?”
“Normally it would be the readings. But on this old bucket I have to go with my gut. And if it helps, Nick agrees with me,” Dennis said, referring to Assistant Chief Engineer Nick Stephens.
“What do you guys think of us getting cleared to change course for Space Station 7?” Eric asked. “It’s way closer than Earth and we have a better chance of getting there before something else breaks down than we would if we maintained our current course.”
“I think we should go for it,’ Arnie said.
“I’ll contact the station and see what they think there.”
“Well, we know they’ll have room for us since nobody but us and the Explorer ship are within two weeks of the station.”
“And we know they have a generator there,” Dennis said.
“Then there’s no doubt I’ll get their okay. Then we contact HQ. I can’t think of any reason for them not to okay our detour.”
“I can think of one reason.”
“What would that be?” Eric asked.
“Because they can,” Arnie grinned.
The four officers broke out into raucous laughter since they knew that Arnie’s comment was all too true.
A half hour later Eric was talking to Admiral Ivanovich on the ship’s communicator. “Hola, Eric. What can I do to help you?”
Eric told what Dennis had said about the state of the main generator. “I would like to divert to Space Station 7 in order to change out generators to help ensure a trouble-free trip to Earth.”
“I think it’s best that you stay on course to Earth unless the good folks at HQ say otherwise. Besides, they are sending the Overseer to meet you before you get halfway to Earth. As you know, those maintenance ships are nearly as well-equipped as a space station with probably a crew more experienced in repairing and replacing.”
“Admiral, you know as well as I do that as good as those maintenance ships are they are nowhere near as well equipped as a space station. I am certain they would say yes if you said you could handle us at the space station.”
“Either way, at the speed I understand you have been ordered to maintain you would reach either one of us at about the same time,” the admiral said. “Tell your chief engineer that when it comes to a starship it’s always better to rely on your instruments than on the seat of your pants. Admiral Ivanovich, out.” The admiral’s face and office dropped from the viewscreen on the wall.
“I guess he put us in our place,” Dennis said.
“It’s apparent the good admiral never commanded a starship,” Eric said.
“How did he become an admiral if he was never the captain of a ship?” Nick asked.
“Commanding a space station is mainly an administrative position. The good admiral was and is a champion paper pusher.”
Just as Eric and Arnie started to exit the engineering office the four officers felt the slightest of vibrations. Dennis looked carefully at the dials and saw no change. “Hmm, my gut tells me we’d better hope the Overseer is coming toward us at full warp. Nick, head to the main engineering room and tell the duty officers to make sure the instrument readings are being saved. I want them to refer to in case we have to make a run to the Space Station 7.”
“Let’s hope any communication we have with the space station is not in the form of a distress signal,” Eric said as he and Arnie left the room.
Next: Distress