by Bob Mauldin
Not waiting for a response, she continued up the staircase. His expression thoughtful, Brandon watched her until the huge doors boomed shut between them.
The press conference went as such things always did. Standing on the courtyard steps so the cameras could get good shots, the Japanese ambassador stood beside Lucy and agreed with every word she said about the new embassy in Tokyo. He then, along with her, answered questions for about ten minutes before backing away from the small stage, leaving her to face the crowd alone, Lucy had become an expert at these functions, and they no longer terrified her like they once had. She chose which questions to answer fully and which to answer with more fluff than substance. Finally, she called a halt to the session, pleading exhaustion, and escaped into the safety of Freddie’s castle.
An hour later, back at the embassy after her final goodbyes of the night, Lucy slipped out of her clothes and into the bed she’d waited for all day. Turning the lights down, she gazed at the stars and let the view lull her to sleep.
Lucy gazed out over the expanse of water dotted with the colorful sails of hundreds of boats. Pleasure craft, fishing vessels, and merchant ships vied for the same space, and Lucy marveled at the fact that so few collisions occurred. February had brought them to Tokyo, and three new ships were in Earth’s orbit. Two of the ships, named the Andre Norton and the Isaac Asimov, finished off the list of names Simon had come up with, so Lucy had decided on Shasta for the third.
“Because I like the name, that’s why!”
Rukia had merely asked how she’d arrived at the name, and the vehement response had momentarily stunned her.
Lucy sat for half a minute more and then turned to Rukia. “Sorry. So much on my mind right now that having to pick ships’ names seems like a petty thing to blow up over.”
“It’s because of the Americans, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” Lucy admitted. “But how did you know?”
“You set it up so that I read every piece of mail that comes in here and also every radio communication. I know the Americans have finally given approval for an embassy, so I also know you’ll be leaving soon,” Rukia said. “It’s nerves, of course. It’s a big step. The big step as far as the rest of the world is concerned. Once America buys into the embassy notion, it’s as good as written in stone. I guess you’re leaving me in charge of this embassy?”
“I had that in mind, yes,” Lucy admitted. “If you’ve figured that out, then you’re the right person for the job.”
“I’d have had to be blind not to have figured it out, Luce. With all the ‘go here’ and ‘meet this person’ going on, everyone saw that you were grooming me for the spot. Besides, I saw what you did to Lloyd, so it made sense. Tell me, how did you know we were laughing at you that day? Lloyd pointed it out that you had your back turned to us and couldn’t possibly have seen us.”
“If I tell you,” Lucy said lazily, “it’ll ruin my mystique! Lucy Grimes, mind reader extraordinaire.” She changed the subject. “You know I’m leave tomorrow.”
“Yes, I know,” Rukia said, letting some of her temper show, “I need to tell you that even though I look Japanese and have a Japanese name, I really don’t understand the Japanese. I was raised in California, for Christ’s sake! How am I supposed to get along with these people?”
“Use common sense. You know as much as I do about the day-to-day functioning of this embassy now. So what if you aren’t familiar with the culture. No one expects you to be. Get a cultural attaché to help smooth out the bumps. I’m sure Mr. Karagawa would be happy to assist you,” Lucy said, referring to a persistent gentleman who had, from almost the first day, tried everything in his power to get Rukia to go out with him.
“He’s entirely too persistent for my taste. When I tell someone no, I expect to be listened to. It must be that horrid Western upbringing of mine.” Her comment fairly dripped with sarcasm. “And if you don’t tell me how you know we laughed at you, I’ll...I’ll…”
“What?”
“Quit!”
“You wouldn’t do that after all we’ve been through,” Lucy said with conviction.
“Try me.”
“Okay, geez! A girl can’t even have any fun,” Lucy said, pouting at her friend. “You two were so busy laughing at me that you must not have noticed the mirror at the side of the room. But I saw it, and I saw the two of you. And I vowed to get even. Laugh at my discomfort at being thrust into the spotlight, will ya? Well, what goes around, comes around. Your turn, only I won’t laugh. Didn’t with Lloyd, and I won’t with you.”
Just a small lie, for as soon as Rukia walked out of the office, laugh she did.
Lucy’s shuttle landed in the Arthur C. Clarke’s bay, and she strode about halfway down the ramp and stopped. A small band was playing something martial off to one side, something vaguely familiar but nothing she could put a name to. “Permission to come aboard?’ she asked formally of the commander standing at the foot of the ramp.
“Granted, ma’am, and welcome aboard the Clarke. The captain’s compliments, and would you care to join her in her ready room?” came out of the mouth of the officious-sounding young man who wore a set of duty blacks that looked as if they’d been tailored to fit.
“Delighted, Commander. Lead the way.” Lucy knew that she could teach this one a thing or two about his own ship but passed up the chance to bring him down a peg or two.
The fresh-faced commander knocked on a door with a brass plaque reading: Gayle Miller, Captain, TAS Arthur C. Clarke, Commanding. Hearing a muffled voice from inside that he translated as, “Come in,” the young man did just that, stopping in the doorway and effectively blocking it. “Ma’am, First Captain Grimes.”
“Send her in, Charley, and for God’s sake quit blocking the door for superior officers. It’s rude and could turn you into a lieutenant commander in no time flat.”
Lucy closed the door on the startled face of the commander and looked at Gayle. “Who is that?”
“Someone entirely too serious for his own good. I think he’ll make a good tactical officer though, if I can only get some of the spit and polish off him. Got good marks on all of the tests we could devise, some of which he helped develop, so things are suspect there. But he’s coming along. Got great marks on games theory and something called chaos theory. Just needs to get over himself.” The two women hugged and sat down. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Well, I’ve come to steal some of your people. The American Embassy has been approved...”
“Congratulations!”
“Thanks, but the problem is that I don’t have enough trained, trustworthy staff to set the place up properly. I took all I could from the Niven, but they’re now stretched between Zurich and Tokyo. A couple of dozen bodies are all I need, and I can get you good replacements from the tests we’re administering. I need experienced engineers to oversee the installation of the power core and security screen, and a few bodyguards. I haven’t needed those since Zurich, but Lloyd and Rukia insist that I have them. Mother hens, both.”
“Well, I, for one, agree with ‘em. “Do you really trust that bunch of...” Gayle stumbled to a halt, at a loss for words.
“Okay. Okay,” Lucy said, picking another subject. “How’s Simon doing?”
Gayle, who’d just come from the Galileo, said, “He’s doing okay. Seems more like himself all the time. There’s just this... shadow, ya know? Like a cloud he can’t get out from under. I came back by way of Vesta. Thought you’d like to know.”
“What?”
“All the machines are idle. Took a shuttle into the thing. Job’s done. Completely hollowed out and ready for the next step.”
“Good. We should get the Galileo to build a habitat and factory section and tow it to Vesta. Crew that and start laying grav lines. Then we get the interior aired up and we’re on our way. The rest of the construction can go at our leisure. Oh, there is one other thing.”
“Y
es?” Gayle asked expectantly.
“The band. It’s embarrassing, Gayle! I mean, I agree with the symbolism, and thanks for the thought, but save it for special occasions, okay?”
“Special occasions?” Gayle was all innocence. “Do you mean to say that the commanding officer of the Terran Alliance visiting one-seventh of her battle fleet isn’t a special occasion?”
Commander Diana Ross, newly promoted, walked into the room carrying a stack of papers. Appointed to be Lucy’s personal secretary after the promotion of Rukia Kimura to head of the embassy in Japan and overly conscious of the new insignia on her collar, she set the papers down on Lucy’s desk. Still uncomfortable with the familiarity to which she was now entitled, Diana, said, “This is the first batch, uh, Lucy. I’ve flagged the ones that look most promising in blue and the least in green.”
Lucy stared out the window at the San Mateo Mountains as the map on her wall called them, and asked, “How many good ones, Diana?”
“Out of over four hundred applications, we have about two hundred sixty-five, ma’am.”
“That takes us over the top for the first ship, but keep the interviews going,” Lucy said absently as she watched the sun set behind the mountains. “Call up the first crew and have them report for their initial introduction class. Let Security know we’ll be having arrivals and give them a list of names. Get housekeeping to assign quarters and notify the mess halls to begin to expect an increase at the tables. Tell all the other acceptable applicants that they’re in the ‘keep a bag packed’ file.”
The three ships in orbit awaiting crews preyed upon Lucy’s mind. Two months had passed since skeleton crews had delivered them to Earth orbit, and still they sat with only skeleton crews. She had envisioned these three ships as examples of what the Terran Alliance really stood for. Crewed with a truly international mix, these ships needed to get under way as soon as possible. The sticking point was the damned Americans. It had taken Congress months to decide to cede even a small portion of the New Mexico desert to the Alliance, and still more months—meanwhile, the Japanese embassy had taken off like a bat out of hell—for the infrastructure to be set in place and become operational, and none of it would have been possible if it hadn’t been for the surprise that arrived on her doorstep three days after the embassy opened. Lucy stared out the window and wondered if the U.S. could have picked a worse place to cede them. She doodled in the ever-present dust that seeped through every possible crack in the ancient buildings of the old army post.
Her introspection was thankfully disturbed by the phone ringing. The guard at the front gate was calling to say that an unusual convoy had come to “enlist.” When Lucy asked what was so unusual about this particular group of people, she was told that all of them claimed to be friends of Simon. Intrigued, she told the guard she’d be right out, grabbed Diana and two guards, and headed for the gate in her skimmer. After a long conversation with the leader of the group, a Sergeant Mike Abernathy, Lucy provisionally agreed to allow them inside the complex. “I’ll have to speak to Simon first to confirm your identities,” she said.
“Abernathy?” Simon asked when Lucy’s message brought him to the Galileo’s comm center. “Yeah, I remember him and most of the other names you read off. Platoon mates of mine from my tour in the Army. You want some way to know that he is who he says he is? Okay. Ask him why his nickname was ‘Double Cross.’ If he blushes, he’s the right guy. And don’t ask. Maybe someday I’ll tell you the story. And anybody he vouches for is okay, too. Why not use ‘em to help set up a functioning base? You’re going to have more people than you know what to do with running around all over the place shortly. Let them handle security and train the new security personnel. Tell him I’ll see him in about six months, and if he doesn’t behave, I’ll tell everybody how he got the nickname.”
She sat behind a grey, military-style desk some thirty miles north of a New Mexican town called Truth or Consequences and started to wade through the stack of blue-flagged papers Diana had deposited on her desk. Her desire to see the personnel mix as equal as possible was what’d been holding her up. Her original thought, seeing these papers, was that one ship could be up and running, but then she thought of all the applicants in Japan. A simple call to Rukia Kimura might just get two of them out of orbit and into training mode.
Lt. Commander Thomas Breen, second-wave volunteer, rode down to Earth in the shuttle, orders in hand. His surprise at being called to the First Captain’s office in New Mexico had been complete. Serving as the weapons officer aboard the Galileo, he’d been pleased to be off Earth and away from the stifling family life he’d endured prior to his enlistment in the Alliance. But it was the wording of the invitation to Alliance Headquarters that baffled him. “Captain Grimes requests the pleasure of your company,” was not a phrase that engendered worry. “At your convenience” also gave the impression that the invitation was less than urgent. The problem was that, until he received the summons, Thomas had only met the First Captain once before, and he’d been sure she hadn’t taken much notice of him.
A redhead led the small crowd into a room and handed her clipboard to a waiting ensign wearing a shoulder patch that read “Alliance Training Command.” The ensign immediately left via a second door, and the redhead, Diana, walked down the aisle between the two groups of chairs, stopping at a podium at the front of the room. She turned to face the expectant assemblage, waving expansively at the chairs.
“Please take a seat wherever you feel comfortable.” She began as soon as the last person got settled. “Thank you all for being here.”
“As if we were given a choice!” came from the right side of the room.
Diana turned to the speaker. “Lt. Commander Mark Grant, isn’t it?” At the speaker’s startled nod, she looked down at her podium “Born and raised in Joplin, Missouri. Never missed a day of school, straight As in every subject all the way up to college, which you got into two years early by jumping two grades. Five years studying physics at Cal Tech where you finished up with a short string of degrees at twenty-one. Very impressive. You’ve distinguished yourself in the position of science office aboard the McCaffrey over the past year.” She looked the young man up and down. “You also got high marks on the tests everyone’s been required to take recently. Unfortunately, they didn’t cover manners or patience. If they had, you’d probably have failed.” She looked at the rest of the room so they’d know they were included in the next statement. “Those tests, along with the bios we asked you to fill out at the same time, are the reason you’re here today. Any of you are free to leave at any time—back to your assignments or back to your homes, whichever you want. Or,” she said, turning to the uncomfortable young man, “you can pipe down and listen to what I have to say first, then get huffy and leave. I don’t really care.”
After a short silence to let her heart rate slow down to something approaching normal, Diana said, “Ladies and gentlemen, among other things, I’m the personal secretary to First Captain Grimes, who’ll be stopping by momentarily to speak to you. I have the privilege of giving you the good news now so less time will be spent once the First Captain arrives. You’ve been selected out of four ships, three bases, and the newest recruits from our new Japanese embassy to be the nuclei for the command crews of the three new ships we have in orbit right now.”
The bomb thus dropped, Diana waited for their reactions. It had been a matter of intense debate at all levels as to who would get the coveted bridge positions, and stunned amazement was the first reaction, while elation and suspicion followed close behind. The meetings between each ship’s captain had only served to fuel the debates, but until now, not one word of those decisions had been leaked. Lucy had spoken personally with each ship captain and lengthily with the base commanders about the top scorers on the affected ships and bases, and she’d finally chosen the first four positions for each ship. In a fit of pique at the wasted time, she’d fleshed out an idea about a selections board to handle t
he process. The handwritten notes in an old-fashioned notebook soothed her somehow, as if committing an idea to paper gave her a purpose, a goal.
Lucy entered the room by way of a side door before anyone had time to begin questioning Diana, and Lt. Commander Grant, first to spot her, jumped to his feet and said, “Captain on deck!”
Inwardly, Lucy shivered. Will I ever get used to this? Outwardly calm, she stepped up to the podium and said, “Thank you, Diana.” Turning to the small group of people standing at attention before her, she said, “Ladies and gentlemen, at ease. Please be seated.”
Diana made her way to the side of the room, and Lucy looked at each face for a moment as they settled back into their seats. Their expressions ranged from bewildered to wary and guarded. “First, thank you for coming on such short notice. I realize you’ve just had a shock to your systems. Believe it or not, I do keep up with what is going on among the crews. The information you’ve just received has been the topic of open debate for weeks now. But once you’ve heard what I have to say, I think you’ll agree that it was time well spent.”
Lucy stepped out from behind the lectern and began to pace slowly, in time with her words. “We are entering, after a little more than four years, a new phase in the life of the Terran Alliance. We’ve finally been accepted as members of the international community, and with the opening of this embassy, our status is virtually locked in stone. It’s for that reason that you’re here. Since we now have the ability to recruit from all the major countries on Earth, and most of the others as well, it’s time to put our principles into practice. You know that we’ve had three ships sitting idle in orbit for two months now, and there are more coming as soon as the bases get them completed. We’ve been waiting until enough people qualified under the guidelines we’ve developed to begin filling out crews. As of last week, we have enough to fill the command roster of two of those ships completely, as well as enough crewmembers to fill out the empty berths, and the next isn’t far behind.
