Jack looked down at his wrinkled coveralls that had old grease stains with only a printed cloth name tag sewn on his chest and Vice Admiral stars with a bar under it denoting that it was provisional on his collar. At least it was clean. Just out of the shower and clean shaved after a good 7 hours of sleep, Jack had felt on top of his ship until he heard that comment in his mind as she continued.
‘What am I supposed to advise him about? How to change his diaper or play with himself? I best keep my blouse fastened and breasts small or he will cream his shipsuit.’
Jack had just about had enough of that. “Well Captain. Let’s start with the list on that little PDA of yours and just see how much your advice is worth. I hope it is not specific details on how to change my diaper or jerk off.” Jack smiled at the Captain that suddenly turned white as the officers around her. Jack just realized that he had been commenting on what she had said in her mind.
Trying to recover from his outburst. “I have heard it all. You had it written all across your face Captain. Now. Please excuse my looks but I have been busy and after the first sleep I have had in ages and a nice relaxing shower, I really did not feel like putting on my mech armor so soon again and since I have not seen a tailor for a while with my uniform in worse shape, this was all I had that looked comfortable around the Cabin. I was not expecting to have to attend a fricking inspection party concerning my uniform this early in the morning before breakfast with a few visiting officers that look like toys themselves.” Not good he realized as he tried to calm down. Damn he was hungry. “Now get that look off of your faces. The first person that expresses what the fuck you are thinking can walk back to the Black Dwarf. I have heard it to many times before. Now let’s get to work.” Jack said trying to recover, again.
A Steward came into the room and placed a cup of hot tea in front of Jack then turned around to the other officers. “Could I get you all something to drink before breakfast? I am afraid that breakfast is going to consist of a couple of eggs hash browns and toast with hot cereal. Ration shortage and all.” Turning back to Jack. “One of the Tramp ships sent the food over with their complements Admiral.”
Jack raised his eyes. “And I suppose you already have things made up. Well next time just send the food strait to the crew’s stew pot.”
“Yes Admiral. Breakfast is ready for you and your guests any time you are ready.”
“Thank you … Aaa Terrel.” Jack said after reading the woman’s name tag and then. “Another T. My last Steward was named Truitt. What is my Exec doing? Just going down the alphabet list? I hope you last longer than all my other Stewards. I am getting awfully tired of having to break new ones in. But then I keep telling him not to send me anyone. I don’t mind eating with the crew. Fact is I kind of enjoy it.”
“Yes Admiral. I was next on the quall list but the name is coincidental.” She smiled. “I am a marine and a lot harder to kill off than the others so I promise to hang around as long as you need me Admiral.”
One of the Staff officers across the table swallowed. “You killed your other stewards?”
Jack looked at the man not believing he did not know the marine was just using an old marine expression and that no one had actually died. But Jack saw an opportunity to have some fun. “Well you know how the enemy are. They don’t ask me when they want to lop off a head or put a blaster shell into someone’s chest.” Jack smiled. “Then that one battleship beam tore completely through the ship. Couldn’t even find the body on that one. Then there are the berserker Apes.” Looking up at the marine and winking. “Were you in on that mess last month when we assaulted and took that last Spider Battleship?” Cringing. “Now that was a mess. I don’t know why Stewards think they have to follow me into battle but that one gut his legs and arms sent in four different directions before I got turned back around and killed the rest of the damn attacking Apes. At least she took a few with her.”
“Yes Admiral. I hear they are still looking for her right foot.” The marine tried to hide a smile.
Looking from the Staff officers to the marine. “I sure hope you can run fast enough to keep up with me Terrel. Stay close to my butt or you will get your butt blown off. Told that to the others but they just did not listen.”
You don’t have to worry about me keeping up with you Admiral I was a sprinter in Collage.
“Oh shit. Don’t tell me you are another mathematics prodigy or professor of phycology.”
“No Admiral. Just collage educated. I will take the Staff’s drink orders now Admiral before breakfast gets cold.”
Looking at the Staff officers after their drink orders had been placed. “I hope you guys and gals know how to shoot and defend themselves or the Admiral is going to be sending me new Staff when I send your bodies back. I really hate breaking in new staff. The next time I see you all, you better have armor suits on and time on the gun range. And get rid of that fucking bling. Apes just love killing themselves to get to it. They certainly must love having it because they love taking it off dead bodies. I think it is the little trinkets flashing in the light that gets their attention.” Jack smiled at them as he failed to keep his face serious.
The Steward placed their ordered Coffee and Tea in front of each officer.
“Ok shall we start?”
“Yes Admiral.” The center Captain said as the rest just stared at the cups in front of them. One of them reached out with a shaking hand and spooned creamer and sweetener into his cup and then the others followed suit to their tastes. “You have all the transports grouped together into one huge mass. With them all having to stay with the slowest Transport. While this is good for security, it will play hell getting through the tight fitting corridors and on the other end when they all try to use the limited number of docks. Forcing most to hang around waiting.” Jack noticed a couple of the offices start crying as they lifted their cups to their lips and took sips of the steaming hot drinks. “If you break the large group into several smaller groups according to propulsion speed. You can stager the arrival times while getting the first transports there and loading long before the original convoy would have arrived. If we time it right each convoy squadron will arrive just as the previous one is ready to leave.”
The Steward sat Jack’s plate in front of him steaming hot and Jack dug in taking a big mouth full and then chewed while thinking until he swallowed. “But that assumes that all we are doing there is loading and leaving. The problem is we have a hell of a lot more to do there than simply load and leave.” Jack noticed that most of the staff were staring at his eggs and toast. Some with their mouths hanging open. Thinking that was strange as he took another bite and the Steward slowly went from one to the other as he placed their plates down in front of them from a cart. Each of them staring at the plate set before them. Jack frowned as he notice one of them on the end actually start drooling. The woman to his right side started crying.
This was the first decent meal Jack had had in months and he found himself wolfing it down with his plate half empty before he realized what he was doing and forced himself to slow down. Espeacialy with the shocked faces staring at their plates across from him.
Jack watched the one that had shaking hands putting creamer in his coffee, take a fork full of scrambled eggs and lift them up towards his mouth only for them to fall off the fork.
“Ok what the hell?” Jack could not believe what he was seeing as one of them pulled out a pill from her pocket and looked at the eggs and toast and back at the pill. Jack took another bite and slowly started chewing it. Finely enjoying the taste.
Several picked up the toast and looked at it as one took a huge bite.
“NO!” The Steward Boomed rushing back into the conference compartment. Stopping everyone in mid motion as she reached around and slapped the one that had taken the bight of toast on the back, knocking a half chewed piece of toast out across the table.
“NO one takes a bite of anything!” She demanded as she quickly gathered up the plates faster than J
ack could believe. The last plate being swiped at as the officer tried to grab something off of it to eat but getting his hand slapped. “I will be right back with something you can eat without killing yourselves.” Grabbing the cups as well before leaving. Dumping most of them on the cart making a mess jumbling everything together in her haste.
She was back in a couple of minutes with bowls of watery hot cereal. “I thinned down the cereal to something your body can tolerate at the right temperature since your bodies do not even have the energy to digest the food.” She held a scanner module to each of the officer’s one at a time while recording her readings. Stopping at the Captain at the center and frowning. “Why are you so much healthier than the rest?” Then looking a second longer. You have only been on the pills fore few weeks and not months like the others. Then looking around at the shocked faces she continued. “Even one bite of solid food right know could have killed most of you. It is Ok. Go ahead and eat the soup. Just take your time to eat your bowl taking a minute or two between bights and you will be Ok. Next time you can eat a little faster and I will up the calorie intake.”
“Don’t tell me you are a Doctor to.” Jack said in despair knowing she would not be around long.
“Not of psychology Admiral. Sorry if you think you need analyzed.”
“What is going on here? Is it a requirement to be a medical Doctor to be a Steward now?” Jack pushed his half full plate away after not touching a bite after the Steward told the rest not to eat.
“I would not know anything about that Admiral.”
“Well take this away and send it down to Sickbay and someone that can enjoy it. You can bring me what they are having.”
“Admiral you don’t need to…”The all too healthy looking Captain started to say.
“Captain when I want your advice on something I will ask for it. Now I am going to show you a recording of what happened at the Station a couple weeks ago and when it is done I will ask for your comments.” Turning to the Steward. “What about the rest of the crew we brought on board from TF-58?”
“I just got a call from sickbay requesting my help as they have half the transferees in getting their stomach’s pumped with two dead already. They have already barred the rest of the transferees from eating. The Chief Surgeon is already trying to find out why they were sent over without warning us about them being on the pills.” I tapped out and interrupted breakfast just in time by the looks of it and will inform the infirmary that I have my hands full here for the moment. Excuse me Admiral.” The Steward disappeared into the pantry.
The Officers watched the station get stripped and then first the container trains being assembled and then the container barges with shuttles acting as tugs headed away from the station.
Steward Terrel brought Jack a bowl of hot cereal that was a little thicker than the others as Jack finished reading the Stewards records. “So another Doctor from an unaccredited Collage but only 2 years of residency.” Jack whispered to the Steward. “Well, you look qualified so tell me… How bad is it over in the fleet we left behind?”
“The energy nutrition pill is supposed to keep a crew alive for years if they are stranded in space.” The Steward whispered back. “But after the 3rd month on only pills, the crew starts dying off. First a few and then more and more exponentially until about half of the original crew are dead after a year. By then the survivors are little better than skin and bone with little muscle or strength but their bodies are now used to having only the pills for nourishment. They can still operate a ship and maintain it if nothing that requires strength is needed but little else. When and if they are rescued, it can take years if ever for their bodies to recover. Almost half the surviving crew may die during the transition back to whole food unless a lot of attention is paid to each victim. Each body responds differently during the process requiring specific and sometimes different treatments that can change overnight.”
“What the hell?” the Captain had shut off the recording to listen to the Doctor. “We have lost a thousand people over that last few weeks. You say it will get worse?”
“Yes Captain. I heard you have a Quarter million in the crew. In about six weeks, the death rate will expand to 10 to 20 thousand a week then it will start to taper off to practically zero baring the ones that simply give up hope or suicide. If it is any solace, the survivors if they live for the year through recovery, will live to incredible ages. Typically 200 years longer than the average citizen. Living on half the calories with some say heightened senses and abilities.”
“But they don’t have to worry about that now Captain.” Jack bust out having enough doom and gloom and finely knowing why the Turner Joy had lost so many when they had to use the little red pills for a while when the ship’s gardens could not supply enough food as they took months to limp into port on one engine after an accident had taken out 3 of the Turner Joys engines when he was 9 years old. It was after that when his brother really turned into a pig. Jack shook his head forcing the memories away. “We are going to get everyone plenty of food to pig out on. Now Captain. Back to business.”
The Captain at the center of the table watched Jack take a bite of his cereal without making any faces or comments and put the spoon down and wait. The Captain’s opinion of the Admiral going up another notch as she turned the recording back on and watched them build incredible large ships out of containers. While watching the Admiral match the officers bite for bite. The Captain truly believing that she had never tasted anything so good in her life. Which she knew was anything but true for the Admiral as she watched him work at his desk pad out of the corner of her eyes.
While the recording was playing, Jack tapped up the list of transports and started going down the list going over each ship to get a feel for its capabilities. Making notes as to what was needed to be done to it at New Home. Quick engine overhauls, life support, cargo handling equipment to speed up loading, adding the rails down the hull sides and what configuration would work best for that hull design and a hundred other details that started getting repetitive after the tenth ship.
With the end of the recording the Captain and several of the other officers started asking questions about the construction details and after answering the first dozen, Jack tapped his Comm to the engineers that had put the stacked ships together and made it work and let the two groups talk. Jack went back to detailing the Company and Tramp ships. Treating them both as equals since all he cared about was getting the most cargo on each ship. Though the Tramps usually needed more work than the Company ships.
Then Jack looked up as the engineers on the screen were going over a design for the container barge they were working on using one long tube up the center and the others spaced around the center connected with cross braces to attach large numbers of Containers to, for a tug such as a DD to lock onto the stern and push. The hollow tubes taking the compressive and strain forces instead of being concentrated on the few containers at the back. Thinking about it for a few minutes, Jack sketched out a design stretching the rails that they had been putting alongside the transports to attach cargo containers and Destroyers to, running them out in front of the ship. Doubling or even tripling the number of containers any ship could carry. Turning each Transport into tugs themselves.
Interrupting the Conversation on just how large they could build one of the plug together container ships. Jack showed the engineers his idea and a half hour later they had a solid design worked out that would fit any ship that could use the original side rails. Doubling the ships length on the weaker engined ships while tripling or more on the more powerfull engined ships.
Now the size and power of the ship’s engines were top priority and Jack started up grading the ship on his screen even more, not realizing it was a different ship after accidentally tapping the next button on the screen. His mind finding item after item on the ship looking so familiar that he knew what was were without looking at the index but putting it down to having already been working on the ship before h
e decided to make the additional and expensive upgrades to the engines and lengthening the rails. Soon he had a ship that had side rails almost three times as long as the original ship that would fold down along the sides when not needed with the uprated engines to move the added weight. Then he marked it done so he would not go over it again when he redid all the others he had already been over before and continued down the list. Not noticing that the name on the first ship was Turner Joy.
But then ships names were not really that important as he marked each added ship as done with the repairs and parts ordered for immediate production before the transports even reached New Home so the refits could start as soon as the transports docked. Hoping that the station Ditzen had brought to replace the Hulk station at least had its docks finished by the time they got there. After all its sections had been unpacked from the transports before he had left and all the prefabricated sections needed was snapped together in any one of dozens of configurations. Jack picking the one that offered the most docking tubes and repair/construction bays. Not needing massive structures for crewmen’s quarters and warehouses. That was one thing the domes on the bubble offered, was plenty of warehousing though quarters was going to be a problem for a while even if Pan had said she had it covered. That she had already planned on providing everyone with their own cabin in a short time. Though Jack was wondering how she was going to do that with him seeing only warehouses and workshops for the factories being constructed out of most of the Domes on the surface before he had left. With only a few domes being made into personnel living spaces. Though with the two prefabricated living modules that had come with the station and the prison ship able to sleep tens of thousands with only minor modifications to its cell decks and with the Red Pepper rebuilt into what amounted to a cruise ship even if it was well armed bas well as the Phoenix, Jack was not all that worried about Pan not having enough bunks when he left after abandoning the Hulk Basestation and all the work they had done on the two Spider God ex-battleships.
Battleship Destroyer 2 (Battleship Destoryer) Page 84
