"What do you think they'll want most?" asked Bill.
"Computer chips or heavy weapon repair parts. I don't know of a legitimate pirate who wouldn't take the risk if he thought he could get hold of a Mark VI or VII, even if he had to put it together himself from parts," said Dave. "If he has a Mark IV or V already, he has enough pieces to put together a better weapon."
Bill said, "Hmmm . . . maybe we can make it look like that's the cargo."
***
Admiral Oden looked at the list of reporters selected for the pool. Somehow, Christiansen of the Daily Bread made the cut and would be going along. There seemed to be no way of getting away from the man. As he looked at the posted list, Christiansen walked over and rubbed it in.
"Thought you'd be rid of me, huh?" he asked.
"Not really. Just wondering whether to give you one of the new space suits or an old one. You know, one of the ones that has about as much credibility as your press stories," Dave replied.
"Huh?" said Christiansen.
"I can see that you're a real fast thinker who doesn't waste words. That's good. Space has plenty of room for people like you," Dave said.
"Are you threatening me?" asked Christiansen.
"Mister, if I was in the frame of mind to threaten you, you'd already be dead. I don't normally give my enemies fair warning unless it's to my advantage to do so. In your case, I would never threaten you," replied Dave.
"So, you consider me an enemy then," said John.
"Don't rate yourself so high. To me, you're more of a pest and hardly worth any effort. You'd be beneath any response at all if you weren't in a position to poison minds with misinformation and inaccuracies in your reporting. It's too bad that you appear to have a hidden personal agenda," Dave responded.
"I suppose you're recording all this?" asked John.
"Why? Is your recorder broken? Do you want an accurate copy of our conversation? I hardly think you would since you haven't the nerve to publish it in its entirety," Dave said.
"Is that what you think? Read the Daily Bread today and see just how much nerve I have!" exclaimed John.
"So this was a thinly disguised interview after all? Well, that fits your style of reporting. Well, you can consider the interview over as of now. I have to return to work," Dave said.
***
Dave looked at his terminal and logged onto the net to choose from the news services. Of course, he looked up the Daily Bread if only to see just how far he had goaded their reporter into going. Otherwise, he preferred not to spend any credits on reading their badly slanted versions of the news. It didn't take him long to find the latest interview between John Christiansen and himself. Incredibly, the Daily Bread had published the entire interview up to the point where Dave announced it as being over. Dave wondered how in hell they managed to print it without reading the content carefully. For once, he was looking forward to seeing their reporter, Christiansen, later in the day.
***
Christiansen stormed into headquarters and demanded an audience with Admiral Oden. Moments later, he was ushered into the admiral's office by one of the sergeants. The sergeant remained near the open door and listened in as Christiansen began to unload his aggravation at the admiral.
"You son-of-a-bitch! You insulted me during the interview! You did it deliberately and made me look like an ass to the public!" John exclaimed loudly.
Admiral Oden couldn't help but see the sergeants smile and released a grin of his own just to goad Christiansen even more.
"You jerk! See if I ever do anything for you again! You're a bastard, Oden! You're nothing but a slimeball in a uniform! If it's the last thing I do, I'll see that you get yours and that you get it in spades!" Christiansen proclaimed loudly. "And another thing, you better damn well make sure that I'm issued a new space suit!"
Dave replied, "Mister Christiansen, you're really quite comical and as misinformed as the news you report. The Navy doesn't issue you a space suit. Your own news service is responsible for that. When you choose as a member of the press to go along on a Navy vessel, you're responsible for your own needs, not the Navy. If you weren't such fun to tease and an easy target, I might become bored on this upcoming training trip. However, having you around with your misconceptions about life and the Navy is going to make this training trip an absolute heaven for me. You're more fun than fighting pirates and not nearly as dangerous as a two-year old with a stick. I hope we get to see a lot of each other during the two months that the training is going to last. In fact, I'm making sure that your quarters on board the ship are near mine just to be sure that you don't think I'm trying to avoid you for interviews. As far as insulting you, that's perfectly within my rights as a citizen. As far as making you look like an ass, you did that to yourself. I can easily imagine that you even persuaded your publisher to send out your interview without going over it first. If so, that's your fault. You and the Daily Bread didn't have to publish that interview and make yourselves look bad. Since your news service took such good care of your reputation, you'd be well advised to double check any space suit that they issue you. It really might be just as credible as your reporting. Now that you've expressed your feelings, I suggest you leave so I may get back to work. I have far more important things to do than waste time listening to your wounded ego."
"This way, Mr. Christiansen," the sergeant said from the doorway. "You've still got plenty of time to have your space suit checked by one of the maintenance companies in town."
John Christiansen walked out of the admiral's office, humiliated and completely shattered as he realized he had been tricked into harming himself publicly. Nor could he even respond to the sergeant's reminder to have his space suit checked in town. He walked out of the Academy headquarters building only to discover that other news service people were waiting for him.
"Hey John, which suit did they issue you?"
"Watch out! His fast thinking is generating smoke!"
"Want to buy a space suit, John? I've got one that was once blessed by the Pope. At least, I think it was. The former owner said it was holy."
One said, "Mr. Christiansen, I'd like an interview with you."
"Go away, all of you!" Christiansen said, "I'm trying to get back to work."
"Then you have no comments to add about your interview earlier with Admiral Oden?"
"Listen, I don't have any comments. I'm just trying to do my work, now leave me alone," Christiansen replied.
"Then I take it that you're satisfied with your earlier interview with the admiral. Did you just interview the admiral again?"
"No, I didn't interview the admiral just now. Now leave me alone or I'll call a cop," replied Christiansen.
"A cop? Uh, John, we're on Academy grounds. The police don't have any jurisdiction here. You'll need the military police and you'll have to ask the admiral to have them sent."
John almost became pale then as he realized that he would have to ask the very man he was targeting for help in avoiding his press brethren. There was no way he was going to return inside the building to ask Admiral Oden for assistance. Right now Admiral Oden was the last person he wanted to see again. John needed more time to think things through.
"John, then I take it that you and the admiral are friends? Were you in there taking advantage of a friendship to get information?"
John replied, "No, we're not friends or wasn't that obvious from that other interview?"
"Then are you a pest as the admiral stated? Were you in there interrupting the admiral from his work?"
"Yes, I mean no!" said John as he was surrounded by the other news people.
"Watch it there, Marcia! You're dealing with a fast thinker!"
"Boy, the admiral was right! John doesn't use many words. Hey John, how come you don't use many words?"
"John, I've got a dictionary if you need it!"
***
Within an hour, one of the news services had a copy of the latest altercation between John and the admiral. They l
istened to it carefully before they surrounded John again to taunt him.
"John, are you going to take a galaxy tour as a comedian?"
"Hey, John, I understand that comedians can make some big credit on Leuion. Are you scheduled to do a comedy tour there?"
"I think John's getting unfair treatment here with his quarters assignment. He's going to be given more access to the admiral than we are. I'm considering filing a protest."
"Jim, I don't think you can file a protest because John is entertaining the admiral. John has to be working as a reporter for you to file a protest."
"Hey John, when did you start your career as a comedian? Do you make much on the side? I thought they paid you well at the Daily Bread."
"Do you really have that much sway with your news service, John? I can never get my editors to leave my copy alone. Do you think you can teach me how?"
"Hey John, need a stick?"
"I'm getting out of here if you give him a stick! He might be dangerous then!"
***
Admiral Oden left by the front door to reach his hover. For once, John Christiansen wasn't in his face as he made his way to his hover. Nor did John bother trying to get to his own hover to attempt to follow.
***
Admiral Oden looked at the press services representatives gathered together in front of him. They were the members of the press selected to accompany him on the two-month training trip. There were only five of them, but they would have practically a completely free run on board the ship during the cruise.
"Members of the press, I am going to brief you on some of the rules for you to observe during the training mission. If you have any questions, you may ask during this briefing. Please raise your hands to be recognized rather than just blurting them out all at once. I'm sure that once you understand some of these rules, you'll find that we can be very cooperative and even assist you when you don't expect much in the way of help," said Dave.
"First of all, there will be some operations when you will be expected to keep out of the way. You don't, for instance, try to interview people on the bridge when they're working. After all, none of us wants to cause an accident where we collide with an asteroid or another ship by taking away the attention of the bridge crew from their duties. You may, of course, quietly observe the activities of the bridge at any time you wish. The same goes for other activities in other areas of the ship. Another example would be interfering with someone in the hangar while fighters are being launched."
"You are prohibited, of course, from entering anyone's quarters without their permission. Wherever more than one person shares quarters, you need the permission of all the occupants, not just the person you wish to talk with. You will have to treat the crew quarters just the same as you would treat someone's home on any member world of the Union. Now none of the crew or cadets have been instructed to avoid you or anything like that. They have been advised on your rights and theirs. Consequently, they will not ask or order you to leave any part of the ship without just cause."
"Now normally you would be responsible for providing all of your needs. However, the Navy has already been in contact with your news services to arrange for reimbursement covering your meals and other needs while on board. Yes, Marcia. You have a question?"
"Will special dietary problems be met while on board?" she asked.
Dave replied, "Yes. The Navy asked the news services about those. The ship's dining room is aware of special diets and will have the necessary items on board. Does that answer your question?"
She nodded.
Dave continued, "Good. To continue, you'll have access to our communications department twice a day to send out messages to your news services. This training will be treated as if the Navy was at war. All of your messages will be looked at by the cadets for training purposes only. They will not censor any of your content. However, if one of them spots something questionable and brings it to me, I might."
Marcia raised her hand and asked when recognized, "What would you possibly censor?"
Dave answered, "I would be inclined to delete the name of a crew member injured or killed while on the training mission if the relatives haven't been notified yet. I don't see that as unreasonable. In all likelihood, I will merely ask you to make sure that your news service not release the name without me removing it from your report prior to transmission. It would be far easier then for the news service to contact the military and coordinate public release of the name if they knew who they were talking about. I will also be inclined to ask that our position not be given out since that is a prime directive in the Navy. We never give out our position unless we are engaged with the enemy, in which case, it hardly matters. After all, we're not giving the enemy anything he doesn't already know then and it helps the Navy to know just where some of the enemy are located. I trust that these minor matters of censorship won't cause you any alarm or undue concern. If you've ever been on a regular Navy ship, you had to deal with the same rules there."
John asked, "What assurances do we have that you won't change our reports?"
Dave ignored the fact that John hadn't been recognized. Dave answered, "You'll be present when your stories are transmitted. You'll all be present and, quite often, so will I. If you have a problem with anything, you can have it addressed right then. Quite frankly, we don't have any intention of messing with your transmitted reports. None of us are journalists. I suspect that very few of us have any ambitions to become one."
"You'll all be on board the ship first and can become familiar with the layout while only a few personnel are there. I would advise you to stay on board and well inside the ship until after launch. This advice is for your own safety. I do not want you conducting any interviews at the entrance to the ship."
"Why?" asked John, "Are you going to brief the cadets on what to say there?"
Dave replied, "I have no intention of briefing anyone on board the ships on what to say to any of you. The Space Academy, like the Navy, recognizes the right of every service member to speak openly without fear of retaliation. We uphold the Universal Rights Bill in every nuance and to our utmost abilities. That is why we are having this meeting, so that you will be aware of the very few restrictions placed upon you."
Chapter 2
Fleet Admiral Dave Oden watched as the hover vehicles brought the news personnel over to the ships. Moments later, they were shown inside the Dust Bunny to their quarters. Then they were given a complete tour of the ship and permitted to find out where everything was located. As soon as Dave was certain that their immediate needs were taken care of, he boarded his own hover and returned to the Academy.
Already, as he arrived at the Academy grounds, the third and fourth year cadet ensigns were being brought together in groups to prepare for their march to the naval station. Dave climbed out of the hover and went over to the group that would be on board the cruiser. Cadet Ensign Manning came to attention when he approached.
"Sir, Cadet Ensign Mary Manning reporting! All cadet ensigns present and accounted for!" she reported as she saluted quite snappily.
Admiral Oden returned her salute and said quietly, "Very good. Take charge of your crew, Captain Manning."
Within moments, she turned and shouted, "Dust Bunny crew, forward!"
Similar commands came from other groups as the ship captains instructed their crews to move out from the Academy grounds. They all moved forward to the gate. Only after passing out of the Academy grounds did they take different routes to arrive at the same destination.
Behind the Dust Bunny crew, Admiral Oden's hover, with his driver and bodyguards, followed in case there was any trouble. It wasn't likely that there would be since every cadet was armed. Someone would have to be a fool to try to get at the admiral with that many dedicated people around him.
The Dust Bunny crew took the most direct route going through the old Permissive Zone. It was still the roughest part of town. Ordinarily, cadets were advised against entering it, but this was a tra
ining mission. Admiral Oden wanted them subjected to the possibility of taunts to see how they handled themselves. Some of his best and worst cadets were in the same crew, not that being the worst was an insult. Even the worst of his cadets were heads above most people in intelligence, maturity, and ability.
Dave paused when the formation reached the surplus store. He managed to speak with retired Admiral Cunningham, its proprietor, for only a brief moment before he had to hustle back to the front of the formation as it passed the surplus store before entering the old Permissive Zone. Just before the formation entered, Dave somehow managed to melt into the formation so that he wasn't really visible to anyone inside the Permissive Zone. He didn't want his presence to deter anyone from acting up, if anyone was inclined to do so. Only the presence of his hover at the rear of the formation made it known that he was somewhere about.
The formation went through the old Permissive Zone without any problems and approached the commercial shipping area. Dave smiled and nodded at some of the Pennywaite Shipping personnel who came outside to watch the cadets go by. He could see in their faces some pride in the fact that one of their own people was in charge of the Academy and doing so much to make space safe.
Dave didn't even bother looking at his watch to figure out when the scramble alarm would go off. So far the separate crews appeared to be almost perfectly on time for their arrival at the naval base. Probably they would be just about to the edge of the launching field when the scramble went off. He knew that the fourth year cadets would be ready for it and wouldn't be at all surprised. Most of them tended to be up near the front of the formation. The third year cadets would probably need an extra moment to figure it out before they responded by running full tilt for their ships.
Paravoid (Rust Bucket Universe) Page 3
