I turned to Elfi and said, “Can you call the base and see if we can’t get a few of those fighters they have there in boxes?”
She nodded. “Aye, Captain, I will do that right away.”
Hans came on the bridge with a look of shock on his face. “Captain, there are two beings below asking to come aboard. One of them I know, but the other is a Y’All! He claims he knows you and wears Fleet uniform!”
I got up from my chair. “I guess we better check that out. Shea, you got the Conn.”
A few seconds and an IST ride later, I stood underneath my ship next to the Marine guards and looked upon a full-sized four-armed Y’All warrior, and it was true he did wear Fleet uniform. Next to him stood a woman and yes, I recognized her. She was the Celtest/Seenian Commander we had fought and captured while we were on our way to Newport. Cateria was wearing ensign rank, just as the Y’All. Both saluted and she said, “Ensign Cateria and Ensign TheOther, reporting for duty, ma’am.”
She handed me an Order chip, and the Marine next to me scanned it. “ID verified. They are citizens and Fleet members, ma’am.”
I gestured toward the IST shaft and said, “Welcome aboard then. Follow me to the conference room so we can talk.”
The Celtest woman said, “Yes, ma’am.”
The briefing room behind the bridge was almost too small to handle beings like Krabbel, Hans, and the giant Y’All at the same time, and it felt really crowded.
I said, “Welcome once again aboard the Tigershark and since you here and know about this ship, I am certain you were sent here by the highest authority. Please excuse my curiosity as to why you are here. The last time we met you, Ensign Cateria, you were a Celtest or, should I say Seenian Commander, and quite hostile toward us. I must also confess that meeting a live Y’All is truly unusual.”
That I had done so before was classified, and I could not say it.
The Y’All gestured for Cateria to make the start. She said, “Most of you, I remember, but I can’t recall seeing you, ma’am.”
“I was there, Ensign. I was the one who crushed that mental thing in your head and gave you a chance. As you can see, I have changed somewhat.”
She looked at me and then nodded. “Yes, I recognize the eyes. Now, as you can imagine, after I was captured by you and transferred to a special prison and lab facility, I was probed, scanned, interrogated, and scanned and probed again for weeks on end. I was treated worse than a criminal. While I intellectually understood why they did that, I was not willing to cooperate under such degrading conditions. I didn’t want to live like that and considered suicide. Then I met a woman, General Alycia Lichfangh, and later learned that I could not lie or withhold any information from her. She was the first to believe me that I was only a medical technician and not a soldier. I was used as a courier to carry a message because all those who were trained to fight could not be spared. General Lichfangh also learned about me and my shock to realize I had slept a million years and that nothing I knew remained. She asked me what I wanted to do, and I asked her to give me a chance to take my own life. She was very sympathetic to my cause and transferred me from that ghastly prison lab complex to a much better place and told me that, due to my nature, they could not really let me go and that she would not help me to commit suicide. She knew that she was bending the rules as she educated me in the ways and laws of this Union and told me that if I requested citizenship as a legal immigrant, I could not be denied if I passed the citizen’s test. The political system the Union represents appeals greatly to me as it allows any individual to achieve.
“Alycia helped me under one condition: I would need to join the Union Military, so my true heritage could be kept secret. She made me a member of the PSI Corps. Not that my psionic talents were anywhere near their requirements but that kept me out of the public eye, so to speak, and she could help me with my immigration and integration.”
Har-Hi asked her, “How did you end up here with us?”
She stapled her fingers and said, “I am no psionic talent and I am not a soldier, but I was and I am a Medical Specialist, and I expressed my wish to join the Union medical service. She made it possible and I went to Union med school after a crash course in Union military basics. The general visited me a few weeks ago and asked me if I would be willing to be the CMO of a very special ship with an unusual mission. When she told me who I would serve under, I gladly agreed and was made Acting Ensign, and I am here to be your CMO.”
I shook her hand. “Welcome to the family then. I will show you to your sickbay as soon as I hear the story of your friend.”
The Y’All sounded as if someone dragged a steel girder over metal scaffolding as he spoke. “I am one of the Y’All you have fought, Captain Olafson. You see, the other Y’All warrior and I were alive because we were rejected by the source, the Y’All command authority that attacked this galaxy so long ago. He and I were considered malfunctioning, and we were put in suspended animation and shipped to wherever they made us. There we faced the fate to be dissected so the reason for our malfunctions could be determined. The malfunction was that he and I questioned our orders to eradicate the inhabitants of a defenseless colony planet.
“How our stasis chambers ended on that asteroid and were finally found by you, I cannot say, but after you bested us, we were put in a high-security facility and, just like the Celtest woman, we were probed and analyzed. The Union scientists examining and experimenting on us called my colleague simply Specimen One and me they called The Other Specimen.
“Specimen One was simply killed and dissected; they did not look at us as sentient beings at all. A man called Admiral Stahl visited the facility, and I recognized he was not a scientist but a soldier. I asked him if he and his race had no honor and if he had a spark of respect for his enemy then he should allow that I was killed, too, and not kept alive like that. He did not leave but stayed and listened to me and then he said that I was right and even though I was the most terrible enemy he had ever faced, I should be treated like a prisoner of war and sentient being. He also said that the war was over for a long time and should be released, but he also told me about a recent return of a different species of Y’All and the possibility that my kind of Y’all could return as well as we had done before. So, it would be difficult even for him to simply set me free.
“I sensed he was a being of great honor, and I respected him and told him I would be bound by honor and respect and expressed my wish to serve him as a slave. He rejected that, but he had me tested by General Lichfangh, and he got me a special commission to the Fleet. He said he knew just the right ship where I would fit in. When I heard that it was commanded by the human who fought me in hand to hand combat, I eagerly accepted, as I am honorbound to you with your victory over two Y’all warriors. You have proven to be the greatest warrior of all, and I will serve you until my life ends.”
Har-hi gasped with open mouth, “You have fought two of those and won?”
I said, “I didn’t really win and was pretty much done for if it hadn’t been for Marines showing up.”
The Y’All said, “It is the hallmark of greatness to reject praise, but we Y’All are genetically engineered by an advanced species to be the ultimate warriors and killing machines. No two-armed carbon-based featherweight should be able to almost kill one, wound two of us, and stay alive for that long. If you had faced only one of us, you would have won for certain.”
Har-Hi kept shaking his head. “Two; he fought two of those in hand to hand combat!”
Hans grinned. “You know what happens if he gets angry. I am not at all convinced I had a chance.”
I threw my hands in the air. “You make me sound like some sort of raging monster. I most certainly would not want to try my luck in this way again. There was a lot of luck involved back then, I assure you.”
The Y’All tried to bow and said, “You bested me and, by our sacred code, I am your servant till I die. I have purpose again.”
Mao looked at me. “Two of
them against you, wow!”
I got up. “Enough of this Olafson admiration session. Ensign Cateria, find your sickbay and prepare a report about what is there, what is not there, and what you still need.”
“Aye, Captain!”
“Hans, you got yourself an assistant. Mr. TheOther, you are Security Assistant to Lt. Kleinschmitt.”
Hans clapped his big hand on the same-sized Y’All. “Let’s find you some adequate quarters and a bed that will hold you, and then we’ll customize one of the Gilgamesh suits for you.”
The frightening giant said, “I appreciate that, sir!”
Narth said, “And I hoped I could share an anecdote how my friend and captain fought 12.6-ton carnivore lizards with an ax. The raging part of your self-assessment I do not find quite accurate, but I do not think of you as a monster. However, the definition of a mons—”
I looked at him. “Of all people, I expected some support from you.” That I wasn’t mad at him, he, of course, knew by seeing my mind. I slammed my fists on the table. “Mr. Chitauli, what are your plans for the next few hours?”
Shaka responded, “I wanted to go through the repair specs for the Virtu System in case I need to fix it.”
“Well, you can do that a little later. It’s time we take this baby for a spin around the system!”
Shaka’s eyes went wide. “We are going to... I am going to fly my ship!” I had never seen him smile that wide, and he was gone in a flash.
“Be careful, Captain,” said Har-Hi. “If you do that again, he might get facial cramps and have to go to sickbay!”
“Oh, I think you’re going to join him in sickbay then. My Dai Than XO, I want you to take her out and now!”
“You give me the honor for the first take off?” Har-Hi now grinned, too, and said, “You are right. I will need to make an appointment with our new MO to get this silly grin off my face. It’s so un-Dai.”
He turned to the rest and said, “You heard the captain. Cirruit, get your engines hot. Krabbel, plot a course around the system. Ms. Elfiatra, inform Richter Station. Mr. Narth, I believe sensors need to be manned. Mr. Mao, we might need shields.”
He looked at Shea. “How do I call you now? I mean, Wetmouth is no longer appropriate, right?”
“My last name is Schwartz.”
“Well, Ms. Schwartz, it is customary science is on standby and on the bridge!”
Everyone scrambled with eager anticipation to their stations. I was suddenly alone in the briefing room and looked out the viewing port.
Then there was a slight humming sound a deep, barely noticeable tone that penetrated everything. Through the padded vibration-absorbing deck plates and my boot soles, I could feel a faint harmonic. The ship’s main power had been turned on, no longer running on energies fed to us by umbilicals.
Its brain, the computronic, had already been with us since we came aboard, but to me, the ship’s heart was beating and it became alive to me. No longer was it just a fancy-looking building but a vehicle with unimaginable powers harnessed, ready to leave the gravitation well behind and enter its true domain—the endless darkness of space.
Time flew, and we were busy getting to know our ship. Every day, new personnel and crew arrived. I made a point to welcome each of them personally and walk them through the ship. That way I would get to know my ship and my crew at the same time. Every day, I found areas I had never been before. The Tigershark was no small ship and had twenty decks. Cavernous cargo holds, most of them empty. Crew quarters, Marine country, one deck completely dedicated to science with labs for various disciplines.
The ship had modern and extensive recreation facilities and, to my great joy, a big and deep swimming pool.
Being the captain had its privileges and one was to keep the pool temperature on Thursdays at three degrees or, in other words, just cold and perfect. Wanting to be a woman and actually living as one every day turned out to be a challenge. Not only did it take much longer in the morning to get ready, despite my hygiene center and Auto-Dresser, it also was more work to get to bed, and every step and everything I did was under the watchful eyes of Elfi and Shea. The girls really enjoyed their teaching roles and were able to giggle a lot and point out everything I did oh-so-wrong.
One afternoon, I was standing outside at the bottom of the extended IST shaft and had a little chat with the Marines guarding it as I waited for the latest additions to the crew. Cherubim had called and announced more to arrive. She said I would be surprised again.
Two Attikans stepped through the energy curtain at the end of the slide belt tunnel. One was wearing Fleet black and the other Marine green. One was striped and the other had dots all over its exposed fur. Even though they could have been any Attikans, I recognized them. Fective and Pure.
They both saluted, and striped Fective said, “Ensign Fective Ka and Lieutenant First Class Pure reporting, ma’am.”
I forgot that I was the captain for a moment and supposed to be dignified and all that. “At ease, you two. How good it is to see you again!”
Fective flared his black nostrils. “You smell a whole lot different than I remember, but the base scent is still there. I never forget a scent, Eric!”
He embraced me out of impulse, and Pure curled his chops and revealed his long rows of sharp canine teeth. “Yes, you smell like a human female, lots of soaps and scents, but I, too, remember.”
Fective released me suddenly. “Oh, I am so sorry, ma’am; this is not how I should greet my new captain!”
I said, “Forget the captain bit for a moment. It is me, although I have changed my appearance somewhat. What a pleasant surprise to see you here.”
Fective revealed his teeth as well and then said, “When Admiral McElligott personally called me and offered me a posting aboard a secret mission ship, he told me I would be surprised to see who the captain would be. I never expected you, Eric. Even though I knew you would go far, I can’t believe you made captain already!”
He handed me his orders and personal file chip and said, “You would never guess it, but I specialized in weapons engineering, and I am a certified Translocator tech. I was told you, I mean the captain, had the final say if I would get the posting. Please say you still need a Weapon Systems Specialist.”
I said to him, “Of course, I need one, and I am very glad it is you. Before I become your captain officially, however, let’s finish that greeting.”
He and Pure embraced me one again and I said, “Welcome, you two; welcome aboard the Tigershark.”
Pure, who never talked much, said, “You feel a whole lot softer now and you do smell nice.” He then said, “I am here to report to your Marine detachment.”
I wanted to show them around, but another new crewmember came from the slide belt tunnel. It was a Non-Corp and the suited energy being saluted and said, “Ensign 3452-991 reporting as ordered, ma’am.”
In my mind, I thanked McElligott for sending me my first-year friends and said, “Is that you, Three-Four?”
“Yes, and I recognize you, too. You’re Eric.”
Fective, Pure, Three-Four, and I went inside, and I showed them the ship and their quarters. Then I introduced them to the others, and I realized how blessed I was to have even more friends of mine aboard. Beings I could trust. I also realized I was no longer just their friend. I was also their captain, and I knew there could be situations in which I would have to put them in harm’s way.
We sat in the ship's officers mess, and Fective was just telling my other friends the story when Three-Four infused me with bio-electric energies during an Academy dinner.
Fective was cackling with laughter as he wiped his yellowish eyes. “…and then Eric asked the instructor if all Nogoll had goatees.”
Har-Hi coughed, and the water he was drinking came out of his nose as he started laughing.
Elfi covered her mouth and flashed her big dark eyes. “You can’t be serious!”
Shea explained to Krabbel why that would be funny as Nogoll resembled s
omewhat Terran goats and that a certain type of beard was called a goatee. Hans demonstrated his considerable artistic skill in sketching a goat for the Y’All, using a graphic interface Ship had projected for him. Shaka and the Seenian woman watched as well and commented on Hans’ drawing. Three-Four was in a deep conversation with Narth, and I leaned back and looked over my friends talking to the newcomers. It filled my heart with a very special kind of pride.
One of our Marines came over and saluted. Behind him was a woman with flaming red hair, who wore a female Union officers’ skirt suit. The Marine said, “Ma’am, this officer just arrived, and she wanted to report to you directly.”
I said, “Thank you, Corporal.” Then I got up and said to the redhead, “I am Captain Olafson; what can I do for you?”
“Ma’am, I am Ensign Lilith O’Connell; I am from the JAG office on Lorman’s Starbase, and I was sent here by orders of Commander Hollow.”
She talked with a slight lisp and looked shyly at me while she spoke and then handed me her Order chip. “I am permanently attached to your command as JAG Liaison Officer and legal advisor, should one be needed during this mission. While there are no legal cases, ma’am, I am to take the post of Yeoman.”
“Welcome aboard then, Ensign O’Connell.”
She said with a quiet voice, “It is a great honor to serve you, and I wanted to let you know I am from Coven. We have met before, but I was not in this form and you might not recognize me. The Oldest and the Circle send you greetings and so does Gwenn.”
The three-month training period was almost over; four more days to our deadline. The crew had swollen to 301 members and 50 Marines. We ran drills and exercises daily and the time was filled with reading manuals, learning systems, and more exercises. I ran daily battle station drills, sometimes twice a day, after Har-Hi and I had worked out where everyone’s battle station was. I had them take almost everything there was apart and put it back together. We did intruder alert drills, damage, and fire control exercises and took the ship almost daily around the system.
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 7 Page 83
