Fleet Academy

by M. Scott Cottrell

  “So?” Matt asked as he moved her hand so he could close the door.

  Bounce pushed the door back open as he was stepping into the shower tube. “So? You could have been killed!” she almost shouted at him.

  “But I wasn’t, so no big deal.” He said as he closed himself in and hit the button. The spray interrupted when Bounce slid the door back open.

  “You don’t get it do you?” she asked as the spray soaked into her jump suit.

  “What, my shower?”

  “Damn your stubborn!” she shouted at him as she pushed the door closed.

  Matt pushed the button again and the warm spray of water covered him. He knew he was on the ragged edge out there, but he hadn’t really known how badly until it was too late. He was paying way too much attention to getting Trina back in and not enough on his own suit levels. A real rookie mistake that almost cost them both. Matt soaped up and then hit the button to rinse again, feeling more refreshed as he slid the door open. Bounce was standing outside the open bathroom door toweling her naked body off. When she saw him step out of the shower tube she tossed him a towel.

  “You know,” she said, “I heard that you’ve been put in for a commendation.”

  “Oh yeah?” he said nonchalantly as he toweled off with her standing only inches from him.

  “Boy you sure are some piece of work. You rescue one woman and call it nothing, then when one throws herself at you, you act like the whole thing was an accident.”

  “Look Bounce, your gorgeous, even I can see that, but we have to live together. We have to keep things on a professional level.”

  “I suppose, but I still owe you!”

  “If you insist.” Matt said as he stepped past her and out of the head. He stepped to his locker and pulled out a new jump suit. As he turned to face her to say something, she launched herself at him, knocking him to the deck. She landed on top of him, her arms wrapped around his neck with her bare body pressed against his and her nose touching his. She looked him square in the eye.

  “I always pay my debts.” She said with a giggle. Then she gave him a kiss on the nose and unwrapped her arms from around him. She pushed herself up, keeping him pinned by sitting on him, her legs curled so she was sitting on his hips. She sat there for a minute with a mischievous look in her eye before pushing herself up the rest of the way and off of him. “Always!” she said as she stood up and held her hand out to pull him up.

  “If that’s the way you pay debts, I’m not sure I can live through a big one.” Matt laughed as she pulled him up.

  “Well if you weren’t so stubborn!” she said with a laugh in her voice.

  “Yeah, I know.” He stopped her. “Now, let’s get some clothes on so I can get back to work.”

  “If you insist,” She said shyly.

  Matt shook his head as he reached into his locker and pulled out some fresh boxers to go with the jumpsuit that was lying on the deck. He pulled on his boxers, socks and jump suit and finally he put on his deck shoes. Bounce had slipped on a dry jumpsuit and stepped into her deck shoes and was waiting at the door. He picked up his clip on holster and comm unit and put them on the belt of the jumpsuit. “Ok. Let’s go.”

  Bounce punched the door open and they both headed out the door for the officers’ mess. “We have time to grab a bite before I go back on duty. Want anything?” She asked.

  “Actually, I’m starved. I haven’t had anything since breakfast.”

  “Good, we’ll get a bite to eat before we have to go.”

  They stepped through the last hatchway and into the officers’ mess. Matt noticed that the few people in the mess all stopped talking when they saw him. It was a creepy feeling. Matt walked over to the food table and picked up a roast beef sandwich and a glass of juice. He and Bounce found a table and sat down to eat. The conversations started up quietly as they ate, the room slowly returning to normal.

  “Looks like word got around.” Bounce said quietly to him.

  “What word?”

  “That you’re a hero of course.”

  “I still don’t think I’m that.”

  “Well, just take my word that you are and let it go at that.”

  Matt gave her a cross look as he finished his sandwich. “I have to be on the bridge in ten minutes.” He said looking at his watch.

  “Ok. See you later then.”

  “Later.” He finished as he stood up. “And try to keep the rumor mill down to a dull roar ok?”

  Bounce laughed as he walked off, headed for the bridge.

  Chapter 3 – Moon base

  Matt followed the gangways to the forward portion of the ship. He went up the last two decks by ladder, and ended up at the bridge door on deck one. He paused, took a deep breath, and then hit the control to open the door. He stepped through into a world humming with activity. He surveyed the room getting a feel for the layout. The captain was seated in her chair at the rear of the bridge. From that perch she could look over all the control consoles and people that were busy at work. Stretching across the room were two rows of stations, the first a group of two, which Matt remembered from his study were the pilot and navigation stations. These looked out the large viewport at the front of the bridge. The second row was broken into two parts, leaving an open walkway from the Captain’s chair to the pilot and nav station. The second row contains engineering, communications, science and weapons. There were a variety of officers working and shuttling from station to station. Several enlisted ranks scurried in and out of the bridge doors past Matt. To him it looked chaotic, but the captains’ firm watchfulness assured him that this was just the orderly business of getting ready for a cruise. He spotted Commander Haskel on the far side of the second bank and started across to his location.

  “Ensign Molter!” the Captain exclaimed with cheerfulness in her voice. He stopped and stood at attention. “At ease Ensign. On the bridge I hold to an informal code. No salutes and no jumping to attention every time a senior office walks in. We’re far too busy here for that.”

  Matt relaxed and stood at something resembling parade rest. “Aye-aye Captain.”

  “Now Ensign, Commander Haskel informed me you would be joining us. I understand you did some outstanding work today rescuing Ensign Forester.”

  “That’s what I’ve been told ma’am.”

  “A bit modest too, I see. Very well. The commander has put you in for a citation. I have always trusted Commander Haskel’s judgment. He indicated that your actions were far beyond the call of duty, by placing your life at risk to save a shipmate. On top of that it was your first foray into real space and you succeeded in accomplishing a task that would be risky and difficult for an experienced deep space crewman. And you did this in a calm professional manner. I expect the citation to be approved by fleet command within the next few days. You have my congratulations on a job very well done.”

  “Thank you ma’am.”

  “You’re welcome. Now I believe Commander Haskel would like you to man the weapons station for undocking.”

  “Aye ma’am.” Matt said as he stepped across and continued to the station the commander was standing at.

  “Well Mr. Molter, I see you got the captains attention. That’s hard to do on your first day.”

  “Yes sir.” Matt replied.

  “Ok then, down to business. Have a seat.”

  For the next hour Matt scrolled through screens and learned the operation of the weapons station. The commander made sure he understood the function of each element of the checks and operations before continuing to the next one. They worked through a quick firing simulation, making sure Matt understood how everything worked and what was expected of him. They were pulled back to the commotion around them by the Captain’s voice.

  “All right people, I have eighteen hundred hours. All stations report.”

  “Nav ready.”

  “Pilot ready.”

  “Science ready.”

  “Weapons ready,” Matt responded.


  “Comm ready.”

  “Engineering shows ship status ready.”

  “Very well. Comm, notify the station we are ready for departure.”

  “Aye sir… Station One, Saint Claire. We are ready for departure.”

  “Saint Claire, you are cleared to depart” The station communications responded.

  “Thank you, Station One.” The comm officer responded.

  “Pilot… Release the docking clamps and back us out.”

  “Aye Aye. Docking clamps released.” The pilot narrated as he keyed commands into his panel.

  Matt saw the station move away, rather than the ship back away. There was no sense of movement as the ship slowly backed away from the station and spun around, pointing its nose away from the earth. He watched as the moon swung past the viewport and stabilized off to the starboard side.

  “Nav, is the course plotted?” the Captain asked.

  “Aye sir, course plotted and locked in.”

  “Very well, Pilot engage ten percent thrust.”

  “Aye, ten percent thrust.”

  Matt had a brief feeling of movement as the inertial damping systems corrected for their acceleration. As he looked out the front viewport he could almost see the moon growing as they accelerated toward it.

  “Thrust cut off in 5…4…3…2…1..Now.” the pilot narrated as the programmed flight plan ran through the computer.

  “Were on a high efficiently trajectory to the moon,” Commander Haskel told Matt. “If we wanted to go max thrust we could be there in about fifteen minutes, but we’d use far too much fuel. This way we’ll be there in a couple hours and use almost no fuel to insert in orbit.”

  “I take it were going to stop at moon base?” Matt asked.

  “Correct, we have a supply drop for them before we head out to Mars colony,” the commander replied. “Well, you have the station for the next two hours. Security will relieve you at twenty hundred.” He finished saying as he stood from his seat and stretched.

  “Aye sir.” Matt said leaning forward to scroll through some more status displays that popped up.

  “If you have a problem or question, just call.”

  “Aye sir.”

  “Oh one more thing Mr. Molter.”

  “Yes sir?”

  “They told me that the failure of Ensigns Foresters’ suit was due to a processor failure that allowed the suit pack to overheat and shut down. The temperature probe that failed the self-test may have been a symptom of that, instead of just a bad probe. We are reevaluating the manufacturers recommended practice on the temperature probe fault and calling it a fatal until we can complete some more tests. There wasn’t any way any of us could see that fault in advance. Ensign Forester might have seen some symptoms of it, but being new to the suit she wouldn’t have known they were abnormal.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Report to the office at oh eight hundred. With Ensign Forester out were going to have to pull double duty. That means we will both be on call twelve and twelve. Keep your comm unit with you at all times. If I’m not available you’ll have to cover.”

  “Aye sir.” Matt answered as the Commander walked away.

  The time passed quickly as Matt studied the various functions and commands on his system. He placed the system in safe mode, preventing him from accidentally discharging any weapons. Anything he punched up now would run as a simulation. He worked through screen after screen of status and tactical capabilities, as he became familiar with the ships armament. The weapons were really a holdover from the earlier days, when various political factions on earth carried their wars into space. Fortunately the world had pulled together after the meteor impact of 2012, and the fighting came to an end as everyone worked together just to survive. Matt didn’t really expect to ever have to fire the weapons in action, but his job was to learn everything he could about them. Matt was startled from his study at the presence of a hand on his shoulder.

  “You are relived Ensign.” A tall security officer said.

  “Aye sir. All systems are functioning normally, the system is locked in sym mode.”

  “Thank you Ensign.” The Lieutenant said.

  Matt got out of the chair and headed for the bridge door as the security officer took his seat and began his routine checks.

  After a quick stop in the officers’ mess for a snack, Matt headed down to the infirmary to see how Forester was doing. It took a couple wrong turns before he finally ended up at the door with a big red cross on it. Matt punched the open door and stepped into a small room with a desk and several chairs. There was a female Chief Petty Officer sitting behind the desk.

  “May I help you sir,” she asked?

  “Yes Chief. If possible I’d like to see Ensign Forester.”

  “Just a moment sir, I’ll have to check with the doctor.” The Chief said as she got up and headed through the other door in the room. Matt couldn’t help but notice her rear end wiggle in the snug white jump suit she was wearing. In a few moments she came back in. “I’m sorry sir, she’s asleep. Can I let her know who stopped by?”

  “Yes Chief. Let her know Ensign Molter came by.”

  She looked up from her pad quickly. “Ensign Molter?” then after a short pause. “Please wait here a moment.” And she got up and scurried through the door again. She returned a moment later with an older man following behind. He stepped toward Matt with his hand extended.

  “Ensign Molter. Pleased to meet you. I’m doctor Clark.” He said as Matt shook his hand. “Ensign Forester is sleeping, but I wanted to talk to you. Would you come to my office please?” he asked with a smile.

  “Yes sir.” Matt replied warily, “Is there a problem?”

  “No, no, nothing like that. I was just hoping to discuss some details with you in private.”

  “Sure sir, lead the way.”

  The doctor turned and led Matt through a short corridor to a small office. “Please have a seat.” He said motioning to a chair by his desk. Matt sat down and waited while the doctor moved a couple papers off his desk and sat down in the chair behind it.

  “You may not realize how close Ensign Forester came to not making it. If she had been left in that oxygen depleted state much longer I anticipate that she would have serious problems. As it is there’s a chance she will have some problems as a result of her accident, but your quick action saved her life. I just thought you should know that.”

  “Thank you sir. But I really didn’t pick when to do it, I just did it. The first thing I thought of when I saw she was unconscious was to plug into her suit and check its status. It wasn’t until I did that that I had any idea she was that low on O2.”

  “Well be that as it may Ensign, I can assure you that she owes you her life, and that’s exactly what it says in my report.”

  “Understood sir.” Matt replied with a bit more tired look on his face. “I just came off duty and wanted to stop and see how she’s doing.”

  “Did you get some sleep after your EVA Ensign?”

  “Yes sir, but I still feel tired.”

  “I’m not surprised. The toll that space work takes on the body is four to one. So those two plus hours you spent in the suit your body experienced the same exertion and strain as nearly eight hours of work in ship.”

  “Yes sir, I remember that from the classes at basic.”

  “Well, stop by tomorrow and Ensign Forester will be able to have visitors. She’ll be happy to see you, she’s asked about you several times.”

  “Aye sir. I’ll be back tomorrow.” Matt said as he stood up. And started for the door.

  “One more thing Ensign.” The doctor said, stopping Matt at the door.

  “Yes sir?”

  “According to the investigation, what you did in retrieving Ensign Forester took real guts. I’d like to add my compliments to those I’m sure you’ve already received.”

  “Thank you sir.” Matt said as he turned and walked out the door and down the hall. After Matt left the doctor shook his head s
lightly as he chuckled to himself. Then said to no one in particular, “That young man has what it takes to make it to captain, if he can keep from getting himself killed first.” “Mmm, hmm.” Agreed the Chief Petty Officer.

  Matt made his way back down to his cabin. He opened door and was surprised to see a light still on at nearly 2300 hours. He stepped in and allowed the door to close behind him. Sparks and Bounce were sitting up on Bounces bunk playing cards.