by Rob Buckman
“Actually, Admiral, I was going to ask about Ensign, Janice Fletcher, sir.”
“Fletcher?”
“Yes, sir, she graduated from the Naval Academy the same time I did, and I see she is still an Ensign and assigned to the Cruiser, H.M.S. Sutherland.”
“Oh yes, so she was.”
“Was, sir?”
“Yes. At the moment she’s confined to quarters pending her discharge.”
“Oh no! Why, Admiral, she was brilliant at the Academy?”
“Off the record, Leftenant Gray, she struck a superior officer.” The Admiral looked glum.
“Ouch! Who did she hit?”
“Her Captain, James Heartmore.”
“Good God!” Mike sighed "They weren’t the best of friend at the Academy.”
“Well, it flared into open combat, not that I blame her.”
“No, sir, from the information in the Naval Data base, Heartmore received a promotion to First Leftenant, then Junior Captain within months of his first posting.”
“Yes, I’m sorry to say he did. Family connection, his Uncle is an MP.”
“But why on Earth would she hit him, and why no court martial?”
“Because at the time he was trying to rape her, and she threatened the go public with the whole sorry mess. Under pressure from his uncle and her family, the First Sea Lord gave her the option of resigning her commission instead.”
“And there’s nothing you can do about it, sir?”
“No. She isn’t exactly in the mood to listen to senior officers right now.”
“Can I have her, sir?”
“What?”
“Well, technically, she is still in the Navy, unless you’ve all ready processed her application to resign.”
“No, it's sitting on my desk, the Admiralty’s closed until after the New Year.”
“Then put her under guard and ship her down on the next shuttle, I think I can talk her out of resigning. If you can get Heartmore to withdraw, or reduce to charges against her.”
“Ummm, that’s a thought, get him to reduce them to ‘Conduct unbecoming’ and ‘Insubordination’ or something like that.”
“Yes, that’s Captain’s Mast, sir, and transfer to my command might be seen as a punishment.” The Admiral chuckled hearing that.
“Yes, it might, since many the ships Captains are dumping their unwanted crew members on you.”
“Oh?”
“You might not be too happy with what you get, Mike.”
“At the moment I’ll take anyone I can, sir.”
“Yes, I’m sorry I had to kill all your direct requests for transfers, but Brue personnel was catching on. The Naval Inspector's office doesn’t usually have as much of a staff as you have.”
“I understand, Admiral, and thank you for all your help so far.”
“If I do this, Mike, you will be on your own, as my standing will take a bit of a beating.”
“I’m sorry, Admiral, I didn’t mean to get you into the position.”
“Oh, it’s nothing I can’t handle, I’m a little too far up the list now for them to hurt my career.”
“Happy New Year to you, sir.”
“Same to you, Mike, and good luck and God’s speed.” The connection went dead, and Mike sat back with a sigh. From now on, he’d have to avoid the Admiral. He’d stuck his neck out about as far as he could, so now it was all up to him.
* * * * * *
Ensign, Janice Fletcher paced back and forth across her tiny cabin. The dark look on her face getting darker at the sound of the head flushing on the other side of the thin steel bulkhead for the tenth time in an hour. Without warning, or a knock, the door unlocked, and two men stepped in, both officers, and both wearing Naval Police armbands.
“Ensign Fletcher, you are to pack your things and come with us, now.”
“What!”
“Orders from the Admiral, Ensign.”
“I protest, I resigned.”
“Not yet, Ensign, not until the Admiralty says so.” They gave her a stone face look and stood back, waiting.
In fury, Janice Fletcher packed, not that she had much to pack; the rest of her things were in storage. They then marched her to the launch bay and climbed aboard a waiting transport, but she wasn’t alone. Nine other crew personnel sat around the passenger bay, looking at her as she sat down between the two MP's. Sitting in the corner, she tapped her foot on the deck, as trying to get the two men to tell her anything was useless. Eventually they’d have to let her talk to a superior officer, or let her near a comm unit. The trip took three hours, and it was only the sound of atmosphere rushing passed the hull that she had any idea where she was going. At least they were taking her planet side, and that was something. Snow whipping through the open hatch caught her unprepared, and no winter wear, and by the time she got inside the hanger like building she was frozen to the bone. Inside the ship looked like a wreck. Not that she had much time to see the outside as her escort marched her up a gangway and inside. This looked worse than the outside, and the dim was incredible. Naval and civilian personnel were everywhere, working frantically on every conceivable system. The last time she’d seen anything like this, it was at the Academy in a combat simulation working a damage control party.
“I’m looking for the Captain or the XO, Chief.” One of her escort asked a tired looking CPO.
“Oh yes, been expecting you, I’ll take it from here.”
“Chief?”
“You heard me, you are dismissed, sir.” Conner hunched his massive shoulders, like a bear about to attack.
“I need to hear that from the Captain or the XO, Chief.” The young Leftenant said his voice sounding unsure.
“You heard it! Dismissed.” A voice behind them cut through the din like a rapier.
“Yes, sir.” Both men came to attention and saluted as a grime covered Pete Standish came up behind them. The only thing that wasn’t covered in grime were his shoulder applets. He quickly dismissed them after signing the release form, detailing one of the crew to see them safely off the ship. Once bitten, twice shy and he wasn’t about to have someone slip something else in the works and bugger it up.
“You’re Ensign Janice Fletcher?” Pete asked with a slight sniff as he looked the shivering girl up and down.
“Yes, and who are you?” Janice asked, sounding none too pleased.
“That’s sir, to you Ensign!”
“I resigned three days ago, SIR!” She snapped, about out of patients with the whole mess.
“Your resignation was rejected by the Admiral. You have been transferred to this command, as of now.”
“What! You can’t do that, I had an agreement with the Admiral!” Janice snarled, bunching her fists.
“Yes he can. Now follow me and report to the Captain.”
“Then I’ll just resubmit my resignation to this Captain, or go public with the story if I have to.”
“Your choice Ensign Fletcher, but only after you have spoken with the Captain.” Janice bit back an angry remark and followed the XO down the passageway.
She could always walk ashore and made a few calls. It took ten minutes to reach the Captain quarter, and something akin to an obstacle course. They had to climb over, under, around, or negotiate scaffolding, and squeeze passed standing equipment. At times, they threaded their way through a jungle of dangling power and communications cables, until at last the XO stopped and knocked on a blank steel door.
“Is this a ship or a joke, sir.” Janice tried brushing some of the dirt and dust off her uniform, and understood why the XO looked so filthy.
“It’s half way between the two at the moment, Ensign.” Pete answered coldly.
“Come in!” A muffled voice shouted from within.
“Go on in Ensign.” Without acknowledging the XO comment Janice opened the door and walked in. A tall man sat behind a wooded packing crate he was using for a desk, he back towards her, and without even saluting, she launched into her demands.
>
“Captain, I made a deal with Admiral Rawlings. I resigned my commission in the Royal Navy three days ago, and now I’m told that he’s canceled the deal! Let me tell you right now...”
“Are you in the habit of coming in front of a superior officer and not saluting Ensign?”
“No, sir, but...”
“Is that what they taught you at the Academy, Janice?” Mike turned round to face her.
“What the... Mike?” Her face registered complete surprise, then shock. “You can’t be the Captain, this is a joke, right?”
“No, it isn’t Jan, I’m the Captain of this wreck, and you have been assigned to my command.”
“Like hell I have, I resigned!”
“Not accepted.”
“And why not?”
“Because you are a damn fine officer, and too good to lose, especially to someone like that prick Heartmore.” Mike growled, feeling heat rising as he thought about what Heartmore tried to do.
“So, you know about that.” She looked at the bulkhead, clenching her fists.
“Yes, I had a chat with the Admiral.”
“I’m sorry, Mike, I want out, this isn’t the life for me. It’s not what I expected.” For a moment, she felt like crying, her reserve breaking down.
“What did you expect, the red carpet treatment because of your family connections?” Mike sneered. It was a deliberate needle. It shook Janice like a bucket of cold water, and she straightened up, feeling angry now.
“Well, no, sir.” She said, hesitantly, but in a way, he was right. Her slight flush gave her away.
“Titles are ten a penny in this fleet, Janice, hell my XO probably has one, although he won’t tell me.”
“Makes, no difference, Mike, I’ve had it.”
“I won’t accept that, this isn’t the best of commands, and I can only offer you the chance at promotion on merit.” Janice looked at him a moment, hesitating, then sighed.
“I wish I could, Mike, but it's... I don’t see how my staying in the Navy would change anything.” The constant harassment and assignments to petty, meaningless jobs had taken their toll. It was Heartmore’s assumption he could rape her and get away it that finally drove the last nail into the coffin. It dawned on her then that he could, like many officers before him, and there was nothing she could do about it except resign. All her dreams of commanding a ship of her own faded away like the morning mist.
“If that’s your decision, and I’ll approve your request for discharge, but first, will you talk to one other person for me, before you make up your mind?” It was only at that moment the idea struck him.
“I don’t see how anyone could change my mind right now.”
“Would you talk to them?” Janice thought about it for a moment. She was sick and tired of talking to people, but this was Mike Gray, not some pencil necked officer with a title and rank.
“Yes, Mike, all right,” she nodded at last, “I’ll talk to whomever you want, but I won’t make any promises, but I doubt I’ll change my mind.”
“None needed, just hold on a second.” Mike swung his computer around so she couldn’t see the screen and tapped in a number.
“Hi, is she there?”
“Yes.” A disconnected female voice answered. “Hold on.”
“Mike! Glad that you called, but I’m mad at you...”
“Lady Ann, I have someone here I need you to talk to.” Mike said, cutting her off.
“Oh, who?”
“An Ensign, Janice Fletcher, who wants to resign.” He quickly briefed her about the circumstances.
“Oh, I see, please, Mike, put her on.” She blew him a quick kiss as he stood up.
“I’ll leave you two to talk. I have a few things I need to take care of.”
“Promise to call me later?” Ann asked, grinning.
“Yes, I promise.”
“All right, but I’m holding you to it, put her on.”
“Janice, I am going to leave the room, so this conversation is between you and, um, the ‘Lady Ann’”
“I understand, sir, but who is Lady Ann?” Mike smiled at her and said nothing.
“You’ll see.” He moved towards the door and put his cap on, giving her a wink as he left.
Janice came round the desk and looked at the screen, but for a moment, she couldn’t see anything. The person at the other end had moved out of video pickup range. Janice sat in the Mike’s chair and waited.
“Hello, Ensign Fletcher, may I call you Janice?” She jumped slightly at the sound of the voice, then stared in shock. The face and shoulders of the Princess Royal filled the screen. For a moment, she felt she should stand or something, then Ann smiled at her.
“Yes, your Grace.”
“Oh, cut that out, please, just call me Anna, or Ann.”
“But... but I can’t do that!” Janice felt out of her depth, how could Mike Gray be on first name's terms with Princess Royal?
“Yes, you can, now tell me in detail why you want to resign your commission?” Haltingly at first, then with a steadier voice she told the Princess the story of her life aboard H.M.S. Sutherland and the attempted rape by her Captain, James Heartmore.
“Not a nice story, Janice, and one not unfamiliar, and I can understand why you’d want to get away.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Would you give it another try under Mike’s command if I asked you to?”
“I... I don’t know.”
“You have to agree, he is a little different from other officers?”
“Yes, Ma’am, he is, but... but how do you know him… I mean, if it’s not a personal question, Ma’am?” Princess gave a soft laugh.
“To start with, he came to my rescue, and now I’d trust him with my life.” Her smile said more than words, but she didn’t elaborate.
“I see.” She wasn’t sure she did, but didn’t press the point. The more they talked, the more relaxed Janice became.
“I can tell you, that Mike has a very difficult task ahead of him, one that will require the help of people he can trust, will you help him?”
“Me, I’m just an Ensign, Ma’am, what can I do?”
“Support him, protect his back, and keep him safe?” There was something else behind the Princess’s words, but Janice couldn’t tell what.
“Yes, your Gra... Ann, I could.”
“As others under his command have found, you take care of him, and he will do everything in his power to help and protect you, if you doubt me, go talk to Conner Blake.”
“I don’t doubt you, I noticed that about Mike at the Academy.”
“So, you’ll stay?” Ann smiled at her.
“Yes, I’ll stay, for a while and give Mike a chance.”
“Good, you won’t regret it.”
“I hope not, Ma’am.” Janice gave her a wistful smiled, wondering if she was doing the right thing.
“Off you go then, and give your new Captain my regards.”
“Yes, Ma’am, I will.” Then she was gone and Janice sat there looking at the blank screen.
Nothing made sense. How on Earth did Mike Gray know the Princess Royal personal comm number, and what was this wreck of a ship all about? In the end she sighed and stood up, straightening her damp, now dirty uniform and putting on her side cap. It didn’t take long to find the XO, and she came up, she came to attention and saluted.
“Ensign, Janice Fletcher reporting for duty, sir!”
“Good to have you aboard.” Pete gave her one of his blinding smiles, “as of now you’re acting Second Leftenant in charge of sorting out the mess on the Bridge.”
“Sir?” She asked, somewhat surprised.
“You heard me, we have a mess on the Bridge, and need someone up there to take charge and get it sorted out.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, what are you standing there grinning like an idiot for, Leftenant, are you laughing at me?” Pete growled, giving his best imitation of a grumpy bear.
“No, sir, which wa
y is the Bridge?” She asked, looking around, beginning to see that his bark was worse than his bite.
“Find it. Just as the rest of us have to, every day, damn it!” He shook his head. “They keep adding more steel to this bucket overnight, and it takes me half an hour every day to find a new way up there, so go! Shoo!” He snapped, waving his hand, then smiled at her.
