Space
Three months later Sarah graduated from the Stellar Corps Academy with highest honours, and at the ripe old age of twenty-two, she was assigned as Third Engineer aboard the LSS Kennedy, a Jump-one class vessel under the command of Captain Louis Hanley. It turned out not to be the easiest first assignment.
For the first five months Sarah performed to her usual high standard. Normally, she’d been told, she would have some feedback from the captain or the executive officer, but so far, she had heard nothing. The chief engineer, however, had told her many times that he was making a favourable entry about her in the log. She believed that all was going well despite the lack of feedback.
During one duty shift, Sarah was making an inspection of the conduits on one of the lower levels of the engineering section, when she overheard a female crewman and her male co-worker being dressed down by the chief tactical and security officer because the female grunt had torn the back of her coveralls crawling in between the conduits. The rend clearly showed that she was not wearing any underwear. To spare the two crewmen greater embarrassment Sarah held her position out of sight until the chief security officer had left. As she approached, however, she heard something else that distressed her.
As the officer disappeared from view, the male crewman turned to his female counterpart and griped, “He thinks he’s so high and mighty. ‘The great Commander Buttocks’ never did a maintenance tour in his life. He has no idea what it is to crawl through a service way to check conduit integrity or clean the check valves…”
He was just finishing his diatribe when Sarah approached. He could see that she was not pleased.
“Crewman Helson,” she began, “while I can appreciate your loyalty to your crewmate, as well as a you sense of indignation at what you perceive to be an injustice, Commander Maddox is an officer. You will show proper respect, or I will put you on report myself. Do I make myself clear, crewman?”
Crewman Helson snapped to attention. “Ma’am, yes ma’am!” he replied formally.
“At ease crewman,” Sarah responded, continuing more informally. “Helson, you need to remember that Commander Maddox took his OC training twenty-five years ago. He has no idea what conduit duty entails, and he doesn’t need to know. It’s not a part of his job, but you need keep in mind that he is a senior officer. He has earned your respect, and mine. It’s okay to be pissed at the seeming injustice of it, but it’s not okay to disrespect an officer because he is a stickler for the regs.”
“Understood, ma’am,” Helson answered sincerely.
Sarah turned to the female crewman. “Crewman Reid, Mr. Helson, here, was too busy admiring the view, it seems, to notice that more than your coveralls were torn. That gash on your butt appears to be bleeding quite freely. Report to Med Bay. When your finished there, report to the duty officer, I’ll ask him to reassign you for the next day or two to be sure that that gash has completely healed.”
Turning to Helson she said, “Mr. Helson, you will report to the duty officer immediately to request a new partner so that you will not fall behind in your tasks.”
To both she said, “Dismissed”
The pair nodded and proceeded as ordered. As Reid turned to leave, she turned back and said, “Thank you, Ensign,” and nodded in salute before heading for the Med Bay.
Sarah returned the salute and continued her rounds. As she turned the next corner she found Commander Maddox waiting there. He did not look pleased.
“Ensign, you have been on-board the Kennedy for all of five months, so I will give you the benefit of the doubt, this time. In future, however, you will remember that I neither need nor want anyone standing up for me with the grunts or anyone else, understood?
“Sir, yes sir!” Sarah responded. “Permission to speak, sir?” she continued.
Maddox was surprised. Though he was aware that Sarah had a reputation for speaking her mind, he didn’t believe that there was any response to be made in this case. His curiosity was peeked.
“Granted.”
Sarah chose he words carefully. “Sir, I wasn’t defending you. I was enforcing proper discipline, which I know you recognize as essential to efficient ship’s function.”
Maddox nodded, and Sarah continued.
“Having said that, Sir, I am sure that you recognize why Helson reacted as he did when he thought you were out of earshot.
“Commander, it has been more than twenty-five years since you were at the Academy. Back then officer candidates weren’t required to do a grunt rotation to experience what their duty is like. It really is an eye-opener, sir.
“Tearing one’s coveralls is a frequent occurrence. It is the unavoidable nature of the duty. The reason that crewman Reid was wearing no skivvies is because very often they are torn right along with the coveralls.
“Coveralls are issued when required by the duty, and damage is expected accordingly. There is no cost incurred by the grunt if they are torn or otherwise damaged.
“As you are also aware, undergarments are issued with our uniforms. If replacements are required, we simply requisition them. However, the frequency of replacement is believed to be excessive it is, as you know, docked from our pay.
“You may have noticed the gash on Reid’s bottom, sir. Apart from a trip to the Med Bay, had she been wearing skivvies, she would also be visiting the quartermaster as well; most likely at her expense. This is why most, if not all, grunts eschew underwear under their coveralls.” She gave the Commander a wry smile, “I’m guessing that it is also why the male grunts are issued the extra-heavy-duty jock straps, sir.”
Maddox did his best not to return the smile, preferring to remain stone-faced as he responded.
“I should put you on report, Ensign, for assuming to lecture your superior officer. But, you have given me something to consider. Carry on with your duties, dismissed.” Without waiting for Sarah’s acknowledgement, he turned and left.
The next day, as she was going on duty, Sarah ran into Commander Maddox. He paused only for a moment. Never one for mincing words, he came straight to the point.
“Maloney, what you said yesterday was true. I really am unaware of the details of what some of the non-coms do.
“I checked with Med Bay, after we spoke yesterday. Ensign Reid’s injury did require repair with a tissue knitter. What you said about costs to the crew are also true. I had assumed that she was just trying to be provocative for her workmate. Rather than putting you on report I have entered a commendation in your jacket. Thank you for setting me straight.” Not used to being so gracious with the junior officers, Maddox just sputtered out there, and left without further conversation.
As her shift ended that evening Sarah was making the required report in the log. “Maintenance log, November 12, 2352, 0000 hours, Third Engineer, Ensign Sarah Maloney recording…”
“I’ll bet you like that, don’t you?” The voice behind her was the Kennedy’s executive officer. His tone was condescending and derisive. “Eh, what about it, Maloney? Your first deep space assignment and they start you off as Third Engineer. I’ll bet you feel special. If it was up to me, you zoners wouldn’t even be in the Corps. Don’t expect any advancement so long as I’m exo. If I could find a good reason, I’d bust you down to grunt and have you cleaning the plasma manifolds.”
Sarah took a step away from the console before she responded. “Is there a problem with my performance, Commander Dekert? Lieutenant-Commander Schwartz seems to think that I am performing at an above average level. I believe that he has actually entered a number of commendations on my performance into the official log…”
“Yeah,” Dekert sneered, “I saw those, but I guarantee you that no one else will. No programmer is going to get ahead of a regular recruit on my watch. Oh, you can also forget about the recommendation that you sent to the captain about that Preston guy. He came on board with the rank of Petty Officer, but that’s as far as he gets. If you think I’m going to let him get sent to Officer Candidate training, think
again.”
Sarah was taken aback. In her three years in the Stellar Corps she had never encountered this level of bias against zoners. It was all she could do not to say something that the exo could call insubordinate. Quietly she asked, “Will that be all, sir?”
“For now, carry on with your log entry.”
Sarah turned back to the console. “…We completed the refit on the secondary plasma systems during the second leg of our run from Calisto Colony to Dina…”
Dekert stood and watched until the log entry was complete, and she had entered her code to seal the record in the engineering log, before he continued on his way. Sarah let out a sigh of relief when she believed that he was out of earshot. She was glad she had made her recommendation about Peter without telling him. It would be terrible if she had gotten his hopes up only to have them dashed by the exo.
Four weeks later the official six-month crew evaluations for the new crew came out. Sarah was on the bottom of the list. The captain called her to his ready room.
“Ensign, it seems that Commander Dekert doesn’t believe that you are cut out to be an engineer,” he began. “His performance review seems to bear that out.” Sarah nearly jumped out of her skin, but she stoically held her ground and her tongue. “He actually recommends that you be reduced in rank to non-commissioned status, and assigned to a regular work detail. Further, when I look into Lieutenant-Commander Schwartz’s log I see nothing there to redeem that evaluation. Although there are no direct negatives, he lists your performance as adequate, but barely so.”
Sarah glanced at Dekert, standing behind the captain, officially, observing the proceedings. He had a smirk on his face as if to say “Gotcha!”
Sarah steeled herself for the worst, but was surprised with the captain’s answer to this negative report.
“I am a bit stymied by all of this, Ensign, especially after reading the initial reports from the Academy. Perhaps the Engineering deck was not the place to start you off. You scored top marks in astrogation and tactics at the Academy, so I am going to transfer you to the helm position on the bridge. Let’s see if things improve, shall we?”
Being removed from her position as Third Engineer didn’t sit well with Sarah, but serving on the bridge, in front of the captain, might show him the truth.
She looked at the captain earnestly. “Thank you, sir! When do I start?”
“Tonight, at 0000 hours, you relieve Lieutenant Watson. I hope that this works out for you, Maloney.”
“Thank you, Captain,” she responded.
Sarah’s initial excitement at the new assignment was dampened considerably by the news that she was going to be serving on the night shift; but at least she wouldn’t be serving directly under Dekert.
Usually, if he took the bridge watch it was on the 1800 to midnight shift, and even that was rare. He preferred to be on the bridge when the captain was. She glanced at the exo again. She had noticed that at the news of her new assignment to the bridge his smirk disappeared. It had now returned, though somewhat diminished.
When Sarah reported for bridge duty that night she was, as she expected, greeted by the third officer, Lieutenant Art Proust. He began the watch by quizzing her on the basic functions of her console, and assuring himself that he could give her orders that she would be able to follow. As he was about to leave her position and return to the command chair he leaned in close and, for her ears only, “Dekert told me all about you. He said that I’m to watch you carefully. I care about this ship, and I don’t want any incompetent screw-up putting the Kennedy and her crew in danger. Understood?”
“Understood, sir!” Sarah replied, speaking just loud enough to let the others around know that she had received instructions that the third officer didn’t want them to hear.
As it happened, the night was routine. In the morning, the first person to arrive on the bridge was the exo. “Report, Mr. Proust,” he commanded. As regulations required, Proust had entered everything in the log already, but it was customary that he give a verbal report of anything noteworthy.
“All quiet, Commander, apart from a point five deviation in the warp coils at 0317 hours. It appears that the new Third Engineer hasn’t adapted to his new post as well as our new helm officer has to hers.”
While the verbal report was usually audible by all on the bridge, Schwartz raised his voice slightly on that last point, continuing at the elevated level. “Although nothing of note occurred on the watch, Ensign Maloney performed her duties above expectations. She does seem to have a talent. It was an excellent first watch for her.”
Sarah realized that he was making up for the start of the shift, and saving face with the other bridge crew. Again, she held her features neutral as Proust completed his verbal report. He finished just as the captain arrived.
The officer of the watch called out, “Captain on Deck” As protocol demanded, everyone but Sarah and Second Lieutenant Dicha, at the “Ops” station snapped to attention until the captain ordered them to resume their duties. Dekert then repeated Schwartz’s report, leaving out his praise of Sarah. The exo believed that damning her with no praise would be as good as a condemnation, but Captain Hanley turned to the third officer just as the exo was about to officially relieve him.
“So Lieutenant-Commander, how did our new helm officer do on her first bridge watch?” he asked.
Schwartz repeated the report he gave to the exo, adding a few examples of how well Sarah did during the “quiet” watch. Hanley was impressed.
“Good work, Maloney,” he said as Sarah’s relief was replacing her at the helm. “Keep it up,” he added. Beside the captain, Dekert had to work hard to supress his scowl.
“Aye, sir” Sarah responded as she headed for the lift. “That’s one hurdle vaulted,” she thought as she rode the lift to her quarters on deck five.
Succeeding watches followed the pattern of the first, though not all watches were routine. Over the next few months there were many opportunities for Sarah to demonstrate her superior talents. Spatial anomalies that appeared out of nowhere, and other course difficulties, gave Sarah the chance to shine in the presence of her fellow bridge officers. There was no way that Dekert could alter the log files to remove the recommendations for commendation that Proust had made.
After three months Sarah was transferred to the day watch, where Captain Hanley would be present on the bridge. Sarah continued to bide her time, but she didn’t have to wait long to show her mettle.
About a week after her re-assignment to the day-shift the Kennedy was patrolling the frontier between League space and the Galoran Empire when Sarah noticed something on the main view screen. She ran a few scans from her board before speaking up.
“Captain, there appears to be an aberration moving across the screen going from port to starboard,” she reported. “I plot it as coming from the Galoran frontier on a heading towards Earth.”
The captain rose from his chair and stood by Sarah’s station. “I don’t see anything, Ensign,” he confessed.
“That’s because there is nothing to see – just zoner dreams,” the exo suggested.
Undaunted by Dekert’s comment, Sarah pointed toward an area just below the mid-line of the screen. “There, sir, that distortion. It is definitely moving.”
Hanley still couldn’t see it. “Magnify,” he ordered.
Sarah enlarged that portion of the screen. Now the aberration was visible to all. The captain turned to the main science station. “Lieutenant Cross, what do the scanners show?”
“Nothing definite, Captain; there might be something there, I am getting irregular fluctuations on certain energy frequencies. One instant they are there, just at the barely visible level, then they aren’t, sir.”
“Could it be some natural phenomenon?” Hanley asked.
“I am not positive,” Cross answered. “If it is, then it is something entirely new. We have nothing like it in our database.”
“Could it be a cloaked ship, sir?” Sarah ventured.
Dekert snorted a non-verbal response.
Hanley was quick to respond. “Don’t be so derisive, Commander. I remind you of those reports a few months ago, that Galor Prime was toying with cloaking tech. Maybe they succeeded.” Turing to Sarah he asked, “Do you have any recommendations, Ensign?”
Sarah smiled slightly, “Well, sir, Engineering did finish installing the new forward phased pulse canons. They haven’t tested them yet.”
Dekert exploded. “Sure, fire on an unknown just because it might be Galoran. Let’s just declare war, why don’t we?”
“Calm down, Commander,” the captain ordered. To Sarah he said, “Explain your logic, Ensign.”
“Sir, if it is a natural phenomenon that almost doesn’t show up on our scanners, then it is a danger to navigation and should be eliminated. Once we stop it we can examine what remains and adjust our scanners to be able to detect whatever it is. But, if it’s Galoran, it’s entering League space illegally. I am sure that if we challenge them they’ll keep silent and probably come to a halt until we pass by.”
“Logical, so do we shoot first and ask questions later?” Hanley asked.
“No sir, I believe that challenging them is necessary. If they maintain radio silence, then they are making their intent clear. They are hostile.”
“And if their communications equipment is down?” the captain countered.
“Doesn’t change a thing, sir; they still shouldn’t be here. I don’t suggest that we blow them out of space – just disable them.” Sarah answered.
“Very good,” the captain clapped her on the back. “Ensign Stokes, challenge that vessel. Maloney, we’ll give them five minutes to respond. If they don’t answer, or if they try to run, fire the PPCs.”
“Aye, Captain!” Sarah responded. “Targeting solution plotted, target locked.”
From his station, Hanley could just hear Derkert muttering under his breath, “Fool zoner is going to start a war.”
Just then Sarah announced, “She’s running, Captain, firing PPCs”
Chronicles of the Stellar Corps: Sassy Page 13
