by Rick Bentsen
“Well, hold your tongue, ‘cause here she comes,” Mario whispered, inclining his head slightly to indicate the direction the captain was coming from. He tossed in four of his own cards, and K’Alan replaced the cards they’d both discarded before looking where Mario was indicating.
When he saw who it was that was coming their way, he almost dropped his cards. It was the Jaradan woman he’d seen talking to Soran, but what really surprised him was that he recognized her. He hadn’t recognized her name when he’d received his new orders, but now that he saw her face, he knew he should have. Her long dark green hair was combed back and worn just past her shoulders. Her eyes were emeralds and her smooth skin was olive in complexion. She wore a standard Star League duty uniform consisting of black pants, tunic and boots. Like the uniforms that K’Alan and Mario were wearing, her uniform had teal colored piping running down the middle of the front of the tunic and in four stripes running diagonally from about where her belly button would be to her left shoulder. The teal colored stripes designated her as a command officer. As expected, her rank insignia identified her as a captain.
Although he was surprised to see her, he managed to cover his surprise before she noticed. He was pretty sure however, that Mario had noticed. The slight wry smile on Mario’s face confirmed it. He knew that in time he’d have to tell Mario that he knew the Captain from the Academy, but he really didn’t want to deal with that just yet.
“Commander,’ Captain Thala Ker’sal said as she reached the table where the two friends were sitting. Her voice fairly dripped ice. “It’s so nice to see you again.”
“The pleasure’s all mine,” K’Alan said, his voice cracking slightly. He forced a smile as he looked at his new commanding officer.
“I’m sure,” Thala snorted. She gave him another harsh glare before turning her attention to Mario. “Colonel Bonetti, I understand you wanted to speak to me?”
“Yes, Captain,” Mario nodded, sighing softly. He put his glass on the table and laid his cards face down next to it, knowing he’d need his full concentration for the task at hand. He always hated when he had to go up the chain of command to get what he needed, but it was sometimes necessary. This was one of those times. “See, I’m having some problems with your security chief, and I was hoping that if I spoke with you, we could clear up this problem quickly and quietly.”
“And what is the nature of this problem, Mr. Bonetti?” Thala asked. She crossed her arms and glared at Mario through have closed eyes. She made a point of completely ignoring K’Alan, something not lost on the Duterian officer.
“Well,” Mario said after a moment’s hesitation. “She won’t let my personal weapons collection on board.”
Thala raised an eyebrow, in surprise, clearly not expecting that from Mario. “And why in the name of the Lords of Jarada would a morale officer need to bring a personal weapons collection on board my ship?”
“Well,” Mario said, idly swirling his drink in its glass. “I’ve been collecting these weapons for over twenty years, and I’m an expert in each one of them. I used to teach their use to the ground forces in each of my assignments. I’ve also been known to go on a ground mission or two, and my weapons have saved more than a few lives in the past. Besides. I wouldn’t exactly feel comfortable on this assignment without them. And if the morale officer ain’t comfy...” He trailed off, letting that last statement hang in midair. He knew it would have the intended affect.
“Very well,” Thala sighed, rolling her eyes dramatically. “You have my permission to bring your weapons collection on board. If Masha gives you any further problems, have her come see me.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Mario smiled and saluted. He took another sip of his drink and picked up his cards.
“Commander Bryce, my office in one hour,” Thala said as she turned to look directly at K’Alan.
“Yes, ma’am,” K’Alan barked out, fighting the urge to gulp in desperation.
Thala turned on her heel after giving K’Alan one last glare. She strode over to talk to a young woman in another part of the bar. Mario whistled and shook his head as he watched her go then looked over at his friend.
“You are so screwed,” Mario grinned as he tossed his hand in the center of the table. “What’s the deal with you and the Ice Bitch over there?”
“Oh, just don’t ask. Just don’t go there, Mario. All I know is that this is going to be one very long and strange tour of duty.” He picked up the cards from the table and pocketed them again. “And just what did you mean by used to teach? You stopped? Such a shame.”
“Kal, you should have been on my last assignment,” Mario shook his head. He drained the last of his drink and waved the waiter over for a refill. “The captain didn’t believe in his troops learning what he considered primitive weaponry.”
“So what happened?” K’Alan took a sup of his drink and leaned forward in rapt fascination.
“A whole platoon of ground troops got sent down to this one planet. Something in the atmosphere wreaked havoc with the plasma rifles. So, since the platoon didn’t have any backup weapons, not one member of the platoon had a working weapon. They fought bravely, but the whole platoon got slaughtered. The captain, who’d insisted on going down on the planet with the platoon was captured. I ended up going in with my “primitive weaponry” and saving his butt. That’s when they gave me my gold bars,” Mario explained, proudly fingering his new rank insignia.
“Yeah,” K’Alan nodded. “I noticed you got promoted. Congrats, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Mario grinned.
“So,” K’Alan continued after taking another sip of his drink. “What happened to the Captain?”
“Court-martialed for stupidity and losing a whole platoon of troops as a result of said stupidity,” Mario laughed. The waiter came back with the refill of Mario’s drink. Mario smiled and took a sip before asking the burning question he’d been wanting to ask all morning. “Heard anything from Kit lately?
K’Alan took a long sip from his drink and sighed deeply before answering. “I haven’t talked to her in over two months. We’d been on silent running for a long time before my transfer to the White Knight. And with the transfer, I’ve just been running ragged. I’m going to call her before we leave.”
“Don’t forget to say hi for me,” Mario said, tossing off another of his famous grins.
“Sure enough,” K’Alan laughed. “Except she doesn’t much like you.”
“Everyone loves me!” Mario said, sounding wounded. “I’m just that kind of loveable guy, you know?”
“Yeah. Sure you are,” K’Alan grinned, nodding with his friend. “And you don’t have an ego problem either, right?”
Mario laughed long and hard. Yes, it was definitely going to be good serving on the same ship as his friend again.
“Hey,” Mario started suddenly, a thought occurring to him out of nowhere. “Stop by my quarters later. I have something for you.”
“I hope it’s a stiff drink,” K’Alan muttered tapping his glass idly. “I have a feeling I’m going to need one after I talk to the Captain. Listen, I’ve got a couple things I need to do before I go see her, so I’ll see you later, buddy.”
K’Alan gulped back the last of his drink and stood. He smiled at Mario, clapped him on the shoulder, gave him a wink and strode out of the bar.
“I don’t believe it!” Mario groaned as he watched K’Alan go. “He stiffed me with the bill again!”
1.30.2136
0847
Gamma Epsilon Station
Another Part of Soran’s Bar
Three girls sat at a table in a corner of the bar. Each of the three girls were nursing a root beer and they were all watching their friend who was making her way towards their table.
“About time you showed up, Sarah,” Kim Chellman grumped as Sarah arrived at the table. She crossed her arms and looked up at her friend. “I thought we agreed to meet here at 8 this morning.”
“Sorry,” Sarah sh
rugged as she sat down. The waiter came over and placed a root beer in front of her. “But guess what?”
“What?” Kim asked, uncrossing her arms and taking another sip of her root beer.
“I just talked to Captain Ker’sal. That’s why I’m so late,” the very excited Sarah grinned. She took a swallow of her root beer before continuing. “Mmm. Great root beer as always! Anyway, Captain Ker’sal told me that I was just assigned to the SLS White Knight as the Chief Engineer.”
“Like, shyeah, right,” another one of the girls at the table spat out the mouthful of root beer that she’d just sipped. “And I’m the next person to be named a squad leader. Sarah, get real.”
“You haven’t even been through the Academy,” the third girl snorted, shaking her head in disbelief. “And you’re too young to serve in the Defense Force anyway. So how do you expect us to take you seriously?”
“Besides, how could you get such a cushy job anyway. You’re a hermit!” Kim teased. She took another sip of her root beer and sneered at Sarah.
“I designed the ship,” Sarah said, matter of factly. She lifted her chin in a proudly defiant manner.
“SHYEAH!” all three of the girls said in perfect unison. They all looked at Sarah with complete disbelief, and Kim, the spokesman of the group, continued with a note of scorn in her voice. “Like that would ever happen.”
“I’m serious, guys!” Sarah pouted. She tossed a datapad on the table and slid it across to Kim. Kim picked it up and looked at it with a raised eyebrow. “You remember that ship I was designing last year? Well, they built it, and they want me on board as the Chief Engineer since I know the ship better than anyone else.”
Before any of the girls could respond, Mario made his way over to the girls table. He looked at the four girls with an appraising look and tossed off one of his famous winning smiles.
“Would one of you lovely ladies be a young woman by the name of Sarah Hodge?” he asked as he turned a chair around and straddled it.
“That would be me, sir,” Sarah smiled. She waved to the Colonel.
“There’s no need to sir me, Ensign,” Mario chuckled. He extended his hand in a friendly greeting. “I’m not an officer and I don’t much stand on formality anyway. Nice to meet you.”
“Pleasure’s all mine, Colonel,” Sara grinned, taking his hand in a surprisingly firm handshake.
“I understand you’re our new Chief Engineer,” Mario said conversationally as he took his hand back. He tapped his finger against his glass thoughtfully.
“Aye, Colonel,” Sarah nodded. “I was just informed of that.”
“Well, it’ll be a pleasure to serve with you.” Mario took a sip of his drink. “Make sure you’re on the White Knight before she leaves in just under six hours. I’d hate to see such a pretty young thing as you left behind just because you weren’t on board on time.”
“I’ll be at my station in four hours, Colonel,” Sarah assured Mario. Her smile broadened until it filled her entire face.
“Lower Pylon Five, Ensign,” Mario said as he stood. He tossed back the rest of his drink. He gave the girls a wink and another one of his winning smiles before turning on his heel and leaving the bar.
The girls all watched Mario go with the general awe that he tended to generate in women. Sarah turned to the other three girls with a triumphant look on her face.
“So,” she grinned broadly at them. “Do you know who that was?”
“Wow!” was all they could say at first. They all looked at her with an open-mouthed expression of awe.
“I guess you weren’t pulling our legs after all, Sarah!” Kim said, shaking her head in complete disbelief. “Sorry we doubted you. Congratulations! Have fun!”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I will,” Sarah beamed as she finished her root beer. She stood and stretched. “I should go get ready to ship out.”
The three girls watched Sarah go, looks of shock registering on their faces.
1.30.2136
0921
SLS White Knight
Captain Thala Ker’sal’s office.
K’Alan Bryce stood quietly before Thala’s desk. He’d been standing there for a couple minutes, waiting for her to acknowledge him. Even though he was standing at attention, he was fidgeting nervously. The captain did make him that uncomfortable.
“You wanted to see me, Captain?” he said quietly.
The captain looked up and leaned back in her chair. She looked K’Alan over and motioned to the chair across the desk from where she was sitting.
“Have a seat, Commander,” she said, equally as softly as he’d spoken.
“Captain,” K’Alan started without moving. “If you have a problem with me...”
“If I had a problem with you, Commander,” Thala interrupted K’Alan. She placed the pen she was holding on the desk and steepled her fingers. She stared at the commander over her long steepled finger. “I would not have requested you as my executive officer.”
“But the way that you...”
“My personal feelings for you have absolutely no relevance,” Thala interrupted again. She leaned back in her chair and tugged on the bottom of her uniform tunic. “All I can and will tell you is that I would much rather have you as my exec than any of the other equally and suitably qualified candidates for the position. Is that clear, Commander?”
“As crystal, ma’am,” K’Alan said sharply, an almost imperceptible nod the only motion he made in acknowledgement of her words.
“Good. Now take a seat before you break,” she smiled.
It was the first smile he could remember ever seeing from her. It was enough for him to lower his guard slightly. But only slightly. He took the offered seat, turned it around and straddled it, leaving the chair back between himself and the Captain. It allowed him a slight amount of comfort to have the safety net.
“So,” K’Alan asked, his voice rock solid despite how nervous he was still feeling. “What did you want to speak to me about, Captain?”
“I have some things to go over with you,” Thala said. She picked up a datapad and glanced at it. “First of all, our Mr. Bonetti. Do you trust him?”
“Mario?” K’Alan laughed. it was a strained laugh but a laugh nonetheless. Thala nodded. K’Alan sighed and rubbed his chin before continuing. “Well, I’ve known Mario about fifteen years. We’ve served together a couple times. To be honest, I’d rather have him on some of the hell hole missions we’re likely going to get than almost any of the highly trained ground troops we’ve been assigned. And yes, I’ve gone over the records of our ground troops. He’s a hell of a pilot too. Almost as good as me.” The last was said with a touch of pride in both his and Mario’s piloting abilities.
“Good,” Thala nodded. She laid the datapad back down on the desk. “He’s your responsibility. I’m afraid he was pushed on me by his father. I don’t much like having my teams picked for me.”
“Captain, if I may,” K’Alan began. He was a bit amused by the fact that Mario had to be pushed on Thala. But he refused to let his amusement show. “I know Admiral Bonetti. He and Mario don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. The admiral was none too pleased when Mario decided to go career enlisted. He was the first of his family to refuse to take the officer’s exam. He still gets offered it every year, and he turns it down every time. If Admiral Bonetti did request Mario be assigned to this unit, then he must have had a very good reason.”
“Be that as it may,” Thala shrugged. “I still don’t like it any.”
“Trust me,” K’Alan smiled. “Mario will grow on you in time.”
“We’ll see.” Thala flicked her glance back to the datapad then to the computer screen on her desk. “Commander, are you rated to fly combat missions?”
“My personnel jacket should have told you that I was a squadron leader on my last two assignments,” K’Alan noted.
“Good,” “Thala smiled. She made an entry on her computer. “I’m assigning you as my strike leader.”
�
��I want Mario as my wingman,” K’Alan said simply.
That brought Thala’s raptor gaze back up to meet K’Alan’s gaze, telling him that his comment had had the desired effect. “Is he combat rated? I know you mentioned he was a good pilot, but I don’t remember ever hearing he was combat rated.”
“He was first in his class at the Academy,” K’Alan shrugged. He stroked the cleft on his nose thoughtfully before continuing. “I once saw him fly between two Brentax Kovat class light cruisers without a scratch. The two cruisers... Well, they weren’t so lucky.”
“Whatever. It’s your neck,” Thala shrugged. She slid a datapad across the desk to K’Alan. You’ve been given the best pilots. I want you to be tough and consistent in your leadership. It’s your responsibility to make sure we have the best fighting team we can possibly expect to have.”
“What do we have for fighters and pilots?” K’Alan asked as he picked up the datapad and looked over the data.
“7 Starhawks and 56 Starfires,” Thala responded as she checked the stats on her terminal. “And a full complement of 70 combat rated pilots, including yourself and Mr. Bonetti.”
“All right,” K’Alan nodded as he looked over the list of pilots. “I think the best way to do this would be to have 7 squads of 10 pilots each. One Starhawk and 8 Starfires per squadron. Squad leaders and their wings assigned to the Starhawks. I’ll draw up the squadron rosters and have them to you within the hour.”
“Good,” Thala nodded. She glanced at the datapad again before continuing. “I’m sure you’re wondering what our first mission is.”
“Of course I have,” K’Alan nodded. He slipped the datapad with the pilot information into a pocket of his uniform.
“So have I.”
“You mean you haven’t been given our orders yet?” K’Alan furrowed his brow.
“SLDF Command in their infinite wisdom has decided to give us a couple days shakedown time before giving us our first assignment.” There was a touch of disdain in her voice, implying that she didn’t agree that they needed the extra shakedown time.
