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5

Clement was awake by 0600, but Elara was long gone. She’d left quietly in the night and he’d let her, pretending to be asleep. Their sex had been frantic, and everything he’d ever wanted from her she had given to him, but she was gone now, Elara was gone, and he was sure from here on out he would be dealing with her only as Fleet Admiral DeVore.

He got ready and dressed in his undecorated 5 Suns Navy captain’s uniform, then made his way out to The Battered Hull for a leisurely early breakfast. He ordered the Sailor’s Ale Special, which promised a quick hangover recovery from any antics the night before. He’d already had his pills, but if he was being truthful he’d admit they weren’t as effective now as they used to be when he was younger. Or maybe it was just him that wasn’t as effective. He sat back with a cup of mocha coffee from New Paris, which also claimed to have anti-hangover properties. It wasn’t bad, not at all, and as he sat there nursing his cup, he was interrupted by a group of midshipmen, the same four middies he’d told old war stories to on his first night at the station.

“You’re interrupting my breakfast, Middies,” he said disdainfully, looking away, as if he was not giving them a second glance, or a second of his time.

“We apologize for that, sir,” said the lead one, the sandy-haired leader of the quartet from their previous engagement. Clement didn’t really want company, but he decided to humor them, if only for a moment.

“What are your names, Middies?” he asked.

The leader answered for them all. “I’m Caleb Daniel, from New Paris, Huang Tsu is from Shenghai, Kayla Adebayor is from Carribea, and the big quiet one is Frank Telco, from Columbia,” he said.

Clement gave them nods of acknowledgement all around. “And what is it that you middies want?”

They all looked at Daniel eagerly.

“Sir, we’ve all just completed our final school exams, and we’re due to get our commissions after another semester of post-grad service training,” Daniel stated.

“And what’s that to me?”

“Well, sir,” Daniel said, then hesitated. “To be honest, the rumors are that you’re about to get a command, sir. And being as straightforward as we can be, we’d like to volunteer for that mission. Each of us have to serve a three-month-minimum internship to get our graduation plaques, and we’d like to serve that time with you. Sir.”

Clement looked from each one of the middies to the other. They were all very young, and obviously very eager. “Are you serious?” he asked. They all nodded yes. Clement laughed, then started in on them.

“First of all, I don’t have a ship yet. In fact, I’m not even sure I want the mission I’m being offered. Second, this mission has a crew complement of only twenty, so you’ll have to prove to me your worth taking over an experienced space tech at your position. So tell me what your specialties are and your class rank, one by one, and I’ll decide if this goes forward,” he said.

Daniel started. “Command track, sir. Top five in a class of fifty.”

“Well I don’t need a command officer, but I’m sure we can find something for you to do. Next.”

Tsu stepped up. “Propulsion sciences, sir. Eighth out of fifty.”

Clement rubbed at his chin in an affected manner. “Ever heard of a LEAP drive, Mr. Tsu?”

Tsu looked confused. “No, sir.”

“Good. It’s Top Secret. And you didn’t hear that term from me.” Clement looked to Kayla. “Miss Adebayor?”

“Star Navigation, sir. Third out of twenty.”

“Hmm,” said Clement. “Why only twenty in the class?”

“The other thirty dropped out, sir,” she said. “Including Tsu.” Tsu looked embarrassed at the revelation. Clement thought about that.

“Tell me why you only came third in your class, Middie,” said Clement.

Adebayor looked at her friends. “Because I spent the first semester tutoring Middie Tsu, sir,” she said. All the rest laughed except Tsu, who at least managed a smile.

“Very good, Navigator,” he said, then he looked to Frank Telco. He was a big kid, even bigger than Tsu. “Mr. Telco?”

Telco stiffened as if at attention. “Weapons systems and security, sir,” he said with confidence. “Top of my class, sir.”

“I bet you could kill me with your dog tags,” said Clement.

“Yes, sir!” replied Telco.

“Brains and brawn. You all make for a good mix of skills. I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I will put in a good word for you, but if you get on board my mission you’ll have no rank status as middies. You’ll do the least important tasks on board and you’ll take orders from everyone, including the noncommissioned techs. I make no promises though, gentlemen. Is that good enough for you?”

They all smiled. “Good enough, sir!” said Daniel, the obvious leader.

“Great. Now make yourselves scarce. My breakfast is here.” They all did as they were told, scattering out the door as the waitress laid out his breakfast plates.

“They seem like nice kids,” said the waitress.

“They won’t be nice when I’m done with them,” said Clement, smiling. Then he dug into his food, suddenly finding himself very hungry.


Clement took the tram ride back to the Admiral’s office, his belly full and his heart at peace for the first time in a long time. He knew what he was going to do.

On arrival he was quickly ushered into the meeting room with DeVore, Yan, and Wilcock. They all sat facing him on one side of the conference table while he sat alone on the other. Wilcock pushed the paperwork across the table to him again without a word. Clement found he didn’t like Wilcock much. Too quiet and he looked like he’d never fired a weapon in his life.

It was Fleet Admiral DeVore who spoke first. “You’ve seen our offer, Mr. Clement. I’ve done all I can to convince you how important this mission is. The question now is if you’ll take the offer or not. Will you be captain of the Beauregard again, or will that honor fall to Commander Yan?”

Clement wasn’t making eye contact with her, but he answered anyway. “All things considered, and I do mean all things, Admiral, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wanted this mission, and this command. But, given that, there are still certain conditions.”

DeVore sighed, no doubt a bit annoyed at his “all things considered” comment, an obvious reference to their late-night tryst, which she much preferred to keep secret from her staff. “Of course you have conditions. Name them before I change my mind about offering you this job.” To her surprise Clement reached in to the middle of the pile of paper and pulled out a single sheet.

“This clause limiting my right to consume alcohol has to go,” he said.

“That clause is based on your behavior over the last decade. There have been several reported incidents while working, and we’d be negligent if we didn’t indemnify ourselves against any ‘unexpected’ surprises,” the Admiral said.

“Yet I never lost my flying license, and I think it’s you, Admiral, not the 5 Suns Navy, who want some indemnification on this mission,” Clement said. Devore stared at him, not giving a centimeter. Clement drew a big red X through the sheet and then turned it over and started writing (in blue) on the back. When he was done, he slid the sheet across the table to DeVore. She picked it up and began reading out loud.

“Six bottles of Argyle Scotch to be kept aboard at all times for the captain’s personal use and pleasure, and to share with the crew at his discretion,” she said aloud. Then she got out her pen, switching to red, and began marking up the paper herself, then slid it back to Clement to read.

“Three bottles of Argyle Scotch, to be kept in the possession of Commander Yan and distributed at her discretion,” he read aloud. He was annoyed, but decided not to press the point. “Should I initial this?”

“Yes,” DeVore said, and he did so.

“Item two, captain’s choice of key bridge personnel and technicians. I have to be able to trust my command crew,” he said.

“Understood. So who would you choose?” DeVore asked.

“Hassan Nobli for one, as my chief engineer. Mika Ori and Ivan Massif at helm and navigation, if you can find them and I can convince them,” he said.

DeVore smiled. “Nobli signed on to the LEAP project two months ago. Mika and Ivan have been my guests here on Kemmerine Station for the last eight days, waiting for you. They’ll join up as soon as you sign your papers and take the oath,” she said.

Clement smiled at that. “Well played, Admiral,” he said. She nodded as Clement signed off on the staff sheet.

“Anything else, Clement?”

“One more request. There are four middies that want to join this mission as part of their intern semester. I want to add them to the crew. We can bunk them in the cargo hold,” he said.

DeVore shook her head strongly no. “This mission is Top Secret, Clement. It’s no place for unseasoned middies. You’ve got the finest techs I could find for you. Why do you want four greenhorns in the way?”

“Because they asked, and that shows initiative and bravery, something I had once, and maybe, just a little bit, I’ve lost.”

“So, they remind you of a younger you? That seems like slim reasoning to me.”

“A chance to mold young minds, Admiral,” he said. She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, shaking her head at his boldness.

“Yan, see to the bunks and extra rations. Captain Wilcock, run a background check on these four middies. If even one of them doesn’t have a spotless record, none of them go. Clear, Clement?”

“Yes, Admiral. I’ll forward the names to Captain Wilcock,” he said, nodding toward the staff officer.

“And now I want something back from you,” said DeVore. Clement nodded once to her, waiting to hear her conditions.

“Captain Wilcock here will go on the mission with you.”

“What? Why would I need a staff officer?”

“Protocol.”

“Protocol? You mean a spy. And besides, you’ve already got Yan for that,” Clement said. Yan gave him a withering stare from across the table. Wilcock, for his part, said nothing.

“Take it or leave it,” said DeVore. Clement looked Wilcock over. Beady, shifty eyes. Clement was reminded that he’d had sweaty palms when they first shook. He didn’t like him at all, but . . .

“Done, Admiral,” Clement said.

“Good,” said DeVore, slapping her palms on the table and then standing. “Finish your paperwork with Captain Wilcock here. We will get you proper rank adornments, and then you’ll take the oath.”

“How long until I can take her out for test runs?” asked Clement as he busily started signing papers.

“Oh, there’s no test runs, Captain. The Beauregard leaves dock in slightly less than forty-eight hours. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a fleet to run.” And with that she was off to her office desk, Clement staring after her.


“Can we just get the goddamn thing running?” The angry voice belonged to Captain Jared Clement of the Beauregard, less than twelve hours after he’d taken the 5 Suns Alliance Navy oath as her commander.

“This is precision work, Captain. One wrong move and we could disintegrate this ship in a microsecond. Antimatter is powerful stuff.” The second voice belonged to Hassan Nobli, chief engineer of the Beauregard, and caretaker of the LEAP drive. Nobli was a disheveled-looking man with curly, unkempt hair and rounded wire-rim glasses, which Clement took for an affectation rather than a necessity. Nobli always seemed to be wearing a pair of coveralls soaked in grease of some kind, even when there wasn’t any around, and this situation was no exception.

The two men were standing face to face in front of the antimatter annihilation chamber. It was spherical, no bigger than a small steam boiler Clement had seen used on his home world of Ceta, and surprisingly simple in its design. The only sense of sophistication came from the eight exit pipes that would channel the antimatter material to the LEAP drive components on the ship’s outer-perimeter drive ring.

“Look, Mika and Ivan haven’t even so much as taken this thing for a drive around the block, let alone fire it up and take on the first faster-than-light interstellar mission in the history of mankind. Now how much longer will it be?” demanded Clement.

“The station scientists are monitoring the fluid outflow now, Captain. They say we should be ready to fire her up in about two hours, and I won’t argue that point with them,” said Nobli.

“Fine then,” said Clement. “But I want you and your techs on this until we have the right mix. There won’t be any second chances to get it right out in the wild.”

“Understood sir.”

“In the meantime why don’t you get that propulsion middie, Tsu, to warm up the conventional drives. I want Mika and Ivan to at least get a chance to handle the controls before we start surfing the universe.”

“I’ll get Middie Tsu on it right away,” Nobli said. Secretly, he’d already had the conventional drives, ion plasma, and chemical thrusters fired up and ready to go, but giving the middie something to do would keep him out of Nobli’s way, at least for a while. And it had the added effect of placating the annoyed captain of the Beauregard.

Clement pointed at Nobli. “I want hourly reports on this thing,” he said.

“Of course, sir.”

Clement started to walk away.

“Sir,” Nobli called after him. Clement turned. “It’s good to see you back, sir.”

“It’s good to be back. I think,” said Clement. Then he was off to his next stop.


Down inside the cargo bay, Clement stopped to check in on his four middies. He had passed Tsu in the corridor on his way to assist Nobli, but Daniel, Adebayor and Telco were all at their bunks. They stood and saluted as he came up. He saluted back.

“That’s enough of that; we don’t salute onboard. At ease, Middies,” he said. They all relaxed, but just a bit. They were clearly nervous. “I hope you’ve settled in because we won’t have much time to get you up to speed and I don’t have time to babysit you, so you each have to find a sponsor and stick to them like glue, which means you do whatever they tell you to do, even if it’s sweeping the floors.

“Now, Miss Adebayor, you’ll be up first. I want you to meet with my navigator, Lieutenant Massif, at your first possible convenience. He’s a top navigator and when you’re plotting an interstellar mission, well, whatever he knows you should try to glom off of him. And also check in with the com and engineering techs. I may have a console for you on the bridge as Mr. Nobli likes running things from the bowels of the ship.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, with way too much enthusiasm.

“Daniel, there isn’t much you’ll be able to learn from me and I don’t want you following me around like a puppy dog anyway. Commander Yan is an accomplished officer and on the command fast track so please communicate with her about your assignments. She probably won’t like it but tell her that I insist. Oh, and stay away from Captain Wilcock. That’s one career path you don’t want to emulate, understood?”

“Aye, sir,” said Daniel.

Clement turned to the last middie, Telco. “Mr. Telco, I have a special job for you. Inventory our weapons systems—missiles, torpedoes, energy weapons, and stashes of small arms. I want a complete accounting in two hours and I want you to familiarize yourself with all the ship’s weapons systems. Understood?”

“Aye, Captain,” said Telco, then added, “will do.”

Clement eyed him, annoyed. “Cut out that last part, Middie. It will get annoying real fast.”

Telco stiffened at that. “Yes, sir,” he said.

“And one more thing I want you to do. Clear out some of these cargo boxes and set up a shooting range down here. God knows it’s big enough with only a small crew. Once that’s done I want you to find some of the techs when they’re off rotation and make them shoot some rounds, once we’re underway. I want as many as we can to get in shooting practice during the journey out.”

Telco looked at his friends and they exchanged surprised looks.

Daniel, ever the leader, stepped in again. “Are you expecting that we may have to go into combat, sir?” he said.

“Gentlemen,” Clement said, looking at the three of them, “we’re heading to an unexplored star system aboard an experimental faster-than-light-speed prototype ship. I expect nothing, but I want us to be prepared for anything at all times, understood?”

“Yes, sir,” came a chorus in reply.

Clement looked at his watch. “Then get to it. Admiral DeVore wants us gone inside thirty-six hours from now. Let’s not disappoint her. Now off with you.”

And with that they all scattered, and Clement made his way back toward his bridge.


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