Innes in Command
Copyright© 2026 by Lumpy
Chapter 21
After leaving the observation lounge, Innes didn’t go back to his quarters. Pierce had given him a lot to think about, but he was still angry that they would reprimand him for doing his job. Even if Pierce was right and it was the sign of a good officer, the Navy burned good officers over politics all the time.
Politics was king in the Republic, and Innes was sick of it.
He needed to kick and scream and vent, but everyone on the station was either someone subordinate to him, which would make venting improper, or someone from the station whom he needed to work with the CDF, and poisoning the well would only make things worse.
There was one person who didn’t fit either of those scenarios, and he went to find Sage. When he didn’t find her in her lab, he went to her quarters. He’d hoped he wasn’t overstepping his welcome, but he needed someone to talk to, and they’d had enough conversations now that he didn’t think it would be too weird.
He hoped.
It took her a minute to answer the door and when she did, her hair was pulled up in a bun and she was in a robe, which was the moment I realized how late it was.
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize it was this late.”
“It’s okay, I wasn’t asleep yet. I sometimes start reading at night, get a little lost in it and lose track of time. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah ... I mean, no, not really, but I don’t want to take you away from your reading. I’m sorry, I’ll come by your lab tomorrow.”
“Don’t be silly. Come in,” she said, stepping aside.
“What were you reading?”
“ASQL Lattice Degradation and the Geometry of Wormhole Apertures.”
“Oh ... so some light reading.”
“Light? No, it’s very dense and technical,” she said with a completely straight face, which actually made Innes feel more relaxed than anything the Chief had said.
Her way of taking things literally sometimes was so refreshing.
“I was joking, Sage.”
“Oh. That’s funny,” she said without laughing. “So what’s happened that’s got you so upset?”
Innes looked around and realized how packed this compartment was, with books literally everywhere. He thought about pacing, but with the stacks of stuff, there was barely room for the two of them.
“I got reprimanded for doing my job, that’s what happened. I made the right call with the Pioneer Spirit; they were carrying mines, and every piece of evidence pointed to it being destined for the pirates in the belt. Pirates that just attacked a transport ship, I might add. And not just any reprimand, the Protector, the admiral in charge of this sector, the vice director of the Department of the Navy, all sent messages to the captain asking what ‘the hell that Ensign is doing there.’ All because I dared to enforce the laws they took part in getting on the books. But, of course, it has nothing to do with what the law says at all. The only thing that matters is how politically connected the people involved are and how much noise they can make. The whole system is designed to protect the wrong people and punish anyone who actually tries to do the right thing.”
Once that was out of his system, he wound down, looking to her now that his rant was over.
“I’m sorry about that,” she said, looking anywhere but at him.
Now he felt bad. He’d come, late at night, clearly bothering her, and she was just being too nice to tell him to go away.
“So ... yeah. Anyway, I’m sorry for bugging you,” he said, turning and reaching for the panel to open the door.
“I just told you that you aren’t bothering me. Why do you keep saying that?”
“I guess ‘cause you seemed uncomfortable.”
“I’m not uncomfortable, I just don’t ever know how to respond when people tell me things like this. I can listen to you talk about your problems, I’m happy to, and I agree that this all sounds very unjust, but I also know you want me to make you feel better about it, and I don’t know how to do that. I’ve tried to fake it in the past, to say something comforting, but it always comes off wrong and people think I’m being rude or unsympathetic.”
Innes stopped, looked at her, and then did something she was almost certainly not prepared for. He laughed.
Her brows crinkled as she looked at him confused, and said, “I’m not sure why that’s funny.”
“It’s not funny. Actually, it’s refreshing. I can’t tell you how often I’ve had to deal with people who never say what they mean and everything is fake. Instead of saying they didn’t know what to say, they pretend to be empathetic, but it all comes off as fake and performative. And then they turn around and do the opposite with that information because it’s part of some kind of calculation and they’re always working to figure out how they can personally benefit from whatever the other person has going on. So I appreciate that you always say exactly what you mean. And honestly, just being able to say what was bothering me out loud to another person has been a huge help.”
“Well then, I’m glad to be helpful,” she said, looking a little relieved. “Those people you said you had to deal with who are fake, are you meaning your family? I remember you saying your family was important and did a lot of politics.”
“Mostly, yes. Everyone around my father is always working an angle and no one, including my father, ever says what they actually mean or want. In a way, I get it, I mean, he is the head of a coalition and a lot of people rely on the decisions he has to make, but the fact that he treats his own children the same way is a problem. Especially when I was younger and didn’t really understand it but knew it all felt off. Actually, he’s coming here, apparently.”
“Your father is?”
“Yeah. It turns out the ship I had impounded for smuggling military supplies to pirates is politically connected to my father’s coalition and they have really been putting pressure on him to do something about me. They’ve all decided the whole ‘smuggling military weapons’ is just a smoke screen for my real motivation, which is the destruction of one of my father’s political allies.”
“Why would you want to destroy one of your father’s allies?”
“I don’t, but that’s what they’re all complaining about. So he’s coming out here, probably to pressure me to start cutting people he needs good relationships with some extra slack or something. I’d bet hard credits that he’s going to tell me I’m an embarrassment to him.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would their doing something illegal and you catching them doing it make you the embarrassment?”
“Because these people all think laws are the things that apply to people like us, and not to them.”
“Oh. I don’t know if this helps, but my family thinks I’m an embarrassment, too.”
“Really? I’m surprised. You might be one of the smartest people I’ve ever met and you’re out here doing groundbreaking research. That seems like something to be proud of.”
“I guess they’re proud of me, but mostly they just want me out of the way. My family’s in trading, and they’d always have people come by, hosting parties and all of that, and they’d hide me away every time. When I was little, they would laugh off my interests as childish hobbies and parade me around to their friends to show everyone how precocious I was, like a novelty, but once I got older, everything they’d thought was cute became an embarrassment. I’d say the wrong thing, point out the obvious things they would all pretend weren’t true, and it didn’t sit well with all their partners and friends. I was always too blunt and too literal. I think that’s why they supported me going off to school and then helped me get a research grant systems away from them, so I could be someone they all pretended didn’t exist.”
“They helped you get a grant, though, that was nice.”
“I guess. I’m actually not sure they were behind it, but it came through very fast and I saw some correspondence between my father and the SENTINEL policy center saying that the grant came through, so it makes sense. It was a very easy way to make me someone else’s problem.”
“I don’t think you’re a problem. I think you’re kind of amazing.”
“I appreciate that,” she said. “It’s always hard for me to tell what other people think of me. I know they find me useful for the things I know, for the way my brain works, but it’s always been hard to find people who wanted me to be more than just someone they could bounce ideas off of.”
“I hope you know that’s not why I keep coming to see you. I know I’ve asked you to look at some stuff, but honestly, I really enjoy the time we spend together.”
“Do you? I know you say you do, but I’ve had people say that before, but then things fall apart. It’s been hard maintaining friendships. People all want something from me emotionally, and then get annoyed when I can’t give them exactly what they want without them telling me. It all comes so naturally to everyone else, but I just ... I need someone to explain what is expected of me. I just don’t get all the little clues the rest of you seem to.”
“Well, I’m glad I’m your friend, and I promise next time I come to vent, I’ll tell you why and try to communicate better about what I need. But honestly, I feel a hundred times better than when I came down here. I really just wanted someone to talk to who didn’t report to me or wasn’t related on a professional level. I needed a friend, and you were exactly the friend I needed.”
“Really?”
“Really. I know it’s late. I don’t want to keep you up, but I would like to talk more,” Innes said.
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