Chapter 23: So Many Square Pegs

Chastity followed me as I walked over to the table. When I stopped to look around the room I could see a very nervous look on her face.

“Problem?” I asked.

“That orientation makes the ship seem very complex,” Chastity said.

“It is. It has to be in order to allow us to travel into space,” I replied.

“But I can’t even understand why I have the CAP to be a citizen. I always hated fighting. My parents were always fighting. I got into acting because there was a small theater group in my hometown and as long as I was at rehearsals or shows or planning for shows I didn’t have to be home,” she said with a frown.

I nodded. “Well, can you see yourself handling a switch board?” I asked.

“What?” she said in a shocked voice.

“One of the positions is communications officer. I get a feeling its based on the theory that any ship will have to communicate with other ships and also keep communications going within the ship. It will be a complex job, but it will mostly require being able and willing to talk to others,” I said

Chastity looked surprised. ‘Won’t it be complex?”

“From what I’ve seen the AI will handle a portion of the work and support you. Now I should warn you that I doubt you’d be the first officer. You don’t seem to want that level of responsibility,” I replied.

“I’ll live with it. But should I be an officer?” she asked.

“We’ll see, but I was impressed by how devoted Kirk was at the social. It seemed that he respects and admires you. That suggests that you’ll be a leader for the others after you get comfortable with your duties,” I said.

“I’m not sure,” she said as she looked around the room. “But I’m not against the idea. Can I think about it?”

“Go ahead,” I said as I noticed Warren looking at me. “I have a lot of people to talk to.”

Chastity nodded and stepped away from the table. She had her shoulders back and stood confidently as she strode up to a group of middle aged men. I shook my head as one of the men turned to speak to her.

“You handled that well,” Warren said as he placed a drink on the table and stepped up to it. “How old are you?”

“I’m not going to make a big deal about my age,” I said. “I think anyone looking can tell that I’m not one of the older recruits. I’d rather that my age not be an issue with everyone. We need to concentrate on forming a great team.”

Warren nodded. “I’ve worked on more than a few developmental projects. You’re right we need to remain focused on the goal which will be learning to run the ship and then fighting the Sa’arm.”

“Developmental projects? What kind?’ I asked.

Warren looked a bit hesitant. “I worked for a company that specialized in designing and manufacturing the various plastic cases used for cell phones and other electronic devices. Honestly, we mostly did the design work. Once the prototype was made and approved we’d send the design drawings to factories in Asia.”

“You were an engineer?” I asked.

Warren shook his head. “I have a Masters in Business Administration, but I don’t have an engineering degree.”

“What is your bachelors in?’ I asked.

“Education,” Warren said. “I wanted to be a teacher. However to avoid having too much debt I found a job working for a small machine shop. I was a benching technician on their second shift at first and later I was a quality inspector. In the end I never became a teacher.”

“So you have experience as a manager? And you have experience dealing with engineers?” I asked.

“Some,” he said. “Why?”

“Just a thought. It sounds like you’ll be valuable working in the engine room,” I said.

“I have no idea how to run these engines. They aren’t like anything I’ve seen before,” Warren said.

“But you are experienced in manufacturing and understand machines. You have project management experience. Am I wrong about that?” I asked.

“I’m willing to learn about the engines, but that’s all I’ll sign up for. I can’t say I’d be the best to be in charge?” Warren said. “And I’ll step aside now. You have many others to meet.”

I nodded as Warren picked up his drink and walked away. I looked around. The twenty-seven people who were my crew had scattered around the room. Most of them were standing in groups of three or four. From what I could see a few people were moving between groups keeping the various conversations going.

“So this is your crew?” Miki asked me as she walked up and placed a fresh glass of apple juice on the table.

“I don’t know?” I said. “They have been allocated to me, but honestly I’m puzzled why I am going to instantly become a ship captain.”

“Considering you have six concubines, I’d say that you have a high CAP score. Someone must think you are a man with great potential,” Blaine said.

“What would you know about that?” Miki asked accusingly.

“Miki,” I said sotto voce. “You are a concubine. I love the fact that you want to defend me, but please don’t anger a citizen. I’d rather not find that I’ve been asked to punish you.”

“You’d make sure I enjoyed it,” Miki said cheekily. “But I’ll go take Ashley’s post. That way I won’t be tempted anymore.”

I shook my head as Miki headed off. Blaine just stood and stared at me. “You let her do that?”

“I don’t want her to be afraid of me,” I said. “But at the same time I do need her to be obedient, something I definitely have to work on.”

“How?” Blaine asked. “I have two girls who barely listen to me right now. I have to lock them in for their own protection.”

“I’m still working on that,” I said. “Meanwhile, what do you want to do on Corsica?”

“I don’t want much responsibility,” Blaine said.

“I thought you said you were a football star,” I replied.

“You know how easy it is to be a college level quarterback? I don’t even have to think. The coach calls the plays from the sideline. I just have one person to look at and then I make one very quick decision,” Blaine said. “That’s about what I want.”

“Were you only a quarterback?” I asked.

“I played some defensive back in high school,” Blaine said with a shrug. “But it was clear that quarterback was my best position.”

“In combat the helmsman is going to be vital. He has to be able to accept orders and immediately lay in course changes. It’s a position of pressure, but you don’t really have to issue orders, just listen to commands and guide the ship,” I said.

Blaine smiled. “That sounds like what I want. An opportunity to be useful, but not one where I feel responsible for others.”

Blaine wandered away. Ashley nodded to him as she walked up to the table and placed a plate of chicken fingers in front of me. “So, how are you doing?”

“Three people have given me ideas of what they want to do on the ship. So I have twenty-three more to talk to,” I said.

“Wouldn’t it be twenty-four?” I heard a man ask from behind me.

“Well, once I interview twenty-three and figure out what they would be best at, the last person will end up starting out in the last open position,” I said.

“That’s not fair to them,” the man said as he walked into view. He looked to be in his late thirties, but the long unwashed hair and unkempt and greying beard seemed to add a decade to his age. He put a red cup on the table and looked at me.

“Raccoon Roger Reynolds,” he said after nodding at me. “And you are Mark Parker. I guess you are my captain.”

“I’m the captain of Corsica for now. If you serve on Corsica, then I’m the one responsible for you,” I replied.

“So what will you make me do?” Raccoon said. His voice was a pure challenge to me.

“You are so early, that you have many options,” I said. “We need people to work both the rail guns and the missiles, and we even need people to work the engines. You can pretty much pick and choose.”

“Me work the engines?” Raccoon said with a snort. “That’s not something I could do well.”

“So that leaves you working in the missile bays or dealing with a railgun. Which do you want for now?” I asked.

“Now? Why just now?” Raccoon asked.

“You might find that you want to try something else, or we might have an injury that requires some crew rotation. But I do think we need a loader for each railgun. We’ll set you up initially as the starboard loader,” I said.

“Are you sure I can do that?” Raccoon asked.

“We’ll have to get you trained, but I expect you will be a very dependable person,” I said.

Raccoon picked up his cup and walked away. He had a bit of a dazed look on his face as he headed towards the drink table.

Ashley put a hand on my waist. “How are things?” she asked.

“Miki needs to be punished,” I said quietly.

“Your little Asian girl?” Robert Bruce asked.

“Mister Bruce,” I said with a nod. “Yes, Miki is mine. She was a bit flippant earlier.”

“So what are you going to do to her?” the man asked.

I put an arm around Ashley. “I need to give all my concubines some kind of remedial obedience training. But you can’t train them like you do a dog.”

“What? You can’t put their nose in their own shit and then hit them with a rolled up newspaper?” Robert asked with a laugh.

Ashley shifted in my arms. “Try that with your ex-wife and see how much of a bite she has.”

Robert laughed as he reached around me to lightly punch Ashley in the shoulder. “Ooh, I can see that Mark has some feisty ladies following him. Remind me to have you meet with Crystal and Darla. They need to learn that they can still be themselves even if I own them.”

“You don’t mind?” I asked.

“Why should I? Crystal was never afraid to speak her mind to me when we first got married. Heck, she is part of the reason I was as successful as I was in sales. She kept pushing me to do better,” Robert said.

“And behind every successful man is a woman,” I said absently.

“Looking at his buttocks,” Ashley finished for me with a giggle.

Robert started laughing. “Oh, I’ll have to tell Crystal that one. She’ll love it.”

I nodded. “And later you can have her watch as I wash Ashley’s mouth out.”

“With soap?” Robert asked.

“Actually based on what Tatyana said to me earlier. I might use the vodka you can get from the replicators. I expect it makes Love Potion Number Nine taste like ambrosia.”

Robert started laughing. “But does it smell like turpentine and look like India Ink?”

“Who knows,” I said. “So I have to suffer having you as part of my crew?”

“Do you have a problem with that?” Robert asked with a smirk.

“A problem with a mature gentleman who understands people and probably can lead others? Nope, I just have to wonder what you want to do,” I replied.

Robert turned and waved. Two college age men walked over. Both of them were moving rather slowly as they approached. One tried to turn away, but his friend held his arm and kept approaching me.

“Friends?” I asked.

“Countrymen at least,” Robert said. “The timid one is Leonard Argent. His friend is Isaac Cuthbert.”

“Interesting names,” I replied. “So you knew them before the pickup?”

“No, I actually met them while walking to this room after our orientation,” Robert said as Isaac finally managed to get Leonard up to the table.

“Hello,” Isaac said. “Has Robert explained our idea?”

“Ours?” Leonard said. “It was purely put together by you two. I want nothing to do with this.”

“How about I hear the idea first? Unless you have a specific duty you’d like on the ship,” I said.

“Can’t I stay home and just help repair the ship when you return from a cruise?” Leonard said. “I really would rather not get shot at.”

“You won’t have bullets flying by you on a ship,” I said. “You’d be better off on a ship than in the marines.”

“How can you believe that?” Leonard said. “I won’t be able to shoot back.”

“Well, if you work on a weapon you can help do that,” I said. “But the reason I believe we’ll be safe is based on just how hard a ship is to find in space. We’ll be a tiny spechavre k in a huge night sky.”

“You don’t expect to charge in?” Isaac asked.

“If we are asked to defend some carriers from some Sa’arm battleships, sure we might end up charging in, but looking at our ship, its not designed for a long term fight with anything. Corsica is a scout and skirmisher. Our job is to annoy the enemy,” I said.

“Which we can do by operating a gun on Corsica,” Robert said. “I thought it might be easier to offer us as a set.”

“A set?” I asked.

“Mister Bruce as the gun captain and leader, I’ll load, Leonard can do the technical stuff to keep the gun operational,” Isaac said. “I had my tablet out and got it to download some information. The rings of the rail gun often need adjustment. The AI handles a lot, but you really need a good tech to fine tune everything. Leonard loves technology, so he’d be good there,” Isaac said.

“Leonard?” I asked the young man. I had to hide a snort at that thought. He was clearly six or seven years older than me and I was treating him like he was younger.

“I guess I can do it,” he said. “I’d still rather stay home with my sluts.”

I felt Ashley stiffen. I moved my hand to the top of her head and pressed down firmly. “Down girl,” I said as if I was talking to a dog. “He can think of his concubines that way.”