Chapter 42: Divided Command

Captain Prescott was wearing the form fitting ship suit that the AI provided whenever someone asked for a uniform. However, I noticed almost immediately that he or someone in his command had modified the look. The shirt had red shoulder pads. There was a visible bar or what appeared to be gold thread across the shoulder pads. On his head was a rather elaborate hat that would have looked perfect in a movie about Horatio Nelson. He looked commanding while at the same time I had to fight not to laugh at the absurdity of the hat in space.

“You!” he shouted. “Where is the salute for a senior officer?”

“I was not aware you had been promoted over me, ” I said. “From what the AI has said the captain of a corvette is normally an O-2 when they first deploy. Have you been promoted to Lieutenant Senior Grade or Lieutenant Commander?”

“To what?” Captain Prescott asked. “Who cares about that? I’m older so even if we were the same rank, I’d outrank you.”

“No. In some militaries the ranking officer, if both have the same official rank, is based off the date of promotion, the one who has been that rank the longest would be considered senior. We could ask the AI to determine who is senior, but I expect it will announce that we were promoted at the same time.”

“I’m a Captain; that outranks a Lieutenant!” Captain Prescott shouted.

“Not necessarily, ” I replied. “Every ship needs a captain, but not all captains would be the same rank. Therefore the rank structure does not include a rank of captain. O-3 is Commander, O-4 is Major and O-5 Lieutenant Colonel if I understood the AI correctly when I took that part of the sleep training. Did you skip that lesson?”

“There are no Colonels in the Navy!” Captain Prescott said as he continued to glare at me.

“There are in this Navy,” I said. “Did you skip that lesson as well?”

“You are undermining my authority!” Captain Prescott shouted.

“How?” I asked. “I have not tried to countermand any order you have given. I don’t even comment on your training program or progress. I have my own crew to train and I have been concentrating on that.”

Captain Prescott looked over my shoulder at the conference theater that my people were entering and exiting. “Yes, I can see your people are training very hard.”

“They have been for the past two weeks, ” I said. “And after today we’ll spend another two weeks training as hard as we can so we are ready to take possession of Corsica when we arrive at Crucibleat. Honestly, I expect we won’t be ready, but with a couple of days to train in the system, we should be just fine.”

“How can you know!” Captain Prescott snarled. “Have you tested your people? Have you even discussed the goals you have for them? How about setting up a mission briefing or two?”

“I’d rather get them into the simulators for an extra two hours than waste their time holding a meeting to discuss things right now, ” I said.

“Simulators, ” Captain Prescott snarled. “I’ve heard that you asked for those. The sleep trainer will go into far more detail than your simulations can. And my people are getting properly cross-trained so that anyone can jump into a role.”

“We’ll get an opportunity to see which method works better in a couple of weeks then, ” I said calmly.

“What is going on here?” a grizzled voice said.

Captain Prescott turned and took a couple of steps backward so he was standing to my right. As he moved I could see Sergeant Griffith standing in the hallway.

I nodded to the Sergeant. “Captain Prescott and I were having discussion regarding our different training philosophies.”

“The brat should be court martialed, ” Captain Prescott growled.

“Now why would that be true?” Sergeant Griffith asked. The old soldier looked up at the ceiling. “AI, has Lieutenant Parker broken any regulations?”

“Lieutenant Parker has not broken any regulations, ” the AI replied.

“Then there is no reason to court martial him, ” Sergeant Griffith said in a firm matter of fact voice.

“He’s using the theater I was going to hold a meeting in!” Captain Prescott shouted pointing at the door behind me. “How can I access the progress of the training without getting my people together for a meeting?”

“You could hold it as a video conference, ” I said calmly. “Or you could ask for any other rooms. I’m sure you could go back to the transporter room we all arrived in and hold a meeting there if its just you and the twenty-seven members of your crew.”

“I need the screen!” Captain Prescott growled.

“Why did you not reserve the room then?” I asked.

“I’m the most senior officer on this ship,” Captain Prescott growled. “So my needs should take precedence.”

“First, its already been said that as far as I am aware we are both just considered to be Lieutenants and that there has been no declaration that one of us is senior,” I said carefully.

“I’m older, I’m senior!” Captain Prescott declared.

“And I’ve already pointed out that age is not an indication of seniority in the military,” I replied.

“Who cares?” Captain Prescott shouted. “I need the room for a meeting.”

“And I need to give my crew a bit of a break from the training we have been doing,” I replied firmly. “I also requested the room through the AI system and was informed that it was not reserved. Why did you not take the time to reserve it?”

“Why do you keep asking that?” Captain Prescott shouted. The man stepped forward so his chest was pressed up against my shoulders.

I fought down an instinctive move to back away. Instead I used my hands to push back against Captain Prescott’s chest. “Back off, ” I growled. “I keep asking that because it is the only important question at the moment. We were told that rooms were available and could be reserved. You failed to reserve the room and I put in a request to use it today. That is the sole reason you are upset.”

“No it isn’t!” Captain Prescott screamed out. Spittle flew from his mouth and sprayed across my face and hair. I refrained from moving as he continued. “I’m offended that you have command of a ship. You are a child!”

“The Confederacy considers me an adult, ” I said calmly.

“Ha! You probably barely understand what to do with a naked woman, ” Prescott replied.

“Then how did he get me pregnant?” I heard Miki mutter from behind him. I glanced over and could see that all of my ladies were standing in a group at the front of a crowd that appeared to include most of my crew.

“Not that I’d put that up as qualification for commanding a corvette, ” I said. “And I might point out that you have no previous experience commanding a spaceship. So instead of attacking me perhaps you should concentrate on your own ship and crew.”

“That’s what I was trying to do. I need a screen so we can review the training we are all undertaking, ” Captain Prescott said.

“There is such a thing as video conferencing and sharing screens. You could have had everyone just use the living room in their pod, or had them set up a special room. I know I have a training room in my own pod, ” I replied calmly.

“He has a good point, ” Sergeant Griffith said suddenly. “I’m not seeing any reason for the level of anger you are showing. You failed to reserve a room and Captain Parker claimed it for his crew to enjoy a bit of liberty.”

“We should be training, ” Prescott growled with gritted teeth. He appeared to have noticed the growing crowd finally and was trying to appear calm.

“And my people have trained hard for the past two weeks, ” I said projecting my voice so the watching crowd could hear. “I have no doubt that in two weeks when we arrive at Crucibleat and take possession of Corsica they will be fully prepared to operate the ship. That’s part of why I set up this day of liberty. I want them feeling rested and refreshed when we do arrive, not drained. There is no reason they can’t enjoy a single day of rest in the middle of our journey to our new home.”

“Like anyone does that, ” Prescott said with a snarl. “You work hard until you drop.”

“You must have been the CEO of a company that had frighteningly high employee turnover, ” I said. I could hear the condescension in my voice. Prescott’s eyes narrowed as I continued. “I think that’s the difference. I understand that the twenty-six crewmen I’ll have on Corsica are important. My job isn’t just to lead them, but to lead them well so that every time we return to Corsica all of them get to return to their homes.”