Chapter 84: A Friend Returns Home

Captain Prescott sighed as the two ensigns left. He waited until we could no longer hear their footsteps in the lobby of the administration building before turning to look directly at me. “I’m sorry.”

I shrugged. “I understood why you reacted the way you did. I can see the pain in your eye when you remember how many members of your crew died in the last fight. Honor them by being a better commander in the future.”

“Easy to say, but its going to be hard. I’m praying we find some good crew on that transport. Honestly, I think I have another four or two who just aren’t ready. The sleep training system does reduce the time you train, but I don’t think its real enough,” Captain Prescott said.

I nodded. “I now wish I had pressed you a bit about using the trainers I had the AI set up.”

“They worked,” Captain Prescott said. “That much I can see. And your crew works together very well.”

“Yours will once you find the right officers,” I said. “And get a couple of solid teams with experienced crew.”

“You didn’t have that,” Captain Prescott pointed out.

“Sergeant Bruce had experience as a team leader back on Earth. And my officers earned the respect of my crew. That made all the difference,” I replied.

“Is Mark trying to claim he had nothing to do with anything again,” We both heard Jessica ask from the entrance to the meeting room.

“Ensign Thornton,” Captain Prescott said. “Glad you could join us.”

“Ensign?” Jessica asked. “Last I heard I was just another missile jockey who barely ranked as a private first class.”

Captain Prescott sighed. “I know I didn’t treat you well. You deserved a better posting from the start, but the way I organized the crew, I couldn’t give it to you. I’ve talked with Captain Parker here. He needed a tracking officer and the AI supported your promotion and transfer. Congratulations Ensign.”

Jessica gasped. I waited a moment and then nodded. “Yes, Captain Prescott and I agreed that you shall transfer to Corsica.”

Jessica just stood with her mouth open. Her eyes blinked a couple of times. I could see a tear start to fall from her left eye just before she threw herself forward and put her arms around Captain Prescott. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she gushed.

“Hey! Fraternization! Molestation!” I called out playfully.

Captain Prescott laughed. “I forget you are kids and then this happens.”

“Something wrong?” I asked worriedly.

Captain Prescott put his arms around Jessica in a loving way. “No,” he said.

“I never expected this reaction,” I said carefully.

Jessica giggled and then leaned away from Captain Prescott. “He’s not a bad man.”

“I never said he was,” I replied. “I did think his management style was wrong for the situation.”

“Oh?” Captain Prescott said.

“You came from a large business, or at least that’s my impression,” I said carefully.

“Multi-national. I was a chief financial officer for one of their top factories,” he replied.

I nodded. “Not what I thought exactly, but it fits. Your management style was based on using a pre-built system to train people and an expectation that they’d do whatever they were told.”

“Isn’t that how we are supposed to manage people?” Captain Prescott snarled.

“For a large company on Earth, it works,” I said carefully. “The problem is that Ipanema isn’t a large company on Earth. You only have a few people working for you and should one fail the result will likely result in people dying. On a small ship you can’t just micromanage the results to a bunch of metrics.”

“That sounds like you have spent time in corporate meetings,” Captain Prescott said with a sigh. “The problem is that you proved the truth of your position by putting together an extremely successful crew.”

“You can do that with time,” I said carefully.

“Which means we need to get through the next mission. I’m going to head out to see if Admiral Redmill has provided files on the crewmen he brought along. I need to get with my surviving officers and start assembling a new crew,” Captain Prescott said.

I nodded as Jessica stood up. My friend had a huge smile on her face as she moved around the table. Captain Prescott stood up and put an arm around his concubine. “Good luck,” he said to me. “We’ll meet again at the next meeting.”

I was going to stand up, but Jessica put her hands on my shoulders and pressed me down into the chair. “You asked for me to be transferred?”

“I did,” I said carefully. “I thought you would prefer to be working on my ship.”

“You know it!” Jessica screamed happily. “I just wish Morgan was with us.”

“He’s happy in the Marines,” I said. “What about Jason?”

“He’s bitter,” Jessica said with a sigh. “I love him like a brother and I know you were especially close since his sister is your first concubine and lover.”

“But?” I asked.

Jessica nodded. “He’s upset at the world. Captain Prescott rode him during training and the other crew treated him poorly because he was so much younger than most of them.”