Part 25: THE BIG TEST

The quarters were immaculate clean, tastefully furnished and big. It took me a while to even find the bath room door.

After I got undressed and turned on the shower, my knees felt soft as butter. This had stressed me more than fighting the Y’All, curse them and their rotten tests. Why was it always me? There were hundred Midshipmen and it was me who ended up peeing while meeting the big legend himself.

There was also an auto-dresser and I stepped in. I felt the nanites and Robo arms assemble a fresh uniform. The Auto dresser was a deluxe model and automatically corrected my hair cut and shave.

Feeling much better I left the Quarters and wondered what else the day would bring. It had started so good with me waking up on the Hyperion for my last shift and now I was aboard the Devastator but not as I expected.

The Marines where back at their post before the doors to Command and Control and one of them blinked at me and grinned. “Your friend Worther almost made it, but not quite.”

I gasped. “You threw him out?”

“Sure did and he pissed all over himself on the way down, just before we caught him.”

The other Marine saluted me. “Fine display of courage, Sir. You would have made a good Marine.”

I saluted back knowing how big that compliment was, Marines regarded anyone else usually as lesser life forms.

“While it would have been an honor, I doubt I made it through Marine Boot Camp, I am terrified of Orbital Jumps.”

He laughed but pointed at my ribbon display. “Still I see Marine Green on your display, for boarding action, Sir.” He saluted crisp and so did his silent partner and then pointed at the door. “Go right on in, Sir. Walk across Command and Control to the other side. The bridge is accessed by a lift-platform or ladders at the other side of CC. Captain Harris is waiting for you, there.”

Command and Control was a curved room with dozens of manned control panels. At the other end was a short flight of stairs and the mentioned lift platform to the actual bridge, again guarded by Marines who simply raised their weapons. “Bridge Access granted.”

I held my breath as I stepped on the bridge of the most powerful star ship. The Devastator was of alien origin and no one but Stahl and perhaps a handful others knew where it really came from.

Stahl appeared with it during the Y’All war and turned the tide of the war that seemed already lost at that time.

This bridge was kept dark, except for small lights in the floor. The large view screen was dark and not active. The bridge was big as everything about this ship, but not extremely out of proportion, and perhaps only twice the size of the bridge aboard the Shetland

Before the command balcony, the same duty stations as on every capital ship, the rest was so I assumed down in Command and Control.

Behind the duty stations on that raised platform, called the command balcony were the command chair and the seat of the XO. Ramps led up to that raised section of the bridge on each side.

Harris stood with his hands on the railing that surrounded the Command balcony. “Up here Midshipman.”

I walked up the ramp and saluted. “Midshipman Olafson reporting as ordered.”

“Don’t salute on a bridge. That distracts. Just report to the person that summoned you.”

“Aye Sir, I know Sir.”

Stahl came up the ramp behind me. “Feeling better, Midshipman?”

“Yes Sir, thank you Sir.”

“Would you like to know why I did that test?”

“No Sir I much rather would know why me?”

He smiled and his eyes had the same strange but hard to describe quality as McElligott, perhaps even more so. With Stahl it was not just his eyes, he had an almost tangible aura of something no longer human.

He leaned against the railing on the other side. Now I stood in the middle, the Captain on one side and the Immortal Admiral on the other. I was not sure this was a good thing, judging by the recent events most likely not.

The Immortal began in a low and friendly conversational tone. “I am following your path, since you left Nilfeheimwith increasing interest.”

He made a gesture across the duty stations below. “Before I go deeper into my explanation, let me ask you a question. Have you decided what you want to specialize in?”

“No Sir. I did not have the chance to talk to a career advisor at the end of my first Academy Year, Sir.”

“I know about that, but the career advisors usually have an easy job. Most Cadets come to the Academy with a good idea what they want to do. Some dream about being Engineers, Helms men and so forth. You did too, and you told that to the recruiting officer on Nilfeheim, you knew exactly what you want to be when you talked to Admiral Stokes what you want to do, while you were standing in line at the Academy HQ.I believe your said something like. ‘ever since I can think I wanted to be a Star ship captain.”

I felt a little embarrassed and was surprised about the detail knowledge this Immortal Admiral had about me. “Well yes Sir I said that. But this is not a specialization I could select right away. I know command picks someone after many years of duty from helm or tactical or whatever and send him or her to command school. So I don’t know which specialization would be best for that, this is why I haven’t chosen.”

The Admiral nodded and he had a faint smile on his lips. “The specializations make no difference, even though it has shown that Engineers make bad Captains, that there is perhaps one in a Billion making Captain after choosing a career in legal services. Command officers are picked by their abilities to do exactly that, Command. Now you can be in command of a department, of a project a base or lab and you will end your career doing just that. Commanding a Starship is different because there is not a single more difficult and demanding position in the entire Universe.

“You experienced on your own back that the reality is far from flawless, but when it comes to choosing Starship captains we don’t accept anything less than perfection. In over 3000 years the Navy has refined a process that distills a handful of beings out of all those applicants and officers; a miniscule percentage of beings that are capable of taking command and ultimately become a Starship captain.

Of the trillion beings that serve the Union Fleet, less than one percent command ships. Of all the ones that earned the right and privilege to wear Captains gold only 12,433 individuals were stripped of that rank and their names expunged from all records, except the wall of shame in the basement of Fleet HQ. That is a miniscule number for an Organization that big and with a history of nearly three thousand years.”

I listened closely to every word the Immortal Admiral said.

He pointed to the Captain’s chair behind us. “The Navy has a very refined and difficult process to pick and choose. The number I just mentioned shows the process works. It is much easier to become an Admiral by the way.

“I personally believe what separates a true Captain from the all the rest are abilities that cannot be taught, cannot be trained. It must be there from the beginning. I believe you have some, perhaps even all of these qualities.

You stuck your nose into almost all classes they offer, just long enough to get the very basics. It was me who made sure you did not advance, but I made sure you went to all that mattered, because the sum of classes you took leads to another specialization called Command.

It is not an openly offered specialization. It is by invitation only and those who show promise are put through the motions from the start.”

He chuckled. “Now there are many who dream to become a Captain, but few stick to it as determined as you. This is why I became aware of you, well this and that stunt you did with that Submarine of yours, attacking a Space bus.” He nodded as he saw the surprise on my face.”Yes I know about that and what you did on Twilight and one day I want to hear the details how you defeated the Dai battle ship with a civilian Yacht.

“You told us, you told the Navy you want to command form the start and that is why you might feel you get picked more or tested harder. You were told that your chosen path is harder and more difficult than any other.”

I had to agree, all this was true.

“The path to the Captains seat does not start in some distant years after many years of service. It starts the second you are evaluated. You and every other potential Command Officer is tested harder, looked at closer and tested twice as hard as the others and the testing and the evaluation will continue for these candidates after the others are long done with the Academy. In some cases it could last a decade or two, but it leads to Command School, to a XO position and eventually to the Big Chair.”

I nodded. “Yes Sir, knowing that now makes me feel less like a pawn in a game I can’t control.”

He actually put his hand on my shoulder. “Mister Olafson, we are all pawns in the hands of fate, God or whatever philosophy you adhere too. Yes I believe we make our own choices but we can’t always control the circumstances.”