Chapter 32: After the First Drill

I watched my displays as I listened to Tilly trying to wrangle the various gunball teams. I could hear Este almost screaming at one point when the Jarl team failed to listen to the order to head to the bow elevator and joined with Aesir and Vanir at the stern, slowing the deployment.

The rest of the drill had gone much better. Once all four teams were on the surface of Freya they maneuvered smartly, and I could see that the newest trio of gunball pilots were already integrating with their teams. We were able to allow each team two shots at a couple of target asteroids before calling for them to withdraw so we could initiate the jump to the Leoat system. There would be our first real test of the gunners and crew, but at least everyone had the opportunity to test their stations and get used to the positions. I listened to Tilly as the gunners returned.

“No,” Tilly was saying. “I understand that you want to punish the whole Jarl team, but I think that its excessive. It was a first drill, and I’m hearing that the majority of their gunballs were staged near the stern when they entered the hangar. It was an honest situation. Right now we are ensuring they withdraw from the grid via the bow elevator and that they will be staged in the forward part of the hangar. In fact, I believe that Lieutenant Jackson had the damage control teams in the hangar painting clear parking areas for each gunball.”

I turned my chair around to look at Luther. He was watching the large screen at the front of the bridge and nodded to me. “Yes. Todd suggested that we have the teams mark the parking spot for each gunball. We set it up so that Jarl one and Thane one are closest to the bow elevator with their teams in a line behind them. Aesir one and Vanir one are the closest to the stern elevators.”

“Hopefully we don’t end up asking them to switch which elevator they use in the future, but that is smart. Why did the gunballs end up mixed up before?” I asked.

“No one had designated gunballs when they arrived, with the exception of Einherjar One. Este is the only gunner who had made significant changes to the layout of her controls which were carried over. The others all use the basic package. Well, except for that new lance corporal you put in as Aesir three,” Luther said.

“Oh?” I asked.

“I guess the system wasn’t sure which gunball she’d receive so the changes were not implemented, but I received a message about her. Her gunball will take about ten hours to convert over to the configuration she prefers,” Luther said.

“Just her, not the others?” I asked.

“Private Wight does want a couple of changes, but they are options in the display software that he already implemented. Amy wants her chair lowered and tilted back while the motivation controls are moved slightly,” Luther said.

“So she wants to be closer to laying on her back as she guides the gunball? It makes some sense. I expect she’ll tell me it allows her to look down the barrel of her gunball when lining up a shot. Did she also want the chair to pivot with the gunball?”

“She did,” Luther said. “Only she and Einherjar one, have that feature currently.”

“More will follow,” Tilly said. “Several of the Aesir gunners noticed that Amy was hitting dead center with both of her shots despite moving while firing. No other gunner even attempted to fire on the asteroids while their gunball was in motion.”

“She’s got talent,” I whispered. “Hopefully Este can get her to open up and suggest ways for everyone to train. We definitely have the type of people who should be able to hit shots like that regularly.”

“Well, all the gunballs are back in the hangar,” Luther said. “Do you mind if I head there. I’d like to review with my teams as they will need to do some maintenance on the gunballs.”

“Go,” I said. “But be ready to return to the bridge in eight hours. I’m putting you on second shift. You’ll be the officer on deck during that time. I can’t live here.”

“No, you live right behind us,” Tilly said. “And I imagine that you’ll need to get to your day room soon. I’ve already fielded two requests to meet with you for some discussions.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Charles Peck, Aesir one is upset about the mistake made by the Jarl team and wants to complain,” Tilly started. “Este told him that there is no reason for official action, but he wants to vent. The other person is Clarissa, Jarl ten. She wants to protest about her punishment for...”

“She was the one caught fucking rather than getting ready for the launch?” I asked.

“Yes,” Tilly said softly.

“I’ll meet with Charles first. Let Este know so she can come to the dayroom. I’d like to briefly get her viewpoint. The gunners are her team and I don’t want to undermine her,” I said.

“Back her up and their shouldn’t be a problem,” Philip said from the tracking station. “Oh, can you allow Tilly to watch the bridge for a short time. I need to go and shuffle my people. Janet and Karen are going at it again.”

“Should I offer to strap one to the outside of a gunball and have the pilot run them around the grid for thirty minutes to get them to calm down,” I asked sarcastically.

“No,” Philip said. The man shivered. “Although I’ll mention that you are unhappy with them fighting. I don’t get it either. They seemed to have no issues before.”

“Did one of them leave their male concubine behind?” I asked.

“No. But I’ll try to get it sorted out. I can’t have them arguing over the tracking communications band. I was able to cut them out of the comms that were going to the gunners, but I shouldn’t need to do that,” Philip said.

“Tilly. Your ship until Philip or I return,” I said.

“And when one of you returns?” Tilly asked.

“I’ll assign you as a floating officer for now. Luther can take second. Philip will be on first shift, and I’ll do the third shift. You’ll come in to cover when I’m tied up in meetings or one of the others is too busy to be able to work the shift. At least for now. We’ll probably try to rotate the shifts in the future, so no one is always stuck with the worst shifts,” I said.

“Not sure there really is a worst shift,” Philip mused. “There really is no noticeable night or day on a spaceship while its cruising.”

“You’d rather have third shift?” I asked.

“No, I’ll work on first,” Philip said. “That will work better anyways as I can have Janet be first shift in tracking one and Karen first shift in tracking two. That should keep their catfights to a minimum while they’re on duty.”

I nodded as Philip got up and left the bridge. I looked over at Tilly who was smiling tiredly. “I’ve got the conn until you or Lieutenant Darwin return. Then I’m going to lie down and sleep. Running the gunball liaison spot when there is any kind of dispute.”

“I’ll be trying to defuse that bomb in just a moment,” I said. “Let Este know I need her in my day room.”

I got up and headed for the door to my day room. Behind me I could hear Tilly calling for Einherjar One to report to me. She sounded a bit tired, but her voice was clear and easy to understand.

I moved to the same chair as I had sat in during the pre-launch meeting. As soon as I was sitting down the AI spoke. “Lieutenant Avila is on her way. Do you want anything?”

“Give me a glazed donut and some cinnamon apple tea,” I said.

There was a ping and I looked over to the replicator on the wall. The panel had opened and I could see a tray containing my order. I sighed and stood up to pick up the items.

The door to the hallway opened as I was sitting back down with my tray. I was about to greet Este, but the concubine with the horns and tail walked in confidently. My greeting was held back as the concubine looked around.

“Might I ask why you are here?” I asked.

“The ship has jumped, correct?” Lilith asked back confidently.

“True,” I said. “And yet, that does not explain why you are simply wandering the ship without guidance.”

“I have some,” Lilith said firmly. “Perhaps not from an owner, but rather as the spokesslut for the concubines.”

“Spokes slut?” I answered the question almost dripping from my words.

Lilith cackled evilly. “Oh, you don’t have that kind of concubine do you. I forget sometimes. You’ll learn that many concubines learn to want the sex and only feel alive when they are being wanton and passionate sex slaves to their owners. If all the concubines owned by one citizen end up that way they usually call their leader the spokes slut. Its actually a minor badge of honor, as you have to have a good owner to want to use the term.”

“And here I thought that the majority of the concubines on my ship currently were without owners,” I said.

“You know we’re hoping to change that,” Lilith said. “It’s rough on a concubine who has lost his or her owner. The Tribune tries very hard to maintain the morale of the concubines, but there are so many of us in the barracks.”

“And why are you here?” I asked.

Just then the door to the passage opened. Este walked in and halted, just staring at Lilith. “Demona,” my gunball officer whispered.

“No,” I said. “A concubine who apparently had a sadistic owner. Although considering her confidence it seems that what he did to her failed to break her.”

“He was petty and a coward,” Lilith said. “I understand that they did not have to retest him considering how poorly he acted in his final battle, but they did and on a retest he scored under five five. They said that it was a combination of too much self-regard and then a lack of courage that drove his score down. I believe that the results were being forwarded to Central Command with a suggestion that the scoring be reviewed.”

“They probably get that often,” I said. “I wish I could ask Commander Gates about that. She used to work for DECO.”

“Why is she here?” Este asked.

“Said she had come as the person speaking for the unattached concubines we boarded. Or is it all the concubines,” I asked Lilith.

“Just the unattached ones for now,” Lilith said. “I could probably talk to the others and get their agreement. It seems the consensus with them is that either Jerome or Jade should be the lead concubine, but neither one came on this cruise. Do they belong to you?”

“Jerome is my concubine. Captain Walker doesn’t have a male concubine. Jade is clearly her senior one though,” Este said with a laugh. “But for now, how about you stand to the side and just be ready to serve as a maid or waitress. In fact, could you bring me a small Hawaiian pizza?”

Lilith looked over at me. I shrugged as Este dropped into a chair near the door. “I know that concubines allowed on combat ships do serve as cleaners and helpers. Is it too much to ask that you go to the replicator and pick up her order. You can get something for yourself if you are hungry.”

“Anything I want?” Lilith asked.

“Why would you be restricted?” I asked.

“We aren’t supposed to want to be in the unowned concubine barracks, so there are strict limits on what foods we can order as adults. Children who aren’t old enough to test get better options,” Lilith admitted.

“Well, we can’t have that here. Happy concubines will work harder and probably try a bit harder to find a new owner,” I said. “AI, allow all concubines standard privileges when it comes to food from replicators.”

Lilith smiled and started to walk to the replicator. Este just shook her head and smiled at me. “You are such a softy towards concubines,” she said.

“Now,” I said. “Tilly tells me we have a couple of gunners who appear to have issues.”

“Not really issues,” Este said with a frown. “Charles was mostly posturing, but that meant he was willing to demand that he talk to you. It was an honest mistake and I believe he’ll admit that once he’s here, but.”

I nodded. “He was caught up in the adrenaline of the drill and went too far before he realized just how badly he was looking to everyone else and how his commanding officer might take it.”

“I’ve seen it before,” Este said. “Personality clashes on some of the teams I’ve played on. I don’t even want to punish him too harshly. We do need to scare him about involving you on something this petty.”

I can do that,” I said. I noticed that Lilith paused as she stared at my face.

Este started to giggle. “Oh, the look on your face. Use that and he’ll never try this stunt again.”

“Perhaps,” I said. “Now what about Clarissa?”

Este sighed loudly. “I’m not sure what to do about her. I’ve talked to others who knew her. She was picked up from some gamer tournament. I guess she’s one of the best women to play some computer game that is popular on the tournament circuit. But she was known for being a bit of a militant tomboy who avoided even flirting with men.”

“How old is she?” I asked.