Kyle gets promoted to Captain, receiving his insignia from Fleet Admiral Mirah. Kyle and his senior officers get their first look at the SS Robert Heinlein as the shuttle Capricorn approaches the starship. The sight gives Kyle the feeling of coming home.
The shuttles flew regularly scheduled flights between Earth and the Heinlein and the pilots were trained to keep them on schedule. The flights were hourly between 0430 and 2330. They flew back to Earth between 0500 and 2300, with extra shuttles scheduled in for the commute times.
The Capricorn didn't use the Heinlein's shuttle bay for its 1215 arrival. Instead, it berthed at one of its two airlocks that could accommodate small space craft. This was the case with all of the scheduled shuttle flights to the ship because it allowed the turnaround time to be quicker. The new Heinlein officers were impressed by the big starship as the Capricorn berthed against the hull of the Heinlein at 1215, precisely on time.
As the shuttle emptied through the airlock, one of the Space Fleet officers, a lieutenant, came up to Kyle and said, "Thank you for putting Crewman Drake in his place. If you haven't guessed, he happens to be a real piece of work." Knowing that Kyle was a brand-new captain, he added, "I think you're going to make a great captain."
"I was just doing my duty and standing up for one of my officers," Kyle responded. As the lieutenant walked away, Kyle couldn't help but wonder why one of the Space Fleet officers hadn't stepped in to rebuke the crewman. He knew that a Sooloo officer from the captain on down would have said something in a similar situation. 'Maybe they didn't hear him since the comment seemed to be directed at me,' Kyle thought as he tried to give the officers the benefit of the doubt.
The Heinlein officers were met by Lieutenant Fred George who introduced himself as Commodore Kochanski's Aide. "I will be taking you to the ship's conference room where Commodore Kochanski and Captain Ellis will be waiting for you." Commodore Kochanski supervised the technical personnel who worked with the equipment that was being tested during the trials. He was in command of the ship when it was in orbit. Captain Michael Ellis was in command of the ship when it was in flight and supervised the crew that operated the ship during that time.
Kyle remembered seeing a conference room on the ship's specifications, but it was on Deck One, and they weren't heading in that direction. He decided that the lieutenant meant the room that was going to be used as a classroom. It would easily seat him and his officers.
But the room they were heading for ended up being on the holodeck — room four to be specific. The Heinlein's holodeck could be set up to create six rooms at the same time or in any combination, from one room to six. It was much larger than the holodeck on the Sooloo.
The room was created with comfortable cushioned chairs facing a viewscreen and a table with a dais placed on it. The Commodore and the Captain stood at the front of the room. Kyle had communicated with Commodore Kochanski frequently over the past couple of days but had not had an opportunity to communicate with Captain Ellis.
Commodore Kochanski welcomed everyone on board and introduced himself and Captain Ellis. "The chief difference between Captain Ellis and myself is that for the most part, I command the workers who do the technical and constructional work while the Captain commands the crew that operates the ship when it is in flight. Except for those who stay on board at night to ride herd over the life support and environmental, the rest usually commute home on the shuttles. About half of them have temporary quarters on board.
"But, enough of my chatter, I have projects to supervise, and poor Captain Ellis has nothing to do since we're sitting in orbit, so I'll now turn the tour over to him to keep him busy with something. He will now tell you about the tour."
"Welcome on board the Heinlein, gentlemen. It's good to see such a fine-looking group of young officers. Despite what Commodore Lev said, I can find plenty to keep me busy on any functioning spaceship. And one of those things just happens to be welcoming new crewmen on board, or, as in your case, a whole new group of officers."
Ellis then proceeded to quickly go over the tour itinerary and the protocols that would be followed. "However, since I can hear your adolescent stomachs grumble, I believe we will start with a tour of the officers' dining room, complete with a freshly prepared lunch." That led to cheers from the nine Heinlein officers on board which caused the captain to break out in a wide smile. "Did we have this itinerary down pat or what?"
The route they took to the officers' dining room took them through the kitchen where the kitchen staff was busily dealing with their lunch clean up. Lunch had been served to most of the men on board — only the Heinlein staff and a few of the on-board crew members whose duty meant they would have a later lunch remained to be served. Unlike the mess staff on the Explorer ships, who were civilians, the staff working the trials were Space Fleet crew.
"Boy will Ian be impressed with this," Kyle said as they passed through the kitchen, which was considerably larger than the one on the Sooloo. Ian was slated to be the Heinlein's Executive Chef.
The boys were soon seated in the officers' dining room, which had more space and more tables than the Explorer class ships. "I like Captain Ellis," Danny said as he and Kyle dug into their sandwiches. "But I can't help but wonder what a veteran captain is doing with a billet that has him giving tours and figuring out how to fill his time. I assume he was probably a passenger ship captain at some point."
"Danny, Danny, Danny, it's not often you don't do your research," Kyle said. "I'll have you know that Captain Ellis has twenty-eight years of service in Space Fleet, twelve of those as a captain, and the last five of those as Captain of the Neil Armstrong, one the top ships in the fleet. He's been awarded a Distinguished Service Star for his role in the battle against the Orion pirates. And what he's doing here is enjoying his last couple of years before retirement close to home. I guess it's not unusual for a veteran captain like Ellis to take a cushy job to retire on and I sure don't blame them."
"Wow, I am impressed. One more Distinguished Service Star and he'll have as many as you do," Danny grinned.
"Shut up and eat your sandwich," Kyle grunted before taking a big bite of his roast beef sandwich. When he finished, he said, "I think I'll mosey over to the table where the captain and the commodore are eating and earn myself some brownie points."
"Heaven knows you'll need them."
"Let's see, do I cut you off in bed for one week or two?" Kyle pondered out loud.
"Remember, when you cut me off you cut yourself off. Now go earn your points," Danny chuckled.
Kyle walked over to the table where the brass sat. In their presence he didn't quite see himself as a member of "the brass" yet. "Do you mind if I sit with you for a moment?" he asked.
"Feel free, Captain Robinson. We'd be happy to have you join us."
Kyle sat at one of the two empty seats. The dining room waiter arrived to take their dessert order. The three all ordered apple pie ala mode.
"Great minds think alike, I see," Commodore Kochanski grinned. "What can we do for you, Captain?"
"You can call me Kyle."
"Well, I guess that makes me Lev and my friend here at the table Mike. Other than an age gap, we are all equals after all."
"What can we do for you, Kyle?" Michael asked.
"Well, I just came over to say I was impressed by your service records." Commodore Kochanski, who had twenty-four years seniority had served as starship captain for fourteen of those years and had been a project manager for the last three years.
"And now you're probably thinking why two long-time starship captains are operating shakedown cruises," Michael said.
"Nope. I figure you are close to retirement and want to be close to home while you finish your careers."
"That is part of it," Lev said. "But you have to add to it the fact that bringing a starship online is a huge undertaking, especially when we're dealing with a new class of ship. Between us, Mike and I have had to deal with more than our share of crises as captains. And that experience carries over. But, yeah, it is nice to be able commute home three or four nights a week."
"Well, there are those nights when..." Mike started in.
"Shh, don't scare the lad."
"It's almost time to start touring. We need to give the ten-minute warning."
"Finish up, gentlemen. Ten minutes until the tour starts," Lev called out. "How was that for a high-tech announcement?" he asked the captains.
"Impressive. But before I jump up to get ready, I actually came over to ask a favor of you," Kyle said.
"Ask away."
Kyle told the officers what he wanted.
"We should be able to do that no problem. Just remember we need you on the 1730 shuttle since we reserved space for the ten of you on that one," Lev said. Lev then called Lieutenant George over and told him what he wanted.
"That won't be a problem. And thanks," Kyle said.
Ten minutes later the tour commenced.
The first stops on the tour were the senior officers' quarters. The Heinlein senior officers were all impressed by the size of the quarters and their furnishings.
"These quarters are larger and more luxurious than what you would find on any Space Fleet ship, although a new class of ship is on the drawing boards. But from design to trials the time frame for the introduction of the first ship in that new class is four to five years," Captain Ellis said.
A third module was being assembled in orbit around the Martian moon Deimos, by Progress Spacecraft, the company that built the Heinlein. The modular sections of the ships were built on Mars and then rocketed to Deimos to be assembled into a complete starship. When Mars City was established, Progress Spacecraft soon became their biggest employer. The lower gravity of Mars made it ideal for the modular system since it took less force to raise the section off of Mars than was used on Earth, allowing for the construction of larger modules.
Devin's quarters also had a separate bedroom and den but weren't as large as Kyle's captain's quarters. There were nine senior officers' quarters. They consisted of one room plus a bathroom and walk-in closet. Steve and Brad's had a bedroom built with temporary bulkheads to give privacy if needed. Enzan and Haimono Jaku would be sharing the same quarters as domestic partners. They would also have Enzan Kage's son Akage and Haimono's brother Tei living with them, which meant another room had to be set up. While it made for a tight fit, the quarters were large enough to keep it from being uncomfortable.
The staff also took in the regular officers' quarters. They were smaller than the staff officer cabins and were also two person cabins instead of the standard singles the staff officers had. They had a living space, two bedrooms, and one bathroom.
From there the tour took in the shuttle bay, which had Jesse Gross excited. At Danny's recommendation, Kyle had appointed him the Head Shuttle Bay officer. The Heinlein had two maintenance shuttles (Beaver and Tortoise) as did the Sooloo and six short-range shuttles (Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Haydn, and Holst) compared to the four the Sooloo had. The Heinlein also had three long-range shuttles (Marsh, Saturn, and Mercury) compared to two for the Sooloo. Both ships had two big Bubba class cargo carrying shuttles. The two Heinlein Bubbas were the BubbaLou and the BubbaSaur.
That meant the Heinlein had 13 shuttles compared to the 10 of the Sooloo. Jesse knew he would need an assistant who was experienced, both because of the number of shuttles and because of the larger size of the shuttle bay. The numbers didn't even include the fighters, which were a different story. They fell more under the purview of Danny than Jesse.
After the shuttle bay, they surveyed the medical center/sick bay and the offices and workstations of the various departments. The new senior officers could hardly wait to return to their offices when the inpidual tours commenced. Next came engineering where it was all Ronnie could do not to kiss his beautiful and powerful new warp engines.
The final part of the tour was the ship's command center from the bridge to captain's and first officer's ready rooms, to the astrogation center. In all, the command center was bigger than the Sooloo's with equipment and electronics that were a big upgrade. The captain's quarters were part of the command center and part of the tour.
While Kyle had seen pictures and the specs of his quarters, stepping into the actual quarters took his breath away.
"Hey, Kyle, I wonder where the butler's room is," Steve joshed. "These quarters are, like, humongously luxurious."
"I think it's adequate," Danny chuckled. "The bed is plenty big enough."
"Adequate?" Ronnie scoffed. "I have to go with Steve and say luxurious."
The generous size of the quarters wasn't the only factor. The furnishings were also first rate. It had a separate bedroom as well as a den. Kyle had sent in a work order the week before to have the den converted into a bedroom for Koji and Duskin. Most of the work consisted of changing the furnishings. Kyle could see that the work had begun. A large window in the living space gave a panoramic view of Earth, which happened to be on that side of the ship.
After everyone had their opportunity to ooh and ahh over the wonders of the new ship, Captain Ellis told them they now had time to explore their own domains and get an idea of how they wanted to organize their space. "We will meet again at 1600 hours on Holodeck 4 to sum things up," he said before dismissing them.
Steve and Brad headed to their offices, which were adjacent to each other, together. "I'm looking forward to seeing how those computers are organized," Brad said. "There was a half-dozen more monitors than the Sooloo had."
"Knowing you as well as I do, I know that as soon as you get their organization figured out, you're going to change it all to your own organizational system," Steve chuckled.
"You know me well. It's almost like we were married or something."
"As long as we have those documents that say we're married, we might as well act like we are."
"Then I will be happy to mention that Mr. Organized will be making a lot more changes to his setup than I will."
"And what changes I don't make, our son Shasho, aka Mr. Uber-Organized will be sure to make," Steve chuckled.
"I'll meet you in your office at 1545," Brad said as he stepped into the Information Systems office.
Ronnie couldn't get back to Engineering fast enough. Those big engines and warp drives were his babies, and he was ready to give them a big kiss and speak sweetly to them. His kiss would be placed on the central control panel. He would be a bit more liberal when he had the facility to himself and wouldn't be disturbing workers.
He did take a more detailed tour, however. He met up with Captain Ibrahim Fadel, who was in charge of engine and warp drive trials. "You are Commander Robinson, correct?" Ibrahim asked.
"Correct," Ronnie answered.
"What do you think of what you see so far?"
"I think I'm in love. From what I've studied about these engines and what I've seen in my brief time here in engineering, I have to think I've found a piece of heaven."
"I saw you give the main controls a kiss," Ibrahim grinned. "Next is a nice peck for each engine and drive. They work better with love from the Chief Engineer."
Ronnie was pleased that Ibrahim understood. That made him the perfect person to be in charge of testing the equipment. "I plan to do that after I have officially taken charge of these babies. Where is Commander Marshall?" Commander Jerry Marshall was the operation chief engineer who would take charge when the Heinlein was on a shakedown cruise.
"He is Earthside for his annual physical. He will be back on board tomorrow."
Ibrahim was concerned with monitoring the equipment while Jerry took care of the Chief Engineer duties and had the final say on operation decisions. Ibrahim was a Space Academy graduate and officially a Commander in Space Fleet. He was on the payroll of Progress Spacecraft while conducting shakedown cruises and following up on any issues that arose during a trial. His salary payment was sent to his online account by Space Fleet and he still had Space Fleet benefits and accumulated time toward his retirement. This was true of all of the crew dealing with the equipment. The crew responsible for flying the spacecraft were all active Space Fleet. Ronnie found it all too complicated for his financial mind but was certain that Steve would know exactly what was going on and which it would all be filed in.
"I'll catch him soon. Anyway, Captain Robinson wanted me to ask you a question if you have a moment."
"Ask away. It's a big reason why I'm here. But first, I have a question for you — a personal one," Ibrahim said.
"Go for it. I have no secrets that I know of, and if I don't know of it, then it's so secret that it's a secret from me as well, so how can I tell that secret?"
"Just wondering, with you and Captain Robinson having the same last name, if somewhere in your distant past you're related. I know it sounds kind of dumb, but inquiring minds want to know."
"We're way closer related than from somewhere in the distant past," Ronnie responded. "We happen to be brothers." He grinned inwardly when he saw the surprised look on Ibrahim's face. "I know, I know, there's a huge difference between our skin colors; but we really are brothers. Admiral Robinson is Kyle's father, as I'm sure you know, and my mother, Alicia, is a widow who is now married to the admiral. The Admiral adopted me, and I took his last name to make us more of a family. I changed my middle name to my father's last name to remember the past. That makes my full name Ronald Gordon Robinson. Does that answer everything?"
"Completely. Sorry if I sounded dumb," Ibrahim repeated. "You sound quite mature for a kid your age."
Ronnie ignored the slight and said, "You didn't sound dumb. Even people who know us pretty well sometimes ask about the family. Now, for my question. I know that the Sally Ride has had problems on the shakedown cruise related to the warp drive. Kyle wants to know if it is something that could become an issue for us."
"The answer to that is, it shouldn't be a problem. What happened on the Ride was a mistake made in the manufacture of the meters used on the warp drives. The meters were made by a subcontractor. Because of a vacation and a call-off, two employees were put together to make the final test before trucking them to the assembly plant. They were experienced employees but had only participated in the testing process one time each. To make a long story short, they ended up miscalibrating the meters, something the supervisor didn't catch. The end result was the warp drive didn't function properly. Since the meters showed green, it was assumed they weren't the problem. As a result, it took five days before the problem was discovered. It should have taken less than five minutes.
"I was not the commander of the crew. I took over when the commander was transferred out of his position as the scapegoat, and I was brought in as the new commander. I believe he is currently the assistant engineer on a Space Fleet starship. I won't go into all of the personnel issues. But I will say that what happened overall was the result of a lot of little things being done wrong. Suffice it to say Progress made a few changes and your warp drives have performed perfectly so far. And that fubar is the reason we're having shakedown cruises with trial runs by the dozens with your ship. By the time the process is over everything should be in top notch working order. It is not unusual for issues to be found during the trials since nothing is perfect. What happened here is not that there was a problem, but that it took inordinately long to solve a simple issue."
"So, I guess I'll tell Kyle we won't have to worry about spending five days in dry dock fixing something," Ronnie said.
"That would be my recommendation."
"Thank you, sir."
Ronnie went to the main Engineering desk, which was in essence his desk, sat at the computer, and went through all of the user guides of the ship's engines and drives. He was impressed by what he saw. Seeing the information on his own computer was much different than reading the operating manual or scrolling through an app with general information about the system. Ronnie finally felt like he belonged.
Tactical and Security Office
Kage Enzan spent his time in the Security office checking out the computer programs and software. It was all the same as what he had on the Sooloo except for the protocols that would be specific to the Heinlein. Kage was not surprised that, beyond what was basic Explorer Fleet policy, there weren't any protocols specific to the Heinlein. He could see that he would need to construct a catalogue of on-board security protocols as well as specific ones for planetfall. Then he would need to sit down with Kyle and Devin and see which ones they wanted to use, which ones they didn't think were necessary, and any protocols they wanted to add. Constructing the catalogue would mean a great deal of work. It was imperative that he have a good assistant to work with, which meant he would have to start his interviews the next day. He had put a lot of work into choosing his final five candidates, but the interview process was something he did not look forward to.
Mituti went directly to the Astrogation Office which contained his desk as well as the astrogation training table. He had noticed during the staff tour that the table was much larger than the one on the Sooloo as was the astrogation table on the bridge.
The protocols regarding the astrogation tables were the same as they had been on the Sooloo. Control of the bridge table could be taken over at the training table. Right now, they were not connected and only Kyle had the code to connect them. Two other officers would receive their own code from Kyle. They would be Devin and himself. Explorer Program protocol allowed for one more person to be given the code. That person would have to be unanimously approved of by the three with the code.
Tudupe amused himself by creating five routes on the table to some distant stars, making sure to keep a hard copy of his program as Kyle required, even though he considered it to be busy work.
It turned out he learned a lesson from that when he made an error on his third trip that would have sent him into the wrong location. He pretended his computer was down and he couldn't check his program. Reviewing his hard copy quickly showed him where he had erred. 'Kyle, that hard copy saved me a ton of work. Thank you for being a hard copy taskmaster,' he thought. After his fifth route, he decided it was time to head for the bridge and meet with Kyle and Devin.
Danny and Jesse went to the shuttle bay together. Both were awed by the large number of shuttles and fighters compared to the Sooloo. That created the need for a larger shuttle bay, of course. "I'm going to need a good number two dude in this place," Jesse said.
"That will be on you. I'll approve whoever you pick. After a cursory second interview of course," Danny told him.
"And Kyle will give the final approval, because that's how the game is played."
"Unless he thinks we screwed up, or he has somebody in mind who he really wants, he will most likely rubberstamp our pick. And the chances of him having a pick he wants is as close to zero as you can get since he not only has a ton of picks to approve and make, he totally trusts us."
"You mean he totally trusts you," Jesse scoffed.
"Nope, I meant both of us."
"Look at the size of those hangar doors. I bet you could fit two shuttles through them at the same time. Which would be a dumb thing to do but it's close."
"It would be beyond dumb," Danny said. "It would be in the totally stupid range. But, when we have the time during one of our visits, let's take some measurements. In an emergency knowing two shuttles can get through at the same time could be a good thing to know."
"Don't we already have the measurements in the computer?" Jesse asked.
"If you were going side by side with another shuttle, whose measurements would you trust, the ones on a computer or the ones you made yourself?"
"Point made. That gives us a big, important task on a visit. But I can tell you this much without a single measure. Two of the worker bees will fit in no problem and you can forget two of the bubbas coming in side-by-side. Not doing those measures should save us some work and some time."
"But what about a worker bee and a short-range or long-range shuttle together? Or a bubba and a worker bee?"
"Fuck, Danny, I can see why you carry that Lieutenant Commander rank on your collar. I didn't think of that," Jesse grinned. "Speaking of fuck, what do you think of you and me having the first sex on board the Heinlein by the regular crew?"
"I wouldn't have a problem with us being first, but not today. And only if Kyle approves, because our captain might want to be the first."
"One more good point. How about we inspect the shuttles since they are new models?"
"This time you're on top of things," Danny grinned.
"By the way, I passed my lieutenant's test on Friday," Jesse boasted.
"That's nice," Danny said somewhat indifferently.
"Well, I thought it was a big deal."
"I'm sure you did. Who knows, maybe someday you'll even be a lieutenant."
"You could at least be a little excited and congratulate me or something."
"How about we get going so we can get some kind of an inspection in before we have to get to that meeting at the holodeck."
"Whatever suits you." Jesse was a bit put out by Danny's attitude. He felt Danny had always shown genuine interest in his accomplishments. But this time it was like he didn't care. He figured that Danny must be tired or hungry to be as indifferent as he was.
When Danny and Jesse left the control room to inspect the shuttle bays, Jesse pointed to the bays with the three long-range shuttles and enthusiastically suggested they inspect the long-range shuttles first.
"What's got you all revved up, Jess?" Danny asked.
"I need to show you something." While Jesse had hoped to talk Danny into boarding a long-range shuttle, it became even more important that he do so since having to deal with Danny's strange indifference to his passing the Lieutenant's Exam.
The shuttle they chose to inspect was the Marsh. The shuttle was originally named the Mars, but at the request of Kyle, Danny, and, most importantly, Admiral Robinson, Space Fleet renamed it Marsh. The reason was that when the Robinson family spent a vacation at the Mars colony, Koji insisted that the planet should be called Marsh because the word that described things from Mars was "Martian." One of the long-distance shuttles on the Sooloo was named Mars as well. With a bit of manipulation by some senior officers, an H was added to the name on the prow of the ship, which delighted Koji as well as Duskin. Duskin was happy because his big brother Koji was delighted. In the case of the Heinlein, Marsh was the official name of the shuttle.
Jesse zipped on board the Marsh and Danny followed him, wondering what kind of hair Jesse had up his ass.
"Tada!!!" Jesse shouted with a smile as his arm swept toward the lowered bunks in the passenger section.
"All I see is the bunks," Danny smirked.
Jesse shook his head, "These are not just any bunks, they are called the Jesse Gross Bunks. And look, they convert to seats, just like I suggested to you." Jesse performed a quick conversion. "Now, how did they know my idea and then name them after me?"
Danny laughed, "Someone must have passed your idea to them, giving you the credit."
"Someone, huh? Considering YOU are the only person I told my idea to."
"Yeah, it might have been me, but I thought it deserved being heard by someone who could make it happen. They wanted to call them DR Beds, but I told them it was all your idea. I was just passing it along the chain of command."
"Thanks, Danny, that was great of you to do that." Jesse was relieved that Danny appreciated something he did. And he didn't just appreciate it, he took the lead in giving him credit for the idea that brought the convertible bunks to fruition. And then, on top of that, had them named the Jesse Gross bunks. Danny had almost made up for his attitude about passing the Exam with a high score.
They then exited the Marsh, bypassed the short-range maintenance shuttle bays, and walked up to the bays that moored the short-range shuttles. They saw lights on in the shuttle berthed in Bay 15. It was short-range shuttle #15, the Mozart.
They decided to board the shuttle and turned onto the dock. "Interesting that the theme of the Sooloo's shuttles was Italian artists and the Heinlein's are named for German composers," Jesse noted.
"Well, not all of them," Danny said.
"Oh? They all sound German. Which one isn't?"
"The Holst. Gustav Holst was English. Kyle, the classical music dude, told me that. And from what I was told it was a last-minute addition. We were supposed to have just five shuttles, which were all named for German composters, but for some reason the Holst was added. Maybe because whoever designed the shuttle bay added an extra bay. You know as well as I do that there is a lot of mysterious shit in Space Fleet where we have no clue about what goes on and usually costs lots of money."
"Can't you just ask Admiral Robinson?" Jesse asked. "I mean, he's your father-in-law and you live with him."
"He's the commander of the Explorer Program. He says sometimes he doesn't know what's going on. So, he asks Admiral Mirah, the big cheese of Space Fleet, who says the architects and engineers can add whatever they want as long as they don't go over budget. So, don't even think about asking me who decides what the budget is. It's all above my pay grade."
They boarded the Mozart and were not surprised to find two crewmen doing work on the shuttle's engines. The men stopped and saluted the two officers. They returned the salute and Danny put them at ease.
"We're here as visitors," Danny said, "which makes us pretty much informal."
One of the men backed away from the engine he was working on and faced Danny. Danny recognized him as Crewman Will Drake, who had made the snarky remark about him on the Capricorn on the shuttle ride to the Heinlein. "Sir, I apologize for the comments I made about you on the Capricorn. I know you didn't hear them, but I'm sure you were told about them by your captain. I showed disrespect to your rank and to the officers of the Explorer program as a whole. And for that I am truly sorry."
"Your apology is accepted, Crewman Drake. Now, since that is taken care of, let's go to being informal."
"Thank you for your understanding, Commander Robinson. I assume I can call you Danny now."
"Yep, that works for me. And you guys can call Ensign Gross, Jesse. And since I will be the Chief Pilot and Jesse will be the Head Shuttle Bay Officer, we both would like to hear what kind of problem you're working on."
Crewman Drake and his partner, Crewman Ryan Emerson, filled them in on the issue that showed up on the Mozart's punch list after one of its shakedowns. Like Ibrahim, they were Space Fleet but paid by Progress Spacecraft.
After showing them an electronics issue on the Holst that would require greater expertise, they told Jesse about a couple of quirks in the doors of the shuttle bay that were being worked on. "The door motors have been disconnected, or we'd show them in action," Ryan said. "They are supposed to be functional by Wednesday so if you make a visit between then and when you take over the ship for your own shakedown, we'll give you some pointers on the doors and let you open and close them a couple of times. They don't work much differently than on the Explorer Class ships, but there are some differences in their feel."
"Thanks for telling us what you do and about how things work down here, like the door difference," Jesse said. "I do plan on spending time here so you can show me exactly what you've been talking about."
"Before you go, permission to speak freely, sirs," Emerson said.
"Feel free," Danny responded.
"Will and I have talked about this a lot. I've been with Progress for five years and he came three years ago. We both worked on the Explorer Class ships which had to be cranked out so quickly that Progress and Boeing Spacecraft both assembled the ships. The design work was done by Boeing, however. One of the things that impressed us was the precision of the design of those ships. There was no wasted space — every inch was functional. That is not the case with this class of ship.
"For example, we've both worked mainly on the shuttles and the shuttle bays of the ships. The Explorer Class had the necessary space for their shuttles and nothing extra except for the four bays for visiting craft. These ships have only three for visiting shuttles, but still have an extra shuttle bay. The Ride and Earhart didn't use their extra bay, but at the last minute this ship was assigned Shuttle 19, the Gustav Holst. And for what? This ship had enough shuttle space to carry everyone in an emergency evacuation."
"Jesse and I were discussing that same thing just before boarding the Mozart. Our conclusion was that we have no idea. Any bitching and moaning we do is not going to change anything, so Jesse and his crewmen will just have to deal with the extra work," Danny responded.
"I was afraid you'd say something like that," Ryan said.
"But, thanks for listening," Will Drake added. "It's been enjoyable talking with you boys and...oops, with you officers. Sorry, old habits die hard."
Danny waved him off. "No harm done. We hope to have more fun in a few days."
Will and Ryan left the shuttle for their break. Danny and Jesse followed a minute later, agreeing that the visit with the Progress crewmen had been worth their while. They agreed that they now had the second task for their visits — take a test run of each class of shuttle.
Kyle and Devin entered the bridge, which was manned by a skeleton crew of two, a pair of lieutenants from the operating crew. One was sitting at the conn and the other at the engineering chair. They stood as soon as they saw Kyle on the bridge. Kyle grinned and told them they could be at ease. "This is an informal visit," he said. "I just want to experience the bridge for myself."
"Would you like to have some time to yourself, sir?" Geno, one of the lieutenants, asked.
"That would be great," Kyle said. He had hoped nobody would be on the Bridge during at least part of his visiting time and was ecstatic when the two lieutenants made their offer. "Fifteen minutes is all I need, but even five would be great if you guys need the time to get your work done."
"A fifteen-minute break sounds great, doesn't it Geno?" Lem, the taller lieutenant asked.
"Just enough time for a quick cup of coffee."
Devin turned to join Geno and Lem. "I think a hot drink sounds like a great idea. Hot chocolate with whipped cream for me. See you in fifteen, Kyle." He left to join the two crew members.
Kyle sat in the captain's chair and surveyed his surroundings. While the bridge was bigger than the Sooloo's, the layout was essentially the same. He felt right at home on it. He knew this could be the only alone time he would ever get on the bridge of the Heinlein, and he intended to savor every second.
He closed his eyes and sat with his own thoughts. His life had changed so much over the past couple of months he still had to pinch his butt at times to remind himself that he was going to command his own ship.
He shifted in his seat and pinched his ass to remind himself that this was his own Bridge — the captain's domain, even though he would never be alone in it. 'But that's the positive of it,' he thought. 'That I won't be alone. I'll have Danny, Devin, my senior officers, and, of course Koji and Duskin.'
He rose from the seat and walked around the bridge, surveying each instrument, each control, each nuance, until he stopped and sat in the astrogator's chair. He switched on the astrogation table and noted that it was in training mode. This chair and this table had been his home on the Sooloo. Now his world was without question larger because now the entire bridge was his home.
He checked the ship's orbit on the view screen. It was perfect.
Kyle thought about the ship's namesake, Robert A. Heinlein. He'd seen Heinlein called the "dean of science fiction writers," because he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his books. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov were his father's two favorite writers, and Kyle followed suit in reading their works. He couldn't believe it when he'd heard that the Explorer Program was naming one of its new Earhart Class ships after Heinlein. One of the first Explorer Class ships was named for Asimov.
Kyle had latched on to an acronym that appeared throughout a Heinlein book titled "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". TANSTAAFL — There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch." It was his father's watchword, although it meant nothing to Kyle until after he and his father had made amends. Kyle didn't read the book until after the Sooloo was deployed into space.
Now that he was a captain, the words meant even more to him. Without referring to the acronym or the book, it was a message Kyle wanted to get across to his crew, from the senior officers on down. In essence, he wanted his crew to understand that everything their ship accomplished was something they had to work for. He wanted them to have the goal of being the best ship in the Explorer fleet. Yes, even better than the Sooloo, which the metrics used at Space Fleet Headquarters had ranked as number one two months ago, which was the last time the rankings had been sent out.
His thoughts were interrupted by Devin entering the bridge alone. At the same time, he heard some radio traffic between an incoming shuttle and the ship's communications room.
"Where are Geno and Lem?" Kyle asked.
"Captain Ellis gave them a busy work assignment," Devin responded. "He told me he figured that with you and me holding down the bridge the Heinlein wasn't in much danger of falling out of orbit. He said to call him on your communicator when you're ready for them to return."
"That was a first-class gesture on his part," Kyle said.
"He's a good officer from everything I've seen and heard. And speaking of captains, I have a question for you."
"You know a big part of your job is to ask me questions."
"Do you plan on following Star Fleet protocol and not standing watches except when we enter and leave orbit, have contact with another ship, or there is an emergency or a critical situation."
"Yes, I do. But I also plan on following the Explorer Program exceptions. I can relieve a watch officer for a fifteen-minute break. And, I can be on the bridge at any time to observe operations or discuss issues with the watch."
Before the discussion could continue, Tudupe entered the bridge. The three officers quickly got into a conversation about protocols regarding the use of the astrogation table in the astrogation office as well as whether or not Kyle planned on having a fourth officer get the code for switching the office table from training mode to live.
"Let's decide that after we are live as a crew. It will give us a chance to see who does what and how they do it. And if I do decide on giving the code to a fourth officer, the three of us have to agree on who it will be." Everybody agreed that was fair.
Kyle then got out his communicator and let Captain Ellis know the two watch officers were free to return to the bridge. Kyle was surprised when Captain Ellis arrived with Geno and Lem. He told Kyle he wanted a private word with him in the bridge meeting room. Kyle followed Ellis into the office wondering what was on the captain's mind.
"I understand there was an incident on the shuttle ride here," Ellis said.
'Oh, shit, here it comes, the ass chewing for giving one of his crewmen shit,' Kyle thought. 'Well, I plan to stand up for myself.' "Yes, there was a little something. I felt Crewman Drake talked disrespectfully about Commander Robinson after Robinson entered the shuttle's bridge."
"And Commander Robinson happens to be your husband thanks to Darastixian protocols."
"That is correct." Kyle had to bite his tongue to keep from finishing his statement saying, "sir." "But that had nothing..."
"Kyle, I'm not standing in front of you to chew your ass, and I'm sorry if you got that impression. I should have had us both sit down first, but I guess the big adult standing over the new captain might have been intimidating."
"I wasn't intimidated, but I was getting the impression that you weren't pleased by my action."
"Oh my, I did do this all wrong. I was more than pleased; I was totally impressed that you stood up to him. Crewman Drake can be a bit of a mouthy individual, which is why he's been slow to advance. You did exactly what the captain of a major starship should do, you walked up to him and told him to fucking stuff it — using language that was a bit more professional, of course. You stood up for a crew member who was belittled in front of a group. And I believe you when you say the relationship between the two of you had nothing to do with what you did, but the fact he was an officer under your command had everything to do with it. From all the feedback I've received, I believe you have the makings of a fine captain."
"Thank you, Michael."
"Mike works just fine. The reason I started this little conversation was to tell you that Crewman Drake should have apologized to Commander Robinson by now and has been told it would be a good idea if he apologized to you as well." Ellis stopped and chuckled, and then finished by saying, "You know, there was more involved here than just dissing one officer. Lack of respect for the Explorer program was probably a factor too. You reminded everyone on that shuttle from your senior officers to the shakedown crew to the projects crew that the Explorer program is made up of space MEN who deserve respect for who they are and what they stand for."
"I'll try my best. And you and members of your crew are welcome to visit the Heinlein any time after I take command," Kyle said as he let out a soft breath of relief that the conversation had turned out positive. It felt good to know that a Space Fleet captain looked upon him as an equal. "And, it looks like it's time to meet at the holodeck."
"That it is. My understanding is that this is about announcing a couple of promotions. Which, I gather, will be the first ones you've awarded and I'm sure they won't be the last."
"That is what will happen. I wanted them to be promoted in their new home." And with that the two captains left the ready room where Devin was waiting in the corridor. The three walked to the holodeck arriving five minutes before the scheduled time.
They were impressed by the décor of the room. The walls had blown up pictures of the Heinlein being assembled as well as the finished product. Two large models of the ship were hanging from the ceiling, both of them leaving plenty of head room. Kyle made a mental note to have the program for the room saved into the holodeck archives.
Kyle started the meeting on time, pleased that everyone had been seated early. He gave a quick speech thanking the Space Fleet crews for their hospitality and saying how he hoped everyone felt they learned a great deal about their ship and their workspaces, whatever and wherever they may be.
"The main purpose of this meeting is to issue a couple of promotions to a rank that is fitting of your position. Captain Ellis has agreed to help me give you your new bars. All of the promotions have been approved by the High Command of the Explorer program and are within the Space Fleet promotion protocols." High Command consisted of Hal, Vice Admiral Dave Bowman, Admiral Crusoe, and Admiral Robinson.
"Lieutenant Commander Boyer, please come forward," Kyle commanded. He was being properly formal as he performed the formal ritual. Steve unsuccessfully battled a smile as he stepped to the front of the meeting room.
"Commander, I once heard an admiral say that there were times that the work of Chief of Operations was more important to the functioning of a starship than what the captain does. For that reason, as well as for the outstanding work you've done in ship's operations since I've known you, and the fact that you are more than qualified for the upgrade, I am promoting you to full Commander." Kyle removed the Lieutenant Commander pin from Steve's collar and replaced it with the bars of a full commander.
The other officers in the room gave the popular operations officer a round of hearty applause. Everyone who had served on the Sooloo knew how vital he had been to the operation of that ship since its maiden voyage.
Captain Ellis handed Steve extra pins and then gave Kyle the bars of a Lieutenant Commander. "Lieutenant Enzan Gage, please come forward." Kyle praised the work Enzan had done on the Sooloo and, as with Steve, said he deserved to be promoted to a rank that befit his position.
Nobody was surprised when Ensign Tudupe Mituti was called forward to receive his promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade. Kyle cited his brilliance at the astrogation table as well as the hard work he put into making himself into an astrogator that everyone could follow. He also noted how hard he had worked on passing his lieutenant's test with a 95% or better score after Kyle had told him he would be eligible for early promotion with a high-test score.
Kyle was happy that now all of his senior officers held the highest rank they were eligible for. All of them were now Lieutenant Junior Grade or better.
After the applause for Tudupe died down, everyone thought that ended the ceremony. They were wrong.
"I have two more promotions to present," Kyle told them. "First, I would like Lieutenant Commander Daniel Robinson to come forward." Danny had been told the week before this was coming, so he strode to the front of the room with a regal bearing showing him to be fully confident in himself.
"All of you know the relationship Danny and I have. As a result, this decision isn't mine, but it would have been had I had the power to make it. Instead, it came down from the Explorer High Command." Kyle then proceeded to read from a document he held in his hand. 'Daniel's stellar work as a pilot trainer was way beyond the high expectations set by the High Command. His trainees come not only from the Explorer Program, but also from full members of Space Fleet. Under his tutelage they have become master pilots who can pilot any spacecraft from the smallest maintenance shuttle to the fastest, most powerful fighter. We feel Daniel has become indispensable to our training program, even as a part-time trainer. He is now promoted to a full Commander as befits the position he holds. Congratulations, Danny 'Schoolboy' Robinson on your new rank."
Instead of the formal handshake Kyle had given the other officers, he gave his husband a kiss and a long hug to whoops and hollers of the officers, including Captain Ellis and Commander Salters, his first officer.
Everyone now knew that the ceremony was over and was pleased that it was finishing early. But they were wrong once again. They did notice that Danny hadn't gone back to his seat, and some wondered if that meant something else was going to happen.
It turned out that was exactly what Danny remaining at the front of the room meant. "We have one more promotion today. I am going to have this officer's supervisor hand out this award," Kyle said. "Commander Robinson, the floor is yours."
"Will Ensign Jesse Gross please come forward." Jesse walked to the front of the meeting room with a shocked look on his face. "Ensign Gross, since you made the decision to become the best crewman you could be, your progress has been amazing, and I've been pleased to watch it. You worked hard to make Ensign and I know you've worked equally hard to move up to the next level.
"Because of your hard work, you were assigned a head officer position on the Heinlein as the Head Shuttle Bay Officer. You quickly showed off your ability by making what turned out to be an amazing suggestion. Steve, please show slide number one."
Steve Boyer, who was manning a computer in the holodeck control room, brought up a picture on the front wall that depicted the passenger seats of a long-range shuttle. The call for slide two brought up a video slide that showed an unidentified crewman converting the seats into a bunk and the lowering of an upper bunk from the bulkhead. Slide three showed the finished product which was the two seats becoming two bunks. Steve then switched the pictures back to the pictures of the Heinlein that had covered the front bulkhead.
"What you saw were the Jesse Gross beds. Ideas like that, hard work, strong organizational skills and the high score on your Lieutenant's exam make you eligible for promotion."
Kyle handed Danny Jesse's Lieutenant Junior Grade pin, which Danny pinned onto Jesse's collar. He stuck out his hand for a handshake from Jesse, but Jesse pushed his hand away and gave Danny a hug as another round of applause and cheers broke out. "You sneaky SOB, you knew all along when I was telling you about my test score that I'd been promoted."
"Yes, I did," Danny grinned as they broke the hug. "Sorry to give you a hard time, but I couldn't help it."
"Not a problem, but remember something I heard."
"What's that?"
"Lieutenant Junior Grade officers are notorious for their ability to get revenge for real or imagined wrongs."
"I think you got it early when you showed me that your bunk idea had become a reality."
"Okay, guys, let's break up this little lovefest," Kyle said. "We now have a shuttle to catch for good old Mother Earth."
While the Heinlein officers would be riding the same shuttle as brought them to their ship, it was manned by a different crew. There would be no cockpit ride on this trip for Danny, but that didn't bother him. He was happy to be sitting next to his true love and talking about the exciting afternoon. Their tenure on the Heinlein had gotten off to a good start.
All of the Heinlein officers were hungry and ready for dinner. Danny, Ronnie, and Kyle would be going out to eat with their family. They had invited Jesse to join them knowing he would be returning to his Academy dormitory and would be eating in the cafeteria.
Jesse was reluctant to accept the invitation because he was leery of sitting in the company of the admiral who, as the head of the Explorer program, was officially his boss. Kyle, the captain of his ship, was really his boss, however. All of the brass made him somewhat nervous, which he shared with Danny.
"If you like, I'll switch seats with Kage so you can sit next to me," Danny offered.
"Thanks, Danny. I feel more comfortable sitting next to someone I know. And I gotta say, we know each other pretty well."
Danny nodded with a knowing grin. He and Jesse had enjoyed sex play together a few times and, in the process, had become friends. "I don't know, Jesse. I hear that Kyle and the admiral are experts at coming up with ways to get revenge. You, as a new Looie Jay Gee, might pick up some pointers," Danny told him.
"Do they know I've been invited?" Jesse asked.
"Kyle has informed them and after getting Space Fleet security to thoroughly vet you, my in-laws have approved your presence."
"Then I will be there on my best behavior."
"Which isn't saying much," Danny smirked.
"They really gave my name to Space Fleet security?"
"Being an officer on a starship was all the vetting that was needed."
"I gotta get used to you yanking my chain now that we're both officers."
The two friends and fellow officers were now warmed up for a fun dinner with the Robinson family.
Danny switched back to his seat next to Kyle. Enzan had been leery of sitting next to Kyle but ended up enjoying his brief chat with the captain. After Danny settled into the seat Kyle reminded him of the next day.
"I'm not even going to think past tomorrow, since it will only get busier," Kyle told him. "But the last thing I'm going to tell the officers before I send them off to wherever they're staying is that tomorrow is the day we start making our crew. Yes, we have close to half the crew picked, but we still have some key positions to fill and how we do that will really determine what kind of crew we've created."
"I think it will be fun," Danny said.
"It will be fun. But pressure filled fun. Kind of like being at bat in the bottom of the ninth with the team down by two runs with two outs and the bases loaded. Fun, but pressure filled."
"And I know you thrive on pressure."
"Maybe, but it sure isn't easy."
"You've told me yourself that anything worth having isn't easy to get. And remember Mr. Robert Heinlein and TANSTAAFL."
"You got it," Kyle grinned. "TANSTAAFL."
Next: "Welcome to the Heinlein Family"