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CHAPTER 23
FIRST MISSION
By Douglas DD
Assisted by Zarek Dragon
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Heinlein, 0745)
Kyle sat in his ready room with his command officers: First Officer, Devin French; Second Officer, Steve Boyer; Third Officer, Brad Kanye. Kyle handed them their agendas for the morning command officer meeting he had called. Rowdy Molina, from culinary services, knocked on the open door, called out, “Food service”, and set the dishes and flatware on the meeting table. He was soon followed by Andy Stovey, who wheeled their breakfast into the room on a heated food cart. The cart was organized so Kyle and his three senior officers could load their plates buffet style.
The four boys had watched the two boys from the culinary staff (especially Andy, since he had the food) with intense interest. Their teen appetites had their bodies begging for food. Andy lifted the lid of the cart and invited the boys to dig in. He and Rowdy hustled out of the room and the boys followed their server’s invitation by filling their plates with eggs, bacon, French toast, and fruit bowl. They sat at the table and started digging into their breakfasts.
“I’ll start the meeting once we finish our breakfasts,” Kyle said. “The current watch is covered until 0900 and we should be finished by then. Brad has the conn and Ronnie will cover if we’re not finished.”
“Ahh, the luxury of being in orbit and being able to staff with a skeleton crew,” Steve said.
“As you guys know, even without looking at the agendas, our main topic will be the initiative vote for the monthly naturist day. And as you also know, our ship’s scheduled departure keeps getting changed because of issues out of our control. That means the time the ballots will be sent out keeps changing,” Kyle said.
“Which makes us look like we are a clueless bunch who have no idea of what we’re doing,” Devin said.
“And that makes for plenty of fodder for our critics to use,” Steve said.
“But it will all mean nothing when the initiative goes off without a hitch. We have everything we can control in good order—or so I’ve been told,” Kyle grinned.
After the officers finished a breakfast that they all agreed was outstanding, Devin sent a message to the kitchen to send someone to pick up the carts and take them to the kitchen. Rowdy and Victor Hanson were at the door in less than five minutes. Victor had joined the crew the day before and the four command officers introduced themselves as a group and told Victor they were happy to have him as part of the Heinlein crew. Victor beamed as he made sure the stacked dishes on his cart were secure.
Kyle then passed out the agendas and brought the meeting to order. “While we will be following an agenda, as required, our meeting will be in informal mode,” he said. “As you know, Space Fleet and Explorer Program rules both state that a ship has to be traveling in space under its own power and out of Orbit Traffic Control in order to hold an election or initiative. Even our operations chief can tell us that our hands are tied until 2100 hours.”
“I resemble that statement,” Steve said. “Fortunately, Brad’s department will be emailing the ballots, and our computer whiz is an expert at telling time. Or, should I call him Commander Kanye?”
“Whatever suits you. As I said earlier, the meeting will be in formally informal mode,” Kyle reminded his officers.
“Formally informal mode? That’s a new one on me,” Steve said.
“That’s because you’re a rookie when it comes to executive officer meetings,” Devin grinned. “It simply means that as an official meeting it has an agenda and minutes are being recorded, both by hand and electronically. That’s the formal part.” Brad was in charge of both sets of minutes. “The informal part is on how we address each other, meaning Commander Kanye can be referred to as Brad. That should explain everything.”
“Is being longwinded an important part of these meetings?”
“Only if I’m the long winded one.”
“You, and not Kyle?”
“I can’t be long winded because everything I say as captain of the ship is considered important. Now, let’s get back on track and show any big-time officer in headquarters that we know how to conduct a meeting.”
“Like Devin said, we’re rookies and are learning what this executive officer stuff is all about,” Steve said. “And an important part will be completing this meeting by lunchtime.”
At that point the meeting settled down and rose to a more professional level for a few minutes as Brad explained the process of sending out the ballots. “If we leave as scheduled at 2100 hours…”
“Which could actually happen, maybe,” Steve cut in, initiating a round of laughter.
Brad looked at his husband. “It’s so refreshing to be able to laugh at a staff meeting—seriously, it is.” He then took a deep breath and went on. “As soon as we have been released from Orbit Traffic Control I will send out the ballots. They can be returned at any time and have to be returned by 1700 hours tomorrow in order to be counted.”
Kyle then had them move on to a couple of other topics they needed to act on. Nobody else had a topic they felt needed to be discussed. Kyle then finished the meeting by reminding his executive officers of the ad hoc committee meeting that would be discussing possible changes in the Explorer Program. “Their first meeting will be Wednesday.”
“I take it that this won’t be a meeting of the regular Explorer Program Executive Committee,” Brad said.
“Nope. The feeling by the organizers was that the Executive Committee was too conservative and wouldn’t be interested in making serious decisions and or changes,” Kyle said. “So, an ad hoc committee was formed.”
“Who is on the committee?” Devin asked.
“The list will be announced on Monday. All I know is that my dad will be one of the admirals on the committee.”
“Finally, Devin and I will be meeting with Hal at 1400 to discuss our first mission. I will call a meeting of all the senior officers as soon as the meeting is finished.” Hal Tietokone was the Chief Task Force Officer for the Explorer Program.
And on that note, Kyle adjourned the official meeting. He discussed a few housekeeping things regarding the schedule and what would need to be done while he and Devin were away enjoying dinner with the Spencer Colony Planet governor, Admiral Valdez, and whoever else the governor invited.
Don Nixon surveyed the holodeck meeting room that Jim Marshall had created for the Guardians. He was pleased to see that everyone who was active or had expressed interest in the group was attending the meeting. His count told him that this was their biggest turnout. The fact that the Heinlein was in orbit set up a situation where this many could attend since they either did not have a watch, weren’t assigned to a task, or had successfully asked someone in their department to cover for them. He had assured everyone that the meeting would most likely last half an hour, and it would be adjourned if it hit the forty-five-minute mark.
Don counted twelve crew members, including himself, in attendance. “Good afternoon and thank you all for attending this meeting of the Heinlein Guardians. I know some of you had to go through a lot to get somebody to cover your job and that is certainly appreciated. I couldn’t ask for a better crew to help us win the cause.”
After Everett Belmont read the minutes, Don welcomed first time attendees Ricardo Joseph and Rashad Koury. Ricardo was assigned to Operations and Rashad to Security/Tactical. Don was very pleased to see Rashad, whom he, Everett, and Mark Stephens had worked to recruit. He was a big, strong kid, who worked mostly on the security side of his department. His first name was actually Ali, but he decided to go by his middle name to keep from being confused with Ali Bakabazi, who was assigned to Science and ran the ship’s classroom. Don was certain that no crew members confused the two of them but could see where the kids attending Ali Bakabazi’s school might in certain instances.
Ricardo Joseph was a friend of Jim Maxwell, one of the three Guardian executive committee members. He had observed enough of how Kyle operated as captain to decide to see if the issues the Guardian group had been telling him about might be enough to oust Kyle Robinson, who was barely a teenager, as captain, and replace him with someone who was older.
“As you know, we will soon be leaving Spencer’s orbit and will be leaving on our first official mission. According to our current captain, Space Fleet hasn’t yet revealed where we will be going, but I suspect it will be a long mission. I think that the toddler knows and is keeping it to himself to make him appear more important, at least in his mind.
“The other big topic is the ballots for Clothing Optional Day will be sent out to all of the crew after we leave orbit. That whole thing has been a total clusterfuck, with no one having a clue as to what the protocols are. The times they will be sent out seem to change hourly. Once again, numb nuts shows his total lack of organization. My recommendation is to vote no on it. I promise to implement Clothing Optional Day as soon as the Guardians get control of the ship.
“But the big thing is to see what we can do to disrupt the operation of the Heinlein in ways that can’t be traced to us. We want to frustrate the living shit out of baby Kyle so everybody can see that he is unfit for command. And this is where the devices given to me by my admiralty dad will come into full use.”
Don saw a hand shoot up. “Yes, Rashad.”
“I don’t understand who this admiralty dad is. Could you please explain.”
“I’d be happy to. He is assigned to Space Fleet Headquarters. He feels that appointing Kyle as captain of the Heinlein was a huge mistake. He learned I felt Kyle was appointed captain solely because his father is the Commander in Chief of the Explorer program and that I am the most qualified to command this ship. He recruited me to represent him on the ship and carry out his plan, as well as devise my own plans as things unfold during the trip. I am sworn to secrecy and cannot reveal his identity. The fact that I reveal he exists is dangerous for him, but he knows that for the Guardians to succeed they need to know they have help in a high place.”
“Thank you. That makes me feel even better about joining this group.”
At that point the half hour had expired. Don said that he and the executive committee would pick a date for their next meeting. “There’s a good chance it will be a virtual meeting. But that depends how things play out over the next couple of days. The executive committee and I will present some solid plans for disrupting the operation of the ship. But, as I said before, we need to pray that an outside crisis occurs that will push the baby Kyle over the edge. And we know that a big crisis is not unusual when exploring new places in space.” Don scanned the Guardian boys and smiled. “Thanks for being here. It’s people like you, who are ready to stand up for what’s right, that make the Explorer Program special.”
As the Guardians exited the holodeck room, Don signaled Ben Kennedy that he wanted to talk with him. “I’d like for you to sit in on the next Executive Committee meeting. Everett and I have a plan to shake things up some and think you would be perfect for carrying it out.”
“I’ll be happy to do whatever it is you wish,” Ben said. “You know how I feel about asshole Kyle. I want to bring him down as bad as anybody.”
“Great. I’ll do everything I can to schedule the meeting at a time you don’t have a ship’s watch.”
<Captain’s Ready Room, 1500)
Kyle scanned his department heads, who were sitting in chairs scattered around the area in front of his desk. He was grateful he had such a great team to work with.
“You know why I called the meeting,” Kyle said.
“Yep, it’s so you can tell us where the bleep we’re going from here,” Kage Enzan, the Chief of Security, said.
“Well said, Kage,” Kyle grinned. “Devin and I spent the last hour meeting with Hal, who gave us the info. He will be sending a video of our discussion to all of you around 1600.” Hal Tietokone was the Chief of Logistics for the Explorer program. “I’ll give you the basics now. There are actually three parts to this.”
“The first will be a routine one. We will head to Hawking Sector to the as yet unnamed planet M-27 where we will pick up a scientific exploration team. It will take us about six weeks to travel from Spencer to the planet M-27 and a few days to load the team and their equipment and seven weeks for the trip to Earth. The team will have been on the planet for about a year by the time we arrive and will be more than ready to board the Heinlein and head home.”
Brad Kanye did a quick calculation in his head and said, “That means we’ll be home around the end of February.”
“Or so they say,” Kyle grinned. That garnered a chuckle from the officers who, even at their young age, knew that schedules had a way of coming unraveled in the world of space exploration.
“How big is the science team?” Steve asked.
“Good question. They are a twelve-person team. There are ten explorer program members and two adults.”
“Yikes! Adults? On our ship?” Kage shouted out. “Are they going to take over for the voyage home?”
“The answers are yes, yes, and absolutely not,” Kyle replied. “One is a physician’s assistant and the other takes care of housekeeping. Hal says that includes cooking, the cleaning and repair of clothing, maintenance of mechanical devices, communications, just to name a of few of his duties.”
”Ah, a jack-of-all-trades in other words. Like most of my boys in Operations,” Steve said.
“That’s a good description.”
“Since this isn’t a regular Explorer Program crew, are there any females in the mix?” Mituti asked hopefully.
“Sorry, Mituti,” Kyle smirked. “It’s all boys. And now for part 2. Since we will most likely arrive Earthside in early March and Ronnie has been promised a special treat, which right now is scheduled for May first, part 2 will consist of just hanging around Earth. That means leave time as well as training—and that means lots of training. Not only of any newbies to the crew but to those of us staying on the Heinlein.”
Everybody was looking at Ronnie, who gave them an embarrassed grin. Ronnie had been promised he would be a passenger on the maiden voyage of the Vincent Gregory along with Alicia, his mother. Much to Ronnie’s pleasure, his adoptive family was now included in the passenger manifest. Father Greg, brother Kyle, brother-in-law Danny, and nephews Koji and Duskin would all be traveling on the ten-day trip to McKay Colony and would be taking the return trip back to Earth.
“And that leaves part 3,” Steve said.
“I knew you could count to three without using your fingers,” Kyle grinned.
Steve gave Kyle the bird. “I know how to use this one best.”
“I’ll remember that when I write your performance report. Let’s see…hmm…yes, I’ve got it. ‘Commander Boyer’s main strength is being able to count single birds on his finger.’”
“It would be remarkable if, when Kyle got his performance report from Hal, that it read, ‘Captain Robinson needs to work in sticking to a meeting agenda.’”
“And on that note the only definite thing I have to say about our upcoming mission is that I know nothing definite. Hal gave me a general idea of what we’ll be doing, but he can’t come up with anything definitive until after the Ad Hoc Explorer Program Committee posts its final report.
“Okay, I want to give you the basic stuff. We will be heading toward the outskirts of the galaxy to a star system recently detected on the other side of the Planck Nebula. Because it’s so obscured, little is known about it and we get to be the first to explore it instead of being on one of the later explorations as often befalls Explorer Fleet ships.
“This could be a big honor for the Heinlein. As it says in the ancient “Star Trek” video series, we will boldly go where no man, or boy, has gone before. We will be away for as much as two years doing just that.” That created some quiet groans. “Hey, we all knew what the deal was when we elected to join the program. Now we’ll have to put on our best faces and keep things positive with the crew. Even knowing what could happen, it’s tough when theory becomes reality.”
“This sounds like the science exploration we will be picking up soon,” Devin said.
“That one is different because they didn’t have their own ship. The Explorer ship Marco Polo dropped them off. Plus, they weren’t the first to explore the planet. A Space Fleet ship was first. We will be picking them up in six weeks or so and taking them home to Earth.
“When we explore whatever planet we’ll be assigned, we not only will be the first to explore the planet, but the Heinlein will be in orbit around it during the entire mission. Any other questions or comments?” Since no hands went up, Kyle dismissed his department heads.
Everyone except Devin and Steve left the ready room. Devin walked up to Kyle and said, “Steve and I agree that the little speech you gave us is perfect for inspiring the crew. We think you should use it when you make the big announcement.”
“It’s very captain-like,” Steve said. “I’ll have to change my preliminary performance report.”
“Thanks guys, that means a lot to me,” Kyle told them.
After they left, Kyle sat at his desk and looked out of his window. Maybe this being a starship captain business isn’t so bad after all, he thought. He left for his quarters to change into his dress uniform.
Kyle and Devin were in the shuttle bay foyer waiting for the okay to board the Beethoven. As they chatted about the upcoming dinner neither one of them wanted to attend, Crewman Sammy Dansby, Lieutenant JG Frank Harrison, and Lieutenant JG Quinn Hansen entered the foyer.
They were assigned to be the security detail for the trip. Quinn was the Assistant Chief of Security and was in charge of the detail. As they greeted each other Jesse Gross entered the foyer from the bay through the outer door. “Hey, everybody, glad to see you’re all here. The Beethoven is ready to board. You all know where to go.”
They did. But, as a matter of protocol they followed Kyle through the door and onto the shuttle. Kyle and Devin sat in the first row behind the pilots. Quinn sat behind them while Sammy and Frank sat in the last row of the cabin.
The pilot was Chief Pilot Danny “Schoolboy” Robinson, and the co-pilot was Assistant Chief Pilot Gabriel “Ace” Cardiff. It was standard procedure that a ship’s top ranked pilots piloted a shuttle carrying the ship’s captain. The shuttle was referred to as a command shuttle. Also on board was Ben Kennedy, who sat in the rarely used third pilot’s seat, which was normally stored in the front storage locker. The seat was referred to as an observation seat.
Ben was on board to observe how the pilots of a command shuttle operated. It was a normal part of a pilot’s training, but Kyle had told Danny he wanted Ben to have the experience on this flight. Danny knew that his husband had more in mind than simple training when he picked Ben to ride in the observation seat. Only he and Devin knew what Kyle’s reasoning was about. “Ace” didn’t know and neither did Ben.
Jesse cleared the Beethoven for departure on time; precisely at 1630. Danny had the Beethoven touching down twenty-five minutes later at 1655. The party was met by two stretch limos. Ben, “Ace”, Sammy, and Frank rode in the first car along with Warrant Officer Butler, a Space Fleet security agent.
Devin, Danny and Kyle rode in the second car. The driver exited the car and opened the middle door for the Heinlein’s command officers. Admiral Valdez and his ever-present aide, Captain Harding, sat in the front row. Devin, Danny, and Kyle sat in the middle row. Quinn Hansen and two Space Fleet security officers sat in the back seat.
“What’s with all of the security? I thought this was a peaceful colony,” Devin asked Quinn.
“It is,” Quinn replied. “But you saw how Admiral Valdez was when he visited us.”
“Yeah, he was a totally by the book guy.” Admiral Valdez looked back and nodded with a grin.
“Well, the governor’s head of security messaged Kage and said the trip would be following Space Fleet protocol regarding visits by visiting dignitaries,” Quinn told them.
“Say what?” Danny said. “When did Kyle and Devin become dignitaries? One is a thirteen-year-old captain, and the other is a fifteen-year-old commander in a program made up of kids.”
“Which is exactly what Kage said. Then he said something about bureaucracy being bureaucracy, so let’s live with it. And so, here we are in a luxury limo guaranteed to attract attention while a standard-size car carrying just Kyle, Danny, and Devin would have looked like a car carrying three kids who are still wearing their Space Fleet officer Halloween costumes.”
<Spencer Planet Colony, Colonial Governor’s Mansion>
1720
After a fifteen-minute ride, the cars turned onto the driveway to the governor’s mansion. When they arrived at the gate the guard, who was expecting the caravan, waved the three cars through. The middle car stopped at the front door of the mansion where they were met by two servants who opened the front and middle doors. Kyle, Devin, Admiral Valdez, and Captain Harding were escorted into the drawing room of the mansion, where they were welcomed by Governor Dan Evans and his wife Nancy.
Kyle had expected the building to be ornate, which was not the case. It was tastefully decorated and furnished, but had a homey feel about it. This might be a governor’s mansion, but it feels like a family lives here, Kyle thought. He knew the governor had two sons who were twelve and ten. He wondered if they would be sitting in for the dinner.
His question was answered when they entered the formal dining room and saw two boys dressed in suits sitting at the table. The décor was a bit more ornate than the sitting room but the feel of family was still there, aided by the two handsome boys already seated. Kyle wished he had known it was going to be a family affair because he would have looked into bringing Koji and Duskin along. Koji had begged to come, but Kyle told him this would be an adult affair. To be fair to the Governor, however, he probably didn’t know Kyle had two adopted sons just like he didn’t know he was married to the chief pilot.
As they were seated at the table Kyle decided to take a gamble and ask the governor if Danny could be seated at the table for dinner instead of eating in the servants’ dining area. But before he could say anything, he saw Danny being escorted into the formal dining room by a servant. He was seated next to Kyle who hadn’t noticed the extra place setting.
“Admiral Valdez informed me of the interesting marriage protocol you and your spouse were married under,” Governor Evans told Kyle. “My apologies for not doing my homework better. I also learned of your two sons and assure you I would have included them in the invitation if I had known about it earlier. My apologies for the oversight.”
Your apology is accepted, Governor. I was also remiss in not telling you of my entire family. It’s hard to invite people you don’t know exist.” Kyle was becoming more and more impressed with the colonial governor.
The dinner ended up being more interesting than Kyle had anticipated. Governor Evans was a gracious host and an interesting man to talk to. He was the Colonial Governor appointed by the Colonial Department. Spencer Planet also had an elected governor who dealt with the day-to-day operation of the planet. Governor Evans area was Spencer Colony’s relations with Earth, with other colonies, and with Space Fleet.
“I hope you can visit us again sometime when there is more time to be better prepared. Well, come to think of it, we both know what we would need to prepare for next time.”
Kyle, Devin, Governor Evans, Admiral Valdez, Nancy Evans, and twelve-year-old Gregory Evans talked about many topics. Some on a subject involving the entire table, some involving just a few of the diners. Kyle was impressed by Gregory, not only for his sexy good looks but for his knowledge of starships and starship operation. Kyle felt that Gregory’s interest was more than just a hobby.
When the topic of the Heinlein came up, the governor apologized for not visiting the ship. “I had to attend a ceremony on the other side of the planet marking the completion of a new space port for cargo ships and ore carriers. There was nothing I could do to change that. I know that Admiral Valdez was quite impressed by your ship and by the discipline and training of your crew.”
During dessert, Gregory told Kyle that he hoped his father would have had the time to visit the Heinlein and he could have gone with him. He also told Kyle he liked to be called Greg. Kyle talked to Greg about his school and the classes he was taking. He made some suggestions about courses of study he could take in school as well as online to help him learn even more about starships and space travel. He could tell that Greg’s mind was on a different school than the one he was attending on Spencer Planet. His mind was on the Space Fleet Academy.
Later, after dinner, Greg admitted as much in a one-on-one conversation. “I know you’re thirteen, right?” he asked.
“Yes, I am,” Kyle answered
“I knew that, but I guess I still had to ask. I mean, I learned how you’re the youngest captain ever in the Explorer Program, but I decided to be polite—or as my dad would say, I was being diplomatic, Anyway, I’m twelve.” Greg and Kyle were close to the same size, with Greg having dark brown hair compared to Kyle’s blond hair. Dan gave them some time to talk and thenj started over to the two boys but stopped short when he heard Greg say, “Am I too old to be a Space Academy cadet?”
“Nope,” Kyle answered. “You’d have to score in the 95th percentile on the entrance exam and take some remedial classes, but you aren’t too old. Have you talked to your father about this?”
“No. Earth is so far away and I’m afraid he’d say no so I’d be close to home.”
That was when his father stepped in. “Son, I would never stand in the way of your being the best you can be. I would be derelict as a father if I did. You should have asked me. But on the other hand, I should have paid more attention to your love of spaceships and space travel.”
“Really? Are you serious?”
“As serious as a colonial governor and a father of two can be.”
“I can take the test online and do an online interview, right Kyle?”
“You will need your father’s online approval, but you’re correct. If you get to it now you might be able to start when the new semester starts in February.”
Greg was so excited he was almost hopping out of his shoes. “Well, dad, can I start? Please?”
“I’ll give it some serious consideration.”
“Thanks dad and thanks for talking to me Kyle.”
“Talking with you was a real pleasure,” Kyle said.
“I’ll be right back,” Greg said, and he excused himself from the table.
“I know the two of you are close to the same age, but I have to commend you on going out of your way to give Greg extra attention. He can be very excitable and become a non-stop talker,” Dan said.
“When it comes to being excitable, Koji, our older son, can run circles around Greg. He has redefined non-stop talker,” Kyle said.
“How is it the two of you ended up with two sons at your age?”
Kyle explained how he and Danny came to adopt two Darastixian orphans with the help of a couple of quirks in Space Fleet and Explorer Program regulations.
“You should have brought them with you. I would have loved meeting your whole family.”
“Well, they weren’t included on the invitation, but I did try. My assistant contacted your assistant about my bringing them and was told the invitation couldn’t be changed.”
Dan breathed a deep sigh. “Kyle, as you grow older you’re going to learn that no matter how good your assistants are, the old “I’ll have my people talk to your people” adage isn’t always the best way to go.”
Before Kyle could comment, Devin entered the dining room and told Kyle the Heinlein was trying to contact him. “It’s Steve and he says it’s urgent.” Since the captain and the first officer were off the ship, Steve, as second officer, was in command of the Heinlein.
“Excuse me, Governor, but I had better see what this is about,” Kyle said.
“I understand. Do your duty and my son and I will continue the discussion on your topic,” Dan said.
Kyle had turned his communicator to mute, which meant all official communications for him would be automatically forwarded to Devin. He switched on his communicator. “Captain Robinson,” Kyle said formally.
“Captain, I need to inform you that the power to the reverse thrusters has failed,” Steve said. “Chief Engineer Robinson and the engineering crew are trying to find the source of the problem. He has no time estimate for a repair.”
“Thank you, Commander Boyer.” Kyle took a deep breath and went on. “Okay, we’ve satisfied the nitpickers at HQ, now let’s cut the formalities and talk.”
“Agreed.” Outside of Kyle, nobody hated formalities more than Steve.
“Okay, it’s 1840. I was going to thank the governor for a fine dinner and have the group start for the Beethoven at 1930. The Heinlein is scheduled to depart at 2100. Since we don’t know enough to estimate a departure time, you have my okay to contact Orbit Traffic Control and cancel our departure. Tell them we’ll contact them as soon as we’re able to make an estimate and that we won’t be leaving any earlier than 1000 tomorrow. I will have my communicator off mute if they need to contact me.”
“I will do so. But even if we’re ready to depart at 1000 that would put us 13 hours late.”
“We’re not a Swiss railroad. Considering the distance we’ll be traveling, 13 hours is a teeny tiny little blip. Switch me over to Robbie if he’s available. And good job, Steve. Thanks.”
“Commander Boyer, out.” Steve was impressed by Kyle’s coolness under pressure. Anybody who thinks he’s not qualified for his job can bite me, he thought.
Thirty seconds later Robbie logged in. The chief engineer agreed with Kyle’s decision to delay leaving orbit until 1000 or later. “If we haven’t found the source of the problem by then I’ll be contacting the Engineering Help Line at HQ. Sorry I don’t have anything better to report.”
“I feel comfortable knowing that you and your crew are doing a good job and we’ll be warping off to our destination soon.”
“Thanks, bro. Robinson out.”
Kyle logged off and went back to the dining room to see how Dan and Greg were faring. Dan had his arm around his son’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want to suddenly leave your lifetime home and your family to pursue something that might not work out?”
“It will work out, dad. I swear it will,” Greg said.
“Well, Kyle, you seem to have put a bug into my son’s brain.”
“I have a feeling that bug has been there for a long time. I think all I did was wake it up,” Kyle said.
“You are very wise for your age. Small wonder you have command of a starship. I think that my son seeing someone the same age as him in command of a starship is what woke up the bug in him, as you so succinctly put it.”
“I have a feeling you two have discussed this before.”
“Once again you show your maturity and wisdom.” Dan checked the time. “It must be getting close to your departure time.”
“The Heinlein won’t be leaving until tomorrow at 1000, at the earliest. There are problems with the rear thrusters, and I felt it best to remove a deadline we probably can’t meet.”
“Good call, Captain Robinson.”
Kyle’s face turned serious. “I need to speak to you, sir. Alone.”
“Did you catch him calling me sir?” Dan asked Greg. “This sounds more serious than a balky thruster.”
“It’s a different topic, but also related in way,” Kyle said.
“I have my office just up the hall. Guaranteed privacy if that is what you wish.”
“Yep, that’s what I wish.”
Dan turned to the diners and told them that he and Kyle would be right back following a meeting. Devin wondered what that meeting was about, since Kyle would normally have included him if it had to do with the phone call from the Heinlein.
After entering the office, Dan sat in an armchair instead of sitting at his desk. He motioned for Kyle to sit in the chair across from him. “I get the feeling you’re dealing with a brain bug as well,” Dan said.
“Kind of. First, I apologize if I did something wrong in my talk with Greg. But he was so excited talking about starships and the Academy I got caught up in it.”
“It’s been a dream of his for a while now. I might be more at fault here for not taking him as seriously as I should have. But way down underneath, I didn’t want to send him to a place light years away. It all sounds good, but Earth isn’t the paradise he thinks it will be.”
“But the Academy IS a special place,” Kyle said.
“True.”
“Anway, what I wanted to talk to you about is me inviting Greg to spend tonight on the Heinlein.” Dan grunted but said nothing. He was ready to interrupt but decided to let Kyle finish. “I assume he’s never been on an Explorer ship.”
“He hasn’t. But a visit would only make things worse.”
“Are things bad? I mean things can’t get worse if they’re not already bad.”
“I hate to say it, but what you just said makes sense.”
“All I want to do is let him see what it is he is always thinking of. There’s a good chance I’ll be wrong but maybe just getting a tour of an Explorer starship might keep him happy for now.” Kyle didn’t know how wrong he was when he said that.
Dan Evans sat back and contemplated the situation for a couple of minutes. “This might just be a good idea, but I see a possible flaw in the logistics.”
“And the flaw you see has to do with Greg returning to Spencer.”
“I see that the captain’s mind is locked in, and he has no intention of jumping into this willy nilly and without a plan.”
Kyle shook off the governor’s praise and said, “How does this sound to you? Greg goes on the Beethoven with us. He gets to meet a few members who will give him as complete of a tour as they can in the time available. He can sleep in one of the guest quarters. Then, tomorrow, once the thrusters are a go and we can schedule our departure, we’ll give you plenty of lead time to send a shuttle to pick up Greg.”
“You are certainly on top of things, Captain Robinson. Your plan sounds perfect to me. When to you plan to leave for your ship?”
“As soon as Greg is ready to go.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was ready to go right now. My son number one appears to be overwhelmed by excitement. I know you two are close in age, but I hope Greg doesn’t overwhelm you. He can get really cranked up when he is like he is now.”
Heinlein. Don Nixon and Everett Belmont quarters.>
1945
Don sat in his quarters with Everett and Jim Maxwell. The three boys made up the Guardians’ executive committee. They had just received word from Wade Green that the reverse thrusters had been disabled by the device that Don’s Daddy Admiral had given him. The device had done what it had been designed to do—send out a signal designed to disrupt one or more of the Heinlein’s functions. In this case, Wade, who was assigned to engineering, had sent out signal E-7 which was programmed to disrupt the reverse thrusters.
“Wade did his job perfectly,” Don said. “The baby captain has to be shitting his pants down there on Spencer. I’m surprised he hasn’t returned early so he can rant and rave about the unfairness of life.”
“Maybe he’s down there screaming at the governor. That would be choice,” Jim said.
“I like how you think. Anyway, I was hoping Ben could be here. I gave him a little job to do in Astrogation, but then he had to take a ride to Spencer on orders of our fearful leader. I wonder what Kyle baby had in mind. It’s not like Ben had a job to do since the shuttle had two assigned pilots. I mean, think about it, everybody knows Kyle and Ben hate each other.”
“Maybe Kyle is trying to earn brownie points from him, so he won’t join us or something,” Everett said.
“I dunno. Everybody who knows about us knows Ben has joined us. I’ll meet with him and find out what the fuck is going on as soon as he returns.”
“When do you plan to turn off the device?” Jim asked.
“Tomorrow morning,” Don replied. “Even though the Information Department consists of a bunch of computer geeks, they aren’t good enough to figure how to intercept our signal. But Brad is actually really good at his job. If anybody worries me when we use our device, it’s him. That’s why the less time we have it focused on a job the better. I wish there was a way to get him on our side, but he and junior are pretty tight.”
“Are we gonna say anything about the ballot being changed again?” Everett asked.
“Oh, maybe a word or two here or there if we get asked. But even the dumbest dumb shit crewman can figure out this change is out of his control.”
“I thought the idea we’re giving was that he lost control of the ballot schedule by being even dumber than the dumbest dumb shit crewman.”
“Well, there is that,” Don smirked. “Let’s not decide anything until we see how things play out tomorrow. One thing we do know is that we will be leaving orbit tomorrow since we control when the thrusters come back online. Now, let’s go get some sleep—there’s going to be a lot going on tomorrow.”
After Jim left Everett stepped over to Don. “Do we really want to head for bed this early?”
Don reached for Everett’s crotch and gave it gentle squeeze. “It feels to me like you’re ready for some action first.”
“As usual, you know perfectly well what’s going on.”
The two conspirators enjoyed each other’s company in bed and fell asleep together in the nude after finishing their pleasures.
1910
It took Greg a little longer to be ready for the trip to the Heinlein than the instant his father had predicted. But he did move at near light speed once he’d returned to solid ground. When he met his father and Kyle, they jokingly checked their timers.
“It’s good to know you can move so fast. I’ll have to remember that when I assign you your chores,” Dan grinned.
“Daaaad, this is one of the biggest surprises of my life, so don’t wreck it by talking about work,” Greg said.
“Understood,” Dan said as he ruffled his son’s hair.
“Does your dad do that to you?” Greg asked Kyle.”
“The last time he did it was two weeks ago,” Kyle nodded. “But then, that was also the last time I saw him.”
“But you’re a captain!”
“Yep, and he’s a combination of a father and an admiral. That’s a rough combination to beat.”
“Gotcha. I’m so ready to go.”
“And we’re ready to take you.”
The Heinlein crew members’ departure from the governor’s mansion had a lot less fanfare than their arrival. Instead of two cars they left in a Space Fleet van. Kyle requested the minimalist departure. Being driven as an honored guest in a luxury car was fine with him, but now all he wanted was to just be seen off as a regular guest. Dan was happy to honor his request.
Greg sat next to Kyle and listened intently as Kyle told him the plan for the remainder of the evening and for the next morning. “It’s sounds like I’m going to have a lot of fun,” Greg said.
“Yes, you are. But it’s going to be serious stuff. Don’t be afraid to stop and write notes on your pad. My officers and I promise to be patient with you,” Kyle said.
“Aren’t you going to be showing me around?”
“I’ll be around for some things, but I have a ship to command. I’ve got some guys you’ll really like ready to be your guides and maybe even your friends.”
“Great, I can’t wait,” Greg grinned.
This would not be Greg’s first time into space. He knew the routines and the protocols of shuttle launches and dockings. When the van arrived at the spaceport it drove onto the tarmac for Gate 1 where the Beethoven was waiting for them.
Ben Kennedy would be sitting up front with Danny Robinson and Ace Cardiff. Danny was the shuttle commander, but Ace would be the pilot for the launch into space. Ben would be conducting the communications between the Beethoven and launch control until they were turned over to orbit control, with whom he would still be the communicator. Danny would be able to credit him with completing this aspect of being a shuttle pilot for a command officer. While he had done shuttle-planet communications as part of his regular training, there were some differences when piloting a command shuttle and he needed to show he had mastered them. In essence, his communication with launch and orbit control would be a test.
As the Beethoven approached the Heinlein, Orbit Traffic Control turned the shuttle over to the starship. On a previous shuttle flight, Ben had been signed off on shuttle/ship communications by Danny. Danny would pilot the Beethoven into the shuttle bay and Ace would handle communications for the final approach. Ben felt a glow shoot through him when Kyle complimented him on his job handling communications with launch control and orbit control.
The bridge was manned by the third watch, second trick. Bailey “Chappie” Irvin had the communications desk. Chappie transferred the Beethoven’s communication to Jesse Gross, who was manning the shuttle bay control room.
Greg was impressed by how seamless the process was between Danny and whoever he was talking with on the Heinlein. It was like the shuttle had flown itself to its berth in the shuttle bay. More than ever, Greg was convinced that he wanted to be a part of the Explorer Program.
“How did you like your flight?” Kyle asked Greg.
“It was fun. It was like all those pilots have been doing this forever and they’re not much older than I am.”
“Trust me, it took a lot of work by them and their teachers and instructors to get there.”
“Well, I’m going tell you and I’m going tell my dad that I want to get there.”
“I have a feeling you’re ready to work hard enough to make it happen.”
“But first I have to get to the academy before I’m too old.”
“I think you may have your dad on your side now,” Kyle said.
“I hope so. I really hope so.”
Kyle and Greg were the first to disembark the Beethoven, followed by Devin and then the three pilots. Security disembarked last. Ronnie, Steve, and Brad were waiting in the foyer along with Ali, Koji, and Duskin. Kyle had sent a message to Ali, asking for the schoolmaster to bring Koji and Duskin to the foyer to meet Greg. He introduced Gregory Evans to the group. “But he likes to be called Greg.”
Kyle then introduced the group. “Greg, those two senior officers to your left are Steve Boyer and Brad Kanye, who are my second and third officers. They had charge of the ship while Commander French and I had dinner with you and your father. The officer to my right is Ronnie Robinson, the ship’s Chief Engineer. The officer behind you is Ali Bakabazi, who is in charge of education and runs the ship’s school. And, as you no doubt figured out, the two squirrely little boys are my sons Koji and Duskin.”
Koji waved and said, “I’m Koji.” He pointed at his brother. “That makes him Duskin. He doesn’t talk much but I like to talk a lot.”
“Hello,” Duskin said shyly.
“Duskin is a bit shy until he gets to know you, then he’ll open up some,” Kyle said.
Duskin surprised Greg as well as Kyle, by holding out his hand. “Welcome to the Heinlein. Like daddy says, I don’t talk much, but I play the piano really well.”
Greg shook Duskin’s hand and said, “Wow, I play the piano too.”
“We’ll have to talk about it,” Duskin said. Kyle was surprised by how talkative and open Duskin was around the new boy. But he wasn’t surprised by how his face lit up when he heard that Greg also played the piano.
“You guys will have time to talk about the stuff you like later,” Ali said. “Right now, how about we give Gregory a quick tour of the ship. We’ll start with the dining room where they’re serving evening snacks.”
“Yippee!” Duskin and Koji shouted out together.
“You’ll love the cookies,” Koji said as he took the lead and started for the dining room.
As soon as Ali and his charges left the foyer, Kyle told his four officers that they would meet in his ready room in 10 minutes.
<Captain’s Ready Room>
2015
“Bring Devin and me up to date,” Kyle said to Steve, who had commanded the ship in Kyle’s absence.
“I think I’ll leave that up to Ronnie and Brad. They’ve been doing the work. All I’ve done is log what they’ve been doing,” Steve said. Steve had told Ronnie and Brad that this would be the direction he would take the meeting.
“At 1815 Ensign Boland, who had the engineering watch, noticed an anomaly in the power readouts. He entered the standard compensation program to no avail. He then contacted Lieutenant Daniels with this issue.” Lieutenant Kai Daniels was the Assistant Chief Engineer. Because the meeting was being recorded for review by Space Fleet, Ronnie was being formal with his report when he presented a name.
“Since we were locked in standard orbit and not traveling anywhere, Lieutenant Daniels elected to check out the situation before contacting me, which was the proper decision on his part. Since he could not find the cause of the problem after ten minutes, he contacted me as prescribed by Space Fleet protocol.
“I quickly went to engineering and also could not find the problem, other than the fact that the reverse thrusters were not getting power. I then contacted Captain Robinson, who was planet side. Since this could have been a possible computer issue, I talked to Commander Kanye, the Information Services Chief. He couldn’t find an issue.”
Long story short, our diagnostics showed that even though the reverse thruster light is blinking red and the thrusters indicate they have no power source, there is nothing wrong with the mechanical or the electrical parts of the thrusters. They simply don’t thrust, so to speak.”
“What kind of information have you received from Space Fleet HQ?” Kyle asked.
“The same information we have here. Their diagnostics show the same as ours. There is no power going to the reverse thrusters, but there is no reason for them not to be receiving power.”
Kyle thought the situation over for a minute and then said, “Feel free to disagree with me on this, but I think we’re going to sleep on it.” That decision brought gasps from Steve and Brad, but approving nods of the head from Devin and Ronnie.
“We’ve already informed Spencer Traffic Control that we wouldn’t be leaving until 1000 at the earliest, so we are in no rush. Let’s attack the problem in the morning after recharging with a good night’s sleep.”
“Excellent decision, captain,” Devin said.
“I concur,” Ronnie said. “I think we all need some time to digest the facts and see what a fresh mind tells us in the morning.”
“I have no problem with that,” Brad said. “I was surprised by Kyle’s decision not because I disagree with what he decided but because I feel the same way he does, but for whatever reason I thought he would tell us we’re going to work through the night or until we get the problem fixed.”
“If you’ve got no rush, then why rush it,” Steve said. “Sorry for doubting the direction you were going to take. That said, I’ll see you dudes in the morning.” He looked over at Kyle. “With the captain’s permission, of course.”
“Permission to leave granted to all of you. Let’s meet for breakfast at 0700 and then get to work,” Kyle said.
Kyle then left to see what his two sons and Greg were up to.
Kyle found Ali and the three boys where Ali said they would be—on the holodeck. He wasn’t surprised to find Duskin playing the piano. Perry Fox, the holodeck manager, had created a piano room for Duskin to use. In the center of the room was a white grand piano. The acoustics were perfect. Greg, Koji, and Ali were seated to Duskin’s right. Duskin was playing a Mozart sonata. When he saw Kyle, he stopped.
“Don’t stop on my account. That was beautiful,” Kyle said.
“You’ve listened to me a lot and you can always listen to me,” Duskin said.
“And Duskin stopped so you can listen to Greg who has to go back home tomorrow,” Koji said. “Right little brother?”
“Yep. You’re right big brother.”
Greg blushed bright enough for Kyle to see. He hoped the attention he was getting wouldn’t mess up Greg’s piano playing, however good it might be.
It turned out Greg was a very good pianist. As Greg played the Mozart piece that “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” was based on, Kyle thought he was as good as Duskin, who was outstanding. A trained ear would say that Greg was an excellent young pianist, but Duskin was the better of the two.
Kyle and Ali applauded enthusiastically when he finished the short work. Greg grinned and took a bow. Duskin gave him an enthusiastic hug which caused Greg’s smile to broaden.
“How long have you been playing?” Kyle asked Greg.
“Since I was six.”
“Well, you and Duskin have a lot in common with that piano.”
“He’s the best I’ve ever heard and that includes adults.”
“I hope you get to play some tomorrow. But that depends on our departure time.”
“Maybe we can play piano four hands tomorrow,” Duskin said. Piano four hands occurred when two pianists sat at the piano and played a piece written for two piano players.
“Did you get the engine fixed?”
“Not yet. But we’ll get it done on the morning,” Kyle said. “But right now it’s bedtime for you boys.”
“Do we have to?” Koji whined.
“That would be a gigantic YES,” Kyle said as Danny entered the room.
“And I concur,” Danny said.
“Concur—you mean like beating us bad in a war?”
Greg surprised everybody by answering the question. “He means he agrees with us. He said concur. Beating people in a battle or war is conquer.”
Kyle was impressed. Even from what little he had seen of Greg he had no doubt that he was Space Academy material.
“Greg is sleeping in a guest quarters, right?” Koji asked.
“That is correct,” Kyle said.
“Can Duskin and me sleep there with him?”
Kyle elected to overlook Koji’s grammar gaff. “That’s probably not a good idea. You boys have been busy and need your sleep.”
“But Ali said because we don’t know when we’re leaving tomorrow he canceled school so we don’t have to get up early and also this will probably be the last time we ever see Greg again and we might stay up late talking but we won’t stay up too late, I promise. Please opsolas, pretty please, pretty pretty please. If you say yes Duskin and me will go to bed early tomorrow we promise, right Duskin?”
Duskin nodded and said, “Koji and I promise.”
“Yeah, just like I said and like I told you opsolas, it’s maybe our only time ever with Greg who we like a lot and is our friend now and Duskin loves him because he plays the piano so good and he’s a totally nice person.”
“What do you think, Greg?” Kyle asked.
“I think Koji likes to talk just like Duskin likes to play the piano. They are now my friends and I like having friends on the Heinlein. We don’t know how long I’ll be here tomorrow, and I want to get to know them even more. So, yeah, I think it would be wonderful if we slept in the same bedroom. But not in the same bed.”
“There are two beds in the guest quarters and you get one and Duskin and I get the other because we have two beds in our quarters, but we sleep together in the same bed lots of times, right opsolas?”
“Right,” Duskin grinned while Kyle and Danny nodded in agreement.
“So Greg gets his own bed and Duskin and Koji share the other bed.”
“I concur,” Duskin said.
“You three have made your case. You get to share Greg’s guest quarters tonight,” Kyle said.
“I concur,” Danny said.
“Can I ask a question?” Greg said.
“You can ask all the questions you want,” Kyle said.
“What’s an opsola?”
“It’s Darastixian for daddies. And that would be Danny and me. Now, let’s go to our quarters and get everybody ready for Greg’s big overnight.”
Forty minutes later, the boys were in one of the ship’s guest quarters while Danny and Kyle were in their bed enjoying the peace and quiet of the captain’s quarters. “Wow, there was a lot of energy there,” Danny said.
“We aren’t much older than they are and I think there’s as much energy in us,” Kyle said. “We just...um…I think the word is, channel it differently.”
“I hope Koji doesn’t go all horny on Greg and get him to do something he doesn’t really want to do.”
“I think you have to give Koji more credit than that. We’ve had a lot of chats with him on appropriate behavior. Like when it’s okay and when it’s not okay for sexual behavior.”
“And from what I’ve seen of Greg, I think he’s perfectly capable of holding his own,” Danny said.
“I concur,” Kyle chuckled.
“By the way, I think you did a great job with the engine problem by having everyone get a good night’s sleep and tackle the issue tomorrow.”
“Thanks, love. But you and I both know that guys like Ronnie, Brad, and Steve will be tossing and turning hoping to get struck by a solution to the problem.”
“And I put you in the same category, although I think your tossing and turning will be more about the cause than the solution.”
“I’ll do my best to fall sleep. A nice long kiss and some tension relieving love making should help.”
“I concur,” Danny said. That earned him a friendly punch from his husband followed by a tender grope. What followed helped them both to relax.
Not everyone agreed with Danny’s opinion of Kyle’s decision. Don and Everett had finished their romp in bed and were winding down.
“That was good,” Don said. “Thanks, Everett.”
“My pleasure.”
“But now a quick moment of business. The wishy-washy one putting off fixing the thrusters until tomorrow shows what a pussy he is. Instead of pushing everybody to do their best, he wusses out and says, ‘Let’s sleep on it.’”
“I guess they’ll miss the miracle when it happens,” Everett said.
“Or maybe it will be an even bigger miracle and even bigger mystery as they go warping through space wondering what the fuck happened and is it going to happen without warning again. Hmm, the wuss out could be a good thing for us, because it gives the boy captain something big to worry about and eat at him. This might be the kind of lucky thing we’ve been looking for.”
Everett rewarded Don’s little tirade with a heartfelt kiss.
“Well, we did it. We’re all together for the night,” Greg said. “What are we going to do other than talk a lot?”
“I have an idea, but let’s all brush and take care of our teeth since our opsolas like clean teeth and bet your opsola does too,” Koji said.
“Yep, and my mom especially.”
“Duskin and I are orphans but that’s okay that you’ve got a mom.” Duskin was pleased that his brother got his grammar right for once but, as is his wont, he said nothing. “But we’ve got two opsolas, and not many guys can brag about that.”
“Well, let’s BFRW.”
“What that?”
“Brush, floss, rinse, and whatever,” Greg grinned.
Koji knew what he wanted the whatever to be, but he would wait for the right time to find out what was going to happen.
Next: Everything Works (Almost)