Nu Trilogy 1: The Esss Advance (2 page)

“I can’t wait to get off of this glorified tin can,” communications specialist Seamus McDonald whispered. “Two years in the belt with no chance at shore leave should qualify us for hazard pay.”

“I don’t know about you, but I have plans for this extended leave,” replied Lieutenant Lorraine Blyleven as she glanced over toward Captain Sted Richardson. Sometimes, she just couldn’t stop looking at him. Besides his “stop in your tracks” good looks, he also had a definite air of command and a real take-charge attitude. That was even more attractive than his good looks. “With the
Revere
scheduled for several repairs and upgrades, we should have about two months before our next tour. That should give me enough time to see if the captain has any real interest in me or if he’s just a big tease.”

Blyleven was the chief astrogator on the
USpN Revere
, an Asteroid class destroyer in the United Space Navy. With all of the rules in place forbidding fraternization between the captain of a naval ship and any of the crew, nothing had ever come of the many instances of verbal foreplay between the two officers. However, if she played her cards right, she might be able to bend the rules while on leave and then apply for a different posting if things worked out as she hoped. Just thinking about the possibilities got her insides tingling and put a Cheshire cat grin on her face.

“I’d be careful, if I were you,” McDonald warned. “The Captain is very ambitious, and he has a reputation for dumping or walking over anyone or anything that gets in the way of his plans.”

“I know the risks,” Lorraine said, though apprehension showed in her voice. “I just can’t get him out of my head. I have to take the risk and then be prepared for the consequences.”

Sted was well aware of the low level conversation between Lieutenants Blyleven and MacDonald. He was also aware of their glimpses as they talked quietly to each other. It was time to put a stop to it.

“Lieutenants Blyleven and MacDonald, do you have something you would like to share with everyone on the bridge?”

“No, sir,” Lieutenant MacDonald said. “We were just talking about our plans for shore leave, which is probably of no interest to anyone else on the bridge.”

“So you two are planning to do something together on Luna?” Sted asked as a means of determining if Lieutenant Blyleven would be available for some recreational activities not allowed while on a mission.

“Definitely not,” Blyleven replied as a slight blush tinged her cheeks. “I was just telling Lieutenant MacDonald that perhaps we should plan a party to blow off some steam.”

“Excuse me for interrupting, Captain Richardson, but you have an incoming call from Admiral Holcroft,” Lieutenant MacDonald said.

“Route it to my console,” Sted ordered as he launched himself across the weightless bridge and back to his command chair. He punched the Accept command on his console. Admiral Holcroft’s face appeared on the viewing screen. Holcroft was in his mid-fifties. Signs of his age and the stress of his job could be seen in the graying streaks in his hair and the ever-increasing lines in his face. Today, the lines were even more evident than usual, because he looked decidedly unhappy.

“Welcome back to Luna, Captain Richardson,” the admiral said. “I’m sorry about the last minute change in plans, but I have immediate redeployment orders for you. The nature of this emergency leaves the
Revere
as my only option. I have ordered the shipyard to prioritize your resupply. I need you, your XO, and your astrogator to shuttle down to Tranquility Base as soon as you’re docked. You will report to the briefing room upon arrival to receive details on a critical asteroid redirect mission. Please set up rotational shore leaves for your crew and let them know that the
Revere
will be departing in just seven days for this very important two-month mission.”

“I doubt that Revere can be made ready in just one week, Admiral,” Sted replied. “I will have engineering warn the shipyard about battle damage to the hull that has been patched temporarily. We’ll need that repaired before redeploying. If the shipyard can patch us up in time, we are at your service.”

“Send your post-action report to my office,” the admiral replied. “Also, please have your engineering chief file a detailed report of the damage and temporary repair with the shipyard before you dock. I’ll make sure this gets immediate attention. I have no alternative but to redeploy the
Revere,
so we have to make this work.”

“Will you have a shuttle ready and waiting for us at the shipyard or should we prepare the
Revere
’
s
shuttle?”

“There’s a shuttle on standby at Armstrong ready for immediate departure. The three of you will just have to cross the docking bay and hop on board. I’ll see you in the briefing room.”

Sted turned toward the communications console. “Lieutenant MacDonald, put me on the all-ship broadcast channel. Bad news travels fast, so let’s get ahead of it and let the crew know before the rumor mill creates havoc.”

“Channel four is clear for all ship, sir,” MacDonald responded.

“Attention all crew members. This is Captain Richardson. We will only have a one-week turnaround at the Neil Armstrong Shipyard, after which we will be sailing on a two-month asteroid redirect mission. An abbreviated shore leave schedule will be posted as soon as it is available. When I have further details of the mission from the Admiralty, everyone will be notified though the normal chain of command. That is all.”

“Commander Olsen.” Sted turned to his executive officer. “I need you to work out that new shore leave schedule over the next few hours. Let’s give each crewmember three days’ leave on a rotating basis. Make sure we have full support from the supply corps for taking on supplies. Then have engineering send in that detailed report of our battle damage and the repairs. Also, remind them to schedule any required service checks with the shipyard techs to speed up the process. I want around-the-clock coverage by our staff while they oversee whoever comes aboard to facilitate our speedy turnaround. I’ll need to know immediately if any repairs will take longer than the week we’ve been given.”

“Yes sir,” the XO replied as he began working his console. “I’ll have everything ready for your approval before we dock and head down to Tranquility Base.”

“Perfect. I’ll need you and Lieutenant Blyleven to report to the main lock prep room with an overnight kit as we are going through the final docking maneuvers at Armstrong. We will be suiting up for immediate departure on Armstrong’s shuttle down to the surface and then reporting to a briefing with Admiral Holcroft, so pack your service dress uniforms.”

“Yes sir,” both officers replied at once.

“We can’t get a break!” Lieutenant Blyleven complained a little too loudly as she turned back to her console.

“Not so loud!” McDonald whispered. “Don’t force him to call you on the carpet.”

But Blyleven didn’t hear McDonald’s warning. She was too frustrated and too blinded by anger. Without thinking, she kicked the base of her console a little harder than she intended and then blurted out a clipped “Damn!” from the instant shot of pain that flashed from her toes, through her ankle, and halfway up to her right knee.

“Lieutenant Blyleven!” Sted cried. “You are not the only sailor on this ship to be disappointed by these unexpected orders. You will conduct yourself with proper decorum while on my bridge. You are excused from your post to consider your attitude while you pack for the trip to Tranquility Base. When you are packed, you are to report to my office, where we can discuss your outburst in greater detail!”

The bridge was deathly quiet as everyone concentrated on some imaginary duty that required his or her full attention. Nobody looked up as Lieutenant Blyleven rose from her post and worked her way toward the crew’s quarters. It was the most embarrassing moment of her life, but she made sure she held her head high and did not slink away in defeat.

Underneath his calm, stoic exterior, Sted was seething. Once again, that clown Holcroft had frustrated his plans. Two years earlier, he had sent Sted and the
Revere
on an extended mission to the asteroid belt. Now, just as Sted was about to re-enter the halls of power, he was being shipped out on a mission that could have been handled by the captain of a space tug.

This had to be intentional. Holcroft knew that Sted had been pushing for the captain’s chair on humanity’s first mission to the stars. The admiral must have had someone else in mind and was shuffling Sted away from the power brokers who would be responsible for the final selection.

How was he going to be able to maneuver around his chain of command? It would not be easy, especially when his time in port was limited to just seven days. This was going to take some serious research, and that research had to include finding out which captain Holcroft was backing.

Perhaps Lieutenant Blyleven could help. Her grandfather ran High Point Shipping, the largest major trading company chartered by the Council of Eight to exchange minerals found on the moon and in the asteroid belt for finished goods used in building and deploying the Navy’s fleet. That was what had piqued his interest in her in the first place, although it did not hurt that she was also beautiful and resourceful.

Well, she would be in his office soon for what she thought would be some sort of disciplinary action. He could easily start with a well-deserved tongue-lashing and then turn the tables and empathize with her frustration over this redeployment. With the attraction he had been feeling toward her over the last several months, perhaps he could actually fall in love with the woman and eventually recruit her to push his plans with her family. It would be a dangerous game with many pitfalls. If the Navy ever discovered he was “involved” with one of his crew, it could end his career quickly. But hiding the relationship on this two-month mission would not be that difficult.

With a firm plan in mind, Sted relinquished command of the bridge to Commander Olsen and went to his quarters to prepare for his encounter with Lieutenant Blyleven.

As Blyleven packed, her emotions pushed her thoughts in many different directions. She didn’t know which was worse: the frustration and anger over being redeployed so quickly or the embarrassment of being reprimanded in front of everyone on the bridge. How could she face her shipmates, let alone Captain Richardson, after letting her emotions take control of her actions like that?

She couldn’t undo what she had done, so how could she minimize the damage? Could she ever get back into the captain’s good graces? What would she have to do?

That’s when her training took over. When you made a mistake in training camp, you got reamed in front of your classmates, but you took responsibility for your mistake, you learned from it, and then you moved forward. She had to do the same thing in this situation. She would apologize to the captain, and when she got the chance, she would offer individual apologies to each person on the bridge. There was no need for a public apology.

Now, was it possible to rebuild her budding relationship with Captain Richardson? That might be asking too much. So far they had only flirted with a few mild sexual innuendos during the last couple of months of their deployment. It had been enough to give Lorraine some hope. There had also been a great deal of eye contact. Sted’s deep blue eyes had spoken volumes to her about things they could not say out loud. That eye contact was what had given her some confidence that this was more than just a casual flirtation.

She would find out soon enough. It was time to go see him.

Lieutenant Blyleven was more than apprehensive about this meeting as she pulled herself along the weightless corridor leading to the captain’s quarters. She had to make things right between them or she would go crazy.

As she rapped on the hatch to Captain Richardson’s quarters, she adjusted her uniform and passed her hand through her hair one last time in a hopeless gesture to make it more presentable.

“Please come in, Lieutenant Blyleven,” Sted’s voice said through the external speaker.

Blyleven pushed down on the handle, grabbed the hand bar on the hatch collar, and pushed the door inward. The captain was seated at his desk with the screen of his workstation flipped up. As he folded the screen closed and stood up behind his desk, all Blyleven could think about was how handsome he looked: all six foot two inches of him with his short-cropped blonde hair and stunningly blue eyes.

“Please have a seat, Lieutenant Blyleven,” Sted said as he gestured to the chair bolted down to the floor in front of his desk.

“Yes, sir,” Lorraine replied as she saluted before swinging herself into the chair, which folded around her to prevent her floating off in zero gravity.

Sted returned the salute and then sat back down behind his desk. When they were both settled, he looked directly at her and paused for several seconds, letting the tension in the room build before he spoke. “Would you care to explain that little outburst on the bridge?”

Lieutenant Blyleven looked down in shame. “I wish to apologize for my momentary loss of control in front of everyone on the bridge, sir. I had plans for my extended leave that I had been looking forward to for the past several months, and I got very frustrated after you made that announcement. That’s when I kicked the base of my console. The curse word that came out only compounded my lack of proper decorum as an officer on your bridge. I am ready to accept whatever punishment you deem fit.”
 

“Your plans must have been very important to you, Lieutenant,” Sted replied. “Your deportment had been stellar for the entire two-year deployment, up to the point where you embarrassed not only yourself, but everyone on the bridge. Would you care to share those plans with me so that I can understand what would bring one of my best officers to such a state?”

Lorraine froze in panic. What should I say? Could she really tell him the truth about her feelings for him? What would he think? What would he do? It might just make the whole situation worse!

“At this point, I’d rather not say,” Blyleven said weakly.

“Is that because your plans involved me?” Sted asked with a small grin showing at the corner of his mouth.

“So you feel it too, sir?” Lorraine asked, looking up at him again to see his stern look transform into one of amusement. “I was hoping we might meet on leave to see if there might be something real about the feelings I’ve been experiencing.”

“Well, Lieutenant, I am sure you know that the captain cannot have an intimate relationship with anyone in the crew. How did you plan on me getting around that
fast
and
hard
rule on a naval ship?”

Lorraine knew he was teasing her with more sexual innuendo, which heightened her hopes even further. “I thought I could ask for a transfer to another ship if things worked out between us. But this redeployment makes that impossible. There would be no time for the Navy to find a replacement before we shipped out. That’s why I got so frustrated.”

Sted reached out across his desk. “Give me your hand, Lorraine.”

The use of her given name instead of “Lieutenant Blyleven” startled her as the world shifted slightly. She saw his hand reaching across the desk with the promise of more to come. When she took his hand in hers, it felt like an electric shock running right up her arm and into the center of her being. Her eyes shifted and stared directly into his captivating gaze. Now she really felt helpless.

Sted did not release her hand as he rose from his chair and came around the desk to float above her. Then he pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her as they both floated above the deck.

“Lorraine,” Sted said softly as he lifted her chin and looked directly into her eyes, “I don’t know exactly what plans you had for us once we docked, but I know I also had plans and that my intentions were far from honorable.” With that, he kissed her deeply as they both forgot about where they were and who they were. The primitive drive within each of them fought to take complete control. Finally, Sted pulled away, “Consider yourself reprimanded, Lieutenant Blyleven.”

Then he let go completely.