Titanium Texicans (19 page)

The office was quiet. Tasso sat hanging his head. He didn’t know if he was more embarrassed about hitting Cruz or about talking about Anisa behind her back. He didn’t want to meet anyone’s eyes.

Bill said, “That was fast. Play it back again, Sergeant. How many times did Menzies hit Cruz? Three?”

Rodriguez backed the video up. They all watched Tasso strike Cruz in a blur of motion. Rodriguez backed the video up again and replayed it slower. Then he played it slower again. They could see the first hit. It crushed Cruz’s mouth, splitting his lips and splattering blood across the front of Tasso’s coveralls.

Tasso glanced at Anisa, she sat with her hands covering her face, refusing to look.

Bill Rojo said, “Fast. This boy has some speedy hands.” He turned to Tasso. “How much boxing training have you had?”

The FO started to complain, “Don’t answer, Trainee Menzies. You’d be offering evidence against yourself.”

Bill said, “Hush, Rosa. I’m not trying to convict the boy, but you saw how fast he was.”

Tasso shrugged. “I haven’t had any real training in boxing, but I have broken down a few of the corrugated type in the attic lately. We have a few wooden boxes in the attic, but those are more bins than boxes and I spend more time unboxing than boxing things.”

Rodriguez rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “I hate a smartass.”

Tasso shrugged again. “You know, I’ve heard that from someone else today. I must be one, but I really don’t get it.”

Anisa said, “Tasso, boxing is a sport. Uncle Bill is asking about your training in the sport of boxing.”

“Uncle Bill?”

Bill said, “Yes. Anisa is my niece. Didn’t you know that?”

Tasso shook his head no. “I should’ve made the connection, but I guess I didn’t. I’ve seen an organization chart on the shipnet, but you really need to put up a family chart about who is related to whom.”

Bill laughed. “Danged if I don’t need one of those myself some days. What about the boxing?”

FO Graham said, “I advise you not to say anything, Trainee Menzies. Any training in any sport might make it look like you were a professional attacking an amateur.”

Tasso said, “Sorry, First Officer Graham, but I haven’t ever been trained in any sport, not unless you call working a sport. Grandpa and I never really had much time or energy left over after working sunup to sundown. And I don’t know what this boxing is.”

Bill said, “Maybe we should get you some training.”

Tasso said, “Thank you, Purser Rojo. If this sport is about fighting, then no thank you. I don’t really like hitting people, and I sure don’t think I like the idea of doing it for fun.” He looked up at the captain. “I did hit Cruz.” He ignored Graham trying to wave him to be quiet. “I shouldn’t have hit him and I’m sorry. I’ll apologize to him at the first opportunity. I accept any punishment you give me.”

Bill looked at Rodriguez, “Sergeant, what would you do if someone called your mother a whore?”

Rodriguez shrugged, “My mother was a licensed prostitute. I probably would’ve handed him her business card and said ‘so what’? That conversation wouldn’t have gotten that far with me. There were other things said that would have set me off.”

Captain Rojo looked at her brother, “Bill, you’re aware of Trainee Menzies’ family history. So answer me this without reference to his family, but ours, what would you do if someone called Mom a whore?”

“Hit him,” Bill didn’t hesitate to answer. “I’d hit him and keep on hitting him until he quit bleeding or they pulled me off. Come on, Lil. What would you do?”

Captain Rojo looked thoughtful. “As a captain, I’d have to walk away without responding. As a daughter, same as you.”

The captain looked at Rodriguez. “Do you think this is in retaliation for the altercation this morning?”

Rodriguez nodded. “The video makes it clear this is still part of an on-going issue between those four boys and Trainee Menzies. That’s still an on-going investigation, so we’ll lump the incidents together and study them as a single activity.”

Tasso said, “I slipped in the shower this morning.”

FO Graham said, “No one believes that, not even you. Let’s not discuss this further until Security has completed their investigation.”

The captain and Rodriguez nodded in agreement.

The captain looked at Tasso, “Until Security dragged you in here covered in another boy’s blood and in handcuffs, my first order of business was to present you with a commendation from Security. I think Security is sending me mixed signals about you.”

Tasso shook his head, “I don’t know anything about a commendation.” He knew about such paper awards. Grandpa had quite a few of them tacked up on the walls in his bedroom office. Grandpa always said such things were some people’s way of saying ‘thanks’ or ‘good job’ or some such nonsense, but you can’t eat a commendation. Still, his grandfather had been proud of his collection. His grandfather was even more proud of Grandma’s awards and commendation.

Captain Rojo smiled. “Sergeant Rodriguez initiated this one himself. The commendation was before he arrested you. I imagine it must be some kind of record for this ship: getting a commendation and being arrested by the same officer all in the same day. Well, it’ll make exciting reading at the home office in the ship’s log. Sergeant, do you want to retract the commendation or the arrest.”

Rodriguez shook his head. “I can’t void the arrest. It’s still procedure. And the commendation still stands, his actions in locating Gabriel Rojo speak for themselves.”

Tasso looked confused. “I don’t deserve a commendation for helping to find Tio Gabe. I didn’t do anything. I was doing my job.”

Bill looked at his sister. “Lil, isn’t that what the good ones all say?”

She nodded. “Commendation approved. A certificate will be forwarded to your quarters and FO Graham will note it in your training file. Again, you have my personal thanks for helping locate Tio Gabe.” The captain looked at her dataport. “Next order of business is a second commendation for actions today. Maintenance Section E-17 has forwarded an award for helping … wait.” She handed the dataport to Rodriguez. “Gordo and Roberto started this award. Gordo is in your altercation video. Do you see this as collusion?”

Rodriguez reviewed the written commendation and handed back the dataport. “No. Coincidences happen. Gordo may have been in the altercation video, but Roberto and their foreman countersigned the award.”

The captain nodded. “I thought so. I just wanted your confirmation. Tasso Menzies, you aided Maintenance Section E-17 this morning. Your assignment is in another section. You were off duty at the time, but you stopped and helped other crewmembers, saving them time and saving the ship credits.”

She looked at Bill. “Purser Rojo, are these figures correct on this award? Is it true Trainee Menzies sent spare parts from the attic to maintenance? And this commendation recognizes not only this trainee’s technical help with a mechanical problem, but his affect on the ship’s budget?”

Bill nodded, “Yes, Captain. I’ve verified the accounting numbers. Although, I believe we’ve undervalued some of the parts he supplied simply because they are classified as used. We simply call some of the items used because they didn’t come in their original box. He dismantled existing but nonworking and unusable equipment. And Captain, Maintenance Section E-17 has sent an update, not to the commendation, it still stands as is, but an update to the budget numbers.”

“Strapping belts?” she asked.

Bill shrugged, “That’s what they say. Anticipated savings from on-going activity should have us a hundred times that dollar figure in the next year.”

Captain Rojo fingered the ribbon in her hair and looked at Tasso.

He’d been trying to follow the conversation, but he wasn’t sure what else he was in trouble for doing. He hadn’t really helped Gordo and Roberto much more than share a little of what he knew. He didn’t follow anything said about budgets and accounting. All he knew about budgets was he had Grandpa’s twenty-five credits and he had to make them last. He might get more credit when his chiamra crop came in, if he could get back in time to harvest it. He’d actually done a shipnet search about the price of tickets. He had thought about leaving the Escorpión Rojo at a planet and taking another ship going towards Saronno. However, it cost a lot more than twenty-five credits to buy a ticket.

He hadn’t asked what Cherry and Ain were going to pay him for working in the lingerie shop, but he was sure it wouldn’t be enough to allow him to get back to Saronno in time. Saving money on the ship was easy. They provided his clothing, meals, and a place to sleep. He didn’t need anything else.

The captain interrupted his thoughts. “Trainee Menzies, who told you it was okay to strip down old equipment and send it to other departments?”

Tasso was already in trouble. He didn’t want to get Tio Gabe in trouble, too. Nevertheless, he didn’t want to lie. “Tio Gabe said ‘when the well’s dry, we know the worth of water’.”

Bill said, “Really? Come on, Lil. I love the guy, too. He needs to go out to pasture.”

Tasso said, “No, sir, I mean, no Purser Rojo. Pardon me, Captain, but Tio Gabe only talks that way to make me think. My grandfather did the same thing. He always gave me the answer in such a way that I had to work for the answer. Grandpa mostly quoted proverbs from the Bible, but Uncle Ga … I mean Tio Gabe quotes stuff from all over. I looked up what he said, and it comes from a man named Benjamin Franklin about six or seven hundred years ago. He was—”

“I know who Ben Franklin was,” the captain interrupted.

“Sorry,” Tasso said. “Tio Gabe is your uncle, so I’m sure you know he likes to quote that guy a lot when he isn’t quoting some fictional character. Anyway, I took it to mean we should use the resources we already have, not just keep going back to the well for more. Please, it’s not his fault if I sent something out of the attic I wasn’t supposed to. Maybe I misunderstood him, I mean, he does jam two quotes together sometimes and it is confusing, but if I don’t get it, it’s my fault, not his.”

Captain Rojo said, “I think I’ve been misunderstanding him a lot longer than you have.”

Graham said, “Tasso, you’re not in trouble here. Well, not for this, anyway. This is a good thing.”

Tasso let out a sigh of relief. “Good. I was worried about the Thurmand Corporation extruder we’re letting Cherry and Ain use.”

Captain Rojo fingered the ribbon in her hair. “Is that how you made this?”

Tasso nodded, “Yes, Captain, I couldn’t find anything on how long it had been in the attic, but it was way in the back, so I think it’s been there awhile. It didn’t work at first, but it was easy enough to fix. So, I thought someone might as well get some use out of it.”

Captain Rojo said, “I heard a lot about it from Anisa. It seems I’m due for a trip down to visit Cherry. I hear you also made theft-proof packing straps for this same section of maintenance.”

Tasso shook his head. “No, Captain, they aren’t really theft-proof. Gordo and I had the extruder put their section name on them so they can find them if they happen to turn up missing. The extruder did the work, I just pushed a few buttons.”

The captain shook her head back at him. “No. You didn’t just push a few buttons, young man. You found a piece of long lost equipment, you reconditioned it, you found a need for it, and you put it to good use. I even got an e-mail from Dee Perez, bragging about her new special color.”

Bill said, “I have the results of a data search on the extruder. The Escorpión Rojo took it on consignment long before Tio Gabe’s time as captain. We didn’t pay for it in the first place. It was bundled with other manufacturing equipment, but we couldn’t get it sold because it wasn’t working. Captain Emilio Rojo, Tio Gabe’s grandfather sent it to the attic until we could return it to the original consignment company. They were bankrupt and out of business by the time we got back to them. It stayed in the attic.”

The captain said, “Until now.”

Bill said, “Until Tasso.”

The captain nodded, “Commendation approved, although I’d rather have been the one to have my own special color first. Dee will never let me forget that.”

Tasso smiled. “We can still get the extruder to set up something special for you, like the ship’s crest we did for the cheerleaders.”

The captain smiled. “I think we can design something.”

The pizza delivery interrupted the conference. Everyone dug in, grabbing a plate of pizza slices and pouring themselves tea. Tasso was surprised to see everyone jumping in and grabbing whatever they wanted without regard to rank. The FO even grabbed a glass of tea the captain had poured for herself with a grin and a quick thanks. The handcuffs made eating and drinking difficult, so the captain assigned Rodriguez to hand feed Tasso. He had seen pizza around the ship, but he’d never tried it. He didn’t know what a pineapple was. He was also at a loss about where a pepperoni came from. His first bite was a bit tentative, but he quickly realized that whatever kind of animal a pepperoni was, it tasted much better than yapikino, especially when mixed with pineapple.

The room seemed to relax a bit. Friendly chatter had started when the captain held up her hand, stopping all conversation.

The captain looked at Tasso. “We do have some bad news, Trainee Menzies.” Her voice had changed from casual to her official captain’s tone. “We’ve received a tax bill on you from Saronno. We aren’t used to our trainees getting invoiced for land taxes.”