The Prophecy of the End - Chapter 72
Chapter 72 - The Gyrfalcon
“But doesn’t it bother you to be more or less a glorified secretary for him?” Brady winced as he rotated his shoulder. It seemed odd for Captain Sherman to avoid the easy paperwork then throw himself into the labor of moving heavy and bulky equipment, but the past few hours had been exactly that. Despite the lower gravity it had been a chore to move all of the equipment, and the brutal pace that Sherman had set seemed likely to make up for his arrival delay. Unfortunately it also meant trying to move more through the dock than they should have - he had several bruises where one person or another had not been able to see and they’d collided mid-transport. The lowered gravity had certainly reduced the weight of the items they transported but not the mass, and those impacts had left uncomfortable reminders of that fact.
“Not really, if I’m being honest.” Amanda admitted as she tossed a tube of heatgel to Brady. “For one, Alex is known for being less than entirely precise. He has a tendency to round numbers up and down at random, to guess at things he’s not sure of, and will skip entire portions of the paperwork if he decides it’s not something he wants to do. Trust me when I say that it’s actually faster for me to do the work properly the first time than to try to correct the mistakes he makes when he does it.”
Brady rubbed some of the soothing gel on his battered arms, and winced briefly at the touch before the soothing heat dulled the aches. “But that’s exactly the point! How can you trust him to do a good job if he’s so haphazard? You can’t go through life cutting every corner without making all kinds of terrible mistakes!”
“There are disadvantages, yes.” Amanda admitted, but then cocked her head. “But there are advantages too. The rescue mission to farscope - by the time I could send off a message to TF to apprise them of the situation, we were halfway there. He doesn’t dawdle or delay so he can respond quickly to a changing situation. That’s one of his best qualities.” Amanda very nearly said ‘few’ best qualities, but she already knew the situation would be difficult for her brother as it was. No need to make it worse.
Brady continued to administer the gel while Amanda finished typing up the paperwork. She frowned and reached up to tap her visor. “Alex? It’s Amanda. I’ve just completed the ship transfer paperwork. Just need a few things from you.”
A tired voice answered immediately. “Whatever you need, can it wait until tomorrow? I’m beat.”
“It could, but I’d rather you not put it off endlessly.” Amanda chided him. “I’ve already done the hard part. I’m sending it over to your quickboard for review and signature.”
The line was dead for a minute, before a snort answered her. “Okay, got it. But what the hell, the ship is named the ‘Seattle’? That’s stupid.”
“It was built in commemoration of the designer’s hometown back on Sol.” Amanda mentioned, and though she couldn’t see him she knew Alex was shaking his head.
“Yeah, well it’s a stupid name and I’m changing it. Can we do that now or do we have to jump through hoops?”
Amanda glanced over at Brady, then down at the paperwork. “It’s doable, but is that really a priority right now?”
“It is to me. I spent hours coming up with a good designation for it.” Alex responded, and Amanda rolled her eyes with a sigh.
“Fine, I’ll get the process started on changing the registry. What did you want to name it?”
“The ISC Gyrfalcon.”
Amanda blinked at that. “Jurfalcon? What’s that?”
“It’s a species of bird from Terra - the largest falcon species.” Alex explained, and Amanda tilted her head as she pulled it up from the local net. An image of a light colored bird covered with dark spots appeared on the screen.
“So you want to name the cruiser after a bird?” Amanda bit her lip as she considered that. It wasn’t the worst idea Alex had by any means - just unnecessary.
“Yup. Despite being a cruiser, this isn’t going to be a regular warship. But we WILL be able to fight and I want her name to reflect that. I’ll have you know, I put quite a lot of thought into it.” Alex sounded inordinately proud, and Amanda rolled her eyes.
“Meaning you just searched the ‘net for something like ‘biggest falcon’ or ‘big bird of prey’ and picked one you liked.”
“I mean, yeah, but the other thing too.” Alex admitted. “Either way, I’m the one who took the job and got the ship so I’m in charge - so from this moment on we’re all on board the ISC Gyrfalcon.”
“Fine. Any other minutiae you want me to handle for you?” Amanda said with an exasperated sigh.
“Nope. Just send over the paperwork when it’s ready, and I’ll authorize it.” Alex said, and closed the connection with a soft chime.
“What’s he got you doing now?” Brady asked. “Something about falcons?”
“He wants to give the ship a new name. The ‘Gyrfalcon’.” Amanda began to tab through the list of available documents to find the right one to submit it.
Brady didn’t answer at first, mimicking his sister in pulling up the animal on his quickboard - though unlike her, he found himself actually liking the idea. It was a bit silly really but something about the name had a pleasant ring, and if they were going to be an ‘unofficial liaison’ with the Avekin it made a weird sort of sense to him. “And our… guests are alright with that?”
“They don’t take offense to being called bird-like, if that’s what you mean.” Amanda said distractedly. “Though aside from the feathers and wings they’re not even close to birds. They’re mammalian, they lack the ‘scaled’ legs, they have no beaks. The resemblance is fairly superficial.”
“Uh-huh. Well if they don’t mind… though I guess it’s extra paperwork?” Brady scowled as he realized he hadn’t considered the issue from his sister’s side.
“It’s actually fairly simple, if I’m being honest.” Amanda admitted, looking up at her Brother with a wry smile. “But I do my best to act like it’s a huge imposition even if it isn’t. It helps prevent Alex from dumping more on me than he has to, and if I really ham it up he’ll feel guilty about it for a while. Sometimes even gets me gifts and stuff when he feels really bad. Right now I’m too tired to go into a big dramatic act, but I’ll show you what I mean later on.”
Brady’s scowl deepened - now directed at his sister. “You manipulate your Captain like that?”
Amanda stifled a laugh. “Of course. He may be the Captain, but he’s an irresponsible jackass much of the time. You don’t expect that I would just sit here complacently and accept that without a little retribution, do you?”
“Of course I do!” Brady threw his arms up, then winced as one of the tired muscles protested. “He’s your CAPTAIN, you need to be straightforward and forthright dealing with him! Even if you can’t for whatever reason, it’s absolutely the wrong message to be sending to the rest of the crew!”
“The rest of the crew - including you, dear brother - will learn quickly enough that you’re not dealing with the norm.” Amanda said sweetly. “You can’t treat Alex like a military captain or even a reasonably formal civilian one. Professionalism isn’t his forte.”
“Then how can you expect him to lead us properly?” Brady shot back, and Amanda shook her head.
“Firstly because while he may be unprofessional he’s not stupid. Well, scratch that - he CAN be stupid.” Amanda sighed with frustration, and made vague gestures with his hands. “But he genuinely cares about the crew, and acts with their best interests in mind. He may be capricious and a maverick but he does so with the best of intentions.”
“The road to hell…” Brady muttered, and Amanda nodded.
“Being on his crew was never easy, but it works. At first skirting the rules led us to rich fields that TF was able to exploit. Then when they started sending him to anomalous regions, he lucked into plenty of resources, including a fully habitable planet that’s scheduled for colonization within a few years. And now with Perseus…”
Brady’s face soured. “If nothing else, he has the devil’s luck.”
“That’s unscientific and completely arbitrary.” Amanda teased her brother. “And entirely accurate. Being here with him isn’t going to be pleasant for you, I know - but I definitely believe that it’s going to be tremendously beneficial both for the company and for humanity. I know it’s going to be rough, but at least give it a try?”
“Hmph.” Brady straightened up at that. “I’ll do far better than ‘Try’. All I need to do is prove to him by action that working within the law and regulations produces superior results.”
Amanda slumped down and shook her head. “Yeah, good luck with that…”
—--
“Everyone stand for the Captain!” Brady said primly as he looked out amongst the crowd. The assembled crew was much, much smaller than a ship of this class should have by any standard, and the Captain’s assurances that ‘it will fill out’ were less than reassuring. Even so, the amount of people present was too much to fit in any of the available meeting rooms, and Brady had balked at the Captain’s suggestion they all gather up in the mess. Holding an all-hands meeting in the gym wasn’t much better but at least Brady had made it SEEM formal by dragging a podium and chairs in here.
The group shuffled to their feet with odd looks before Alex walked into the hold side by side with Sophie. He yawned as he walked up to the front of the group and stood at the front. “What’s everyone standing around for? Siddown!”
As the small crew took their seats, Alex glanced around at the familiar - and unfamiliar - faces. “Alright, we’re on a tight schedule and got a shitload to do so I won’t bore you with a big long speech. I’m the new Captain, nice to meet you all. I know that me joining up is kinda rushed and a shock to people but we got some circumstances we’re dealing with. Circumstances which we’re going over right now.”
“So I’m gonna assume everyone here’s already read up about the situation in Perseus. If you haven’t, get with Par. But just so we’re all on the same page, the Bunters are assholes, the Avekin are awesome, the Cetari and Fwenth are weird, and the Tanjeeri seem to want to kill us. Last time we were in the system, the Bunters were trying to blame the destruction of a space station by the Tanjeeri on Sophie, and they wanted to execute her for it.” Alex’s face hardened as he looked around at the newcomers.
“Now if you heard rumors about me and Sophie hooking up? They’re true. We’re a couple - doing the interspecies equivalent of dating. But even if we weren’t an item, I got a thing about capital punishment - so execution for just being in charge at the wrong moment ain’t something I was gonna just accept, so we booked it out of there and used this diplomacy trip as our excuse. Our goal was buying time, but sooner or later we woulda had to head back to Kiveyt. Trix is the ambassador that’s leading this mission, more or less, so delivering her home is the goal.”
“Now, this means that Sophie’s still wanted and last I heard they hadn’t dropped the charges or lightened the penalty. So rather than heading back in our ship, we got handed this one instead. Once we’re back, we’re pretending to be another part of the good will delegation from Sol and Proxima and most definitely are NOT sneaking back into the system with a wanted criminal. I’m gonna stress this heavily.” Alex’s eyes seemed to fixate on Brady. “Under absolutely no circumstances is anyone gonna rat out anyone else on this crew to the Bunters. Under penalty of you REALLY don't want to find out what I'm gonna do.”
“Now, for the other elephant in the room - yeah we’re light on crew right now. I’m going to be hiring before we leave, and I’ll have every station at least partially manned for the trip back to Kiveyt. When we get back there, we’re hiring more. That means this is gonna be a mixed crew. Get used to it.”
Immediately a hand shot up in the air and Alex blinked. “Uh, yeah?” He asked
“Why are we taking on Avekin crew members?” The woman who stood up was around Amanda’s height, with golden brown bob-cut hair. Alex squinted then recognized her as the head of Medical.
“It’s uhhhh….Julie, right? The reason is because our main goal is to build good relations with the Avekin. I’m biased as hell, obviously, but my personal goal is to bring our species together as friends. And I have a few irons in THAT fire, but one big one is showing that we can work together.”
“Now, obviously there’s a few big issues there. There’s a language barrier, for one - so visors are mandatory from now on. I know that’s gonna be annoying at first, but you’ll get used to it.” Alex said firmly. “Luckily there don’t seem to be many pathogens that can cross species, but we’re still gonna be careful as hell and unfortunately that’s gonna come down on you and your team.” He said to the woman who’d sat back down after asking earlier. “I know that’s gonna be rough, but the original plan would have been dealing with complete unknowns, and instead you get a full baseline to work with so that'll ease things up.”
“Food’s a bit of an issue as well. We share macronutrients between species, but they have a few vitamins we can’t process and none of their food provides many of the essential amino acids we need.” Alex’s eyes darted back and forth as he read that bit off from his own visor. It was info he knew, but always had trouble remembering the specifics of. “Here in Proxima Trix and Sophie have their supplements, and when we get to Kiveyt we’ll have to worry a bit more about our own nutrition, especially when we’re on-planet. Everyone keep that in mind. First person to get scurvy down there gets punished, once I figure out what the hell a reasonable punishment will be.”
“Next, relationships. This is gonna be one long-ass deployment, so it's natural that people will get antsy. I ain’t a prude, I know how people are, and I fully acknowledge that things will happen. If you hook up with other humans on the ship don’t let it screw with your jobs. And if you decide that I have the right idea… Well, the Avekin are monogamous and serious about ‘for life’. Don’t expect any casual hookups. If you want to find out if that’s right for you, be my guest. Just respect each other’s boundaries. And for those who don’t know… they don’t have the concept of homosexuality. That might disappoint some of you. Just behave like adults about it. Maybe things will change in the future,” Alex noted that Trix’s face showed SERIOUS doubt just now, “Then again, maybe not. Either way we aren’t gonna try to force anyone to conform to unfamiliar customs. We let them decide for themselves.”
“Lastly, right now the crew that has come with me to join this ship is taking senior roles. That ain’t a slight against any of you or your skills. It’s just me sticking with the people I know and work well with. I know that you are definitely experts in your own fields and may resent working with someone over you who isn’t. That’s natural, and over time things’ll change as we all get comfortable together. Shit is rushed right now, sure, but we’re gonna have tons of time working together from here on out to actually socialize and get to know each other. Big thing though, if you have a problem you come to me about it. I know it might sound like I’m inviting you to go over your superior’s head on things, but that’s how I do things. Anyone got questions?”
Another hand shot up. The helmsman who had arrived late shot to his feet. “You said we aren’t going to be fighting, but what if we get attacked by the Tanjeeri?”
“We’re going to be with the convoy until we get to Kiveyt, and they’re sending along a couple batteships as escort.” Alex explained. “Once we get to Perseus, we’ll be sticking around the Avekin’s home system for a while as we get everyone trained up and comfortable in their positions. If we get attacked during that time, we run. I know this ship can fight, but I always consider that last resort only when we have a fully trained-up crew.”
The doctor stood up without bothering to raise her hand. “You said our main goal is to build up relations? Isn’t that a diplomat’s job? Why are we getting involved with that?”
“Good question.” Alex sighed, and leaned against the podium. “Problem is, our diplomats are divided. See, the Sol diplomats want to do what’s best for Sol and the Proxima ones put Proxima as a higher priority. So can we really trust either of ‘em to put the needs of either Humanity or the Avekin as a whole higher than the interests of the government?”
“I ain’t a company man, if you read up on me then you know that. TF knows that. Joining up ain’t something I’d do under any other circumstances, but the company and I both agree that good relations with the Avekin is more important than Sol or Proxima getting ahead of one another.” Alex straightened back up. “And you better believe that I’m holding each and every one of you to that as well. On this crew, you put the crew first, the species second, the government last. Any issues, you come to me and we work it out.”
Trix glanced over at the other helmsman who had joined the crew. “Uh, Alex. Who’s gonna fly the ship, me or him?”
“An excellent question.” Alex glanced down at the two. “Your name was… Cody, right? You read up on this assignment, I take it?”
“Every detail I could get my hands on.” The man proudly stated.
“Then you know that Trix there is my pilot. This whole ‘joint crew’ venture started with her and it’s been working out damn well for us thus far. It’s thanks to her we survived back when Farscope was attacked, and she kept us alive when those fuckheads in Sol hit us. But you,” Alex made a sweeping gesture, “Have a major advantage in that you’ve flown a battleship before. Trix has flown our old shuttle a hell of a lot, and the Arcadia - and this ship blows ‘em out of the water. We’re talking ten times as much mass, and a shitload of extra power.”
Both Trix and Cody glanced between each other, then back to Alex. He shrugged and gestured behind him, towards the bridge. “So what I’m thinking is that right now you two have the opportunity to get a head start on the rest of the crew. I told you that we’re gonna be a joint crew with members of both races working together, but only the Helm has members present from each race right now - so Trix, I want you to learn this new ship from an experienced teacher. Cody, I want you to get used to working alongside our new friends. We’re basically figuring this out as we go along, so let's work out the best way to handle this.”
Cody nodded in response. “But Trix isn't the only Avekin aboard. What about her?” He gestured to Sophie.
“Sophie’s my executive officer, and you better believe that I’m going to be drilling everything I know about commanding a ship into her head for the next god-only-knows how long. This isn’t favoritism or nepotism, it’s more akin to the way Avekin relationships work.” Alex gestured to Brady. “That said, Mister Teltsin over there will be working very closely with the two of us and will basically be one step below the two of us.” Alex paused, tempted to continue on with ‘Eventually we’ll get the stick out of his ass’ but decided against teasing the man too much.
“Any other issues for now?” He asked, and after a moment of silence nodded. “Alright. I’m gonna get busy on getting the rest of the critical positions filled, everyone else focus on making sure we’re prepped for the trip. At ease or dismissed, or whatever.”
—--
Kili couldn’t help herself as she paced back and forth in the waiting room. Time, and time, and time again she asked herself what she was doing here. Was this actually the right move to make? Would she even be considered for the position? The ad she’d seen had been so bare on details - if the residents at the Halfway House hadn’t pushed her, she wouldn’t have dared to even apply.
Once she did apply, though, she was dumbstruck once the details had appeared. A trip to Perseus with THE Captain Sherman along with the two Avekin that had dominated all newsfeeds for months. If she could - somehow - land this interview, she could be thousands of light years from Sol! Surrounded by actual Aliens, the sort of situation that she dreamt of so many times in the past!
That was the kicker of course - ‘if’. The Halfway House had been pounding knowledge into her head since she arrived in an attempt to land her some kind of job. They hadn’t been specific, and so she felt like she was under-qualified for a dozen plus different jobs. If she had known, she could have specialized, but that would have been impossible without knowing what the future holds, and that was just plain silly. Could she bullshit her way through this interview?
Of course, this was an opportunity that'd draw in dozens, hundreds... maybe THOUSANDS of applicants. She hadn’t seen hundreds or even dozens of others out there in the dockyard which was… Kili didn’t know if it was good or bad, really. What if the job was crap and everyone else had already withdrawn? It sounded so good on the listing, had she missed something with it? Or did they already fill the position and dismiss everyone? She pulled out her pocket board and checked - no notifications. Was that good? Was that bad?
The alert chime rang softly and despite herself she was startled and jumped at the noise. ‘No good. I have to calm down.’ She told herself as the screen lit up and an AI voice called out from the speaker.
“Applicant Kili Wagner, please follow the illuminated strip to Conference Room A.” The voice instructed her, and she moved out into the hall, following the guiding strip of light on the wall. As she walked into the room she immediately swallowed heavily with apprehension. She hadn’t expected one of the Avekin to actually be present for this interview, and she hadn’t brought a visor with her. The man in the middle, Captain Sherman, gestured to the seat in front of the table.
“Okay, gotta ask first - how do you pronounce your first name? I don’t wanna offend.” Alex’s voice sounded exactly like it did on the feeds, which somehow made him sound even larger than life.
“Uh, it’s pronounced ‘kill-ee’.”
“Gotcha. Kili Wagner - 34 years old, originally from Sol, applying for gunnery position.” Alex summed up her application, and leaned back in his chair as he regarded her. “Your resume’s pretty bare. No military experience, no prior work in any related fields. Not exactly the world’s most outstanding resume, if I’m being honest. So I absolutely gotta ask why you’re applying for this position in the first place?”
“I reviewed all available positions on your listing.” Kili tried to sound confident. “Of all the available positions, this seemed like the one I would be most suited for.” That wasn't ENTIRELY true, as she was a decent enough cook she could have applied to be a chef. It was only through the advice of her Halfway House counsel that she chose to apply to become a gunner.
“How can you say that exactly?” The young man sitting next to Alex spoke up. “You do realize what it entails?”
“Yes. I’ve done my homework. I know what the role entails. While it’s true that I don’t have any experience, I’m a quick learner. Give me time and I’ll get the experience you want.”
“Okay.” Alex spoke up and leaned in. The man next to Alex looked distinctly uncomfortable but didn’t say anything. “But by your own admission, you’re absolutely unqualified to join our crew in the position you applied for. You gotta give us more to go on than that.”
Kili’s heart sank immediately, and she tried to keep her voice from shaking. “I know I am unqualified, but I’m a hard worker. The first contact said this was an opportunity to learn and see the galaxy - I want to do both. And if you were just going to reject me… why am I being interviewed in person and not via a call?”
“Because while it’s true that you’re unqualified to be a gunner, it’s also true that I’m absolutely unqualified to be running this ship.” Alex said cheerfully, and gestured around him. “And because, well, if I’m being honest we kinda found ourselves in a bind. We need more crew. I traded up my ship and now I need people to fill it. Only, uh… I’m kinda lacking in resources right now. Maybe you heard the news but Sol basically bankrupted me, and now I gotta try to do the best I can with what’s available to me. So here’s the thing.”
Alex leaned forward over the table and tapped on the surface with his finger. “I’ve done my own homework and background check. From what I’ve seen you do seem bright and motivated. So I do think you could work on the crew. But at the same time, you’re lacking in skill and experience. So my offer to you is simple - you want to join the crew? Fine. This is provisional as hell, but I've got a good feeling here. The kicker is I can’t pay you because you don’t have the skills the job requires. So while you’re with us, you get free room and board, as well as on-the-job training. I’m gonna be driving you pretty hard though. We'll revisit your compensation if you do well in the position.”
Kili’s jaw nearly dropped as she realized she wasn’t being denied. “I…”
“Before you answer, I want you to understand a few things here. First, this is gonna be a big deployment. We’ll a full month out from human territory - minimum. If anything happens back here, you won’t find out for at LEAST that long, realistically probably even longer. And if something does happen and you need to get back here?” Alex frowned and shook his head. “Chances are you won’t have a ride back with us - we’re planning on being out there for the foreseeable future. And it ain’t like we’ve arranged for regular trade just yet, meaning it could be six months to a year or more that you could be stuck out there.”
The alien next to the captain said something unintelligible and Alex nodded. “Also, while we’re gonna be avoiding fights, we’ve gotten into a tussle or two or three already. Joining up means you could get shot at. Joining up as a gunner means you’re gonna be the one doing the shooting back. I gotta know I can count on you if it comes to that. If you’re scared of either - now’s the time to speak up.”
Kili sat there as she digested that, then nodded. “Being away from everything is… that’s not an issue. I'm not a violent person, but I understand that I will be responsible for violent actions. That won't be a concern.”
Alex stared directly into the girl’s eyes, then slowly nodded. “Okay. If you understand exactly what you’re signing on for then I’m alright with giving you a chance. If you’re absolutely sure this is what you want, be here with your personal effects at 10 AM local tomorrow.”
Kili felt her heart leap up into her throat and fought off the urge to jump out of the chair. She merely nodded and stood up. “I can do that.”
“Alright.” Alex gestured to the door. “If you don’t have any questions, we’ll see you tomorrow.”
—--
“Captain, I have to protest in the strongest possible way. What in the world were you thinking?” Brady exploded almost the moment that Kili walked out the door, and Alex winced as the younger man yelled right in his ear. ”You barely spoke with her, asked her a bare fraction of the qualifying questions for a gunner, and handed her the job just like that? She’s absolutely and entirely unqualified for the role you’ve given her! And all that dreck about not having resources? You’re being bankrolled by TF, we absolutely can pay for someone who can DO the job well!”
“Okay, first off - remember what I said about how you won’t always agree with my decisions? So back off.” Alex reached up and scratched at his ear, then gestured out the door. “You’re right that she’s not qualified, but I see a bright kid there who could go far if someone gives her a chance. We’re gonna be that someone. I’m sure it’ll work out.”
“This is… utterly insane.” Brady stared aghast at the Captain. “What are you basing that on?”
“Intuition?” Alex said brightly, and Brady nearly reached out to shake some sense into him right there and then.
Alex studied the serious man for a minute, then deflated. “Okay, okay. I have more reasons than that. Truth be told, she actually has a fairly good recommendation.”
Brady relaxed - slightly - at that. “Can you be more specific?”
“Sure, but you know this is being told in confidence.” Alex glanced over at Sophie, who nodded. “Mother bailed us out big time back in Sol. I owe her big time, and when I put out the call about needing crew for the Gyrfalcon one of her local surrogates contacted us.”
“That girl’s here in Proxima because she fled Sol. A very, very unpleasant and abusive home situation. I won’t go into details - they aren’t relevant. But the situation was bad. Mother has a soft spot for those types, so when she arrived and was picked up by local security she got put in one of Mother’s project houses. They were working to get her self-sufficient and now they want to put her with a trustworthy crew.”
Brady had settled down a bit with that. “Alright. That’s not a terrible reason to bring her on board. But we could have put her in as a deckhand or something. Instead, you want to train her to be a gunner?”
“I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but I am NOT going to be going back to Perseus to get into fights!” Alex said perhaps a little too strongly. “I have a whole slew of good reasons though. For one, I’m hiring her basically for a position I really don't want to be actually used. Also this does give us more leeway on our budget. While yes, I do have the company behind me it has been not-so-subtly hinted at by certain relatives of yours that I should keep our costs down. And while my usual reaction to hearing that is usually to start buying expensive shit and charging it to TF, in this instance I found a way to make our overlords happy while also helping out someone who needs it.”
Brady started to object to the ‘overlords’ comment but Alex waved a hand in front of him. “Also the new PD specialist did a stint as a gunner on a corvette, and will be working with Par on the training. He wasn’t interested in the gunnery position, but he’s fine with training up someone else to handle it. With a little, y’know, grease on his palm.”
Brady whipped out a quickboard so fast Alex honestly wondered if he had some kind of spring hidden up his sleeves. After a rapid tapping, he pulled up the man's info. “That was… Evan? Harker?”
“Yeah. Back to Kili though - when Mother’s people contacted us we,” Alex gestured between himself and Sophie, ”sat down and started trying to figure out where to put her. Mother's people basically told us she could probably fit in just about anywhere on the crew - I wasn’t lying or exaggerating calling her bright and motivated. Also gunnery has been the position we’ve been struggling with the most. Less than three percent of the applications we got were for the gunnery position, and of those ninety percent were weeded out by Par in the remote interviews. We have exactly two other applicants moving forward, and if they don't work out out…”
“We spoke at great length with Kili’s caretakers.” Sophie joined in the conversation now. “Aside from the lack of experience and training, she seems like she would be an ideal candidate. They were incredibly encouraging about how quickly she picks up skills and both Par and Alex assure me that AIs do not over exaggerate. Another major advantage she has is that that the usual detriments of such a posting - being so far from home, without family or friends around, would not be a hindrance for her.”
“I mean, it’s entirely possible that we could hire her, get her trained up and find out she’s crap at the job.” Alex admitted. “We’re doing all this in a rush after all. Trying to fill twenty separate positions with twenty separate skillsets in as little time as possible, while also trying to prepare a new ship for an extended deployment alongside a massive good will convoy? Even for people with the skills, we could make mistakes.”
“But that's exactly my point.” Brady said as he digested everything he just heard. “We have to be extra careful because we're going about this in a rush, and can’t take an inexperienced, untrained crew out when we could potentially be flying into a war zone for all we know.”
“Some of the crew is untrained or inexperienced.” Alex admitted. “But that’s what the computer aides are here for. I may have flunked out of the navy but even I know that experienced, fully trained crews practice and use sims constantly to stay on top of their game. We have those same sims and training aides available to us, and we will be making full use of them. We won’t be without help when we arrive, and trust me when I say there’s going to be PLENTY of shit to do on Kiveyt for a good long while. I don’t see us going off on solo missions the moment we arrive. More than enough time to get everyone as comfortable as possible in their new positions.”
“Even if she doesn’t work out,” Sophie added, “we can move her to another position if necessary. Once we reach Kiveyt and start training up Avekin crew they can take over while we move her to another position - but it will mean losing an entire month of training, practice, and simulations.”
Alex nodded sagely and pounded a fist in his hand. “And lastly, those of us from the Arcadia have a fair amount of experience as it is. We just need to transfer that experience to unfamiliar systems, which is why we’ll have every member of the bridge crew sitting in with the training. Trix and Cody are already buried in the sims. Ma’et will be in every single EW training session and working with them as close as possible. Par will be learning the point defenses and Josh will be backing up Kili in gunnery.”
“What about you and I?”
“You, I, and Sophie you mean? Anything and everything the crew needs, we get to back them up.” Alex said a grim expression. “We aren’t expected to be masters of everything, but we’ll need to be able to fill in anywhere that help is needed. And not just the bridge - we’re gonna be learning basic engineering, damage control, medical, security... Par’s worked up a wonderfully spartan regime for us. And since I get to be put through the wringer learning all this shit, you two get to join me for all the fun.”
Brady just shrugged at that - hard work was nothing new. “I’m still dubious about the decision to have Kili be our gunner. It seems overly optimistic to think that we can simply fill such an essential position on the crew with an untrained, untested recruit you don’t know about simply because of a personal debt you owe to Mother. I would like to record my dissent on this decision in the official ship’s log.”
Alex blinked at that and nearly blurted out, “We have an official log?” before he caught himself. Instead he took a deep breath as he calmed himself and tried - very, very hard - not to burst out laughing hysterically.
“Alright, uh. Your position. Is absolutely noted and understood.” He fought to keep a straight face - obviously the younger man was dead serious about this. Sophie gave him a look and he bit his tongue to keep his face straight. “If the situation changes after interviewing the other gunnery candidates, I’ll let you know and we can revisit this. Otherwise, your uh… dissent is noted. The next interview is in an hour, and I would like to, uh. Confer with Sophie a bit about it. Perhaps you’d like to go get some refreshment while we do so?”
Brady nodded perfunctorily. “I’ll be back in forty-five minutes then.” The young man walked stiffly out the door and Alex watched closely until it closed - and sealed - before dissolving into laughter.
“You’re being extremely unkind to him, you know.” Sophie gave Alex a severe look, though the Captain was certain he could see the corner of her mouth curling up.
“I know, but… c’mon. Recording his dissent on the ship’s log?” Alex reached up to rub a tear from the corner of his eyes. “Who the hell does he think he's impressing with that? What kind of idiotic...”
Sophie covered Alex's mouth to stop him mid-rant. “Fine then. Do you think he has a point about Kili though?”
“Oh, absolutely. This is one hundred percent a gamble.” Alex leaned over against his lover and gestured at the door. “Even with good references the girl could still panic the first time we get shot at, or falter the moment she’s about to take a shot. The dossier we got said she has a solid education but gunners are a very, very specialized group. The training will be tough and the job’s even tougher.”
“Should we put her in a less sensitive position then?” Sophie wrapped an arm around Alex, followed by shifting a wing to press against his warm back.
“I dunno. I wanna give her a chance. It might not work well, but then again it might. My last gamble was with your niece, and that obviously turned out well. My gut says to give it a try.”
Sophie poked him in the side, and he jumped at the unexpected prodding - she caught him right in a somewhat ticklish spot. “I’m pretty sure that your ‘gut’ has been complaining about breakfast, and nothing more.”
“Nah, that’s just more of the usual language barrier. Once we’ve spent a few years together you’ll learn how to interpret it just as well as I have! But speaking of ‘breakfast’, maybe we should see about getting something to eat in here while Brady’s out?”
Sophie nodded, then sighed. "We should, just please... no more of those 'salads'. No offense but they taste like eating grass."
Alex laughed, and pulled out a quickboard to look at a local menu. "In that case, my dear, let me introduce you to a human dish called 'Curry'..."
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