that conversation either,” she snarled.
O'Mallory wasn't the only one to wince as she took her husband to task for his
transgression.
“Henry,”
she said, returning to a polite facade. “I understand your parents have a
connection with the admiral? Old friends I understand?”
“Yes,”
Warner said, nodding. “They say he's quite something. He has a reputation of
digging into a situation like this and turning it around.”
“I
think that's an excellent idea,” Cora smiled. “Don't you?” Her gaze flicked to
each of the other officers with them.
“We
should take this somewhere else to discuss it,” Esmay the Terran chief
navigator said, standing behind the doctor's left shoulder. The jackal looked
back at her and then shrugged and flicked her ears.
“Here
is fine. This needs to be put to bed here and now so we can get on with
things,” Cora said with a slight smile.
The
engineer quietly watched, making sure his defenses were up and ready. He had
his AI prep to cut the lights in the room, but from the sounds of the
conversation the captain was outnumbered and out voted. Odd, normally it didn't
matter. On a ship, any ship the captain's word was law. Apparently not this
ship. Oh he had heard of this from times long ago. Ships and even some modern
ships that had a divided ownership of the vessel had convoluted chains of
command.
One
of the first experiences with democracy in the America's had been pirates.
Pirates had elected their captains and had even voted on such things as
destinations and major events. The captain was head of the boat but not master
of her destiny.
Things
were apparently similar here. The captain didn't look happy. He couldn't blame
him for not being happy about his authority being undercut. Some men would
stand on principle, defending their authority but captain Chambers apparently
knew a losing hand and decided to back away from the situation as gracefully as
he could. He had been overruled by a higher authority after all. Irons snorted,
spouses tended to do those sorts of things, put everything in perspective as
they threw a monkey wrench into the works. He almost felt sorry for the captain
for his authority being undermined this way. Almost.
“Chief,”
he called, turning a little to look at her over his left shoulder.
“Yeah?”
O'Mallory asked looking his way. The other officers turned to look as well.
“The
bottle is stable at twenty nine percent and climbing. No major leaks. I was
wondering what you want to work on next?” he asked suggestively.
“Um...”
She blinked in confusion. Did he really say what she thought he just said? Was
he for real? What was next?She realized she was distracted and
exhausted from being on duty for nearly two days.
“I
suggest we get the secondary power plants on line just in case or repairing the
fuel and plasma lines.Which do you want me to get on first?” he asked.
She
blinked at him in confusion then as one she and the others turn on the captain.
He blinked in surprise. Her eyebrow rose in inquiry.
“It
doesn't sound like he's holding a grudge,” Cora said softly, one hand on her
husband's arm.
The
admiral turned his attention on the captain. “Sorry we couldn't get the reactor
up to one hundred percent captain. I estimate the repairs will get her to about
fifty seven percent. Maybe a little higher but not much more,” Irons mused.
Warner and O'Mallory exchanged surprised looks. A few people slowly began to
smile or grin. Kiev hadn't had a reactor at that level in centuries. The ops
officer was just imagining what he could do with the excess power. Then the
thought of having that much power to deal with sobered him. What if he didn't
have a use? Would it cause a blow out?
“We
didn't have enough time to get more emitters built and installed. The carbon
carbon and ceramic bonding took longer than I had wanted,” the Admiral sighed.
The
captain pursed his lips and looked at Warner who was looking amused but up to
the
O'Mallory wasn't the only one to wince as she took her husband to task for his
transgression.
“Henry,”
she said, returning to a polite facade. “I understand your parents have a
connection with the admiral? Old friends I understand?”
“Yes,”
Warner said, nodding. “They say he's quite something. He has a reputation of
digging into a situation like this and turning it around.”
“I
think that's an excellent idea,” Cora smiled. “Don't you?” Her gaze flicked to
each of the other officers with them.
“We
should take this somewhere else to discuss it,” Esmay the Terran chief
navigator said, standing behind the doctor's left shoulder. The jackal looked
back at her and then shrugged and flicked her ears.
“Here
is fine. This needs to be put to bed here and now so we can get on with
things,” Cora said with a slight smile.
The
engineer quietly watched, making sure his defenses were up and ready. He had
his AI prep to cut the lights in the room, but from the sounds of the
conversation the captain was outnumbered and out voted. Odd, normally it didn't
matter. On a ship, any ship the captain's word was law. Apparently not this
ship. Oh he had heard of this from times long ago. Ships and even some modern
ships that had a divided ownership of the vessel had convoluted chains of
command.
One
of the first experiences with democracy in the America's had been pirates.
Pirates had elected their captains and had even voted on such things as
destinations and major events. The captain was head of the boat but not master
of her destiny.
Things
were apparently similar here. The captain didn't look happy. He couldn't blame
him for not being happy about his authority being undercut. Some men would
stand on principle, defending their authority but captain Chambers apparently
knew a losing hand and decided to back away from the situation as gracefully as
he could. He had been overruled by a higher authority after all. Irons snorted,
spouses tended to do those sorts of things, put everything in perspective as
they threw a monkey wrench into the works. He almost felt sorry for the captain
for his authority being undermined this way. Almost.
“Chief,”
he called, turning a little to look at her over his left shoulder.
“Yeah?”
O'Mallory asked looking his way. The other officers turned to look as well.
“The
bottle is stable at twenty nine percent and climbing. No major leaks. I was
wondering what you want to work on next?” he asked suggestively.
“Um...”
She blinked in confusion. Did he really say what she thought he just said? Was
he for real? What was next?She realized she was distracted and
exhausted from being on duty for nearly two days.
“I
suggest we get the secondary power plants on line just in case or repairing the
fuel and plasma lines.Which do you want me to get on first?” he asked.
She
blinked at him in confusion then as one she and the others turn on the captain.
He blinked in surprise. Her eyebrow rose in inquiry.
“It
doesn't sound like he's holding a grudge,” Cora said softly, one hand on her
husband's arm.
The
admiral turned his attention on the captain. “Sorry we couldn't get the reactor
up to one hundred percent captain. I estimate the repairs will get her to about
fifty seven percent. Maybe a little higher but not much more,” Irons mused.
Warner and O'Mallory exchanged surprised looks. A few people slowly began to
smile or grin. Kiev hadn't had a reactor at that level in centuries. The ops
officer was just imagining what he could do with the excess power. Then the
thought of having that much power to deal with sobered him. What if he didn't
have a use? Would it cause a blow out?
“We
didn't have enough time to get more emitters built and installed. The carbon
carbon and ceramic bonding took longer than I had wanted,” the Admiral sighed.
The
captain pursed his lips and looked at Warner who was looking amused but up to
the
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