FTL-10...Faster Than Life.

Chapter 10

*Two months later…

I’m in line up at the mess listening to people talking about stuff and sort of daydreaming in my own right as we’re heading into the Soleil system. We’re getting shore leave being here at the halfway point in out milk-run tour and we’re resupplying and we’re going to be doing a few things here.

I’m thinking about the beaches. I’m only ever been to a beach in RL twice and both were poor freshwater beaches. Soleil is a moon actually that’s mostly salt waters but with this full planet reef structure that makes the waters very warm but it’s such a total breakwater thing the waves are usually gentle so I’m told.

Actually told a lot.

Patrick’s really excited to get leave here.

Me, god it’s nearly been a year since I’ve joined and became my honest and real self. Just a year and I’ve been in combat, lost close to a dozen year mates and just about became a completely different person than the lost soul Aaron that had signed up and was remade.

I step up to the chow line and smile politely as several of the new bloods we’ve been picking up and some of the still new ones that’ve been here longer sort of whisper tell them to move and why.

There’s the flash of eyes over my pins and my sword. I’m so not used to getting the respect like that. I still sort of feel like I don’t really deserve it.

But I head over to Patrick’s table my tray laden down with some food to get my body acclimated to the stuff I might be eating. Rich with coconut in it and nuts, fried fish with sun sauce…my eyes tear up as I’m chewing the first bite and Patrick’s laughing at me.

“What…wa…what was that…!?” I reach for my water and he moves it away.

“Hot pepper, eat some rice and drink this.” He holds this pale yellow drink in his hand. I eye it warily the sauce on the fish was yellow.

“What’s this?”

“Mango and yogurt shake, the fat in the yogurt will block the heat off. Water just spreads the heat around more.”

“Okay…” It’s surprising good I could get used to this. He looks at me smiles and gets up. “Where you going?”

“You liked mine so much I’m getting another.”

“But you can have it back, we kiss so it’s not like it’s contaminated.”

“No but you like it and need it with your food.”

“But…but…”

“Erin…you have a nice butt. Does it taste better because it’s mine?”

I blush, look at my plate chew a bit on my lower lip. “Kinda…”

“And is it just a little cool that I’m giving you mine and getting another?”

“A little…” I can’t help but smile a bit. This is a girl thing and I don’t do these things like this like some people do but that boy girl song and dance thing is pretty neat and Patrick and I just sort of play with these moments…I never had them growing up and it feels good to have them now.

I can’t help but to smile at him as I watch him go get another drink. It takes a few more buts before I get the hang of eating this by cutting a forkful of the fish then piling some of the rice on it kills a lot of the burn but I still get the heat. I’m finding that I’m liking the flavors.

I have to get used to the different foods out there after a life with a whole lot of mass produce, super processed soys and vat foods…you have to literally train your body to real foods. I’m lucky because my remake has made that a lot easier but like everything else I’ve been really sheltered food wise.

Patrick comes back and we have a nice breakfast together before heading off for our duty shifts. I hear some of the others still complaining about the Balkorvan’s and why we haven’t gone into their systems and taken them down.

I’m frowning and walking the look at Patrick. “Why aren’t we?”

“Why are we what?”

“Going after the Balkorvan’s.”

“Politics and strategy.”

“I’m not sure that I’m getting that.” I say honestly. He stops looking out the window.

“As a people the Balkorvans are pirates by trade and tradition but they are also the biggest black market source around for several of our governments. They let us do things that are legal but need doing because as much as we love our laws and freedoms it’s a very hard universe out there and sometimes we need these places.”

“Okay, I get that but they attacked us and we can’t go after them?”

“One clan attacked us, it’s why they’re a pirate federation because of things like this. So when someone get’s stupid or greedy it comes down on his head and not all of them.”

“But they all know he did it, or they did it so they get away Scott free? Is that the term?”

“They’re not getting away, they’re looking the other way as we send it a team of night ops emissaries to sort out this unfortunate instance of friendly fire.”

He’s doing the air quotes thing and it takes me a minute to get it but I do get it. Like it no…it just seems kinda dirty. I know that the world has these things going on in them but when you’re in the event that’s being black op swept up it just rubs you like a cheap bra.

“Hey…Erin, you going to be okay?”

Patrick’s looking at me and I smile. “Yeah just adjusting a bit more to life is all. I’ll see you after shift?”

“Definitely unless you’re busy, I hear there’s going to be quite a few incoming cadet ships and stuff so you might have a full sky today.”

“That I’m actually looking forward to.”

We share a long kiss and part ways and my day runs into this long but really interesting day as my sky indeed gets full.

Soleil is a high traffic zone and there’s tourism, immigration, merchant coasters, and people like us and others. There’s a tense moment when the ID scan numbers come up for two Balkorvan ships but at the same time there’s nine Colonial Union military ships in system.. The system has five space stations or platforms running from mining rigs to gas giant skimmers and a few smaller refueling stations and such add that in with the local ships and civilian contractors and my sky is very full.

Oh and by Navigation Standards…every Colonial Union ship calls it their sky on the astrogation bridge. You get less mistakes on things heading in your ships space if you just take that approach. You don’t rely on fudged numbers and second, third or more handed information.

I’m busy on scan and tracking then sending my stuff to query station who identifies the ships and then to plotting who confirms the flight plans of the ships, skiffs or shuttles. The com officers are busy talking to the ships and the commander is passing it to the bridge com officers who adjust our headings.

We’ve all done this before on other stops but this is a lot busier. Some of those new recruit’s the slightly older ones are here as runners. Me I’m sort of running as the deck commander has me doing my job, showing the rookies how to cover for me and then I’m covering the more experienced stations. It feels like his every fifth word is “Stone!”

“Yessir!”

“I’m going to the head, them break. You’re in charge, don’t have us jam the traffic up.”

And with that I’m in command over people that outrank me normally. I’m nervous scared and wired when my On-body computer pops into full life with command features…oh it’s just so much information it…there are things going on the ship that I really barely figured effected the ship and the percentages but they do. There’s so much tracking of flights and flight control from the hangars as there’s shuttles of our own coming and going and our fighters out on a patrol escort. Every Erg of thrust and thrust wake and weights and masses and gravity from planet masses, stations and the bigger ships it’s all flickering through my brain so much more alive, ever changing and vital than net surfing.

I barely have time to breathe, that’s why he’s always issuing orders. Important things are always changing.

It was job wise without being in combat thrilling…it was like conducting an orchestra but it’s not an orchestra but a very large starship with thousands of people on it.

It only lasted thirty minutes but it was…

When I signed on for Navigation and Coms I had no idea that this would be so amazing.
I love this.

My shift ends and I’m leaving when the Deck commander comes over. “Good Job Stone, go download and report to command shuttle bay 1”

“Sir?” I’m going but my duty shift is over.

“Request from the ships commander, there’s a shuttle going out for a VIP pick up and he put in the order for you to fly scan on the flight.”

“Yessir, I’m on my way sir.”

“No you’ve got an hour before flight, this is VIP go get a bite, then shower and then your bridge dress uniform. Don’t make this deck look bad got it?”

“Yessir!” I salute him and head off to download my command experiences. It’s a bit of a downer getting command function turned off before I had va chance to really look at it but still it was really cool.

And scary, how do the upper ranks stay so people oriented when they have this going on?

I head out to “The” command shuttle the sleeked out looking with the flag based paint job and the very expensive interior, there’s staffers here in uniform to fit every need including some of our Companions and several of our heavy combat troopers too including two in the super heavy duty exo-suit armors. Stillwater’s there and she’s in full uniform and she nods to me.

“Stone, take your station.”

I sit and go through pre-flight and do the talk-chatter through command and get coded again for command functions right to my O.B.C. for the shuttle…oh…command class first rated Shuttles are really just small starships really.

I go through the motions with the piloting crew and the fact that Stillwater is our gunner and that we have a gunner doesn’t escape me either.

We go out on low burn until we get clear then the plasma coils ignite the metallic hydrogen and we’re off.

Heading just out of the star system to rendezvous with…

I think the co-pilot said it for all of us.

“What the hell is that?”