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© 2020 by Walter Reimer
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rabbi-tom
“Approaching Waypoint 47, sir,” one of the day shift engineers remarked. “Data packet being uploaded.”
Dashufenke Jax nodded, glancing at his helm station’s monitors. “Yeah, I see it. Thanks.” The upload finished before the freighter was past the beacon on its way to This Far. The upload done, he started scrolling through the packet, forwarding mail to various members of the crew and sending anything business-related to Meredith before opening and skimming the news.
The junior engineer heard a muffled curse and turned to see Jax gaping openmouthed at the monitor. “What’s up?” the doe asked.
“The . . . the Confed attacked and invaded Indawo,” he replied. “The Colonies have declared war.”
“Deus’ cock,” the senior engineer breathed.
The intercom dinged. “Jax?” Meredith asked. The bridge crew looked at each other.
The mare’s voice seemed strained.
Jax touched his earpiece. “I’m here, Captain.”
“Come to my office. Please.”
The rat felt his tail twitching. “On my way,” and he slaved the helm controls to the senior engineer’s board before getting out of his seat and leaving the compartment.
The captain’s office was a small room adjoining Meredith’s cabin, with enough room for three seats and a desk. Jax entered to see Meredith staring down at her padd. “Captain?” he asked gently.
She looked up, ears swiveling forward. “H-Have a seat,” and she gestured at a chair. “We’ve had some news.”
“I got the news about Indawo,” the rat said as he sat down.
The golden palomino nodded. “And you know the Colonies have declared war on the Confed.”
“Yeah.”
Meredith glowered at her padd, flicking the screen to flip the image around so that it faced Jax. She slid it across her desk to him. “It’s sent in text.”
Jax frowned at her, and picked up the padd.
ColMilComNet
488246hUfd9632
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL
From: Transcosm HQ, God’s Armpit
To: All Transcosm Captains and Crews
1. Following the invasion of Indawo and the declaration of war against the Terran Confederate Union, pursuant to Clause 19 of your employment contracts with Transcosm (‘Emergency Situations’), all company assets have been acquired by the Colonial Military Command for the duration of the current emergency.
2. Armed Transcosm assets will be assigned to combat transport roles, while unarmed ships will be tasked with rear echelon support and maintaining commerce.
3. Pay and benefits are unaffected by this directive.
4. Pending resignations/retirements are held in abeyance for the duration of the emergency. Desertions or refusal to obey/acknowledge orders will be subject to military discipline.
Signed:
Khosrau Lavrent, Transcosm Chief Executive Officer
Mira Fikset, Admiral, Colonial Military Command
Jax finished reading and looked up at Meredith. “I tried to keep us out of it,” the mare muttered, and her ears flicked as the rat began to chuckle. “Jax?”
He shook his head and gave the padd back to her. “No, Boss, I’m not going crazy. I was just thinking.”
“What about?”
“That I should have read every bit of my contract before I signed the damned thing.” He gave a mirthless smile as Meredith choked back her own chuckle, and said, “We’ll have to tell the crew that we’ve all been drafted.”
“I know,” the mare sighed. “But we have a cargo aboard for This Far, and we’ll wait until we reach port first – “
“As Executive Officer, I am required to advise you, Captain,” Jax said in a stiffly formal tone.
“Yes?”
“Good news can wait,” he said. “Bad news can’t.”
Meredith sat back, grimacing as if she’d just bitten into something foul. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll make an all-crew announcement, and post the notice throughout the ship.” She nodded to herself. “Thanks, Jax.”
He smiled. “Anytime, Boss.” He got up and left the office, headed back to the bridge.
Meredith picked up her padd and went into her cabin, heading straight to the dresser and taking a bottle of Markellan whiskey from a drawer. The liquor burned its way down her throat as she took a single gulp, capped the bottle and returned it to the drawer. She stepped over to her bed and sat down, flicking at her padd and bringing up an image of herself in Navy uniform.
There were junior lieutenant rank flashes on her shoulders, but she was a captain now. A Quiet Life was her ship, part owner as well as its master.
Unnoticed, tears began to splash on the surface of the padd.
© 2020 by Walter Reimer
Thumbnail art by
rabbi-tom“Approaching Waypoint 47, sir,” one of the day shift engineers remarked. “Data packet being uploaded.”
Dashufenke Jax nodded, glancing at his helm station’s monitors. “Yeah, I see it. Thanks.” The upload finished before the freighter was past the beacon on its way to This Far. The upload done, he started scrolling through the packet, forwarding mail to various members of the crew and sending anything business-related to Meredith before opening and skimming the news.
The junior engineer heard a muffled curse and turned to see Jax gaping openmouthed at the monitor. “What’s up?” the doe asked.
“The . . . the Confed attacked and invaded Indawo,” he replied. “The Colonies have declared war.”
“Deus’ cock,” the senior engineer breathed.
The intercom dinged. “Jax?” Meredith asked. The bridge crew looked at each other.
The mare’s voice seemed strained.
Jax touched his earpiece. “I’m here, Captain.”
“Come to my office. Please.”
The rat felt his tail twitching. “On my way,” and he slaved the helm controls to the senior engineer’s board before getting out of his seat and leaving the compartment.
The captain’s office was a small room adjoining Meredith’s cabin, with enough room for three seats and a desk. Jax entered to see Meredith staring down at her padd. “Captain?” he asked gently.
She looked up, ears swiveling forward. “H-Have a seat,” and she gestured at a chair. “We’ve had some news.”
“I got the news about Indawo,” the rat said as he sat down.
The golden palomino nodded. “And you know the Colonies have declared war on the Confed.”
“Yeah.”
Meredith glowered at her padd, flicking the screen to flip the image around so that it faced Jax. She slid it across her desk to him. “It’s sent in text.”
Jax frowned at her, and picked up the padd.
ColMilComNet
488246hUfd9632
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL
From: Transcosm HQ, God’s Armpit
To: All Transcosm Captains and Crews
1. Following the invasion of Indawo and the declaration of war against the Terran Confederate Union, pursuant to Clause 19 of your employment contracts with Transcosm (‘Emergency Situations’), all company assets have been acquired by the Colonial Military Command for the duration of the current emergency.
2. Armed Transcosm assets will be assigned to combat transport roles, while unarmed ships will be tasked with rear echelon support and maintaining commerce.
3. Pay and benefits are unaffected by this directive.
4. Pending resignations/retirements are held in abeyance for the duration of the emergency. Desertions or refusal to obey/acknowledge orders will be subject to military discipline.
Signed:
Khosrau Lavrent, Transcosm Chief Executive Officer
Mira Fikset, Admiral, Colonial Military Command
Jax finished reading and looked up at Meredith. “I tried to keep us out of it,” the mare muttered, and her ears flicked as the rat began to chuckle. “Jax?”
He shook his head and gave the padd back to her. “No, Boss, I’m not going crazy. I was just thinking.”
“What about?”
“That I should have read every bit of my contract before I signed the damned thing.” He gave a mirthless smile as Meredith choked back her own chuckle, and said, “We’ll have to tell the crew that we’ve all been drafted.”
“I know,” the mare sighed. “But we have a cargo aboard for This Far, and we’ll wait until we reach port first – “
“As Executive Officer, I am required to advise you, Captain,” Jax said in a stiffly formal tone.
“Yes?”
“Good news can wait,” he said. “Bad news can’t.”
Meredith sat back, grimacing as if she’d just bitten into something foul. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll make an all-crew announcement, and post the notice throughout the ship.” She nodded to herself. “Thanks, Jax.”
He smiled. “Anytime, Boss.” He got up and left the office, headed back to the bridge.
Meredith picked up her padd and went into her cabin, heading straight to the dresser and taking a bottle of Markellan whiskey from a drawer. The liquor burned its way down her throat as she took a single gulp, capped the bottle and returned it to the drawer. She stepped over to her bed and sat down, flicking at her padd and bringing up an image of herself in Navy uniform.
There were junior lieutenant rank flashes on her shoulders, but she was a captain now. A Quiet Life was her ship, part owner as well as its master.
Unnoticed, tears began to splash on the surface of the padd.
Category Story / General Furry Art
Species Horse
Size 74 x 120px
File Size 40 kB
Listed in Folders
At least her crew has themselves a captain with some military training and skills - and has personal friends with even bigger guns!
And isn't this the same crew that has already fought under her command with only an unarmed freighter as a weapon - and won?
If they even get to see any action after said friends show up in force ...
And isn't this the same crew that has already fought under her command with only an unarmed freighter as a weapon - and won?
If they even get to see any action after said friends show up in force ...
Very true, as to Points 1 and 2. A few of the crew also had prior military service, and one of the helm officers (Jemel Fikset) has a relative who's not only the matriarch of his family, but also the admiral mentioned in the message.
Of course, the combat support train isn't exactly safe as houses, and the A Quiet Life, while more heavily armed than the previous ship, only has a corvette-equivalent armament and shielding. Anything larger can be problematic.
Of course, the combat support train isn't exactly safe as houses, and the A Quiet Life, while more heavily armed than the previous ship, only has a corvette-equivalent armament and shielding. Anything larger can be problematic.
Of course, but she isn't expected to go toe-to-toe with bigger ships, but to possibly hold her own against the smaller enemy units until somebody bigger removes the problem.
Oh crap, knowing you, why do I see those two sharing plans in the clear - because they'll be referencing bits of that silly game they've been playing?
Oh crap, knowing you, why do I see those two sharing plans in the clear - because they'll be referencing bits of that silly game they've been playing?
I didn't map out my 'tales of the folly' the first time, just had a couple high points I wanted them to hit, but never finished the silly thing. On rewriting it, I now had more points to hit, but a lot of little stuff got added here and there ...
Almost all my writing is off the cuff and I'm not always sure where it's going to end up!
Almost all my writing is off the cuff and I'm not always sure where it's going to end up!
Over the sea
Let's go men
We're shovin' right off
We're shovin' right off again...
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2f0xht
Let's go men
We're shovin' right off
We're shovin' right off again...
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2f0xht
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