School Days by Nathan Lowell

Author:Nathan Lowell [Lowell, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781940575216
Publisher: Durandus
Published: 2023-05-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Newmar Orbital:

May 5, 2379

Morning

The crew gathered on the mess deck early. A lot of them had smiles. A few looked thoughtful. Only a couple of them looked hung over. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. They all looked up as I entered.

Somebody said, “Captain on deck.”

“As you were,” I said before anybody shifted. “Good morning. Ms. Usoko and Mr. Carstairs will be joining us in a moment, but I needed a cup of coffee.” I crossed to the urn, pulled a clean cup from the rack, and helped myself to fresh brew.

“How many of us are you taking, Skipper?”

I looked up to see who spoke. “I don’t know, Ms. Cheuvront. Some, certainly. A lot of what we’re going to talk about this morning is sketching in what we know, identifying what we don’t know, and laying out some options.”

Pip breezed into the mess deck with Zoya on his tail. “I thought you were going to wait for us.” He grinned.

“Just got here,” I said. “Ms. Cheuvront asked a question. I answered.”

Tom, Kim, and Natalya slipped in behind them and all stood with their backs to the bulkhead near the entry.

Zoya joined me at the coffee urn and helped herself to a mug with a smile and a nod in my direction.

“Mr. Carstairs has a statement. Since we’re docked and he’s the boss—” I paused for a few snickers and chuckles. “Since he’s the boss, he’s going to lay it out. If you’ve got questions for the bus driver, please wait until he’s done.” I nodded to Pip and took up station beside Zoya at the bulkhead by the galley door.

“Right, then. As most of you know—or at least suspect—we’re having a change of command ceremony today at noon. Captain Wang will be leaving and Captain Elizabeth Case will be taking over. She’ll be along shortly beforehand, and you’ll all get a chance to meet her, if you haven’t already.” He paused and looked around. “Any questions about that?”

One of the engineering crew, Mr. Larson, raised a hand.

“David?”

He aimed his question at me. “So, it’s true that you’re taking over the Marva Collins and going to work for the Academy, Skipper?”

“Yes. It’s true.” I took a sip of coffee.

Pip took another step into the middle of the compartment, drawing the attention back to himself. “The plan at the moment is for most of the officers to go over to the Marva. Mr. Reed will be staying aboard as third mate and you’ll get a new group of people to break in.”

That started a round of frowns and rumbles as people leaned together and looked at Tom.

“It’s my choice,” Tom said, raising his voice over the noise. “I was going to take third so Ms. Fortuner could get some time in grade even before this.”

The murmurs calmed down.

“Here’s the straight skinny,” Pip said. “We have the opportunity to help train the next generations of officers. Most of them have never been to the Toe-Holds. Many of them think it’s a ghost town.

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