Read Athena Lee Chronicles 7: The Martian Inheritance for Free Online Page B
Authors: T S Paul
sound like an order but OPSEC must be observed.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Good. Since we’re in this together please call me Athena when we are alone.”
He gave me a funny look. “OK, Athena, you can call me Kinno if you'd like.”
“OK you too. Time to meet the rest of the crew.” As it happened, just then Captain Gorshin called us back into the foyer area.
I have to admit it was nice to have dinner in the company of such a variety of officers. While many of the officers were newbies, others were transfers from several other system navies. The XO, Commander Marius Blomkvist, had come to the PPL Navy by way of one of the Norse colonies. His unclassified file stated that he had been a spesialkommando in the last war and after suffering a debilitating injury had transfered to the Navy. He did not appear to be injured, but it must have been debilitating enough to keep him off the spec-op teams. Our intelligence officer was Lieutenant Baal. I was intrigued by his name and the man’s response had been that an ancestor thought it was funny. He hailed from one of the traditionally English colonies, many of which were under Imperial control. How he ended up here with us was classified top secret. The XO warned me to never play poker with him. He cheats.
“Ladies and gentlemen we are about to launch on an historic mission to the Mars colony. We have not visited Mars with a warship for over twenty years. Mars is very tricky. The planetary laws and customs can and will seem very unusual to us. Be sure to read your introductory packets. Now I will give you to Commander Lee here for the last toast of the evening. Commander?”
I stood and raised my glass. “To the Revolution!”
As if hearing an echo I heard Wilson mutter something in my ear. “…Wolverines!…” Such a weirdo.
Everyone at the table raised their glasses and repeated my toast. The dinner party broke up fairly quickly after that. Most of the officers had early duty. We were scheduled to depart at 1000 hours. It felt very strange to not have permanent duties on the ship.
As I left the dining room, the Captain was personally seeing each guest out the door. “Athena, would you like to sit on the bridge as an observer when we break orbit tomorrow?”
That was a surprise. “Yes, Captain! That would be great. What time is departure? We will finish loading and begin leaving the mooring at 0930 hours. We have a 1000 scheduled departure.” He explained.
“Thank you, Frank. Expect me around 0900 hours.”
Chapter 8
I was dressed and in uniform by 0700 the next morning. I was impressed with all the changes that had been made to the ship. The cafeteria was much larger than before and contained more equipment and personnel. Chief Gomez was still the chef in charge. Another defector like Lieutenant Mutai the Chief had served on the Paney. Both he and his cooks had ‘held the line’ against the pirates and mercenary forces that had tried to capture his ship. Gomez had taken the underhanded Imperial involvement in the death of his cooks personally. He had he had stayed and joined the 'rebels' while most of the rest of his crew were repatriated back to the Empire. He was a beast in the kitchen.
Spotting a table full of Marines, I w ove my way to their table and sat down with my food. Seeing that it was me, they scooted over to give me more room. One of the braver ones acknowledged me and asked, “Why sit with us Commander?”
I stared off into space for a brief second. “You know, if not for Dar I'd probably never have properly appreciated you guys. It's too easy for us Navy 'pukes' to fall into the trap of regarding marines as furniture and pay little attention to you. But I'd be dead right now several times over if not for Dar's skills. And Spaghetti knows how many ships we'd have lost without marines to defend them.”
I could see nods all around the table.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Good. Since we’re in this together please call me Athena when we are alone.”
He gave me a funny look. “OK, Athena, you can call me Kinno if you'd like.”
“OK you too. Time to meet the rest of the crew.” As it happened, just then Captain Gorshin called us back into the foyer area.
I have to admit it was nice to have dinner in the company of such a variety of officers. While many of the officers were newbies, others were transfers from several other system navies. The XO, Commander Marius Blomkvist, had come to the PPL Navy by way of one of the Norse colonies. His unclassified file stated that he had been a spesialkommando in the last war and after suffering a debilitating injury had transfered to the Navy. He did not appear to be injured, but it must have been debilitating enough to keep him off the spec-op teams. Our intelligence officer was Lieutenant Baal. I was intrigued by his name and the man’s response had been that an ancestor thought it was funny. He hailed from one of the traditionally English colonies, many of which were under Imperial control. How he ended up here with us was classified top secret. The XO warned me to never play poker with him. He cheats.
“Ladies and gentlemen we are about to launch on an historic mission to the Mars colony. We have not visited Mars with a warship for over twenty years. Mars is very tricky. The planetary laws and customs can and will seem very unusual to us. Be sure to read your introductory packets. Now I will give you to Commander Lee here for the last toast of the evening. Commander?”
I stood and raised my glass. “To the Revolution!”
As if hearing an echo I heard Wilson mutter something in my ear. “…Wolverines!…” Such a weirdo.
Everyone at the table raised their glasses and repeated my toast. The dinner party broke up fairly quickly after that. Most of the officers had early duty. We were scheduled to depart at 1000 hours. It felt very strange to not have permanent duties on the ship.
As I left the dining room, the Captain was personally seeing each guest out the door. “Athena, would you like to sit on the bridge as an observer when we break orbit tomorrow?”
That was a surprise. “Yes, Captain! That would be great. What time is departure? We will finish loading and begin leaving the mooring at 0930 hours. We have a 1000 scheduled departure.” He explained.
“Thank you, Frank. Expect me around 0900 hours.”
Chapter 8
I was dressed and in uniform by 0700 the next morning. I was impressed with all the changes that had been made to the ship. The cafeteria was much larger than before and contained more equipment and personnel. Chief Gomez was still the chef in charge. Another defector like Lieutenant Mutai the Chief had served on the Paney. Both he and his cooks had ‘held the line’ against the pirates and mercenary forces that had tried to capture his ship. Gomez had taken the underhanded Imperial involvement in the death of his cooks personally. He had he had stayed and joined the 'rebels' while most of the rest of his crew were repatriated back to the Empire. He was a beast in the kitchen.
Spotting a table full of Marines, I w ove my way to their table and sat down with my food. Seeing that it was me, they scooted over to give me more room. One of the braver ones acknowledged me and asked, “Why sit with us Commander?”
I stared off into space for a brief second. “You know, if not for Dar I'd probably never have properly appreciated you guys. It's too easy for us Navy 'pukes' to fall into the trap of regarding marines as furniture and pay little attention to you. But I'd be dead right now several times over if not for Dar's skills. And Spaghetti knows how many ships we'd have lost without marines to defend them.”
I could see nods all around the table.
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