Hallis paced back and forth in CIC. Despite his years of experience, as the ship prepared to head toward Gomorrah, he couldn’t hide his nervousness. It was obvious to everyone present, that something only he knew about was troubling him, and it had an unsettling effect on the crew. Nevertheless, he gave the final order to engage the engines and proceed to their destination. As the battlestar eased forward, he held his breath, and beads of perspiration escaped from his temples. Colonel Bridgeford shot a glance at him, “It’s been a while has it?” The question was more rhetorical and the XO made the comment for the benefit of easing the minds of the crewmen.
It wasn’t good for them to see their commanding officer in such a manner. The colonel walked over and stood beside the Admiral. “Anything I should know?” Hallis looked at him without saying a word and just then Mr. Lapointe’s voice sang out, “Sir, all departments report no problems. We are underway.” Admiral Hallis inhaled sharply and then let out a long a sigh of relief, motioning to the colonel to follow him to his office.
As the two men entered the room, Bridgeford noticed captain Reeves quietly sitting in a dark corner and Hallis gave the old marine a glance that warned him to remain silent. The door was then secured and the admiral spoke, “what is said here, remains here.” The Colonel interjected he had thought Reeves was aboard toaster one and the Captain responded by saying that officially he still was. “The Captain woke me last night. He found this explosive device in one of our tylium tanks. It was set to blow for when we got underway.” The Colonel couldn’t believe his ears, “who” he wondered, “would want to destroy them?”
“I went on a gut feeling last night, things were just too quiet for the past couple of days. So I walked over here, did some snooping and discovered that. I can’t comment on the explosives, but I can tell you that the electronics in that detonator are really advanced. That leaves me with 2 suspects, your spy and Lapointe.” The old marine and the ship’s old man were confused. “Oh, it’s simple math, there are only 3 people aboard this ship that can accomplish the construction of this detonator. Myself, Lapointe and I believe, Mr. Creepy.”
The Admiral refused to believe that it was Lapointe and Bridgeford offered, “I don’t like Mr. Conoy either. He makes my skin crawl; it always feels like he is trying to get inside of my head. But I know for a fact his mission is to get back to Picon, and I don’t think he can do that with a destroyed battlestar.” The Admiral rubbed his chin and contemplated what to do. He had no answers or ideas, save for telling Reeves to keep him informed of his investigations.
The morning command meeting was scheduled in an hour and the captain could just blend in at it. Pausing a moment before returning to the bridge the old man addressed the colonel, “The alchemist is a resourceful criminal. And the airlock incident gives him motive, do you think he might be capable of this?” The marine looked at him and responded, “Trust me when I say he isn’t.” Hallis nodded and left the room.
-----
The morning meeting was pretty standard and concluded with a little bit of controversy. Captain Reeves was going to take command of lieutenant Ford, at least for a little while. It came as no surprise when the captain politely asked the admiral to make this an order, because the mere idea of contact with Ford made him want to hurl. Hallis made a funny face, issued the command and entered it in his duty logs, as everyone left the room. Within a few moments the door to his office opened and Mr. Creepy walked in. “Hello Dave, I’m sure you don’t mind me calling you that, do you?” Hallis looked up with a hostile but curious stare. “What is it I can do for you Mr. Conoy?” The man pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him. “I wanted to discuss Gomorrah with you. As you know there are both ruins from a former settlement and a cylon depot there.” The Admiral shook his head in agreement. “In the north-east quarter of the old depot, I was wondering if you could do some exploring for me. I would do it myself, but staying safe, and going to visit an unsecured planet are mutually exclusive.”
The Admiral cracked his neck and enquired if there was something in particular that they would be looking for. “Why Dave, I’m looking for intelligence and anything else we can use in the war against the toasters. Just tell your men to keep their eyes open and I’m sure they will be able to discover anything worth finding.”
Mr. Conoy figured the conversation was over and proceeded to get up but the Hallis grabbed his hand to keep him from leaving. “You want to tell me why you were trying to flush the alchemist out my airlock?” The spy smirked and calmly removed his hand from the Admiral’s grip. “Not really, it’s a need to know basis.” Admiral Hallis coldly stated that he needed to know because it was his ship.
“In the grand scheme, he was becoming a potential liability to the safe return of this ship to colonial space. And for the record, this isn’t your ship, it belongs to captain Reeves.” The Admiral looked the man in the eyes and then grabbed the collar of his uniform and shook his rank insignia at the spy. “Yes, I see you’re an admiral but you forget this ship was decommissioned and placed in the care of the Captain. Since this ship has never been reinstated, that means he is still the caretaker. You’re just the highest ranked officer on board.”
Mr. Conoy turned once more towards the door, and added, for no other reason than to play devil’s advocate, “You know admiral, it’s customary that when you loose a battlestar that your ability to command is suspended pending an enquiry. But I suppose that wouldn’t mean too much, because this is a time of war. Oh wait, you never really received that official declaration either, did you?” With a shrug he exited the room sighing about little details.
Fighting a feeling of wanting to take a bath, the Admiral walked out to CIC and summoned Mr. Lapointe into the room. “I want you to work with Cupcake on a recon mission. She is qualified to fly a raptor. I want some flybys scans and a ground recon of the northeast quarter of the old cylon outpost. Tell her to select a navigator and a couple of marines. Lapointe wanted to know if this was a classified operation and Hallis paused for thought, “No, there is too much scuttlebutt on this ship and a classified operation, regardless of how minor, will just agitate the crew. Work up a rest and relaxation schedule that puts you both in that area, but keep things really quiet.” With his orders, the Lieutenant exited the room.
-----
Finally knowing and understanding the character of captain Reeves, the Admiral had come to trust and depend on the man in ways he never trusted anyone else. Reeves is intelligent, highly skilled, understated and because of his childhood, could be very cunning. To this effect, his impromptu arrival on the Argus was only acknowledged by major Assuras’ comment she missed passing him in the hallway that morning. No one had noticed he had been sneaking around the battlestar for several hours prior.
Nothing special had been discussed during the command meeting, save for the captain taking command of lieutenant Ford and flying Toaster one to Gomorrah. Toaster one was following the Argus and because most of the ship was stripped, the battlestar would arrive in 4 days while the basestar would need 7. Reeves avoided small talk with Assuras and quickly proceeded to the brig to retrieve his newest crewman. Lieutenant Ford was asleep in his cell when he heard Reeves voice, “Get him up.” Ford had recently gotten used to such disturbances, so he arose quickly fearing retribution from the marines charged with guarding him. “By order of admiral Dave Hallis, effectively immediately lieutenant James Ford is hereby transferred to Toaster one, under the command of captain Jason Scott Reeves.”
The Captain made a hand gesture to one of the guards and a man-sized metal box was pushed into the room. He then spat out the words “put him in it.” Horror was in Ford’s eyes as he looked at the container, “what are you going to do to me?” A marine guard entered the cell and grabbed the man by the shirt with one hand, slapped him with the other and told him that the Captain was going to give him what he deserved. Witnessing this incident Reeves responded in a fierce command voice, “Private! Enough!”
The soldier let go of the lieutenant, but in protest, “Shut the frak up and consider yourself on report! I’m well aware of lieutenant Ford’s crimes but he is still wearing the uniform. If you have a problem with him, you take it to a superior. Now put him in that damn box!”
As Ford exited the prison cell, he continued to look at Reeves with questioning horror. The Captain responded, “Forester works on the flight deck and I’ll be fraked if I’m going to allow him to see your face again.” The Lieutenant proceeded to crawl into the box without making a further sound. Reeves spoke again before the lid was closed, “The only reason you’re not pushing a broom during your duty hours is I need someone to help fly the basestar. But get this in your head, this is a time of war and Toaster One is under my command, aboard it, my authority is similar to the Admiral’s. Frak up on a salute and I will personally execute you.” As if to punctuate the dreadful reality that was closing in around Ford, the lid was shut on his metal encasement and he was transported to Toaster one.
-----
“Baby, don’t think I haven’t tried. But what they say about prisons and extended tours of duty, just doesn’t hold true with Cupcake.” Sasha was speaking as she rested her head on Max’s chest, smoking a cigarette. The couple was nude and snuggling underneath a collection of clothing. “She has it real bad for Reeves and absolutely nothing is going to be a substitute for him.” Max took a drag from her cigarette and chuckled, “The Scotty is a hell of a man, if a woman can catch him.” The little woman re-adjusted herself and momentarily played with Max’s new lieutenant bars before continuing. “At least he is more of a man than Lapointe. She used to have a crush on him. I guess the woman has a thing for technical nerds.”
The former chief smiled noting that Reeves might be technical but he was far from a nerd. He then smirked and playfully grabbed his rank markings saying that since he was now an officer, Sasha couldn’t order him to do things anymore. She laughed, pulled back the coverings, and shifted her position to lay flat on her back, saying, with a devilish smile that there are a few things she could order her man to do. Max grinned, saluted and was about to carry out his orders, when interrupted by a banging on the duty locker’s door. “Gains and Maxime, open the fraking door!” It was major Assuras.
Instead of waiting, she shoved, hard, and the bar that was holding the door shut, fell out. The door swung wide, and the major walked in. The two nude officers bolted upright, speechless. “At ease, I’m not going to bust you two. Max, go hit the showers, I need to talk to Gains.” Lieutenant Maxime grabbed his shirt and promptly left the room, closing the door behind him. “I’m sorry major, you know how it is.” As such was the relaxed atmosphere in the pilot’s off duty area, Gains didn’t make an attempt to get dressed as she offered her apologies for her actions. “Yea I know and that’s the reason I’m not busting you. We all need to release a bit of tension from time to time. The lords only know I’m jealous right now.” The atmosphere became more informal and Sasha wanted to know what was so important that the major busted into the room.
“We got work. It’s not officially classified, but it is on a need to know basis. I want you as my navigator on raptor 484.” She detailed the plan on how they were all going to take some needed R & R together. “According to the admiral, this request came from Mr. Creepy and neither of us trust that twitchy, theological-psychoanalyzing bastard. He knows something is there or he wouldn’t have made the request.” Gains agreed but promptly sighed that she wasn’t going to get to spend time with Max. “If we finish our job quickly, you should be able to get some time alone with the new lieutenant. Just be more discreet about it than today.”