There are some mornings when you wake up and immediately know that you have made your first mistake. This is how Solomon Smith felt on this second day of the mission to locate a missing commercial craft. As Chief Engineer of Taurus he held what could be called a pivotal position aboard this Star Ship, one of tremendous responsibility and he was proud of this, his reputation among Stella Command personnel was truly remarkable though perhaps not always for the right reasons. He had a knack of obtaining whatever equipment his ship needed when there was none to be had, officially. People like him used to be known as wheeler dealers. It was considered at the time, by some, as an art form. Solomon was second to none in this art. But this particular morning was not one of his better days, today he wasn’t second to none in anything - he wasn’t even placed. He was well and truly hungover from the previous night’s revelry. His father, being a Rabbi settler from The Valleys and his mother a Pole Dancer from Aarde Een gave him a lust for life and a thirst to match, which he had endeavoured to satisfy the night before this galaxy size headache. The very last thing he wanted this morning was anything resembling the responsibility he had as Engineer. He very gingerly slid sideways from his bunk, his feet barely touching base when it happened. Through the cacophony of noise pounding away inside his head he heard a voice, a hideous metallic voice, albeit distant.
‘Good morning, Solomon, your early morning call as requested. Rise and shine.’ Bing.
‘Why oh why do I keep doing this to myself?’ He heard himself utter, accusingly. ‘It’s the same every time and one of these days I may do or say something I’m going to regret.’ Then the horror of that thought struck him, he hadn’t done so already had he? He couldn't remember and that was the damning thing. As he started to pull himself together, dressing and grooming, he pondered over what he could remember from the night before. He’d got into a heated discussion, or argument, as some would have it, about the mission they were on. There had been much speculation flying around about the nature of the trip. The captain hadn’t said much about it so far, he was being uncharacteristically secretive which was not his usual style and this led to all sorts of wild guesses. But he, chief engineer Solomon Smith knew it all, or so he had insisted over one or two too many ‘shots.’ ‘Oh dear,’ he said to himself, more in anguish than anything else, ‘I probably said too much again. Sol, you’ve got a big mouth!’ By the time he’d finished chiding himself he was fully dressed and, physically, ready for duty. Today, he, along with the rest of the crew, were soon to find out more about the very thing they had discussed the night before, the mission.
‘Are you okay, captain?’ The voice of First Office, Madz Bergman brought Ethan back into the present. He had been deep in thought about the nature of the mission and he was troubled by it. He knew he had to share his concerns but how much could / should he divulge because it involved things from his own past, things he wasn’t proud of and would rather they were buried and forgotten. For a time they had been but now his past seemed to be catching up with him and presented a threat. He had to tell his command team, they had a right to know, and he had always been open with them.
‘Ah, No. 1. Good timing, I was just thinking it was time I briefed you all on the mission. Officers meeting in the conference room in ten minutes.’
‘Aye, captain. It would be good to know what we’re about this trip.’ With that Ethan was left alone once more, with his thoughts. In his mind he was uneasy about the task they had been given, something wasn't right but he couldn't put his finger on what that something was. If his First Officer detected something untoward, who else had, and, not informing the crew about the mission sooner was definitely not like him?
It was precisely 10 minutes and thirty seconds later when a somewhat dishevelled Chief Engineer all but stumbled through the door of the meeting room, where the rest of his Control Team were waiting. ‘Ah, we’re all here then?’ he uttered in fake surprise and innocence.’
‘Would seem so, Chief.’ responded Ethan with a wry smile being the only signs of any disapproval of his engineer’s tardy arrival.
There was only the faint background hum of the ship's systems to be heard, the air filled with a pregnant silence, everyone sensing that this was no ordinary meeting. Ethan was feeling strangely nervous. He couldn’t put it off any longer, he knew he was going to lay himself open by sharing aspects about his past he had managed to keep hidden for so long. This was his crew, his fellow officers and his friends. How much of this would be changed in the following minutes, he could only guess and he had to admit to a feeling of dread rising in him. This would be a test of friendship and he dreaded the result but he had to come clean.
‘A star ship captain should never apologise to his crew, the first thing I was told back at the academy but, I am going to break that rule.’
‘Captain, please, if you were thinking of apologising to us then stop there. With due respect, you are the captain, you have been given a mission upon which we will all be only too willing to serve. It is true you have left it unusually late to inform us of the true nature of this mission but we figure you have had your reason for this. I know I speak for everyone here when I say this.’
There was a general mumble of agreement and nodding of heads then silence following 1st Officer Bergman’s interruption.
Did this make it any easier for Ethan, he wasn’t sure. He was going to reveal personal details. ‘Thank you for that,’ he responded, nevertheless what I am going to reveal to you is literally ‘off the record.’ This will make you the first ones in Stellar Force to know. There is no official written record of what I am about to disclose.’ This was it, there was no turning back.
‘I must take you back to my early days, my wild youth, days when I was not only wild but reckless too.’
He could see the look on the faces of his listeners, a look of genuine surprise mixed with disbelief, from all but one, Abi but she was an android and so he didn’t expect much from her. He had to continue now.
‘I was fortunate to be taken under the wing of a great man who taught me just about everything there is to know about space exploration and how to handle a ship. He had incredible knowledge and, as I had no other source of reference to turn to, I looked to him pretty much as a father figure. My own father had been killed in the ‘Early Border Conflict.’ He’d been serving on a SF Magnum Class Frigate at the time.’
‘Excuse me, captain but do we really need to hear all of this? What has it to do with our mission?’ Dr Bennett could see his captain's discomfort and wanted to spare him if he could.
‘As you will see it has a lot to do with our mission, Dr, you see, the ship on which I gained my experience on which I served my apprenticeship, if you like, was in fact this very vessel we have been sent to find.’
‘Yes, but I still don’t see…’
‘Please, my friend, patience and you will see. This ship has a very interesting if not colourful history. All the time I spent onboard she was heavily involved in ‘gun running and various other pirate activities ’ I went on some of these runs, it was exciting for a disillusioned tearaway like myself but fortunately for me my very good friend and mentor decided it was time I was ‘put ashore, retired from the game,’ time to gain some experience of another kind as it were. I think he saw me as the son he never had and so wanted to protect me. Though I am not entirely sure I think he was responsible for getting me into Space Academy and then Stellar Force. You see he had had a tip off that the GCSI were on to them and were just waiting for their next ‘run and he wanted me out of it.’ It was not long after that the ship disappeared, not only that, any record of her existence was erased from all records.’ After that I was informed of a mystery benefactor who had paid for me to enter The Academy Selection Process Group.
‘Seems to me this vessel has a habit of disappearing. If you don’t mind me saying so, captain.’
Solomon’s comment broke the tension. There were smiles now on some faces as the meeting began to visibly relax a little and Ethan could feel the knot in his stomach begin to relinquish its grip as he too felt the tension lift. He chose his next words with great care because he was only voicing thoughts not facts.
‘I have to admit that there are one or two details about this mission I find not only puzzling but disconcerting.’
‘Why send Taurus out on a search and rescue mission involving a civilian cargo ship in such a hush, hush manner?’ Offered 1st Officer Madz , quick to jump in here.
‘Just so, No. 1 and how much of a coincidence can it be that Taurus is the one chosen to search for this particular ship, given its history. Furthermore, who else knows of its history and my past connection with it? And perhaps the strangest fact of all, suddenly, a ship that has been unheard of for years appears on a harmless domestic cargo run, and vanishes again? This mission is throwing up too many questions.’
All was silent again, a thoughtful silence as each one present digested the information. Ethen too was thoughtful only this time he decided to do something to try and clear up a few things before he and his crew got any deeper. He was thinking it was time to have a little chat with the admiral, who needed to be a bit more forthcoming about this affair. ‘Get me Admiral Haines, Skyla, I’ll take the call in my Prep Room. That’s all for now, we’ll continue our rather irregular briefing session when I know more. Thank you everyone.’
With this each returned to their stations with the exception of the first officer whom Ethen stopped from leaving. ‘I want you here, No. 1, as a witness. I have an uneasy feeling about this.’
Once in his Prep Room Ethan turned to his COMM screen just as it came to life, Admiral Maxwell's face appearing much to Ethan’s surprise. ‘Good day Admiral.’
‘Ah, Captain, how is the shakedown trip going, are the new crew members settling in okay? I must say we didn’t expect to hear from you so soon, are there problems?’
Ethen looked at his 1st Officer who shared his quizzical look and the two turned back to the screen.
‘No, no, he lied, ‘no problems.I just wanted to ask Admiral Haines something.’
‘Ah, well, Admiral Haines isn’t on the base I’m afraid. He was taken ill shortly after you left. He’s got us rather worried and will be under close observation for the time being but do not overly concern yourself about the admiral, just report back to base as soon as your shakedown is complete. Now, if there’s nothing else, I've got rather a lot to do.’ The screen went blank, the communication was over and both Starship Officers were now sharing a very uneasy feeling.
‘Do you get the same feeling I get about this, Captain?’
‘Which is?’ countered Ethan.
‘That something is definitely not right.’
‘Copy that, No. 1. Something is most certainly wrong here and I’m thinking we may be involved in something of a covert operation, so covert that not even the station’s second in command is aware of it, or so it seems.’
