Free Metal Boxes - Trapped Outside by Alan Black

with Ryte for additional signal traces. He glanced up just as Numos strode into the room. The major grinned at Stone, not the least bit confused that the planetary governor had beat him to the table. Butcher’s hologram didn’t appear. The man himself followed the marine major into the room. He wasn’t grinning. His frown was a permanent feature, not even cracking as he greeted Thomas like an old friend. Numos and Butcher seated themselves on Stone’s left.
    Stone hadn’t expected Butcher to drop to the planet. He preferred the man stay aboard his ship. Wanting the man to stay away was petty, Stone felt like Butcher watched his every move, trying to find fault in everything he did. Having MCPO Thomas babysitting him was bad enough, but having a lieutenant commander as a subordinate, watching his every misstep made him stumble more often than he would have if they’d left him alone.
    He wished 1LT Vedrian was at his back. Allie was a marine, second in command of the marine forces, and she was still his girlfriend, even if they were unable to do anything about it. He was technically in command of Maj Numos and Allie reported to the major. Since they were in the same chain of command, they couldn’t have any relationship beyond casual friends. Anything else was against regulations. Having her close by was frustrating, yet not having her around was worse. He was sure she could suppress any gossip about a relationship between them, just as she stomped out jokes about being assigned to a planet named after her. However, as long as he was the planetary governor, Grandpa and Numos had been clear how any relationship between them was inappropriate. That was something else he held against the Emperor.
    Numos didn’t care about Stone’s rank, but Butcher couldn’t look at Stone without seething. Whether the Emperor thought the situation was funny or he was making it a point that next time Stone discovered a habitable planet, he’d better not stick the Emperor with a paltry ten percent ownership, Stone was in charge, whether Butcher liked it or not.
    Stone left the solar system image hovering over the table and copied everyone with his reply to PO3 Ryte’s signal find. He expanded the image until Allie’s World hovered in the air before him. He spun the planet on its equator, looking behind it. The continents were mapped enough for large rivers, lakes, and mountain ranges to be visible, but there weren’t any signs of roads or settlements. He didn’t expect there to be any changes since the last time he looked, as the planet’s image would only be updated by mapping orbits and there hadn’t been any in a while. There weren’t any indications of spacecraft in orbit around the planet, but there wouldn’t be with the Vasco de Gama using only line of sight scanning.
    He glanced at the time. As usual, Mohamed ran on CPT. Civilian Personnel Time invariably meant the man and his assistant would be late. To be polite, he should signal them to see how much longer they would be and then wait patiently until they showed up. Stone wasn’t feeling particularly polite or patient. He hoped the man would be embarrassed when he finally deigned to show up and find the meeting started without him. He doubted it, Mohamed rarely showed any sense of embarrassment at the actions of the creatures around him, creatures he deemed less worthy than himself.
    Stone cleared his throat and said, “Let’s get to it, shall we?”
    A small chime sounded on Butcher’s comm. “Sorry. We are expecting the Iridium Rock any time now. I wanted to personally be here to help expedite their infusion into the planetary operation.” The man made it obvious he wanted to take a more military role, leaving the civilian ship the duty of supplying the planetary base. He listened into his earbud. “The Vasco de Gama has the Stone’s ship hyperspace transition wake and is receiving their signal.” He pointed at the Allie’s World image still hovering over the