Free SpecOps (Expeditionary Force Book 2) by Craig Alanson

happy. And I sure as
hell wasn't going to approve any combat operations unless we absolutely had no
choice. Or, I guess technically, not unless engaging in combat was a better
option than not engaging in combat. If that meant our gung-ho special forces
and brainy science team were unhappy and bored, so be it. In fact, I would
consider our mission a complete success if we were able to return to Earth
safely, without a single dangerous or interesting thing happening. Semper
Taedium could be our motto: 'Always Boredom'. I'd be happy with that.
    Which is why I was mildly irritated that Venkman
brought up the subject now. Actually, not irritated that he raised the
question, he had a right to ask, just as I had a right to say no. What
irritated me was his attitude, that I had ordered the Dutchman to
prepare for departure, only because of my ignorance, I couldn’t see the
potential for important scientific discoveries right where we are. What I
wanted to do was tell him flatly no, hell no, and not to question my orders
again. Doing that would have only proved his point that I was too young and
inexperienced to command a starship. Or, for that matter, a rowboat. Slapping
him down would have felt good. Commanders don’t often get to do what feels
good, they have to do what is good for the mission, and sowing dissension among
the crew would have hurt morale. No matter how large the Flying Dutchman was, we had seventy people living in a limited space, seeing the same bulkheads
every day. At least I, and most of the soldiers and pilots, had been able to
get off the Dutchman , go over to the Kristang space station, and look at
something different for a while. The science team had been stuck inside the
ship since they came aboard.
    I tried to let her down gently. “Doctor, I appreciate
your eagerness for scientific inquiry,” I said, surprising myself at using such
fancy words, “and I need to balance that potential gain in humanity’s
understanding of the universe, against the risk of us being discovered here.
The longer we remain here, the greater the risk to the overall mission, and to
all our lives. This star system, particularly, because it previously had a
Kristang presence, has an unacceptably high risk that enemy ships could jump in
here at any moment, and we can’t risk that. I’m sorry, Doctor. You may use the
ship’s sensors, as long as you do not interfere with the crew, until we are
ready to jump.”
    “Captain, perhaps we- “
    “Doctor Venkman,” I waved a hand to stop her from
talking, “you may be used to an academic setting, where discussion and debate
are encouraged. This is a military vessel, a warship. As the commander, I
welcome advice from my staff, however, once I have made a decision, it is
final, and not open to debate.” We might be traveling between the stars
together for a long time, I thought it important to lay the ground rules early,
and avoid problems later.
    I was a hundred percent right. I still felt like a
jerk.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    The abandoned space station was somewhat of a
disappointment, in terms of our not finding an Elder communications node there.
Thinking longer term for the mission, it was a great success in my opinion. All
of our pilots had opportunities to fly during a real mission, and all of the
SpecOps troops gained experience with powered armor space suits in a real
operation. All of the troops, by the time we left the space station behind, had
experience free diving in space. Other than a few very minor incidents that
were dealt with quickly and professionally, I felt everyone had passed the test
to be a space diver, and I asked Skippy to fabricate a special badge to wear on
their uniforms. The badge was based on the US Army’s Freefall Parachutist
badge, with the difference being we replaced the tail feathers at the top with
an arc of three stars. Pilots received spaceflight wings, similar to the Army
Aviator badge, with the center shield replaced by a five-pointed