Free Federation Reborn 1: Battle Lines by Chris Hechtl Page A

mouthful.”
    “It means Shit Nothing Happens Here, sir. My grandparents emigrated to the empire from there,” Lieutenant Shanty replied. She had heard it was a dull agro world and had no interest in tracing her roots. None at all.
    “No wonder they left with a name like that,” the captain stated shaking his head. The lieutenant nodded. The captain ignored the nod of agreement and returned his attention to the status board. According to the dispatch, the ships were headed out to show the flag. They were supposed to reinforce Admiral Cartwright's forces but were taking a leisurely pace to do it, stopping at every star system to intimidate the emperor's new more restless subjects into their proper place. They'd either come to heel or be bombed into oblivion. He grinned at that thought. He'd love to see a BC blast a planet. It would be quite the show.
    Now that was a command he thought, frowning. How could he work to get one of those? He shook his head. He'd had all he could do to pull the strings to get this command let alone something bigger! He looked the captains’ names up; perhaps they would give him some sort of clue.
    Captain Shantell Mueller and Captain … wait, they gave that command to a woman??!? he scowled even darker, eyes flashing as his temple pounded. He looked up when his vision began to blur. How dare they! How dare they pass over someone like him to give a woman a command of a battle cruiser! It was outrageous!
    He got to his feet and paced, rubbing his jaw. Finally he decided he needed a break. “Ensign, you have the bridge,” he stated.
    The ensign looked up in alarm, then his eyes cut to the lieutenant at Ops. “Sir?”
    “Whatever, fine,” the captain said over his shoulder on his way out. “I'll be indisposed,” he said, making up his mind that the best way to work off his passion was in a very direct way. One that would be ultimately relaxing. “I don't want to be disturbed,” he growled.
    “Aye aye, sir,” the lieutenant stated, making a note before she got up to take the hot seat.
    The captain saw the move and then stabbed a finger at her. “You stay.” He turned to point to Ensign Dahl. “I said you, Ensign.”
    “Yes, sir,” the ensign stated, rising slowly. He looked helplessly to the scowling lieutenant and then shrugged mentally as he took the hot seat.
    ---<>---<>---
     
    Lieutenant Kyly Shanty snarled to herself as she kept her station. Her practiced eyes checked the status board as she seethed internally. The nerve! To put a green ensign in charge of the bridge when she was senior officer? How dare he? Still, he was the captain, even if she despised the pompous ass. She had to keep such thoughts private though; she couldn't afford to let anyone see that.
    Did he want Jz to prove himself? To get some clock time on his record for manning the bridge? A test? She frowned thoughtfully. She snuck a look at the ensign. He looked like he was settling into the chair. He looked … she watched under her arm as he petted the chair's padded arms. He looked like he was settling in. It was a fresh new experience; one she could relate to. She could give him a warm welcome … no, she'd leave him alone.
    “Lieutenant, did you um, finish your tactical exercise?” the ensign asked.
    “Yes, Ensign.” the TACO said, clearly nettled.
    “Then you can do another, right?” Dahl said maliciously.
    “Yes …,” that tore it. She opened up a script file, typed rapidly then dumped her bot into the mainframe. It wouldn't be in there long; it would be filtered out by the security system she had created for the computer. Well, her and Jordy, her old ex-boyfriend. But it would be there long enough to write an unscheduled drill into the schedule. She'd done it before; the XO assumed it was something the brass had created to keep the crew on their toes.
    She grinned to herself when the klaxons went off. She immediately schooled her expression and went to work checking the status board.