Free Battlecruiser Alamo: Not One Step Back by Richard Tongue

confirmation, but no-one seemed to know what I was supposed to do.”
     “Have you seen the Captain?” Orlova asked.
     “This morning. He told me to make myself useful, get accustomed to the ship, and that I’d have something to do later on. I don’t know what, though.”
     “You think he arranged it?” Ryder asked Orlova. “He’s planning to fly off again?”
     “I thought we were going to Spitfire Station? Look, Sub-Lieutenant…”
     “Maggie.”
     “Susan, then. Look, Maggie, you might some extra help with those inspections, yes? I’m not even on the duty roster, but I know how to use a firearm. It’d give me something to do.”
     “Who’s your department head?”
     “I don’t even know that. According to Alamo’s org chart, I report right to the Executive Officer.”
     “He won’t mind,” Ryder said, shrugging. “If you’re really bored I could try and throw you to Winter. I could do with the break, I’m beginning to forget what the bridge looks like.”
     “Good luck with that,” Zabek said, “Unless you’ve got Most Secret clearance, I doubt he’d even let you look at his lunch order.”
     “Why not?” Orlova said, nodding. “I’ll clear it with Cunningham, and get you integrated into the mission plan. I’ve never known us to have too many people to deal with a situation yet.” 
     Looking from side to side again, Carpenter said, “Is it always like this here? Some of the crew were telling me about your past missions. This seems a bit mundane by comparison.”
     “Trust me,” Ryder said, “Serving on this ship is always interesting. I’m going to miss it.”
     “Are you leaving?”
     “Three months from now,” Orlova said, grinning, “our friend here gets promoted to full Lieutenant, after which she will be far too grand to associate with we mere mortals.”
     “You’ll be there yourself in a year,” Ryder replied, “assuming you don’t keep on getting on the wrong side of Zebrova.” She turned back to Carpenter, “I don’t see any gaps in Alamo’s roster opening up any time soon, so when we get back the Mariner, I’ll probably end up pulling shore duty for a while.” She shook her head, stabbing a piece of meat with her fork.
     “Don’t you want to go home?”
     “I didn’t join the service to have an office job. Still, with the buildup I’ll probably get onto another ship before too long.” She smiled, “And there’s another lesson here, ladies, and that is not to tell anyone that you want a posting. Back when I thought it was going to be Captain Winter, I asked him if he was looking for officers. Admin work was not what I was hoping for.”
     “Probably thinks you’ll need the practice. Any idea where you might be going?” Zabek said.
     “Deep Space Fleet Headquarters on Mariner, apparently. The skipper dropped a few hints at my last performance evaluation. At least I’ll still get to read about what all of you are doing.”
     “You couldn’t order us a few months leave at High Vegas, could you? That’s a place that really needs exploring,” Orlova replied, chuckling.
     “Have you ever been there?” asked Zabek, wide-eyed. “I’ve heard the stories…”
     Before she could reply, an alarm began to ring across the room, and she pulled out her datapad to glance at the alert, starting to chuckle as she read it.
     “Surprise airlock drill of the Operations office,” she said, laughing. “At least it isn’t me for once, and I think Zebrova’s on sleep period as well.”
     “Maybe the Captain decided to get a little payback,” Ryder said, but then Orlova stopped laughing, her face dropping.
     “Christ, it’s Harper, isn’t it.”
     Stopping only to snatch a cereal bar from the table and stuff it in her pocket for later, she sprinted to the door, hoping that she might get down to her section before Zebrova. Somehow she had the feeling that it was going to be a very long shift