Two Days Later. Marcinko Time 11:50 Captain’s Ready Room

The alarm was going off. John struggled out of his cot and ambled over to the alarm on the wall to turn it off. He stretched a little and shook his head. His room was the second most spacious on the ship. It was also one of two rooms that had a private bathroom and shower. John, now fully awake, grinned and got into his morning routine.

After a good stretch, he walked over to the toilet and took a piss. He stripped down and got into the shower. The water wasn’t nearly as warm as he liked but it’d have to suffice. He dried himself off and got into some clean clothes. He made his bed and hung the wet towel over a rack. He walked over to the door and pressed the button. To John’s surprise, it opened this time.

“Captain on deck,” Derek said from his navigation counsel.

“At ease. Jeong, I’m heading to chow, where did you and Kristin drill before your shifts?” Asked John as he walked toward the rear door to the bridge.

“Kristin was in the weapons room. I was up here,” Joeng replied.

“Roger, I’ll head to engineering then later today,” John said.

John walked down the hallway on his way to the mess hall. He couldn’t get over how damned cramped everything was on the ship. Despite that everyone seemed to be taking to their new roles onboard. It helped that everyone was listening to and working closely with the enlisted crew onboard.

John looked up and he had gotten to his destination. He pressed the button to open the mess and walked in. John sauntered over to the food line and grabbed a tray. Burgers, potato wedges, and fruit were being served for lunch today. He brought his tray and walked over to where Alice and Jessica were sitting.”

“Morning or is it afternoon. How about Hi, yeah that works,” John smiled as he sat down.

“Hi, honey. Please tell me your quarters up on the bridge are as awful as ours,” Alice was playing with a potato wedge.

“I’m sleeping on a cot. It’s pretty awful,” John took a giant bite out of his burger. “I am never going to get used to eating dinner or lunch meals for breakfast.”

“I’ve already spoken to three people so far about the cramped spaces.”

“Did I read our orders right? We make our way beyond Mars and spend a week in the belt, right? For three weeks and some days without a break,” Jessica asked.

“It’s five days in the belt actually, then we have two days at Mons Minor Station. Don’t get excited. Minor is the military-only station. Think Yaeger station, but newer,” John was eating some fruit.

“Gross. At least the time off will be nice. Are we staying at the station?” Alice asked.

“Yup, share a room with your roommate basically.”

John finished his meal and kissed Alice on the cheek and excused himself from the table. He headed to engineering where he’d spend the next hour and a half studying. After his studying was done, he drilled with the engineering crew on duty. When the drill was over, he to the bridge to relieve Joeng.

15:00 Bridge

“Captain on the bridge,” James said from the tactical station.

“At ease, Joeng you are relieved.”

“Aye aye, sir, I stand relieved,” Joeng saluted and walked away.

John sat down in the command chair and brought up the list of simulated actions that needed to be done. He smiled but desperately wished they were already underway. The current item John was reading was feedback on the three simulated ship boardings they completed. The first one was rough but barely acceptable. The latter two were acceptable.

He began working on some paperwork. John was scanning the room as he worked. As he finished one report, he pushed the screen to the side and was going to check in with his station.

“Caleb, what course and speed are we on?”

“Following the Echo Inverse path at thirty-five hundred kilometers per second. We’ll be transitioning to the Echo Bravo path and beginning to accelerating in an hour.” Caleb answered.

“Excellent. Andern, how are weapons?”

“Active but we’re down a targeting array. Engineering is already aware of the issue and should be done with the fix in fifteen.”

“Thank you. Wei, anything noteworthy with coms?”

“Negative. Just handling traffic notifications with control. I will continue the scans and let you know of anything that comes up.”

“Excellent. Last up, Lacey, how is the ship?”

“Power draw is within acceptable tolerances. Aside from the targeting array issue, everything is in the green.”

“Good to hear.”

John pulled the screen over and began working on reports. He kept thinking how the hell there were so damn many reports to fill out. The command classes indicated there was paperwork to file, but not this amount.

“Sol Control to Marcinko, change heading and path to One-Eight-Seven and Badger-Five,” A voice said on coms to Caleb.

“Sir?”

“Change course and path as instructed,” as John glanced up and changed his screen to see the local area.

“Looks like we are running some exercises near our course, this course correction steers us far away from that,” Caleb said as he read their new orders.

“Good job. Follow the new flight path.”

Caleb would receive two more course corrections over the next two hours. Aside from that, the bridge was peaceful. Sato would report from Engineering that there was a minor dip in power due to some dirty deuterium-tritium fuel. He ordered a scan of the rest of the fuel onboard and it looks like the power surge won’t happen again.

03:00 Bridge

“Captain you are relieved,” Kristin said as she stood at attention in front of John.

“I am relieved. Pretty uneventful shift aside from a few course changes and some dirty fuel,” John smiled as he saluted and walked to the rear door.

“Sir, Lieutenant Page asked to see you in the conference room.”

“Understood.”

John left the bridge and headed down the hallway to the stairs. He went down a deck and headed back in the direction he came from. When he got to the end of the hallway he stood in front of the door. John clicked on the announcement button and waited. He didn’t have to wait for long, the door opened. Sitting on the far side of the table were the three academy liaisons that were also on the vessel. Second Lieutenant Karen Page was sitting in the middle. Senior Chief Petty Officers Daniel Stroll was to her left and was overseeing engineering. First Lieutenant Tim Olson was to her right and was the ship's doctor.

“Take a seat cadet,” Page said.

John saluted, then stepped forward and sat down.

“What has been your opinion of how things have been proceeding?”

“First couple shifts were rough, but I’m happy with the last three shifts.”

“Would another day of drilling be helpful?” Page asked.

John paused and thought. He was weighing his options. On one hand, the additional shifts would help everyone from the relative safety of the station. But the other was a general eagerness to be underway. John knew what he desperately wanted to do, but he also knew what the right thing to do was as well.

“While I would love to ship off immediately, having four more shifts to evaluate our readiness would make sense.”

Stroll smiled, “Smart kid, but I agree that your crew is working well now.”

“We will set off in six shifts. Classes are now open, so you and the rest of the cadets need to begin your classwork.”

“Understood, after I’m dismissed here, I’ll head up to the bridge and announcement. I’ll have Joeng announce that to his shift when they wake up in six-ish hours.”

“Good work, you're dismissed,” Page nodded at John.

John saluted then began walking out of the room and paused.

“Out of curiosity ma’am, has the delay affected the other two ships?”

Page smiled upon hearing John’s question. She was well aware of his drive and ambition. There was also the matter of the top cadets agreeing on how they would break the academic ties between them.

“The other two ships are also being detained by an additional day.”

“By choice or order?”

“Order.”

John smiled, “Thank you, ma’am.”

He walked out of the room, he knew Jerry’s arrogance and controlling nature would not allow him to see the reasons behind the delay. John wasn’t overly worried about Patrice, but he figured his arrogance would not let him see the justification there either.

John walked up to the bridge and had a short talk with Kristin. He gave her an order to give a message to Joeng. He didn’t want to wake up anyone for this message as it wasn’t that important. When they concluded their private chat John walked over to the communications station.

“Can you open the coms to all rooms on the ship except the berths?” John asked.

“Yes sir, give me a moment,” Lacey changed the screen on her terminal and deselected the sleeping quarters of the ship, “Coms are open sir.”

“This is acting Captain Lief. Our departure has been delayed by a day so we can continue to drill and gain more familiarity with the ship. We will depart in six shifts,” John paused, “And I’m the bearer of bad news as well, effective immediately our fall classes have begun. This applies to the shift that just completed.”

John reached down and closed the open link, “Sorry folks, just got the info a minute ago.”

He left the bridge and headed to one of the wardrooms that were converted for school use. John wasn’t in any mood to start his classes but the sooner he started them the sooner he could get them finished. This was just one more step toward achieving his goals.

To John’s annoyance, the first wardroom was full. One of the cadets offered to give up his spot but John declined. He wished them well in their studies and headed to the aft wardroom near engineering. That room had an annoying hum that could be heard at all times because of its proximity to the engines. He walked down the hallway and eventually reached the room. The room was empty.

“No rest for the weary,” John said as he said down.

He set a timer on the workstation, plugged in some headphones, and began listening to the lecture. John sped the lectures up to two times the normal speed. His goal was to get through two lectures and the associated homework before heading to chow.

07:30 Mess Hall

John was waiting in line to get food. He had finished two lessons today. John estimated that he could be finished with the fall semester coursework in two and a half months. The classes themselves wouldn’t be finished until they returned to campus and took their finals. John shook his head thinking about that fact.

The line was moving in an efficient and orderly fashion. John got his food then found Andern and sat down next to him.

“Morning, how’s it going?”

“I woke up, saw that classes had started, and took care of one class. Then came here. Thanks for that shitty news by the way,” Andern was eating some apple slices.

“All three of the Junior ships were delayed a day.”

“Not that news you jackass, the school starting.”

Kevin sat down next to the two, “Morning, I see he’s happy with the news.”

John smiled, “He seems to think I’m the reason classes started.”

“Right, ignoring the fact we’re still students went right over his head,” Kevin laughed as he ate some bacon.

“It’s going to take for bloody ever to get through classes.”

“Speed up the lectures. Sounds weird but you can get through them more quickly,” John said after eating some hash browns.

The trio talked for about thirty minutes. They got up and headed in different directions. John was heading to the second deck to drill with the operations. Kevin was headed to one of the wardrooms to get take care of a class before his shift would start. Andern was heading to the storage room with a pair of enlisted soldiers to ensure the ship is properly stocked up. They would also need to pack the additional provisions that were being delivered to the ship because of the change in schedule.

08:45 Captain’s Ready Room

John walked into his small room. He took off his duty uniform and jumped in the shower. John put a pair of shorts on and sat down at his workstation. John began playing back another lecture. He’d sleep a little less tonight and knock out one more lesson.

Ten minutes later the door made a chyme to announce an individual was present.

“Enter.”

The door opened and in walked Alice, fresh off her shift, “I know you are going to sleep soon but I wanted to give you a good night’s kiss.”

“Love you too honey. How was the shift?”

“Two simulated injuries, a therapy session, and a whole lot of studying,” Alice leaned down and gave John a kiss then hugged him, “Well I better get going. Don’t work too hard.”

“Thanks, you either. Love you.”

John leaned back in his chair and sighed. The summer was the perfect time to get married but being separated so quickly after getting married was rough. Despite her blanket thieving and hyperactive sleep legs, he missed the closeness they had. He was hoping that this deployment wouldn’t torpedo or otherwise damage their relationship.

He spun back around and started the playback again on his coursework. The lecture would be finished in fifteen minutes. The assignment was to write an appropriate reprimand for the individual that was covered. John pulled up an official document, one that he had thanks to his being absent without leave last year.

Twenty minutes later the homework was done. John took off his shirt and threw it on the ground. He stretched a little. John walked over to the faucet and poured himself a small glass of water. There was a small sigh that he let out, he was feeling the pressure that was on his shoulders. He smiled, shut the lights out then crawled into bed.

The Next Day, 12:30 Officer’s Conference Room

“Good morning cadet,” Page said, “Thank you for coming. Please take a seat.”

John sat down. He looked at the tablets in front of him. There were still some things that needed to be completed prior to them being able to push off.

“As you can see, we’re not quite ready to depart.”

John continued to scan the documents, “Kevin is in engineering now, as is Chief Stroll. I’ll head there to make sure they have things ready to depart. As for the storage concerns, I’ll work with my operations officers to restack the secondary storage hold. I’ll own that as I hadn’t examined that room yet.”

“You needn’t worry too much about the storage issues. That room is rarely used in training. In truth, the reason we’re using it now is we’ll be off on our own for three weeks.”

“Understood. Are there any other matters that you are concerned with or would offer feedback on?”

John had surprised the Lieutenant. She didn’t think John would be open to receiving or even soliciting feedback. The truth of the matter is while John didn’t like either, he was also well aware he wasn’t all-knowing and needed the feedback.

“There seems to be too much focus on classes and not enough on drilling. Not dangerously so, but we could do more drills.”

“Ship wide or intradepartmental ones?” John asked.

“Ship wide, we should be having one large drill every day.”

“Understood ma’am. I’ll work on a schedule before we ship off, first one will happen during my shift today.”

“Thank you. Your dismissed.”

John saluted then headed out of the room. He walked down the hallway towards engineering. Kevin and the Chief were attempting to control the chaos in Main Engineering. John smiled at all the work that was being done there.

He talked to each of the men separately. Both agreed it would take an hour to get things ready to set sail. As they had things under control John decided to head to the secondary storage room. He opened the door and let out a big sigh as he rubbed his forehead.

“Monkeys could have stacked this room better,” John said under his breath.

He walked over to the communications counsel and pressed it.

“Blatzke here. Who’s contacting me?”

“Lief. Jessica, I need four people sent to the secondary storage room. The contents need to be organized, restacked, and secured in place. It’s a bloody disaster in this room. Additionally, I need the ship's cooks to make space in the fridge, there has to be a path to walk into it.”

“I will dispatch individuals to your location Captain. I will also let the chefs know about the walk-in refrigerator.”

“They have ninety minutes to get that fixed, I will be reviewing it before I relieve Joeng on the bridge.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

John began reviewing the contents. Shoving like things into a corner then began stocking the shelves. Ten minutes into the work help arrived. John let the enlisted soldiers know what he expected, then showed them how the items were supposed to be secured. They then got to work.

The five of them all complained about the work they were doing. The enlisted were shocked to see an officer help them. Normally that wasn’t something they had come to expect serving on an academy ship. John told them he wasn’t going to ask them to do anything he didn’t want to do. He also let slide that as this was brought up as an issue once and he wasn’t going to get a demerit because someone half-assed the job.

An hour later the job was mercifully done. Things were properly secured. The enlisted were surprised he was smiling as they left. John had measured the room. It was large enough to be turned into a quasi-rec room and was long enough that they could play cornhole in it.

14:00 Mess Hall

John went to the chef and asked that all foodstuffs be taken from that storage room first, then take from other storage rooms. He also inspected the walk-in fridge and confirmed the space was set up properly.

“Look, I’m not here to bust your balls over a fucking fridge. Honestly, I don’t care if you can’t walk in there. But you know how anal some people are about regs.”

Petty Officer Aoki Katsumi looked pissed, “She doesn’t know how to precious space is.”

“I get it. Please spread the word that the six by two-foot path needs to be kept open as-is. And I apologize for making your crew walk to the secondary storage, but I want that room cleared up. It’ll make more sense in a couple of days when it’s cleaned out.”

“Fine, but I want it on record that the reg exempts ships this size.”

“I will take your feedback and provide it to the Lieutenant.”

John walked back to the line of people waiting to get food. Alice got in line right behind him and was poking him in the back. He turned around and smiled.

“You are not going to believe what I found on the ship.”

Alice sighed as she knew exactly what he was talking about, “Please tell me you didn’t find a place to play cornhole in?”

Alice shook her head as she saw her husband shaking his head in the affirmative and smiling. He told her he still needed to get permission but once the room was empty having a semi-dedicated room for recreation got people out of the mess hall and made it easier for people to come in and eat their meals. John was going to do something he hadn’t bothered with in the past though, he was going to talk to the lieutenant about it before they were going to push off.