Marooned on Giri Minor
But while no one seems to need you for the moment, you take the opportunity to explore the ship. The mess hall is one of the first places you hit up, so that you can stuff yourself on real food and forget all about NutriRations. Then you head down to the spherical Gravity Gym at the center of the ship, where you are able to let yourself drift in the zero-G workout space located where the Orion's artificial gravity is null.
On the fourth day after your arrival, you decide to sleep in late in your bunk. But the door alarm chirps at 0800 hours. Still a bit groggy, you get up to see who it is, expecting to find some nobody here to hand you the reassignment orders you know are inevitably going to come.
But to your surprise, Captain Ynthramanni and Commander Andrade are standing on the other side of the door.
"Starman," Andrade says. This is the first you've seen her since arriving on the ship, and you are impressed by how revitalized she looks.
"I see you're not dressed yet. Why don't you take a few minutes to get cleaned up and join us in the mess hall at 0830."
Surprised, you rush to get cleaned up and dressed in a proper uniform.
At the appointed time, you find the two senior officers sitting at a round table in the far corner of the mess hall. There is an urn full of coffee and a platter loaded with food before them.
"Ah, there you are, Starman," Captain Ynthramanni says. "Sit down, help yourself."
The two of them make a striking duo: his bronze complexion, as if chronically tanned from a life spent outdoors; her faded-mahogany tone and graying hair; both of them nursing their steaming mugs of coffee. The captain has a half-eaten omelet that he has set aside while he greets you.
There are lots of tempting things to eat on the platter, so you indulge in some Ishtrian egg rolls and a bowl of cadaberry yogurt.
"Commander Andrade has been telling me a lot about you," Ynthramanni says. "You clearly made an impression on her back on Giri Minor, particularly in the way you took charge, got people out of the burning wreckage, and basically took a leadership role."
"Thank you," you say, hoping that you're not blushing under the weight of all this high praise. "I did what I had to do. It's not like there was a crew of people to take over for us."
"Starman, I was there," Andrade says. "People were stunned after the crash, but you leaped into action. I saw fully-trained commissioned officers following your lead that first night."
"So I'm curious," the captain says. "What is your background?"
Without going into much detail, you tell him about Usul, your family's gava rice farm, and how you wanted nothing to do with any of it. You don't think it's much of a story, just ordinary stuff, and you have no idea why a starship captain would even care.
"So you enlisted because your family couldn't afford a higher education. I get it. But were you content serving on board Siggo's transport vessel?"
"Don't get me wrong," you say. "I'm still processing the fact that the captain is gone. I miss his songs. But I hated being on that ship."
"Why is that?"
"I felt like I was stuck there with no future."
"Well, we may be able to help you with that," he says. "That is, if you're interested.
"You see, Commander Andrade strongly feels that you have command potential. I personally interviewed several of the other survivors, and every single one of them mentioned you as one of the main reasons why they're still here. Dr. Munro and Ander Dyo, Lieutenant Oviedo-Nandez, Lieutenant Nimjey--all of them.
"I'm very proud of my ship and my crew. As far as I'm concerned, the Orion has one of the best assemblages of personnel in not just the Fifth Fleet, but the entire service. And I'm always on the lookout for talented new additions. This is why I recently took on Dionysya here as my new communications officer. I pride myself in my ability to spot people with a natural talent for leadership. The ability to inspire others into action is not a skill anyone can learn; it's a gift you are born with, and trust me, not everyone has it.
"Now it just so happens that Star Base Ishtria has a small officer candidate school, graduating newly commissioned officers on an accelerated schedule. Commander Andrade and I have reviewed your profile, your aptitude ratings, everything about you, and we feel you'd be an excellent candidate for this program. You would spend three years on the Star Base, and your fourth year here on the Orion. And from there, who knows? But you could permanently put away that starman's jumpsuit and earn the right to wear an officer's uniform.
"Assuming that's agreeable with you, of course," he is quick to add.
You have been transfixed by this entire speech. Of course you're interested! This the type of break you've been waiting for all these years!
Captain Ynthramanni stands and extends his hand. "Well in that case," he says. "Let me be the first to welcome you, Ensign."
On the fourth day after your arrival, you decide to sleep in late in your bunk. But the door alarm chirps at 0800 hours. Still a bit groggy, you get up to see who it is, expecting to find some nobody here to hand you the reassignment orders you know are inevitably going to come.
But to your surprise, Captain Ynthramanni and Commander Andrade are standing on the other side of the door.
"Starman," Andrade says. This is the first you've seen her since arriving on the ship, and you are impressed by how revitalized she looks.
"I see you're not dressed yet. Why don't you take a few minutes to get cleaned up and join us in the mess hall at 0830."
Surprised, you rush to get cleaned up and dressed in a proper uniform.
At the appointed time, you find the two senior officers sitting at a round table in the far corner of the mess hall. There is an urn full of coffee and a platter loaded with food before them.
"Ah, there you are, Starman," Captain Ynthramanni says. "Sit down, help yourself."
The two of them make a striking duo: his bronze complexion, as if chronically tanned from a life spent outdoors; her faded-mahogany tone and graying hair; both of them nursing their steaming mugs of coffee. The captain has a half-eaten omelet that he has set aside while he greets you.
There are lots of tempting things to eat on the platter, so you indulge in some Ishtrian egg rolls and a bowl of cadaberry yogurt.
"Commander Andrade has been telling me a lot about you," Ynthramanni says. "You clearly made an impression on her back on Giri Minor, particularly in the way you took charge, got people out of the burning wreckage, and basically took a leadership role."
"Thank you," you say, hoping that you're not blushing under the weight of all this high praise. "I did what I had to do. It's not like there was a crew of people to take over for us."
"Starman, I was there," Andrade says. "People were stunned after the crash, but you leaped into action. I saw fully-trained commissioned officers following your lead that first night."
"So I'm curious," the captain says. "What is your background?"
Without going into much detail, you tell him about Usul, your family's gava rice farm, and how you wanted nothing to do with any of it. You don't think it's much of a story, just ordinary stuff, and you have no idea why a starship captain would even care.
"So you enlisted because your family couldn't afford a higher education. I get it. But were you content serving on board Siggo's transport vessel?"
"Don't get me wrong," you say. "I'm still processing the fact that the captain is gone. I miss his songs. But I hated being on that ship."
"Why is that?"
"I felt like I was stuck there with no future."
"Well, we may be able to help you with that," he says. "That is, if you're interested.
"You see, Commander Andrade strongly feels that you have command potential. I personally interviewed several of the other survivors, and every single one of them mentioned you as one of the main reasons why they're still here. Dr. Munro and Ander Dyo, Lieutenant Oviedo-Nandez, Lieutenant Nimjey--all of them.
"I'm very proud of my ship and my crew. As far as I'm concerned, the Orion has one of the best assemblages of personnel in not just the Fifth Fleet, but the entire service. And I'm always on the lookout for talented new additions. This is why I recently took on Dionysya here as my new communications officer. I pride myself in my ability to spot people with a natural talent for leadership. The ability to inspire others into action is not a skill anyone can learn; it's a gift you are born with, and trust me, not everyone has it.
"Now it just so happens that Star Base Ishtria has a small officer candidate school, graduating newly commissioned officers on an accelerated schedule. Commander Andrade and I have reviewed your profile, your aptitude ratings, everything about you, and we feel you'd be an excellent candidate for this program. You would spend three years on the Star Base, and your fourth year here on the Orion. And from there, who knows? But you could permanently put away that starman's jumpsuit and earn the right to wear an officer's uniform.
"Assuming that's agreeable with you, of course," he is quick to add.
You have been transfixed by this entire speech. Of course you're interested! This the type of break you've been waiting for all these years!
Captain Ynthramanni stands and extends his hand. "Well in that case," he says. "Let me be the first to welcome you, Ensign."
TO BE CONTINUED...