The Saderian Chronicles: Book 1: Settling New Hope

Chapter 2B

As they entered the elevator, a dark hand stopped the doors from closing. Lieutenant Ians stepped on with them. Not a native to Haskins, Ians was what they called Oriental on some planets. Six-foot-three-inches of pure muscle. His slender frame often fooled people into thinking that he was weak, but it was just the opposite. His off time was spent working out and honing his skills in many forms of hand-to-hand combat. Grey eyes that appeared hard, often left people nervous. There was no room for nonsense with him. Not a fan of people, he spent time in calming exercises to maintain focus while training.

Handing a tablet to Captain Rooke, he was showing him flight information for the sector that they were heading to. Meanwhile, Cody told the computer to take them to the mess hall level, still unsure where everything was located. They were speaking quietly, but he could make out what they were talking about.

“Those beacons are all about halfway to their destinations, but I activated their broadcasting already. Hopefully, the message will reach more than just our intended targets. There are signs of a fleet forming just outside of Jaggru space. They are not Jaggru signatures. I am struggling to get IDs on most of the vessels as they are still in transit. Two ships have already arrived, however. The Molly Grant and the Red Dunn.”

Rooke stiffened slightly, and a sneer touched his lips. “The Red Dunn hey? Well, that is interesting, very interesting. What is more intriguing though, is the Molly Grant. Why are they both there? Are they together or do we have two fleets arriving separately?”

Ians pointed at the tablet, “They must be together. Look at these warp signatures, sir. They are not two different fleets, they are traveling in the same warp stream, at identical speeds. We have a new alliance formed, even if it’s temporary. That is a massive fleet and look where they left from.” His finger traced along the screen.

Captain Rooke c****d his head. “They left from Jones. For them to be arriving already means that they left right after Haskins was destroyed.”

The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors opened. The group stepped into the hall. Cody wanted to hear what exactly was happening. Stopping in the hall with Ians and Rooke, he questioned them.

“What is going on?”

“I’ll be damned. My ex is going to kick some Jaggru butt. I gotta say, as much as I hate that woman, that’s hot.” Rooke had an odd look on his face.

“You’re ex? The Red Dunn, that is a flagship of ours from the fleet stationed at Jones. The fleet and flagship are led by that hotshot young fleet commander, uh, Mallory Ballard. She’s badass.” Cody began piecing things together.

The smile vanished from Captain Rooke’s face, but a flicker of a grin hit Ians cheeks.

“Yes, Fleet Commander Ballard is my ex. We also went through the academy together, fell madly in l**t, and got married by the end of academy. Got different assignments, figured that we could manage long distance. That failed when she cheated on me with another officer on her ship. Now we hate each other, but she is definitely one heck of a commander.”

Scrunching his face a bit, Cody was trying to filter through his brain for the Molly Grant. Nothing.

“What about the Molly Grant? I am not recalling any ships by that name.”

Ians took that query. Tapping on his screen, a battleship appeared on the screen. It belonged to another humanoid race, the Therian. They shared the planet Jones, operating mines on the opposite side of the planet. Normally a neutral force, the Saderians only interacted with them when it came time to renew the mining rights agreement. Also, when their tourists and merchants visited Haskins or the space stations. Many of their citizens would have died when both stations were destroyed. Jaggru forces did conduct raids on them as well, so they may see this as a way to resolve an ongoing problem.

“If the Therian are going to battle in a temporary alliance, were they hit as well? No, no, they wouldn’t have been, Talon said ninety percent of their forces hit us. They would not have sent the other ten percent to hit another enemy and leave themselves defenseless. The Jaggru are arrogant, not stupid. I need to talk to Admiral Buchanon, he is the only admiral that we have left, so he is our highest ranking official.”

His brain was working hard to quickly connect dots. Cody was about to walk off, when the captain stopped him by grabbing his arm.

“Hold up there, Mr. planner dude. You are a civilian, I am the Captain, I should talk with the Admiral. He prefers Jack over Admiral Buchanon, by the way. We play cards every Thursday night over video call. I can see what he knows.”

Cody grimaced as his hand pressed the still tender healed burn marks. He turned to face Captain Rooke, looking down at the hand on his arm, his eyes went back to Rooke’s brown eyes.

“Your hand, remove it.” When Rooke let his arm go, Cody brushed his uniform off. “Listen Captain. I like you and I appreciate your expertise.”

An awkward look came over Rooke’s face and Ians looked puzzled.

Cody continued, “However, if this relationship is going to work, then we need to make a few things clear. Stop calling me planner. That is my technical title, but when you say it, it’s always with a level of disrespect. You don’t think that I should be here, and you certainly don’t like the fact that I am in charge here. As Captain, you are used to being listened to and not questioned. This may be your ship to command, but even as a civilian, my security clearance goes far above your own.”

Teeth grinding, Rooke was trying to keep his cool. Ians jaw dropped slightly. Rooke was about to respond when Cody cut him off.

“This mission was important before, but it is critical now. Jones is a shared mining planet. We have a large settlement there, but it is nothing more than a mining colony essentially. We need a home, a planet that is going to become our new hope for survival. Without that, we become nomads. I don’t want to live as nomads. The thousands that we have on board our five vessels, they don’t want to be nomads. They want somewhere that they can refer to with a sense of security and safety that comes with a home. My job as a planner, was to find us a suitable settlement planet to relieve pressure from our overpopulated planet. Haskins is sadly no more. Now my job is vital. I will find a planet suitable for our race to exist and thrive upon. We will rebuild. If that isn’t on this planet, then we will focus on the next prospect, and the next, and then the next, until I find a planet that the science teams agree is most likely to give us success. Failure is not an option. Failure means that we cease to exist. That cannot happen. Like I said, I like you, you are a great leader but understand that I have been placed in charge. You respect me, and I will continue to respect you. Am I clear?”

Unclenching his jaw, Rooke took a deep breath, “Perfectly.”

Cody studied his face, seeing the displeasure in his eyes and cheeks. He did not like being given orders.

“Good. Now arrange for a meeting with Admiral Buchanan. Preferably within the next hour. We need to know what is going on, and I need to make sure that the Admiral has been read in on Operation New Hope.” Lessening the severity in his tone, Cody indicated the hall with his hand. “Now please, we were heading to the mess hall for some food. I insist that you join me.”

As Rooke took the lead, Cody reassured the captain and weapons specialist while they walked. “I meant what I said about you being a great leader. You are a natural born leader, so lead. The crew and all these now homeless settlers, need to see confidence in its leadership. Show them that you care what happens to them in the long term, not just the short term. We will all be getting to know each other very well, just like you said. Only you meant in the next week, I mean that it will be years. This is going to take a long time.”

As they reached the mess hall, Ians peeled off to return to the command deck. Doors slid open and the noise was unbearable. All the tables were full, and kids ran around between. Laughter and dozens of conversations was going to make eating very tough. Rooke stopped. He had never seen so many people crammed into the mess hall before. Blinking, he was aghast. Many different scents flooded their nostrils. Not all good. It was a combination of chicken, fresh baked buns, and stale sweat.

“Well, Tilghman, I, uh, am not exactly sure if we are going to find a seat. This may be a grab a tray and bail situation. Burke is not going to pleased about this. Oh. Burke is.”

“Dr. Bridger’s husband and the head chef. Yes, I am aware.”

“Did she tell you how difficult to manage he is when he gets stressed?”

Still standing in the doorway, Cody shook his head. “Nope. She failed to mention that. It was also not in his personnel file.”

There was a crash from the kitchen, followed by shouting that they could not quite make out the words to.

“That sounds like Burke.”

“How can you tell?”

Cocking his head to the side Rooke shrugged. “A tray was likely thrown across the kitchen, followed by an angry man’s voice loud enough to be heard over all this commotion. Yeah, that’s definitely Burke.” He turned to glance at Cody. “Maybe it’s a good time for you to meet your head chef.”

“I don’t know, you’re the captain. Maybe dealing with the head chef should be a delegated responsibility.”

Rooke patted his back slightly. “Not a chance boss. I will step out and set up that meeting with Jack. You go deal with your chef. Then we can grab trays and go back to studying this planet of yours. Deal? Great I thought so.”

With that he spun on his heel and disappeared down the hall.

“Coward.” Cody mumbled under his breath. “I should have thought of something like that.”

Taking a deep breath, he braced himself as more shouting erupted from the kitchen. Entering the room, he ducked as a tray hit the closing doors behind him. Two angry men were in each other’s faces, berating one another. Cody tried shouting to get their attention, when that failed, he looked around. There was a fire extinguisher under the counter in front of him. Grabbing it, he pulled the pin and squeezed the trigger. A stream of white foam shot from it, striking both chefs in the chest, blending into their chef’s uniforms. Bits of the foam speckled their faces, and they instantly went from shouting at each other to startled silence. Turning to look at Cody, their disdain suddenly finding the one still holding the extinguisher.

“Do you have any idea how much food you just wasted? What kind of imbecile does that?” One chef bellowed as the other cooks in the kitchen chuckled, before quickly putting their heads down to their work, avoiding his glare.

Setting the extinguisher down, Cody brushed his hands off on a hand towel hanging by the door.

“Which one of you idiots is Chef Burke?”

A red-headed man with a goatee began wiping himself off at the sink beside him.

“Who the heck are you?”

The other chef crossed to the other side to clean his uniform and face. Cody had his man, the goateed one.

“I am the one who is going to demote you to dishwasher, if you don’t get a grip on that temper. I met your wife earlier, a very pleasant doctor. It’s a shame that her personality hasn’t brushed off on you.”

He tossed the towel that he was holding onto the counter. It landed in a now foam-covered tray of buns, sending a poof of white up into the air.

“I came here to grab a bite to eat, only to find my head chef in a shouting match with another chef. You look like a couple of schoolyard boys with measuring sticks out. Grow up. This may be how things have been run before, but not under my command. Either take control of that temper and run your kitchen with respect, or I will hand your job to someone else, while you spend the next year washing dishes and not being on the line.”

Cody took a step forward at the bristling head chef. Ready for a swing that never came. Using a damp towel to finish cleaning his chef’s uniform, Burke switched to his darkening face. He was trying to calm himself down.

“And who are you exactly?” He asked as he tossed the towel onto the counter. “Someone get over here and clean up this mess, now! I have to change uniforms.”

Turning to face Cody, his blue eyes looked him up and down, before studying his face. Cody let the silence linger. Burke bit his lip nervously. Once he could see the man calming down, Cody answered.

“The name is Cody Tilghman, chief planner. Commander of this entire operation. I have the authority to bust you down and see that you never cook again. Is that what you want, Burke?”

Closing his eyes, Burke tossed his head back. Shakily, he ran his fingers through his hair, setting his chef’s hat on the counter beside the towel.

“No.”

Cody leaned his ear towards the man sarcastically. “What was that? I didn’t catch your answer.”

Closing his eyes again, he let out a sigh of frustration. “No. It’s not what I want.”

Cody turned on his heel and indicated for Burke to follow as he left the mess hall. When both men were in the hall, Cody saw Captain Rooke walking down the hall. When he saw the pair, he quickly darted into the room that he had just left. Facing the chef, he didn’t give him an inch of space.

“That kind of scene is embarrassing. You talk to those under your command with respect. No more shouting in the kitchen unless its a ‘yes, chef’ from your other cooks. You are representing your commanding officers in the kitchen. If you embarrass me and the other superior officers of this vessel or any other vessel, I will follow through with my threat. You will find yourself beneath those chefs, washing dishes. When we reach the planet surface, your crew will be very busy with a lot more mouths to feed. I need you to clean up your act by that time. No buts. No excuses. Just get it done. Am I clear?”

Burke looked away but answered through clenched teeth. “Yes sir. I understand.”

Cody found his eyes and made contact. “Good. Now get yourself a fresh uniform.”