Athena Lee Chronicles 7: The Martian Inheritance (5 page)

“They are. Training is fine and important but, adventure? Especially to the Sol system, that’s a priceless opportunity. I myself have never been to that system.”

“Planning to take a tourist trip out to the Line?”

“I think I may. Commander Blomkvis can handle things when I’m gone. The Line of space defenses is one of the great mysteries of Old Earth.”

“Don’t tell Dar, she may go with you.She loves old military stuff and the warning beacons of the ‘line’ are on her list.”

“I think she may already know all about the old defense satellites and space platforms. But right now she’s down below giving her troops a real workout. When he gets here, Lieutenant Mutai will be seconded to her and Commander Huggins will be the ship's Marine commander.” He paused and looked me in the eye. “Is your friend going to be joining us this trip?” He pointed at his head.

I laughed, “Yes, Sir. He’s tagging along. He doesn’t like me to go anywhere without him. I promise I
will
try to keep him out of trouble.”

“OK, well go ahead and get settled. Expect dinner in my private dining room this evening. Hopefully Lieutenant Mutai will grace us with his presence. Dismissed, Commander.”

I left the command deck and took the lift down to deck three, Marine Country. I could hear cheers as I stepped off the lift. Looking forward I could see my girlfriend Dar using Adithada style kick boxing moves against an older graying Marine. Closer inspection showed him to be a thin man with a mustache and beard. He was defending the attacks with what looked like old-school karate moves. Dar had him on the defensive and was closing in for the kill when someone in the crowd of Marines spotted me. “Attention on deck!”

“At ease.” Dar and the Marine shook hands and approached me.

“Commander Athena Lee, meet Commander Scott Huggins.”

The older man turned toward me and smiled. “Welcome, Commander. Congratulations on your promotion. The Lieutenant here told me some of what your mission will be. Feel free to use the gym and any of our facilities including the range.” He pointed out the locations of everything. “I need to get cleaned up. I’m sure that Dar here can take care of you. I believe that I’ll see you at dinner tonight. Nice meeting you Commander.” He turned and headed toward the quarters area.

Dar poked me in the side and smiled. I grinned back at her and waved her forward. “Come on, show me your new quarters. I bet yours is bigger than mine.”

“I bet you it isn’t, do you share with three other Marines?”

“No private room this time?”

“Nope. We both count as supercargo for this trip. Only assigned crew get the good cabins.” She was leading me away from the quarters area and into the shooting range as she spoke. “No cameras in here.” She gave me a kiss and a big hug.

“Thanks Dar. I really needed that. It feels very strange being on this ship and not having assigned duties.”

“I know what you mean. Once we leave port we will get a
few
duties. I at least have training to do. Most of my crew need some good workouts. It is at least three weeks at top speed to the Sol system so we have lots of time.”

“Well, since we can’t be alone right now, why don’t you introduce me to your band of merry men?”

“Of course, hon, they are supposed to be studying up on Martian culture. Let’s go find out.”

Chapter 7

“Wilson, do me a favor at dinner and scan each of the officers. I’d like their brief histories and background checks please. I don’t know over three quarters of this crew and it would be helpful to know what I’m walking into.” The little AI had been silent for most of the day.

“I am ahead of you on this one, Athena. Check your link and tablet, I downloaded the information a short while ago.”

“Good job buddy! You know me so well.”

“I try to anticipate you.” He sounded a little bit smug about the whole thing. But to be honest, he kind of deserved it.

“Well, try to stay out of trouble on this trip. We’re guests here. Understand?” He
is
a sneaky little shit.

“I promise I won’t embarrass you.”

“I guess that’s the best I can get from you. Just don’t get caught! Let’s go to dinner.”

I checked my uniform one last time in the mirror. The Pan-Pacific Legion of Merit gleamed on my right shoulder, I gave it a quick buff with a rag. “As good as it’s going to get.” I hurried out of the compartment. It wouldn’t do to be late for dinner.

A small crowd of officers had already gathered by the time I arrived. One of the most irritating aspects of this gaudy decoration on my shoulder was all the salutes it drew. Like the Old Earth Medal of Honor, the PPLLM was always honored by a salute from anyone in uniform. Since formal dress uniform required I wear the shiny thing just about everyone had to salute it. Stupid regulations! So I had to run the saluting gauntlet to get in there.

As I walked into the next room the adventure started up again. You would think they were some sort of mechanical wonder the way those arms were pumping out the salutes. “Just get it over with Athena” I kept muttering to myself. Finally I reached the door to the dining room. The door guards, Marines in dress blues with sidearms, came to attention and saluted me. I returned the favor, giving both textbook salutes. The Marines always seemed to be the most unappreciated units on board a ship. They deserved my respect. Pressing a hidden button the guards opened the door for me.

“Ah good, Athena, I see that you made it.” Captain Gorshin looked snappy in his dress uniform. He too gave me a sharp salute, which I returned.

A tall mocha skinned Marine was staring out the reinforced porthole in the wall. From my records I could tell that this was Lieutenant Kinno Mutai. The Marine had left the Imperial Marines and had defected to our service after government sponsored ‘pirate’ forces had tried to take his ship. He felt betrayed by the service he loved.

“Good evening Lieutenant Mutai.” I held out my hand in greeting.

The Lieutenant turned and saw the ‘shiny thing’ and instantly saluted. I resignedly returned his salute and shook his hand. “My name is Athena Lee. I understand that we will be working together in the future.”

The lieutenant smiled and nodded. “Yes, that is what I was told by the General. Your father I believe?” I nodded at him. “He said that where we are going they respect honor and warrior spirit above all things.”

“That’s my understanding too. This should be a very interesting trip to say the least.” Trying to change the subject, I asked. “Is this your first time on a battlecruiser?”

“It is. I have only served on smaller ships like destroyers. I was surprised by the number of assigned Marines on this ship. Usually I only have three or four under me.”

“True. Battlecruiser’s always carry a full complement. In anticipation of that ‘other’ project, even more have been assigned. Just so you know, no discussing either mission until we leave port and are in jump. Understood?” I really hated for that to sound like an order but OPSEC must be observed.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. Since we’re in this together please call me Athena when we are alone.”

He gave me a funny look. “OK, Athena, you can call me Kinno if you'd like.”

“OK you too. Time to meet the rest of the crew.” As it happened, just then Captain Gorshin called us back into the foyer area.

I have to admit it was nice to have dinner in the company of such a variety of officers. While many of the officers were newbies, others were transfers from several other system navies. The XO, Commander Marius Blomkvist, had come to the PPL Navy by way of one of the Norse colonies. His unclassified file stated that he had been a spesialkommando in the last war and after suffering a debilitating injury had transfered to the Navy. He did not appear to be injured, but it must have been debilitating enough to keep him off the spec-op teams. Our intelligence officer was Lieutenant Baal. I was intrigued by his name and the man’s response had been that an ancestor thought it was funny. He hailed from one of the traditionally English colonies, many of which were under Imperial control. How he ended up here with us was classified top secret. The XO warned me to never play poker with him. He cheats.

“Ladies and gentlemen we are about to launch on an historic mission to the Mars colony. We have not visited Mars with a warship for over twenty years. Mars is very tricky. The planetary laws and customs can and will seem very unusual to us. Be sure to read your introductory packets. Now I will give you to Commander Lee here for the last toast of the evening. Commander?”

I stood and raised my glass. “To the Revolution!”

As if hearing an echo I heard Wilson mutter something in my ear. “…Wolverines!…” Such a weirdo.

Everyone at the table raised their glasses and repeated my toast. The dinner party broke up fairly quickly after that. Most of the officers had early duty. We were scheduled to depart at 1000 hours. It felt very strange to not have permanent duties on the ship.

As I left the dining room, the Captain was personally seeing each guest out the door. “Athena, would you like to sit on the bridge as an observer when we break orbit tomorrow?”

That was a surprise. “Yes, Captain! That would be great. What time is departure? We will finish loading and begin leaving the mooring at 0930 hours. We have a 1000 scheduled departure.” He explained.

“Thank you, Frank. Expect me around 0900 hours.”

Chapter 8

I was dressed and in uniform by 0700 the next morning. I was impressed with all the changes that had been made to the ship. The cafeteria was much larger than before and contained more equipment and personnel. Chief Gomez was still the chef in charge. Another defector like Lieutenant Mutai the Chief had served on the Paney. Both he and his cooks had ‘held the line’ against the pirates and mercenary forces that had tried to capture his ship. Gomez had taken the underhanded Imperial involvement in the death of his cooks personally. He had he had stayed and joined the 'rebels' while most of the rest of his crew were repatriated back to the Empire. He was a beast in the kitchen.

Spotting a table full of Marines, I w
ove my way to their table and
sat down with my food. Seeing that it was me, they scooted over to give me more room. One of the braver ones acknowledged me and asked, “Why sit with us Commander?”

I stared off into space for a brief second. “You know, if not for Dar I'd probably never have properly appreciated you guys. It's too easy for us Navy 'pukes' to fall into the trap of regarding marines as furniture and pay little attention to you. But I'd be dead right now several times over if not for Dar's skills. And Spaghetti knows how many ships we'd have lost without marines to defend them.”

I could see nods all around the table. “Besides you and I both know that Dar would kick my ass if I acted like that!”

“True,” he and the rest vigorously nodded their heads.

I finished my meal and stood up. “If you Marines will excuse me, I have an appointment on the bridge.”

I carried my tray over the dish area and put everything in the appropriate bin. I gave the kitchen one more glance as I left for the bridge. I’d have to find out who did the work in here and recommend their services for the new wing of the station.

The lift up to the bridge was, conveniently across the hall from the cafeteria. I entered and had just stated my destination when I heard a yell of “Hold the lift!”

I yelped”Emergency stop!” to the computer. The doors stopped their closure and began to reopen. Never ever stick your hand into an elevator door on a Navy ship. While that may work in the civilian world, doing it on a ship could cost you a hand. Because of possible pressure loss all powered doors on a ship sealed tight when closing. A spoken or tactile command was the only way to stop them. When the doors opened enough to allow entrance a short figure in an ensign’s uniform squeezed inside.

“Good morning Ensign Tremblay.” The young ensign froze and spun around to face me. He saluted and stood at attention.

“I promise I won’t bite, ensign. At ease. So why are you in such a big hurry?”

“Sorry, Commander. I was told to be on the bridge at 0945 for duties with Lieutenant Behm.”

“I’m afraid that I don’t know that officer. What is his position on the bridge?”