Ruo awoke to the sound of muffled voices yelling on the bridge. She dragged herself out from under the blankets and quickly threw on yesterday’s uniform, deciding that whatever the commotion was, it was more important than a crisp look. She did however take a moment to steel her emotions. Even though her secondary job on this tour around the star was to train LT. Zhao on managing a crew, it wasn’t something that she enjoyed doing. Accepting what her morning had already become, she slapped the unlock button and stormed onto the bridge before the door had even finished opening.
“What is the meaning of this?” She yelled over the excited voices much like a parent does to stop an argument between their children. To her surprise, the bridge crew was not at each other’s throats, rather, they were gathered around the main sensor display. “Lieutenant Commander-” The fresh faced sensor tech said with wide eyes. “The Vistan ship, it’s not changing course. We will collide in two hours.”
Ruo sighed. “This is a common occurrence. I ordered Lieutenant Zhao to maintain course for a reason.” She glanced at the duty officer for only a moment, but it was enough. “and that has not changed. Everyone back to your stations. Zhao, I need to go over something with you in my quarters. I never want to see my bridge in such a condition again. You are all sailors in the Tiantang Navy, act like it.”
“Lieutenant Commander, I’m sorry.” Zhao said sheepishly.
“I do not want an apology, I want an explanation. You had your orders.”
“I..I’m not sure what I did wrong. The situation was becoming an emergency. I wanted to adjust course but you ordered me not to, why?”
“To change course would be to show weakness. We may be on the same side now, but they are measuring us. We must show them how small their dicks are. The crew sensed your lack of confidence and reacted to handle the situation themselves.” Ruo said, an unreadable emotion taking over her face. Disappointment? Anger? “If they collide with us, they will all die and we will simply have to wipe off the mess. Why would they allow that to happen?”
“I don’t know. I understand now. I’m-“ He started to apologize again but stopped short with a glance at her face.
“Do not ever apologize. That also shows weakness.” Ruo said, standing from the table. "When you make a decision, you face the consequences with a stone cold face because it is what you have chosen."
“Yes Lieutenant Commander.”
“You are still on duty for another 3 hours. Navigate the situation with authority Lieutenant Zhao.”
Further sleep eluded Ruo and she spent the next 180 minutes alternating between monitoring the bridge cameras and filling out the mind numbing paperwork that she was forced to do every day. The high speed pass from the Vistans went smoothly with Zhao pretending to ignore it, but she could see his tense body language matching those crew members who were new on this tour, as the timer displayed over the sensor station counted down.
They did maintain heading, this was commendable, and a sigh of relief swept across the bridge as the more experienced Vistan crew sailed past at a tight 10km. The cruiser having slightly adjusted course over the final two hours with short spurts of thrust. There was some unprofessional clapping and cheering but there were times when a lapse in discipline could be let go. This experience would build morale and camaraderie among the green crew.
Too heavy a hand and Ruo risked stifling the talents and ingenuity that had elevated these individuals to the United Tiantang Navy and their vessel''s post among the militia in the first place. They were all top level professionals and specialists in their jobs. A good leader needed to walk that line and allow her best people to do what they do without fearing a confrontation with her. Even in disciplining Zhao for allowing a lapse in professionalism, she did not scold or embarrass him. To do so would be to make him an adversary rather than a student.
Ruo stepped out of her quarters exactly ten minutes before the change of duty tone, as was customary in the Tiantang Navy, but this time she did not quietly observe the happenings on the bridge. All eyes turned to her as she walked across the sacred room, looking at each station as she passed. Zhao started to rise from the command chair but she waved for him to sit.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“You did well with all things considered, but as I said before, I never want to see my bridge in such disarray. I never want to see my crew leaving their stations or second guessing the officer on duty. If the officer on duty is not the captain, they are operating under the captain’s orders, so in second guessing them, you are second guessing me. The Vistans tested our mettle and they learned that the Tiantang Navy will not yield to their childish game. We held our course and dared them to cause a fatal accident. Well done. Lieutenant Zhao, you are relieved of duty, get some rest.” Ruo said and took her position in the command seat.
<hr>
Ruo sipped her morning coffee as she quietly scrolled through what she called her daily mail. Her tablet displayed several categories representing the various areas of the Bao and their operations. Each category had it’s own subcategories and some of them had the exclamation mark symbol demanding her attention. She tapped on the mess hall icon and read the message there. One of the freezers was malfunctioning but keeping the food cold enough for now. Maintenance was already working on fabrication of a new electrical plug. She sent a simple message in response.
Acknowledged, use any food today that cannot be transferred to a different unit.
She navigated to other areas, handling minor issues such as weapons maintenance and a respiratory illness that had affected a few crew members from logistics, before opening her direct messages.
Lieutenant Commander Ruo, if you are available, I would like to show you something that we have been working on. - Master Sgt Kang
Attached was a photo of an empty storage area with a makeshift model of a small ship and special operators breaching a doorway inside. She perked up at this as she very much liked Kang and his band of “extra special soldiers” as she jokingly called them. They were a no nonsense unit that had seen a fair bit of action against criminal elements inside of Tiantang but they also were enjoyable to be around. It didn’t hurt that some of them were fairly attractive as well. She remembered that she still had yesterday’s uniform on and worked to smooth out some of the wrinkles.
As the commanding officer of the Bao, fraternizing with the soldiers in a romantic way while in service would be deemed inappropriate but visiting them to sit in on their training and evaluating their effectiveness, well that was encouraged. That was good leadership.
As she reached the hanger that held their mockup of a boarding operation, she could hear loud laughter coming from inside and a shot of anxiety flowed through her, right down to her full stomach. Lunch was a bit excessive due to the freezer malfunction. It was childish. A group of boys doing boy things made her nervous. She gathered herself and walked into the hanger. One of the team was laying on the ground outside of the main hatch of the fake ship and calling for someone to carry him.
"I''m hit right in the ass, help, someone needs to suck out the bullet!" he yelled and reached out to his teammates. All of which quickly found other things that needed their attention. One even went as far as to pull the cleaning kit out of his rifle and start wiping his holographic rifle scope.
"CAPTAIN ON DECK!" Kang shouted and stood at attention as the other troops scrambled to do the same.
"At ease gentleman. I was told that I needed to see this?" Ruo said with a smile.
Kang chuckled as he relaxed his posture. "Uh yes, about that. They were just taking a break. That''s how they do it apparently. We''ll suit up for a real run and place fresh targets. Please join me on the catwalk."
A short time later Ruo had a cats eye view of the small freighter. There was no roof to the ship, only walls and doors, but the layout was very true to life. Cardboard cutouts of aliens with snarling faces and futuristic weapons were placed in some rooms, other rooms had humans, and some rooms had both. The extra special soldiers had transformed into a professional unit with loaded weapons, simulated ammunition, and night vision goggles. The lights in the hanger were cut off causing Ruo to jump and reach for Kang''s arm, he did not react to the touch, but he did open his tablet which showed a white phosphorous view of the ship from the security camera''s in the hanger.
"You put on quite the show Master Sergeant." Ruo said quietly.
The main door on the mockup ship was made from scrap armor panels that had been replaced the last time that the Bao was docked with the Tiantang shipyard in orbit. It suddenly lit up as a breaching device was armed and began a quick countdown. The light flashed five times and then rapidly before an explosion rocked Ruo''s insides. The door crupled inward and the team filtered through quickly alternating so as the rapidly gain sightlines on the whole interior. One to the left, one to the right like a zipper.
"CONTACT LEFT" rang out followed immediately by three shots and a "CLEAR". Kang was smiling at the decapitated cardboard alien that had been holding a human hostage moments before. The boarding party moved methodically from room to room, clearing hostiles and rescuing innocents before Kang threw a curveball at them.
"Man down! Man down!" he screamed and the operator who was on point did his best ragdoll and slumped against the wall. The man behind him grabbed his collar and began dragging him to the rear as the rest of the team pushed forward. The medic worked on the casualty for the rest of the operation until they were given the "All clear" command from Master Sergeant Kang and the lights came back on.
"Very impressive Kang. I hope that we never need your men to do that, but it''s reassuring to know that they can." Ruo said.
"If you think that is impressive, you should see them when we have pizza."