HELIOS

Chapter 4

Yet instant to fore-shadowed need
The eternal balance swings;
That winged men, the Fates may breed
So soon as Fate hath wings.
These shall possess
Our littleness,
And in the imperial task (as worthy) lay
Up our lives' all to piece one giant Day.

Before a Midnight Breaks in storm.
Rudyard Kipling

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Three weeks have gone by so quickly! I'm sitting at my work station, in my quarters studying the grav system of the Helios, since it's still a very new technology. The only thing I noticed immediately, is that there is no back up system. To me this is a bad situation. So, as Captain I gave the order to shut the whole thing down once a day, for a few hours, to give everyone solid practice in a zero G environment. This of course to the displeasure of the entire crew, including Mandy! At least at first for her.

Once I explained the problem I've noticed, she gave into the idea of having to float around the inside of the ship. The first time of course was a total surprise and what a mess it was. I thought it was funny; Mandy on the other hand thought it was a mean and down right nasty thing to do! I suppose it's bad form, but I think the crew now understands the importance, of being able to function under those conditions.

   I'm sure not everyone likes me. I'm not here to be liked. I'm here to take this ship, her crew, into harms way and I don't intend to die far from home because you cannot operate under difficulty, stress and near death situations.  Every combatant knows and fears that there is a bullet with your name on it. The thing is most of the men and women on this ship have little to no combat experience, so I have to do something to prepare them.

I've had battle drills, with hull breach scenarios, which has some of the crew spooked. Again, I have to do it. Mandy completely agrees with that training; if the hull is damaged we will know how to respond. Fire suppression is another important one! We are all fire men here! No matter rank or MOS, it's a Must!

I sit back rubbing my forehead and closing my eyes; I have a bit of headache, from all the reading I been doing lately. I've been going over the personnel files and well... most of the junior officers are top of their class or have some experience in the field. Still only a hand full have seen combat. At least my interviews with the crew have been informative, which now gives me a clear and detailed understanding of our situation. I look at my watch and it's thirteen fifty five; I pop up a file on my comp screen. Second lieutenant Frank Graham. He will be here fourteen hundred, for our interview. He's part of the med bay team, and he's Twenty four. He did one tour in Africa. Well what do you know! He was there the same time Mandy and I both were.

   My door chime rings and I look at my watch; right on time. "Come in!"

The door opens and in enters a tall, thin, gangly looking young man with a narrow triangular shaped face; dark hair, dark eyes. A cold almost emotionless expression that would shoo most people away. I look back at the screen and the expression there, of ID picture is very different. There's a smiling young man with what seems a view to the future. "Have a seat lieutenant." I say pointing to a chair that is opposite mine.

"Thank you Sir." He sits down noticeably uncomfortable.

"Lieutenant, you can relax." I'm trying to ease the atmosphere here. "This isn't an inquiry, I'm just getting to know my crew."

He lets out a short breath and his shoulders relax a little. "Yes Sir."

"It says here that you served in the Africa campaign with distinction, as a combat medic." I read on. "You received the silver star and a field promotion to second lieutenant." I glance through some more. "You were reprimanded for insubordination and shipped out of the campaign. What happened?"