Deep

Chapter 21 Preparation.

The terminal beeped at me, signalling the countdown timer had ended. I switched off the timer and stretched.

Where did the time go?

On the terminal screen were the past seventy-five minutes of planning. Built on the ideas I formulated in the SMS, I increased the detail however it was still lacking detail.

This is so skeletal. I sighed. It was hard to call what was on the screen a plan. It resembled notes on things to be discussed in a meeting.

There is much we must accomplish to prepare Tama Maru's crew to mount any real defence of her. Alice can plan everything to the minutiae. However, my officers and crew would revolt if I let her.

[You may not have a choice.] Bob said. He was correct. Alice might have to perform all the detailed planning and feelings be damned.

My comms chimed. It was the XO.

'Yes XO?'

'Most of the senior officers are awaiting you in the ready room.'

'How is the mood in there?' I steeled myself for her response.

She frowned before she spoke. 'It's tense.' She sounded wound tight herself.

It was what I expected, given the situation. Actually, it was better than I hoped, given the grim predicament that we were in. Then again, Tama Maru is manned by an all-volunteer professional crew that was the best the Space Force contained. I have confidence that every crew member has the fortitude to battle through this.

'I will be across in a couple of minutes,' I said, and ended the call, and saved my notes.

'Alice,'

'Yes, Captain?'

I stood and straightened my uniform. 'Would you accompany me to the meeting, please?'

'Yes, Captain' Alice shimmered into my augmented consciousness. Something was different about her appearance.

I got it.

'You modded your hair,' I said without thinking. She went lilac for a moment, smiled, and said nothing.

'It looks nice.' I felt awkward because of her silence.

'Thank you, Captain,' and she smiled again. Her smile was a little broader.

Relieved, I smiled back at her and gestured toward the door. 'Shall we?' I asked in a playful tone. With grace, Alice accepted my lead and headed out of the cabin first. I followed, and we headed to the bridge.

We walked in sync, not talking, our steps, well my steps, echoing in the silent corridor. In that quiet, I remembered something I'd wanted to ask Alice about.

'Alice, how did PO Duro like the gift you made for him?'

'He cried when I presented it to him; he thanked me for it, then said he needed to be alone.' She looked confused by the memory.

'Ah, I see. You think you hurt him?' There was a long stretch of quiet between us. I think for the first time, my lovable AI experienced an issue she could not categorise.

'I do not know,' she said, with a distinct hesitance. Her normal gold-on-blue pattern became an erratic rainbow. I was proud of her. Alice had hit a wall in her understanding, and she was brave enough to admit it.

'Alice, you have always amazed me with your capabilities. Today you have impressed me with your humility.' For a moment, Alice's light show stopped.

[Okay, that's new.] Commented a struck Bob. It surprised me as much as Bob and rendered me internal monologue mute. We both looked on with bated breath.

'I do not understand,' she said, staring at the floor before her rainbow light show went out an airlock.

[Dang. Do something, genius.] I did not expect a simple conversation to fly this far out of orbit. Shoot, this was a poor location to have this type of conversation. It was too public.

'Alice,' I said in a hushed voice.

'Alice,' I said a little harder. She still did not look at me.

'Hey, look at me, please.' She peeked at me.

'Listen, I will explain everything later in private. Okay?'

She gave me the slightest of smiles.

'I need you on point, now,' I said, placing a heavy emphasis on the -now- part. Her light show calmed and returned to her usual gold-on-blue pattern.

Why are you so sensitive to my comments? I need to discover the source of Alice's behaviour where I am concerned. I placed a pin in it and would get back to it later.

'Alice, are you ready?'

'Yes, Captain, I am,' she said with conviction.

[That's my girl.] Bob's comment caused me to pull my mental brakes. [What? She's a trooper.]

Yes, she is. I agreed.

Bob saying something nice. Was it the beginning of the end? Yet another thing to worry about? I pinned that too, for later.

I glanced at my pad; the time was 05:45 hours. This felt like the longest five minutes of my life. Mentally exhausted already, and I had not got to the main course yet. With a nod, Alice and I headed up the stairs to the Bridge.

'Captain on the Bridge,' the watch officer said and snapped a salute as he saw me.

'As you were,' I said to the bridge crew while returning the salute. The bridge was alive with nervous energy. Probably because of the senior officers passing through, headed to the meeting.

Seki, seated in the captain's chair, was going over reports. She acknowledged my presence with a nod. I returned her nod and headed Alice in tow to the ready room. Seki returned the conn to the watch officer and followed.

I stopped at the door, took a deep breath, and entered.