The Making Of A Survey Service Captain
By Gary L.M. Martin
[Note: This Science Fiction story is an
intense character study
with occasional sex scenes.]
First Prologue: Peak Performance
Ambassador Crodfoller's head fell off his shoulders and rolled off the holoscreen.
By the 23rd Century, holography had gotten so precise that objects rendered in it looked real, or nearly so. So when the Ambassador's head rolled off of his shoulders, some on the bridge of the Survey Service Command Cruiser USS
Relentless
half expected to see it roll onto the floor of their own ship.
As the ambassador's headless body fell to the ground, out of view of the holographic recorder, the crew could see the holoimage of Murshad, his eyes gleaming, his curved sword raised high, with blood dripping from it.
"Blood!" Murshad cried, his eyes gleaming, a wide smile pasted on his lips. "The Great God of Blood has been honored!" He looked out at them, seeking a reaction.
The crew of the
Relentless
looked horrified, and rightly so.
But not its Captain.
If Murshad was hoping to elicit an unguarded reaction from the Captain, he was sorely disappointed. Captain Michael Tiberius Taylor of the United Survey Service had no expression at all on his face. He simply watched, and observed.
"Blood, Captain Taylor!" Murshad said again, feeling frustrated by the lack of reaction.
"I see," said Taylor calmly. Earlier in his career, when he had been an Ensign, or a Lieutenant, or even a Lieutenant Commander, viewing such a scene might have been unnerving. But Taylor was a full Captain now, as seasoned an officer as they came, in the United Survey Service.
"Now release the infidels to us, or I will sacrifice the rest of your embassy staff to the Great God of Blood, one by one, right here, right now, in front of you all!"
They all knew what would happen if Taylor turned the dissidents over to Murshad. He would execute them. The bridge crew turned to look at Taylor. Taylor looked unruffled. He looked around a moment, as if weighing, considering. The crew was startled by his lack of immediate response. Wasn't he concerned for the hostages? Wasn't he worried that a lack of a quick response might mean their deaths?
Murshad grew as impatient as Taylor's crew, perhaps even more so by the lack of response.
"Well, Captain?" he asked, in an annoyed tone, his sword still dripping with the blood of diplomats.
"No," said Taylor curtly.
"No?" said Murshad. "Are you ready to watch the execution of the rest of your staff, one by one? Ahmed, bring that one, the girl, the young one with the big melons. Perhaps that will stir more of a response from the famous ladies' man." A young blonde woman with a gorgeous bust came into pickup range. She had panic in her eyes. She squealed as a Ramadhan held her arms behind her back.
"Or... perhaps I will get a different response from you if I blow up your manske," said Taylor.
"My manske?" said Murshad. He looked confused. "Which manske do you mean?"
"All of them," said Taylor.
"All of them?"
"All of them. In two minute intervals, starting now," said Taylor. "Mr. Garrity, lock forward megajoulers on the Laquisha Manske, on the outskirts of Al Sa-Naa."
The weapons officer toggled his display in stunned silence. And then, "Targeting..." and then, "Weapons... locked."
Murshad's eyebrows furled. "You wouldn't. You couldn't."
"I would. I could," said Taylor. And for the first time he smiled, and his smile had real emotion in it.
The holoimage of Murshad stared directly into Taylor's eyes. "You're bluffing."
"Am I?" Taylor asked. He turned to his weapons officer. "Mr. Garrity, open fire."
Second Prologue: The First Impression
29 years earlier....
The space liner
Arcturus
was falling into the sun.
Mister Peepers barked, "Arf, arf."
The space liner
Arcturus
was falling into the sun.
Mister Peepers barked, "Arf, arf."
"Mikey, can't you keep that dog quiet? We're trying to listen to what the Captain is saying," snapped Edwin Taylor.
"Sorry, Daddy," said Mikey. He put a hand over his robot dog's mouth.
Mister Peepers was a robot Pomeranian. Mikey's father Edwin had promised Mike that he would get him a robot dog when he was old enough. But when Mikey turned seven, he decided he could wait no longer. So he went on a hunger strike until Mister Peepers appeared.
It was actually his mother Sara who brought Mister Peepers home. She brought him home in a box that moved! Mikey was so impressed, he always remembered that. And when she opened the box, out came Mister Peepers! He was so small and cuddly and he jumped right into Mikey's arms!
Daddy wasn't happy, though. He thought that having a small robot dog would emas... emascu... do
something
that would turn him into a girl. He wanted Mikey to have a larger robot dog, like a robot german shepherd, when he was old enough.
"But Mikey wants a robot dog now," said his mother. "And Mister Peepers is just the right size for a boy his size."
"Mister Peepers?" said Daddy, making a face, as he watched Mister Peepers lick Mikey's face with his genuine imitation pink tongue. Mikey cackled with laughter.
"That's the name he came with," said his mother.
"We are
not
calling him Mister Peepers," said Daddy resolutely.
********
"Arf arf!"
"Shh! Good boy!" Mikey held Mister Peepers in his arms and used his fingers to keep Mister Peeper's mouth shut so he couldn't bark. Daddy was always threatening to disconnect Mister Peeper's battery if he didn't behave. As he worked to silence his rebellious robot Pomeranian, his older brother Darden elbowed him in the arm.
"Ow!" Mikey cried. "Mom, Darden is-"
"Quiet!" his father snapped.
"-engine problems," came the voice of Captain Weatherly over the holocom. "It's nothing to worry about. Our engineers are on top of the situation, and we will be underway as soon as possible."
"Nothing to worry about," Mikey's father fumed. "We start to jump back to Earth, and then we suddenly reduce to sublight speed, the engines are dead, and we are falling into the sun. What a great end to a great vacation." They had come to Vega for their first extrasolar vacation, and the most exciting thing they had seen were alien space frogs. Space frogs! Some vacation. Mikey's father looked out the window at the fiery Vegan sun. No one on the ship had failed to notice that it had gotten larger over the past two hours, nor that the ship had gotten hotter.
Mikey could tell from the expression on his parent's faces that they were worried, but he didn't know why. The captain said he was going to fix the ship, wasn't he? Maybe it would be best if he looked into it himself. He stowed Mister Peepers in the luggage rack and headed for the door of their compartment.
"Dear, don't go far," said his mother.
"I won't, Mom."
Mikey had discovered a place that was perfect for him. It was in the kitchen. Between shifts it was empty, or almost empty and he could come and go unseen. When he climbed up on the counter he could see the vent. The screen door on it was loose and it clattered. It was just the right size for him.
He opened the vent, and stared at the blackness inside.
********
Inside of Mikey's head, a conversation took place, a conversation so discrete, that even Mikey was unaware of it.
"We shouldn't go in there," said Cautious.
"But we were there before," said Curious.
"We almost got stuck, remember?" said Cautious.
"We want to find out what is happening. Something is going on, something bad," said Curious.
"Don't do it!" Cautious said.
"I'm doing it," said Curious.
********
Mikey had tunneled in the ventilation system before. It was a long flight to and from Vega, and he had been bored during the trip. Most places the vents went to were not very interesting, but there was one place, one place full of instruments and people, that was very, very interesting. Mikey went there again. He was careful to crawl quietly so he would not be heard. When he got there, he arrived in the middle of a conversation.
"-Engineering says there's nothing we can do. The flux capacitor is gone."
"Primary and backups?"
"Yes."
"Did you call for help?"
"I did. There are no ships in the vicinity of Vega. I put out a priority distress call for help. The Survey Service responded."
"Thank God! When are they going to get here?"
"They say they can get here in approximately four to five hours, at top speed."
"And how long until we're irrevocably trapped in the gravity well of the sun?"
"It's hard to say; somewhere between seven and eight hours."
"Did you tell the Survey Service that?"
"Yes."
"And what did they say?"
"They'll do their best."
********
The Captain of the
Arcturus
couldn't conceal the truth from his passengers for much longer. The ship was getting hotter and hotter, and their cooling units were becoming less and less effective, and they were obviously getting closer to the Vegan sun. And so he went online again and explained the situation. The engines had failed. They were awaiting rescue from the Survey Service. Help would come, soon, and tow them out.
When Mikey returned to his seat, even his seven year old mind could sense the tension in the air. Everyone was wondering the same thing: would the Survey Service really arrive in time? It was getting hotter by the moment, and the sun was only getting bigger outside their window.
Mikey started to get really hot. His Mom gave him some water. She also opened her shirt. She had a big belly because she was making a sister for him, she said. Though Darden told him that it was simply a big piece of bathroom stuff that had gotten stuck inside Mom and was clogging her up. He had said it with such seriousness that Mikey wasn't sure what to believe.
Suddenly everyone on the ship started clapping wildly. They could hear it from inside their compartment.
The Survey Service had arrived.
It was a tiny dot, but one that grew bigger and bigger. Mikey's Dad looked out the window. "That's... that's just a scoutship!"
"What does it matter? They'll tow us out, right?" said his Mother.
"I'm not sure that they can," said his Dad. "And they can't fit us all in that tiny ship."
The ship docked, and everyone got excited, and wanted to get up to greet them, until the Captain asked everyone to stay in their seats and not crowd the hallways.
Minutes passed as they waited to hear news, any news. It was all silence.
Mikey decided to find out what was going on.
********
"The engines are shot, sir," said a voice.
Mikey couldn't see who was talking from the vent, not precisely, but he saw people, new people, in black and dark blue uniforms. That must be the Survey Service, whatever that was.
"But... Captain Renton, you can tow us out, right?" That sounded like the voice of Captain Weatherly, the Captain of the
