Stonerager Chronicles -

Stonerager Chronicles

By 2Charlie

This is a science fiction series that happens to include occasional erotic scenes. If you have not yet read previous chapters of this series, I highly recommend going back to do so before you read this chapter.

All characters in this story are of the age of majority.

Chapter 08

The dinner on the Antares station was outstanding in its diversity, with a sampling of various cuisines available for the crew of the Odyssey to enjoy. The locals swore that Reginald's was as good as - if not better than - any restaurant down planetside. Accompanying the dinner was a live orchestra, entertaining the diners with wonderful strains of music new and old alike, some of which was tantalizingly familiar, and much of which was entirely new.

The shopping was an interesting experience, as none of the women possessed any currency. Fortunately, Dutch had done a bit of preparatory research on the sly before they'd docked at the station and had prepared a transactional account with an existing balance of over one hundred thousand credits. It turns out that uncorrupted entertainment data from Old Earth was extremely rare and valuable on Rigellia if one knew the right buyers. Fortunately, Adjutant Horizon was able to direct Dutch to a buyer in the market for such data, and the contact had proven to be a windfall.

As such, when the women began to find little items of interest - along with a few not-so-little items - Dutch was able to step in and make payment for the items, much to his wives' delight. In the end, each of the women managed to find a few trinkets or odd things they couldn't possibly live without, as well as a few articles of clothing - especially of the more intimate variety - after which they'd all returned to their ship.

Dutch was exhausted after the day he'd had but still did the women the courtesy of sitting very attentively as they each ducked into the adjoining bathroom to change before coming back out to model their new outfits for him. He'd just made a mental note to have the droids combine this room with the adjacent cabin and convert half of it into closet space when the girls began modeling their more intimate attire.

His attention riveted on each of them as they struck provocative poses for him, he lost all track of time, mesmerized by the collection of beauty parading before him. Eventually, Pheebs stepped up to him and gently placed her fingertips under his bearded chin, pushing his mouth closed before she leaned in to kiss him.

Knowing that tomorrow was already upon them and that the day was going to be the first of many very busy days, the women decided to simply coax Dutch into their bed and cuddled up all around him, enjoining him in a much-needed slumber.

*****Starship Odyssey, 0730, Day One of Crew Training*****

Formality. It felt very strange aboard the Odyssey, but Dutch wanted to make a good impression. As such, a quarterdeck watch had been posted just inside the Starboard-side docking ring, with Service Droid 06 standing by alongside Jjan'tira as they awaited the new trainees. Dutch stood off to the side, while the rest of the crew manned watch stations on the bridge, observing the events via the main viewscreen.

Dutch had done his research, and had synthesized a Ship's Bell for the Odyssey, placing it just inboard of the quarterdeck watch stand. A large, polished bronze bell hung from a mahogany wooden yokel with the starship's name and date of commissioning proudly engraved in bold letters across its waist. Dutch had added an automated clapper, programmed to strike the bell at regular intervals to keep the ship's time. The sound of the bell would be broadcast across the ship's 1MC circuit every 30 minutes to track the standard watch rotation, each rotation ranging from one to eight bells, although the volume would be significantly reduced in the crews' quarters.

As the time approached 0745, footsteps could be heard approaching the docking ring from the Antares Station side of the docking bridge. Abruptly, the Admiral and her assistant, Commander Doherty, stepped just inside the hatch and, upon seeing the posted quarterdeck watch, snapped to attention, with Doherty calling out, "Admiral Bearing, requesting permission to come aboard!"

Jjan'tira snapped to attention and responded in a loud and clear voice, "Permission granted!"

The service droid turned to the bell and tapped it twice before announcing over the ship's main communications circuit, "Rigellian Flight Academy, arriving!"

Fleet Admiral Bearing and Doherty nodded at the quarterdeck watch, then approached Dutch, who stepped forward and extended his hand to the admiral. "Welcome aboard, Admiral!" he said as she took his hand.

Turning to Doherty, he nodded, then the three of them stepped back to watch the larger group as it approached the hatchway.

The sound of two dozen pairs of feet marching in step grew ever louder, until the front ranks of two columns of uniformed trainees stepped onto the ship's quarterdeck before the guide-on called out, "Detail, halt!" The trainees all came to a stop, and the ensuing quiet was broken as the lead trainee turned to address Jjan'tira, "Training Crew Zero-One, requesting permission to come aboard!"

"Permission granted," Jjan'tira responded once again.

At that moment, Pheebs entered the quarterdeck from the inboard passageway and called out in a commanding voice, "Trainees, follow me!" Spinning in a quick about-face, Pheebs disappeared back down the corridor at a quick pace, with the new trainees hustling to follow her.

As the last of the trainees disappeared down the corridor, Dutch grinned at the Admiral, stepping close to avoid being overheard. "Well, Cathrice, are you going to wish us luck, or did you want to tag along?"

"Tempting offer, Dutch, but my duties require that I remain behind, I'm afraid," Bearing replied wistfully. "I look forward to your debriefing upon the completion of your training cruise, Captain," she replied, standing at attention.

Dutch snapped to attention and gave the Admiral a quick nod. He wasn't sure if saluting was still done, but he'd be damned if he'd salute inside, uncovered.

"Carry on!" she called out as she turned and departed through the hatchway, followed quickly by her aide. Droid 06 once again rang the bell twice, announcing over the ship's 1MC "Rigellian Flight Academy, departing."

"Lieutenant," he addressed Jjan'tira, "secure the hatch, then secure the quarterdeck watch and resume your duties."

"Aye, aye, sir!" she responded, then quickly carried out his orders.

Heading to the bridge, Dutch passed the main briefing room, where Pheebs was well into her orientation lesson, outlining the upcoming training schedule for the trainees and assigning them to their duty rotation.

As he stepped onto the bridge, he quickly noted that D'narius was sitting in the command chair, and Alisia was at the helm. The two had been in the process of completing a pre-launch checklist when he'd arrived, so he stood by patiently until the task was complete. Standing from the chair, D'narius turned to Dutch and reported, "All systems show ready for departure, sir. The boarding gantry has been retracted, and we are free of all moorings and clear to navigate."

"Thank you, Lt. Commander," he nodded at her. "I have the con." As soon as she had stepped away and taken a seat at the Navigator's station, Dutch quickly surveyed the bridge, then called out, "Helm, maneuvering thrusters only, move us away from the station."

"Ay, sir, thrusters only," Alisia responded. After a short pause, she turned and announced, "The Odyssey is now one kilometer out from the station, Captain. Heading?"

"For now, let's plan to do a long patrol around the system while we get the trainees settled," Dutch suggested, scratching his beard while he considered options. "After that, we should take a longer voyage - maybe go back to where we'd encountered our space mining friends..."

"The Oo'Lan'Dang," D'narius prompted.

"Right, the Oo'Lan'Dang," he agreed. "I like the idea of letting the newbies get a feel for piloting through a bit of an obstacle course, literally as well as figuratively. I know that wasn't a very dense asteroid field, but it's good for starters, plus I want to check on our new friends to ensure they're behaving."

"Course plotted, Captain," D'narius reported, simultaneously displaying her navigational calculations on the main screen. "The Odyssey will initially make her way to the innermost planet in the system, then progress outward again to the outer edge of the system, pausing to perform brief surveys at each planet along the way, bypassing Rigellia, of course."

Eyeing the projected journey on the screen, Dutch nodded in approval. "This looks appropriate," he concluded, adding, "Each watch rotation will have adequate opportunities to learn more about the handling and capabilities of the ship before we take them outside of their local region and do some real exploration with them."

Turning to address Alisia, he ordered, "Helm, lay in this course, and as soon as we are clear of Rigellia's outer defense ring, engage at one-quarter standard sub-light." Standard sublight equating to twenty percent of the speed of light, one-quarter standard sublight left his ship traveling along at a relatively brisk pace of one-twentieth the speed of light.

"Aye, aye, Captain," Alisia replied calmly as she input the commands to her console.

The multiple small shuttle pods and Defense Force interceptors gathered near Antares station slipped past the edge of the main viewscreen until only the stars remained. As soon as the Odyssey was navigationally in the clear, Alisia gradually increased her speed and adjusted her heading to take her on a long, graceful path that spiraled toward the system's innermost planet.

Trusting in D'narius and Alisia to get the Odyssey to the initial position for the upcoming training events, Dutch brought out his tablet and reviewed the training schedule for the remainder of the week, adding a few additional notes, but otherwise just ensuring an even distribution of experiences were going to be available across the crew rotations. Once he was comfortable that each of the crews would have similar opportunities at the various basic elements of planetary exploration - at least as much as could be done from aboard their vessel - he turned his attention to a matter that he'd been giving some consideration for a few days.

He needed to make a design adjustment to the Odyssey. He'd already discussed this matter with Director Philson, and the new class of ships being built would have this feature already included, but his ship lacked a decontamination chamber. This would quickly become an issue once he and his crew began to undertake exploration missions, so he planned to review with Prime the ideal means by which a decon chamber could be adjacent to the med bay.

Bringing up a structural diagram, he used his finger to identify the space that he'd want to convert, then opened a dialog with Prime to describe the purpose of the chamber. Once the requirements had been captured, he left the structural design task to Prime and began to look at other preparations that would need to be completed. Checking his stores of raw materials, Dutch decided that he had enough to complete the modifications necessary to create the decon chamber, but after that, his reserves would be quite low.

Switching back to the training schedule, he added to the mission task list the need to lay in additional materials as opportunities presented themselves. He'd make sure the team leaders understood that he wanted each crew to have some experience with this task, as it was a long-term necessity for the ship's sustainability.

Satisfied with the training schedule, Dutch checked the progress of the orientation. Pulling up the video feed from the briefing room, he was pleased to see that Pheebs was in the final stage of her new crew orientation lesson plan. In short order, the trainees would be shown to their quarters, instructed to change into their new uniforms, and the first watch team should be reporting to the bridge in about an hour.

Bringing back up his running task list, he had Prime queue up a task to synthesize four more androids - given the volume of refit tasks that were on the list, more hands would make for quicker results. Pausing to slightly edit the task, he added a step to label the droids as their final finish was applied, reflecting on the arduousness of having to do so manually.

Consulting the ship's chronometer, Dutch decided he had enough time to dictate a log entry for his Captain's Log. Pulling out his datapad, he tapped the screen and opened his log to create a new entry. Although he'd estimated that it would have been the year 3125, late February back on Earth, it made no sense to continue to track his logs based on Earth time, given that no one remained on Earth. And given that time, from hours per day, to days per year, would vary between the different systems he planned to visit, it made no sense to base a ship's calendar on any one system's time. Eventually, he figured once the Alliance became a formal reality, some central reference time would be adopted. Until then, he'd decided to base time on the number of days since he'd re-awakened, and he kept the ship on a 24-hour clock out of life-long habit.

'Captain's Log, Day 47, 1130. The Rigellians have endeavored to create a fleet of starships based on the Odyssey's design, with minor modifications and upgrades. While those ships are under construction, we've taken on two dozen trainees from the fledgling Rigellian Space Fleet to train them in the general operations of an Odyssey-class starship. Given that none of these trainees have ever ventured beyond the confines of their system, we will start by walking them through basic navigational tasks and planetary surveys. The trainees have performed these tasks using simulators for the past week, but now it is time to do so in real life. Once we've completed those basic feats, we will move to extra-system navigation, simulated combat, and first-contact protocols.'

Dutch paused his dictation for a moment, considering what else to add. Once he had his thoughts organized, he continued. 'I remain optimistic about the Rigellians' ability to deploy a functional presence, adding reinforcement to the human factor within the structure of the Alliance, and thus help to ensure the iShan'tal will take the Treaty seriously and not simply dismiss it out of hand. As soon as I get a few more of the post-Terran systems on board with the plan, I hope to be able to pursue the next logical steps. These will ultimately lead to a renewed attempt at negotiating a cooperative alliance in fact, not simply a treaty on paper. I expect life will get truly interesting at that point.' Closing the log, he put away his pad just as the first group of trainees entered the bridge, escorted by Pheebs.

The lead trainee popped to attention and sounded off. "Crew Alpha, reporting for Under Instruction Watch, Captain!"

Peering at the trainee's nametag - Lt. Charlise Griffon, RSF - Dutch acknowledged the young officer, "At ease, Crew Alpha." Turning to Pheebs, he continued, "First Officer Pheebs, is this watch crew ready to assume their UI Watch?"

Standing straight, Pheebs grinned slightly as she barked in response, "Sir, yes sir! Crew Alpha stands ready to assume their UI Watch, sir!"

Resisting his urge to grin in response, he replied, "Very well. Have your crew assume their watch stations."

Sitting back in his command chair, Dutch watched with interest as the trainees each went to their assigned stations. Their crew leader, Griffon, stepped up to Alisia at the helm station and requested a watch turnover. Griffon was an interesting individual, in Dutch's estimation. She had a blending of features that his culture would have categorized as mulatto, in that she had a dark mocha skin tone, but Anglican facial features - a long, narrow nose, piercing blue eyes, thin lips, and high, angular cheekbones, topped by wavy brown hair with blonde highlights. She stood tall, about 1.75 meters, and possessed an athletic build with a mass of perhaps 60 kilograms. She filled out her trainee uniform in ways that Dutch appreciated, though he would never admit such.

Alisia ran through a quick update of their current heading, directing Griffon's attention to the flight indicators depicting Odyssey's speed, direction of travel, and relative alignment with the Rigel system ecliptic. As soon as Griffon had acknowledged the turnover, Alisia vacated the chair, allowing Griffon to assume the post.

To their left, D'narius was conducting a similar turnover with her watch relief, one Lt. Jontalla Ironheart, a striking young woman whose features Dutch would have classified as heavily American Indian - what the hell the Rigellian equivalent might be, he had no idea. Ironheart was only slightly smaller than Griffon, but similarly athletic in stature.

At the science station, a man in his late twenties, or perhaps very early thirties was logging into the console. Lt. Bryce Fallon had been quiet but attentive during the pre-flight training the day prior, and Dutch was curious to see how the young man performed, especially under stress. Hopefully, Dutch mused, he'll be calm and capable, not prone to analysis paralysis.

At operations, Lt. Cameron Galt - a tall, lanky man who stood a few centimeters taller than Dutch, but with a much slimmer build - took the seat, logged into the console, and reviewed its heads-up display. "All systems indicating within nominal operating parameters, Captain," the young man called out.

Dutch acknowledged his report, then turned to address the watch team as a whole. "Welcome to your first watch aboard the Odyssey," he announced to the group of trainees. "As you have no doubt been informed, your team is on a four-and-twenty watch rotation. This means you will be on watch for four hours, then off-watch for twenty. The Odyssey runs on a twenty-four-hour day. As such, every day, you will have the noon-to-sixteen hundred watch rotation. You will also have classroom training each day from oh-seven hundred to ten hundred, plus a post-watch debriefing. Any questions so far?"

None of the trainees responded, so Dutch pressed on. "The regular crew of the Odyssey will be on a longer watch rotation of six-and-eighteens, allowing us to rotate through the UI watches so that we will each have an opportunity to observe your performance during your training period. Our observations, along with your periodic quizzes and final exam, will factor into your overall performance rating for this part of your training. In addition, periodic oral knowledge checks will be used to evaluate your functional abilities to perform your assigned tasks. Still with me?"

Ironheart turned to look over her shoulder at him, asking, "Oral knowledge check, sir?"

"Affirmative, Ironheart. For example, given our current course and velocity, how long will it take us to achieve intercept with Alnit, the innermost planet in your system?"

Turning to check her instruments, she did the math out loud, calculating, "Let's see - according to my NAV charts, on our present course, we're about 878 million kilometers from intercepting Alnit. At one-quarter standard sublight, we're traveling at about one-twentieth the speed of light, or roughly fifteen thousand kilometers per second. Divide 878 million kilometers by fifteen thousand kps, you get..." she paused to crunch the numbers in her head before announcing, "fifty-eight thousand, three hundred thirty-three seconds, which equals...," another round of mental math, then, "about sixteen hours and fifteen minutes, sir."