Tim and Sam
entered the bridge of the Albatross from the airlock. Almost nobody noticed until Ensign Zhou
spotted the admirals’ dress uniforms. “Admirals
on deck!” he announced loudly and nervously.
“As you
were!” Tim announced.
“Commander
Johnson!” Sam addressed the commander.
“Yes Ma’am.”
He looked around to both of them “Sir.
Ma’am. Sir. Ma’am?” he was very confused.
“Take it
easy sailor.” Sam addressed the commander “You haven’t ever seen us in uniform.”
“And there
is a reason for that.” Tim added. “But
that is not why we are here now.”
“I don’t
understand.” He looked really lost.
“You don’t
have to.” Sam looked squarely at him and extended a small box. “Captain Calhoun
is going home and this station needs a new captain.”
“Congratulations
Captain Johnson!” Tim extended his hand “On your promotion and your new
command.”
Sam opened
the box to reveal the eagles to the new captain with a big smile.
The new
captain looked down to the box and smiled.
He looked back up to Sam “Thank you Ma’am!” and then looked to Tim “Sir!”
Tim took one
of the eagles out of the box, pulled the oak cluster from the new captain’s
left collar and punched the eagle into that collar. Sam took the other oak cluster from the new
captain’s right collar and replaced it with the other eagle. Simultaneously Tim and Sam punched down on
the eagles to press them into the captain’s uniform and make sure he knew the
responsibilities he now had.
Tim and Sam
both saluted the new captain.
“Congratulations
Captain.” Tim stated with a smile.
“Take care
of your station and your crew.” Sam looked directly at him.
“I will
indeed, Ma’am.” He looked to Tim “Sir.”
“Very Well.”
Tim released his salute. “We need to get going.”
“And don’t
tell the Reykjavik quite yet.” Sam winked at Captain Johnson “We have a
surprise for them too.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
He was still processing his promotion. He turned around to his staff “Ok
people, let’s get this station back to operational status.”
Tim and Sam
entered the Reykjavik from the airlock in their space suits dragging their bags
with them. The yeoman led them to their
quarters without checking much else. The
pair just trudged along to the compartment and went in. They stowed their bags quickly and climbed
out of their space suits. They checked
each other and squared their uniforms, and then exited the compartment. The yeoman froze a moment since she had no
idea they were admirals “Admiral … s.” She muttered hesitantly.
“Yes yeoman.”
Tim tried to sound reassuring.
“Don’t
worry,” Sam chimed in “We don’t bite.” She smiled.
“We need to
go to the bridge.” Tim looked at the stunned yeoman.
“Of course,”
she slowly got back to business “right this way Sir, Ma’am.” She turned and
launched down the zero G passageway. Tim
and Sam followed her to the bridge and stopped at the airlock.
“We can take
it from here yeoman.” Sam grabbed the airlock handle “You’re dismissed.”
“Yes Ma’am,
Sir.” She spun around and drifted back down the passageway as Tim and Sam
entered the airlock.
They scanned
the bridge as they were entering it, checking the operations and how well the crew
worked together. Gwen and Kim were
talking to Commander Dunst at the navigating station. Gwen looked up and saw Tim and Sam in full
dress uniforms. She announced “Admirals
on deck!” and saluted. Everyone in the
compartment turned to look and saluted.
“As you
were.” Tim announced as they both finished their return salutes.
“Commander
Dunst.” Sam addressed the commander. “This ship is down one captain and will be
for some time.”
“That is not
a workable situation,” Tim added “As you are no doubt aware.”
“Yes Sir, Ma’am.”
The commander responded.
Sam took a
box out of her pocket and opened it to reveal the shiny eagles inside. “Congratulations
Captain,” She smiled “On your promotion and
new command.” She picked up one of the eagles.
“We expect
you will be able to run this ship as tight as Captain Grind did.” He picked up
the other eagle and the two of them removed the oak clusters from the new
captain’s collar, replaced them with the eagles they then punched down just
hard enough that the pin tips just tapped his skin. Some naval traditions will never die.
“Alright
Captain,” Tim pointed out the forward observation port “Let’s get this beast
underway.”
“We’re going
to need a compartment to work in.” Sam pointed out “But first we need to get
out of these uniforms.”
“Of
course. I’ll get one allocated.” He
turned to his lieutenant “set aside one of the conference rooms with an
observation port on the same side as our unusual cargo.” He turned back to the
admirals “I’ll send you the compartment number to your quarters. You probably want to grab a quick shower on
your way.”
“That we
will.” Sam smiled.
“Gwen, Kim,
we will meet you in there and get our strategy figured out.” Tim looked
slightly serious.
“Yes sir.”
Gwen responded.
“Very well,”
Tim saluted the new captain “Carry on.” Sam saluted as well. They both spun around and left through the
airlock.
As they
drifted down the passage way Sam asked “Do you think they will mind if we take
a little extra time getting there?”
“They are
going to have to.” And they both laughed a little.
The
Reykjavik slowly accelerated away from Albatross station towing the unusual
cargo. The shuttle was towing from the
opposite side to balance the thrust and keep the asteroid clear of the
thrusters of both ships. They headed off
on the 8 month journey to get back to earth quietly in the dark emptiness of
space.
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