A gentle cough woke Captain Hodge from her meditation. Looking over, her head leaning heavily on her hand in a show of discontent, the Captain noticed Young’s patient look. “Yes, Magistrate Young?”
“Ma’am, there’s a call for you.”
Captain Hodge sat upright in her chair, her wings unfurling and stretching. Perhaps their time of waiting was finally over. “Forward the message to my console,” she ordered.
As soon as the light at the base of her console flashed red, she reached out a shaking hand and pressed the button to receive. “This is Captain Hodge of the Revolution.”
Another Avalon face appeared on the screen. Unlike Captain Hodge’s more approachable and welcoming personality, the woman that looked back at her exuded a dour and gloomy visage. Her pencil thin lips and narrow eyes were hooded by narrow, arching eyebrows that gave her a constantly angry appearance. Adding those characteristics to her naturally gaunt face and pale skin, and Captain Nitella looked every part the villainess of a long forgotten fairy tale.
“You look disappointed to see me, Hodge,” Captain Nitella said, her musical voice sounding harshly with sharp notes. Captain of the Defiant, Nitella and Hodge traced a professional, if not personal, competitive friendship back for years during their concurrent years of service in the Fleet.
“The disappointment is not because of you, Nitella,” Hodge replied, slumping back into her chair. “I just grow so bored of flying around the same planet. I want action. I want intrigue. I want… something different.”
“We could always do another practice exercise,” Nitella offered, arching one of her angry brows.
Hodge sighed heavily. “No, I think we all had enough fun with the last one.” The last training exercise had been a stalemate, ending with most of the smaller Duun and Cair ships destroyed in the space between the two Cruisers and little true damage done to either ship. The end of the battle had wound up as little more than two ships sitting miles apart launching mock rocket after mock rocket at one another, all of which were destroyed long before reaching their target.
Though no real answer had been decided and no winner declared, the training exercise had been a disaster to Hodge. Not only was she unable to destroy the rival ship, the exercise showed a great weakness both in her pilots and her weapons teams on board the Revolution. With war potentially days away, she feared that her crew was grossly inadequate for such a determined enemy as the Terran Empire.
“You look tired,” Nitella stated. Hodge winced at the words. Even the most harmless of gestures seemed condescending when coming from her fellow Avalon. “I hope the stresses of Captaining the Fleet are not getting to you, Hodge.”
Captain Hodge frowned, refusing to be pulled into an argument with her rival. “Unfortunately, Nitella, I can’t continue this conversation. I want to make sure the lines are clear in case a more important call comes through. I’ll talk to you later.”
Hodge ended the call before the other Avalon realized her backhanded insult. Rubbing the palm of her hand over her eyes, Captain Hodge realized that Nitella might have been right. She had been manning the helm on and off for days, anticipating a call that had yet to come. Yearning for a distraction, she turned to her Tactical Officer and second in command.
“Eminent Merric,” she said, “come and discuss the last training exercise with me.” She hoped that he had seen something she hadn’t; that maybe, somewhere in their failed venture, there had been salvageable piloting.
Merric walked quickly to her side. The tall Pilgrim had immaculately trimmed dark hair, offset by pale skin and a permanent frown. Always displeased, Merric was a stickler for regulations, often able to quote the most obscure Fleet rule when it suited him. Though Hodge found him abrasive, she also knew that the crew feared his almost weekly inspections, which allowed her to run the ship without fear of mechanical or technical failures.
“Yes, ma’am,” Merric said as he snapped to attention before her.
“Relax, Eminent Merric,” she said, though she saw only the slightest shift in his position. Shaking her head softly, she realized that he was relaxed. “I want to discuss the training exercise against the Defiant.”
If it were possible, Merric’s frown deepened. “It was a despicable display, ma’am.”
Captain Hodge tried not to shoot him a disapproving look that would have matched his expression. “I realize the failures of this ship and its crew. What I am looking for is anything positive that came from our exercise.”
Merric paused, searching for a proper response. “The ship defenses worked admirably, as did the Duun pilots as they repeatedly destroyed both the invading Cair ships and incoming missiles.”
“And our own Cair pilots? How did they do?” Captain Hodge already knew the answer, but strove to develop Merric as a leader. Though he was callous when dealing with subordinates, he was a brilliant Fleet officer and held a lot of potential for future advancement and, if fate was in his favor, command of his own Cruiser some day. Prior to then, however, he still required positive grooming.
“They struggled to find any opening in open space. One of our pilots even hesitated when ordered to advance. Only two of the Cair ships actually made it to the Defiant, and those were immediately destroyed by Captain Nitella’s quickly responding ship defense forces. None of our Infantry ever got close enough to place an explosive that would have caused any serious damage, nor were they able to locate any officers of significant rank to take as prisoners of war.”
Captain Hodge had already heard about Magistrate Riddell and her disobeying of a direct order by the Squadron Commander. Riddell was young, Hodge knew, and fresh from the Academy. She had taken a great risk recruiting Keryn as a replacement Cair pilot, succumbing against her better wishes only when nearly begged by Magistrate Xiao. Captain Hodge hoped that she found her confidence soon. It would be a great disappointment to lose so young a pilot in the heat of battle because she was unable to follow orders.
“Ma’am,” the Communications Officer interrupted. Merric shot him a disapproving stare, but Captain Hodge brushed aside his rebuttal.
“What is it, Magistrate Young?” she asked.
“You have another call, ma’am.”
Captain Hodge rolled her eyes. She was sure that Nitella had finally realized the double-edged sword of her departing words. It was just like her to call immediately back, eager to offer the last retaliating words of the conversation. “Please tell Captain Nitella that I’m indisposed, being right in the middle of a tactical briefing.”
Turning back to Merric, the Captain was surprised when Young cleared his throat loudly. It was an annoying habit of Young’s, one she would have to address later. “What is it, Magistrate Young?”
“It’s…” he paused, clearly nervous. “It’s not Captain Nitella, ma’am.”
“Then who is it?” Merric interceded. “Out with it, man!”
“It’s a message from the High Council,” Young replied meekly.
Both Captain Hodge and Eminent Merric paused, their terse replies forgotten. “You’ve confirmed the signature?” Hodge asked.
“The message is authentic, ma’am,” Young answered. “Would you like me to transfer the message to your console?”
“No!” Hodge replied quickly. “No, Magistrate Young. Please transfer it to the conference room. I’ll take it there shortly.” Captain Hodge met Merric’s stare of wonderment. Behind his eyes, though, she noticed disappointment that she did not invite him to listen. A message from the High Council, however, was not meant for prying eyes. “Eminent Merric, alert me at once of any changes while I’m away. Magistrate Vargus,” she said to the ship’s Navigator, “keep us on course.”