Sprig looked at Tommy and said, “Captain Dodd has already told us that we will have a crewman assigned to us.”
Tommy froze. Then he said, “Who told you that?”
Sprig seeing Tommy’s reaction said, “The Captain of the Dorg-Ross.”
“What is the Captain’s name,” Tommy asked?
The two Algeans looked at each other and Twig said, “Captain Cassandra Dodd.”
Tommy stood up and thought, “Atlas! You didn’t tell me Cassandra Dodd was the captain of the ship I’ve been assigned with these adolescents.”
Atlas thought, “Oh, crap!” Then he thought to Tommy, “Tommy, you have been assigned to the highest rated ship available at this time. The high ranking of the two adolescents and you made fleet control choose our best ship.”
“Well I’m not going to do it. I’ll make them choose another.”
Tommy, you might want to think that through.”
“Why!”
“Tommy. Do you have any idea of the power of your opinion? If you reject this ship then it will be given a black mark and the probability of any of the crew’s chances of future advancement will be totally jeopardized. All fleet command will see is that one of the Gardners doesn’t like that ship.”
“Atlas, I don’t really care. She deserves to rot in…”
Atlas interrupted by saying, “Wes is the sensor officer on that ship and Colonel Ortiz’s son is the communications officer.”
Tommy stopped. “How did they draw that ship Atlas; the Captain is a tyrant.”
Atlas gave a mental sigh and thought back, “Even though you don’t like Captain Dodd, she had the highest graduating score in the history of Fleet Academy. She has earned her way to the rank she now holds and her ship is considered the best in the fleet. That’s why it was assigned to you.”
“Atlas, I don’t want to hurt the crew because of my feelings about her but I don’t honestly know if I can work with her.”
Atlas gave a mental smile that Tommy felt in his mind and said something that changed Tommy’s mind, “Tommy, she no longer outranks you; she reports to you.”
The two Algeans had been listening to the back and forth between Tommy and Atlas and they both saw a huge smile split Tommy’s face. Twig looked at Sprig and thought, “This may be more fun than we thought.”
Sprig was moving slightly in the room’s ventilation and thought back, “Uh huh, we’re gonna have a good time.”
Captain Cassandra Dodd was on the com with Fleet Admiral Mikado. She had been arguing with him for fifteen minutes and she was not making progress. “Admiral, you just can’t assign me to report to Tommy Gardner.”
Mikado looked at his best ship commander and said, “Cassie, you will address him as Your Majesty, Duke Gardner, or Your Highness. You give him the respect his title demands just as your crew members do you.”
Cassie bit her tongue and said, “Yes Sir, I’ll try.”
Mikado looked at her and said, “There will be no try, Captain. You will do as you’re ordered.”
Cassie knew Mikado’s patience was wearing thin but then she decided to tell him why she wanted another assignment. “Yes Sir, I will address him properly. Admiral, you must assign another captain to this assignment.”
Mikado aid, “You have not given me a valid reason to do so.”
Cassie took a deep breath and said, “Admiral, Tommy Gardner was one of the freshman cadets in my company at the academy.”
Mikado looked at her and he could see where she was going. Upper classmen always made life hard on freshman. “So you were tough on him. He should understand the reason for that.”
Cassie sighed and said, “Admiral, I was more than a little tough. I actually received my only reprimand for using very harsh behaviors on Freshman Gardner. I made him do two hundred pushups because I didn’t like the way he made his bed and that was one of the easy punishments I made him endure.”
Mikado narrowed his eyes and said, “I’m sure you had a good reason, Captain.”
Cassie said, “Everyone knew who he was. I was determined that he would not get preferential treatment.”
“So you over did it.”
“Sir, it seemed no matter what I made him do, it didn’t seem to faze him. Everything was funny to him. I guess I decided I was going to break him.”
Mikado said, “I know Duke Gardner personally, Captain and I have never met a finer individual. He is so much like his father that it’s uncanny. Did you ever stop to think that by treating him as unfairly as you did that you singled him out to punish him for who he was?”
Cassie lowered her head and said, “I didn’t at that time. It was after I graduated that I learned I was called 3B by my peers.”
Mikado looked at her and Cassie said, “Biggest Bitch in the Brigade. My mentor at the Academy told me that every one of the graduates in my class was ashamed of me. Admiral, you’ve got to transfer me to another ship.”
Mikado looked at Cassie and said, “Captain, there are always consequences to our behaviors. It looks like yours are coming home to roost. You had your fun at a good man’s expense. Now it’s his turn. Your request is denied and if I hear of you being anything but respectful to Duke Gardner I will bust you out of this navy. Do you understand?”
Cassie looked at the com and meekly said, “Yes Sir.”
Cassie turned off the com and worried about the coming storm she was going to have to endure. She hoped she was as tough as Tommy Gardner had been when she had put him through a living nightmare. She knew that whatever he chose to do, she deserved it. Apologizing for what happened at this point would make it look like she was doing it only out of fear and that her apology would be insincere. She didn’t sleep well that night anticipating Tommy’s scheduled arrival the next day.
Chapter 4
Captain Dodd had the entire crew of the SR Megaship Dorg-Ross standing at ease in the landing bay waiting for Duke Gardner’s arrival. Wes stood there waiting for his best friend to arrive and worried about how Tommy was going to deal with Captain Dodd. He remembered all the punishments she had imposed on Tommy, most of which he didn’t deserve, and knew that Captain Dodd had to be sweating her new assignment. Wes had to admit that Captain Dodd ran a well organized ship and held her crew to an extraordinary high level of performance. The most recent fleet review had the Dorg-Ross ranked number one. He had learned a lot from her but he could never forgive her for making Tommy’s first year at the Academy unbearable. When he learned he had been assigned to her ship he thought about resigning from the fleet but Linda Kay had told him that if Tommy was strong enough to stand up to Captain Dodd then she knew he could do it too. Now after six months, Wes had to admit that it wasn’t as bad he thought it would be. The shuttle entered the landing bay and Captain Dodd ordered, “Crew, Atten-shun.”
The crew came to attention and Captain Dodd saluted as Tommy exited the shuttle. Tommy walked up to Captain Dodd and looked her right in the eye for a long moment and then returned her salute. Right behind Tommy stood the two Algean adolescents. Tommy was going to make Captain Dodd sweat for a few moments before he said anything but he could feel the anxiety of the adolescents. They were barely able to restrain themselves. Tommy said, “At ease.” The crew assumed an at-ease stance but Captain Dodd remained at attention. “Captain, I need these two adolescents taken to the ships library immediately and have them started assimilating the contents.”