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“WHAT IS THE MEANING of this?” shouted Fazar from outside the door. He did seem to enjoy a stomp and a shout about.
Lena didn’t feel scared of him anymore. The shouting now was bluster because of how little power he had. Grown-ups really did behave like children sometimes. He hadn’t banged on the door, thought Lena that would be most noisy. Then came a polite but firm rap instead.
“You have visitors, cap,” said the gravelly voice of AS Coots. She really did sound as if she were spoiling for a fight. Was Lena going to see an example of her reputation and the reason Janice Coots had reached twenty-nine years and never climbed above the rank of able seaman? That wasn’t strictly true. She had climbed above the rank, had a fight, and been busted back down to AS. Again, and again and again.
“Visitor-s?” Only just the inflection of a question. The captain seemed unsurprisable to Lena.
“He’s come with his two big brothers,” said Coots.
“Then they can stay outside,” said the captain. She took in the room and checked in with Lena and Uncle Richard who smiled. Lena nodded.
“Send Lieutenant Fazar in.”
Fazar barged in, inasmuch as that was possible through a portal that disappeared into the bulkhead and then reappeared after. Not even anything to slam theatrically if one was in a tizz, thought Lena. She couldn’t quite smile, she sat to one side of the desk the captain sat behind, that felt a little too close, if Fazar got violent. Uncle Richard loomed on the opposite side of the room.
There was one more visitor chair that the captain gestured to, “Do sit, lieutenant. Shall I order tea?”
“No!” snapped Fazar.
“And to what do I owe the pleasure?” The captain had a lovely smile, thought Lena.
“You know damn well why I’m here!”
“Do I?” said the captain languorously. Fazar had a look of cold fury. “Why don’t you tell me exactly and we can all avoid any misunderstanding, hmm?”
“You’re holding my boat,” he spat out.
“Which boat is this?”
Fazar’s eyes blazed, he was becoming too angry to form sentences. Uncle Richard clenched his jaw. Did he have a holster too, like the guards? Fazar certainly did.
“The bloody drop-ship. You know damn well which boat!”
“Sorry, the ‘my boat’ confused me. It is technically the property of Forty Commando, is it not?”
“Yes, but my sealed orders from the admiralty say I’m in command of the marine contingent.”
“So, not sealed anymore then?” Captain Varma leaned back in her chair. “Can I trouble you to see these orders from the admiral?”
Fazar went to his jacket pocket. Uncle Richard’s hand went to his holster. The captain raised her hand on Richard’s side, Lena’s uncle nodded slowly.
“Nice and gently, Lieutenant, we’re all civilized people here.”
He drew thumb and finger from his inside pocket and produced a white, heavy, quality envelope. Of course, the British admiralty still used pen and paper and envelopes, thought Lena. The captain flicked a glance at Richard, who kept his hand on the butt of the gun Lena was having a very hard time coming to terms with. How had she stayed in Uncle Richard’s flat so many times and not seen that? Lena noted the ‘seal’ on the envelope was a tiny piece of metallic sticky tape. She figured even the British navy had to move on from wax seals at some point.
The captain nodded to one side and looked from under her eyelashes at Fazar, “Oh, now we come to it.” She read some more, said, “Aha,” carefully folded the paper, slid it back into its envelope and standing slowly, proffered it back to Fazar.
“May I?” asked Richard, leaning in.
Fazar tensed.
“Ah, sadly you may not,” said the captain. “It is, unfortunately above your pay grade, as it were.”
“Huh,” said Uncle Richard, rolling his eyes. “I hate it when they do that.”
“Yes, as do I,” said the captain, “plays hell with one’s command.”
Fazar took the envelope gently from the captain’s fingers and smiled, “So?”
“So, what?” The captain smiled back, in a cat facing a mouse kind of smile.
“Release my boat.”
“Firstly, not your boat. Secondly, the landing craft of which we speak is in the hold of the ship that I am still in command of, no?”
“The orders explicitly state once in orbit around—”
“I know what the orders say, lieutenant. In both my education at Bangalore and Oxford none of my tutors ever commented on my inability to read.”
“Then let my boat go.”
“Who has executive control of the vessel on which you are stood?” She bit out. Fazar’s eyes fell to the deck. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you?”
“You do.”
“Correct. And while I am still responsible for all hands upon it, even yours, currently, I am not about to let you blunder down to the planet’s surface and get yourselves killed.” Fazar opened his mouth. Varma raised her hand and carried on, “No matter what it says in your damned fool document from the admiralty. I will release the drop ship, when and only when, we have surveyed the other side of the planet for a suitable landing site. Where is my bosun?”
“We have him in the hold,” said Fazar.
“Well un- ‘have’ him and let him release a survey drone and we’ll find somewhere to land, shall we?” She waited, stared at Fazar’s open mouth and said, “Go.”
“Cap’n,” Fazar muttered on his way out.
The door opening disturbed the guards who had all been conversing. They hurriedly assembled into positions either side of the corridor at varying degrees of attention. Fazar set forth and swept the marines up in his wake. When the stomping boots were out of earshot, there was a muted amount of giggling from outside the door. The captain tutted and sat again, “That should buy us a little time. Congratulations Richard, you’re now second in command of this vessel.”
“Eh, what? But I’m a desk jockey.”
“Not anymore. lieutenant, consider this a field promotion. Welcome to the floating part of the navy.” She offered him a hand.
It was a moment before he took it. “Er, thanks?”
Lena applauded loudly, grinning, “Yay, Uncle Richard.”
“That’s Lieutenant Uncle Richard, sir, to you young lady,” said Captain Varma. “I wish we had time for more ceremony or celebration, but we don’t. Can you sort out the goings on in the hold, Lieutenant Purves, collect a few more sailors and get them armed on the way down to the hold. Check Fazar releases my bosun and get that drone launched. Then get Jenny to ready the Jolly Boat and organise me a shore party of ten including you. We need Cento, the chief and our science officer on that boat, the rest is up to you. Lena, back to your pilot’s couch, we need to time this very finely, let the ship know what’s going on.”
“Aye, aye captain,” Lena said in resigned tones. Despite the flurry of excitement her heart fell at the thought of not going down ashore. She stomped towards the bridge before the captain said anything kind.
