Excerpt

"Officer on deck!"

Noah winced as the words drove what felt like a heavy iron spike into his brain. He rolled off the cot and slowly rose to the position of attention. He was dimly aware that another figure was laying on the other cot in the cell. From the red hair and the snoring, he knew it had to be O'Malley.

The guard approached the cell with another figure, in a dress uniform, in tow.

"Rise and Shine!"

O'Malley continued to snore away as Noah turned to face the visitor trailing the guard.

"Good morning, Noah," the man said.

"It was a good morning, Admiral Roskan," Noah replied. "I was getting some sleep until you showed up." Getting busted down to Captain still rankled him, so the thought of having to address Roskan as his superior officer made his throat dry.

The Admiral chuckled. "Noah, there's tons of other things I'd rather be doing right now than sitting here in the holding cell with you and O'Malley over there." The admiral grabbed a seat and sat down and motioned for Noah to sit down on his cot.

"You both made a—" the admiral started, but he was interrupted by a loud fart from the sleeping Irishman. Roskan moved his seat further away from him. "Is O'Malley going to wake up or is he going to sleep all day? I have news you both need to hear."

Noah turned to the near-comatose O'Malley and kicked his feet as hard as he could. This caused the sleeping giant to roll off the cot and issue a string of obscenities. He stood and turned to confront his tormentor with his fists raised.

"It's just me Kevin. We have company," Noah said, gesturing to their visitor.

O'Malley rubbed the sleep from his eyes, blinked twice and sat back down on the cot. He leaned back to lay his head on the pillow. "Well, if it isn't the admiral, himself. To what do we owe the honor of your presence?"

"Well, I think you both know," explained Roskan. "I have two Xen in the hospital. One with a busted face and the other with a cracked skull."

O'Malley smiled with pride as he raised his head. "Oh yeah. That one with a cracked skull? Yeah, that was me."

"Oh, I know it was. Because everyone saw you do it," Roskan shot back.

The spike in Noah's head grew larger as both got louder. He lowered his voice and addressed the admiral.

"Excuse me," Noah began, pausing for effect, "but why are you here? Why is the second highest ranking member of the military, sitting in a holding cell, with two guys sleeping off a couple of drinks?"

"Well, I have good news and bad news for you," Roskan said, looking at Noah. "Which do you want first?"

Noah cocked his head at the mind games and said "Gimme the bad news, first."

The admiral pulled his chair up close to Noah and addressed him in a low tone. "The Xen ambassador has lodged a formal complaint against you because of your altercation last night. Apparently, you busted up one of his relatives and he is taking it personally. A formal inquiry has been launched to decide if you are to face a Courts Martial. If the panel decides to go forward, you will stand trial fourteen days after that."

"Lovely," groaned Noah. "How was I supposed to tell one pug from another?" Noah got up and paced the cell. "And the ambassador? I should hit him again instead!"

"Yeah, do the same thing that got you busted down from Admiral to Captain and removed from command? That's smart," Roskan joked.

"Go away," Noah said.

"You didn't wait for my good news," the admiral continued. "The good news is that I can delay the inquiry for as long as thirty days."

Noah stopped pacing and looked at Roskan. "But that just leaves me back in the same mess in a month. How does that help?"

"Because I've pulled some strings and gotten you temporarily reassigned. How would you like to be in command again?" Roskan said, letting out a slight smile.

Noah froze. He couldn't believe his ears. His time spent giving classroom lectures was over. He had a ship again.

"Command? Of a ship? Hell, yeah!"

"It is good to hear that. I'll let the science team know to expect the captain of their ship to be on board in a few days. You leave for the Ankarii system in five days' time."

"Ankarii?" Noah almost choked the words. "Excuse me, but what the hell is all the way out in such a remote system on the other side of the galaxy?" Noah started to mentally go through all that he knew about it.

Discovered one hundred years ago by colonists looking for a new habitable world. At the time the worlds were deemed to be too barren to support a colony, so the system was marked as 'Not Suitable for Colonization'.

"We had a NAVship that passed through on its mission to extend our jump gate capabilities and map new systems. We have been looking to expand routes to new systems for some time now that the Xen are living amongst us. We have to find some more space to live."

The admiral got up and faced Noah as he continued. "The ship detected an anomaly on an uninhabited planet. They sent back images of the planet's surface, and our top scientists believe it to be of Xen origin. Alliance High Command wants a team to go investigate."

"So, let someone else deal with it. Why should we go chasing after it?"

The Admiral replied in a measured voice. "Because the Xen ambassador made it known that this is a high priority for his people. And given that all our ships are either being retrofitted, or are currently deployed, I don't have the luxury of too many available ships. Or competent captains. And that's where you come in."

"Forget it, I'm not going to go dig up some pug artifacts," Noah countered.

"They are called the Xen. You would do well to remember that, considering that part of your new crew will be made of Xen."

"You gotta be kidding me, John! Are you seriously considering sending a mixed crew, that has never worked together, into a remote area of space? That's a recipe for disaster!"

The admiral placed a hand on Noah's shoulder. He looked him squarely in the eyes. "I have faith in the captain. After all, he's the best fighter pilot and ship's captain I have ever had the pleasure of serving with. Besides, while you are away, I can use the time to diffuse the tensions with the Xen where it concerns you. Who knows? If you do a good job and bring back some holy relic, they might drop their repeated protests and you could remain in command."

Noah resented Roskan using their past service as a trump card to get him to accept the deal. It was effective, but he still didn't like it one bit.

"Fine, but on one condition," he replied.

"Sure. What is it?"

"O'Malley gets reinstated," Noah continued. "He gets back pay and comes to serve as my XO. I don't trust anyone else by my side if something bad happens out there."

At the mention of his name, O'Malley sat up. "What's this? You goin' somewhere?"

Noah smacked his knee. "Nope, we are!"

"Hold on there," Roskan intervened. "Most of this I can take care of. O'Malley will be reinstated."

"Don't want it," muttered O'Malley as he returned to his cot and buried his face under his pillow. "Just let me sleep will ya?"

Roskan continued "He will get back pay and be given the rank of Lieutenant. But I'm afraid I can't make him your XO. You already have one."

"Who?"

"The Xen have picked a representative to go on this cruise so that they will have a member in the command structure. They feel it will make for a less stressful environment for rest of the Xen crew. Alliance leadership agreed."

"Skip the drama, what are you trying to say?"

"Your Executive Officer will be a Xen."

"You gotta be fucking kidding me!"

"Deadly serious Noah. You need to ensure that this cruise is a successful one. So, you're going to have to learn how to play nice. Because if you screw this up, I'm going to let them tear you to shreds upon your return. You'll be drummed out of the service. Understand?"

Noah looked down. He sighed. And then looked Roskan in the eye. "Let me think about it. Let me at least get a look at the ship you want me to command before I give you an answer. Can that be done?"

Roskan stood and looked at the door. "Guards! Release these men!"

Two guards rushed in and with a few punches on the data pad, they unlocked the restraints on each of the prisoners.

Noah rubbed the red skin on his wrists as the restraints clattered to the floor. He was about to say something when Roskan piped up.

"The Titan is in the orbiting shipyards, finishing her refit. You have one day to make your decision because that ship leaves port in five days. Whether you're on it or not." Roskan stood up and walked toward the door.

"Wait, the Titan?" asked Noah. "But that's an old Dreadnought class ship. It's gotta be forty years old by now."

"Fifty!" Roskan yelled back as he left the room.