As the evening wore on, theyfinally, carefully, let McReidy and Giacomo in. The conversation was becomingdangerous. They had brought up something that should never be discussed.
“I really think the commander’slost it. The doc even had to relieve him from duty the other day.”
McReidy couldn’t believe thatKowalski was serious. “And he also cleared him back for duty,” she remindedhim.
“Physically, maybe. But youcan’t tell me half those stunts he pulled were those of a rational man.”
She had to admit that no one elsewould even have attempted a lot of John’s actions.
“We shouldn’t even be in thiswar. Our mission was to scout and recruit allies, not take on enemy fleets. Alot of us think we’ve run out of luck. Let’s get out while we can and leave itto the big ships. If the commander keeps going like this, he’s going to get usall killed. And for what?”
She had no answer.
“You know you have the power torelieve him. With the doc’s agreement or that of two other senior officers.”
“Sam, do you know what you’retalking about?” She wasn’t game enough to use the correct term. He couldn’tmean it… not really, she tried to convince herself. His face was seriousenough to show his intent.
“There’s a lot who’d support you,if you decided to take over,” Gillespie added, his tone every bit as serious asKowalski.
“Whoa, guys.” She raised herhands up defensively in front of herself. “We shouldn’t even be having thisconversation.”
“Suit yourself,” Kowalskianswered.
“Let us know if you change yourmind,” Gillespie told her.
They seemed to drop the subjectpretty easily. They also didn’t seem worried that she might say anything. Giacomo had remained silent. It was hard to gauge a reaction from him. Hopefully, in the morning the whole matter would be forgotten. If it was nevermentioned again, then she would have no need to say anything.
* * *
McReidy didn’t sleep well thatnight. She had the beginnings of a massive headache, something she had neverbeen prone to until she arrived on this ship. For an hour, she tossed andturned, finally deciding she would have to get something from sick bay for herhead.
As she sat up and threw theblanket off, the ache suddenly disappeared. She changed her mind and decidedto wait and see if it flared up again. The next thing she knew it wasmorning. She wasn’t aware that she had gone to sleep. The alarm hadn’t goneoff. It showed she still had a few minutes before it was due.
She was tired. Another eighthours would be sheer heaven. Unfortunately, she had work.
The bridge was quiet and sheslumped into her seat, glad she had her back to John as she covered a yawn. Her head started pulsing; enough to be irritating, not painful. If it didn’tease by lunch, she’d get some painkillers.
Gillespie behaved as though lastnight had not taken place. Giacomo was his usual chatty self, apparently overthe embarrassment of the day before. No one was any the wiser and the subjectwasn’t mentioned.
They were almost back on course. That is, back to where they were before the unauthorised dash to Shimodo. Engineering seemed to have settled down, although fights were now breaking outall over the ship. Most of them over nothing. It was affecting most of thecrew. Sick bay was overrun with minor casualties.
It was mid morning when an alienship was spotted on long range sensors. Gillespie was reluctant to identifyit. It was too far away, he claimed.
John’s eyes narrowed. Too faraway or not, he wanted to know what it was.
“Mister Tan, put it on the mainscreen.”
“Yes, sir,” Tan obeyed.
At extreme magnification, thealien ship could barely be made out. Sensors would have no trouble identifyingit.
“Looks like an Andromedan scout,”John encouraged confirmation.
“Possibly.” Gillespie would notbe drawn out.
“What do you mean ‘possibly’?”John turned on him. “Either it is, or it isn’t.”
“All right then, it is,”Gillespie snapped.
John hesitated, before a lowgrowl escaped. “I want to see you later.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Gillespiedidn’t seem interested either way.
“A scout shouldn’t be out here onits own,” John deliberated. “Let’s see where it’s going. Giacomo, plot acourse to follow.”
McReidy’s head was in her hands,her elbows propped on her console, her eyes closed. The thumping increasedwith John and Gillespie’s argument. At John’s order, it cleared.
“We’re not going anywhere,” shespoke before Giacomo could obey. He threw her a sideways glance, his handsfrozen on the controls; but she didn’t see him.
“What?” John ground out.
“I said, we’re not goinganywhere.”
She stood up and turned around; aphaser pointed directly at him.
John froze. His hands liftedslowly from the arms of his chair as his eyes shifted between the phaser andher eyes.
“Don’t,” she warned. He betternot provoke her. The mood she was in, she’d pull the trigger.
He turned his hands over, showingher they were empty and that he wasn’t a threat. She wasn’t falling for thateither.
“You’re no longer in control. I’m relieving you of command.” She spoke with all the calm and confidence ofsomeone who knew they were doing what was right.
“On what grounds?” John wanted toknow.
The rest of the crew had turnedfrom their stations to watch the confrontation. His eyes never left McReidy,but he saw the hint of surprise on Giacomo. Gillespie had his attention onTan; the communications officer wasn’t making a move, his hands raised insurrender.
“On the grounds that you take toomany unnecessary risks.”
John was on his feet. McReidylifted the phaser to match.
“If I was you, I’d do whatevershe says,” Gillespie warned.
John’s attention shifted toGillespie. He had Tan in front of his console, on his knees with his handsbehind his head in defeat, a phaser to his head.
“Take it easy,” John paled, hishands raising clear of his body. He looked to the pilot. “Giacomo?”
Giacomo stood up. His big handsclosed over McReidy’s. “Give me that.” He easily took the weapon from her andlowered it.
John relaxed. He didn’t seeGiacomo’s thumb flick the setting on the phaser, or have time to move when thepilot raised it and fired, and he hit the floor unconscious.
“Now we don’t have to worry abouthim,” Giacomo explained simply.
“What are we going to do withhim?” Gillespie asked.
McReidy thought for a
