“Yes, it was. Now, after you’ve helped to save the ship, I really need to learn all of your names. I believe the best way to do that is over dinner. I don’t know about you lot, but I'm famished.” I turned to Ember. “Canteen, dear?” I asked, holding out my arm.
“Why of course, Captain. I could eat a damn horse myself,” Ember replied, linking my arm. We exited towards the canteen, followed from the bridge by the Veiletians and a few Torax. Calegg just slumped down in his chair, as did Koparr.
Sitting around a large table in the canteen, the four Veiletians, Ember and I had steaming food of varying descriptions. I looked at the Veiletian folding-drive speeder-upper. “What’s your name then?”
They stuttered a little, showing more discomfort under my direct scrutiny than they did when we were under attack. “It's Wulek, Captain,” they finally replied.
“Pleasure to meet you, Wulek.” I turned to the one who had initiated the drive-charging. “And your name?”
Again there was discomfort. “I am Hwista,” they replied.
“Hwista, huh? I was expecting you to have ek in your name, after Wulek and Elyek.”
The red-haired wonder who had been so useful throughout spoke next. “We have a few common suffixes among our people: ‘ek’ is perhaps the most common. I am Acclo, by the way.”
“Thanks for that, Acclo. Great to meet you, too,” I turned to the last Veiletian. “And finally, your name?”
“I am Miraek. Thank you for bringing us along, I haven’t had this much fun in forever!”
After only ten minutes, I found myself liking all of these Veiletians very much. They were helpful, useful and quirky. “Hey, Ember. I think we should get these guys as bridge crew, straight away. There are a few workstations normally free, although I'm not going to lie and tell you I know what any of those stations do. These four are quick, clever and capable,” I said in her mind.
Ember responded in my head. “Totally agree. We can even ditch a few of the Torax from the gun stations if need be. There are a couple of them who are more useless than you up there.”
“Thanks so much for the kind words, dear. And that’s fine. As long as it does not cause too much ill will. To be honest, we need to have people on the bridge the whole time. We can arrange shifts, so as to keep the majority happy. Although our priority is to have the best people on the bridge, even if it means hurting a few feelings,” I said, then quickly added, “Before you say it, I’ll still need to be on the bridge: useless or not. At least until you’ve deposed my tyrannical rule.”
She actually snorted out loud at that, causing the Veiletians to zero in on her with their gazes.
There was nothing more forthcoming from Ember, so I plowed ahead, speaking aloud. “Miraek, Acclo, Hwista and Wulek, I’ve already mentioned how impressed we were with your work. We want you on the bridge crew. We’ll work out shift rotations over the next few days. Preferably when Elyek comes back. They know the lay of the land better than me around all that business.”
“That’s because you're just a tyrannical mascot,” Ember slipped into my mind, which threw me from my thoughts.
They all nodded enthusiastically at the prospect, which was good.
I really had fuck all idea of what to do with these different groups of people, other than to instruct one of their more skilled members to train the rest and report to one of us. It had all seemed to be working fine so far. Nonetheless, we were potentially heading towards a war zone. I might need to polish up on my leadership skills.
We relaxed, chatting amiably with the Veiletians, then decided to turn in. But before I could do that, I had to make sure we had someone to cover for Elyek. “Any of you energetic enough to work alongside Calegg? We need a fast learner to pick up the pilot functions. Calegg will need to rest soon, and we need cover until Elyek gets back.” Although in reality I was thinking that I'd like to pull Elyek away from piloting all together to focus more on managing our increasing numbers of personnel. We couldn’t do it before because we didn’t have skilled-enough crew to take over piloting duties, but now we could.
They all willingly jumped at the chance.
Nodding, I hit the comm. “Calegg, mate. I'm sending the Veiletians Miraek, Acclo, Hwista and Wulek back to the bridge. They’re all competent pilots but unfamiliar with the Uprising. Show them the ropes, then once you’re satisfied, they can go unsupervised. Give your steaming ass some rest.”
“I'll be fine, Captain. Don’t worry about me. I can hold the fort.”
“Calegg, I'm not asking you, and I’m not trying to replace you. You’ll always be the main pilot of the Uprising. It is your right, earned a hundred times over. But we all need help sometimes. Now, do what I bloody said. That's an order!”
“Yes, Captain,” he said, wearily.
“There you have it. Good luck with Calegg, guys,” I said, standing up. “Now, I'm gonna catch some zeds.”
Ember stood with me. “See you all in a few hours,” she smiled and waved, and we went to our room.
“What a day!” I said as I fell to the bed. I had no intention of getting undressed, showered or anything.
“Yup. It's been yet another epic one.” She got into bed alongside me, draping her arm over my shoulders. You aced it today. It’s amazing to see you grow and find your way to making the right decisions, with barely a clue as to what you're doing. You’re the best fucking mascot a mercenary army with delusions of grandeur could ever wish for.”
We both chuckled at the ridiculousness of it all, falling into a comfortable silence, swiftly followed by sleep.
C13
Waiting Game
When we awoke the next day – although in our current existence,
