“Well it’s nice to meet you, Janet. Things should be much better now for all of us.”
“I do hope so. We were devoid of hope once Ogun left. I couldn't believe we were taking bounties as work! Always going further and further away from Earth. I know we're going further away now, but at least we have a solid plan. Right?” she finished hopefully.
“We’ve a plan, Janet, don’t you worry about that,” I laughed like I meant it. “We're gonna build and train the toughest little army you could dream of. Then we're gonna start righting some wrongs.”
“And some healthy dismembering, Shaun, don’t forget the dismembering,” Havok said, interrupting my thoughts.
I tried to ignore him and focus on Janet. “I don’t know how long it’ll take, but I do know that we are going to live for a long time now, and I don't intend to stop until we’ve leveled a few things out with the Fystr, and the Galactic Empire for that matter. The overall plan is to one day get back to Earth and see what we can do there.”
“That is good to hear, Captain. I have no expectations, but I’m just thrilled to be part of something that matters.”
“It’s a pleasure to have you with Uprising,'' Ember said before me, “but we must go to our meeting now. We’ll catch up later if you’ve any questions. We’ll be happy to help.”
“Of course, thanks for taking this time. It was an honor to finally speak with you both,” she said with a genuine smile. We parted ways, continuing along to the bridge.
“Well, I hope they're all as friendly and as happy to be here as her,” I said.
“They will be, Shaun, they will be. Now, come on. Chop, chop!” she said, shooing me down the corridor. I took the next few seconds to speak to Havok.
“Seriously dude, dismembering?”
“We all have our hobbies, Shaun, what else am I supposed to think about? I am an axe. I love heavy metal music and killing things.”
“You know what, Havok? You’re absolutely right, you just do you, man, I have no criticisms,” I replied as we entered my office.
Acclo was there already, and was setting out glasses of water and terminals at eight of the seats. “Acclo, thank you for being so organized. You're an absolute boon to have around,” Ember said.
“Oh, you're welcome. I like things to run smoothly, and I find they always do when I am in charge. I would blame myself if I let an incompetent planner arrange things and they didn’t get it right.”
“You do a great job, Acclo,” I said, as I took my seat at the head of the table, Ember beside me.
Elyek, Koparr and Calegg entered the room from the bridge side, chatting amiably. I assumed they'd been at their stations.
Gus and Mick arrived only a few seconds later, looking almost nervous. Mick was trying to hide it behind his chilled demeanor. Gus was silent, his face expressionless.
“Mick, Gus, dudes!” I greeted. “Come and take a seat.” They relaxed a little, and I continued as they made themselves comfortable. “Right you two, I'll start with you first. Are there crew members who you'd consider to be higher ranking than yourselves who came over from the other ships? I don't want to upset anyone, so they can be involved if they’re okay. Still, I'd rather just have you two helping us with our human contingent.”
“Nah, I'd say there are others of similar stations, but no one who would be above us.”
“Okay. Going forward, you two are my main guys for dealing with humans here. Cool?”
“Just Mick, I don't want to be in charge. I’ve too much on,” Gus said.
“How can he have too much on, he’s just bloody well got here!” Havok said into my mind.
“It’s Gus, he’s probably brought a ton of projects from the Thoth.”
“Yeah, he’s kinda weird, but he’s solid. I like Gus,” Havok said back with finality. With a chuckle, I pushed him from my thoughts.
“That's fine Gus. Mick’s the man for the job.”
“Shall I leave, then?” he replied.
“No, you daft ass. We still have things to discuss, but you don't have to come to future meetings, if you don’t want to.”
“No, I don't want to. I’m happy to stay today, though.”
“Well, we're all here to discuss a few rules and everyone's training. I think Acclo will have most of that planned out, anyway,” I said, smiling and turning to Acclo.
They beamed back at me. “Of course I have, sir. It is good to meet you, Mick. Now, I will discuss my plans for the humans with you. Koparr and I have spoken at length about the Torax, and Wulek will lead the training of the Veiletians.”
“Great to have someone overseeing each race, just to stay aware that we must have people in mixed groups. We need to build elite teams that can train and learn together through each other's unique strengths. By combining everyone’s skill sets, we can have truly formidable groups.
“Also, I have my own awesome team, which has everyone here in it! I might add one or two more humans in time, but I consider this team pretty elite as it is.”
There were smiles all around the table, and I had to join them. There was no way I was breaking this team up. Acclo was new, as was Koparr, but they had proven themselves beyond doubt so far, and I liked them too.
“It makes sense, Captain,” replied Acclo. “I will liaise with everyone and put that into place.”
“Sounds fun,” Koparr grunted. “Means we can have little tournaments of evenly matched groups. Competitions to bring everyone together and make them work that little bit harder.”
“Though I’d agree,” Gus said, “there should also be some kinda signaling system if we’re in a large battle that involves everyone. There may be instances where it makes sense for each race to group up again.”
“What do you mean, Gus?” I asked. I knew better than to doubt the odd man. I
