Chapter Eight
What Honor
Vivra followed Clalls as he practically ran to the bridge where the captain was manning the helm. Rannn’s head tilted at Clalls. “What?”
“Eldon.” He held up his Minky pad. “It’s been nebulized.”
Rannn put the ship on autopilot and walked to the Minky screen by this captain’s chair. “Show me how you know.”
Clalls brought up the satellite image. The silver bomb with the white tail hit the planet, and then Vivra watched with Rannn as the nuclear bomb mushroomed up and burned everything until the satellite recording went white. “There is only one weapon that can take out a planet and the satellites. And that’s a nebula bomb.”
Vivra stood behind Clalls as Rannn ran a check on his quantum messages. “I sent the protocol procedures and our findings to Admiral Armsono about the planet.”
She noticed that the admiral didn’t respond.
Clalls brought up the log. “And this is where I ordered the medical ship that should have been there ten hours ago.”
“No ship?”
Clalls parroted the captain’s words. “Exactly, no ship. And only you or an admiral would be able to override the orders.”
Rannn stared at the screen for a long time. His voice was rough when he finally spoke. “Get out of the range of my video call.”
They backed up quickly and watched the captain make a voice recording. He reported all the findings, protocols, and news of rescuing the seven survivors, then ended the report with word of the nebula bomb and the medi-ship not arriving at its set time. He finished with, “I recommend the immediate removal of Admiral Armsono from the council Admirals as soon as possible. I await the court martial hearing.”
Clalls’ shoulders pulled back. When the video ended, he said, “Now, let me tell you about Admiral Orin and his neglect of the planet Brica.”
Rannn’s jaw tensed. “Orin?”
“Yes, he’s the overseer of Brica.”
Rannn’s stiff posture was radiating rage, but Clalls ignored it as he explained what he had found out about the planet. By the time he was done, Rannn pointed to the seats at his table. “Sit while I make a call,” he said between clenched teeth. Clalls sat down in the communication’s chair, one that he would usually sit in if the ship were in a threat situation. Vivra sat down in the weapons and tactical chair.
Captain Rannn pushed a few things on his Minky table, and a second later, Admiral Orin’s face was on-screen.
“Captain Rannn.”
“Admiral Orin,” Rannn responded as he sat forward in his captain’s chair, interlacing his fingers together. “Do you want to tell me how you’re connected to Brica?”
The admiral’s eggshell-toned skin darkened a bit. It was the same as when her skin shimmered gold. A blush. He was embarrassed. An emotional reaction that she had only seen twice in her career. This marked the third.
“Brica was assigned to me last year when Admiral Jei retired. And when I say retired, you understand that he died rather unexpectedly. His responsibilities were divided and handed out. I didn’t look into it because I have my own responsibilities that take up so much of my time. Honestly, I forgot about it until the commander sent the emergency quantum communication.”
Excuses. Justifications. All of them reasonable. Vivra watched Captain Rannn, wondering if he was fallible like Clalls’ Yunkin hybrid parent. Wondering if he would give the admiral leeway for being too busy to stay on top of his workload. Or if he would excuse him for the simple reason that Admiral Orin was a Yunkin.
If she were the captain, and the admiral she was speaking to was a Bolark, the latter would have been expected. They were brought up to value their race above all others, and if necessary, not expose their kind to black marks against them.
“I want all the information you have on Brica sent to my captain’s file.”
The line of questioning led Vivra to believe that the captain was going to let it slide. She was not sure if she was pleased about that or not because she didn’t know how it related to her performance and expectations.
Admiral Orin peered between Clalls and her. “I assume you’ve seen the Federation files. It’s open to all on Garna. Have they not looked them over? If not, tell them that’s all the information I have.”
Vivra was not new to high-ranking officers talking down to her. But it always pissed her off. Of course, they had accessed the files. If they hadn’t, how would they have known that he was the one botching the job?
Captain Rannn sat forward, placing both hands on the table as he pushed to his feet. “I appreciate your time, Admiral.”
Vivra crossed her arms and let her seat drop back. The whole conversation was a waste of her time. And even though it had brought to light Rannn’s less than respectable honor code, she would have been more effective doing literally anything else. Then she remembered that she was supposed to pick up an aquaponic tank from the other side of the planet. With subtle movements, she pulled out her Minky pad from her side pocket and quickly wrote a message to her contact on Brica, asking for any and all information they had on the planet.
With luck, they would respond just as quickly as they had yesterday. Vivra decided to give them an hour before she initiated a quantum video communication. One way or another, she was going to find out what was going on with that planet.
The Yunkin on the screen smiled. “You’re most welcome. And whatever you find out, I assume you’ll update the Federation files?”
Rannn’s lips pulled back, slow and arrogantly. “Of course, I will. I will also be updating the files with a copy of this communication, where you admitted that you neglected your responsibilities.”
Admiral Orin’s smile faltered. “What was that?”
Rannn leaned forward. “My mission was to respond to a distress call on the planet. Every step and communication while doing so must be recorded, this one included. I strongly advise you to send an auditor to the planet to update the rest of your files after I’ve cleaned up this mess.”
“Careful, Captain. It almost sounds like you’re giving me orders.”
“You can take it however you want. But I know that neglect can get people killed, and from the message you sent me, it looks like the planet has already sustained several deaths. So, you have to live with that, knowing you didn’t have better oversight on a planet you are responsible for!”
Vivra snuck a look at Clalls. The bastard was smiling.
“I gave you a star carrier. I ordered you to help those on Brica. You’re making it sound like I have no honor,” Orin hissed.
Rannn thrust his finger at the admiral’s face. “You gave me a diseased ship. You’re sending me on a clean-up mission with no information and no leads, and you didn’t have the honor to tell me that this was your planet. Honor is admitting your faults first and then doing what you can to fix them.”
Orin chuckled, but it felt dark. Vivra sat forward, moving her hands to her lap. Her opinion of the captain was indefinable. If she could, she’d hug him for being as cunning as a Bolark.
“Captain, you’re not so valuable that I won’t replace you for insubordinate behavior.”
“Don’t threaten me, Orin. You and I both know, I am. You also know that I’m going to figure out Brica. You’re banking on it. You’re lucky I have a specialized team to get it done.”
Orin pursed his lips. “How thoughtful of you to mention your elite team again.”
“You’re welcome.”
The transmission ended, and Rannn sat back down. “All right, we have an admiral who owes us a favor if this goes sideways. You two have your work cut out for you. Is there anything else I need to know?”
Vivra was about to mention the message she sent to her contact on Brica but figured she would wait until she had actual information rather than hopes.
Clalls raised his finger to say something, but Rannn’s Minky pad pinged. As he read the report, he said, “You two can go.”