To Reach too Far

Chapter one

The S.S. Coprinus

The Public Relations Officer or the P.R.O. Ensign, Dave Williams from Tucson, Arizona, put a small storage drive, only five terabytes, into a video player. On his uniform sleeve were three pins. The first was the American flag. Next to that was a plain silver cross. Under those two pins was an Arizona state flag.

He said, "Hey Jones, come in here and take a look at what I've done for that request for what we do on the Copernicus from the elementary school in Idaho."

From Alexandria, Virginia, PO (Petty Officer) First Class Erin Jones walked into the cramped P.R. room and sat on a real stool. On her sleeve were an American flag, a silver cross, and a Virginia state flag. She pulled the translator unit from her ear since the video would be in English and she wouldn't need it. Without the translator, few of the international crew could talk to each other. With the translator, each person of the crew spoke and heard in their native language. It made for less confusion and better communication. While hearing the spoken gibberish of a different language in one ear was strange, one quickly learned to hear the translator in the other ear. It was common to hear the translation to one language, but be aware of the untranslated word spoken by the other person.

She said, "Yes, Sir, what do you have?"

The Ensign started the playback. It showed a graphic of the Copernicus slowly spinning against a starfield.

A voice said, "I am the Space Ship Copernicus. I am made of a 644-meter diameter bicycle-shaped wheel. The outer tube of the wheel is divided into 21 compartments. This ten-meter diameter tube has three levels. In the outer section is a water tank and radiation shield. The other two levels are ship's space."

"Boring," said Petty Officer Jones, a shutterbug. (A camera operator)

The playback continued, "The ship rotates around its axis at just less than 1.6 R P M. The rim speed is 57 meters per sec, creating an artificial gravity field of 1 Gee. That is just like on Earth. So, in the tube, it feels like home to my crew."

PO Jones said, "This is for kids? It's too many numbers and facts."

The playback continued, "In my center axis is a Launcher capable of either launching an asteroid Tug boat or a sensor Probe that will affix to an asteroid. The Tug boats will take 22 pre-selected medium-sized asteroids back to the Earth to study them. The sensor Probes will track and report on the make-up of 112 other asteroids we have picked out as part of our mission. Most of these asteroids are dangerous navigation hazards that cross Earth's orbit. I am traveling in the opposite direction of the Earth in its orbit and will meet back with the Earth at the end of a four-month journey. My international 102-person crew and I will track and document all potential hazards on this side of the Earth's orbit. The next two missions will do the same to the unexplored parts of Earth's orbit. I am the first of three multiple-purpose ships owned and built by the International Science Alliance or the I.S.A. for the scientific exploration of the solar system. If you make good grades in school, you too could be here helping us..."

PO Jones reached over and turned off the playback, and she said, "You're kidding. After a few seconds of that, and all the kids will be asleep."

Ensign Williams said, "Great! The Captain said to do a good job on this video for the school, or I'd be the oldest Ensign in the I.S.A.

"Sir, if that is your best try," PO Jones said, "it looks pretty grim for you."

"How do I reach a bunch of kids," Ensign Williams said?

She said, "You better be more concerned about pleasing Captain Yin."

Ensign Williams said." That's impossible. Nothing pleases that Chinese she-devil."

"You need to be more childlike in your approach, Sir," PO Jones said." Stay away from all those numbers and emphasize the fun we are having."

"Fun? I wasn't ordered to have any fun," Ensign Williams said, "This is an I.S.A. ship. There is no fun."

This spaceship used the I.S.A.'s proven naval organizational system. All of the older crew members had served a time onboard I.S.A. oceanographic science ships before any time on any space stations in orbit. The purpose of those naval ships was to do scientific research of the oceans and expose potential astronauts to tight quarters and the military organization necessary to provide the safest operation and security for the atomic reactors. It also provided the most dependable command structure used to get the scientific assignments done. They wanted to ensure that the senior staff could endure the hardships from months of confinement before they were assigned to a space station or this new class of spaceship.

The Captain knew that this crew was inexperienced, but the trained technicians operating the spaceship did not exist anywhere. A lottery had been held to send people to the international technical schools. After training, they were assigned to an I.S.A. ship for a three-month assignment to the continued long-term mission to high-resolution map the seafloor. This was to weed out any potential problems. Finally, the best of each class had been chosen as crew for the Copernicus. This was Ensign Williams's first assignment since he finished maritime officers training. He had scored the highest and got the best evaluations out of his class.

The Bo'sun's whistle that came over the ship's intercom demanded the Ensing's attention. That was followed by, "This is a Drill! This is a Drill! General Quarters, General Quarters. All hands man your General Quarters stations. Set material condition Yoke throughout the ship. Now General Quarters!"

Ensign Williams said, "It's time for your morning thrill! First time for GQ (General Quarters), at least it's something different. What has the XO (Executive Officer) dreamed up this time for your entertainment, an alien attack maybe?"

Every major system had failed in a Drill twice now. Either at morning Drill time at 0830 to 0930, or the afternoon Drill time of 1630 to 730. Sometimes it was both times. This had been going on every day since they had left. Condition Yoke meant that all the air-tight hatches and interconnecting systems between compartments on the spaceship were automatically closed and isolated. That also meant the P.R. team had to open then close nine auto isolation hatches between the P.R. room and the Bridge. Both got up and did their best to get quickly to their GQ stations. Unfortunately, they were the last ones to their stations on the Bridge. There were 32 computer link pods for the ship's watch stations and four computer nodes on the real Bridge. It took all four computer nodes so that the person who got in and lay down in one of the link pods was placed in a highly detailed computer generation of the ship's Bridge. Once in a pod and linked, three computerized graphic doors were added to the simulation of the real Bridge. It did not matter that on the other side of the bulkhead was a water tank. The virtual room took up no real space. To enter the cyber-Bridge, your avatar (a computer representation of a person) went through one of the graphical doors. The cyber-Bridge appeared as a room 15 by 30 meters. The avatars had access to the Copernicus's sensors, read-outs, and operational controls using the combined computerized environments. Moreover, there was nothing to wear out or fail this way because all the switches and displays on the stations were virtual.

The stations were arranged in four groups of three in the Pit. The systems monitored by the crew on watch were: the Helm, the Launcher, Damage Control, Life Support, Laser, Shield, Computer, Optics, Radar, Infrared, Earth Link, and Ship's Link. As a plus, each computer-generated station could be customized to each user. These stations were in a lowered area so that officers on the Stage could see over them for a clear view of the three, five-meter-wide control screEnsignOn the front wall of the cyber-Bridge were the Main View screen, the Orbit screen, and the Damage Control screen. Each of the staff officers had a command chair on the raised Stage just behind the Pit. The first level was the Captain's chair and the XO chair. The second level had the EMO (Electronics Maintenance Officer), First Division, and the Engineer. Raised on a level to the rear of the command chairs was the Peanut Gallery.

When it was normal to watch, the OOD sat at the Captain's chair. Other times, when the Captain was on the Bridge, the OOD stood between the Captain and the XO. Each second-level chair had a video intercom to their spaces. The first level's chairs could select between the three intercoms. Someone had decided that the Captain might need the Camera crew to document crew activities during emergencies. So the shutterbugs GQ stations were in the Peanut Gallery on the Bridge. When Ensign Williams and the shutterbugs got into their GQ stations pods and joined the crew on the cyber-Bridge, the Bo'sun, PO Fernando Costa said, and "Time!"

The Brazilian flag, a cross with INRI on the Bo'sun's sleeve, and a Rainbow. He and the MOW (Messenger Of the Watch) did not have a computer-generated station. They stood at the front of the cyber-room by the three big screens There were chairs for them to sit in, but they were rarely used. On the right, the Bo'sun had access to the ship's intercom. On the left, the MOW had access to the gripe pipe (a device in which different stations on the ship could be selected and talked to by the crew members. The MOW also was the one to run errands for the OOD.

The other shutterbug, PO Gabriel Alves, said, "Nice you could join us."

On his sleeve were the Brazilian flag and a cross with INRI on it.

The computer system reported the elapsed time of 15 minutes 49 seconds since the XO Cdr. (Commander) Mathieu Roux started the Drill. On his sleeve were the French flag and a silver cross.

Captain Yin said, "No, no, no! The computer simulation says that the crew should be able to get to their General Quarters stations as quick as 12 and a half minutes."

On her sleeve was the Chinese flag. Next to that was a red hammer and sickle.

The XO said, "Oui (the translator said yes) Ma'am! We will have to practice some more. Do I have permission to continue the Drill?"

"Granted," Captain Yin said.

The XO's avatar walked down into the pit to the computer watch console. He gave a cyber-drive to the computer operator's avatar on watch, PO Lucy Franklin. On her sleeve was an American flag, silver cross, a Wyoming flag, and a Rainbow.

The XO said, "Run Drill program number 52."

The ship's diagram at the DC (Damage Control) screen and the DC station showed a simulated hull breach. On a computer graphic of the Copernicus's compartment, ten flashed red. The DC technician on watch was PO Mia Robinson. On her sleeve was the Australian flag.

In the Engineering intercom at her station, she said, "DC Team, DC Leader, investigate an indicated leak in compartment ten and report back to DC Leader."

The personnel who were in the two off-watch sections had reported to computer link pods at their workstations. If the Drill was in the morning, then Watch Section Three lost a half-hour of sleep. If the Drill was in the afternoon, then Watch Section One lost a half-hour of sleep. Watch Section Two was the lucky one because all the Drills were during their work hours. None of the Drills had been held during any shifts three and a half hours of time off of duty.

As a person got in their work pods, they were connected to the computer link. Their avatars mustered in the cybernetic simulation of the Copernicus at their workstations. Once there, their avatars also had cyber-stations that controlled the ship's equipment. Additionally, all the pods could be sealed in an emergency, like if the compartment lost pressure or excessive radiation.

The on-duty watch in the Engineering hull technician was PO Daria Radu. On her sleeve were an E.U. flag and a Romanian flag. She had her avatar connect to the full sensor array of compartment ten. While the compartment checked out as all systems nominal, the Drill failure was indicated. Her avatar could feel the cold vacuum of space in the compartment. A check of all the systems that ran through the compartment showed that as part of the Drill, the water tank transfer pump used to balance the dynamic load of the spinning ship was vibrating wildly and had ripped loose from its mount. This had ruptured a hole in the outer hull. She disconnected from the sensor array.

PO Radu said into the Engineering intercom, "DC Leader, DC Team, leak verified. It looks like the main water transfer pump in compartment ten is failing. It has ripped from its mounts in the overhead section of the workspace and put a hole in the outer hull. I'm shutting it down. We will lose automatic dynamic load control for a while. The load balancer will have to be done manually by one of us. The hole in the hull will have to be repaired before the compartment can be re-pressurized."

PO Robinson said, "Acknowledged, zero pressure in compartment ten due to hull breach. On auto-balance there is no joy." (Not working)

The Engineering Officer LT (Lieutenant) Gelb Ivkin had only a Russian flag on his sleeve. He spoke into his Engineering intercom link and said, "Man the EVRM (Extra-Vehicular Repair Module)."

One of the off-watch Hull Techs was PO Brother Stefano Mancini. A Vatican City flag, a cross with INRI, and an Italian flag were on his sleeve. He got his avatar into the control console for the EVRM, turned it on, and said, "EVRM manned and ready."

To someone in the EVRM control console, it was like their avatar was in the mechanism outside the ship.

The Engineer said, "OOD, (Officer Of the Deck) I request permission to conduct an E.V.A. (Extra-Vehicular Activity)."

The OOD was LT Fairuzah Ansari. She had on her sleeve an Indian flag and a crescent moon. She said, "Permission granted. Let the Ship's Log show at 0844 LST (Local Ship Time) E.V.A. began."

The Engineer said into his Engineering comlink, "DC Team, Engineer, Away from the EVRM."

PO Mancini said, "EVRM is away."

Everybody waited.

After about 15 minutes, PO Mancini said, "DC Leader, EVRM, I have located the breach in the hull. What are your orders?"

The Engineer said into the Engineering intercom, "EVRM, Engineer, use a Chem weld kit to seal the breach. Set a hull monitor unit to observe the repair for any signs of a failure for the next 24 hours while it cures. Then, return the EVRM to its storage bay. Before you re-pressurize the compartment, check the temperature of all surfaces. If there are no hot spots, then bring the compartment to nominal pressure. Have the DC watch secure compartment ten, except for simulated repairs by the Engineering crew. Monitor for any pressure variances for the next 72 hours. Post a sign requiring permission from the DC watch on the Bridge to open the hatches on compartment ten until further notice."

PO Mancini's avatar controlled the virtual repair by the EVRM.

After that, a simulated monitor was placed on a hull plate near the virtual weld. On compartment ten, a real sign was hung declaring the compartment closed. The sign stated that access to the compartment was to be granted by the Bridge watch only. The pressure was set up to be monitored on the DC watch station on the cyber-Bridge.

After this was done, the Engineer said, "OOD, permission to stow the EVRM. You can secure from General Quarters, and then Engineering can continue repair Drills."

The OOD said, "Permission granted. Let the Ship's Log show at 0920 LST E.V.A. Drill activity was terminated. Bo'sun, pass the word, secure from General Quarters."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle and then said over the ship's intercom, "Secure from General Quarters. All hands return to ship's work."

Chapter Two

Wardroom Etiquette

The computer operator PO Franklin said, "XO, do you want your drive back, Sir?"

"Non (the translator said no), the program is not finished yet. Engineering has quite a lot of work to do still." the XO said.

Ensign Williams said to the XO, "Excuse me, Sir, but your Drill just secured our workspace. What do you want us to do?"

The XO said, "Ah, Ensign Williams, you were the last officer on the Bridge for this first GQ. You get the sounding weight. Be sure to bring it with you everywhere."

Ensign Williams said, "That's not fair. Our workspace is at the other end of the ship. We got here as fast as we could!"

"Did I ask for an excuse, Mister," the XO said?

"No, Sir," Ensign Williams said.

"We are going to hold more Drills until the time improves," the XO said." And I'm going to let the crew know it's all because of you. Get here quicker! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir," the Ensign said, "But you secured our workspace in compartment ten."

"Use the extra space on one of the storage decks. Your team does not require a specialized link connection to work. You can use a spare computer node and some of the spare link pods on the storage decks. Just re-open your cyber-P.R. room on the storage decks somewhere." the XO said." Now take your sounding weight and get off the Bridge."

Ensign Williams said, "Sir, I would like permission to document the Tug launch tomorrow."

The XO said, "We do not need you and your team in the way while the crew does real work, Mister. Did not the Captain give you the assignment to keep you busy or, do you need something else to occupy your time?"

"No, Sir," Ensign Williams said.

"Good!" the XO said, "Now take your sounding weight and get off the Bridge so we can do our jobs."

Ensign Williams and his team went to the cybernetic representation of the pods that they were using. They pressed a button on the virtual interface and released themselves from the cyber-Bridge. They got out of the link pods on the real Bridge.

The Ensign picked up the sounding weight, left the Bridge, and he said, "This stupid weight is heavy."

PO Jones said, "That went well! What in the hell do we do now?"

The Ensign said, "We set up shop in the closest storage area near the Bridge. That way will be the first ones their next time the XO holds a Drill."

PO Jones said, "That will work for the 72 hours while we are in a temporary P.R. room. What are you going to do when we are back in our P.R. room?"

"I don't know," Ensign Williams said, "I guess this stupid thing is mine now. The XO won't let us do our jobs, and I get this silly weight."

PO Alves said, "St. Jude protect us. We have the only jobs on this ship that piss off everybody."

PO Jones said, "Yeah, nobody likes us. Our documentation of the Ship's activities just seems like we're in everybody's way."

"Speaking of that, I still want to video the Tug boat launch tomorrow," Ensign Williams said.

PO Alves said, "Have you lost your mind, Sir? What did the XO just say? So far, we've been thrown off the cyber-Bridge every time they launch a Tug or a Probe. What makes you think it will be different this time?"

"I have a plan," Ensign Williams said, "Tomorrow, we are going to link up and video the avatars on the cyber-Bridge at work during the Tug boat launch."

PO Alves said, "They are not going to let our avatars with all our equipment run around on the cyber-Bridge."

"Don't worry, I said I have a plan," said Ensign Williams, "I think I know just the place to set up temporary shop in compartment one near storeroom one. Then we'll set up the spare pods and open the virtual P R Room."

It only took five minutes to get them powered when they got to the spare pods on the storage deck.

The Bo'sun blew his whistle, and he said, "Now muster the probe crew on station."

It took 45 minutes of waiting before the Bridge acknowledged the P R group's request to hook up to the main Computer system to use its resources. It took another half an hour of re-setting all the new passwords and uploading all necessary data to the local system node just to move their virtual P.R. room.

The entrance to the cyber-work space appeared as a couple of doors on an empty section of the cyber-ship's bulkhead near the storage space. The size of the cybernetic room was dependent on the amount of memory the computer would give you. Most cyber-rooms had the appearance of a room that was 15 by 15 meters.

In the cybernetic space of the P.R. room, there were three graphic video workstations on the left wall. They were the main focus of their work. The team could take raw video from their cameras, either on the real ship or virtual video of the avatars in the cyber-ship, and document the crew's activities. A small viewing area on the far back wall where their works could be watched in theater-type comfort. There was a big five-meter screen and three rows of seats. Behind those seats were three comfortable loungers. To the side was storage full of cyber drives for use in their equipment. On the back wall where the doors were was a storage rack for all the apps that the P.R. team used to do their jobs. Every piece of cyber equipment, from professional cameras to sound recording devices, could be compressed into a small storage box and put on the shelf. The only needed equipment had to be opened to be used in the active computer simulation of the cyber-ship.

It took another half an hour to upload all the apps used for the virtual P.R. room. After that, it took another 45 minutes to open and set up the apps for the cyber equipment they actively used each day.

As a plus, if an avatar was in the cyber-ship, you could select the next virtual compartment at the transition isolation hatch. Therefore, if someone was in the virtual P.R. room in compartment ten, they wanted to go to the cyber-Bridge in compartment one instead of your avatar walking the cybernetic distance between the two compartments. You could just select that the next cyber-compartment would be number one, and the computer would move your avatar there. To someone who walked through the cyber-transition, it was as if they were instantly transported from compartment ten's transition zone to compartment one's transition zone.

Just before noon, they had the P.R. room set up and ready to use. So the shutterbugs went to lunch.

Ensign Williams got to the Wardroom at 1155. There were three entrances to the Wardroom. The side entrances were for emergencies only. You were expected to use the main entrance. As one entered the left, there were some storage shelves with a few books but mostly tech manuals on the ship. In the back left corner was a computer node. It provided a virtual clubhouse for the officers when off duty on the cyber ship. Next, there was the table that took up most of the room and could seat 12. Coming off the back wall to the right of the table was the microwave shelf and cabinet. To the left of that cabinet was a waste chute. In the back corner were the coffee and tea area. Finally, just to the right on the same wall as the door was the pantry cabinet.

The Wardroom was in the same compartment as the rest of the mess decks. There was the Chief's Mess. It was like the Wardroom in that meals could be prepared there. Furthermore, it had a computer node that provided the Chiefs with a virtual clubhouse for them. There was a First Class Mess. This was the place that the First Class Petty Officers could take their meal and eat. Finally, most of the space was taken up by the crew's mess. Up to a third of the crew could eat there at one time.

Some other officers had already got their lunch. Each picked a prepackaged meal and a drink pouch from the galley pantry and placed the meal in one of two microwave ovens. An officer could, at any time, get a cup of coffee or tea. The Ensign got his meal and walked over to his place at the table.

He said to the XO, "May I join you, Sir?"

He got a nod as a response, and he sat down.

The XO said, "First Division (The Lieutenant in charge of First division and the deck apes), your uniform is unsat. (Unsatisfactory) The pins on your lower sleeve are wrong. The LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Trans-gender) Rainbow pin goes under your home country flag, not beside it. That is where your religion pin goes. Please have your uniform correct."

"Yes, Sir, I will," said First Division, LT Father Kefilwe Okafor. On his sleeve, he had a Vatican City flag, a Rainbow and a cross with INRI on it, and a Congolese flag. He was the Jesuit Priest that the Vatican has sent to be the spiritual guide for the other 29 Catholics on board the Copernicus.

Nobody talked for a few minutes when the XO said, "Did anybody see in the news that American football wants to change the helmets again? They say that the new Gee sensors that they were using were being destroyed in games."

The Engineer said, "It is pretty sad that the Americans do everything the cheapest. To spend a little more money for higher quality the first time would have saved them money in the long run."

The Ensign thought not another boring conversation about nothing. The Wardroom by-laws stated the conversation could be about anything, but religion, politics, or shop talk. He was glad that he was not a high enough rank to be expected to have an opinion. It had been made very plain that an Ensign was expected to be a good listener, and that was all. Whenever the XO talked, he would look intently, but he thought about the video he had to get done. Kids liked cowboys, maybe something with a western theme. Whenever somebody finished, they could take their trash to the waste bin and leave.

At 1230 the Ensign cleaned up and left the Wardroom. He went back to the temporary pods and linked up. His avatar went into the newly opened virtual P.R. room and sat down at his graphic workstation. He tried to salvage something from the video he had been working on making. The other shutterbug's avatars soon joined him in the workspace.

Ensign Williams said, "I guess you are right. This video has too many facts for kids, but I like a good challenge."

PO Jones said, "We don't have time for that right now. Earth Command has sent the international new movie releases. The crew is already clamoring for them as soon as we can make them available. Sir, you take the first hundred and post them to the ship's private site. Alves and I will each take a hundred, and if there are any more, we'll split them up when we are finished. If you want a challenge, you do the Asian videos this time."

Each video with its description had to be posted and indexed. Furthermore, the videos that the contract had expired on had to be removed. It was almost dinner when the team finished with their updates, and they were done for the day.

PO Jones said, "What are you doing tonight after you eat?"

For the three and a half hours you were off duty, the crew could enjoy several virtual establishments. The Officers had the Golden Hind. There, in the company of other officers, you could enjoy a virtual drink that would affect your avatar as if you had consumed alcohol. Once you left the link simulation, the effects of your drink were removed immediately. The Chiefs had the Goat locker. It was similar to the Golden Hind in that only Chiefs were allowed membership. The rest of the crew could go to the cyber-bar Captain Yin's Place. There you could meet other avatars, get a cyber-drink, and play any song ever written. Furthermore, there was the Rainbow's End. This was a bar for the LGBT crew members. Also, there was the smoking lounge, The Dragon's Breath. It was a place that different forms of cyber-smoking were really safe and non-addictive. Additionally, there was the theater, the Globe. Where you could be the actor or watch the play. Moreover, there was the dojo, The Growling Tiger. Furthermore, there was the sports complex, where any game court or field could be created. Next, there was a virtual park on the ocean where your avatar could surf, swim, hike a mountain trail to a meadow, or climb the mountain. Different climbs and hikes from popular places could be played back and experienced. Finally, each of the eight religions on board had a temple, shrine, or church. Each virtual place required a computer node to operate.

Ensign Williams said, "I got a bye in the darts tournament at Captains Yin's Place. I think I'll go to the Golden Hind and see what the other officers are doing."

PO Jones said, "Now that's boring. The same old space stories told by people who wished those things happened to them."

Ensign Williams said, "I'm expected to spend some time with the other officers."

PO Alves said, "I'm going to the Dragon's Breath. Tonight, they are featuring a simulant Havana cigar I have wanted to try."

PO Jones said, "I'm going to the Growling Tiger Dojo, and if I'm lucky, I'll complete my Blue Belt requirements. I don't have the roundhouse kick down yet. A few more hours of practice, and I'll get it down."

Ensign Williams said, "Well then, I'll see you two in the morning at muster."

When the Ensign got to the Wardroom, the other officers were waiting for him. Dinner was much more formal than breakfast and lunch.

The XO said, "Now you are here. You can start the line to select a meal."

Once he had selected a meal, he heated it in the microwave. He took his now hot food over to his place, set it down, and stood by his chair. After the other officers were standing by their chairs, the XO finished heating his meal, and he brought it over to the table. He sat down at his place at the head of the table.

The XO looked up and said, "Be seated."

The officers sat down and began their meals. Some like, First division, the Doc and the Surgeon said a blessing to themselves. The Engineer didn't care and would start to eat right away. The P.R.O. sat quietly during this short time. When they had finished, the meal began for the rest of the officers.

The XO looked at his meal and said, "I like real blue cheese like bleu d' Auvergne. It is a cow's milk cheese that has a good strong taste. It is aged for a short four weeks, no more than two months, in cool, wet cellars. While a little is less salted, it has a creamy, buttery, moist texture. The rye bread mold is introduced by pricking the cheese with a pin. It is good with a Sauvignon Blanc. I understand that some enjoy it with dark beer like a porter. To stabilize the cheese's complex character, a bold flavor and sweetness are needed. It received the appellation d'origine contrôlée or A.O.C. in 1975.

I also have been known to enjoy Roquefort cheese. European law dictates that this cheese must be aged for three months in the caves of Roquefort-Sur-Soulzon. These are natural Combalou caves. The sheep's milk cheese has veins of tangy green mold through a white crumbly and just moist texture. The cheese has a characteristic scent and taste of butyric acid. The flavors start mild. Then it goes from sweet to smoky and finishes with a note of salt. It got the A.O.C. in 1925. First Division, did you find any good blue cheese in Italy?"

First Division said, "Gorgonzola has been produced in the regions Piedmont and Lombardy. This whole cow's milk cheese has the whey removed during curdling. While it is aging for three to four months at low temperatures, metal rods are punched into the matrix. When it is withdrawn, the resulting air channels let the mold grow into veins of greenish-blue marbling. The longer it ages, the firmer the cheese gets.

I enjoy gorgonzola on the short pasta such as penne, rigatoni or sedani rigati. I never see it on spaghetti or linguine. I have had it on pizza ai Quattro Formaggi (the translator said four-cheese pizza). There it is combined with other soft cheeses and used as a topping."

The Engineer said The Russian palate is different. We prefer a mild harder cheese like Circassia cheese. This cheese does not melt when cooked. It is crumbled like feta. This sheep and goat cheese is aged for three months."

The Doc said, "In Turkey, cheese is ancient. Even the Babylonian civilization in 2000 B.C.E. had cheese. I like fresh Kashar cheese. It is made from both sheep and cow's milk. I like the sheep cheese. Rennet is used to curdle the milk. After it is strained, the curd is boiled in salt water. The dough-like cheese is placed in round molds and cooled. Fresh Kashar must be eaten soon after it is made. Aged Kashar is aged in a burlap sack for six months. If it is made from pure goat's milk, it has been stored for up to three years. While it is being aged, the outer part becomes dried and forms a crust. This cheese is often grated and used like parmesan."

The Surgeon said, "Around 0 C.E., the main valley in Jerusalem was called the valley of the cheesemakers. I like Zefatit. It is a salted fresh cheese made from sheep's or goat's milk. Israeli artisan cheeses are now getting much respect in the world."

The XO said, "P.R.O. tell us of American cheese."

The Ensign was surprised. It had been made very plain to him that Ensigns should be good listeners.

Ensign Williams said, "The most common sandwich cheese is a processed cheese food. The process is a blend of Colby and Cheddar cheeses. Then they start to add a few items. Americans feel fat is a bad thing, so they like a cheese that has low fat. Emulsification of the cheese food involves varying amounts of milk fat, oil, water, and coloring. I have noticed that the more the coloring, the less the processing. The product is packaged in three primary forms. A block of this cheese food is packaged or the more popular form of individual pre-wrapped slices. The fact that the cheese solidifies in the wrapping does not bother most Americans. Some of this product is packaged in a pressurized can, and a blob of cheese can be dispensed onto a cracker or any such snack. Americans are in too much of a hurry to get a slice of cheese from a block. In a grilled cheese sandwich, the cheese that melts between the buttered bread is preferred over a more expensive cheese that melts at a higher temperature."

The XO said, "You cannot get real cheese?"

The P.R.O. said, "Cheese food uses real cheese as its base, but if you mean things like little packages of cheese or blocks of imported cheese, they are available. Most Americans feel that such an item is for special occasions. For normal use, processed cheese food is preferred. Canned cheese is even thought of as a luxury to make a snack better."

The XO said, "This is an abuse of cheese! Americans have ruined their palates in the name of convenience. Do you have no epicurean sense?"

The P.R.O. said, "It's cheese. Food is for sustenance. I have never found a food that is a life-altering experience. Americans that are fixated on food are fat."

The XO said, "That is because you are not satisfied with the food experience. You eat, but you fail to satiate your neglected palate. So, you eat more, looking for the missing culinary experience. In short, you are not fulfilled."

The P.R.O. said, "I don't know. A good hamburger is very satisfying."

The XO said, "We disagree. I respect your right to your opinion, but you are missing out on an important part of life. If everybody has finished their meal, let us clean up."

After everybody had cleaned up, the XO said, "Écarter."

The Ensign and his sounding weight went from the Wardroom in compartment six to the storage decks and walked through compartment ten. He got into his pod and linked up. He dressed his avatar in an after-dinner jacket, collared shirt, and dress pants. He set the selector to compartment six from the virtual compartment ten and stepped through the cybernetic interface to the computer's simulation of the mess decks.

He went to the officer's clubhouse, the Golden Hind. He sat down at one of the tables and ordered Brandy in a warmed snifter from the computer interface at the table. Instantly it appeared. He picked up the glass and inhaled the musky aroma. As the other officers came in and got a drink, each tried to outdo the other with their sea stories.

Chapter Three

A Fly on the Wall

The EMO Ayumi Ito said, "My first ship was the Beagle. The crew was always playing tricks on the officer candidate students that the I.S.A. would send. They were sent on a two-week-long familiarization cruise. We would get five to ten candidates in June, July, and August in the last two weeks.

One day I had a watch on the radar station. We were pulling into Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. My job was to back up the Satellite Navigation and track the ship through the channel on the radar set. When I got to my station, the OOD assigns one of the kids to learn my station. He watched me for a while as I plotted the course through the channel. He asked a few questions like how far this system works and the power output of this set. Then he asks where the beep is when the radar shows an object on the screen. Before I could say anything, the OOD, who had been listening, said the audio section is not working on that unit, and I need to know if anything is out there. So, when you see an object, I need you to beep for me. Suddenly, the kid starts to beep every time the sweep line hits any object, even the clouds, and the land echoes. I put up with this for about half an hour. I am ready to tell this kid that they were joking with him when the XO walks onto the Bridge. She takes one good look at the poor kid and says, what in the hell is going on here? The OOD was surprised by her and said in a sheepish voice, the audio section is out on that unit Ma'am, and the watch is beeping, so I know that there are objects out there. The XO gives everybody the once over and says, well then, tell them to speak up we can't hear them in the Captain's ready room. She turns around and slams the door. As if that is not enough, she makes it a 24-hour duty watch station for the students. Well, this kid tells the next kid, and so on through all the watches. For two days, those kids beeped. Everyone was in on the joke. I often wonder about the first ship those kids would be assigned to and what it would be like if they tried to get the radar operator to beep.

Everybody did a polite laugh. The Ensign ordered another brandy as the next story began.

The Surgeon, Shahar Vardah, said, "I watched a Doctor erase the entire medical record of a Lieutenant one time. Do you know all the things you have to do when records are lost? He was a troublesome hypochondriac who thought he had ..."

The Ensign started thinking about the video he had to do for the Captain. The ship's mission was a lot like a cattle drive. They were rounding up a few asteroids and herding them to market. While enjoying his brandy, he became lost in his thoughts., too soon it was time to leave and hit the rack. (A crew member's bed.)

When his cyber-liberty was over, the computer-generated passages would close, and he would appear back on the virtual mess decks. Ensign Williams went to the isolation zone interface and selected compartment one. In one step, he went from cyber-compartment six to cyber-compartment one. His avatar went to his temporary pod in the storeroom in compartment one and released himself. He picked up the sounding weight, and now he walked through to the far side of compartment two. He walked up the ladder in the isolation zone of the auto-hatch and headed to Officer's Country. (Officer's Country is an exclusion zone in which only officers are allowed within the passages of the berthing space. Chief's Country is the same except only Chiefs are allowed.)

Each crew member under the rank of First-Class Petty Officer was assigned a small two meters by five meters studio apartment. It had a shower, toilet, sink, desk, computer, storage, wardrobe, bed, and entertainment screen. The lower Officers, Chiefs and First Class got an apartment two meters by seven and a half meters. The Captain, XO, and the medical Doctors got the luxury of a two-meter by ten-meter cabin.

The Ensign was in the transition space and was coming up the ladder from the storage decks to the main deck.

The Engineer looked down at Ensign Williams as he came up the ladder, and he said, "Ensign Williams, once you are back in compartment ten you'll have quite a problem," he said.

"What do you know about my problems," said Ensign Williams?

"I know you can't get from the P.R. room on the other side of the ship to the Bridge any faster during GQ," said the Engineer.

"It takes time to open and close all the hatches," said Ensign Williams.

"What if I delayed the auto-closing of certain hatches until you arrived on the Bridge," the Engineer said?

"That would help quite a bit," the Ensign said, "Why would the snipes (someone assigned to Engineering) help me?"

"If you don't speed up your time on station," the Engineer said, "then we will be at this forever. I'm tired of the daily Drills. Let's just say you owe me one."

"Okay, thank you," Ensign Williams said, "Until the next Drill."

The Engineer said, "You just move your zhopa!"

Most cuss words did not translate. All someone would hear is the word in the native language, and the translator would make a low tone. Ensign Williams knew that zhopa was ass in Russian.

The Ensign went to the door that had Officer's Country on it. Any non-Officer had to go down and around by using the storage decks. The door let him pass, and he went into the restricted space. He walked down the standard passageway that was one meter wide by two meters tall. First, he moved past the Captain's cabin on his right side and the XO's cabin on his left side. The next two were the Doctor's and the Surgeon's cabins. Then he walked by the Engineer's and the EMO apartments. The next apartments belonged to First Division and Sect One. He passed by Sect Two and Sect Three's apartments. Finally, he came to his apartment. Across from him was the only spare apartment on the ship. The passageway ended after the officer's apartments in a with had Chief's Country on it.

The Ensign unlocked his door, and the pocket door slid open. He stepped into the apartment, and the door closed. He walked into an entrance den. On the wall beside him was an entertainment screen. In the corners were storage shelves. It had a sectional sofa with a coffee table on the backside of the room. To the left was the door that leads to the standard bathroom that was in all living quarters. It had a toilet, a shower, a sink, a storage cabinet, a dirty clothes chute, and a full-length mirror. To his right was the door that leads to his bedroom. A bed, a nightstand, a desk with a computer on it, and a wardrobe closet were in it.

The room was cleaned by a robot. It would clean the floor, walls, desk, computer screen, entertainment screen, and restroom. It would also hang up a fresh-pressed uniform. Every other day it would change the sheets on the bed unless requested otherwise. Each luxury cabin had its own robot. Next, every two apartments shared a robot. Finally, every four studios shared a robot.

The Ensign stripped down for bed. He threw his dirty uniform and underwear into the dirty clothes chute. Then, he brushed his teeth. He showered. After that, he tossed the dirty towel in the chute. He climbed into his rack and went to sleep.

The next morning Ensign Williams got up when reveille was called for his section at 0500. He cleaned up and dressed in a fresh I.S.A. uniform of the day. He took pride in seeing that his uniform was ship shape. He took his sounding weight and went to the Wardroom. For breakfast, you could select what you wanted from the pantry, prepare it, and take it to the table. You still had to ask to sit at the table.

The Ensign said, "May I join you XO?"

He got a nod as a response that meant he could sit down, eat, and then clean up. He could leave when he was done. Most of the officers were already sitting at the table.

The XO said, "Did you know that the Cathedral of Notre Dame (the translator said Church of Our Lady) was built on a Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter? Perhaps I should say two medieval churches were built on the temple where Notre Dame is now. Ile de la Cité (the translator said Island of the City) is the center of France. There is even an official navel on a small plaque. In college at École normale supérieure I took a class on Notre Dame. We spent two weeks just studying the stained glass in the cathedral. The windows lose some of their beauty when you have to identify all the people who are represented.

In 1160 Bishop Maurice de Sully decided that the fourth century Merovingian Church Saint Étienne (the translator said Saint Stephen's) was unfit for its role in Paris. The massive structure was demolished. The replacement was considered to be one of the superlative forms of French Gothic architecture. You see, Notre Dame had to be because it houses some of the best relics of Catholicism: a fragment of the True Cross, one of the Holy Nails, and the Crown of Thorns.

The cathedral has suffered different attacks, some well-intended, some not so much. 1548 the Huguenots damaged Notre Dame, saying that certain features were idolatrous. There were attempts to modernize the cathedral. In 1786 a huge statue of Saint Christopher from the early 1400s was destroyed. In 1793 during the revolution, the cathedral was plundered, and much was lost. In 1845 a restoration was done by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc that lasted 25 years. During the Second World War, several stained-glass windows were damaged. While they were remade after the war, they feature a modern pattern, not the old scenes of the Bible. In 1990's was a major restoration. After the fire, Notre Dame was restored to its old glory. The last restoration in 2043 included new low resistance power cables and high output light bars..."

By 0545, the Ensign had eaten, cleaned up, and left.

He went into his spare pod and linked up. He had his avatar go to this cybernetic pod on the cyber-ship. He loaded into the computer-generated interface of the link pod the app he had brought from the internet. He ran the app, and his avatar on the cyber-ship turned into a virtual fly. As a fly, he flew up the transition zone from the storage deck to the cyber-Bridge. He flew by the Captain's Conference room and landed on the bulkhead of the cyber-Bridge just inside its open hatch. After a second to get oriented, he flew by the Peanut Gallery, the command chairs on the stage, and landed on the back wall of the pit. He could see the 12 virtual stations of the watch. Furthermore, he had a clear view of the Orbits, Forward, and Damage control view screens. Finally, no one was paying any attention to him. With another app, he took a test video of the cyber-Bridge. After a few minutes, he flew back to his temporary pod's interface and had his avatar change back into its normal form. He took a cyber-drive from the pod's computerized interface.

He headed to the virtual P.R. room in its short-term location next to storeroom one in compartment one. When he got there, his camera crew was lounging inside. He loaded the cyber-drive into the video player and started it. The big screen was filled with the avatars on watch. Then it zoomed into the main view screen on the cyber-Bridge. It was just a minute or so, and then it was over. It was a poor-quality video, but it was better than the nothing that they had.

PO Jones said, "How did you get that without the OOD screaming for you to get off their Bridge?"

"I told you I had a plan," the Ensign said, "I found an app that will make an avatar into a cyber-fly. Do you want to help me video the Tug operations today?"

"Hell yeah, Sir," PO Alves said.

"Count me in, too," said PO Jones.

He gave both a virtual drive with the apps he had bought loaded on them.

"Meet me on the cyber-Bridge at 0700, the start of the Tug operations," Ensign Williams said, "Jones, I want you to video the avatars in the pit at their duty stations. Alves, I want you to video the main view screens. And I'll get the OOD in the command chair. At the first sign of trouble, high tail it back to the pods!"

Chapter Four

The Flies Must be Spies

Each took the app to their virtual pod's interfaces and ran the programs that transformed their avatars into flies. They met in the transition zone that held their pods and they flew up through to the upper level of compartment one. They passed by the Captain's Conference room and flew into the cyber-Bridge. Jones landed on the bulkhead behind the pit. Alves landed on the overhead above the pit. The Ens. landed on the overhead above the command chair in which the OOD was sitting. They started to video the operations.

The OOD was now LT Harold Miller. On his sleeve, he had an American flag, a silver cross, and a Texas flag.

He said, "Bo'sun, muster the Tug crew."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle then said into the ship's intercom, "Now muster the Tug crew."

In a few minutes, PO Agampreet Ahluwalia reported to the bridge. On her sleeve were the Indian flag and a Khanda (The symbol depicts the Sikh doctrine). When she walked on the cyber-Bridge, she saluted the OOD and said, "I'm reporting as ordered."

The two off-watch Tug crew got into their work pods and linked up. They went to their cyber stations. On the First division watch station monitor, the Ensign could see PO Ceren Pasa's avatar had on her sleeve a Turkish flag and a crescent moon. She got into the cyber console for the Launcher. When connected to the Launcher's console, to one's avatar it was like the control chair was mounted to the side of the launcher. Mounted in front of the chair there was a H.U.D. (Heads Up Display) It was a screen that showed the target asteroid and the plotted courses of the device that was being launched. PO John Patel's avatar had on his sleeve the Canadian flag and a cross with IN RI on it. He monitored the Tug loading mechanism that took a Tug guidance section from the storage rack in the ship and moved it down the chute into the Assembler. The engines were dangerous, so they were kept in a storage mechanism mounted around the launcher. There was a robot that assembled the guidance sections to the engines. Once assembled then the Tug was placed in the launcher. They reported to the Bridge when all systems came online.

PO Ahluwalia went to her watch station and said, "Tug crew manned and ready."

The OOD said, "Tug crew put a Tug together for me."

PO Ahluwalia said into her intercom, "Assemble a Tug." When the system showed the task was done, she said, "Tug assembly complete."

The OOD said, "Computer, do we have a Tug intercept course for the target asteroid?"

The computer operator on watch was PO Santiago Sanchez. On his sleeve was the Mexican flag, and a cross with INRI on it.

He said, "Si (the translator said yes) Target computer track is locked. Target intercept course plotted."

"Boat crew, load the Tug guidance section with most current intercept data," the OOD said.

PO Ahluwalia said into her intercom, "Load the Tug with the most current intercept data."

When his display showed the operation was done PO Patel said, "Tug loaded with current data."

"Tug loaded with data." PO Ahluwalia said when her display showed ready.

The OOD said, "Put the Tug into the Launcher."

PO Ahluwalia said into the intercom, "Put the Tug in the Launcher."

When her display showed the operation was done PO Pasa said, "Tug loaded in Launcher."

PO Ahluwalia said, "Launcher ready."

The OOD said, "Launch Tug!"

PO Ahluwalia said into her intercom, "Launch!"

PO Pasa said, "Launcher charged, no wait there is a power surge or something, the Launcher went to stand-by."

PO Ahluwalia said, "Launcher is in stand-by."

The OOD said, "What! Bring the Launcher back online, now."

PO Pasa said, "It won't go into operate."

"No joy on Launcher," PO Ahluwalia said.

Now the OOD got up and walked down to the station in the pit. He moved out of view of Ensign Williams. So, he flew over to the bulkhead of the pit for a better view.

The OOD said, "Bo' sun, call the First Division Chief to the Bridge, now! Computer, how long of a window do we have to launch?"

The bo'sun blew his whistle and said into the ship's intercom, "First Division Chief to the Bridge, ASAP."

PO Sanchez said, "The computer shows a window of 14 minutes and 36 seconds."

In less than a minute Chief Aki Hyogo reported to the Bridge. On his sleeve were the Japanese flag and a Torii Gate. (The symbol of Shinto religion)

When he got to the cyber-Bridge he saluted the OOD and said, "I'm reporting as ordered."

He had stepped into the way of Ensign Williams. So, he flew over to the back bulkhead of the pit and continued videoing. The OOD caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, but was, too busy to pay attention.

"Your Launcher is in stand-by," the OOD said.

The Chief said, "Did you try cycling power (turn the power off then back on) and then try recharging again?"

"I have no idea what the crew is doing," the OOD said.

The Chief went over to the operator of the boat crew station, put his hand on the back of the station's built-in chair, and said to PO Ahluwalia, "Turn the Launcher off and cycle the power to the Launcher. Then try to bring it back online."

"Yes, I heard him," PO Pasa said, "Cycling power to the Launcher."

PO Ahluwalia watched the operating display on the launcher from her console and said, "The Launcher is offline. The Power has been cycled. The Launcher is back online and charging."

The OOD said, "Unload the Tug from the Launcher. Update the most current intercept data. Then reload the Tug into the Launcher."

PO Ahluwalia said, "Reload the most current intercept data into the Tug."

PO Patel said, "Tug unloaded from Launcher, data updating, wait I got a checksum error on the data load. The Tug seems dead."

PO Ahluwalia said, "The Tug is not responding."

The OOD said, "Of course the drover (A cowboy who moves cattle on a cattle drive) is not responding. I don't have time for this. Put that guidance section back, mark it bad, and get me another Tug, load the data, and get it ready to go on the Launcher. Computer, time until intercept window closes?"

The OOD moved back to the command chair. Ensign Williams flew to the overhead position he landed on at first. This time the OOD saw the fly, but the situation did not register in his mind, yet.

"6 minutes 42 seconds," said PO Sanchez.

PO Patel said, "I'm getting another Tug and loading current intercept data, data loaded. The checksum is good. Okay, it's in the Launcher."

PO Pasa said, "The Tug is loaded in the Launcher. It shows full charge, and ready."

PO Ahluwalia said, "Ready to launch!"

The OOD, said, "Launch Tug!"

PO Ahluwalia said, "Launch."

PO Patel said, "Launcher charged. Launch confirmed."

PO Ahluwalia said, "Launch confirmed."

The OOD said, "Computer, time until Tug intercepts target?"

PO Sanchez said, "Computer shows 45 minutes 15 seconds."

Suddenly it hit the OOD and he said out loud, "A fly?"

The three flies took off for the closer of the three hatches. The OOD's avatar jumped up and ran over to one of the hatches at the back of the cyber-Bridge and closed it, but by the time he had got to the last hatch the flies had escaped. They flew back to their pods interfaces and changed their avatars back into their proper form. Each removed the cyber-drive with the video they took on it and went to the temporary P.R. room.

They sat down and just looked at each other for a moment.

PO Jones finally said, "Maybe the OOD won't care."

The Bo'sun's whistle on the ship's intercom cut into the conversation, "M.A.A. (Master At Arms) lay (go to, or lay in a course) to the Bridge."

"Or maybe he will," said Ensign Williams, "I hate that whistle! Why do they still use it?"

PO Jones said, "Sir since this is a ship, it's a navy organization. The navy is centuries of tradition unimpeded by progress."

As the Ensign filled out the morning muster, he said, "That sounds about right. You two go to the First Class lounge and check out the scuttlebutt. (A drinking fountain or the rumors sometimes heard while gathered around the scuttlebutt.) See if you can tell what they think is going on. I'll go to the Wardroom and do the same."

When Ensign Williams and his sounding weight got to the Wardroom the EMO was talking to the Surgeon about what had happened already over a cup of coffee. Ensign Williams got a cup of coffee and sat down.

"Sect One (Section One Lead, the OOD when on watch on the Bridge), LT Miller, saw some spies, disguised as flies, on the Bridge," said the EMO LT Ayumi Ito. On her sleeve was the Japanese flag, a Torii Gate, and a Rainbow.

LCDR (Lieutenant Commander) Shahar Vardah was the Chief Surgeon. On her sleeve were an Israeli flag and a Star of David. She said, "Oy gevalt! (the translator said Oh my) Is he sure that he saw anything? Don't be a shmendrik (the translator said jerk) this is an international ship. Only a schlemiel (the translator said unlucky inept person) would be spying on us."

"Sun Tzu warns of spies." said the EMO, "Why else would somebody be on the Bridge as flies? This is aku! (the translator said evil)"

"Everything we do," the Surgeon said, "is open to the public and is for the common good of the Earth. The only reason we are a military organization is because of the engines and reactor security."

"Maybe someone on board was just curious," said Ensign Williams.

"Curious!" said the Surgeon, "Oy vey! (the translator said oh no) All anybody need do is ask, and the Captain will have you make a two-hour video, but I tell you, there is more to this than meets the eye."

"That's absurd!" Ensign Williams said, "Every major nation on the planet has got someone on board. Who's left out?"

"Who knows, the Nazis in South America, perhaps." said the EMO.

"Schlemiel, there are no Nazis in South America," said the Surgeon, "You have been watching, too many old-time videos."

"Well, somebody is up to something aku," said the EMO.

"Maybe someone on the ship is just having some fun," said Ensign Williams.

"Having fun!" the Surgeon said." Schlemiel, no one is that big of a klutz (the translator said clumsy fool). The Captain would have their hide for a wall decoration."

"You should note what I said," said the EMO, "according to Sun Tzu, someone is up to no good. An aku is plotting some impurity. This must be stopped now."

"I think you guys are blowing this way out of proportion," said Ensign Williams, "This is just some type of misunderstanding."

The EMO said, "Someone misunderstood the Captain is the ultimate authority here. Her word is the law and it is a long way to Earth."

The Bo'sun's whistle came over the ship's intercom, "Now muster the Security team in the Captain's conference room."

"It is about time," said the EMO, "Now we'll get to the bottom of this aku. We must get a hold of these spies and convert them."

The P.R.O. said, "Now you are getting carried away. What do we have on this ship to use to convert a spy?"

The EMO said, "Sun Tzu says treat captives well and care for them. This way they become a resource. Tao (the translator said moral influence) must be maintained. If the spies are hurt or compelled to do something against their will, we will lose face."

The P.R.O. said, "You don't have any captives! How do you know that they are spies?"

The EMO said, "They appeared as flies! They were being deceitful. I do not think their actions speak of good intentions."

The P.R.O. said, "That is your opinion. Until you know the truth of what was happening, you are guessing. I prefer the truth instead of a story made up to fit the facts as you know them. For all you know, any flies were a computer simulation to test our response? What has been your response, just a little paranoid don't you think?"

The Engineer said, "I am getting more than tired of being tested every day. It is happening so often we know the two times a day to expect a test Drill. Have we gotten to the point where anything outside of those times must be real?"

First Division, said, "Should you react to an emergency or should you waste precious time thinking about what you should do next?"

The Engineer said, "That is easy for you to say, First Division. You do not have to deal with equipment that is bad. Your biggest problem is if a robot is still working."

The P.R.O. had heard enough. He cleaned up his mess and left. He went back to the pods. PO Alves was waiting there.

"What is the scuttlebutt in the First Class lounge," Ensign Williams said?

"Well, Sir, they think the Mafia wants in on all the precious metals we have discovered," PO Alves said.

Ensign Williams said, "That's okay, the word in the wardroom is Nazis from South America."

"This is stupid," PO Alves said, "Mother Mary protect us."

"Just keep cool," the Ensign said, "All we have to say is that we were in the cyber-P.R. room working on that video. They have nothing on us."

The Bo'sun's whistle came over the ship's intercom, "Now muster the crew on station. Now muster the crew on station."

Both men got into the temporary pods and went to the virtual P.R. room. It wasn't long before PO Jones joined them.

Ensign Williams got on the gripe pipe and said, "Bridge, P R (designator for the P.R. room), all accounted for."

The Bo'sun's whistle came over the ship's intercom, and the OOD said, "There has been an incident on board. Everyone is to make a statement to one of the M.A.A.s, and then they are dismissed. Until you make a statement, you are to stay on station. That is all."

It was over two hours before the M.A.A.'s avatar came into the virtual P.R. room.

PO David Abril was one of the M.A.A.s. He had on his sleeve an Israeli flag and Star of David.

He looked over the group and said, "Okay Jones, What were your orders during the Tug launch?"

She said, "I'm a camera operator in the P.R. room. We're here to do public relations for the ship. I don't know if we have any real orders."

"Oy vey, what were you doing then," the M.A.A. said?

She said, "We were here working on a video about the Copernicus for the Captain to give to a school in the U.S."

"Any of you schlimazels want to add anything to the statement," PO Abril said?

"Not me," said PO Alves.

"No, I guess that about covers it," said Ensign Williams.

The M.A.A. said, "Did anybody else see your team here in the P.R. room?"

PO Jones said, "No, no one comes here."

The M.A.A. said, "I understand that your team has been thrown off the Bridge a few times trying to document operations on the Bridge. It must be frustrating to you not being able to do your job?"

Ensign Williams said, "Yeah, but we still have three months. We'll get it in time."

"I see, Sir," PO Abril said, "if I have any other questions I will get back to you. Sir, I am through as far as I am concerned, you are dismissed."

Chapter Five

Under Cover

After the M.A.A. left the space, Ensign Williams said, "He knows! We're in trouble now. Okay, I'll make some excuse to stay in the Wardroom and see what I can learn. You two take turns in the First-Class lounge. See if you can find out the scuttlebutt on what they are going to do. We'll meet back here later."

No one came to the Wardroom early. It was not until lunch that the other officers showed up. When the XO got his meal, the other officers got in line to get their meals. The XO sat down.

Ensign Williams got and heated his meal. Then he said, "May I join you, Sir?"

He got a head nod and sat down. The EMO was missing, but no one seemed to be concerned.

The XO looked up and said, "In an attempt to improve your epicurean sense, we will discuss wine.

Before you pour the wine, you must check the cork. Roll the cork in between your fingers. It should be springy, not dried out, and crumbly. Then you will smell the cork. It should smell of wine, not vinegar. The small test taste will be first poured. The object of this is to ensure that the wine is still good. One takes a quick taste of the wine, and then one gives approval for the rest of your guests to be served or not. This is not the time to judge your wine, just to tell if it is vinegar or not.

When you are served your wine, the first thing to judge about the wine is color. Red wine starts as a deep purple. It is almost opaque. Over time it becomes lighter, a brick red tone. Depending on the wine, white wine starts a lemon gold color. Then, gradually, over decades, the wine will deepen its hue and become a rich, golden amber. Certain grapes give the wine a slight color like a Riesling will have a touch of green. In general, the paler the wine is, the cooler the climate.

Some will talk of the legs of the wine. This refers to the oily droplets of wine on the inside of the glass after swirling. It was felt that the slow-forming oily legs were because of higher alcohol. This demonstrated a higher quality wine. More watery quick-forming legs showed a poorer quality wine. Most people feel it is easier to judge these qualities on the palate.

I will mention the bead of sparkling wines. The bead is a description of the bubbles in the wine. Champagne has a finer bead or smaller bubbles. Some say you can judge this by the fizz the wine makes, but I think that is a stretch.

To smell the wine, you must increase the surface area by swirling the wine. Do not overfill a glass of wine. It should be half full. Once the wine has been exposed, take a good sniff. The primary aroma is of the variety of grapes. These aromas will be related to fruit. I have heard of things like blackcurrants and raspberries.

The taste of the wine involves nasal chemoreceptors. Some will slurp the wine. Please pay attention to the way the wine taste as you hold it in your mouth. Your first impressions are called the fore palate. Then comes the mid and end palate, ending with the finish. The finish refers to the taste from swallowing the wine. The flavors will dwell for a time after you swallow them. This is called the length of the wine. It is said that the longer the length of the wine, the higher the quality.

You must know of the grapes to understand the taste of a wine.

Cabernet Sauvignon is made with a thick-skinned late-ripening red grape. The deep-colored wine has strong tannins and will often taste of oak. These wines are capable of aging for decades.

Merlot is made with a thick-skinned early ripening red grape from Bordeaux. It has a ripe dark fruit flavor with soft tannins.

Cabernet Franc is made with a red grape. It has an herbal, leafy flavor.

Pinot Noir is made with a thin-skinned grape. The plants and grapes are sensitive to light, pruning, and soil type. The vines are low-yielding and susceptible to rot and fungal diseases. Pinot Noir has a wide range of flavors and aromas. These are described as light to medium body with a hint of berries.

Grenache is made from a hearty red grape. The wines are medium alcohol and have low acidity. The taste is a deep raspberry or wild strawberry flavor.

Syrah is made from a red grape. The wine is a full-flavored tannic wine that should be aged before use.

Viognier is made from a powerful white grape. It has floral aromas and tastes of pit-type fruits.

Chardonnay is made with a versatile white grape. This grape is also used to make champagne.

I would encourage everybody to take time to look at other grapes and wines."

The Ensign had finished. So, he cleaned up and left.

When he got to the temporary pods, he could see that the other shutterbugs had not returned yet. He linked up and went into the cyber-P.R. room. He loaded up the video he had been working on to see if the graphics were salvageable. He went back to the original graphic and tried a couple of different projections. Something seemed wrong somehow. He was still trying different tints and angles when the other two petty officers showed up.

The Ensign said, "Find out anything yet?"

PO Jones said, "No, the medics and the EMO have been working on a program, though. No one knows any more than that. What are you doing?"

The Ensign said, "I'm trying to make my projection more kid-friendly, but I'm not getting anywhere."

PO Alves said, "I think it is too real looking. It needs to be more like a cartoon."

PO Jones said, "Okay, let's see what you can do?"

PO Alves said, "I will have to freehand draw it. It will take a little time."

Ensign Williams said, "Make two of the engine nacelles bigger, and they look like eyes and the center hub the mouth. Yeah, that's good."

PO Jones said, "There is still something wrong. It has no character."

The Ensign said, "I've been thinking, give it a cowboy hat. This whole mission reminds me of a cattle drive. What if we made the Copernicus talk like a cowboy and use a rope to lasso an asteroid?"

"Now that I like," said PO Jones.

"Yes," said PO Alves, "The ship could use a red-hot brand to show that we tag the other asteroids we want to track."

They worked on the graphics for some time. Suddenly the lights and the power went out, and the shutterbugs were back in their pods in the real P.R. room.

The Bo'sun whistle came over the intercom, followed by, "This is a Drill. This is a Drill. Loss of number one power bus. DC team muster in main control. After about an hour, the lights came back on in the P.R room.

The Ensign said, "I want to go to the Wardroom a little early and see if anything has changed. Maybe I can learn about the program they are working on for security."

When Ensign Williams and his sounding weight got to the wardroom, the Engineer and the Doc were arguing over the Fly spies. The Ensign heard some pretty wild theories, but it wasn't until the EMO came in just before dinner that he heard what he was waiting for.

Before everybody ate, she said, "An Aku grows more powerful. I can sense it. The Captain wanted me to use the computer to see who was on the cyber-Bridge during the Tug launch. I had to tell her it didn't work like that. She was mad. I apologized and told her that the computer simulation only provides the environment. It does not document which is wherein the simulated ship. Then she got even madder and said I better come up with a way to track undocumented avatars. I told her I was so sorry. Consequently, I got the computer operators working on an app right now. Soon we will be able to track anybody on the cyber-ship that their avatar is not in the form of one of the known crew members. We are going to take the data from all the medical files. Then we will randomly check one of the avatar's body parts against all of the crew's bio scans. If it does not match 100 % of one of the known 102 crew's body parts, then the M.A.A. can choose to put those evil ones in a cyber-holding space."

Sect One said, "It's about time we got some security on this ship."

Sect One had insomnia. When he couldn't sleep, he would sometimes wander the ship, or other times he would sit in the Wardroom. Today Sect One couldn't sleep again. This time he had got up and came to the Wardroom to eat dinner.

After most of the officers had shown up, the XO said, "Ensign Williams, would you please start the line?"

After the officers got their meals ready, they stood by their chairs and waited for the XO.

After he sat down, he said, "Be seated."

The other officers sat down and started to eat their meals. The XO started his meal and said, "I think that France has a chance to take the F.I.F.A. World Cup this year."

Sect One said, "I don't know XO. I think the U.S. has a chance this year."

The XO said, "Sect One, the people of the U.S. have not accepted Soccer yet. They still hang on to American Football."

Ensign Williams tuned out and thought about his team's project some more until the end of the meal. When everybody had cleaned up, the XO said, "Écarter."

Suddenly, the Bo'sun blew his whistle over the ship's intercom, and he said, "Now muster the probe crew."

Ensign Williams was glad he did not have to report for the probe crew. They had a launch every day.

Tonight the Ensign had a dart game at Captain Yin's. During the dart game of Cricket, he listened for any new scuttlebutt as he drank ice-cold beer. The match between him and PO Masa Inoue came down to him closing the 15. All the other numbers were closed. He had no marks in the 15 and needed three marks just to score points. He was behind by 70 points. He needed all three darts in the triple 15 section. If he got three in a bed, then he won. He would get to continue in the dart tournament. If he missed, his name went down in the loser's spot for the match, and it was all over. He stood at the line. The first dart went in the triple 15. He took a drink of his beer and tried to concentrate.

PO Inoue said, "Come on, Sir, shoot!"

Ensign Williams knew that the pressure to shoot quickly was part of the game, and he ignored the banter. He came to the line. He was afraid he couldn't do it. He leaned forward, cocked his arm, and threw the dart. It felt perfect as he let go of the dart. It flew true to the mark, triple 15. He took another drink of beer.

PO Inoue said, "You are wasting time, Sir."

Ensign Williams took his time and stepped up to the line. He leaned forward, and it felt wrong. He cocked his arm and threw the dart. As soon as he let go of it, he could tell it was a miss. He watched it fly in slow motion to the board. At the last instant, it dropped and hit in the triple of number two.

PO Inoue said, "Thank you, Sir. I now have a one dart out."

He walked up and shot. The dart went into the middle of the large section of number 15. That closed the number, and he won.

PO Inoue jumped up and went to celebrate with his friends. It was half an hour before closing, so the Ensign finished his beer and left. He went to his rack and had a bad night of sleep.

Chapter 6

A Change of Orders

In the morning, the Ensign got up when reveille was called in his apartment. He cleaned up, and he put on the I.S.A. uniform of the day. Then he and his sounding weight went to the Wardroom for breakfast. Before the XO came into the Wardroom, everyone was talking about the EMO's security efforts.

First Division said, "May God have mercy. I heard that in the cyber jail, the M.A.A. has a way to torture anyone they catch for information."

LCDR Konca Polat was the ship's general practice Doctor. On her sleeve was a Turkish flag and a crescent moon, and she said, "I heard that the Captain has permission from Earth Command to space anyone who is caught as a spy. (To space someone, they are placed in an airlock, without a spacesuit, and ejected into space to die.) This is terrible. The prophet says, forgive him who wrongs you. Join him, who cuts you off. Do well to him who does evil to you, and speak the truth even if it is against yourself."

Ensign Williams said, "Space someone? That is ridiculous! Earth Command would throw a fit."

First Division said, "The Earth is a long way from here. Discipline must be maintained. The Captain is in charge and until she is relieved of her command. Her word is the law. Christ save us all."

“She can't just space someone," said Ensign Williams, "She'd be held responsible for their death."

"Not until she got back to Earth," said First Division, "Who on this ship is going to tell her no? Not me! Are you? Why not tell her you are not going to carry the sounding weight around anymore and see what happens?"

"I like the sounding weight and can't wait to see someone else carry it," said Ensign Williams.

"Yes, just like I thought," said First Division.

When the XO finally came in for breakfast, the line started to select a meal.

The XO said, "I think there should be more of the pride pins made acceptable for your sleeve."

The EMO said, "Like your favorite baseball team?"

The XO said, "Yes, but more than that. Any activity you enjoy. From skydiving to scuba diving, anything you could name as an interest."

The Engineer said, "What if it was something you were against. Could you have one of those no symbols over it, like No Cats?"

The XO said, "I guess if no one got carried away with it."

The EMO said, "You would have to be careful. If you had a pin that somebody in your chain of command did not like, they could give you a bad assignment. Someone might say I am going to give the Engineer a nasty job because he does not like cats."

The Engineer said, "Yes, political pins might be difficult. Some might count to see who had the numbers to make something happen to like those who bike to work must be able to shower, or they cannot ride their bikes."

The EMO said, "What about your soccer teams. Some soccer fans will attack other fans from opposing teams on sight just because they do not like the team."

The XO said, "Very well, maybe only hobbies."

The EMO said, "Some do not like what others do. Such as, I like to fish but do not like fishers. Some do not like hunters and off-road enthusiasts."

The XO said, "We have religion and LGBT pins. Many thought that this was a bad idea. They said that the Arabs and the Jews would fight on sight. It was said that LGBTs would be thought of as bad. It was felt that they would be passed over for advancement. None of that happens."

The EMO said, "That is because it is against the law to discriminate because of sex, race, creed, or sexual orientation. If someone were fishing in one of my ponds, I would get furious. They would have to defend themselves. I do not like fishers. Yes, I eat fish, but there are fish and whales I will not eat. The people who catch those fish are of low morals and should be identified so that people can tell them what they think of them."

The XO said, "In Europe, they tried something like that after the 2025 victim rights movement. All sex offenders were required to wear a bracelet. Many were killed mysteriously. They decided to stop the practice. Not because it wasn't effective, but because it became a cruel punishment. I guess you are right. Someone would get carried away over something stupid."

After Ensign Williams finished eating, he cleaned up, took his sounding weight, and left the wardroom. When he got to his temporary pod, he could see that his shutterbugs were already in their pods linked. He got in his pod and linked up. Then he joined them in the virtual P.R. room. The first thing he did was the morning muster.

"No more cyber-flies, Sir," said PO Jones, "The twidget's (anyone who's job involves electronics for a job) LPO (Leading Petty Officer) PO Diego Hernandez says that any avatar that is not in the form of one of the ship's company will be held in a special cyber-holding space. Much to the Captain's displeasure, there is nothing that they can do about when our flies were on the cyber-Bridge before, but they are ready for the next time."

"There is not going to be the next time," said PO Alves, "I hear that the Captain wants to space any spies that they catch."

"No one is getting spaced," said Ensign Williams, "but I wouldn't be caught as an avatar that does not match every hair on somebody's body that doesn't belong here. Let's do some work on that video and see if we can get the graphics to work the way we want."

They had just really started to get some work done when the Bo'sun's whistle came over the ship's intercom, and then the Bo'sun said, "This is a Drill! This is a Drill! General Quarters, General Quarters. All hands man your General Quarters stations. Set material condition Yoke throughout the ship. Now General Quarters!"

Ensign Williams and his crew got out of the temporary pods they had been using and raced up a ladder through two doors, and then they were on the Bridge. They got into their GQ station pods on the Bridge. The Ensign had beaten the EMO, the Engineer, and First Division to the Bridge.

After the EMO got to the cyber-Bridge, the Bo'sun PO Costa said, "Time."

The computer system reported the elapsed time of 13 minutes 06 seconds since the XO started the Drill.

"The crew did much better this time, XO," the Captain said.

"Well, Ma'am, not all personnel started from their normal spaces. Compartment ten is still secured for pressure monitoring. The P.R. room pods have been moved temporarily," the XO said.

"I see," said the Captain, "Then this GQ muster did not count! We will have to do it again when everybody is at their proper start point."

"Oui, Ma'am," the XO said, "Permission to continue the Drill?"

"Granted," Captain Yin said.

The XO's avatar walked over to the computer watch console and gave a cyber-drive to the computer operator on watch, PO Sanchez.

The XO said, "Run Drill program number 56."

On the main display, a small uncharted asteroid showed an intersecting course on the Orbit screen. The Doppler shift of the sunlight on the object showed it to be from this solar system, and the shift was about the same, so it was very close. The radar operator on watch was PO Carol Campbell. On her sleeve was the Canadian flag.

She said, "The incoming object was detected, too late. We can't bring the engines online in time to move out of the way. It's too big and too fast to be completely destroyed with the Laser."

The OOD said, "Charge the Shield."

The Shield operator on duty was PO 3 T Faris. On her sleeve was a Saudi Arabian flag and a crescent moon. She said, "Charging Shield plate to 250 gigavolts."

The OOD said, "Computer, program harpoon and wireline to best intercept."

PO Sanchez said, "Harpoon data loaded, time to fire three seconds, system on automatic."

The computer-simulated the harpoon launch. If this were a real incoming object, an uncountable number of electrons would transfer to the object when the harpoon hit it. This would bring the charge on the Shield plate and object to the same value. The two like-charged objects repel each other, and the incoming object is deflected clear of the ship. At least that was what was supposed to happen. This time, the computer, with an accuracy of 99.99%, missed. The simulated object hit the ship in the water shield in compartment five, and it was spewing water as snow into space.

The DC technician on watch was PO Brother Robert Green. On his sleeve was the Vatican City flag, a cross with INRI on it, and a California Flag.

He said into the Engineering intercom at his station, "Away the DC Team. Investigate an indicated impact on the water tank of compartment five and report back to the DC Leader on watch on the Bridge."

Hull Technician PO Michael Jones had a Canadian flag on his sleeve. The on-watch Hull Tech hooked up to the sensor array of compartment five. While the system was fine, the Drill had simulated that the main tank had lost 68 % of its water and was still leaking. Fortunately, as part of condition Yoke, all section inter-connections to the main system were isolated for GQ. He permitted the balance tanks to be counter-filled for dynamic balance. Then he unhooked from the sensor system and reported his findings.

He said into the Engineering com link to the Bridge, "DC Leader, DC Team, yeah we took a hit in the main tank in compartment five. It's leaking. Someone is going to have to go out and fix it."

The Engineer said into the Engineering intercom, "Man the EVRM."

Off watch, Hull Tech PO Mancini's avatar got into the EVRM console and brought it online.

"EVRM manned and ready," he said.

The Engineer said, "OOD, I request permission to conduct an E.V.A."

The OOD said, "Permission granted. Let the Ship's Log show at 0845 LST, E.V.A. began."

The Engineer said into his Engineering com link, "DC Team, Engineer, away the EVRM."

PO Mancini said, "EVRM is away."

After a few very long minutes, the EVRM reported, "DC Leader, EVRM, yes, the damage seems to be a fist-sized hole in the water shield tank. We are still losing water."

The on-watch Medic PO Shi-woo Bae had a Korean flag, a Dharmacakra (the symbol of Buddhism), and a Rainbow on her sleeve, and she said into the gripe pipe, "Bridge, Medical, simulated particle radiation, in compartment five now exceeding safe levels. All personnel not in a shielded pod must leave now."

Compartment five of the ship was the crew's general mess decks, the Wardroom, the Chief's Mess, and the First Class Lounge. These spaces would normally have some off-duty crew in them, but since the crew was at General Quarters, the only crew members on the mess deck were the six deckhands assigned to three different shifts. For GQ, they all had mustered on the mess decks. They were already in pods at their stations on the mess decks.

The OOD said, "Bo’sun pass the word to the crew Radiation Protocol One in all spaces of compartment five."

The Bo’sun blew his whistle and said into the ship's intercom, "Radiation Protocol One. All personnel assigned to compartment five seek deep shelter in station pods. All unassigned crew members are to leave this area immediately."

The Engineer said, "EVRM, Engineer, patch hole with external patch to seal the breach. Set a hull monitor unit to observe the repair for the next 24 hours while sealant cures for any signs of failure. Then, return the EVRM to its storage bay. Monitor for any separation of the patch for the next 72 hours."

PO Mancini's avatar controlled the virtual repair by the EVRM. After that, a simulated monitor was placed on a hull plate near the Drill's simulated patch.

While that was happening, the on-watch Medic PO Bae said into the gripe pipe, "Bridge, Medical, the simulated radiation continues to increase in compartment five. Anyone not in a shielded pod will take an unsatisfactory dose of radiation in seconds."

After the patch was done, the Engineer said, "OOD, permission to stow the EVRM."

The OOD said, "Permission granted. Let the Ship's Log show at 0917 LST, E.V.A. Drill activity was terminated. Bo'sun, inform the crew that the spaces in compartment five are secured due to Radiation Protocol One until further notice."

The Bo’sun blew his whistle into the ship's intercom and said, "All spaces in compartment five are under Radiation Protocol One. All pods are secured closed by Medical. All spaces in compartment five are now secured. No personnel may enter this compartment until further notice by the Bridge."

The OOD said, "Engineer, how long until I get the shield in compartment five back?"

The Engineer said, "It will take 24 hours until the shield tank patch is cured. The tank can be refilled then, but we must verify that the asteroid did not enter the shield tank. It might contaminate our water supply."

The OOD said, "Sounds like an Engineering task. Engineer, you have 12 hours to take care of your problem. Bo'sun, pass the word secure from General Quarters. Keep the six mess deck hands-on station in deep shelter until Medical has cleared the radiation hazard."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle and then said over the ship's intercom, "Secure from General Quarters. All personnel in deep shelter in compartment five are to remain on station until further notice by the Bridge. All hands return to ship's work."

From the Peanut Gallery of the cyber-Bridge, Ensign Williams said, "What a jerk! The XO just secured the entire mess decks for a stupid Drill. All the entrances to the after-work time off places are on the Mess Decks. That means no cyber-relaxation after work for anybody."

PO Jones said, "Come on, let's get out of here before the XO decides to give us another assignment."

"Yes," said PO Alves, "Just be glad you're not one of the mess hands. They're stuck in their pods for over 24 hours. It makes me want to piss just thinking about it."

Ensign Williams said, "What do we eat for the next 24 hours?"

"You eat emergency rations," the XO said as he walked toward the back exit of the Bridge, "Oh, and by the way, you get to keep the sounding weight. This GQ Drill muster did not count. Now, take your weight and get off the Bridge."

"Yes, Sir," Ensign Williams said.

He and his team got out of the pods on the Bridge. The Ensign picked up the sounding weight, and his team went to their temporary pods.

While walking back to the P.R. room, the Bo'sun blew his whistle, and he said, "Now muster the probe crew."

They returned to the virtual P.R. room and worked on the video. The only break was when they stopped to eat an emergency ration bar for lunch and dinner. It was late evening when the project was done. Being tired, they all went to their racks.

In the morning, he washed up. Then Ensign Williams got in his I.S.A. uniform of the day. When he went to get his emergency ration bar, to his surprise, he found that the mess decks were open. He went into the Wardroom. The EMO and First Division were the only ones in the Wardroom.

"What is going on here," Ensign Williams said?

"We had a crew member attacked on the ship last night," said First Division.

"What happened," Ens. Williams said?

The EMO said, "One of my twidgets was attacked by one of those low-life snipes. I must perform a Harae (Ritual Purification) for us. This will require offerings in my Chinjusha." (A Shinto Shrine for a human-made structure.)

"What, a twidget was attacked by a snipe? How did that happen," Ensign Williams said?

First Division made the sign of the cross and said, "May God bless us all. A lot of the crew was bored last night because the mess decks were shut down. Some of the crew just linked up and wandered all over the cyber-ship for something to do. At least that's what PO Taylor said she was doing. Her avatar was exploring near one of the storerooms when PO Lee Gao's avatar savagely attacked her. She picked him out of the pictures of the ship's crew. Her avatar was strangled, raped, and beaten. She was really traumatized. Being a lesbian, she is repulsed to her core that a man would do this to her. Doc had to sedate her. The attack was so violent that if it were a real person, they would have been killed many times over. There is only one problem. PO Gao was linked with the engineering crew last night. They were doing Drill repairs, and his avatar was with the Engineer getting a cyber-rock out of the shield tank at the time of the attack."

The XO came into the Wardroom and started the line for selecting a meal. Ensign Williams got his breakfast.

He said, "May I join you, Sir?"

He got a nod, and the XO said, "The TGV, Train à Grande Vitesse (the translator said high-speed train) opened in 1981 with the slogan, progress means nothing unless all share it. It set the record for the fastest wheeled train hitting 575 km/h, about 360 M.P.H. in 2007. It had the fastest start to stop speed until the Chinese Harmony express surpassed it. Since then, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Europeans, and the American's have traded the record for the fastest scheduled train. In 2052 the Europeans took the record at 308.7 km/h (191.9 mph), but the record is sure to be broken again. The Americans currently hold the top speed record at 607 km/h (377.2 mph) in 2054. The supply voltage was boosted to 50 kV. Afterward, the wheels glowed red for 20 minutes. The only way that the train converted the electricity to power was with new superconducting 50 Megawatt motors. Built by Eurostar, the motors represented the finest in French-led European technology. The best of the ultra-fast trains is yet to come. The new motors for the new breakneck speed trains are already on the CAD systems. It uses a design that should hit 700 km/h. (440 mph) The new system uses 60 Megawatt motors in each carriage and 55kV supply..."

The XO went on about ultra-high-speed trains. The P.R.O. tuned him out and thought about a way to improve the graphics in his video program. He ate, cleaned up, and started to leave.

As he and his sounding weight were leaving, the XO said, "P.R.O., your P.R. room is open. I have ended all Drills for now, and I want you to set up your equipment where it is supposed to be."

Aye aye, Sir," Ensign Williams said, "We will bring our assigned pods back online as quick as possible."

The Ensign went to where the real P.R. room was in compartment five. The other members of the P.R. team were already there. Their request to the Bridge to bring the pods back online was granted immediately. The Ensign sent in the morning muster. After a few hours, they had all their apps open and the cyber-P.R. room with all its virtual equipment set up in its proper place. They even finished the video for the school.

When Ensign Williams went to eat lunch in the Wardroom, the Engineer stopped the Ensign in the passage just outside the Wardroom and said, "I have been with the XO and the M.COS (Master Chief Of the Ship) going over personnel files all morning. The XO would like to see you after lunch in the Captain's cyber-Conference room."

"Aye aye," Ensign Williams said.

The Captain and the XO ate together while they went through the files. No one sat at the head of the table in the Wardroom. The EMO and the Engineer were discussing the best way to deal with unruly crew members.

The EMO said, "You must stand up to an aggressor. They need to know that they are not going to get away with such action."

The Engineer said, "No. You let them hang themselves. You know how if you give them an inch that they will take a mile, let them have the mile. They almost always end up hanging themselves with it..."

The Ensign tuned them out and quickly finished his lunch. He cleaned up and left. He took the sounding weight from the Wardroom in compartment six to the P.R. room in compartment ten. Then he linked up. After that, he picked up the virtual-sounding weight and took it with him. First, the Ensign's avatar went to the virtual P.R. room and got a copy of the video they worked on producing. Next, he went to the transition zone of compartment ten. He set the selector to compartment one and walked from compartment ten to compartment one in one step. He went from the transition zone to the space in which the cyber-Conference room was located. He knocked on the closed door.

The XO said, "What?"

Ensign Williams said, "P.R.O. reporting as ordered."

The XO said, "Entrez." (The translator said Enter)

In the space, the Captain and the XO were sitting at the table. They were working on a couple of cyber-terminals that were used for reviewing the crew's service records.

Ensign Williams' avatar set the computer-generated sounding weight down, came to attention, saluted the Captain, and said, "P.R.O. reporting as ordered, Ma'am."

Captain Yin said, "Did you finish your project?"

"Yes, Ma'am," he said, "Would you care to see it?

"No, but I have received a couple of other requests," the Captain said, "I need some good P R work for the Copernicus. Our image has been brought into question by this last incident. The I.S.A. Chairman and his group are very vocal against human-crewed space missions. The Admiral is very worried that this gives them ammunition for their cause. Not only is he worried about the morale of the international crew, but our public image, too. I need you to show the good work that our crew is doing. How we get along and get the job done."

"Yes, Ma'am," Ensign Williams said, "What would you like me to do?"

The Captain said, "We have a request for a video on the launching of a Tug and a Probe by the Admiral. He wants there to be some sort of proof that an international crew can function smoothly together. The Chairman's group in the I.S.A. feels that to put people in space is too costly. They want the replace all the human crew with robots and computers. They hope there will be too much friction between international crew members, and it will be impossible to depend on us to complete the mission. This is why there are so many people on this ship. We are supposed to fail. It has been pointed out that a Copernicus class ship's high cost is due to having a large human crew. A robot does not need food, water, or gravity. Therefore, a robotic ship would be much cheaper. This group is betting that our failure will be all the proof they need. I want you to document the Probe operations this evening. Plus, I want you to do the Tug launch tomorrow."

"Aye aye, Ma'am," Ensign Williams said.

"I want to see your work as soon as you finish," the Captain said, "Jiě sàn. (the translator said to dismiss)."

Ensign Williams picked up his sounding weight and started to leave.

The XO said, "P.R.O., leave that sounding weight in the P.R. room until we start the Drills again."

"Aye aye, Sir," the Ensign said.

Ensign Williams went back to the virtual P.R. room. He joined the two shutterbugs already there.

PO Jones said, "The twidget LPO, PO Hernandez, and the snipe LPO, PO Zhu, had words in the lounge at lunch. Evidently, the twidgets think the snipes would lie to protect Gao. The snipes think that Franklin just picked someone at random out of the crew and that she has no idea who attacked her. The M.A.A. had to separate them. He told them if there was another incident like this that both would be written up for Captain's Mast (This is non-judicial punishment to enforce discipline and discourage unwanted behavior of the crew.)."

Ensign Williams said, "I was just talking with the Captain. She said we are to document the Probe operations this evening and the Tug launch tomorrow for the Admiral. We've got to show the Crew's cooperation in getting our mission accomplished."

PO Alves said, "May the Saints protect us. Sir, the twidgets and the snipes are about to declare war on each other. The only cooperation will be the twidgets and the snipes trying to get one another."

Ensign Williams said, "There is a push at the I.S.A. to stop expensive human-crewed space missions. If we can't show that the international Crew operates smoothly without friction, we could all be replaced by robots. We need to go and look at where to set up the cameras."

Ensign Williams set the transition selector to go to compartment one. The P.R. team's avatars went from compartment ten to compartment one in a step. Then they went to the cyber-Bridge. When they entered the virtual Bridge, the Ensign walked down to the OOD, LT Vera Yozhin, as she sat in the command chair, and he saluted her.

She said, "Get off my Bridge!"

"We've got orders to document the Probe operations this evening," Ensign Williams said, "We need to set up the equipment."

"I do not think so," the OOD said, "You will just be in the way. Now leave!"

"Call the Captain. She'll tell you. I have an assignment from the Admiral," Ensign Williams said.

"I am not going to call the Captain because an Ensign is on some supposed assignment from the Admiral," said the OOD, "You go get the Captain and bring her here. While you are at it, why not get the Admiral to contact me to confirm your orders? Suddenly, everybody on this ship fabricates what they are doing."

The DC duty watch person was PO Joni Lee. On her sleeve were the Canadian flag and a cross with INRI on it. She turned from her console and gave the OOD a scowl at the implication that the snipes were not telling the truth. None of the twidgets looked very happy either.

"Now get off the Bridge," the OOD said.

"Have it your way," Ensign Williams said, "I'm going to get the Captain. I hope you have armor in your pants because the Captain is going to chew you up one side and down the other."

"I'll be here until watch Section Two goes off duty at 1600," the OOD said.

The shutterbug's avatars went to the Captain's conference room. Ensign Williams knocked on the door.

The XO said, "What?"

"P.R.O.," said Ensign Williams, "I'm having some problems with the OOD."

"Have her call the conference room," the XO said, "We're busy."

"She doesn't believe me," the Ensign said, "She asked me to bring the Captain to her. Oh, and she wants a message from the Admiral about his request."

"We have been at this for a while now. Let us take a break," the Captain said, "Come on, Commander. Let us go visit the cyber-Bridge."

The Captain and the XO got up and walked into the passageway. Ensign Williams and the two shutterbugs came to attention and saluted.

They followed the Captain and the XO as their avatars stepped onto the cyber-Bridge.

"Captain is on the Bridge," the Bo'sun said.

Everybody came to attention. The Captain walked over to the OOD.

"Come with me," Captain Yin said.

The Captain and the OOD stepped into the passage.

"Carry on," said the XO.

The watch sat back down at their stations. The XO walked down into the pit and looked at the displays on the radar sensor console over the operator's shoulder for a few seconds. Then he wandered over to the Engineering DC station and did the same. He started to walk over to the computer station when the OOD and the Captain came back on the Bridge.

"We're done here, XO," the Captain said, "Let us get back at it. We must continue eliminating the impossible to see what we are left with."

The Captain and the XO left, and Ensign Williams approached the OOD.

"P.R.O., set your equipment anywhere you like," the OOD said, "Just try and stay out of the way."

Chapter 7

No Joy

"PO Jones, set up your camera right there," the Ensign said as he pointed to an out-of-the-way spot on the right between the pit and the stage. He pointed to the other spot on the left side and said, "PO Alves, you set up over there. Jones, you'll need to cover both the pit and the OOD. Alves, you get to cover the pit and the screens."

They left to get their gear and set it up. It was 1550 when they got everything set up the way they wanted it. The Probe operations would be in an hour.

Ensign Williams said, "Let's document the changing of the watch sections just to see everything is working."

Right before the watch changed, the oncoming watch got a briefing on anything about the watch stations. At 1600 the oncoming watch, Section Three, stood by the stations they would be taking over.

LT Ansari, the oncoming OOD, stood in front of LT Yozhin, the on-watch OOD, and said, "I'm ready to relieve you, Ma'am."

She saluted the on-watch OOD.

The OOD said, "I am ready to be relieved by you."

Now the going off duty OOD saluted the oncoming section lead.

LT Ansari said, "I relieve you, Ma'am."

Now the oncoming OOD saluted the off-going section lead.

LT Yozhin said, "I stand relieved."

The off-duty avatars got up and left. The on-duty avatars took over the watch stations.

"Excuse me, Ma'am," said PO Soo-jin Kim. A Korean flag, a Dharmackra, and a Rainbow were on her sleeve, and she said, "I was not relieved."

"Where is my Computer operator PO Franklin?" LT Ansari, the OOD, said, "Bo'sun call PO Franklin to the Bridge. PO Kim, if you are not relieved, you are to stand a double watch."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle and then said into the ship's intercom, "PO Franklin lay to the Bridge."

After 5 minutes, the OOD said, "Okay, we have a missing crew member. Bo'sun, muster the crew on station."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle over the ship's intercom and said, "Now muster the crew on station. Now muster the crew on station."

The P.R. team went to the virtual P.R. room.

Ensign Williams got on the gripe pipe to the cyber-Bridge and said, "Bridge, P.R., all accounted for."

After a few minutes, the Bo'sun whistle came over the ship's intercom, and the OOD said, "We have a missing crew member. She is linked in her pod, so her avatar is somewhere on the cyber-ship. I want her found! All divisions search the virtual compartments that you are responsible for and report back to the Bridge."

There were four storerooms that the P.R. room was responsible for. There was nothing in any of them but a computer-generated representation of the containers stored there on the real ship.

Ensign Williams got on the gripe pipe to the cyber-Bridge and said, "Bridge, P.R., all clear."

In another minute, the Bo'sun's whistle came over the intercom, "M.A.A., lay to compartment eight storeroom two."

After about five minutes, the Bo'sun's whistle came over the ship's intercom, and he said, "PO Zhilin lay to the Bridge ASAP!"

Two minutes later, the Bo'sun's whistle came over the intercom and said, "Secure from muster. All hands continue ship's work."

The P.R. team went back to the cyber-Bridge. When they got there, the station operators on watch were away from their stations and were around PO Vlad Zhilin. On his sleeve was a Russian flag and a red Hammer and Sickle. Standing next to him were the two engineering watch station operators.

The M.A.A. PO Ebril said, "We need more proof that you were at your work station the whole watch."

"PO Gao saw me," PO Zhilin said, "Each of the life support stations does not require an avatar to connect to it. You just have to read the displays. Then go to the next one. There is no proof that I was there."

"Oy vey! Gao will not work," the M.A.A. said, "You poor schlimazel, you need a better witness than that for this tsuris (the translator said problems.)."

"Throw the snipe in your new jail," said PO Min-Seo Lee, the Optic sensor operator. On her sleeve was a Korean flag, the Dramacakra, and a Rainbow.

The M.A.A. said, "You better come with me. To meet on the Bridge was a bad idea."

The M.A.A. and PO Zhilin left the cyber-Bridge.

The OOD said, "Allah is gentle and loves gentleness. You snipes and twidgets get back to your stations, or if it is Allah's will, I will have you all written up for Captain's Mast."

The Duty Section avatars went back to their stations.

When the shutterbugs finished setting up the gear, they left for dinner. Ensign Williams went to the Wardroom to eat. The XO was not there, but LT Miller, Sect one, was there. He must have been woke up for the crew muster and couldn't go back to sleep. He had decided to go to dinner.

Sect One said, "Where's your sounding weight, Ensign?"

"The XO said to keep it in the P.R. room," Ensign Williams said.

Sect One said, "I hope so. I'd hate to find out you are trying to get out of your responsibilities.

"Call the XO if you like," the Ensign said.

"Oh," said Sect One, "we don't need to bother the XO right now, but I will find out."

Sect One sat at the head of the table.

Sect one looked at his food and said, "I didn't think I'd be missing eating a good hamburger. There's a place in Dallas where you can get the best hamburgers and shakes. All the food is cooked by a real chef, not a robo-kitchen. They even have a full bar with a moderate selection of wines and beers. They don't use cheese food for the hamburger, only real cheese from the block. Plus, the meat is ground, Sirloin. The buns are made there each morning. The lettuce and the tomatoes are grown fresh in their own greenhouse. They even make their own pickles. The condiments are made fresh every day.

In their shakes, they only use whole milk and real ice cream. There is no skimmed or synthetic milk, and they don't use ice milk machines. For their special shakes, they will add fresh fruit or break up half a candy bar and mix it in at the last moment to give the decadent mixture an extra dimension. Their smoothies use fresh fruit. They don't have diet soda or powdered lemonade. They will make you a cup of coffee any way you want it.

On Fridays and weekends, you need to make a reservation. If they run out of the allotted food for the day, they will close down. The engineer, does Russia have good fast food that you miss?"

The Engineer said, "I miss blini. There is a chain of restaurants in Russia that serve the delicious treats. The blini is different from crêpes or pancakes. They are thicker because the batter uses yeast. Some batter can contain apples, raisins, and potatoes. They may be filled with Cheese, quark, ground meat, potato, jam, or fruit. They are finally topped with things like butter, sour cream, jam, honey, and caviar.

And I miss Kvass. This is a drink made from the fermentation of bread. It has a low, less than two percent alcohol content. I like when they use black rye bread. A flavoring is often used like fruit, berries, raisins, birch sap, or herbs such as mint. Cola has been rejected. Kvass is thought of as a patriotic alternative to western soft drinks. One of the commercial producers of the drink in Russia has a name that sounds like, not cola."

The EMO said, "You can get a hamburger in Japan. I like Freshness Organic Burger. They only use fresh organic foods. They have many varieties of Burgers like beef, chicken, fish, omelet, and spam. Their drinks are fresh. They will make you a smoothie or juice. The sodas are natural flavors and are things like lime and lemon-cranberry. They also serve hot and cold organic coffees and teas. Plus, there is draft beer."

The Surgeon said, "Rancho Burger is a place I like. It is just like American fast food. They have hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets with nine different sauces. It is home to the ten-layer hamburger. Not only do they have fries, but they have asparagus and zucchini. Their drinks include popular soda, slushes, and milkshakes."

The Doc said, "I miss döner kebabi. (the translator said, turning kebab) Street vendors take tender lamb, salt, and spices, then put it on a giant skewer. It is rotated vertically next to a heat source. The chef, using a giant knife, shaves off skinny strips. The meat is put into a durum, a tortilla wrap. This is served with a rice pilaf. I like a cup of ice-cold ayran. It is a healthy drink made with yogurt. There is not any sugar added. It is a good way to replace sodium lost during perspiring in the heat. Plus, it cools the spicy kebab you have just eaten."

After the officers finished their meals, then they cleaned up. Ensign Williams left the Wardroom and went back to the P.R. room to meet his team.

Then they got in their pods and linked up. Next, they returned to the cyber-Bridge.

The Ensign saluted the OOD and said, "We are here to document the launch."

The OOD said, "Very well, carry on."

The team took up their positions.

The Ensign said, "It's 10 minutes to launch of the Probe. Get ready."

They started the equipment. Some of the crew was talking among themselves.

PO Kim said, "I don't like to be near a lying snipe."

PO Neta Calish, the IR station operator, nodded in agreement. On her sleeve were an Israeli flag and a Star of David.

"Who wants to be near a twidget fagot like you," said PO Robinson from the C.D. station.

"Enough! Robinson, Kim, you're both on report. The Prophet says the worst of God's servants are those who spread tales to make mischief, separate friends, and look for the faults of the good," the OOD said, "Is there anyone else who is not a good servant of God?"

The avatars sat quietly at their stations.

"Bo'sun, muster the Probe crew," the OOD said.

The Bo'sun blew his whistle into the intercom and said, "Now muster the Probe crew."

In a few minutes, C.M. (Crew Member) Brigitte Fischer appeared. On her sleeve was the EU flag, a cross with INRI, a Rainbow, and a German flag. She saluted the OOD.

Then she said, "Reporting as ordered."

The OOD said, "Take your station."

The two off-watch Probe crew members got into their link pods at their workstations. First, C.M. Vural Acar got his avatar into the operation console for the Launcher. On his sleeve were the Turkish flag and the crescent moon. Then, C.M. Afnan Ganem's avatar monitored the Probe's loading mechanism. On her sleeve were an Indonesian flag, a crescent moon, and a Rainbow. They reported to the Bridge when all systems came online.

C.M. Fischer said, "Probe crew manned and ready."

The OOD said, "Make me a Probe."

C.M. Fischer said, "Assemble a probe." When the operation was done, she said, "Probe is ready."

The OOD said, "Computer, do you have an intercept plotted for our target?"

Yes, Ma'am," said PO Kim, the computer operator, "Targeting Computer shows track is locked. Target intercept course plotted."

"Load Probe with most current intercept data," the OOD said.

When her display showed, the operation was done, C.M. Fischer said, "Probe loaded with current data."

The OOD said, "Place the Probe into the launcher."

When her display showed, the operation was done, C.M. Acar said, "Probe loaded."

C.M. Fischer said, "Launcher ready."

The OOD said, "Launch Probe."

C.M. Acar said, "Something happened. The Launcher went to stand-by. It is the will of Allah. It won't go into Operate!"

C.M. Fischer said, "Launcher is in stand-by. Das ist kaput!" (the translator said it is broken)

The OOD said, "What! This is the same thing that happened the other day when they tried to launch a Tug. Turn off the launcher. Cycle power, and it should go into Operate."

C.M. Fischer said, "Acar, turn the Launcher off, cycle power, and then see if it will go into Operate."

As her station display indicated, C.M. Fischer watched the status of the Launcher change, "Power is off. We have cycled power. Launcher is online."

PO Kim said, "If the snipes would really do their work instead of lying about doing it, the power wouldn't have to be reset every time we try to use it."

PO Robinson said, "Why you little fagot bitch, I'm going to rip that lying tongue of yours right out of your vile mouth,"

PO Robinson and PO Lee jumped up from their station and grabbed PO Kim.

The OOD rushed over and said, "Now get back to your stations. You're all on report!"

The other six twidgets rushed in and grabbed PO Robinson and PO Lee. They pulled them off PO Kim and restrained the snipes.

During the struggle, the OOD was knocked to the deck.

While sitting on the deck, the OOD said, "Get back to your stations. You are all on report!"

The OOD's avatar started to get up off the deck, "I will not have violence on my Bridge. You all are acting like animals. The Prophet says to control yourself when in a fit of anger."

The OOD getting up from her hands and knees, said, "Just look at you! Let them go! Have you lost all your compassion? Get back to your stations."

The twidgets backed off and let the snipes up. While PO lee went to his station, PO Robinson jumped and hit the release on her pod interface. Suddenly PO Robinson's avatar disappeared.

"She unlinked," said PO Kim.

Three of the six twidget's avatars hit the release on their pods and vanished.

The OOD stood up and said, "It is Allah's will. Bo'sun, have the M.A.A. lay to the real Bridge. The rest of you back to your stations, or if Allah wills it, I will have you thrown into the brig."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle and said into the ship's intercom, "M.A.A. lay to the real Bridge."

The OOD said, "Probe crew, unload the Probe from the launcher. Load the Probe with most current intercept data."

C.M. Fischer said into her intercom, "Take the Probe out of the launcher and load the most current intercept course into the Probe,"

C. M. Ganem said into her intercom, "I'm removing the Probe. I'm loading the current intercept course. No, wait, the Probe is dead. It won't turn on."

"No joy from the Probe!" said C.M. Fischer.

The OOD said, "It is Allah's will, get me a new Probe, now! Return this one to the rack and mark it bad. Load the new Probe with the current data and put it in the launcher."

C.M. Fischer said into her intercom, "Get a new Probe. Load it with the current data and put it in the launcher."

As each action happened, the status of the watch station changed.

C.M. Fischer reported each change, "The old Probe is disassembled. It is back in the rack. A new one is assembled and is loaded with data. The Probe is in the launcher. All systems ready."

The OOD said, "Launch!"

C.M. Fischer said into her intercom, "Launch!"

C.M. Acar said, "Launcher's charged. Probes away."

C.M. Fischer said, "Probes away."

The OOD said, "Computer, how long until the Probe hits the target asteroid?"

The Bo’sun said, "There is no one at the computer station."

The OOD was mad and said, "I need somebody at this station. It is Allah's will. Bo'sun, call the Electronics Chief to the Bridge ASAP."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle and said into the ship's intercom, "Electronics Chief lay to the Bridge ASAP."

Senior Chief Aldona Jankauskiene reported in about a minute. An E.U. flag, a silver cross, a Lithuanian flag, and a Rainbow were on her sleeve.

She saluted the OOD and said, "Reporting as ordered, Ma'am."

"Three of your twidgets have abandoned their watch station," the OOD said, "By the will of Allah, they are on report. I need you to take over the computer station and get me a time to Probe intercept."

The Senior Chief said, "I just saw them. They're on the real Bridge arguing with the M.A.A.

She sat down at the computer station.

The Senior Chief reconfigured the station in about a minute and said, "2 minutes 43 seconds."

The OOD said, "Give me a picture on the main screen to verify that the Probe hits the target."

The Bo’sun said, "There is no one at the Optics station."

This is outrageous," the OOD said, "This, too, is Allah's will. Bo'sun call the EMO to the Bridge."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle and said into the ship's intercom, "EMO lay to the Bridge."

It took the EMO two and a half minutes to get to the Bridge.

She saluted the OOD and said, "Reporting as ordered."

The OOD said, "Take over the Optics station and get me a picture of the Probe we just launched hitting the target."

"Aye aye," the EMO LT Ito said, "Hold it, these controls are in Korean. I have to set the station up in Japanese. It will take just a minute or two to reconfigure."

The OOD said, "We don't have a minute. Computer, how long to intercept?"

The Senior Chief said, "12 seconds."

"I don't believe this is happening! Allah help us, can't you at least take a good guess," the OOD said.

The EMO took a good look at the station and then said, "Who knows what the garlic eaters do?"

The OOD said, "Allah guide me. What are you talking about?"

Senior Chief said, "Now! The Probe should have intercepted the asteroid".

"Log that at 1945 LST Probe launch number 17 was successful but unconfirmed. The Prophet says I should forgive the fools, but my rank says someone is going to be most sorry," the OOD said as she hit the release on her pod interface and vanished.

Ensign Williams said, "What a disaster! Let's get the gear back to the P.R. room."

The P.R. team took some gear back to the virtual P.R. room. When they came to the cyber-Bridge last time, all the crew was back on watch, except PO Franklin. No one moved but the OOD. Everybody's avatar just sat at their stations with blank stares.

Once back in the P.R. room, the shutterbugs took the cyber-drives out of the gear that they had used. Each stored the data in the video library. The memory modules from the devices they were using were cleared and put back into those devices. The P.R. team spent the rest of the evening trying to get something good out of the video they had taken, but it was no good in the end. There was too little teamwork to document. About 2200, they went to their rooms. Ensign Williams hoped that the Tug launch would go better.

In the morning, Ensign Williams cleaned up and got in his I.S.A. uniform of the day. Then he went to the Wardroom for breakfast. There was no XO. The EMO and the Doctor were talking.

The EMO said, "Doc, Taylor says that she wants to return to work."

Chapter Eight

The Tug Launch

The Doc, LCMD Polat said, "While it was her avatar that was attacked, and that left no physical scars. Her psyche has real wounds. Anything could set her off again. I don't like that two lesbian twidgets were attacked. To me, that means whoever is doing this is real sick. Allah help me it is hard to forgive this one."

The EMO said, "Whoever? It's the Kegare (the translator said defilement or pollution) of the snipes. Those evil ones nailed Franklin to a cyber-crate so she couldn't escape. They beat her and raped her. Who nails an avatar to a crate? I feel so impure just thinking about it."

The Doc said, "It is Allah's will that each snipe has an alibi. Someone is trying to cause trouble."

"Yes, it is the snipes! The Aku!" the EMO said, "They hate my twidgets."

The Engineer walked into the Wardroom just in time to hear the last statement by the EMO.

"Your twidgets are lying," the Engineer said, "My snipes were at their assigned stations! They could not have had anything to do with the attacks on your women."

"Are you saying," the EMO said, "that my girls could not remember who brutalized them?"

The EMO got up and stood toe to toe with the Engineer. She looked up into his face and scowled.

"I bet you want to hit me," the EMO said, "Violence is the only way you Neanderthal snipes know how to respond to anything."

The Engineer's big muscles tensed and rippled across his frame, and he got very red in the face, but he stepped back. Then he turned around and sat down. The EMO left the Wardroom in a huff. That little tiff ended the conversation. Ensign Williams finished his breakfast and left for the P.R. room.

He was the first one to the pods. He waited for his crew to show up in the cyber-P.R. room. After 15 minutes or so the two shutterbugs came in and sat down.

PO Jones said, "The twidgets and the snipes are just about at full-blown war. They would rather spit on one another than try and work this out."

PO Alves said, "Sir, do you think we should try to video the Tug launch?"

"You bet," said Ensign Williams, "We have a job to do. Let's get the gear and set it up on the cyber-Bridge."

The P.R. team took the first load of gear to be set up.

The Ensign saluted the OOD, "We're here to document the launch."

"Carry on," the OOD said, "but stay out of our way until the watch section changes. Then you can bother LT Yozhin all you want."

It was 0745 and some of the next watch stood by the stations they would be taking over when the Engineer called on the gripe pipe.

"Bridge, Engineering, we have a missing crew member C.M. Adonia Dimitriadis. She did not make morning muster on the Engineering decks. Have the Bo'sun pass the word for C.M. Dimitriadis to lay to Main Control. She is linked in her pod, so she is somewhere on the cyber-ship. I don't like this one bit, she's a lesbian."

The OOD said, "Bo'sun, have C.M. Dimitriadis lay to Main Control."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle and said into the ship's intercom, "C.M. Dimitriadis lay to Main Control."

After five minutes the Engineer called the Bridge back, "Bridge, Engineering, she didn't show up. We need to muster the ship's crew so we can look for her."

The OOD said, "Bo'sun, muster the ship's crew."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle over the ship's intercom and said, "Now muster the crew on station. Now muster the crew on station."

The P.R. team went to the virtual P.R. room. Ensign Williams was glad that this would count for morning muster.

Ensign Williams got on the gripe pipe to the Bridge and said, "Bridge, P.R., all accounted for."

After a few minutes, the Bo'sun whistle came over the ship's intercom, and the OOD said, "We have another missing crew member. She is linked in her pod, so her avatar is on the cyber-ship somewhere. I've had enough of this. I want her found, ASAP! All divisions search the virtual compartments that you are responsible for and report back to the Bridge."

The four storerooms that the P.R. room was responsible for were searched. There was nothing unusual in any of them.

Ensign Williams got on the gripe pipe to the cyber-Bridge and said, "Bridge, P.R., all clear."

The Bo'sun whistle came over the ship's intercom, "M.A.A. lay to compartment 12, storeroom two."

After a few more minutes The Bo'sun's whistle came over the ship's intercom again, "Secure from muster, all hands return to ship's work."

The P.R. team grabbed another load of equipment and took it to the cyber-Bridge. By the time they got there, the watch sections had changed. LT Yozhin was now the OOD.

Ensign Williams saluted the new OOD." Ma'am, we're documenting the next launch."

The OOD said to Ensign Williams, "Very well, don't cause trouble like the Engineer. He mustered the whole ship to look for a lazy snipe. Turns out she was asleep in a storeroom."

The shutterbugs took over ten minutes to set down the equipment they had brought and were about to go get more when a voice came over the gripe pipe.

The voice said, "Bridge, Electronics (The Electronics Shop), is Senior Chief Jankauskiene there? She didn't return after she went to check our spaces."

The OOD said into the gripe pipe, "Electronics, Bridge, why would the Chief be here?"

The Com Chief was Achal Badyal. On her sleeve was an Indian flag and a Khanda, she said, "Bridge, Shop, we were just hoping that she found something and went to the Bridge."

"What, now is everybody missing? We just mustered the crew. Check your spaces!" the OOD said, "I'm sure that she is just checking some piece of equipment or something."

"All right, I'm sorry to bother you. We'll handle it," the Chief said.

The P.R. team went for another load of gear. When they got back, Chief Badyal was on the gripe pipe again, "Get the M.A.A. to compartment 17, storeroom four, ASAP! The Senior Chief has been attacked!"

All the twidgets were very upset.

PO Kim the computer operator said, "If one of those snipes has done something to the Senior Chief or any other of my friends there is going to be hell to pay."

The OOD said, "Kim! I heard what you did on your double watch the other day. That's enough! By God, I will not put up with you. This has got to stop! Bo'sun have the M.A.A. lay to Compartment 17, storeroom four, ASAP."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle into the ship's intercom and said, "M.A.A. lay to Compartment 17, storeroom four ASAP."

The P.R. team stayed near their equipment. In about five minutes the M.A.A. came on the gripe pipe.

"Bridge, M.A.A., have Engineering hold P.O Michael Jones there for questioning.

The twidgets got more upset. PO Kim jumped up.

The OOD said, "Kim! You just sit there! Any of you twidgets move and I'll have you tied to your stations, by God. Got it!"

PO Kim sat down at her station.

"Engineering, Bridge," the OOD said into the gripe pipe, "Where is PO Michael Jones?"

"Bridge, Engineering, he is right here. What's up? Another lying twidget isn't accusing a snipe of an attack, are they?"

"Yes, there is been another attack." the OOD said, "The M.A.A. just wants to talk to him. Keep him there until one of the M.A.A.s has a chance to talk to him."

"He has been here the whole time! We have all seen him here. He did not attack anyone!"

"Engineering, Bridge," the OOD said, "Then there is nothing to be upset about. Just hold him."

"Why not send the lying twidget down here?"

PO Kim jumped up and hit the release on her interface, but she didn't vanish, yet.

OOD said "Kim! Get back to your station or as Christ as my witness, I will have you thrown in the brig."

PO Kim was very mad. She stood there trying to decide what she was going to do.

"Engineering, Bridge!" the OOD said, "You will use this circuit for official use only. You got that!"

"Oh yes Ma'am," said the voice dripping with sarcasm.

The OOD opened the intercom to say something and P.O Kim said, "Let us go down there and teach those snipe bastards some manors!"

"Come on down! We have got plenty for you twidget fairies."

"That is enough!" the OOD said, "You are all on report!"

"Oh sure," the voice on the gripe pipe said, "Well then put this in your report, screw you, too!"

The OOD said, "Bo'sun, call the M.A.A. to the Bridge."

The Bo' sun blew his whistle and said into the ship's intercom, "M.A.A. lay to the Bridge."

PO Kim sat down. After a few minutes, one of the M.A.A.s came into the cyber-Bridge. He saluted the OOD

"Oy vey Ma'am. We're busy," said PO Ebril an M.A.A., "What do you need?"

The OOD said, "I want you to throw PO Kim in the brig. And then you can put Main Control on report"

"Ma'am, don't be a schlemiel!" the M.A.A. said, "Come into the passage."

After just a few minutes they both came back onto the cyber-Bridge.

The M.A.A. said, "PO Kim, come with me into the passage."

After about 5 minutes they both returned.

PO Kim now looked really worried and she said, "OOD, I apologize for my outburst. I will keep my feelings to myself. I request permission to take my watch station."

"You better!" the OOD said, "Or I swear to God, I will have you restricted to your quarters for the rest of the Mission. Now take your station."

"Yes Ma'am," PO Kim said.

Ensign Williams said to his crew, "The Tug launch is scheduled for 1330 hours. We'll meet back here at 1245. I'm going back to the P.R. room. I had enough of this lunacy. I've got to clear my head for a while."

PO Jones said, "Very good, Sir. We're going to the First-Class Lounge to check out the scuttlebutt and see what we can find out."

Ensign Williams ran some checks to see if there were any updates for the cyber-equipment in the P.R. room, and he thought about the events of the last few days. It was obvious that someone was creating chaos to disrupt the ship. When he asked himself just who? He was left with few choices. Was it some sicko? That was so unlikely. Every crew member had extensive psychological testing. It was very doubtful that a psychopath could slip by the mandatory bi-yearly mental assessments and the constant scrutiny of the superior officers. The only answer that made any sense to him was the group that wanted to stop manned space flights. That only made him angrier. He liked being on the spaceship and doing really important work. Robots would remove the fun of being here. Besides, the time delay of a real situation might cause a failure in a mission. He checked the time. It was 1148. It was lunchtime. Soon the P.R. team would meet on the cyber-Bridge and video the Tug launch. The XO was still working with the Captain and did not eat in the Wardroom. In the Wardroom, the EMO and the Engineer only had icy stares at each other. First Division and Sect One started to tell jokes to lighten the mood.

First Division said, "What is the last thing that goes through a bug's mind when it hits a windshield?"

Sect One said, "What?"

First Division said, "Its ass."

That got a couple of giggles.

Sect One said, "Which side of a cheetah has the most spots?"

First Division said, "What?"

Sect One said, "The Outside."

The P.R.O. moaned.

First Division said, "What did the psychiatrist say when a man wearing nothing but plastic wrap walked into his office?"

Sect One said, "What?"

First Division said, "I can clearly see your nuts."

That got a few moans.

Sect One said, "What do you call a bear with no teeth?"

First Division said, "What?"

Sect One said, "A gummy bear."

The Surgeon said, "That is terrible. You must know better ones than that."

First Division said, "Try this one, what did the shark say after eating a clownfish?"

Sect One said, "What?"

First Division said, "This tastes funny."

he Surgeon said, "Oh, that is no better try again."

Sect One said, "What did one snowman say to the other?"

First Division said, "I do not know, what?"

Sect One said, "Do you smell carrots?"

That one got a couple of giggles.

First Division said, "Why did the pirate go to the Caribbean?"

Sect One said, "Why?"

First Division said, "He wanted some arr and arr."

The officers moaned.

Sect One said, "Why do Blind people not go skydiving?"

First Division said, "Why?"

Sect One said, "Because it scares the hell out of the dogs."

Everyone giggled.

First Division said, "What is invisible and smells like carrots?"

Sect One said, "What?"

First Division said, "Rabbit farts."

The Surgeon said, "You are getting worse."

Sect One said, "There's a hole in the nudist camp wall."

First Division said, "So what?"

Sect One said, "The Police are looking into it."

First Division said, "All the toilets at the police station were stolen."

Sect One said, "So what?"

First Division said, "The police have nothing to go on."

Sect One said, "The priest asks the bishop how can I be a better priest?'

First Division, "All right, how can the priest be better?"

Sect One said, "Eat healthily and exercise daily."

That got a few moans but the two religious people laughed.

First Division said, "How do you calm down an astronaut?"

Sect One said, "How?"

First Division said, "You give him space."

The P.R.O. said, "That is enough. I'm out of here."

As he was cleaning up, Sect One said, "Why did the nun always go to the same bar?"

First Division said, "Why?"

Sect One said, "Habit."

The P.R.O. left.

When the Ensign came back from lunch, he found the camera crew was waiting for him by the pods that were used by the P.R. room.

PO Jones said, "Sir, we want to give the M.A.A. our cyber-fly apps."

"Have you lost your mind?" the Ensign said, "They'll think we are some sort of spies."

PO Jones said, "Maybe, but Ebril has a plan to catch the bastard that is doing these attacks. Only it involves his avatar hiding and watching for a couple of someone's avatars to change into another person's avatar. He seems to have some suspects, but he won't talk about that. There's only one problem, he'll be spotted and we'll never get this low-life sicko. As flies, no one will notice either of the M.A.A.s."

"Suggest to him to have someone in Computer to write an app," Ensign Williams said.

"Sir, that will take a week," PO Jones said, "and their apps will not be as good as these professional apps. These attacks are tearing this ship apart. How much longer do you think it will be until someone really gets killed?"

"St. Jude help us, what is the worst they can do to us, Sir?" PO Alves said, "When we explain what we were doing and why they will just slap our hands and say, bad shutterbugs."

“I think that this is a very bad idea." Ens. Williams said, "Okay okay. You just make sure the M.A.A. understands our situation. Right now, we have a Tug launch to video."

They climbed into their pods and their avatars went to the cyber-Bridge.

Ensign Williams saluted the OOD and said, "We've come to video the Tug launch."

The OOD said, "Very well P.R.O., Carry on."

The Ensign and his crew took up the operation of the equipment they had set up.

At 1300 the OOD said, "Bo'sun, muster the Tug crew."

The Bo'sun blew his whistle then said into the ship's intercom, "Now muster the Tug crew on station."

In a few minutes PO Pasa, appeared on the cyber-Bridge saluted the OOD and said, "I'm reporting as ordered."

From the Bridge station monitor, the Ensign could see the two off-watch Tug crew members get into their pods and linked up. Once at their workstations, PO Ahluwalia's avatar got into the cyber console for the Launcher. Next, PO Patel's avatar monitored the mechanism that is used to put the Tug in the Launcher. They reported to the Bridge when all systems came online.

PO Pasa went to her watch station and said, "Tug crew manned and ready."

The OOD said, "Make me a Tug."

PO Pasa said into her intercom, "Assemble a Tug." When it was done, she said, "Tug ready."

The OOD said, "Computer, do we have an intercept course for the target asteroid?"

The computer operator PO Kim said, "Targeting Computer shows track is locked. Target intercept course plotted."

"Tug crew, load Tug with most current intercept data," the OOD said.

PO Pasa said into her intercom, "Load the Tug with the most current intercept course."

When her display showed the operation was done PO Patel said into his intercom, "Tug loaded with current data."

"Tug loaded with data." PO Pasa said when her display showed ready.

The OOD said, "Put the Tug into the launcher."

PO Pasa said into the intercom, "Put the Tug in the launcher."

When her display showed the operation was done, PO Ahluwalia said, "Tug set, Launcher ready."

PO Pasa said, "Launcher ready."

The OOD said, "Launch Tug!"

PO Pasa said into her intercom, "Launch!"

PO Ahluwalia said, "Launcher charged. Wait! There's a failure of coil five in the launcher. There's a fire! There's a class C fire!"

PO Pasa said, "Class C fire in the launcher!"

OOD said, "God help us. Bo'sun call General Quarters! DC leader muster your team."

The Bo’sun got on the ship's intercom and said, "General Quarters, General Quarters. All hands man your General Quarters stations. Set material condition Yoke throughout the ship. Now General Quarters!"

Ensign Williams said, "Stay here! Keep videoing!"

PO Ahluwalia said into her intercom, "The auto-breaker will not respond. It is locked on. It will not turn off. It is, too hot for me. I am disconnecting! Jugat (the method to reveal the Light) show me the Jote (the Light)."

The EMO and XO appeared on the cyber-Bridge and took their GQ stations.

PO Pasa said, "Launcher is now unmanned. The system is still powered! There is no joy from any sensors in the Launcher Bay."

The OOD said, "DC, get Electrical to secure the power to the Launcher!"

The DC team leader PO Joni Lee said into her Engineering intercom, "Electrical, DC have the sparky (An electrician) secure power to the Launcher."

The Captain appeared and said, "OOD, what is happening to my ship?"

"Ma'am, there is a class C fire in the Launcher!" the OOD said.

PO Lee said, "OOD, the power is now secured to the Launcher."

First Division and the Engineer came on the Bridge and took up their positions.

"OOD," Captain Yin said, "What is the status of my Launcher?"

The OOD said, "DC, get me a status of the Launcher."

PO Lee said into her Engineering intercom, "DC Team, DC Leader, get me a status on the Launcher."

"DC Leader, DC Team, the sensors are offline in the Launch Bay due to the fire and the power being secured. We have no idea what is going on in there."

The Engineer said into the Engineering intercom, "Man the EVRM, we will use it to tell what is happening."