Mercy the lost warship b.., p.24
Mercy (The Lost Warship Book 2), page 24
“Maybe Colonel Demood is having an easier time of it.”
Ruth snorted. “We both know that’s unlikely.”
“We live in hope.”
They both laughed before Ruth turned serious. “This will sound nuts, sir, but I feel like we’re supposed to be in this galaxy, doing these things we stumble into. Obviously, I can’t back that up with anything besides my emotions, but… look at the Zeivlots and the Zavlots. They were on a horrible path.”
“Dr. Hayworth would say we’re just trying to impose our beliefs on others and interfering with the evolution of alien species.”
“What do you say, sir?”
“That there’s a fine line between meddling in affairs we have no business in and trying to guide people to a better way of looking at themselves and the universe. I’m trying to navigate it as best I can and get us home.”
Ruth nodded. “We’re all muddling through.” She paused before meeting his eyes. “I have something I need to ask.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“It’s about Robert and me, sir. We… Ah, well… We’d like to get married before returning home.”
David blinked. He knew they shared quarters but hadn’t thought much of it outside the obvious. A decent number of crewmembers were, the last time he heard the statistic from Master Chief Tinetariro. “A wedding… on the Lion of Judah?”
Ruth’s cheeks turned bright red. “I know, sir. It seems somewhat ridiculous when you say it out loud.”
“Well, if we were anywhere besides a different galaxy, four and a half million light-years from home, yes.” David flashed a smile. “But since we are, if that’s what you two want, we’ll make it happen. Gotta be a cargo bay we can clear out. Maybe get a Marine shuttle to use as your honeymoon ride.”
“Uh, sure, sir. I was thinking more something small.”
David spread his hands out on the desk. “That works too. I’ll make sure the chief mess steward saves enough flour to bake a cake. Lieutenant Taylor is a good man, you know. He was ready to lead a commando team himself to bust you out of prison.”
“I know.” Ruth’s face was in danger of turning permanently red.
“Well, I’m sure we’ll be able to work out all the details in the coming weeks… months?”
Ruth grinned. “No date set yet. That’s next. And don’t worry, sir. We won’t be trying to have a baby on a warship.”
“Depending on how long we’re stuck out here, we might have to examine becoming a generational vessel,” David replied. There are many possibilities.
“Let’s avoid thinking about that for now.”
David chuckled. “Agreed. Thank you for coming down.”
Ruth stood. “I found it interesting, sir, that you used the reasoning that God has mercy on all of us. The law demands incredible strictness. I mean, there is that small matter of being unable to tear toilet paper on the Sabbath.”
“And I still have my tissue dispenser.” Since the motion of tearing was considered work, it could not be performed on the Sabbath. However, pulling a piece of already-cut tissue from a holder was ruled by the rabbinate not to be an act of work. “I’ve always felt that God demonstrated mercy constantly throughout His actions, as recorded in the Tanakh.”
“It seemed to me like you were using a Christian argument with the Vogteks, arguing for doing good to others when they wronged you.”
“While I will certainly concede that Jesus preached mercy… so does the Tanakh. Look at King David. He was a man who, while being described as having a heart devoted to HaShem, also conspired to get a man killed so that he could take his wife. Among many other things that don’t exactly highlight moral Jewish behavior under the law.”
“That’s a good point, sir.”
David peered at her. “Your conversion has stuck, hasn’t it?”
“Yes, it has. To my surprise, I actually feel like I have a relationship with God now.” Ruth shrugged. “I’m still a work in progress.”
“We all are.” David stood and crossed the few steps to be next to her. “It’s been a long, brutal road the last twenty-five years.”
“Not that the one we’re on now isn’t just as hard.”
David extended his hand, but Ruth sidestepped it and hugged him instead. He awkwardly allowed the embrace and gave her a squeeze.
Ruth moved back after dropping her arms. “We’re going to get home, sir.”
“Count on it.” David grinned. “Now, I’d better get back to filling out my after-action reports. I believe you have a watch to stand.”
“Yes, sir.”
As she walked through the hatch, David returned to his desk. He wondered what General MacIntosh would think of the situation, if someday he read the reports. I wager he’d give me a good dressing down then make some snarky comment about all the universe needs is a race of legalistic trial lawyers descending on it. With a chuckle, he got back to work, glad to soon be heading out into the cosmos once more.
36
CSV Lion of Judah
Jinvaas System
6 June 2464
As the Lion of Judah and the rest of the fleet returned to normal, the weekly department and science briefing resumed. David had looked forward to it for most of the day, even though he usually detested meetings. Though the situation had ended in a way that could be considered positive, he still felt apprehensive. It was a far closer thing than it should’ve been, and that’s on me.
David exchanged salutes with the Marine sentries in the command-deck passageway as he exited his day cabin. He pushed open the hatch to the conference room to reveal a sea of people, including the senior officers, Dr. Hayworth, Amir, Major Merriweather, and Dr. Tural.
“General on deck!” Master Chief Tinetariro barked as she came to attention.
“As you were.” David gave them a moment to sit back down before he slid into his seat at the head of the table. “Well. I think I speak for all of us when I thank HaShem and the crew of the CSV Margaret Thatcher for the return of Major Hanson, Captain Goldberg, and Chief Warrant Officer Al-Haddad.”
“The Prophet smiled on our efforts,” Aibek rumbled. “And the Iron Lady did not turn.”
Ruth chuckled. “Didn’t realize you were up on old earth politicians, Colonel.”
“I make a study of the names you humans give your warships. Saurians only name them after warriors who won a battle or acted heroically during victorious combat.” He raised an eye scale. “Humans seem to name space vessels after anything that strikes their fancy. Politicians, warriors, places… it is difficult to understand the convention.”
David grinned and shook his head. “That’s humanity for you. Each block of us has its own ideas on how to do things. The Saratoga-class fleet carriers, for instance. Americans built them, and they’re all named after former presidents of either the United States on Earth or the US colonies within the Terran Coalition. Hey, it keeps us on our toes.”
“Well, I’m glad to be back to our crappy Zeivlot vegetables and what passes for meat,” Hanson interjected. “Vogtek food was so awful that I looked forward to combat rations.”
“Forget the food. The poetry was worse.” Ruth made a face.
“Poetry?” David asked. I wonder what alien poetry sounds like.
“Well, sir, I’m not a huge poetry fan. More into blowing things up,” she replied. “But they piped this stuff over our translation units every night for an hour. It was awful. I wanted to smash the earpieces, but the custodians promised to punish us if we didn’t listen.”
While her tone was light, David couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. He pushed it down and focused on the tasks ahead. “How are the Thatcher’s repairs coming?”
Hanson leaned forward. “Completed this morning, sir. She’s ready to get underway and has resumed formation with us.”
David nodded. “Outstanding. We’re going to end up with another passenger. An Otyran scientist. In exchange for taking him aboard and allowing him to participate in the exchange program we worked out with the Zeivlots and the Zavlots, we’ll get all the helium-3 we need.”
“Sir, as I’m ultimately responsible for security on the Lion, I need to remind you that all races in this system have a reason to want exposure to our vessel. They need better FTL technology,” Tinetariro interjected.
“Oh, I realize that, Master Chief. But we need friends out here.” David grinned. “Make sure the masters-at-arms are on their toes. No one who isn’t cleared gets inside the engineering spaces. Period.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hayworth cleared his throat. “One of the more intelligent things to be said recently in this room.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
“I mean it as a compliment, General.” A rare smile creased Hayworth’s lips. “If I keep saying it enough, perhaps my noninterference beliefs will imbed themselves.”
“We did try to change this alliance of species’s outlook on justice and mercy, Doctor.”
“Yes, quite.” Hayworth harrumphed. “At least you didn’t hand them Lawrence drive schematics.”
Give me some credit, Doctor. David only flashed a grin.
“I think we made a difference,” Ruth said as she placed her hands on the table. “And even though my experience in the Vogtek prison wasn’t pleasant, if that’s what it took to introduce some better ideas to a society… so be it.”
“Oh, we’re now the arbiters of what’s better?”
Ruth narrowed her eyes and stared back at Hayworth. “Doctor, locking somebody up for twenty years for stealing a protein bar isn’t just. You know that.”
He shrugged. “By my standards and yours. How this society handles itself isn’t any of our business.” Hayworth wagged his finger. “If there’s one charge about the Terran Coalition that is negative and has weight, it’s that we impose our views on others.”
“There’s no imposition here. We simply offered an object lesson in a better way. It’s not like we’re soft in the crime department,” David replied.
“Compared to the Vogteks, the League is soft on crime,” Aibek interjected.
A wave of laughter followed.
“Absolutely right, XO.” I’m glad he’s back to his joking self. “The council has promised us the first helium-3 shipment before we head out. They also offered shore leave, which I declined for obvious reasons.”
Tinetariro made a face. “Half of this bunch would end up in lockup.”
David again had to suppress laughter. It’s probably too soon. The jovial mood contrasted with the two injured soldiers still being treated for severe wounds in the medical bay. But that’s my burden to bear, not theirs. “Where are we with the artifact research, Doctor?”
Hayworth eyed him and Hanson. “Once the force field was bolstered, I continued my experiments. Partial power got through to the device, and we were able to retrieve a set of coordinates from it. I believe they are the location of the precursor race’s home world.”
Many people’s jaws dropped.
“Burying the lede there, Doctor.”
“I try not to brag,” Hayworth replied, grinning. “But my ego doesn’t write checks it can’t cash.”
Another round of chuckles swept the room.
First Lieutenant Shelly Hammond, the Lion’s navigator, interjected, “How far away from our present position, Doctor?”
“With proper cooldown between jumps, roughly two weeks.”
“That’s a bit of a journey but well worth it.” David stroked his chin. Sextans B, compared to the Milky Way, was a compact galaxy. Otherwise, the journey could’ve been out of reach.
“Perhaps we can avoid interfering with any more alien species for a while.” Hayworth’s tone was gruff, but at least his expression seemed amused. “At some point, our luck is going to run out. I’m surprised it hasn’t already.”
“That’s because luck has nothing to do with it, Doctor,” Tinetariro replied. “The reason is clear… the Lion of Judah is doing God’s work.” Her deep English accent seemed to come out more.
“Ah, yes, I prefer to stick to provable answers. That one doesn’t qualify.”
David acted before any further debate could break out. Not what we need today. “So, the Thatcher’s good to go, the rest of the battlegroup is shipshape, and we’re ready to move out tomorrow morning for a journey that will, I hope, give us some answers. That about sum it up?”
Heads nodded around the table.
“Good. Then let’s get back to work, and give thanks to HaShem, Jesus, Allah, or the random chance of the universe, because we shouldn’t be where we are right now.” David flashed a smile as he stood. “Dismissed.”
The sea of uniformed soldiers filed out along with Hayworth in his white lab coat. In some ways, it was the doctor’s uniform, David reflected.
Once the conference room had cleared, he returned to his day cabin and busied himself with his remaining paperwork. I can’t escape filling out CDF forms, even four and a half million light-years from home. He supposed since no one would be checking, there was no need to do the various after-action reports, write-ups, and documentation, but staying in a routine was comforting.
Hours later, after he’d visited the shul for evening prayers, David ended up in his favorite officers’ mess, enjoying a quiet late dinner. In the middle of chewing a bite of food, he glanced up to see Bo’hai and her purple hair, standing with a tray.
“May I join you?”
David quickly swallowed. “Um, sure.”
She put her food on the table and sat. “Another long day?”
“They’re all long.” David flashed a grin and took a drink of water. “You?”
“My life is so different now. I used to teach, you know. That was my profession. Advanced linguistics. I’d never signed up for something more than a few hours from home before I joined the Life Search team… and now, here I am. Exploring the stars and translating languages from species with six limbs.” She chuckled. “If I stop to think about it, I’m instantly overwhelmed.”
“I feel the same way about how we ended up here.”
She took a bite of a vegetable medley and munched happily. “Mmm. Your spices are so different from ours. I like them.”
David couldn’t help but smile. “Food is a universal thing, isn’t it? All species have to eat something to stay alive, and it's typically at the heart of most cultures."
"It is amazing that you were able to resolve the situation without loss of life on either side,” Bo’hai said between bites. “I am impressed.”
“The credit goes to the officers and crew of the Margaret Thatcher and Dr. Hayworth.”
Bo’hai shook her head. “You… What’s the human expression? Sell yourself empty?”
“Short.” David chuckled then took another sip of water.
“You inspire them, General. Even if you don’t realize it.”
David pursed his lips. “I’m the one who got us into this mess in the first place. So I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but the fact is I screwed up. And it’s enough to remind me that even a small, seemingly insignificant misstep from the Mitzvot can result in disaster.”
“‘He that covers his sins shall not prosper. But whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.’”
“Proverbs… chapter twenty-eight, verse thirteen, if I remember right,” David replied. “You’re reading the Tanakh.”
She nodded. “Yes. I rather like it.”
“Why?”
Bo’hai shrugged. “I wanted to compare human beliefs to ours. Starting with Judaism made sense because you were the one who orchestrated stopping the destruction of our worlds.”
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not into your own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.”
“That is also from Proverbs. Our holy text has a similar sentiment: ‘All concern and worry should be given to the Maker. He will guide our path.’”
David let out a sigh. “I could do a much better job trusting in HaShem. It is one of my biggest failings as a Jew. More often, first, I focus on myself and what I feel like I can do.”
“Is tomorrow not a new day?”
“Of course.”
“Then resolve to make a change.” Bo’hai smiled.
David appreciated how easy it was to talk to her. It’s comforting to be able to discuss some of these burdens. “Why don’t you drop by the shul sometime during a service if you’re interested in learning more about Jewish customs.”
Bo’hai tilted her head. “I would be allowed in?”
“Of course. Remember to cover your hair, and if it's an Orthodox service, the women must sit separately from the men.”
She nodded. “I will sometime. Perhaps I will see you there.”
“It’s entirely possible.” David took the final bite of his food and felt content. They’d survived, gotten the fuel the fleet needed, and perhaps done something positive along the way. Even though I screwed up. Yes, maybe the master chief is right. We’re out here doing God’s work. The best explanation I’ve got so far anyway. Tomorrow is a new day with infinite possibilities, as Bo’hai said. “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Epilogue
CDF Shipyard Complex
Churchill – Sagittarius Arm
10 June, 2464
Virtually every night, Kenneth Lowe left his office by seventeen thirty hours for a shuttle ride down to the surface. He’d been dating Catherine Owens for months, and while they didn’t live together, nor had he asked her to marry him, Kenneth felt it was essential to stick to a schedule conducive to family life.
But not tonight. Instead of a thirty-minute hop down to Churchill, Kenneth sat in his office, speaking with Dr. Peter Saunders. A member of the Coalition Scientific Union, Saunders had some unique theories about faster-than-light travel, which was why Kenneth had recruited the scientist to review the CDF’s official findings around the disappearance of the Lion of Judah.
