The old hard suit maintenance bay beneath the main Gunnery Deck was filled with stands holding parts of the armoured loading suits upright or on their sides for repair. In the center were several dented armed suits. Standing a little taller with heavier armour, they seemed to look vulgar, as though bent on violence with more angular features, hard mounting points for weaponry and red, black and brown colouring. The dim light didn't help. All the personnel were on the main deck or in the many weapons compartments aboard the Triton, making final repairs and getting ready for a mission on which no one had yet been briefed.
“We've been able ta put two o' those mean lookers together, can't find a single weapon for 'em though,” said Frost from the door behind her.
Alice turned and looked at the man who was limping thanks to his prosthetic foot. “Did they give you a cane?”
“Aye, won't be seein' me usin' it though. Can't show 'em a little scratch like this can take me down a notch,” he stopped beside a hanger laden with retention netting and put his weight on the heavy grey weave. “Was surprised ta hear ye wanted ta meet me here.”
“I checked the movement logs near this deck and saw that this was the least used room.”
“Aye, we repair most of our suits right on the deck or forward maintenance. What's this about?”
“I'm assigning you to the Samson. Lildell will take command of the gunnery deck for the upcoming mission.”
“What? If this has anythin' to do with what happened on deck with those drones, me and Steph have already had our words about that.”
“So next time she steps in to stop an incursion you'll defer to her judgement?”
There was a seconds pause before Frost nodded; “Aye.”
“What about your second, Lildell?”
“Him? He'd roll over and bark for her after seein' her beat those bots down.”
“Good, because he'll be taking your place. I need you on the Samson for the upcoming operation, I can't find anyone else who knows how to run the maxjack.”
“Well then tha' makes sense. So I'll be takin' my post back after it's all done.”
“Not with me in command. I'll be putting you in charge of making sure the Samson and Cold Reaver are in good condition. We need someone to focus on those vessels now that we're qualifying pilots and building fighters.”
“What? You're over reachin' lass! Captain may 'ave put ye in charge while he's away, but you're just keepin' his house!”
“He put a chain of command in place on this ship, delegated responsibilities to different departments so the crew could trust that order could be maintained and in the last few days you've managed to circumvent that chain of command and-”
“You have no right-” Frost interrupted, shaking his head and taking an awkward step forward.
Alice raised her voice and finished; “-not only damage that trust but cause the crew to break into open brawling once. Thanks to you there is a line dividing two of the most dangerous segments of this crew, gunnery and security.”
“If Stephanie could control her people we'd have no problems at all! Gunners an' their mates run aggro, hair on fire like and if anyone stir them up there's gonna be trouble! She's got to get her people ta steer clear lass!”
“Funny, from all the accounts and playbacks the fighting only starts when your name comes up, that's including the five fistfights that have broken out over the last twenty hours. I'm not going to argue with you Frost. I'm telling you-”
“Be careful what ye say next lass,” Frost glared menacingly.
“Telling you that you're reassigned until you can show that you can handle more than a deck full of guns.”
“You mean until Captain's back. I'll be back on the deck lass, you bet your ass.”
“Do you really think he'll go back on one of my decisions?”
“No one runs that deck like me!” Frost burst, thrusting his finger up towards the gunnery deck above.
“Command is about people first Frost! You know who said that? Jonas Valent! You'll be lucky if you ever see the command deck after he gets back!”
“Last I checked Jonas Valent punched outta an airlock an' never made it back in.”
Alice stared at the shorter, squat man, furious. Her teeth were clenched so tight they were near fracturing, her head felt tight, the cage of her chest felt too small for her rapidly beating heart and as she realized her palm was resting on the hilt of her sidearm everything seemed to slow down. “Don't test me,” she heard herself say through a grimace that shook a tear born of rage from its shelf under her good eye.
“Just a confused little girl,” Frost chucked and started to turn away.
Her sidearm cleared the holster, the safety deactivated then brought to bear and fired in a fraction of a second.
He could feel the heat of the thermite shot screech past his ear and stopped.
“The Samson or the brig,” she growled. “And you tell your people it was your decision.”
Frost nodded curtly. “I'll be on the Samson.”
Alice flipped the safety of her sidearm back on and dropped it into the holster. It felt heavy against her leg, she hadn't fired it in so long it seemed. She spun on her heel and strode for the exit at the other end of the mechanic's bay.
It took forever for her to make it to the small elevator car that would link up with the main express tubes then take her to the command deck. When the door closed she let loose with a deafening, frustrated scream and bashed her fist into the side of the small lift car. How the hell can I let myself come apart like that? If I had both my eyes Frost wouldn't have a head! The crew is barely holding together as it is without Jake, God knows what would happen if I killed Frost, and with his back to me no less! All because he wasn't listening. I knew he'd make a scene, say something to make me doubt myself and it wouldn't be an easy conversation, that's why I did it out of sight. I knew I should have talked to him in the ready quarters, even an empty briefing room would have been better.
Alice closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Just get control of yourself and you'll have the ship in shape in no-”
The lift door opened to reveal a group of four crewmen.
“Taken!” she snapped as she slapped the door close icon on the control panel.
As the lift continued on its way and she took another slow inhale and let it out whispering; “This mission better bring the crew together.”