Wednesday. 13:30 Lounge

John was incredibly bored as he sat in the lounger. Nothing interesting was on, including all of his bizarre sports channels. He settled on poker to kill the time. His finals were all over. And had been as of Monday afternoon.

His friends were less lucky. There were more tests to take than any previous semester. Only Kevin and Kristin were planning on being finished by the end of the day. The rest would be done Thursday morning. Things had largely been pretty quiet, though John was desperately hoping that the lounge would be livelier that evening.

His tablet buzzed, indicating a new message had been received. John unlocked it and reviewed the new message. The junior class ship assignments were made public. More importantly, at least to John as he already knew who was on his crew, were what ships were being used.

“Holy shit, thank god,” John said as he read the message.

“What’s up?” Kevin said as he set his backpack down by the door.

“Ship assignments out. I’m sure it’ll come to you as a surprise that I wanted you on my crew,”

Kevin smiled, “Did you get the idiot?”

“Yup. You know he did really well on the Marcinko.”

“Except for cleaning up his living space. That jackass got me a demerit. Anyways, what ships are we on?”

John smiled, “Fairly new ones. Squire class corvettes.”

“Wow, we’re getting modern ships?”

“They are getting retired this year. Looks like the academy took delivery of a hundred of them.”

Kevin was pulling up the schematics, “Dude, did you see the rooms in them?”

“Sure did.”

Andern was the next one to enter. He heaved his backpack into the corner and jumped over the couch to sit next to Kevin. He smiled and waved to the two others in the room.

“I cannot wait to be done with all of these fucking tests. Everyone in my last final seemed to be divided into two camps on the ship assignments. Loathing it or hating it.”

“Make sure to clean your damn bunk this go around,” John said, “We’ve got newer ships this go around. Which means nicer digs.”

“Do you know what they were using?” Kevin asked, “Couldn’t find any information on that.

“Vagabond and Gypsy class if I’m not mistaken. Their designs were about twenty or so years old.”

“Well, I was firmly in the camp of the happy. Being on those ships has got to be better than taking all these damned tests.”

Kevin paused and looked at Andern, “Are you done?”

“For today. I have four more to take tomorrow.”

“Wait, how are you done already, John?” Kevin was scanning through the list of tests he had to take.

“Tests were all done Monday. We had a total of twelve papers that are due tomorrow. The smart cadet started working on them earlier in the semester. I handed all of them in after I finished taking all my tests.”

“What I wouldn’t give for that memory of yours. When’s orientation? They conveniently didn’t include that.”

John smiled, “It’s up to the captains. Our orientation starts at 08:00 Saturday. At 13:00 we run the simulator. If all goes to plan, then we head up to Armstrong that at 21:30.”

“Why are you in such a damned rush?” Andern asked.

“Better assignments. Besides don’t get all butthurt over that. Kristin and Joeng are going at the same time.”

The trio would continue to talk about the summer ship tours until dinner time. The rest of their friends would trickle into the room after 15:00. No one was as excited about their new adventure as John was. He was beaming with excitement.

Saturday. 15:00 Simulation Room 12-A

John was walking between the operations and engineering training rooms. His crew was handling things well. The lone concern on John’s mind was how commanding the ship was really going to work. Kevin was effectively the ship’s second in command.

“Nice test scores. Engineering is greenlit now,” John said walking up to Kevin.

“Yeah, we rocked that test. How’s command and operations?”

John leaned back on the faux bulkhead, “Command is good. Operations are going through their test now.”

“Heading up to the ship tonight then?”

“Yup, with a tentative launch tomorrow evening,” John said.

A female cadet just walked into the engineering room, “Excuse me, I was directed to speak to Cadet Lief.”

John turned around and answered unsurely, “Hi, you are Laura, right?”

Laura smiled, “Hi. Yes, I’m Laura Kim. I was reassigned to your crew for this deployment.”

Kevin looked surprised, “Not that I’m complaining about being third in command now, but why?”

“And not that I’m complaining either, but I hadn’t heard about this either,” John added.

Laura handed John a data slate, “I’d be lying to you if I said I knew for sure, but apparently…”

John interrupted her, “Twenty-five corvettes need unexpected repairs, which means there are fewer available ships. Sadly, that means the crews that were assembled are no longer needed so they are getting distributed. Welcome aboard, how far were y’all along?”

“My command team had been already finished their test. Engineering and operations weren’t planning on taking it until Sunday.”

“Then our timetable hasn’t changed. Kevin, bring Laura over to engineering and introduce her. I’ll let Andern know that he’s off the command rotation.”

“Aye aye,” Kevin said as he motioned for Laura to follow him.

John walked out of the room and headed to the operations simulation room. He walked in to find the operations team finishing up the latest drill. John began to observe quietly from the back of the room. Five minutes later the drill was completed.

“Nice work, Andern I need a word,” John said.

“Give me a second. Need to finish up this drill summary.”

The next two operations cadets were getting into position to run the same drill. John picked up a data slate and reviewed where they were at with the orientation process. He smiled when he discovered that this was the last drill of the day. Andern then got up and walked over to him. They began talking when the drill began again.

“What’s up boss man?”

“You no longer need to worry about command. We picked up a cadet for our crew. She’ll be second in command, Kevin being third. You are technically in the chain at fourth, but you won’t drill on the ship. If you want that experience let me know and I can arrange accordingly.”

“That means I’m not in charge?”

“Correct.”

“Oh, thank fucking Christ. That is the best news I’ve heard today.”

“When y’all are done head into the engineering room.”

“Roger that,” Andern said smiling.

John walked back to the engineering room. Kara had joined since her medical course was completed. She was informing Kevin that their liaison on board the ship would do double duty by being the ship's lead medical officer. Corvettes weren’t assigned doctors, but they did have some of the most advanced medical rooms available. Everything, short of surgery, could be handled there with minimal staff and training.

The gaggle of cadets talked about their orientation. John smiled and agreed with them that they were ready for the real ship. But he disagreed that they were ready to shove off yet. The crew needed some time to get familiarize themselves with the actual ship first. Simulations are one thing, the ship itself was an entirely different beast altogether. The sentiment and excitement that they had were exactly what John wanted to see.

The door opened behind them with Andern walking in first. He was followed by Nathan and the three others that were in operations. Nathan handed John a data slate containing the results of all drills they had run today.

“Alright, it’s 16:00 now. You have until 16:50 to pack your gear. We’ll have chow together at 17:00. I’ll arrange for a van to take us to the space bridge.”

No one appeared to be all that excited for the accelerated plan. The cadets were looking at one another hesitantly. John could feel the reluctance of his crew.

“Look, I get it. These ships are way more comfortable than the destroyers that we were on. Plus, the sooner we’re the sooner we can push off,” John smiled and paused, “That also means either a longer shore leave or we get off the boat sooner.”

“Sold!” Andern shouted from behind John.

“Of course, you are,” Nathan shook his head, “That rationale makes sense.”

“Head back to the dorms and let’s get going,” John said.

21:20 Armstrong Station

Dinner was uneventful that evening. The other two crews were surprised to see all of their bags lined up by the exit to the cafeteria. They still had a couple of drills to finish up. They weren’t scheduled to arrive until 02:00.

When their dinners were finished, they packed their bags in the van, then headed to the space bridge. Once they arrived, they cleaned up and changed into their void suits. Then the waiting began, they arrived earlier than expected and had to wait for four elevators to head up to the station before it was their turn.

Andern played his part as annoyer in chief on the trip up. Though his ability to do that was somewhat diminished, to the great satisfaction of all of those in the elevator, because it was dark out. Their ride up to the station was thirty minutes faster than normal.

After the elevator was locked into its destination the doors opened up. John pushed the harness over his helmet and stood up. He walked over to the bags and picked them up.

“Everyone is to report to the ship. No detours are allowed. The CNS Memphis is docked in the outer ring, bay thirteen-bravo.”

“Really, we can’t…” Kara started to speak.

“We are not authorized to stop anywhere. I’m doubtful we’re going to have any time to even go into the retail spaces tomorrow before we push off. That being said, I will see what we can do. Let’s get to the ship, I’ll work out who gets to start drilling after we get settled in.”

Much grumbling could be heard in the locker rooms. They were taking off their void suits and changing back into their basic duty uniforms. Fifteen minutes later the cadets exited their gender-appropriate locker rooms and began heading to their ship.

That march was more than a bit begrudgingly. They could hear, but not see the retail spaces from a couple of different places corridors. But those areas were off-limits for them. Their orders were for them to get to their ship. John had secretly conspired with Kristin and Joeng to take shore leave together, that way their crews can reconnect.

22:15 CNS Memphis

John couldn’t help but smile as he stepped onto his new ship. The CNS Memphis was a reasonably modern ship. Unlike the Marcinko, she had a dedicated rec room that the cadets would eventually find to be sufficiently well stocked with things to keep them occupied. The best part about the ship was the modern berths.

Instead of the communal living that the Marcinko forced upon her crew, this ship had several four-person living rooms. There were also a handful of single-person rooms, though those rooms were claimed by the two liaisons from the academy and the top two ranking cadets onboard.

John looked down at the crew manifest, “Looks like you were wrong Laura, we have a command liaison on board too.”

“That does make more sense than what I had heard,” Laura said as she shrugged.

“Agreed, where are our rooms?” Kevin asked.

“Give me a minute, pulling up the current assignments now,” John said as he let go of his bag, “Ah here we go. Ladies, you’re on the aft side. Men have the port side. Laura, you have room four. Kevin, you have five.”

“Oh, you son of a bitch, you get a single room?” Andern said under his breath.

“Sometimes it’s not only who you know but what you know bud,” Kevin said smiling as he pushed his way past Andern and headed to his room.

“Ok, everyone has thirty minutes to get their stuff stowed. Then we meet in the board room,” John said as he signed off the terminal.

The cadets began walking to their rooms. John picked his bag up and turned around to head down the hall. As the ship wasn’t that large his walk to his room only took about thirty steps. John pressed his palm to the scanner to the right of his door. The door opened with a whoosh sound.

“Lights,” John said as the lights turned on as the door shut behind him, “Hello beautiful. Make you a deal, I’ll take care of you, and you take care of me. Sound alright?”

John lightly banged on the bulkhead. He then dropped his bag on his bed and opened it up. About midway through storing his personal effects the door chime rang.

“Enter,” John said as he continued to unpack his bag.

“Thank you, cadet. I’m Third Lieutenant Lorraine Nicks. You can call me Lori when we speak privately. I’ll be your command liaison to the Academy on this trip. Do you have any questions for me?”

John turned around and quickly saluted her, “No ma’am. I’m planning on having a meeting with the crew. You’re welcome to attend it if you’d like.”

“What’s the nature of the meeting?”

“Assigning the shifts,” John looked at his clock, “I’d like to be shoving off in about nineteen and a half hours. Or after each shift has had a chance to drill once.”

Lori couldn’t hold back her surprise when she heard they wanted to shove off as quickly as possible, “Is that wise? Don’t you think you need more time to drill and practice with the ship’s systems? Things are subtly different to the simulators.”

“I’m aware of what I’m asking. I’m also aware we don’t need to be departed for another five days. The sooner we get underway the better. Oh, I should also mention that the CNS Winnipeg and Las Palmas will be our partners during the wolfpack program.”

John turned and put away the last change of clothes. He hung up the bag in his locker. Then he turned to find a young lieutenant entirely confused by everything that he had said. John noticed that his tablet had a couple of messages. He quickly opened them up and skimmed them. Alice was already missing him. Kristin and Joeng both confirmed that they’d be on their ships by 04:30.

“And it appears my partner captains will be on their vessels within the next six or so hours.”

“I must caution you against rushing to get underway,” Lori looked very worried for the crew.

“You should familiarize yourself with the Marcinko’s record from the fall term,” John said politely, “I think that will quell some of the confusion and fear you have. Also, if you don’t mind would you like to scoot over a little. I have a meeting, again your welcome to attend, to officiate.”

Lori moved out of the doorway and followed John to the ship’s boardroom. Kevin and Laura were already sitting down next to John’s seat. John gave them a funny look.

“Yes, my gear is stowed. Don’t give me that look,” Kevin said shaking his head.

“Same here,” Laura smiled.

“Nicely done you two. Obviously, you know the three of us will be in different shifts.”

Kevin nodded, “If I’m not mistaken, you want to be in the captain’s chair when we shove off.”

John nodded.

Laura jumped in, “If it’s all the same to you, Kevin, I’d like the second shift.”

“Looks like we got that settled,” Kevin said, “And for the record, I didn’t care what shift I got. I do want to make a request.”

“I’ll take Andern,” John said with a smile.

Kevin chuckled, “Are you sure you’re not psychic anymore?”

“I’ll also take Kori since I’d like an engineer on my shift. Laura, you’re going to get Kara, Nathan, and Wei. You’ll have an extra ops person that will monitor the systems. Wei was shadowing the engineers.”

“That means I get Andy and James, right?” Kevin asked.

“Where the hell is the rest of the crew?” John asked.

Laura looked at her terminal then answered matter of factly, “You gave the crew thirty minutes. It has been twenty-two.”

“Fair point,” John said as he leaned back in his chair.

“If you don’t mind me interrupting, but how are you so well prepared? I’ve never seen cadets this ready for a command,” Lori asked.

“Guys, this is Third Lieutenant Lorraine Nicks, our command liaison,” John raised his right arm to present her to his command crew, “The answer to your question is that I knew this was coming for some time, and the two other captains in the wolfpack chatted about how we’d split the Marcinko’s grew up.”

“But even discussing it doesn’t mean that you’d be this well prepared.”

Kevin snorted, “Well, Laura doesn’t know what it’s like since she wasn’t with us. And John I hope I’m not putting words in your mouth, but the big guy here doesn’t just expect excellence, he demands it.”

“Setting the bar high isn’t a bad thing to do. I just have to make sure to push the crew in a way that they can achieve that success.”

“Not to change the subject, but how many enlisted do we have on the ship?” Laura asked.

“Twelve. We will have one in the med bay, two in engineering and the lone one will bounce around based on shift need,” John said as he looked up and saw the door open.

One by one the cadets filed into the room. Another unknown face, wearing medical gear, also joined them. John presumed she was their ship’s medical officer. When everyone sat down John began to outline the shifts and general expectations.

An image appeared on the screens located in the room. The Memphis was a single deck ship. The commanding officer along with one of the enlisted crew would manage the ship from the bridge. Operations cadets may also be up there, but their stations were located in the central corridor, near where they entered. Engineering was in the aft portion of the ship.

“So that’s our ship. The dining room is here, across from it is the rec room. Rec room access for cadets is limited to the three hours before lights out.”

“Question sir, the mess hall, where’s that again?”

“You’re looking at it James,” John smiled, “Unlike the Marcinko, where cooks make our meals, the meals here are a bit different.”

“MREs, seriously?” Wei said despondently.

“Similar yes, but higher quality. And there’s going to be a chance to order some personal meals too,” Lori said.

“Everyone should have a link on their tablets, submit your food order. It will be delivered to us before the second shift is over. The small coolers in your closet are for personal food stores. Stealing anyone else’s food is going to result in loss of privileges,” John sighed as he said that last sentence, “Don’t be that guy. Also, don’t fall behind on your classwork. You all have three classes during this semester.”

“Falling behind in class is also grounds for loss of privileges,” Laura said pleasantly.

“What’s the plan of attack?” Nathan asked.

“Barring any issues, we depart in nineteen hours. We’ll then do the shakedown and head to the belt. Our sister ships, the Winnipeg and Las Palmas will meet us out there. We will be out there for three weeks. Then we’ll have shore leave for between four and six days, then we’ll head out to Neptune for two weeks. Then we’re heading inward to Venus.”

“Does anyone have any questions?” Laura asked.

“What the hell is Pâtes d'Alsace?” Andern asked.

The room groaned together slightly. John shook his head and gave his friend a quizzical look. Andern didn’t seem to care about the reactions and was hellbent on finding out what the answer was.

“There are pictures above it,” Nathan said.

“French egg noodles if I’m not mistaken,” John said as he was looking at the tablet.

“Ooh, that looks tasty,” Andern said.

“There are additional meals available on the ship. But you are limited to two meals per day. All that info is tracked,” Kevin said.

“Ok, first shift report to your posts, then finalize your food selections. Second shift I recommend getting some shut-eye. Third shift, get started with your studies. This is going to be a fun summer,” John said as he stood up and dismissed his crew.

John’s excitement was infectious. Everyone in the room was looking forward to their deployment. The two officers that were with them were excited. Both were struggling to accept that a crew of cadets could be this accomplished and able. The cadets had begun their first steps as seniors in the academy, ever inching towards graduating and achieving their commission.