Blood Impulse

Part 25.3 - THE ANTI-CORPORATION CONTROL REBELLION

Twenty-three years ago, Kuya Sector, Flagship Singularity

The abominable orders weren't given in person.

They weren't even given over audio.

They were sent encrypted, received and decrypted, only to be handed off. "New orders, sir. Immediate priority."

Immediate priority, he sighed inwardly. They always were. "Thank you, Ensign," Commander Gives answered, taking the paper from the yeoman's shaking hands. Were they shaking from fear of him, dread of these orders, or mere exhaustion? He had to wonder as the crewman scurried away.

Stars, how long had it been? How long since anyone on this ship had seen home? Not months, but years. The crew around him was beyond exhausted, they were breaking. Some had resigned, a few went AWOL and a couple had even turned mutinous – no doubt encouraged by the damn XO.

For the first time in years, he'd been ordered to bring the Singularity back to the central worlds, allowed to let the ship and crew rest, but now this. Once again, they'd be diverted, ordered and shunted away to handle some other problem, as if Command didn't even want their flagship to come home.

No, it wasn't 'as if.' That was exactly their intention. The central worlds wanted nothing to do with a flagship that had won their wars, slathered in the blood and barbarism of slaughter. They wanted no reminder of what their victory had cost.

Command wanted to break this crew, drive them to mutiny and abandonment of their posts. They wanted to destroy his command and end his career. After all, he wasn't supposed to be here.

"You going to read that?" the executive officer said, clicking her tongue with an annoyed sigh. "Or are you still illiterate, dirt buster?"

Belle's lithe form towered above him in her heels, beautiful in a dangerous sort of way, her cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass. But he pointedly ignored her jibe, and flipped the sheet over to read the orders, only to find the letters blurry as they swam in his vision.

Colonel Belle twisted her maroon lips into a sneer, "Forget something?"

Calmly, he started to pat down his pockets, looking for his glasses. It had been years, but he still wasn't used to needing them. He struggled to keep track of the thin frames, and was half-convinced the XO consistently moved them just to torture him.

She snatched the orders from his hand. "You're incompetent."

"Four years, and I have not sunk us yet." Neither the Colonel nor Command would admit it, but he handled the ship well. "And as I recall, that is four years longer than you have held a command."

Belle's glare turned venomous, but she straightened the orders in her hand with flourish as she read them off. "Proceed to Knight Industries System 01. Eradicate the threat. Leave no survivors." She ran her tongue over her teeth and threw the paper back to him. "Time to end another rebellion, little Prince. Do it well, and maybe Command will pity their token second-class citizen enough to give you some Admiral's stars." She laughed mockingly, tracing a finger along the console. "As if this ship isn't enough of a gift. It's already more than your people ever had."

"My people built this ship." She was Kansa's greatest pride. No, the nation of Kansa wasn't wealthy enough to own this ship or any like her, but they had built her, and poured the life of the nation's once-impressive shipbuilding industry into this one vessel.

"That means nothing if you can't direct her." The ship served only Command, and his competence was constantly in question by result of his unfavorable background. "You're nothing but a placeholder." She leaned in close, "One error, one mistake, and this ship will be mine, so I'd advise not delaying your immediate orders."