Blood Impulse

Part 16.3 - SIGNATURE EVIDENCE

Homebound Sector, Haven System, Battleship Singularity

Admiral Gives left the bridge with the evidence of his trial in hand. Before he met with the department heads to determine the crew's next move, there was just one thing he needed to check. Reaching effortlessly out to the ghost, he asked, 'Where is Amelia?'

"Forward observation deck," the ghost answered, her illusion appearing beside him. "What do you intend to do?"

He purposefully ignored the slight concern in her expression. "Ask a yes or no question." All he required was a straight answer from Amelia. That should not be difficult to attain.

She sighed, "You could stand to be a little more delicate." It was no wonder Amelia had slapped him.

"I have neither the time nor the desire to engage in small talk." They might be relatives, but Amelia was not his priority at this time. "She has made it clear that she does not consider me a member of her family," and that was not something he cared to contradict.

"That wasn't exactly your best display," to blame Amelia for that wasn't entirely fair. "You walked into the room, stabbed someone, threw him against the bulkhead and then threatened to airlock him." Amelia had witnessed more violence in that minute than she had seen in the entire rest of her life.

"I am not discussing this right now." His disastrous personal life was completely irrelevant. "You asked me to stay, so let me make sure I have a ship to stay on before you begin nagging me about anything else."

"Then I guess I cannot nag you about how you handled Lieutenant Jazmine," she sighed with some false exasperation.

The Admiral noted her slight smirk, "I am not in the mood for your sass." Jazmine had been beating on his ship, and that was unacceptable, though he was well aware the ship could take such abuse and had seen far worse.

"We'll see about that," the ghost said, disappearing a moment later as he stepped into one of the ship's busier corridors.

Noticing their commander, the crew stood aside. Word had already spread about the Admiral's trial, but there was no questioning his authority aboard the Singularity. In her time, the ship had served several masters, but once Admiral Gives had risen to power, he'd come to stay. In every sense, the Singularity had become his ship, and would permanently be so. There wasn't a crewman aboard who truly doubted that.

There also weren't very many members of the crew that believed any of the charges against Admiral Gives were legitimate. Most of them had taken assignment to the Singularity out of desperation, but after serving here, there was no denying that most of them had become loyal to the Admiral. Despite the rumors of his cruelty and indifference, the Admiral respected them, and in turn, they respected him enough to follow his orders mostly without question.

When the Admiral arrived, the observation deck was mostly empty. The crew had all headed to their posts, since he'd ordered the ship to Condition Two. However, Amelia was not alone, and it was Ron Parker, dressed in his usual flannel that noticed him first. "Admiral," he greeted, "How's the ship?"

"Fine," the Admiral answered briskly as he approached Amelia with the papers he'd brought from CIC. "Did you sign this document?"

Scrutinizing the marriage contract at point blank range, Amelia had never been more confused. "What the hell? Where did Reeter get this?" He'd tried to force her to sign it, but she never had. And while a few parts of her memory were fuzzy, surely Reeter would have ceased to terrorize her once he had what he had wanted?