On the Roster - Chapter 2

The duct was small, but she could fit enough to crawl. And that was good enough for her. She went slowly, careful to remain silent. The lieutenant’s office should be near. It was much hotter in the ducts than she would have thought, and sweat was starting to bead on her forehead.

As she crept forward, the sound of voices got louder. It was the lieutenant. And a few other voices she couldn’t place yet.

But she did recognize a handful of names. Gotta understand the selection process. Maybe she’d be able to leverage the insider knowledge and be selected for the next one.

As she turned the corner in the ductwork, suddenly the words became clearer.

“Yes, but his marksmanship was only average.”

“True.”

“Do you think they’ll need to shoot?”

“I suspect not. This should be a routine in and out.”

“Who else do you think?”

“She’s been around a while, a think she’s earned a shot.”

There were a few other voices now. Maybe four … or five? Four. One of them was eating, and so sounded different when there was food in his mouth.

“Him?”

“Discipline issues.”

“The new girl?”

Was that her? She could think of two more who had arrived since her, but they were both men.

“She’s a hell of a flyer.”

“Both craft have pilots selected already.”

“I’m not sure about her attention to detail.”

“I had the same thought initially, but she seems sharp.” That was the lieutenant’s voice. “Let’s give her a few more months just so we know what we’re dealing with.”

A few more months?? She was going to die of boredom. She couldn’t possibly spend more time in the flight sims.

They spoke of a few others, but nothing jumped out at her.

“Okay officers, it’s 2100 ship time. Bridge informs me we’ll expect to translate back to real space in a few hours, and be ready at the extraction point by 0500. I suggest we get some sleep. We’ll see you on deck at 0400.”

Murmers of assent. Then the sound of the hatch opening and then sliding shut.

A few months. “Emperor’s blue balls, I’m going to die of boredom.”

This wouldn’t do. She slowly crawled forward. Something pulled on her sleeve. She tugged, and felt the fabric of her sleeve give.

“Emperor’s throne,” she muttered. At least she was still wearing her cleaner’s frock from this afternoon’s duty.

She approached the grill and peered in. The room was lit dimly by blue emergency lumens in the corner. They were all over the ship except for personal quarters. The room was largely silent and still, except for the soft hum of cogitator fans, and blinking lights.

Using the screw driver she’d been carrying in her mouth, she gently but insistently pried open the grill. Twisting it and bringing it into the duct, she placed it on the other side of the hole. She wriggled her head, arms and shoulders through the hole, twisted, grabbed the lip, and carefully — her entire body tense with the effort — levered herself until her entire body was in the room. Let’s see her brother do that, she thought. Cowardly fop.

When she was hanging free and clear, she let herself drop to the floor.

The room was dominated by a massive board opposite her. It took up the whole wall. The office also had a small desk in the corner, and a set of drawers, on the far side. The only thing she noticed was a pict on the desk of the lieutenant with a bunch of other people, all in civilian clothes.

The board was covered in mug-shots of soldiers, each pict captioned with the name and rank of the soldier. In the centre at the top were two words - Voidstalker and Blue Spider, the ship’s two atmospheric landers. Under each was a vertical line of soldiers - their photos and names. She recognized most of them. Each list had one officer, one leading voidsman, and 5 regular voidsmen.

She scanned the list of voidsmen. Ensign B Festerwel commanded the Voidstalker and and Petty Officer J Krushank the Blue Spider. And she recognized the pilots — Voidsman C Varro and Leading Voidsman H Gundersmal were both pretty good. Flight sim scores almost as high as hers.

But one name jumped out at her: Voidsman K Haverton on the Voidstalker.

Kimber Haverton. Kiri had met her. She’d been around for about a year. A little heavy set, brown hair usually held back in a simple tie. Quiet and competent. There wasn’t much separating the names Voidsman K Haverton and Voidsman K Havelock.

Hmmm.

Wait - are those footsteps?

Suddenly she heard the beep of a pass being accepted, and the servo door started to hiss open.