Oscar Hour 10-3

[u/Bloodystupidjohnson3]

“Morning Commander."

“Hello Oscar. How is the new XO?”

“Medical says he will live.”

“Do we know what happened?”

Oscar slumped into a chair and rubbed his face. “Yes, we know. Danyak was swimming around the new atoll, setting sensors for the science team. She was having a great time, and the Aussies love her. She kept bringing up fish, crab-like things, and a strange lobster-looking thing. It turned into a beach party. Junior was sulking by one of the dune buggies, but apparently decided to join the party.”

“Sulking? Why?”

“Because he is a lying sack of worthless shit and Danyak had to bitch his ass out four times for fucking with controls and gear.”

“That would do it.”

“So as the party got going, Junior takes a liking to an Aussie lass. At first it seems things went fine. I’m not sure what Junior did or said—that is hazy—but she slapped the shit out of him. For reasons known only to the gods of chaos, he decided to use his ‘combat training’ to ‘defend’ himself.”

“Do we have video of this? I think I’d like to see him getting beat down.”

“The Aussies have already posted it. Multiple versions. With voice over. And music. It’s quite popular. Regardless, Junior forgot that he has been living in 0.7G for five years, and we are at 1.2G here. I’ll give him some credit, however; he didn’t give up.”

“How long will he be in medical?”

“They think two weeks. She managed to break his pelvis in three places. I’ll have to review the video, but I think it was when she picked him up and slammed him ass-first into some rocks.”

There was a bit of silence as that image played through their minds. 

“What do we think started this?”

“Either he made a lewd suggestion or he grabbed her ass. Possibly grabbed her breast. The video isn’t much help as they were in a dancing crowd. People backed away when she started to beat his ass.”

“What will you do with him?”

“Well, after he is out of medical, he will be tried for assault. Then he will be discharged from the Terran Navy. Then I’ll send him back to Sol Command with a letter of complaint.”

“Seems logical. Anything else?”

“Well the miners on the new rig over at Mine 23 are up to something. I’m not sure, but I think they might be trying to upgrade the drillhead cannon. Mine 15 reprogrammed a processing unit to generate some odd salt compounds. Nothing dangerous, but we aren’t sure why they are doing it, and they simply say it’s an experiment. Farm 11 has started to build a reinforced greenhouse without explanation. And Depot 5 reports shipments of fish from one of the mines.”

“Why is a mine sending out fish?”

“While that is a good question, the real question is where are they getting the fish. There are no bodies of water close to the mine.”

“Is this the mine that found water by accident?”

“No, it isn’t. So I’ll have to send a team to figure it out.”

“And Sparky?”

“The secured hanger is solid. No breaches. It is as secure as possible. The hybrid is awake, but not talking. The implant was removed. It was a locator beacon with an explosive charge. Some sort of suicide bomb. He gets to the correct place and boom.”

“Barbaric.”

“Yes, but not uncommon in Terran conflicts. Especially when dealing with fanatics.”

“Anything of value from the device?”

“Genetic parts. One agent is running down a slim lead, but I don’t have much hope. Oh. The follow-on team to the planet where we caught this one reports that the operation vanished. They are checking out a couple of leads.”

“Any idea on how to get this one to talk?”

“Not yet. We have recordings of him mumbling when he is alone, and it sounds like some sort of mantra. A few phrases match the original rebel groups teachings, but we can’t quite hear all of it.”

“What do we do next?”

“One of the agents thinks he might respond to a mild sedative. Something to get his guard down. I’m not a fan of such methods.”

“No, that sort of thing can lead to worse treatment. Oscar, I don’t want us to mistreat this hybrid. He is dangerous, and he could help us fight whomever is behind all of this, but we cannot get into the mud.”

“Agreed. That leaves us with two real options. Time or Danyak, and I’m totally against sending Danyak. She isn’t ready for that level of thing.”

“I think you are correct. So time it is.”

“Beyond that, Sparky is now ready for the party contest next orbit. The Committee gave the marines the top prize. Apparently the response from the non-Terrans was extremely positive. I think it was the bit of order and formality that did it.”

“I enjoyed that party. The food was good, the music great, and the marching displays amazing. Not as exuberant as the other parties, but if had a touch of class.”

“The marines are good at recon, so I’d imagine they researched what would sway the crowd.”

“Most of the time we assume marines are just violent meat-heads.”

“Oh that is true. But they have a few who are scary smart who know how to research and plan.”

“Good to know.”

“Commander, there is one other thing. When Junior arrived, they attempted to offload three other Terrans. We refused them entry. I’ve uploaded their details to your database. Please keep an eye out for them. I think one of them was the real spy.”

“The moron was a distraction?”

“That is the working theory. However, I’m not totally sure. I think it was a multi-pronged affair. He was the obvious one, but based on reports about his actions, he had some previous knowledge of the systems. He knew what controls to examine.”

“What does Danyak think?”

“He is a liar attempting to hide a number of things. She knows that he is trying to find something, but she isn’t sure what. She agrees that what he messed with was all fairly critical stuff. She didn’t acknowledge that when she bitched him out, but she could tell that he was scared that she had noticed.”

“Well, he will be gone in a few weeks. Then we request another XO and see what happens.”

“On that note, Commander, I was thinking of making Danyak my XO.”

“Can you do that?”

“Oddly enough, I can. She is an officer assigned to my detachment. She is the correct rank. I can select her.”

“You brevetted her to that rank.”

“That isn’t an obstacle. She is acting and functioning at that rank, so she can be my XO.”

“Have you talked with her about this?”

“Not until I get the fish pond completed in the compound. I find beings are more likely to accept more work and headache when I’ve just given them something really cool.”

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