2975.358
Confederation Armed Forces Regional Command
Cheyenne, Wyoming
He was sweating. Not because he was afraid for himself. But because so much had been left unresolved before this review. The events outside Mountain Point Academy had left him questioning himself, questioning his own decisions, and as a result, he still had not contacted his own family to tell them what had happened. By now, they had received the old style formal letter of condolence, still a tradition on Terra after thousands of years of military culture.
And right now, Adam Malkovich felt as if it would be wise to send his wife one as well.
"Captain Malkovich, please relate for this panel the events that lead to the destruction of the civilian transport Lusitania's drive engine, and the deaths of two tech staff and three academy cadets."
His mind returned to the present. He stood before a panel of five officers; a general, two admirals, a fleet warrant officer, and the Commandant of Mountain Point. "We had been on a standard training mission in the Rekol system when we picked up a distress beacon from the Lusitania." Adam looked over the panel as he relayed his recollection of the incident. "After confirming new mission parameters, we proceeded on course to intercept the Lusitania and begin rescue and repair operations, standard procedure for any ship able to render assistance."
"I will confirm that permission was given for Captain Malkovich to proceed," the Commandant added as she gave a knowing nod to the young Captain. "Enough standard operations such as this had been practiced by the class he was instructing, and I saw no danger."
The head of the panel, Admiral Castor Dane, nodded slowly. "So noted. The data log from the Vixiv flight records shows that the drive section was suffering from a breach in the main thermal oscillation unit. Your orders, as shown, were for three Cadets to accompany two of the Vixiv's own engineering crew into the drive section and assist in repair efforts. One of these cadets was your own younger brother, Cadet First Lieutenant Ian Malkovich."
"All of that is correct, sir."
Dane sighed as he continued to read over the flight logs. "After successful entry to the thermal oscillation unit, your engineering crew and the cadets began efforts to disengage the main engines, thus reducing thermal build up, but the main engines instead began to overheat."
A simple nod. There was nothing else to really say when the facts were present. "That is correct, sir. We were unsure as to why the drive unit began to overheat, but our engineers attempted to shut the engines down manually."
"At which time, Warrant Officer Devereaux reported that there was a breakdown of discipline from one of the cadets under your command." General Matheson was the one spoke now, reading from a data padd. "Cadet Lieutenant Junior grade Samus Aran."
"Aran? As in John Aran?" The other Admiral spoke up now, having been content to listen. "Pardon the tangent, Admiral Dane. I thought John Aran and his family were reported as killed in the Pirate attack on K-2L. Is this Cadet Aran-"
"Formerly Cadet Lieutenant." Dane gave a sigh as he noted the look on Malkovich's face. A small shake of his head. "Miss Aran had survived the attack and was found by a trade ship that responded to the colony SOS. One of the crew took her in until they were able to match her records and brought her to Terra a few years ago. Out of respect for her father, I sponsored her admission to the Mountain Point Academy." After allowing a moment, Admiral Dane gestured for General Matheson to continue.
"Captain Malkovich, for the record, what happened with Cadet Aran?"
He hesitated. Unsure what he should say. But he had to say something. "Cadet Aran requested permission to enter the drive section in order to attempt a rescue. I was, truthfully, tempted to grant it, but I realized that there may not have been time to allow her the chance."
Devereaux made a motion, calling attention to herself. "Admiral, I must add an observation of mine that I left out of my own report." She waited for the nod from Dane before continuing. "Captain Malkovich, I noticed that during this, you seem to have, for lack of a better word, locked up. Almost with fear. If I am incorrect in this assessment, then please, correct me."
"Your assessment would be correct, ma'am." Adam lowered his head slightly with his admission. He knew that this would be the nail in the coffin of this review for him. "Cadet Malkovich is-" The Captain paused, correcting himself. It still hurt. "Sorry...was my little brother. To say I wasn't affected by the position of seeing him in danger would be lying."
"And I presume, based on what I observed, that Cadet Aran was similarly affected by such worries." Warrant Officer Devereaux paused a moment, glancing over to Admiral Dane. "When Captain Malkovich didn't respond to Cadet Aran's request, she seemed to get very agitated, particularly over Cadet Malkovich's safety."
"That's when I gave the order to lock off the drive section and detach the Lusitania so that we could we could protect the passengers and crew." His eyes shifted between the members of the review panel. His career was probably over, but he was at least going to go out an honest man. "When she continued to request permission, I had to make it clear I was not going to give it. That's when she moved to defy orders and attempt a rescue anyway, so I ordered her to be restrained, for her own safety."
"And yet it took four grown men twice her size to restrain and hold her to the deck when she fought back."
His heart skipped a beat. That detail, he'd hoped to leave out, but Devereaux had remembered it. General Matherson was arching a brow, while Admiral Rolf was looking at Dane in confusion. They'd all seen what Samus looked like; a five foot nine blonde girl who weighed no more than a hundred and twenty-five pounds. Solidly built, but for it to take four grown men who clearly had more mass and muscle behind them to pin her down...
"Adrenaline can induce surprising acts, ma'am. And the truth is, Cadet Aran wasn't exactly on platonic terms with my brother, so I understand why she was so adamant to attempt a rescue." He took a breath. He didn't need to worry about repercussions to Samus at this point; she was long gone from Sol-3 by now. But Adam was concerned about one of them asking too many questions that he could not answer.
"Officer Devereaux, we aren't here to address Miss Aran, especially since she has been discharged from the academy." Dane was saving him the trouble of trying to shift the subject back onto the review itself. "Captain, I feel in regards to your own actions, we have enough information. General Matheson and Admiral Rolf will confer with me, and we will inform you soon of our decision. Until then, you are to report for medical evaluation and are placed on psychiatric leave until further notice."
2976.091 – Three months later
Footsteps echoed down the otherwise empty corridor of the command level at Army Headquarters. The source of them, clad in his full dress uniform and hand tucked under his left arm, was Adam Malkovich. The heels of his shoes clicked against the polished floors, and save for one or two occasional aides and office staff passing by, he was alone on his course.
As he made his way to the main offices at the end of the hallway, Captain Malkovich pondered why he had been called up to see the higher ups. It had been three months since the review by an Army committee of the events that led to the deaths of two enlisted engineers and three academy cadets, a panel that had ended with him placed on psychiatric leave, but cleared of any possible fault. It still didn't make him feel any better about the decision he'd made, and the loss of those five. Cleared or not, he still, even after leave and approval to return to duty, felt like it was his fault.
He had arrived. Pressing his uniform jacket down, Adam tapped on the call switch to Admiral Dane's office, now awaiting an answer. He was nervous about this; why had they called him up? Was he being reassigned? But then why the admiralty being involved? Admiral Dane rarely was involved in lower level administration. Had they reviewed the accident and decided they had ruled too softly the first time?
The door slid open, allowing Adam entry. With a small gulp, the young captain stepped in and took a seat as the android secretary indicated. He was early, he realized as he checked the time.
"Captain Malkovich," the android stated as it looked up from its station. Adam almost jumped at the monotone sound of its voice. "Admirals Dane, Torwyn, and Richards will see you now."
The heads of the fifth fleet and special operations were here as well? What did he do this time? Adam breathed in, more nervous than ever, as he picked up his cap and nodded while heading in as instructed. Why would three of the heads of the fleets and operations be wanting him there? Maybe they really had changed their minds about letting him off the hook for the accident.
A pause at the door, just before it opened. The three admirals were talking still, Dane seated while Torwyn and Richards were both standing. It took a moment before Admiral Dane glanced over and noticed the young captain. "Ah, speaking of...come in and sit, Captain. We have a lot to talk about."
Malkovich nodded as he took a seat across from the three, setting his cap in his lap. "I have to admit, sirs, I'm a bit in the dark why I was called here today." A pause. He looked at the three nervously. "Was there a re-evaluation of the accident on the Lusitania?"
Dane was the one who answered that question. "The review on that remains the same, Captain. You made a hard call, but it saved four hundred people, including your own crew and cadets, instead of costing that many." It was then that Dane sighed and leaned back in his own seat before glancing to the other two admirals. "This is regarding other matters. Kromun Pirate activity has been increasing, and we're assigning a specialized task force to handle the matter."
Shifting in his seat, Adam nodded to show his understanding of that, yet he wasn't sure why he was there. Clearly they had been making plans for this task force, but why had he been called to them? Unless... "I'm assuming I'm to be assigned as troop support for this task force."
"Not quite." Torwyn now, an older woman with white hair and a definite old English infliction. She was pursing her lips, looking Malkovich over before leaning forward with a hand on Dane's desk. "You, Captain, would be commanding the lead vessel and her crew, Admiral Dane even recommended you as his best option."
He nearly paled with shock. Not a revisiting of the Lusitania accident, but they were assigning him command of...a ship? "Sirs, ma'am...I'm not-"
"We also intend to transfer your branch status and promote you to the rank of Commander, as is better befitting such a new position."
He wasn't sure how he was still sitting. The shock of being told he was to join as an officer of command in this new task force was enough to make his head spin. But a divisions transfer and a two rank grade promotion on top of that, after he had just been cleared for duty again following what had happened with the Lusitania. It also hung over him that someone would not approve of this. "I'm...not sure how-"
"We'll be making everything official at the announcement to the media in two weeks," Dane stated as he stood up. "Until then, you are on leave while we get your transfers finished up and assign crews." The old admiral gave a grin as he watched Adam jump to his feet, then held his hand out to the young Army Captain. "Congratulations, Commander Malkovich."
He was still speechless even as he accepted the proffered gesture, his mind trying to process everything and catch up. Adam had not expected any of this when he'd been called to this meeting; he'd expected a total dress down of what had gone wrong oh the Lusitania, demotion, reassignment to a backwater...but not the lead ship of a task force under his command.
"By the way," Admiral Dane continued, now pulling Adam aside while the other admirals departed. "I know this is probably a sore subject, but have you heard from Samus since everything?"
Dane was right; that was still a sore spot, as it brought back everything, including things that had been unsaid because of the accident. "No one has seen her in months," Adam reluctantly admitted. He tucked his officer's cap under his arm even as he sighed. "She and I didn't exactly part on the best of terms, and I can't honestly blame her." Another pause as he lowered his gaze to the ground. "My parents weren't exactly very happy that she took everything so hard, after what was going on with Ian."
"Aye, he told me before you all went on that training mission." Dane gave a resound sigh of his own, then patted Adam on the shoulder before leading him to the office door. "Give her time, Adam. When she's healed the worst of these wounds, she'll come back. Just be there to support her."