Disclaimer
Macross is owned by or licensed to lots of people - Tatsunoko Studios, Harmony Gold, Studio Nue, Streamline Video...note that none of them are me.
The same can be said of Ranma 1/2 - Rumiko Takahashi, Kitty, Shonen Sunday Comics, Viz Video. Not me.
I didn't create any of them, and I certainly do not own them. Any use of them in this story is meant as nothing more than tribute. Please don't sue me.
Wednesday's Child
Eleven: Compromises
September 23, 2009
There was a knock at the apartment door. Tendo Nabiki looked up from her tea.
"Who the heck...Kirika? Chloe? Maybe even Ranma?"
She stood up, and walked over to the door. It was equipped with a fish-eye lens, and she made use of it. The man standing on the other side was unknown to her, but he was dressed in the blue-on-black of the UN Spacy's Intelligence Directorate and had a brown manila envelope under one arm.
"Well, nothing ventured..." She unlocked the door and opened it.
"Miss Tendo?"
"That's me." She smiled coolly. "And how can I be of assistance to you?"
"You're the head of Tennasaono Security. Is this correct?"
"You should already know the answer to that, since you hired me." She narrowed her eyes. "So how can I help you?"
"I'm here to offer you a job." He held out the envelope. "We find ourselves short-staffed on the Intelligence front, and since we are facing an alien adversary, one about whom we know precious little--"
She'd already unsealed the envelope, and was examining the contents. "Full access to intelligence take, provided I sign a non-disclosure and upgrade my security clearance. Costly. Compensation seems a bit low, as well." She looked up. "This is not a job offer. It's a badly-written insult."
"Miss Tendo, your background suggests that intel analysis is--"
"My background does indeed suggest that. And for excellent reason." She tucked the document back into the envelope. "It also suggests that my time is not cheap."
"Miss, I'm just the messenger." He looked a bit nervous. "I'm not empowered to--"
"Easily fixed." She allowed a bit of ice to creep into her voice. "And do not call me 'Miss'. 'Tendo' will suffice."
"As you wish, Tendo."
"Right, then. Let's go talk to your boss."
"Shoppin' ain't fun."
Misa put on her best pout. "Please, Ranma? I'll make it up to you somehow."
Ranma shook his head. "No way. Look, Misa, I know I agreed to spend some time with you - now that I actually have some furlough - but I figured it'd be somethin' we both enjoy. And you know I hate shoppin'."
Misa sighed. "Okay, Ranma. Tell you what. We can compromise on this, right?"
Ranma paused. "I dunno. Never heard of any compromise that made both people feel all right about doin' it."
"Well, hear me out on this one, then I'll abide by your choice, whatever it might be." She paused. "Whether or not you like shopping, I do, and there are some things that I just need to pick up. And there must be a few things that you're getting low on as well."
"Maybe," he allowed guardedly.
"So shopping doesn't need to take very long. After that, we can go do something you like."
"Like what?" He tilted his head. "I know you ain't gonna be willin' ta spar, even though you could probably use the exercise--"
"Are you saying I'm fat?"
He raised his hands. "No!"
"Or out of shape?"
"It ain't nothin' like that." He scowled. "But ya could use more exercise. You're barely tappin' the potential of what your body could do. You could be a good martial artist, possibly even a great one."
Misa chuckled. "Okay, I'll grant you that. But even were I willing to spar, you'd not get any enjoyment out of it. Because right now, I'm no kind of martial artist."
"You've gone through Basic. So you have some trainin' in Tae Kwan Do."
"Oh, a whole week." She smirked. "I couldn't possibly put up with your idea of 'fun.' You'd break me too easily."
"You're sellin' yourself short, Misa," said Ranma. "Sure, you aren't as well trained as your average Marine, but you ain't helpless. And I could train you up."
Misa paused, then nodded. "Okay, I'll take you up on that."
Ranma blinked. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, sure." Misa chuckled. "You're a martial arts master, but you've got no students."
"I ain't licensed to teach the Family Art," said Ranma. "Or any Art, really."
"I can have the Captain draft you up a license," said Misa. "At the very least, you could teach Tae Kwan Do."
Ranma considered this slowly. "Well. Trainin' to be a sensei was what I did for the first eighteen years...why not?" He pointed a finger at her. "And you get to be my first student. Fair deal?"
"Ah...Sure." She was suddenly uncertain that this was a wise plan.
"But that won't be today. I need to consider a course of study."
"Okay. So aside from martial arts, what else do you enjoy?"
He opened his mouth, and paused. "Ya know, I don't really got any idea."
"Sports?"
He shook his head. "Borin'."
"Music?"
"I like music," he admitted. "But I can't sing in my guy form, and I don't like singin' in my girl form. And just sittin' around listenin' to records is somethin' we can do any time."
"Food?"
He snorted. "Love it. Love cookin' it, love eatin' it. But my poor excuse for a father never instilled much in the way of table manners in me, and I generally get asked never to come back to restaurants because of it."
"Work with me here, Saotome!" Misa threw up her hands. "There's no movie theatre here yet, no mini golf course--hell, the only entertainment on this boat to date is the White Dragon and the gym."
"Why is that?" he mused.
"Because survival comes first."
"But those people down in the hold are now pretty much officially survived," he rebutted. "They got their needs taken care of now, so they'd naturally try to get some entertainment goin' next."
"There's also the rebuilding," pointed out Misa. "We had the town three-quarters of the way built, and then it got wrecked again."
The unplanned hyperspace fold had wreaked havoc on the ship's systems. The fold device itself had simply vanished; not even Dr. Lang had any theories, or even wild-ass guesses, as to where it went, or why. But worse, when it left, it took a section of power conduit with it. The conduit in question had carried power to the main gun.
They'd had some spare conduit aboard, but not enough to replace the missing section. And the factories on the ship were good, but could not apparently produce this type of conduit. He wasn't sure if it was a size issue, as the conduits were big, or some quality they had that the factories couldn't make them, but it didn't matter in the final analysis. They needed them, and they couldn't make them.
Dr. Lang had come up with an alternate solution. The ship was composed of nine segments, linked together. Lang theorized that the ship was a modular design, allowing the designers to select required segments, bolt them together and then call the result a ship. But those components could be moved, rearranging the entire ship and bringing the main gun closer to the powerplant. Thus avoiding the need for the conduit.
The reconfiguration of the ship had its drawbacks, though. Certain areas were briefly exposed to vacuum, making them unhealthy to be in. And the cargo hold spanned three separate segments. This had not been taken into consideration when the city had been rebuilt in the hold. The modular transformation also robbed the ship's main thrusters of power; the ship had to return to its original configuration before it could accelerate.
So Global had rejected the idea, sent Lang back to the drawing board. But as luck would have it - the sort of luck this ship seemed to enjoy - the Zentraedi had finally caught up with them. An enemy cruiser had attacked, and Global had had no choice but to order the modular transformation.
The city had been laid waste.
They were rebuilding it again; the people of Macross City were starting to develop a bit of a fatalistic attitude. This time, it was being built with the transformation aforethought.
"Ranma?"
He shook his head, realizing that he'd been woolgathering. "Sorry, Misa. Look, the people down there are gettin' grumpy, right?"
She nodded. "That is, at best, an understatement."
"What's the Captain doin' about it?"
"The Captain?" Misa laughed. "He's got his hands full trying to deal with the enemy. Keeping the civvies happy isn't in his job description."
"Then whose is it?"
"Uhhh..." Misa paused. "Come to think of it, I don't know. I imagine it'd be the mayor."
"Like it or not, Misa, we've got these guys on our ship, and we need to be certain of their TO&E." Ranma paused. "Aside from shoppin', what do you enjoy doin'?"
She smiled slightly. "Swimming - you remember that, of course."
"I remember it went hand in hand with that shoppin' crap."
"Picnics, reading, movies...all either not really possible on this ship, or something that, as you said, we can do any time." She made a face. "Neither of us seem to be experts on fun."
"Not that, really. It's that we're both innerverts, or whatever ya call 'em."
She laughed. "Introverts."
"Yeah. Pair of 'em. What we find fun ain't somethin' that others would agree with. And usually don't involve more than one other person."
"We're both supposed to be off duty, too." Misa grimaced again. "And here we are, discussing things that would be considered work."
"Completely unreasonable." She looked down at the document again, then back up at Maistrov. "I'd expect better from the Macross' G2 department head."
"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, Tendo." He leaned back in his chair, a hint of a smile playing across his features. "Why don't you make me a counter-proposal?"
"Certainly. Pay on par with a Commander of UN Spacy. You cover the costs of my security clearance upgrade. Access to sources, in addition to take. And you hire Kirika, Chloe and Yasmina in addition to myself, with pay equal to a Lieutenant of UN Spacy." She crossed her arms. "Certainly, that's not unreasonable, considering both my skills and the level of work you'll have me doing."
"Your credentials could possibly swing your demands for yourself. Why the other three girls?"
"In addition to security and protective detail, Tennasaono also does intel gathering and analysis. Never selling it, since that would compromise our reputation for reliability." She smiled tightly. "But we do like to know about our employers, so that we may, if needed...terminate the contract. Kirika is my best intel analysis girl, and both Chloe and Yasmina have done some of that work, as well as intel gathering."
"All right, that makes sense." Maistrov scowled, but Nabiki could see through that.
He's not unhappy about the conditions at all...what's his angle?
"Unfortunately, there's no way we can cover all of that." Maistrov stood up, walked over to his office window. "There's just no money in the budget. In addition to your team, we need to recruit some officers, probably from the Valkyrie squadrons."
Ah, that's his angle. Well, we'll play along for now...
"Why do you need officers, in addition to us?"
"It's a matter of reliability and accountability," he said. "Much of the data you'll be viewing would be highly classified, especially if you want us to reveal sources in addition to take. Therefore, we'd need sworn officers to act as watchdogs."
"And can't said officers do the intel analysis as well?"
"In an ideal world, said officers would indeed do that work. Unfortunately, we've got no-one available with the background to do the work." He looked down. "Intel analysis is as much an art as a science, and we don't have the artists in our available pool of talent. That's why we need you, Tendo."
Can I work this to my advantage? Or would simply jumping in work well enough for us?
"All right, Maistrov. I think I have a compromise for you. Of course, I'll need to talk to my girls before anything's signed in blood."
He turned back to her. "What do you have in mind?"
In the end, they'd decided on dinner. After, of course, the shopping.
"Razor blades, pit stick, toothpaste, and the only shampoo to be found with no fragrance." Misa chuckled. "How the hell did I ever mistake you for a female?"
"We were shoppin' for swimsuits," Ranma chuckled. "Can't really wear a guy's suit when I go swimmin'."
"Why?" She had a hint of mischief in her eye. "Afraid that the other guys will complain?"
"More like I'm afraid they won't."
"Hey, Lieutenant!"
They turned, to see Kim, Shammy and Vanessa approaching. Ranma rolled his eyes.
"Great." He glanced at Misa. "They know about my...little condition?"
Misa shook her head. "I don't think so, no. Not unless Claudia told them."
"Lieutenant Hayase." Kim was grinning. "We just came across a sale at..." She trailed off, glanced pointedly at Ranma, and said, "Well, that little store two blocks down that you mentioned. You said you needed some...things from there, and--"
Misa blushed slightly. "Yes. Thank you ever so much for mentioning that just now."
Shammy leered at Ranma. "So this is the guy you're dating?"
"We're not dating!" Both Lieutenants had their hands up. Misa continued. "It's just a nasty rumour being circulated by Lieutenant LaSalle."
"Sure."
"Misa and I are old friends," said Ranma. "We've never dated, don't intend to start. Got it?"
"Protests just a bit too much, doesn't he?" Vanessa giggled.
"Anyway, Misa, they're on sale, and I think Lieutenant Saotome won't want to be there for it. Sorry for asking, Lieutenant--" Kim didn't look very sorry. "--But could we borrow her for about twenty minutes?"
Ranma made a show of examining his watch. "Starting...now. Okay."
"Sorry, Ranma. Be back as soon as I can." She dumped her armload of toiletries and foodstuffs into his arms, and tucked a banknote between two of his fingers. "Be a doll and ring those out for me?"
"Yeah, go ahead." He chuckled. "I'll be across the road from that shop they don't wanna mention in about fifteen minutes."
Misa blushed a bit darker. "You..."
"Not stupid." He grinned. "Go on. I'll catch up."
Ranma leaned back against a store-front - not against the glass, his luck was rotten and it would probably break on him. He checked his watch. They'd said twenty minutes, and while they were off-duty, they were still military, so they had about five minutes left. Mentally, he made it six, since one of the three would make a crack about Misa getting back to her "boyfriend", and Misa would then spend some time denying.
Honestly, would it be such a bad thing? he mused. I mean, Misa's pretty, she's nice, we've spent some good quality time together. Ten years is a long damn time...
But as long as they'd known each other, she'd never made any hint of having any romantic feelings for him. And he was far from certain about his own feelings for her.
She's nice, I'm attracted to her, I like spending time with her...but there ain't that spark, like I felt with Akane. Maybe it's because I'm older now. Like I said, ten years is a long damn time.
He'd made the mistake, with Akane, of not being her friend first. They'd gotten past that, managed to work things out, though he wished like hell that they'd worked it out a lot earlier. Misa was already his friend.
I ain't gonna chase her. I'm still too uncertain about how I feel. But if she decides she wants more, if she tells me she's interested in goin' further, I'll...keep an open mind.
"So seriously, Misa. Why aren't you and Lieutenant Saotome dating?" asked Kim.
"Yeah," added Vanessa. "I can't imagine any girl letting a gorgeous hunk like that get away from her."
Misa scowled at them. "That would be a perfect example of not your business."
Shammy turned towards the other three, and said, "Misa, we all three know that your personal life is none of our business. But we like to think we're you're friends."
"I like to think that, too." Misa's scowl faded to a smile.
"And it's obvious to anyone who's watched you two that you and Lieutenant Saotome do have feelings towards each other," continued Shammy. "We just want you to be happy."
"But he--" She bit down on the argument she'd used for so long. "I don't think that he wants anything more than a friend. He's not had very many friends, and most of them he doesn't get to see." She looked down. "Edgar is off somewhere on Earth. So is Ryouga...and I'm not certain that he considers Ryouga a proper friend. Aside from me, the only two other friends he has are Roy and Claudia...and they're sort of a matched set."
"Really?" Kim looked saddened. "But he's such a nice guy. Why doesn't he have more friends?"
"He's a very private person," she said. "Most people are somewhat intimidated by his manner, and if he doesn't trust you completely, he won't open up to you. You have to make the effort, but it's worth it." She smiled softly. "He is a very good friend, loyal to a fault. And once he decides that he can trust you, he's willing to put up with an awful lot."
"So how do you really feel about him?" asked Shammy.
"I...I don't really know," she admitted. "I like him a lot...I trust him...but I don't know how he feels. And he's said so often that he just wants to be friends--"
"So do you," chuckled Vanessa. "And it's become a knee-jerk reaction to spit that out."
"If he gives you any kind of opening, Misa, I think you should take it." Shammy smiled at her. "Even if you two decide it's not going to work, I think you're good enough friends not to let it interfere with that."
"Maybe," she allowed. "I suppose that...if he wants to take it further, which I think unlikely, then I'll consider it. You're probably right, Shammy. Even if it's an unqualified disaster, we should be able to see it coming, and stay friends."
He checked his watch again. Man, they must be havin' a real chin-wag. Doesn't bode well for me.
The familiar splash, the familiar shift, and she winced. Smells like Coke this time.
"Hi, Ranma!"
"Hi, Minmay." She sighed. "Listen, don't use pop, okay? It takes forever to wash the smell outta my hair."
"Sorry." She giggled. "Why you just standing here?"
"I'm waiting for Misa. She's in the woman's clothing store across the way there, and I didn't feel like gettin' my head bashed in."
"You could go in now."
She shook her head. "I'm still a guy, and I'd feel uncomfortable as hell goin' in there."
"You don't look like a guy."
She sighed. The girl was such an airhead at times. "So did you come all the way out here just ta pester me?"
"Hikaru's picking up some manga, and I got bored watching him go through every box in there." She pouted. "We're supposed to be doing something I like, since he just got his sign-up bonus--"
"Whoa." She held up a hand. "Sign-up? You mean he's joined the UN Spacy?"
"Yes." She giggled again. "He finally got over his hatred of all things military, probably because he got to see what the military's for."
"And what would that be? In your opinion?"
"To protect people, of course," she said. "The purpose of the military is to defend the body of civilians who, in exchange, provide the money needed to support said military. The soldier chooses to do so out of a feeling of civic duty towards the body that he defends."
"Someone's been readin' Heinlein." Inwardly, she was surprised; Minmay was a typical teenager, meaning flighty, bubble-headed and unable to see past her own desires and attitudes. That she should show even that much depth of character was surprising to him. Even if she was just repeating the words of a long-dead science-fiction writer.
"I'm not stupid, you know," she pouted.
Ranma chuckled. "Never said you were. You're just young, and I'm surprised that someone your age has enough focus to read Starship Troopers, and get anything out of it. I was even worse at your age, mind you, so don't think I'm being critical of you."
"Okay." She looked up the street. "And here he comes...I think I need a new dress. What do you think?"
She grinned. "Buy somethin' that shows off your legs."
"Okay. I'm gonna get even with Hikaru, and drag him into that store that you're afraid of."
Ranma bristled. "I ain't afraid. I just got too much respect for women to go in there."
She laughed. "See you later, then."
Ranma watched her run off, and chuckled. But her thoughts turned serious again.
I signed up for revenge. For justice. But I got that, and I'm still here.
Starship Troopers was required reading for the UN Spacy. She'd struggled through the English version, to improve his Basic, but it was written in an older dialect of American. She thought, though, that she'd understood Heinlein's message. And knew why she still served.
Becomin' a citizen requires a change of attitude. UN Spacy doesn't require service to get the vote, but I think Heinlein was right...you don't deserve to call yourself a citizen unless you do somethin' to help the country. Or in my case, the world.
There was a scream from the boutique. Her head jerked up, and she saw Hikaru emerging from it, stumbling and running. She scowled, took two quick steps forward, and collared him.
"Hold on, there, flyboy."
He looked down at her. "Uh...Lieutenant. Sorry, I gotta run--"
"I bet." She dragged him towards the store. "But you ain't gettin' to."
Well, here's a first...I'm headin' towards a crowd of angry women. Willingly.
Misa was in the forefront of the crowd, looking like an angry Valkyrie - either the mythological kind, or the metal kind, it didn't matter. "Good, you caught him. Can we beat him up now?"
Ranma paused. "Ya know, Misa, I'm really tempted to toss him to the wolves. But this sorta crap happened to me a lot when I was his age, and I'd like to get the rest of the story first."
"He was looking up our skirts," said Kim angrily.
"And crawling around the floor in the lingerie department," added Vanessa.
"Anythin' to say in your defense, Corporal Ichigyo?" Ranma scowled up at Hikaru. "Or should I just let 'em wreak some righteous vengeance on ya?"
"I dropped my bags," he said. "And some of Minmay's stuff rolled under a table. I didn't even know what was on the table. I was just trying to get Minmay's stuff back."
"So why did you try looking up my skirt?" asked Misa angrily.
"I wasn't trying to," he protested. "But when you're crawling around trying to grab stuff, and someone damn near steps on your hand, of course you're gonna look up, right?"
Shammy had ducked back into the store; she now emerged, a bag of goods in hand. "Misa, I think he's telling the truth." She held out the bag. "Here's his stuff, and it was under the lingerie table."
"All right," allowed Misa. "Ichigyo, you get to live another day. But if I ever catch you in that store again, you're gonna wish that I'd just killed you now."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Ranma released him, and said, "I'd make yourself scarce, kid."
He nodded, grabbed his bag, and ran off.
Misa turned to the smaller woman. "I can't believe you stood up for him, Ranma."
She shrugged, and said, "Like I said, I've been in that particular situation before. It sucks, when no-one stops to hear you out and just charges in with a mallet. No matter how bad it looks, ya gotta give him a chance to explain his actions. If ya don't buy it, then you can pound him."
"I suppose you're right." Misa sighed. "All right. Shall we go and get something to eat?"
"Sure."
Kim, Shammy and Vanessa watched them walk off, then turned to look at one another. It was Vanessa that broke the silence.
"Did she call her...Ranma?"
"Name tag said Saotome," observed Shammy.
"But...that was certainly not a hunky guy." Kim frowned. "What the heck...?"
"I still wish you'd just let me pound him," grumbled Misa.
"Hey, for once, the kid wasn't bein' stupid," said Ranma. "Not bein' too swift either, but--"
"I suppose." She scowled down at her plate. "But I've already got other beefs with him. He violated restricted airspace on Launch Day. And he openly questioned my fitness to command, due to my gender."
"Whoa." Ranma looked up. "Really?"
"Yes. Said that, and I quote, he couldn't believe Roy would take orders from a woman."
"Now I wish I'd just let you pound him," chuckled Ranma. "But asshole or not, the kid's a gifted pilot. I think we'll be glad he's signed up."
"Perhaps," allowed Misa. "But we've still got a lot of rough edges to file off."
"Give him time." Ranma waved a hand. "You shoulda seen me when I first signed up. Almost got myself kicked out."
"Really?"
"Yeah," he chuckled. "My drill sergeant read me the riot act, after I lipped him off. Wonder how Sarge is doin'?"
"You came up through the JSDF, right?" Misa asked. "Many of our personnell were recruited straight out of there. Perhaps he's aboard."
"Naw. I checked, a few weeks ago. Before Launch Day." Ranma leaned back. "He's probably a warrant officer now, doin' administrative crap at the same boot camp. He just sorta...belonged there. Ya know? A real expert in turnin' untrained monkeys into fighting men."
"You seem to be doing him proud," observed Misa. "Ten years in, mustang officer, fighter pilot, and you're up for promotion review next week."
"I am?"
"Oh, hell. Forget I said that." Misa looked angry at herself. "You're not supposed to know that yet."
"Okay, I'll act surprised," he chuckled. "Actually, I heard from Roy that they were considering a board on me."
"I don't know how far along it is yet," she admitted. "I had to bow out, because of conflict of interest." She toyed with an egg roll. "But I expect that they'll be collaring you just as soon as your furlough is over."
"So noted." He looked up, and his face registered shock. "Nabiki?"
"That's Commander Tendo to you, Lieutenant."
Misa looked up as well, to see Tendo Nabiki, in the blue-on-black uniform of the Intelligence Division. She stood up, and snapped off a crisp salute.
Nabiki returned it, somewhat sloppily. "Good to see you again, Misa."
"Same here, Ma'am."
"Oh, calm down, the pair of you." She chuckled, removed her cap, and sat at the table. "Is this a private party, or can I join in?"
"Of course, you're welcome to join," said Misa. "After all, you outrank the pair of us taken together."
"Yeah, how did ya swing that, Nabs?"
"Don't call me that. As to the rank, I was lucky; they had an opening for a Commander."
Misa nodded. "Intel doesn't seem to work under the same rules as the rest of the outfit."
"So your rank is kinda bogus?"
"In a way," she admitted. "But there's no-one in the Intel department with a rank less than Lieutenant - and only three with that rank. My girls." She flagged down the waitress. "Coffee, black, please. But the rank is real in many ways," she continued. "I can pull rank within the Intel division, I get the pay of a Commander, and I get some of the perks of the rank as well."
Ranma snickered. "They tell ya that ya still gotta go through Basic?"
"Oh, shit."
September 30th, 2009
Ranma stood rigidly at attention before the five officers. Captain Global was president of the promotion board, and Warrant Vasiliy Rossikov, the lowest-ranking officer of the Jolly Rogers, was also present.
UN Spacy required three officers to sit a promotion board for any rank of Flight Lieutenant or higher, and requested and preferred five. For a Commander or higher, five were required. Since Ranma was bucking for Squadron Lieutenant, three were permitted, but since five were available, that was what he faced.
"That concludes our coverage of the Battle of the Misfold." Maistrov closed his dossier. "Captain Global, your selection?"
Global's rank was V-8, which made him a Colonel. But as the ship's master, he was the only officer aboard permitted to carry the title of Captain. He opened his folder, and cleared his throat.
"I have chosen the recon patrol of September ninth."
Ranma froze.
"According to communications logs, Lieutenant Saotome suffered a navigational failure which caused his Valkyrie to execute an unscheduled burn. Once he regained control of the Valkyrie and recovered from the burn, he found himself in the neighbourhood of Shelter Seventeen, which was beyond the reach of our recovery shuttles." He paused, turned the page. "He dismounted his Valkyrie and conducted a leg reconnaissance of the shelter, discovering one civilian survivor and recovering her from the shelter at great personal risk."
Maistrov nodded. "Tendo Nabiki. She works for us now."
"I do have two questions concerning this mission. First, Lieutenant, why did you willingly expose yourself to vacuum?"
"Sir. I felt that, due to my intense physical training, I could survive the exposure, provided it was brief. But the civilian did not have that physical training, and would have, at the very least, suffered extreme decompression sickness."
Global nodded. "Fair enough. And the second question: Who do you think you're kidding?"
"Sir?" Ranma knew exactly what Global meant, but decided that playing dumb was a better choice. At least, until he had a little more room to maneuver.
"An unplanned, unscheduled burn that just happened to put you in the near vicinity of a shelter. One that our shuttles could not reach. Your courage is commendable, Lieutenant, but why did you not simply request permission to undertake the mission?"
"Sir, I felt that permission to undertake the mission would not be forthcoming. So rather than put myself in a position where I felt I had to violate an order, I chose instead to engineer conditions so that I would be in a position to perform the recon without orders."
"And the fact that your sister-in-law was aboard that shelter was in no way part of your decision?"
He'd anticipated that this question might come up. "At the time, Sir, I had no information that she was aboard the shelter. I knew only that she was missing, did not leave the island, and that one shelter had not been searched. Other people were missing as well; the possibility that someone would be in that shelter was high."
"If it had not been your sister-in-law, would you still have exposed yourself to vacuum to save the person in question?"
An easy question. "Yes, Sir."
"Why?"
"Because savin' people is our job, Sir. Protectin' them, really, but savin' 'em is right up there in my book."
"And what if there had been more people in that shelter. Even two would have made it impossible to save both, yes?" He cocked his head. "What then?"
"I woulda found a way. Set up a shuttle relay, maybe. Once they were found, someone woulda made it possible."
"Suppose it wasn't." Global leaned forward. "Suppose you found Tendo, and a stranger to you. Who would you have saved?"
"I suppose...I woulda tried for both. Maybe a second flight--"
"Assume it isn't possible. One only. Which one?"
He'd dreaded that question. But there was only one answer.
"Tendo, Sir."
"Why?"
"Because she's my sister."
There was a pause, and Global closed the file. "No further questions. Lieutenant Saotome, please step outside. I'm sure you are aware of this, but regulations require me to remind you that the decision to promote must be unanimous among the board members."
Well, Flight Lieutenant ain't such a bad rank, he mused. He saluted the board, turned and marched through the hatch.
He had been waiting for perhaps five minutes when the hatch opened, and Rossikov stepped through.
"Lieutenant Saotome, the board requests your presence."
Here we go. He donned his cap, followed Rossikov into the compartment. He stopped at the ready line, waited for Rossikov to rejoin the other board members, then saluted the board.
Captain Global returned the salute, and the board members took their seats. Global cleared his throat.
"It is the decision of this board that Flight Lieutenant Saotome Ranma, having been judged worthy by a board composed of his fellow officers--"
YES!
"--shall be elevated to the rank of Squadron Lieutenant. This promotion shall be made immediate, with all responsibilities and priveledges attending thereto. Lieutenant Saotome, do you accept this board's findings?"
"Yes, Sir." Like you need to ask!
"The duty officer shall so note and make distribution to all relevant parties. I shall officially note the promotion in the ship's logs." He paused. "Squadron Lieutenant Saotome, I request and require that you report to Captain's Mast at thirteen hundred tomorrow, to discuss the events of September ninth."
Crap.
