Two weeks after the fight in the smoking lounge, Brinus’s new commander sat across from him, watching. His arms were relaxed, and his body was in proper military posture. The commander tapped his stylus on the desk and shook his leg.

  His Commander’s office was the size of a small studio apartment in a large city. It had a solid oak desk with a miniature black powder cannon on top. The wall had five shelves filled with holographic books. His family coat of arms was over the white marble fireplace. The walls were polished mahogany wood-paneled walls in ornamental paneling. The floor was brown ceramic tile.

  Commander Theodore was a 29-year-old, round-faced, green-eyed, red-haired human from Earth with a long and lean build. He was five foot four and just above the minimum height for the navy. He had pale skin and a pink completion.

  The commander looked at Brinus after adjusting his seat. He asked in a firm tone, “Do you understand why you’re here?”

  He looked his commander in the eyes and shrugged, “Yes, sir. It’s ’cause of the fight I got into my first night.”

  He smiled and put his hands behind his head. “You’re right, Stinkball. The official stance of the Navy is that fighting is not allowed.” The commander tapped his fingers on the desk and adjusted his coat. “Are you familiar with Kobchi?”

  Brinus shrugged and replied in a lazy voice, “I’ve heard of it, but don’t know much, sir.”

  Commander Theodore looked at Brinus and made a note on his pad. “Kobchi is a competitive martial art designed to hurt the opponent and do damage without killing the other opponent. It has quite the following and a large competitive league. You could clean the plasma conduits with a toothbrush or join the ship’s fight club.”

  Brinus didn’t even hesitate as he yelled, gripping the arms of the chair tightly, “I’ll take the fight league!” Brinus shuddered at the thought of cleaning plasma conduits with a toothbrush. It would be dirty work that is unpleasant and hard.

  The commander leaned over his desk and smiled sadistically. “If you drop out of the program, your punishment is going to be carried out. I will let the trainer know you are signed up for his program. Dismissed Stinkball.”

  Brinus stepped outside of the office and into the hallway. He didn’t understand why he was being punished, as he only asserted dominance.

  When he was alone in a deserted hallway, he punched a hole in the drywall and screamed. Brinus screamed again. He thought.

  After getting control of himself, he walked away like nothing happened.

  Commander Theodore watched Brinus punch a hole in the wall outside of his office on a camera screen. He rolled his eyes and then began writing up the report for disciplinary action. Technically he could punish but at this point, it would be beating a dead Nerf, pointless and non-productive.

  Thirty minutes later, Captain Plato Had a glass of whisky and an eyedrop vile next to him. The Captain looked at the found Person’s report from the Magi for Brinus. Wondering how to break the news, he stared at the pad screen in disbelief at who Brinus was actually related to.

  There was a knock on the door. “Enter,” yelled the captain over the music playing in the background.

  The Chief Engineer entered. “I just met Brinus. I don’t know if he’ll make a good team member.”

  Captain Plato’s whiskers twitched. “Would you like a drink, Commander Theodore? I put some rage in it for you.”

  Commander Theodore sighed and crossed his arms. “Sir, it isn’t even the high noon watch yet. Shouldn’t you be cutting back?”

  Captain Plato poured the commander a glass anyway and sat back down. “Sit. No doubt you heard about the coup. The third task force has been dispatched to Sector 22 in District 12. The Navy AI has determined that an invasion is most likely to take place there. I want you to run battle drills during the afternoon watch in the reactor room.”

  Commander Theodore rolled his eyes and scoffed, as he waved his hand dismissively. “If you’re worried about battle readiness, people like Brinus will only hurt my team.”

  Captain Plato leaned back in his chair. He crossed his paws and his whiskers twitched. “Really? You’re bringing up this bullshit now? You knew Brinus was a criminal when you took him in, and that training him would take longer and be more intense than with a normal cadet. I put him on your team two weeks ago. You were happy to have a metallurgist on your robotics crew. I thought you were here to discuss war business.” Captain Plato took another swig of his spiked drink. , he thought.

  The Commander shifted in his seat and looked at Captain Plato in the eyes. “Sir, he is a convicted felon. Hell, he punched a fucking hole in the wall outside of my office ten minutes ago. He isn’t suitable for recruitment due to his felon status. I want him discharged.”

  Captain Plato’s fur became puffy, and his ears went back against his head. He glared at his commander for a few moments.

  Commander Theodore took the hint and swallowed with nerves. He had a wide-eyed expression as he sat in a military posture in the chair.

  Plato leaned forward, putting his paws on the desk. He stated calmly and assertively, “Here’s how it will be! You will make this work. He has promised me he would not engage in criminal activity anymore. Thus far, nothing valuable has gone missing. For the most part, he seems to have put his life of crime behind him. I realize it has only been two weeks. Now, do you have any war business to discuss?”

  The commander shrugged his shoulders and stood. “Sir, you need to consider what having a syndicate member on an engineering crew will do.”

  “Dismissed, commander,” Captain Plato snapped in an aggressive tone, waving his hand to say shoo. His pupils dilated, and his tail flicked rapidly from side to side.

  “Sir...”

  Captain Plato’s pupils dilated, his ears pulled back, and he let out a cat howl.

  Commander Theodore saluted and came up from his seat.

  On his way out, Captain Plato said, “I don’t like being ambushed like this. Don’t come back to me again with concerns about Brinus unless he has done something worth bringing to my attention. I have thirty thousand men, women, and humanoids under my command, and I don’t have time for your petty interdepartmental squabbles.”

  He saluted and said, “Yes, sir.”

  The chief engineer knew Brinus would be at his robotics station by now. He knew it was best to just swallow his feelings and let it play out.

  Commander Theodore did the paperwork for Lieutenant Aura’s business license when the smoke alarm in Brinus’s workstation activated.

  He sent a text message to the lieutenant to check on Brinus and see the cause. She sent a thumbs up and a yes sir.

  Brinus’s robotics workstation was well organized. Boxes with labels on them and the replacement parts were all neatly stacked, as well as tools stacked neatly on the shelves. The floor had metal shavings on it, and cigarette butts littered the floor.

  Sparks flew off of Brinus’s bare chest, flying off of the brass rings of a moonstone pipe he worked on. Burning red and orange embers raced like flames away from the heavily tinted face shield while headbanging to the song “Corpse Bride.” Corpse Bride was about a zombie couple getting married. He blasted the music so loud it vibrated the metal fragments on the floor. It drowned out the sound of the MIG welding torch. The cigarette smoke billowed out of his workshop.

  The first watch bell rang to signal the mid-morning watch. His uniform shirt and undershirt were folded on the workbench behind him. Finally, he attached the third brass ring to the pipe. He then... Suddenly, the music was deactivated.

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  “What the fuck?”

  Brinus turned and saw his new lieutenant, Lieutenant Aura. A Tarken Tea cig hung from his lips in a look of anger and surprise. He was shirtless and glistened in a layer of sweat from the heat and smoke in the workshop.

  Brinus couldn’t believe someone had the audacity to shut off his music and interrupt his flow. He took off the welding mask and put it on his forehead. She looked angry but not as pissed as he was.

  “Are you blind, Stinkball?!” screamed the lieutenant, jamming her nose into Brinus’s face.

  Brinus blew smoke into her mouth and eyes. She coughed and slapped Brinus across the head.

  The Lieutenant looked at him with an open mouth. “What the fuck did you say to me, Stinkball?!”

  Brinus laughed and realized he was in deep trouble. “I didn’t say anything, ma’am.”

  “What the fuck is so funny?! Do I look like a fucking comedian?!”

  Brinus stood at attention and then screamed. “Ma’am, nothing is funny, ma’am!” He made another nervous laugh.

  The Lieutenant screamed into Brinus’s right ear as she stood so close to him she could smell the cigarettes on his bare chest and hair. “I want you to give me 50 push-ups and 50 jumping jacks right fucking now and you will lift that steel plate over your fucking head and hold it until your arms shake like a tree in an earthquake!”

  Brinus laughed like a teenager caught sneaking out after curfew.

  The lieutenant was so close to his face that her spit flew into his nose and eyes, “It’s Lieutenant Ma’am! Do it fucking now, or I will report your ass to the commander! Oh, and now it is 60 push-ups and 60 jumping jacks, and you need to run in circles around the lab until I say stop!”

  He put the cigarette out and put it in the ashtray and then did the exercises. Because of his heavy smoking, he struggled with the jumping jacks and barely made it to sixty.

  Brinus thought as he finished the jumping jacks.

  He was so out of breath that he coughed like he had an asthma attack. However, he did pass medical, therefore she guided him through a deep breathing exercise to help him catch his breath.

  Lifting the 150-pound steel plate was easy. Holding the plate, however, was a different story. His arms shook after a moment or two. He ran out of breath again, and the lieutenant guided him through the breathing exercises once more. He dropped the plate, making a loud bang like a gunshot. He ran 15 laps around the lab until he couldn’t run anymore.

  He had his hands on his knees in the tripod position, breathing heavily.

  The lieutenant went into Brinus’s face and screamed, “Now, next fucking time, you will not smoke at your robotics lab station and use proper PPE when welding. You will always address me as lieutenant, ma’am, or lieutenant.”

  Brinus stood at attention and saluted once he was able.

  The lieutenant looked at Brinus cross-eyed and then tilted her head. “Just wondering, how are you able to weld without burns?”

  “I have always been resistant to burns, ma’am.”

  “Dismissed, Stinkball.”

  She looked at him with slanted eyes, as if she studied him.

  The lieutenant quietly left the lab with a shocked look on her face. Under normal circumstances, she would report this incident to her commanding officer. However, welding shirtless for five hours seemed bizarre.

  Brinus walked over to the industrial replicator and copied a lab coat, uniform, leather gloves, and a safety vest. He then went back to attaching the brass rings onto the moonstone pipe headbanging to his music.

  Brinus was annoyed with all of these rules but knew why his superior had just smoked him. He knew it was wrong to blow smoke in the face of a superior officer. He knew he violated safety procedures by welding without a shirt and safety vest.

  Four Hours Later:

  Brinus worked on the reports for all the droids and moonstone pipes he repaired before and during the noon watch. His office was very vanilla and very much an interstellar navy workshop office. It had a generic office chair from the office supply store, a basic glass desk he bummed from a chief petty officer, and an ashtray he replicated with twenty-two butts next to the computer terminal.

  “Come in!” Brinus yelled as someone knocked on the door.

  An older man who looked to be in his sixties with silver hair and a physically strong body entered Brinus’s office.

  The man crossed his arms and jeered. “So you’re my newest recruit. I read up on your service record.”

  Brinus looked at the older man. He looked up with a sneer in his voice as if he judged him. “What’s your name and rank, sir?”

  “I am Master Chief Petty Officer Norrie Tor Sa Norra. You can call me Master Chief or Master Chief, sir. I understand you served with the pirate Long Ho for ten years and are a convicted felon.”

  “Yes, Master Chief, you are correct, sir,” Brinus said, looking up from his computer terminal.

  The older man smiled and then laughed. “Coming onto a navy vessel after ten years as a pirate and a professional burglar. The rules must be infuriating.”

  Brinus leaned back, put his arms behind his head, and smiled. He looked the older gentleman in his eyes. “Part of me just wants to clean plasma conduits to say fuck you to my commanding officer.”

  Master Chief Norra put his hands on his hips and threw his head back. “The captain recommended you for fight club. The Chief Engineer didn’t even want you in his department.”

  Brinus rolled his eyes and slammed his stylus onto the desk. “What if I just go away in the middle of the night or walk off my post ’n go back to my crew?”

  The man laughed, folded his arms, and tilted his head with his left lip curled. “Is that what you are? When things get tough, you just quit? Do you want to spend the rest of your life in prison? Be my guest. I understand you put in a leave request. You can disappear into the crowd.”

  Brinus laughed and said, “Then who will go camping with my new boyfriend?”

  Master Chef Norra smirked, “I will see you at my dojo tomorrow at 1600 hours.”

  They shook hands, and Dr. Norra left.

  Brinus smiled as he fantasized about crowds cheering him on and winning fights. The prize money he could give to public alternative schools.

  After a moment of reflection, he went back to work.

  After supper, Brinus worked on a servo motor with multiple stripped screws. In his left hand was a device called a magnetic screwdriver. It was an electric screwdriver with an electromagnetic head. It used magnetic force to remove screws, not mechanical force.

  Simmie entered as Brinus removed the stripped screws and carbon from the servo motor. He quietly grabbed a giant carbon steel alloy plate. The music hid his footsteps.

  Over the loud music, Simmie screamed over the music, “Guess who!” He threw the plate as hard as he could onto the floor. It made a deafening bang and vibrated the room.

  Brinus jumped, dropping the screwdriver on the floor. Out of reflex, he scrambled out of his chair and drew his fists in a fighting position until he realized it was Simmie.

  Brinus dropped his fists and laughed out of relief and anger. “Holy gods! Fuck! ’ya scared me! I could’ve killed ’ya! Don’t do that again!”

  He turned and faced Simmie as they were now nose to nose. Brinus rested his arms on the top of Simmie’s shoulders and smiled. Simmie put his hands on Brinus’s waist.

  Simmie asked, smiling at Brinus, “Are you packed?”

  Brinus shrugged, smiling back at Simmie. “I don’t know what to pack—never been on a camping trip like this here before. When I looked up survival campin’, it recommended different shit on different sites. I put in the paperwork like ‘ya asked. My lieutenant still hasn’t responded. Being in port is the only chance we got of gettin’ work done on some of the components. I may not get the time off.”

  Simmie and Brinus smiled at each other for a couple of minutes, and then he said, “Just pack some basic survival gear. I will send you a list by the fifth bell tomorrow. It isn’t much.” Simmie laughed and tapped Brinus on the side of his face.

  Brinus sat down, ruffed Simmie’s hair, and returned to work. “Fer real, don’t do that again.”

  They both laughed.

  Simmie picked up one of the motors and looked at it. “The ball bearings are worn down, and you need to break the seal and replace the balls. That was why you can’t fix it.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Obvious. Get lost.” Brinus and Simmie both laughed.

  He snatched the motor from Simmie’s hand. They both laughed until the lieutenant walked into Brinus’s workshop.

  The lieutenant looked at Brinus. “You’re leave was approved. Good luck to you too. I know a few campsites if y’all are interested.”

  “We are camping on my father’s land,” joked Simmie, ruffling Brinus’s hair.

  Brinus eyed up Simmie to see when was the right time to slap his ass, and Simmie rolled his eyes afterward.

  The lieutenant smiled and left the two lovebirds.

  Meanwhile, Captain Plato was on the bridge. He used the spyglass to look at the transwarp bubble. “Something is off. I can feel it in the inertial dampeners and chronoton benders. Also, the transwarp bubble’s colors seem slightly different from an hour ago.”

  The commander came up to Captain Plato. “We may be coming on a subspace disruption. Do you want to end transwarp and go to light light speed?”

  The commander stood next to the captain and said, looking at the bubble. “Light speed will use too much fuel too quickly. This change feels more like an obstruction of some sort. Helmsman 3rd class! What do the scanners say?”

  The sensor officer said, “Scanners show clear space ahead.”

  Captain Plato closed the Spy Glass and put it in front of him. “Helmsman shut down the transwarp core.”

  “Aye, sir!”

  The ship exited transwarp. Four Federation cruisers surrounded it.

  The captain and commander exchanged confused glances. Then, Plato ordered, “Hail them.”

  The commodore of the cruiser conveys onto the screen. “Confederate Command ship, you have entered Federation space. Turn around or be fired on.”

  Captain Plato laughed. “You can’t be serious!? The Federation gave up its claim to this sector 400 years ago! Your junta is declaring war on the Confederacy! I tell you what; turn around, and we won’t destroy your ships and kill your crewmen. I will pretend this shit show didn’t happen. What do you say?”

  “Confederate Vessel, you have 30 seconds to turn around, or we will open fire.”

  Plato looked at his communications officer. He made a cutting motion across his throat with his claw. The screen cut off.

  Captain Plato took command of the bridge, sitting in the captain’s chair. “Communications officer second class, send out a distress call on a rotating frequency of twenty million hertz to ninety million hertz on subspace frequency one. Weapons officer, Raise shields. Red alert. Battle-stations. Brace for impact. Commander, dispatch the fighters and bombers. Chief Petty Officer, wake the admiral and tell him the Federation just declared war on the Confederacy.”

  The sensor officer yelled over the sound of alarms, “Sir. Four more Federation signatures just jumped out of transwarp in the northwest quarter of the map!”

  “We’re under attack!” someone yelled from the back of the bridge.