Fleet Corporal Martin Stevens looked across the sea of faces, his assembled troops standing ready to receive his orders. His troops. All of them. And his orders. Whatever he wanted.
The assembly was a few short hours after the funeral for Quentin Murphy. The funeral itself was an intimate affair. There were no mourners, no one wanting to appear hesitant or at all sorrowful about the sudden regime change.
A passage from the Truth (part of the tax code regulations about how there were no exemptions or deductions permissible by law) was intoned by a computerized voice and Quentin Murphy was pushed by conveyer into the recyclers. Waste not, want not. Nobody wanted to be accused of "wanting" anything in the Benevolent States United.
Fleet Corporal Martin Stevens had watched part of the ceremony on a terminal screen in his new quarters, but he'd been distracted as he'd been requisitioning a new uniform.
He stood in that new uniform on the deck of a raised cargo mover in the hangar, looming over the crowd. The hangar was the only place on the ship where everyone not required for basic operations could be gathered at once.
Fleet Corporal Martin Stevens was a professional, and as a professional, he still just barely managed to keep the smile off his face as he began his speech.
"Quentin Murphy has accepted a new assignment, as you are all aware," he began, defaulting to the official wording on military documentation designed to keep news of Earth Prime Protection Force casualties from causing distress among the Faithful, "We wish him well in his new role, and hope that his wisdom will continue to enrich us all.
"Let not this time of transition slow us in our goal. Our mission is vital to the continued properity of the Benevolent States United, and can not be compromised due to half-measures and indecision on our parts. We must meet the stated goals of our assignment, and we must meet those goals with all the power and might that the Earth Prime Protection Force can muster.
"Throughout our long history, the proud and valiant Earth Prime Protection Force has never failed to achieve its goals. It will not fail in this.
"Towards that end, your individual missions have been altered and downloaded to the terminals you now hold.
"The assignment involving vaporwear technology being used to sneak in and out of the target location with no planned contact with the hostiles has been tabled. It will not be re-instated.
"It has been replaced by a strike force made up of the very best pilots among you, led by me personally.
"I will not see the Faithful troops of the Benevolent States United dig about in the dirt for stones. We will subdue the locals. They will gather what we require and deliver it to us. We will destroy anyone or anything that stands between the Earth Prime Protection Force and its assigned goals." His voice rose into a zealous shriek.
"Do you comply?" He demanded.
A scattering of surprised responses obviously disappointed him.
"Do you comply?" He screamed, sending feedback through the automatic voice projection system he had had carted onto the platform.
"I comply," came the thunderous response.
Chapter Seventeen Interlude
File: Datanet Core Server Beta Delta Forty Two, Galactic Current Events, Era: Modern -0, Headlines, Data source Benevolent States United Sanctioned News Feed
The Benevolent States United is pleased to announce a change in command aboard the carrier BSU Peace Blossom. With the sudden new role of Fleet Commander Quentin Murphy, the vacancy in his position has been filled by Fleet Commander Martin Stevens.
Stevens comes from a proud military family who have spent generations ensuring the peace of the Benevolent States United and its Faithful citizens.
The Faithful will remember Martin Stevens as the three time unarmed combat galactic champion as well as the top officer candidate of his class.
Recent accomplishments include an award for taking charge under the ongoing stress of providing security for the Faithful as well as the suppression of a dangerous cell of Un-Faithful terrorists and their subsequent complete conversion to the Faith. He has further been awarded the title of Arch Bishop for his continued personal example of the benefits of living a Faithful life.
The Benevolent States United and all the Faithful citizens wish him nothing but success in his current mission to secure an additional energy source for us all.
"Quentin Murphy was a fossil and a fool," Fleet Colonel Martin Stevens barked to the assembled senior command officers and his hand-selected troops.
The crowded conference room fell silent.
"His ideal of a peaceful universe of co-existence was misguided and outdated," He continued, "This universe gets more violent every day and every one of you here knows it, in spite of the teachings of the Faith."
Subconsciously, his hand adjusted the Arch Bishop insignia twinkling on the breast of his uniform. Why wouldn't the damned thing hang straight like all his other badges?
"Do we really want to contact these people?" Commander Geoff Nilssen asked, "They are, from the briefings I've seen, barely sentient at all."
"We do have the technology to sneak in and get meet our objective in a single night," added Commander Douglas O'Brian, "I can't see an all out assault benefitting the BSU over a simple snatch and grab."
"There is where you are wrong, gentleman," Stevens smugly responded, "But 'wrong' is excusable in this venue. In command, it is not.
"The Benevolent States United sits at a crossroads, men," he lectured, "I know we were sent here to mitigate the supposed energy issues on Earth Prime, but I suggest - no, I know that we have a higher calling."
For emphasis he tapped his Arch Bishop badge, this time intentionally.
"Our stated mission specifies that we retrieve the Be-Esunium. yes," he acceded, "But our implied mission is to give the Faithful back on Earth Prime something to be proud of. A decisive and televised victory for the Earth Prime Protective Force against a group of unwashed Un-Faithful will bring back the pride that has long been missing from the Faithful of the BSU. We owe it to them to give them something to be proud of, something to remember, something to watch on their data terminals between re-runs of the Benevolent States United news feeds."
"What about the safety of our men?" Commander Nilssen asked, "The Faithful hate bad news. It sends them into a panic."
"Safety?" Stevens scoffed, "Have you seen the footage of these savages? They have almost no tech with which to fight us at all, no drive to get off planet or do much more than swill liquor and breed like pigs. If they take longer than one reel to completely give in to our demands I'll be surprised -- and I never go in to a combat situation where there is any chance I'll be surprised at all."
"Sir," Specialist McComb spoke up, "You asked me to monitor the surface for any abnormal power levels."
"Yes, Specialist?" Stevens walked over to peer at the screen McComb held.
"This is very abnormal based on our reading for this part of the surface of the planet."
As Stevens stared at the graph rapidly and violently spiking across the screen, he was forced to agree.
