The Force of Temptation - Chapter Two, Page Ten

Malcolm and Andrea both laughed. It was rare for the two Captains to share a happy moment such as this, and it only made him miss his wife and child more. How many happy moments had he missed in search for something that he might only find when it was too late?

They ended their conversations explaining ship statuses, any details that they’d noticed, and Malcolm made sure to pass on the details of William’s engine modification in hopes that something similar could also be researched and completed on the Tundra.

The screen went black and Malcolm stared at it in the darkness of his quarters. He really didn’t know what to do now. The thought of heading back to the bridge after a day that was nearly one negative thing after another didn’t appeal to him, and he had only been awake for around four hours, so sleep seemed like a silly option.

He grabbed his tablet which had been delivered as he knew it would and began to write a message to his family. He explained his longing to return home, his failure in training, the shift in personalities in his crew, the worry about their safety, and his hope that regarding his mission. It almost brought him to tears a few times, but in doing so, it made him feel a little silly. He had been brought up to believe that men were never to cry, no matter the circumstances. While this rule was lost on him when his daughter was born, there were almost no other occasions of Malcolm shedding tears, especially as an adult.

He moved it to the transmission buffer which would compile, compress and transmit messages towards Earth every day or two. The Captain put a priority on the buffer to make sure it started its journey within the next six hours. While a day might not matter in the two month journey to Earth, Malcolm thought to himself, what is the point of being the Captain if you can’t use your power every once and while?

The engines hummed lightly, a constant sound that Malcolm had become accustomed to. It lead to insomnia when he first started his journey, but now he wondered if he could sleep without it ,as it was a comforting noise that stayed consistent.

Malcolm mentally shook off a slight feeling of depression and tried to focus back on his duties to the ship. Talking only to himself, he looked at the exit from his quarters, “maybe it is time to take another detailed tour of the ship.”

It had been a month since he checked in with each section, making sure to spend some personal time with each department head, and shift lead. The last time he did his rounds, the Delta shift was working, and this time, it would be the Alpha shift. Malcolm did the best he could to equally spread excellent officers to each shift rotation, but he preferred his Alpha shift. They were “his” people, and they had to perform just a little better than any other rotation.

Exiting his quarters, Malcolm went right towards the various storage sections. There would be minimal crew on duty, and very few officers. This lead those working in that section to be a little lazier than he would like. It only took five minutes to walk from his quarters to the tail end of the ship.

There was a single Ensign watching over four large rooms filled with supplies. He looked extremely bored, and was more focused on his slate computer than the Captain’s approach.

“Good evening Jeremy, everything well down here?”

Jeremy Rhodes, stunned, went stiff as a board and saluted the Captain. “I am so sorry, sir. No one told me to expect you. Is there anything I can do for you, sir?”