The door to the ready room chimed and slid open. Seki was the first officer to arrive. With the slightest of nods, she acknowledged Alice and me. She took the chair on my immediate right, so Alice was standing behind her. Seki was Line staff, but she was also head of the Science Group. Staffed mostly by civilian personnel, SG was a quagmire to manage, as it was like trying to herd cats. The XO had a PhD in Astronomy, so I handed her the job.
I'm sorry, Seki better you than me.
The second person through the door was the Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Cmdr. Jörge Haberkorn, a tall, jovial German who always had a smile on his face. His smile was absent now. His favourite tagline was "Let me show you its features". A joke I never quite understood. He sat next to the XO. When he sat down, he turned and quietly started chatting with Alice. I could not quite hear the conversation, so I tuned them out.
Command Master Chief Li Su arrived next. She was a short, private woman of Chinese origins. Her role was to represent the needs of the enlisted crew under my command. And represent them she does, much to the chagrin of the commissioned officers. She was a consummate professional and never lost an argument that ended up in my office. Yeah, she was that good. Su took the first seat to my immediate left.
The Chief Medical Officer Lieutenant Cmdr. Deepak Mohan came next. The chief neurologist Lieutenant Cassandra Figueroa, who was the head of the Medical section, followed him.
Lt Cmdr. Mohan is from Kerala. He is a short, stocky man of sharp intellect and has a fantastic bedside manner with everybody, excluding me. He was the only physician I trusted with my health. Deepak and I have known each other since the academy. Lieutenant Figueroa is an Argentinian, Amazonian goddess who has a sultry voice and piercing emerald green eyes. They both sat next to Command Master Chief Su.
Communication head, Lieutenant Cmdr. Justin Mills followed. Mills is Australian, tall, fit and ambitious. He runs his section tight but fair. He walked directly toward Alice, not acknowledging her presence. Mills was one of those anti-AI types that comprise a fair share of the human population. Alice stepped back to avoid colliding with him, even though technically she's not physically present. He took the seat next to the Chief Engineer.
Major Hufane Huruuse was the next person to enter. He is the chief security officer and responsible for the Marine contingent present on the ship. Lieutenant Colonel Huruuse is from Somalia. He is a tall, dark man with short greying hair, and a long ragged scar on his right cheek that left him with a permanent smirk. He could have had the scar removed, but he kept it. I am not aware of his reasons, and it did not affect his duties, so it never was an issue. Major Huruuse was a "by the book" soldier and an excellent martial artist. He was yet to defeat the XO in the ring however. He took the seat next to Lieutenant Figueroa.
The head of the Supply Section was the last person to enter, Lieutenant Cmdr Terri Moses. Lieutenant Cmdr Moses is an African American woman, at forty-six years old, the second-oldest person in this command. The oldest being myself, forty-seven, and only just by a few months. She was a full-figured, dark-skinned lady who looked twenty-six instead of forty-six. Moses can be harsh on her crews, but they love her anyway. She sat next to Major Huruuse.
Now that all the section heads had assembled, I could begin the meeting.
'Ladies, Gentlemen. Sorry for the short notice. We have an urgent situation that needs attention.' The Executive, Supply and Security chiefs looked dismayed. Lieutenant Cmdr. Haberkorn scowled at the table.
'Mr Mills, if you please.'
Mills took a slow deep breath, started a simulation and began speaking.
'01:37 hrs ship time, the FTLC stopped functioning.'
'03:40 hrs: The L4 ECHO Repeater Station status signal ceased.'
He continued his report listing fifteen additional locations throughout the solar system that we no longer have contact with.
There was silence around the table.
Lieutenant Cmdr. Mohan was the first to break it.
'Are we sure that the issue is not at our end?'
'Alice completed eight low-level diagnostics of ALL ship systems,' Haberkorn said.
'And we have found no irregularities in the FTLC or other communication systems. Captain, with your permission, I want to perform manned spacewalks to confirm that we have zero reception?'
We rarely perform manned spacewalks because we have disposable AI-controlled robotics that could do the job.
'Are you sure it is necessary?'
'Yes,' the chief engineer said; his face was serious.
'Okay, go ahead,' I said. I was sure he was doing this to head off the 'maybe the AI was not working right" argument. Prejudice against AIs runs deep in human society.
'Alice. Could you display the data that the Lieutenant Cmdr. just provided us with?' I asked.
In our shared reality, a projection of the times and the locations we had lost contact with appeared.
'Okay, adjust to ship time, using time of flight, and distance light speed corrections.'
The times on the display changed. They were all almost identical to the time we lost the FTLC link.
I felt the tension rise in the room as they all followed my line of thought.
'Everything went dark at almost the same time,' I said.
'Almost? Only a few milliseconds separate them, for all intents, they are,' said Deepak.
'How could that be possible?' Cassandra asked.
'Sabotage, perhaps?' the security chief said. He did not sound so sure about the idea, though. Such a well-coordinated attack executed with such precision over so many distant installations was nigh impossible.
'It's possible, however not likely,' the XO said.
This discussion was going to go off the rails quite fast, so I pulled the brakes.
'Speculation at this point will not be of any benefit. What we need are answers. Chief, get that spacewalk done ASAP.'
'Yes, Sir. I will plan it now.'
'Major Huruuse, if there are any potential saboteurs on this ship, I want them ferreted out.'
'Understood Captain.'
'Doctor. we are going to have a mental health crisis soon if this all goes south.'
'Understood. I will prepare my people.'
'Lieutenant Cmdr. Moses, make sure the crews get something extra nice in their baggies today.'
'Will do, Captain.'
'XO, Alice, please stay back. Everyone else, dismissed.'
The officers exited the ready room, only the XO and Alice remained.