Braxton strode down the hallway of the administration deck in the crew-only section of the ship. He was already more at home.
The first officer, Maya Rice, had met him at his cell and was escorting him to the meeting. She was a short woman with a kind face and slightly greying hair, but she carried herself well.
"So our ships intercepted the aliens at Alpha Centauri?" Braxton asked.
"For a time," Maya answered.
"Good thing they had time to mount a defense. If Earth had been caught unawares, it might be facing annihilation rather than occupation."
Maya nodded slowly.
"I still wish I was out there with them."
"I understand. I served in the military myself for a number of years," Maya said. "But that was a while back."
"Oh? What ship?"
"The USS Yellowstone."
"What class was she?"
"Titan."
"Nice. The Hobart was a Defender class. Old as a wrinkled grandmother, but just as dependable."
His chest expanded. He hadn't felt this alive in ages. This was his chance to make a real difference. The Captain was wise to bring him in.
They reached the meeting room. Maya opened the door and held it for him. He nodded and walked in. The room was bigger than he'd expected. Conference rooms on military craft were always cramped.
"Take a seat." Maya beckoned to a spot on the far side of the table. The captain arrived moments later and stood at the head of the table.
"Good evening, everybody. I've asked Commander Braxton White, formerly of the Royal Australian Space Navy, to join us. He'll be my military adviser."
He turned to Maya. "Firstly, I'd like to recognise that our first officer has military experience of her own, but Commander White's experience is more recent, and he rose to a higher rank. I hope you understand, Maya."
"I completely agree, Captain." Maya nodded. "We can all benefit from the Commander's input in a time like this."
"I should introduce the rest of the staff," Captain White said. "You already know our security chief, Jaylen Banks".
The man who'd guarded him in his cell dipped his head. Awkward. Braxton nodded to him.
The captain continued. "This is our chief engineer, Sarah McLaughlan." A twenty-something woman with short sandy hair gave Braxton a wink. His heart forgot to beat, for just a moment. She wasn't a textbook beauty, but there was an intensity in her eyes he'd have loved to explore ... if he were a few decades younger.
"Our cruise director, Glen Price." A man in his thirties, stiff in his suit and tie, flashed a plastic smile. Braxton forced himself to return it.
"And our resident physician, Doctor Rashona Clarke." A dark-skinned woman with dreadlocks gave him a toothy grin.
"It's nice to meet you, Commander White," she said in a thick Jamaican accent.
"Right. Now that's out of the way, we need to make some decisions." Miller said. "The universe has become a dangerous place. The council of world leaders have advised us to get as far away from Earth as possible. We haven't detected any alien ships in our immediate vicinity, but that may change."
"You can count on it," Braxton said. "This was the initial thrust. Their primary objective was to take our home world. A ship like ours, all alone in the middle of nowhere, would be of little interest. Now they've taken Earth, they'll send ships back out to pick off the remaining vessels, stations and colonies one by one."
"So you think we shouldn't remain here," Miller said.
"Staying here would be suicide."
Miller nodded slowly and turned to walk around the table. He stopped when he reached the first officer.
"Maya, I want continuous long-range scans. The moment an alien ship comes within sensor range, I want to know about it."
"Of course, Captain." She tapped her wristband. "I'll relay the order immediately."
"We're talking about a long-term voyage here." He turned to the young engineer. "Sarah, what implications does that have for the engines and such?"
"No significant impact," she replied. Braxton smiled. It was nice to hear another Aussie accent. "The engines have been through a major overhaul recently, and they're largely self-sustaining. We won't need to take on any raw materials to fuel the engine for ages."
"Define ages." Miller crossed his arms.
Sarah shrugged. "Six or seven months."
"Okay. That gives us half a year to figure out where to procure more."
Several faces dropped around the room. They were coming to understand what may be ahead of them. Braxton could see it in their eyes. That was good.
Miller resumed pacing. "Food will be more of a problem. We took on enough to feed the passengers and crew for a two-week cruise. We'll have to start rationing immediately."
"If we do that, Captain, we could get complaints." Glen Price shifted in his seat.
Several of the senior staff gave him raised eyebrows and rolled their eyes.
Glen's expression remained resolute.
"These people have paid top credit for their place on this cruise. They'll be expecting a certain level of service."
"I understand that Mr Price," Miller said in a calm tone. "If any of them do complain, please let them know they're welcome to take the first available shuttle back to Earth."
Glen nodded.
Braxton sniggered under his breath. And the prize for the crew member they didn't need went to ...
"But you raise an important point," Miller said. "Passenger morale. These people came on board expecting a holiday. They're expecting to be pampered and have their every wish met. There'll be unrest as soon as they realise many of those expectations are going to go unmet.
"That's my point Captain."
"Worse than that, people are going to be on the verge of panic because of what's happened on Earth." The captain placed his hands on the table and stared at Glen. "Your job is to keep the passengers calm. The last thing we need is a riot. To that end, carry on with the entertainments."
Braxton shrugged. The captain had a point. Maybe this trumped-up bellhop would serve a purpose after all.
"Absolutely Captain," Glen said. "As they say—the show must go on."
"Let's hope all our entertainment staff believes in that old adage." Miller pressed a control on his wristband.
Everyone else focused their attention above the conference table. What were they looking at? Jaylen locked eyes with Braxton.
"Let me just grant you security clearance." Jaylen tapped his wristband, then swiped at the air. A three-dimensional map of the sector snapped into existence. So that was what they'd all been looking at.
Miller waved his hand and the image zoomed out. A pointer followed the direction of his finger.
"I think we should head here. It's outside the border of what we would consider Earth-controlled space. We can see the odd alien ship dotted around Earth space, but there's nothing out this far."
"That's also relatively unexplored space, Captain," Maya pointed out.
Miller nodded. "That's true, which of course means the possibility of unknown dangers. But we'll be clear of the aliens."
Braxton leaned forward. "What kind of armaments does this ship have?"
"Armaments?" Miller snorted. "This is a cruise ship, Commander."
"I'm aware of that. What kind of armaments?"
Miller sighed. "There are two small disruptors. They're designed to incapacitate a pirate ship long enough for us to escape."
"Thank you." Braxton stood. "It's not enough."
Miller's face clouded.
"We need weapons. We're in the middle of a war zone."
"This is a ship full of civilians." Miller's gaze hardened. "We're not going to war. Our intention here is to flee, not to fight."
"I agree, but we need to be able to defend ourselves." Braxton pointed at the route Miller had drawn on the map. "What do you see here, Captain?"
"The most direct route out of the danger zone."
"I see an opportunity for ambush. We could meet an alien ship anywhere along this course."
"There are no alien ships along this course."
"Not now, but there could be soon. From what little we've seen, we know these things are fast. What we don't know is where they came from. And whether there are more waiting outside Earth-controlled space."
Miller crossed his arms. "What are you suggesting?"
Braxton reached and pinched the projection near a green speck. It zoomed in to show an Earth warship. "This is an Earth ship. It's sitting there, dead in space. What does that tell you?"
"It's probably all but destroyed." Miller frowned.
"Exactly. One of our downed ships they didn't bother to completely destroy. It could still have working weapons. It's a perfect opportunity, and it doesn't take us too far off your prescribed course."
Miller gasped. "You want to raid a ghost ship for guns? As you pointed out yourself, there could be aliens nearby."
"The risk is worth it. Some day we are going to come face to face with an alien ship. If we're not armed and ready, we won't survive that day.
Miller shook his head. "I won't do it."
"Captain—" Braxton said, but was cut off.
"You seem to forget we have a thousand passengers on board. Civilians. Ordinary people. Every second we stay in the danger zone puts them at risk. My first and only priority is to get them out of reach of the enemy." Miller waved the projection off and leaned across the table at Braxton.
"I cannot and will not condone your shopping expedition." He stretched to his full height. "Meeting over. Dismissed."
Braxton glared at the captain. This was going to be a hard road.