Culture Shock - 3. The glimpse of a ghost

July 23, 2417

Robbie jumped with a start and spent a few seconds trying to look around without revealing that he was dozing. He saw the dirty look from Sargent Christopher Clark out of the corner of his eye and realized that his trusty aide poked him before he could start snoring again. Robbie suppressed a groan as he realized that the meeting was still going on, making him wonder at the supposed level of intellectual capacity of the scientists around the room. He thanked his lucky stars that as a Marine he would never have to worry about meal times, a factor that seemed to cause no end of dissent between the various scientific disciplines. Chow time should be at a set time every day, no exceptions.

Robbie leaned over to Chris and whispered “What's next on my agenda for the day. Am I really going to have to listen to this for much longer?”

Chris didn't bother to hide his smile and answered “You only have to join the Captain for the flip-over, but that's not for another two hours.” What Chris didn't bother share was his plan to free Robbie from the meeting in another few minutes. He smiled cruelly at the discomfort Robbie showed as soon as he mentioned the additional hours. He checked his watch and was ready when the chime sounded at the door before it opened and Corporal William Yuzima entered with an apologetic smile on his face.

He made his way as quietly as he could over to Robbie and whispered “Sir, there is a minor issue that requires your personal attention.”

Robbie valiantly tried to hide his elation as he looked to Chris beside him. Chris said in a slightly louder voice “Sir, go ahead and take care of the issue. I will remain here and report back to you later today.”

As Robbie hastily stood up he announced to the room in general “If you will please excuse me. Something has come up that I must attend to.” As he clasped Chris' shoulder with relief and affection he added “Sargent Clark will be acting in my stead for the balance of the meeting and he will report to me later. If you'll excuse me ladies and gentlemen, I'll just slip out now.”

Robbie forced himself to follow Corporal Bill Yuzima at a slow and measured pace. As soon as they arrived in the hall and the door slid closed he let out a huge sigh of relief and let his shoulders drop against the wall before he noticed the intent look on his saviour's face. With a small grimace he asked “Ok, what's the minor issue? Is there a problem?”

Bill looked his commanding officer in the face for a full ten seconds before breaking out in a huge smile and saying “There's a tray in your quarters with a large plate of Oreos on it and a glass of milk that is warming up as we speak sir.”

With a quick glance around, Robbie realized that they were alone in a section of the corridor without security camera coverage. He took the time to swat Bill on the back of his head and took off running toward his cabin. Bill followed behind at a brisk jog, making the trip look like a physical training exercise. He arrived just in time to see Robbie finish off half of the glass of milk in one big gulp.

Bill shook his head and sadly intoned in a serious voice “Sir, decorum must be maintained at all times while shipboard, and you should not leave your door open like this.” He waved his hand at the wall sensor and as the door closed Robbie broke down laughing so hard tears rolled down his face. The laughter was infectious and Bill sat down on the small bench chair Robbie indicated.

“Ok Bill, you and Chris conspired to save me from that meeting right?” Bill nodded, still smiling. “I thought so. Now explain why no one saw fit to inform me of this plan.”

Bill laughed heartily as he managed to choke out “But where would be the fun in that? The look on your face as I entered the meeting room was priceless! I could tell that you were almost wishing for the fabled space-pirate attack so that you'd have an excuse to leap out of the room.”

Robbie shook his head in mock disgust but couldn't keep the grin off of his face. “I know that you hate cookies or anything sweet for that matter so I won't offer you any, but fill me in on the morale of the troops. How are things going? How badly did the men take it when only half of the mail-squirt arrived this week?”

“Sir, we're Marines. We know that the mail is sometimes delayed, especially when deployed to odd places. There was a bit of bitching and moaning but the overall feeling was relief that at least some mail got through. No-one is really upset, there's another mail-squirt scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Really, that's better than we could expect if we were posted on Pluto, or god forbid one of the small orbiting maintenance platforms. Mail on the platforms comes one every seven weeks when the re-supply ship arrives and here we're lucky enough to get the highly compressed mail-squirt data-stream almost twice every week. If you'll forgive me for asking sir, I noticed that you seem a bit more distracted today. Did you receive any bad news in the mail?”

Robbie stopped with an Oreo almost to his lips. He sighed and looked over at the Corporal. “I don't know how many times I've told you, and everyone else for that matter, if I have anyone in my personal quarters it's to be considered off-duty and off the record. We don't have the luxury of being able to leave the ship. It's not like a dirt-side base that we can go through the front gates in civilian clothes and be non-Marine humans for a while. Inside my quarters any of the men here are to call me Robbie, and treat this space as if it were 100% non-military. Ok?”

Bill smiled nervously. “Sir, it's still more than a bit intimidating being assigned to serve under a decorated hero such as yourself, and when we found out that you're just as human and down-to-earth as the rest of us it was even harder still. We're not supposed to LIKE you, you're our commanding officer!”

Robbie raised his eyes toward the ceiling in defeat. “Sure. I understand that, but inside of these quarters I'm not Lieutenant Robert Blake, I'm just a guy named Robbie. And thanks for noticing. I received a letter that I didn't plan on or ever expect to see. That's all.”

Bill gave Robbie a measuring look. “Ok Robbie. What's up? Anything you'd like to talk about with a guy named Bill?” Robbie tentatively smiled, hoping that he hadn't pushed things too far.

Robbie stared for long enough to elicit feelings of dread in the guy named Bill. Robbie sadly shook his head, “I appreciate the offer and it's not that I don't trust you. I really appreciate the offer, more than you can know, but right now the letter hit me a little harder than is probably good for me and it's a bit too painful to discuss right now. I'll remember your offer though, and as soon as the pain fades a bit I may have to take you up on that offer.”

Bill smiled in relief for not putting his foot in his mouth as he glanced at the clock on the wall. He sat a little bit straighter in the chair as he tactfully added “Don't forget, you have just about an hour before you have to meet meet with Captain Volod on the bridge for the flip-over. Is there anything else that you need me for?”

“No, thank you, Corporal Yuzima. You may return to your post. I think I can find the bridge on my own.”

Bill stood up, being Corporal Yuzima again he smartly saluted Robbie and slipped out into the hall and disappeared from sight as the door slid shut. Robbie sighed and took out his electronic mail reader. He flipped through his mail until he came across the sources of his distraction. He took a deep breath and opened the first of two letters again.

Rob,

Your mother still misses you. We still don't understand why you agreed

to take that command. It was made clear that it was your choice. You

never were known for your intelligence growing up and I see that nothing

has changed. Even the Academy couldn't make a man out of you. It's a

shame. At least you did make an officer, of some sort. Don't forget to

write your mother, she still has hope that you'll make something out

of yourself some day.

Lt Col Mitchell Blake

Again Robbie was tempted to delete that message but he knew he wouldn't. Any message from his father was rare so he cherished the time it took for Lt Col Blake to write him, even if the letter wasn't the kindest thing he had ever read. A quick glance at the clock ticking away on the wall above his bunk showed that he had more than enough time to read the other letter he received and still have time to make himself presentable for the flip-over with Captain Volod.

When he first saw the sender his heart did a quick flip-flop in his chest. Robbie hoped that things were going to work out for him. After reading the first few lines he knew better and was having trouble reading through the tears.

Dear Rob,

We had a wonderful five years together. Just remember that we spent some

wonderful times together during those years. I don't know what would have

possessed you to think that giving up your commission would mean that we

could still be together. We had a good thing going but you know that I wasn't

going to stay around forever, I am moving on to bigger and better men.

Perhaps if you had shown some more initiative earlier on this wouldn't have

happened. What made you honestly think that a commissioned officer and an

enlisted man could maintain a relationship? It would make me look like a

gold digger trying to sleep my way up through the ranks.

Hopefully this Hester-b trip will mature you, otherwise you may never find

someone as willing as I was to put up with your trivial ideas and idiotic

notions. At times I still don't know why you bother to open your mouth and

talk. Well, at least now I can move on with my life.

Good bye Rob, please don't try to contact me again, it would not look good on me.

Master Gunnery Sargent Keith Laferrier.

Robbie arrived on the bridge just in time to watch the start of the flip-over. The highly skilled Captain Volod handled the point in mid-flight where the ship rotated through 180- degrees without complications. The flip-over was so smooth that most people on the ship would not have even realized that the rear thrusters were now aimed ahead were it not for the momentary loss of thruster-induced gravity. Now the thrusters would be firing forward to provide the breaking needed to arrive in orbit around Hester-b instead of slamming into the enigmatic planet in a blaze of plasma-soaked fury.