Chapter 4: The Weakest Link       Admiral Takagi had seen much in his time. Indeed, it could be argued that he been a part of some of the most important events in human history. The second Neosapian War. The Destruction of Mars. The Eltorian War. The Elionite Crisis. Yes, the Admiral had seen much, so it seemed perfectly natural that he could handle bad news so well. He had, after all, kind of made a career out of it. That, and finding a way to deal with it.       The Admiral sat behind his desk. His hands were neatly folded in front of him. In front of the desk stood Lt. Iris Janson. She was flanked by Troopers Lazine and Merck. He had allowed them into his office ten minutes ago and had not said a word since. He simply sat there, holding the three of them in his silence. After the two minute mark, Janson and Merck were showing signs of being uneasy. Lazine remained steadfast until the eight minute mark, at which point his eyes began darting around the room. It was the only visible sign he was uncomfortable with just simply standing there.       Satisfied that all three were off balance, the Admiral finally broke the silence. "Lt. Janson, explain your squad's actions." Janson's slightly relaxed frame suddenly became more rigid. "Sir, I have none." "And why not?" demanded the Admiral. "Sir, I first wanted to make sure Lt. Camden received appropriate medical care. Once that was accomplished I planned on getting the whole story. But as soon as the Camden situation was under control, I received your summons." "I see." replied the Admiral. "You're dismissed then." A surprised expression leapt across Janson's face. "But sir, its my squad..." "You don't have any relevant information, Lieutenant. Dismissed." Janson wanted to protest further, but the Admiral left little room for argument. "Yes sir."       She turned on her heel and exited, leaving the three of them alone. The Admiral rose from his seat and casually made his way over to them. "I read the report filed by Chaos security. I know that a fight broke out. I know that several locals were hurt. And I know that one of my best technical officers was severely injured. What I do not know is, who started it?" His gaze settled on Lazine, if it were a tractor beam he had no hope of escape. "Give me one reason why I should even bother questioning Merck."       "Sir?" replied Lazine.       "This is just your style, Jaster. The only thing missing is a large holosign saying 'Lazine was here'." Lazine lifted his chin a bit higher as he answered. "I did not start the fight, Admiral."       "Why should I believe you?" asked the Admiral. "Sir, you read my file. If you recall, I admitted starting the fight in every instance. I have never lied about it."       "It has been my experience that it is never too late to start." answered the Admiral.       "Sir, you will also note that I always fought those descended from...other bloodlines." The Admiral paused, Lazine's response struck a cord. The Admiral headed behind his desk once more. He called up the security report on his computer. Reading through the description of the fight's participants once more, his eyes rose to settle on Merck. "You have something you want to tell me, Trooper?"       "I started the fight, Admiral." Merck replied.       "Why?" asked the Admiral.       "I had a disagreement with one of the locals, sir."       The Admiral briskly walked over to her. "Unacceptable. You are a soldier in the Exofleet, not a child at grade school recess. What were you thinking?!" Merck flinched slightly from the Admiral's raised voice. "I guess I wasn't, sir."       The Admiral nodded. "That's right you weren't. But you better start, otherwise you can pack your bags. Are we clear?"       "Yes sir."       The Admiral backed away, satisfied with the response he had gotten. "Your shore leave is canceled, that goes for Sharp too. If your not in the hanger preforming your assigned duties, or in the mess, you're in your quarters, understood?" Merck and Lazine answered in unison. "Yes sir."       "Dismissed." * * *       Captain Remes watched as both Merck and Lazine left the Admiral's office. Neither looked very happy, which is to say the Admiral got the information he wanted. He had allowed Lt. Janson to remain with him after she was excused by the Admiral. Watching the pair go, she wanted nothing more than to march over and find out the whole story. "Stay put, Lieutenant." ordered Remes. He walked over to the office door and let himself in. With the door shut behind him, he began speaking to the man behind the desk.       "Ah, children, you have to love them."       Admiral Takagi signed deeply before asking his old friend. "Were we ever that bad? Or young?"       "Both." replied Remes. "Why do you think we got promoted so fast?"       The Admiral chuckled lightly. Then grew more serious. "What is Camden's status?"       "He'll make a full recovery...in six months." The Admiral ran his hands over his face. "Six months?" Remes nodded. "The cuts and bruises will heal much sooner obviously, but his left leg is going need some time." explained Remes. "The hovercar that hit him was really moving. The impact caused his femur the shatter. The med techs reconstructed the bone but the natural healing process is needed to make it completely sturdy. And there is no drug or method of tissue regeneration that can duplicate that." The Admiral remained silent.       "There's no way they can make due without him, is there?"       "A squad without a technical specialist? They'll manage just fine as long as nothing breaks in the field." Remes had his sarcastic tone of voice in full effect. "We need a replacement. Its as simple as that."       "I know." replied the Admiral.       "Should I put someone on selecting candidates?" asked Remes. "No." stated the Admiral. "I think I know of a suitable replacement." Remes nodded. "Lt. Janson would like to know what happened. What should I tell her?"       "Merck started the fight. She, Lazine, and Sharp are on restricted duty until further notice." answered the Admiral. "Understood." said Remes as he excused himself. Left alone, Admiral Takagi turned to his computer screen and began typing out a transfer order. * * *       "Camden?" Alex Camden opened his eyes to a painful new world. His leg felt like it was on fire and his head was pounding. A three-membered handed waved in front of his face, Camden turned to see the person to whom it was attached. Maya seemed concerned for some reason. Behind her was the rather large form of Arsis. Camden couldn't tell what his expression meant.       "He's looking at us." stated Maya.       "How do you feel, Lt. Camden?" asked Arsis.       Camden looked at them for half a second, then replied, "Where are my tools?"       Arsis seemed perplexed by the odd answer. Maya took a measure of comfort from it, "He's fine." Camden started to get up only to have Maya push him back down. "You were hurt, Camden. You have to stay in this bed until the med techs say you can leave!"       "Oh." replied Camden. He settled back into the bed. His uniform was gone, replaced by a medical gown. He looked down, noting for the first time that his leg was in a metal brace. "Am I going to be okay?"       "The doctors said you'll be fine. Not even a scar, thanks to the tissue grafts. But you're going to need time to heal." replied Maya.       "How much time?" asked Camden.       "Months." answered Arsis.       "Months? But who will take care of the e-frames?" asked Camden.       "It will be taken care of." said Maya in a soothing voice. "You just concentrate on getting better." Camden nodded. He held his hands out and began looking over his arms. Then peaked under his gown. Maya offered him a mirror. Camden looked at himself. "I don't understand, I look fine. The only part of me that even hurts anymore is my leg."       "You look fine because the med techs do good work. But that leg as got to heal from the inside out and that is going to take some time." explained Maya.       "Well, I can still do hanger maintenance, once I'm up and around, right?"       "You will have to asked the physician, Lieutenant. Try not to worry, your job will be there when you are ready to return." answered Arsis.       Camden nodded again, though the expression on his face was one of anxiety. Maya couldn't help but feel sorry for him. All Camden really wanted to do in Exofleet was fix things. And even though that job was taken away for only a short time, it clearly didn't sit well with him. "It will be fine, Camden. Just try to relax." * * *       "I'm really sorry, Lieutenant."       Iris Janson turned from the viewport that was holding her half-hearted attention. It was Lt.Logan.       "What?"       "I let you down, Lieutenant. And I want you to know that I'm sorry." replied Logan.       Janson crossed her arms as her face contorted with a strong look of confusion.       "Let me down, how?"       Logan shifted from left to right in his stance. "I didn't watch over the squad. I mean, they asked me to go with them to port Chaos. But I said no. I wanted to stay on the Resolute so I could catch up on current events - using the public access datalink."       Janson shook her head. "I'm still not following."       "If I went with them, maybe Camden wouldn't be hurt right now. If I thought about the squad, instead of myself, none of this might have happened." Logan's face mirrored the sincerity in his voice. He truly believed everything was his fault. Janson laughed a deep, cleansing laugh. The action caught Logan off guard.       "Lieutenant?"       Janson quickly composed herself. "Look, Logan, you did nothing wrong. I realize you somehow feel responsible for what happened. But if you stop and think about it, there was no way you could have known. And there was no way to know for sure that you would have prevented any member of the squad from being hurt."       "But if I went along..." protested Logan. "Then we might have two squad members out of commission instead of one. It's not your fault." Janson turned back toward the viewport. "No, the fault is squarely on me for this one." She turned her head back toward Logan, a quirky smile on her face. "You can take the next screw up if you like." Logan nodded at first, the only outward sign that he accepted what Janson told him. Then he smiled back, "I think I'll pass on that. Thanks anyway." * * *       "Its not that bad, really." The face on the vid screen looked more than skeptical. "Then why don't I believe you?" The young women ran her fingers through her hair sighing a bit as she did so. Her face took on a pouty expression, as if she hated admitting what came next.       "Because I don't really believe it."       "Now you see, sister of mine, did that hurt so much to admit?"       Tasha Sterling leered back at his image. "Shut up James." was all she said. The young man on the view screen put a knowing smile on his face. He knew exactly what she was thinking. It had always been that way, ever since they were little kids. Tasha had really grown to hate it. Although it worked both ways, it rarely worked in her favor. James just remained silent waiting for her to continue. Tasha just stared at him for a while. He had let his hair grow a bit since the last time she had spoken with him. His blond hair was brushed into a neat part with some of the bangs hanging nearly in front of his eyes. It was a very stylish appearance that emphasized his piercing green eyes and generally warm disposition. Even though he could be a huge pain in the butt, Tasha had to admit she missed seeing James. He was, after all, her twin brother. She propped her head up on the console with her left hand under her chin.       "The hair is new."       "You like it? I think it says 'successful professional', don't you?" returned James.       "Professional farmer." corrected Tasha.       "I prefer the title 'Burns Corporation Executive'." stated James.       "You always did have a thing for the family business."       The image of James sort of shrugged replying with, "What can I say, its in the blood."       "Not my blood." pointed out an overeager Tasha.       James took on a sarcastic tone as he replied, "No, not your blood Tasha. Of course not yours, you are after all as far from the family tradition as possible. By the way, how is Exofleet again?"       Tasha's response came through gritted teeth. "Point taken." James let the sarcasm drain from his voice as he began again. "So how is it really?"       "I'm on a space station located in the deepest, darkest portion of space outside the sol system. How do you think it is?"       James' face lightened, "Well looks like you got your wish. Can't get much farther from Venus than that, am I right?" Tasha sighed again. "I suppose." "Now, if you kept that temper in check like I told you to..." Tasha buried her face in her hands, muttering "I know. I know."       "I don't think you do, otherwise you would have..."       Tasha's head popped up as she yelled, "James, stop being my mother!"       "Someone has to, now that you've stopped talking to her...and dad."       "My choice. I'll live with it." stated Tasha.       "And what about them? They worry, you know." countered James.       "Let them. I don't care anymore."       James wanted to press the point but noted how hot under the collar Tasha was getting. "So, any new company out there?"       "Company?" questioned Tasha. "Yeah, of the masculine persuasion?" Tasha rolled her eyes. "I haven't noticed."       "Or you don't want to. Come on there has got to be at least one." prodded James. Tasha remained silent. "Are you actually at a loss for words?" This evoked something that could have been a smile from Tasha. But she squashed it before it could fully blossom. "What I've got, the boys just don't want."       "That's not true." offered James.       "No. No, it is." replied Tasha. "All the guys at the academy were intimidated from the start. Whether it be my height or my intellect, they wanted no part of me."       "And let's not forget the fact you can bend strobium armor with your bare hands." added James.       "I'm sure that didn't help either." muttered Tasha.       "Then there's that charming personality quirk revolving around your parents..." continued James. Tasha's mouth opened, the only visible sign of her reaction to James' callous behavior. He noticed. "Oh, sorry. It just looked like that you were having so much fun dumping on yourself that I thought I would give it a try." Tasha let a half smile creep onto her face.       "Well, enough about me, how is your love life?"       "Fine. The new hair cut was her idea you know."       Tasha nodded, carefully approaching the subject like so many times before. "Her? The same her from two months ago?"       "Yup." confirmed James.       "So, anything else you want to share about 'her'?"       "Nope."       "Oh come on, James. You've been keeping this girl out of sight since you started dating. Are you ashamed of her or something?"       James calmly shook his head. "Of course not."       "Then why can't I meet her. At least tell me her name." pleaded Tasha.       "Not going to happen."       "Why?" demanded Tasha.       "I don't want you filling her head with stories of my past...adventures."       "Are you actually telling me for the first time in your life you are ashamed of your philandering?" James remained silent. "You don't want her warned, that's it, isn't it?"       "That's not it at all." said James defensively.       "Then what?" asked Tasha.       "Try to understand the position I'm in..." started James.       "Try to understand mine," interrupted Tasha. "Here is my brother, a man that has never had relationship last beyond a week, now apparently completely devoted to this one girl that he met at an undisclosed time and location. You've got to give me something here."       James gave her an odd smile has his hand reached for a knob on his console. "Hmm, looks like sunspot activity is interfering with the signal." His image began to grow fuzzy and jumpy. "James, you know that sunspot activity doesn't effect long range communications anymore." retorted Tasha. "What's that? Can't hear you. You're breaking up!"       "James, you're not fooling anyone." The picture continued to degenerate. "Look, I'll try back another time...see ya big sister!"       "James?" Tasha worked at her own controls, trying to undo the damage James had done to the signal. "James, this isn't funny! James!" The picture went blank as the signal was lost. Tasha threw her hands upward in disgust. "I hate it when he does that!"       She turned from the console, thought about dialing him back, but decided against it. He clearly wasn't ready to talk about it and pushing him on the point wouldn't accomplish anything. She was about to power down the console when a message scrolled across it. "Message received for Lt. Sterling, Marked Urgent." announced the cold sounding voice of the computer. Tasha called up the file and entered her personal authorization code. A short but concise message scrolled across the screen. She had been reassigned.       "This has got to be some kind of joke." On to Chapter 5 ->