tired
| |
14,664 / 50,000 (29.3%) |
Capt. Mackenzie sat in the office of Commodore Julian Markov, receiving his final briefing before departure.
"Your path will take you through at least one other central Unity system before you depart for the rim," Markov said. "I won't say more than that right now, but upon entry to each system you will proceed to the closest Unity station for further orders, until your orders state otherwise. Your first destination will be securely transmitted to you on a tight-wave beam immediately after your departure from the station."
"Yes, sir."
"Lt. Cmdr. Locke will be in charge of receiving and decrypting those transmissions. Which brings me to another point..."
"Yes, sir?"
"This is standard operating procedure for sensitive assignments, but I don't know that you've had to deal with it, before. While Lt. Cmdr. Locke will be an officer on your ship, and in general under your command, she technically does not report to you, but directly into the chain of command of Unity Military Intelligence."
"I see. Why is that?"
"Unity Military Intelligence is tasked with, among other things, the security of our own information and intelligence, and the gathering of others. As such, Lt. Cmdr. Locke will report directly to that chain of command when it is appropriate to do so, but will in the general case be an officer of your ship, effectively under your command."
"I understand, sir."
"As with any unclear situations in a chain of command, there may arise conflicts. Please take these up directly with me, and I will address them with Unity Military Intelligence."
"Yes, sir."
"Alright. Is there anything else, Captain Mackenzie?"
"Yes, sir... Permission to speak candidly?"
"Very well. What's on your mind, Pete?"
"Well, I've only been home a month or two, Jules. I understand the reasons for leaving again, but I still don't like leaving my family behind. So I need to ask you once again, as I did in the war - would you please do me the favor of looking after them? Obviously Michelle is incredibly capable - but there is a reason we manage our households and raise our children as pairs. Sometimes, one person is not capable of handling all that life throws at them."
"I agree."
"Ryan already knows you as 'Uncle Julian', and you and Michelle go back almost as far back as we do. I trust you with my family, Jules - and I need to know that there's somebody they can lean on if things get bad for whatever reason."
Markov nodded, deep in contemplation. "Yes, Pete. I'll keep an eye on them for you. I'd be happy to - I understand everything."
"Thank you, Jules. You've really been a fine friend to me - I highly appreciate it."
Markov nodded more slowly, then spoke after a minute. "Anything for a friend, Pete. You know that, and you'd do the same."
Mackenzie rose. "Is there anything else, Commodore Markov?"
Markov rose, shaking Mackenzie's hand. "No, Captain Mackenzie. Good luck in your travels. The Unity military and government thanks you for taking this assignment on."
"My pleasure, sir."
"Dismissed."
Current pace: 48880
| Oct. 30 | Oct. 31 | 1 2308 2000 (1667) |
2 4011 4000 (3333) |
3 5439 6000 (5000) |
4 6460 8000 (6667) |
5 8461 10000 (8333) |
| 6 11809 12000 (10000) |
7 12204 14000 (11667) |
8 13636 16000 (13333) |
9 14664 18000 (15000) |
10 20000 (16667) |
11 22000 (18333) |
12 24000 (20000) |
| 13 26000 (21667) |
14 28000 (23333) |
15 30000 (25000) |
16 32000 (26667) |
17 34000 (28333) |
18 36000 (30000) |
19 38000 (31667) |
| 20 40000 (33333) |
21 42000 (35000) |
22 44000 (36667) |
23 46000 (38333) |
24 48000 (40000) |
25 50000 (41667) |
26 DONE (43333) |
| 27 DONE (45000) |
28 DONE (46667) |
29 DONE (48333) |
30 DONE (50000) |
Dec. 1 | Dec. 2 | Dec. 3 |