Alpha One - Chris Burton [25]
“Jonathan, will you take some coffee?” Martin asked. He liked to get his subordinates in a relaxed frame of mind before he commenced his debriefing.
Hoskins said, “Yes.”
An assistant came over to arrange the refreshments.
“The fact that you have brought her back is a positive; and that you were able to inflict damage on the Sentinel Flagship, that is also a positive. Loss of life is a negative and so is the fact that you have put out of commission a perfectly good space craft.”
“I have read your report,” he continued “and the details have been verified by the commanders of the other two vessels. All in all, I think, a good job done. How is Lieutenant Temsouri by the way?”
Typical Admiral Martin to save his ‘real’ criticism to last. Martin was a life-long friend of his father, and he had attended Jonathan Hoskins’ wedding some six years before.
Taken aback slightly Hoskins replied, “She is a good pilot sir and one for the future.”
“What about the rumors of your physical relationship with her?”
“Not true, sir.” Hoskins decided he would deny and see where it got him.
“There is no smoke without fire, Commander Hoskins. I have done my best to quash these rumors, and I believe they won’t leave this room. I presume that you will end it and cut off any further ties with Ms Temsouri. Is that clear Jonathan?”
“Yes sir.” If the Admiral could keep this from his wife, that was great, but Hoskins didn’t cherish the prospect of not seeing Obeya. Now was not the time, and he must go with the Admiral’s stance on this. He continued his denial. “There really was nothing going on sir. I have become close to Lieutenant Temsouri, but in a professional manner only. I have taken her under my wing so to speak.”
“Let’s cut the crap, Jonathan. You have been screwing Lieutenant Temsouri and at present, as far as I am aware, your wife doesn’t know about it. I don’t approve, but I have been a friend of the family long enough to compel me not to interfere further, as long as you commit to not seeing her again. If you can’t, I will have no choice but to throw the book at you. I have compounding evidence and I don’t expect my senior officers to lie to me, on or off the record.”
Hoskins decided to shut up. He wanted the conversation to move on and hoped Admiral Martin would not try to close the meeting off without commenting on Hoskins’ immediate future.
The coffee arrived, and Martin turned the conversation briefly to Jonathan’s father and a recent golf game before returning to the official issues of their meeting.
“I am assigning you to a new commission. A Type 32 Duke-class Battle Cruiser. Same crew complement. but with thirty jump ships and an additional complement of one hundred marines. She is due to be commissioned on September 30th and will hail from Alpha Five. You can transfer your crew en masse.”
“The command post requires a three-star rank and I am promoting you, effective immediately. This is long overdue, Commander, despite your wanton destruction of a perfectly adequate ship: your offensive skills are advanced and your capabilities as a commander are considerable. Just don’t let me down in other areas.”
“Thank you, sir, that is excellent news.” Hoskins was overjoyed but tried his best not to show it. “Did you get a chance to look at my crew recommendations?”
“Your recommendations are all accepted and your first officer will be promoted to commander, One Star.“ Martin stood up and gestured towards the door. “You will deal with that other matter, won’t you?”
Hoskins took this to be the close of the meeting. He stood up, saluted and confirmed that he would speak to Obeya. He paused briefly before he said his personal goodbyes, and heaved a sigh of relief as he left the