The USS Odyssey

The new Wormholer Class starship slowly entered the interstellar port. The Odyssey’s well-known Captain expertly barked out commands as the ship twisted and turned inside narrow docking canals. Port personnel whispered, “the Odyssey is here,” and stopped to watch it glide by.

The Captain ordered, “All systems stop,” as the ship nestled into its resting spot. Deck lights flickered and the constant background hum decreased in volume slightly as the crew went to work securing the ship.

The Captain was upset about diverting from his mission to get a disruptive crew member off his ship. The next opportunity to do so would be in a year. The crew member kept breaking starship Life Rules.

“How the hell did he get on my ship,” asked the Captain over and over to himself. In the Arork wars he would have addressed this situation in a way that would not have required a port stop. The Captain always enforced the Life Rules one way or the other.

Luckily, there was a talented replacement candidate at this port. He quickly interviewed the candidate, actually, he grilled the candidate for hours.  At the end of the grueling interview the Captain noticed the replacement officer had a distracted look. She was not disrespectful but seemed to have something else on her mind.

“Officer Jenkins,” said the Captain, “are you bored?”

“No sir,” answered Jenkins. 

“Good,” said the Captain, “Then STAY ALERT, our lives depend on it, are we clear?”

“Yes sir,” replied Second Offer Jenkins. Her thoughts had drifted to something she needed to do soon.

The Captain was satisfied and welcomed her aboard. Then he excused himself to take care of some business.

Later, while walking in the port, Officer Jenkins happened to observe the Captain buying sweets. She was curious and followed him back to the Odyssey. She noticed he hid the sweets as he approached three alien children.

“Like clockwork, every night he does this” said a crew member to Officer Jenkins. “Those are his adapted children,” said another. “He is a tough bastard,” said the first crew member. “But, he has a hidden gentle side,” said the second. “Watch,” said the first.

The alien children cooed excitedly and ran to him when they saw him. He bent down and tickled them. The aliens lovingly hugged his leg and tugged as he smiled and gave out the sweets.

Officer Jenkins smiled with the other crew members. “Chase us daddy,” they squealed. The usually gruff Captain growled and the chase was on. Laughter filled the hallways. Laughter she had seldom heard in her own childhood. Jenkins had a lot to think about as she walked away.  

The ship soon resumed its mission and everyone fell into their routines. The Captain noticed Jenkins performed her tasks very well. He also noticed she liked playing with his three alien children and saw her with them often in the life-center.

Finally, one morning, Officer Jenkins stepped into the Captain’s office.

“Is everything satisfactory?” asked the Captain.

“Yes sir, it is,” replied Jenkins.

“How can I help you?” asked the Captain.

Officer Jenkins paused. She had difficulty speaking. The Captain saw she was under great stress and asked her to sit. Based on experience he expected her to confess that she had failed miserably because she had not followed exactly a minor procedure.

“What is it?” asked the Captain. Officer Jenkins lowered her head into her hands and tears flowed.

She whispered, “I failed you and the ship.” 

The Captain knew she would say that. The Captain asked, “What happened?” He had heard it all before. He figured she was ready now to confess whatever silly thing she did.

She blurted out, “I am pregnant.”

The Captain fell back in his chair. He did not expect her to say this. It was OK for married crew members to get pregnant and have a baby on a starship. But, it was not acceptable for an unmarried crew member to get pregnant.

“Officer Jenkins, your papers indicate you are single. How could this be?”

Immediately he felt like an idiot. He thought to himself, ‘How could it be? Is that what you just asked her? You idiot. Of course, you know how it could be. She obviously knows how it could be.’

She didn’t mind the question, “I met a USS officer when we docked at TiK-4.”

The Captain interrupted, “I know that outpost well, it’s a hell hole.”

The Captain knew from experience that remote outposts could be completely lawless. They harbored the castoffs of the universe, and TiK-4 was one of the worse. He should know as he had grown up there.

He was surprised to hear two USS ships were there at the same time. Something special was going on. If so, they would have brought along their specially trained persuader teams.

“Please continue,” he said. 

“He was talkative. I did not like him. I wanted to leave, but I couldn’t. Then I blanked out. I don’t remember anything. Now, …. here I am talking to you. I take full responsibility for my actions.”

The Captain was quiet. This was not good. A century of space travel had led to conservative Life Rules on starships. Marriage was an institutional necessity to keep order among mixed-sex crew members confined to live most of their lives inside essentially a large city block surrounded by walls hurtling through space. Having a baby out of wedlock challenged these rules and might cause crew problems which could not be allowed to happen on a ship deep in space.

“What is the officer’s name?” asked the Captain.

“I don’t know, the name he gave me was not on his ship’s crew list,” she said.

The Captain was not surprised to hear that. He knew that not all was what it seemed to be at these outposts. A lot of cloak and dagger activities occurred out of sight of the established space community. This ‘officer’ she met sounded like an alien persuader brought in for secret negotiations.

As a boy, he had watched them practice their skills by seducing USS officers, men or women. Jenkins would be a tough nut to crack, she was probably targeted by one of their best. Not surprisingly, many persuaders went on to assume high political positions in the star systems. Some people said they actually ran the star systems.  

“Do you want to expel the baby?” he asked.

She teared up, “I was going to at first, but, after coming on board, I just couldn't.”

“You can still do it, only you and I would know,” said the Captain. “If you don’t, your career will be finished.” What a terrible choice thought the Captain.

“I will not expel this baby,” she said firmly. “I will not take its life for what happened to me.”

The Captain admired her for her convictions. He did not believe she had full control over her actions at the outpost but would not tell her that until he had done more investigating.

“Then you will need to depart at the next transit port,” he said.

“I know,” she replied.

Time went by quickly and soon the baby was born. It was a beautiful baby boy. The three alien children absolutely loved the baby and hovered around him constantly, purring and softly chirp talking. They seemed to be able to communicate with the baby.

The Captain loved watching the aliens, the baby and Officer Jenkins play together. The alien’s spacecat liked to drag its long blue hair along the baby’s face to make it smile and everyone laughed. The Captain slowly let his guard down and awkwardly at first joined in the play. The crew noticed a change in the Captain and they liked it.

The sad day finally came when the Odyssey arrived at the next transit port. It was time for Officer Jenkins and her baby to depart. The Captain had been dreading this day more and more as they approached the port. But, as Captain, he had to ensure the USS Life Rules were followed. There was no alternative or exceptions allowed.

When they were ready to leave, the Captain spoke to Officer Jenkins for the last time, “Officer Jenkins I only know of one other woman who made the same choice you did.”

Jenkins was surprised to hear that.

“She was slated to be a Captain, but, she chose to give up that dream. She gave birth to her baby boy at a remote outpost. They called him the ‘Bastard of Tik-4’.”

“How sad,” said Jenkins, “What happened to them?”

“They suffered shame, struggled to survive, but, she was determined that her baby was going to be successful.”

“She sacrificed a lot,” said Jenkins.

“Yes, just like you,” said the Captain.

“What happened next?” asked Jenkins.

“Well, that bastard baby grew up tough and excelled at everything he did. Finally, he got himself assigned to Federal gun ships, fought bravely in the Arork wars, received numerous war promotions, then eventually became an officer on USS warships.”

“That is incredible,” said Jenkins, “I want that for my baby. I would love to meet that man.”

The Captain stared at her and didn’t say anything, a tear rolled out of his eye.

She gazed upward at him. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Then she realized it, “Was that baby you?”

The Captain nodded, “Yes, ‘The Bastard of Tik-4’, in person.” He bowed and smiled slightly.

She continued to stare at him, slowly taking in this surprising new information. She wondered if that was why he had been so kind to her. In her heart, she did not let herself hope there was another reason.

The Captain said, “I have often been called a mean old bastard and a son of a bitch. It never bothered me because I knew they were just speaking the absolute truth.” He laughed.

Officer Jenkins smiled. “What happened to your mother?” she asked.

“She died a very happy old woman,” he said.

She stared at him. Then she hugged him. She stepped backed and apologized for hugging him. Then she thanked him and said she would never forget him.  The Captain sadly knew he would never see her again and said the same. She sharply stood at attention, clicked her heels together, and saluted, the Captain did the same.

She walked towards the transporter gateway and then stopped and held the baby up for him to see one more time, she had tears in her eyes, the baby smiled. The Captain had tears in his eyes as he raised his hand. The Captain’s heart was breaking.

She turned and walked to the gateway and got in line to depart off the ship. Other crew members were there helping. A low hum background noise was interrupted by a short loud swoosh sound as people exited through the gateway. The line was moving quickly, Officer Jenkins turn was next.

The Captain's hand clinched the rail tightly as he remained at attention watching. He had bravely fought many battles in the Arorks, but, he was more scared now than ever in his life.

His lower lip quivered. Then suddenly he took a deep breath and briskly walked forward a few steps, stopped, and hollered out loud, "STOP."

He took a breath, "Officer Jenkins, stop."

All movement in the transporter gateway came to a sudden halt as puzzled crew personnel turned to look at the Captain and back at Officer Jenkins with her baby. She stopped without looking back at him and lowered her head and waited.

Then, in a much softer and kinder voice he asked, “Officer Jenkins,” he paused for a moment, “Will you marry me?”

Silence filled the dock. She stood perfectly still, everyone was watching, then slowly she turned and looked at him.  She stood there, so alone, trembling, tears in her eyes, then in a soft gentle voice she slowly gave her answer.

No one knew at that time that her answer would one day impact galaxies.