Preparing the Rover

When I finished with the Admiral, she'd approved the senior crew suggestions that I'd made, and ordered me to report to the new captain, McCann, to assist with preparations before departure. I wasn't really surprised at the approvals, given how limited we were in selecting staff in the first place, but I was definitely feeling quite pleased with myself.

By the time I tracked down Captain McCann, he'd already been notified of his new position, and seemed to be busy with paperwork in preparation.

I presented myself and saluted formally, but - thankfully, really - he seemed quite relaxed and informal.

"We've got a very busy 40 hours..." - he checked his watch - "... 39 hours ahead of us. I'm usually very much in favour of formality where it's needed,, but let's not make it a burden for the next day or so, eh?"

I happily agreed and relaxed, conscious that he might well be more experienced at my own game of desperately trying to get any possible extra bit of information on the mission.

He grabbed a tablet and swiped around, evidently to grab the list of crew.

"The Admiral has given me your list of senior crew."

I was still inwardly pleased with myself over the list, somehow even more so now with the Captain referring to it as my list.

"All good names - O'Toole has a reputation, of course, but the good seems to significantly outweigh the bad. McGurk, too - valuable skills, but lazy. What are your thoughts there?"

"On O'Toole, Sir? Same as yours, I think, Sir - uncanny skills, very valuable, likely needs a little bit of management, but I'm sure all captains have had the same thoughts, and done whatever was needed. McGurk probably less so - it seems to me that he does what's needed, so it will all depend on how the rest of the crew see him"

"Hmm, yes, that's pretty much it. We're going to need someone to ... do whatever is needed there."

He paused, looking at me as if he'd asked a question, and it took me a moment to work out that he effectively had. I decided to edge on the side of caution rather than presuming too much.

"Erm, I'm not sure what you're saying, Sir - I could certainly hunt down some reports on how they've been handled before?"

"Ha! No, lad, no. Not that. I know what needs doing - I'm asking you if you'd like to do it! I'm aware that you've got no off-world experience, but it seems to me that this is nominally a dull voyage, but those can easily turn into learning experiences. The Admiral seems happy with you, but - all things considered - I'm confident I can persuade her to let you got for something like this."

I knew there was something odd about this trip, but "all things considered" had really thrown me. He'd clearly been briefed more than I had on whatever was going on here - not a surprise at all, for the Captain - but was letting just a tiny bit of that out, quite possibly to tease me into accepting.

"I'm not sure what to say, Sir. I'm honoured for the offer, of course..."

I was stalling purely and simply because I really did have no idea what to say. At the very least, this would be a couple of months of perceived time away from home, and with the relativistic changes, more like a couple of years by the time I got back. But it really was a great opportunity.

"If you're thinking about asking for time to decide, then the answer is..."

Before he could tell me I had no time to decide, I'd decided.

"I accept, of course, Sir. Apologies for the delay!"

He smiled, and I had no idea if he was genuinely happy for me, or please with himself for pulling me into something terrible.