SpecOps (Expeditionary Force Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

then.
    Out in the corridor, I put my zPhone earpiece in.
"Hey, Skippy, you call me Colonel Joe, you call Simms 'Major Tammy'. You
call Chang 'Colonel Kong'," Kong was his given name, "or King
Kong." Chang actually enjoyed being called 'King Kong', that nickname had
totally backfired on Skippy. "You call Lt. Williams 'Baldilocks'. You have
some sort of nickname for most people. But you only ever call Sergeant Adams,
'Sergeant Adams.' Why is that? Her first name is Margaret, why don't you call
her Meg, or Peggy, or, hey, how about you call her Sarge Marge?"
    "Wow. I am impressed. I thought I'd seen the
depths of your stupidity before, but you're setting a new record low for
dumdumness. You have met Sergeant Adams, right?"
    "Duh, I met her before I met you. Oh, that was a
rhetorical question."
    "Double duh. Sarge Marge, huh? Tell me, what do
you think would happen if I referred to Sergeant Adams by that quaint
nickname?"
    "Um, she'd kick your ass?"
    "Most likely. I seek fun, Joe, not suicide."
    "Ok, good talk, then."
    "Uh huh, sure. Hey, I noticed you showing off big
time in the training hold."
    "Commander's privilege, Skippy. Besides, I do
need to maintain proficiency with powered armor."
    "Why? You're the commander, you should remain
aboard the ship."
    "No way. No way am I staying here all the time,
Skippy. And are you absolutely certain there is no possibility that I will
never need to use a suit, out here?"
    He sighed. "No, I can't say that for certain,
Joe. Fine, you have fun, just don't hurt yourself. I won't always be there to
protect you when you do something stupid."
    "Got it, Skippy, thanks."

CHAPTER THREE
     
    After leaving the now-dormant wormhole behind, we had
set course for another wormhole. Not the next closest wormhole, unfortunately
the closest wormhole connected in the wrong direction from where we wanted to
go. Despite Skippy's joke about setting course for a random blue star, we did
have a particular destination planned. We made several Skippy-programmed jumps,
then when we were in the middle of empty interstellar space, we programmed our
own jump into the nav system by humans, our very first. My main hope for our
first jump was that we didn't blow up the ship.
    I checked the main bridge display for the vital
details of ship status, although I could see the same data anywhere on the ship
with my iPad, it felt more real when I was sitting in the command chair on the
bridge. The very bottom left corner of the display now had, in small script,
the designator ' UNS Flying Dutchman '. Skippy must have
added that while I wasn't paying attention. The same letters, much larger, were
on a new brass plaque above the door to the bridge and CIC compartments. The
crew, including me, liked that, it made us sound official.
    The governments that made up UN Expeditionary Forces
Command suddenly decided, a few days before we departed, that they didn't like
the name Flying Dutchman , and various other names were floated
for consideration. I got the feeling their public relations people would have
liked to run a worldwide naming contest on the internet, if they'd had time,
and if the nature of the big star carrier hanging in orbit wasn't classified.
Navy officers around the world protested that changing a ship's name was
traditionally bad luck. Skippy cut the argument short by stating that he liked
the name Flying Dutchman, that he controlled all data systems
aboard the ship, and that the UN could name our captured alien star carrier the Good Ship Lollipop for all he cared, it wouldn't change
anything. In the frantic days before departure, trying to get the ship loaded
with all the people, gear and supplies we needed, I had no time for BS like
caring what we called the ship. To our Merry Band of Pirates, it was always
going to be the ' Flying Dutchman ' anyway. When UNEF dropped the
renaming idea, that was one less headache for me.
    Back home, I am sure the UN still has an international
committee of highly-paid people studying