Mostly-daily writing prompts for the space rogue in all of us
Starship pilot who doesn’t give a crap about gravity
Starship pilot who did, in fact, get banned from Argo
Starship pilot who wishes you had just a little bit of faith
"Let me run through this one more time," the Lieutenant said, blowing an exasperated breath through pursed lips. "You worship the patron god—"
"Goddess."
"Patron goddess," the Lieutenant corrects herself with an air of intense restraint. "Of mechanized combat?"
"Ketjupyörä."
"I see. And what system is Ketu... Catyu... What system is this goddess from?"
"Merak, sir. Beta Ursa Majoris."
The Lieutenant raises an eyebrow. "If I recall, we don't station anyone in that system."
"Ketjupyörä is not bound to her system, sir, anymore than we are. Where there is battle, she will adjudicate. Sir."
There is a long, tired pause.
"Let's move onto the incident with Sergeant Roscoe. You invited her to a bible study?"
"It's not a 'bible study'. It's merely a gathering of friends and worshippers of Ketjupyörä who gather on a weekly basis to review her sacred texts."
"Yes, I believe I have some of those texts." The Lieutenant drops three weighty books onto the desk, one at a time. They each land with a muffled thud.
"The repair manual for your government-issue HX-37 Killstar. The Principles of Near Gravity Combat, by Wellington. And a very illegal instruction manual on how to centrifuge your own mixture of fuel. Not only is the last one a court martial offense, but all of these are Terran books."
"Divinely inspired, sir."
The Lieutenant slams a hand down on the desk. "AT WHAT POINT DID YOU BLOW UP THE HANGAR BAY?"
"We... I thought that if Sergeant Roscoe experienced a near miss... a close call, maybe she might begin to see things in a different light."
"AND SO YOU BLEW UP THE HANGAR BAY?"
"To save her soul!"
"Misuse of government property, to whit, explosives. Destruction of government property—"
"Oh, no sir, I used low velocity explosives. The ship is plenty well armored to take those. It wouldn't be damaged."
"BUT THE HANGAR BAY ISN'T ARMORED!"
"Well, that is true..."
"I'm inclined to ring you up on domestic terrorism charges. Do you have anything to say in your defense? Anything at all?"
"Well..."
"Make it quick."
"Sergeant Roscoe will be meeting with our little group later this week. It seems she's interested in hearing what we have to say about Ketjupyörä."
The Lieutenant sighs and lowers her head to her desk. "Dismissed, pilot."
"Thank you, sir. Oh, and one other thing. You don't fly anymore, but you had one of those HX-21s, didn't you? The ones that had that notorious reactor implosion problem?"
"I said dismissed, pilot."
"You've got a fifty mission cap, too, right?"
"What's your point?"
"You might want to give some thought to how you managed to live long enough to become a lieutenant. Sir. You've got some good reading material right in front of you."
"Dismissed."