Chapter 23
'Commander Storme. I know you and your toy soldiers back there are itching for action, but you keep asking, isn't going to make us get there any sooner.'
'Just making sure you haven't taken your foot off the gas, Captain.'
'See this,' said Captain Jack Tanner, tapping the consul. 'You might look at it as a simple speedometer, and in a way, it is. But it's all about ratio's. We can go faster, use more fuel. Never get back to Earth. Or, we can keep the velocity slash fuel ratio at this level, we not only get to Mars, but whoopee, we get back to Earth.'
Storme bent down to whisper in Tanner's ear. 'I don't like you, Tanner. Never have, never will. If any of my men used that tone with me, I'd personally throw them out of the damned airlock.'
Tanner smirked. 'Is that right, Storme? Let me just remind you one more time. My lieutenant and I are not your men, and should you decide to throw either of us out of the airlock, you'll end up floating off into space for eternity. Further more, I'm the captain of this ship and as long as I am, you will do as I tell you on my damned ship.'
'Is that right, Tanner? You know? Floating around in space for an eternity would be a small price to pay for seeing you float by the damn window, so stop tempting me.'
'And if you don't get off my flight deck in the next five seconds, I'll turn this turkey around and let you explain to the brass how the mission was aborted.'
'Tanner...'
'One...'
'One of these days...'
'Two....'
'You haven't heard the last of this.'
'Three...'
'Later, Tanner,' growled Storme, as he left the deck.
'Bye, bye,' said Tanner, with a self satisfied smile on his face.
'Unbelievable.'
'You said something, lieutenant Munroe?'
Tracy Munroe had had a belly full of the griping between the captain and the commander.
'Twenty one twelve and men still haven't evolved beyond cavemen. You just got fancier rocks to hurl at one another.'
'Hey. I didn't start all this animosity, okay?'
'You were banging his wife. Why the big ox didn't pull your head off with his bare hands when he caught you two together, I'll never know.'
'Yeah? Well the fact she's now shacked up with me, should tell you something. You drive the bus. I'm going for forty winks.'
With Tanner out of earshot, Munroe mumbled. 'That's damn well it. The minute we get back to Earth, I wanna transfer.'