Red_Scare1

Charlie Sector
12:09 Standard Earth Time
2184

It was rare that Mansel let the crew of the Explorer wear Con-Bravo uniforms. Not too recently, someone in the UNSF upper echelons had the bright idea to come up with different uniform conditions for crews on starships to wear. It had been met with open arms.

Con-Alpha condition, favored by everyone, was basically the “wear what you want to wear” condition. However, Con-Alpha was not allowed on UNSF starships; it was deemed unprofessional. –Alpha was mostly used in hangar bays and widely favored by UNSF Intelligence field officers. Those on starships, though, lacked the luxury of wearing what they wanted to wear. Unless, of course, they were off duty.

Con-Bravo was a little stricter in terms of what to wear. Simply, -Bravo was business attire. Shirts and ties, jackets optional. This was where UNSF officers could get somewhat creative with their attire. Commander Vaughn, for instance, usually wore ties with green geese flying across them, or something equally outrageous. It was rumored that the Captain had a line of old vintage Dr. Seuss ties.

Con-Charlie was the regular and most widely used uniform condition. It was simply the UNSF standard-issue uniform. The upper portion of the uniform was color-coded; dependent upon the area the crewmember worked in. Mansel and Vaughn, being the ship’s two senior officers, had red tops. Everyone else on the bridge had a forest green top. Engineers wore dark blue tops, and so on. Everyone had black bottoms and issued boots. Rank was sown on the left breast of the shirt.

Con-Delta was the Battle Dress Uniform of the UNSF. During Con-Delta, everyone had to wear a sidearm on his or her hip. This was primarily used if the ship was about to be boarded. The security officers aboard the ship had to dress down in full riot gear, more commonly known as the “hunker down boys” gear. Few UNSF ships had been boarded lately, so an alternate version of Con-Delta had been developed. For the security details going on ship-to-surface missions, Con-Delta applied, only as a safety measure.

Con-Echo was the UNSF dress uniform. All officers from Lieutenant to Captain wore a brilliant white jacket, displaying rank, ribbons, and awards. The rank went on the shoulders of the jacket itself, as well as a system of rings around the bottom of the long-sleeve shirt that officers wore underneath. Admirals, however, ore deep, rich red jackets with the hard shoulder rank and tassels at the end, reminiscent of the old United States Navy uniforms. These jackets also displayed rank, ribbons, and metals. The Ensigns wore a distasteful gray uniform with no rank on their shoulders, and most of the time, no ribbons or metals. –Echo uniforms were usually worn at promotion parties, retirement parties, funerals, and other formal functions.

It was rare that Mansel let the crew of the Explorer wear Con-Bravo uniforms, and rarer still that the whole bridge crew, Mansel included, was on break simultaneously. Currently, the bridge crew was having dinner at the Officer’s Lounge on the 10th Deck.

The Officer’s Lounge (more commonly known as the “O-Lounge”) was a place for all officers who were Lieutenant Commanders and up to hang out and relax. Lieutenants Talaj and Hardy were reasonable exceptions to the rule—they were bridge officers, which pretty much waived any limitations they might have otherwise had pertaining to access of the ship.

The Ensigns and Lieutenants (along with any civilian that might be on board) had their own place named the Dumpster. Despite its name, the club stayed in good shape (sometimes better shape than the O-Lounge) and was just as fun and interesting as its somewhat more civil counterpart.

“Where’s the Captain?” Lieutenant Hardy asked as the Explorer’s main cook, Molaram, can around to get their orders.

“Probably getting some sleep,” Commander Vaughn answered. “He needs it. If he has any sense—”

The opening of the O-Lounge doors interrupted Commander Vaughn. Captain Mansel entered the lounge and made his way over to the table they were sitting at.

“Hello everyone,” the starship commander greeted as he pulled up a chair and sat down. The bridge crew chorused this greetings.

Lieutenant Commander Fleury turned to Vaughn. “Now what were you saying, Commander?” he asked with a rueful grin.

Vaughn smiled as he sunk lower in his chair. “Nothing, Fleury. Nothing at all.
”
“What will you have, sir?” Molaram asked, coming up behind Mansel. The Captain ordered a personal sized pizza and a soda.

“Well, Captain, we’ve got one year down,” said Vaughn heartily, pausing to take a sip of his drink. “Only six more left.”

“Somehow, I don’t think we’ll be mapping star systems for the next six years. With this war with the Imperials, sooner or later, we’re going to be thrust into the action.”

“I can’t wait,” said Fleury with no emotion.

Captain Mansel was about to say more, but his pocket communicator beeped. “Go ahead,” responded Mansel.

It was the temporary Communications officer, a Lieutenant. “Sir, I have a message coming from Starbase 51.”

“Patch it through to the O-Lounge,” said Mansel. Just as Molaram brought Mansel his pizza, the Captain strode over to the wall-mounted LCD display. Seconds later, a face appeared on the screen.