“I have been appointed CAG, pro tem,” he said, shortly.  If anyone was disappointed, they’d just have to deal with it.  “We should receive our starfighters within the week.  However, until then, we will have to prepare the fighter tubes for launch.”

There was some grumbling, but no actual dissent.  Kurt allowed himself a moment of relief.  They were all adults, thankfully, not little children.  Or even big children like Penny and Percy, he added, in the privacy of his own thoughts.

“I know this isn't what we expected when we signed on the dotted line,” he added, “but it has to be done.  I’ll speak privately to each of you over the coming week, so we get to know each other a little better.  Once we receive our fighters, we will begin regular training.  We may be able to cannibalise a simulator from Luna Base, but it won’t be as good as reality.”

He smiled at their expressions.  Simulators were good, he had to admit, and much safer than actual training missions, but they didn't quite do everything.  Pilots could replay the infamous trench scene in a simulator, or go buzzing through an asteroid field that didn't exist, at least outside the imaginations of science-fiction writers, yet the sense of danger was missing.  A crash in a simulator was embarrassing, a crash in a real starfighter was lethal.

“Now,” he said, looking around the compartment.  “Time to get this mess cleared up.”

He watched the other pilots as they swept up the dust, removed the protective covers from the bunks and cleaned out the showers.  Most of them seemed to accept their task willingly, but a handful were grumbling under their breath as they worked.  One – a girl who would have been pretty, if she hadn't been scowling all the time – looked particularly annoyed.  Kurt wondered, absently, if she had a reason to be annoyed, then dismissed the thought.  If she hadn't wanted to go where she was sent, she shouldn't have joined the military.

You weren't much better when you were on active duty, he reminded himself.  It was an uncomfortable thought.  Were you?

Once the room was clean – or at least cleaner – he reached for his terminal and checked the duty roster.  Neither he nor his pilots had been added to it – the XO presumably hadn't gotten around to it – so he told his pilots to get a few hours of sleep before time ran out.  It wouldn't be long, he was sure, before they were put back to work.  But it would be just long enough to write out a message for Molly and then work out what needed to be done to get the fighter tubes ready for their new craft.

***