“We’re colleagues, Danilo. Jackson is fine.” Jackson Wolfe looked up from his tile as his assistant came in. He felt bad for the young man given the isolation that Project Prometheus demanded of its staff, but the Cube had spoken to him and he knew that if he hadn’t gotten him off New Sierra quickly some overzealous spook would have had the poor bastard “stored” somewhere so that he couldn’t spread around what he’d seen.

“Technically, you still outrank everyone here,” Danilo said.

“That’s just for the bean counters.” Jackson stroked at the three months of beard growth. “My rank is just an equivalency, I’m no more a brigadier general than I am still a starship captain. We’re all just researchers. So … why has the delivery drone’s appearance made you so excited?”

“There was replacement coffee aboard.” Danilo smiled.

“That is good news,” Jackson stood. “Times were indeed becoming desperate as I found myself going through all the assorted teas looking for something with enough caffeine to justify drinking something that tastes like lawn clippings. Have Stevens and Marcos unpack commissary provisions first … I’m sure the rest of the equipment can wait.”

“Yes, sir.” Danilo straightened and walked out of the room. Jackson just shook his head, thankful the young man had at least stopped actually trying to salute him. The problem was that a lot of the rest of the staff of Project Prometheus wasn’t any better. There were ex-Fleet and even a few former Marines, all who had served during the Phage War, that recognized him immediately when they’d established the new facility. For months the hushed whispers when he walked by and even some snapping to attention when he walked into a room had prompted him to take steps. The customs and courtesies were familiar, as were the surroundings, but Jackson wanted his people relaxed and focused on the task at hand. He also didn’t want any misconceptions, by either his staff or himself, that he was still the “Captain.”

He got up from his desk and left his cramped office. Despite there being many other, larger rooms available, there was a definite comfort level in his current accommodations. He walked down the passageway, intent on being one of the first to tear into the month’s new coffee shipment when a loud alarm blared and red lights flashed in the corridor.

“Administrator Wolfe to the port, aft airlock … Administrator Wolfe to the port, aft airlock.” The voice over the intercom belonged to the facility’s computer. “Security teams to the port, aft airlock … security teams to the port, aft airlock.”