Admiral

Thankfully the initial anxiety the students may have had over the threatening frigate disappeared once Roy was able to establish communication with them, the ship belonged to the United States of America, the USS Nixon. Lupus established a video transmission with the USS Nixon's admiral and he came into view on Brigham's windshield and vice versa.

The admiral was a tough, tall gray-haired, bearded old man with a Cuban cigar in his hand. The look in his eyes made him appear sharp, ready, and determined, yet he also had a soft, disarming smile. All of the Lupus crew gathered at the bridge to talk with the admiral. Roy stood at attention trying his best to impress the American admiral.

"This is Admiral Stanley Stevenson of the USS Nixon, to whom am I speaking," Stevenson lit his cigar. "We picked up a distress signal from hours ago from a medical ship, said they were being attacked by some neo-Nazis though, by the looks of things here, I don't think it's a problem anymore," the admiral laughed. "It appears that you have taken care of them, yet you are all so young. So, why are all of you kids out here, is there an adult on board I can speak to? I see your ship has the Solatium corporation insignia on its hull, are you Nova Occasian?"

Ana firmly grabbed hold of Brigham's arm and whispered to him, "Don't say a word to this imperialist American dog. Don't trust any NATO official, he will reveal Nova Occasio's military secrets to his masters in Washington D.C."

Roy gripped Brigham's other arm and whispered to him, "Don't listen to the godless commie! We are in the presence of the greatest army of Earth and the entire Milky Way galaxy. We have to tell him everything."

Emidio tucked Brigham's uniform from the back and said, "Don't do anything to upset him and cooperate, he can snap his finger and vaporize us instantly."

Curro grabbed Brigham's uniform from the front, "Ask him if he can fix the warp drive."

Ljubiša came at Brigham grabbing him and said, “Ask him if he has American burgers.”

"Guys!" Brigham broke free of everyone's grasp, "Would you all first let me go! Sheesh."

Admiral Stevenson facepalmed and laughed, "You know I heard everything you said, your comms are open. No, I won't vaporize you kids and I'm not here to spy on you, I am asking you because I want to offer help. I don't care about your secrets, you seem lost in space, otherwise, you wouldn't be in this corner of nothing in the cosmos. Is there a problem with your warp drive?"

Brigham took a deep breath and told basically everything that had happened to Admiral Stevenson. The man seemed like a trustworthy adult and there was sincerity behind his words. Ana was very unhappy with Brigham's decision but she was alone in her protests. Brigham had went over their entire journey, their school exam, the death of their instructor, the crash of Ovis and Serpens on Hrkar, the battle with the Kortonains on NB011 and finally their defense of the medical ship.

"That was quite the story you told me," Stevenson inhaled his cigarette, "Of course, we will help you with everything you need, I will offer up supplies and engineers to repair your warp drive. You kids should be commended for making it this far and for vanquishing the neo-Nazis."

Brigham modestly took a step back, "Oh no, you don't need to say that, we only did what was right in the situation."

"I will contact your government and tell them about your achievements," Stevenson said.

"Um… maybe skip on that part," Brigham said nervously. "You see we may have broken the law, specifically our constitution for intervening to stop the Nazis," Brigham explained their constitutional dilemma. "No offense Roy but I don't feel confident putting my future in the hands of your legal theory that may be rejected."

"That is a bit of a pickle…" Stevenson inhaled his cigar. "If I am calling Nova Occasio I have to report that to my superiors, if I am giving you supplies and repairs I also have to write that in my report…" Stevenson paused for a second rubbing his chin. "How about this, you said you were going to the Lepoglava Space Station? We will pretend we never saw you, I will write down in my report that we mysteriously already found the Young Aryan ship destroyed, and I will run that story over with the doctors too. The downside is that we will take all of the credit for this."

"Darn it, we did all heroic stuff and we won't even be credited," Ljubiša said. The entire class glared at him with anger and side-eyes for saying something tone-deaf.

"You didn't do anything except fall on your knees loser," Hitomi clapped back at Ljubiša.

Stevenson chuckled and said, "In life doing the right thing rarely comes with a reward. You can do many great things and most people will remain oblivious to your achievements. Glory should never be the reason you are doing something good, you should always do it for no other reason that it is the right thing to do."

Lupus fell silent at Stevenson's sudden wise words, they somehow felt better than receiving any medal. They also looked at Brigham with admiration for making the right call in the end.

"If that's all," Stevenson put out his cigar. "By the way the commander in charge of the Lepoglava Space Station is Momir Momčilović, he is a good man, I met him at the battle of Trieste back in 1945. Ah, we were both 20 years old back then. How time flew by… I would tell you to say hi for me, but I never saw you. Whatever the case, knowing his character, he will help you with all of your needs."

"One more thing admiral," Brigham said timidly. "The crash I told you about on Hrkar, Ovis and Serpens our schoolmates, maybe there is a chance some are alive are still down on that cold desert planet. We were short on fuel and experience so we couldn't land there. Is it possible for you to send an expedition to check if, by any slim chance, anybody survived?"

Stevenson frowned and raised an eyebrow, "You do realize you are asking a foreign military official, who is not an ally, to go out of his way and drain resources to check to see if some kids unrelated to his mission are okay? You do realize how absurd this is?"

Brigham lowered his head, "I'm sorry, it was stupid of me to-"

"I'm just messing with you kid," Stevenson laughed. "Well, actually most people in my position would turn you down. I'm not most people, I find your honesty and humanity something the world needs more of. I can make up a reason that the doctors told me about possible unexplored minerals on planet Hrkar that I sent an expedition to check. They stumbled upon this mysterious crash site and checked to see if there were any survivors" Stevenson shrugged and gave Lupus a wave, "Stay safe, and good luck. I wish you all success in your future careers in your army and I pray the only time I ever see any of you in space is as friends."

Admiral Stevenson cut the transmission and Lupus was left to themselves. They soon reengaged the AI auto-pilot and were back on course to the Yugoslav Space Station, they were a little less than halfway there. Roy though star struck by the admiral’s presence was a little uncomfortable how much of rule breaker Stevenson was willing to be, even if it was for them.

The USS Nixon deployed several of its small warships on missions, the first order of business was sending repairmen, engineers, and supplies to the damaged medical ship the neo-Nazis were chasing. A second ship was deployed to board, detain, and arrest the Young Aryans. They were going to question them for the locations of their hideouts and be sent back to Earth to stand trial.

A final third ship was sent to planet Hrkar to investigate the crash site. The most experienced crew on the USS Nixon was sent on this mission given the planet's difficult gravity and its highly dangerous Kortonians.

***

Lupus fell back into their usual routine but for tonight(according to their clocks), they had gathered in the mess hall to celebrate their victory. Lei Mei had vowed to make a spectacular dinner to make the evening truly special.

Just as everyone was getting comfortable, Emidio placed a hand on Brigham's shoulder startling him. Emidio leaned towards his captain and whispered, "May I talk to you, alone?"

Brigham stood up and followed his white haired friend, confused over this sudden call. The two entered the shower room, Emidio came up close Brigham and said, "We can be alone in here, no one will bother us."

"Emidio, if this is a confession, I have t-"

The white-haired boy interrupted the captain and firmly said, "I know who the culprit is."