Page 18 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Persuading the Zookeeper of Apadat

“Officers-in-training, attention: briefing at 0800 in the
communications room.”
The message was broadcast throughout the PKU exploratory
vessel Jai Singh. To Kaga, intent on studying the recorded history of
the spaceship’s missions of discovery, it was an annoying
interruption. It meant he would have to leave the ship’s library and
join the other fledgling officers for another deadly lecture by Admiral
Borjug, commander of the Jai Singh.
Kaga terminated the scanner session and got to his feet with a sigh.
The voyage was becoming less and less pleasant as time wore on. The
dozen or so new graduates of the PKU Academy getting their first
exposure to deep space exploration had not counted on a protracted
expedition under a man like Admiral Borjug.
True, there was no way to tell in advance how long it would take to
locate an as yet uncontacted inhabited world. The navigational
computer juggled a staggering number of variables in order to plot a
course from one likely star system to another. Success itself had a
measurable probability; as the ship jumped about from galaxy to
galaxy, expectation grew with each abandoned probe. The longer the
search, the more likely it was to succeed.
But the young officers also knew from their recently completed
education that statistics had no binding effect on any particular case;
they could, in fact, examine a million planets without finding what
they wanted. Would the Admiral insist on continuing the voyage
indefinitely? This was a question in the minds of all the new officers,
but they dared not ask it of Admiral Borjug.
In Kaga’s opinion, the man should have been long since retired
owing to his attitude. Regrettably, the PKU test for deep space fitness
did not include ideological analysis. It was evident to most of the
junior officers who had been forced to listen to the Admiral’s
harangues that his views on their mission were irrational and
distorted.
As Kaga headed toward the mandatory meeting he was joined by
Lugo, a fellow trainee. They had become friends during their stay in
the Academy, sensing ln each other a common desire for adventure
and distaste for regimentation. Both had been involved in disciplinary
16