Rulvak looked over at Bleu in disbelief.
*He couldn't possibly mean what he just said...to make light of something so serious?* Rulvak looked around hangar, odds and ends scattered throughout, like when a three-year old was done playing with their toys before nap time. He knew not where to start. *I should have hid that alcohol, instead of having them party with it to get rid of it all before the inspection. And now cleaning will be a competition?*
"...and Rulvak, you better come out on top. I will not tolerate anything less from my second in command after that abuse of our stash."
*He really is serious. The fate of this inspection rides on a competition between Ernordeth and I?*
Ernordeth glanced over at Rulvak with a smirk so full of confidence that it made Rulvak feel hopeless.
*How am I to compete with someone of his level of experience, especially after this* mess *?* Immediately, he made the decision to employ other members to help.
*Surely this is not an abuse of power. It is justified. It is for a good cause. It is for the inspection.* He thought to himself as justification for recruiting help before noticing Ernordeth approaching him.
"Good luck, Rulvak," he said, before turning back towards the grav-lift. The feeling of hopelessness within Rulvak was more apparent now than before.
--
"You honestly think I would employ the Talons to help clean up a mess in the Hangar Bay, Rulvak?" Mako sounded furious that the halfbreed would even suggest the idea, and Rul was not about to stay around and wait for Mako to make an example of him. Even though Rulvak had the position advantage on the Nighthawk, he knew better than to push someone so obviously above him.
He was running out of ideas, Mako would not have anything to do with it, he would not go near Nath, he felt he was always on Zakath's bad side, he didn't really know Ood or Kalon very well, Egregious seemed reliable at times...but he was still unsure what happened with the 'defector' situation, and all that was left was Arcean.
--
Arcean was just minding his own business in his quarters, trying to recover from the hangover from the little bit of alcohol the Commander had let him consume the night before, when Rulvak found him.
"Arcean!"
"Yes Commander?" he replied while rubbing his head after he knocked his head off of the bunk.
"I need you to help me clean the Hangar Bay, it's a disaster, and today is inspection day."
"Roger that, sir. Who else will be helping us?"
"It's you and I, mate."
--
On their way back down the grav-lift, he remembered Ernordeth.
*Good luck, Rulvak...heh. Now what will you do Erno?*
When the doors hissed open, Kordath was sitting there waiting.
"Sir! I have employed Arcean to help me clean-" but before he could finish, his Captain cut him off.
"Rulvak, you have failed me," he said plainly with an obvious look of disappointment on his face.
"-but sir..." Rulvak started before looking around at a spotless Hangar Bay. *How did he do it? I thought of everyone we could have asked for help...*
"You know how, Rul. Quite simply, he out-smarted you. Erno promptly went to the Engineering room, programmed the droids for their cleaning protocol, and watched them finish the task while you were running around trying to recruit other people to complete the task for you. I honestly had thought you would be the one to think of it first."
Rulvak stared at the clean room in disbelief. *How could I have forgotten about the droids?*
"Ernordeth will be receiving the Consul and Proconsul when they arrive for the inspection, for he has earned the right to be the face of the Nighthawk during their stay. You, Rul, will be doing whatever they wish you to do. In other words, you have won the right to be their personal butler. Am I clear?" Kordath said, unusually stern.
"Yes, sir," Rul said with a deep sigh.
"Ernordeth is on his way down here, and I've received word that they are inbound this very minute." Bleu changed his tone completely back to normal after that, and prepared for the arrival of the ship's previous Captain, and her coworker. "Enjoy being room service!" He chimed before walking away.
*Well, what could go wrong?* Rul thought to himself before preparing himself for the adventure that lay ahead.