by S. H. Jucha
Alex replied.
Alex sent.
Vyztram was about to deny that the drones’ actions were mistakes but instead were part of their programming. Then Julien’s teachings returned. This would be a necessary omission to preserve the possibility of an alliance that might save two races.
“My love,” Renée whispered in Alex’s ear. “It’s three ten hours in the morning.”
“Now, maybe both of us can get some undisturbed sleep,” Renée murmured and snuggled against Alex.
Alex intended to spend a few moments arranging the final aspects of the transfer and shipping of the drone, but he didn’t get far. Sleep came quickly and deeply.
35: Transit Tripper
At first, Kara was happy to hear from Cordelia. Now she wasn’t so sure that was a good thing.
Cordelia’s silver bells chimed, and she sent,
Kara replied, perking up.
As fast as Kara’s mind worked, she couldn’t parse all the questions that flooded her mind. Decades ago, her partner, Oscar Tellings, and she had taken their lifesavings and invested in a used shuttle. Their fortune was in ascendance. The derelict Méridien liner, Rêveur, had been rescued by Alex Racine and was to be repaired.
Kara and Oscar had attended the contractors’ meeting with Alex, and he’d awarded most of the ship’s work to the smaller banks, who dealt with minor contractors. By the time the Rêveur sailed, Kara and Oscar owned two shuttles, and both were in good repair.
Opportunities allowed their company to grow. Then one horrific day, Oscar met with an unfortunate shuttle accident. While outside the ship, he was struck by a tiny meteor. The piece of iron wasn’t much bigger than a pinch of sand. Traveling at a fierce velocity, the tiny iron rock pierced Oscar’s faceplate, passed through his eye, drilled through his brain, and exited the back of the helmet. Decompression was instantaneous, but it’s assumed that Oscar never suffered.
Kara lost heart for work after Oscar’s death. Her sisters convinced her to sell the company and relocate. They told her repeatedly that opportunities abounded at Omnia. She investigated Omnia, noticed the growing fleet, and recognized the possibilities.
Selling the company, Kara chose to purchase a small but serviceable freighter. Recently, it had undergone conversion to equip it with interstellar capability. The owner had gone broke making the change. Kara had cut a deal with the owner, who’d become a silent partner.
To Kara’s surprise, many of her former employees wanted to crew for her, and she’d welcomed them aboard.
Within a month, the Tripper was hauling supplies from New Terra to Omnia. Even before Kara received an offer to join Alex’s fleet, she’d paid off her silent partner, as per their contract.
The Tripper had become Kara’s home and the single point of her livelihood, and the admiral had just told her to leave the freighter with Mickey.
Kara was momentarily stupefied. When she recovered, she sent,
As Alex’s attention focused on the disparate worlds, their races, and the troubles within the galaxy, he’d assigned more and more responsibility down line.
The SADEs who were the directors of Omnia Bank saw massive fortunes in credits accumulating within their bank, Omnia Ships, and the owners of the company. What amused the directors was that no individual appeared to be spending any of the credits on themselves.
The shift in Alex’s focus gave the directors more latitude in managing funds. They spent the credits judiciously and always favored Alex’s goals.
In the case of the Tripper, Cordelia knew what the freighter meant to Kara. She knew of the woman’s loss, and her efforts to build a successful operation. Kara was one of the most respected freighter captains in the fleet. She was honest and direct, sometimes to the point of bluntness. But, first and foremost, she was acknowledged as a fair captain
to her crew.
Kara sent, crestfallen by missing out on a wonderful opportunity.
In the silence that followed, Cordelia added,
After the link closed, Kara thought for a moment. Then she sent,
A few minutes later, Jackie Olmand, standing in the bridge hatch, demanded, “From whom?”
The old freighter, which was originally constructed for intrasystem hauling, had metal alloy hatches that swung into place on hinges. Each was locked down with three manual levers.
Jackie stood with a foot on the lower lip of the hatch. While she had plenty of head room, she nearly filled the hatchway’s width.
When Tatia had met Jackie, her comment was, “It’s nice to see New Terra is still producing robust women.”
Jackie was about ten centimeters shorter than Tatia, but she was some thirty plus kilos heavier.
If the freighter’s crew found something jammed, they called on Jackie to unstick it. Sometimes, she used a pry bar; sometimes, she just used muscle.
“From Alex,” Kara replied, answering Jackie’s question.
“The man himself wants us?” Jackie inquired.
“Alex Racine wants this job done, and Admiral Cordelia chose us,” Kara explained.
During the ensuing conversation, Kara related the exchange with Cordelia.
As Kara concluded, Jackie exclaimed, “Seriously, a new freighter? I won’t have to hold this sweet, old piece of junk together anymore?”
When Jackie saw that she’d hurt Kara’s feelings, she said, “Look, Kara, this crew has stood by you. The Tripper has made us credits. Better than that, we gained a contract with an Omnian fleet, Alex’s fleet no less. But it’s time this relic was retired. Otherwise, one of these days, we’re going to disappear during transit.”
“I don’t disagree with you, Jackie,” Kara replied. “I’ll just be sad to see the Tripper go.”
“Mickey will make good use of the Tripper,” Jackie replied. “What’s first on the list?”
“We’ve a rendezvous point at the belt,” Kara replied. “Then we wait for the Our People to arrive. When the city-ship arrives, we offload everything.”
“I’ll get the crew ready,” Kara replied, jumping into another bridge chair and linking to the controller.
While the crew prepped the Tripper’s engines, Cordelia was contacted by Julien.
While Cordelia was on Libre, sent there as an Independent, she’d envisioned a time when SADEs wouldn’t depend on the generosity of humans to survive. Alex had fought and won the SADEs’ freedom, and they were making the most of the opportunity by furthering his goals, which had become their primary purpose.
* * * * *
Before morning meal, Renée alerted Tatia, Reiko, and Franz to what had transpired during the early morning hours.
The head table filled, and the diners waited for their trays and drinks.
Alex regarded the group and said, “There are complications with the drone-cradle pair. Therefore, I’m choosing to send the drone directly to Mickey via a freighter.”
Glancing around the table, Alex noted that no one was surprised. He added, “I see my attractive and charming partner has preceded me with the news. That means I can probably assume that you know why I made my decision.”
Tatia eyed Alex, who was chagrined to have his strange encounter shared again. “Alex,” she said. “We don’t care how you come by your decisions. Whether by logic, SADEs’ advice, or some other means, if you feel good about them, then that works for us.”
There was general head nodding about Tatia’s sentiments.
For Tatia’s part, she hoped the fleet’s worst encounters were behind them. More important, she was grateful to have Alain by her side. Although, she knew he needed to find something useful to do and soon.
“I’m glad you said that, Admiral,” Alex said, quickly shifting subjects. “My next decision requires that I usurp the chain of command.” He briefly regarded Tatia and Reiko before he continued. “The freighter needs a Trident escort. One ship should be enough. Due to the nature of individuals involved in this decision, I wish to put the parties together myself.”
The admirals quickly exchanged thoughts and deduced Alex’s intentions.
“Under the circumstances, Alex,” Tatia said. “We’re happy to leave the discussions with Petite and the others to you.” She ended her comment with a knowing smile.
“I thought you would be,” Alex remarked.
Further conversation was delayed with the arrival of serving plates. Due to the number of heavy worlders, the table’s center was, as usual, heavily crowded with the Méridien-sized plates.
After morning meal, Alex and Renée spoke privately in the owner’s salon about how to piece together Alex’s plan. It wasn’t simply a matter of ordering Captain Draken’s Trident, the OS Intrepid, to accompany the Tripper. Alex had to inform Hector, Ellie, Descartes, and Étienne that he wished to speak to Petite personally.
However, discussions with the fleet’s leader and commanders would have to wait until Alex first spoke to Nata and Ude.
“Alex, you know Nata is near a breaking point,” Renée said, taking a seat across from Alex. It’s where she sat when she intended to counter his thoughts.
“I disagree,” Alex replied. “I think she’s distraught, instigated by her unfair treatment at the hands of the Intrepid’s crew about the weapon’s misfiring. Some of her negative emotions probably stem from the anger she’s carried for so long.”
“And you think leaving Nata in that uncomfortable situation aboa
rd Draken’s Intrepid will remedy her turmoil?” Renée inquired.
“Not when you put it that way,” Alex said. “We have to change the dynamics. This isn’t just for Nata. We’ve a significant group of clones at Omnia, who are closely watching Nata. They’re probably wondering what happened to Ude too. Someday these clones will have children. Are we going to produce a group of Omnians who’ll feel like second-class citizens because they see their seniors fail at jobs that other Omnians accomplish?”
“I accept your concern about the Omnian clones, Alex,” Renée replied. “However, we can’t sacrifice Nata for the sake of what might be best for the other clones.”
“I don’t see this as a sacrifice,” Alex argued. “To me, if Nata gives up, then she would be sacrificing her career ... her chance at a meaningful life.”
Renée folded her arms, and Alex recognized the signal.
“We know Ude wants to reach the Jatouche,” Alex reasoned. “The medical station at Pyre will work nicely for him, which is where the Tripper is headed. Don’t you think Nata would like to go with him?”
“Yes, she would,” Renée replied, “but she’d still be a crew member aboard the Intrepid. Even if she resigned her lieutenancy, she’d be a passenger among those same individuals.”
“Okay,” Alex pursued. “Ude wants to be on a ship sailing to alliance space. Nata wants to be with him, and we want to save Nata’s career and provide her emotional stability. Now you tell me how we reverse the crew’s attitude about Nata.”
Renée’s arms unfolded, and Alex breathed a mental sigh of relief. He relaxed even more when Renée rose and made thé.
“Well, who carries the most weight in the fleets?” Renée asked, smiling and serving the hot drinks.
“Are you being facetious?” Alex asked, looking from arm to arm across his girth.
“Only slightly, my love,” Renée replied. “Actually, I was referring to the two of us.”
“You’re suggesting we walk them aboard the Intrepid,” Alex said.
“I am,” Renée responded, nodding.
Just then, Alex picked up the bio IDs of two individuals approaching the owner’s salon. They were Ude and Nata.
