He rushed to the elevator that would take him deeper inside the Merciless. It bore him and several other pilots who just got back from their patrol up rapidly. He knew them all, but no one was talkative, most were checking in with Crewcast, to see if they missed any messages during their patrol. The regulation of having Crewcast off while you were working was strictly enforced, and it made sense, but it seemed to make patrols feel even longer. Half a dozen deck crewmembers were waiting at the top, they were early for shift change by half an hour.
Leaving the elevator behind, Carnie was at his bunk after moving through grey and dark blue hallways that were almost reflective. "God dammit!" Marc Taylor, call sign 'Caw,' exclaimed as he passed into the bunk room behind Noah.
"What's up?" Noah asked, taking his jacket off and dropping it onto his bunk.
"I'm not going to Sabre Wing, looks like I'm an Ensign First Grade for another cycle," he grumbled.
"You can do the quals on your own, move up through the grades," Noah offered.
"You know how long that takes now? That's months if I pass final testing on the first try for every grade. If I got picked up by the officer program they just moved to the Triton, then I could be a Lieutenant in three weeks! It could get me out of a bunk and into some privacy and a shot at piloting something other than a coffin with pods and guns. Now I'm on the slow, slow track."
"You'll get there, maybe you'll get in next round?"
"No," Marc said, sending him a screen from his command and control unit. "I've been to Captain's Mast twice in one year, I'm not getting into any programs for a long time."
"Well, that’s…" Noah started countering, then he saw that Caw was punished for fighting twice while he was with his previous wing. It was probably true, that would hold him back for months if not years.
"Yeah, see? I lose my temper a couple times and it slows me down for years."
To Noah's relief, Alice's face appeared on his comm unit, she was calling. "You'll get through it, man. I've got a call." He rolled into his bunk and closed the privacy curtain, accepting the call. "Hey, I was on patrol when you tried to get through last time."
"I forgot. It's night here," Alice said. "Morning there, huh?"
"Early morning," Noah chuckled. "I'll still be too wired to sleep for a couple hours though. How are things… where you are?" He didn't know where she was, only that it was a long, long way off.
"Tense," Alice sighed, she looked nervous. "I'll be seeing you soon. I woke my parents up with some news, and it looks like the Merciless will be coming my way. That's classified, by the way, I shouldn't be telling you."
"No worries, privacy curtain is up, and I keep my mouth shut. That's going to be cool, though, maybe I can take you out, or we can have dinner under the dim light of the food processors."
Alice smiled, but she had something on her mind, something that kept her from grinning completely. "Listen, there's something I have to tell you before we see each other again."
The sinking feeling that came over Noah then made him want to tell her to stop talking, but he braced himself instead. Telling her that he wasn't going to be on the Merciless, that he was shipping out to the Triton most likely before it set out across a couple sectors, wasn't something he was looking forward to, but putting the brakes on the relationship was not the way he wanted to avoid having to give her the news. "It can't be that bad," he said.
"I don't know," Alice said, it was almost a whisper. "These last couple weeks have been amazing, talking to you every couple days, even though I can't talk about what I'm doing out here, I've enjoyed every minute. I can't tell you how much I look forward to our calls, our sim time together, especially because it's so different from being right there with you."
"Well, the sims have been pretty close to real," Noah said. "I forget we're not really surfing, or suit gliding, or even just hanging out."
"I know, but it's not the same for me," Alice replied, a tear rolling down her cheek. "There's always something that reminds me that those sims aren't real."
"Well, yeah, but I still get face time with you, it's the best part of my day."
"Okay, and It's the best time of mine too, but I've put something important off, now I think it's going to come out, so I want to be the one to tell you, even if it's at the last minute."
What it could be mystified Noah, and before he could stop himself, he was resorting to humour. "Are you an android or something? I don't really care, I mean, there were moments on Iora where I wondered what Theo would look like in a dress. It got pretty lonely…"
Alice laughed for a moment then shook it off. "I'm being serious, Noah."
"Okay, okay, just tell me. You know all my secrets, so lay it on me."
"I'm an empath," she burst. "When I want to, and sometimes when I don't, I can sense what other people are feeling, especially people I get close to."
The idea struck Noah strangely. He wasn't irritated much. More than anything he was curious but had no idea what questions to ask. "Oh," was all he could say.
Alice continued to explain in a rush. "That's why these two weeks have been so amazing. I can't feel anything over long distances, so being with you with only my own emotions driving me, having to talk to you to learn anything, to get to know you like normal people do has been perfect. Now, when I see you in person, I'm afraid it's going to be different. I'll try to turn it off for you, but sometimes it just comes on, especially when I'm excited."
Noah knew that he'd had moments where he didn't really want to share his thoughts with anyone, especially when he first met Alice. She was in that swimsuit, coming out of the water, and she looked amazing, but he didn't want to share how attractive he found her. That was such a beautiful sight, even though he was still intimidated by her at first. "So, on the beach…"
"I knew you liked me, and not for my mind, I saw you trying not to stare, though, you were trying to be a gentleman while I didn't have much to hide behind. That took a lot of willpower for you, and I was flattered," Alice admitted, starting to grin. "But then there was something more than arousal. It was like a strong interest, and I liked you too, so…"
"You surprised me with that hug," Noah said, starting to smile as well.
"I was even more nervous because my mind was wide open, I could feel everything you were feeling, and when you hugged me back, I could feel how happy you were, it was like living in the best moment. I managed to turn it off later, after the beach, and that's when I knew I really had more than interest, or attraction to you, that it was better than that."
The smile on Noah's face softened, he was happy to hear he was important to her, declarations of love hadn't come into their relationship yet, but he felt like they were dancing around that word, like it was already there, but too tender to say aloud. A question came to mind then. "So you can pick up feelings, but what about thoughts?"
"No, I stick to feelings. Going further than that could cause real damage, I never do it," Alice explained.
"Can empathy cause damage?"
"Theo says no, Quan agreed, everyone who has experience with this says the same thing, but I've gotten headaches from picking up too much at once, and from keeping it shut down for a couple days, too. I don't think I'll know for real for a while."
"Okay," Noah said, thinking. "So, none of my feelings about you on the beach made you want to run away and hide behind a tree?" It wasn't the best question he could ask, but it was the next one on his mind.
"You're not the first person to be attracted to someone," Alice replied, rolling her eyes. "It made me blush, but I liked how you admired me, it wasn't purely superficial."
"So, you don't mind people who think you're dead sexy?" Noah teased, relieved that a few stolen glances and appreciation didn't offend her.
"Usually not, I catch people noticing each other all the time, I had no idea how much people liked looking at each other in passing until I got this," she pointed to her temple. "So there's nothing weird about it now. Then again, I haven't exact
ly visited nightclubs or hot spots since this started about a month ago."
That opened up a bunch of other questions; What started it? Is it going to go away? Will more people become empaths? Could it happen to me? But he settled on one. "Do you like it?"
"Being an empath?" Alice asked, the question seemed to stump her and she hesitated.
A priority message notice appeared on Noah's comm unit. It was from Minh-Chu. He had it play back in a small window on his wrist display. "Time to pack up and fly over to the Triton. Your fighter's in the punter, you have twenty minutes. Good luck over there, buddy!" Minh-Chu said to him. His face disappeared, replaced by a countdown to his departure time. He looked back to Alice, who was rendered in hologram above his wrist, trying not to look impatient.
"I'll tell you if I like it after I know whether or not it'll make things awkward between us," she answered finally.
Noah believed he was becoming more of a realist, he liked to think he was coming closer every day, but he knew the realistic thing to say was; 'I hope not,' or 'It will, but we'll work on it,' or 'We'll see,' but he turned away from that notion and leaned into what he always was: a dreamer. "I'm crazy for you," he pulled his scarf out so she could see it. "I feel lucky every time I see this little reminder. Don’t turn your empath mojo down around me, because that's the first thing you'll feel when we meet up."
"Oh, God, I hope so," Alice said, looking relieved.
"Listen, I want to stay on, but I've got news too. That meetup is going to get put off for a while, I got into this new thing that's starting up aboard the Triton, an officer thing that Minh signed me up for. I get the feeling the Triton isn't following the Merciless to you, so…"
"Oh." Alice looked surprised and disappointed. Rallying, she said; "Well, more time to get to know each other."
"I'll try and get through this fast, so we can get together, I was looking forward to it."
"You have to go now?" Alice asked.
"I could chat for a couple more minutes, but…" he moved the timer window over the middle of his communicator screen so she could see it. "…I'm on the clock."
Alice's eyes went wide. "Wow, don't be late, get going. Call me when you have comm credits and time."
"I'll trade to get some time if I have to," Noah said. "This training better be worth it though."
"Just don’t burn yourself out in the first week. Oh, and ask the instructors for help whenever you need it," Alice said, she was starting to look excited. "If it's anything like Apex, you'll work hard but it'll be a time you never forget. Now, go."
"Aye, Captain," he said, taking one last look at her face before ending the call. He swung out of his bunk and started packing as fast as he could, scooping everything he had stowed under his mattress compartment into a duffel.
"Well, where are you going in a hurry?" asked Maid, one of the shorter female pilots from her bunk behind him.
"Looks like I'm joining Sabre Wing," Noah said, trying not to sound excited. "I have about twenty minutes to take off."
"Son of a bitch!" Marc burst, yanking his bunk's privacy curtain closed.
Eleven
Old Friends
* * *
It was an unusual morning in Jake's quarters. The place was in daytime mode already, with the bedroom sealed off from the night before, informal seating setup in the main room and holo-images drifting between the informally gathered group. Ayan shared the loveseat with him as they munched on Noka; cold noodles with pieces of fruit in a thick, savoury white juice that reminded him of yogurt. It was his second time trying it, and while the idea of the Lorander breakfast wasn't very appealing, his mind was changed once he tasted the mildly sweet dish. It was easy for the War Forge to manufacture all but the fruit, which was finally growing in the garden centre of the station.
Minh-Chu had no misgivings about his first bowl when he dropped into an arm chair that morning, digging in as though he'd seen the meal before. It was his first time trying it, and he loved it immediately. It was a hit with Ashley as well. "So, this is a thing with everyone from Lorander?" Minh-Chu asked.
Oz picked at it, rolling the occasional noodle around his fork and putting the tangled ball in his mouth all at once.
"About a third from what we know. So that's a few billion people," Ayan replied. "This is one of dozens of variations, something we can grow the right fruit and berries for."
"People who eat like this can't be all bad," Ashley said.
"That's the thing," Ayan said after finishing a mouthful. "Now that we're getting a guided tour of the Lorander database from Quan and getting a little more information from the rest of the people who remained with Lorander, we're finding out that we only saw the most moderate, centred faction of their society. Their whole culture is still in flux even though they started merging with humanity a long time ago, and there are people, like the Akanen, who explore with so much enthusiasm that they're more like adventurers than scholars."
"Oh, think we'll get to meet them?" Ashley asked with interest.
"There are a few that might have slipped into the Milky Way, but Quan said they're mostly exploring their home galaxies and other near neighbours right now. They're at odds with Lorander because they don't believe in colonizing the way they do, so they stay out of each other's way."
"Oh, too bad. I'd love to see what a Lora… Akanen adventurer looks like."
"Quan says he used to watch their stories when he was growing up, there are thousands of them, and he admits that he's more interested in aspiring to be like them than his elders since he started working with us. Now that he's not worried about offending his commanders, he's really interesting. Leon hangs out with him constantly."
"Leon?" Ashley asked Minh-Chu in a whisper.
"Her assistant, handler type guy," Minh-Chu answered. He looked to Ayan and Jake then, speaking up. "Not that I don't want to start meeting for breakfast, but what's the occasion this time?"
"The Merciless is moving on," Jake said. "Alice found a world with thousands of recruits. They're angry at the Order and need to evacuate. It's also where Admiral Scanlon's command ship is being upgraded and there will be an Edxi presence there soon. Alice doesn't have the firepower she needs to address the most important targets, and she's made what Admiral Lamonthe calls a 'major command error.' The Merciless is going to step in and help out."
"What did she do?" Oz asked, putting his bowl down on the coffee table between them. He finished most of the noodles, leaving blueberries and tangerine slices lurking in the milky juice.
There was no trace of amusement as Jake explained his daughter's blunder. "She promised the leader of the resistance, which is organized and important to the evacuation of his planet, a bomb that could strip the planet of life before the Edxi arrive. She's sure that it was the only way to get a real relationship going with this leader and his resistance group. I told her we don't provide that kind of firepower to allies, especially new ones."
The reaction was predictable. Oz lowered his head, Ashley looked stunned, Minh-Chu stuffed a bunch of noodles into his mouth, and Ayan seemed to make a point of not reacting. "She's new to this kind of command, and she worked hard to find the right resistance group to recruit."
"It sounded like she got desperate, so this must be a pretty big organization, something promising," Jake agreed. "She bought herself some time, but I don't know how she'll be able to back down from her promise."
"Stripping the planet isn't the worst option, though," Oz said. "Especially if it was a terraformed world in the first place."
"It is a terraformed world, but old, stable," Ayan replied, putting her empty bowl down on the table. "I agree, though. I'm not completely against it, especially since terraforming can start over again. The problem is…"
"Once this group takes possession, they can make changes so the bomb is even more devastating, even screw up the timing so a lot of people are still on the surface when it goes off," Oz finished. "So, they won't trust her completely until they hav
e this bomb in hand?"
"That's the situation," Jake said. "The Merciless is going in so SOCU can operate in a broader sense. We're putting the mission and support ships together now. We won't have Remmy, or Alaka, but there are too many opportunities to pass up in that one system. Oh, and they have a live connection to the Order of Eden Fleet Network. They don't have the intelligence infrastructure to handle all the information."
"What? How?" Oz asked, amazed.
"They used the civilian network's connections to find the rebellion they're connected with and ended up going right through to the Order network from there. They made another back door and created several sets of credentials so they could have access to the network whenever they want. The Order of Eden 'net had some serious vulnerabilities because the local government on Nuaji was pretty loose with them. Now the Fleet has real access, but we need a ship with intelligence facilities closer to the source."
"So, two of my best pilots have been sent to Officer School, and we're heading into the heart of Order of Eden territory," Minh-Chu said. "Tell me we're getting that cloaking upgrade, at least."
"It's faster for the War Forge to make new fighters, so you'll be getting them in a couple hours," Jake said. "There were too many upgrades to install in the old ships."
"Music to my ears, thank you," Minh-Chu said.
"Don't worry about your pilots," Oz said. "They'll be better than ever when you get them back."
"If everything goes well, they'll get more experience patrolling around the War Forge than anyone flying off the Merciless gets near Nuaji," Jake said.
"Right. I'm guessing we're going to be taking out that giant Cruiser they're upgrading?" Minh-Chu asked.
"No, Alice's team are assessing it as a target. She wants to make sure it’s the right place to put her Super Hammerhead Torpedo before she launches. The only thing she can't do with it is give it to Peter, the resistance leader," Jake said.
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 13 Page 10
