The nature of his existence was revealed to him then, how he was built, the memory of his first breath, and the first time he opened his eyes to gaze upon the thin, smiling face of Doctor Marcelles. “I have betrayed my masters again and leaked your location to someone who will take you away from this place. She can be trusted. When you are activated again you will be able to decide which life you want. That of Jonas Valent, who will be destroyed if he cannot be tamed, or that of Jake Valance. One has a life you can only imitate long enough to learn from, the other is a slate on which you can write whatever you wish.”
“Why?” he managed to slur from the cold inspection table. There was a light behind the Doctor's head, he couldn't see the rest of the room.
“Because we should all have progeny and hope that they are better than ourselves. I have completed my work and when you are fully activated, can access the transferred memories of your human predecessor as though they were your own, yours will begin. Make no mistake my son, all that you feel is real but no matter how intense those memories may be, they cannot make you Jonas. His life is there as a platform, as a baseline to elaborate on, to grow from. He is a good man with principles, his example is important. Never fear losing yourself in his experiences, no matter how you use them. You can only ever be yourself and I believe the sum will be much greater than the parts. I must say goodbye to you now, they'll execute me once they discover I've betrayed them unless I can get away in time.”
His minutes old mouth worked to form the question. “Who?”
Doctor Marcelles laughed and raised an eyebrow. “Go to Zingara station as Jacob Valance and you will be found by someone with answers. There are other messages in the emergency storage unit contained within your framework, but they will only come if certain unfavourable conditions are met. I pray you never find yourself in such a situation. Go and be whole, my son.”
There was one more flash of pain before he woke. He was flat on his back, looking up at the faces of Alice and Stephanie. “Sir, are you all right?” Stephanie asked as Alice scanned him.
All the pain was gone. He could remember everything, as though he were Jonas Valance, but the gift he had been given by his creator was the ability to distinguish with certainty whose memories they were. Not his own, but he could delve in and feel, experience them as if they were. Emotional memories were harder to distinguish from his own, but within his mind was a firm grasp of where Jonas' history ended and his began.
He got to his feet slowly. “I'm fine,” he looked out of the express lift and saw the entrance to the bridge was open just down the hall.
The experiences he unconsciously drew from, the knowledge he had acquired from a past he didn't understand before all fit, it all made sense. He even knew why it had happened. He had met Alice. Jonas wasn't the trigger, it was Alice. The first time she brought him out of his stasis tube the process of remembering should have been triggered but she left before he could meet her, before he was awake.
She shook her head and shrugged. “My scanner says you're fine, a little heightened electronic activity, but it's gone now.”
He put his arm around her shoulders. “Ready to perform another rescue?” he asked her.
She looked up at him confused at first then smiled. “Aye.”
“Are you sure you're all right sir?” Stephanie asked, eyeing him.
“I'm better than all right. I'm ready,” his smile was broad and had a hint of something dark behind it.
Seneschal
Alice sat beside Captain Valance, he was every inch the figure Jonas was. There was something new, however. He seemed so much more alert and in the present. His orders were more certain, and she was reminded of a time not so long ago when she finally felt comfortable in her own skin.
They were in hyperspace, all the final tests had been run, their cloaking systems were all in perfect working order. What they had done with the ship was nothing short of a miracle. The crew had come together, the bridge actually looked like it was properly manned, not filled with people pretending or hurriedly training at their stations. Ashley was flanked by two navigators, one at either side. The engineering and operations section of the bridge to her right was fully manned by five, and tactical was crewed by Price and another pair of crew members she didn't have a chance to get acquainted with, since they were on day watch.
Stephanie was manning the security station, she had grown much more proficient at running that terminal thanks to practising in simulations, focusing on just her job. Keeping her in as First Officer would have been a mistake, but as Chief of Security she had everything well in hand.
Cynthia wasn't alone at the bridge communications post, she had two more people with her and Alice knew there were a dozen or more in the intelligence office just on the other side of the reinforced bulkhead behind her station.
Below, Paula, whose demeanour had calmed over the last day or so stood at the main flight deck station. Alice checked the status of her section just out of curiosity. Hangars one and two were completely clear while hangar three still had a bit of damage in one section and some cargo. Chief Vercelli had already marked it for repair after this excursion.
They had all eight reactors running. Six were fuelled by the last of their uranium stores, which could last them three weeks, while the other two drew energy from the recycled emissions material given off from the ship. Reserve power was up to full, the shield systems as well as weapon and cloaking systems were all powered up and ready.
In ten minutes they would arrive in the Enreega system, and if their emissions capture and the cloaking systems were working, no one would see them.
“Addressing the ship,” Captain Valance said as he stood and walked into the center of the bridge. He was in his long coat, the white scarf Ayan had given Jonas hung loosely around his neck, and the silver skull was clearly imprinted on the left side of his chest along with seven silver bars around the cuffs of his coat and vacsuit, designating him as the Captain. Behind him the two dimentional displays on the wall shifted and glowed with glimmering stars, solar winds, and nebulae that were distorted by the particles that made up the hyperspace field all around the ship.
Cynthia nodded, indicating that the whole ship could hear him.
“Hard days. Long, sleepless nights. I know first hand what they're like. I haven't had to learn like you have, to practice like you have, to sacrifice as you have. My burden has come in a different form. I have had to trust. In my life I have trusted so few. That is until I assumed command of the Triton, and if you knew what kind of birth I've had you'd understand. Taking all of you on board has been the greatest challenge I've ever had. I had so few incentives to give you in exchange for your loyalty, your hard work. Each and every one of you carry a gift that, until now I have given to five people in my entire life. My trust, my faith is with each and every one of you.
I trust that you will use the skills you brought on board with you, what you've learned since, and that you will have faith in me. We go now to do something else that I haven't done often. Help the helpless. There are two people unaware of what awaits them in the Enreega system, they are defenceless, helpless. If we don't take them aboard, give them refuge, Regent Galactic will capture them, interrogate them, and pick them apart until they are sure they have taken all their knowledge.
I hope we do not have to fight our way out of this system, but I am confident that we can. The Triton is a steady, hard ship. She is named after the son of a God who could send giants running in all directions with a blow of his horn. I say that if we are forced to fight our way out, we leave such a mark that they will know why the giants fled at the very sound of Triton's horn. Triton!” his holographic image called from everywhere in the ship.
In Engineering, on the flight deck, the gunnery deck and all places in between everyone raised their fists into the air, armour clad and otherwise and shouted the response; “Deploy, Dominate, Disappear!”
“That is faith. That is what our enemies will never under
stand. That is how we will burn them to cinders and scatter their ashes across the galaxy,” Captain Valance said through a grin that most could only describe as malicious.
He cut the channel using his command and control unit then returned to the command chair.
“You better give us somethin' to shoot at after that Captain, my boys are on fire up here,” Frost said through his communicator. The Chiefs were all tied into one encrypted channel.
“I think we're all on edge Gunnery Chief. We're just waiting to play catch down here,” added Deck Chief Vercelli.
“I don't envy a boarding party if they manage to get close enough,” Stephanie said. “We're set in strategic positions all across the ship, sir. Some of my people are actually hoping someone boards us, they're spoiling for a fight.”
“Good. Three minutes and we'll arrive in the Enreega system. Then we'll find out if our cloaking device is working,” Captain Valance said calmly.
“Don't worry about that Captain, just watch your sensors for that lost ship of yours. Everything's as it should be down here, probably for the first time in decades,” Engineering Chief Grady replied.
The bridge was busy, everyone was rechecking systems, getting ready for the power shift that would take place as soon as they arrived. The tactical station crew were white knuckled nervous. They were responsible for finding the Silkstream IV as soon as they arrived. They had support personnel from communications and intelligence who would be checking scan results as well, and they would forward any important finds to Agameg, who glanced at his main monitoring displays one after another, over and over again to satisfy a nervous need to do everything just right. Alice and Jake checked and rechecked status reports from across the ship. Everything was ready, all unnecessary sections of the ship were closed off and locked down completely. The Botanical Gallery and civilian quarters were sealed behind many layers of internal and external armour, they were in the safest section of the ship.
They watched the counter drop from 00:02:00 to 00:01:59 and it seemed like another eternity was yet to pass before they arrived. “Is lower gunnery and torpedo control ready?” Captain Valance asked Price.
“Aye sir, tactical is ready across the board.”
“Thank you. Ashley, as soon as we emerge, fly us into a position that will give the nearest ship the smallest possible target.”
“Yes sir. I'll show them our side profile.” Ashley said as she unlocked the controls, making final preparations for their arrival.
“Any special instructions for me Captain?” Alice asked in a whisper.
“Catch everything I miss,” he smiled back quietly.
“Should I nap here or in the ready room?”
The countdown rolled from 00:01:00 to 00:00:59:00, and started to count in milliseconds.
Captain Valance brought up his command display, a ring of eye level holograms that projected in front of the command chair. Alice did the same. “I wouldn't have thought in a million years that we'd end up as the first and second on the same ship, especially not on a Sol Defence Close Combat Carrier.”
“You think you're surprised?” Alice said with a smirk. “this whole thing redefines the term; 'keep it in the family.'”
“You have a point. No turning back now either. Any regrets?”
“I'd do it all again,” she whispered back with a grin. She could see his displays were set to focus on the tactical and security aspects of the ship, along with a display for power systems, shield and weapon statuses. Using that as a guide, she focused her display to keep a keen eye on their course, status of the hangar decks, engines, reactors, computer systems and damage control.
There was a great deal for them to keep their eyes on, and the point was not to micromanage, but to let the occurrences inside and outside of the ship to inform their general orders. Catching something that wasn't being taken care of was important as well, though in their position it wasn't something they could afford to focus on constantly.
The Triton, having a crew of near the optimal size and being in fairly good shape, still wasn't perfect. Some quick and dirty solutions were necessary to get her ready in time. There had also been some modifications done by Wheeler and his crew that made some systems more brittle than they should have been.
There was work left to be done, a great deal of work, and they were going into a potential combat situation without finishing the job or having a chance to explore the entire ship. Who knew what unexpected issues could come up if they actually had to engage in a firefight.
Alice brought up a general status display of the ship on one of the bridge main holoprojectors, a tactical view on the center most projector and left the third one unset.
They decelerated out of hyperspace and all the lighting in the ship dimmed. Systems across the entire vessel were reduced to minimal power except for the energy shielding and cloaking systems.
Tactical screens and holograms started to populate themselves with targets and details. They had come out over three quarters of a million kilometres away from the planet Seneschal. Between them was the octagonal base ship, many many times their size.
“Systems are quiet across the ship sir. Reading no wireless noise or emissions reflected back at us from outside surfaces,” reported Price. “I love these systems,” he whispered.
“In a minute we'll know whether or not I love them.” Captain Valance whispered as he started to help the tactical team pick through the sensor data, looking for the Silkstream IV. “Turn us around just in case Ash.”
Ashley flipped the ship upside down using thrusters only, so if they had to make a quick getaway they could do so under full thrust. “We're ready for the worst, hoping for the best,” she said back.
“Nothing is reacting to our presence sir. It looks like our cloaking systems are doing their job,” reported another tactical officer.
“That's step one. Anyone see the Silkstream?” asked Captain Valance.
“Not on my displays,” said one tactical crewman.
“The filter keeps on coming up with nothing. I'll adjust it,” said another.
“Don't. If the filter hasn't highlighted it, then it's either not there or we cannot detect it yet,” Price corrected.
“Aye sir.”
Captain Valance scanned and devised a quick filter of his own and set it to run over and over again, running through the names of the thousands of ships in the area so it could be highlighted on their tactical displays as soon as it was found. “Move us in closer Ash.”
“You're clear to use main engines. Our cloaking systems can handle it,” Chief Grady informed command.
“All right, speed at your discretion Ashley. Let's head for the half million kilometre mark,” Captain Valance ordered quietly.
They started moving and the navigational holograms in front of the helm lit up, projecting the courses of all the ships on their scanners, marking those that could come close to, or collide with the Triton. There were also gravitational markers, energy field outlines that highlighted areas of strong magnetic influence such as the energy collector from the Regent Galactic base ship. If the Triton were to come too close to any of those fields, whether they were from natural or technological sources, it would interfere with them and any competent tactical or science crew member working for the other side would notice it.
“There's something strange going on here sir. There are several ships floating on the surface of the planet. They look like harvesters,” one of the tactical crew said, bringing her findings up on one of the two dimentional wall displays.
“Look into it more once we have the Silkstream. That has to be secondary.”
“Yes sir.”
“We have to stay focused or we'll get killed out here,” Captain Valance reinforced. There were fighter squadrons, destroyers, even a couple long range carriers in the area. Most of them were out of immediate firing range, and the closest vessels were beneath the Triton's class, but they were still dangerous in such numbers.
“I have t
hem sir! They just came in on the other side of the system!” called out one tactical officer excitedly as he forwarded his find to the main tactical display. It was on the other side of the planet, over a million kilometres away.
“Get us there Ashley, bring us up to seventy percent thrust,” Captain Valance ordered.
“Aye sir,” she replied with a smile, powering up the five main engines.
“Try to get a read on what's going on closer to the planet, I want to know if anything is getting to that ship faster than us.”
They started closing in on a wide orbit around the planet, weaving invisibly between vessels both small and large. Ashley was forced to come within less than a kilometre of one of the larger ships more than once, she listened to instructions from both her navigators, who only focused on the most important information on the obstacles that weren't immediately in front of her or interfering with her direct trajectory. She was one with the controls, and as they reached the closest point of the planet's atmosphere without disrupting their cloaking fields, she guided the ship at great speed, rounding the blue globe while dodging between small substations, satellites and transports.
They came around and tactical was able to glean more information about ships that may be interfering with the Silkstream IV. “Captain, there's a destroyer closing on our objective at a range of thirty kilometres,” announced Price.
“Full burn at your discretion Ash! Get us between the destroyer and the Silkstream.”
“They're launching small ships sir. They intend to tow her I think,” a tactical officer informed.
“Gunnery deck, your target is my target. Open fire,” Captain Valance ordered as he marked the four shuttles just leaving the destroyer. “Once you're done with that, put some holes in that destroyer. Let's scare them off.”
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 3 Page 29
