Spinward Fringe Broadcast 5: Fracture

by Randolph Lalonde

  “That transmission is four days old, he could be-”

  “Find him!” Captain Valance shot to his feet and pointed at the front of the bridge, his outburst so sudden and furious that everyone on the bridge jumped. “If you can't find him then find us something to hunt down and tear to pieces! They want a menace? I'll give them one!” He turned and stalked off the bridge, his long black and crimson coat flipping out behind him.

  Chapter 4

  Blame

  There was a moment's pause before Ayan was admitted inside the new Captain's ready quarters. She was a bundle of nerves. Waiting for the door to open gave the knot in her belly a chance to grow and make her even more uneasy about approaching Jacob, who had become more of a mystery to her over the past two weeks.

  The extended test results of the wormhole generator systems would wait, besides Finn was focusing on it and would tell Chief Grady if there were any problems. Preparations for the installation of two of the Triton’s main engines were complete and the other, less important internal repairs she was supervising had finished the day before. She was the only one on the bridge who had time to approach him.

  She wanted to, but at the same time she couldn't avoid the feeling that somehow she'd done something wrong. He was distant, difficult to speak to and never around when she had a spare moment. Oh, come on! You're a trained military officer, have seen war at point blank, survived more than most could imagine and have led engineering crews through damage control during actual combat. You used to have enough confidence for four officers! What's more, we were overjoyed at being reunited two weeks ago. If there's been a tumble away since there can't be much to getting back to where you were! She admonished herself inwardly.

  The new ready quarters were larger than the old. After the hull in front of the bridge was repaired the decision was made to make the forward Officer's meeting room and ready quarters into another armoured layer to further fortify the bridge. The new ready quarters were located above the bridge with a one man elevation pad so the Captain could be there at a moment's notice. There was also a private hallway that led directly to the captain's and first officer's ready quarters. That was the route she had chosen. For some reason she didn't want everyone on the bridge to know she'd gone to see him, as though she didn't want her worry to become public knowledge. From what she'd seen few people aboard ever worried about Captain Valance. She didn't know what would happen if they started.

  He was in his dark long coat standing in front of the thick forward transparent bulkhead. Through the transparent wall the seemingly endless expanse of rotating grey, white and blue asteroids stretched out. The light of a white star made them glitter like they were encrusted with gemstones as they moved past.

  Ayan stepped inside and let the door close. “Are you all right?” aloud the words seemed thin, her voice was that of a shy petitioner in her ears.

  “I'd ask you to sit down but they haven't brought the furniture up yet. Not a priority,” he replied. His voice was different, lower, devoid of emotion. It was the sound of the wall she'd watched slowly build between them.

  “I'm sorry about your old crew members. I wish I had known them.”

  “Silver was a nervous pretty boy.” He let the statement hang in the air before sighing. “You would have gotten on well with the rest,” he continued in a near whisper. He sounded much older somehow, tired. “Good people, trustworthy, steady.”

  Ayan watched him for a moment, catching a reflection of his face in the transparent metal for a moment. It was etched with deep worry. Slowly she crossed the broad room and leaned against the hull beside him. Seeing him that way at least gave her an idea of what was going on, of how to approach him. “Talk to me Jake, what's going on?” she asked as his expression started to harden, the wall was going up again.

  “It's over. I can't keep the Triton running with a crew this size, let alone finish recruiting a full crew for her. It's true; Regent Galactic has petitioned the Core World Trade Council and had my accounts frozen. It went through and my accounts may as well be empty. I have the repair cash stowed under the Samson’s reactor and that's it.”

  “Oh, is that all?” Ayan couldn't help prod him. She was starting to understand what had been happening since she'd come aboard with Oz, Jason and Minh. He was keeping all his worries, all his problems to himself. Running the ship day by day wasn't difficult for him, but handling the larger issues like the direction the ship was taking were weighing him down. He needed to find a confidant, to vent, and she'd been around enough stuffy officers to know how to guide someone into investing that trust in her.

  “They'll mutiny! These aren't Freeground troops or some government outfit I have running the ship, they're mercenaries!” He exploded as he turned away from her and started pacing.

  “Are they? You treat them like they're mercenaries, but are they really?”

  “Of course they are! Most of them have no ties, half or more come with combat training, if they don't like what's happening aboard then they'll take action.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “What?” Jake looked at her as though she'd just switched languages.

  “They're refugees. A few of them are mercenaries, sure, but I've met most of the more questionable crew members and they're in their glory here. A lot of the crew have never lived so well. They get three meals, a safe warm place to sleep, security to help them find their way and watch over them and four days out of five they have an eight hour shift. There have been a lot of double shifts recently but you should see them Jake. They're working shoulder to shoulder knowing that this is their home. Some don't want leave, they just go virtual the moment their shift ends. I think the prevalent complaint is that you're not allowing leisure programs to run on the sim system.”

  Jake burst into a short laugh and threw up his hands; “so if I give them a bunch of games they'll keep working once they realize I'm dry?”

  “That's not my point. There are a lot of ways a ship like this could make money, even enough to pay a full crew. How many does it take to run this ship, anyway?”

  “Triton is fully crewed at thirty two hundred with an artificial intelligence and fifty one hundred without,” Jake filled in.

  “Good! I know you've been thinking of going pirate ever since we got back from Pandem, so we go Pirate. Tell the crew it'll be a while, maybe we'll lose a few, but we won't lose many. Frankly I'm surprised. You've been out here longer, you know how to run a ship better than anyone without support.”

  “Going pirate isn't as easy as it is in the holomovies. First you have to find a good mark, and in the case of this crew that means a Regent Galactic or Order of Eden ship or convoy. Maybe some corp that doesn't see you coming which usually starts with a man on the inside. Then we have to risk our necks taking whatever we can sell. Then we have to find someone with cash who wants the stuff. If we're lucky we can get signed on as a privateer, but with the bounty on my head there's no way any government in the sector will take us.”

  “So, register someone else as Triton’s Captain. That might make a loophole big enough for a government to work though. Maybe we leave the sector to find someone with a grudge against Regent. I'm sure the Order of Eden has enemies, I know Regent Galactic does.”

  “Like who?”

  “I have no idea but I'm sure we can find someone. Between Jason's intelligence background and our new hypertransmitter I'm sure we can find someone.”

  Jake turned away and shook his head.

  Ayan watched him. Something had him irritated. Turning pirate was an easy step forward from their current situation and she was sure the thought had occurred to him. If anyone knew how to lead a pirate ship, even a massive carrier like the Triton, it was Jake. No, there was something else causing his frustration. She wanted to know what it was, to get him past it so she could see if there was anything beneath, anything for her. “What's wrong?” the question seemed limp and wide of the mark. She cringed at the sound.

  “I just thought
I could buy more time. I thought I would have been able to cash my accounts in on Pandem.”

  “The banks were closed,” Ayan chuckled, she couldn't help it. “Nothing you could do.” Her eyes never left him as she leaned against the transparent bulkhead, the whirling expanse of asteroids behind her.

  He sighed. “I'm glad to see you've gotten on well with the crew. They like you.”

  “They're easy to get on with. Most are just happy to get some direction.”

  He looked at her, she watched him. A long silence hung in the air. His expression started to harden, his back began to straighten. “We should get back to the bridge.”

  Ayan stepped forward with urgency and caught his hand before he completely turned away. “What's wrong? What's really wrong? Please.”

  The fearless, stoic Captain Valance had replaced the man she'd been speaking to just a moment before, the man she wished could stay just a little longer and he said; “Nothing.”

  She threw his hand away and stepped back. “God! I'm just trying to understand what's happening, no, wait, sorry! What's not happening for us! I didn't expect you to carry me through the airlock then down a path of rose petals into your quarters or anything but I try to talk to you and that's just what I get;” she squared her shoulders and drew her face down into a blockish expression and said; “nothing,” in as flat and low a voice as she could manage. “All I'm asking is what's wrong and I'm starting to care less about what the answer is, as long as I get one!”

  “It's you!” he burst in return.

  All the fury and frustration faded from Ayan. Her face felt hot, her eyes started to well up and she fought the instant urge to cry.

  “Wait, I didn't mean-”

  “You said it. I'll be a faithful officer, whatever you need. I'll even do it for free,” she rushed past him and through the door before it was completely open. Ayan stopped in the hall once she heard the door close, grateful for the narrow private passage. Her vision blurred as she looked back, hoping he had come after her. The low lit hall was empty.

  Compartmentalization. It was something she'd learned well during her time in the military. Regardless of how she felt, how she just wanted to find a dark, out of the way bunk and let it all out, she knew that Laura, Oz, Jason, and the rest of the crew were counting on her to be on the bridge, ready to take a position in command at a moment's notice. She took a few deep breaths, wiped away a few errant tears and shut all her emotions away before striding the rest of the way down the hall.

  Chapter 5

  First Flight

  “Are we launching or memorizing the punter system from the inside?” Minh asked Oz as he came online. His squadron had completed a second briefing and been ready for over eighteen minutes according to his command and control unit. Sure he liked the chatter, most of the pilots with him got along fine, but they were all there to do one thing; fly. The exploration mission they were about to undertake was one of the most exciting things to happen on Triton excluding active combat.

  It was also the first Triton based mission Minh was leading outside of a simulation. He had to admit to fighting some tension at the prospect of running into raiders. Infantry training helped him shrug it off, but three of his pilots had only seen active combat in simulations. They were hyper-realistic, but it still wasn't the real thing.

  “We had a delay on the bridge. Everyone shows green on the flight deck, punting in thirty,” Oz replied.

  “Was there drama? Don't tell me I missed drama.”

  “There was drama. I'm sure it'll linger long enough for you to catch the tail end when you get back.”

  “Why am I always as far away from the action I can get? I try to be exciting, but the ripples don't seem to radiate from this pebble, somehow I'm always at the far edge of the pool.”

  “If I didn't know you so well you'd be impossible to understand sometimes,” Oz replied. “Punting in fifteen.”

  “Shouldn't we focus on what we're doing?” asked Nathan, his Sensor Intercept Officer and copilot sitting behind him in the two seated Uriel starfighter. He had earned the call sign 'Slick' because he flattened his hair on his first flight from the Triton so his helmet wouldn't ruin his hairdo. No one had told him that they didn't wear a helmet with the vacsuits they used, which did cover their heads but generally didn't leave one's hair a mess.

  “I'm multitasking. Besides, we've done the checklist three times.” The launch system catapulted them into the open space beneath Triton. Minh took direct control of his Uriel Fighter with his hands and feet, turning the ship into a skid, facing the asteroid field. His six squadron members followed his lead. “Good morning everyone, it's time to go see why this asteroid field is so damned quiet. There should be a whole bunch of eager traders here but for some reason we're not picking up so much as an active satellite. Oh, and we'll be passing through a magnetically contained obscuring field just to see what's on the other side. There should be raiders, according to some late intelligence.” Minh double checked the intelligence update by glancing at the appropriate icon in his head's up display and was surprised to discover Oz and Jason had just added more information. "So, if I can't make nice with 'em, we're going to be on pest removal duty."

  "Make nice? With raiders?" Slick asked.

  "Those are the orders, check it," Minh replied, sending the update to his copilot's main display.

  "You're right. Well, I guess a trade is a trade when you're out here on your own."

  "I think, and this isn't to say that we're supposed to do much interpreting on our own, but I think they mean we're supposed to make nice if it's too late to save anyone. That's what I'm going with, anyway."

  "Good thinking."

  Minh-Chu, or Ronin, as every pilot and Flight Command officer called him, fired the six engines sending it towards the nearby asteroid field. The other fighters followed, fanning out in a predetermined forward pointed V formation so they could coordinate and get a more complete scan.

  The asteroid field was massive, hundreds of thousands of kilometres across and even though it had settled in a rapidly rotating plane it was still several thousand kilometres deep. They approached the edge of the field quickly, drifting out on course to pass across the seemingly flat top of the asteroid field.

  “I was wondering, why doesn't the Triton do this? I mean, doesn't she have a better sensor suite?” Asked Jaime, coined 'Joyboy' because of his great big toothy grin, though he liked to tell people that the name was inspired by a few very memorable dates.

  “Sure they do, but they're also a great big juicy target for anything that could be hiding in this mess. For all we know there's an EMP or nuke trap hiding in this mess.”

  “So they send seven fighters. And here I was thinking we were too important to be expendable.”

  “If it makes you feel any better there are another fourteen fighters and a gunship ready to launch on my say so. Hey Tempest, you're drifting too far to port. Get back in position,” Ronin ordered.

  “Aye, sorry sir.”

  “All right, we're moving on to formation two. Forty two hundred kilometres apart in a lateral V. SIO's coordinate so we're getting complete readings. Our top priority is finding signs of defence platforms, transmitters, outposts and anything else that could cause a problem or be worth communicating with,” Minh ordered as he looked at the grey, white and blue expanse of asteroids ahead. There were no operable monitoring posts or other pieces of technology above the field. A few long shipping containers and the wreckage of several old ships had been picked up by the Triton, but they were nowhere nearby.

  “What about composition analysis or scouting for dense material for Triton’s manufacturing systems?” asked Sprocket, so named because Mia had qualified as a pilot after being on the maintenance team ever since Triton was taken.

  “Our uplink to Triton is feeding all that information to people there who can analyse the data better than any of us,” Slick answered from behind Minh-Chu. “Now keep your eyes on what's important. There sho
uld be some kind of defence perimeter ahead.” Minh's SIO sighed and spoke exclusively to him. “I can't wait until they finish rebuilding the analysis and status software without the AI components. I have to admit, I wouldn't mind being out of a job and taking the stick.”

  “If you're trying to distance yourself from me it won't work. You're already slotted as my wingman,” Minh flipped the Uriel fighter upside down, continuing in a straight path towards the centre of the asteroid field. "Maybe even as a Squad Leader if you can get your scores up a little."

  “With your cover and kill record I don't much mind. All I ask is that you try being a little more predictable.”

  “Ha! Fat chance!” Minh burst as he looked across the churning, level field of asteroids. The group of fighters were starting to drift to the right, slowly matching the spin of the expanse of ice and stone. He watched for anything that didn't seem to belong, for something to lock his focus on that might tell him what happened before the Triton arrived. “There should be a ton of traffic if the information Alice included is even half right. She's the only one aboard who knew anything about this spot.”

  “I just think it's amazing that she even found this place. There's got to be a story behind that,” Slick added from behind Minh as he looked through sensor data.

  “I'm sure she'll be happy to tell you all about it as soon as she wakes up. Until then I'm just glad she found us a cool place to park while Triton makes repairs.”