“But I’m not her captain, was never really meant to be. What I need is a ship, and I hear you’re hitting a supply waystation.”
“You’re going to hitch a ride and steal a ship?” Alice asked, thrilled.
“Aye, the Hell Shrike is packed with crew. They’re busy with repairs now, but when they’re done I plan on peeling a few choice officers off for my own ship. There are other seasoned captains aboard her that want to do the same as soon as they can. May as well get started.”
“Can you get a boarding team together?” Jake asked.
“I was planning on going along with one of yours, figured I’ve proven myself in training sims with your people over the last three days.”
“That’s not his worry, Moira,” Frost said. “His people are set to take one ship and its cargo. If you can get another team together, we can grab for another ship.”
“Where are you headed, Captain?” Moira asked. “Where they’ve got so many ships lying around that you can pluck them as you like?”
“First thing’s first,” Jake said as Agameg and Finn came through the hatch near Minh-Chu and Ashley, closing it behind themselves. They were in a scan resistant compartment – no one would be able to eavesdrop on them. Jake also blocked their outgoing message capabilities on their command and control units. “Are we still ahead of schedule on repairs?”
“You just put us another hour or so ahead by helping with those generators. Thank you, Captain,” Finn said. “Room Two is all wired, the reactors all check out. It was nice to buy something off the shelf instead of adapting salvage.”
“I’m sure it was, but it was expensive. We’re down to our cash reserves.” Minh-Chu knew Jake was lying for the greater good. The cash vault they got their hands on contained ninety-three million in Galactic Currency. The fourteen antimatter enhanced mass reactors and their parts cost eleven million, and the other parts Jake bought for the ship only cost two. The rest of the cash was hidden on the Triton and the Warlord, making Oz, Frost, David, Jake, and himself the only ones who knew about it. A ship like the Warlord required cash reserves for emergency repairs, bribes, and other expenses.
“It’s a good thing,” Jake continued, “that our new crew don’t mind food and lodgings as payment for the first tour. That brings me to the next issue. Do you think they’re ready for action?”
“Normally I’d tell you this is a bad idea,” Frost said. “Three days is a short time for any new crewmember, but we got some real experienced crewmembers out of Port Rush, and aye, they’re still learning the tricks of this ship. Everyone we kept are able, experienced. I’d like a couple more days though. They need to get more familiar with the ship, come together as a team, and that takes drilling, practice.”
“I can give you four days in transit,” Jake replied. “How about your boarding and security people, Stephanie?”
“They’re all former Triton crew. I’ve been able to keep Oz from poaching my people, and I stole a couple more when I sent notices through Alice asking if any experienced people wanted to leave Haven Shore. I’ve got a full team with backup, and all of them fought for the Triton when she was trapped last year. Our on-board security’s good too. I kept a couple who are still green, but they’re mostly cut from the same lot as the boarding team. That’s not to mention Remmy and his team. The Rangers are disciplined and well trained. I don’t know what to do with them yet, but I’ll find something, I’m sure. With Remmy’s experience on the Sunspire and against the Order Knights, I’ll make sure he’s got something to do.”
“Minh?” Jake asked, turning to him.
“Samurai Squadron is ready with one substitution. Joyboy is out, Tacker is in.”
“Oh, how’s Paula doing?” asked Stephanie.
“She looks like a little stick swallowed a giant watermelon whole,” Ashley replied to the room’s amusement. “Healthy though, she’s due in a couple weeks.”
“You guys made up?” Alice asked.
“We’re civil, I think pregnancy is calming her down a little,” Ashley replied. “Or she’s just too tired to keep yapping at people the way she used to.”
“Other than that,” Minh-Chu continued, “Samurai Squadron is good, and the hangar crew is ready. Thanks for finishing our punter systems, Agameg.”
“You’re welcome, it was a good system to train the team on.”
“Your turn, Finn,” Jake said. “How is the Warlord?”
“Ready,” Finn replied. “Like Frost said, I’d like to drill the crew more, make sure they know their way around better, but the ship is ready. Given the four days in transit, everything will be finished, from the aggressive shielding to fixing the creak in Alice’s bunk.”
“I’d like to request a temporary transfer now that the ship is almost finished,” Agameg said. “Finn is more than capable of handling the Chief Engineer position.”
“I know,” Jake said. “Looking to transfer to the Triton?”
“Yes, Sir, for two weeks. They have many crewmembers in need of more training than simulations or their existing pool of officers can provide. I have experience on that ship, and would like to assist while the Warlord is still pursuing non-military targets.”
“I hate to lose you, but after everything Oz and the Triton have done for us over the last few months, I think I owe it to them. Good luck, Agameg, we’ll miss having you aboard. Don’t get too comfortable over there though, you’re only getting the two weeks you’re requesting.”
“Thank you, Captain, I won’t.”
“Now that we’re all up to date, it’s time to lay out our next mission,” Captain Valent said. “Normally we’d be meeting in the captain’s mast, but our new doctors are using the space to teach some of our crew about the emergency medical systems.”
“It’s better this mission brief happens while we’re on our feet, anyhow,” Frost said. “It’s going to be a busy one.”
“Right,” Jake replied. “Thanks to a recruiting drive, our need for supplies is doubling every week. Commander Ayan’s efforts to convert the bunkers claimed by the Rangers and Haven Shore Regulars is probably going to work out too, so I bet their food will start running out in about a month. Since we’re putting our lot in with her and the Triton, and they aren’t ready to start producing what they need, it falls to us to acquire supplies and equipment.
“We’re headed straight into the Iron Head Nebula, for an Industrial Starlight Port. It’s not a Regent Galactic company, but they were contracted by Regent to deliver supplies and materials to the Order. The Port we’re hitting is considered safe from attack because it sits on our side of the nebula, close to a major Regent Galactic military shipyard and dispatch centre. They assume the Regent Galactic base could send Order ships out fast enough to stop any attack. They think sneak attacks are impossible too, since cloaking is dodgy near the nebula, and impossible inside. The same matter that interferes with cloaks makes it a little dangerous for most ships to enter the outskirts of the nebula at high speeds, so they have to slow down at a significant distance from the Port facility. They also have to cross through the nebula at specific points. Our intelligence tells us that there are major deceleration and acceleration waypoints, where ships finish decelerating from faster than light travel or open wormholes before heading through a safe part of the nebula to the Order of Eden frontline. There are a lot of possible objectives there, so we’re going to wait nearby, take our time picking our targets and our timing.
The Order of Eden has been patrolling the area with brand new Harbinger Corvettes. They come from the nearby shipyard. New corvettes are sent to patrol each of the waypoints before moving on to join the rest of their forces at the front.”
“I’ve seen those,” Moira said. “Fought a couple, too. With a good crew they’re dangerous, no frills, but well armed. They come with some kind of power tap weapon; if you get too close they’ll shut you down, but it doesn’t damage electronics like an EMP.”
“Do you want one?” Jake asked.
“What? A Harbinger?”
“Yes.”
“You’re crazy,” Moira scoffed. “Sure, come up with a plan that won’t get us all killed, and I’ll take a corvette.”
“I’m going to like this trip,” Frost muttered. Minh-Chu couldn’t help but notice Alice beaming a smile in the grizzled gunnery master’s direction, who winked back.
“All right,” Jake said. “Industrial Starflight was hit by the Holocaust Virus a little before they signed up with Regent Galactic, so there will be no automated security or defences. No drones, and they don’t have many fighters. It’s going to be true twitch-play: the better pilots, the better crews and strategists will win this if it comes to a straight fight. Most of the Order of Eden crews are green, new recruits into their cult, so we have a good chance if we stay sharp and smart. We leave in four hours, so make sure your teams are aboard, and you have everything you need. Don’t share the details of our mission.”
“How am I going to entice a team without a few details?” asked Moira. “What can I share from this meeting?”
“Tell them you’ll be stealing a cargo hauler with my help, and I’ll give you the ship with everything you find aboard when we get it back here,” Jake replied.
“Fair enough,” Moira replied.
CHAPTER 31
The Decks Have Ears
The shuffle and bustle of the Warlord’s new crew getting ready for departure still rang in Alice’s ears. It was hours later, and the Warlord was accelerating down a wormhole, using the hyperdrive system to speed things along. The ship also sent microscopic wormholes out ahead in all directions, invisible tendrils for their scanners to get a picture of what’s well ahead. The hum of the exterior emitters could be heard faintly throughout the ship. It was a different vessel to her, with new decks, new walls, a different floor plan than the one she vaguely recalled. It made it easy for her to understand what it was like for most of the crew who were still new to the ship.
She’d broken her rule against using her direct mental connection to her comm unit outside of combat to rapidly view the new roster and crew details. There were exactly two hundred and ten aboard, and all of the new crewmembers were experienced with vetted service records. The Triton and Ayan took on the people who needed extended training, so the people the Warlord took on only needed to learn about that ship; they were qualified for their assignments aboard.
Alice was security. Her responsibility was to know every nook and cranny of the ship, where people were supposed to be, and to make sure that nothing unusual or detrimental to the ship or the Warlord’s crew was going on. Her first shift, probably the busiest she’d see for the foreseeable future, was over, and while she was relieved at finishing the boarding and departure prep shift, she was also bored.
It was the first watch while the Warlord was underway, and most of the new crew were resting in their quarters. The galley was closed, as were the two cargo bays that doubled as recreation areas while they were empty, and even the Officer’s lounge was dark and empty. It was time for the off-duty crew to report to their bunks, to try to get some sleep, and the ship was quiet.
Alice couldn’t sleep, however, so she spent her time quietly walking the decks. Her uniform marked her as a security officer, a heavy vacsuit with a Violator handgun strapped to one thigh, and a big barrelled revolver on the other. The revolver was loaded with grip slugs that would expand before striking the target and wrap them in a cocoon-like bubble so they couldn’t move. With every vacsuit aboard hardened against electromagnetic pulses and most other weapons, it was the only way to effectively disable people. Alice enjoyed the fact that she could buy many other types of shells for the weapon, such as web, shield, antigravity, EMP, and of course anti-armour explosive rounds. Alice couldn’t understand why Ashley didn’t carry hers all the time.
The hallway narrowed closer to the bridge, to the point where two fully armoured crewmembers would rub shoulders if they were to walk side by side. There had already been complaints about it, but Alice knew why that part of the ship was built that way. If there was a firefight, one smart combatant could hold either of the hallways running towards the bridge for an extended amount of time. The sides of the hallway were also heavily armoured, with doors that could weld themselves shut, trapping people inside rooms, or to form a killing tunnel that boarders couldn’t escape from. Heavy ripper deck guns were hidden in the floor just behind the main hatchways leading into the bridge, inside the captain’s mast room, as well as within the first officer’s and captain’s cabins. Anyone rushing the bridge from inside the ship was walking into a death trap that could outdo even the Triton’s heaviest armour in minutes.
Unfortunately, the heavy plating and simple fixtures made the halls near the bridge look boring. The lighting was provided by dull grey biocell paint that absorbed ambient energy to provide illumination. It was layered on in even stripes running down the length of the corridor’s ceiling.
She was approaching the bridge, where she knew there would be at least three people on duty – whichever pilot was on third watch, an operations officer, and a tactical officer. She didn’t care to check who filled which position so she didn’t look it up on the duty roster, but she knew her father would be serving in the tactical position. He didn’t sleep much, something they had in common.
“You should have told me you privateered for the Damelians,” Moira said. “I would have taken you more seriously from the start.”
Alice ducked into the captain’s mast room instead of proceeding onto the bridge. She knew next to nothing about Moira, and had never seen her and her father speaking on their own. They seemed to work well together, with Jake sharing more responsibility over the three days Moira had been aboard, but Alice hadn’t seen anything personal pass between them. Then again, the three days of preparations since they recruited people from Port Rush had been the busiest she’d ever seen on a ship; no one had much time for conversation. Alice hadn’t gotten to know anyone on the new staff, since the training and preparation schedules kept people so occupied that crewmembers were either busy or asleep.
“It doesn’t matter much now, most of the crew have turned over since then. The Warlord’s senior officers are all that’s left from the Samson.”
Alice checked some of Moira and Jake’s public history on Crewcast and saw that he sent her the same information package that all of the new crewmembers got, plus an extra sealed data package. Strangely, she couldn’t find any evidence of Jake’s consciousness on the system, which meant that he was completely disconnected for the first time since they took on new people.
“It’s good to know your senior officers have a lot of experience,” Moira said. “And your daughter is really something. I’m surprised she’s along for this trip.”
“Where else would she be?” Jake asked, not defensively enough for Alice’s taste.
“I would put her back on Haven Shore, with a security team, maybe. She didn’t learn much about teamwork with the Rangers. That worries me.”
“I was hoping that was what she’d take away from her time there,” Jake said. “But I’m going back to plan A. Stephanie has trained more than a few great security officers, so I’m leaving it in her hands.”
“Why not take her on yourself?” Moira asked. “I’ve never had kids, but it seems to me I’d want to keep that in my hands.”
Jake laughed. He actually laughed. “I’m worse than she is. I can fight as part of a team, sure, but I’ll break away and fight on my own first chance I get. Even the Warlord is an example of that - it’s meant to fight outside of a fleet, and the systems are made so I can monitor everything through my neural link. The only reason I’m disconnected now is because the skitters are upgrading the interface.”
“Trouble letting go, sort of a loner, and a history so mad that it takes concentration to keep it straight,” Moira said. “Careful, Captain, or you’ll start attracting the wrong kind of girl, the trouble-loving, trouble-making kind.”
“Too lat
e,” Alice heard Minh-Chu say. With a quick check, she confirmed that he was taking the third watch as the pilot. “But that’s another story.”
“I’ll bet,” Moira replied. “What about these skitters you’ve got running around? That’s something that wasn’t so detailed in the welcome packet, people are nervous.”
“I understand why,” Jake said. “All the skitters have artificial intelligences, but they use a new anti-virus system. I’ve been working with a partner to upgrade things since my daughter discovered suicidal Ando models in the jungle down on Tamber, and now our bots can’t be infected.”
“That’s impossible,” Moira scoffed openly. “You’re fooling yourselves if you think your bots are immune, and that’s dangerous.”
“All right,” Jake said patiently. “Let’s just say one of the bots does get infected, which, like I said, won’t happen. Every other piece of equipment running our software will forcibly connect with the infected bot and fight the virus, and there’s no way they’d get infected in the process.”
“How are they immune?”
“No two bots are running the same operating system,” Jake said. “Most bots need to use an analog method of communication, even if it’s transmitted through digital means. That’s where the commonality ends. Before, bots were programmed to collaborate on destroying viruses. Those instincts still exist, but now our bots’ operating systems change with the development of their personalities and skills. The process affects every part of their code, and bots are allowed to alter their neural hardware as long as it doesn’t reduce their functionality.”
“Not even remotely possible,” Moira said.
“We’ve had modular software that could reprogram itself for hundreds of years, this is just another step with artificial intelligence taking the lead. We left the well-being directives in, so they won’t harm their allies and they have to listen to their commanders, but that’s about it for safety.”
Randolph Lalonde - Spinward Fringe Broadcast 08 - Renegades Page 24
