There were four Triton guards with him, two behind and two flanking. They had her safety taken care of, it was her responsibility to take care of the rest. Ayan took a second to recall the last moment she remembered being happy, and was surprised to discover that it was when Jake invited her to join the crew of the Warlord. It was a trick she learned from Liam, which only diminished its value slightly. She let herself live in the feeling of that moment, and Ayan could feel her expression softening, a smile appeared on her lips as she regarded Clyde Dominic.
His expression eased from confrontational to curious. “Your Highness,” he addressed with a hint of disdain.
She immediately felt her attitude begin to sink at the sound of the royal honorific. “Please, I’m a land owner, not a queen. You’re Mister Dominic?”
“Yeah, and that’s not what most of the people out there think,” he said, thumbing towards the distant lights of Port Rush. “Especially the people who think you’re saving them. They’re so desperate that they don’t even see the pattern here.”
“The pattern?” Ayan asked. It had been a long day, and she was fighting to remain patient and pleasant.
“They don’t notice how you separate yourself from them up here while you spy on them and give everyone assignments through the cheap communicators you’ve been handing out. You probably eat better than everyone, you definitely have more space than everyone. Just like a monarch dictator, you spend as much resources on protecting yourself from the people you say you’re saving with energy shields and security. Yeah, you’re a queen.”
Ayan instantly recognized that Clyde was reciting a speech he’d probably practiced over and over. What he said was infuriating, but the fact that he had probably built up a very specific set of expectations was encouraging. A glance at Lacey revealed that her second in command was already near the end of her patience.
“You’re not considering a whole number of factors-“ her father started.
Ayan raised a hand and stopped him. It was time to break Clyde Dominic’s expectations down and start communicating, if he was willing. “You’re right,” Ayan replied, relishing the surprise registering on the man’s expression. “All this probably looks like I’m taking control like a lot of monarchs did in the early days of the private colonies. When you really look at it, I am.” She found herself smiling again, but this time it was almost smug. “But appearances are deceiving,” she chided lightly as she walked over to a short staircase leading up to the window walkway and sat down. “I’m here to create a recruitment centre for people who want to help us fight the Order of Eden, create a logistical and social support system for our ships, and eventually build a new town in Port Rush. I’m the military leader for this project, so I direct its progress. When you consider my cause, and the fact that I have several equals in the Triton Fleet, then your monarchy analogy falls apart. Dictatorships are run by a solitary leader, and I’m not alone, I’m not even the highest ranking officer in Triton Fleet.”
“That’s not my point,” Clyde said, raising his voice for the first time. “These people have no choice. They have to join you, and you take their freedom away while you dangle food in front of them.”
The turn in conversation was a little unexpected. Ayan thought she was facing someone who believed they were protesting a monarchy, judging by his approach, but that was only his first point of contention. He had accusations, which were already half right. “We have to track everyone who signs up with us. I’m sorry a few people have turned away after finding that out. Most people turn away early, because we sit all new recruits down to a meal while we tell them what’s involved with joining Triton Fleet. If they accept our conditions and sign up, they log into our system and we track them for safety, health and to assist with placement.” He seemed more at ease as she replied, probably because of her shift in tone, from confident to defensive.
“About that food you’re bribing people with,” he replied. “You captured or stole everything you have from an enemy who has wronged everyone, Regent or the Order, so none of this is really yours. Why don’t you give it over to the people you say you’re trying to help, see what they think about you being in charge.”
Ayan fixed him with a quizzical expression. Her instinct was to ask him exactly what he meant outright, but she let her pause speak for itself instead. His proposal didn’t deserve a response, and she wanted to make him uneasy.
“I mean, this is all stolen. Even this base was launched from an enemy ship and the Carthans let you have it because you got here first. I bet most of your supplies weren’t bought honestly, so you’re just hoarding, using it all to enforce your tyrannical control.”
“Nutter,” Lacey said, shaking her head.
Ayan cleared her throat. “You almost have a point, Mister Donovan. If we didn’t have to use our resources and sacrifice lives to take this bunker, stopping dangerous Order of Eden operatives from spreading, then I’d almost agree with you. I can’t imagine you expected me to agree that we should just leave what we’ve built here and let whoever comes along take what they want, but I have to ask, was that a genuine request?” The time to play gently with the encounter was over. Ayan stood and looked across the room at him from the top of the stairs.
“No, I’m just making a point.”
“Which is?” Ayan asked.
“Nothing here is actually yours! The first group of armed people who got here could have taken all this instead of you.”
“Wrong,” Ayan said. “You are dead wrong.”
“About what?”
“About it being easy!” Ayan barked. “It took months to find this bunker even though it was on Port Rush’s doorstep. Three people died taking it, and I keep their sacrifices in mind as I decide how it will be used. I’ve listened to your entitled opinion, and it’s time I stripped this conversation down to bare bolts. You and your people feel you should have free access to what we have, that’s not going to happen. We earned it, we’ll decide how it’ll be used. You think our safety and security measures take things too far, and I have to wonder, do you actually know how it works? Have you listened to any of our support staff explain it to you while you sit down at our table for a free meal?”
“No, but-“
“Then let me explain,” Ayan said, stepping down the staircase as she did so. “You sit down, we feed you. A tired, but friendly intake staffer sits down with you and explains the basics, which are: you have to link with our communications system either by installing our software or using one of our communication units. That software, we call it the Crewcast system, tells us where you are at all times, what your medical status is, tells us what you are doing, records everything you say, and tries to assist you as you enter our service. The Crewcast system also helps you be social with anyone on the network, helps you find training, collects data about your existing skills, and provides a qualifying system so you can get in line for jobs and promotions.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about, no one has any freedom with your organization,” Clyde said. “Log in once, and you’re part of the system for life. No rights, no privacy.”
“I’m not finished,” Ayan said, stopping to stand in the middle of the large empty space. “Our system also polices and tracks people who try to get access to information that is considered private. My comm unit actually judges whether or not I get access to data by determining the reason why I’m accessing it. Since I’m of a high rank, I can access most information, but if I were to try to access a conversation Lacey had with someone just because I’m being nosey, Crewcast will recognize that, and I would not be able to hear it without using a peer override system, where someone of my rank or higher allows me to access the recording. While we have a lot of data on everyone in our system, we also have safeguards and controls.”
“What if your system is hacked?”
“Crewcast knows when its being hacked, all senior officers are notified the instant that starts, and we have the experts to take care of th
at kind of situation. In trade for being in this system, people are clothed, given the freedom to apply for any job they’re qualified for and meaningful work in the meantime if there’s a wait for that position. We feed our people, and we try to provide the best possible residence we can. In this base, that’s a small bunk or cabin. That gets better on the Triton, Haven Shore, and it’ll get even better when I’m finished building here.”
“I still don’t see freedom in your system,” Clyde replied. “What if someone just doesn’t want your system watching them?”
“Then they’ll be escorted out. Let me clarify the purpose of Crewcast. It finds lost children even if they have taken their comm unit off. Other comm units passively track them and alert their parents and nearby security. Our security officers, our soldiers are watched even more closely, and their suits petrify as soon as the system recognizes an abuse of authority, and the entire security network is notified. Medical conditions are caught early and treated, people are reunited with loved ones through Crewcast recognizing DNA and personal matches.”
“Personal matches?”
“Yes, you tell the system who you’re looking for and where you last saw them and Crewcast won’t only search its own network, but the Stellarnet as well,” Ayan replied. “We’ve broken good news to over a thousand people about friends and relatives who are still alive and looking for them. I’m not going to go into other details, since I’m pretty sure you are here to size me up, to question me, and not much I say will matter, but I’ll tell you that it’s true that even Crewcast can be misused, any data or system can be. In the end, we need your trust if you expect us to help you, and that first meal is provided so we can start earning that.”
“Cults operate the same way,” Clyde countered.
Ayan squeezed her eyes shut, as if to stop the stormy retort that threatened to burst through her composure. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. He was standing there, smirking at her. “Your turn. What did you hope to accomplish by coming here?”
“I just don’t believe in a military establishment taking over Port Rush.” He replied. It was a practiced response.
“We’re barely on the shore, not encroaching at all,” Ayan replied. “No, you stand to lose something if we help too many people.”
“I’m here on principle, representing-“
“What trade are you in?” Ayan pressed. “Are we cutting into your business somehow?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Clyde replied.
“What is that business? Selling food? Shelter? How do people who don’t have money pay you? Slavery? Prostitution?”
Lacey regarded the man smugly, crossing her arms.
“Prostitution?” Clyde protested indignantly. “I trade in goods, not services, lady.”
“There,” Ayan said. “So people have stopped paying ridiculous prices for whatever you’re selling and you’ve gotten a group of people together to see what I’m all about.” She looked to the security officer standing beside him. “How many people did he check in with?”
“There was a crowd, Ma’am. Thirteen altogether.”
“We have a full scan profile on them?” Ayan asked.
“Yes,” replied the armoured security guard.
“Good, make sure they’re tracked. I want to know what they do while they’re in Port Rush.”
“What?” Clyde replied. “I came here peacefully!”
“I don’t care,” Ayan said. “You expected to meet a dictator when you came here, but overlooked a more likely possibility. That is, that you’d be meeting a military leader, and that’s what I am. This is a military complex, representing a larger military organization. I’m marking you and everyone you came with as a threat, and I’m going to start sending nano-trackers into Port Rush right now. This is your fault, Mister Dominic. If I see someone trying to stop people from approaching our settlement here with force, evidence of slave-trading, or any other crime within our reach, I’m going to do my best to stop it.”
“You can’t be the law down here, even the Carthans can’t be the law down here,” Clyde replied.
“Watch me,” Ayan replied.
Clyde started turning away, towards the elevator doors, and Ayan stopped him. “What I don’t understand is why you didn’t approach us with the intention of creating a trade alliance. That tells me a lot about your type of business.” She pulled a full meal ration bar and tossed it to him.
He caught it after it bounced off his chest and looked at it. “What’s this?”
“A free meal, thanks for listening,” she said, and turned towards her father, who was suppressing a smile. She heard the elevator doors open, boots stepping into the car and was relieved when she heard the doors close.
“That went well,” Carl Anderson said. He tapped the comm unit on his arm a few times and nodded. “I’m just making sure everyone who Clyde brought with him is getting a copy of that conversation.”
“What was the real point of that?” Ayan said, walking to her little cordoned off space and parting the curtains.
“They’re sizing you up,” Lacey said. “That’s the only reason I can see. Sure, he had his points, but they were pretty weak when you think about it.”
“There’s obviously a criminal element involved here,” Carl Anderson agreed. “Port Rush has been on its own for a long time, law has come and gone, and no one is really afraid to do as they like. Just the rate of rejection here is evidence enough of that. We kicked out twenty eight percent of people on their first day for theft and assault.”
“I know,” Ayan said. “So they’re trying to put me up as some monarch, single me out.”
“It looks like,” Lacey replied.
“Then I’ll share leadership. I’ll elevate you as an equal, Lacey, and we’ll find a few more people who could be good officers under us.”
“What?” Lacey asked, agog. “I’ve never served as an officer. I’ve never even applied for the military.”
“Don’t worry,” Ayan said. “There are a lot of responsibilities I can share with you that you’re already good at. Not much will change except for accommodation allowance and your pay.”
“In that case, sign me up,” Lacey replied. “Just make sure I’m one of those filing officers, in a non-combat post.”
“A logistical management position,” Carl said.
“Exactly,” Lacey affirmed. “That’s the kind of thing I’m good at.”
“I know, that’s why I love having your around,” Ayan said. “And why you’ll make a great commander on A Station.”
“Yup, and my first official duty will be to find a new name for this place. A Station is so-“
“Military?” Carl replied.
“Well, yes.”
Ayan brought up the holodisplay for the manufacturing centre in the upper floors of the base and checked on one of their only mass fabricators. The next item in the fabrication queue was body panels for a new hover truck. “All right, one more thing before I pass out,” she said. “Should I actually follow through with this nano tracking threat?”
“Yes,” Lacey said without hesitation.
“No, go bigger,” her father said.
“See? This is why I’m only good for logistics,” Lacey said, smiling at Carl.
“Bigger?” Ayan asked.
“Have our fighter squadron patrol in low orbit, use scanners to capture everything as it happens in Port Rush. We’ll task Crewcast to recognize serious crime. I can take care of enforcement with the Rangers and a few Triton Regulars if you’ll authorize them.”
“That is simpler then sending thousands of nanobot watchers out, and cheaper,” Ayan said. “I must be tired, I should have caught that.”
“Still, your threat is going to make them pretty paranoid. They’ll have nano-zappers out by morning,” Carl said. “Now, you should both get some sleep.”
“Absolutely,” Lacey said.
Ayan hugged her father on his way to the door and was closing the cu
rtain around her cot before he got to the elevator.
“You still impress me, Ayan,” Lacey said as she started settling in for the night on her side of the curtain.
“Thank you,” Ayan said. “I wouldn’t make you a commander if I didn’t think you would do well. You’ll be great.”
“Thank you,” Lacey replied. The pair were quiet as they got undressed and slipped into their cots. “Ayan, I’m wondering something.”
“What’s that?” Ayan asked
“Are you really going to make this your quarters?”
“Absolutely not,” Ayan said, stifling a yawn. “I’m going to move down to a cabin or something as soon as there’s room.”
“That might not be for a while.”
“I’m sure the new head of Logistics will figure something out,” Ayan replied, smiling to herself.
“That’s me, isn’t it?” Lacey asked.
“Yes it is, Commander.”
CHAPTER 33
Training
“I’m telling you, we’ve got this!” Remmy shouted into his comm. He was torso deep in the main lines leading from engineering to the bridge of a Harbinger Regent Galactic ship. It was a destroyer class, over seven hundred metres long, and armed to the teeth.
“You’re taking too long!” Alice replied, helping her team weld another set of blast doors closed. “There’s another anti-incursion team on the way. We should just blow the charges around the reactor and take the nearest airlock, the Warlord is waiting.”
“If I get this, we can take the ship!” Remmy replied.
“Just give him another minute, I’ve seen him neutralize the core of an Order of Eden bunker,” replied one of his Ranger team, a tall blonde creature named Nanette that was always on Remmy’s side. “This is easy compared to that.”
Randolph Lalonde - Spinward Fringe Broadcast 08 - Renegades Page 26
