Center Worlds - Spark

by Tim Morrison

  Chapter 5.4

  Rest and Repair - Clanworld Camelin -17 BA

  “The Majority of the damage is repaired, Commander. The hull has passed a sweep, we can make a jump.” Kalen said as he signed off on a review of the repairs so far conducted.

  “Then let's get back to the Clanworld and put this ship into a full repair bay. I have a feeling we're going to need her fully operational as soon as possible, Captain.” Ryo said as he nodded to an ensign who had just finished giving him a report of his own.

  The TGX engines fired up, four of the six functional, the other two had damaged fuel feed lines so they had been disabled. It slowly spun on it's axis and accelerated into a neospace bubble, leaving the broken Clanworld Desinlo behind, still glowing from the damage, with volcanic activity still rising, the air dark with smoke and ash as the planet began the process of remaking itself.

  Once the ship was safely moored to the Camelin Skyhook anchor, repair crews got busy working on the massive battlecruiser. The temporary panels were removed and fresh hull plating was mounted in place properly. Pipes and duct work were cut out and fresh sections welded into the gaps left behind. The ship was repaired and refitted. The Hablis cost was high, nearly four hundred crewmen had been killed during the impacts and blowouts. Ryo had all of them sent to the Gates of Pangea. As he said to Kalen later, it was the least he could do. Their families were all honoured and military pensions were awarded, as well as awards for their service to the clan. Nobody was forgotten.

  Most of the crew took leave and rested while technical teams rebuilt the entire ship, even Kalen spent time on the ground, which was rare, for he normally spent his off hours walking the corridors of the mighty battlecruiser as it was his only home.

  Ryo had never pressed his XO for history, but he knew most of it, and at times he worried for the older man who had lost almost as much as he had, just under different circumstances.

  As much as he admired Kalen's dedication to the ship and to the job that made him almost indispensable, Ryo refused to allow him to set foot back on board until Kalen had actually taken time for himself, to rest and recover.

  Viktor Kalen leaned against the pod wall as it dropped towards the Capitol eighteen thousand kims below. He had a loaded credstick in his pocket, and between four and eight weeks of time to burn doing whatever it was that he wanted. What he wanted was above him, growing smaller as he dropped away from it. Running the massive TGX had been his life for the past 20 cycles, now, for a brief time, he was adrift.

  The pod had a number of other crewmen and women from the TGX, descending down to take leave, like him, most of them seemed somehow dispossessed. His detachment had a more direct purpose though. Viktor let his mind wander as he leaned against the inner rail, watching the planet slowly grow larger, thinking back 25 cycles, when he was a fresh lieutenant, just assigned to the gigantic ship, under Gyo Camelin's command.

  He smiled to himself as he remembered his first real experience with the grav chutes, and his embarrassment at vomiting all over the old Commander. Even though it amused Gyo, it was still very poor conduct, and Viktor was happy to be on laundry duty for a week, as long as it let him get his bearings.

  He rose through the ranks fast, shifting to the role of a natural leader quickly and keeping the crew below him in good order with any duty he was assigned. He was not surprised when he was assigned to the XO position only four cycles after getting on board the TGX, but he was still very proud of this achievement. He wanted to serve, and being second in command of the Clan flagship was the best way he could think of.

  Then the accident. Gyo had been on the flight deck, watching shuttle manoeuvres, when a drive unit had exploded, spraying the area with lethal radiation and contaminants. Gyo had gotten the deck clear, but took a vastly lethal dosage himself in the process. Even with medical aid, his days were numbered.

  His only surviving son, Ryo was expected to take command, and Kalen made sure the ship was ready. When Ryo did finally come on board with the transfer of orders, Kalen pushed and berated the crew to understand that a change was going to happen and that the crew was not going to falter on his watch.

  He had to slap a few heads and dress down more than a few officers who did not properly obey or accept the much younger man who was now in charge of the ship. Viktor had no issue with it, he knew Ryo's history and knew that this Clansman was made for command, he just had to be shown the ropes.

  The dive through the Oxymax nebula was the new Commander's first real test of leadership and character. Driving the massive battlecruiser at neospace velocities through that cloud was a strain on the ship and her crew, but they persevered, and then acted to protect the planet from the bombardment.

  That night, on the planet, the celebration thrown in their honour by the Lady Desinlo and her women. Viktor had met his Jalena and they had made a strong son that night. Kalen sighed as the lift broached the tube as it dropped into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, beginning to slow as it continued it's descent.

  Like Ryo, he had brought Jalena back with him to live on the Clan world so she could give birth and raise their child in a safe environment. Sadly, the child had been stillborn, a result of Jalena's long-term exposure to the Cobalt Radiation on Desinlo. She had stayed there, helping with the resettlement of the Desinlo people when the planet had finally been declared a loss, and he had spent many nights with her, enjoying the company and the intimacy that she offered him freely and willingly.

  His time with Jalena was cut short, all of a sudden she was gone. But after such a long time together, while he was on patrol. She was heavily pregnant with their second child, and he left her in the care of the medical staff while he ran the patrol. He had flown back home to find a double tragedy. Jalena had died in childbirth along with his second child, a daughter. Viktor Kalen had no children, and his partner was now gone.