Fragments sf-6

by Randolph Lalonde

  "This isn't Freeground."

  "I was hoping you'd say that. No risks though. If we're going to get the Triton back we're going to need up to date information."

  "Aye, Captain. Just make sure that the whole fighter wing is ready to go the moment I get back."

  "It'll be ready, but I don’t think it’ll be going anywhere for a while. We’re going to be concentrating on setting ourselves up somewhere while we figure out the next step. Even if we get the Triton back some of the crew will have to live somewhere else while we conduct repairs."

  “Gotcha. You set up a homestead, while I’m playing recon.”

  “Get some sleep while you're in transit, relax a bit.”

  "I don't think I'll have a problem dozing. Those Uriel seats are so comfortable I'll be stealing one for my quarters when we've got our ship back."

  "If we manage to get the Triton back I'll have the crew manufacture one for you."

  "Do you think Oz's plan is going to work?"

  Jake leaned back against the lightly padded bulkhead and thought for a moment before offering his opinion. "If it were just a hundred boarders who came in shuttles I'd have no doubt. I saw the final tactical data though; there were three operable destroyers, one of them had some kind of command segment. Sure the whole security team, our incursion teams and a lot of volunteers stayed behind to help, but who knows how many people the boarders have. Could be thousands."

  "I’m going to assume Oz has the high ground here. He’s got to have about a thousand people left aboard."

  "According to my numbers he's got about fourteen hundred, including the gunnery team, volunteers who were former raiders and some of the hangar deck crew."

  "That's an army for a ship the size of the Triton, especially when a bunch of them probably have cloak suits. I almost wish I could join the fight."

  "That's if Oz doesn't cause so much trouble that they just draw back and nuke the hell out of the Triton from a distance. According to the final sensor data we have on her, the Triton is in seriously rough shape. She couldn't outrun anything or take much of a pounding."

  "Well, here's to finding out more. Depending on the fighter load outs, we might have the firepower or versatility to give Oz some cover."

  "Don’t. We need you to get information on the current situation and get back here."

  "I know, I know. I just thought I’d say it out loud to see how it sounds. It just feels like I should be there, doing something."

  Jake nodded and stood. "I know. I thought about sending you in with the entire squadron, but those beam weapons. Your pilots aren’t ready for that kind of anti-starfighter weaponry. I can’t see more than a quarter of them coming back."

  Minh thought for a moment and finally nodded. “They’re too green. Whatever we do has to be well planned. I saw what happened to one of our Uriels when a beam hit it at full intensity. Those battlecruisers don’t carry fighters because they don’t need them. Trust me, I’ll watch myself. There’s a lot of cover in that nebula, don’t worry.”

  “You’d better,” Jake replied with a threatening tone.

  He stood, hugged Jake tightly and chuckled as he was patted on the back. "You just get things set up here so I can tell you how we’re going to get the Triton out of this over a few drinks. Oh, and you're going to have to tell me what Steph and I walked into this morning. Hard to get that picture out of my head."

  "He's not telling you a thing," Ayan called down from the hatch above them.

  "Busted!"

  "Otherwise I'll tell the crew the Wing Commander and Captain like to sneak away for cuddles."

  Minh burst out laughing as Jake flinched away and started up the ladder. "What's wrong with a good cuddle between friends?" Minh asked.

  "We're about to land, you should both come and see this." Ayan stated as she walked out of sight.

  "You know, I'm glad you two are working out," Minh commented quietly.

  "We're getting on well. She's different though, we're both different. Things still moving along with Paula?"

  Minh hesitated, stopping half way up the access ladder altogether for a moment. "I think she's chatting me into submission, so yeah, they're moving along. Whether I like it or not," he replied quietly as he finished his short climb.

  "You're not sure?"

  "Don't get me wrong, she's got her good points. I always know what she's thinking, since she has every thought out loud, and I'm never caught wondering what I'll do with my off time since she always has it planned for me."

  "So it's like you're spending time with An-Linh."

  Minh froze in the narrow corridor, his eyes wide. "My sister?" He stared blankly into space and thought for another moment. "My micro-sized, hyper, opinionated sister."

  "I always liked her," Jake commented as he finished climbing up the ladder and closed the hatch behind him.

  "She was always my secret favourite too, but…"

  "Secret favourite?"

  "You never tell your sisters you have a favourite," Minh replied dismissively. "I'm really dating a bad copy of my sister," he continued, awe struck.

  "I didn't say bad copy. I'm sure Paula has her charms."

  "She's terrifying. The last time we went to the Pilot's Den she told me what I was having for dinner. It really is like I'm dating my-" he concluded his comment with a shudder. "How do I end it?"

  "Carefully. Quickly. Are you sure though? I mean, there's got to be something there if you've spent so much time together," Jake offered with an impish grin.

  "Are you kidding? Next she'll be spending the night and telling me what side of the bed I'll be sleeping on, when to go to the bathroom, and to have dinner parties where all the food comes from the materializer. She doesn't even like Asian food! Did you know that? I mentioned that I used to own an authentic restaurant and she cringed. She didn’t understand why anyone would cook anything, or why they’d want to do it for others, not even for money. She's the first woman I've ever met who doesn't like real cooked food."

  Jake chuckled and shrugged. "Well, she’s not on the fleet list, so she must still be on the Triton. That should buy you some time to figure out how to put her down gently."

  "Think my reputation would take a hit if I requested a squad or two from security when I did it?"

  Jake nodded. “Oh yeah.”

  "Suddenly I’m not in as much of a hurry."

  "Mind on the mission," Ayan scolded. She had been listening to the entire exchange from the hallway.

  “Right, mind on the mission.”

  "Pointing out similarities between Paula and Minh’s sister wasn’t fair play, Jake," Ayan mock scolded.

  "Better I point it out now than at the wedding."

  “Maybe I’ll just send her a message as soon as the Triton’s safe. I’m sure she won’t care if it’s in the middle of a celebration, and I’d be avoiding an awkward reunion." Minh offered.

  "You're doing it through a message?" Ayan gasped. "If you go through with this I'll never look at you the same way, Minh."

  He stopped and stared at her for a moment.

  Ayan was deadly serious. The quiet of the cockpit was thick as everyone waited for his reaction. They were in an automated holding pattern above Tamber, a green, brown and blue moon with a perfect atmosphere for humans.

  Minh sighed finally and nodded. "You're right. Besides, if my sisters ever did find out I broke up with someone using a social system they’d get creative with the punishment."

  "And it would be justified," Ayan affirmed.

  "How are we for landing?" Jake asked.

  "The Carthans assigned us to a desert called the Dower Wastes. According to the navnet pattern we'll be landing in about a minute and a half," Lieutenant Garrison replied from the pilot's seat.

  "Any hidden fees?"

  "Well, the good news is they're not worried about our fighters, they're just not allowed near population centres or certain parts of the solar system without permits. The bad news is they want twenty eight thousand
UCW credits for protection. What they're going to protect us from, I don't know, but I didn't commit since I didn't think you wanted customs coming around to inspect everything before they started posting guards. There’s also a toxicity warning for the Dower Wastes. Apparently some kind of vegetation growth project went wrong, covering the wastes and a neighbouring island with rotting chemical clay. We should send a message to everyone warning them to stay aboard if they can, and to keep their vacsuits sealed if they have to leave their ships.”

  "Wonderful. Well, at least we have somewhere to stay while we sort things out."

  "Customs may still pay us a visit," Ayan continued. "I know I’d be curious about a Captain with so many recent acquisitions. They advise new Captains visit the Office of the Governor as well and gave me a number to call a bounder."

  Jake nodded and took a seat in the copilot's chair. "Bounder is just slang for a short range people mover. The most popular ones used to use jump drives to reach low orbit and then drop down on their destinations."

  "Sounds fun," Minh smirked.

  "Sounds dangerous," Ayan commented.

  "You spend most of the ride in an accelerated descent, so it's like falling in fast forward," Jake grinned. "Steph and Ash love those things."

  "Oh, that reminds me. The whole Samson crew are on the bounty board."

  "Well, we expected that, but how did you access the bounty board?"

  "It's free," Ayan shrugged. "There are a few thousand listings for Greydock alone."

  "That's not a good sign." Jake said under his breath.

  "Why?"

  "Well, normally you have to have a licence or register with the local authorities to get access to the bounty boards. If it's free here and anyone can capture someone and claim the bounty, then the hunters are being used for law enforcement. How did I rank, by the way?" Jake asked.

  "I thought you'd be wondering. You're the most wanted man on the planet with a local bounty of three point five million if you're turned in alive at the United Core World Confederation. I think they're planning to resell you to the Galactic High Court. That bounty is a lot higher."

  "Oh my God. I'm tempted to turn him in at that price!" Minh burst.

  "And the Samson crewmembers?"

  "Between fifty thousand all the way up to nine hundred thousand for Frost and Stephanie. She also has two outstanding warrants that apply in Confederation territory."

  "You guys should just sell the rights to the Samson years to some holomovie studio. If they can make fifty films about Billy the Kid, I'm sure they can make just one about Jake and his crew," Minh chuckled.

  Jake chose to ignore the suggestion and pressed on. "Are the Carthans backing any of the bounties on us?"

  Ayan scrolled through the small section of the bounty board reserved for the Samson crew and shook her head. "If Security Chief Vega pays a two thousand credit fine it'll wipe out the fine they're charging her with. It's a failure to appear for some court date two years ago. She was called as a witness, not the accused."

  Jake nodded, reminded of the incident. "Right, forward that to her and tell her to transfer the funds so she’s clear with the Carthans, at least. So, what’s Greydock?"

  "It's the Carthan Capital for the entire moon, according to the system. Won't there be a ton of bounty hunters looking for you anyway? The bounty board is common here, that's why I could see Confederation marks along with the rest."

  Jake turned and re-checked their navnet course as their small fleet of fighters and damaged ships began making their way to their final approach trajectory. Everything checked out and he half turned to face Ayan again. "You're right. It looks like you're on your own if you want to visit the Governor and get us proper landing permits. You’ll probably have no problem getting a privateering licence. I’m sure you’re not the only one with recent acquisitions coming in. I wish I could go with you, but I'm sure they’ve got DNA sniffers or deep tissue scanners there."

  “Wouldn’t they leave you alone, since the Carthans are enemies to the Order of Eden and Regent Galactic?”

  “Sure, but there’s no telling how many of their people are crooked. The nearest Confederation held solar system is only a few light years away.”

  "Maybe I could take Victor and a couple of his squad members along."

  "Bring the whole squad, except for Alaka."

  "I don’t want it to look like I’m there to start trouble, I’m sure just a couple will be fine.”

  “I think the smart move here is to bring too many friends. You don’t want to end up a few people light.”

  “I think I’ll just take Victor, one of his hand picked people, and Laura,” Ayan countered. “Besides, what could happen in the Governor’s Office? A beaurocracy ambush?”

  “You’re the Captain,” Jake dismissed lightly.

  “Wow, that was quick,” Minh chuckled. “What are you going to do while she’s off hob-knobbing with the politicians?”

  "And help me maintain order,” Stephanie interjected from the communications system. “We’re all secure back here Captain.”

  “All our ships have checked in, we’re ready to set down on Tamber,” Lieutenant Garrison reported.

  The four occupants of the cockpit fell silent as the Clever Dream began to pass through the atmosphere. Jake watched his tactical screen closely for any signs that the ships in their convoy were running into trouble, focusing mostly on the Samson. Whoever Laura had piloting his old ship was good at their job; they had the vessel angled just right so the more damaged dorsal and port sections saw little or no direct exposure. The shields were still doing most of the work, and he had to admit he was surprised they had managed to get the system back online after the beating it had taken only weeks before. He wouldn't have used the Samson, one of her main beams were twisted, three of the engines were out of commission and two compartments were completely open to space while several others weren't safe for atmospheric entry without shields.

  When they came through the thick atmosphere he breathed a sigh of relief. Only one of them had gone slightly off course, a fighter near the rear of the group. The sky was a shade of dun brown, and as they passed through clouds a desert unlike any he'd seen stretched out in front of them.

  There were no dunes, no shade indicating golden sand or dark dust, but hundreds of kilometres of gray and deep brown flat, cracked planes. "Lewis, can you run an analysis on that?"

  "On what, exactly?"

  "The ground. I know what the advisory said, but can you give me more detail?"

  "The terrain below us consists of a combination of formerly life-giving chemicals combined with a porous, clay like medium. It is several meters thick in some places and covers large bodies of water in others."

  "Formerly life giving?" asked Ayan.

  "Yes. This material is called Dower Company Life Generating Topsoil, or LGT for short. It is designed to generate a diverse range of plant life in a balanced ecological range."

  "A forest in a box," Stephanie said as she entered the cabin. "I saw this from the common room and had to check for myself. Any idea why it failed?"

  "Based on what I'm seeing I can only assume something failed early in the chemical reaction, perhaps there was wide spread contamination. I don't have enough information to be certain. There are several unsecured networks within range, would you like me to look into it for you?"

  "No, Lewis, thank you," Ayan answered. "The last thing we need is to have you detected by some artificial intelligence scanner. Complex AI's are outlawed by the Carthans."

  "I am aware, thank you Ayan."

  "I think you hurt his feelings," Stephanie said as she patted the ceiling. "Do you know what exposure to this stuff could do to us?"

  "I think you should obey the Carthan advisory to the letter, don't touch it with bare skin and don't breathe too much of the dust. This entire expanse is a low level biohazard."

  The five occupants of the cockpit watched as the Clever Dream completed its descent. The colour of the la
ndscape, the uniformity of it and the level plane of the land made it look like it went on forever. What was there before, no one could guess, but no one was left with any question as to why the place was called the Dower Wastes.

  Chapter 16

  Ghosts

  "Tate's whole squad is down sir," Foss, the communications and scanning officer stated.

  "What? I would have gotten a direct alert if they came under fire," Sergeant Cameron Steadman replied, flipping the armoured cover to her command display open. The flat screen on the inside of her wrist scrolled to Sergeant Tate's team and for a moment she was puzzled at the results. "Medical, confirm what I'm seeing."

  Officer Rawdon nodded. "Their bodies are being stressed by-" he trailed off.

  "It's gravity. They're using artificial gravity," Steadman flipped the display cover closed and waved Foss towards the main console on the darkened bridge. "Inform Command that we're going to try a hack into their life support systems. Get jacked in."

  "Using the command codes we received in the crew's surrender? If they'll resort to using gravi-"

  "We don't have a choice. Do it."

  Foss moved to the command seat and began looking for a data port to connect to. "This would be easier if they left a wireless receiver on somewhere," he grumbled.

  Steadman looked across the large command centre of the Triton. With semitransparent floors and the lights of the squad leaving the deck beneath the place had an eerie feeling she couldn't shake. "Anything on scans Foss?"

  "Nothing, ma'am."

  She glanced at the sighting on her rifle as she waved it across the front of the bridge. "Where did they go? There's a group in the ship auditorium, the habitation areas and a berthing, but that doesn't account for enough."

  "I don't know sir, Command's last count looked good before we docked," replied Foss.

  "Command, verify your encounter scan. I need these numbers to add up,"

  "Command here, we've verified twice. According to this you should have readings on five hundred more people. Did you consider a shielded compartment?" An officer from Battlecruiser 1128 answered.