“Better now,” Zoe protested at full volume into Ashley’s ear.
“Yes, we know,” she replied, “Thank you Zoe.”
“Thank you for your help,” Jake said, capturing the Nafalli child’s attention. “I don’t know if I would have ever woken up if it weren’t for you.”
Zoe bounced onto Jake’s chest, hugged his head, kissed him on the forehead then bounded off again. She used Ashley’s shoulder as a post to look from then leap from when she spotted Panloo. “Off she goes, to tell everyone that she saved you,” Ashley chuckled. “She’ll be telling that story all week.”
“She’s growing faster now,” Ayan said. “Last time I saw her she was five centimetres shorter. Are you sure it’s all right for her to jump around like that though?”
“Panloo tells me Zoe is from a tree tribe,” Ashley said. “You can’t stop them from doing it at this age. She’s broken her arm once though, so Panloo put a few rules in play, and Zoe’s listening so far. I can’t imagine what she’ll be like when she’s full grown.”
“Beautiful, I’m sure,” Ayan said with a smile that seemed a little too sure.
The rest of the night continued with a similar jovial feeling. Jacob never thought his survival would make so many people happy. He believed he had a core group of friends, and allies that would be relieved, but the room was full for hours, and when he was brought back to his bed, he couldn’t recall how many people had stopped in front of where he sat all night to congratulate him on his recovery.
Alice was quiet for most of the evening, fetching non-inebriating drinks and listening to everyone who wanted a moment of Jacob’s time. She left him with a kiss on the cheek as she said; “love you, Dad.”
Ayan fixed him with an affectionate gaze, her big blue eyes unflinchingly staring into his as he looked up from his bed. “Thought I was about to lose you forever,” she said.
“I’m here, more than ever,” he replied, a question he refused to ask while he was so tired nagging at him. He aired another thought he’d been hiding all night instead. “It’s as though I was experiencing everything from the opposite end of a long hallway, or through a thick filter before, and now that’s gone. The framework was in the way before.”
Ayan glanced to the doorway, where Jacob’s daughter had passed a minute ago, then back at him. “You think she’s having the same problem?”
“I don’t know, but she’s talked about suppressed memories, the framework won’t allow her to age more than a few months, and I’m sure there are other things going on,” Jake said, keeping a yawn from interrupting the last few words.
“Something we can talk more about tomorrow,” Ayan said, sweeping Jacob’s hair out of his face.
He caught her hand and squeezed it. “I’m still surprised you came back to me, if that’s what this is,” again, the denied question repeated itself in his head; why did you leave in the first place? Was it for Liam?
“That’s what this is, if you want me back,” Ayan said.
She had to know that he checked on her status, read her public reports and had pictures of her in his Crewcast profile. She was asking a question he was sure she knew the answer to already, but he didn’t mind. “Yes,” was all he said.
“On that note,” Doctor Messana said as she seemed to appear in the doorway. “It’s lights out. You start physical therapy tomorrow morning.” She walked on, looking down at something she was reading on an old fashioned touch pad.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Alice will be here when you wake up,” Ayan said, kissing him lightly. Her pillow-y soft lips lingered a moment before she hesitantly stood and left.
He laid there for a few moments longer, going over the events of the evening. He’d seen everyone who he considered important to him, with only one exception, Oz. He’d lost track of all the other people who cycled through the room.
It was easier to name the people who were conspicuously absent. Oz sent him a warm message, but could not leave the Triton, which was understandable. What Jake found slightly alarming was the absence of anyone from the British Alliance. He tried not to let it bother him, but he was sure there was something he was forgetting.
Chapter 2
Patrol
A pair of Uriel Fighters drifted along their patrol route around Kambis. The blue, green and brown ball of Tamber was well distant, a dot on the horizon of its more darkly surfaced parent. Minh-Chu Buu, or Ronin as he was known to his Fighter wing, Samurai Squadron, waved at it as it winked out of sight. They were crossing over to the dark side of Kambis, a looming giant that had once been the target of an incredible effort, complete environmental terraforming.
Hundreds of years before, people had begun digging deep canyons into the planet and removing the matter from it entirely in order to reduce its mass, stabilize the surface and reduce the worlds’ gravity. They began another terraforming effort at the same time on Tamber, which was already a near match for Earth’s gravity. Oxygenating the environment and transplanting life was easier there, it was estimated that results were seen in decades instead of centuries. That is why the contemporary belief was that the life on Tamber was to be used to seed the world it orbited, Kambis.
The people who originally started the process got as far as freeing the water trapped under Kambis’ surface and oxygenating the atmosphere. They finished their work on Tamber, leaving a moon teeming with wild life by the time the Omnivirus killed most if not all of them. There were structures left behind on Kambis that people still marvelled at, but Minh-Chu had only seen the ones visible from orbit. He knew better than to risk a visit to the smaller planet bound wonders.
The cities of that giant world were all contained in domes with gravity control. Most of them perched on cliffs, or were wedged into the bottoms of canyons, and despite the attempts of Carthan and then British Alliance authorities to tame them, they remained wild and dangerous. None of those places were under the control of governments, but gangs and the others, who called themselves New Lords. The night side of Kambis came up, and the sparse lights of those cities decorated the landscape, along with patches of absolute blackness, canyons that were so deep that the scant light on the night side of the world was not at all evident. Even still, they were the most frequent trade partners with Tamber settlements, including Haven Shore. Within those havens for crime were traders, some of whom were honest, most of whom were somewhere between that and criminal. Many of them were necessary trading partners.
The shadow cast by Kambis submerged Ronin’s barely lit cockpit in inky black. The distant lights of ships seemed distant and solitary.
“Hey, Ronin,” Joyboy, Ronin’s wingman for that patrol, called over their short range communications. “I’ve gotta admit something to you, man.”
“What’s that, Joyboy?” Ronin asked, bracing himself.
“When I saw you on the roster for this patrol, I traded to get the spot as your Wingman,” he said.
“Oh,” Ronin replied, relieved. “I thought you were going to tell me that Paula told you that her bouncing baby boy was actually mine.”
“Uh, no, that’s not funny.”
“Well, you know she could have stolen some genetic material, bribed someone in Triton medical to-“
“Nope, Jim is completely mine and hers, man.”
“Well, you know, he does look a bit-“
“Still not funny,” Joyboy said.
Ronin laughed, he’d forgotten how easy it was to wind Joyboy up. “I’m just kidding. I’m really happy for both of you.”
“The kid really has mellowed her out, she’s pretty amazing now,” Joyboy said. “You and Ashley thinking about having one?”
“No!” Ronin replied, surprising himself with how quickly the response came.
“Wow, had that one locked and loaded,” Joyboy chuclked. “Something wrong?”
“We’re just enjoying the early part of our thing together. Ash gets to exercise her maternal instincts on Zoe, and we babysit.”
“Early part of
your thing? You guys have been together almost a year, haven’t you?” Joyboy said.
“Hey, your relationship with Paula went faster than light, doesn’t mean Ashley and I don’t get to have some fun before settling in,” Ronin replied. “We have attended three weddings in the last six weeks though, so we might be headed there.”
“You guys really are that serious? It’s hard to tell, I mean people see you’re crazy about each other, but there’s no public displays or anything. I know three guys in the Skyguard who have serious ambitions for her, if you know what I mean.”
“Names, now,” Ronin said in his best intimidating tone.
Joyboy laughed, “You won’t get anything out of me. Seriously, though, you two have to make more appearances, like at the Oota Galoona, or something, and make a date out of it or something.”
“Look at you with the relationship advice,” Ronin said.
“Hey, Paula really is planning our wedding, you’re invited, by the way. I don’t know if Ashley is, though. Paula still thinks she’s an airhead who likes to take her clothes off.”
“We’ll think about it, but if Ashley isn’t coming, neither am I,” Ronin replied. “Maybe when Jake’s on his feet the Warlord crew will hit Oota Galoona and the Pilot’s Den. Call it another step in his physical therapy, dancing, imbibing, more dancing, maybe some falling.”
“How is he doing? All I heard was that he survived whatever happened aboard that Order ship,” Joyboy asked.
“There’s an expression that Frost uses; ‘That man’s made of miracles,’” Ronin said, doing his best imitation of the grizzled Gunnery Chief.
“Hey, that was pretty good,” Joyboy said.
“Thank you, I practice,” Ronin replied. “Anyway, I’m starting to believe it too, but I think it had more to do with the Warlord’s new doctor. A couple med techs I’ve met were pretty quick to mention that they didn’t approve of her methods whenever they were near someone who would listen, but the results are good, so I’m not one to argue.”
“Why? Did the new Doc think too far outside the box or something?”
“I’m no expert, so I don’t know, but I’ve heard people call her a butcher more than once. Either way, that woman deserves credit. Jake was almost walking after waking up from recovery, and there’s not a scar on him. He’s a little taller, and looks like he took on a lot of muscle, but he’s got functional hand-eye coordination, maybe even better, strength, and a full range of motion. Pretty good for a man with a body that was grown in pieces and put together in a day.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. There’s almost a full blackout about the how and why of what happened to him through the fleet, so thanks for sharing. I was worried. I know I bitched about service on the Warlord sometimes while I was still there, but I’ll follow him anywhere.”
“You and me both,” Ronin said. He knew that whatever he shared with Joyboy would be spread across the fleet by morning, and it would permeate Haven Shore by the end of the week. The opportunity was too good to pass up. “Between you, me and our flight recorders, I have to say it looks like this whole rebirth has made Jake better in the head too. He hurt his face from grinning at his Welcome Back To Life party, and Ayan says he’s easier to be around, more present.”
“Really? Man, maybe that framework tech was doing something,” Joyboy concluded.
“Maybe, but no one knows for sure, so keep it quiet,” Ronin said.
“Yeah, no problem.”
He was sure Joyboy wouldn’t. Tales of the Warlord Captain grinning from ear to ear would be everywhere before long.
“So, is Samurai Squadron going to be based on the Triton when we leave for the Ironhead Nebula?” Joyboy asked.
“I can’t say,” Ronin replied. “It depends on whether or not the Warlord is going to be part of the battle group.”
“Oh, man, that would be cool. The Triton and the Warlord.”
A warning appeared on Ronin’s tactical system. The overlay in his helmet displayed an energy spike and indications of a decelerating ship headed for Kambis. It was already past the outer boundaries of the Rega Gain solar system. “Power up, we have incoming.”
“I see it, Triton Flight Deck sees it too,” Joyboy replied.
The Uriel Fighters’ systems lit up, their thrusters pulsed as they got ready to manoeuvre. The projected displays in Ronin’s cockpit showed a summary of communications between the Triton’s Flight Deck, British Alliance Control, and Haven Shore on his right hand side. To the left the greater galaxy was represented, with listings for nearby objects, incoming ships and missions that could affect his situation. In front of him his fighter’s solid state displays told him everything he needed to know about his and his wingman’s ship, while the projected display over top of that provided all tactical data, and a shortened version of his current orders. His navigational assistant was also included in the overlay, showing nearby navnet routes for other ships, the course he and his wingman were supposed to follow on patrol, his actual position, mission timer, threats and gravity fields. A long red spike across his display showed the expected trajectory of the incoming craft. “Local Navnet has already assigned alternative routes to ships in our area,” Ronin said. “That’s coming in fast, it’ll be here in fifty three seconds. We will be the closest ships.”
“Is that a good thing?” Joyboy asked.
“It’s decelerating fast enough so it won’t make it to Kambis, but it’s transmitted no header or warning signal,” Ronin reported. He saw the British Alliance Control Centre hand all responsibility for the incoming craft to Triton Fleet, and shook his head. “Yup, some help they are.”
“I’m overhearing the British Alliance ordering their patrol ships out of the area,” Joyboy said.
“This is Triton Flight,” said Ensign Dunbar, one of the communications officers aboard the Triton. “We have determined that the new ship in the region is a high speed Korin Industries Spaceliner. The wormhole trajectory suggests she departed Hosanna Station nine days ago. The helm is on autopilot, and has acknowledged our Navnet signal, so she will be entering high orbit around Kambis. You are to flank the spaceliner, scan it and await further orders.”
An image of the one hundred and five metre long ship appeared on Ronin’s main display as he and Joyboy began their approach, firing their engines at the rapidly decelerating ship. It had crossed the threshold from its wormhole into normal space, and continuing to slow down along the course sent to it by Triton’s Navnet. “Acknowledged, beginning our approach.”
Joyboy and Ronin stayed in formation as they accelerated towards the starliner. As he began decelerating and moving into position, Ronin couldn’t help but admire the smooth, long lines of the ship’s designs. Her quad rotary thrusters were cooling at the rear of the craft, while pot manoeuvring thrusters fired sporadically, making minor corrections to her course and position. “I can confirm, there is no human on the stick in that starliner,” Ronin said.
“How do you figure?” Joyboy said.
Ronin began his sensor sweep of the ship while he explained. “Almost all pilots make major course corrections then smaller touches after, so you can see the manoeuvring thrusters firing for a couple seconds at a time. Automated pilots make minor adjustments sooner, and they’re typically programmed to save fuel, so you see these quick pops and pulses from the thrusters instead.”
“Unless you’re watching Ronin,” Joyboy said. “You only give your ship the thrust it needs, you don’t waste anything if you can help it.”
“Why thank you,” Ronin said as he watched the detailed scan data come in. He read the raw feed instead of paying attention to the computer’s interpretation.
“I’m saying you fly like a robot,” Joyboy said.
“That is not nice,” Ronin replied. “I fly artfully, like a stone skipping across water, or a fish in a pond.”
“Like a drone on long patrol,” Joyboy added.
Ronin knew his wingman was just trying to get a rise out of him, and shook his
head. “The law of the good space farer: Only use the space, the energy, the food, water and air you need. Oh, and always be courteous first.”
“Wow, never heard that one,” Joyboy said.
“Something they taught us on Freeground, I don’t remember a time when-“ Ronin stopped as he saw that all the systems on the spaceliner were operating except for life support. There were six hundred and nine corpses aboard, and a pair of faint life readings. “You seeing this?”
“It’s another ghost ship,” Joyboy replied. “Fifth one this month.”
“No, this one’s strange. The others finished their deceleration cycle and went dead outside the solar system, this one was programmed to land right on our doorstep. It would have to be for the emergency deceleration system to be overridden, and the emergency beacon is dead, like it’s not there at all.” Ronin checked the fuel readings and the responses the spaceliner’s computer was giving his fighter. “Communication is completely shut down, and this spaceliner should have enough fuel to go on to a few more systems before it needs to refuel, but there’s nothing but fumes in the tanks.”
“What do you think?”
“Triton Flight,” Ronin addressed, “estimated time on a rescue team?”
“We should have one out there in nineteen to twenty two minutes,” replied the communications officer.
“Not fast enough, there are two life signs on this spaceliner, and they’re about to go out,” Ronin replied. He took a closer look at the scans and could see that the only living things on the ship were crowded into a closet, connected to some kind of emergency support gear. “I’m going aboard, the landing bay is open and my fighter will fit.”
“Wait for the rescue team,” replied the communications officer.
“I don’t detect any signs of a bomb, or anything else that could take me out. I’m going in with a support kit,” Ronin said.
Warpath Page 3
