Minh-Chu watched as the doors closed beneath them. He could feel the vibration of metal grit grinding between them through the bulkhead. “We’re never getting those doors open again.”
“You’re right,” Finn said. “Good thing we have all this space to work in now.”
He looked up and turned his helmet light on, revealing the second deck of the ship. It was two-thirds empty and seemed cavernous compared to the cramped spaces they had been working in for days. Panels accessing all the systems inside the ship lined the ceiling, and Minh-Chu couldn’t help but be a little excited when he saw Finn drift towards one of the secondary systems boards above him. He felt a food square touch his bottom lip and took a pull on the tube resting near the other side of his mouth before taking it. The lemon flavoured square was chewy and savoury. He chewed as he watched the Engineering Chief work a panel loose.
Sticky and Carnie moved towards him slowly, coming to rest against the side of the manufacturing module. It seemed like a small room built in the middle of the large empty module bay. “Ohmygosh,” Sticky said with hushed excitement as Finn pulled a small battery module from his pocket and connected it to one of the circuit boards above. “Now, it’s just light, so we’re still sealed up in our vacsuits until life support is back online, but it’s something.”
The entire space illuminated, and Minh-Chu couldn’t help but smile at the cheers he heard on his proximity radio. Sticky embraced Carnie excitedly, squealing in delight. “We’re going to be okay,” Hot Chow sighed. “We just gotta keep making little wins, this is good, this is good.”
“All right,” Finn said, drifting down and handing a bundle of tiny batteries the size of his fist to Minh-Chu. “Get your people to connect all those batteries to the emergency ports down here. The heads-up display in their helmets will show them where they go.”
Minh-Chu looked up to see ceiling and the panels they needed access to. The modules were in the way of everything, but with most of them gone, his crew could get to almost all the ports they had to, and they’d have the task done in an hour or less. He could fit in the tighter spaces between the weapon and habitation modules, and if it was too tight, Sticky was even smaller than he was. The display in his helmet pointed to life support, main battery systems, and the last of the operable systems that were waiting for power. He handed Carnie and Sticky most of the batteries and pushed off so he started drifting towards the closest panel. “Get everyone down here, we need this done fast.”
“I’ll get ready to start wiring new flight control systems,” Finn said. “I need Dusty in the cockpit to verify that the navigation computer and the scanners are working as soon as the computer has power.”
“Aye,” Dusty replied. “It’s good to finally see some progress.”
Chapter 13
The Crowded Majority
The quiet walk from the Eagle Transit Platform to a busy family neighbourhood gave Liara a chance to take a lot of new sights in. Recyclers were stuffed with garbage, the overflow was piled around them. The hallways were strangely tall, three and four storeys in most places with a view of the nebula through thick transparent steel bulkheads. In shades of blue, red and white people talked to each other from their balconies, children played in the broad avenue and she could hear music drifting from somewhere ahead – the sounds of old horns and stringed instruments that made her smile. The music seemed whimsical, almost playful.
They arrived at a large semi-circular market where most of the restaurants and stores were shuttered but people sat at the many tables to talk to their neighbours nevertheless. A small child bumped into her leg, breaking her out of her observer’s trance. Liara smiled at the dark haired child, knelt down and retrieved his small stuffed spider from the floor. “Is this yours?” she asked.
He nodded and she handed it back to him. “Are you going to bring us to Haven Shore?” asked a voice from above. Liara straightened and found herself face to face with a dark haired woman that she could only assume was the boy’s mother.
Before she could answer, Sig turned around and smiled at her. “Give her a chance to meet us Tanisa,” he said gently.
The woman smiled at Sig briefly, as though the answer was enough and shuffled along, her boy’s hand in hers. A brief alarm whooped softly followed by a gentle male voice that announced; “jump in five minutes, secure, secure.”
The busy area began to clear, people vanishing though sliding doors, retreating from their balconies. Sig sat down at a round table as Karmen stopped and spoke to Liara. “I have to check on a few things,” she said. “It’s not appropriate for me to negotiate with you anyway, I’m not allowed to be registered as a public servant.”
“Do you mind if I ask why not?” Liara asked.
“I was charged with religious bias because I’m an outspoken Dannerin.”
“What does that have to do with public office?”
“People with a proven religious bias are not allowed to serve,” Remmy said from behind Liara. “The Puritans got that law though before they were pushed out?”
“Yes, and I was removed from my post three weeks later,” Karmen said. “It’s good to meet you in person, Remmy. There are a lot of people here who hold you up as a champion for free access to information.”
“I was just a web junkie who spread a little truth,” Remmy replied. “You’re the ones who stuck around for the real trouble.”
“Just the same, don’t be surprised if you catch a few admiring looks in this neighbourhood. I have to be going, but Sig is the one who you want to talk to. He can still speak on behalf of his Battle Group, and he’s trusted by the community.” Karmen said before marching towards a tall green door.
“I’m hoping you can find a place for her in Haven Shore, she’s a great leader,” Sig said as he gestured for his guests to have a seat.
Liara, Remmy and Dotty did so. “Are we supposed to be here?” Liara asked, watching the last of the civilians retreat behind doors.
“No, but it’s safe. We’re on the leading edge of the station, the part that will face the wormhole entrance, so it’s procedure for everyone in this area to get behind a closed door. We’re not in any danger, the armour between us and open space is many metres thick, behind an energy shield.”
“Before we get into anything,” Liara said. “What’s a Dannerin? I’ve heard the term, but never looked into it.”
“The Dannerins are actually a non-religion. It’s a set of philosophies that were invented by Gray Danner, who believed that our scientific observations about the universe were correct – that all life would eventually cease to exist, and he had a weird reaction to it,” Dotty said. “Sorry, I know a few things about it.”
“No, go on, that’s pretty accurate,” Sig said, visibly amused that the explanation was coming from her.
“Danner said that, since we couldn’t observe an afterlife, or evidence that humanity would have any kind of lasting legacy, that we should be kind and fair to each other. That the word ‘humanity’ should become a beacon of light and hope in our galaxy because we have a duty to preserve and improve the lives of those around us. I’m shortening a lot of teachings here, but he believed that long term person-to-person kindness could lead to a larger kind of universal happiness that could correct the course of mankind, and extend to other races in the galaxy. After all, if humanity will only last for brief time in the life of the cosmos, isn’t it even more important that we are good to each other while we’re here?”
“Well said,” Sig said. “I wish I believed with the conviction that Karmen did, but I’ve seen too many people twist Dannerin philosophy to justify their own selfishness. Karmen is a great leader, partially because of her beliefs. She uses them as a guide, and I’ve never seen her make a choice that didn’t take her people into account. I met her about forty years ago, when she was serving as the Infantry Sergeant aboard my ship.”
“So, you’re him,” Remmy said. “The Captain Penn.”
“No matter how long I go on
, I can’t outlive that campaign,” Sig laughed. “I’ll tell you one time, son, you’re more of a hero than I am. All I did was lead two ships through a gauntlet of invaders and get lucky when we ran right into their mothership. We weren’t looking for that fight, and the people who died aboard the Dakota might not call me such a hero since taking out the Tarratin mothership cost them their lives.”
“It’s still an honour to meet you, Sir,” Remmy said. “I grew up watching dramas about you.”
“Yeah, and people wonder why I retired into obscurity.”
“I’m missing something,” Liara said, the young man in front of her didn’t have the mannerisms or appearance of someone who could have been a captain forty or more years ago, and she had no idea what legend his name belonged to.
“My third command, the Mariner and her sister ship, the Dakota, were assigned to a strike mission during the Tarratin War about thirty-five years ago. We succeeded but found ourselves behind enemy lines with the enemy in pursuit. The Tarratin were a bug race, a lot like the Edxi, I suppose, real consumers of anything with a heartbeat. They wanted to take Freeground as a staging area. Anyway, we managed to fight off a few small groups of their ships and were on our way back home when we ran right into their main staging area. The Captain of the Dakota offloaded all but her essential crew, and we broke through their lines. Captain Obumswin set his hyperspace system to activate once the bow of his ship was pointed at the heart of that mothership and within one thousand kilometres, and he destroyed it. A sacrifice I was against, Dean was a much brighter man than I, and I loved him like a brother. If he was still alive today, who knows where we’d be. The Tarratin were a simple race, and they were frightened off. The next fight they picked was their last. The United Core World Authority wiped them out completely about ten years later, even cracking their home world before they were finished. It was a genocide that people forget because the whole race looked ugly to people, entomologists and die hard xeno-biologists being the exceptions. The reason why I’m sitting in front of you like this is because Fleet brought me out of retirement. I’m one hundred and forty-seven years old. My rollback to about thirty-five has only been finished for two weeks, so I still have moments were I still favour my left hip and start looking for my morning meds.”
“Why aren’t you in command? You should be running the show,” Remmy said.
“I retired to teach in the Academy a few years after the Tarratin mothership was destroyed. I was there for thirty-three years, so maybe the Fleet wanted to bring me back as a visible hero, but I’m not qualified to run this mission. Hard combat shielding was almost non-existent when I was in the captain’s seat. I’ve spent the last year catching up and I just got my commission a month ago. I’m afraid to tell you, but my place is on a starship, not on the command deck of a station.”
“So you’re here to speak for the Fleet?” Liara asked. She had seen rollbacks before, but Sig seemed so vital, so youthful that she was having trouble believing his age.
“Karmen has given me her proxy for her people here. Even though she’s not allowed to serve, she’s the unofficial mayor of Eagleton, and the adjacent sections trust her judgement as well. It bothers me, to be honest. She should be my superior,” Sig said with a sigh. “But with the political climate that’s been created at the top, she can’t even be seen having a long sit-down with you. I represent the fleet too, but anything we discuss here has to be brought to them and then cleared, so I have less sway there.”
“So, how much of the station does she unofficially represent?” Liara asked.
“Right to the point, this one,” Sig said to Dotty and Remmy before regarding Liara with a playful smile. “About eighty-one thousand, give or take a household. A mixture of military, civilian and former civil servants. Most of them are crammed into space that should only house about twenty-eight thousand. Up there are apartments made for families of three or four people, but most of them are sleeping between seven and nine. We’ve been stuffed in on top of each other. You probably noticed a waste problem on your way in?”
“It was hard to miss,” Liara said.
“That’s happening because most of our secondary systems are breaking down, and we left our manufacturing facilities behind when we escaped, so replacement parts are reserved for defence, life support and sanitation. We’re about nineteen people to a toilet here, and black market disposal units are all over the place, so waste is getting into the air, taxing our filtration systems and making whole compartments unliveable.”
“Who are people blaming?” Liara asked.
Sig laughed and fixed Liara with a look that suggested that he was reassessing her. “No wonder the Freeground leaders put meeting you off. You know exactly what to ask. Where did Triton Fleet find you?”
“On their doorstep,” Liara answered playfully. “I was a lost communications and law expert looking for work.”
“I guessed you were a journalist, originally. To answer your question,” Sig said. “At first there was a surprising amount of cooperation and a sense of community. Now, weeks later with systems falling apart and no word from the government, people are angry at the people at the top. It’s worse now that maintenance workers are sharing priority lists where the families of those in power are getting regular filter replacements and new recycling systems for their bathrooms. The higher ups started restricting access before the first bomb went off in command, they were busy watching their own people so they didn’t notice spies when they got in. I think it’s safe to assume there are still Order of Eden agents around. None on my ship, Fleet has started a one hundred percent monitoring program. Either way, the majority of the people down here would rather leave Freeground the next time they see a safe port. They’re tired of the government, the tight conditions, having everything they do, consume, or put out measured and reported. Even the Tourism Minister, who I’ve always liked, by the way, would probably rather leave and start over. She’s one of the only politicians I’ve met who has a sense of humour, and an ear that can hear a new idea. She’s probably in a lot of trouble right now.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but the higher-ups don’t listen to me at all,” Liara said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she lands somewhere she can handle. I know a few apartments here who still have room for a small cot. The question everyone here wants to know the answer to is if there’s really room for them in Haven Shore. If they’ll have opportunities there, no one wants to leave if it’s only to get stuck in a refugee camp.”
“There are refugee camps on Tamber,” Liara said. “The Haven Shore Rangers drop supplies there all the time, and we take whoever we can. I almost spent some time in one, but I was lucky enough to cut ahead of other people without realizing it. The ship I entered the system in performed an emergency landing right on the island. That was before Haven Shore had a shield though, so I wouldn’t recommend trying it now. I know Haven Shore wants to situate everyone from Freeground, but it would take up to three months to bring eighty thousand new people in. We would take everyone from Freeground in though, that’s for certain. If your people are willing to go to satellite settlements on the mainland, then the process would go much quicker. They’d resettle in half the time, maybe less.”
“What’s Triton Fleet’s plan for Freeground Alpha once it arrives in-system?”
“That’s open for negotiation,” Liara said. “They’re concentrating on getting the station out of the nebula and into a straight wormhole jump to the Rega Gain system first.”
“Okay, now I’m going to share something that you three have to keep secret while you’re on the station, it can’t get back to Freeground Nation Government,” Sig said. “Can you promise that you’ll control this information?”
“Absolutely,” Liara said.
“Remmy?”
“Yes, Sir, she’s in charge, no worries,” Remmy replied.
“I promise,” Dot offered.
“All right, then,” Sig said. “The majority of Free
grounders want Haven Shore to dissolve the Freeground Nation so someone new can take over. We’re talking over seventy percent of the population. The unrest here is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Freeground Fleet wants the current government and all the party representatives pushed out permanently so they can take over. They are willing to surrender Freeground Alpha to Triton Fleet along with all their ships. There are five commanders who are against it, and eighty-six for it. The vote has already been taken. If Haven Shore or Triton Fleet refuse to accept the transfer of authority, Freeground Nation will descend into rebellion and chaos. I’m not sure that they will last another two weeks.”
The blue, white and red nebula outside the transparent bulkhead stretched into a wormhole and the station slipped inside. Liara noticed that it took a lot longer than five minutes for the station to generate the wormhole and begin their jump. She confirmed it with a glance at the logging program in her comm unit. “I don’t know what I can do for now, this journey may take longer than that.”
“According to my people, we’re leaving a signal trail that will be found before that time is up, and we’ll be in this nebula for another five weeks at this rate,” Sig said. “So, you’re right, but if I can tell Karmen that we can find a home in Haven Shore, that could buy us time before there’s an open revolt.”
“You can definitely tell them that. Just warn them that settlement will take time. A gradual move is the only way to prevent the creation of a new refugee camp.”
“That’s something I can use. I’ll pass it on to Karmen and get her reply to you. I think she’ll be happy though.”
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10 Page 13
