“I’m sorry, I’ve heard that’s the way it is for a lot of people. We don’t have a system like that here,” Alice said, glad to have an opening to explain how Haven Shore was different, but she misjudged. He was too angry to listen, it was too early.
“Then the Order comes along and tells us that we’re about to face some kind of apocalyptic darkness. I signed up, went a hundred thousand credits further into debt and pledged to work it off. Could you imagine my surprise when I realized that I actually was working it off? That the Order didn’t lie? I worked my way up the ranks for three years and four months ago I found out that I’m debt free. Not only that, but I’m a bloody Commander, so I know people, important people, and I’m on my way up to the next rank, and I’m making more money than I could have ever dreamt. So much, that I have thirty five people who owe me money, can you imagine? I make money by doing nothing, I’m on the black side of the system, black meaning I can go my entire life without going back into debt, and if I keep serving I may become immortal. That’s what those God damned diplomats and back-world government idiots cost me! Immortality, paradise, and a life in the black! Can you promise me that?”
Alice thought quickly. What she said next would be pivotal, and she hadn’t gotten a signal from anyone telling her that the antimatter had been made safe yet. “I can give you another kind of freedom,” she offered quietly.
“Bullshit! I’m atomized, or I’ll become a prisoner all over again. I should have known better, I should have shut the life support down for everyone but me and tested my luck by jumping to another system as soon as we got here.”
“You are lucky, you got me.” Alice had to try the best angle she had. It impressed him, or at least surprised him that they sent a Valent aboard to negotiate with him. That had to be useful. “I’m a Valent. Whether I’m abusive like my father, or more reasonable, the fact that I’m here is important. I can make offers that no one else can.”
“Prove it!”
“I can’t prove anything while that switch is in your hand,” she said. “But if you trust me, if you let me dissolve the solvent and take that switch, I’ll make sure that you get the best treatment. You’ll have a place of your own, and the opportunity to earn the same rights everyone else has.”
“You don’t understand,” he said, starting to slip back into a rant.
“I do,” Alice said. “You had power as a Commander, climbed up the ranks, but in Haven Shore, people have the opportunity to follow their passions. They get their own space to be themselves, and there is no debt.”
“There is always debt! Maybe your way just hides it better…” he looked at his hand then, his fingers were bound together in a bunch by something invisible, and then he recoiled, leaving the hand where it was as it was severed from his wrist by an invisible blade.
Alice rushed to him and, after a short, bloody struggle, caught his forearm and held it steady while she sprayed medical foam on the stump. “Just hold still,” she said, but he struggled anew, and she stunned him for his own good. If he continued to struggle, the seal over his stump and the pressure around his wrist would release.
“We’ve rewired the antimatter containment system, it’s safe,” announced Regan. “Nothing will happen if he pushes his button.”
Yawen appeared, still holding Pope’s severed hand, looking proud of herself. “A little late, but thanks,” she replied.
“I was half way to talking him down,” Alice said.
“He was about to start ranting again,” Yawen replied. “Better safe than obliterated.”
Alice sighed and finally nodded. “Good work, everyone. Let’s get the passengers and our prisoner onto the shuttle and get clear of this death trap.”
Fourteen
Warriors
* * *
“Are you sure this is how we’re supposed to do this?” Jake asked Liara as he sat at the end of their conference table. That entire section of the deck had been gutted for metal leaving only supports behind and a massive space that used to contain meeting spaces, the officer’s mess, a few storage areas and quarters that crewmembers had been transferred out of.
“It’s how one tribe leader meets another, and it extends to ship captains. Two of your lowest ranking officers meet them at the airlock and lead them to this deck, where they meet one of your most trusted Lieutenants or in this case it would be a sort of ‘right hand’ and they lead the visiting Captain here, where you present them with a gift.”
Jake held up a large command and control unit they had in storage, made for a Nafalli, of which they had none aboard. “This is a good gesture? I’m sure he has something like it.”
“Probably, but this is in the style of your people, it shares a history with you, since the core is the same as the ones used in Freeground for, um, how long?” she asked.
“About sixty years now,” he said. “We’ve added a few coprocessors and a couple upgrades, but upgrading the core seemed pointless. They’re cheap and easy to make.”
“Right, if he asks about it, you’ll be able to tell him about every detail,” she said.
He understood. Looking at it, he was reminded of the type he used to use on the Samson, when he had no idea who or what he was. That one was custom, but it was so close to what he had on the First Light, just with a few gadgets bolted on and a few cheaper parts.
No matter what kind of story his guest wanted to hear that may be attached to the gift he gave him, Jake would have one. He had been wearing a command and control unit almost since his creation, and he had memories going back to Jacob Valent’s childhood. During all that time, for all those events, there was a comm unit based on the same processor on his arm.
“I wonder what he’ll offer me?” Jake asked, checking the ship status. They were holding position next to a cluster of asteroids that were host to a couple old drillers and a collector. There wasn’t much left of them after they spent a long time tumbling between the giant stones. Everything was on low power mode, and everyone who knew how to read a scan report was watching for energy signals nearby. Some had their eyes cast towards the asteroid belt they hid in; the rest watched the stars for signs of patrols running on low power or all together cloaked.
Jake suspected that the combat conditions were changing along the front. He expected Order of Eden captains to work harder for the tactical edge, and the Kariss Solar System was the target of a British Alliance attack only a week before. There would be a military presence.
Crewmembers moved around the edges for the most part, but a few used field generators on their boots to skim quickly across the open deck where they could. All around, Jake recognized space they didn’t need in the Revenge. After the refit they seemed to have two cabins for everything. Having regular compartmentalization between spaces was good design, true, but he didn’t realize how many of the creature comforts and spaces set aside for specific types of storage and activities they didn’t need. There was a better way to design the whole thing, especially the conference room and command areas.
Finn sat to Liara’s right, a little out of breath. Jake looked past Liara at him. “Cutting it close?”
“Sorry Captain, still not used to the new layout. I had to run all the way from the forward section,” Finn replied.
“That’s not too far off,” Jake said. “Come jogging with Minh and his squad tomorrow morning.”
Finn lowered his head for a moment, then straightened up. “That’s an order?”
“Treat it like one,” Jake said.
“Yes, Sir.”
“I’ve been looking to get into better shape too,” Liara said.
Jake caught a glimpse of Finn looking at her, shaking his head, wide eyed.
She finished anyway; “Mind if I come along?”
“It’s a serious club,” Jake said. “Once you’re in for one morning, you’re in until you meet the Fleet Five, then you can drop out.”
“Fleet Five,” Liara said. Jake could tell she was looking it up using her brain bud.
“Five kilometres in twenty five minutes?” she asked. “That seems fast.”
“It’s the minimum pass for human cadets between one point six and two metres tall,” Jake said. He liked Liara, she was one of his most competent people, a great communications officer. “Everyone in the fleet should be able to pass it.”
“I should be able to at my rank too, then,” Liara said. “Seeing senior officers keeping in shape raises morale, it’s one of the truths of ship life.”
“Nothing coming up on passive scanners, Captain,” Stephanie said in Jake’s ear. “Our guests should be coming through the lift doors any second.”
Jake stood, and Liara put her hand on his arm. “Sir, don’t stand. You receive them while sitting. It’s a position of confidence.”
Jake nodded and sat down. Finn watched everything Liara did when he didn’t have a responsibility to fulfill, and it made Jake feel a little warmer inside. The only problem he saw with that was that it gave Liara fewer opportunities to watch Finn, which she did when he was trying not to look like he was watching her. He couldn’t help but wonder if suffering together might get them on the same page. Neither of them was in the kind of shape they needed to be in to run a Fleet Five.
He was aware that he cheated, so he always had his suit set to add resistance to his movements, pushing him right to a point where he might actually fail. It was like running under water by the end of each workout, and Minh-Chu often beat him handily.
“Here they come. Silent and confident. Don’t stand until he offers you his hand,” Liara said quietly.
Minh-Chu led a thick bodied Nafalli that dwarfed him width and height wise through the lift doors. “See, we used internal plating, melted it down to make new armour plating for the outside.”
“What happens if this deck decompresses, say right over there?” asked a Nafalli with white and grey striped fur.
“There are emergency containment packages that fire a kind of cloth partition that will isolate the breach,” he explained.
Noah Lucas, known by the callsign Carnie, walked along side Minh-Chu as they escorted the three Nafalli. The captain was definitely the largest with the starkest colouring. His black fur was marked with stripes that followed the direction of his fur. The armour all three wore looked like liquid metal that conformed to their fur, turning any visible tips of hair into spikes.
“How is it necessary for you to know any of this? You’re a fighter pilot,” asked the Nafalli who had black hair and blonde stripes.
“I like knowing how my Captain’s ship is doing. I also helped with repairs when I had spare time,” Minh-Chu replied.
“So crewmembers shift stations when they are more needed elsewhere,” said that gray haired one. He seemed excited to see practically everything.
“When we’re not on duty we can do what we like, for the most part, but the best of us will spend some of our free time helping other crewmembers.”
“In our military, we are always on duty, ready to rise to any challenge,” the black and blonde Nafalli said.
The captain, the black furred Nafalli with white and silver stripes laughed. “We operate in shifts, don’t misrepresent us, Juun. We are more similar than we are dissimilar.” He arrived at the opposite end of the long table and looked at Jake.
The irises of his eyes were so light they were almost silver. It was unnerving over a mostly black muzzle, but he wore a smile that made it feel like he’d been looking forward to this meeting for some time. “Captain Valent,” he said. “I honour you with this gift; a Rawsarr, the weapon of my tribe but made for someone of your height and power.” He pulled a straight hilt from his belt and squeezed two buttons on it. The weapon extended into a black metal staff with blunt ends. “You will find it a formidable weapon, especially if you learn the art of Aarwone. I am a master, the name is not translatable, since it was coined after the mourning sounds of widows.” He retracted the ends into the hilt and placed it on the table. Liara got up and went to retrieve it.
Jake felt strange greeting Captain Duulto Kuo without standing, and he let instinct take over. As he held the command and control unit up, he got to his feet. “This is the technical core of our entire military organization. Most of us have dermal communication units, but we use our Command and Control Units to boost our ability to send and receive transmissions. It also administers emergency medication, has a small fabrication system, and I made sure this one has a small energy weapon inside. I’ve had an identifier number set up so you have basic access to our Fleet network, and all Fleet controls have been disabled, so you have full control over its functions. I hope this honours you, Captain.” That was not what he was supposed to say. A position of confidence was what Liara advised, simply telling him that receiving the comm unit was an honour, instead of hoping the Captain would see it as one.
The Nafalli standing to Captain Kuo’s left, the grey and silver striped one, moved up the length of the table to accept the gift on his Captain’s behalf, waiting for Jake to put it down before he took it.
“Thank you, Captain Valent,” Captain Kuo said.
“They all wear them,” said Juun, the black and blonde furred Nafalli from his right side. “It’s a common device that takes no skill to use.”
“It’s an invitation,” Captain Kuo replied as he accepted the command and control unit. He turned it over in his hands for a moment before activating it. A hologram with his head appeared - a noble depiction with his rank, tribe and ship name beneath it - and he smiled. “This is a meaningful gift. It represents their invitation to us to join their fighters, to become a part of their society.”
“I doubt it’s value,” Juun said.
“I could order you to challenge their Captain, is your doubt that strong? Are you willing to challenge Captain Jacob Valent after all we’ve seen about him?”
Minh-Chu took his place beside Jake, looking unsure. Noah was watching the Nafalli as though he was ready to burst into a run at any second.
“Look, you remember the bounty hunter records,” Captain Kuo said, holding the comm unit up so his Second could see the energy emitter. “Look, this is like the wrist weapon we saw him use.”
“I think it’s a remarkable gift,” said the white and grey Nafalli.
“Know your place, Forus,” Juun snapped.
“I wonder,” Captain Kuo said, looking to Jake. “If I invoked our ancient laws of challenge, would you participate? Would you put my Second in his place?”
“There’s no need to invoke the old laws,” Juun, the one with the black and blonde fur said. “I only wonder if he’s honoured you properly.”
Jake had been warned that if things went extremely badly, he may have to defend himself, and he was prepared. Liara let him look through the little information they had about Nafalli warrior tribes challenging other races to single combat. “I’ll accept any challenge, but I don’t want to kill your First Officer. It would be bad diplomacy.”
“You heard him,” Captain Kuo said. “I don’t even smell fear.”
“How long has it been since you even held a nanosword?” Minh-Chu asked.
Jake didn’t answer. He spent twenty minutes with his the night before and that morning. He knew he could use one without de-limbing himself, but past that there were no guarantees. The other idea he had worked out much better. “Call Zac.” He said, watching Juun look to the Captain, to him all but growling.
Captain Kuo said. “He’s made it clear; he doesn’t think you’re his equal. Is your pride worth the risk?”
“I’d fight him, but we’re here to plan a raid.”
“This won’t take long,” Jake said. “Are you invoking the old laws? Or does your First Officer think my gift is enough to honour you?”
“Fight him, I give you leave to prove yourself,” Captain Kuo said, he was actually smiling.
“I challenge you on behalf of my Captain,” Juun said.
“No, you challenge Captain Valent for the sake of pride,” Captain Kuo corrected. “I
f my honour were at stake, I’d ask for compensation. I wouldn’t fight this man. He would rather have another opportunity to befriend me.” He finished with a bow.
“Fine! For my honour then,” Juun said.
“That is the Captain’s little brother,” Liara whispered to him. “Be careful.”
“Crap,” Noah said, lowering his face into his hand.
“Suwuo,” said the white and grey Nafalli opposite him, covering his nose.
“I won’t use strength augmentation,” Jake said. “Or any projectile weapons.”
“Juun will attack using his natural attacks,” Captain Kuo said.
His second in command nodded as he stepped to the side of the table, putting several meters between him and everyone else. Jake followed his lead and activated a new gadget - a focused energy shield built into his left command and control unit. It was made to repel explosives and small vehicle weapons’ fire, he never expected to use it for melee combat. It was based on the shield the Order Knights used.
Captain Kuo laughed. “Captain Valent’s tactics have evolved,” he said.
Juun stood in front of him, with five metres between. Jake activated the emitter on the end of his right wrist and set it to its highest stun setting. It sparked dangerously, at the edge of the recommended highest power level. He read the etiquette on duelling Nafalli but couldn’t remember a single detail except for what failure meant. It meant he would either have to be recorded as a failure forever, or challenge Juun again. Being a failure in the Nafalli’s eyes wouldn’t make things go smoothly.
“There is something wrong with that man,” Minh-Chu said as Jake grinned at his opponent.
An excitement started building in Jake the moment the prospect of a duel came up, and it was so intense, it brought such eagerness that he couldn’t help but agree with Minh-Chu. Had he been waiting for a test? Was the frustration of being away from Alice and Ayan starting to break down his reason? The faces of dead crewmembers found in the wreckage of his ship began to run through his mind, and it didn’t summon sadness, but aggression.
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 11 Page 8
