Spinward Fringe Broadcast 11

by Randolph Lalonde

  “There’s a documentary,” Yawen said. “But it doesn’t cover you much. It’s mostly about the First Light crew.”

  “I know, I haven’t seen more than a few minutes of it yet,” Alice replied.

  “You haven’t seen a documentary you’re in?” Callum said. “I’d have a poster up in every room. ‘Look there! I was in a documentary a few million people have seen,’ I’d say. I’d even put one up in the bathroom, especially in the bathroom.”

  “I’ll get around to it,” Alice said. Theodore was listening from the door, two chilly purple cups in his hands. “I eventually caught up to Jacob Valent, and I started serving aboard the Triton. I was injured in the line of duty, and from what I understand, I uploaded myself again before I died. There was some kind of artificial intelligence left that was able to take over and protect my personality, whatever it was that made me, well, me, and I ended up in the Order of Eden main fleet. The next thing I know - and this is fuzzy - The Beast, Clark Patterson, is helping me come back to life. Eve thanked me for a story I told her about Lewis, the original Lewis that I named the artificial intelligence in my ship after. She was so grateful that she made sure I escaped the fleet. I don’t have memories from before then that aren’t fuzzy, or so disorganized that they’re just fragments. The framework eventually settled on making me a teenager. I guess I subconsciously wanted to know what it was like to be that young, and I don’t know if I’d ever want to go back. It’s like every emotion is quintupled, and everything is a huge deal. Meanwhile, Jake’s emotional range was short, except for anger.”

  “Okay, so you definitely had that experience accurately,” Jessen said with a chuckle. “I was the biggest drama queen when I was a teen.”

  “Things weren’t getting better either. The framework was rolling my age back to its teenage present more and more often, mostly in my sleep. People were worried about what else the framework might change on its own, and I know that they were worried about someone taking control of me from a distance. No one ever said it, and they treated me like anyone else most of the time, but I know they were watching. So, when the tech to get the framework out came along, I jumped at the chance.”

  “Okay, so how does that work? I know Captain Valent did it, but the details are classified,” Regan asked as he carefully raised a vishri roll to his mouth with chopsticks. It looked like it wouldn’t fit with the tail hanging out.

  “His downgrade was a surgical procedure, brutal,” Alice said. “We used software to trick my framework into regenerating me one more time using a subconscious self-image while it eliminated itself. I could have come out younger, older, or just really different, but it was worth it.”

  “I’d say,” Yawen said with a chuckle.

  Alice looked at her with an upraised eyebrow.

  “Sorry, if I were into ladies, we’d have a fraternization problem,” Yawen said as Jessen nodded along.

  “Anyway,” Alice cleared her throat. “I started getting ready for the Apex program right after that, and I guess because I had so few distractions the training took.”

  “Okay, so how are you Ayan’s daughter?” Jessen asked, earning a light nudge from Knud. “She said she was an open book.”

  “A little rude though,” Knud said quietly.

  “It’s a good question,” Alice said. “The framework gathered her genetic data from the air around her because it knew that I would choose her as my biological mother, and it already had genetic data from Jake, so when I regenerated the last time it put those two together and I got really lucky.”

  “Yes, you did,” Yawen agreed.

  “I mean I didn’t end up with any big genetic defects, or other problems,” Alice explained. “And Ayan adopted me as soon as she found out.”

  “That is lucky,” Callum said around a mouthful of tuna roll.

  “And it makes you a princess,” Theodore added.

  “Mom turned her title away in-system, and I’ll do the same if anyone ever wants to pin one on me,” Alice said. “Modern monarchies don’t really treat most people well.”

  “Wait, I’ve always wanted to know; how did Ayan become Queen of the whole solar system?” Regan asked.

  “I’ve seen the forms, and the records, but I don’t know how easy that is to explain,” Alice said.

  “I know how it happened,” Theo said. “I can describe it in layman’s terms and in short form.”

  “Oh my God, please do,” Callum said. “That’s one of the most confusing things about this place. A Queen more people love every day that hides away, doesn’t want anything to do with her title, and serves the military as though she doesn’t have to sleep? I mean, if there’s someone who should be Queen…”

  “You know a lot about the Lieutenant’s mother. Is there a crush there, maybe?” Regan teased.

  “No!” Callum objected quickly, waving his hands. “Just, where I come from we had people with titles, but they were ornamental until there were big social events. Most of them were well liked, too, a lot of them spent time in politics and the military like Ayan, so she’s the model of a lovely royal.”

  “Lovely?” Knud asked with an upraised eyebrow.

  “All right, she’s a stunning woman and I imagine she’s very kind, and loads smarter than I am,” Callum said. “I’d lay down on a puddle full of nails and gobbler fish so she could use me as a bridge.”

  “I’ll pass that on,” Alice said with a little smile.

  “What, no…” Callum struggled as his face started turning red. The room erupted with laughter, Alice included, though she couldn’t help but wonder a little about Callum. The handsome young man had to be aware of how much Alice looked like her mother. By the time everyone settled down, she’d shaken the thought.

  “I don’t envy your position, young Callum,” Theo said with a chuckle that was surprisingly convincing.

  “I won’t actually tell her, Theo,” Alice said. “Just teasing.”

  “Well I’ll explain Ayan’s position then, if everyone is still interested.” There were nods and affirmative gestures around the room. “Well, when the people led by Ayan Anderson, Jacob Valent, and Terry Ozark McPatrick came here, Ayan decided to approach the Carthans for help. I don’t know how it happened, but she had to apply for a land grant at one point, and they made her the owner of Haven Shore, most likely thinking that she had the people and technology to develop it and it would keep them out of their way.”

  “So, this place, where we are right now,” Jessen said.

  “No, the moon to the left,” Knud replied.

  “Cheeky,” Jessen said, stealing a roll from his chopsticks.

  “Yes, this relatively small chain of islands,” Theodore said. “During an attempt to invade this world some time later, the Carthan fleet was devastated. The remainder was recalled to their home worlds, and they were ordered to completely abandon the system. They had to leave it to someone when they departed, it’s galactic law, and they had few choices. There were some prominent gangsters, and a nearby failed government that is now overtaken by the Order of Eden, the British Alliance and Ayan, who was the sole beneficiary of this land grant. The British refused. They did not want to put roots down in a solar system they weren’t sure they could develop or defend. That left Ayan, who was made prime monarch of the solar system. It was a surprise to the public, since most people expected her to only gain domain over this moon, perhaps Kambis, but there is no contesting it: Ayan is the master of this entire solar system as Queen. Any other title would have taken longer for them to give her, and they were urgently needed elsewhere. Ayan put a democratic system based on Freeground Nation’s style of government that is now evolving to include the finer points of Lorander leadership and put her power as Queen aside. She can never entirely retire the title, however, otherwise someone else can claim it, so she will always be Queen in one way, even though she doesn’t want to be known as one to the people in the system or to lead the government. Her father does serve as a member of the Triumvirate, t
he ultimate leadership here, but he was elected.”

  “Wow, okay, now I actually get it,” Callum said.

  “You make it sound simple,” Regan agreed.

  “Well, there is a much more complicated side of it, and I combined some details, but I figured the shorter version was better for this social setting,” Theodore said.

  Alice’s thin, off-duty comm band lit up and scrolled a message on its shiny blue surface. “It’s a message from Haven Medical. Mom’s got us clearance to see the kids. She went to see them and saw that Knud left three requests to visit. I guess she got us cleared.”

  “I have to change,” Knud said, standing.

  “We’ll go in uniform, but after we eat. We can’t visit for another hour anyway,” Alice said.

  “Is the Admiral going to be there?” Yawen asked, waggling her eyebrows at Callum.

  “Definitely,” Alice replied.

  Thirty-Two

  A Small Victory

  * * *

  Knud and Jessen broke away from Alice and Theodore once they arrived at Haven Shore Medical. The rest of the squad left the last minute dinner party with other destinations in mind. Most were visiting friends and family, making the most of their precious time off.

  A nurse met Alice at the Maternity Ward Desk with a smile. “Lieutenant Valent?”

  Alice nodded, looking around at the halls around her. There were incubators, other equipment and re-crated supplies along one side of every hallway.

  Carole noticed that Alice was a little wary. “Sorry, pre-moving day preparations. The Rangers are helping us move to the permanent Medical Centre tomorrow or the day after. I’m Nurse Carole. Follow me, your mother went to get something to eat, but you can see the baby.”

  “Have you found anything out about her?”

  “Well, this is sad, but her mother named her before she died,” Carole replied quietly. “Laura Ricci. We can’t find any other relatives on record. Here we are, have a seat,” she said, gesturing to a sofa inside a dimly lit room. Colourful lights danced across the ceiling in a gentle rotation. “By the way, who’s your friend?”

  “I’m Theodore. I have extensive knowledge of child care and I must say that this room is very well suited for newborns. You should be proud of how well you’re caring for them,” Theodore offered quietly.

  “Thank you, Theodore. You can definitely stay,” Carole said. She retrieved the bundled babe from her basinet and handed her to Alice with care.

  “Oh, I’ve never…” Alice said as she received baby Laura in her arms.

  “It’s about time for her to wake up for a while, she’ll be hungry soon,” Carole said. “The system will tell you when she wants her bottle.”

  “You have a neural listening system in place?” Theodore asked.

  “We do, a gift from the Lorander people. It’s amazing, we just tell the button on her nappy who it should be monitoring and it tells us why little Laura is fussing or crying. It doesn’t help when she just wants to do some shouting for the sake of shouting, but babies are their own kind of complicated.”

  “That is remarkable,” Theodore said.

  Alice found herself transfixed by the snoozing infant, watching her little lips work their way into almost a whistling shape, then relax before stretching into a big yawn. The black hair on the top of her head was as soft as fine feather down. “She’s beautiful.”

  “Just in case no one has said it; thank you for saving her and the other children,” Carole said. “I know you were doing your job, but someone should say it.”

  “That’s why I love my job; the difference we make. You know what I’m talking about, you care for people every day.”

  “I do, thank you,” she replied. “Would you like to see who you saved? I can project what baby Laura will look like as she grows.”

  “Sure,” Alice said.

  An image of Laura as a toddler appeared on the floor near the door chasing bubbles. “This is her at about two. Now we’ll go to eight.” The pudgy, happy child was replaced by one who was climbing a tree, thinner, with black hair down to her shoulders. “She’s going to be adventurous, it’s a genetic predisposition, so if she has a good childhood, that trait will come to the forefront. Now we’ll advance a little more to fourteen.”

  Before their eyes the rambunctious child grew into a young teen on a surfboard. She was still slim, but the thrill seeker was definitely present. Riding a wave on a pointed board in a one piece suit was a young woman who was having the time of her life. The wave calmed and she wobbled for a second before the board gently bumped the shore. She stepped off, walking onto the beach, confident and beautiful. “I forgot there was surfing here. I should learn some time,” Carole said.

  “There is?” Alice said absent minded like, more interested in what would come next in the presentation.

  “Finally, and some of this is more guesswork than anything, but if she grows up on Tamber, stays healthy and has a good upbringing, this is what she will probably look like at eighteen,” Nurse Carole said. The image of a young woman leaning against a wall with a long jacket over a thick pilot’s vacsuit appeared. Her black hair was cut into a bob, and she seemed almost cocky, her dark eyes surveying the space around her, smiling for a moment at a passerby, offering a small but friendly nod.

  The clattering of a bottle came through the doorway, and Alice looked to see Ayan, an expression of complete shock on her face. “Oh my stars,” she whispered.

  “Are you all right, Admiral?” Carole asked.

  “Can you show me what she’d look like a little younger?” Ayan asked in an urgent whisper.

  Carole brought up the younger surfer girl and Ayan took a shuddering breath. “I can’t believe it.” She turned to Carole, doing her best to regain her composure. “I’m sorry, it would take a long time to explain, and some of what I’d have to tell you is classified, but I’m wondering if anyone has come forward? A relative, a family friend?”

  “Laura was born on the transport and her parents died of…”

  “Asphyxiation,” Ayan said. “Did you say her name was Laura?” she asked very quietly.

  “Yes, her mother named her and told the other children before she passed,” Carole replied.

  “Is Haven Medical handling the adoption?”

  “Yes, but she won’t be released for a few days,” Carole replied.

  “I’m based on Tamber, in the Everin Building. I need to apply.”

  Everyone was surprised. Carole checked her comm unit for a moment and nodded. “You’re eligible to have a family in your placement and rank,” she said with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful mother. I’ll put your name in now.”

  “Thank you,” Ayan said, entering the room and joining Alice on the sofa gently.

  Laura’s eyes opened and a small voice from her hidden monitor said; “I’m hungry.”

  Theodore handed Alice the bottle. “Just rest the nipple between her lips, she’ll take it,” he told her.

  Alice did as instructed and watched as baby Laura went to work, breathing loudly through her nose at first as she drew on the bottle. Ayan just watched. “Are you all right?” Alice asked, unable to find another, more specific question.

  “This is classified, so you both have to keep it to yourselves,” Ayan started quietly. “I know you can both do that.”

  “Absolutely, Admiral,” Theodore said.

  “Oh, and congratulations, Theodore,” Ayan told him, her voice still a little shaky. “I’ll be sending a fleet recruiter to you soon, so prepare to be wooed into our ranks, but the choice is yours.”

  “Oh? I never considered that, thank you.”

  Ayan returned her attention to Alice. “You know I’m proud of you, and ever grateful that you chose me as your mother, even though I’m not very good at it yet.”

  “That takes time, I think you’re doing fine,” Alice said, smiling reassuringly.

  “Well, I just want you to know that what I’m about to tell you doesn’t di
minish the love I have for you, okay?”

  “I’m super loveable, there’s no way that’ll change,” Alice retorted. “Whatever you have to say, it’s not going to change things.”

  “It might, but hopefully for the better,” Ayan said. “You remember hearing about the Victory Machine, the technology that could receive transmissions from the future and interpret them using a host?”

  “That’s about all I know, other than getting a message of my own, but yeah,” Alice replied.

  “All right, when I was communicating to its pilot, Roman, I was shown a vision of the future. There was a station in orbit, one which I can see Freeground Station becoming, and I was shown two of my children. One was a son that Jake and I might have in the future, the other was an independent minded daughter.” She brought an image of her up on her comm unit. “This is from my memory of her, taken during a deep scan of my mind.” It looked exactly like the girl they’d seen in the projections. “I thought I’d have a baby and name her after my best friend, Laura,” Ayan explained, choking up a little. A tear rolled down her cheek. “Now I know how it really goes. I thought perhaps I was supposed to have a child with someone else before your father, and that’s absolutely not going to happen, so I was making my peace with never meeting young Laura.” Ayan gently stroked the babe’s head. “I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

  “That’s so beautiful,” Theodore whispered as he wiped a tear from his cheek. “Oh! I forgot I could cry.”

  “I’ll help whenever I can,” Alice said, looking down at Laura’s chubby face as she worked at the bottle. “A little sister.”

  Thirty-Three