Condition Evolution 4

by Kevin Sinclair

  I smiled, and we made to leave, before Ember realized we didn’t have a clue where everyone had gone. Wandering aimlessly wasn’t a good idea on this ship. Luckily, I recognized Aliel working at a terminal, back from escorting the others. “Hey Aliel, how do we get to the others?”

  “Shaun! I will escort you at once,” he said.

  “Hey dude, seriously crack on with what you’re up to. Directions are good enough. We need to familiarize ourselves with the place at some point, and it might as well be now.”

  “Quite right. Simply return to the transport capsule and enter Quadrant One. You will arrive in the center of the quadrant where the communal facilities are based. Many of your people should still be waiting there as rooms are assigned.”

  We thanked Aliel and left the bridge. Ember graciously let me press the buttons this time as we took off in the capsule.

  Stepping out, we emerged in a cavernous space reminiscent of a futuristic, multi-level shopping mall. Escalators and elevators offered access to different levels, and in the center of the whole affair was what could only be described as a food court. Hundreds of tables and chairs were surrounded by empty food stalls. There were also several FSUs dotted around the place. Around 40 of our people sat at the tables while Acclo called out names, handing over fobs with numbers.

  “Hey everyone!” I greeted them as we moved toward Acclo. “Doing an amazing job, as always, Acclo. Is everyone happy enough?”

  “Happy is an understatement, Captain. After the Beler station stay, I believe everyone is incredibly moved by all of this. There is much positive emotion on display. I must admit it has been a pleasure to witness. The rooms are fantastic, and everyone has so much room to themselves. If we ever manage a prolonged period of calm, I can imagine we will see families springing up.”

  “Shit, yeah. I hadn’t even thought about that, Acclo.”

  “Probably because you’re too obsessed with the Fystr,” Ember said from my side.

  “Yeah, I am. Bastards. But that’s probably going to take years and years. We’ve got a place here to encourage a community. I wouldn’t mind seeing a bunch of little sprogs running around. This past year or so hasn’t been good for anyone’s sanity.”

  “Understatement of the year, Shaun.” Ember laughed. I could see the other crew members listening closely.

  “Our goal remains the same, but it’s probably going to take a long time. We seem to have a safe place to hunker down in Apochros space, so I think we probably should make an effort to let people relax a little. Enjoy some of what life has to offer.”

  Those listening now looked at me, not in shock as such, more surprise and possibly wonder.

  “I think you’ve grown more than I’ve given you credit for in our time apart, Shaun. I got all shivery hearing you speak there,” Ember admitted.

  “Agreed, Ember.” Acclo added, “It is good to hear a desire to build something more sustainable than just a headlong mission for justice. I believe that attitude would cause deep problems for Uprising in time.”

  “Agreed,” Ember said.

  “With that in mind,” I added, “can you get everyone back here together in an hour? There are things to discuss. Not least a name for our new home.”

  “And if any of you see William before me,” Ember said loudly, “tell him we're not calling this place the Flying fucking Scotsman.” That brought a round of laughs.

  “Okay, carry on getting settled,” I said. “We're gonna have a little walk around the place. See you all back here in an hour.”

  After a good inspection of one of four small towns that we had on our ship, we had our meeting with the crew. It was a positive affair. The response to encouraging family and community was a noticeable lifting of a dark cloud I hadn’t even recognized until it was gone. Involving everyone in a vote for naming the ship also brought a great round of positivity. If the crew had a stat sheet with morale on it, I reckoned it had gone from 10 to 90 percent over the past few days. It had a huge effect on me, too. I still considered myself little more than a figurehead, but helping everyone shed some of that darkness we had all been carrying around with us was better than any of the other powers and abilities I’d developed so far. Now I just had to deliver on the dreams I was preaching. It would have to wait until after our little dance with the Fystr fleet in the coming weeks, but I looked forward to it.

  The following week was a hive of learning and activity. The ship was loaded with spare fuel and the torture training devices. Ialos, our new Chief Medical Officer, ran through the workings of the apparatus with those who’d been filling medical roles for Uprising so far. To my utter surprise, Ogun joined that number. I assume he wanted to learn everything he could from Ialos, and he was kind of a doctor on Earth, so it did actually make sense.

  While we came to terms with our new ship, the Apochros Alliance Fleet was already moving into position. It filled me with confidence that they were so well prepared, and our job appeared to become much less dangerous. Simply make contact with the Fystr’s advance scouts, piss them off a bit. Get them to come after us. To be fair, it was my idea to piss them off a bit. The Fystr didn’t need any encouragement to follow us. I was spoiling for a fight with the motherfuckers and so was Havok.

  When it came time to depart from Accre’s orbit, I sat in the captain’s chair and made a ship-wide announcement. “Members of Uprising, the votes are in, and the name of our new chariot is decided. Thank you for all your suggestions, can you all please prepare for departure on board... the Haven.”

  Cheers erupted on the bridge as I announced the name.

  I came off the comm and called the bridge crew, “Okay, guys, let’s boogie.”

  And they did. Funny that I didn’t have a clue how they made it possible, and I didn’t really care either. My job was to just say cool things and kick ass, which was just as well, because I was good with at least one of those things.

  A few hours out from Accre, Hwista spoke from the navigation station. “Captain, there is some kind of barrier ahead. It wasn’t mentioned in any of our training. Shall I contact Accre?”

  “Nah, don’t worry about it. This ship has the codes to pass, it only affects ships that shouldn’t be moving into the central areas of the Apochros Alliance territory.”

  Literally every fucker on the bridge turned to look at me in shock.

  “What’s up?”

  “How did you know that?” Ember asked.

  “I told you, they pumped a ton of information into my head. It’s why my Intelligence is so high; I know shitloads of random stuff. Did you forget?”

  “Maybe I did. You’ve done such a good job of keeping it a secret. How terrifying that you might be one of the most knowledgeable people on the ship,” Ember mumbled, as everyone else got back to work.

  “Providing it's something I know, then yeah, I'm pretty clever now.”

  “How amazing that you can go from inspiring to stupid in a heartbeat. It’s a true skill,” she joked in my mind.

  “I’m glad to have you back, Ember,” I said aloud and clapped my hand on her thigh.

  “Ow! That bloody hurt!”

  “Yeah, your Constitution is pretty shit.” I grinned at her.

  “Not for long, once we get training with the new stuff.”

  “You know you won't be saying that once you do start, don’t you?”

  “If it makes me stronger, I don’t care. I’ve spoken to Ialos and I’m going in, in an hour.”

  I cringed at the memory of the post-workout pains I’d felt after training. “I hope it’s everything you're expecting.” I’d done my best to warn her. She was in for a bloody shock.

  The journey was boring until we reached the first line of Beler stations. As we passed the huge, slowly spinning behemoths, we could see signs of the forming Apochros Alliance Fleet. The number of warships increased until we hit the second line of Beler stations, which formed the frontline of our defense.

  We had a few hails from fleet commanders wishing us
luck, then nothing but tense boredom again until we reached the coordinates of our old, busted-up ships. The Apochros had not fucked about destroying them. They were barely recognizable as ships.

  “Is there any sign of Fystr scouts?” I asked Miraek, who was scanning for signs of them.

  “Nothing that I can tell. There are quite a few Galactic Empire energy signatures far to the left of our position, but that is all.”

  “Orders, Captain?” Hwista asked me.

  “We came with a job to do and we have a fleet waiting for the results of this little excursion of ours. I don’t think we have any choice but to go a little deeper into Galactic territory. Does anyone disagree, or have a better idea?” I asked.

  “I do not, Captain, however I believe we should travel at reduced velocity,” Hwista suggested.

  “I can’t disagree with showing caution. I’ll put the fighter ships on alert, in case of unexpected contact.”

  I called Ialos and Ogun to the bridge as the Haven moved tentatively forward. I wanted the benefit of their experience for this. Our mission had just become a little more dangerous. After three more hours, there were still no Fystr ship signatures to be detected, and an increasing number of Empire ships on our periphery. We pulled to a halt once more.

  “Do you think the Fystr scouts have returned to the fleet?” Ember asked.

  “It seems likely,” Elyek answered. “There is only so long they can continue to wander around Galactic space. I don’t understand what kept them here so long in the first place.”

  “I would surmise interrogating the Galactic Empire presence in the area. They may wish to make sure we are not hiding on any of their planets,” Ogun suggested.

  “How the hell are we gonna get their attention now?” I asked, looking to anyone and everyone who might offer a solution.

  “I do not know, Captain,” Elyek responded from one of the seats alongside mine. “We can attempt to move within communication distance of their fleet, but their Hunter ships will catch the Haven easily. While this ship is able y to deal with them, I do not think our crew are competent enough if things go badly. We have no idea how many Hunter ships they can send after us, so close to their main fleet.”

  “Is there any other way to catch their attention then? How fast are our fighter ships?”

  “Very fast, but they have no jump capabilities, and their range is not great. You will get a day of evasive maneuvers, or up to three days' travel time before they need to land and refuel. Added to that, they don’t have long-range communication.”

  “So basically all of our options are shit.”

  “It would seem so,” Elyek agreed. “Perhaps we should retreat back to the fleet and discuss unexplored options. “It will take a long time for them to travel back to Fystr space. We could always catch up with them later.”

  “Or,” Ogun interjected, “we could just let them go and focus on building our own strength?”

  It was Ialos answered, which was just as well, because it sounded like he was bottling it to me. “While they have this fleet out here, we have an opportunity to strike a devastating blow. The Apochros will not be compelled into a more aggressive action.”

  “So, what are you saying?” Ember asked her.

  “I would say that with our limited options I think we should return to the fleet and work on other options as Elyek suggested. We still have a limited window of opportunity to pull them back into our defenses.”

  I mulled over our options and was about to agree to turning back when I had a brainwave. “You bunch of thicko’s!” I announced, to startled and mildly offended looks.

  “We’ve got the fucking Uprising! The Hunter ships haven’t got a fucking chance against its folding drive. We can totally do this!”

  “You’re right, Shaun. I can’t believe none of us thought of the Uprising.”

  “It could be possible,” Elyek contemplated. “We would need to work out a plan for jump distances. Do we know the last location of their fleet?”

  “Let’s go to my office, we need to work the logistics of this out properly. Anyone who feels they have knowledge that’ll help, get your asses in here,” I ordered, rising and marching into the captain's office.

  A back and forth of questions and data analysis occurred, and for once in my life I found myself following not only the words used, but the flow of the conversation. That infodump the Apochros had given me was pulling its weight now. It was empowering, not needing to have everything simplified and summarized for me.

  In the end our plan was simple: get in communication range with the Fystr Fleet, deliver our message, then jump the fuck out of there. We would keep the Haven at Uprising’s maximum jump distance from that point, so that should we somehow be followed, the Haven would be ready and waiting. Otherwise we’d just park up and make like a banana.

  We needed to make sure our folding drive was ready to use once we’d made contact. So while we could jump so far, we would have to travel the last day on our primary engines, to allow the folding drive to reset.

  “The big question is, who goes?” Ember asked.

  “I only want to take enough people to fly the ship and operate weapons. Whoever goes is being put in a risky position, so volunteers for this one.”

  “What? Why would you go?” Ember asked.

  “I think you know why, Ember,” I answered, meeting her eyes to convey that I was serious.

  “Damn! Well, I guess that's me coming too, then! Cos there's no way I’m letting you out of my sight again! Just as I was getting comfortable in my new room as well,” she said with feeling.

  “You were looking right at me when we all got zonked by the Apochros.”

  “True, but I’m still minimizing our chances of being separated.”

  “I will fly,” Elyek interrupted.

  “I will come also,” Calegg offered. “I know the Uprising like the back of my hand. Me being present gives us the best chance of success if anything goes wrong with the ship, and I can operate the weapons stations proficiently.”

  “I’m coming too. Someone needs to look after Calegg.” Koparr laughed.

  “Okay. Just a few more weapons operators and we should be good to go. Any suggestions, or shall I put out a ship-wide call?”

  Ember cleared her throat to get my attention. “I suggest Calparr, Roger and…” She winced as she spoke the last name. “William.”

  “What in the actual fuck! Really?” I said, gobsmacked.

  “They were solid for me on the space station, Shaun. I’d trust them all with my life.”

  “Whatever you say. It’s fine by me, if they want to come,” I replied, still in shock at Ember's U-turn on William, and the inclusion of Roger.

  I contacted Calparr first. “Hay Cal, we’re taking the Uprising out on a bit of a high-risk mission. Can I interest you?”

  “I’ll head straight there, Captain. Is there anything else I need to know or bring?”

  “Just yourself, pal.”

  “I’ll see you when you arrive,” he replied, then ended the communication in his usual no frills manner.

  I shrugged and contacted William next. “Hey William, we’re gonna take the Uprising out for an extremely dangerous mission. Are you up for it?”

  “Och for sure, Captain. A’ll see ye when ye get ‘ere.”

  “What do you mean, William?” I asked, though a part of me already knew.

  “It’s the only bloody place a can get a damn drink, man! That whole massive ship, ‘n not a drop in sight! Thank fuck for the Uprising, that’s what I say.”

  “I don’t even know what to say to you, William. I’ll see you soon. I need to contact Roger now. Ember told me you work well together.”

  “Och no need, Captain. Eee’s sitting right next te me. A’ll let him know.”

  “Thanks, William,” I said, ending the conversation. I looked over to Ember. “They’re already on Uprising, drunk.” My expression showed dismay at their antics, while secretly I wished I was getting
drunk with them.

  Chapter 24

  The Message

  We met Calparr at the access ramp. Stoic as usual, standing with his arms folded, he waited patiently. With a quick greeting, we moved onto the ship. I hadn’t thought that I would be back on my baby so soon, but what can you do? Heading straight to the canteen to make contact with William and Roger, we heard them long before we saw them. Raucous laughter echoed down the corridor, the party still in full flow.

  As we entered the canteen, all of William’s Flying Scotsman crew were present, including their Torax and Veilitian crew members. I knew Amnarr but was at a loss for the Veiletian’s name. What I did know was that they were both drunk.

  “I hope you’ve all enjoyed yourselves because it’ll be your last drink for a while with William and Roger. We're gonna play cat and mouse with the entire Fystr fleet.”

  “What ‘appened te just their scouts?” William asked, slamming his cup down on the table.

  “As far as we can tell, they’ve rejoined the fleet, so now we have to hail the fleet directly.” I gave them my best impression of a confident smile. “If we did that on the Haven, we’d get swamped by their Hunter ships and probably the whole fleet, as a matter of course.”

  “Och, righto. How long till we reach them?”

  “If they’re where they’re supposed to be, then in one jump and one day's travel to reset the folding drive. Then we’ll jump right back to the Haven. We're going now, so your crew needs to get off the ship so we can leave.”

  “I would like to come,” Amnarr insisted.

  “I knew you’d say that.” Ember chuckled. “Ever loyal, Amnarr.”

  I gave her a questioning look, which she ignored. She’d obviously bonded with the Torax on the station, I thought, as the other members of William’s team all demanded to come too.

  “Well hell, I won’t stop you guys. Hopefully it’s just a little fly out and jump back and none of us will be needed. What do you say, Ember?”

  “Fine by me, but just don’t get too far gone with the drinking in case anything happens. And if you puke when we jump, it’s on you to clean it up!” She grinned at them all. “Shaun and I will come back and join you for a couple once we’ve jumped.”