Frost pressed on. “God bless Sadie Paloma. Once I was out here on the fringe, away from authorities, I looked into what happened my brother. The widow actually paid for Boro's defence because she’d taken to him, but even with those high-end lawyers, he couldn’t avoid a sentence of three years for Emotional Interference. Considering the penalty for ship theft was twenty-five years in a virtual facility and social reprogramming, he got off light, but my little brother still ended up in prison. It was a living prison, with cells, a work day of sorting parts using remote drones, and some rough characters around. Our other brother died while he was inside trying to pull some kind of counterfeit scam, leaving a son behind, and last I heard, Boro was out of prison taking care of him. When the machines went mad, I was sure that was the end of them. I didn't get a response to the few messages I got out."
"I didn't know you had family you wanted to look for," Jake said.
"It would have come up if I got a response from anyone closer to the core, but no one replied. Everyone I know has lost family, why should mine survive? Damn me for not making sure; Boro and my nephew are both alive and in trouble. He’s told me all’s forgiven, but I need to get in a ship and get out there to help him out of whatever mess he’s in. More n’ that, I need to show him that I’m not the same whoreson he knew when I left him behind.”
“You know I don’t need more convincing that you’ve changed,” Jake said after a long pause. “I’ve rarely seen someone find their place so well and turn things around. If you go, I can’t hold your spot on the Merciless. We’re due to finish shakedown and go on mission soon. I’ll need a good tactical officer, and I’ll miss you in that spot, but I’ll find someone.”
“Do you own a ship?” Ayan asked.
“Aye, but nothing I can get to,” Frost said. “Honestly, I’ve got three ships stashed between here and there – who knows what condition they’re in – but nothing in this sector.”
“Three ships? I had no idea,” Jake chuckled.
“From before we met, Captain. None were as impressive as the Samson, even when I first joined your crew, so I left them where they were just in case. They’re old, though. Small too.”
“Stephanie’s your real problem,” Jake said, drawing a stormy look from Ayan. “I’ll rephrase: she’s just gotten a good assignment and is prepping. If she gets leave to go with you, you’re taking her away from that. If you go alone…”
“I’m leaving her with my son or daughter,” Frost said, sitting down. “These chairs were made for smaller asses,” he said, standing up. “Anyhow; You’re right. I can’t win. I leave a brother and nephew out there in trouble, or piss my future wife off, maybe past her limit.”
“What’s your first instinct?” Jake said. "If you could take this problem on your way using anything you wanted, what would you do?"
“I want to go there using a trans-dimensional corridor, pick their arses up, and bring them here. I know there’s an invasion coming, I want to be here, manning the wall. My rough math tells me I could be there and back in a week.”
“To and from the edge of British Alliance territory from here, yes,” Ayan said. “If you took a Quad Drive with you.”
“Right, that’s what I was wondering: how many dimension drives I’d need and if I could borrow them.”
“The new Quad Drive would be the best option,” Ayan said. “But, I’m sorry, we just perfected the design. I can’t even tell you which ships will have them.”
“I need an Interceptor Class ship.”
“How do you know about those?” Ayan asked, surprised.
“There are three hidden in the hangar of the Merciless,” Jake said, closing his eyes and shaking his head.
“Not on the manifest,” Ayan said, cocking her head. “Did you take them out of turn, Jake?”
“Sort of." There were few people who could make Jake cringe or look guilty. Frost knew he probably did something that would make Ayan cringe every few days, he'd spent too much time in the wild, and though he'd embraced the military again, some of that still came out. Seeing Jake almost shrink away at the trouble he was in made Frost want to snicker or at least crack a smile, but he remained quiet and still.
Ayan reached up and hooked her finger in the collar of Jake's black uniform, drawing his face down. “It was Minh, wasn’t it?”
“Keep guessing,” he said, suppressing a smile. "It takes more than one pilot to take three ships."
“You mean; steal. These aren’t toys, they’re important warships,” she said. “Even though they’re the smallest class. It's not like stealing a sky luge board from the sport supply shop.”
He stared at her silently.
“Fine, Carnie flew one too, taking them as they were finished on the manufacturing line.”
“That’s two out of three,” she said, her red eyebrows furrowed.
“They were reacting to my frustration. The Merciless is ready to react to an alert, but we’re low on the list to receive our new fighters and support ships.”
“There are good reasons for that,” Ayan said. “I’m not guessing the third conspirator. You’re going to tell me.” She growled. “Then you’re going to tell me if you ordered them to do it or if they acted on their own.”
“Hot Chow,” he said. “They acted on a frustration I voiced, Admiral,” he said, taking it a little more seriously.
“You’re going to write an incident report detailing how Minh-Chu, Noah Lucas, and Hal Rhea were a part of a conversation that led them to believe that you wanted your three Interceptors early. Then they’re going to submit reports on how they stole them, and you’ll cite those in your final report with a recommendation for reprimand. I’m thinking that they’re going to be flying patrols in the system until they’re needed back on the Merciless. Then there will be extra watches…”
“… and luxury pay reductions lasting into the new year,” Jake nodded. “I know how to discipline my people. No marks on their permanent record after their punishment is served out.”
“Fine,” she said, releasing his uniform. “But only because you’re watching Laura while I take a nap later, and you're going to get up every time tonight.”
“My pleasure.”
Frost had seen footage of Hal Rhea, the pilot known as Hot Chow, and knew he had incredible spatial awareness, good reflexes and experience flying long trips alone. He was self-sufficient and confident at the stick. “Can I propose a punishment for Hal?”
“Why not?” Ayan said. “I’m sitting in a room with two ship thieves, nothing you say should surprise me with that in mind.”
“If one of you were kind enough to grant me temporary use of one of those lovely ships, I’ll need a competent pilot. Hot Chow, I mean Private Hal Rhea, is an ace, and has experience driving large vessels. Going on a milk run with an old sod like me will be the most boring thing he does all year. If we run into trouble, chances are we will be able to get away between his skill on the stick and my cunning.”
“You don’t think too much of yourself, do you?” Ayan said in a withering tone. “What makes you think I’ll loan you a state-of-the-art attack ship equipped with a Quad Drive?”
“Well, begging your pardon, unless you’re taking them back, it’s really up to Captain Valent.”
“I’m not going to take them back,” Ayan said. “That would make it look like three valuable ships are caught in the middle of a lovers’ spat, and you know it.” She looked like she was caught half way between amused and annoyed as she split her glances between Jake and Frost.
“He knows how to play politics when it pays off,” Jake said. “I don’t want to admit this in front of the Admiral, but the reason why I didn’t protest being so low on the list to receive these boats was because I didn’t have the crews for them yet. Sadly, that stands; we can crew one or two at most. I’ll make you a deal, Frost: you get one of those ships and Hot Chow on loan. Bring it back within two weeks tops, and when you get back you’re going to be my tactical officer until I fi
nd someone better with your help. That means if you have to train your replacement, that’s what you’ll do. Oh, and you are telling Stephanie about this as soon as you can in person. You’re not going to take off and let me break the bad news to her.”
“Now, Captain, would I do that? Even you said I’m a reformed man,” Frost said, feigning injury.
“Changed. I’ve never said you were reformed,” Jake chuckled. “Does this deal have your approval, Admiral?”
Ayan laughed and shook her head. “You’re both still pirates and cons at the core,” she said. “Fine. Chief Shamus McFadden and Private Hal Rhea are on special assignment aboard one of those Interceptors for two weeks or until they get back; whichever comes first. Bring my ship back in one piece, Frost.”
“Aye, thank you, Admiral.”
“Good luck with Stephanie,” Jake said.
Fourteen
Boro returned to the waiting room where Nigel and Spin were watching a pair of yellow sliding doors, expecting Dorian to appear any moment. It was the first waiting room Spin had seen on that base that was empty. There was nothing to see; white walls, rows of red plastic chairs and a clean white floor. On a few of the walls there were digital pamphlets about gender switching, taking care of the Human Plus body that they offered at the clinic and a few screen areas featuring news from the solar system and beyond.
There was a royal wedding on between a prince and a duchess that was faintly familiar to Spin. She looked them up in the Countess’ database and found them; House Kamen and Ubdo. They were both enemies to House Lux and the Countess. The whole family was wealthy, but their place in society was ornamental. Their wealth came from real estate, a few defence contracts and commodities trading. “Things really are different in British space,” Spin muttered as she looked up from their profile.
“Thank you for loaning me the platinum to use the quantum comm,” Boro said as he sat down beside Spin. “Don’t know if Shamus will be able to help, or if he’ll come at all, but I feel better. My brother left me in a hell of a spot, forgiving him is big, and it’s about time I stop carrying that.”
“It wasn’t a loan,” Spin said. “Did they tell you anything about where he was?”
“Only that details about him and the fleet he joined are covered by the British Alliance Secrecy Act. From what I could see on the Stellarnet, he’s hitched his wagon to this Valent character; some kind of crusading war hero. He recruited for the Aucharians, I saw his big speech about doing the wrong things to the right people, but I think he moved on since mad machine time. He’s with a new outfit called Haven Fleet, and he just came back from behind enemy lines.”
“Wait, I think I heard of him,” Nigel said, squeezing a pamphlet about gender switching between his hands until it was a tube. “The corp that owns Spacerwares is accusing him of monkeying with their network. All their shops are closed indefinitely.”
“Spacerwares stores are closed?” Boro asked. “That’s too bad. I like Valent a little less now.”
“God, I wish Dorian was ready, that he’d come walking through those doors. If the suspense doesn’t kill me, I’m sure he will though,” Nigel groaned, dropping his head into his hands.
“What did the nurse say?”
“Well, she gave me this,” Nigel said. “And told me they're doing Dorian a solid because I told him he ended up in that box because he was fighting Captain White, who is in their database as a pirate and slave trader.”
“I’ve never known him to trade slaves,” Boro said.
“That might be thanks to him giving me up to the Core Authority,” Spin said. “I’m a runaway doll, fabricated person, whatever they call us here.”
“Oh, I knew that,” Boro said. “The bastard turning my screws told me about it, but how does that extend to White?”
“He turned me, Sun, and everyone on the station when we were dancing in to the Core Authority for a reward. I also found out he was skimming from the crew.”
“I got that message, and the account,” Boro said. “Thank you for that. I’m going to have to find an exchange to turn some of that into plat. I don't trust digital cash or credit.”
“We’ll visit one off-world. The exchange here sucks,” she turned to Nigel. “What kind of solid did they say they were doing for Dorian?”
“They have a C-Type Upgrade Model, not like the bare emergency model they were going to give him. There’s info about it in this, but I’m afraid to look.”
“Let’s see,” Spin said, taking the plastic slip and opening it. The hologram of a beautiful woman appeared and smiled at her. Her face shifted as she spoke. “Hello, I’m the C-Type Adaptable Synthetic Human Appliance. That sounds technical and impersonal, so you can call me TASHA C. As you can see, my face is changing right now, because I’m still just a host. When you see me, I’ll have a permanent face that has been drawn from the mind of the being that is transplanted into me. I can have a deep mental scan copied to my very human brain, or my brain can be replaced. Don’t worry, I’m not the result of cloning technology, not entirely. I was never really alive; this host body was printed in a high resolution, clean facility, then I was placed in a perfect state of stasis. When your loved one is imprinted or transplanted into me, they’ll bring me to life and I will be them. You won’t have to deal with latent personalities, random genetic traits or anything else that generally comes from cloning, because my genetics will adapt to my new host just like my face and my height. You can thank the British Alliance and several research groups for finding and developing technology out there, across the stars. If your loved one is transitioning to a female body, I’m the perfect host for that too. Their mind will determine how my face looks, but morph locks and psychological adaptation will ensure that it’ll be something that appeals to them. If a mistake has been made, and I’m not supposed to be a female, then TASHA C can be adapted after the fact for a fee at one of our deep modification facilities. To ensure the best performance, third party modifications are not recommended, since everything under my skin is proprietary.”
“Oh, shit,” Nigel said.
Spin stopped the playback and looked through the other details using menus in the pamphlet. “Okay, so TAHSA C is a good model. It looks like it’s partially doll technology like me, and partially a regulated bio-printing system called Framework. They promise that there’s no framework technology inside the TASHA once she’s done printing, and that’s some kind of benefit, but I can’t find out why. She can withstand many times the heat of a normal human, goes into hibernation if she’s exposed to hard vacuum so she can survive for up to three days, and has a neural backup built in. There’s some other stuff, like skin durability, but the biggest selling point seems to be that she feels human to whoever gets implanted, all the same medications work on her, she has a very long lifespan potential and doesn’t need special treatments after someone’s ‘born’ in her.” Spin sighed. “If Dorian doesn’t give this a chance, he’s crazy. I’d kill for half the features.”
“Street Docs charge millions for genetic and cybernetic improvements like that,” Boro said, nodding. “What do they do to soften the blow for gender switches, though?”
Spin looked through the menus and found it. “Here it is,” she said. “There’s a cocktail of medications that get loaded up in a patch. Dorian will also have a computer printed on his wrist a lot like mine with tutorials built in. Wow, he can even have kids.”
“Oh, that’ll make him so happy,” Nigel chuckled sardonically. “Maybe I could tell him while he’s ripping my ears…”
The yellow double doors opened, a black haired, sleek looking woman with a cheeky, expressive visage emerged. She wore a fitted jumpsuit and had a plastic slip in her hand. Two nurses in white smocks followed behind her. “We understand this is a shock,” the one with a large nose and long green hair said. “You’re taking the change very well, considering how unexpected it was. Like my colleague said before you broke his nose, there will be some confusion, and that’s all right
. The important part is that you’re alive, and you could have a long life, perhaps another century or two if you treat this body even passably well.”
She spun on her heel and the two nurses took a step back. “No more transplants?” she said quietly, dangerously. It was definitely Dorian. He could make anything sound like a threat. “What did you do to my brain? Why is there damage? Why can’t I remember how I died? The last few weeks?”
“Some parts of the brain are still a mystery,” one answered. "But the last few weeks may have been suppressed because they were too traumatic to recall all at once. It'll come back as you start accepting your new situation and your stress levels decrease."
Dorian reached out for the front of his smock and almost caught it. “Fuck you! I feel so…” she looked down at herself, poked her stomach, then her right breast with a bewildered expression, then shook her head and shrugged. He looked back at the nurses in smocks, laughing. “Fuck how I feel, I don’t know how I feel. Just tell me why I’ll never be able to transplant my grey matter again.”
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