"Definitely," Jake replied. "Maybe you could stay aboard?"
"Hide in your quarters?" Ayan giggled. "That's a security decision…"
"You'll be back on the War Forge," Jake grumbled as he kissed her cheek, then started working his way to her ear.
"Yup, I'm off, but still too important to be your cabin mate," she said, squealing a little as he nibbled on her earlobe. "But what about that other question? The kids question?"
Jake stopped everything and looked her in the eye. "I like the prediction you saw, the one where we had two."
"So, yeah, you wanna have babies with me?" Ayan asked playfully.
"Definitely," Jake said.
Even though he was smiling, she could tell he was holding something back. "…but?"
"Maybe we should wait for the right time?" he asked, rolling his eyes at the notion.
Ayan laughed, she agreed, but she knew they were falling into the same trap they were just talking about. "Yeah, I'm not baby-crazy, and I took the stop shot anyway. It's reversible, but you're right, I'm just learning to be a mom with Laura. Doesn't mean we can't practice, though."
"Sounds like the right strategy to…" Jake started to say when his hall door opened.
Ensign Ottun entered carrying a large tray with a pair of large domes and four little domes covering plates and bowls. "The galley has sent something special for dinner since you and the Admiral are…" he caught sight of Jake and Ayan in bed and his Issyrian eyes shifted into large round, bright green circles as he froze. "Oh no! I've interrupted your sacred breeding time! I had no idea the Admiral was carrying mature eggs! My congratulations and deepest apologies. I will make the appropriate announcements and preparations for your impending fertilization." He turned back towards the door.
The look on his face and everything that followed was enough to send Ayan into a sudden burst of hysterics. Jake's response didn't help; "Wait! It's just uh, a practice session! No banners or announcements, okay?"
"Are you certain?" he started looking towards them but returned his gaze to the wall beside the door instead. "I'm sure most of the fleet would celebrate your pairing."
"I'm sure. You should talk to Agameg. He can, uh, tell you about the cultural differences," Jake said. "We don't celebrate this. Well, not the same way. I mean, we'll celebrate, but it's different with humans. Just ask Agameg."
"I will. So, is this or is this not a private occasion?" he asked.
"It is. Talk to Agameg," Jake said, trying not to smile.
Ayan was recovering from her fit of laughter, happy Jake saw the humour in it. He'd probably crack up too, if he didn't have to play the part of senior officer. She saw that Ottun was about to leave with the tray and she called after him. "Leave the food!"
"Oh, yes," he said, leaving the food on the table, averting his gaze most of the time but sneaking a peek at the sheet-clad pair more than once. "I am sorry if I caused offense or interrupted your ritual."
"It's all right, I forgot you had full access now. Take the night off, all right?"
"Oh, thank you," Ottun replied. "After I speak to Agameg, I assume?"
"Yes."
"I will do so immediately." He left through the door leading directly onto the bridge before Jake could stop him. Ashley and Kadri turned towards the door to see who was emerging, and as they both saw past Ottun for a moment, they spotted Jake sitting up, frozen half way through making a gesture that was part of an urgent plea for the Ensign to use the other door that came too late. The door closed behind him.
Jake flopped back down beside Ayan, who was laughing again. "He's really good at what he does," he sighed. "Come a long way in a short while."
"I'm sure," Ayan said as she started recovering. "At least it won't be a scandal."
"True," Jake agreed. "I think I'll set up privacy mode."
He started to sit up and Ayan pulled him back down, taking a moment to address the system in the cabin. "Captains' Quarters: Privacy Mode, Medium Lighting." The lighting lowered and the wall surrounding the dais the bed was on raised, creating a bedroom space that included his dresser, bed, a shallow closet and his bathroom.
"I didn't know it did that," Jake said. "I use the buttons on my comm or the console."
"Read the manual, Commodore," she said against his lips before kissing him. His arms slipped around her and she sighed as he pulled her closer. It felt like he was aiding in her escape from every worry that was weighing her down, and as she relaxed even more against him, she realized that one of her worries was how the very thing they were up to would be again. It was a relief to know that she didn't have to worry any longer. Things had changed, being with him was different, he was more attentive and reactive, even more present and aware than before. They were changes that made her wish he was stationed aboard the War Forge, an Admiral beside her as he ought to be, but she knew he was living his dream, commanding a ship of his own with an amazing crew.
He rolled with her in his arms. On top, his kiss was more intense but no more urgent, he was taking his time and her head spun. He'd go along with a promotion to Admiral. He'd take a place on the War Forge, especially if she told him about the ship secreted in its centre, especially if she gave him command of the station's defence. Ayan knew it would be selfish, it wasn't where he wanted to be, it would change their relationship, change him. Ayan wouldn't do it, not after getting back together with him and realizing that she didn't want him to change, the man she was in love with was better than any she'd known, even the previous versions. She only hoped he felt the same way and didn't dream of another Ayan.
Six
The One?
* * *
Twisted trees that seemed unsure of what shape they were supposed to take littered a soft soil landscape. The brown earth, rivulets of green water running between puddles was only disturbed by two sets of footsteps. Unarmoured, Alice ran to the side of the one of the few shard-like stones to break the surface of the terrain. It was several times her height, but the dark surfaces had handholds and could be turned to her advantage if she could make it there.
Iruuk gave chase, dropping to all fours, more than doubling his speed as he leapt to a tree, caught firm purchase on the wood beneath its delicate bark, then pounced on Alice from behind and above. To his dismay, she stopped running, crouched then rolled backwards so Alice was behind him when he landed. He tried to twist, to turn in time to defend, but she kicked him hard behind the knee. The Neural Simulator, or Brian Bud as most people called it, delivered pain as she struck, pain that told him that his right leg would be hamstrung until he massaged the limb thoroughly. Well, it would be if he was struck that way in the real world, anyway.
Capitalizing on his momentary compromised balance, Alice dropped her weight onto his shoulder, sending him into the mud as she moved on to roll to her feet, continuing her rush to the large stone ahead. He watched her get away as he pulled himself up and scraped mud from the fur under his jaw and neck. Alice was quick for a human and she formulated strategies without much effort, shifting with changing conditions. He massaged his leg, easing it just enough so it would move properly again. The simulation was made to be accurate, but he wished a moment's massaging would work the injury out completely, instead he'd have to put up with pain every time he put weight on the limb until he unplugged. When he was satisfied that he could move well enough, Iruuk started for the stone, stalking this time, clearing his mind so he'd be ready to react to her next trick. Imagining what she might do next was pointless during exercises like this. There was little point in trying to predict someone's next act when they had a talent for considering more options than most people thought existed, especially when self-sacrifice wasn't a forbidden concept. It was one of the things that frightened Iruuk about her.
Alice disappeared behind the large standing stone and took a moment to catch her breath. Iruuk was coming, she could hear his steadying gait. He could fight his way through the pain of a deeply bruised muscle, she couldn't trust that she could use
that to her advantage. Her feet bumped something solid just under the dirt beside the stone face, and she pulled it out of the mud. It was a staff, roughly hewn from wood, but put there by whoever designed the scenario. She could use it to even the odds if she liked, get a little practice with a primitive weapon. Alice had spent time practicing with blades and other basic arms, but she didn't want to change the odds, not this time.
His footsteps drew closer, she leaned the staff against the rock face beside her silently, then he stopped making any sound. The stone was a few times taller than her, but he could jump that. He could come from overhead, it was important to remember that he always thought in three dimensions. Her empathic sense was dead inside the simulation, it was one of the advantages she'd use to guess what he was going to do next, how easy he could be to startle, or if he was in an emotional state that could muddy his thinking, like anger. For most people, that made their thinking direct, their strategies simple, but she couldn't feel anything empathically in the digital realm, so she waited for his strike.
Long moments passed, and she thought he must be on the other side of the stone. There was no sign that he was doing anything else. Then she heard a scrape above. He was swinging down from atop the stone, she shouldn't have been so passive, she realized, and she only had time to half dodge his attack. He firmly kicked her in the side, sending her against the unyielding rock face, and the wind was knocked out of her so thoroughly that she couldn't counterattack, only drop, roll and stagger into a run that took her away from both her advantages; the stone and the staff.
To make matters worse, she was moving slowly on open ground. Alice turned towards him and stood ready, trying to catch her breath, every breath came with pain. Her side was wet. Her hand touched there and came away bloody, two of his claws broke the skin. Iruuk stalked towards her, hunter's eyes taking her in from head to toe. "You probably have two broken ribs," he said. "It was a good try, it took me several minutes to land a good blow on you, but it's over."
Alice looked to her right, there was a tree there that she could put between her and him. "You can push through, I can push through," she said. "That leg must be burning like crazy, like a charley horse every time you move, most Nafalli would be dragging it, not walking on it."
"You just woke me up, that's all," Iruuk said.
She liked that side of him, the hunter side. It only came out in simulations, but their rivalry made them both better, especially her. The moment he put a brain bud on, he became a hunter, and he was rarely beaten one-on-one by any member of the crew. Alice gnashed her teeth at the pain as she rushed for the thick, twisted tree nearest her, and he ran after her, only catching up once the trunk was between them.
Alice didn't stop running, but came around the tree, screaming in agony as the wounds in her side protested her next act. She caught a thick overhead branch and swung her legs up at Iruuk, who had caught up with her easily. He ducked, she let go and was about to slide off his back but took handfuls of fur as handles. She paid a price in agony for every movement, but she was turned around with one hand deeply nested in the fur between his shoulders by the time she stopped moving. He tried to reach back to dislodge her, but she punched him in the back of the neck, just below the base of the skull as hard as she could. If she was in a vacsuit with a synthetic muscle layer, he would have been knocked out. He roared instead, turned his back towards the tree and before she could drop off his back, he pinned her between his muscled back and the trunk.
The feeling of a crunch in her chest and a wave of pain preceded the end of the combat challenge. The simulated agony ended for them both, and they were on top a cliff overlooking their battleground. Brown earth, dark barked twisted trees and green pools stretched out as far as she could see under four moons. Three of them were rocky, the fourth and smallest was blue-green. "I should have seen that coming," she laughed. "Getting crushed between you and a tree."
"It was either that or try to drop onto my back and drown you in that big puddle," Iruuk said. "I really didn't expect you to get a grip on my back. It was annoying. You're getting even better, more inventive."
"I've still only beat you twice."
"Three times," Iruuk said. "The one where you used batons counts."
"I guess, I just like victories where neither of us pick up the weapons, unless the point of the exercise is to practice with them."
"We have to do more practice with those arm blades you used on the Order Knights. Everyone wants to learn that, and I know you want to get better," Iruuk said, sitting down with her on the cliff's edge. "The crew wanted me to talk to you, by the way."
"About blade fighting? Practice is better than talk," Alice replied, aware that it wasn't what he meant. She'd managed to avoid it, but there was a conversation coming that she could do without.
"You know what you did," Iruuk said with a sigh. "You left me on the ship along with half your crew when you knew Lewis and Ute could have taken care of everything aboard, and you sent everyone away when you needed them most. You should have been killed on the bridge of that ship, Theodore would have been taken, and the antimatter bomb would have gone off, killing him too. That was too risky, we can't afford to lose you."
"Sure, you can," Alice retorted irritably. "I hate the idea that all the crap I've been through makes me special, that I'm somehow precious. Everyone's had bad times, learned hard lessons. How am I special, really?"
"You've been through things no one else has, and you've been tested at the academy, then as a captain, and you're amazing. Everyone on the crew knows it, and they followed your orders because they respect you, but they knew it was wrong. They should have stayed behind to fight beside you, to improve your odds. That's only common sense."
"Everything turned out fine, I'm alive, Theo's fine, so how could the way I changed the plan be wrong when the outcome was the best we could hope for?"
Iruuk sighed and shook his head. "Fine, fine, so you took on several Knights, used their bridge for a propaganda piece that's working, and it all came out fine. That just goes further to prove my other point. You're one in a billion, too important for that kind of risk when you have a crew that wants to have your back. Some of them wonder if you trust them at all."
Callum came to mind immediately. He was the most insecure on that point, she could feel it whenever her empathic sense was open and they were both on the Clever Dream. She put that point aside, though, it was something she'd have to work on with him. "I refuse to accept that I'm this mythical special one. You scored higher than me in almost everything in the Academy, Ute and half the people on the crew are better pilots, several of you are better shots, Yawen is a better fighter most of the time, and anyone can learn to read people without having special abilities. The way you read people when you're in a combat simulation, like a hunter, can be applied out there pretty easily. I'm not so special, I just made Captain first. I even cheated a little there; my Mother is the Defence Minister, well, Fleet Admiral now because we lost Haven, but you get my point. If your Dad was an admiral, then you could be a Captain too."
"He respects personal achievement too much for that. Your Mother wouldn't have given you the rank of Captain if she didn't think you could handle it either. You're an obvious candidate."
"I'm not some kind of Chosen One, that's something for old action movies and religions, not for you guys."
"I can't find anyone else with your range of experiences and you've been at the centre of more events, more victories than almost anyone," Iruuk countered calmly.
"By that logic, my Father and Mother are both 'Chosen Ones,' along with Minh-Chu, Yawen because she was one of the few successful rebirths, Theodore because he's seen so much, along with Noah who survived for a year on his own before getting to the Haven System, and so many other people who have had special experiences and been witness to huge events. You can't have a 'Chosen One' when you can find people who fit that label everywhere you turn. Even Ute fits that because she's one of the best pilots in the fleet
and is the only Mergillian aboard the Clever Dream. Even you - a young, high scoring Academy graduate who happens to be Nafalli that loves science as much as a good hunt - you're special enough to be The One too, Fur-Face. Besides, what does that kind of label lead to, anyway? Overconfidence, some kind of messiah complex?"
Iruuk laughed for a moment, shaking his head and covering his nose. The notion that he could be as special as anyone she mentioned seemed to amuse and embarrass him. "Well, okay, so we're surrounded by special people. There is no 'Chosen One,' not even you. By that thinking, you should take help from your crew whenever it increases the odds of success because you're not so special. You've used them so little since we got to this region of space, too. They want to be part of these investigative missions you've been running, especially since you're so recognizable now."
Alice nodded slowly. "Yeah, that would make sense, but - and I know this blows my 'I'm not The One' argument a little - I'm still empathic. It didn't go away after I nearly got my brain scrambled by the last Geist I went up against. I've been looking for a way to tell you and the rest of the crew. I can read people and see betrayal coming way ahead."
Iruuk's eyes widened and he brought his nose close to hers. "Can you tell what I'm thinking right now?" he asked in a hushed tone.
"Empathy," Alice snickered. "How you're feeling. Nafalli are easy to read, you guys are pretty emotional, it's a good thing. You don't suppress much. It doesn't work in simulations, though. Oh, and I usually block it while I'm on the ship. It can get noisy."
"Oh. Pick up anything interesting?" Iruuk asked, still a little eager to know more.
"Well, you got really excited on spaghetti night. I've never seen anyone who gets so happy about food."
"Well, yeah, but I'm talking about the rest of the crew," Iruuk said.
"You're pretty much right about how people feel about me leaving them behind on the base ship, but I'll keep the other stuff to myself. I don't want to use this for gossip, it's complicated enough."
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 13 Page 6