“When that time comes part of your mission is to find technology and knowledge that may be useful to Freeground and acquire it any way you see fit. We have objectives for you, but it's just as important for you to be our eyes and ears, find your own targets. Just remember, as soon as you leave Freeground, you're no longer military and as far as the Galaxy is concerned, you own the Sunspire and pay your crew just like any mercenary ship. Of course your crew don't expect to be paid until you return, but you can always take the opportunity to do so if conditions permit and you think it wise.”
“I think I will. Thank you Vice Admiral. That answers everything on my mind and a bit more.” I stood and snapped her a salute.
“It's your ship Captain. Accomplish your goals however you like. Just remember us out here in the dark.”
I stood to leave. It felt like my shoes had lead insoles, and I had more to think about than I could manage.
“Captain,” the Vice Admiral stopped me and shook my hand. I hadn't noticed the wrinkles around her eyes and how their grey depths showed age and wisdom beyond her apparent age. “When you're out there and there are more questions than answers, remember we put you there because we knew you and your people were ready. If you weren't ready, or your senior staff wasn't ready, you'd be in line for forced enlistment. Trust them. Trust yourself and you'll start believing you're right for this.”
“Thank you Vice Admiral.”
“See you in a few years.”
Chapter 8
Boarding
The officer's quarter on the station was more like a first class hotel and the lounge was larger than most nightclubs I had seen. There were noticeable differences, however. All the colours were subdued greys, crimsons and blacks. the lighting was low in habitation areas and clear and bright in main hallways. The quarters they gave me were even larger than the captain's quarters on the ship and the furniture looked new. If there was one thing I could take with me to the Sunspire it would have been the bed. It was absolutely huge, a king size, and felt amazing. I didn't know then that while we were off ship in stasis, they had quadrupled the refit crew, and the quarters -- even the misused common room -- had been rebuilt and refurnished. The bed waiting for me in my new captain's quarters was much better than what I had experienced in the simulation, even if it didn't quite match the one in the station's officer's quarters.
Despite the creature comforts, I couldn't sleep. At four in the morning, I found myself sitting in the main lounge, sipping decaffeinated coffee, looking out one of the transparent bulkheads to the Sunspire. The refit was finished, and she was set up front and centre in full view of the lounge for the launch. Every part of the ship had been changed. They even reshaped parts of the outer hull, expanded the launch and retrieval bay, and added retractable cargo hauling systems. The twenty eight retractable rail cannons were all hidden under their armoured hatches and the long, graceful curves of the hull had been restored to the original reflective surface. It was a gracefully shaped antique on the outside; not as large as most carriers but larger than most destroyer class ships. I couldn't believe I was put in command.
I was still letting recent events sink in. My old life felt like a dream and I knew I would miss all the people I had come to know well over the years of simulations we had done together in our spare time. I smiled and sighed quietly, looking over the shape of the ship and still not quite believing how everything turned out.
Oz clapped me on the back and I was on my feet like a shot. “Couldn't sleep either, huh?”
“Sneaking up on a superior officer should be a court marshal-able offence.”
“Ah, rank isn't an issue in the lounge, didn't they tell you?” He looked out at the Sunspire, “She's beautiful, isn't she?”
“She is. I would've never thought that the ship I saw just over a week ago would turn into this.”
“I've never seen Ayan so happy. We got the early tour from the Admiral. They even changed the hallways. I spoke to one of the engineering staff sergeants while the Rice ladies were off talking, he said working on the Sunspire's hull was more like art than structural engineering. They used some kind of reshaping tool that worked on the regenerative hull for most of it. Now I didn't understand much of what he said, but I think the Fleet is really hot for getting their hands on more of what she's made of.”
“So I've heard. Two of our objectives out there are to quietly alter conditions so Fleet can come in once we're gone and take over ergranian mining operations and ore stores. We won't just be buying and stealing out there, we'll be saboteurs and shock raiders if we can find the opportunity. At the same time no one can know where we're from. That we are part of the Freeground Fleet,” even though I was in a secure section of the station, I found myself looking over my shoulder briefly.
“That explains why they're so comfortable setting us up on the Sunspire. They only built a few, since they were too small to be adequate deep space destroyers or carriers and too big to be heavy corvettes, and she's almost two hundred years old.”
“You're right. We can't let anyone on board though. She may look like an antique on the outside, but I don't think they left any system untouched. The only thing I think they really should have changed is the location of the bridge. I don't think shielding it is really enough and it's too easy to recognize it as a rich target.”
“We'll have to talk to Ayan about that.”
“You know, I can't help but wonder how long we'll really be out there.”
“Do you have someone who'll be waiting for you?”
“I have three sisters, two of which like having a trained infantryman as a babysitter.”
“I keep forgetting that's something you and Minh have in common.”
“Too many sisters? Yup, it's good to have someone who understands. I just hope our sisters never team up. We'd be screwed.”
“Probably,” I stood up and walked to the window, Oz stood to follow me. “I don't know how long we'll be out. We won't need supplies, and we're generally going to avoid getting into a firefight. I guess we'll be taking planet-side leave while we're out there too when the time comes. Should make things interesting.”
Oz laughed quietly and shook his head.
“What?”
“You already sound like you've been in the captain's chair for years.”
“Oh, I'm sure my inexperience will show.”
“Sometimes, sure, but I've got your back. And Ayan won't let anything happen to her ship if she can help it.”
“I'm glad I'm letting her rename it.”
“So is she. I'm surprised you didn't tell her yourself, it was just there in the briefing notes you sent us. We got them while we were touring the ship and she was so happy she actually squealed.”
“I think she wants some space right now.”
“Then she's signing up for the wrong tour,” Oz chuckled.
“Sometimes it feels like I'm talking to the Ayan I knew in the simulations, and other times it seems like she couldn't be more distant if she were across the galaxy.”
“The first thing she asked when we met Admiral Rice for the tour was ‘Will Jonas be joining us?’” He said in his best imitation of a British accent.
“Probably asking for her own protection.”
“Ah, she's crazy about you, but she's not like us either. She's a former military brat who had to work her ass off to get what she has and she's been through a lot. Or it's just as simple as not wanting to break regulation.”
“Break regulation?”
“Well, you're a Captain, she's a Commander. The two of you get together and it's grounds for disciplinary action for both of you unless you can keep personal interactions to shore leave and official downtime. She's career, and now you've gone career, and that makes things even worse.”
“I know how much that means to her, not much either of us can do except maybe go covert and both serve on a mercenary ship where the regulations regarding inter-crew relations are relaxed to the same point as long voya
ge vessels.”
“I almost forgot about that. We're allowed to fraternize at any rank while we're off duty according to those regulations. That should be interesting.”
“Most of the other regulations will be relaxed as well. It's not going to feel much like a military ship. We'll have to redesign our uniforms, drop salutes, and implement only the most important procedures. Unless we're on watch or in combat she won't feel much like a military ship. I hope Ayan and I get a chance to enjoy some free time once we're under way. I know I'll do my best to make the time.”
“Now that's more like it. Think positive. She chews my ear off about you when I see her -- unless she's in the engine room that is -- and you chew my other ear off about her when we meet up. If this doesn't stop I'll just lock the two of you in a room.”
“That calls for a court marshal.”
“Nope, I'll just report both of you unfit for command.”
“That's dirty.”
“First thing they teach you in hand to hand; the dirtier fighter almost always wins.”
The deck shook just slightly. We both felt it but couldn't see anything wrong in the lounge or outside in the dry dock. “Alice, what's going on?” I asked, bringing up my new command and control arm console, much larger and more powerful than my old one, up to project an image of Alice or any other information she needed to present.
“I'm checking now, but all communications from the Operations deck have stopped. One moment.” Oz and I waited patiently while Alice tried to collect more information. “Security is responding to an explosion in main Operations and a section of the command deck. All ships are on alert status and they're launching fighters. No one seems to know exactly what's going on yet Jonas.”
I looked at Oz. “Wake the crew?”
“I think so. Heading to the nearest weapons locker wouldn't be a bad idea either. I may not know what's going on but I'd rather not be unarmed if I can help it.”
“It's a start. Alice, alert the crew and send them up to date information on what's happening. Include instructions to assemble on the Sunspire immediately,” I followed Oz to the nearest weapons locker. He punched in his security code, opened the heavy security door and handed me a holstered particle driver. I made sure it was fully charged and strapped it on. As far as sidearms go, I thought it was overdoing it a little. Not hard to aim but it was the only hull-friendly weapon I had heard of that fired ten rounds per second and carried several days worth of charge. Then I looked at Oz's selection.
He strapped on the same sidearm I had then took what looked like some kind of grisly antique out from the bottom of the locker. “What the hell is that?”
“It's called a semi-automatic shot gun with recoilless reciprocating barrels. It fires a variable load. I prefer buckshot myself. I call it the crowd pleaser.”
“Sometimes I think you like your job a little too much. Let's head to the Sunspire. I get the feeling we'll be put to work earlier than expected.”
“Again.”
We ran down two hallways, I made sure I was following Oz's movements carefully. We were moving quickly but covering our corners and making sure the way was clear before passing down any corridor or through any open room. I was about to ask why when I looked through one of the large skylights over a hallway hub and saw ingress pods heading towards the station. There were thousands of them and the defence turrets weren't fully operational, so some were getting through. “There!” I pointed.
“Oh, now that's not good,” he said before tapping his command and control unit to open a link to station security. “This is Commander Terry McPatrick of the Sunspire, currently located in junction 14b of the station officer's quarters. Incursion pods have been sighted, looks like some of them will make it through defensive fire.”
“Thank you Commander, security teams are on their way. You are instructed to leave the Officer's deck as soon as possible and find another safe location. Coordinate with a security team if you encounter one.”
“Thank you, I'll be on the Sunspire. Commander McPatrick out.”
I heard the first of the pods hit a hallway somewhere behind us and start cutting into the hull. “Lead the way.”
“Time to go. Try to keep up!” Oz shouted, and for the next few minutes I found myself wondering how a towering behemoth like him could move so fast. We were lucky and didn't run into boarders on the way, but we could hear gunfire.
We stopped at the corner before the lift that led to the Sunspire's boarding ramp. I was fighting for breath.
“You're out of shape. We'll have to work on that,” Oz pointed out, barely winded at all.
“My last fitness review said I was in great shape.”
“For a station-bound civilian. You're Captain now, you should be tip-top. Besides, when was the last time you ran anywhere for real? I'll get you back in fighting form, Skipper.”
“I'm Captain of a star ship, not joining a wrestling team.”
I crossed the hallway to check the next corner and felt something brush right past me but didn't see it. Oz picked up on my reaction and fired his shotgun right beside me. The noise was so sudden and brutal it was painful. He caught what brushed by me full in the back.
Without hesitation Oz turned in the other direction, fired once, then fired down the third hallway. His third shot seemed to cause the air itself to erupt with bits of blood and debris and I opened fire on the area. My left ear rung and my left arm stung like crazy but I cut a line of fire across the middle of the hall and one of the targets became fully visible. He was wearing an all black vacuum suit. My shots had hit the control on his wrist. The way he was laying showed that another body had fallen under him.
“Stealth suits? I've never heard of it being done so well,” I said while trying to guess the outline of the invisible body trapped under his comrade. “Grab the controller on the invisible one's arm,” I pointed with my sidearm to where the body should lie.
Oz felt around and after a moment he yanked hard without success. He took aim with the shotgun and I ducked around the corner. It was as he blasted the man's arm off with two shots that I realized that Oz's first shot actually caught me with high velocity buckshot. Glancing down I could see at least a dozen small holes. “You shot me!” I shouted, though I could barely hear myself.
Oz came around the corner with the fallen man's arm, controller still attached and gave me a sheepish grin, “I was hoping you wouldn't notice.” He shrugged. “Let's get to the ship.”
Oz fired once down the last hallway, but didn't catch anything. We sprinted down to the lift. I held my left arm as we descended and looked down to see that it was covered in blood from many little entry wounds. “You shot me!” I repeated at Oz in angry disbelief. “With an antique weapon!”
We arrived at the bottom and met up with other crew members coming from different sections of the station.
Minh-Chu was watching the entrance with plasma rifle in hand. “What happened to you?” he asked as I ran past him.
“Raiders.” Oz replied too loudly, the shotgun had obviously affected his hearing as well.
“He shot me!” I protested as I headed for the bridge. I could hear the power plants warming up. A shocked Ensign wearing a Fleet Medical emblem on his collar looked at me wide eyed. “Sir, you should-”
“You should see if there are any other wounded then come see me with an emergency medpack on the bridge.”
“But sir!”
“That's an order!” I barked as the lift doors closed. There were other crew members in the lift with me and I tried to keep an absolutely straight face as I did what I knew I had to. “Alice, medical analysis; how bad is it?”
“Not fatal, there are thirty one small punctures with only eighteen pieces of metal embedded in bone or muscle tissue. You'll live.”
“Good, now close the holes in my vacsuit, compress on the wounds and seal it. That should hold until I can get treated.”
“You know, you could stop off in medical.”
“Just do it,” I ground my teeth together as she followed my instructions, and then the doors opened onto the bridge.
“Captain on deck!” I heard a voice call out, but didn't much care to look who it was.
“At ease, I have the feeling we have our work cut out for us.”
Sergeant Everin cringed at seeing whatever face I had made while the doors were opening and looked back to his station, “Orders from Admiral McKinley, video message.” He reported.
“Put it up,” I instructed as I sat down in the Captain's chair carefully.
The Admiral's full form appeared in the middle of the bridge, the holographic image was so clear it almost forced me to my feet for a salute. “Captain Valent, you are to take on your crew, set a course and head straight out. Do not engage the enemy on your way out of the area, enter hyperspace as soon as possible. Oh, and say hello to Alice for me. That is all, good voyage.”
I looked at my command and control unit and noticed that it had taken a piece of buckshot as well, though it only did superficial damage. “Hello Alice?”
“That was code sir. When I was transferred to this unit I found orders waiting in case there was an early attack on the base. We are to select new coordinates far away from Triad Consortium space, destroy our uniforms, delete all evidence and record of Freeground and Fleet from our computers except for what you would find in a normal merchant or mercenary ship's computer. The Admiral is operating under the assumption that Freeground Fleet Intelligence has been compromised. They will find a way to contact us at a later time if necessary. It looks like we'll have to make our own allies out there if we want any help, Jonas. There are other details here, but I doubt they relate to our current situation.”
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins Page 10