Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins

by Randolph Lalonde

  “Sure am,” I said as I drifted back to sleep.

  Chapter 10

  Morning

  That morning, or what passed for morning, I was awakened by Ayan as she came back into the quarters bearing coffee. She looked refreshed and energetic. “Doctor Anderson wants to see you right away and I have to get back to engineering.”

  I raised myself up on one elbow and took the spill-proof container she offered. “How long were we asleep?”

  “The full six hours. My alarm was set. Yours didn't go off.”

  "Lucky me. Why does the Doc want to see me? Shouldn't he get some R&R sometime?”

  “He did. Apparently he sleeps at the same time as the captain on every ship he serves on. Something he told me while we were hiding.”

  “You never got a chance to tell me about that, how you hid from the entire Vindyne invasion fleet.”

  “I'd love to, but I have to get to engineering,” she started for the door, but I caught her arm and pulled her down for a kiss.

  Ayan was happy to oblige but kept it short. “You need a mint,” she giggled before taking the few steps across the room and out the door. I sighed and sat up, knowing that if my head hit the pillow even for a second I would be fast asleep.

  I attended to my obligatory morning ritual and refreshed my coffee before setting off for main medical.

  On the way I scanned through the status reports and messages on my arm command console as quickly as I could. Oz reported that the capture of the Marauder had gone perfectly. All her on board communications had been taken offline and they had managed to destroy twenty three beacons and emergency transmitters. Scans of the ship were showing no emissions when all systems were dark, indicating that no hidden transmitters with autonomous power remained. A small security team and bridge crew had taken over while the boarding personnel took some much needed rest back on board the First Light. The captain of the vessel was named Leslie Grays and was delivered to our brig without incident.

  The repairs on the ship were complete for the time being. The only section that was open to space was along the upper portion of the ship, right behind the bridge.

  Nine ships from the Gai-Ian System Defence Fleet had volunteered to join us, and Governor Samuel Finnley was requesting a meeting with me sometime in the next twenty hours. Oz somehow had time to file a shift report on the crew with a little help from Doctor Horner. It didn't tell me anything new. Everyone was overworked, and non-command crew were on twelve hour shifts while command crew were on fourteen hour shifts. There was no way we could continue running as we were, so I made a note to crew the Marauder with the absolute minimum and bring everyone else back on board.

  We'd have to get back to our normal eight and ten hour shifts as soon as possible and find a safe port to rest up not long after that, or the stress would cripple the crew. There was just one thing that I wanted the First Light crew to accomplish first.

  I arrived in medical sipping my coffee, scrolling through all the reports that had accumulated during the six hours I had spent asleep. There was just too much to consume in the time it took me to get to Doc’s territory. I found myself missing Alice. She would normally sort through the mass of information and present the most important bits first. It was like losing a limb. Everything seemed to take so much longer and I was more than a little impatient with sorting through data myself.

  “Good of you to join us Captain.” Doc said as I walked in. I looked up and saw Oz and Minh sitting on beds, getting scanned from head to toe. There were very few injured in medical this time, and most of them were sleeping.

  “Didn't seem like I had much choice.”

  “I know. I had to come. Medical was sending me orders every five minutes.” Minh complained. “I had to shut him up or I wouldn't get anything done.”

  “Stop whining. You know they've got to check us out after a few weeks of captivity. I'm surprised they didn't have us locked up in here the moment we got back.”

  “It was tempting,” Doctor Anderson said to Oz. “Right this way Captain.” he directed, showing me to a more private section of the medical bay.

  The scans began right away as did the mental examination. I recognized all the key questions you're supposed to ask someone after being captured. Name three friends. How do you feel about being imprisoned? Who are your parents? In less than twenty words, how were you captured? What is one lie you've told about yourself to a friend? Did you leave anything behind? Where were you born? Think of three colours and without using their names, describe them.

  It was all standard psychological check up stuff with a few updated questions for our particular experience. The computer tracked our physiological responses and watched for neural reprogramming. To my surprise I came up clean.

  When the questions were finished, Doctor Anderson nodded to himself. “Well, your head checks out fine. You all held up well mentally, though you'll need some rest when you can get it.”

  “How am I physically?”

  “Good, in general, but there is a problem. They implanted a micro transmitter in the back of each of your skulls. Even though it's right in the centre of the bone, whenever it's near a certain frequency it'll resonate, sending pulses back to the source.”

  “So when it's not near that frequency it doesn't emit a signal.”

  “Right. You're lucky I've run into this before.”

  “So, how do you get rid of it?”

  “I’ll just burn it out with a laser.”

  “That simple, huh? Just point and drill.”

  “When you put it that way, it is. It’s a primitive solution, but it’ll use fewer resources and the recovery time is practically nil with a bio recovery filler injected right into the site. Now turn over and stay very still.”

  It took just a few seconds and it was gone. I sat up and he began preparing an injector.

  “They implanted you with a cellular tag as well, probably through whatever they fed you.”

  “It was brown.”

  “What was?”

  “What they fed us. Just these brown bars.”

  “Ah, well, on the bright side, none of you are malnourished.”

  “So you took over after I left?”

  “Ayan did, actually. She took us straight towards the sun. We got as close as we could to the corona and just let the hull and our RAD scoops soak up all that energy. It was like the ship was alive. I've never seen anything like it. The hull sang like a whale as it bonded and hardened under all the pressure and energy it was absorbing. There's nothing like ergranian steel. This is the first ship I've served on built with it.”

  “To listen to you, it sounds like you missed your calling. Maybe you should have been an engineer.”

  “Not at all. I like talking to my patients when there's time. Having a conversation with a ship, even with an advanced artificial intelligence, just isn't the same.”

  “So what else did I miss?”

  “Well, Ayan had the crew busy. Everyone had work to do, whether it was just making sure we didn't get too close to the sun, improving systems, looking for ways to implement some of the shield technology that you had sent up to us before we lost contact, or finding a way to duplicate that stealth suit technology you and Oz brought back from Freeground. We couldn't add anything to the hull of the ship, mind you, but by the time Ayan got her team together and materialized enough stealth suits for them the ship couldn't have been in better shape. Those plasma shields she rigged up were a miracle. When we were ready to go, we broke orbit from the sun and used the wormhole generator for short jumps from the shadow of one moon to the next until the rescue team left for the command carrier. That's when I took command.”

  “Sounds like the crew worked hard.”

  “They did. Everyone wanted to break you out. Ayan was under tremendous pressure and I was glad to lighten her load whenever I could. Patching the hull was the most dangerous part. We had to do it while we followed in the wake of a radiation surge into low orbit around the near
est planet to the centre of the solar system. Our new pilot is almost as good as your friend Minh, though a little more nervous.” He injected me and I swear the concoction made my arm feel heavier. “There you go, the cellular tag left behind by their prison food should be gone in about three days.”

  “Thank you Doctor. I don't know what we'd do without you.”

  “Ah, you'd be fine. There are plenty of bright young doctors aboard.”

  “Come by my quarters if you're jogging during my off time. I missed our runs.”

  “So did I, Captain. Everyone's glad to have you back,” he said, shaking my hand firmly.

  I spent the next few hours on the bridge. It was all clean up and upkeep. Most of the crew were about to start coming on duty, and all of the command crew would be on at the same time for a four hour window. I scheduled a meeting with Oz, Minh, Ayan, Major Reginald Carlson of the Gai-Ian System Defence Fleet, and Samuel Finnley, who was no longer a Governor, but had been voted to take charge of the escapees who remained in orbit. Time was passing fast, and I knew that the Vindyne Corporation could send another fleet to make an attempt at taking the system, only this time I was sure they would succeed.

  Many System Defence ships were arriving in orbit around the moon. There were several destroyers, a carrier and a couple dozen corvette class ships, but nowhere near enough to defend the system. They were making retrieval runs to Concordia until their ships couldn't stand more punishment from the forces that Vindyne left behind.

  When it was time for the meeting, we met in the third observation lounge where a long table had been set up. There were three sofas that curved along the rounded shape of the wall on one side, and the outer side of the hull was transparent. There were enough seats at the table for fourteen people, and a lot of room left over in the partially furnished room. When I arrived Oz and Minh were already there. “How was the Marauder?” I asked.

  Minh chuckled. “It's a can. The hull is three centimetres thick in a lot of places and the controls are so simple and computer assisted I could fly it standing on my head while wearing melons on my hands. I don't want to go back.”

  “Is it really that bad?”

  “Oh yeah, the crew quarters look a lot like the cells we just left. Everything's modular, made to be swapped out and replaced for re-tasking. But other than that he's right, it's a cheaply made, mass produced can.” Oz verified.

  “No wonder they need brain washed captives. No one else would fly that into a firefight.”

  “They don't use brainwashed prisoners. Most of their military sign up on their own or get drafted from poorer worlds. That energy shielding is what makes those corvettes dangerous. The technology looks reliable. Without it, it's just not viable in combat. Hell, even a micro meteor shower would be a major problem.”

  Ayan came in and sat down beside me. “You're talking about the energy shielding on the Marauder?”

  “Yup, aside from the particle beams it's the only thing worthwhile,” Minh answered.

  “Good thing I don't plan on keeping it,” I said.

  “Thank God!” Minh exclaimed. “I don't want to set foot on that death trap or another one like it ever again.”

  “Well, you won't have to, but everyone else might get stuck working on it for a few hours at least. I want to cannibalize it for its shielding, weapons, any technology we don't have already, and it's energy storage systems. Then we can send it off into the sun.”

  “How long do you think that would take, Ayan?” Oz asked.

  “Well, I haven't seen it, but I read the lead boarding engineer's report. I'd say about eight hours if everyone pitched in. We're lucky the ship is built with discrete modules. They're made for quick servicing, but also make for quick scavenging.”

  “Good, we'll just take what we can in six hours then the second shift will move on to our next target.” I replied.

  Minh sat straight up. “Next target?”

  “We'll start pulling systems from what’s left of the Incinerator. I don't know how hard it will be to implement her systems into our ship, but I want to take everything we can use in the time we have. We'll have to organize it so we start with the most important systems first, the shield emitters and core shielding systems. Then we'll move on to the weaponry, find out what kind of power generation she uses and if it could help us. If we do this right, we might be able to make off with everything we need to enhance the First Light. Make her a safer ship, maybe even catch up to some of the modern technology we've seen here.”

  “Where would we put the stuff? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have half the toys the Incinerator came with, but after taking on parts from the Marauder, I don't think we'll have space. Some of those systems have pretty big components.” Oz commented.

  I looked at Ayan and she smiled back. “I think I know what he has in mind.”

  “We'll use the open section of hull. There's nothing we can do to close it up until we get to a safer location and it'll be easy to load in a hurry. We can also use the boarding shuttle and any spare space in the landing bay. As soon as we see any sign of the Vindyne Fleet, we drop everything we're doing and make off with whatever we managed to take aboard.”

  “I like it. We'll be running ourselves ragged, but I think it'll be worth it,” Ayan agreed.

  “What will I be doing?” Minh asked.

  “You'll be running patrols in shifts. We have three extended sensor kits for your fighters. You'll have to manage them so we can extend our sensor range and get as early a warning as possible.”

  “At least I won't be telling my pilots to help with salvage.”

  “I wouldn't dream of it.”

  Doctor Anderson entered with Doctor Lang and Sergeant Everin close behind. “Our guests from Gai-Ian are on their way. They should be here in a few minutes,” Jason mentioned as they all took a seat.

  “Good, we've been talking about salvaging what we can from the Marauder and what's left of the Incinerator and it looks like we'll be starting soon. I don't want to bring our guests into the discussion. The last thing we need is to get into an argument with the Gai-Ian Fleet over salvage rights when they should be more concerned with saving as much of their population as they can before Vindyne sends another Fleet.”

  “Oh, I'm sure there's one on the way. The question is where is it coming from and whether they'll be more interested in saving their super carrier or finishing what they started in taking the system for themselves,” Oz said. “However expensive that jail break may have been, I'm sure an entire agricultural world is worth a hell of a lot more.”

  “He's right, and corporations that large like to find out what other untapped resources might be there and take advantage of them as well,” Doc commented. “We watched fully terraformed worlds get converted into strip mining operations overnight during the All-Con War. They didn't care who was living there. If they needed the resources, they took them however they could.”

  Samuel and Major Carlson entered then and I stood. “Welcome to the First Light, Governor,” I knew that he didn't hold the position any longer, but I slipped.

  “Thank you Captain, but I'm just Samuel Finnley now. Most people call me Sam.” He gestured to the older, dark haired, moustached man beside him. "This is Major Carlson. He's overseeing part of the evacuation effort.”

  “Good to meet you Captain. I hope we can put the previous misunderstanding our military had with you behind us.”

  “I can. Let me introduce my senior officers. Commander Terry Ozark McPatrick is my first officer, Commander Ayan Rice is our Chief Engineer, Doctor Anderson is our head of medical, Doctor Lang is on his staff, Sergeant Jason Everin is our Chief of Communications, and Commander Minh-Chu Buu is our Wing Commander.”

  “I see. We read over your proposal Captain, and I have to say, it was simple but informative. Are you sure we'll be welcome once we arrive in Freeground space?”

  “When did you have time to write a proposal? Did you find an extra few minutes in every hour?” Oz asked in a w
hisper.

  I cleared my throat and answered the Major. “They're fighting the Triad. Every ship is welcome. I'm sure they'd be glad to take on any refugees if you could augment their defences and teach them a few new things about military and agricultural technology.”

  “Does it look like they have a chance at winning?”

  “When we left, Freeground’s defences were more than adequate. But maintaining those defences and striking back in a meaningful way are two different things. Freeground is very well fortified, our military is organized and seasoned, but we’re slowly losing ground.”

  “Unlike what's going on in our system,” Samuel interjected. “I'm afraid that we've evacuated everyone we can. Just over one hundred ten thousand and we don't have enough food to last more than two weeks.”

  Major Carlson picked up where he left off. “The last of our troop carriers and their escort are expected to rendezvous with us in less than an hour. The Vindyne troops have started using antimatter bombs on our more hardened positions, so we can't even hold them off on the ground. What's left of our infantry command structure agrees that we've lost the system.”

  “I'm sorry,” it was all I could say.

  Major Carlson smiled reassuringly. “Sam said I'd like you, Captain. You apologize like it's your fault, but there was never anything you could have done. Even if you and your crew arrived a year earlier with a warning that the Vindyne were on their way, it wouldn't have done much good. Now we just need to survive. Get our people to friendly territory. I only need your assurances that Freeground won't see us as hostile or take advantage of my people. I'm not in a position to ask for anything more.”

  Doctor Lang stood up and came to attention. “Captain, I'd like permission to go with them. I have my first year's officer's training and can act as intermediary between the Gai-Ian people and Freeground. I would also like to make sure that Elise's treatment is carried out properly.”

  I looked to Doc for a moment. He shrugged. “It's ultimately your decision sir. I'll miss having Doctor Lang here, but to be honest we have a high medical staff to crew ratio. As long as no one else from medical leaves, we'll be fine.”