"I can't afford to pay you full wages for your time aboard Triton," Jake started sternly. Several protesting voices began to rise and he silenced all but his own. "But I can give each of you a hundred grams in bullion coin if you're looking to walk. Most of you have valid accounts with banks that have managed to survive the Holocaust Virus and you'll be able to access them from any city. You can call for transportation as soon as you’re paid. You'll be stripped of every scrap of weaponry and equipment you picked up while you were on Triton, except for your vacsuits. If someone asks me whether you served aboard my ship, I'll deny it."
"That's unacceptable! You can't just maroon us here!" A voice Ayan's Crewcast identified as Tammy Weston, a Private who worked in the Triton hangar, called out.
"Marooned? You don't know what marooned means!" Shouted Minh-Chu, to Ayan's surprise. "This is hard, this whole situation is terrible, but he's giving you a way to leave! This is an easy door! He could take everything and tell you to pick a direction! Walk until the ground poisons your feet!" He said from the side of Slick's Uriel fighter.
She'd never seen Minh so exasperated. "Marooned!" He spat bitterly. "You take your coin and leave us behind. Don't look back, either! When we have the Triton again and you want to rejoin us for the warm quarters, good jobs, entertainment, good food and better company our doors won't open for you!"
"Thank you, Wing Commander," Jake acknowledged with a nod. "For those of you who want to stay, to work together to improve our situation. I’ve made Ayan the Master of all the ships here, and everything I own.”
The crowd was silenced at that announcement, and Ayan didn’t know how to interpret their reaction. Crewmembers who had come out of several of the vessels around them, especially the Samson, were looking from Jacob to her and back.
“She’ll contact the government here so we have a proper place to put down, to lick our wounds. The rest of your command team, myself included, will make sure we have somewhere safe to sleep, something to eat, and the supplies we need. When we start earning a gain from privateering and other efforts, then you’ll start seeing cash in your pockets. All we ask is that you give us time to get organized and that you put in as much work as you can.”
“What about the Triton?” asked someone from one of the more stable raider ships. Crewcast marked him as Garnet Ahram, a fabrication worker.
To Ayan’s surprise, Jacob hesitated.
She took the opportunity to casually step beside him. “We are sending our best scout to find out if there is anything we can do,” the chatter amongst the various crowds died to dead silence as she spoke over the general Crewcast command channel. “Judging from the most recent report from the Triton, we know that she’ll require months of repairs, during which we’ll need another place to call home. Either way, we’re going to need to make at least a temporary home somewhere, and Tamber may be the first safe refuge most of us have seen in weeks.” Ayan knew she had the undivided attention of the crowd, and despite her racing heart, she decided to be brash, and tell everyone exactly what she was thinking and what she thought she, as well as everyone else should do. “I hope that we can eventually return to the Triton, and that we can get everyone who is still aboard back safely. I can’t do anything to influence that outcome right now, few of us can, but we can work to ensure that we all have what we need to survive. Most of us are starting over, myself included, and I’m going to start building something right now. I’m going to start by getting us proper landing permits, a privateers licence, and anything else the Carthan government can give us that will provide opportunities. We have an entire combat wing of top notch starfighters, ships that we can repair and improve, and we have each other. I have been in many situations during my military career where I couldn’t dream of having so many advantages. Now if you want to leave, it will be without disgrace. Be patient, follow Security Chief Vega’s instructions, and you’ll be on your way to a major city in no time. As for the rest of you, thank you for remaining. Stay close to your loved ones, and follow directions. I hope to have us set up in a proper port shortly.”
Ayan watched Jake look over the crowd, clenching and unclenching his jaw for several seconds. As the sound of someone speaking just began to break the silence he interrupted them; "Chief Vega! Two lines! Deserters to port," Jake barked, pointing to the port side of the Samson. "Loyal crew to starboard!" He finished, pointing to the starboard side.
As the orders were carried out Ayan looked back to Minh, who was taking a seat in front of Slick in his Uriel fighter. "Good luck Minh, be safe."
“We should be back in a few hours. Slick has an extra pair of generators loaded, should be a nice, quick trip."
"Just don’t let one of those beam weapons get a bead on you."
"Don’t worry, I know exactly where to hide."
Lightning flashed, lighting the darkening landscape for an instant. "Don’t get cocky out there you two,” Jake commented.
"If you’re that worried, why don’t you go check on him yourself in the Clever Dream?"
"We need it here for her medical bay and the materializer. It's best if we risk as little as possible on intelligence gathering," Jake replied calmly. “That, and the cloaking systems probably wouldn’t work properly in a nebula that dense.”
“Excuses, excuses. You two just want to stay behind and snog in the Captain’s quarters,” Minh teased, closing his connection to the channel reserved for former First Light crew.
The Uriel fighter's thrusters rotated and fired, pushing it swiftly off the ground and high up into the air. "I'll make sure he doesn't do anything you'll regret," Slick said on the general command channel.
She watched the fighter rise swiftly and take off over the horizon. Ayan couldn't shake a sinking feeling that threatened to overwhelm her.
"He'll be fine," Jake reassured quietly.
"There's no way anyone can know that. He's going to do something desperate and we’re backing him."
Jake took her by the shoulders and turned her towards him. He retracted his headpiece, the horizontal armoured slats folded into each other and settled onto his chest and back. "If he were alone I'd agree with you, but he's not. Slick is with him and he'll keep things sane."
Ayan looked up at him quietly. He was steady, reassuring, and confident. It didn't stop a lump from rising in her throat, or tears from brimming. She deactivated her communications and the face plate to her vacsuit hood to hide the tears she knew she couldn't stop. "Things have to get better, I hate having the feeling that we’ll never see Oz, Jason, or anyone from the Triton again."
"I know, I hate not being able to do anything about this myself," Jake said quietly.
"I just wish I felt better about Minh and Slick’s chances of getting in and out of there," Ayan managed.
Jake put his arm around her waist and deactivated his proximity radio so no one could overhear what he had to say. "Minh is good at what he does, so is Slick. They're too slippery to catch. Where’d all the positivity go?"
"I think it’s just hitting me now that we’ve landed and things have quieted down a bit. I should have more faith, I know." she watched as the line of deserters, as Jake had called them, was slowly led past the crate of credits. Chief Vega's people handed each of them a rectangular silver coin that glinted purple when it caught the light. The line of deserters had grown to hundreds while she wasn't looking, other deserters had joined them from the other ships.
"Things are bad now, but I'll bet the best are staying with us,"
"I know. I'm actually looking forward to visiting Greydock, it's just..." Ayan sighed deeply and looked up to Jake. "It's like all the good, all the bad, whatever it is, it all happens at once. It's hard to control things when they just seem to happen to us. I want to turn things around, start making the terms, come around to being proactive. " She paused a moment as someone ran from the back of the deserter line to the much shorter loyal line. "As ludicrous as that sounds considering our predicament," she chortled.
"I'
m on the same page. I think we can start by getting everything we can here. You ever negotiate a contract before?"
“Not since mock scenarios in advanced officer training.”
“Considering how you took control of the crowd and raised spirits here, I’d say your officer training stuck. We’ll be all right,” he replied with a slight smile. "Feeling better?"
"Much." Ayan stepped away and shook her head. "God, I was never this emotional before. It's like I had some kind of hardener the first time 'round." Ayan's eye was drawn to the quickly growing pile of command and control units and other equipment of every shape and size on the Samson's cargo ramp. If they could wipe the memories, they would have something to sell on the open market, if that sort of thing was permitted in Greydock.
"I like it," Jake said quietly as he watched the slow progression in front of them. The ground was slowly turning to thick mud under the increasing weight of the rain.
Ayan could see the stone faced facade that Jake wore so well was settling back into place, but took great comfort in the new assurance that she could call the man she wanted to know back when she wanted him, when she needed him.
* * *
Things got worse as the crowd of equipment stripped deserters grew. They stood waiting for transport to arrive, with the few things they could take with them from the Triton, a survival package with contained three days worth of meal replacement bars, water, an ultra-thin cot, a basic communicator and a dual purpose cutting tool plus fire starter. Ayan and Jake moved so they could stand within ten meters of the space they were handing out the coins and she found herself looking for Leland March and Edward Sherman, the worst of the trouble makers.
She was still scanning the line when Laura surprised her from behind with a fervent hug. They had been friends for years, and seeing her intact, in person was an incredible comfort. "God, you wouldn't believe the mess that ship is in. I'm sure its being held together with sealant tape and hull filler. Scratch that, we ran out of hull filler and started using deck sheeting," Laura told her with a chuckle.
Ayan squeezed her playfully. "It's so good to see you, I'm sorry if it seemed I had reservations about Minh checking after the Triton. I didn't mean to come off like-"
"Don't worry, I know you want to see Jason and Oz back here as much as I do, but you don’t want to lose someone else. I live with an intelligence agent, remember? If anyone understands the necessity for economical personnel use, it's the wife of a spook."
"You know, I never thought that would rub off on you," Ayan smiled.
"This'll come back on you, Captain," spat someone as they passed by as they flashed their hundred gram coin. The hate etched on his face was intense as he regarded Jake, obviously the person the dissenter thought was responsible for all his problems. Ayan faintly recalled that he was one of the crew members they'd rescued from Pandem and had to stop herself from shaking her head. "Would you rather we left you behind Verain?" Ayan asked.
"White doesn't suit you, you should all be wearing red. Blood red," he told her, his cold green eyes looking straight into hers.
"If you want to stay for better days, we'll give you your comm unit and put you in the other line. Otherwise, get ready for pickup," Jake snapped as he whirled on the older man.
"How many do you think are left?" asked Laura as the older fellow moved on.
"Crewcast says there are still six hundred thirty connected to the network." Ayan replied. “I’m pretty sure Chief Vega disconnected everyone who stepped into the deserter line.”
"I did," Stephanie confirmed curtly.
"Good thinking, Chief," Ayan said with a slight smile.
The only acknowledgement was a solemn nod as she watched one of her people hand the next person in line a coin from the emptying ammunition crate.
"I hope that's not all Jake has," Laura said quietly.
"It's one of four cases."
"That's not much for eight hundred people."
"I know. Hopefully we can pick up a privateering licence and do some easy privateering. I'll be visiting the governor's office as soon as I can."
"When?"
"I was thinking Jake could call in another transport for me and a security team when he calls for their ship. So in about forty minutes."
"That quick?" Laura asked, surprised.
"There's no point in waiting. The sooner we get-" Ayan’s eye caught Leland March and Edward Sherman then and she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"What?" Laura asked as Ayan regarded her with astonishment.
"Those two, Leland and Edward, they started this whole scene."
Laura turned to face the pair, who where chatting quietly, but enthusiastically. "And now they're in the loyal line."
"I'd bet what's left of the Samson that Leland was the one who showed the passengers where my emergency funds are kept," Jake added in over the private comm.
“This might not be the time to bring this up, but those two were part of a group that started a fire in a Botanical Gallery apartment before we abandoned ship.”
“Now is the perfect time to bring it up,” Jacob said, not letting the outrage he must have been feeling creep into his stony expression. “But if I haul them off the line and strap them to the nose of the Samson right now, it won’t help anything. They’ll get what’s coming to them.”
Ayan wasn’t aware he was listening in, but wasn't surprised considering how quickly things were happening. "What do you want to do?"
"I'll put Leland to work, same with his new friend. If I get the time I'll make sure to have a conversation with them one on one."
"Don't do anything you'll regret, Jacob," Ayan whispered so only Laura could overhear.
"With people like March there's no need. He'll crap himself the instant he realizes I've got him alone. As for the other one, I'll get Stephanie to talk to him. If I take the time to do it personally he'll just feel that he's even more important."
"Why don't you get Alaka to do it? If you're going further down the chain, you may as well use the anchor."
Jake chuckled ruefully. "What I'd give to be a fly on the wall. Good idea. It's not like Steph isn't busy as it is."
Ayan's tactical alarm went off. Every officer’s command and control unit notified them that there were several armed ships coming in from the northwest. "Lewis, can you scan them?"
"They are Carthan customs vessels, five in total. I'm reading over five hundred small arms and it looks like they're made for quick boarding or deployment action. They should break cloud cover shortly."
"Thank you Lewis. Do you think we should get everyone back on the ships Jake?"
"No, we're going to continue as we are. They are probably coming to inspect us and have a word."
"Have you ever dealt with anything like this?" asked Laura.
"The Samson has been inspected by customs more times than I can count. The big problem we have here are all the people looking for refugee status. We'll have to keep them calm and make sure the customs officials can get their terms to everyone, otherwise this could get bad fast. Ayan, you'll have to do the talking. The Carthans may not want us, but I'd still rather not let on that there are Samson crew here unless we absolutely have to."
"All right, everyone who was on the Samson crew, cover up," Stephanie ordered. Everyone who served on the Samson activated their armoured vacsuit hood and made their faceplates opaque. After a moment she added; "Too conspicuous. Okay, everyone in security and wearing armour, cover up."
"Good thinking, Chief," Jake said. "March! Cover up!"
Ayan looked to where Leland was still having a lively discussion with Edward and saw that his comm unit was blinking, but he was paying no attention.
The five eighty meter long ships broke through the crowd cover behind him, they were less than a kilometre away and slowing their quick descent. The heavy rain ran off the edges of their green and grey armoured hulls as they drifted downward in a precise formation. They would come down all around them.
&
nbsp; "Bloody idiot," Stephanie muttered, heard by everyone on the command and security channels. Ayan watched her stride purposefully towards Leland, who didn't notice until she was within two meters. As soon as he did, he flinched visibly, momentarily trying to put several people between himself and the Security Chief. "Seal up your suit and black out your faceplate you git! Look! Custom's ships are coming!" She pointed exaggeratedly.
It was as though he was the last to notice, and he may as well have been, since the low rumbling sound of their antigravity emitters were just kicking in and the air was stirred by a slight vibration. The high pitched hiss of the rain around the ships being pressed at speed by the nearest vessel's antigravity systems filled the air. It was unlike anything Ayan had ever heard, and she was thankful that it lessened as their ship landed.
Stephanie shook her head as March simply gawked at the nearest ship, not bothering to close his faceplate. She irritably activated it for him using her command unit and went back to stand with a small group of similarly clad guards so she could mix in with the crowd.
"Removing rankings, normalizing colours," Jake said quietly. All rank insignia disappeared from their vacsuits. The deserter line's suits turned light yellow while everyone else's were turned black with the exception of Ayan and Laura's suits. They were singled out in white.
"So you know, all I have to lean on here is the diplomacy and encounter training that I had in the Academy. You might want to pick a few assistants for me, Jake," Ayan said worriedly.
"Relax, you'll be fine. Give these stiffs whatever they want except for command access to the Clever Dream and the Samson."
Ayan watched as the ships slowly touched down. As soon as the broad landing feet grazed the ground broad ramps extended and troop doors opened. In seconds there was a hovering skiff pad bearing a woman in a long, green hooded cloak and several heavily armed soldiers around her. Beneath the cloak she wore a dark brown uniform, the breast of the suit jacket was held together with several glimmering silver chains and Ayan could see that the woman wore a silken garment that had many small folds underneath. The uniform was stately, almost ornate. The woman who wore it looked as though she was chiselled from stone, her features were sharp, she was tall and her long blonde hair was pulled back into a tight single braid.
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments Page 15