Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments

by Randolph Lalonde

  She could hear him chuckle on his end. “Turns out the shielding around the charge chambers on a lot of the rifles manufactured on Triton burned through. Your copilot came up with a pretty simple solution.”

  “He’s been a real gem. Took care of things while I caught some sleep, not that there was much to do but watch the auto pilot run my program.”

  “I’m glad things are going smoothly down there. Everyone here is pretty anxious to get to a safe port. The fighting is over, the Captain surrendered, but there’s nothing left of the destroyer’s reactors.”

  “Too bad, that’s a big ship. Is Agameg around? I could use his help.”

  “He’s busy checking on the Botanical Gallery. I could send him up if it’s urgent.”

  “I guess it’s not urgent. I’ll get on comms if I need him. Glad he’s nearby though.”

  “It must be shoulder to shoulder down there, Agameg said there were a lot of volunteers.”

  “You said it, there’s so many I almost couldn’t get to the bathroom. What do I tell ‘em? Now that things have calmed down, what should they do?”

  “Just tell them the good news. Soon we’ll be in port and anyone who wants to stay can join the crew and help clean up. Then we’re probably taking a privateer contract.”

  “What do they do?”

  “Send them towards the Botanical Gallery in case Agameg needs help. There’s more space for them there anyway.”

  “All right, thanks.”

  “Oh, and Ashley?”

  “Yeah?”

  “We couldn’t have done it without you.” Oz didn’t give her a chance to reply before his signal closed.

  Ashley took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Zoe put her hand over her pursed lips playfully when she was half finished. In response, she blew the last of her breath against the little hand, wheezing exaggeratedly and making a face. The toddler smiled around her cup, which seemed to have gone dry.

  “Let’s go talk to some volunteers,” Ashley said to her charge.

  It took a while for the group of liberated slaves to calm down after Ashley announced that the enemy Captain had officially surrendered and the fighting had stopped. Zoe was a little frightened and confused when they burst out into cheers but it didn’t take her long to realize that Ashley was smiling, so everything must have been all right. Before long she was looking around at the revellers with an uneasy smile, as though she were trying to understand why they were so happy.

  When the group did calm down, Ashley told them that there was room for them in the Botanical Gallery, and within minutes half of them were gone, retracing their steps towards the centre of the ship.

  “Ashley, this is David,” introduced Nerine from her left.

  She turned to face the squared jawed man. He looked only a little older than herself until she looked into his eyes. They looked like they’d seen too much, and spoke of the man’s true age. There were holes across the chest of his vacsuit, all perfectly round burn marks. The bare skin underneath looked new, like Stephanie’s mended wounds after they first took the Triton. He held a Triton security rifle across his chest, only it looked like it had been through a full on war. The muzzle had melted back several millimetres, and sealant tape covered several parts of the weapon on the main body. His smile was open and disarming. “Good to meet you, Commander.”

  “Thank you, David,” she offered. Ashley didn’t know what to say to him at first, but then it came to her. “We couldn’t have done it without you and your people,” she stated in earnest.

  His smile faded, revealing the weariness it disguised.

  Nerine’s arm went across his shoulders. All eyes were on them, but Ashley forgot everyone else at something she couldn’t help but recognize. It was something she’d seen on the Samson, right before one of the boarding team members, Amanda, left the ship at port and never returned. She’d nearly been killed when her weapon failed on a boarding action with Stephanie. When Ashley saw Amanda after that encounter in the mess hall, it was like a light inside her had gone out. The normally pleasant woman she’d come to know was gone. When she asked Stephanie about it after Amanda had left the ship for good, she wasn’t ready for the answer. “That’s what getting scared to death looks like Ash. People aren’t the same after that, especially if they weren’t ready for it in the first place.”

  Ashley knelt down and whispered what she was sure she’d want to hear if she were in David’s place; “You’ll never be a slave again and you don’t need to hold a rifle to join this crew.”

  A tear rolled down his cheek as a different kind of smile began to emerge. “Thank you,” he whispered.

  Zoe offered him her cup, thrusting it at him eagerly. He laughed and put his hand up. “No, I think you should keep that.” The gun across his knees caught his eye then, and he carefully handed it over to someone standing nearby.

  Zoe insisted, turning it and waving it in front of his face. “Well thank you, I’ll give it back when I’m done,” he said, finally taking it.

  The conference room door opened. “Ashley, the wormhole is beginning to degrade, I need you.”

  “Can we do anything to help?” Nerine asked.

  Ashley looked to Zoe, whose big blue eyes looked back at her. “Would you like to play with Nerine and David for a while?”

  Nerine stepped forward and took Zoe’s hand. “Hi Zoe, let’s let the Commander go to work for a while, okay?”

  David stood up behind her, cleared his eyes and smiled at the toddler, who beamed at him.

  Ashley tried to hand Zoe over to Nerine, an act that was met with desperate resistance as she gripped hair and whined. “Okay, we’ll try that in the conference room. Let’s go.”

  Without hesitation she led the way into the conference room and slowly put Zoe down. David and Nerine were right behind her, and before the little one knew what as going on, the pair were kneeling down in front of her, asking what she wanted to do.

  “What’re they doing in here?” Larry asked as though they weren’t within earshot.

  “They’re going to take care of Zoe while we bring the ship into port,” Ashley replied as she looked at the profile of the wormhole they were travelling through. “Someone’s started an emitter on the other ship, it’s forcing the wormhole to degrade.”

  “How far into the deceleration phase are we?” Dave asked as he watched Nerine pick Zoe up by the hands and gently swing her from side to side.

  “Right at the end, I always plan trips so there’s room to spare.”

  “Smart, most pilots only plan a drift time of five minutes at the end of wormhole.”

  “You’re a pilot?”

  “Nope, a mechanic. I’ve been on plenty of ships though.”

  “Well, whoever wanted us to come out of this wormhole early is about to get their way. I’m not going to wait for the wormhole to go off balance. If we come out the wrong way or breach the compression wall we could get torn apart. Larry, how much longer will it take us to get to Carthan space if we emerge right now?”

  “We’ll be a few minutes away at half power.”

  “Good enough.” Ashley opened a comm channel. “Oz, we’re emerging from the wormhole in a few seconds. There shouldn’t be any bumps, but pass the word.”

  “Problem?”

  “No biggie, we’re almost home.”

  “All right.”

  Ashley worked the controls and rechecked the wormhole emitters every few seconds. She knew how the wormhole systems were supposed to work, but normally had a field specialist who managed that system backing her up.

  “We could just compensate, there’s enough power in the system.” Larry offered.

  “There could be damage we’re not seeing, a burnout waiting to happen. I’m just happy the emitters work at all.”

  “All right, I’ll focus the emitters so we have a better exit point.”

  Before Ashley’s eyes the integrity of the wormhole dropped near collapse then recovered. The entire ship shook, and the holograp
hic diagram of the Triton flashed red for several seconds, alerting her to an impending structural failure along the dorsal section of the ship. “Okay, set for dispersion, we’re getting out now.”

  Neither of them spoke as they worked at the controls, and in seconds the energy of the wormhole surrounding them peeled away like a blossoming flower. Ashley watched the diagram of the Triton nervously as stress warnings spread across the upper hull like angry red spider webs. To her relief, most of them faded away, leaving damage notifications mostly around the upper mooring. She breathed a sigh of relief as she brought up the navnet display. The local network connected right away and began to fill the holographic system with markers.

  “Nice work. I’ve never seen someone disperse a wormhole before,” David remarked.

  “Triton has a lot of power, and her emitter system has backups built in. I’m just lucky they were working properly, otherwise we would have come out tumbling or I could have blown the whole array.”

  Ashley’s eye was drawn to the smaller diagram of the Enforcer’s exterior, where escape pods were jettisoning by the dozen. “Oz, do you see this? It looks like the rats are leaving the ship.”

  “Looks like I owe Jason a fifty. He said the Enforcer crew were probably using life support power to disrupt the wormhole so they could try and escape. There’s nothing we can do, don’t worry about it.”

  “All right, just wonderin’. Navnet’s loading up nicely, it looks like we’re going to be okay.”

  Seven Carthan carriers, each of them three and a half kilometres long and two across came up on navnet, and behind them were more gunships and mid sized cruisers than she could count. The port instructions came up in large red letters that said HOLD POSITION. A battle scarred command ship loomed in the distance, featuring three thick parallel hulls that were set in increasing length from top to bottom. The slanted main body of the ship, set behind the secondary sections of hull was a flat oval. The Triton’s computer immediately began marking its systems, numerous docking bays and measuring her total pressurized volume, raw tonnage, and overall firepower. It was a sleek hulled beast of a vessel, measuring six kilometres at her most broad point, three kilometres tall, and twelve point three kilometres long measuring from the greatest section of secondary hull to the rearmost of the oval primary hull. The thousands of lit portholes seemed as numerous as the stars, and as it began to propel itself the space around it distorted, as though fields with incredible energy were curving around the vessel. Navnet finally finished loading its registry information, and Ashley would never forget the name; The Oracle.

  Behind it was what Ashley would later describe as several battle groups, and a non-orbital ship yard that was so large it looked closer than the Oracle itself. The boundaries set on that segment of the holodisplay couldn’t contain it. “Oz, tell me you’re seeing some of this,” she muttered.

  “We’re looking at it here. I haven’t seen anything like it since Freeground. That ship, the Oracle, there’s something familiar about it.”

  “It’s Expansion Age. It must have been adrift for over two hundred years.” Larry added.

  “Well, it looks like someone dusted it off. The entire Carthan fleet has made itself at home too. I’m guessing this is no where near the rendezvous coordinates.” Oz assumed.

  “You’re right, we came out early and we’re off by about half a million kilometres. We’re on the wrong side of Kambis, the moon where we’re supposed to rendezvous with the rest of the crew is still on the night side.”

  “It could have been a lot worse. We could have come out of the wormhole on the extreme angle of its curve,” Larry said as he watched armed shuttles, gunships and cruisers begin moving towards the Triton.

  The communications system lit up with a priority message and Ashley stared at the virtual panel on the table. “Something’s up. Oz, do you see this emergency channel?”

  “Yup, link me up.”

  “All right, mind if I listen in? They’re not issuing instructions through navnet and I need to know what’s going on.”

  “No problem.”

  Ashley linked the incoming communication with Oz’s communicator and sat back.

  “Welcome to Carthan space and the Rega Gain solar system. By treaty I must give you or any passengers that may be United Core World Confederation military the opportunity to retreat peacefully.”

  “This is Commander Ozark McPatrick of the Free Ship Triton. We’d like to request safe harbour, rescue services and I’m declaring the ship moored to our dorsal side as a vessel as a war time capture. I hope you take prisoners, because I’d like to remand the entire crew of the Enforcer 1109 into your custody. Do whatever you want to ‘em, and if there’s a reward, we’re interested.”

  “We’re dispatching security and rescue ships right now. We were expecting you. My orders are to safely conduct the crew of the Triton and any passengers to the Tamber moon.”

  “We’re safe aboard the Triton, in fact we have repair crews aboard who can begin work right away.”

  “My orders stand, Commander. Please ready your crew and passengers for transport. You have ten minutes.”

  “Stand by while I consult my command team,” Oz said with a note of finality before ending the communication.

  Ashley tried not to look dismayed, David and Nerine did a good enough job at looking shocked for everyone. They look so tired, she kept thinking. Zoe had quieted down a little, but was still content to swing from her hands, her feet reaching up to touch the seat of the nearest chair. “What do we do Oz?” Ashley asked quietly.

  “I’m going to talk to Jason before making a decision. Be ready to move.”

  Oz watched from the flight control deck beneath the main bridge as one of the large armed Carthan troop transports docked with the emergency port. They had just finished clean up, and several crew members were performing repairs on the consoles. “Another ambush, is it Tuesday already?” Oz said quietly.

  “No, this sounds political,” Jason replied over their encrypted connection. “I knew this was a possibility, especially in a military port. If Jake’s been declared a war criminal…”

  “Then this ship is a legitimate capture, even if he’s on the same side as the Carthans. Minh didn’t say anything about any of the other ships getting taken. Wouldn’t they be captured under the same terms?”

  “They weren’t taken from a Sol System military base. They can seize this ship under rights given by a whole different law book.”

  “So, what you’re saying is we don’t have a legal leg to stand on.”

  “Not at the moment. How are our military options looking?”

  “We don’t have any. We’re in range of enough firepower to slag half a moon, and I can see at least one long range interdiction array from where I’m standing.”

  “We’ve got the Enforcer all to ourselves though. We just have to claim it under the right privateering licence. Minh’s dispatch said our licence was under Ayan. The Enforcer needs major electrical work, they burned out the controls and her operating software has been wiped. Oh, and her reactors would have to be completely rebuilt.”

  “What you’re saying is we’ve got an over sized pressurized box.”

  “Exactly. It’s an intact box though, without much structural damage.”

  “Life support?”

  “Emergency systems have a couple days left in them, but I don’t know much beyond that. I’m bringing Frost into this conversation.”

  “We turning tail?” Frost said as soon as he knew he could be heard.

  Agameg came into the lower bridge and surveyed the room with a sweeping glance. Technicians who were quietly listening in on the conversation were turning away from their work. People who were removing refuse stopped where they were and put their loads down quietly. The issyrian’s eyes narrowed to slits and fixed on Oz, who wished he would be giving everyone better news. “No, we’re leaving Triton temporarily while we get things sorted out.”

  “Sounds like you’re
letting a bunch of bureaucrats tell us we can’t stand on the deck of our own ship. I’m speaking for everyone when I say-“

  “Can it, Frost,” Oz said firmly.

  “Now you wait just-“

  “Look out a window, shut your hole and use your brain for one second. This is a fight you can’t win with a gun.”

  “What if Captain Valance is on his way here right now? What if he’s got something no one’s thought of, he’s done it more than once.”

  “If he’s not on comms, then he probably doesn’t know we’re here. Besides, it looks like the warrant they have out for him is why we’re being ordered to abandon ship. What we need are solutions, so tell me how the systems aboard the Enforcer look, please?” Oz asked forcefully.

  “On the Enforcer? They’re fine if you’re looking for scrap, but I wouldn’t even try to turn the main electrical board on, and we detonated a high powered EMP right in the middle of their reactor room. Where’s Chief Grady?”

  “The Botanical Gallery. He’s been controlling Triton’s main power systems from there.”

  “Well, that explains a bit.”

  “Would you move people onto the Enforcer?” Asked Jason.

  “I wouldn’t move my Aunt Elaine aboard, and she’s a crotchety bitch. What we didn’t tear up disabling this boat was ripped apart by her crew before they abandoned her.”

  “So much for plan B. Jason, get something ready to transmit to Carthan authorities so we can lay a claim on the Enforcer.”

  “Already done, and I have a rough appeal for possession of the Triton ready to go. It’s all on your comm.”

  “All right, I’m sending a notification to all sections to get ready to evacuate.”

  “You could lose the crew over this, Oz,” Frost warned.

  “Not if I have you and all the other commands backing me.” Agameg nodded his acceptance as Oz said the words. He had taken command of the liberated slaves, and it was all Oz could do to hope that they would all follow the cunning issyrian. “I need you to be in line with this,” Oz appealed to Frost.