Daisuke and Wardah gave each other a long hug and a deep kiss before parting. They both knew that everything they needed would be waiting for them onboard the Thorns, so without undue haste they climbed into the cars waiting for them and left for opposite sides of the Hauler.
Ten minutes later Daisuke's car stopped beside an airlock. On all of the Thorns, and most of the other craf t that Rose Foxtrot had onboard, there was a custom, combat suit waiting for his use just beside the airlock. He walked up to the container, turned and backed up against it; the system recognised him, allowing the heavy combat suit to form around him and lock itself into place, but leaving the helmet non-activated.
When the suit was ready he walked across and through the airlock. stepping into the short, access tubeway, then into the crew access airlock of the 120-metre-long dart-shaped Thorn.
Two Tengu were waiting for him and snapped to attention as he passed them. He acknowledged the salute and as they fell in step beside him, he turned to the more senior of them.
'Mr Carrington. Our status, please.'
'We have a thirty-eight Q onboard, sir. Our equipment is loaded, plus our stores and ammunition. Each Q has been assigned a task onboard. I note that this carrier has twenty Hangers and ten Skua onboard, plus four zero atmosphere capable Mauls. May I request your vehicle assignments, please?' 'Knowing how your units operate, Mr Carrington, I request that you assign the best people to their optimum positions in
whatever craf t you see fit.'
Daisuke liked the Tengu. He had operated with them as part of Rose for years, far away from the Sphere of Humankind, and appreciated that each individual of the dragonlike creatures could do everything that he could and then a lot more. They could operate any craf t or any weapon system designed to be used by a standard human soldier -which was why their height and physical layout was not that dissimilar to a human -and could repair and maintain their equipment and could fight way past the endurance of even the very best of the more classically augmented humans. He also admired each of them for their training and study in martial arts.
'As you wish, major,' said the hardplated and armoured Tengu. 'I had taken the liberty of assigning the crew positions, but had not made them official as I did not know if you had any preferences. I am told by Commander Bierwage that you enjoy backgammon. We are all avid players of that, plus go and chess.'
Daisuke smiled widely at the angular-headed, long-snouted extreme human beside him, and then laughed. 'Good! I am very keen to meet many of your fellows, Mr Carrington. I love backgammon. I am OK with go, as well.'
They walked onto the bridge of the Thorn just as the outer hull of Rose Foxtrot started to fold out of the way exposing the full length of the carrier to space.
As Daisu ke sat down and was enfolded into his command seat, his helm automatically formed itself over his head, but left the faceplate open as the screens inside his pod came alive. He tapped his comms screen. 'Mr Carrington, what are our timings, please?'
'Commander. Rose is coming up on the local trailing LP in twenty-one minutes. As soon as the jump is completed, we will deploy. If you wish to visit the toilet or grab a piece of fruit, you have time, sir.'
The Q favoured him with a wide, toothy grin.
Daisuke felt totally at home looking across his screens and seeing the well-trained crew at work.
He nodded at the screen, then looked across at the Qmajor in his own command pod. 'And I shall enjoy beating the crap out of you at backgammon, Mr Carrington!'
He tapped another comms icon. 'All crew: this is Commander Suzuki. My thanks, it has always been my pleasure to serve with the Q. Secure all hatchways. Lock down all facilities. This is the twenty-minute warning. Being only mildly augmented, I shall be in gel shortly.'
Looking across his screens again, he signalled to Mr Carrington to take charge as he left the bridge for the ablutions area behind the control centre where he relieved himself, washed his hands and face, then checked what sweets had been loaded into their dispenser on his suit. Satisfied, he keyed the control on his helmet, which sealed the faceplate. He took one last breath of air, exhaled as much as his lungs would allow, then in his mind instructed his biosystem to flood him with the transparent acceleration gel. He had always hated the sensation of the blood temperature fluid filling up the air pockets in the suit then forcing itself into his lungs, ears and sinus. The sinus filling he hated the most, but endured the short time the process took, knowing that as soon as the Thorn left Rose the acceleration would be brutal.
He consciously calmed himself, telling his hindbrain that it was OK not to breathe. When he thought that his level of composure would be acceptable to the Q, he walked out of the ablutions and into his command pod. The seat enfolded him and then formed itself into an acceleration couch. He thought of Mr Carrington, and said in his mind, 'I have command, thank you, Mr Carrington.'
'You have command, sir.'
'Is the carrier in a state of readiness, Mr Carrington?'
'It is, sir. All systems are green. The navigation officer, Captain Yvette Reece, is known to you, as are other crew members. List is sent. She will take us out.'
Daisuke looked over the crew list, seeing many old friends some of whom, like the major, had been Tengu for a very long time; others were more recent.
He touched Yvette's private comms icon. 'Last time I saw you, captain, you were much more attractive!'
'Ha! And you are still soft, Mr Suzuki. The things this body can do would startle even you.'
Daisuke grinned, remembering the occasions Yvette and he had spent in bed together, years before when they were both only slightly augmented and working for the military wing of the Administration.
'Perhaps one day soon you can appraise me, Yvette.'
He saw a smile message come back followed by a quick winking one that was more than a little suggestive.
The power that the Hauler Rose was generating as she rapidly accelerated towards the jump point could easily be felt through the Thorn. He relaxed his mind, then had a short loving conversation with Wardah, who was in an identical Thorn on the other side of the Hauler. Then he spoke with Andreas Bierwage.
'Excellent crew, thanks, Andy. But why would I expect anything else?'
'Indeed! Bit rash of you to think that they would be less than outstanding, Dai. You should really join us for a few years, my friend. No regrowing if you get messed up. No 365 days isolated in a tank, constantly awake, making sure that every little bit of you is perfect. No, this is much better. Think that your body is about to get squashed, then have the uplink verif y and you are gone. Twenty hours later you are integrated into a new sweet-smelling Tengu. And when you want to become a soft again, you can go talk with the Hauler who will take you to where your standard is, take it out of the chiller, warm it up and transfer for a month or two, or R and R. It really is the most wonderful life and we get to practise so much magnificent martial art!'
Daisuke thought for a few long seconds before replying, 'Yes. Perhaps one day I just might do that.'
Rose Foxtrot broke into the conversation. 'One day maybe, Daisuke. But would you not prefer to stay with me for a few years more?'
He grinned. 'We are coming up on the jump. Take good care, all of you.'
Seconds later he said on the crew comms: 'Navigation. You have the helm. All crew: this is the two-minute warning. Prepare for a hot jump.'
Huge hydraulic rams pushed the launch platform on which the Thorn was held, out beyond the hull of the Hauler.
The sultry, accented voice of Yvette said, 'Commander, this is navigation. I have control.'
On Daisuke's screens he could see the antimatter engines being brought up online and the attitude thrusters being quickly tested, just as the exotic energies of the Hauler's hugely powerf ul wormhole generators were unleashed in one magnificent display and they jumped.
Daisuke thought about a sweet in his mouth and a delicious gooseberry one was deftly deposited into his slightly open mouth. He
could taste it perfectly through the gel and for the instantaneous eternally long time of the jump he found himself cold, but grounded and at peace.
As soon as the Hauler was through, he felt the Thorn being pushed off the launch platform and the main engines come online. Yvette rolled and dived the ship away until they were hundreds of metres clear, then took the engines to full power and Daisuke felt he had a solid weight squashing him into the chair. He did what he always did in such a situation: slowed his heart rate down, sucked on the long-lasting sweet and watched as the Q crew performed flawlessly through the next ten hours of hard acceleration and jumps.
Seeing that the acceleration was easing down to one gravity, he climbed out of the pod and spent a few moments stretching before looking at the main screens above the low-profile viewing ports, at the front of the bridge. He noted that they had a few hundred thousands of kilometres to travel to get to the correct point in the interstellar Lagrange point for the jump across to the target star system.
Time enough for a cup of coffee and a much needed sandwich or three, he thought. He signalled control across to Mr Carrington. As he climbed down one of the spiral staircases, clustered around the massive linear accelerator that ran down the centre of the ship, he instructed his bioware to drain the gel out of his system. The gel bound onto itself and was gently pulled by his suit back out of his body so that, as he made it to the galley, the last tendrils of it were coming out of his nose and mouth. Instructing himself to breathe again, he sucked in lungfuls of air and gave a few involuntary coughs, as first his faceplate opened up and then the helmet folded off his head.
'Good to see you again, Mr Suzuki. I believe I remember how you like your coffee. Please, allow me.'
Daisuke looked at the Q who had just spoken to him, but could only see the construct's rank designation on his wrists. 'Thank you, staff sergeant. But you have me at a disadvantage. You all look, and sound, exactly the same.'
The Q turned as he was packing the coffee holder of the espresso machine, smiled and pointed at his ceramic cup.
Daisuke smiled widely, reached for the extended wide palmed hand of the Q and shook the long-fingered metallic appendage with vigour. 'Excellent! Saw you on the crew list, John Harvey. Wardah sends her fondest regards. Her sisters are very keen that you go spend a few months with them again soon.'
The staff sergeant laughed in a manner that Daisuke recognised as his old friend.
'In that case, I had better make sure that my standard self is very fit! That pair gave me friction burns!'
A few moments later Daisuke was handed the coffee, and as soon as he smelt it he knew that it had been perfectly extracted with just the right amount of honey in it. John Harvey gestured to the food units, selecting for himself a handful of mandarins and a tangelo from which he took large bites without bothering to remove the skins. Daisuke grimaced slightly at the sight as he made himself a few large sandwiches.
John laughed. 'Go on, Mr Suzuki. Harden up! The skins are where the best part of the fruit is and the most taste. Once you try it and get used to the taste and texture you will never go back. Right, I had better be off. Got a Skua to prep. Needs a quick bit of artwork on it. Talk later.'
While he ate his sandwiches, Daisuke spoke with as many of the other Qs as he could, discovering a few more old friends and comrades amongst them. Finishing his meal, he made his way back up the stairs, constantly being greeted by individuals who appeared exactly the same except for different wetware implants and, as he noted, different shoulder tattoos lightly carved into the tough lobster shell-like skin. Suddenly remembering something from the last time he had worked with the previous generation of Tengu, he brought up the controls for his bioware in his head. He spent a few seconds experimenting with the light wavelengths available to his eyes and brain until he hit upon just the right amount of ultraviolet, whereupon the tattoos all gently glowed showing each Q as an individual.
Climbing off the stairway at the accommodation deck, he made his way into his cabin where he instructed the suit to peel off him into a stowage case and took a quick shower.
He had just stepped out of the shower and was drying himself off when the comms screen came alive.
'Commander, we apologise for the interruption. We have determined that the target star's binary companion is most fortunately in the right position to enable us to view the Urchins' breeding planets at the one light-week mark, from one of its Lagrange points. If Basalt is in the system, we are confident of viewing the frigate.'
'Ha! My compliments to Mr Carrington. I will join him on the bridge shortly.'
He backed up against the suit container, instructing it to form around him, and quickly left the cabin, running for the stairway and the bridge. Seeing the crew were already in their pods, he clambered into his and called across to his second in-command: 'So that is most fortunate, Mr Carrington. Knowing the capabilities of this Thorn's astronomical drones, I would say that four hours of observations should be enough to see Basalt.'
The Q nodded back at him. 'I am presuming that we take the detour, commander?'
'Yes. Will we need any more acceleration?'
The Q shook his head. 'No, commander, we have sufficient high speed to be able to avoid anything aggressive. Navigation, new course is locked in. Proceed when ready.'
Looking across, Daisuke could see Yvette Reece's fingers flying over the screens and minutes later she announced, 'Companion star leading LP is plotted. Altered flight path to Urchins' target star system is now plotted. All crew: this is the two-minute warning to jump.'
Minutes later she called out, 'Popper away!'
The weapons officer calmly spoke. 'Popper reads high concentrations of Urchins in the LP. We are being shunted sideways, by three kilometres, from the target point by the popper. This ship has nice software for seeing Urchins. My compliments.'
Looking across his screens, he could see the defensive weapons onboard the Thorn were manned, and that the Skuas and Mauls were also manned and on their launch cradles, with the individual airlock laµnch doors open. Daisuke called out as the jump was taking place: 'Weapons free! Shoot only if they come within one kilometre of us.'
The images on all the screens changed to show the surrounding starfields, where the brown dwarf was, and the three gas giant planets that were orbiting it relatively close to their low energy sun.
The intelligence officer spoke. 'Tethered astronomicals are deployed. Images are now being gathered. Navigation, optimum figure of eight, please.'
'Established.'
Daisuke could feel the ship being placed into a large 700-kilometre continuous manoeuvre which would allow the astronomical drones the best chance of seeing if Basalt was in the target system. He hoped that in the few hours of observing what had happened with Basalt a week earlier, that they had been under power or at the very least using their attitude thrusters.
Another Q voice spoke. 'This is Tactical. Commander, we have Fast Mover drones loaded with slow-decay fields around antimatter packets, ready for launch.'
Daisuke nodded. 'Fast Mover decoys are cleared for use, Tactical. Launch whenever you see fit.'
'Acknowledged. Launching one.'
On his tactical screen the moving dot of the Fast Mover shifted away from the Thorn towards a group of adult Urchins who had started to make their way towards the carrier. It shot through the middle of them and under the control of the tactical officer, started firing small slow-speed pellets of electronically encapsulated antimatter towards the largest of the Urchins. As the crew of the Thorn watched, the creatures started to fight, crashing into each other in a free-for-all to get the antimatter and take it into themselves. The mover then swung high around them and was established in a wide orbit with the Thorn at its centre.
Over the next few hours the crew watched and waited with only a few of them working hard at keeping the Urchins occupied and a long way away from them. Daisuke was considering a quick nap when the intelligence officer suddenly announced, 'I
have a possible sighting.'
The screens changed and they could see a battle taking place.
'Confirmed!That is Basalt. Looks like they were in a shitfight!'
'Lock up. Let's go!' Daisuke yelled.
The intelligence officer calmly inquired, 'Should we not wait and see the outcome of the battle, commander? They may have jumped out of the system by now.'
Daisuke looked over at the calm, relaxed Q. 'Yeah, and we would probably have seen them on our way here. Nope, no time to waste. Navigation. You have your orders.'
Yvette nodded as all around her the bridge crew rapidly started the recall of the Fast Movers and the astronomicals. Twenty minutes later they jumped into the trailing LP of the outermost of the gas giants.
As soon as they emerged from the wormhole, the astronomicals were deployed again, and the Skuas and Mauls pushed out of their airlocks ready for immediate deployment.
On his screen Daisuke saw the hollowed-out, tumbling wreck of the Games Board frigate being kept company by the smashed remains of the GB short-range fighters and a still expanding debris field.
'Look for any Administration equipment or wreckage. Check for distress locators. Also check to see if the Games Board Soul Saver core is anywhere close.'
The communications officer said a few moments later, 'No beacons and no signals from the GB core close by. But there is one emanating from what appears to be a very large Urchin, which is just over 100,000 kilometres above the water planet to starwards!'
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