Worldship Files: Cityships

by Erik Schubach

  For the Leviathan, it was just modest fare, though with no meats, but for here? It was virtually a banquet while people were literally starving in the streets. I had to contemplate that for a while, wondering how it was any different than us. We still had homeless who only ate what they could afford with the monthly meal cards, while our leaders and rich ate like royalty. We just happened to have more available to us, so our destitute still didn't starve.

  Would our elite give up their luxury if our people suffered the same calamities as the Cityships? Or would they sacrifice for the people? I didn't know the answer to that, I could only hope they would do... better since it wasn't sitting well with me here after seeing the desperation of the people here.

  When it was time for us to return to the control center to escort our delegates back to the Underhill, I took the time to eavesdrop a little as the Lancers and the technicians spoke in low tones away from us. My hearing and sight are better than the average Human's and I've taken advantage of that fact in situations like this. Half the races on board had better hearing, so I was sure some of the others in our group were hearing the same thing.

  The Lancers were asking someone at a security console, “How can you stand to be so close to the 'roaches'?” The reply was just as perplexing. “It's just for a little while longer. Our birthright is near.”

  I had a feeling they weren't talking about insects.

  When our people joined us, the Secretary was looking quite pleased with himself as were most of the group, but the two Greater Fae had inscrutable expressions on their faces as they studied the two Captains who were graciously thanking our people. Delphine didn't pull her eyes away as she absently pressed my wrist console into my hand.

  Richter was saying, “We'll send word to load the patients along with what little water we can spare onto the Stingers. Our people will bring the worst cases to the Underhill. I look forward to meeting with this President Yang, face to face after how kind your people have been to us. This is an exciting time to live in.”

  I whispered, “What's that all about?”

  Delphine finally looked away from them and just nudged her chin toward Y'nell, who was making a beeline toward me as she whispered, “The gift that keeps on giving.” Then she gave the man a smile that was an insult to all other fake smiles which came before it.

  It was lost on the man as he puffed up like a glow-frog and said like it was the best news in the world. “Captain Richter will be joining us on the trip back, so he can speak with the President and the Queens himself.”

  That actually was pretty interesting, but then my eyes narrowed as four armored and heavily armed Lancers moved up behind the Captain. “We're not letting any armed people on the Underhill. Operational safety is my job.”

  He shook his head. “Relax, it is a gesture of goodwill between our peoples, just like he let you and your armed team escort us on their ship. Besides, I've cleared it with President Yang. You should be getting confirmation at any moment.”

  True to his word, I got a presidential communique pinging in my heads up and Mother started it scrolling as she muttered in my head, “Blah blah blah... escort the leader of the Cityships... blah blah blah... convoy of ships... blah blah blah...”

  I chuckled and assured her, “Three ships do not a convoy make.”

  It was as if I could hear her shaking her head as a section of the long-winded change of orders highlighted and was brought forward to fill my vision. “She authorized this? Did she run this by the Brigade higher-ups? Surely they wouldn't have authorized this on a moment's notice.”

  Mother sighed and I asked the Secretary, “Seriously? We're escorting seventy ships full of patients back to the Leviathan?”

  That was what the talk of Stingers was. Those mining ships. They were going to send them with sick citizens into interstellar space between here and the Worldship? They were little more than flying relics themselves, all patched together over the centuries. And the orders expected us to launch on schedule. We wouldn't have time to inspect that many ships, or even a handful of them at that time since we were to launch in two hours.

  Mother fairy humper!

  Then I sighed and asked Richter who had just joined us, “What is the compliment of each Stinger?”

  He said, “Usually two. The pilot and the stinger-tech... the mining specialist who operates the mining laser and the capture arms. But we'll be forgoing the specialist so two patients can be transported by the pilots.”

  I mentally added two hundred and ten to the sixty we would be ferrying in the Underhill, plus Richter and four Lancers. One hundred and seventy-five Cityshippers. Space me now. And it sounded as if they were only going to have water in the other ships, no food for two days.

  Would just a few more days make that much of a difference? I thought of the women and children with lesions all over their skin and sighed. Every minute of suffering we could alleviate was worth the disarray this threw in our own operations.

  I had to ask, “Our pilots have seen your Stingers. They look rough, will they be able to make the flight safely?”

  He assured us, “They are built like tanks. They can survive a direct meteoroid strike and keep on mining. Their engines are oversize to push around the ore they free from the asteroid, so they will be able to make the crossing. It will utilize most of the reaction fuel they have left, but I am assured by your government that some could be freed up from the Leviathan stores to replenish what is used since it is a humanitarian mission.”

  I felt ashamed that I felt it wasn't a good idea again, that we'd be dipping into the reserves to fuel so many ships when just by waiting a few days, we could save that fuel for when the Leviathan really needed it. Our own asteroid in the Heart was being depleted of resources faster than the designers had anticipated, this would just put a further strain on things.

  But smarter people than me had to have already calculated this and determined we could part with that much fuel. Otherwise, they would have never agreed to this. So this had to be the best way we could help as many people as we could in the most expeditious way.

  I inclined my head to the man and he said, “Then we should make haste if we're to help load the patients onto the Underhill. I have to say I am quite curious about it. The AJAX-43 appears in hundreds of texts from the construction records of the Worldship. It sounds quite improbable and incredible at the same time. Especially for an Ore Runner built around the same time as the shipyard stations, our Cityships were built from. Our external cameras show it to be in almost pristine condition still.”

  They knew about the Underhill?

  A minute later we were heading back to our ship, my eyes scanning the crowds for the Outliers. They were usually easy to spot with their armbands, but I couldn't see any. I was also frantically scanning the area for the telltale dust from Sprite wings, and nothing. Anxiety was gnawing at my gut, Graz was still nowhere to be seen and we couldn't hold the launch for her.

  I reminded myself that she could take care of herself... so why did I feel like we were abandoning her? Just space me now.

  Then just as we arrived at the airlock I asked, “I would have thought Captain Vandross would be here to see us off.”

  Richter assured me with the same diplomatic face every politician was assigned at birth that indicated there are bigger things to worry about than the mundane, “Captain Vandross has two Cityships to run in my absence, so she is needed in the command center.”

  There were already dozens of people being loaded as we arrived. All in tattered clothing, some on crutches, and a couple on stretchers. My security detail we had left behind was scanning each person for energy weapons as they were given directions to follow the relief workers to the cargo bay and strap into their cots for launch.

  I had so many questions looking at the mix of people. Most of the men and women didn't look as bad off as the ones on stretchers or the two children that were loaded aboard. I knew there were other children wit
h just as bad if not worse radiation burns on them. Why did the group mostly consist of adults?

  I had to remind myself, that as alien as their culture seemed to be to me, ours must be just as alien. I would just have thought they'd want their children cared for first.

  Sighing I just looked around, and almost jumped out of my skin when Mir said into my ear from behind me somehow, “This is going to be one crowded ship.”

  I glanced back at her, still dressed in my clothes, and noted her eyes were not on me, they were on the people boarding the ship. Nodding I said, “Yes, it's going to be one interesting ride.”

  Mother started playing, ‘Smoke on the Water’, by a band called Deep Purple, from my library. She had a knack for playing songs that matched the turmoil inside of me.

  Then Mir said, “See you in a bit, time to play nice-nice.” She beamed a smile as she strode away toward the Captain and his security team as they were arguing with my security detachment. I waved them off, Mother relaying to them that the Lancers were allowed to keep their weapons.

  Then Mir said as she bowed her head slightly, “Captain Richter, welcome aboard. The master of the Underhill, Mac, has extended an invitation for you to accompany him on the bridge for takeoff.”

  The man inclined his head as he studied her. “I'd be delighted. AI?”

  She sighed and assured him, “Not AI, not android nor robot, I'm human. I just have a significant number of mods.” She held out a hand. “Mir.” He shook as he looked at her hand as it reflected the world around us.

  Then she looped her arm in his and moved them along through the corridor, the Lancers starting to follow until the man made a rough dismissive motion and they stayed behind. I heard him making conversation with Mir. “Mac? Did you know the original master of the AJAX-43 was a man named MacKenzie Carpenter?”

  As they turned at an intersection I heard her voice drifting over the murmur of the people still being loaded on board. “A family name passed down over the generations.”

  I smirked. What were the odds that Mac was likely a dead ringer for this MacKenzie Carpenter?

  With that, I exhaled loudly then joined the rest of my squad to help screen patients and get them to the cargo bay with our medical personnel and get them strapped in for launch.

  The one bright spot in my day was when I get a woman settled into a cot, and demonstrated the old fashioned belt strap, and I noted three rows away, was the little boy who had given me the twisted metal bird. I beamed a smile at him and waved, he grinned, showing an adorable missing tooth smile and waved back at me.

  Good. I remembered my motto from my early days in the brigade that made the rough days livable, “Do just one good thing.” This boy was my one good thing for the day.

  Chapter 10 – Hangover

  That first day was chaos, trying to get a ship full of people into a routine. Mac had made a show of first making an orbit around the Cityships once we launched to give anyone near a window a spectacular view of the giant vessels. Then he gracefully maneuvered through the swarm of banged up vessels that looked to be barely flying and called out on coms, “Mercy Fleet, Underhill. Accelerate to rendezvous speed on my mark. Three, two, one, mark.”

  He looked at us as and grinned as he slammed the controls forward, pressing us back into our seats. Richter noted, “There's virtually no vibrations in the deck plates. The engines must still be tuned to factory specs. It feels like more than the three Gs of acceleration the AJAX vessels were rated at.”

  Mac responded with a shrug and a simple, “The Underhill has quite a few surprises in her.”

  After our burn was completed and Mac started the rotation of the ship to give us some semblance of gravity, he called out on shipwide coms, “That's it boys and girls, feel free to get up and stretch your legs if you'd like, it's going to be a long trip.”

  Then he hailed the makeshift fleet, “Mercy Fleet, stay in formation, we'll see you on the flip side.”

  I swear half the time I didn't know the meanings of the archaic expressions the old man threw about.

  I keyed in an external view of the Cityships quickly receding into bright points of light and bit my lower lip as the knot in my stomach tightened even more. To my surprise, Delphine stepped up to me and placed her porcelain white hand on mine and said in a low voice, “The Sprite is resourceful. She will be fine.”

  I nodded and exhaled, then said, “I need to beat the shit out of something. Care to spar after I do my rounds to make sure everyone is good?” Her self assured smile was all I needed to know that she was game.

  Delphine and Yar had to actually call out Mir and me, and a couple others from the security team, we were being too aggressive for a sparring match and had them on the ropes, about to start using magic to defend themselves.

  I held my hands up in supplication and exhaled as sweat virtually poured off my brow to sizzle on my lower lip. “I'm sorry. We just... the people on the Redemption... they're so... desperate, so, I don't know... beaten? And afraid. Those damn Outliers with their armbands were keeping everyone cowed and...”

  I slammed a fist into a bulkhead, my armor sparking against the wall, leaving a mark where I had impacted it. I immediately grabbed my fist and winced. That was going to bruise.

  Delphine offered, “And there was nothing you could do about it as you are a hundred million miles or so out of your jurisdiction?”

  I pointed at her. “Yes! That!”

  Yar offered, “Perhaps the governing body of the Cityships will accept an offer of help from the Brigade in stemming their Outlier problem once they arrive at the world.”

  I blinked at him and smirked as I said, “You know that's the most you've ever said to me in one sentence since you threatened me at the gates of Verd'real.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “That can't be right, can it?”

  I cocked an eyebrow in challenge. “Mother?”

  Mother churned out in a tinny tone, “On your first meeting with Captain Yar, he stated... 'I am the Captain of the Verd'real home guard, you wouldn't dare, and wouldn't get a single step before I ran you...' before you cut him off. Twenty-two words. His earlier statement constituted twenty-seven words.”

  I added with a grin, “It almost sounds as if you care.”

  Delphine snorted and shared with him, “I said virtually the same thing on my first meeting with Shade.”

  He stated matter of factly, “She does tend to have that effect on the people she meets, does she not?”

  Now I know they were trying to get a rise out of me but I was just smiling like a lunatic because apparently, all it took to get the two from trying to kill each other and actually start bantering like allies, was a single frustrating Human. And I could frustrate the hells out of most anyone... just ask... most anyone.

  Delphine swung at me, and I was already leaning back on instinct as I started backpedaling, ducking blow after blow as she prompted, “Tell us what you've observed thus far. I'm sure you've reviewed the footage of the meetings already.”

  I spun under a well-executed thrust of her bladed hand and slammed my fist into her armpit as I spun away. Ow! It was like hitting the bulkhead again, but she started favoring that arm. I must have hit the nerve cluster I had been aiming for. She'd heal up in seconds so I'd have to capitalize on it.

  Yar asked as I cartwheeled in the air in the light gravity and brought first one then the other leg down on her arms she crossed over her head to absorb the blows, “Footage of the meetings? How did you obtain those?” He sounded almost affronted.

  I shrugged and said, “A little birdie, why? Is it that shocking?”

  He said as Mir cushioned his fall when she flipped him onto his back when he struck at her from behind and her arms actually folded backward to grab his fist and then hip throw him, “Yes. Those were diplomatic proceedings. If they found you had somehow smuggled in recording equipment to...”

  Delphine sighed heavily and cut him off, “Oh loosen your
panties, Summer.” Then she prompted me as she kicked me halfway across the room, “Did I use your Human colloquialism correctly?”

  I shook my head. “It's 'Don't get your panties in a bunch'.”

  She sighed like it didn't make sense to her then looked over her shoulder to Yar when they were forced to fight back to back as our other sparing partners joined us, alternating between helping us corner the Fae and attacking us in turn. “Mab's tits man. You must have known how exposed we were when the asinine half-elf sent away the security detachment. It was insurance. I was wearing the Lieutenant's wrist console to the discussions.”

  He growled and she flipped him over her shoulder, using him as a projectile to take down our Orc and Dwarf. He stood and said in frustration, “I understand operational security, Winter, it's just that there are no recordings allowed in the palaces when the Queens are in discussions with anyone.”

  I smirked and held up my hands in surrender after the two of them cornered me and I dodged and blocked a flurry of blows, noting how well they fought as a team. “News flash, genius, you weren't in the palace and there was no Queen present. Besides, we can plead ignorance of their customs if push came to shove.”

  He shook his head as Mir slammed him to the deck and he tapped out. “We could not, as it would be a lie.”

  My eyes widened. “Would it? Do you know as a fact that they do not allow their meetings to be documented?”

  He hesitated as Mir helped him stand again. His brow furrowed. “No, I don't.”

  “So no lie.”

  “We could infer...”

  Delphine snapped at him, “Oberon's balls man, do you argue just to argue? She stated a truth, whether we believe it to be otherwise, we do not definitively know unless we ask, so her ploy is valid. Worthy of a Fae even. Not bad for a Human.”