“More than interesting! You’ve seen the VCs; these people are living legends! I might see if I can get a couple of the crew to record a graphic for my home” Alonso says, squeezing his hands together.
“You’ve got little chance of that, have you any idea how many people want a picture, a clip, a hologram, and all the rest?” Emily snips. Alonso’s enthusiasm is undimmed, as he gestures to one of the security personnel, and they share a chuckle.
“I might have something to say about that” Nemmy interjects. An hour-long begging session with her mother had been tedious but completely worth it. Everyone turns to look at her.
“I’ve been able to get our entire crew access to not only the Imperial Avenger itself, but we’ll be able to socialise with the crew at the event” Nemmy announces.
“Are you serious?!?” Alonso asks, practically jumping out of his chair. Nemmy nods. Alonso thrusts an arm into the air in exultation. Emily chuckles, revealing her own joy when she checks her console.
“Captain, she’s here!” she says. They all watch the viewspace, almost salivating in expectation. The Imperial Avenger drops out of warpspace in the middle of the assembled Imperial ships. It is every bit as impressive in person as it looks on the various V-Cube shows that detail every mission it goes on. The swooping curves of the massive white battleship beam brightly as it is lit up via a series of external lights. A little showmanship, no doubt, but it makes for pleasant viewing. The ship slowly moves towards Sanctum station. Amira arrives on the bridge to watch the proceedings.
“She’s a beautiful ship,” she says.
“She’s incredible. All those cannons hidden in little chambers, the new segmented shield sections, the big ‘Whale’ launchers. It would take ten patrol ships just to give her a fight” Alonso replies.
“I don’t know about that. We could give her a scare” Amira says with a joking smirk. The various ships turn to follow as the Imperial Avenger begins to dock at the station. Emily quickly moves the Boomslang towards their assigned docking port. She is impatient to see the inside of the famous ship, and she isn’t the only one.
After a speedy docking procedure, almost the entire Boomslang crew assembles at the entrance doorway to the Imperial Avenger. There were various security personnel around, as there were many people hoping to be allowed on board. Nemmy goes to the front and swipes her Strap over the door entrance. The simple act of the door opening causes a ripple of excitement to go through the gathered officers. She leads the crew into a spacious shuttle bay. Two dozen shuttles are visible in the wall nooks around them. A well-built man approaches the group from behind a shuttle. He rubs his neck as he approaches. In a ceremonial officer’s outfit bathed in medals, his handsome face is instantly recognisable to every Imperial officer.
“Hello, my fellow officers. I am Captain Zavien Zolero. Welcome aboard the Imperial Avenger. The guiding lights on the floor will take you on the official tour. Please enjoy yourselves” he says in a powerful, gravelly voice. Various crew members instantly follow the soft flashing lights leading off in various directions towards doorways. Alonso leads a smattering of Shipmates eager to have recordings taken with their hero. Zavien is happy to oblige, smiling for every hologram. He even hugs an utterly smitten Kerry and Nemmy is amused to see her face turn bright red. She waits for the crew to finish collecting various personal recordings and scans before approaching Zavien.
“Hello Captain Zolero, I’m Captain Nemantha Le Beau,” she says, extending her hand. He firmly grasps it and smiles warmly.
“Call me Zavien. You’re Alondra’s daughter, yes? An inspiring woman. How do you like my ship, Nemantha?” he asks, holding her hand for several seconds.
“It’s amazing. A wonderful vessel. It’s so big and spacious. The Boomslang is like a storage crate in comparison!” she jokes. Zavien takes her by the arm.
“Hush that nonsense! Patrol ships are excellent, reliable, dependable craft. You’re doing real fine work out there, keeping us all safe. You should be proud of yourself and your fine ship” he says, rubbing her forearm for effect. Nemmy remembers Kerry’s blushing as she feels her own cheeks warm. Zavien is every bit as charming and handsome as people say. They stand together as various people deliver hovering trays of food and drink into the shuttle bay. As they prepare the sumptuous banquet that has been delivered, a host of high ranking Imperial officers shuffle into the bay. Various important civilians arrive, most wearing outfits that must be obscenely expensive. Zavien releases an exaggerated sigh.
“Apologies my dear, I’ll have to go be a dutiful host. Enjoy the food; make sure your crew does the same. We’ll talk later, yes?” he says with a wink. He goes to shake hands with various excited individuals. Again, the people swill around him. Nemmy is impressed by how smooth and diplomatic Zavien is. Some of the people grab him, bump into him; a couple even shout and gesticulate wildly. But he remains completely in control, calmly seeing to each person’s wishes, and making sure they all leave happy. Charming and professional. What a rare occurrence. Within moments the entire shuttle bay is filled with both people and trays loaded with the finest food and drinks. Several members of the Avenger crew arrive and start mingling with the guests. Amira comes up to Nemmy, with Lynsey trailing behind.
“Have you seen Commander Brooke?” she asks. Charley Brooke, the famed second in command of the ship, was someone Nemmy was also hoping to meet.
“I’ve been keeping an eye out. Are you a fan of hers?” Nemmy says.
“I want to get the actual details on that pirate story. If she can clean out a ship without using weapons, I want to know how” Amira replies.
“And you?” Nemmy asks Lynsey, who stares at the deck.
“I just think she’s so gorgeous, I just want to see her, so I know she’s real” she mumbles.
“Well, we wouldn’t want you to be heartbroken, would we? I was-Oh, there she is! Let’s go before someone else grabs her” Nemmy says, spotting Charley lurking inside one of the doorways. The trio bustle through the trays to get over to the doorway before anyone else. Nemmy sees that Charley is indeed stunningly beautiful. Her slender delicate face, with large inviting eyes, gives her an almost angelic quality. As they approach, she notices that the officer is hunched over slightly and scratching her arm.
“Commander Brooke? Can we have a word?” Nemmy asks. Charley glares at her angrily for a second, before relaxing a little.
“Yeah, what do you need?” she replies.
“You are so wonderful” Lynsey gasps. Amira elbows her.
“Commander, I was hoping to talk about that pirate attack. You took out what, fourteen pirates, on your own, with no weapons or equipment?” Amira asks sternly. It seems she isn’t totally convinced.
“Yeah, that’s what happened,” Charley says, absently looking over their shoulders.
“Could you go into more detail? How did you actually do that?” Amira continues. Charley frowns.
“All you need to know is in the report. Why are you asking?” she questions.
“Because I don’t believe you” Amira replies calmly.
“Major!” Nemmy says, but Amira holds up her hand.
“If I’m wrong, I’ll happily hear the explanation. But fourteen armed pirates, desperate enough to attack an Imperium registered ship in the first place. You took them all down with no casualties to the crew or passengers? Without support, without scanners, without cloaks, without gas or neural weapons, without even a single pistol? Just tell us how you did it!” Amira rants, her voice rising with every word.
“It’s in the report! Maybe there wasn’t fourteen, it was a while ago!” Charley snaps. Instantly her anger dissipates. “Look, I’m not feeling well; I only came down to see the event. I should go back to my quarters” she says quietly. Without waiting for a response, she leaves.
“She is so beautiful. I want to kidnap her” Lynsey says, staring longingly after
her. Amira slaps her on the arm, drawing her out of her daydream.
“I always knew that story was nonsense. I’m not even sure I could do that, and if I can’t do it, it can’t be done” Amira growls.
“That’s a bit arrogant, is it not?” Nemmy asks her. Amira shrugs.
“Maybe. But it’s true. She didn’t do it, she basically just confirmed it. Why make up a story like that?” she replies. Nemmy mulls it over. It is an interesting question. Even if it was half the number of pirates, or she did use weapons, it’s still an impressive display of heroism. Nemmy looks around, seeing some of her crew milling around the food tables. They were the lowest ranked individuals in the shuttle bay. Even the civilians were all Regents, prominent business people, and other movers and shakers. It will do them good to associate with each other, Nemmy tells herself.
“Let’s go look around the rest of the ship,” she says, taking Amira and Lynsey through the doorway. They walk down pristine wide corridors, passing endless doors and panels. It’s almost like a station rather than a ship. The white and green colour scheme is flawless; there isn’t a speck of dirt anywhere.
“There aren’t a lot of weapon charging slots” Amira muses, running her hand along a wall.
“Maybe they have some fancy new ones,” Lynsey replies.
“They don’t seem to have a lot of crew either. They aren’t all at the reception” Amira says.
“Well, they’re on tour; they aren’t really doing any actual work. Mostly just waving at visitors” Lynsey jokes. Amira doesn’t laugh. Something is tugging at the back of her mind. This is effectively the flagship of the entire Imperial Space Force. Where are all the posted guards? Where are the regular crew? Even when docked, ship functions continue. Even more so when docked at a non-Imperial station. They continue along the spacious hallway. They walk past a doorway and look in. The room appears to be a much larger version of their canteen, which sits quiet, with only a couple of officers’ silently reading datapads.
“Okay, that’s a bit strange. If I were on this ship, I’d be filling my face with food” Lynsey says. They continue through more sterile white and green corridors. Whilst they don’t know the ship, the running green lights along the floor indicate the way back to the shuttle bay, and active consoles pepper the walls, so floor plans are easy to access. Nemmy stops to look at one.
“I’d like to see Engineering. There are three Paris Drives!” she says. Amira scans the corners of the room, exclaiming when she finds what she’s looking for. She goes over to a security panel and opens it.
“One gun? There is one rifle in here” she says, looking at the sole weapon in astonishment.
“Is that bad?” Nemmy asks.
“There should be a full rack of rifles as standard and spare pistols, and at least one heavy repeater cannon in a main panel like that” Lynsey says. Her expression is unusually serious, which concerns Nemmy greatly.
“In that case, we should definitely check Engineering,” she says.
“I wouldn’t bother,” a voice says from down the hall. Symone and Zhang approach the trio.
“Why?” Lynsey asks. Zhang calls up the main schematic for the Engineering section on a nearby console.
“Because it’s a sham. Three Paris Drives they said, only one is working, and one isn’t even real!” he moans.
“Is this true Symone?” Nemmy asks. Symone nods vigorously.
“It’s unmistakable. You work around a PD long enough, you get to know them. The backup one, it’s not even the right metal! I put my hand on it. It’s fake, I’d bet my life on it” she says sadly. The disappointment pours out of them both. It disheartens Nemmy deeply. Whatever is going on, she’ll have to get to the bottom of it. The five of them group together as she motions them over.
“Alright. I think we deserve to know what’s happening. I’m going to try to speak to Captain Zolero to get an explanation” she says.
“If this ship is running well below par, it will look bad for us all, especially in front of the Redheads. Maybe we should keep this quiet for now” Amira says. Nemmy agrees.
“Okay. Go back to the reception and socialise a bit. I’ll see what I can do” she declares, and the others depart. She needs to know more before talking to Zavien, she realises, so she finds a turbo-tube. Thankfully those are plentiful and working fully, and just as spacious and clean as the rest of the ship. She travels to the nearest crew quarters section. Surely there will be some crew members off duty. Stepping off the turbo-tube, she finds herself in a wide circle shaped room. Named doors ring the walls. This section should house at least fifty crew members alone, according to the schematic. Yet again, the place is equal parts hospital clean and deathly quiet. She creeps along past the doors, straining to hear any sounds. The faint whisper of laughter catches her ear, and she moves swiftly to the source.
One of the room doors is stuck half open. She pokes her head around. Plush couches and chairs fill the room. Unlike the rest of the ship, the floor is covered in piles of clothes, empty food packets, and what can only be alcoholic drink containers. The smell confirms this, along with a strong scent of something else that Nemmy can’t quite place. A couple of Imperial officers are spread out on the couches, apparently asleep, although one has a drink in his hand.
Astonishingly, she notices that they both have Lieutenant insignia. Before she can speak, Charley arrives, bringing with her a small bowl of thick greenish liquid. Nemmy hasn’t seen it before, but even she knows what it is.
“Is this a joke?” she bellows, startling all three people. “Alcohol and illegal drugs on this ship?”
“You’re not supposed to be up here!” Charley barks, trying not to spill the drug as she puts the bowl down.
“That’s your answer? This is ridiculous, there are Regents on this ship right now and you are taking drugs!” Nemmy replies. She simply can’t believe what she’s seeing. Imperial officers behaving in such a fashion was an extremely serious crime.
“Get out of here” one of the guys moans. The other one chucks his can, splattering a warm bubbly drink over the wall and over Nemmy’s uniform. As she stands there slack-mouthed, he just chuckles and slides off the couch to the floor. They all laugh as Nemmy angrily brushes the alcohol off her face. She activates her Strap.
“Captain Zolero, this is Captain Le Beau. Please come to deck…five, immediately. This is a matter of extreme urgency” she says.
“He won’t care, moon-slug,” the can-chucker says, reaching under a pile of clothes and revealing another can.
“He will care, this is his ship,” Nemmy says defiantly. The two men burst into continuing laughter. Charley tries to shush them to no avail. Her little effort ignored, she rolls up her sleeve and smears some of the drug on her arm. She releases a contented sigh and settles against a table as the drug takes effect. Nemmy can’t speak for shock. One of the most celebrated officers in the entire Human Imperium is using illegal drugs during her shift in front of other officers. Nemmy leans against the wall for support. Hopefully, Zavien can crack down on this. Perhaps they are just stressed due to the obvious crew shortage and discipline has been lax due to the long tour through Imperial space. She hopes and prays this is the case. A few bad apples and all that.
“Since you’re here, do you want a drink?” one of the men asks, struggling to lift a fresh can.
“No, I don’t want a drink! Put that away. Have a shred of dignity whilst in that uniform. I’m a Captain, by the way, show some respect” Nemmy snaps back. He isn’t offended by her response. Quite the opposite, he gives her a dismissive hand gesture whilst grinning inanely before opening the can for himself. The faint whooshing sound of the turbo-tube fills Nemmy with relief. Zavien will surely fix this mess, for his own reputation if nothing else. The legendary Captain enters the room, beaming a wide smile. His smile fades instantly as he sees the scene. Oddly, he harrumphs loudly.
“Come on, fellas. You couldn’t wait two hours!” He moans.
“Captain?!?” Nemmy gasps. She marches over to Charley and angrily draws Zavien’s attention to the bowl of liquid. “You must do something about this. If people knew what was happening on this ship of all ships-“
“Alright, alright, I get it. I promise I’ll punish them in some way. Happy?” Zavien cuts her off. Nemmy stares incredulously. He doesn’t even seem concerned, let alone angry that his crew are doing these things.
“Zav, you know what you need to do,” one of the men says. With a sigh, Zavien nods and presses a few commands into his Strap.
“What are you doing? What does he mean?” Nemmy asks.
“You’ll understand shortly” Zavien utters, spinning round and jogging away. Before Nemmy can pronounce her dismay, her Strap beeps.
“Please follow the flashing lights to Small Meeting Room Three on deck 1” an automated voice commands. She is confused, but she decides to obey. She needs answers. Stepping out of the room, the lights are directing her back to the turbo-tube. Another quick journey and she returns to where she started. The lights lead further down the hall, and after a brisk walk, she arrives at a door. She steps inside to find Symone, Amira, Zhang, and Lynsey sitting around a table. At the head of the table-
“Nemantha, please, have a seat,” Alondra says. Bewildered, she stumbles into a seat. She looks at her crew members, but they all seem to be staring at the desk. Amira aside, the others seem quite crestfallen.
“When I gave you permission to board, I assumed you would enjoy the reception and follow the official tour lines. Clearly, I underestimated the inquisitorial and investigative impulses of your crew” she says, reviewing security footage of the five crew members travelling through the ship.
“Mother, what’s going on? Do you know what is happening on this ship?” Nemmy asks.
“I know everything, Nemantha. As I was explaining to your crew, this ship is, shall we say, a facsimile” Alondra replies. Nemmy looks around for answers.
Unknown Earth Volume 2 Page 9