Frontline sf-4

by Randolph Lalonde

  “I learned everything about command from you.”

  “You mean from Jonas,” Jake corrected with a thin smile.

  “You're right, mostly, anyway,” Alice replied with a slow nod. “I'm sorry, I see more of him in you every day, even though you look a little different.”

  “Now that's what you have to thank Liam and my real father for. I was made by one of the inventors of framework technology and he left me a message.”

  Alice's eyes went wide, her interest was keenly piqued; “what did he say?”

  “Not much, only that there's someone with more information on Zingara Station.”

  “That can't be a coincidence.”

  “No, I'm pretty sure he chose Zingara because he knew it would remain independent and that I would remember being there as Jonas.”

  “With Ayan.”

  The light mood that accompanied the revelation Jake was sharing with her drained out of him. He looked older somehow, tired, more like the Jake Valance she had first met weeks before.

  “I'm sorry, it's my day for saying all the wrong things I guess,” Alice apologized quietly. “I'm guessing taking these memories on is a whole package deal, the bad comes with the good and you still miss her.”

  Jake nodded. “You're right, and if I could thank Ayan I would. Somehow I still expect her to come through that door with two cups of coffee. Remembering her brings back so much, especially about Zingara Station. Meeting her changed everything.”

  “You know the civilians who are rebuilding the Botanical Garden just finished making a monument honouring all the people who died taking the ship. They put an image of Ayan and Jonas at the top since most of the crew see Jonas as the last one who died in that fight. You should go down and see it.”

  “I know, things have been busy. I haven't seen my own quarters for weeks. Maintenance keeps asking for permission to go in and clean up but I just push it to the bottom of the priority list.”

  “You're going to have to finish moving in someday Jake,” Alice smiled wryly. “A few of the Samson crew aren't moving their stuff from the old ship into their new quarters until they see you do it first.”

  “It's not that I'm not here for good. Even if Sol Defence came along and tried to get her back, I'd still try to strike a deal for Triton. My mind is always on the crew, the ship, what we're doing and how we're doing it.”

  “That's not really moving in. You have to find a place to kick your heels up, pick somewhere to put all your creature comforts. Eventually you'll need some time off and it might be good for you to have a quiet space you've made your own.”

  Jake thought for a moment, his gaze resting on the enshrined drinking glass. “Between you and me that's hard. On one hand the Samson was my first ship, my only ship. At the same time I'm taking on all these memories, and as much as Jonas and I would probably get along if he were still here, drawing on his experiences, catching myself doing little things he used to do just messes me up sometimes. Some psycho annalist would say I'm hanging on to the Samson because I feel like I'm losing myself. On the other hand I like how Jonas thinks, the experiences he had with his friends, with Ayan. He knew how to be with people, taking charge was his problem while I'm the opposite. Ever since I woke up on the Samson I've been in charge, it's what I had to do to survive, but being with people, feeling like one of their mates instead of their captain, well, it just didn't happen.

  “Ash told me she got a big smile out of you the other day. She was on cloud nine for hours.”

  The memory prompted a little grin from Jake as he nodded. “She was showing me an ad she'd found in a data burst Liam brought back from his recruiting run for Kawaii Cats. I couldn't help but wilt when I saw it. She's threatening to buy one on her first trip off ship.”

  “Oh no, with a talking kitten on board the whole crew will be helpless if we run into a Regent Galactic cruiser.”

  “It's insidious, it really is,” Jake laughed. “I don't want any pets on board, not just yet, anyway. This is a warship after all.”

  “I have to agree, but eventually someone's going to bring a teacup poodle, or trained rim weasel aboard.”

  “I know, we'll have to keep any pets assigned to people who have officer class quarters or family quarters eventually, but for now the policy has to stand. There's still so much we don't know about this ship, compartments we haven't even opened yet. No one's so much as glanced at the Junior Officers quarters and there are four hundred sixty billets there.”

  “I think Stephanie's security team will take care of anything on four legs easy enough. Last I read their instructions were to detain and contain anything not walking upright. That woman thinks of just about everything where security is concerned. That is, if she isn't watching you. I don't think there's a person from the Samson who hasn't noticed a few changes in their Captain.”

  “How are the crew taking it?” Jake asked, running his finger along the edge of the encased keepsake on his desk.

  “Well, they don't know what to expect but knowing that you're more open to suggestions seems to help. People still channel a lot of their ideas through me though. They seem to think I have a lighter hand.”

  “Little do they know,” Jake shook his head and smiled.

  Alice smiled back. “Little do they know,” the pair shared a knowing look, between the two of them it was difficult to decide which had the more ruthless command style. During ship wide simulations they often switched handles, used each other's voices all in an effort to be fully aware of how the crew responded to each commander. Alice looked back to the small trophy. “So, any idea what you're going to do with your memento?”

  “I was going to leave it somewhere in the office since we both use this space. I still don't know where.”

  “I like it where it is. It should be somewhere everyone can see it, I think.”

  “Makes the decision simple. Speaking of decisions, I've chosen a few targets for Triton to hit when we're ready. One will solve our wormhole generator problem. Price and Finn managed to find more combat damage, it would take weeks to machine the parts since they're too dense to materialize. Not to mention we don't have a machinist that's worked with the technology before. Liam is going to try and rig a solution that'll get it working until we can find a port we can buy the parts from or pursue another solution.”

  “The learning curve would kill us on time if the engineering crew can't improvise something.”

  “Exactly. So I'm putting a plan together using the Triton, the Samson, and the Cold Reaver along with a few fighters in a support role. I want to steal a wormhole generating hypertransmitter. The intelligence Frost got his hands on lines right up with the transmission data we're tracing.”

  “So you've managed to find a transmission node? One small enough to steal?”

  Jake smiled at her and nodded. “The Samson can pick it up with the maxjack if she has enough cover. There's a station nearby but if we hit fast and hard enough, distracting with the Triton we'll be able to snatch it. That's only if we can't buy the parts on a recruiting run.”

  “Good chance of that. Wormhole generator parts that'll work in the Triton's existing systems are rare.”

  Jake nodded his agreement and went on. “In the meantime, there are some supply routes we can hit with hyperspace layover points. I've managed to narrow the list down to military targets that run a lot of wetware assets.”

  “You mean slaves.”

  “It's not clear. The information we have indicates average head counts per square meter, and there are too many for the ships to carry active crew and no slave cargo. The routes and shipments are significant enough for any disruption to hurt. The loss of these assets won't go unnoticed. That presents another problem.”

  “We don't have any allies to offload extra cargo to or to take anyone we liberate in,” Alice finished for him.

  “Exactly. So we'll have to take on slaves first, try to take on any cargo that could help us and destroy what we can't resell. After that we'
ll have to find an ally fast.”

  “Unless we take the hypertransmitter first.”

  “With the crew still untried?” Captain Valance asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “You've seen them in simulations and live drills. They follow orders, their reaction times are fast even by my standards after just a couple of weeks. They're dedicated.”

  “I want to start on a solid victory, and if we go after this transmission node and come up against something unexpected we'll have turn and run early. We might not even get a chance to launch the Samson or any of the other ships, it might come down to going in cloaked and getting out if there's no way to the hypertransmitter.”

  “You have a point. It's got to be pretty well protected. What are the chances we'd make it without major casualties?”

  “Less than fifty, but I'm working on refining the plan. I'd still rather see what the crew can do to a supply convoy first. A softer target,” Jake said, turning on a holographic navigational chart. It flickered on and hovered over his desk. “Here, this would be perfect. Lower chance of there being slaves, but the average mass index of the shipments going through show that they regularly ship heavy materials through this point, probably munitions and supplies that are too complex or dense to materialize on site. Steal it or wreck it, Regent Galactic will feel the pinch.”

  “There's still about a five percent chance of wetware cargo,” Alice pointed out.

  “True, but we can't get hung up on the what ifs. This crew is together because a lot of them stayed to do some damage to Regent. We'll just have to run ship wide sims that include taking on a few thousand slaves, just in case.”

  “I'll set it up during my shift. The crew won't like it, but I'm sure they'll rise to it.”

  “Good, I want to be as prepared as we can be.”

  “When do you think we'll hit this layover point?”

  “I'm giving the Engineering team two weeks tops to get a fix in place for the wormhole drive. If there's no way they can get it done on that deadline, then we'll have to do it all on hyperdrive. Still, we won't start talking about it to the general crew yet, there might still be a couple Regent Galactic spies on board.”

  “Stephanie's doing her best to catch them, she's tearing her hair out at the Intelligence department though, they just don't know what they're doing.”

  “I know, we'll have to do something about that. Don't get pulled into it though, it's taking the both of us in overlapping fourteen and sixteen hour shifts to run the Triton and we haven't chosen a day watch first officer yet.”

  “About that, should I give Price the official rank below me on night watch?”

  “No, he's being paid as a first officer and doing the work, so there's no need to force a rank on him that'll just make him nervous. Besides, he's pulling triple shifts when no one's looking just because his race doesn't have to sleep for days at a time. If we promote him I'm afraid he'll never sleep again.”

  Alice couldn't help but chuckle. It was true, the issyrians were particularly hard workers, and more importantly they were commonly curious about the ship. The only person more dedicated to her duties was Ashley. She was relatively new to piloting but she had a great feel for the ship, controls and her thirst for knowledge, her need to improve was insatiable. The young woman knew how to relax, sure, but on most nights she was deep in a simulation, piloting large ships and fighters alike into the most challenging scenarios. “So Ashley's going on her first recruiting mission.”

  Jake smiled a little and nodded. “I was wondering when you'd bring that up.”

  “She's key to the helm during day shift, I was a little surprised.”

  “Her navigator is going with her. I'll be using another team at the helm for the next couple days. I figured it was time to give them a chance. If the worst happens I could always take the controls.”

  “Do you think she can manage a small crew for a few days?”

  “I left her in charge of the Samson enough while Stephanie, Frost and I were off ship. The Cold Reaver is easier to take care of.”

  “You know, I wish I was around for the Samson days. I keep hearing stories.”

  “It wasn't as interesting as it might sound. The Samson is far from done though. I have plans for her, the Cold Reaver and a few other ships in her class if we can get our hands on them.”

  “Oh really?” Alice asked with an upraised eyebrow.

  “The Triton is perfect for serving as a command center for several smaller crews on ships just like the Samson. There's no reason why we can't go after several small objectives at a time or use a group of smaller ships to help capture convoys, hit military targets that are hardened against large warships like the Triton or we could run deep recon, cherry pick targets before going in with everything.”

  “I like the way you think. Makes me really wish the Clever Dream was still around. She'd be perfect.”

  “I'll make sure you get an agile ship when you run missions. I don't know if we can find something like the Clever Dream, but I'll do my best to replace her.”

  “Maybe I should take a look at Regent Galactic's military vessel listing. I'm sure they make something I'd like to get my hands on,” she said with a crooked grin. “I've met enough ship thieves and pirates to know a few things.”

  “Then that's the first mission you'll plan after reviewing what I've put together.”

  The War Room

  The view from the high side of Mount Elbrus was expansive. The many long avenues carved into the side of the mountainside stone extended downward like hundreds of stairs, to look at it in the darkness of night you couldn't tell there was a thing amiss. Beyond the darkness of the mountainside fierce urban combat continued in the sprawling city beyond the shield. Ayan stood wrapped in her long poncho as she watched tracers arc over the shorter structures, heard the pops and roars of explosions punctuating the screaming light.

  They had pushed the enemy out of the mountain. A great victory for all the flesh and blood defenders. Squadrons of Regent Galactic soldiers and West Keepers waited for them in the city streets, however. Their prowess at urban combat and superior numbers halted the mountain rebels, so they fell back to the main tunnel entrances and held, fortifying their hard won territory. The tunnels were safe for the night. How long it would remain that way no one could say for certain.

  Volunteers snuck into the city beyond the foot of the mountain regardless of the dangers to distract the West Keepers and their mechanized allies. Using strike and fade tactics they inflicted as much harm to the enemy as they could manage before retreating, running and getting set to do it all over again. Some of the teams went out and hadn't returned. One had managed to send a message along an intact wired network. The message was simple; Enemy military hardware and personnel has begun to land on nearby islands. Going deeper into hiding and will contact when we have more intelligence. Things were getting worse but morale in the mountain was high. It felt like an island of safety in a sea of war.

  A pressing, urgent need to destroy any weapon capable of doing major damage to the energy shield motivated some of the soldiers in the vast city below and the further one made their way from the edge of the shield the higher the mortality rate was. Jason, Oz, Minh and herself would be going further out than any team had since the whole conflict began.

  She flinched as a group of red and blue streaks lit up the sky and struck the shield at her right side. It was her first real exposure to an all out ground war. Ayan had gone on a planetside mission involving repairs on a power plant after a major conflict, she'd run with various people in countless simulations, and she'd had extensive cadet, navy and officer ground training not to mention the rank of Major. Looking at her old file anyone would conclude that she was fully qualified to not only participate in a ground war, but to direct a platoon.

  The real thing was different. She hadn't seen it in daylight yet, but she wasn't looking forward to it. She pulled the poncho tighter around herself. There was no need for additional warmth, the
vacsuit took care of that from her toes all the way up to the black choker around her neck but she wanted to feel wrapped, covered up, protected.

  The transparent door behind her slid open and a big hand came to rest gently on her shoulder. “Quite a view,” Oz said quietly.

  “Has it stopped since you got here?”

  “The fighting? It's gotten worse. Feels like I've been fighting in tunnels for months even though I can still count the days since I volunteered on my hands. This could go on for years or end tomorrow.”

  “I saw a Thurge cruiser in a vertical bay down there. Is it broken down?”

  “No, it works fine. It would carry everyone inside this mountain out of the solar system. Should take more than enough punishment to make it too.”

  “Then why aren't they running?” Ayan asked in a whisper.

  “They're protecting something. Jason and I can't find out what, but from what the Sergeant tells us there's too much to transport and giving the artificials a chance at access would cause so much trouble they won't even talk about it.”

  “I don't suppose they're willing to destroy their precious cargo.”

  “They say it can't be destroyed. Not well enough to be sure.”

  Ayan shook her head. “You can destroy anything with a big enough fusion bomb.”

  “Spoken like a true combat engineer.”

  “So Minh's plan is the best plan.”

  “Looks like.”

  The pair looked out over the night shrouded city. One of the upper sections of a tall, sixty storey building was burning out of control, it looked like a massive torch. There were secondary explosions and flashes of light on the floors below and both of them hoped that they were the result of some accelerant left behind, not evidence of a desperate firefight.

  “We thought we lost you,” Oz said, breaking a long silence.

  Ayan didn't know what to say, how to respond for a quiet span that weighed on them both. She smiled finally and said; “I'm eighteen days old.”

  He couldn't help but give her the most surprised, quizzical look, then burst out laughing. “I hadn't thought of it that way. Makes as much sense as anything else though. Minh told me everything, I think he likes being the lesser of two unusuals.”