Jake took a longer look and realized what it was. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked.
Ayan was already scanning, and a moment later she nodded. “That’s the liquid quantum core the First Light captured when the crew escaped the Overlord class Base Ship. They have it tied into their navigational systems, but isolated from any communications devices.”
“Is it installed well? Can there be any outside interference?”
“They have hardware safeties in place and signal shielding around it. Even at this range I couldn’t send an instruction to it.”
“Well, I never wondered what happened to it,” Minh-Chu said. “I know anyway.”
Admiral Jessica Rice followed by an older looking woman and gentleman entered the room. Jake couldn’t help but notice that she looked young for her age, and her gait was particularly spry.
Jessica Rice stopped to stand directly in front of Ayan. “I’m so sorry for the way you were treated, especially for the way I treated you, when you were last with us.” It looked as though the Admiral was between deciding to attempt a hug, a handshake, or even a shoulder pat.
Ayan broke the awkward moment by embracing the woman warmly. Jessica was visibly surprised at first, then rested her hands on Ayan’s back gently. Without letting Jessica go, Ayan said; “I know what it is to make mistakes and regret them more every day. You were still grieving when I was born, so I understand why you couldn’t accept me then. It’s okay.”
Jacob could see Jessica Rice’s expression relax, as though she’d found a moment of peace. “Thank you, Ayan,” she said quietly. “Thank you so much.”
They parted, and Ayan smiled at Jessica Rice. “We’re going to be okay.” She whispered, and Jessica nodded.
“I’m sorry to interrupt this strange, albeit touching reunion, but we have little time to spare,” said the grey haired stocky woman settling in at the other end of the table. “I’m Commodore Merick, and this,” she said, gesturing at the gentleman in a loose fitted vacsuit and long jacket with glittering public service medals on the lapels, “is Prime Minister Hemron. The pair of us are the High Command for the fleet,” she said, gesturing at herself, “and the Civilian body,” she finished, gesturing at the Prime Minister. “Admiral Rice is here as a courtesy.”
“We don’t have much time for negotiations, Commodore,” Jake said. “What we need to know is how long it will be until this station can jump again, how much distance you can cross, and if you’ve scouted ahead in the right direction. If any of those parts of your strategy are missing, we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
“Don’t worry, we have the situation well in hand,” Prime Minister Hemron said. “What we need are any foodstuffs, or medical supplies you may have on hand. We also require any spare components that we could use to restore function to a few damaged sections.”
“From our scans we can see that the Revenge has a large store of spare parts, long supports that haven’t been installed, and ammunition that will be compatible with our point defence guns,” the Commodore said. “The Triton has a great deal of food and equipment in reserve, including some fabrication systems that we could use. We weren’t able to complete our scan, however, since it was blocked seconds after we started it.”
“I’m sorry,” Ayan said. “I’m sure the Captains can come up with a shipment of food, and maybe a little equipment that will help, but most of what you’ve scanned is essential to the function of those ships.”
“I’m sure they’ll be pleased to know that the Captain with no ship has spoken for them here,” the Prime Minister said. “Freeground Fleet vessels are only permitted to carry one week’s worth of rations for emergencies. Since your ships are being entered into the fleet, you will ship all your excess to Freeground Alpha.”
“We’re not joining you. We’re here to lead you. I can speak for both ships because it’s my responsibility to oversee the condition of my fleet, and I’m telling you that you’re not going to scavenge in our cargo holds and fighter bays for parts and supplies. Our mandate is simple: to assist in the defence of Freeground Alpha for as long as it’s tenable and escort you to a safe solar system. We were thinking of taking you right to Rega Gain, but, unless the tone of these negotiations changes, you won’t be welcome there.”
“I warned you,” Jessica Rice told the Commodore. “These people know what they’re doing. They have their own priorities, and we’re lucky they’re here at all.”
Jake shook his head at what he was seeing. It seemed more like a staged argument with one of their people taking one side, while another took the other so their guests would be guided to a conclusion of their choosing. “I speak for the Revenge,” he said, his voice filling the room. “Your people are not going to be allowed aboard. Our supplies are off limits. Nothing we would provide you with, if I chose to do so, would be in a quantity that would make any difference anyway. Captain Anderson is right. Our mandate here is simple: to assist in the defence of Freeground Alpha and deliver it to a safe solar system.”
“That’s utterly ridiculous,” Commodore Merick said. “Your ships should join Freeground Fleet, we already have plans, and our wormhole systems are charging as we speak.”
“How long will that take?” Ayan asked.
“We have to charge for another thirteen point six hours,” Admiral Rice replied.
“Admiral, you will not share operational details until we’ve negotiated the position of the Triton and the Revenge in terms of where they will fit in the fleet,” warned the Commodore.
“That’s easy,” Jake said. “The Revenge won’t be joining your failing fleet. Every single ship out there is damaged, I’ve seen the scans. You are orchestrating a disaster, and I bet you are commanding out of fear, not wisdom. I bet every ship you have is right here so you can feel safer.”
“You’re right, Captain,” Admiral Rice said.
“You need ships out there doing small jumps along your projected course, scouting, making sure you’re not going to run into opposition, checking for planets where you can salvage supplies and materials,” Minh-Chu said. “Let us do that for you. We have plenty of fighters with jump capabilities, and they’re in good shape. I’ll even volunteer to lead a long range scout ship so we can map a real route for you, one that will make it harder for the Order to find you.”
“Now that’s a good place to start,” Admiral Rice said.
“We are using long range scans,” the Prime Minister said. “We see a clear route ahead.”
“Those scans can be tracked,” Jake said. “You’re also making signal noise that anyone can use to locate Freeground. The more deep scans you perform, the longer you remain here afterwards, the more likely you’ll be discovered.”
“From the damage I saw on our way in, I’m guessing that’s already happened once,” Ayan added. “You need us, but you’re going to have to accept our help on our terms.” She specifically adjusted her tone and demeanour to one that was almost pleading. “Our terms are the best you’ll find. We keep the supplies and equipment that enable us, and help this entire station to safety. I’d like to see a day very soon when you are welcomed into the Rega Gain System with open arms. We’re forming a larger fleet there and have a partnership with the British Alliance.”
“The British?” Prime Minister Hemron said, throwing up his hands. “The Freeground Loyalist Party won’t have it! I’m wasting my time.” He began storming from the room.
Jake couldn’t take any more. He hadn’t had a flare of anger since he lost the framework technology, but it was easy for him to embrace his irritation and follow his instincts. Without a moment’s hesitation, he moved to stand in front of the Prime Minister, who looked up at him wide-eyed. With a firm push, Jake sat him down in a chair. “This is why political parties are banned in the Rega Gain system. Prime Minister Hemron,” he said so clearly and loudly that a part of the lighting fixture above vibrated. Jake leaned down until they were nose to nose. “You are going to get your people killed or sent to
a planet where the Edxian young will hunt them down and feed on them. We are on the verge of fighting an enemy that eats what it kills.” Jake’s anger was already beginning to dissipate, but he pressed on. The man he saw in the chair was terrified. To him, the politician seemed weaker and greedier than any creature he’d ever seen. It was a snap judgement, but Jake wanted to wear him down quickly so he could see if there was a rational man under the pride and selfishness. He continued channelling the mannerisms of every drill sergeant he’d ever seen. “I will not allow you to drag my ship and my crew down with you. The Revenge will put you to our rear thrusters and make best speed back home the instant I feel push back from you. We are not Freegrounders, we are not politicians. We are military Officers who have come to help you and we have put our crews – thousands of people – in harm’s way to do so. I don’t see anyone else offering you a helping hand. We have the solutions you need, the technology to make it happen, and can execute a plan that will increase your chances of survival. If your greed and prejudice gets in the way of our solution, this opportunity we’re handing you will disappear. There’s a war on, a fleet to build, and a whole solar system for us to defend. I’d rather be there, so when I see your pride getting in the way of your people’s survival, I wonder if you were worth the trip. You will accept our help or we’ll leave. You don’t have a week to decide, or a day, you have an hour. Am I speaking clearly and loudly enough for you? Do you understand me?”
“Y-yes,” stammered Prime Minister Hemron.
“Get out,” Jake said, picking the prime minister up by his jacket, turning and putting him down in front of the door. “I only want to hear one more word from you, and that will be either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and that will be enough for a lifetime.”
Prime Minister Hemron hesitated for a moment, then slinked from the room. He was almost through the door when Jake noticed a glimmering jade medal had fallen from his jacket. He picked it up and flicked it through the door after the Prime Minister.
“You’re not a very bright man, are you, Captain?” Commodore Merick said.
“Wasted time will kill you all,” Jake said. “If you can’t feel your opportunity for survival slipping, then you need to be replaced.”
The Commodore turned red, and tugged the collar of her uniform straight before replying. “For expediency’s sake, I’ll ignore that last remark. Our conversation was about supplies, which we need badly. So we asked you for them, invited you to our fleet, and you respond in the least diplomatic way.”
“No,” Ayan said flatly. “You told us that what is ours is now yours and we disagreed. Let’s move on.”
“You can’t believe that the scene we just witnessed was appropriate.”
“It was perfectly appropriate. We are here to deal with you, the leader of the military. We only have time for a military solution. Triton Fleet can’t assist any of your civilian people until we get you out of the nebula and home. We have a situation in the Rega Gain system where we are on the verge of thriving as a new society,” Ayan pressed. “When we found you two hours ago, I was already having visions of getting you there, beginning a peaceful merging of civilians.”
“And growing your military, no doubt,” Commodore Merick said.
“I realize there are a lot of steps to make between today and that dream,” Ayan said. “But once you see how Haven Shore has grown, how we are operating with the British Alliance, I’m sure you’ll understand.”
“The British Alliance will let you lay the foundation, do the grunt work, then take what they want and claim the glory for their people,” the Commodore said. “That man wasn’t the only Loyalist in this room.”
“Don’t let politics get in the way of your survival, Commodore,” Admiral Rice said. “These people were able to find us in days, that says something about the security of our position here.”
“One of our own ships led you here.”
“That’s completely beside the point,” Admiral Rice said. “We’re lucky they’re the ones who arrived to save that ship when they did. If it were a group of Order ships, they could have just as easily downloaded and decrypted the contents of a navigational computer and gotten to us. My experience tells me that we’ve been lucky so far, and these people are willing to risk their lives so we can make our way through the rest of the nebula.”
“I hope you’re right, Admiral,” the Commodore said. “I’m going to take your word on their intentions and allow them to scout ahead for us. If they drag trouble back here, I’ll have your commission.”
“This is the only sane way to continue, Commodore,” Admiral Rice said. “You’ve been retired a long time. A lot has changed in thirty-three years. If you don’t take the advice of your officers, and keep letting the Prime Minister cross the divide between the military and civilian government, we will be caught while we argue about priorities and what course of action is best.”
“Take the win, Admiral,” the Commodore said as she left the room.
“I apologize,” Jake said. “I wasn’t sure you were actually advocating for us at first.”
“It’s all right, Captain,” Jessica Rice said. “Since the Loyalists took over, things have been getting better, and their priorities are usually good, but these people are more focused on impressing the few Freegrounders we have left quickly so they can remain in power. The divide that existed between the military and the civilian bodies is practically gone, giving the politicians the idea that they can weigh in on any decision the Fleet has to make. We’re trying to keep things within the fleet, but the politicians listen in more and more. What’s worse, most of them are new, replacing our senior representatives and they aren’t thinking long-term. I wanted to handle the relationship between Freeground Fleet and you on my own, but the Commodore needs to prove that she can still be a great commander even though she was just dusted off and put in place a week and a half ago. The Prime Minister wants to show the people that his party can provide, but everything is in short supply.”
“I’ll do what I can to help,” Jake said. “But the Revenge needs everything it has. We’ll try to find salvage opportunities along the way. My intelligence on the area tells me that there are some good locations in the nebula. There are even some star bases and settlements, but I haven’t seen them personally. They’re on the fringes, so we can’t count on their help until we get closer to the edge, but the nebula isn’t barren, there are a lot of people who have been living here for centuries. I doubt most of them are Order sympathisers.”
“That’s exactly the kind of thing we need. Friends and supplies. Our faster than light systems are not at one hundred percent, so if we can find supplies along the way, the station will get stronger as we go. No one is starving or suffocating yet, though, so there is some time.”
“I only ask that you make every decision about this journey a military decision,” Jake said. “We can’t afford the time your government will add with bureaucracy.”
“I agree, Captain Valent,” Admiral Rice said.
“I’m wondering,” Stephanie said. “I heard something about attacks, and the need for increased internal security.”
“We’ve been bombed five times since we left our home territory. The attacks came from within,” Jessica said. “The first one killed more than half of our house representatives, and the third one took out almost the entire Admiralty along with the previous Prime Minister and his aides. I got lucky, I was aboard a ship supervising patrols. Order spies are definitely aboard the station and we suspect they have rallied small groups who believe politics ruined Freeground, so we’re taking extra measures in all the critical areas we can protect. The wormhole generator was hit once. We still haven’t finished repairing the mass capacitors or the connections between them and our primary reactors. It’s slowing our recharge rate down and reducing our jump distance. We have less than three percent of the jump capability that we entered the nebula with.”
“How long would it take for you to make repairs?” Ayan asked.
“With the materials we need and a full shut down, approximately nine days, but it would almost completely restore our systems.”
“I’m guessing the Commodore isn’t allowing for the shut down time?” Jake asked.
“You have a good grasp of the situation here. As it is, the best thing you can do to help is give us directions, make sure the jump route is safe and watch for safe harbours along the way.”
“That, we can do,” Jake said.
“I’ll lead an expedition and get every pilot I can working on it,” Minh-Chu added.
“There has been a lot of political shifting, so I have to ask,” Ayan said. “Is your military command structure stable?”
“You can take any information or question to me,” Jessica Rice said quietly. “The fleet is with me, the Commodore believes that she’s in control of the station, but there are a lot of people who believe the laws that took her out of retirement, restoring her to command are antiquated, that she’s incompetent. They don’t have much faith.”
“So, the faith is in the fleet.”
“Exactly. Civilians feel trapped, a lot of them are only months into military training, following the desire to help, and a few recruits are training out of fear. We’re running into trouble, with hundreds of freshly trained military personnel who don’t have a place because we don’t have the ships. I think people are afraid of how the dynamic will change if the Triton and Revenge are too close for too long.”
“We need people in Triton Fleet,” Ayan said. “Ships aren’t the problem, manpower is our biggest issue.”
“Don’t let anyone hear you say that. The Prime Minister, the Commodore, most of the people who run things on the station are worried about losing more people. We’ve gone from millions to less than three hundred fifty thousand in less than a decade. It feels like the Freeground Nation will be gone by the end of next year. If people realize they can resettle in the Rega Gain system, that might actually happen.”
“What do you want to see happen?” Minh-Chu asked.
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10 Page 3