“Small world it would seem. Matter of fact,” Brice said as he looked around the room. “He seems to be missing.”
“Seems like we all have him in common,” Hirusho remarked. “We have all been part of his crew of assigned with him in some capacity it would seem.”
“So it would seem,” Jerry said and he started to wonder where his old friend played into all this.
***
The captain was nervous. He wasn’t sure what to say as he walked to the conference room. The dreams he had been having as of late stayed at the forefront of his thoughts and proved to be a constant distraction. He tried to put together a briefing but his mind always wondered back to Kara or Akema. As he reached the door to the conference room, the same one he waited in when he arrived, he took a deep breath and shook his head as if he could shake the distractions away.
“Good afternoon gentlemen,” he said. Brice was already standing close to the door when he entered.
“We were wondering when you were gonna show up,” Brice said as they clasped hands. “It’s been a while.”
“Too long my friend,” the captain agreed. “How have you and the boys been?”
“Great. You remember Chaz and Boumont, Nein is a transfer from a year back. Did you request us or did we get picked out the crowd?”
“I requested all of you for your many talents my friends,” he said to the group. “If everyone can have a seat I will get the briefing started.”
As they were taking their seats Dax leaned over to Sean and asked in a whisper, “Are we in trouble?”
“No Dax. Everything is fine,” the captain told him.
“That’s a relief cause Sotaki and I have been sweating it,” Dax said.
Hirusho overheard his comment and cut his eyes at him with a disbelieving expression and shook his head.
Daxton Deas resembled his brother, sandy blonde hair, barely in regulations, green eyes and charming. He had a way with the women, they were quick to laugh in his presence because of his quick wit and sense of humor. He joked about everything and seemed to take nothing serious, but he could pilot a starship with grace and ease. The bad part was Dax knew he was good, his flying was flawless execution, just like his brothers computer skills. David, his brother, had been Captain Connor’s technical expert in the field. Computer hacks, electronic locks, security overrides, he knew Telarian systems as well as the engineers. Up until that last mission he had never been caught unaware.
Sean had felt guilty about David. He had a hard time facing Daxton when he came to visit in the hospital. Sean had had a few melt downs screaming about why he came to visit the man who murdered his brother. Dax knew better. He knew Sean had been nearly killed dragging his two dead teammates back to the ship.
Dax was thankful for that, most families had no body to bury. In a conflict that raged among the stars so far from home most families only had memorial services. A special medal, the Demetris, was given for those who had returned fallen comrades in extreme acts of valor. It was named after Morgan Demetris, an Ensign gunner aboard the Tarantulas who programmed the ship to return home after the crew was killed and he fatally wounded.
He left behind a log stating what he had done and his reasoning behind it. He knew none of them would make it home alive but he wanted a proper burial for his shipmates and himself. As it turned out he could have saved himself if he had not taken the time to program the return of the ship after the SI was disabled.
It had been front page news. The video of his log entry played on every news outlet for weeks. He had appeared a vision of death, gasping for breath in a thin atmosphere, holding an air mask, bleeding from a femoral artery he had placed a tourniquet on instead of getting a med kit. They are all dead. I will be soon. The only systems still functioning are the Tokamak and the Markov. The control systems were damaged so I patched in an auxiliary controller and programmed it to activate the Markov at intervals along its flight path. This ghost ship should make it home in a few days. Sorry I couldn’t make it home. I love you Jenny. Demetris out. His hand covered the screen and the log ended.
The families had demanded safer ships, better strategies and an end to the war. None of which came to fruition. The Tarantulas was cleaned up, repaired, refitted and back in the action two weeks later with a new crew.
The captain continued to the head of the table where he stopped to look at the faces around the room. Any one of these individuals he knew would follow his orders to the best of their ability. He was not familiar with Nein but Jerry trusted him and that was enough for him. He started tapping commands into the interface. Above the center of the table a three dimensional image of the Relentless appeared. It hovered half a meter above the surface and began to rotate slowly.
“We have been chosen to test the prototype for the most advanced warship ever constructed. It has several advanced technologies and is unlike anything else in the fleet. Our first mission is going to be stopping a rogue Telarian ship that is attacking our colonies, space stations and starships along the border,” he started his briefing.
An image of the Telarian ship from the Voltari encounter, as it was being referred to now, replaced the Relentless and began rotating slowly.
“I have chosen each of you for your particular skills and abilities but more so for my trust and confidence in you. Commander Brice. It probably goes without saying, but you will be my XO.”
Everyone nodded an approval.
“Lieutenant Commander Lokae. You will be my Tactical officer and third chair. Lieutenant Sotaki. Operations of course and fourth in the chain of command. Dax. You will be in the galley, dishwasher.”
“Bullshit. I can’t wash dishes.” Dax retorted.
Daxton knew it was a jab about an incident years prior in which he broke the dishwasher and filled the galley full of bubbles.
“What can you do?”
“I can fly,” Dax said with a smile.
“Okay fine, you can be my helmsman.”
They both grinned at the banter.
“There is a tablet in front of each of you. Crew assignments and vital information that you will need to know is on each one. We will go to the ship where everyone can find their quarters and get familiar with our new ship. We will meet in the officer’s mess for dinner at eighteen hundred. Then we can talk more in depth and I’ll answer any questions you have one on one. The shuttle bay is to the left as you exit the conference room. Everyone is dismissed except Commander Brice.”
***
The dinner party was going quite well. There was a general excitement in the room as friends mingled sharing stories and catching up with one another. Of particular interest was this new ship, everyone was excited to be a part of getting the Relentless up and running and accomplishing the mission ahead. Captain Connor made his rounds about the room shaking hands and sharing stories. Captain Connor kept an eye on Lieutenant Lokae and when there was a lull in the conversation he was in Connor asked him if he could speak with him alone.
“You are probably wondering why I assigned you to tactical,” Connor said.
“It seemed a little odd considering I’m an engineer, yes,” Lokae told him.
“I want you to pull double duty Kale,” the captain’s voice dropped to almost a whisper. “I want you to keep an eye on engineering too, but covertly. I don’t want anyone else knowing you are keeping an eye on things, especially Galloway. Really seems he is a package deal with the ship, but he’s not one of us he hasn’t earned the trust we all share.”
“Understood Scorch,” Lokae addressed him by his call sign. “You sure you want me on tactical and not something else. I mean I can do the job but my skill level could be less than desirable and if we get into a fight that could be a problem,” Lokae said to him.
“If things get dicey I’ll handle it but if you are running tactical you can have eyes on target and sensor access,” the captain told him.
“I see where you are going with this and I’ll take care of it. I’ll let you kn
ow if I see anything,” Kale assured him.
“Thanks buddy. And hey, if it turns out he’s a rat fink you can have your old job back,” Sean said with a smile.
***
After dinner, Captain Connor and Commander Brice were enjoying a private reunion in the captain’s quarters. Recalling old tells and sharing new adventures.
“You know,” Brice said, “After you left the Solaria she gave me and my boys a ride on an op. Her fancy engines were undetectable to the enemy they said. She dropped us off and picked us up. It was a wild ride.”
“Yeah, the Solaria was the test platform for a lot of new engine designs and some other off the shelf projects,” Connor replied. “Must have been the new hyperdrive they were running. It slips into an interdimensional space, subspace, you can’t detect it with normal sensors, or so I hear.” The captain took a sip of his drink. “Have your guys started using the new nanotech armor yet?”
“No, it just got out of testing. No units have been issued any to my knowledge. I’m looking forward to trying it out,” Brice answered.
“I’m surprised you guys weren’t selected for testing. I have acquired enough sets for all of us in the command crew and your security detail. Tomorrow we can issue the gear I ordered and you and your boys can start training with all the new toys,” Sean said with a smile.
“We did get selected. We would have had to leave the Ragnarok to join the testing group and we didn’t want to do that. Testing isn’t really our thing anyway, too many pokes and prods,” Brice told him.
“Agreed. We are men of action. I actually miss crawling through the mud on some strange world. Carrying out operations no one else could. We were damn good brother,” Sean said.
“I still am ‘damn good,’” Brice laughed.
“Yes you are my friend,” Connor said in a more somber tone. “I could never repay you for saving my life.”
“Wasn’t me. Was Milli. I just drug your dead ass back to base. You were fubar, I didn’t think you were gonna make it. You were dead when they put you on the gurney.” His tone of voice changed and he started speaking with a silly accent, “I wasn’t worried about you guys. I had this scratch above my eye. See here,” he said pointing above his eye brow, “I was worried it might get infected.”
“Thank you my friend,” Connor told him not changing his tone but showing a smile at his friends joke. “And I’m glad your scratch didn’t get infected,” he finished with a laugh.
There was a bond of brotherhood between the two that was forged through blood and mud, a bond that could never be broken regardless of time and distance. In battle it’s not about if you are fighting for who’s right or wrong, it’s about the man next to you. Keeping your brothers alive and everyone coming home. His entire team had all experienced a loss from the war before they joined and that fire for revenge turned into friendships. They were fighting to keep others from suffering as they had, to make a better life for someone. Sean often hoped his actions saved parents and children the pain he went through and Brice in his heart wanted to die in glorious battle like his father while saving those people. From time to time Sean would have to drag Brice out of the thick of it to keep him from living out his dream. He wouldn’t let his friend throw his life away.
“Ever see Kara again,” Brice asked a little while later when the stories hit a lull.
“No. I haven’t seen her since that day and she has never made any attempt to contact me either,” Sean replied.
“You still miss her?” he asked probing a little further.
“It’s the strangest thing actually. I have never gone a day where she isn’t on my mind. Doesn’t matter what I do, I feel her every day. These last couple of weeks I have been having weird dreams about her. Just the other night before I ever saw this ship I had a dream of her and she was on the bridge of the Relentless. At the time it was just an oddity but when I saw the bridge a day or so later I was at a loss. How do you suppose I had a dream of her on a ship I have never been on? And you must admit this bridge is radically different from any ship in the Union. I can’t explain it and she was asking for help,” the captain told his friend, he left out all mention of his dreams of the avatar Akema.
“You know Bvaltari are empathic or something. Maybe she was reaching out to you,” Brice responded with outstretched hands and waving his fingers as if casting a spell.
“Don’t know but I do know I have a strange feeling of her presence. It’s soothing and disturbing at the same time, almost like a ghost,” he said. “You are my friend, be honest, am I crazy?”
Jerry burst out in a laugh.
“Don’t you remember that time on Tenative IV? Of course you’re crazy.”
They both burst into laughter.
“Guess I am my friend,” Sean laughed.
***
Construction was complete, the initial diagnostics and startups had been done. Now it was time to do operational tests of all systems and make sure the Relentless was ready for battle. Shuttles ferried supplies and personnel at a hurried pace. Spare parts, torpedoes, ammunition and food stuffs were among the crates. The corridors were full of people going to and fro. Technicians were here and there with wall panels removed doing final tests. In Engineering every available console was in use. In the middle of it all were Galloway and Connor trying to coordinate the replacement of the faulty constrictor in the starboard sublight engine. Work was ahead of schedule on fixing the engine so Captain Connor informed Galloway he would leave him to it and go to the bridge.
Along the way he stopped by the avatar room to speak to Akema. When he opened the door he was greeted by the sound of ocean waves and the breeze of the ocean. It even smelled of salt water. In the middle of the room was Akema, scantily clad, laying on a lounger at the edge of the water apparently sunning herself.
“Greetings Captain,” she spoke in a happy tone. “All system checks and diagnostics are proceeding as planned and everything is on schedule or ahead of schedule. How are you doing today?”
“I’m good Akema,” he responded to her in an upbeat tone. The ocean waves and the sun brought out a happier side of him. “I must say it’s a little odd that you choose to operate in these surroundings.”
“Odd?” she queried him. “No different than listening to classical music and such while one thinks. There is a rhythm to the waves and it corresponds to the algorithms I’m running. It’s a slower pace but I am relying on human inputs on the other end to perform some tests. Even if everything was running at maximum under my control I would still have exceptional reserves.”
“I guess I’m a little amazed really, most avatars are, um, more professional,” he said looking away trying not to molest her with his eyes.
“I am very professional and I am taking everything very seriously. I am responsible for everyone on this ship more so than even yourself. Unless of course you provide life support and protection to the crew,” she laughed.
“Maybe informal was the word I needed to use,” he said.
“Does the sight of me in a bathing suit distract you?” she asked.
She wanted to distract him, she wanted his attention.
“To be honest, very much so,” he responded to her query. He thought of his dream with her and the things he did to her. “Your appearance is of a very attractive female, almost nude at the moment.”
She stood up from the lounger and removed her sun glasses as the room swirled around them, the sunglasses vanished and clothes began to weave themselves at great speed around her body. The room shifted to one he was quite familiar with, his command interface program. As quickly as it began it ended and Akema was in full uniform and the room was stark and sterile. The smell of the ocean was gone.
“Is this more appropriate for you sir?” she said in a very professional, formal tone.
“Quite appropriate,” he said to her. He was still very much imagining her as he had in his dream. “How much longer till we can get under way?”
“According to cu
rrent scheduling models approximately two weeks. The sublight engine repairs are almost complete. Once those are done we can move out of space dock and start calibrating the FTL drives, testing the sublights and weapons. Training schedules for personnel will continue through the duration with some simulated catastrophic events at random plus simulated confrontations with other ships and boarders. If you selected the proper crew components the whole process could be cut to as little as ten days,” she told him.
“Sounds like tomorrow we can get out of space dock and start doing some serious tests of her space worthiness,” he said.
“That would be accurate and I’m sure I will perform quite flawlessly,” she said with a smile.
She seemed quite giddy to him this morning and she was. She too was still on high from their encounter the night before. She had went to him again taking things further, this time she had been nude allowing his hands free reign on her flesh. She was unaware of what was taking place from his point of view but she would never forget how he made her feel. She could still imagine his tight grip on her as he pulled her close. The nanotech wasn’t meant to be used the way she employed it last night but it worked above her expectations. She felt alive. She had made the modifications to the nanites without telling anyone, for now it was her little secret. Even if he remembered any of it he would surely think he was dreaming or something as she perfected her dream inducing techniques.
She felt ashamed of her unethical behavior but at the same time was exhilarated by it. Realizing that her behavior might be a problem in her operating systems she started a diagnostic on herself. Surely she was not capable of being deceptive and feeling these feelings or remembering what feeling felt like. Maybe she was more alive than other avatars because of her biological construction or maybe she still retained feelings from the transfer process of her creation. Possibly both. Whatever it was she liked it very much and doubted she would stop.
With the creation of her nanotech avatar she could imagine a relationship forming between them. Surely her avatar made him feel as if she were a living, breathing, sensuous Bvaltari woman. She definitely felt like one last night. Jealousy at the thought of him comparing her to Kara flashed into her thoughts. She was obviously more attractive. Her spots were, as she determined from a quick search on the matter, placed more attractive than Kara’s. She was by all telematics better than this woman. Akema was smarter, stronger, faster and more beautiful than what she began to see as her competition for his love. Never mind he had not seen her in many years.
Relentless: Book One of the Union Warship Saga Page 11