Fracture sf-5

by Randolph Lalonde

  Ayan watched as Jake worked the controls with easy precision. It looked like he was staring at something very far away. "Are you all right Jacob?" she asked quietly.

  "I'm fine. Work the weaponry controls."

  The console in front of her reconfigured, her seat slid into place, and she was surrounded by holographic images and targeting controls. Minh and the rest of his squad had moved in to a flanking position behind and fired at the single seat fighters that threatened to close in from their port side.

  There was another group coming in to position, threatening to block their path with a line of deadly weapons' fire. To Ayan's amazement, the tactical controls were configured exactly the same as she'd find on any Freeground starship, and she got to work.

  Her fingers twitched from one holographic representation to another, marking targets for the fighters behind and for the Clever Dream's missile banks. The weapons suite on the ship began to fire, sending cluster missiles that burst into searing high speed flack, other missiles that honed in on one target and accelerated through them at incredible speeds and firing the ship's main guns. The Clever Dream was a dangerous vessel, a long range gunship made to accommodate a boarding crew. Few mercenaries could afford one, however, so it was sometimes seen in the hangars of wealthy collectors. She never thought she'd have the opportunity to operate one in any respect, especially from the weapons console.

  Even with her energy systems switched from high powered Xetima to a more dependable mass reactor system built across the ship, the Clever Dream was still capable of exerting incredible force.

  The shields were taking several hits from the fighters, but bearing it well, especially since most of the fighters were distracted by Minh-Chu's squadron following behind. They remained in position, pivoting the bodies of their Uriel and Ramiel starfighters and unleashing the full force of their weaponry on anything that threatened to get in their way.

  At long last they broke through the obscuring field into regular space.

  Ayan breathed a sigh of relief as Minh's entire squadron made it through the field, and then gasped at what she saw on the secondary tactical display as it populated. There were three massive destroyers flanking another base ship. Each of the escorting ships were over nine hundred meters long, with a density reading that equalled the Triton. She overlaid the Triton’s last known course. "The Triton will be caught off guard by that group of destroyers, we have to-"

  "I see it, we're looping back inside," Jake interrupted mechanically.

  Ayan nodded and switched all available power to the forward shields. As an extra safety measure and a warning to the fighters emerging from the field she opened fire with all the Clever Dream's weapons, hoping that the burst would frighten vessels they couldn't detect out of their way.

  Her hopes were partially fulfilled. One of the larger fighters glanced off their shields, sending the Clever Dream slightly off course. "We're too late." Jake said quietly. "They're crossing through the field. We have to go and hope they meet us at the rendezvous," Jake informed her.

  It was true, they had come back just in time to see the Triton’s aft section cross through into normal space, her shields were already taking extreme damage from the beating they were taking from the other side. Ayan balanced the energy distribution across the ship's shields and resumed fire on the fighters trying to follow them as they flipped end over end and blasted the engines at full thrust, reversing course through the obscuring barrier protecting Ossimi station.

  "I read you Clever Dream. You'll be creating a wormhole as soon as you emerge," Minh replied over the communicator. "Everything all right Captain? You sound a little… different."

  "He's sharing a direct link with the ship. I think it has to do with the framework system." Ayan told Minh.

  "I really have to look into getting a neural link."

  "Jason had one, he had to get rid of it to save his marriage."

  "Ah, then maybe I'll talk to him first. Good shooting Sunspot."

  Ayan couldn't help but smile at the old call sign. It was chosen on a whim when she was in the academy and it stuck because of her size and temper. She'd managed to bring her temper under control since, and she had stopped seeing the use of the nickname as a derogatory comment on her size years before. Too many friends had called her Sunspot over the years for it to have any negative connotation.

  They broke through the field and Ayan could hear the power systems hum as they shunted energy towards the wormhole generator. The entry point formed and Ayan began broadcasting the entry point location to the fighters over an encrypted channel. She watched as Ronin's Ramiel fighter, followed by his thirteen squadron mates entered the barely visible end of the wormhole and accelerated away so quickly it was almost as though they disappeared. The Clever Dream was the last to enter, and either Lewis or Jake, she wasn't sure which, shunted most of the energy from the shields to the engines.

  The entry point to the wormhole travelled along after them like a three kilometre wake as they accelerated through compressed space, making it impossible for anyone to follow.

  The information streaming to Captain Valance through his connection with Lewis was amazing. He could see all the fighters in perfect line formation, centred in the wormhole with their controls slaved to the leader's, Minh's fighter. All their vital statistics said that they were at rest, and there were sporadic communications passing between them.

  "I can't believe we didn't lose anyone," commented Finger.

  "With every successful mission the likelihood that we lose anyone, or even a ship will lessen," replied Slick, who had been reassigned as Ronin's wing man.

  "Even so, we buy our minutes with our decisions. Not one second comes free. I'm proud to fly with all of you," Ronin added. Jake was enjoying having him back.

  Amidst the flow of data came something Jacob did not expect, an emotion. Lewis was glad Ronin had joined the crew of the Triton, and he expressed it emotionally. The feeling was strange, inexplicably different from any human feeling. Even still, there was only one way to comprehend the expression, and that was as a mild happy one at the presence of Ronin and after the experience of that emotion passed Jake realized that Lewis felt the same way about Ayan and himself being aboard. Lewis actually enjoyed having people on board the Clever Dream, even the people who were busy setting up fold out cots and partitions in the main cargo hold. Lewis had already informed them that they would be in transit for at least ten hours. Stephanie had given the order to rest and tend to the few minor injuries they had.

  "Jake, there's an urgent message here from the Triton," Ayan interrupted, placing a hand on his arm.

  Jacob released his light grip on the flight controls. There was no reason for him to worry about them, they had been locked since they entered the wormhole. "I didn't see it in the computer."

  "You really were in there, weren't you?" Ayan asked him, her big blue eyes looking into his warily. "How is it?"

  "Jason was right, Lewis's personality has balanced out. He seems stable, positive."

  "I don't know about that. The time stamp on this transmission is from before we entered the wormhole but the comm system didn't deliver it until now."

  "I'm sorry, I didn't think you wanted to be distracted," Lewis explained.

  "That's not your call to make Lewis. You might be the governing AI aboard, but we need access to all incoming information, we'll tell you when we need you to sort through it for us."

  "I'll keep that in mind."

  Jake's expression darkened, he looked up to the cockpit canopy as though Lewis was somehow installed there instead of deeper inside the ship, it was a common reflex. "Don't keep it in mind, call it gospel. Keeping information intended for your command crew is a malfunction. If it can't be corrected we'll have to remove your program."

  "Yes sir," Lewis barked.

  "What's worse? A murderous Holocaust AI or one who knows how to push your buttons?" Jake grumbled as he reached over and activated the playback.

 
It was a report generated by Jason's communications terminal. Ayan and Jake recognized the format immediately. The Caran Enterprise destroyers had signalled their intent on executing the Galactic Warrant issued for the Triton. The warrant itself was hundreds of pages long, but the sections Jason had highlighted indicated that Regent Galactic had prompted the investigation that resulted in the issuance of the warrant itself. The cause for the warrant was exactly what they expected, but they were surprised at the absence of Sol Defence's or the Earth fleet's involvement in the issuance of the warrant.

  The remaining technologies from the Triton were to be delivered to Order of Eden forces immediately after capture. "Well, that's one thing we don't have to worry about in this. The Sol Defence Fleet isn't trying to get their ship back yet," Jake said as he sat back in the pilot's seat.

  Ayan worked the console, looking for anything else in the message. There was nothing. One of her golden curls had gotten free of her hood and swung against her cheek as she looked over the holographic display again. She looked beyond worried.

  Jake mentally ordered the glove of his vacsuit to retract, it was as effortless as instinct, and reached out to stroke her cheek. That was a reflex too, brought up by how close the console seating brought them together and his concern for her.

  She flinched, looked at his hand and then him. Her expression was hurt, a little frightened. Ayan started to pull herself out of the seat, pushing against the console. The chair retracted from the console and she was out of the seat and walking down the hall in one quick motion. A doorway just a few meters down slid open and she walked inside.

  Jacob looked down the hallway after her for a long moment.

  "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of things while we're in wormhole transit, Captain Valance," Lewis said quietly. "Alice entrusted me for hundreds of cumulative hours."

  Jake pressed the release for his seat under the console, ensured the controls were locked, and followed. "Thanks Lewis."

  When he entered the room Ayan had just finished taking the enhanced armoured layer off, leaving her in the more pliable vacsuit underneath on. She had left it white, and with her hood up he was reminded of the Ayan he'd watched pass away before his eyes.

  The Ayan before him, brilliant, active and alive held back tears. She drew her hood back and shook her hair loose as she looked out the side of the dome covering the prime living area in the ship. They had left it untouched, it was the Captain's quarters, Alice's personal space. He'd never seen it before, never taken the time to take a look.

  There was a broad circular seat in the centre, a large bed against one side, soft, dark panelling all around the room, a transparent ceiling that extended down low enough for someone to watch the stars. That's where Ayan focused her attention.

  She stood with crossed arms, looking through the transparent metal at the warped view of space outside.

  Jake didn't know what to do. The door closed behind him. The quiet of the Captain's quarters pressed on him like a weight. His armour felt heavy, inappropriate. He didn't know what to do, where to start, what to say.

  Her shoulders shook, it was a shudder. He could hear her quietly crying.

  "I'm sorry," he whispered.

  "It's not about you," she replied quietly, wiping tears away.

  "You came here for me, everything that's happened is on my head. If anyone can say it, I can."

  "Fine, then you're sorry. It's all sorted."

  Jacob was stumped once more. He had never been at such a complete and utter loss for words in all his life. He opened his mouth to say something, he didn't know what, and was left gaping like a fish for several moments before closing it again. She was frustrating, the whole situation was maddening, but he couldn't exactly express that either, it just built up like a fitful ball in his brain pan.

  "Shouldn't you check on things?" She asked quietly.

  "Stephanie's settling everyone in the cargo hold and crew quarters. There's nothing more to do."

  "Oh."

  He stood in silence for another protracted moment until he finally couldn't stand it any longer. There was only one thing on his mind, of all the things that had been going on, no matter how dire, when he saw Ayan there was only one thing in my mind. "I'm sorry about what I said before, that it's you."

  "What in blazes were you thinking with that? I mean what in hell did you mean by saying I'm the bloody root of your problems?" She exploded so suddenly he took a step backwards, his back hit the door. It didn't open.

  She was a flurry of golden curls, gesticulating hands and flying tears. "You've got a ship full of random people and objects you could have ranted off on but instead you turn on me and come screaming; 'it's you!'"

  His resolve sprang back. Jake's frustration at the whole situation came to the fore as he replied; "It is you! You and Jason and Minh and Oz and Laura and the you that came before and died right on my bloody ship! What am I supposed to give back that repays that kind of blind devotion! You cross entire sectors and say; 'here I am!' and I'm in no position to give you the kind of welcome you deserve. I can't pay you, I can't give you a ship, I can't take you home if you decide it's the wrong decision, and I certainly can't keep you safe!" This is unlike me. He thought as he felt the first pangs of loss, the first tear crest his eye. I don't break down. "I can't even keep the daughter I created from harm! I watched her die and all I can keep thinking is that she's just the first. Who's next? Oz? Minh? You?" He was in Alice's home, the cabin she'd spent hours in while she looked for him, escaped from harm, travelled the stars. It was her refuge. "She should be here. If I hadn't put her in command, if she hadn't come after me on Pandem she'd be free to run. She should've never found me, none of you should have come!"

  Ayan finally understood what he'd meant as she watched the unbreakable, indomitable Captain Jacob Valance fall apart before her eyes. Even in his dark armour, ready for anything he seemed so much smaller. She hadn't heard that Alice died, but from what he was saying it was plain. He doesn't understand why we're here either. How can someone who doesn't trust anyone beyond what they're paid to do trust anybody? Ayan thought as she closed the distance between them.

  His heel twisted against the door and he fell to his knees, sight obscured with tears he tried desperately to fight. She slowly wrapped her arms around him and laid his head against her chest, tucked under her chin. "I'm sorry Alice passed on. I didn't know."

  His hands wrapped around her waist.

  She stroked his face as chest wracking sobs shook him. She'd heard the story before. Alice had rescued him from a Vindyne laboratory and left him on the Samson. It was just barely functional then, and he had no memory of who he was or that he was the recreation of another man, Jonas Valent. He became a bounty hunter, recruited a crew and began travelling the galaxy in search of the woman who'd left him in the cargo hold of his ship. The woman who had called him Father before leaving him there. It was the only footage he had of Alice. Ayan had never seen it before, but hearing the story she imagined Jacob playing it back when no one was looking. She became as much a part of his life as though she were his own flesh and blood. Losing her was like losing a part of himself, no different from losing a daughter he'd raised.

  When he calmed down she bent a little and kissed the top of his head. "You know there's no one else I'd cross the stars for. You don't have to give us anything. You don't even have to understand it. Just trust us. We're here to stay."

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