by Tony Healey
“They seem okay,” she whispered.
Chang nodded. “A good bunch, Captain.”
King looked her over. “You look tired, Lieutenant. When do you hand over?”
“Another hour, sir,” Chang said. “Looking forward to some rack time.”
King nodded. “Well, be sure you get it. You’ve earned it.”
The Captain straightened her tunic, shot Chang a salute. “Carry on, Lieutenant.”
“Aye Captain,” Chang said.
She watched the Captain leave the bridge, and felt the atmosphere around her relax a bit. The trainees’ shoulders all seemed to curve at the same time.
“Don’t slouch about you lot, sit up straight,” she ordered with obvious relish. And then to the sound of multiple groans: “Let’s go back through the basics one more time …”
* * *
King spent the rest of the day assisting with repairs, then in the evening found her way to the mess hall to grab a long-overdue coffee and perhaps something to eat. She bumped into Commander Greene again, also taking a break. He had Chief Gunn with him.
“All right?” she asked them both, taking a seat at the same table.
“Yeah. Keeping myself busy. How’s the repairs on deck five?” Greene asked her.
Jessica took a swallow of coffee to wash down her bite of sandwich.
“Okay. They’re getting there,” she said.
Greene nodded. “Good. The secondary shift are getting by all right up on the bridge.”
“I know, I popped up there a little while ago,” King said with a shrug. “Chang is supervising. We just can’t spare anyone else. We need them all on the repairs.”
“I know. It’s good experience for them though,” Greene said. “Keeps ‘em on their toes. A bit of graft won’t do ‘em any harm.”
Jessica remembered something. “Oh, Commander. I meant to ask you about Lieutenant Swogger.”
Greene frowned. “Munitions?”
“Yeah. He was absent from the meeting, and I’ve forgot to mention it afterward.”
“I’ll track him down,” Greene said.
“How about you Chief? Everything okay?” Jessica asked her.
Gunn blew over her hot chocolate before taking a sip from it.
“Much as before. I think we’re in good shape, considering the state of the Defiant when we arrived here. All credit to the crew, they’ve put the work in,” Gunn said.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you sound proud …” Jessica said with a sly grin.
Gunn elbowed Greene in the side. “Of course, I’ve had this big lummox helping me all day. I’d like to say he’s been useful, but it’s been like babysitting, I tell ya.”
Greene cut a wedge of cake with a fork, popped it in his mouth then proceeded to talk with his mouth full. “Next time I won’t offer my services.”
Gunn rolled her eyes and then shot Jessica a wink.
“You know, we’re gonna have to deal with Captain Nowlan,” Greene cut in.
“What do you mean?” King asked. “His debrief?”
“We need him to bring us up to scratch as much as he needs to be, you know?” Greene said.
King agreed with him. The meeting had been so depressing; she’d just wanted to lose herself in some physical work. Something meaningful. But she knew all too well that she’d intentionally put off the imminent conversation with Hawk.
“And there’s something else,” Greene said. He forked himself another load of cake. “We need to figure out where he’s gonna fit in.”
Jessica absorbed this. “Yes I see what you’re getting at. Well, I’m sure we can cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, I’ll go and have a talk with Nowlan tomorrow morning. See what he has to say.”
“I can do it if you want,” Greene offered.
King got up, patted him on the shoulder. “Nope you’re doing enough. I’ll deal with this. Besides, I think the Chief has some sewage pipes need a good cleaning, and I’ve just promoted you to Top Scrubber.”
She got up and left before he could say anything in retaliation, and as she left the mess hall she could hear Meryl Gunn’s deep laughter.
6.
The next morning King went to the Ambassador’s quarters. She waited for Nowlan to come to the door and greeted him with a smile. He didn’t look half as awake and lively as she did.
“Morning,” he said, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm. “Sorry.”
“Rough night?” King asked him.
Nowlan stepped aside to allow her into the quarters. The door slid shut behind her.
“Got a bit drunk,” he said. “Celebratin’ my celebrity status with some of the crew.”
Jessica grinned. “Well if I’m being truthful, I can’t say I blame you. It seems the whole ship is talking about you right now.”
She wondered how Selena Walker had got on with him. Perhaps she’d been part of the ‘celebrations’ the night before …
“Thank yuh kindly,” Nowlan said. “So, uh, what do I owe the pleasure of such an early visit?”
King sat down. “We need to have a chat. I think it’s safe to say, given our present status, that you’re not going to get an official de-brief from anyone else,” she said.
“Gotta agree with you there,” Nowlan said. “I heard about what came up in the meetin’. To tell yuh the truth, that’s when I grabbed the nearest bottle and started drinkin’.”
King didn’t tell him that she, too, felt like she had sorrows to drown.
“We’re far from home, Captain Nowlan. And I want us to get any preliminary information out of the way,” she said.
“Well, yeah, ‘cause I gotta few questions of my own,” he said.
King nodded. “All in good time. So … why don’t we fix up some coffee, and get this out of the way?”
She got up, walked to a unit in the far wall and conjured up two hot coffees with cream and sugar. Nowlan accepted his gratefully and took a sip off the top straight away. “Ah, thanks.”
“I know it’s early but I have a pretty full day, and I wanted to be able to give you my undivided attention. That and I’m burning to find out how you got here.”
“All the juicy details of the Hawk’s famous last mission, eh?” Nowlan asked her with a cheeky grin.
“Yes, something like that,” Jessica said. “I think you’ll find most of the crew on board want to know too.”
Nowlan sat back, took a deep breath. “I was heading a mission to destroy a Draxx repo facility. You know, they commandeered several of our own facilities following the civil war.”
King knew it. The Metal Marquis, a band of revolutionaries made up of disillusioned military personnel and liberated replicants, had used guerrilla warfare and acts of terrorism to force the Union’s hand into outlawing the production of replicants about eighty years before. Public opinion had a little something to do with their change of heart also. The simple fact was that not many people knew the Union army was mostly made up of replicants; human slaves made and raised in the lab. Cannon fodder for the Union’s never ending campaign against the Draxx Dominion and its allies. When they found out, the Union was surprised to find opinion on the side of The Metal Marquis.
But not every facility had been dismantled in time. A dozen or so had fallen into Draxx hands, and with them the technology to create an endless supply of soldiers. It wasn’t long before reptilian replicants started to show up on the battlefield, created with one purpose in mind. To slaughter.
Admiral Schaffer was the first to suggest a galaxy-wide search for the missing facilities and destroy them. Of course, Hawk was his first choice to lead the way.
Jessica shook her head in disbelief. “Admiral Schaffer. Wow.”
“He’s a good man. I mean, uh, was,” Nowlan said uneasily. “Wow. That’s a bit strange. To me, he was alive and kickin’ a few days ago. Now I s’pose he’s long dead …”
Jessica didn’t want to tell him that the Admiral had died in a blaze of
glory at the battle of the Membaii Pass shortly after Hawk’s own disappearance. After that the pass had been duly renamed the Schaffer Pass. She decided she’d save that little revelation for another time.
“Go on,” she urged him carefully.
Nowlan cleared his throat. “So anyway, we hit four and were making our way to a fifth when we were ambushed,” he said.
“Sounds a familiar tactic,” King spat.
Hawk nodded. “I was flyin’ lead in a group of four. I didn’t even know they were there till Lucky, off my starboard side, blew up. Guess he wasn’t so lucky after all. I swung my ship around and down, to avoid their fire and get a good look at ‘em.”
Jessica imagined Hawk’s ship Speedy tearing through space, ducking out of the way of incoming Draxx fire. It reminded her of some of the fictional versions of his adventures she’d read. Many writers had tried their hands at writing Hawk adventure stories since his disappearance, and the public had an appetite for them too. But she had to wonder how much of his fame and notoriety had been fostered by such things. How much did the Legend differ from the Reality?
“I bring her around, and Tango breaks to follow my lead,” Nowlan said, becoming more animated as he told the story. He’d woken up now, and he was reliving what was, to him, the events of only days before. “But Bowlin’ Ball Head, at the rear, he didn’t move quick enough. Enemy fire hit him an’ he was blown apart …”
7.
Hawk glanced about for a sign of Draxx ships. His vision was obstructed by debris and material from his wing mates until he saw a flash of red hull paint above him. He angled Speedy up and pushed hard on the throttle.
“Tango, follow my lead. Hang tight,” he ordered into his headset.
“Roger,” Tango answered.
Hawk spun the little ship on its axis, and as he came up behind the Draxx vessel he let loose the front cannons. He fired in rapid succession, and within seconds the Draxx ship was no more. Another momentary occupier of the cosmos sent to a cold, airless grave.
“Got ‘er!” he yelled.
“They’re not showing up on our sensors,” Tango reported.
Hawk looked about. “No, they’re probably some kind of stealth fighter. Forget the sensors, use yuh eyes.”
“Roger. How many do you think there are, sir?” Tango asked him.
“Dunno, buddy. Just keep yuh eyes peeled.”
Hawk veered off to the right, to do a wide sweep of the immediate area. That was when he saw it. A glimmer of light from a stationary object nearby. He instinctively opened fire on it, without hesitation. The bolts of energy struck it. His hunch proved correct when a Draxx ship materialised in front of him and moved away. Far bigger and sinister than any regular Draxx fighter, he recognised it instantly.
“General Carn …” Hawk said.
“What!?” Tango said in shock. “Carn? Here?”
He’d obviously hit the right spot to destabilise its cloaking shield.
“Gotta be. Cool it Tango. Keep your head in the game. You go looking for any more ships and try an’ cover my back. I’ll take this one on myself,” Hawk said.
The exposed Draxx ship fired.
He ducked Speedy out of the way of several incoming warheads. Tango was just quick enough to follow his manoeuvre, as a warhead went hurtling through the pocket of space he’d occupied a second before.
They broke apart, Tango executing his orders to hunt for other fighters. Hawk opened fire on Carn’s ship, and watched with awe as its pilot hurled it into an impossible barrel roll that evaded every one of his bolts.
“Damn!” Hawk said. He tried to close the gap as the Draxx ship sped away. “Tango, where you at?”
He had just time to look at his readouts to see where Tango was when he heard a cry over his comm. and then the resultant flash of an explosion to his right.
His jaw clamped tight, and he threw Speedy full ahead in hot pursuit.
* * *
King knew the next part, and she surprised Nowlan in cutting in with the details.
“You left a message, and you said “I don’t know if anyone is ever gonna hear this, but I’m in pursuit of a Draxx fighter. Suspect pilot is General Carn himself.” Then you left your position, and your trajectory,” she said.
Nowlan nodded. “That’s it. Yeah. That’s how it happened.”
Jessica shrugged. “I was a bit of a Hawk nut back in the Academy.”
“Is that true?”
“I’m afraid to say it is,” Jessica said. “So anyway, please continue.”
Nowlan’s face grew serious again as slipped back into retelling what had happened to him.
“He led me deeper and deeper into uncharted space. Kept just enough ahead of me to stay out of my way, if you know what I mean …”
* * *
Just when he was starting to wonder what would happen next, his comm. beeped with an incoming transmission.
He opened a channel. “General,” Hawk said.
“How did you know?” Carn said in his trademark silvery voice.
“It looked like your type of ship, to be honest,” Hawk said.
There was a chuckle. The last time he’d heard it was when the good General himself had Hawk on a slab torturing him. It made him alert, ready for anything. Such a sadistic figure didn’t have cause for laughter unless something was going his way.
Am I being led into a trap? Hawk thought.
“Well, I have to say, your own ship suits you the best,” Carn said.
“Oh yeah? And how’s that?”
There was a pause and then Carn said, “It’s small.”
Hawk knew he was out of range, but he’d had enough. Either he was being led into some kind of trap or he wasn’t. Carn’s ship was faster, and that extra speed kept him just out of reach.
A warning shot won’t hurt, Hawk decided.
He fired a warhead straight at the other ship. It fell short although the explosion visibly rocked the Draxx vessel.
“I’d have thought you’d know better than to waste your precious ammunition,” Carn said through the comm.
“Just a taster for you, General. Now how’s about we stop this charade and get you under arrest,” Hawk said.
Again, that laugh. It made the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end.
“You are confident, human. I’ll give you that. Anyway, it’s been pleasant enough but I grow tired of your company.”
Suddenly Carn’s ship accelerated into a Jump and was gone.
“Damn!” Hawk said again. He still had a faint lock on the other ship. If he locked in now he might -
“Got it!” he yelled and hit the control for the Jump Drive. The stars shrank back and then accelerated on either side of him as Speedy entered the Jump.
* * *
“But you didn’t know where you were going?” King said.
“I had no idea,” Nowlan said. He sipped his coffee. “I suppose you don’t know any of this, do you?”
Jessica shook her head. “Our last data from you was that recording. That’s it. As far as the rest of the galaxy was concerned, you disappeared into thin air.”
“It must’ve looked that way,” Nowlan said.
“So do I take it you ended up at the black hole like we did?” King asked him.
Nowlan nodded. “Yuh. The most I can figure is he must’ve Jumped blind. And like an idiot, I came in right behind him. Before I knew it there was nothing I could do but sit and wait to die.”
“We went through the same thing,” King said. And she thought: you must be regretting it as much as I do.
“It sure wasn’t the blaze of glory I foresaw for myself,” Nowlan said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, yuh know. I didn’t want to die in no old folks home or nothing. I’d rather have gone out saving a planet or something. Big stuff. Being pulled into a black hole and waiting for whatever was in there to finish me off ain’t what I imagined for myself.”
King thought it totally fittin
g to what she’d learned of Nowlan in the Academy. His bravado, his heroism, his brass balls in the face of adversity. If anyone else had sat there and told her they wanted to die saving a planet, she would have laughed. But with Nowlan, she knew it to be true. And that he was apparently capable of doing so, too. “I get you,” she said.
“So anyway, there I was thinking that it was all over. I couldn’t see Carn. I tried to look for his ship, but to be honest it was so hard to tell. And I almost got the idea of just poppin’ the cockpit open and lettin’ the vacuum take me,” Nowlan said. “But I’ve never been one for suicides. Easy exits. So I decided to sit it out.”
“And that’s how you ended up here,” Jessica said.
Nowlan nodded. He seemed troubled, and it took a few seconds for him to say what he wanted to say. “Did you, uh … when you went through … Did you … ?”
“Have an experience?” Jessica asked him. “Is that what you mean?”
Nowlan’s face told her he did.
“Do you mind me asking what you saw?” she asked. “You don’t have to if -“
“My Father …” Nowlan said abruptly.
* * *
“Gerard …” the voice said. It was gruff, slurred. It was the same ruined voice he heard every time he dreamt of his Father.
The man had tattoos interlaced across his entire skull, which was bald and scarred. His face was a ruin, and one of his eyes was milky white. By all standards a monster, but knowing what he did, Nowlan could not feel repulsion at the sight of him. Even though it was only a dream, he still felt a pang of something he didn’t truly understand.
Love.
“Gerard listen to me,” he said. “Yuh think yuh dreaming. And yuh are. In a way. But I’m here to tell yuh that this time it’s a little more than a dream.”
Nowlan looked down at himself. He was a young boy.
“Hear me!” his Father said. He took him by the arms, and Nowlan looked straight into the oddity of his eyes. They were filled with wisdom, with the life and death of the stars themselves. Eyes that had seen, perhaps, too much.
“Dad,” Nowlan whispered.
His Father’s face grew slack, tired. Defeated. He pulled little Gerard Nowlan in for a hug. Held him tight.