Spinward Fringe Broadcast 11

by Randolph Lalonde

  “Where d’you think you’re going, mister?” she asked him.

  “To see the War Forge pull our ship into Line Three. I’ve never seen the bottom half of a ship this big get opened up.”

  “Neither have I. You know there’s a whole lounge overlooking the fabrication bay, right?”

  “I wouldn’t be going if they weren’t serving good food to me in a place where I can put my feet up,” he replied.

  “You’re going to be sifting through personnel records, aren’t you?” Piper asked.

  “No reason to stop working,” he replied.

  Jessica shook her head and stepped through a pair of transit car doors. Her heart sank at the sight of Carl Anderson in the seat of one of the few small transit cars. The doors closed behind her and she sat across from him.

  “Welcome to Haven Fleet,” he said, absent charm.

  “Thank you, Defence Minister,” she replied. “It’s an honour to be in your presence.”

  “There were times I liked your stiff upper lip, but this isn’t one of them,” he grumbled. “Ayan won’t reply to me, no matter how I contact her.”

  Jessica was genuinely stunned. “You don’t want me to try to smooth things over, do you?”

  “You’re going to see her,” he said. “I know you two will be able to connect this time.”

  “How so?” Jessica asked. The car softly clicked and slid into a standby bay. She could pull the emergency lever and get out through a service door, she could see it over her shoulder, but curiosity kept her in her seat.

  “Ayan is a different creature from the one you were introduced to a while ago. I don’t even think she realizes it, but she controls everything that happens around her, it’s just her way. On the brighter side, she’s more diplomatic and caring. On the other hand, she’s more calculating and math-brained than most people give her credit for. If she invited you to meet her in her home, even her second home here on the station, then she really wants to give you a chance. You’re passing on two integration meetings so you can visit her, so this is something you want. You’re both women who are characterized by success in doing that.”

  “What? Getting what we want?” Jessica asked with a rueful laugh. “Not hardly. Professionally, certainly. Personally? I’ve always been a disaster. Look at our doomed love affair. If I kept to my mandate, the whole genetic research project that poisoned a generation of children would have been cancelled. I would not have been pulled along by your fascination with the research or went along with the idea of applying it to my own daughter.”

  “I’ve heard this before,” Carl said. “You blame me, you’ve always blamed me.”

  “You’re just one of many people I blame, it doesn’t make you important. My name is at the top of that list anyway, so don’t worry, the stain only looks bigger because it’s on both of us. I don’t want to follow you into another mistake with this daughter. I’ll always be grateful to you for giving her life and me another chance, but that’s where any sentimental emotions between us end. What did you do to get yourself cut off anyway?”

  “That doesn’t matter,” he replied.

  “I’ll find out if I like,” Jessica said. “In twenty hours I’ll have full access to classified data. You don’t think I’ll be looking you up? You are the Defence Minister, after all, my boss, as preposterous as that is.”

  “I had a telepath try to read Alice Valent,” he said. “I wanted to see if she was still the person I expected, the young woman I saved.”

  “Without her permission?” Jessica asked, fixing him with a dark expression.

  “She wouldn’t have given it. There were extraneous factors.”

  “You were caught.” She watched him nod. “Good. I’m a social inept, but I’m at least aware that when you want to find out something about someone, conversation is a good start. Ayan should shut you out. In fact…” Jessica stopped herself and shook her head. In the past she would have gone out of her way to hurt him, but she was trying to make smarter personal choices overall and hurting him would accomplish nothing. “Make your apologies then wait,” she said. “That’s the only advice I know to be right. If you do what you’ve done over and over again; over reach, fail then disappear for a few years, you’ll be letting a whole nation down. You’ve put yourself in a position where you can’t afford to fail; the first Defence Minister. Steady on.”

  Carl waved his fingers over his command and control unit, manipulating a hologram she couldn’t see over his slender bracer. The car shifted into the transit tube smoothly and accelerated. “I didn’t expect help, but I had to try,” he said.

  “If you’d like professional assistance, I’ll be happy to oblige,” Jessica said. “But I’m not willing to take your side when I believe you were in the wrong in the first place.”

  The car came to a stop and the door beside her opened. She waited an extra moment for his response before standing and walking through it.

  “Thank you, Admiral,” he said as the doors closed.

  Jessica shook her head and walked down the hallway, looking for the right apartment number. The dark, polished floor illuminated with a guiding golden stripe. “Ooh, fancy,” Gus, the artificial intelligence she installed on her command and control unit said through her personal communicator.

  “Haven Fleet cleared you for operation?” she asked him.

  “They have,” he said. “They’re also wondering if they can copy my base code and offer it to other commanding officers to customize and utilize. I’m about to be very popular.”

  “I don’t see why not,” she said. “Did you catch any of my conversation with the Defence Minister?”

  “You mean your dreaded ex-lover?” Gus asked. “I did. I don’t like him.”

  “He’s always had his heart in the right place. His problem is with power. He gets too much, and he becomes a controlling bastard until he goes too far and slips back into hiding. I’ve seen it happen over and over again.”

  “Every time he makes that mistake, doesn’t it become less of an appropriate excuse?” Gus asked.

  Jessica couldn’t help but smile and tap her command and control unit. “If the Fleet is about to deploy you to all our commanders, then I applaud them for their wisdom. You are a helpful friend.”

  “I should be insightful more often,” Gus said. “You’re good at compliments when you give them.”

  The golden line terminated at a double door with raised white numbers on it, 0304. She’d arrived, and a surge of nervousness filled her head, made her palms sweat. The doors opened revealing Ayan in a comfortable looking loose green dress. Her curly red hair was a little dishevelled, she looked like she just woke up, but her smile was welcoming and broad. “Welcome, come in.”

  Jessica started entering and was caught in a warm embrace that was relaxed, close and soothing. “Oh,” she said, not expecting the gesture, but relaxing after a moment, putting her arms around the shorter woman. It lasted longer than she expected, and she finally said; “Thank you,” as they parted. “I didn’t realize you were sleeping, I should have checked.”

  “I’ve been sleeping whenever I can,” Ayan said. “Laura’s going through a phase. I was worried about bonding, but now she always wants me near when she’s awake, and her sleep seems random. Sometimes for half an hour, other times three, and if I’m not there, she starts screaming. Do you want to meet her?”

  “Of course,” she said.

  “You can put your bag just there,” Ayan said, gesturing to the sofa with a blanket over it. There were three of them arranged around a circular table with moveable wedge leaves. “If you’d like to stay here while you’re on base, you can have the third bedroom. They gave me this amazing apartment with all kinds of room I won’t use for when I’m staying over here.”

  “You’re an important woman,” Jessica said. “They’re showing you the appropriate amount of respect. I’m still happy with a small bed in a small room, but you know how they treat Admirals.”

  Ayan stopped
in the doorway of the bedroom and looked at Jessica. “Everything you have is in that bag, isn’t it?”

  “Of course,” Jessica said. “I’ve been at war for years now. Unimportant things fall away, especially when you’re fighting for what’s really important.”

  Ayan only nodded, smiling a little before leading the way into the bedroom. She slipped onto the bed next to a soft barrier in the middle that surrounded little sleeping Laura.

  Jessica carefully crept to her from the other side and looked at the infant who was in a tiny, loose self-cleaning blue onesie that looked soft and warm. “She’s absolutely adorable,” she whispered, truly in awe.

  “I think so,” Ayan said. “I’m still trying to find a way to properly honour her parents though. I have all the data on them, but still have no ideas.”

  Jessica thought for a moment. “You’re going to tell her about them?”

  “Absolutely,” Ayan said quietly.

  “Good, it’s not my place to say, but that’s good. When you think of that day, is there something you imagine giving her? A place you’d like to take her?”

  “I always thought it would happen at home,” Ayan replied. “But I am handing her something. Her mother loved music, she played a kind of ancient metal flute. Her father met her at a concert.”

  “Maybe you could have one made,” Jessica said.

  “I don’t have to,” Ayan said. “I have it. It was on the transport with her. I wasn’t able to find any recordings, but no one’s been to Cefa yet, so they might be found there. I think I know how I’ll do it now, that’s been bothering me, thank you.” Laura started to rouse, and Ayan gently rubbed her belly, putting her back to sleep.

  “You would have come up with it or a better idea eventually,” Jessica said, hypnotized by the sight of Laura at rest.

  They watched in silence for a while before Ayan asked; “So, how do you feel about maybe being a grandma?”

  “Like there’s no maybe about it,” Jessica replied, looking up at Ayan, who seemed weary, but purely happy. Without a word she vowed to do her best as a mother for Ayan and to be a grandmother to Laura, aware that she had a lot to learn about both.

  Fifty-Five

  Fur-Face

  * * *

  Alice descended the rear ramp of the Clever Dream after purposefully distracting Iruuk with the main gangway. He watched for her to emerge there, but she was off to the side. She had to see him before the reunion, the excitement at seeing him again was overwhelming, but she was also nervous.

  He would glance at the ramp way, then his caramel and brown snout would turn upwards, taking the whole shape of the ship in, admiring the lines. Her grin only grew as she watched him silently study it wide eyed.

  “Iruuk!” she finally called out playfully.

  He was running towards her the moment she was spotted, almost right down on all fours at stunning speed. The Nafalli stopped at the last minute then gently took her into a big, warm hug. “I know it hasn’t been long but… I missed you,” he said.

  Alice sighed and let a couple tears roll down her cheeks and she gripped his fur in her hands. “Me too.”

  “I’m a Lieutenant now,” he said, pulling away and looking at her. He looked so happy with himself until he saw her face. “Are you all right?”

  “They’re happy tears, Fur-Face,” she said, wiping them away. “But no, not while I’m in this solar system, I don’t think I’m all right.”

  “I’ve heard rumours. You’ve been in the middle of some things,” he said. “And you smell different.” He sniffed the top of her head, then her neck, then nuzzled her hair playfully.

  Alice laughed. “Hey, quit it.”

  “Makes my sisters laugh every time too,” he said. “But things have changed, I can tell.”

  “Hi, Alice!” said a high pitched voice from the ramp way. “Captain Sima told me you might need a pilot, and she could spare me for a few weeks, so…”

  “Ute!” Alice said, rushing over to the small, broad headed Mergillian, she only came up past her belt when she hugged her, but the high creak coming from Ute’s throat told Alice she was extremely happy to see her. “I didn’t expect you, thank you for coming.”

  “I’m happy to help, I hear Yawen may be in danger, and I couldn’t let you go alone.” Ute’s sweet, sing-song high voice echoed in the hangar.

  “You’ll be more of a ship manager and navigator,” Alice said. “Lewis takes care of a lot aboard ship with the new automation.”

  “I’m sure I’ll find something to do,” she said, her thin smile spreading all the way across her wide face.

  “I let her in,” Iruuk said. “I didn’t think you’d mind, but there are four more waiting outside your front door. They are all new entries in the Fleet from the Nafalli arrivals. I like them.”

  Alice checked the household management system and saw the Nafalli there, two were wrestling while the other two watched. Their records came up and she saw they were from two different warrior tribes, two young women and two men. They were all cleared to join her as new recruits. “Oh, this just got interesting,” Alice said. “Fleet wants me to manage their integration. Wow, that could be really bad.”

  “You don’t think you could?” Ute asked.

  “Well, I think they’ll fit in on the Clever Dream, but I don’t know if that’ll help them fit in with Fleet. I don’t plan on running everything by the book on my ship.” Alice thought for a minute, watching the Nafalli. They all wore loose clothing that were made from bands of cloth that covered all but their hands and heads. She’d seen a Nafalli dressed that way before, a long time ago, but just for a moment. “Is that their armour?”

  “It’s the style they use,” Iruuk said, nodding. “My father and mother are from a tree tribe, so we don’t wear much armour, but these are descended from burrower tribes. They’re good with three dimensional thinking, burrowers, very strong, and they traditionally wore a kind of silk for ages. Now they wear something that feels the same, but Fleet made it out of the same materials as the heavy vacsuits that we use.”

  Alice opened a small communications window and sent Commodore Sawyer a text message;

  THANKS FOR THE LAST MINUTE BACKUP

  “All right, let’s let them in,” Alice said, opening the door. “Head downstairs to the hangar, we’re taking off in ten minutes.” All four of their snouts pointed up at the door and then they moved out of range of the capture device for a moment, returning with large weapons cases. There were so many crates that it took all four of them to carry.

  “I thought this was a scouting mission,” Alice muttered. “I guess Sawyer took a minute to read my file.”

  “Or she knows you’re a Valent? Descended from Ayan?” Iruuk offered. “That matters, and they had a reputation for not leaving friends behind.”

  “Right,” Alice said. Theodore joined them, flashing an uneasy smile at Iruuk, who returned the gesture, and they could hear the Nafalli before they could see them. A thought struck her then. “Theo, will a Nafalli fit in any of the Clever Dream’s bathrooms?” she asked. The ones she saw near the crew quarters were all very compact.

  “Only one is designed for species that size,” Theodore replied. “But, yes. They should be comfortable. There is another that will work if we remove the shelves along one wall.”

  “Let’s do that. Five Nafalli shouldn’t have to share one bathroom,” Alice said.

  “That’s wise,” Theodore said.

  Heavy footfalls and quiet chatter echoed ahead of the newcomers; “I heard this is a Special Operations team,” said one of them in a gravelly voice.

  “It’s not regular Haven Fleet,” a female replied. “Then, if you read your packet, you’d know that Captain Valent has seen more habitats, races and parts of this galaxy than most of the people living in it. This is a learning opportunity.”

  “Hey, they said they needed soldiers and I stepped forward. It’s not my problem if they decided I was already qualified without reading any informati
on packets,” he replied. “I am awesome by default.”

  “Not if you ask Gembla,” jeered another male Nafalli.

  “Leave her out of this. Some mates are never satisfied, no matter how long you stay home grooming them.”

  Iruuk snickered. “It’s a Nafalli thing,” he whispered.

  As soon as they saw Alice, they stopped speaking, stacked the equipment crates to one side of the door and lined up. They were brown and black striped, with larger, darker eyes than Iruuk. They were also shorter than him, with more stout arms and legs. They seemed thicker in the middle too, and the males wore goggles. “Reporting for duty!” shouted the smallest female with a raspy voice.

  “Thank you,” Alice said, feeling small but standing tall. She was wearing her armour jacket and the vacsuit she made herself along with a Violator Version Seven sidearm strapped to her thigh. “I just found out that you were going to be on my crew, so forgive me if I haven’t learned anything about you yet.”

  “We volunteered fifteen minutes ago after being in your fleet for a day, so we’re a little behind too,” the gruff one said.

  “Krooke, their military doesn’t allow for people speaking out of turn,” the female on the end said through the corner of her mouth.

  “Right,” Krooke said. “Sorry.”

  “Like I said, this ship isn’t like the rest of the fleet. You can speak freely unless we’re in a briefing or I’m trying to get important strategic information relayed to you quickly.”

  “That’s a relief,” the smaller male said. “Noro of Tuuko Tribe,” he said formally as soon as Alice looked at him.

  “Noro, can you activate your armour for me?” Alice asked, looking at the scanner on her wrist.

  He shrugged and was covered in a layer of banded metal with no gaps but perfect flexibility. His helmet had a simple visor and teeth drawn on it. The teeth looked comical, with a cartoon tongue hanging out the side.

  Krooke covered his nose and laughed. “I told you to let me draw your battle mask.”