This chapter continues to follow Ayan, Jake, Minh-Chu, Liara Erron and Stephanie Vega through Freeground Alpha. Most importantly, we get to see how different Freeground Fleet's attitude is compared to the politically laden mindset of Freeground station.
This is all second draft stuff that hasn't incorporated notes and corrections from the editor yet, so don't worry about finding any typographical errors, they'll be ironed out.
Enjoy!
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10: Freeground Preview Part 4
Purpose
Ayan had a lot to ponder after that first meeting.
Guards in light navy blue beam repellent armor followed the small group into
the transit car on the way back to the gunship they used to move from
Freeground Alpha back to the Revenge. That made the trip through the station a
quiet one. Jake had snapped a little, and she lost the opportunity to get the
Freeground Nation’s Prime Minister’s attention as a result.
It irritated her, but the imposed silence gave her
time to find out if there was real strategy behind intimidating the Prime
Minister. It didn’t seem like Jake was bothered by the meeting at all. Ayan
found the backwards politics of the station infuriating too. First they wanted
to take from them, then they objected to the lucky alliance with the British
they formed in the Rega Gain system, and the sense that the appearance of the
Triton and the Revenge was more resented than celebrated hung thickly over the
rest of the meeting. She was happy Oz was listening in on the whole thing,
relaying the conversation to several Freeground Fleet captains. Hearing their
opinions was something she looked forward to, especially since she may have
found an ally in Admiral Jessica Rice.
The fact that she was the only person who seemed to
appreciate the help they offered was surprising. The woman wasn’t Ayan’s biological
mother anymore, she had been cut out of her genetic makeup and replaced with
the barely edited genetics of a purer ancestor, but Jessica Rice certainly
seemed like she wanted to make up for lost time anyway. That whole issue had to
be put on hold, however.
There were bigger problems, mathematical and
engineering problems that she had to make her priority. The Revenge was still
damaged, and she had days, more likely weeks of work ahead of her if she wanted
to implement the new shield technology properly and finish repairs. They still
had so much to learn about all the technologies that worked in concert to make
dimension drive travel possible, and political distractions were more
irritating than ever.
The transit car finally arrived in the docking bay and
they stood to leave. Stephanie laughed at the four guards who stood with them
and shoved one down into his seat. “You four stay here.”
“Or what?” one of the guards asked.
“Or they’ll never find the bodies.” She replied,
resting her hand on her sidearm.
The group of guards remained in the transit car as
Jake, Ayan, Minh-Chu, Liara and then Stephanie left. The hangar was busy with the
arrival and departure of narrow Freeground Fleet shuttles. They emerged from and
disappeared into lower decks on elevation platforms. A few slipped into space
through old airlock departure hatches, Ayan hadn’t seen that kind of basic
technology since she was reborn – the rest of the galaxy had moved on. There
was something special about the simple technologies though, there were larger
parts that seemed naked in how you could understand how everything worked
together just by watching them move. There was a lot of wear and tear, signs of
quick repair that made it all look even older, and she started to wonder how
everything else aboard Freeground Alpha was being kept together. By contrast,
the Clever Class Gunship they used, the only one issued to the Revenge, looked
new and sleek.
Ayan still got a little excited whenever she saw one.
The new Triton Fleet Gunship was devised while Jake was still in stasis
recovering, and was the combination of Lorander, Earth and many other
technologies. Without the software aboard the Solar Forge the ship would not
have been possible. She was one of the engineers who oversaw its development –
a process that normally would have taken years – but thanks to the Solar Forge
it only took weeks, and before Jake woke from his recovery, they were already
being built along with a much smaller version. A smaller version that Minh-Chu
and the Samurai Squadron had demonstrated were not resilient enough to fight
the Order of Eden. The full sized Clever class gunship would be a different
story, Ayan was sure of it.
It was a twenty-metre-long ship that broadened from
its black and grey coloured nose. Inside there were two practical decks, one of
which could be completely customized using interior modules that loaded from an
elevator underneath the craft. The upper deck had permanent bunks for seven, a
small common space, the heavily shielded mini-bridge, and access to many of the
turrets that bristled the top and sides of the ship.
They passed under a thruster grid that ran like a band
of yellow-red light across part of the front of the ship to wrap around the
upper and lower hull in the fore section. They were Lorander technology and
provided thrust in those directions while fortifying the shield projection
systems. They were highly effective, but what Ayan liked most about them was
how easy they were to fabricate and repair.
The main port side airlock opened and a ramp extended.
“Welcome back, all systems are go on the Pursuit Three, Sir,” Carnie, a tall
pilot with long scraggly blonde hair told Minh-Chu.
“We’re taking off right now,” Minh-Chu said, leading
the way back to the small bridge. “When we get back to the Revenge, start
prepping for a much longer trip.”
“Minh,” Jake called after him. “Show off for our new
friends, do a loop around the fleet so they can see what kind of tech we’re
upgrading to. Just a ten-minute joy ride, though.”
“Aye, aye,” Minh-Chu said with a smirk. “I’ll give
them something to talk about.”
“One more thing,” Jake said. “What do you think about this
ship so far? Do you really think it’s ready?”
“It’s an untested ship,” Minh-Chu replied. “It takes
tests well, but we won’t know anything for sure until we get her out there. I’ll
take the mission if we can bring some extra parts and emergency gear. It’s
better than sitting in a cockpit for a couple days.”
“If it works out, you could be charting the nebula for
weeks,” Jake said.
Ayan saw the moment of hesitation in Minh-Chu, but he
nodded. “You need a small crew, I can set up a small crew. If you want me to
lead this personally, then I’ll do that too.”
“We’ll take care of your squadron from Flight Operations,
they’ll do much shorter perimeter scouting,” Jake said. “The conditions here
are changing so fast, I need someone I can trust running ahead of us.”
“I know,” Minh-Chu said. “I’m your man, but I get Finn
riding along. He checked the core power systems once they were installed and signed
off on the drydock tests. The only person who knows the design better is Ayan,
and I know I can’t get her to ride along.”
“Finn?” Jake asked, surprised.
“Something is going to go wrong,” Minh-Chu said. “And
I’m going to have my grease monkeys with me, but those three skitter bots can
only do so much.”
“I’ll be able to cover for Finn, it gives me an excuse
to stay aboard the Revenge,” Ayan said. “To make sure we do everything we can
to make up for the damaged section.”
“Looks like Finn and a couple of his people are going
on an adventure,” Jake said. “This is going to happen fast.”
“I know,” Minh-Chu said. “I’ll have Ashley bring my
duffel down when we get back to the Revenge and I’ll address my fighter wing
from here. Don’t worry about a crew for this boat, I already know who I’m
taking.”
“I knew you would,” Jake said. “Thank you, Minh.”
“No problem.” He turned to Carnie and they started
down the narrow upper deck corridor while everyone else headed aft. Ayan
overheard him tell his young counterpart; “Looks like we’re explorers this
week, you’d better start reading the manual, First Mate.”
“No kiddin’?” Carnie replied.
“No kidding, you’re going to my right hand on this
trip,” Minh-Chu said. “So you can learn about all the bugs we’ll run into and
the tweaks we’ll have to make while this bird leaves the nest far, far behind.”
Ayan was only slightly irked at the inference that the
gunship might have problems, it probably would, most maiden voyage logs had a
number of entries outlining adjustments and room for improvement. The
ambitiously designed Clever Class Gunship line would be no different, she was
sure. She could feel herself beginning to go through the ship’s system
checklist in her head, double checking the work she did while the vessel was in
the design and construction phases and stopped herself.
That data had been pored over by her and another dozen
or so designers and technicians. Several people had to sign off on each new
design and every aspect of the final build before it left the Solar Forge’s
docks. She forced herself to return her thoughts to the present and regarded
Jake. “Why did you corner the Prime Minister?” Ayan asked, unable to hold her
question any longer.
“You’re the diplomat,” Jake told her gently. “They
expect me to be a thug, so I played the part. As soon as I knew we wouldn’t get
their respect, I made sure that they would expect nothing more from me because
I need them to underestimate me so the last thing they expect is subtlety from
my direction.”
“That’s why I did the same thing to those guards,”
Stephanie added. “We’ve done this before when we wanted people to think that
the crew of the Samson was nothing but muscle-heads. We didn’t have a
galaxy-class diplomat to hide behind then, even though Ashley tried to pretend
to be one once.”
“You could have let me in on it,” Ayan said, shaking
her head. “I understand now, but you’ve dropped the diplomat duties in my lap and
I already have too much to do. I know it’s going to be an uphill climb now, but
you’re going to have to pick that up, especially since Freeground has already
rejected me once.”
“I don’t know anything about Freeground Nation’s
situation,” Jake said. “My information is much older than yours, I don’t know
the players, I don’t even know the prevailing attitude of the civilian body,
and the military is cooperating for now, but who knows how trustworthy they
really are.”
“You don’t think I’m in the same situation?
Everything’s changed since I left. When Minh and I set out to find you, we
didn’t do so on good terms. I’m surprised they let me go aboard at all.”
“Ayan, you’re infinitely better at diplomacy than
anyone here,” Jake said in a gentler tone. “I hate to tell you, but this is one
of your talents. When I talk and think at the same time, people can tell, they
know they’re talking to someone whose calculating. When they talk to you, it’s
your grace they see, even though you’re thinking several moves ahead of them. I
know you have your plate full with technical problems, taking on a shift as
Chief, but we need your other skill set too, at least for now.”
“So I’ll be doing the talking for now, then.” Ayan
said, still unwilling to let Jake off the hook. Seeing that he wanted to sit
back and play dumb was deeply irritating, she could slap him, but she decided
to make sure it wouldn’t last instead. “You’re going to pick up your end of the
load soon though, before the act becomes reality.”
Ayan only felt a tinge of regret at the barb, which
resulted in Jake’s expression turning stony and Stephanie flinching visibly. No
one missed it, but no one commented on it either. She looked at the status of
Oz’s connection on the screen of her command and control unit. He was on mute,
but there was an indication that he was speaking with eight other people on
Freeground ships. None of them could hear the private conversation she was
having with Jake and his people. “Looks like the real debate is happening
between Oz and the rest of Freeground Fleet’s leadership.”
“I noticed that he was listening in,” Liara said.
They continued to the rear of the gunship, arriving at
the middle of the main crew berthing. The circular gathering space for the main
crew, which would have numbered seven during a full mission, was empty except
for the chattering of several holographic captains standing around the edge of
the table in the middle.
Narrow hatches lead to bunks that were stacked two
high except for the Captain’s cabin, which was a single bed with extra storage
and head room. All the small crew bunks doubled as escape pods that launched
through the dorsal side of the ship.
“I’m just wondering,” Liara said to Stephanie. “That
time Jake played dumb and Ashley pretended she was a diplomat – how did that
work out?”
“Actually, she was pretending to be an ambassador. It
was a disaster,” Stephanie chuckled. “It wasn’t her fault though. Her boyfriend
at the time, Silver, screwed it up when he introduced her as the ambassador of
a world he knew really well, but Ashley knew nothing about. There must be over
a thousand worlds in that girl’s head, all with good facts and details to draw
on, but he happened to pick one of the few in that sector that she had never
even read about. We still got access to the young Duke of Inla though, mostly
because he thought Ashley was hotter than a calendar girl.”
“That turned into a good bounty,” Jake said. “The
first and last time we stunned an entire royal court too.”
“You collected a bounty on a Duke?” Ayan asked.
“We did, but it was more a child retrieval job. His
mother wanted custody but the authorities couldn’t do anything about it because
the Duke was outside of her jurisdiction of enforcement. We just had to get him
across an invisible line in space.”
“It wasn’t a simple or easy job, though,” Stephanie
said.
“You’re going to have to start telling me more stories
about your time as a hunter,” Ayan said.
“Definitely, when things quiet down,” he replied.
“Let’s join Oz’s discussion with the fleet,” Ayan
said.
The roar of the main engines of the Pursuit III rolled
through the cabin like thunder as it accelerated away from Freeground Alpha.
Sound cancelling systems engaged automatically do dampen all but the low rumble
of the ship’s thrusters. Ayan was sure Minh-Chu and his co-pilot were about to
give Freeground Fleet a good show.
“If I can make a suggestion?” Liara asked.
“Sure.”
“It may be best if you only display you and Captain
Valent. Too many people in the background from our end could be distracting.”
“Good idea.” Ayan set the emitter on her comm unit up
to project onto the table and activated it.
A small holographic image of Oz appeared in the middle
with eight Freeground Commanders standing along the edge. “So you have five
Sunspire Class ships left including the Sunspire?” he asked an admiral who had
a short-cropped black beard.
“Confirmed,” he replied. “They’re all in pretty good
shape, even though some are still regenerating the outer sections of their
hull. I expect my group will be ready in two days.”
“The main carriers are a different matter,” said
Admiral Rice as her holographic avatar appeared on the outer edge of the table
top. “We have three and they are all in poor condition. Only one of them can
reliably launch fighters, of which we have precious few, and they are all in
need of repair materials.”
“Thank you for joining us, Admiral Rice,” a black
bearded Admiral said. “And the same goes for Captains Ayan Anderson and Jacob
Valent. We are grateful for your direction in this difficult time. I’m sorry
the political climate is so toxic, but it has been that way for years.”
“It’s the people of Freeground who suffer the most,
Admiral,” Ayan said. “Thank you for your warm welcome. Do all your ships have
the temporary emergency jump coordinates?”
“Admiral McPatrick’s people sent them to us as soon as
they finished calculating them. I’m Admiral Urin, by the way, Admiral Rice’s
counterpart in Freeground Fleet.”
“You’re down to two Admirals for the entire fleet?”
Jake asked.
“Yes, the bombing was a devastating blow that cost us
some of our best. I’m sorry about your uncle, Admiral McPatrick,” Admiral Rice
said to Oz.
“Thank you, Admiral,” he replied. “We don’t have much
time for condolences. How secure do you estimate your position is here?”
“We are preparing for the possibility that the Order
of Eden will discover our position sometime before Freeground Alpha is ready to
make the next wormhole transit,” Admiral Urin replied. “We’re doing our best to
coordinate a defence, but any major attack could mean the end of the station.”
“I don’t believe that we’ll be facing a large attacking
force before the station can leave. So far, we haven’t discovered a single
large fleet of Order ships, but smaller groups and individual vessels. If that
trend holds, and their ships are spread out so they have a better chance at
finding us, then we should be able to hold against whatever small force they
bring to bear,” Admiral Rice said. “What we need to dedicate some resources to
is discovering their true purpose here. I’m sure Freeground Alpha is a minor
footnote in a greater campaign. We’ve already found evidence of three advance
outposts, including the one Triton Fleet ran into.”
“Regardless of their intentions here, we need to get
ships out there, scouting ahead and gathering information. It’s the only way
we’ll be able to provide good jump coordinates and have a chance at finding
supplies and equipment for the station,” Ayan said.
“That’s if we take it with us for the long term,” said
one of the Captains on the table. She was a tall, blonde woman with pointed
features. “Excuse my interruption and appearance, I’m undergoing an aggressive
rollback procedure so I can keep up with all these younger officers. I am
Captain Eres of the Georgia.”
“Stop apologizing, Gwen,” Admiral Urin said. “My beard
isn’t black because it’s dyed that way, most of us are rolling back thirty or forty
years. Maybe it’s time you share your thoughts with everyone.”
More captains were appearing along the edge of the
table, Ayan counted thirty-four at a glance. That was almost the entire
Freeground Fleet.
“As I’ve already shared with the Admiral,” Captain
Eres said, “We need to follow Captain Valent’s well known example and capture
several enemy ships. The cost in terms of fleet casualties may be significant,
but it may be the only way we can leave Freeground Alpha behind. The new ships
would be more mobile, and we may be able to evade much more effectively. I know
this seems like a sacrilege, but it may be our only hope of saving our people.”
“Your chance of success depends on,” Jake seemed to
catch himself before offering something too useful, and he finished his
statement early. “Well, it depends on numbers.”
Ayan caught his meaning and explained. “He’s right. If
we can vastly outnumber the enemy in small engagements, say, taking a
battlecruiser with five Freeground ships and the Triton, then we may be able to
force the enemy to evacuate.”
“No offense,” Admiral Urin said. “But we’d prefer to
make capture attempts without the assistance of the Triton or Revenge. We don’t
want to muddy the waters in terms of ownership once the deed is done. What we
need is all the information you have from your successful captures so we can
formulate a solid plan.”
“We can send that to you,” Oz said. “Just be careful,
the Order will scuttle a ship unless you disable the self destruct devices in
time. Their computer systems may also be unreliable, so replacing the main
terminals using our specifications could be essential.”
“I think we understand,” Admiral Rice said. “Let’s put
the idea of evacuating Freeground Alpha aside for now. We don’t have the ships.
Regardless of our intentions with new ships, we need them. We have crews who
can reprogram them, man them, even take them, we just need the intelligence
necessary to create the right opportunity. Do you think Triton Fleet can try
and provide that while you scout ahead?”
“Yes,” Oz said. “We have the resources to scout far
and wide, more so than you expect, I’m sure.”
“When can you get started?” Admiral Urin asked.
“I believe we can start sending scouts out in six
hours,” Oz hesitated for a moment, as though listening to someone outside of
his transmission. “A portion of our scouts will be looking for targets of
opportunity for the Triton. My ship is powerful enough to perform several
strike and fade attacks that could lead the Order away from Freeground Alpha.
We can match the signature of some of our weapon emplacements so it looks like
ships from Freeground Fleet were a part of our strike group.”
“We could send a pair of ships with you instead, so
they are seen and recorded during the encounters,” Admiral Urin said.
“They can’t make the jumps we can, it will have to be
the Triton on its own,” Oz said. “As a secondary objective, I could lead any
Order forces away from Freeground Alpha if they are getting too close.”
“I was just about to make that recommendation,
Admiral,” Admiral Rice said with a thin lipped smile. “Just don’t allow
yourself to be forced into an engagement you can’t win or run from.”
“Don’t worry about us, Admiral,” Oz replied. “You’ll
find we’re extremely capable.”
“Captain Valent, when do you think the Revenge will be
ready to begin scouting missions?”
“Three to four hours. We will scout ahead and avoid
any engagements until repairs are complete. Hopefully our main guns will be
fully automated by then as well, and we can start hunting.”
“One thing at a time, Captain,” Oz replied. “Your
priority will be to scout ahead, find safe harbours and chart good jump
routes.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Jake replied.
“Thank you, Triton Fleet,” Admiral Rice said. “You’ve
given us all new hope. We’ll do our best to hold out here.”
