Randolph Lalonde - Spinward Fringe Broadcast 08 - Renegades (18 page)

“Those uglies were no
pushovers either,” Minh-Chu said. “I’d say they weren’t junk
yard uglies at all, but custom jobs. Small gunships.”

“Figures we’d luck
into a big find, but a hard target.”

“Sir,” addressed
one of the British Alliance ensigns. He was so young it was strange
seeing him at one of the engineering stations.

“Yes, Ensign?” Jake
replied. “Speak freely.”

“With respect, I’d
like to ask: was there ever a chance that the Warlord would lose this
engagement?”

Jake’s response came
through a cocked smile. “There’s always a chance, but in this
case, there wasn’t much of one. The Torano had us at close range,
I’ll concede that point, but she depended on beam weapons, on her
power plants keeping her capacitor arrays charged. While they were
spending energy, we were accumulating it through our shields and
hull. If we didn’t get a chance to break away from her and fire our
main weapons from a distance, we would have been able to outlast the
Torano. It was just a matter of time, but when the enemy does not
want to be taken, they’ll do anything to keep that from happening.”

“Thank you, Sir, that
makes sense, Sir,” replied the Ensign.

Jake turned his
attention to Minh-Chu. “Next time, we use your plan and some of our
more developed leads. Less work, more scanning, and a better chance
at a softer target.”

“Sounds good to me.
What’s our ETA for Rega Gain?”

“About twenty-one
hours.”

Looking Back, Walking Forward

Ayan stood in her
simple quarters, alone in her living room. The space was lit only by
the light of a hologram that encircled her at arm’s length. The
words “Follow your instincts, they've never been better,”
drifted large behind all the crew records, incident
reports, video playbacks, and comments rotating around her.

Her time with the
Victory Machine had given her so much to ponder, but examining the
information too much could provide an equal amount to worry over. She
examined the pieces slowly, turning as though in orbit, while she
held the latest item in her hand – the report from the Rangers
about the last enemy outpost on Tamber being destroyed.

The information she’d
gained from the Victory Machine didn’t directly reference the
event, but something told her that it signified the true end to the
Battle of Port Rush, which certainly was significant to the Victory
Machine’s predictions. With some uncertainty, she hung it in the
air beside their departure from Port Rush, but changed her mind a
moment later and moved it beside Jacob Valent’s confrontation with
Hampon. “The Victory Machine said a direct confrontation with
Hampon would change Jake forever. I wish I knew how,” Ayan said to
herself.

She caught a glimpse of
a recording of Alice running across the Port Rush battlefield and
smiled. She truly was the rogue element, and not just to the Victory
Machine. The young woman had not only discovered a major problem with
the Ando Four model Androids, but uncovered the original wildlife
nurseries from the first terraformers who settled on Tamber. There
really was no way of predicting where Alice would end up. Ayan liked
her, and hoped she would have the chance to get to know her better in
the future.

“I don’t think I
have to be afraid of getting close to either of the Valents anymore,”
she said, her attention shifting to a recording of Jacob Valent
boarding the Warlord almost two months before. He’d been gone a
long time, and she couldn’t help but wonder what he’d learned in
that time, what his small crew had accomplished. She was secure in
her belief that she’d outlived the Victory Machine’s advice to
stay away, and still regretted following its advice to break off her
relationship with Jacob Valent for a while. Ayan still thought of
that day on the bridge of the Warlord, where what should have been an
intimate farewell turned into a bad breakup.

“Not this again,”
Lacey said as she walked in. Iloona and Victor were behind her. “I’m
sure you could find a fortune teller in Port Rush who could predict
things half as well. Even I can guess that you’ll have a daughter
and a son sometime in the next few years. With your maternal
instincts and child bearing hips, it would be strange if you didn’t.”

Ayan didn’t reply but
followed a faint hunch that struck her just as she was about to turn
off the hologram. The images shifted and whirled to follow her gaze
until self-updating reports on the Triton and Port Rush were brought
side by side. The Triton’s report confirmed everything Oz said,
that his hull was finally in good repair, and they would be back to
full thrust in weeks, perhaps days if things went well. The latest
report from Port Rush indicated that more property owners and
entrepreneurs were pulling out, as the Carthans promises of support
were broken. The port was failing. Signs of the worst future the
Victory Machine had to show her for that place were plainly evident.
At the same time, the Rangers had just taken a small island near Port
Rush’s shoreline by conquering the Order of Eden bunker there. She
could allow herself to be led back in that direction, and with a new
position in Haven Shore’s government, she could try to get the
Council on board with helping Port Rush.

She stared at a few
bits of video feed, and immediately recognized one of Patrizia
Salustri’s ships lifting off from the patch of land they'd defended
nearly seven months before. They had left nothing useful behind.
Another video clip playing beside it showed a group of people in
protective suits dumping scrap metal from the side of a shanty home
into a furnace. The weatherworn residents could only look on as armed
men kept them from their home. “Are we building in the wrong
place?” Ayan whispered to herself.

“Do you have a minute
to check the referendum results with us? Your crystal ball will
keep,” Lacey teased.

Ayan nodded and turned
off the hologram. “Sorry, I get caught up in current events.”

“Did you really see
the future, Ayan?” asked Iloona.

“Bits and pieces,”
Ayan replied. “Most of what I saw either already came true, wasn’t
quite right, or isn’t supposed to happen for a very long time.”

“Anything about me
becoming Defense Minister in there? I haven’t been unemployed since
I was a teenager; I’m already restless,” Victor Davis said with a
smirk.

“No, but I don’t
think you’ll have to worry about that for long,” Ayan replied.
She noticed the time on her command unit and nodded. “The voting
deadline is up in three minutes. How did we do on issue
comprehension?”

“Only fifty-nine
percent of our voters demonstrated a level of comprehension high
enough to vote on the issue,” Iloona said.

“That’s low,”
Ayan said.

“Way too low,”
Victor agreed. “And they’re angry at us for testing them on the
issue during registration.”

“For once, I don’t
care if they’re angry. If they don’t understand the decision
they’re about to make and won’t educate themselves on it, then
they can’t be involved in the process.”

“Absolutely,” Lacey
agreed.

“What’s Oz hoping
for?” Victor asked.

“He’s hoping they
go against, then he gets to keep all his bots,” Ayan replied. “What
are you hoping for, Iloona?”

“My older children
work in the jungle now. It would be nice to have them home more, but
they love what they do there. They don’t want to be replaced by
bots; they don’t even want to supervise them. On the other hand, I
want bots in our hospital even if their artificial intelligences are
restricted, so I voted for including them in the general workforce.
They probably voted against, so that’s three of them to one of me.”

“And Alaka?”

“He didn’t bother
debating it at all, and voted with me. Probably for harmony’s
sake,” Iloona said with a smile.

“The results are in,”
Lacey said.

“Here goes,” Victor
said, cringing.

“Seventy-four percent
of the vote is against expanding bot usage into the regular
workforce,” Lacey said, looking at the results. “I’m sorry.”

“What does Insight
say about their motivations?” Victor asked.

“Most of it is what
you’d expect,” Lacey replied. “Twenty-seven percent of those
who voted against this believe it’s not worth risking another virus
incident, twenty-four percent believe that the bots would displace
them, so they’d have to find another job.”

“What about the
rest?” Ayan asked. The Insight system was a part of the Crewcast
software that picked up on people’s motivations, and in matters of
government it was a constant aid. She suspected it picked up on
something that no one there wanted her to hear.

“Well,
one-point-eight percent indicated in one way or another that using
robots was against their religion,” Lacey replied.

“I’ll look it up
myself.” Ayan brought up the Insight results and saw everything
Lacey reported and one more thing. Insight recognized that
thirty-four percent of voters blamed Ayan for driving Liam Grady away
from Haven Shore, and would not vote yes because they knew she
supported the introduction of robots into the general workforce. The
remainder of motivations behind the no votes were undeterminable.
“Well, that makes things crystal clear. I cost us this referendum
and personally set back the future efficiency of Haven Shore.”

“This just means the
bots can stay where they are,” Victor said, “in construction.”

“I wonder how the
maintenance worker who gets sewage calls for days at a time will
reflect on this vote,” Ayan replied. “Or what dock loaders who do
nothing but move boxes for fifty hours a week will think?”

“We know, we’re on
your side,” Lacey replied. “People are fickle, especially when
they vote with their hearts.”

“Someone should find
a way to screen that out,” Ayan said. “It should be part of
competency testing.”

“Now, you know that’s
not fair,” Victor said. “It crosses a great big line.”

“I know, I’m just
sulking,” Ayan said with a sigh. “I just can’t believe I cost
us this. Maybe I should take a few months away from the Council so
things can cool down, concentrate on other things.”

“And leave everyone
on their own to deal with Tyra and whoever else she manages to
nominate?” Lacey asked, shocked. “Your name is on dozens –
wait, no, probably hundreds – of blueprints and action plans down
here. You were our first diplomat, and probably one of the only
people who straddle the line between civic and military duties. Who
knows what’ll happen to everything you built without you on the
Council.”

“Not to mention, you
technically own over ninety percent of our assets, including this
building,” Victor said. “What is the Council without you?”

“It was only a
thought,” Ayan said, raising her hands in defense. “You know I
couldn’t leave you to sit through whatever cause Tyra wants to
support now that she has a seat.”

“I was wondering for
a minute there,” Victor said.

“Besides, so much
work is wrapping up on Haven Shore, and I’ll see that finished,
especially the Everin Building. I feel like I have family here.”

“That’s
reassuring,” Iloona said. “Speaking of family, I’m wondering…
does this seat stretch out into a bed?”

Ayan looked to Lacey,
who shrugged, then looked absolutely startled. It took her a moment
to catch on, then Ayan realized what was happening and looked to
Iloona. “You’re in labour, aren’t you?”

“These ones are
eager,” Iloona said. “Bed?”

Ayan pressed a button
and the long sofa slowly converted into a queen-sized bed. “Sorry,
do you need anything?”

“No. Alaka has been
alerted and he’s on his way, but I do have a request,” Iloona
replied as she got comfortable and sprawled out on the thick
mattress.

“Ask me anything,”
Ayan said, observing Victor’s silent astonishment.

“Can I borrow your
apartment? I noticed the one adjacent to it is empty, so we could
expand into that one, and the view really is lovely.” The last word
came out as a squeak as Iloona reacted to a labour pain.

Ayan laughed and
nodded. “Sure, I’ll set it up for you.”

“Doing it right now,”
Lacey said. “Someone will come by and reconfigure them tomorrow.
I’ll set you up in one of the newer units near the top of the
building, Ayan. You’ll have space for your own shuttle.”

Iloona took Ayan’s
hand and looked around. Her fur was soft, and the fingers beneath
felt long and delicate. “This should be very nice for the next
month or two. There’s even enough room for Alaka to sleep, behind
Victor, who looks like he’ll be frozen in shock there for at least
a week. I always find that human male reaction to childbirth amusing.
You can relax, Victor, they’re not your babies.”

“Sorry, I’ve just
never been around for, um, do you mind if I just…” he pointed to
the door.

Ayan couldn’t help
but laugh as Iloona nodded and Victor made his escape. The Nafalli
set her big brown eyes on Ayan then. “I’ve learned that humans
have an invited parent tradition for their young. We do too, but
there are so few Nafalli I’ve come to know as well as I know you.
Would you like to be godmother to my children?”

“Absolutely,” Ayan
replied without reservation. “Absolutely, yes.”

“Thank you,” Iloona
said as she squeezed Ayan’s hand and tensed up for a moment.

“Godmother to
eleven,” Lacey said. “I’ve got to see what babysitting that’s
like.”

“You’ll get a
chance,” Ayan said. “You’ll be around to help, too.”

“Oh boy,” Lacey
replied. “I’m going to go find some extra blankets and pillows.”

Loot

“The hazard markers
are set and Triton is watching over us,” Finn said from the bridge
of the Warlord. Minh-Chu’s Samurai Squadron was watching the
perimeter around the Warlord, where it held position just inside of
the Rega Gain Solar System boundary. Minh-Chu was thankful that Singe
offered to run the patrol mission so he could take Jake up on his
offer to come along for the examination of the loot. Not only had
Minh-Chu never seen a cargo train like the one they’d captured from
the inside, but it was the largest take Jacob Valent had ever gotten
away with. His full combat armour was a reminder that it was also the
most dangerous take the crew had ever hauled.