Randolph Lalonde - Spinward Fringe Broadcast 08 - Renegades (27 page)

“Scanner says he’s
not in there,” Dotty replied.

“I mean maybe we
should be inside already? You know, waiting for him to come in and
tell us what’s up?”

“I don’t think so,
but maybe,” Dotty said.

“Are you sure the
room scans empty?” Elden asked.

“Scan it yourself,
we’re both geared the same.”

Remmy rolled his eyes
and looked up the hallway. The walls had a gentle convex curve and
were made of hardened material that was a distant relation to the
system in their vacsuits. The surface reflected enough light so the
space was well lit using as little power as possible. He decided not
to tell the pair to his left that the last time a Ranger entered
Commander Anderson’s office, she was dismissed.

Remmy didn’t know why
Alice was dropped from the ranks of the Rangers, but he was stunned,
and curious. She was a better, more adventurous ranger than he was,
in his own opinion. No one had logged more solo rescues, hours
exploring, or proven themselves better in combat. She also had the
unusual note on her file that she’d technically died and
regenerated in the field. She was a framework being, a person evolved
from the combination of cutting edge technology and human biology.
She’d also let them scan her in great detail.

While that part of her
file was hidden from Remmy, he knew that as a result of those scans
everyone who had a regenerative capsule installed, himself included,
went in for a firmware upgrade. Someone learned something from those
scans, and she was such an example of the solitary Ranger that Remmy
couldn’t wrap his head around her getting dismissed from the whole
organization. He’d met her more than once in training, and couldn’t
help but recall how energetic and charming he found her. She seemed
to make friends easily, which left him out of her line of sight, but
he didn’t know what to say to such a creature anyway. Since they
finished training, they were never assigned together, but his
Crewcast logs showed that she checked his status daily, skimming his
opinion and accomplishment records.

He checked hers in
return, and was always impressed. It made him wonder if he’d made
some kind of impression on her when she was in training and failed to
realize it. He still wracked his brain from time to time, going over
the few times they were in the same room – never alone, mind you,
but with other trainees. He relived every memory, trying to think of
something he did that she would find memorable, even endearing. He
could only think of a few times when he got people laughing with him,
or when he shared something from his own archive of classics that
people found interesting. Nothing truly stood out other than her love
for the ancient film, Young Frankenstein.

As he was turning to
look down the hallway in the other direction, Commander Anderson came
around the corner.

He marched past them
into his office and Remmy followed him through the door, stopping to
stand in front of his desk as Commander Anderson settled in. His
senior officer was a stately looking man, a little more than average
height, and in good shape for a man who looked like he was in his
early fifties. Rumour had it that Anderson had begun taking a
rollback regimen and met his daughter four days a week to stretch and
do the practice obstacle course.

Remmy investigated
those rumours personally, checking Crewcast activities for a few days
to discover that it was almost true. On average, Commander Anderson
and his daughter, Ayan, the commander with no official last name,
managed to meet three days a week on average, and they did the course
on most days with a group of people from the Triton, who often
included Captain Ozark McPatrick. As for the rollback meds, there
were definite signs in Anderson’s biometrics that indicated that he
was in the precursor regimen, meant to improve his overall health
before entering the youthening phase. In a year, Anderson could look
like he was thirty all over again.

Commander Anderson
gestured to the four seats in front of his desk as he sat down. Elden
and Dotty wasted no time in dropping their big backpacks and plopping
down into the cushy swivel chairs, but Remmy decided to go with a
different option. He selected a preset in his vacsuit that flexed the
armour’s legs and backside so he could rest in a half-seated
position. The internal gravity systems kept him upright and balanced.
Anderson fixed him with an amused smile and cocked an eyebrow before
bringing up a hologram of the Warlord.

“Today just got
busy,” Anderson said. “So I’m going to give you the shortest
version of this briefing. I’m assigning you to the Warlord, Jacob
Valent’s ship. His first officer is Stephanie Vega, and that’s
who you’ll approach when you forward your orders and request to go
aboard.”

“I thought we were
standing in defence of Haven Shore, Sir?” Elden said. “The
Warlord has nothing to do with where we’re based.”

“You’re going to
learn that rangers are never based any place for long, son,”
Commander Anderson replied. “In fact, it’s time for the Rangers
to broaden their scope. We have two more trainee classes coming
through and if we don’t move most of our current force along to
places where they can make a difference, Haven Shore, even Tamber,
will be overrun.”

“Sorry about him,”
Dotty said. “He doesn’t understand who the Rangers serve.”

“Okay, then who do
the Rangers serve?” Commander Anderson asked.

“Well, Sir,” Dotty
struggled, “I thought… but don’t they… they serve you, don’t
they, Sir?”

Remmy Sands took
Commander Anderson’s expression of surprise as a warning, and
mentally rechecked the command chain in his head. His commander’s
gaze fell on him next. Remmy couldn’t help but glance at the emblem
on his chest as emphasis. It was the Triton skull, only for teeth it
had RANGERS at the bottom of the design, and the words EXPLORATION,
LEADERSHIP, ENFORCEMENT, curved around the cranium. “We’re
technically part of the Triton Fleet. Commander Anderson was the
standing senior officer, but now that he’s separated from the
Sunspire command chain, I’m assuming he’ll be the permanent head
of our organization. Regardless of who is leading the Rangers, we
serve an idea. We explore the places and situations around us. We
cooperate with existing leadership or take command when necessary to
enforce the laws central to sentientism.” The dull stare Remmy was
getting from Elden made him seriously wonder if he’d switched to a
different language without realizing it. “That means, we learn
about a situation going in, talk to people who are in charge and if
we don’t find anyone in charge, we take control of a bad situation
ourselves. Our job once we’ve taken all that into account is to
make sure people are all right, and if they’re not, we have to do
what we can to help them out, even if it means calling in
reinforcements and getting rid of whatever’s doing harm.”

“And we spend a long
time flying around, taking in the sights,” Elden added
sardonically.

“I think the
exploration part of our credo covers that,” Remmy snapped back.

“Speaking of
exploration,” Commander Anderson said. “Would any of you rather
stay on Tamber and help out with Port Rush? That’s the other major
effort the Rangers are undertaking.”

“No, Sir,” Remmy
said.

“Seriously? You’re
just giving us the option of
not
going aboard a suicide ship and staying here?” Elden
said. “Well then, yeah.”

“All right, Elden,
you can go.”

“See ya,” Elden
said as he stood up and left, picking up his bag on the way.

“Dorothy?”
Commander Anderson asked.

“I’d rather be on
the Warlord, Sir. I grew up on long range haulers,” she replied.

“Good. Elden’s
replacement is waiting aboard the Triton, she’s having a new arm
attached,” Commander Anderson said. “The assignment on the
Warlord is part of a necessary shakeup for the Rangers. We have to
start getting out there, and no ship is going further faster. I’m
elevating you to Sargent, Remmy, and Dotty will be your second. Elden
was going to be your third, but that’ll be Bell Dul. She was part
of a Rangers team that answered an emergency call from the Triton
last week. They were to rescue a Carthan official and his family when
they found themselves trapped in a high rise that was taken by a
major gang in the area. The team got them out, but Bell waved the
rescue shuttle off when it was her turn for pickup because the gang
was bringing some major anti-air firepower into the situation. By the
time another team got to her position, well, you can see how close
she came in the injury report. She’s a good fit for this team,
probably better than Elden since he seems to have had enough of space
for now.”

“I’m surprised he
dropped out. I’ve never known him to back down,” Dotty said.
“He’s really very good.”

“I realize that
Dotty, thank you. I trust you’ll serve Remmy here well as his
second, Junior Sargent.”

“Absolutely, Sir,”
Dorothy replied with an enthusiasm that surprised Remmy.

“The rest of your
unit consists of eleven Rangers. All of them fought for the Triton
when she was under attack. They’re former slaves with real skills
aboard spacecraft of all sizes and they’ve proven their loyalty to
the Triton Fleet more than once. You’ll meet them aboard the Triton
before you board the Warlord. The directions are in your briefing
package. One last chance to opt-out for an assignment on Port Rush,
speak now or hold your peace.” Commander Anderson waited a moment,
long enough for Remmy to shrug his indication that his mind wouldn’t
be changing. “Good,” Commander Anderson said. “Head over to the
port and stand ready for a shuttle to the Triton.”

“Aye, Sir.” With a
spring in her step, Dorothy left the room, almost forgetting her main
pack.

“I’d like an extra
minute, Remmy,” Commander Anderson said. He waited for the door to
slide closed behind Dotty and stood up. He leaned against his desk,
looking directly into Remmy’s eyes. “What do you think of
Dorothy? Honestly, now, let’s have it out where you’re not being
recorded.”

“She’s all right,
but Elden seems like a brain donor who survived the operation, Sir,”
Remmy said, inwardly cringing at the sound of the words aloud.

To his surprise,
Commander Anderson laughed so hard he almost came off-balance. “A
bit, maybe,” he said when he recovered. “Thankfully, we’ll be
able to post Elden with a senior commander who can handle him,
continue his training. Dorothy knows ships, and she’s a lighter
touch, something you’ll need if you’ll be stationed on the
Warlord. I think you’ll come to trust her judgement. She’s also
dedicated; you set her a task and she’ll find a way. You two are a
lot alike in that respect.”

“Thank you, Sir. I’m
sure this wasn’t her finest moment. She was probably nervous
because we haven’t seen you this close since graduation day,”
Remmy said.

“Probably,” he
replied. “So, any questions?”

“Why the Warlord,
Sir? The Carthans are going to see this as a handout from Haven
Shore.”

“The relationship
between the Rangers and Haven Shore is already clear. We’ve been
getting assistance in building our permanent outpost in trade for law
enforcement and rescue services. The whole government is changing
here, so who knows what our new deal with the Carthans will be.”

Remmy didn’t have to
acknowledge that Commander Anderson had answered his question better
than he expected, and moved on to the next question without
hesitation. “Why am I commanding this group? I’m in the youngest
age group of the Rangers, how am I going to hold up on the Warlord?”

“You’re commanding
because you have the memory, strategic mind, and experience to lead
this mission. It’s that simple. If anything, I think being in a
position of command aboard that ship will make you an even better
leader. The command crew on that ship are very good at what they do,
even if they have a hothead or two.”

“How does offering
support for boarding missions, ship to ship assaults, and ground
missions in enemy territory fit with the Ranger philosophy?” Remmy
asked, relishing the opportunity to ask the leader of the
organization whatever he liked.

The question seemed to
take Commander Anderson off guard, but he answered just the same.
“The British Alliance is happy to hesitate in fighting the Order of
Eden. The only sign that they’re against what’s happening is the
construction of a sensor frontier in this sector. Jacob Valent and
the Warlord crew have declared war, and my instincts tell me that the
Triton Fleet is about to grow exponentially. If the Rangers aren’t
involved in the early days of the first just war in a century, then I
think we’re doing humanity a disservice on the whole. If we can’t
help fight for sentientarianism on a large scale, our effectiveness
on the smaller scale is lessened.”

“If we can’t help
save sentient species from the Order of Eden, then everything we do
on Tamber isn’t worth anything,” Remmy said to make sure he
understood. “And you want to beat the British Alliance to the punch
on the assault.”

“Exactly. It’s good
that they’re here, but their hesitation shows a bad example,
especially with the Carthans’ teeth getting pulled in this sector.
What’s not widely known is that they don’t have the resources to
send reinforcements from their capitol.”

“The Carthans are out
of steam,” Remmy said. “So if they get hit here again, that’s
it. We’re on our own with the British.”

“Exactly.”

“All right, I’m
getting the picture. What’s going on in Port Rush?” Remmy asked.

“You don’t have to
worry about that, Remmy, but to satisfy your curiosity, I’ll tell
you that Ayan is leading a recruiting and sentientarian mission
there, starting a new settlement.”