Randolph Lalonde - Spinward Fringe Broadcast 08 - Renegades (53 page)

At the centre was the
Clever Dream. Lewis knew exactly what kind of damage he’d taken,
and how it should be repaired. That was a good start, but the few
hits the Clever Dream took while his shields were down had crushed
armour panels, destroyed emitters, and left two long gashes that cut
all the way through the ship’s outer armour. The good news was that
their fabrication shop had access to the necessary materials; the bad
news was that they were backlogged. It was true that they had more
technicians than Ayan realized, but there still weren’t enough for
the kind of repairs the Clever Dream and several other ships needed.
More qualified people were being recruited, but clearing and
transporting them took time.

Ayan leaned against the
transparent steel window inside the observation room overlooking the
hangar, watching as skitter bots, welder droids, lifters, and
intelligent tool chests made their way between technicians. They’d
brought a few heavy maintenance suits down from the Triton to assist,
and they stalked around like giant humans, carefully lifting here,
moving something there, or giving other techs a quick lift to their
work sites.

She didn’t know why
her father had called her there, but she suspected it had something
to do with the sudden shroud of secrecy that fell over his location,
and the increase of security that surrounded him. No one could break
the codes he put in place surrounding the information on his
whereabouts or what he was doing aboard one of the few troop
transports the Triton Fleet had.

“Three days,” Lewis
said through her personal communications band. “Even my automated
repair systems were damaged, and it’ll take this lot three days to
have me back in flyable condition, and that’s without fixing all my
armour or cloaking systems. I feel naked with all these panels off,
and you’re sitting up there watching?”

Ayan couldn’t help
but laugh a little at his outrage.

“Hey, one of you
hairless apes tripping on your own feet, that’s funny. A damaged
and exposed premium fighting ship is not,” Lewis protested.

“I’m sorry, Lewis,
but I can’t help but laugh at how you relate to us sometimes. I’ll
be down to help with repairs as soon as I find out whatever is going
on with my father. Suddenly it’s as though he doesn’t realize
he’s out of the Freeground Intelligence Service.”

“I know, I can’t
find out anything about him, especially with my sensors offline,”
Lewis replied. “It’s interesting, mysterious. Are you sure you
couldn’t attend to it while you climb into my innards and affect a
few delicate repairs?”

“Soon, Lewis,” Ayan
replied.

The observation room
ran part of the length of the hallway parallel to the top of the
hangar. As of yet it was unfurnished, but Ayan couldn’t help but
look behind her at those blank walls and see people using the space
the same way the previous Ayan used larger observation areas in the
Freeground Station hangars. She used to love watching the ships come
together in the final stages of repair and construction. She saw an
uncountable number of launches, and she felt a little of that
sensation as she watched the repairs underway below. The itch to get
down there and help was growing, Ayan hoped her father would hurry
up.

Slick, tall and suave
even though he was under as much pressure as she was to get their
defence back in place, came through one of the doors behind her.
“You’re not going to believe what the Triton just picked up; the
British Alliance are pissed that it’s in formation with her.”

“What?” Ayan asked.

“A Journeyman class
Lorander ship with some kind of high mass cargo, it’s beautiful.”
He projected an image of the ship into the centre of the room. The
broad front end looked like the mask of a stern metal man with
rectangular glowing blue eyes that ran up half the length of the
forward plating. The lower half of the fore section looked like an
open mouth with an array of antennae and glowing sections ringing the
inner edge like gleaming teeth. It had to be some kind of elaborate
sensing and emitter array, Ayan supposed. Between the more prominent
features were transparent sections of hull. By a quick count, she
guessed there were eleven decks. The rest of the ship extending
behind was gently curved along its length so there was a concave
cavity beneath where it carried a five hundred metre long black box
with no windows. Blue and green arms ran down the top and sides of
the main ship for the entire length. They caught the little light
around the ship, glinting as though they were made of fine crystal.
It was another array of some kind, and from the looks it could spread
out in all directions, extending out many times the size of the ship.

Her command and control
unit beeped a warning, vibrating against her wrist and she stepped
back towards Slick. “Energy reading, big one,” was all she could
say before a swirling storm of energy coalesced in front of them. Her
father and two women emerged before it disappeared behind them. “I
miss those,” Carl Anderson said to the taller woman at his side.
“Haven’t been through one since the Lorander-Freeground
alliance.”

“They are
convenient,” agreed the tall, elegant looking woman.

Ayan looked closer at
the other woman with him and immediately realized that she was either
an Issyrian or something Ayan had never seen. She was pretty in her
own dainty way. Big eyes scanned the room with trepidation, coming to
rest on Ayan after a moment. “That was my first crush gate. Is it
normal for me to feel like I’ve just been squeezed very hard then
re-inflated at the other end?”

Ayan shrugged, only
aware that Lorander had the technology for high compression
super-wormholes, but never having been through one.

“It’s a sensation
that takes some getting used to,” said the other woman. “I should
have warned you.”

“It’s all right, it
was just,” the Issyrian let a loud sigh whistle through her
sculpted lips, “abrupt.”

“So, I’m Wing
Commander Nathan Kipp of the Skyguard, but you can call me Slick,”
he said, offering his hand to the Issyrian first.

“I’m Commander Ayan
–” she thought a moment and decided to use the last name she had
been considering since New Years’ Eve, “Anderson.” Her father
was visibly pleased by the introduction.

“I am Shozo of House
Fallen Star,” the Issyrian replied uncertainly. Her hand felt fine
and warm.

“I’m First Minister
Amo Tammen, of the Lorander Corporation,” the tall woman told Ayan,
her dark, friendly eyes looking unwaveringly into her own. There was
something about the woman, a high confidence, Ayan assumed, that made
her feel like Amo was exactly where she meant to be, when she meant
to be there. “I feel I owe you an apology already, since I have
come here so quickly and can’t stay as your guest. I’m afraid we
have to get right to business.”

“They contacted me
directly,” Carl Anderson said. “Since the Lorander Government
knew me from the Freeground alliance. We have an opportunity to make
a deal with Lorander and Shozo here. Oz has given you his proxy.”

Ayan was intrigued. She
knew Oz was busy with repairs on the Triton, but it was unusual for
him to count himself out of a major decision. She took it to mean
that he was most likely on the fence about the issue. “Why is that
name, Fallen Star, familiar?” Ayan asked.

“I am from House
Fallen Star,” Shozo explained, “Founded by Clark Patterson, the
commander of the Order of Eden Fleets.”

Ayan didn’t realize
her hand had lowered to the hilt of her sidearm until her thumb was
resting on her holster’s safety clasp. She left her hand where it
was.

“I come in peace,
with no weapons or hate,” Shozo said, nearly pleading. “We are
here because, while my Dominant, my Master, is your enemy, he has
great respect for you and your people. He also refuses to pledge
House Fallen Star to this war, even though we are a rare Warrior
Caste among the Issyrian people. My Dominant suffers under an unusual
dichotomy – he must maintain and gain territory for the sake of
humanity, but loves his Issyrian House too much to involve them –
it is not a state that he can maintain. He did not direct me here
specifically, but when I brought our problem to the First Minister,
she made a case for approaching you. We prefer not to be a violent
people, and wish to dilute the aggression until it rests with the
silt. Tamber has fresh water lakes, and thanks to its unique
formation in this solar system, direct interstellar bombardment is
impossible.”

“Well, improbable, at
least,” Slick said quietly. “I mean, you’d have to have the
best navigator, gunner, and computers. Your projectile would probably
have to correct at faster than light speeds too, and that’s a whole
other problem…” He stopped when all eyes in the room turned
towards him. “Not the point, right.”

“The First Minister
said you are an accommodating people, who welcome beings from across
the stars regardless of species or origin. Other Issyrian Houses will
not accept us, and unclaimed worlds are unsafe. Even under
surveillance here, my people may be safer, and our presence could be
the first step towards the end of your war with the Order.”

“That is the point
we’re most concerned with, using this opportunity to make in-roads
towards peace. Lorander is adding an incentive and a condition to
Shozo’s proposition,” the First Minister said. “If you allow
them to settle on Tamber, we’ll give you a ship construction and
repair facility. We have it with us. We’ll also remain here for a
time to advise on anything you’d like while we observe the
settlement of House Fallen Star. We want this to work, and are
willing to watch you both from a distance.”

Ayan thought a moment
and couldn’t get past one impenetrable question. “Why is Lorander
involved?”

“We were the first
people Shozo approached, you were the backup. I saw a unique
opportunity to build a bridge between you and the Beast, the
commander of the Order of Eden forces. This could shorten this
senseless war by decades. There are larger problems in this galaxy,
and they will be ignored if this goes on. This could be the most
important step towards peace.”

The thought of being in
good standing with the Lorander Corporation, and extending an olive
branch to the leadership of the Order of Eden was more than
compelling. The potential for espionage and sabotage if she allowed
House Fallen Star to settle was just as massive. “I can only agree
to this if they are segregated from the rest of Tamber’s population
at first, and if all the settler’s communications are blocked.”

“They must mix with
your people for this to work,” Amo Tammen retorted without a
breath’s hesitation. “Even if they are under guard for a limited
time.”

“If they engage in
espionage of any kind, we have to have the option to eject them from
our space,” Ayan countered.

“On an individual
basis. You cannot punish the whole for the deeds of the few.”

“On an individual
basis,” Ayan agreed. “Supervision periods last as long as we see
fit.”

“Yes, but if you’re
going to impose constant surveillance, you have to abandon the idea
of segregation,” Amo said, “I won’t negotiate a deal that lands
them in camps.”

Ayan was impressed by
the woman’s negotiation skills. Everyone in the room was looking
from her to Amo Tammen as they took turns. “They all have to wear
comm units and be tracked by our system at all times.”

“They will be treated
fairly at all times,” Amo Tammen said as she nodded at Ayan’s
statement. “What if they were screened just like the rest of your
recruits? If they don’t meet the requirements, can they settle in
some other area of Tamber?”

“If they enter the
recruitment process, they have to work just like everyone else,”
Ayan said. “And they’ll still have to wear one of our functioning
comm units at all times.”

“Shozo?” Amo Tammen
asked, smiling a little. “What do you think?”

“We’d be tracked,
but we could live here?” Shozo asked, looking surprised.

“Everyone is tracked
here all the time,” Amo replied, “so you would be treated like
anyone else. They also have other Issyrians on their crew, most of
them are exiles.”

“How long will you
stay to watch us if I agree?” Shozo asked Amo.

“I can stay in the
system for a month after Fallen Star arrives, just to make sure
everything proceeds as agreed. I doubt I’ll have to. From what I’ve
seen of the Commander, I get the feeling that she wants this to work.
If enough of your people help them, I’m sure everyone here will
trust all of you faster.”

“Help them fight?”
Shozo asked.

“No, help them build.
They are creating a new culture here, a new city. This building isn’t
even a year old. I think she’d let you be part of that.”

Ayan let her guard down
a little and nodded. With tracking in place, they would know if any
of them was doing something nefarious. “I’d like that,” she
said. “Haven Shore will be run by our military for the foreseeable
future, but we want things to be peaceful down here. We want to
reserve this whole region of Tamber for our civilian population, and
we need good builders.”

“We have many smart
builders,” Shozo said. “If you’ll allow the Lorander to stay
and watch, I will agree to this.”

Ayan looked to her
father. “I’m the hold out vote, aren’t I?”

“You’re the most
important authority here,” Carl said. “You technically own Haven
Shore and most of our significant territories. You have the first and
final word here.”

“You would agree to
this though, if it were up to you,” Ayan said.

“With one provision,”
he said. “You leave a significant Lorander ship here for ten years
to observe and your corporation is barred from any aggressive act in
the system. Hide it, leave it in the open, it doesn’t matter. You
supervise and watch what we grow here. Your people can visit our
facilities like any other traveller.”