Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework (31 page)

“Thank God for hover carts,” Finn said as he
made sure all their equipment was secure on the antigravity
sleds.

Jake looked to the holographic image between
them and the main embarkation ramp. The image of the Triton was
growing larger and they could see it was gently suspended beneath
one of the massive, boxy dry dock facilities with fifteen long
mooring elevators. Between the battle damage and lack of lighting,
the Triton looked like an old derelict. The breaches across the
edges of her hull and along the bottom looked even worse than Jake
remembered, and he found his faith in the possibility of getting
the ship running again failing.

He tore his attention away and put his hand
on Ashley’s shoulder. “You’re ready for this?”

She looked up at him. “No,” she said,
laughing nervously. “But I’ve played a part for you before, and
that worked okay. I’ll just psyche myself up.”

“You played your part perfectly, both times.
I know you can do this. Just remember, you’re more important than
everyone here. Play up to that, and you’ll be fine.”

“Shouldn’t be hard,” Paula sniggered.

“Paula,” Oz said. “She’s under a lot of
pressure. How would you feel in her place?”

“I’d be fine!” Paula burst. “I’d tell those
Carthan buggers where they can stick their port laws and get us
back on that ship so we can start fixing her up, then we’d get the
hell out of here before Rega Gain is overrun. We should have been
on board six weeks ago, would have been too if this stupid bitch
wasn’t all scared and confused.”

“What? How long has she had the codes?”
asked Sergeant Jenny Machad, one of Ayan’sguards. “Why come forward
so late?”

Jake could tell Sergeant Machad’s question
was only the beginning of rising dissent at Paula’s sudden
divulgence. The room was about to turn ugly on Ashley, and it was
the last thing she needed. He was about to put a stop to it when
Ashley herself spoke up.

“I don’t know why I was given the core
command codes, and I would have talked to the Triton and gotten us
there faster if I could have,” she said, looking down her nose at
Paula, angrier than Jake had ever seen her. She spoke firmly and
evenly. “This is the way it is, and once that ramp goes down the
Carthans who are meeting us have to believe that I’m in charge.
I’ve dealt with entitled little shits like you all my life, so I
know enough to just ignore your insults on Crewcast and your glares
when I walk by but if you make this harder than it is for me I’ll
make sure you wake up in some backwater port somewhere.”

“You wouldn’t have the guts or-“

“Do you realize how hard it is for a trophy
slave to keep from becoming a sex slave? You’ve gotta be smart
enough to avoid getting cornered, make friends out of people close
to your owner, and have the guts to talk back, even fight back.
These Carthans should be pushovers, but with people like you
backing me, I feel like I’m some kinda fake all the time. Like I
just wandered away from my owner and someone will be by any sec to
pick me up and bring me back.”

The sound of the Clever Dream touching down
in the hangar deck of the Triton was all anyone could hear for long
moments. Jake couldn’t have been prouder of Ashley, and caught a
surprised, amused look from Ayan.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve
got her back,” Jenny said. “And I’ll never start an argument with
you, Ash, because I get the feeling you’ll finish it.”

A private message appeared on Jake’s comm
unit through Crewcast that said:
‘Oh, I think I’m starting to
like her.’
To Jake’s surprise, it was from Ayan, who stood
beside Laura at the other end of the full cargo hold.

“Just play this like you’re the only one who
has a right to be here,” Oz told Ashley.

The ramp lowered quickly, and Ashley marched
down it with her head held high. Jake followed her with all the
senior officers. The security officers and engineers were behind.
There were fifty-six of them, and they brought several hover sleds
piled with portable generators, tools, and everything else they’d
need to get the basic systems running.

There was no artificial gravity, but
thankfully the compensators in their suits kept them on the deck. A
few nearly tripped, Ashley included, but they made their way across
the hangar to the main doors. On their way, Jake saw two small
Carthan troop shuttles. Everyone knew they would be there, they
were adamant about making certain that the right people were taking
possession of the Triton.

They reached the large airlock doors. The
Carthans had installed a temporary power supply, so they were
probably the only thing functioning on the ship outside of the main
computer core. The doors parted and half the group was able to
enter. They waited silently for the chamber to pressurize after the
outer doors closed. Jake could see the Carthans waiting inside, but
he couldn’t see the faces of the people with him. He would have
liked to gauge Ashley’s mood.

He’d seen her draw the attention of half a
bar room before, just so she could get close enough to people to
capture DNA scans, and it was as natural to her as breathing. Jake
hoped she’d be able to adapt to the upcoming situation. If it fell
apart it could get ugly, and he was already well on his way to
being a complete outlaw. He couldn’t afford to make real enemies
out of the Carthans – it would make things much worse for his
crew.

The inner doors opened and Ashley led the
way. She took his advice a little too seriously, ignoring the
Carthan major and his squad of armoured soldiers completely. The
look of surprise on the major’s face as she passed him without so
much as a nod was enough to make Jake chuckle. He was just as
surprised, but there was no way to see it through sealed
armour.

“Excuse me, but I have to clear you,”
shouted the major, falling into step beside Ayan, Laura, Jason, and
Liam.

“Why? I never cleared
you
to come
aboard, and it’s
my
ship,” Ashley shouted over her
shoulder.

“It’s our docking facility, and there are
expenses to be taken care of before you get clearance to depart,”
he said.

Ashley kept walking, ignoring the major, who
was getting separated from his squad as they were pressed to the
back by technicians, commanders, and soldiers.

“Pardon me,” Liam Grady said. He wore his
robes over his vacsuit, as usual, so his discipline was plain for
all to see. “We have currency with us, enough for a down payment on
the port fees and cleaning charges you’ve outlined.”

“Good, but as you can understand, it’s
important that we take a minute to speak about the transfer of this
property.”

“Why? There’s no need to transfer the helm,
and this isn’t a capture, so there’s no need for the Carthan
Government to acknowledge the transfer of a flag,” Liam said.

“Her ident has already been updated with the
right ownership, and the only formality left is the presence of a
witness when she enters her override code into the computer,” Jason
said. “You’re just along for the ride this time, Major. Your
authority only matters if her code proves invalid.”

“Well, yes, but there are forms that she has
to fill out,” the major said.

“No, that’s Carthan busy work. She’s made it
perfectly clear that Sol Defence has no interest in your
government, or with your procedures.”

“There’s the matter of identity, she seems
young to have priority command over an exploration ship from Sol
Defence. We also have her records, tracing her history back to her
original point of sale.”

“Do you really think that woman is as young
as those records say?” Oz asked. “Or that any cover identity Sol
Defence put in place for her will have any indication that it’s a
fake?”

They arrived at a split in the hallway and
Jake sent Ashley a silent message to stop so the rest of their team
could catch up. He only hoped that she could handle herself when
the Carthan major caught up to her.

“You, what do you have to say about all
this?” asked the major, finally pulling his helmet off. He was
silver haired, but looked like he was still in his twenties.

Ashley turned towards him and deactivated
her headgear. The horizontal metal strips of armour and faceplate
slid up and over her head, letting her long black hair flow free.
She smiled at him a little and said, “I’m here to get my ship back
and put her in the right hands. After that I’ll be free, and I can
go back under cover.”

“Back under cover?” asked the major.

Ashley stepped towards him so she was
standing almost nose to nose, her hand caming to rest gently on his
arm. “I found the right commander for this ship. When I give him
the assignment, I’ll be free and there’s nothing that would make me
happier. Please don’t get in the way of my happiness,” she said so
intimately that Jake was taken aback.

“I want to be a pilot, to explore, spend
some time on the beach when the sun finally comes up again, and
have a life,” Ashley said.“I can’t do that if my name is in all
your records, so you’re going to see someone take possession of
this ship, and then I’ll tell you whose name to put down under
‘Captain’ for the Triton. ‘Kay?”

Jake thought everything went perfectly well,
until she said; ‘kay?’

“My superiors will not be satisfied with a
lot of unanswered questions,” the major replied. This time his tone
was more apologetic than demanding.

“I’ll be happy to answer them for her,” Liam
Grady said. The second half of their boarding team was catching up.
“She’ll be too busy when we get to the Botanical Gallery.”

“Can I ask a few questions while we walk?”
the major asked Ashley.

“Okay,” Ashley replied. “But before you
start interrogating me, can you tell me your name?” Her dark eyes
were locked on his, and Jake could see that Ashley was finally at
ease, most likely thanks to the realization that she had charmed
the major like any of a dozen freighter captains and who knew who
else before.
I should have known she’d find a way to turn this
situation around. She’s been in plenty of tight spots on her
own,
Jacob thought.

When Ashley saw that the second group of
soldiers and technicians had caught up, she looped her arm under
the major’s and started walking him down the dark hallway. Charming
people was as easy for her as breathing sometimes. It wasn’t
something Jake saw often when they were aboard the Triton or the
Samson, but she had an easy time in port cities.

Jake looked past her, down the darkened
hallway and saw a red light in the distance. He placed a hand on
the nearest bulkhead and, after a moment of feeling around, was
close enough to circuitry to feel that it was live. “Chief Grady,
there’s power under this panel.”

“What?” Liam said, turning around from where
he walked beside the major. “Did your people try to activate any
major systems?”

“I was given orders not to activate any
systems without bypassing the ship’s power and using a portable
unit, why?” asked the major.

“The ship is rigged so powering up any major
system will do severe damage to the chemical medium in the advanced
circuitry aboard,” replied Chief Grady.

The major didn’t reply, only stared back
blankly.

“Main data and power transfer circuitry is
burning out, some junctions could become volatile and explode,”
Jake translated.

“What can we do?”

“This is bad. A third of the ship is
powering up,” Ayan said. “And systems are failing.”

Jake’s own scans confirmed what Ayan was
saying. “It’s your trap, Grady. How do we stop it?”

“I have to get to a major distribution node,
then I can stop the chemical reaction. This won’t affect the
Botanical Gallery or the main computer core, it’s on a separate
system, but it could help with the situation,” Liam said.

“Take a squad with you,” Jake said.

“I shouldn’t need security.”

“It’s a precaution and extra hands if you
need them,” Jake said, signaling Victor Davis, who wasted no time
in moving his squad up to help Liam Grady.

“Just tell us where you’re going, and we’ll
get you there,” Sergeant Davis said.

“All right, then I need some qualified
engineers to help,” Liam said.

Laura, Ayan, several technicians, and Finn
moved to join Liam.

“Finn, you’re staying with my group,” Jake
said. “Pick two techs to stay back and keep the gear we’ll need to
power the doors for the Botanical Gallery.”

After a minute of frantic sorting through
equipment and more minor personnel decisions, Liam’s team was off
at a dead run. Jake took Ashley’s arm and said, “I hope you’re in
good shape, because we’re going in the opposite direction, and
fast.”

“Who are you?” asked the Carthan major.

Jake retracted his headgear and smiled at
him. “I’m the one taking charge. If you want more info than that,
you’ll have to wait until we have time for conversation.” He looked
to Ashley, who seemed amused at seeing the major caught by
surprise, and nodded at her. “We’re running.” He closed his
headgear, and she followed his example.

The dark grow house reeked of livestock and
the vats they grew the headless beasts in. Tens of thousands of
mindless bodies exercised in the water, filling the place with the
ceaseless sounds of sloshing liquid.

Alice stepped behind a four storey tall
column of poultry vats, clutching her black market silver gun. “I
wonder what people who ate this stuff would think if they saw how
it was grown?” she muttered to herself. She was almost across the
warehouse’s production floor. If she got to the other side, she
could disappear into the crowds of the busy port.

The critical information she carried was
complete, ready to be put to use, but Uro Security knew Alice had
stolen it. They even knew it was stored in a data strip printed on
her hip bone. They weren’t out to retrieve it, but to destroy her
and the microscopic data storage device she thought she was so
clever for having.