Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework (54 page)

“To cut Remmy here short,” Davi interrupted.
“Anyone who didn’t fit in with the Puritan Party’s social breeding
program, or wanted to look past Freeground territory, was watched.
The military was cleaned up first.”

“Yeah, and if you had different views,
started living your life too loud, then you’d end up jailed or sent
away. Then there’s my buddy Clark. He was in line to step onto the
bridge of a carrier when his sister was busted for trying to join
the Order. They put him into mental treatment, set him up with a
girlfriend named Isabel, a new sense of duty, and they packed all
his pain away. His sister was executed, but until Doctor Marcelles,
who changed his sex and renamed himself Omira, released his mind,
he couldn’t feel a damn thing. The crap they put in his head, a
control and monitoring circuit, pretty much killed him, so Omira
set him up with an upgrade. The latest framework technology got
installed into Clark, and we didn’t even really know how much it
would change him. All Mary, Izzie, and I really cared about was his
survival. You following?”

Ayan was, but there were questions. She’d
want a lot more detail, but Remmy’s motor-mouth telling of his
story fit the time they had. “Doctor Marcelles is Doctor Omira
Marcelles now,” she said. “And the Puritan Party is proving right
everyone who thought having them as a majority government was a bad
thing. You, Clark, and a few others were rounded up and
jailed?”

“Well, she actually goes by Omira Gerring
now, and, well, we weren’t jailed by the end,” Remmy said. “We were
put into service. A few people, Doctor Anderson being one, and
Captain McPatrick being another, were put in charge of a program to
put all us misfit toys to work.”

“By misfit toys, he means people rejected
from the Freeground Military,” Davi said.

“Right, anyway, we got the job of taking the
Sunspire back, since it went all agro and started killing ships
wandering into its territory. Davi here and Clark were leaders in
the battle, I was one of the hackers who had to wipe out the messed
up AI code. We lost a lot of people getting on, but we did it. Then
they put us out there again, to look for Doctor Marcelles. We found
him, well, her, but anyway, she led us to her old research ship.
Big secrets to killing framework soldiers, developments in the
tech, info on some nasty aliens and crap-tons of other info I
haven’t even gotten through yet was there for the taking, but there
was also some really ugly stuff I just can’t un-see. There were
frameworks being eaten by alien bugs that were getting a bellyful
because as they-“

“Anyway,” Davi said, interrupting Remmy’s
animated retelling. “While they were busy at that end, my team was
running retrieval missions. One of them was to pick up an old
friend of yours, Lucius Wheeler, from Longshadow. It cost me a good
soldier, but we got him to the Sunspire.”

“And I still don’t know exactly what his
game was. I think he was looking to trade his way back into
Freeground, but I don’t know if he got his way. Still, there had to
be something else,” Remmy said, rubbing his chin.

The mention of Wheeler got Ayan’s hackles
up. “Do you know if he went to Freeground?”

“Don’t think so,” Remmy said. “Watched him
as much as I could when I was creeping around on security feeds,
but I didn’t spend much time on the Sunspire after we teamed up
with the issyrians.”

“Issyrians?” Jason asked.

“Right, yeah, back to story time,” Remmy
said. “The new, creepy Clark connected with the issyrians and his
framework took on a lot of similarities to them, though there was
also edxian and other race data in his system. He started going
strange, physically, and a little in the head, too. He stopped
paying attention to Isabel, so I started to get to know her. Still
miss her, actually.”

“Remmy,” Davi said.

“Yessir?”

“Stay on target,” Davi said with a little
smile.

“Right, yup, okay. We fought for the
issyrians, who were getting suppressed by Regent Galactic. Davi
comes in and helps us out with some of his people so Clark, Isabel,
Mary, and I will follow him back to the Sunspire and report. We got
through that hell, wrecking the terraforming initiative for all the
little Regent Galactic boys and girls real good and head back to
the Sunspire. Davi here lost a good friend in that fight too, next
it was my turn.

“We got back to the Sunspire where not all
was well. Command was pretty pissed because Omira and I faked
Clark’s death, and there he was, wearing all that dreamy framework
tech on the inside, showing them a side of the tech that they never
thought was possible. They tried to take him into custody, we ran,
I was the slowest, so someone uber-stunned me and I got stuck
behind. Clark and Mary got back to the research vessel, don’t know
what happened after that.” Remmy’s speedy retelling of events came
to a sudden stop, and he looked down at his hands. “Isabel was
killed trying to escape. Some dick hit her with one of those new
Freeground super-rifles, she didn’t have time to feel much. Waste
of a nice girl who loved people pretty easy. Even me, a
little.”

“I got lumped in with him,” Davi said,
picking up the story. “Like he said, we were the scapegoats for all
that going south. Wheeler escaped, that’s the last I heard of
him.”

“Was it really him?” Ayan asked. “Not an
android?”

“Definitely didn’t scan as an android,
Ma’am. He could change his face though, sounded like it was
something frameworks like him could do,” Davi replied. “Only saw
him do it once, but I’m sure he could be in disguise just about
anywhere.”

“Yeah, slippery one,” Remmy added,
recovering a little. “I get way down when I think of Isabel, she
had way too good a heart to end the way she did. That brings us
here, though. Not much happened in transit that we could tell,
since we were in nice, closed in quarters. No access to comms or
the computer. Got to know this jarhead pretty good though,” Remmy
said, grinning exaggeratedly at Davi, who shook his head. “Dropped
us off like they said, didn’t leave us much choice but to come
here, not that I wanted to go anywhere else, to be honest. Big fan
of yours,” Remmy said to Jason.

“It’s not mutual,” Jason said with a deadpan
expression. “What happened to Doctor Omira Gerring?”

“Disappeared,” Remmy said. “Doctor Anderson
said she was probably wearing her own brand of cloaksuit.” He
turned to Ayan and asked: “So, can we sign up? I don’t do windows,
and sweeping is murder on my middle back, but I’ll code, crack, or
hack whatever you want for three squares and five weeks vacation a
year. Oh, and the Vivaldi is from Doctor Anderson, who told me to
tell you that he sent us.”

“I’m looking to sign on too, if you’ll have
me. I wish there was a way for you to check our story, Ma’am,” Davi
said. “All we have are our transit records, and I think the giant
nafalli at the gate already verified those.”

Ayan pretended at considering the request,
but she already knew what her answer would be. “Did you get much
rest on the way here?” she asked.

“Too much,” Davi said.

“Good,” Ayan replied. “I’m going to assign
you to the work crews for the night. You’ll be on shift for six
hours then you’ll have five hours’ rack time. Sergeant Machad will
introduce you to an officer who can set you up with a bunk, but
keep any precious items on you. Are your vacsuits a recent design?”
Ayan asked, looking at the black suit that had the same outer
appearance of her own armoured suit.

“Yours are a bit better,” Davi said. “I
scanned when we got close to the gate.”

“We’ll set you up with one,” Ayan said. “One
of my senior officers will find a better position in our ranks by
morning. You’ll be on probation.”

“Understood. Thank you, Ma’am,” Davi said,
standing up and saluting.

Remmy wasn’t far behind, looking scrawny and
short in comparison to his companion. “Thank you,” he added. “Sorry
about the name calling on the way in.”

“Name calling?” Ayan said, standing up
straight and returning the salute.

“Called you beautiful, Ma’am. It’s true, but
maybe embarrassing?”

Ayan laughed. “Good luck. Thank you for
joining us.” She looked to Victor as Jenny led the newcomers out.
“Take a break, go get something to eat. I’ll be safe here,” she
said.

Victor nodded and followed Jenny out.

Jason waited until the door slid closed
before looking to Ayan. “You were good with them,” he said. “Very
relatable, but in charge. That’s a balance you had trouble with
before, especially near the end.”

The last thing Ayan wanted to talk about was
her predecessor. She moved to the centre seat and sat down. “Can I
get the fruit medley, please?” she asked. A pillar rose in the
middle of the seat with a hot fruit dish in the middle with roasted
vegetables on the side. “Do you want one?” she asked Jason.

He waved the offer off.

“I know I’m different,” Ayan said. “I think
the Victory Machine pushed me down that path, and I’m starting to
feel right in my own skin.” She silently wished Laura was still
around to help, or so she could befriend her all over again as she
learned about herself. Ayan could feel the grief fighting to the
surface and stuffed a quarter of a plum into her mouth.

“What was it like, seeing the future?” Jason
asked.

She chewed and swallowed quickly, feeling
selfish at not focusing on Laura. She should be the one to support
Jason, but the pain was so fresh, and there was so much going on,
she didn’t want to break down when everyone needed her. “The
Machine had a lot to show me, many futures. It would take days to
write the report,” Ayan said. “Not that there would be much point,
it’s always changing. The distant future was beautiful though. It
extrapolated that I had a son and a daughter, and I was so proud of
them. Worried about Laura-“ she stopped there, wishing she’d left
her daughter’s name out of the story, “I worried about her as much
as my aunt probably worried about me.”

“You named her Laura,” Jason said. “Thank
you.” He looked shaky.

Ayan dropped her fork into the bowl and
crossed the room. Her arm was around him, and his head was on her
chest. “I’m so sorry,” was all she could think to say as she shed
her own tears silently, stroking his hair.

“She was the only one who had patience for
me,” Jason said after awhile. “Through my jack addiction, after,
when I was relapsing and so distant. I was so in my own head I
don’t think I told her I loved her for months,” he said through
tears.

“She knew, Jason. I know she knew,” Ayan
reassured.

He cried without comment until Ayan’s meal
grew cold, and she couldn’t help but recall Jake’s blunder of
checking the time after awhile, when she tried to lean on him.
Jason finally picked his head up and laughed at himself. “She
wanted me to reengage with my emotions, guess she got her wish.” He
wiped his face and looked at Ayan, nose to nose. “Thank you for
being here, Ayan. I know it’s as hard for you, she was your best
friend, but you’re here anyway. I wouldn’t be strong enough to do
the same.”

“I’m sure you would,” Ayan replied, wiping
her own tears away.

“I have to ask, what did Roman look like?”
Jason asked.

“Roman? He was at the end, in a coma. He was
exposed to temporal radiation for months.”

“It took months,” Jason said, nodding.
“Good.”

“Why?”

“I got a message,” he said, pulling it up on
his comm unit. “As soon as you got back from the city, it was a
short range burst from your comm, Roman hid it there.”

“Hello, Jason,” Roman’s visage said. It
wasn’t the emaciated man she’d seen recently, but the strong police
sergeant she’d come to know in Mount Elbrus. “I know you’re
suffering now, and you feel alone, adrift. I’m sorry. There was
nothing anyone could do to stop the terrible thing that’s happened
to your wife. The galaxy still needs you, even if for just a little
while longer. I hoped I would be strong enough to close the Victory
Machine’s viewing portals myself, but I’m not going to make it. I
need you to take my place in the service of Citadel. The Victory
Machine will transport you far from here, it’ll show you what to do
from there, so you can destroy it. I wish I weren’t offering you
this mission, because I know you’ll take it. The only person you
can share this with is Ayan, who will eventually understand.
Goodbye, and I’m sorry.”

“No!” Ayan said in a panic, grasping at
Jason’s comm unit and the arm it was attached to. “Laura wouldn’t
want this! You’ve got such a long future ahead.”

“You didn’t see me in the Machine’s version
of the future, did you?” Jason said calmly.

“That doesn’t mean anything! I didn’t see a
lot of people, but I’m sure they’re still alive in the future.”

Jason kissed her on the lips, an innocent
but affectionate gesture. “I want this. This feels like the right
thing to do, and that’s been so hard for me to find for a while.
I’m sorry I couldn’t find Wheeler or his people.” He gently pushed
her away and smiled with tears in his eyes. “Oh, you’re going to be
amazing, Ayan. I’ll look for you before I turn the Machine off, and
I bet you’ll be so amazing.” He disappeared from sight.

Ayan reached for him, her hand grazed his
arm, but the door opened and he slipped away. “Stop him!” she
screamed into the hallway.

Two soldiers who were passing by looked at
her dumbly for a moment. “Lewis! Scan for him! Close your hatches!”
Ayan said.

The hatch down the corridor began closing
while a woman was carrying a small crate up the ramp. She was
bowled over before the ramp finished closing, and Ayan knew Jason
was gone. She sunk to her knees and buried her face in her
hands.

The four Ramiel and three Uriel fighters
hadn’t moved a millimetre during takeoff, and the small hangar crew
was satisfied that they were ready to launch and retrieve ships on
short notice once the doors were re-cut. They only had room to
perform repairs on two fighters at a time, but with only four
mechanics reserved for smaller ships, there wasn’t much
justification for more. When the interior of the Warlord was
complete, there would be room for two fighters and a shuttle in the
repair bay.