“I'm only at the beginning of my journey, much like you, as I understand it. Word has spread across the ship that you've returned by near miraculous means.”
“I wouldn't call it a miracle, more good science and more dedication that I could begin to return. I still don't understand how that could lead to the quiet stares and smiles I've been fetching.”
“I'm on leisure time, so let's explore while I catch you up. Have you seen the heart of this ship yet?”
Ayan looked around at the large reactors and nodded; “I think so.”
“Well, in one respect you're right, but this ship has another heart that's just as important. You might have seen it marked as the Family Quarters?”
“I noticed, it takes up over twenty percent of the ship's interior space.”
Liam led her towards the main hatchway. “At its center is the Botanical Gallery, which I've come to call the Garden.”
“Ah, I haven't been cleared to see most of the ship. Laura was saying Chief Vega has been tightening security.”
“You probably haven't been told, but we have an assassin aboard. His or her motives are unclear at best, but our Chief of Security has made changes to keep everyone, especially key personnel, as safe as possible.”
“That explains a lot, actually. I've spent all my time here going between Laura's quarters, my little temporary quarters and the infirmary, or should I say hospital.”
Liam nodded; “I heard they opened the attached rooms since there were so many wounded from our encounter at Pandem. One of my people said he thought he was transferred to a different ship when he woke up in what looked like a normal two bed hospital room.”
“That's Iloona's doing. She's really been pushing the staff and they're giving her their all. I think they're just happy to have a real doctor aboard. Hard to believe that you've gone so long without one.”
“So she's staying?” Liam asked as the main hatchway closed behind them and they waited for the pressure to equalize.
“Well, her litter of three are starting to venture out of her pouch, so I think she took that as a sign that she should stay on.”
“That must make treating people complicated,” Liam chuckled.
“You'd think, but one of her eldest helps and she keeps them well in hand even when they're crawling around. One of her little ones crawled right into my hair yesterday when I was visiting Jacob,” she said as she ran her hand up and under a mess of blonde curls.
“That must have been something to see.” The door opened and they strode, side by side down the Engineering Control Corridor.
“You don't have to stop in and make sure everything's in order?” Ayan whispered as she kept pace with her escort's long strides. It took some effort on her part.
“All the repairs are scheduled, the critical systems are in order and my second has it all well in hand for the time being. It took three straight days, and everyone's in for ten hour shifts for the next two weeks but it's time for some of us to get some rest.”
“If you would rather go to your quarters and get some rest, I could visit another time,” Ayan whispered back at him.
“There's nothing I'd rather be doing.” He reassured her as they passed through the lift doors. “Besides, I have to wait for the stims to wear off.”
Ayan smiled and nodded; “I slept fourteen hours when they finally showed me to a bunk here. I think I was on stims for four days at that point. Still just starting to feel rested now.”
“Mister McPatrick was telling me yesterday how bad it was down there. Now that's an old soldier before his time.”
“He was tunnel fighting for a over a week before Minh and I arrived. I'm glad I didn't see much of that myself. We call him Oz, by the way.”
Liam looked at her lingeringly, his expression still pleasant but it almost looked like he was sizing her up for a moment. “One wouldn't assume you have so much service behind you just to look.”
“Do you think that's part of the problem?” The express car arrived at it's destination and the doors opened to reveal a broad central corridor. Ayan had seen it on the blueprints for the ship. There were several main corridors just like the one they stepped into leading to the Botanical Gallery and around the Command Decks. She couldn't help but notice that the inner elevator door was so thick it required special support and sliders. They were entering another interior armoured section of the Triton, the Family Quarters.
“You mean the extra respect you're being paid? I suppose you could call it a problem. Before I explain what's behind that I suppose I should get the business out of the way.”
She shot him a look with a raised eyebrow. “Business?”
“Right. With both Captain Valance and Acting Captain Valent out of commission no one has had the courtesy to place you somewhere.”
“I've been giving Laura a hand and learning about the ship between visits to the Infirmary, so I honestly haven't had much time to notice.”
“Well, as Oz put it things are falling into line aboard the Triton. With so many displaced military aboard and the weeks of training our people had before Captain Valance left for Pandem relative chaos is turning to order. Everyone who isn't considered a civilian is given orders aboard ship, exactly as one would while serving in the military.”
“And you have something in mind for me,” Ayan concluded as they came to a divide in the corridor with a waist high planter in the middle. Various flowers of all colours filled the space with their fragrances, and the light above changed to a warm, yellow light. Along the sides of the corridor were two levels of apartment doors with a railed balcony overlooking the thickening divide between the sides.
As they walked along the flowers gave way to trees and finally the corridor opened up to reveal a tall space with a simulated blue sky, real grass covered earth, fruit bearing trees, pathways, a broad pond where she could see three of Alaka's children splashing at each other and three levels of balconies. What Liam had called a garden was really more of a park, with vines climbing the walls, finding purchase up balconies. Further in she could see a few natural vegetable and berry gardens. rows of hedges, transparent hydroponic stacked huts interspersed throughout. Ayan stopped dead in her tracks and just took the sight in, felt the breeze on her face and smelled the fertile, moist air.
“This Gallery and the living space around it take up so much space for a reason, and it's worth every square meter,” Liam whispered from beside her. “The civilians did most of the restoration and planting with a great deal of help from crew who had time to volunteer. Using seed stores, fertilizer and techniques found in the ship archives this is what they achieved.”
“I've never seen anything like it outside of Freeground,” she said quietly as she looked about to see people relaxing on the grass, strolling through the bricked pathways between the lush growth and there was even a young woman playing a beat up and patched cello in the distance. “Even there most of the parks are reserved for growing food, there isn't much walking about going on.”
“It's different here; the engineers who built this ship intended this as a comfortable area. They built function into every corner but you rarely see it. Let's explore a little, I'll explain everything,” Liam smiled at her warmly.
The pair began to stroll down one of the paths. Liam's pace was much more leisurely and she had no problem keeping up. “So, what can I do here?”
“Straight to the point even while you're taking the sights in,” Liam teased.
Ayan shrugged and smiled back. “I'm a military brat before anything else I'm afraid.”
“Well, then I feel that much better about my offer. I would like you to help me finish rebuilding the ship. To be honest I haven't been able to get more than the basics running where power generation and advanced systems are concerned. There are efficiency subsystems, secondary power generation and so many other details that I only just have under control, most of them are deactivated to be completely honest. Then there's the damage from our last engagement, we have two main engines completely out of commission. I'm sure you'll be drawn in other directions but I'll at least like to request your assistance in the rebuilding of the damaged sections of the hull since I'm using modified ergranian metal.”