“I know, and that's good, but eventually we may find ourselves outside of a war zone. If we're all as hard as nails and ready to open fire at the slightest indication of trouble, we'll be of no use to anyone. It's the civilians that will keep us human, aware that there's a grey area to this friend or foe mentality that's built into all our training.”
Alice didn't respond right away and just looked at him, glancing at his new trophy before replying. “You're right. I'll be honest, I'd expect that kind of thinking more from Liam, but you're right. Are you going to stop civilians from qualifying for different positions on the ship?”
“No, but we should start compiling a list of people the civilians have requested us to pick up. We have a lot of room left in the habitation section in the Botanical Gallery.”
“What about children?”
Jake hesitated a moment, it was something he had been thinking about for several days. “It feels wrong to have them aboard a ship of war. I'm still against it.”
“I agree. It's going to cut a lot of people from that list though. The civvies that are requesting to bring family aboard have a lot of brothers, sisters and others who have kids.”
“We'll have to live with it, I need to know that everyone aboard made a concious choice to be here.”
“Speaking of family, is that what I think it is?” Alice asked, gesturing towards the encased drinking glass.
“It is. I didn't know what to do with it after finishing the testing, so I…” he gestured towards it and shrugged.
“It's good, I mean, it's not like he was able to leave much behind. What did the tests turn up?”
“Well, his results show natural ageing, mine show that I'm almost seven years old and a large percentage of my physiology shows signs of mass regeneration. He was the original, that's for sure.”
“Laura was saying that you're like his moodier brother,” Alice smirked.
Jacob burst out laughing and nodded. “That fits. How are you two getting along?”
“Great, if there's anyone in engineering or our civilian research volunteers with nothing to do, she gives them a challenge. I don't know what she's been up to since I last saw her before I made the switch from AI to human, but it's given her the ability to command, demand respect and delegate. The more I watch her the more I learn, even though she keeps trying to convince me that I'm the great commander.”
“You are, if I were to take you off the bridge night watch the graveyard crew would probably mutiny. I don't know what I'd do without you.”
“I learned everything about command from you.”
“You mean from Jonas,” Jake corrected with a thin smile.
“You're right, mostly, anyway,” Alice replied with a slow nod. “I'm sorry, I see more of him in you every day, even though you look a little different.”
“Now that's what you have to thank Liam and my real father for. I was made by one of the inventors of framework technology and he left me a message.”
Alice's eyes went wide, her interest was keenly piqued; “what did he say?”
“Not much, only that there's someone with more information on Zingara Station.”
“That can't be a coincidence.”
“No, I'm pretty sure he chose Zingara because he knew it would remain independent and that I would remember being there as Jonas.”
“With Ayan.”
The light mood that accompanied the revelation Jake was sharing with her drained out of him. He looked older somehow, tired, more like the Jake Valance she had first met weeks before.
“I'm sorry, it's my day for saying all the wrong things I guess,” Alice apologized quietly. “I'm guessing taking these memories on is a whole package deal, the bad comes with the good and you still miss her.”
Jake nodded. “You're right, and if I could thank Ayan I would. Somehow I still expect her to come through that door with two cups of coffee. Remembering her brings back so much, especially about Zingara Station. Meeting her changed everything.”
“You know the civilians who are rebuilding the Botanical Garden just finished making a monument honouring all the people who died taking the ship. They put an image of Ayan and Jonas at the top since most of the crew see Jonas as the last one who died in that fight. You should go down and see it.”
“I know, things have been busy. I haven't seen my own quarters for weeks. Maintenance keeps asking for permission to go in and clean up but I just push it to the bottom of the priority list.”
“You're going to have to finish moving in someday Jake,” Alice smiled wryly. “A few of the Samson crew aren't moving their stuff from the old ship into their new quarters until they see you do it first.”
“It's not that I'm not here for good. Even if Sol Defence came along and tried to get her back, I'd still try to strike a deal for Triton. My mind is always on the crew, the ship, what we're doing and how we're doing it.”
“That's not really moving in. You have to find a place to kick your heels up, pick somewhere to put all your creature comforts. Eventually you'll need some time off and it might be good for you to have a quiet space you've made your own.”
Jake thought for a moment, his gaze resting on the enshrined drinking glass. “Between you and me that's hard. On one hand the Samson was my first ship, my only ship. At the same time I'm taking on all these memories, and as much as Jonas and I would probably get along if he were still here, drawing on his experiences, catching myself doing little things he used to do just messes me up sometimes. Some psycho annalist would say I'm hanging on to the Samson because I feel like I'm losing myself. On the other hand I like how Jonas thinks, the experiences he had with his friends, with Ayan. He knew how to be with people, taking charge was his problem while I'm the opposite. Ever since I woke up on the Samson I've been in charge, it's what I had to do to survive, but being with people, feeling like one of their mates instead of their captain, well, it just didn't happen.
“Ash told me she got a big smile out of you the other day. She was on cloud nine for hours.”
The memory prompted a little grin from Jake as he nodded. “She was showing me an ad she'd found in a data burst Liam brought back from his recruiting run for Kawaii Cats. I couldn't help but wilt when I saw it. She's threatening to buy one on her first trip off ship.”
“Oh no, with a talking kitten on board the whole crew will be helpless if we run into a Regent Galactic cruiser.”
“It's insidious, it really is,” Jake laughed. “I don't want any pets on board, not just yet, anyway. This is a warship after all.”
“I have to agree, but eventually someone's going to bring a teacup poodle, or trained rim weasel aboard.”
“I know, we'll have to keep any pets assigned to people who have officer class quarters or family quarters eventually, but for now the policy has to stand. There's still so much we don't know about this ship, compartments we haven't even opened yet. No one's so much as glanced at the Junior Officers quarters and there are four hundred sixty billets there.”
“I think Stephanie's security team will take care of anything on four legs easy enough. Last I read their instructions were to detain and contain anything not walking upright. That woman thinks of just about everything where security is concerned. That is, if she isn't watching you. I don't think there's a person from the Samson who hasn't noticed a few changes in their Captain.”
“How are the crew taking it?” Jake asked, running his finger along the edge of the encased keepsake on his desk.
“Well, they don't know what to expect but knowing that you're more open to suggestions seems to help. People still channel a lot of their ideas through me though. They seem to think I have a lighter hand.”
“Little do they know,” Jake shook his head and smiled.
Alice smiled back. “Little do they know,” the pair shared a knowing look, between the two of them it was difficult to decide which had the more ruthless command style. During ship wide simulations they often switched handles, used each other's voices all in an effort to be fully aware of how the crew responded to each commander. Alice looked back to the small trophy. “So, any idea what you're going to do with your memento?”