“It's her. It may not look exactly like her, but from what she tells me about the Doc disappearing into a wormhole to bring her back, it all makes sense.”
“There's something about her that is unmistakably Ayan, at least from what I've noticed.”
Oz nodded slowly. “I only had to talk to her for a minute to know it was her. There's no doubt, and I've only seen her happier once.”
“On the First Light. I think you could say the same about most of us. The only time that tops it for Laura and I is our wedding day.”
“What about the honeymoon?”
“And the honeymoon,” Jason confirmed with a grin.
“I enjoyed my time as a Captain on patrol.”
“You know I tried to convince Laura and Ayan to take a few Special Projects initiatives to you. Would have been a good excuse to spend some time aboard.”
“What happened?”
“Fleet Intelligence promoted me, told me we wouldn't be able to join you since you were already out there running silent. So, they ended up on the Midland implementing the new dual drive and a few other things.”
“I can see why Command didn't want the Roi De Ciel off the line, we didn't exactly need speed while we ran silent. Special Projects did send us some important upgrades though.”
“I know. Do you miss it?”
“Commanding a cloak ship? All the time. I didn't realize I would until the Sunspire was under way though.”
“Really? I thought you were feeling at home with the resistance here,” Jason said in mild surprise.
“I do. There's nothing like having your boots in the dirt, securing tunnels and blowing buildings that might interfere with the shielding apart. Urban and tunnel combat comes with a rush all its own, but given the choice, I think I'd take command of a cloak ship any day. There's nothing like coming out of nowhere, right on top of a Vindyne cruiser and forcing their surrender. Besides, the crew gets really tight when you're running silent for that long.”
“I see your point. Too bad we didn't serve together on that tour.”
“You had just been married and I know Laura wouldn't leave Ayan or Special Projects.”
“Yup, hopefully we'll be able to get this mission off without a hitch so we can send messages to the Carthan government and the Triton. ”
Oz laughed and shook his head.
“I said something funny?”
“No, it's just Alaka. He and his family has a lot of faith that we can do this. I mean, I think we can get it done, the enemy won't see us coming and we'll be moving so fast that nothing will be able to hit us, but getting out after is another question entirely. When the Triton or other help arrives we might be in a hole somewhere hiding from automations and the West Watch. That's if Minh doesn't blink in the wrong millisecond and kill us all.”
“I don't think Minh will be blinking while he pilots that thing.”
“I hope not. We're crossing several hundred kilometres in a few seconds. To anyone watching the mountain it'll look like something exploded, then our little ship's going to look like a great big fireball crash landing.”
“Now you're starting to scare me.”
“You can thank Alaka's eldest son. Now he's a gear head.”
“What's it like being in the trenches with Alaka, anyway?”
“Let's just say that if he crossed the line and joined the other side, I'd seriously consider finding a way, any way, off this planet. He's quiet, quick, can snap a West Keeper's neck with one hand and recognizes where everyone he's leading is most useful faster than I think I could.”
“That explains why he had you boosted to lead your own platoon after our first day here.”
“And why you never saw direct combat. He and the Sergeant recognized your skills the first time you talked shop.”
“Figures, I talk shop a lot,” Jason nodded. “Something Laura complains about, especially since I never get specific.”
“That would drive me nuts. I like knowing all sides, even when we're just talking.”
“So does she,” he chuckled. “Every once in a while she just gives me this look. I'm not going to miss having a few dozen Fleet secrets bouncing around in my head every day.”
“You must miss her.”
“I do, we've spent time apart before but not like this. We need to get this message out.”
“I know. I just wonder what Laura's response will be when she sees Ayan and Minh.”
“Oh, I know what her response will be to that, it's Jake Valance I wonder about. If he has Jonas' memories, and if that plays out anything like it has with Ayan, well,” Jason shrugged. “Honestly? I know what I'm hoping for but not what to expect.”
Oz nodded his agreement; “Ayan misses him, I mention his name, Jake's or Jonas', and it's like a physical blow. She seemed less emotional before somehow.”
“She was ill, more focused on reassuring everyone else than anything I think. Now she's healthy and I still see the military brat we all knew and loved but she's more expressive now, seems more alive.”
“And if Jake doesn't react to her at all,” Oz sighed before continuing. “It'll be bad.”
“We'll be there for her.”
“So will Minh. He keeps her laughing, hell, he keeps everyone laughing.”
“But he's keeping up with her engineering skills and he's changed so much. Before he seemed off balance somehow, now there's something very level about him.”
“Like he's found some kind of peace,” Oz added, watching Minh disappear into the hull of the twelve meter long ship. “I guess being isolated for so long will break or make you.”
“Could you imagine?” Jason asked, shaking his head. “All this time. He said he turned the old reactor chamber into some kind of garden, the holo he showed me was amazing.”
“I'm just glad he's with us. As much as I like to call him crazy, I saw what the Warpig looked like after it hit the deck. The only thing left of it was the cockpit and afterburners. You could tell that he had intentionally kept the ship turned just so the last things to be hit were those two sections.”
“You know what he said to me when I mentioned it to him?” Jason asked with a grin.
“No, what'd he say?”
“'That's why I like to fly a ship with a great big ass!'” Jason quoted, doing his best imitation of the enthusiastic pilot.
Oz laughed and nodded. “From most pilots that kind of humour might make me nervous, but from him it's just a sign that he's having a good day.”
“For Minh, I think every day has been a good day since they rescued him.”
The Message
The fabrication section of the Triton was easily the loudest place Captain Valance had ever seen or heard. Located above the main hangars it was so large, cavernous that an air temperature and pressure differential whipped the air into a mild gusting wind. Long hoist arms reached over top the mouths of the two materializers at work. They were three meters tall and eight wide with long strips of heavy transparent belting to separate the space where energy was converted to matter from the rest of the massive compartment.
Some things never changed; heavy equipment still moved on wheels or treads, a good strong length of carbon fibre cable was still better than an antigravity cart for moving awkward and heavy components around and people were still at extreme risk if they didn't know what they were doing inside the fabrication and assembly area of the ship. Jake was careful. He had actually never seen a place that could do so much, that in the space of an hour could convert energy and recycled metals into the cockpit of a Uriel fighter or a room full of furniture. Further down he could see the transparent barriers that cordoned off a section of the deck for the fabrication of more delicate parts and materials. There were clean rooms down there, smaller materialization suites and a vast collection of shop machinery.
Deck Chief Vercelli had the fabrication deck running like clockwork. All the processes and safety measures that were practiced had been set out by him and Engineering Chief Grady. When Jake signed off on them he hadn't yet grasped how critical they were. The deck was marked with yellow, black, blue and red boxes and pathways. The yellow and red sections were the most dangerous, the first designating areas where heavy equipment was in occasional operation and the second type of marking was for generally unsafe areas where there could be energy discharges, falling objects or other dangerous activities. The blue sections were safe areas for moving from one section of the deck to another and the black portions of the deck were marked off for temporary storage.