The senior officers all stood and all but Laura, Cynthia and the Captain left. Jake looked at the pair and raised an eyebrow.
Cynthia eyed Laura uncertainly and addressed him quietly. “Sir, I'm having trouble with the Intelligence department.”
“What kind of trouble?” Captain Valance asked.
“Some of the senior analysts are reporting to Stephanie and her lieutenants instead of me. She's also making decisions based on their information.”
“A few of them started reporting to me while I was doing the systems survey, sir.” Laura added.
“My point is that I'm not in control of the department. I know I wasn't qualified for this but you put me in charge,” Cynthia said, growing more irritated.
“Do you have a second in command chosen?” Captain Valance asked.
“No, I've been trying people but I haven't made up my mind.”
Jake thought for a moment then looked to Laura. “How is field control right now?”
“Almost in order. We're testing the antigravity shield later today and all three tomorrow if things go well. Aside from learning more about activating the power absorption subsystems the shields are just about ready for action.”
“Could you take command of Intelligence and make Cynthia your second?”
Cynthia boggled as Laura replied. “Temporarily. When Jason gets here he should be put in command. The department here is a quarter the size of what he was in charge of on Freeground.”
“Sir, I didn't mean that-” Cynthia started.
“You've said it yourself more than once, you don't have the training, so learn from Laura's experience and you'll get it if you want it,” Captain Valance reassured.
“Yes sir,” she replied quietly before leaving the briefing room, obviously disappointed.
Laura waited for the door to close behind her then turned to the Captain. “Thank you, watching her struggle has been driving me crazy. I sympathize, but she really doesn't know what she's doing. I'm no Intelligence specialist, especially compared to my husband, but I know what a working department looks like.”
“Do you think she'll make a good second?”
“She's a hard worker, with some direction she'll be fantastic if she wants to be.”
“Good, she's always had trouble finding her place in the crew, but she's intelligent and well liked.”
“I've noticed.” Laura walked to the large transparent section of hull and looked out to the bright yellow star clusters. “I thought Jason and Oz would be here by now.”
“I know. They should be safe on Pandem though, I'll probably find them sitting on one of its beaches sipping something that's served with a tiny umbrella.”
Laura couldn't help but smile at Jake's comical reassurance before shaking her head and going on. “Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that you're doing this yourself, but why?”
Captain Valance felt blindsided by the question and moved to stand beside her and share the view. He had good answers to the question, most of them dishonest, but they all seemed more significant than the true answer. “I feel like I'm drowning here. For five years I've dragged a small crew around the galaxy. Easy to control, easy to manage, easy to replace. Here I have literally thousands,” he answered honestly.
“That's what delegation is for. You always had a problem with that,” she smiled.
“I have been, Intelligence is the last department in real need aside from the SSG. Still, there's so much time to think while I'm going over reports, requests and interacting with everyone from the civilian representative to Liam.”
She didn't need to know more. He had been inundated with memories and over the past weeks they took root. He was quiet, sometimes even sullen, which was a good thing considering it hid the fact that his manner was becoming softer, more human. To most of the crew he was still the hard, towering icon, but his senior officers were all noticing how much more personable and approachable he was. “I need Jason here, there's no one I miss more,” she appealed to that heart she had heard of. Alice had taken her into confidence to talk about the sleepwalking incident, and knew that there was a good chance that she could start trusting Jake just as she had come to trust Jonas.
“I'll be back with him before you know it. Until then Alice knows she has the ship and I'm sure the Chiefs will have everything under control.”
“How long do you think it'll take you?”
“In an Uriel fighter with an extra reactor installed? I'll get there in twenty hours, maybe less.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “If I don't find him it's because he found another mode of transportation and I just missed him on his way here.”
“Thank you Jonas,” she said, catching her error and regretting it immediately. Laura looked at him and was surprised at what she saw.
His eyes were closed, his lips were stretched in a tight smile. “I know. I suppose it was inevitable.”
“I'm sorry, it's just something he'd do, gestures he'd make.”
Jake nodded. “I stopped fighting the memories, lifted the mental separations. There are a lot of good memories, especially from his youth. It changes things, you know, when you have good times to look back on. I had so few of my own, I didn't even realize.”
“I never thought of it that way.”
“Sometimes I think it's selfish, getting to know him so well that it's hard to tell where he ends and I begin, but then I remember meeting him face to face. He'd want this, he'd want me to be here for you, for Jason, for Oz. Even if I took his name it wouldn't phase him as long as I didn't do something he wouldn't.”
“Do you think you ever would?”
“Take his name?”
“Yes.”
“Not his first. Talking to Alice the other day, hearing about how so much of who she is was determined by her experiences with him and how she has her own distinct personality despite that, it got me thinking, and I don't have to change my name just because things are changing. Who I am is in part thanks to him and using his moral compass is tribute enough I think. If he were alive right now I don't think there would be a question that we're different people, but I know there are a lot of similarities now, a lot I can be proud of.”
“So you'll remain Jacob Valance. Still very close to Jonas Valent, really.”
He hadn't made the comparison aloud or heard anyone else do it for him and he paused to let it sink in. “I need time to think,” he chuckled. “and to do something useful, something important on my own.”
“Don't take this the wrong way, but you're becoming more like Jonas every minute. He was miserable when he didn't feel useful.”
“I think that's something we have in common,” he smiled back.
She gave him a brief hug and they started out of the meeting room. As she got to the door she stopped. “Oh, I almost forgot. The last generation of the vacsuits are ready. We managed to materialize one for each of the senior staff.”
“That's early, did you manage to weave everything in?”
“Everything, your modifications, my refinements, the special projects additions, everything.” She grinned. “Have fun.”
“How do they look?”
“They're not very customizable, but I think you'll like them. Stop by the high resolution materializers on your way to the flight deck. I'd go with you but I have to talk to Alice about power usage aboard ship. It looks like we'll be deactivating all the personal materializers in quarters and berths. Only certain officer's quarters will have active materializers, and their constant use will be discouraged.”
“So you'll be instituting specific times for chow in the observation decks and clubs?”
“That's right, and we're opening the mess hall between the fore and aft central berths. It should make for an interesting change while you're gone.”