Lorgue Norsh and Sub-Forgue Molth walked together toward available officer seating in the principal dais area. Norsh sat down first and surveyed the surrounding Pintial’s command center.
Irritably, he gestured for Molth to sit. “There can be no more losses. Our High Eminence has little tolerance for ineptitude. We can only hope he has not learned of the latest series of blunders. Being in his good favor is not a given.”
“Lorgue Norsh, you command the most powerful warships within known space. Ten Marauder-Class fighters are a far cry from fifteen inconsequential little Scouts. I will not displease you again, Lorgue—”
“Fine. We will split the fleet. Five stealth Marauders will stay back and await the Evermore, traveling along its current course. You will command those ships, Sub-Forgue Molth. Perhaps an opportunity for redemption, yes?”
“Thank you, Lorgue. Yes… the Evermore will finally be destroyed. Once and for all we will finally put an end to the Pashier.”
Norsh, glancing again at his subordinate, caught him nervously picking at his disgusting growth. Grimacing, he looked away and said, “Go now and make the preparations for what I have outlined. We will reunite the fleet at Primara.”
Norsh watched as his second-in-command quickly headed for the Command center’s exit. As revolting as the Howsh first officer was in person, one-on-one, he was an adequate commander, both driven and ruthless. Two admirable qualities.
Chapter 41
Cuddy sat at the console, scanning the myriad of buttons and switches across the board. He knew what each was used for—its purpose—as well as how to configure it. Apparently, the orb’s final mental download still had a far-reaching effect on him.
He entered in the navigational coordinates to their final destination—Primara—knowing much work would need doing over subsequent weeks. Requirements that went far beyond what Cuddy felt capable of completing on his own. The Evermore’s five independent systems were autonomous to a certain degree, but the vessel was designed to operate best with a supervising AI interface—an AI orb. As part of his mental download, Cuddy now possessed the basic knowledge of where to find the necessary parts within the hold and how to initialize a new AI orb. He was excited to get started on the project. To have something creative to do—to think about—other than of Rufus and the orb, now gone, or how much he was missing Momma. Or how annoying Brian was steadily becoming, by the minute.
Cuddy heard Brian’s grating voice within the main cabin, complaining again about one thing or another. Cuddy rose from his seat to stare outside into the darkness before him. Space seemed so cold and impersonal. Several hours had passed since they’d left Earth, and they were quickly making their way through the solar system.
“Hey… how you holding up?”
Cuddy spun around. Jackie, standing at the entrance to the bridge, then asked him, “You get us on course, and all that?”
“I think so. Best I can figure out, anyway. I need to assemble another AI orb. That’ll give me a bit more reassurance.”
“I think I saw the parts for them down in the first hold… when we were working on the propulsion system.”
Cuddy nodded.
“So… you up for giving everyone a quick tour? I’d do it, but I’m not as familiar with the ship as you are,” Jackie said, smiling.
Cuddy was pretty sure the request had come from Brian. “Yeah… sure, I can do that.” As he approached her, she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“What was that for?”
“Rufus… mostly, I guess.”
He stepped past her and entered the main cabin, where Kyle and Tony were seated. Their feet were up, and they were talking and laughing about something. Cuddy didn’t see Brian, at first, then saw him aft, coming up the passageway.
“Well… okay… I guess you figured out this is the Evermore’s main cabin.” Cuddy said, inwardly checking his memories to see if there was anything to add concerning this section of the ship. There was! “There’s seating in here for about ten people and an entertainment feature too.” He strode over to a round, padded thing that looked somewhat like a big donut, which Kyle and Tony were using to prop their feet up on. He gestured for them to remove their feet and placed an open palm on its top surface. A holographic-type display suddenly appeared, emanating from the donut’s open area.
“As you can see, you can view the display from anywhere in the compartment. What you’re looking at now is the main menu. I don’t really know much about what’s available to watch, or see, so you’ll have to play with it. It will respond to your voice prompts although that’s not how the Pashier typically used it.”
“No, I’m sure they used their superior, kinetic, mindset to handle that sort of thing,” Brian said, an edge to his voice.
Cuddy shrugged and nodded. “Guess so.”
Both Tony and Kyle were already immersed in checking out what they later dubbed the big whoopee cushion.
“Look… Pashier movies!” Tony said excitedly, digging into sub menus, which displayed even more entertainment options.
“Come on, guys, we’re taking a tour of the ship right now,” Jackie said. Cuddy led the way down the aft passageway, informing them, “And here we’re passing berth port and starboard sleeping compartments.” He opened the hatch into the ones portside, stepping aside so they could all move past him into the narrow space. Three bunk-bed-style sets of two bunks each were crammed in, with a single stand-alone bunk at the far end.
“Great… communal living… just like summer camp,” Brian sneered. “So where does one drain the snake in the middle of the night?”
Jackie made a face. “There’s a door… hatch… right there. See for yourself.”
Brian did, discovering a communal bathroom that facilitated up to four crew at a time.
“You’ll have to figure out how to use the shower and toilet system on your own. They’re nothing like anything we have back on Earth,” Jackie added.
Brian exited the head, looking unimpressed. Then, with his hands on his hips, he surveyed the bunks. “Well, enjoy the… what did you call them, the portside berth compartment? Jackie and I will be crashing on the starboard-side bunk compartment. That only makes sense, since we’re a couple.”
Cuddy, noticing Kyle and Jackie were both about to speak, interjected—raising a hand. “That sounds like a good idea, Brian. Just know the area is somewhat smaller than this one.”
Brian said, “That’s fine. It’ll just be the two of us.” He winked at Jackie, who looked away—her cheeks reddening. He strode from the compartment and moved across the passageway to an identical, opposite hatch and opened it.