“Sit right here,” Captain Valance ordered, pointing to the seat at his left.
He walked to the chair and sat down. From a pocket he produced a communicator and opened a channel.
The face of an armoured vacsuit came up on the two dimensional display after a moment. “Yes Minister?”
“Your orders have changed Major. I'm placing Captain Valance in command. He's a more able commander than I had expected and will work in our best interests.”
“Minister?”
“That's an order. Pass the word down the line. The Triton is Valent's ship. I'm legitimizing his capture.”
“Yes sir, right away.”
Cleanup
Captain Valance let Liam's plan to connect the exterior solar and gravity based power systems to the command section go ahead. After that was finished Liam was able to proceed to main engineering for the first time since he had come aboard. All eight of the reactors had been shut down or disconnected from the main power grid. If it weren't for their fading emergency power the Triton would be adrift, helpless.
When Agameg Price returned to the bridge with his security team he boggled at Minister Lorne for a moment before regaining his composure. “The Aucharians have stood down and two squads have gone to the upper berth to aid with crowd control.”
“How are things there?” Asked Captain Valance.
“Not as bad as I had thought. Once Leland and his group were pressed out of the compartments and the lights came back on the situation calmed down. A few people fell through the deck where the plating was damaged and I've sent Grace to help.”
Stephanie looked a little surprised and smiled at Agameg. “Good work. So things have calmed down?”
“Yes, they are wondering when help is coming though, if they will be transported to another port so they can continue on to their final destinations. A few were bound for this system in particular, and are unsure of their fates,” he said sadly.
Captain Valance looked to the Minister, who was staring straight ahead. “Do you have a contingency plan in place?”
“We were going to use your ship and anything else that still had power to ferry survivors into the outer system until a battle group could get here.”
“How far out are they?”
He hesitated before answering. “Five days.”
“We have the TRF Peter en route, they'll be here much sooner.”
“Do you realize the debt that will incur? My people can't afford that kind of cost while rebuilding.”
Captain Valance ran his hand down his face and laughed ruefully. He brought up the scan results of Enreega's surface using the control panel on his chair. “There are two cities still burning, several sunk and two are nothing but dead hulks drifting in orbit. You're worried about cost?”
“No one's going to help us rebuild for free. Independence comes at a great cost and most of that can be calculated in credits,” he protested quietly. “These rescue ships come with a high price tag, they're in it for the cash as much as anyone else.”
“There's no market to manipulate here. Your people are dying and you have to make sacrifices to save as many as you can. How much it costs is besides the point.”
“You have no idea what you're talking about.”
“You might be right, politics don't interest me and I'd probably be out of my depth if I tried to run for office. You're on equally unsure footing, Minister. Remember, you're on my ship, a captured Sol Defence vessel that's run by brutal discipline and faith.”
“Faith? You're joking.”
“My people have to have faith in each other and in my decisions. Otherwise there would be chaos. If one of us fails and survives we must have faith that everyone has learned from their experiences. Faith is at the core of this crew, if it wasn't that would leave money and fear and these days I can't afford to use either as often as I used to.”
He sat staring blankly, straight ahead, only nodding once to acknowledge what Captain Valance had said.
Jake looked to Cynthia, who had been watching the entire exchange with interest. “Open the comm ship wide please,” he asked.
“Yes sir, the channel is open.”
He stood up and looked at the Minister. “This is Captain Valance. We are beginning repairs and will be underway to the Pollanis System as soon as possible. The TRF Peter will follow if we leave before they can meet with us. We can't stay here any longer than necessary. We don't know if the Eden Fleet will return. While repairs are underway I'd like anyone who would like to join the crew of the Triton and has qualifications to send their information to the bridge. Keep it short. If you have children aboard, please be aware that this is a ship of war, and I won't want to put the young in harms way.
I can't offer you a great deal of payment, but the Triton is a city unto itself with manufacturing equipment, plenty of living space and a purpose. The Aucharian Military has been defeated in this solar system and after undergoing repairs in a safe location the Triton will be heading into the fight. We'll interfere with Regent Galactic's supply lines, liberate slaves, profit from their loss and make ourselves scarce. We will strike from the shadows, disappear in plain sight and become the three thousand souls that cost them billions.
It is essential that any Aucharian soldier who doesn't want to participate in rebuilding this ship and working towards the same goals disembark from the Triton. Return to your emergency shuttles or the destroyer docked then leave. If you aren't invested in our purpose, you don't have any business aboard my ship. Civilians who don't wish to remain may stay with us until we reach the Pollanis System.”
Captain Valance signalled Cynthia to close the channel and looked to Minister Lorne.
“You're going after Regent Galactic? That's insanity.”
“It's the best game out here, Minister. Anything with less than sixty guns won't have a chance against us and between the members of my existing crew we know the trade routes, the underground, and even a few other ships who would gladly join up if they knew we had their flank. I could start a fleet of my own if I like.”
“These people are untrained, only refugees and deserters.”
“The ship can train them, and if they don't measure up we'll leave them somewhere safe. In case you haven't noticed, this is a modern vessel with simulator visors, reconfigurable consoles and it's wider than it is long. There's plenty of room to train five hundred, maybe a thousand people at a time during normal operations.”
“You don't have the time, putting the ship under Aucharian Fleet control and collecting military personnel from the system for a crew would be much more effective.”
Captain Valance opened a private comm line. “Liam, how are our reactors?”
“I can get three online within the next four hours. It doesn't look like the other five have been activated for about eight years. I'd like to do a more thorough check on them before starting them up. I heard your speech by the way. I'll submit my qualifications right away.”
“You're hired. How is our cloaking device looking?”
“I'm having a couple of your more diminutive crew members reset the aft emitters and check the plating. It should be all set in about an hour. We won't be able to use it until we get a reactor online though.”
“Thank you Liam, we'd be dead out here without you.”
“My pleasure captain, just working on these machines is reward enough.”
Captain Valance closed the line. “With a working cloaking device this ship turns into an invisible city.”
“I'll watch the Newsnets for your execution. Regent Galactic is far more cunning than you give them credit for with more resources than you could imagine. If they can't find you they'll go after your crew through their families and friends. Then they'll force them to betray you.”