The last of the passengers loaded onto the boarding shuttle and Junior Lieutenant Jane Eccleston made sure the hatch was secure before signalling the temporary deck crew. “Only nine left, then we get to lock this hangar down until the Captain has a use for it again,” she said into her communicator. “Let's keep this accident free.”
“Ma'am, the Captain's on the line for you,” reported one of her soldiers.
“Put him through.”
“You're on with him now.”
“Captain Valance, I'm Junior Lieutenant Jane Eccleston. Our commanding officer has returned to the destroyer Verant, I took over.”
“Good work getting a deck crew organized. I'm impressed.”
“Thank you sir. My platoon prides itself on it's ability to improvise.”
“We received your qualifications, I'm impressed. When you're finished down there I'd like to see you on the bridge.”
“I won't go up unless you take all of us. Only three are returning to the Verant. ”
“Done. We need you. Captain Valance out.”
“Sounds like we've got a new boss.” Her communications officer said.
“Listening in again Sherman? You're going to have to drop that habit, Parsons put up with it while he was in command, but I won't,” Jane sighed and signalled another shuttle sealed and ready. “Put the rest of the platoon on the line, they should hear this.”
“Aye.” The transparent display inside her visor showed that all thirty six members of her platoon were listening in a moment later.
“I've spoken to Captain Valance. We're all welcome to join the crew,” Jane said, smiling to herself.
“Thank God, I was afraid we'd be on the run,” Said Kari.
“That's good news, too bad we lost a few,” added Frederick.
“Finally, some action!” Shouted Stephano.
“Another day, another outfit,” commented Marion.
“So we're going to actually get to work now? Not just inspect and polish for twelve hours a day? Finally,” complained Marcus.
“Having six shape shifters in the platoon probably informed his decision a bit.”
There were a number of other comments of approval and a couple wise cracks that overlapped and Jane couldn't help but grin as she watched the last pair of shuttles slowly drift out of the hangar.
“Quiet down, let's hear what we've signed up for,” Sherman said over everyone.
“I'm headed to the bridge to speak to the Captain in person. I expect he'll break us up a little, on a ship like this that's bound to happen, but we'll all be inside the same hull, fighting the same fight. I need everyone to be on their best behaviour, to do their best work. From what I've seen of the Triton, she's a mess, and we'll have to train while we make repairs.”
“Looks like half this stuff has been dormant longer than I've been alive.” Commented Nathan, her second in command. “And they added a few sections of ergranian steel that have been expanding unchecked for a while. It's going to be interesting trying to work that in. I've seen sections where the metal has grown right around cables and piping.”
“I'm going to find out what we can expect from Valent, what kind of experience he has with a ship this size, if any.” Julie continued as she stepped into an express car. There were three other people inside, one was Nathan, the other two she had seen helping on the hangar deck. “I'll update everyone once I know more, until then keep your eyes open for orders and directions from Triton command. I get the feeling that Captain Valance wants to pull things together fast. Eccleston out.” The channel closed and she looked to Nathan.
He was an issyrian just like her, and held a human shape as well. It made most people they worked with more comfortable. “There's barely any crew to speak of, glad we're here.”
“Aye, it's better than going back to the Verant and trying to make a go of that wreck.”
“Do you think he'll break us up?”
“I would. Two thirds of us are damage control specialists, the other third are security with extra training.” Julie said with a shrug.
“I wouldn't. I mean, everyone in the Platoon knows their way around repairing just about anything. Even Stephano can put a power transfer board together in his sleep and when he signed up a year ago he could barely plug in a space heater.”
“We'll see.”
“You two are headed to the bridge?” Asked an older gentleman. His wispy grey hair and well kept but his old, loose fitting vacsuit spoke of an age beyond either of the soldiers.
“Aye, our platoon is signing up. We're an emergency repair and recovery unit, thought we'd fit right in here. Junior Lieutenant Julie Eccleston at your service.”
“Good to meet you, I'm a shuttle and fighter technician. Used to work out of Station Three but got off just in time with about half my deck crew. Name's Angelo Vercelli.”
Nathan grinned at him. “I thought I recognized you. You're signing up with your team?”
“Aye, me and my second here, Paula.” He gestured to a younger, much shorter, slim woman in a similar vacsuit.
She nodded with a forced smile. “Long day.”
“You can say that again,” Julie agreed as the doors to the express car opened.
They walked across the broad hallway to the massive main doors to the bridge. As they approached heavy arms drew the thick armoured doors out and apart to reveal a sight unlike any of them had ever seen.
The main bridge of the Triton with the lower deck revealed seemed complex at first. There were a dozen stations along the walls and as many distributed throughout the room on each level. The clearly visible deep brown pathways on the floor leading to each station in a radial pattern also indicated where one would expect substations to be, where extra staff could help with regular operations. The space around the pathways was transparent deck plating, showing a tactical command center for fighters and larger vessels that was just as large and well equipped as the main bridge. Near the head of the bridge was a ramp leading down to the lower level on either side.
On the front wall there was a two dimensional display that took up most of the space there, to its right and left were doorways you could barely distinguish from the rest of the black walls. In front of the helm there was a large hologram of the Triton itself. Shaped like a large stingray from earth, it had three massive engines at the rear, and two nearer to the center of the underside. A pair of extra engines were built into the aft port and starboard ends of the ship. The overlay on the hologram detailed where work was being done, how many refugees were still aboard, where they were, and showed that a large transit ship had docked with them without permission. It's blocky hull hung off one side of the Triton like some kind of parasite and was coloured red to indicate it was an unwelcome guest.
The command seating in the center of the bridge was set atop semitransparent flooring and was five meters across. The captain's chair was in the center with two seats on either side. To their surprise an issyrian sat in the Captain's seat, looking over a holographic directory tree. “The Captain and his First Officer await you in his ready room,” the watch officer said in a pleasant tone, pointing to the door on the left. He was wearing a black armoured vacsuit unlike any they'd seen. It was sleek, form fitted with extra impact resistant sections over top, there were no visible seams and by looking at it they couldn't even determine for sure how one would remove the transparent oval faceplate. The design was simple and looked more efficient than their own, bulkier infantry armour.
The group of four walked down the short ramp that led into the bridge and followed a radial path down the side of the compartment. Everyone knew they could just as easily walk on the transparent section of the deck, but it seemed to make sense to follow the meter wide opaque paths that were plainly laid out, even though it forced them into single file.
The heavy ready room door was drawn aside to reveal a modest office. The wall behind the Captain was transparent, showing the field of stars and an edge of Enreega beyond. One of the smouldering cities was just barely visible on its blue surface. “-long to figure out the lighting system. It's measured in lumens until you set it on a different scale,” the Captain was saying as they walked inside.