Dawn of a New Age (10 page)

2.1.2136

1622

SLS White Knight

The Medbay

“
H
EY, Kit.  How are you feeling?” K’Alan asked as he sat down next to her bed.  He reached over and took her hand, which elicited a growl from the other side of the bed.  K’Alan looked up and saw his sister and Elam sitting on the opposite side of K’Itea.

“I’ve been better,” K’Itea smiled.  She squeezed his hand gently.  “But I am going to be fine.  I hear that the admiral’s proposal passed.”

“That’s right,” K’Alan nodded.  Then he smiled at his wife.  “The Duterian survivors are all going to be living on the White Knight for a while.  Under my protection.”

“Your protection,” S’Era furrowed her brow.  “I thought you were the exec.”

K’Alan leaned back in his chair and sighed softly.  “I was,” he shrugged.  “But the captain decided that she did not want to stay on and left.  Admiral Bonetti decided that I was the best person for the job, so he just promoted me and made me the commanding officer.”

“Good,” K’Itea smiled at him.  “You deserve it.  And I am sure all of our people will feel safer having you in charge.”

K’Alan gazed at his family, lost in though.  He had had a lot dumped on him in a short amount of time and he was doing his best to deal with it all at once.  Having the people he loved most in the galaxy on the ship with him made it easier.

“I’m going to move my quarters into the City with the rest of you,” he said after a while.  “I think it’s only proper.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” his sister said.  A smile spread across her face as a thought entered her mind.  “It would be good for you, Kit and Elam to finally spend time together as a family.”

“I don’t like him,” Elam whispered in S’Era’s ear.

“Elam Jarron Bryce,” S’Era admonished him in a stern voice.  “In time you will grow to like your father.  He is a very good man.”

“If he’s such a good man, then why has he never once visited me?” Elam shot back. 

The words hit K’Alan like daggers.  He knew why Elam was so angry, but it did not make it any easier for him to hear it.  He hoped that there would be, someday, a way for him to make those ten years up to his son.

“Because I never told him that you were alive, my son,” K’Itea’s words were soft, but did not cut K’Alan any less than Elam’s.  “He did not know to visit you.”

K’Alan’s gaze caught his son’s, pain mirrored in eyes so much like his own.  “Elam, had I known I would have been home long before now.”  K’Alan’s voice was soft and, he hoped, comforting.  “I would have never wanted to hurt you.  I’m sorry I never met you before now.  I am so, so sorry.”

“Yeah.  Sure you are,” Elam snarled at his father.  The boy stormed out of the room.

“Elam,” K’Alan called after him.  He turned back to K’Itea when she squeezed his arm.  A single tear rolled down his cheek.

“Let him go, Kal,” she said, her voice sad.  “He will come around in time.”

“I hope so.”

“Commander Bryce to the bridge, please,” the voice of Katherine Yeuid floated into the isoroom over the shipcall.

K’Alan looked up at the speaker and sighed.  He thumbed his wristlink.  “On my way, Kath,” he said.  “Actually, it’s Captain Bryce now.”

“Sorry, Captain,” came back the quick reply.  “Didn’t know.”

“Don’t worry about it.  The official announcement isn’t until 2000 hours.”  He thumbed his wristlink off and looked at his family.  “I don’t want to, but I have to go.  Duty calls.”

“I understand, my love,” his wife smiled at him.  “I will be here when you are done.  I doubt I am going anywhere anytime soon.”

2.1.2136

1700

SLS White Knight

The Bridge

Thala sat at her station on the bridge.  It would be the last time she would sit in the command chair of the White Knight.  Even though it was her decision, she hated the thought of leaving.  She felt like she had lost something.  It was not the first time she had felt that way when it came to K’Alan Bryce.

She was checking over some of the controls on her station when he walked onto the bridge.  She watched him walk to his station, check some controls and then head for her.

“I hear you’re leaving,” he said when he got to her station.  He kept his voice soft out of respect for her.  It would be touching if he hadn’t driven the knife into her back one more time.

“I hear you’re taking over for me,” she replied in a terse voice.  “Congratulations.”

“This is not exactly what I had in mind to get a command of my own,” he shook his head.  Damn him for looking sad!  “In fact, I want you to know, I protested strenuously at first.”

“I’m sure you did.”  Her voice was distant.  She was already trying to figure out what she was going to do next.  “I suppose it is time for me to go.”

“Captain, I relieve you,” he said in a quiet voice.  He’d snapped to attention as the custom dictated.

“I stand relieved,” she sighed after a pause.  After a moment, she clapped her hand on his shoulder.  “Good luck, Captain Bryce.  I know you will succeed in your mission to bring M’Bek Tarmos to justice.”

“Good luck to you as well, Captain Ker’sal.  I hope you find what it is you’re looking for.”

Thala strode off the bridge.  She was fighting tears as she walked.  She would not cry in front of him.  She had never cried in front of him, and she would be damned if she did now.  She could feel his eyes bore into her back like daggers all the way off the bridge.

2.1.2136

1837

SLS White Knight

Soran’s Bar

Captain K’Alan Bryce was halfway to the bar to get a drink when he heard his name being called from a different part of the bar.  He recognized the voice right away, and changed his course from the bar to where Mario was sitting with his father.

“The captain’s bars look good on you, Kal,” Mario smiled at his friend.

“Not the way I wanted to earn them, Mario,” K’Alan grunted.

“Well, congratulations anyway,” Mario laughed.

“It’s well deserved, K’Alan,” the admiral added.  “I did not give you the promotion lightly.”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence from both of you,” K’Alan shared a weak smile with the two men.  “Listen, Mario.  I’m going to be leaning on you quite heavily over the next couple of weeks.”

“Of course, Kal,” Mario nodded.  “Anything you need.”

“I was hoping you would say that,” K’Alan’s smile grew.  “Now, here’s my plan…”

2.1.2136

1925

SLS White Knight

Flight Bay Alpha

Commander Erin Lyn Sykes stepped off a shuttle from the Gamma Epsilon Station and grunted.  She looked around the flight bay, impressed with the size.  Her kit bag was still slung over her shoulder.  When she heard running boot falls, she looked over to the entrance to the flight bay and chuckled softly to herself as she watched K’Alan come running on the flight deck at full speed.

The two had been friends for years and had served together several times.  Still, there was a distance that Erin had never understood between them.  It was a shame, because she had always counted him amongst her friends.  And she did not have many.  She could ill afford to have one of her friends walk out of her life.

“Commander Erin Lyn Sykes reporting for duty as ordered, sir!” she barked a she snapped a crisp salute to her new commanding officer.

“Welcome aboard, Commander,” K’Alan returned the salute.  Then his stance softened and he smiled at her.  “I’m glad you’re here, Erin.”
“Thank you, K’Alan,” she returned the smile.  “I must say, I was quite surprised when I got the call from Admiral Bonetti ordering me to report to you as your new XO.  I rather got the impression that you didn’t want me around.”

“If you’re referring to the way that I keep pushing you away whenever you get too close, you need to know that I am married and am very faithful to my wife.”

“Ooooooh.”

Well, that wasn’t what she had expected.  Ten years of friendship had just come into focus for her with that statement.  She now understood all the distance he had put between them.  More, she could not say that were their situations reversed that she would not have done the same.

“Besides.  It was always Tom Keevan that was interested in you.”  K’Alan broke into a merry laugh.  “You know that as well as I.”

“How is Swamp Rat?” Erin asked.  “I have not heard from him in a while.”

“Last I heard, he was good.  Just took command of the Creighton three months ago.”  He motioned towards the entrance to the flight bay.  “On to business.  Allow me to give you a quick tour of the ship while I give you the rundown on the situation.”

“That would be great,” Erin nodded.  “I take it, the situation is bad.”

“Yep,” K’Alan nodded.

He led her out of the flight bay and down a corridor.  The corridors were shiny and new with muted grey carpeting.  They were wide enough for three people to walk side by side comfortably.  The walls slanted down slightly from the ceiling so that the floors ended up about a foot wider than the ceilings.  It was an odd shape for the corridors, but she had seen it on other Star League ships.

“I’m going to be depending on you on the bridge a lot, Erin.  I’m going to be retaining my position as strike leader.”

“Is that wise, Captain?” she looked at him with a concerned look on her face.  “Part of my duties are keeping you safe, after all.”

“No need to Captain me in private, Erin.  We are old friends after all,” he chuckled at her.  “And it’s not a matter of whether or not it’s wise.  I’m the best damn pilot we have and I will be damned if I am going to stop flying just because Admiral Bonetti decided I’d look better with captain’s bars on my chest.”

“I can see our command styles are going to clash a bit, K’Alan,” Erin suppressed a chuckle.

“That’s all right.  I’m used to that.  My command style clashed with the last CO too.”  He pointed down a side corridor to a large hatch.  “Down that corridor is a city.”

“A city?  On a spaceship?”

“When Duterius Prime was destroyed, we brought the survivors on board this ship,” K’Alan explained.  “This area is where they live.  It’s a small self contained city.”

“How many survivors are we housing?”  She did not want to know the answer, but she had to ask the question.

“Just over fifteen thousand,” K’Alan said, his voice racked with pain for his people.

“My God!” she exclaimed.  “I assume the Star League Defense Force is sending someone after whoever was responsible?”

“They are,” K’Alan nodded.  He guided them back down the hallway to the lift.  “Us.  That’s our first mission.”

“Great,” Erin nodded.  She was enthusiastic for the mission.  A woman of action, she would have hated to have been on the sidelines for a mission like this.  “Who is it?”

“M’Bek Tarmos.”

“Wait,” she put her hand on his arm and turned him to face her.  “We’re going after the Supreme Commander of the Brentax Military?”

“Yes.  We are.”

“Oh, hell,” she said, starting to walk down the corridor again.  “I didn’t want to live forever anyway.”

“This will be a simple insertion and retrieval mission,” he shrugged.  “Nothing to worry about.”

“I don’t like the way you said simple, K’Alan,” she looked at him sideways.  “Nothing like this is ever simple.”

“True enough.  But this mission is actually very simple.  I can promise you it has been well thought out and no one should be hurt or killed during the insertion or retrieval process.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, K’Alan,” she admonished.  “No one can guarantee that no one will be hurt during a mission.”

“True,” he said again.  He pointed at a door they were passing.  “Medbay.  Important to know where that is.”

“I must say, you have inherited quite the impressive ship, K’Alan,” she smiled at him.

“It is indeed,” he smiled proudly.  “Just wait until you see the bridge though.”

2.1.2136

2000

SLS White Knight

The Bridge

When K’Alan walked onto the bridge, most of his alpha shift crew were at their stations even though they would normally be off duty at that time.  He looked around at the assembled crew.  His crew now.  He knew that he had inherited the best crew.  He’d spent some time looking over all their files after he’d first come aboard, but it would take some time to truly learn all of their capabilities. 

His eyes locked on Admiral Bonetti’s at the command chair when he was finished scanning the bridge and nodded once.  He made his way over to what was now his station on the bridge.

“Captain Bryce,” John acknowledged when he got there.

“Admiral Bonetti,” K’Alan bowed his head just slightly in respect.