Randolph Lalonde - Spinward Fringe Broadcast 08 - Renegades (25 page)

“I technically own
everything here and new claims on Tamber have no authority unless
they’re made in my name,” Ayan said. The admission felt strange
and boastful, but it was the truth. “The Carthans and the British
don’t care what anyone else says or does, I’m the only real voice
of authority.”

“Like King Matthew in
the Olin System,” Lee said.

“I’m not a queen,”
Ayan replied with sudden irritation. “Sorry, Lee, I just don’t
like people calling me the White Queen, and I’ve seen it coming up
on Crewcast.”

“No worries,” Lee
replied, chuckling nervously. “I’ll figure out the differences on
my own time, probably ask Trina to explain. So, what are we building
instead of the port? The landing and service facilities in the Everin
Building?” Lee asked.

“Only enough for
fifteen shuttles and as many fighters for now. Don’t build the
defensive weaponry, but finish the transportation systems. How long
would that take? A week or so?”

“With the robot
workforce we have right now, about three days. We have a lot of the
parts already fabricated. Why are you putting off defensive measures?
I’m asking because I’ll have to explain.”

“The Council thinks
they’re safe here, so I think it’s time to listen to them and
move focus away from Haven Shore’s military participation and
armaments. They can depend on the British Alliance for cover, or the
Carthans, since at least one of the Council members believes that’s
for the best.”

“I’ll be honest, I
don’t like it,” Lee said.

“You will, when the
dust settles. What I’d like to know is if you would be willing to
supervise building efforts somewhere other than Haven Shore? You and
the teams have made a big difference here, I’d like to bring you
somewhere you could make an even bigger difference.”

Lee thought a moment,
looking across the top of the Everin Building. He ran his hand down
his face, pushing the light sweat from his skin. “This building
doesn’t need much more attention,” he said, half to himself.
Ayan’s new habit of thinking out loud was catching. “A week more
and it’ll be one of the best places to live in the solar system,
with room to spare.” He looked at her then. “I’ll have to talk
to Trina about it, but I think she’ll be up for it, too. If there’s
somewhere you want to go where people need help, then it’s worth my
time.”

“Good, I’ll need
everyone on your staff, and as many bots as you can bring,” Ayan
replied.

“By the time we’re
done here, that’ll be hundreds. In another week it’ll be
thousands. Can I ask where you’re building next?”

“Early days yet, I
can’t say,” Ayan replied. “But you’ll be among the first to
know.”

“I hope I’ll be in
that group,” Carl Anderson said from behind.

Ayan turned and gave
him a brief hug. “You’re next on my list,” she told him. He was
in a lightly armoured black vacsuit with the Rangers emblem on his
chest. Unlike normal vacsuits, his light armour version was thicker,
with impact absorption and shielding layers. It also had a holster
for his ripper sidearm shaped on the thigh. Ayan wore the same style
in white, and bore the sunset emblem of Haven Shore. “How did you
get here?”

“The Clever Dream
dropped me off, cloaked.”

“That is one
impressive ship,” Lee said. “We finished talking for now,
Commander?”

“Just about,” Ayan
said. “I’d like you to gather a team of twenty good people. If I
get my plans in order today, I’ll need a team to help me assess the
situation at the new site.”

“Aye, I’ll get that
started.”

“Thank you, Lee, and
thank Trina for me.”

Lee nodded and opened a
hatch leading down into the building proper where they were
programming and activating another batch of bots.

“I watched the replay
of your run in with Frost,” her father said. “How’s your mind?”

Ayan followed him
towards the western edge of the rooftop, slowing as she approached
the edge. The view from there was incredible. The sun shone over the
thick brown and green jungle. A sudden tropical shower was shading a
section in the distance, rolling across the treetops. She was as
close as she was comfortable being to the edge, over ten metres away.
It still felt like she could be swept off the edge any second by a
stiff gust.

“What do you think
your biggest mistake has been here? Let’s start there,” he
replied. The Clever Dream revealed itself, hovering over the Western
edge of the roof with its starboard crew ramp down. The jet-black,
mirror shine hull of the forty two metre long ship was whole once
again. The reactor upgrades performed on Pandem made the ship look
bulkier in the back half, but that also meant that the bots
performing the work had to use temporary hull plating, not as strong
or as durable as the original material. In the months since they
settled on Haven Shore, Ayan made it a priority to borrow workers and
find the rare materials it took to replace the temporary plating, put
the finishing touches on the new reactors, and implement the xetima
fuel system so the primary propulsion would work as originally
intended. The Clever Dreams’ new profile looked heavier, with
enhanced protection around sensitive areas, including the bridge and
extended thruster section. Lewis may have been typically bored, but
he occasionally told Ayan how well kept he felt. He was a much
happier artificial intelligence after assisting the Rangers as well,
using his newly refurbished stealth systems whenever the chance
arose.

Ayan followed her
father onto the ship and breathed a sigh of relief when the ramp
closed behind them. Her fear of heights still surprised her. She knew
they were just as high up as before, and as close to the edge of the
Everin Building, but as soon as she couldn’t see that, had a ship
around her, Ayan’s anxiety dissipated. They made their way to the
common room in the centre of the Clever Dream as the ship began
moving again. She guessed they were headed towards Platform Three, a
reinforced outcropping on the side of one of Haven Shore’s
mountains that led to the early makings of Ranger Headquarters. Bots
were busy carving into heavy stone and grafting an anti-sensor net
into the rough walls of the place. She had nothing to do with it,
that was her father’s project.

“I think I made a big
mistake with Haven Shore, Dad. I’ve been rethinking things so fast
since Frost made his point, but I feel sure of everything I’m doing
today. The problem is that all the decisions that feel right are
directing me away from the island and everything I’ve built here.
When the foundations of the Everin Building were set, I was eager to
take care of the people we brought to Tamber with us, maybe extend a
helping hand beyond that, but now that the building is almost
finished, I’m drawn elsewhere, especially with the Council slowing
everything down.”

“You don’t think
the new government will speed things up?”

“There’s every
chance it’ll be worse, more seats could mean more debate. Who even
knows if the majority of the new representatives will be against
Haven Shore providing military support?”

“Will you give them a
choice? You could take control of military assets, limit the Council
to non-military decisions only.”

“That’s sounding
better all the time. The Everin Building is a perfect example of what
can be done when the Council is left out of the decision-making
process. It’s not like it has grown by a sheer force of will, I’ve
just gathered our construction people into a command structure under
me – something I did when we landed on Haven Shore, and the Council
hasn’t gotten around to questioning it because it’s working. I
decided we should have a council in Haven Shore because I knew I
didn’t want to handle everything, and the couple thousand people
who are still here should have a say. As it turns out, the Council
has just brought me more busy work, more unnecessary worries.
Anything they’re responsible for has been dragging itself along.
Right now it’s at a dead stop. Even the agricultural buildings have
slowed down because the Council wanted to examine the work force and
long term viability.”

“Are they still
working through the preliminary stages of building the aquaponics?”

“Yes. Mischa’s been
doing what she can, but we need people to expedite these issues at
the table as soon as there’s an active Council. I know that a great
big change in governing and agendas could result in the Council
becoming more self-involved and less effective. People could starve,
safety could become a major problem, and Haven Shore could fail
altogether if the worst were to happen, but I still dread the thought
of returning to a Council seat,” Ayan replied. “All this work
Liam and I put into this government could be for nothing if the wrong
people sit down at the table.”

“Where’s Lacey?”
Carl asked. “I’m sure she’d be useful in any conversation about
maintaining your work.”

“Sleeping,” Ayan
said. “We were helping with Iloona’s newborns last night. I’ve
never seen labour like that before, it only took her half an hour to
pop eleven kids. The real work started after. Poor Iloona ran out of
nipples at eight mouths, and she had eleven. We had to help with
feeding by finding the runts with tubes. Alaka and Lacey sent me to
bed after midnight.” She couldn’t help smiling at the memory as
she took a seat on a sofa that was built against an inner bulkhead in
the gathering area.

“I’ve read about
that, it must have been one hell of an experience.”

“Yup, using scanners
to find hungry mouths while they’re in the pouch, all three of the
boys, too.”

“So she had eight
girls and three boys?”

“Yup,” Ayan said.
“Babysitting is going to be bedlam if what I saw of Zoe on the
beach last week is any indication. I’d still rather that than sit
in on the Council, mind you.”

“So, you’re out,”
Carl said. “If your feet are pointing somewhere else, and you’ve
thought it over, there’s no going back for now.”

Ayan expected a speech
about obligation, or some rational goading that would get her to
consider not abandoning all her work, but her father was telling her
the opposite. It took her by surprise, and she could only respond by
sharing her immediate thoughts. “I didn’t know I would be
breaking away when I woke up this morning.” She took a moment to
make sure of her feelings on the idea. “I just had this dread at
accepting my nomination back to a Council seat later today.” She
pondered a moment. “I was looking forward to checking on the Everin
Building, seeing Iloona’s brood, but that was the only bright point
in my day.” She sighed and nodded. “I’m out. I’d rather
invoke power of veto from a distance than sit in on another Council
meeting that pits one side of the table against the other. In fact,
I’m thinking of using that overruling power right away, but first I
need to ask you for a favour.”

“So, if I hadn’t
come to you, you’d be on your way to me?” Carl asked.

“Definitely,” Ayan
replied.

“All right, what’s
the favour?” he asked, raising one eyebrow, a gesture she’d taken
on.

“Take the Military
Liaison seat on the Council. Mischa will nominate you, and I don’t
think you’ll have any competition.”

“Done,” he replied
without hesitation. “That’ll put me between the Rangers, the
Triton, and the Warlord.”

“Commander Anderson,”
Lewis addressed from the audio system. “If you take a seat on that
Council, you may disappear into the great black abyss of bureaucracy
just as Ayan did several long months ago. We’ve only just become
friends, haven’t we?”

“I plan on handling
the Council differently, Lewis, don’t worry,” Carl Anderson said,
visibly amused. “Besides, I’m assuming that Ayan here is going to
need you full time again.”

“Really?” Lewis
asked. “I suppose that’s only logical, where else would you want
to be if you’re not tied to bickering humanoids who question your
good judgment.”

“Yes, Lewis, I’ll
be moving back in,” Ayan replied.

“My audio systems
would not be able to voice my jubilation if I tried, so I’ll spare
you and make sure the captain’s quarters are in perfect condition.”

“Thank you, Lewis.
For now, can you take us to Port Rush? The exact coordinates are
marked in the Victory Machine files.”

“Right away,” Lewis
replied.

“Safely,” Ayan
warned. “Move in cloaked if you can.”

“Are you
intentionally looking for the biggest challenge you can find?” Carl
asked with one eyebrow upraised.

“Not intentionally,
but I’ve been checking on Port Rush – it’s getting worse down
there. I think it’s time to see first hand.”

“From the shadows,”
Carl Anderson said.

“I don’t want to be
seen there. There’s no point in showing up and making a spectacle,
or giving anyone false hope at seeing me with the leader of the
Rangers.”

“I get the feeling
you’ll be lending a helping hand regardless of appearances,”
Anderson said. “What’s your plan?”

“Ideally? To turn a
high poverty area into a recruitment centre, then build something
bigger than Haven Shore. I want to take most of the fighters,
shuttles, soldiers, workers, and as many bots as I can with me when I
go to Port Rush and start building. All the claims there are
independent, and aside from a couple pockets of recovery that
wouldn’t fill the inside of the Everin Building, it’s getting
worse by the day. People are starving, scavengers are killing anyone
who gets in their way, and a really ugly underground is forming up.
The Carthans aren’t doing anything, and the British Alliance is
keeping away because they don’t want the responsibility. The
smaller allies are too busy to even look in that direction.”

“Meanwhile, the
Triton needs thousands of people to crew the ship,” Carl said. “But
there are going to be a lot of unfit people in Port Rush.”