Warpath (10 page)

“You should quit
while you’re ahead,” Ashley whispered.

“Very pretty,”
Minh-Chu said, “Jake’s very lucky. Are you visiting him soon?”

Lacey’s sudden
outburst of laughter came as a short shriek, while Ayan blushed and
laughed along. “Better,” Ashley snickered.

Ayan cleared her throat
and nodded. “I’m going to see him in about an hour. Otherwise
Lacey would be having a Thank Goodness It’s Over party for me
tonight.”

“Why before Jake can
be here?” Ashley asked Lacey.

“If being friends
with Ayan has taught me anything, it’s that you take full advantage
of openings in her schedule when they appear,” Lacey said,
uncapping the blue bottle of Sideslider. “I have a feeling those
openings will become even harder to reserve once Jake’s free from
captivity.”

“Recovery,” Ashley
corrected.

“Oh, I call it
captivity. When your information, the people you’re allowed to see
and your range of movement are controlled, I call it captivity.”

“That’s not
happening, is it?” Ashley asked. “I mean, Doctor Messana told me
and Minh that we should wait to visit until he’s off the Solar
Forge, and it made sense. She didn’t want him too distracted. He
still snuck in without any questions, too.”

“You’re on a list
of hundreds of people who were told the same thing, dear,” Lacey
said as she touched the wall and used the simple interface that
appeared to request a drawer from the kitchen just behind the wall.
An opening appeared half a metre to her left and a drawer filled with
fluted glasses slid open just above the sideboard table she put the
bottle down on. “That Doctor’s controlling what level of
information he gets from the fleet, who can visit, pretty much
everything. She even has the Solar Forge’s artificial gravity
systems pushing down on him all the time. Just him, it’s completely
localized, so he can come out being accustomed to one point four
times standard gravity. It’s no wonder he’s covered in bruises.
When he gets out tomorrow and realizes what’s been going on without
his knowledge, there may be a reckoning.”

Minh-Chu had no idea
that was happening, and immediately felt guilty for listening to
Doctor Messana’s request to only visit during group events. His
only visit was an eventful, significant one two days before. A repeat
visit probably would have been a real relief to his old friend. He
was busy flying missions for Triton Fleet and for the British
Alliance. He’d rarely been as busy, but he could have stopped in.
Judging from Ayan’s non-reaction, he could tell she knew exactly
what Lacey was talking about. “He realizes he’s not seeing the
whole picture,” Minh-Chu said. “I had to access some files for
him the other day when he wanted some of the gaps in his memory
filled in. He didn’t take what he did on that bridge well.”

“You showed him what
happened on the Barricade?” Ayan asked.

“He wanted to know,”
Minh-Chu said. Ashley was quiet, she didn’t like talking about it.

“We were told not to
do that,” Ayan said, “How did it go over.”

“He had trouble,”
Min-Chu said. “We got through it.” He made the decision not to
tell Ayan, or anyone else, that he stayed for four hours after Jake
broke down at the sight of the murder on that bridge. “It was hard,
but I think he believes that he isn’t that person anymore. There
was something going on while he was a framework, I didn’t see it as
clearly as I do now, but there was something missing, something held
back. Now he’s all there, and this Jake wouldn’t have done what
he did on the bridge of the Barricade for anything.”

Ayan still looked
irritated, put off. “Doctor Marcelles told me there could be
differences. Parts of his brain were rebuilt. How is he now?”

“He regrets what he
did on the Barricade, more than I’ve regretted anything,”
Minh-Chu replied.

“Well that’s
something,” Lacey said. “We can’t have Captains running around
murdering young officers, even if they are brainwashed.”

“You have no idea
what you’re talking about,” Ayan said. “I don’t like what he
did either, but it has made a real difference in the Order, one that
might give us a chance.”

“Yes, but the ends
can’t justify-“ Lacey started.

“I don’t have time
to have this argument with you again,” Ayan said. “I’m going to
see him. Thank you both for coming, Minh, Ashley.” Ayan said,
leaving the room.

Minh-Chu was glad Ayan
was going to see him, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he should
be asking for her forgiveness for breaking a rule he wasn’t told
about.

“Why would they hide
that from him?” Ashley asked. “What he did, I mean. People are
going to tell him as soon as he gets out, gets back to work.”

“One recovery at a
time, maybe?” Lacey said, putting the glasses away.

“Maybe,” Minh-Chu
said. He made a promise to himself then, to stay close to Jake and
provide an extra set of eyes and ears. For the first time since he
knew him, he had a feeling that his old friend might need protection.

Jake could not help but
stare in awe as he watched the Lorander fabrication ship complete
work on one of their new heavy gunships. It truly was a child of the
Clever Dream.

To Jake’s right there
was a transparent bulkhead where he could watch new ships leave the
Solar Forge, and in front of him was a larger transparent wall
overlooking the testing area. Several Triton crewmembers rushed
around the vessel with silver, round bodied skitter bots helping with
the final inspection.

“Lewis will be
proud,” Jake muttered to himself as he admired the shape of the
armoured hull. It was two short decks tall, twenty one metres long,
and it bore a sleek, broad profile. “Proud, and more than a little
envious.” He chuckled as the seven pulse turrets rotated, part of
the after construction check, he guessed. Each of those turrets had
two barrels and a small missile launcher , that was on top of the
ship’s three torpedo launchers and single multi-purpose launcher,
large enough for a medium sized mine or probe.

He almost forgot he was
leaning against a railing as he watched the ship’s thrusters light
up the testing bay as they pulsed on for the first time. “What kind
of automation do they have?” Jake asked.

“On board only,”
Alice replied. “No one outside the ship can take control of the
automation systems, so it can only be hacked by someone on board,
just like the original.”

“What’s happening
to the Clever Dream now that we have these?”

“The Clever Dream and
Lewis are being given back to Alice,” Ayan said as she came down
the ramp into the simple observation area. She was in a dress that
left her legs mostly bare, and teased more with a short, loose skirt.
The scooped neck drew his eyes up to her ample bosom, the top half of
the dress was revealing too, and a tight fit. Her warm smile drew his
gaze up further, and he returned the expression until she was in his
arms. They kissed briefly and took a step back. “Wow,” he said.

“Thank you,” she
replied.

“That’s my cue,”
Alice said. “I have Tactical Trial Two in an hour, so I should
start getting ready.”

“How did One go?”
Jake asked. He knew she wasn’t stressed about the first tactical
test, it was an urban warfare scenario, one he’d taken several
times using a simulation interface.

“Good, I’m third in
my class, but that was only because I didn’t stay on top of my
squad as much as I could have, something I’ll work on,” Alice
said. “This one is going to be interesting though.”

“Zero gravity
tactical?” Ayan asked.

“Yup, I’ll be lucky
to pass,” Alice said. “I gotta go get ready.”

“I’ll see you
tomorrow morning,” Jake said.

“If I pass today I’ll
have the third Tactical Trial tomorrow morning,” Alice said. “So
I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, or in the morning all defeated and
mope-ey.”

“Tomorrow afternoon,”
Jake said. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, Dad,”
Alice said.

Jake stepped away from
the railing, took three sure steps to her and gave her a hug before
she left. Ayan was at his side as soon as his daughter started to
leave. Instead of leaning on her, Jake moved back to the railing and
lightly put his hand on it. His balance almost felt normal, and he
barely needed help with his stability when he walked. “You know
what I really like about this ship?”

“What’s that?”
Ayan asked as she moved to walk alongside him.

“Railings. There are
railings everywhere, I have no idea why, but I’m thinking of having
them installed in the Warlord,” Jake replied.

“Zero gravity,”
Ayan said with a chuckle. “They’re here for a crew to start the
ship up from a dormant state.”

“Ah, so everything
shuts down if there’s nothing to build or repair,” Jake said. “I
think I read that somewhere. I don’t remember where, it feels like
I’ve read half the database since I woke up, way too much time on
my hands.”

“Doctor Messana says
you’ve been training most of the time, over ten hours a day
yesterday, twelve the day before that,” Ayan said. “The last few
weeks since you’ve been awake read as though you are either
sleeping or exercising.”

“Walking, tossing a
ball, more walking, weight training, swimming, more walking,” Jake
said. “I need to get ready, I can’t spend more time than I have
to here.”

“We can keep the war
warm while you’re recovering,” Ayan said, “your bruises tell me
you’re trying too hard. You have to slow down once you’re off the
station, too much training can do more harm than good.”

Jake took a step away
from the railing and picked Ayan up in his arms. His balance
threatened to falter for a moment but he recovered. She was shocked,
her eyes and mouth wide open. He took advantage and kissed her with
vigour. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she returned his kiss
with the same passion.

He enjoyed the feeling
of her against him. She was lighter than expected, but most
importantly her reception was far more amorous than he could have
ever guessed. That made the conversation he had to have with her more
difficult to start. He didn’t want to question what was growing
between them, he wanted more long conversations with her, he wanted
the casual pleasure of seeing her every day, and he wanted what he
was feeling with her in his arms. It still felt temporary, as though
she would be gone when he could walk on his own two feet without
questioning the act of staying upright. It still felt as though she
was there because she felt guilty about something.

He lowered her slowly,
their lips parted gently and she remained encircled in his arms,
catching her breath. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I
didn’t work for it,” Jake said.

“Happy surprise,
that,” she said, her big blue eyes looking up at him.

They remained standing
together there quietly for a long moment, breathing together, swaying
slightly as they looked at each other. Then Jake decided to ask the
question that would break the moment. “Why did you leave last time?
I need to know.”

Ayan lowered her eyes
and leaned her head against his chest. “I regret that,” she said.
“I got some very bad advice. Very bad, but convincing advice.”

“From who?” Jake
asked. If that was all it took, then what they had before couldn’t
have been worth much, he thought.

She looked up at him,
searching his face for a moment before saying. “I like what’s
happening here, with us. No, I love this, I love us, right now, the
way this feels and the time we’ve been spending talking about
everything, just being together. I even want to take you home with me
tonight, to get you out of here so we can have some time alone,
unrecorded. I’m afraid the truth is going to break that.”

Jake kept his mouth
shut as his mind raced to the conclusion that she broke off their
previous relationship to be with Liam Grady. That was what he
expected her to say next, and he didn’t know if it would break
their relationship. He only knew that he lost respect for them both,
Ayan and Liam, and that he was still irate about the whole thing.

“I’m going to tell
you everything anyway, because you deserve the truth,” Ayan said,
carefully stepping out of their embrace and taking his hand. They
walked down the corridor to a room designed for planning and
examining star ships. It had several floating seats and was equipped
with high quality holographic projectors hidden in the walls.
“Privacy mode,” Ayan told the computer sombrely. “Display Ayan
Future Three around Jake and myself.”

The room was filled
with images running along a timeline stretching for twenty years.
“This is what I have been able to piece together from my experience
with the Victory Machine. I was able to use the Triton’s neural
scanner to rebuild most of the memory and I’ve run most of it down
this timeline. The red marks are things I believe have not been
fulfilled, or have failed to begin on time. The green marks along the
timeline show things that have come true. So far, red and green are
roughly equal. If there is a slash across a green marker, then it’s
something I had to bring into being myself, acting on the machine’s
advice.”

“What are the black
marks?” Jake asked, observing several circles along the timeline
that correspond with the previous new year’s eve.

“My breakup with you,
Laura and Jason’s deaths and the beginning of my relationship with
Liam,” Ayan said. “Things that were not predicted, the last of
which was a terrible mistake. Nothing has gone right since then
except for what I could build or gather together. I am a political
failure, and I disappointed you when I left. I don’t know if I can
make that up to you, but, I can at least explain.” Ayan enlarged
the black dot marking the day that she left Jake and a full sized
holographic image of Minh-Chu appeared. He was playing a guitar that
looked exactly like the green, blocky instrument that had been given
to him on New Year’s Eve by Ashley. He looked much older than his
current self, and wore a Stetson hat.