Randolph Lalonde - Fracture

"So, raiders?"

Jake nodded. "We got a message before we emerged. There's at least one carrier. You're going in first as a scouting patrol, stay under cover, scan whatever's hiding behind the obscuring field so we know what we're dealing with and try to get them to follow you out."

"Gotcha, get the lay of the land and piss them off enough to come out and play," Minh confirmed with a wink.

Jake's command and control unit blinked and vibrated momentarily, informing him that a priority message was incoming. “Good morning Stephanie,” he answered.

“Do you know why Ashley's in the pilot's berth?”

“I have no idea. She might still be having trouble getting used to her quarters.”

“All right, I'm on my way to wake her up early for the hypertransmitter activation. How is everything up there?”

“Good, I'm just about to head to the bridge. The internal repairs finished up late last night.”

“All right, see you there.”

The channel closed with a faint beep. “This is going to be one hell of a day,” Jake said quietly.

“I couldn't sleep. I can't wait to take the squadron out for the first time,” Minh added.

“Just remember, the only person with experience in this system is Alice, so make sure you've taken in every bit of data we have on it and keep checking in with flight control.”

“Yes sir, Commander McPatrick, sir,” Minh saluted exaggeratedly. “No worries, we went through the brief last night, did a simulation and I'll be taking them through it again this morning in briefing. That is, as soon as I dig out two more pilots from the red shift. Clutcher and Gomer couldn't hack the briefing simulation yesterday so they're out.”

“Clutcher couldn't hack it?”

“It was the asteroid field, triggered vertigo. If we had a psyche on board we could help him, but we don't so he'll have to get over it on his own before he sees a real cockpit.”

“Too bad, tell me if there's anything I can do.” Oz sympathized. “Is Ashley okay, by the way? She seemed fine on the bridge but if she's having trouble sleeping someone might want to look into that.”

“She seems better than I've seen her since we took the Triton. Ashley grew up in close quarters though. I bet she's been sleeping pretty well in the pilot berths. Besides, she was the youngest Samson crew member for a long time and from what I've seen the crowd down there isn't much older.”

“Yup, there are a lot of young pilots down there. Some of them are pretty good too. Ashley's overall scores put her in third on the sim leaderboard, she's pretty amazing.”

“Have you gotten around to introducing yourself yet?” Oz asked with an impish grin.

Minh cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. “I haven't had time. Between qualifying, learning everything there is to know about flying off this ship, the fighters, and Paula following me around I've barely seen my rack, let alone the bridge.”

“Paula's been following you?” Captain Valance asked.

“Oh just showing me around and making sure my pilots and I don't miss anything on preflight inspection,” Minh stood and was on his way out of the room in one hasty, fluid motion. “Speaking of which, I have to get going. Good luck today.”

“Good hunting,” Oz called after him. “He's in his glory here Jake. Making him Wing Commander after he qualified and placed at the top was the best move you could have made.”

“I've never seen him this alive,” Jake agreed. He stood and straightened his long coat. It was an unnecessary gesture since the weight of it drew it back down into shape. “There was no better choice though. After qualifying he managed to kick the crap out of every pilot's scores then lead them on more successful simulated strike and defence missions than all the score leaders combined. All that practice while he was adrift worked out for him.”

“I know, now he just has to prove himself in the field. He's not the only one. This'll be my first real turn at running the flight control deck.”

“I'd rather have you no where else. You have experience and training at commanding a carrier. Besides, I noticed you staring at the flight control deck, I know it's where you want to be.”

“Still reading my mind after all these years. I missed working with you Jake.”

“You know, commanding this ship felt like work until you came aboard. If there's anything you ever want to do here, just say the word.” They shook hands firmly, a spontaneous gesture that expressed the feeling of camaraderie that had been growing ever since the pair began working together aboard the Triton. “Let's get to the bridge.”

The waves lapped gently at the bottoms of Ashley's bare feet as she dangled them over the edge of the old bioplastic dock. A lazy breeze caught strands of her long black hair as she gazed out over Lake Chalmers. She sat at the broad end, at the edge of Master Gamrie's estate where she could just barely see across it to the tall vertical hydroponic farm on the opposite shore. They were almost like trees, their weathered and pockmarked surfaces had turned light brown and green with age.

Getting daily chores finished quickly enough to get away from the main house was hard, time alone was rare. The cool water tickled her toes and she smiled, marvelling at the perfect blue sky. There was tall green grass behind her, she could hear the wind hiss through it as the breeze turned into a mild gust.

“Ashley, time to get up,” Stephanie interrupted.

She didn't open her eyes, rolling over onto her stomach and sighing instead.

“You wanted to be up in time for the first broadcast, remember?” Stephanie reminded as she opened the privacy curtain.

“Good dream,” Ashley murmured. “Your timing sucks.”

“When did you start sleeping in the lower berth? I had to look you up on my comm.”

Ashley sighed again and sat up. Her head brushed the bottom of the bunk above. “Couple days ago. Haven't slept this well since the Samson. Between the bunks and morning yoga with the Chief I've never felt better. Still want more sleep though.”

“I thought you liked your quarters, especially after taking the trouble to decorate.”

“They're pretty, but it's too quiet on the Officer's deck. It's like sleeping in a tomb.”

“I got used to it, you should give it a chance.”

“You have Frost to keep you warm at night.” Ashley pulled a thin towel from a shallow overhead drawer and swung her legs out from the middle bunk.

“Might want a shirt?”

She waved the advice off. “No one cares here, 'sides, I've got shorts on and a towel.” She snapped the waistband of her small black shorts as she dropped down.

The main pilot's berthing was a labyrinth of bunks stacked four high. Each one had storage space under the mattress, overhead and at the foot, and a seven foot tall human could sleep easily, as long as they didn't sit up. Blue and red privacy curtains stopped as much or as little sound as the occupants liked and in an emergency each bunk could seal perfectly, saving the sleeper from sudden decompression if the air were to evacuate the berthing.

Ashley had moved in. All her essentials were packed into the bunk along with a few towels from the officer's quarters and some leisure clothing she'd collected from her time on the Samson. The pilot's berthing had been one of the first sections of the ship to employ the new, reprogrammed, cleaning bots. Ashley stepped around one of the three centimetre thick circular bots as it made its way down the corridor. When it finished the floor it would make its way up the bunk sides, buffing and scrubbing silently as it went.

Stephanie followed her between the bunks. Most of the privacy curtains were closed, it was just before most people would be waking for morning shift. One young pilot who was just waking up, his arm hanging over the edge of his bunk, got an eyeful and averted his gaze as soon as he noticed Stephanie walking behind Ashley, scowling at him.