Randolph Lalonde - Frontline

Acting Captain Alice Valent was the most fascinating person aboard. Laura had told her the whole story the first night after they arrived. She actually was Jonas Valent's artificial intelligence and after being released into the computer system of the Overlord II she transferred herself into a human body. Two years later she found who she thought was Jonas Valent and rescued him, leaving before she could discover that he was actually a copy built atop a framework. With more than one corporation and government agency after her, she left before that copy could wake up, see her in person and have the memories of Jonas Valent activated. As a result he went on with his life as Jacob Valance, becoming a bounty hunter, repossession agent, privateer and gun for hire. He made the assumption that Alice was his daughter and used his profession to drift through several sectors as he searched.

In the meantime Alice was on the run, taking jobs where she could until she discovered that Jacob had become a kind of folk hero, and she sought him out. She rescued the real Jonas Valent along the way and after he sacrificed himself for the good of the ship she became the First Officer of the Triton, and to anyone who didn't know her or Jake personally, she was known as the Captain's daughter. After leading a desperate capture mission deep inside a Regent Galactic owned solar system she had become very well respected amongst the crew. To the many people aboard she was legend, yet when Ayan herself walked down the halls people reacted with practical reverence.

On her first day aboard the Triton she wore a vacsuit that looked much like the rest of the crewmembers, only grey instead of black. After speaking to Laura about her role it was plain that no one expected her to do anything but rest and take her time in making up her mind, on finding something she wanted to do aboard. Stephanie had been left with instructions to put Oz in charge, so he was busy catching up, learning about the ship, her senior officers and managing the vessel as it travelled through an extended wormhole.

All the while she was accompanied by guards. By order of the Chief of Security there was always an armed guard watching over her. The junior officer's quarters to either side was occupied by guards and there was always one standing at her door, ready to ensure she had anything she needed. She asked why and was told that keeping her safe was priority one. Minh and Jason didn't hear anything about why she was being treated differently, neither of them were being escorted around the ship or watched over.

Laura had a different theory. Captain Jacob Valance was respected, some of the crew were fiercely loyal to him and a few even feared him. She surmised that Ayan was enjoying some of that respect, that Ayan was being treasured, kept safe. It came as a surprise when Laura suggested she go see Chief Engineer Liam Grady, who was an Axiologist, for more answers.

It was entirely strange, but at first Ayan was so tired that she didn't have the energy to object. How people reacted to her was more informative than any information she gleaned from the security personnel. She dressed differently after the first day aboard, choosing more leisurely clothing, going unarmed, but never ill equipped. Her more ornamental, bracelet like command and control unit was always dangling around her wrist. Hers was a more elaborate version that could widen, narrow, become semitransparent or change colour. It looked like it was made of smooth crystal, a gift from the crew of the wormhole ship where she matured. Her attire and guardians drew veiled stares despite the politeness and space she gave everyone. She didn't want to get in the way, after all.

The security officer who was assigned to escort her to engineering at the end of her third day aboard had four and a half bars on his cuffs, marking him as one of the highest ranking officers on board. His name was Taber Radics and he had come aboard with the Aucharian military during the battle for the Triton. When she tried to strike up conversation with him he answered her questions about his home world of Seneschal, the security on the ship, even Engineering Chief Liam Grady. All his answers were polite, she was addressed as Ma'am as though that was equivalent to the rank of Grand Admiral or some kind of Queen, and he always had a smile for her.

At the same time his eyes searched the hallways ahead of them, scanned people carefully from head to tow and his hand rested on the hilt of his holstered sidearm. There was a security or peace officer at every major hall intersection, even the temporary quarters she'd been assigned somewhere in the center of the ship were well patrolled even though they were only partially occupied from what she could tell. The hallways weren't disused, they just showed more signs of age than the rest of the ship. They were missing the degree of polish the rest of the ship had, and dust had settled on much of the cabling and piping that was neatly sorted along the walls.

They were in the elevator, which had cleared out when they stepped inside, when she asked; “Has anyone instituted cleaning stations aboard?”

He looked at her with mild surprise for a moment before shaking his head; “Only in the bunks, but I'll pass it up the line to Chief Vega.”

“You don't have to go to the trouble, I just couldn't help but notice a little scuffing and settling in the halls in some sections.”

“I'm sorry, Ma'am. We'll have it seen to right away,” he answered as he stared at the lift doors with all seriousness.

It wasn't what she intended. It was meant as an observation, maybe light criticism, but not as an order. She sighed and stared at the lift doors. They opened to reveal a broad, busy corridor with active observation and control stations down its length. The buzz of activity and quick interchange of information was something she hadn't seen since she managed the Engineering section of the First Light.

It only took a few glances to realize that she had been brought to the main repair, maintenance and damage control center. It was a subsection of the Engineering department, she had read, and through a transparent ceiling she could see the main engineering office. According to the ship's organizational charts that was where all the engineering department heads gave orders for their teams, monitored their progress and coordinated. “Good thing you didn't take me that way. I'd cause quite a scene in this skirt,” Ayan muttered just loud enough for her escort to hear.

He suppressed a chortle. “Yes ma'am,” he replied under his breath.

As she passed the bustle and buzz of the broad control corridor quieted and she was met with mild smiles and gentle nods. Her cheeks flushed and she mentally cursed at herself for showing that she was at all flustered. Years of military training had taught her that when a crowd affords someone so much respect the best reaction was to calmly, politely acknowledge it. Keep your back straight, your stride steady, straight and your chin up. As she recovered her attire felt all wrong. Well, not wrong, but very different; confidence showed through very differently in a dress. She was used to being in a uniform, commanding a different kind of respect that came from rank, camaraderie. Being in civilian clothing separated her from the rest of the crew in ways she hadn't realized when she first dressed that morning, add to that her soldierly gait and whatever incidental reputation that had been attributed to her and people admired her from a distance. As she nodded and sent modest smiles at people who stopped to regard her with a grin or a; “Ma'am,” she wondered, with some irritation, what exactly waited for her at the end of the hallway.

There were over thirty people in that hallway, all directing repairs from what she could tell and she was relieved when she got to the end of the corridor made for fifty or more foremen and women. Broad double doors opened into a heavily armoured airlock where they waited for the doors behind to close, the pressure to equalize with the space beyond the heavier hatch within and then for that two meter thick block of a hatch door to be drawn out by heavy arms.