Randolph Lalonde - Frontline

“I've been giving Laura a hand and learning about the ship between visits to the Infirmary, so I honestly haven't had much time to notice.”

“Well, as Oz put it things are falling into line aboard the Triton. With so many displaced military aboard and the weeks of training our people had before Captain Valance left for Pandem relative chaos is turning to order. Everyone who isn't considered a civilian is given orders aboard ship, exactly as one would while serving in the military.”

“And you have something in mind for me,” Ayan concluded as they came to a divide in the corridor with a waist high planter in the middle. Various flowers of all colours filled the space with their fragrances, and the light above changed to a warm, yellow light. Along the sides of the corridor were two levels of apartment doors with a railed balcony overlooking the thickening divide between the sides.

As they walked along the flowers gave way to trees and finally the corridor opened up to reveal a tall space with a simulated blue sky, real grass covered earth, fruit bearing trees, pathways, a broad pond where she could see three of Alaka's children splashing at each other and three levels of balconies. What Liam had called a garden was really more of a park, with vines climbing the walls, finding purchase up balconies. Further in she could see a few natural vegetable and berry gardens. rows of hedges, transparent hydroponic stacked huts interspersed throughout. Ayan stopped dead in her tracks and just took the sight in, felt the breeze on her face and smelled the fertile, moist air.

“This Gallery and the living space around it take up so much space for a reason, and it's worth every square meter,” Liam whispered from beside her. “The civilians did most of the restoration and planting with a great deal of help from crew who had time to volunteer. Using seed stores, fertilizer and techniques found in the ship archives this is what they achieved.”

“I've never seen anything like it outside of Freeground,” she said quietly as she looked about to see people relaxing on the grass, strolling through the bricked pathways between the lush growth and there was even a young woman playing a beat up and patched cello in the distance. “Even there most of the parks are reserved for growing food, there isn't much walking about going on.”

“It's different here; the engineers who built this ship intended this as a comfortable area. They built function into every corner but you rarely see it. Let's explore a little, I'll explain everything,” Liam smiled at her warmly.

The pair began to stroll down one of the paths. Liam's pace was much more leisurely and she had no problem keeping up. “So, what can I do here?”

“Straight to the point even while you're taking the sights in,” Liam teased.

Ayan shrugged and smiled back. “I'm a military brat before anything else I'm afraid.”

“Well, then I feel that much better about my offer. I would like you to help me finish rebuilding the ship. To be honest I haven't been able to get more than the basics running where power generation and advanced systems are concerned. There are efficiency subsystems, secondary power generation and so many other details that I only just have under control, most of them are deactivated to be completely honest. Then there's the damage from our last engagement, we have two main engines completely out of commission. I'm sure you'll be drawn in other directions but I'll at least like to request your assistance in the rebuilding of the damaged sections of the hull since I'm using modified ergranian metal.”

Ayan looked at him out of the corner of her eye for a moment before chuckling to herself and shaking her head. “You didn't pass this by Laura or Jason or even Oz for that matter, have you?”

“No, why?”

“They would have told you there's no way I'd turn you down. I have to get a few things sorted, you understand, but I've practically already started.”

“So you'll work with me?”

“On this ship? You can count on it,” she giggled at him, catching a crew member who was just passing by surprise. Instead of simply walking on he smiled at Ayan and bowed as he let her pass.

“But only after you tell me why that keeps happening,” she whispered. “Eyes follow me everywhere and I'm not that pretty, regal or important.”

“All right, we're coming to the highlight of our tour so I'd say it's time. I don't know why, perhaps in part to grieve you and Jonas, maybe because she missed her own husband, but Laura added the files of the First Light senior staff to the ship records. She also entered a history of that voyage and a documentary from the Hart News service.”

“There was a documentary?” Ayan boggled.

Liam nodded and went on. “In the wake of Jonas Valent and your passing aboard there was a lot of mystery. It was a confusing time for everyone. Many people were killed during the taking of Triton and the Eden Fleet had just decimated the Enreega system, leaving many people homeless, hopeless. Word spread that Jonas sacrificed his life for the sake of the ship and that your former self had come across the stars to see him only to find Jacob, who carried all of Jonas's memories.”

Ayan swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded. “Go on.”

“I know this isn't easy to hear, but he was with her in the last moments, according to Laura it was a good passing. We had a service for all those who had lost their lives in those first days on the Triton. We lost a lot of people in the fighting and when the Holocaust Virus first struck. We sent the fallen towards a stellar nursery, a whole nebula of stars that were just forming. As time went on people passed on the story of Jonas and Ayan, and in the eyes of the crew you became the woman that the Captain had lost. The story the crew tells new hands about how Triton was taken includes you and Jonas. In fact, the story is so widespread that when they built a monument to honour the people who originally lost their lives aboard they spoke to Laura about contributing something.”

Her eyes went wide as they passed a tree leaning into the path and the monument Liam was telling her about came into view. It was a solid block of granite, brought to the center of a circular converging point of five pathways from somewhere else in the garden she assumed. Into its broad surface were carefully chiselled more names than she could count at a glance. Atop the broad, meter tall stone was a holographic image of Jonas holding her in his arms. He was dressed in his long coat, and she was in a white gown. She stopped and stared for a long moment, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Jake, his daughter and you are all legends here. You look so much like your predecessor that they recognize you immediately. There's really no need for you to do anything but be seen here, that's enough to bolster morale on the ship more than any words or extra leave time ever could,” Liam put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “This place is the Triton's heart.”

“This image was taken at the Pilot's Ball,” she said quietly.

“Laura wanted to tell you all about this herself, but, using her words, she thought she'd be a blubbering mess.”

Ayan laughed and wiped away her tears. “And then I'd be a blubberin' mess, an' the onlookers might get drawn in, and then you'd have a ship full of weepers and wailers.”

“You're almost getting me started,” Liam chuckled as he handed her a tissue from a pocket in his sleeve. “She was right, when you cry your whole face falls into it.”

“Oh, don't you dare,” she said before blowing her nose.

He sighed and looked into her eyes. “Now you know.”

She looked to the monument then back to him. “What do I do about this? No one can live up to a legend.”