Randolph Lalonde - Triton – 01

Laura was guided to the Captain's ready quarters by a surprisingly short soldier holding a rifle unlike any she'd seen before, all the senior guards had them. She was one of the few who had both the name of the ship and the silver skull printed on her chest, and despite her black vacsuit, and three bars of rank she was light hearted and quick to smile, even chatty.

“Can I ask what that skull means?” Laura asked as she walked along side the other woman.

“It's the mark of the ship, Chief Vega says it was chosen by the first Captain of the Triton for the squadrons aboard. There used to be two entire wings of fighters on this ship, could you believe it?”

“I've served on a ship not much smaller than this, only we were always pulling sixteen hour shifts with a skeleton crew. We had to abandon the outer sections and run everything from the core.”

“Was it the First Light?”

“It was.”

“So you served with the Captain's brother, Jonas. What a family.”

Laura paused for a moment, remembering the back story Jake had given the crew about Jonas, that he was his long lost brother, and smiled. It was a good white lie for the crew. “He was a good man. It didn't last long, but I've never served anywhere else like it.”

“What do you think of this ship now that you've been here for a day?”

“The crew have been nice, respectful. It's strange seeing military mix with mercenaries and civilian recruits, but I see it working. The ship is a lot bigger than it looks. I've never been on a Sol Defence ship before, I can see why people jump at the opportunity. They use space really well,” she said, eyeing the broad hallway with its dark polished floors.

“These are engineering access hallways. They're evenly distributed throughout the ship so large components can be moved quickly. This ship was made for long combat in space, the cloaking and wormhole systems were modifications added later.”

“You know a lot about the ship for a soldier,” Laura commented as they stepped inside the lift car.

“Steph, I mean, Chief Vega gave every fully qualified team member access to the ship's history and blueprints. I've been doing some extra reading since I've been thinking of leaving.”

“Do you mind if I ask why?”

“Not at all,” Liz smiled at her. “I was a teacher before the war started, so it's a force of habit I guess.”

“What do you like more, teaching or military?”

“Honestly? I miss teaching, and now that Regent Galactic has pretty much taken over Aucharian territory, it's time to rethink some things. My cousin lives up closer to the core worlds and they were already hit by the AI virus pretty bad. They're rebuilding there, so I'll be getting on a transport and moving in with her until I can find a position. If there were children aboard, even teenagers, I'd stay on the Triton, but there won't be. I'm glad in a way, this isn't a place for anyone to grow up.”

“It's too bad you're moving on. It looks like you've made an impression here,” Laura said, looking down to the three bars on the other woman's cuffs.

She looked at them and smiled. “I'm good at directing people and pretty diplomatic when I have to be but the thought of going into a firefight is still terrifying after two years of military service.”

“I'm sure they'll miss you.”

Liz sighed. “I'll miss them too. Even some of the people I've just met. Good things are about to happen here, but I think I'll do better helping younger people think their way through adolescence. That's a whole other kind of battle.”

They arrived on the bridge and Laura tried to take it in as they made their way through. There were really two control centers layered one atop the other. The one for the ship and it's general operations, and another beneath the main bridge that was just as large but for the purpose of directing traffic outside the ship and on the three main flight decks. She had never seen anything like it, by her estimation it would take a crew of at least forty five to crew both levels of the command deck.

At the moment, however, there was a skeleton crew of eight. Even from the short time she'd spent on the ship she knew that the officers weren't far off. All but the Chief of Engineering and Deck Chief had quarters on the command deck within a thirty seconds' run from the bridge along with their immediate subordinates. If everyone is drilled up to a fair standard it would take a whole bridge crew less than a minute to set up and be ready for anything. The skeleton crew could take care of most occurrences until then.

“Here we are,” Liz said as they came to the ready room hatch. The armoured door was pulled out of its jam by two heavy arms. “The Captain said you could walk right in.”

“Thank you Liz, good luck.”

“You too. It was good meeting you,” she smiled before stopping to talk to Alice for a moment, who was sitting in the command chair.

Not for the first time Laura was given the chance to think. She had been put up in the only guest quarters that had been cleared by the security team. There were two rooms plus a bathroom, more well furnished and carefully decorated than anything on a military Freeground ship. The walls in the bedroom were covered in navy blue draperies of all things, the bathroom had a combination pulse and water shower. The main room was set up for four people to sit comfortably and socialize. The furniture was gilded with carved wood, the padding was deep and comfortable.

Before she could sleep the night before her thoughts wandered to Jason and what he must be thinking. She hated leaving him behind, and part of her, a very small part, hoped he didn't follow. I have to give him the chance to choose for himself. He can follow me or stay with the Fleet and continue his career. Laura had thought to herself. What he'd choose was a near certainty, but if he didn't know where she was, what she was doing, then there was little chance of him finding her anytime soon.

She had started mourning Ayan, her best friend, while she was in a coma in the Silkstream IV and the decision to wake her out of that coma wasn't the easiest she'd ever made. Jacob Valance had a great deal of respect for her wishes. When she first arrived he embraced her, which was what she expected. He told her who he was and what had happened to Jonas right away.

Jake knew there was no time to waste and her precious cargo wouldn't keep for long. While Laura was still reeling from hearing that Jonas was dead and that Jake was a framework with a large portion of Jonas' memories, he told her that he'd like to be Jonas for Ayan if she didn't have much time left. There were messages Jonas wanted passed on to Ayan, and if it gave her comfort, eased her passing, he wanted to be what she needed him to be.

The seriousness and caring she saw in him as he proposed it was what convinced her. Ayan had said her goodbyes to Laura before slipping into the coma, and when her friend began to wake she walked out of sight to give time to Jake and Ayan.

The outward similarities between Jake and Jonas were eerie. It really was like Jonas and Ayan had been reunited, and for that she would be forever grateful. Her best friend had the best send off she could have hoped for, and when it was all over Jake was in a deep melancholy. She could see it as he walked out of the Silkstream.

Upon seeing his crew his expression hardened, he wore an impenetrable emotional carapace, even through the memorial later that day. His Chief Engineer and Chief of Security took care of everything. She only wished the rest of Ayan's friends could have been there, that her mother cared enough to have supported them in their quest of Jonas Valent after her first efforts were thwarted. In his own way, she knew Jake loved Ayan. The power of Jonas' memories over him was plain, at least in that respect.