Randolph Lalonde - Resurrection

The last details of his report were disturbing. After reviewing the decrypted files he put the pieces together on where that transport was going when the Vesuvius had destroyed the original hauler and stole the cargo train. It was flying a circular route around three solar systems, waiting for the Regent Galactic testing facility to contact them and request more test subjects. The only conclusion that he could make was that the testing facility was in one of those systems and there may have been more than one ship doing the same thing. Just out there moving around like mobile warehouses. As he transmitted his report to Thadd System Command Stephanie entered.

“Good morning Captain. If it is morning, I'm not sure.”

“I think the sun's supposed to come up on St. Kitts in an hour.” Captain Valance replied.

“Frost, Burke, Silver, the Lachance boys and Rosie are all gone sir.”

“I know, everyone but Burke checked in with me before they left.”

“I heard about Burke, the whole ship found time to talk about it.” Stephanie sat down in Frost's seat, facing Jake.

“I went too far, wanted to do something like that for a while though.”

“Can I speak freely sir?”

“This isn't a military ship, no need to ask.”

“With all due respect, you run it like one. I like that about you. Most of the crew who were helping those slaves out there wanted to do the same or worse to Burke. They knew he didn't care about anything but his own bank account, that you needed him for something having to do with the cargo train. They didn't see him in there helping either. They saw you though.”

“It was the right thing.”

“That's just it, you've done right by us, saved a few of us from different problems too, but since I've known you it hasn't been a question of right or wrong. You did what got us paid, what kept us from getting slagged.”

“I know, we put a lot of bad people away, chased down a lot of stolen ships and other things worth less and more. We did just as much harm for pay though.”

“I remember what you told me on one of our first bounties. I'll never forget it. We were chasing down a guy who had refused to appear as a witness.”

“Charles Stanton.”

“That was his name. I didn't think he had done anything wrong, that we should chase him down at all and I said something about it. You turned to me and said; 'if we don't do it someone else will.' That was it, the only explanation you gave me in over four years.”

“No one really asks for an explanation expecting a good one. Especially when there's a paycheck on the other side of morality.”

“That's just it, you cost yourself a fifteen mil job and a hell of a lot more when you could have just left the cargo train hitched and not said a word.”

“When I saw those stasis pods I had to wonder if I was ever where they were, then we got into the aft section, and you know what happened next.”

“I just need to know; is that Jake here to stay? Or are you just going to go try and find your daughter for a week, maybe two, then get back on with another corporation? Are you finished chasing down package deals where you get one bad guy for every pair of innocent runners?”

Captain Valance crossed the bridge and started to sit down in the pilot's station. “We're not out here to judge, remember?” It was a reflex answer, he'd said it a hundred times and caught himself. “I need to find my daughter, try to retrace my steps. I can pay a crew of twenty for a very long time with what I have saved up. The freighters bring in credits every month too, I still take twenty percent.”

“So that's the plan, go searching for your past and your family.”

“Oh, we're not out of profiteering just yet. The only way to find my daughter, make contact with my past and keep ourselves out of Regent Galactic hands is to get close with their enemy. We need friends to help me look, give us backup when we need it an a little press so I can get my face on the Newsnet, maybe even across the Stellarnet. So I'll see if we can get us a letter of mark and some privateering or security work.”

“Us doing security. Some people might see that like hiring the devil to watch their daughter.”

Captain Valance laughed as he began bringing the mass core on line. “Never thought of it that way.”

“That's twice in two days I've seen you crack up,” Stephanie said, sitting in the co-pilot’s position. “More than I remember seeing in the last six months, hell, the last year.”

“I've been getting tired of working for these corporations for a long time. Every job I've gotten I just wanted to get done as fast as I could so we could get a fat pay day and move on to another one. There wasn't much room for humour.”

“Well, I hear the first officer's job is open. Where do I apply?”

“What about taking a Lorander transport out to some distant star and starting a family?”

“Honestly? I never thought I'd save up enough for a ticket. Now that it's sitting right there in my account I'm gun shy. If you're going a different way, a better way, I think I deserve to see it after sticking around longer than anyone else.”

“This is the Samson, ready to launch. Please detach moorings and give me a trajectory down to St. Kitts.” Jake said to TRF Peter control. He looked to Stephanie. For the first time since she'd known him he looked happy, surprised. “You're right. Not everything's going to change though. I'd still rather be trouble than be in trouble.”

Stephanie laughed. “I promise, if you hire me on as your first officer I won't let you get too soft.”

“You're hired,” Jake said.

“ Samson, you're clear to detach. Trajectory should be coming up on your display momentarily. Tune to Navnet three.” Replied TRF Peter control. “Good journey Captain Valance.”

Jake nodded to himself as the holographic display for the pilot's station showed their route through the busy port traffic to the landing platform on the planet below. “Well, looks like Ashley's sleeping in, so this is us, flying down to the planet.”

Stephanie looked panicked. “Oh, um, okay, what do I do?”

“Nothing, I designed this station so one person could fly the Samson. It's just better to have a co-pilot to help navigate.”

“Thank God. I have no idea how to fly anything bigger than a drop shuttle.”

Captain Valance flipped a pair of switches and the Samson drifted free of the TRF Peter's moorings. Once he had one hundred yards distance he flipped the ship upside down so it was facing away from the massive Search and Rescue vessel then started accelerating.

As the Samson gained distance from the larger ship Jake increased thrust and followed the predetermined trajectory. “Okay, bring a secondary Navnet display up for me. Hit that switch and the one that says NAV above it.”

Stephanie did exactly as she was told and another holographic display popped up. It was a ten thousand kilometre passive scan of the area highlighting moving objects. There were well over a hundred ships. “Am I looking for something?”

“Yup, if any of those ships turn red, that means they're on a collision course with us. If they're yellow, that means they are on a trajectory that passes within a hundred kilometres.”

“Are there supposed to be this many yellow ships? There have got to be at least thirty.”

“Here? It's a busy port and the holding patterns are in a close orbit, so it's normal for Thadd. Normally ports like to spread things out more.”

“That one flashed red.”

“As long as it didn't stay red, we're good.”

“It's yellow.”

“Okay, just tell me if we get a red one.” He said as he guided the ship down and flipped a switch.

“What was that?”