Randolph Lalonde - Resurrection

She dropped herself in the pilot's seat and double checked the ship's status. Their fuel reserves were up to fifty one percent, everything was powered up and charged and her small communications screen displayed a notice from Port Control that they were clear for takeoff. “Nice work Lewis.”

“If I had arms I'd clean and fold your vacsuit. I'm just that good.”

“Be careful or you'll come online one day and discover you've been transferred to a male android.”

“Oh my.”

“Now let's get out of here,” she brought the antigravity manoeuvring systems online and the ship rose off its landing gear. The inner Port lock doors opened and she guided the ship through. A moment later the rear doors closed and the outer lock doors opened, revealing open space.

She had the ship for over two years. Since before Bernice had gotten married and settled down but she still hadn't grown so accustomed to the enjoyable experience it was to pilot it. The transparesteel main view was completely blacked on the outside so the exact location of the cockpit wasn't easy to determine. What was more impressive was the overlay that displayed everything a pilot might need to know. There were three interactive holograms, reconfigurable control panels and manual flight controls as well. It was a long range fighter, designed for a crew of six. The standard model had room for twelve, but the collector who had owned it before had everything the factory offered installed, including a small wormhole generator and basic cloaking device. Lewis didn't come with the ship, he was an AI of her own design.

“Okay, start doing the math, I don't plan on staying longer than I have to. It looks like we're leaving just in time.”

“I'm almost finished, one moment.”

She started charging up the wormhole generator.

“It's on your screen.”

“Thank you, here we go,” she said as she activated the automated systems. They turned the ship in the right direction and opened the wormhole. Within seconds they were far, far away from the rickety station.

Alice cleaned up the mess she had made in the rampway and tossed everything, including her sidearm into the cleaner. Using her wrist unit, she materialized a very basic vacsuit on herself before rehydrating a compressed meal of salad, pasta, tomato sauce and a protein brownie. She sat down in the compartment right behind the cockpit, the captain's quarters.

There was a thickly padded round seat for four in the center, a queen sized bed against one bulkhead, a pair of seats against the other and cabinets covering the last wall. The ceiling was transparent one way, providing a broad view of the stars. She dropped herself into the center of the round seat and the cushions adjusted to support her. “Okay, we need to find out what's going on with Vindyne. If they've gone bankrupt and no one has their hands on my file then we might not have to worry about them anymore. Maybe go find father and return to Freeground. Can we transmit through the wormhole lensing effect and buy a subscription to Hart News?”

“No.”

“Oh, well, drop us out then. Dinner will have to wait.”

“I've already purchased a subscription to Hart News, it was expensive, but I didn't think you'd mind. Their most recent feed has been downloaded.”

“I love you Lewis,” she said around a modest mouthful of pasta. “Can you bring up any segments pertaining to Vindyne?”

The ceiling became opaque and a holoprojector hidden in the wall across from her created the image of a newscaster. “Our top story today, Freeground and the Meridian Corporation have defeated the remaining Triad and Vindyne forces in the Amgen Las system. After the conclusion of the battle Sunday Vindyne's stock plummeted and they entered the process of selling off liquid assets and deleting records. They have declared that each planet in their territory will be responsible for providing for and ruling themselves. This creates a problem for most worlds. Vindyne was the only form of functional government for all of their assets. There will be a power vacuum and lack of leadership on most Vindyne solar systems.

The Triad Conglomerate has closed its doors to new ventures, but is serving their populace by trading fleet and deep space assets for supplies. An undisclosed number of ships and other major resources have been hijacked however, and several large colonies have begun revolting against the existing management. Regardless of how the dissolution of these super corporations takes place, a total of thirty five worlds will be left with inadequate food and other supplies. Freeground has announced that some aid will be given, but since they are still at war with two other minor corporations and facing a major relocation, they cannot provide for everyone.

In related news, Regent Galactic, a former trading partner of Vindyne, has been accused of using slaves for experimentation. One repossession freelance agent and his crew were responsible for recapturing an armed Galleon class cargo transport that had stolen the container train from Regent Galactic. When they managed to take possession of the vessel they discovered poor living conditions and evidence that over forty thousand slaves were bound for a testing facility.

Hart News Service has the files transmitted by Captain Jake Valance and can verify that they are legitimate transportation and manifest logs back his claims. There were over twenty six thousand slaves in stasis pods and twenty thousand transported in a series of converted cargo pods. Just over one fifth of those not in stasis survived long enough to arrive in the Thadd system where they received medical treatment and were transported off the cargo train.

Our affiliate there, Hart News St. Kitts was doing an interview when an attack on that port began. We have not heard from them since.”

Alice dropped her fork, put her meal on a small shelf and ran to the cockpit. “We have to go find him.”

“Supplemental information suggests that Regent Galactic are responsible for the attack on St. Kitts. I don't think that would be wise.”

“I don't care. We've been running long enough. Now I know where he was just earlier today.”

“It'll take two and a half weeks for us to travel all the way to the Thadd system and we'll arrive out of fuel.”

“Okay, we'll stop for fuel on the way.”

“That would be wise. We don't know where he might have gone.”

Alice dropped the ship out of the wormhole. They were far from any solar system or anything else for that matter. She thought for a moment. “You're right. Set a course for Ara Enormis, it's the last location I gave him.”

“If I remember correctly, he didn't reply.”

“It's near the mid point isn't it?”

“Yes.”

“Then that's where we'll start.”

Lucius Wheeler had no idea where he was. His last memory was Docking with the Overlord II, a massive Vindyne super carrier and disembarking from his ship, the Triton. With a cutting edge researcher in restraints behind him he started making his way down the broad hallway that would lead him to one of the security offices.

Captain Wheeler had betrayed the crew of the First Light, informing Vindyne of where their rendezvous would be after accomplishing the one and only mission he accomplished with Captain Valent. He was on his way to deliver the only man with Framework technology built into his physiology. It was a regenerative system that could be implanted into any being to dramatically fortify them against disease and decrease the time required to heal. Framework could also be used to grow entire viable clones in under four hours. It would be his biggest payday in over a decade, especially if Vindyne managed to capture Captain Jonas Valent.

He rounded a corner and realized that the hall was completely empty, unusual for a ship with so much importance.