“Who was she?”
“Majorel Cillien, One of the crew members we inherited from Wheeler. She was reporting something to Regent Galactic I imagine, but we can't even be sure of that yet. It must have been important if she needed the main comm array, time sensitive. Said she was a West Keeper. I'm sure there's a story behind that, but I have no idea what it is.”
“You should have woken me.”
“I took care of it, you didn't seem like you were in any condition to get on it yourself.”
“Sorry sir.”
“Don't worry about it. Last night was a bad time for people to celebrate, but I think a lot of us needed an impromptu wake. We won't be doing any more of that until we have things settled aboard ship. Part of that is getting you in touch and in command. Are you ready?”
Stephanie took a long deep breath and nodded. “As I'll ever be. I'll be working with Jane's second in command?”
“It looks like, but don't lean on him too much. He had been with Jane for a long time. Use your Lieutenants as much as you can. Just listen to them, delegate, walk the ship and check your watches. You'll do fine,” Captain Valance said with a smile.
“Aye, my training prepared me for this, I just never thought I would be in command on a ship this size.”
“Oh, and you should move into your quarters across the hall. They'll be marked on the roster. I've also assigned quarters to your Lieutenants, anything below that and they're in the ensign berth, two to a room. We'll have single occupant quarters opening up as your teams clear them. I'm thinking you Chiefs can divide them amongst yourselves and use them to reward members of your staff.”
“That's a good idea, I'll see about having the teams sweep those sections, but I'm sure there are higher priorities right now.” She looked for the information on her command unit and found the roster as well as the current watches and living space assignments. Stephanie looked back up to Jake and smiled. He didn't notice, all his attention was back on the detailed internal scan floating above his desk. “Can I ask what that is sir?”
“It's my head. I got paranoid after what happened to Wheeler and Jonas, was wondering if there was anything extra in my system. I found a receiver embedded in the base of my skull. When I highlighted it the computer offered a solution,” he held out a red pill.
“Interesting.”
“It's Freeground technology. Wheeler added it to the materializer database nine years ago. The materializers on Freeground are high resolution enough to create perfect nanobots. Luckily Sol System materializers are the same quality or better, so I made these ones. They'll break the receiver down and it'll be processed out of my system.”
“That's almost too simple.”
“Well, yes and no. I almost missed it, like I said.”
“Going to take that any time soon sir?”
“I will, but I needed you to know what I was doing before I went ahead with it, just in case something goes wrong.”
“Good point.”
“There's one more thing before you go. Today you should take the time to organize, delegate, make sure everyone knows what they're supposed to do and where they're supposed to be. Tomorrow you'll be going planetside to meet with a contact of Frost's, he has some serious intelligence on how Regent Galactic is operating out here.”
“Shouldn't I stay behind to supervise the new crew?”
“That'll be the first test for your second in command and your Lieutenants.”
“A test of trust. A little early, but I could see it working out.”
“Aye, and if there's any major trouble, I can call you back to the ship.”
“Sounds good. Are you going planetside sir?”
“I hope I can handle everything from the ship. I'll be dealing with the Aucharian government, the port authority and the military base here will most likely have something to say to us when their qualified people start boarding the Triton and not returning to the barracks. We're sniping their people with the help of the military that's aboard already. That could get real ugly, wish me luck.”
“You might just need it. How is Alice doing?”
“All right, tired. She's sleeping now. I think she wants to take a bridge watch.”
“Really?”
“Aye. From what I understand she went through officer training with Jonas. That, and she lived through his first and part of his second tour. She might be the most qualified we have. We'll see how she feels when the dust clears. She's been through a lot.”
“A bridge watch though; you just met her yesterday.”
“I know, I'll have someone from the Samson crew on deck with override codes just in case. Something tells me that I don't have much to worry about though, and showing faith in her early on is important. I know I'm feeling a little off balance after yesterday, so I couldn't imagine what she's going through.”
“I know I'd be confused for a start. Maybe a little angry.” Stephanie stood and started to leave. As the door opened she turned around and looked at the Captain, who was just about to take the red pill. “Are we really doing this sir? I mean, Price had it right earlier when he said this is like running an entire city.”
Captain Valance grinned at her and nodded. “Oh, we're doing it and you're the law on this ship as of this morning. Can you handle it?”
“Aye sir, this I can handle.”
Grace Templeton
“How could you let Valent in the same room with Wheeler?” asked Hampon. His angular face was exaggerated thanks to the low quality two dimentional video feed.
“I wasn't anywhere near the brig. Majorel was supposed to be on watch but was retasked. She couldn't exactly take a nap in the next cell. Neither of us knew what would happen.”
“When you were assigned to the Triton we hoped you could handle your people. I'm starting to wonder if we assessed your capabilities incorrectly.”
“I tried to get Valent in stasis after he was exposed to Wheeler, but even he knew there was a chemical reaction under way.”
“Where was your deactivation solution?”
“Regent Galactic never gave me a formula for one. All I could do was send Majorel to get word to you as soon as possible and ensure there was no way to find out what intelligence she was sending. We're doing our best here, but I can only do so much while keeping my cover. This ship is getting organized fast and I'm in a highly visible position. The Minister's failure to gain control was a big setback,” she whispered hurriedly.
“Minister Lorne? He was a peon, a distraction big enough to give your brothers and sisters time to secure their positions. The likelihood of him taking the ship by force was never greater than fifty percent. If we really wanted to use such a grand method of taking over the Triton we would have sent someone Valance would respect for five minutes. Where are they keeping him?”
“In the brig. I was sure he was meant to take the ship so we could exert more control, maybe even keep Jonas and Wheeler apart.”
Hampon sighed and nodded. “The chances of Jonas Valent being present just as Wheeler was detonated were very low, I will grant you. Losing him will cost us dearly. We were hoping he could remain close to Alice and give us an insight into her. Did they discover his data collector?”
“No, there was no autopsy. He died off ship. I was told there was nothing to recover.”
“Considering the sheer size of the explosion that's not surprising.”
Grace shifted in the seat at Frost's desk. His quarters were the perfect place to get some privacy. “We're down to two initiates aboard. Is there a chance you could get us more? He'll be taking more crew members on now that we've made port.”
“I'll see what I can do. The registry is growing, perhaps there's someone trustworthy among them. Until then I need you to stay out of harm's way and collect more data.”
“Anything specific?”
