but it was one of the oldest terraformed colonies either of them had ever seen.
The green trees standing straight out of planters on broad street sides were each a statement of success. Sheffield's history was that of survival, struggle as the land around it, even the very air, was slowly made liveable, breathable. Over the two centuries after initial settlement the toxicity of the land was reduced, the atmosphere thickened, and finally farms began to grow edible food that didn't require complex post-processing.
The museum at the center of town, built to look like an ancient Abbey, detailed the whole struggle. Finn and Ashley had taken a walk through the complex the previous day. He was genuinely interested in how the terraforming engineers, of which there were several generations, had surmounted the various barriers to modifying the conditions of the world while Ashley wandered about, trying not to look bored or tired.
She spent as much time as she could speaking to Leland March who was working with the Port Authority and Employment offices to finalize the list of recruits they were taking on to the Cold Reaver for transport to the Triton the following day. Ashley didn't think that Finn noticed much as she tried to help using her command and control unit, reviewing files for different departments, putting in specific requests for pilots, system analysts and deck crew or knuckle draggers as Paula and Angelo called them. People who had mechanical knowledge, maybe even just space faring experience but would be used to perform the tasks on the hangar decks that required the fewest qualifications.
It was the first time she'd been made acting Captain of anything, her second recruitment trip away from the Triton and she was sure Finn would understand her being called away from the exhibits for seconds or minutes at a time intermittently. Besides, she really had little interest in architecture or the science behind terraforming.
During the Bauz charity concert that night, an event made to raise money for recovery from the Holocaust Virus, it was Finn who could think of plenty of places he'd rather be. The fast paced, hectic music centred around electric guitar and fierce percussion wasn't something he'd choose to listen to, but to see Ashley bouncing with the crowd, singing along with some of their more well known tunes, that was a beautiful sight. He did his best not to bring her down, to look like he was having just as much fun, but at the end of the night, when they shared a kiss that was just a hair above a peck on the cheek and went to separate rooms he couldn't help but feel like there was something sadly lacking from their budding relationship.
It was their first time away together and though he liked her, enjoyed her enthusiasm and light heart, conversation was hard. She didn't seem to know what to say, and he didn't know how to fix it. He'd talk about engineering marvels, try to bring up other crew members, get her talking about the Triton and what had been going on while he was out of commission but she didn't speak for long or seem comfortable.
As they stood on the stone bridge, watching the water flow away, down the river and round the bend both of them were quiet. He looked at her and she sent an uneasy smile back. Larry would be on the Cold Reaver just a few streets down and a lift up going through the pre-flight check list with Ashley's copilot. He was guiding the new recruits aboard and getting everyone settled for the eight hour return trip to the Triton and in the next few minutes they'd be called back to the ship.
“Good concert last night,” Finn said finally.
Ashley nodded, despite her best efforts she couldn't help but look sullen. The overcast weather matched her mood. “Thank you for going with me. I didn't think anyone else we had along liked them.”
“I never heard them before, I liked it though. Besides, how could I let you go alone?”
“Well, you could have,” she tried to tease, but it came out wrong. It came out seriously.
He put his hand on hers after watching her for a moment. “Everything okay?”
She sighed and turned to him, her head down. “I don't know, it's just…”
“I know, we're not getting along.”
Bouncing on her heels, something she did when she was trying to shake off nervousness, she looked at him. “You're so easy to get along with. There's just something…” Ashley shrugged helplessly.
“Missing, I know. I'm sorry.”
“What for? Before any of this I couldn't shut up when you were around, now I can't think of anything to say. I should be sorry.”
“We were friends,” Finn shrugged. “Can we do that? I mean, just go back a bit and, you know, just not expect anything?”
Ashley nodded and smiled, relieved. “I'm sorry Finn,” she leaned into him a little and they embraced. It felt so good along with her relief that she gave him an extra squeeze before they let go. “I had fun though.”
“Even at the museum?” Finn asked with one of his gentle, unsure smiles she liked so much.
“Well, with anyone else I think I would have bounced out of there in the first couple minutes. Learned a lot about terraforming though.”
“I had a good leave,” Finn said simply. “Thank you.”
“We have to do it again,” she smiled at him. “Maybe see if we can get Steph and Price in on it.”
“Steph might want Frost along.”
“Right. I don't want to listen to them argue the whole time.”
“I know, how long do you think that'll last?”
“With my luck they'll be married by the time we get back,” she said, rolling her eyes. Ashley's command and control unit signalled there was an incoming communication. She checked it and nodded. “Larry says the preflight is done, but Leland is back in the hold working on getting everyone sorted. He's been at it for three hours, that seems long.”
Finn nodded. “How many recruits did you manage to get?”
“A hundred seventeen. I mean, that's good, but the Reaver can take more than two hundred, it's a drop ship. We'd better go see what's going on.”
“Aye Captain,” Finn saluted.
“Don't start that,” she giggled back.
A distant rumbling in the sky drew their attention upwards. Between the five landing platforms, each covered with brick for the first eight storeys but showing their green and black modern metal arms and towers above, they couldn't see anything, but the sound was getting louder.
“Whatever's up there is coming in way over port speed,” Ashley said as she started walking faster.
An explosion pierced the sky like a thunderclap and a flaming wreck broke the grey clouds, descending to the east as a bursting fireball. Secondary explosions burst from the large vessel.
They both started running for the Nursery Street landing tower. The lift was full when they got there, and Finn stopped but Ashley pushed him in while squeezing between people herself. “Platform twelve C.” She told the lift.
The tall, scowling woman hammering at the Door Close button with her finger exclaimed; “finally!” as the lift shut and started up the tube at great speed.
Finn and Ashley were thankful they were one of the first stops, everyone was literally crammed into the pod made for twenty, there were at least twenty five people aboard. As they ran down the gangway to the Cold Reaver they could see its large rotatory engines on the bottom and top charging up, all but one hatch on the surface of the ships dull black hull was open.
The Bridge Street Tower across the river started taking pulse cannon fire. Its upper levels started to come apart as ships tried to evacuate. Platforms and damaged vessels alike plummeted towards the city beneath, crushing buildings and filling the streets with broken hulls and bricks. Panic had taken hold.
Small oval shaped silver ships darted past the tower, firing at anything in the air and at the Castle Street Tower as they banked. “Eden drones,” Finn shouted over the din as they finally reached the small forward gangway leading into the Cold Reaver.
“Aw, crap. Take off, Larry!” Ashley called as they got inside and the hatch started closing.
They only had to rush up one hallway to get to the bridge. The Cold Reaver was already off the ramp and climbing when Ashley dropped into the lead pilot's seat and Finn stopped to stand at the engineering station.
“There was no warning. They were just there, in orbit,” Larry said as he transferred manual control to Ashley. He started checking their flight path so he could help her navigate through the mess of ships taking off without direction from Port Control. “Oh God, Navnet's worthless.”
“Got a route for me?” She asked as she brought the throttle up and tried her best to aim for clear sky.
“Trying, but everything above us is a mess.”
“Then we go down until you can find something clear,” she said as she flipped the ship, sending it into a hard
