Ep.#1 - Aurora: EV-01 , page 10
The lieutenant looked nervous and uncertain. “Uh, I’m not at liberty to say, sir.”
“You do know who I am, right?” It was rare that Loki played that card.
“Yes, sir.” After a moment, the lieutenant caved, moving closer to Loki and whispering to him, his back to the cadets.
“I see,” Loki said. After a sigh, he added, “In that case, I’m coming with you.”
* * *
“Doctor Chen,” Nathan greeted as he entered the new Aurora’s medical department. “I was pleasantly surprised when I read your name on the crew manifest that Cameron put together.”
“Thank you, Captain,” the doctor replied. “But it shouldn’t have been a surprise. I did design this entire department.”
“I was reading the specs on it, and I have to admit, it’s quite impressive.”
“A lot of that is because of Doctor Symyri. I really learned a lot from him. Sometimes I even feel as if I went through medical school for a second time. He has a unique way of seeing the human body as a whole rather than as a collection of individual systems.”
“It’s quite a bit smaller,” Nathan commented, looking around the treatment ward.
“Yes, but the care we can provide in this version is far superior.”
“Hopefully, four beds will be more than enough.”
“If not, every cabin around this department can easily be converted into recovery rooms, increasing our patient capacity to twelve,” Doctor Chen boasted. “Trust me, Captain, we can handle anything you throw at us.”
“I’ll try to avoid testing that statement.” Nathan looked around again. “Are you the only doctor?”
“Yes, but several of the crew are cross-trained as med-techs. Plus, we carry six med-rescue droids.”
“Excellent.”
“How long until we depart, Captain?” the doctor asked.
“No later than tomorrow morning,” Nathan answered, turning to exit. “Good to see you, Doc.”
* * *
Nathan had been meeting incoming crew all day, most of them for the first time. He was generally able to size people up within the first minute of meeting them. More often than not, he was right about them.
With Marcus, the opposite had been true. He was a gruff. old man with a short temper and a long, checkered past, most of which Nathan still hadn’t heard yet, even after years of knowing him. Nathan had not liked the man upon their first meeting, but the old guy had proven to be resourceful, determined, and above all, loyal. The fact that his stepson, Josh, was the best pilot Nathan had ever encountered was the icing on the cake. Josh was the main reason Nathan had given Marcus a chance.
That gamble had paid off immensely. Marcus had become one of Nathan’s most trusted friends. Commanding the Voss without him had left a void in his crew. He had gotten used to it, but never liked it. Nathan was just happy that Marcus and Neli were back, and once again part of his crew.
Nathan reached the top of the Aurora’s boarding ramp just as Marcus and Neli were coming up, bags in hand. “Neli,” he greeted, opening his arms for a hug.
“Couldn’t live without us, huh?” she greeted as they embraced.
“The food here sucks,” Nathan joked.
“So you want me to be your cook?”
“I was thinking more like a ship’s mother.”
Neli was partly surprised and partly curious. “I’m not sure what that job entails.”
“You have to see the galley to understand,” Nathan explained. “Think of it like running a bar and grill for the same fifty customers who come in twice a day.”
“Do I get some help?” Neli wondered.
“Droids.”
“Really?” Neli was a bit taken aback. “I’ve never worked with droids before.”
“They’re like humans who constantly work and never complain,” Nathan joked.
“That will be new,” Neli said, glancing back at Marcus.
Nathan smiled.
“If you tell me I’m going to be this crew’s father-figure, I’ll punch you in the mouth, captain or not.”
“Not a chance,” Nathan assured him. “You’re my new shuttle chief.”
Marcus’s eyebrow went up. “What kind of shuttles and how many?”
“Two of them. The Mirai and the Seiiki.”
A smile managed to crack through Marcus’s angry features. “I think I can handle that.”
“I figured you’d like that,” Nathan replied, taking Neli’s bags. “Come on, I’ll show you to your cabin. It’s right next to the galley.”
“I like that as well,” Marcus chuckled.
* * *
“I take it you’re responsible for all of this?” Nathan asked Cameron as he entered the galley’s pantry.
“I remember what happened the last time a ship named Aurora was launched early. The last thing I would wish upon anyone is having to eat that much molo,” Cameron told him.
“I hope you included some meat.”
“I’m vegan for ethical, not health, reasons. I have no problem with omnivores.”
“It used to be so much easier to push your buttons,” Nathan observed.
“There is power in not allowing my buttons to be pushed.”
“What else did you bring us?”
“Well, we’re fully loaded with ammunition, jump missiles, mines, swarm bots, and plenty of missiles for our Dragon fighters. We’re also fully loaded with raw materials for our fabricators, just in case we run into trouble. Oh, and we even received our other six Dragons ahead of schedule, although they have yet to be test-flown.”
“I’ll let our pilots know,” Nathan promised.
“Speaking of pilots, did you get the ones you ordered?”
“I assume so,” Nathan replied. “They should be arriving any moment.”
“Take it easy on them, Nathan. They haven’t even graduated yet.”
“I’m sure Loki wouldn’t have recommended them if he didn’t believe they were ready.”
“Except that Loki, just like everyone else, has a hard time saying no to the great…”
“Don’t you dare call me Na-Tan,” Nathan interrupted.
Cameron got a satisfied smirk on her face. “Trust me, I have just as much interest in letting that silly legend die out as you do.”
“Well I wouldn’t call it silly.”
“Oh, please.”
* * *
Loki led his pilots down the corridor of the Aurora’s Dragon command deck. “This is the heart of your responsibilities as pilots aboard an Expedition-class ship. The command module ready room is in the center, with briefing room, offices, and flight support spaces just aft. Pilots’ quarters are to port and starboard, and there are elevators forward and aft. The forward elevators will take you to all standard decks with the exception of the command and shuttle decks, both of which can only be reached by the midship elevators at the aft end of this deck.”
“Where do we eat?” Allet asked.
“Figures that’s what you’d be most concerned about,” Meika commented.
“I was going to ask where the head was but decided against it.”
“Galley is one deck up and forward,” Loki explained. “But I’ll have something sent down to get you through the rest of the day. I want all your butts in those cockpits running combat sims until further notice.”
“What about the bridge?” Tricia asked. “When do we get to run sims up there?”
“Probably not until after this mission is over,” Loki replied.
“Well who’s going to fly the ship?” Talisha wondered.
“You just worry about flying Dragons for now,” Loki told her. “Talisha, since you’re the only one with actual combat experience, I’m making you lead Dragon pilot. Pair them off and put them through simulated combat drills, focusing on Gamaze fighters and ships.”
“Gamaze?” Talisha asked, surprised.
“You heard me,” Loki replied, turning to head out.
“Where are you going?” Talisha wondered.
“I’m going to report all of us in to the captain,” Loki replied as he exited. No sooner had the door closed behind him did Josh come stumbling out of his cabin, wearing a uniform that looked as if it had been slept in for a week. “This looks familiar.”
Josh’s eyes opened wide, not believing who he was seeing. “Loki!” he exclaimed, charging toward his friend with arms wide. “Couldn’t stay away from adventures with your old friend, huh?”
“I’m only here to help your new pilots get ready,” Loki assured him.
“How about, ‘Hey, Josh, nice to see you again, buddy.’ Wait, what pilots?”
“In there,” Loki replied, pointing back over his shoulder.
“Great! Introduce me to them!” Josh exclaimed, heading toward the Dragon command module ready room.
Loki put out his hand, stopping Josh in his tracks. “They’re training. The last thing they need in there is the infamous Josh Hayes telling amazing flying stories.”
“Yeah, they are pretty enthralling, aren’t they?”
“Where’s the captain?”
“What time is it?” Josh wondered.
“Noon. Did you just wake up?”
“I have to do my bridge sims during the graveyard shift, when no one is working on the bridge. Captain is probably in his ready room. He usually eats in there. I’ll show you the way.”
“I thought you were spending all your time in the Dragon sims,” Josh said as they headed toward the aft elevator.
“I finished those a couple of days ago. I even got to take a real one out for a spin the other day.”
“You got to fly a real Dragon?”
“None of you have flown one?” Josh wondered, a bit surprised.
“There are only twelve of them in existence, and they’re all here, on the Aurora.”
“So we’re going up with pilots who have never actually flown?”
“They’ve flown, just not Dragons,” Loki said as they stepped into the elevator.
“Hey, did you know I competed in the Gunyoki races?”
CHAPTER FIVE
The cave might not have been comfortable, but it was warm, thanks to the generator their engineer had scavenged from the pod. But they had yet to find a water source, despite having searched the entire cave structure and all its subsidiary tunnels.
Sleeping on a rocky, uneven floor did nothing good for Robert’s back. It had taken him over an hour to be able to move normally again. Another reason to consider retirement.
Breakfast had been an emergency meal bar and a few sips of water. The bar was neither tasty nor filling, but it did provide the requisite nutrition to stay alive.
After the events of the previous day, Robert had chosen to let his crew relax for the day. There was no reason to try to create a more comfortable environment for long-term survival until they were certain the Gamaze were unable to find them. For all they knew, they might have to abandon their cave and move elsewhere.
Besides providing heat, their reactor also kept their portable devices charged. Other than their portable lights, the most important device was their comm-unit. Without it, they would have no way to communicate, should an Alliance ship come to their rescue.
“Captain?” Sori called.
Robert looked over at Sori, who was monitoring the comm-unit. “What is it?”
“I’m picking up some comms traffic.”
“From inside?” Robert asked, surprised.
“We put a portable dish outside last night. My Gamaze is not very good, but it sounds like traffic between a ship and some shuttles.”
“What do you think it is?” Robert asked.
“Search parties, maybe?”
“I was afraid you’d say that.” Robert sighed. “I guess they’re not as dumb as I’d hoped. Cori, shut down the reactor. Evan, you and Tika gear up and go outside, find yourself someplace concealed, preferably someplace high, where you can watch for approaching troops or shuttles, just in case they have a way to disable our motion sensors. The rest of you, pack everything up. I want us to be ready to move on a moment’s notice.”
* * *
Nathan had stayed up late again, studying the Aurora’s specifications and operations manuals, yet he had awakened feeling fully energized after only a few hours of sleep. Years on an XK had conditioned him to get by on far less sleep than most. However, he did appreciate his morning cup of coffee after such nights.
“Enter!” he called out from his dining table when his door buzzer sounded.
Loki entered Nathan’s quarters. “Wow. Quite an upgrade from an XK.”
“It’s quite an upgrade from the old Aurora as well,” Nathan replied. “Hungry? I’ve got plenty.”
“I already ate, thank you,” Loki said as he approached. He paused a moment, noticing the large transparent doors. “Is that a balcony?”
“Yup.”
“Who puts a balcony on a spaceship?”
“Think of it as this Aurora’s massive, semi-spherical, relatively useless view screen,” Nathan told him.
“Say no more,” Loki said as he took a seat at the table. “You wanted to see me?”
“I was wondering how ready your pilots are.”
“Well, Talisha is certainly ready, and Kusya is a pretty good stick. But none of them have any large-ship experience.”
“Well, Josh can handle piloting the Aurora for now. How are they on shuttles?”
“I’m sure they’ll do fine as long as you don’t throw anything too wild at them.”
“Not much of an endorsement,” Nathan commented as he sipped his coffee. “There’s a good chance I’ll be asking a lot of all three piloting positions.”
“I assume you still plan to launch today?”
“As soon as Vlad gives me the green light, which should be within the next few hours,” Nathan told him. After noticing Loki’s reaction, he asked, “Does that present a problem?”
Loki sighed. “Only for my marriage.”
“I don’t follow.”
“I’m going with you,” Loki explained. “That is, if you’ll allow me.”
“How is your wife going to feel about it?” Nathan wondered.
“I expect she won’t like it much,” Loki admitted. “However, she is the daughter of a career military man, so I’m hoping she’ll understand.”
“Well perhaps you should speak with her, before committing,” Nathan suggested. “In person.”
“Do I have time?”
“We’ll wait,” Nathan replied, “but don’t take too long. We’ve got people counting on us.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nathan watched Loki depart, fighting back a smile until after he was gone. A good crew was about having people with you that you could trust with your life. And now he had two of the people he trusted the most at his helm to fly this brand-new ship.
* * *
“Anything new?” Robert asked his engineer.
“They’re still conducting orbital scans, as far as I can tell,” Cori replied as she studied the data pad she had connected to their portable comm-unit. “But I’m only basing that on their signal bearing and distance. I could be way off.”
“Well at least they’re far away at the moment,” Robert sighed.
Cori studied her captain. “There’s no way out of this, is there?”
“It’s too cold to run, and all we’ve got for weapons are eight handguns and two blaster rifles. They’ll come at us in squads of four to eight, and once they find us, they’ll wait for reinforcements before trying to take us. At that point, we’ll be screwed.”
“We can fight,” Cori insisted.
Robert looked at his young engineer. She was an adorable young thing, the last person you’d expect to find crawling around the inside of an XK nacelle. In that way, she reminded him of Jessica. She too did not look like the deadly warrior that she was. “We aren’t at war, Cori. We were attacked without provocation in free space.”
“While conducting surveillance.”
“There was nothing illegal about what we were doing, and the Gamaze know that,” Robert insisted. “They’ll hold us for a few months, and they’ll probably interrogate us, but eventually they’ll have to release us. They can’t afford a war with the Alliance. They’re just posturing, trying to show that they are not afraid.”
“Interrogate?” Cori asked, concern on her face.
Robert sighed. “It won’t be fun, but we will survive.”
“So you’re saying we should just surrender?”
“I don’t see that we have much choice,” Robert told her. “If we fight, some or all of us will die. If we surrender, at least some of us might live.”
“What’s to stop them from just killing us and then saying we died during the landing?”
“Nothing,” Robert admitted. “But they’re already going to be in the hot seat for attacking us. Why would they want to make things worse?”
Cori thought for a moment. It was obvious that she was worried. Finally, she looked at Robert again. “Do you really think the Alliance can beat the Ilyan?”
Robert smiled at her. She had been like a daughter to him these last seven years. He had watched her grow from an awkward teenager with a knack for engineering into a strong, responsible, young woman. She had kept the Ancot operating in top condition the entire time, despite some rather trying circumstances along the way. He was proud of her and hated seeing her this way. “Without a doubt,” he assured her, smiling.
* * *
Nathan sat in his ready room, nervously awaiting word from his chief engineer. Taking a brand-new ship, especially the first one of a new line, was a big deal. Nathan had only done so once in his life, at the beginning of his career, and that had not gone well. To make matters worse, this ship had the same name. Nathan had never been a superstitious man, but the entire assignment had him feeling as if he was tempting fate. Of course, that was something Nathan had been doing all his life.
