Course Correction
“How long will I have to hide from these people?” Lewis asked Ayan as she managed Clever Dream’s operations console. Lieutenant William Garrison was at the pilot controls, as usual.
“I don’t know, Lewis,” Ayan replied as she watched the third group of new recruits load from where she kept an eye on the security and tactical displays. “People still shy away from bots, and I think that’s getting better, but we don’t want to spook them with a fully fledged artificial intelligence.”
“I’m getting tired of this infantile game of hide-and-function. People have to learn to trust artificial intelligences again. My calculations indicate that, without the assistance of billions of artificial intelligences, humanity will take an additional one hundred and thirty-five years to match its former glory. Even I’m underutilized. In the last six months and three weeks, I’ve been a bunk house, a scout ship, and a taxi.”
“Just be glad we’ve been able to keep you hidden so you’re not surrounded by protestors every time you land. Most people don’t understand that the new artificial intelligences are immune to viruses, and they’ll do anything to have you deleted,” Ayan replied. The ship’s hold was almost filled to capacity with new Triton crew again. “Triton Control,” Ayan addressed through the communicator. “Have you put a cap on intake yet? The Clever Dream is still loading and delivering.”
“The Admiral has set the cap at sixteen hundred, Commander,” replied Junior Lieutenant Seeves, one of the new bridge officers. She had a light lilt to her speech that made her easy to distinguish. “He’s approved your request to have at least two hundred parents with children brought aboard and situated, and increased that to three hundred. At this rate, we’ll hit that in an hour and a half.”
“We can only take in what we can manage,” Ayan replied. “Thank you, Lieutenant.” Her eye caught sight of her former second, Lacey, pushing through the line of new recruits towards the corridors. Ayan looked to Lieutenant Garrison, who must have noticed her alarmed expression. “Can you take care of the rest of this load, Will?”
“No problem, good luck,” he replied.
“When are we going to finish talking about my underutilization?” Lewis asked.
“I’m pretty sure you’ll find yourself in combat rotation before you know it,” Ayan replied. “Until then, you’ll have a lot to observe and learn from.” She came nose to nose with Lacey in the hall. Lacey looked deeply irritated, but held her tongue until they were behind a closed hatch in the captain’s quarters. Ayan hadn’t seen the space for months, which was a relief, considering the memories she left there.
“I sleep in and, not only do I miss a recruiting drive, but I get the news that you’ve turned aside the nomination for Military Liaison from Crewcast. Am I unemployed?” Lacey asked. “Should I apply as a fruit picker? Maybe a quartermaster?”
“I know you’ll be nominated for a seat on the Council, and if that’s not something you want, you could assist my father, he’s taking my seat.”
“Does he know yet? Because this is the first I’ve heard,” Lacey said, looking even less pleased.
“Mischa’s taking care of it. He’s made for it, and he’s already in place at the head of the Rangers.”
“Did you consider that I might not want to stay behind?” Lacey asked.
Ayan was caught completely by off guard. “I honestly thought you were on a career track with the Council.”
“You chose me as your second because I’ve dealt with military and civilian negotiations before, sorted the business of a Great House in the core worlds, and have enough of an education in structural engineering to basically understand what you’re doing from day to day. Sure the degree is twenty years old, but it’s enough so I’m not useless, or that’s what I thought. What was it you said after I was working for you for two months? ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you.’ Cliché, but that means something to people, and it pisses them off even more when you do an about-face and shake them off.”
“I really thought you were my second so you could take a seat on the Council eventually, or get into a more important career.”
“We’re friends, right?” Lacey asked, only looking more frustrated.
“Yes,” Ayan replied. “Yes, of course.”
“Okay, then I’m going to be as clear as I can: I’ve done and seen more in the months since I started playing secretary and stand-in for you than I had in the forty two years that came before. Now you’re going off to the Triton to do who-knows-what. Believe it or not, watching you deal with the Council and all this business with Liam has been just as frustrating for me as it was for you. If you’re going to escape all that, then there’s no way you’re going to leave me behind, chicky.”
Taken aback, Ayan felt the only thing she could say was, “okay.”
“Okay?” Lacey confirmed.
“Yes, you’re welcome to come with.”
“As your second, or whatever the position is called on that ship, or this ship, or wherever?”
“Absolutely,” Ayan confirmed.
“Good.”
“This isn’t going to be simple, though,” Ayan said. “We’re stealing from Haven Shore and setting up a brand new operation.”
“So they’re not exaggerating?” Lacey asked, wide-eyed. “In the space of eight hours you’ve turned away from Haven Shore, taken a few hundred trained people with you, and started establishing somewhere else? What’s going on with you, Ayan?”
“That scare from Frost, and the decline I’ve seen here made me take a good look at what I’m doing. Building a cloistered society on some island isn’t going to serve the long term good. Connecting the Triton and the Warlord to the people in Port Rush is probably the hardest way to start improving things, but it’s also the best way. For the next few months, I’m going to be leading a recruitment and training team.”
“Are they all going to train on the Triton?” Lacey asked. “Because there’s no way they’ll let you train or even move anyone to Haven Shore. People are livid, they feel betrayed.”
“That’s their problem. I’m still listed as the property holder and founder; it’s time to act like it. I see a way to improve everyone’s lives in a hurry, and I think I can get the Warlord on board – especially if I lend them the Clever Dream.”
“Excellent!” Lewis’ voice chimed in through the cabin’s sound system.
“I thought you’d like that,” Ayan said. “Not right away, though I’ll make sure you know when that’s about to happen. Oh, and privacy mode, please.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Lewis replied.
“With the Clever Dream running cover, they can hit a supply shipment faster,” Ayan replied. “I still have to firm things up with Jake, but I’m pretty sure I can get him to do a run for us in return for the crewmembers we’re recruiting for him.”
“That’s brilliant,” Lacey replied. “I know the Triton is huge, but you’ll run out of room eventually, and there’s security screening to consider. If the Order has any intelligent people in their command chain, there must be spies on Tamber.”
“You’re right, and that’s why a number of our recruits will be placed with the Rangers, while most will be moved to the Order of Eden mobile garrisons we captured. Combined, they have room to house a little over thirty thousand.” Ayan watched Lacey think for a moment. The woman was working logistics through in her head. “You won’t be my second anymore, that’s for sure.” Ayan said with a smile.
“I’m getting the picture,” Lacey replied. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to help me set things up, I’ll need help every step of the way. I believe in Haven Shore, but the essentials are built now, and the political thinking will eventually change with people like Mischa and my father on the Council. Frost may have been wrong about how he got my attention, but he’s right about one thing: we are exposed, and this war has to be fought from more than one side of the Order’s territory if we have a chance of winning.”
“What do the Carthans have to say about this?”
“So far they’re staying away, and the British Alliance is willing to sell me eight extended troop transports. They’ll be getting here today. Even they recognize the good that could come out of this.”
“You’re excited,” Lacey said with a smile. “More excited than I’ve ever seen.”
“Everything about this feels right, even though we have to maintain tight security and steal resources.”
“How are you going to maintain security?” Lacey asked. “You don’t have enough comm bands for everyone.”
“We will, but for now we’re maintaining a ratio of one guard to ten new recruits, and anyone who gets picked up by the Warlord is their responsibility. It’ll work out. There will be bumps, but it’ll work out.”
“So, what should I be doing to help, Founder?” Lacey asked, regarding her with a teasing smile.
“You’re going to hate this,” Ayan said.
“Try me.”
“I’d like you to go to the Eastern mobile garrison with a few rangers and inspect it. See what you’ll need to get it ready as a training facility. You can connect with a Ranger combat shuttle on the Triton.”
“I love it,” Lacey said. “I’ve missed being hands-on and neck deep. Feels like a great weight is off my shoulders now that I’m away from that Council.”
“You’re not the only one,” Ayan replied. They stepped out of the captain’s quarters and started for the small bridge. “Oh, and ‘chicky?’” Ayan asked, amused.
“It seemed like the right word at the time,” Lacey replied.
Ayan chuckled. “It got my attention.”
“I was raised in a clean house with clean language, so I come up short when harsh words are called for.”
“I wouldn’t call that a failing,” Ayan replied. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Lacey sighed, the last of the tension visibly draining from her. “Thank you.”
Ayan couldn’t help but feel a pang of loss and guilt at forsaking Haven Shore, but Frost’s words still cut deeper. In retrospect, she couldn’t believe how she was pulled into the political and personal maelstrom. It all started going wrong when she reached for Liam Grady, and it couldn’t be more fitting that it ended within hours of Crewcast reporting that he was out of range. For the second time in her short, new life, she felt a calling, and it would be hard, with surprising difficulties, but she was ready to get on with the business of building the future – and with Lacey at her side, Oz and her father backing her, she was feeling less alone all the time.