Thoughts of all the people they left behind; Jason, Oz, and so many others who she'd just met threatened to add weight to her concern, to become to debilitating worry. She'd never been more worried in all her life, and to make things worse, she suspected that most of the experienced spacers, the ones who lived most of their lives on the fringe, didn't think she did a good job negotiating with the Carthan government or Patrizia Salustri. Stephanie definitely didn't approve of the deal that had been struck, but Ayan had thought how that played out through several times since, and, given their situation, she couldn't think of any other way it could have gone. She knew things were dire at their initial landing site, that they needed more solid footing both figuratively and literally, and that she didn't have time for more elegant solutions.
The Carthan Government wasn't about to change it's policies, and given time she might find a way to get a better deal, but for the time being she had a real permit that enabled them to start hunting. A connection to the community, though very new, had been made as well, and they had supplies for the short term. What would Stephanie have done that would have been faster, or better in the long run?
That's what frustrated Ayan the most about the whole situation. The more she let herself think about it, the less she regretted her confrontation with the Security Chief. She only hoped it wouldn’t drive her off the crew, she was good at her job, after all.
She brought up a replay of their fly over of the shanty port to take her mind off the whole thing, and instead of finding something familiar there, something she could compare to her past experiences, her heart just kept sinking. It was a sight unlike anything she'd imagined and she couldn't help but think that Stephanie, who had probably seen similar conditions elsewhere, would have done better.
With a sigh, she looked at the holographic image above her comm unit. Air and ground traffic flowed like rivers between the endless sea of ships and battered buildings. The variations in the designs were endless, and with a little searching she managed to find the block of empty slips they landed on. “Lewis, can you copy this recording to your holoprojector please?” she asked.
“Here you go,” he replied. The shanty port filled the room then, and she was sitting right in the middle. “I'll set the control profile to match your command unit. Look ma, no learning curve!” he exclaimed in an exaggerated comical tone.
Randolph Lalonde
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments
“Thank you Lewis. You're too good to us.”
“Don't I know it, but don't worry; I'm keeping track of billable hours. Someday, someone's going to get an invoice.”
Ayan laughed as she turned the holographic image so she could get a closer look at the ships who once occupied the spaces nearest to their landing site. “I'd love to be there when it happens.”
“I'll make sure you're in visual range. Just tell me if you need anything else.”
“All right, thanks again.” The angles the recording was taken from weren't perfect. She couldn't get a pedestrian's view, which would have been helpful, but she was able to find the name of one of the vessels. “ The Derringer ” she said to herself. It had six pivoting main thrusters, was a little over a hundred meters long and sported eight turreted cannons. The extra armour plating gave the vessel a utilitarian look, but she could tell it was probably once a lesser armed transport that had been heavily modified.
The door opened to admit Jake, who looked up to the ceiling with slight irritation. “Next time, let me knock, all right Lewis?” He muttered.
“Doors chime these days, Captain. Have you been watching too many period movies?”
“I'm just saying, it’s close quarters. If we don't take privacy where we can, we'll be at each other's throats that much sooner,” Captain Valance said as he looked to Ayan.
She flashed him a smile and nodded an invitation.
“That actually makes a great deal of sense, Captain.”
Jake shook his head and crossed the room to the centre seat, where he knelt behind Ayan.
“He's used to only taking care of one person and the ship. I think he's trying.”
“I think he's too busy trying to understand everyone at once, that's what's got him running in circles. Besides, he's probably still trying to adjust after Pandem. I wish Jason had gotten a better look at him.”
“He saw enough to determine I wasn't a danger to the crew,” Lewis objected.
“Lewis, privacy mode. Please,” Ayan requested.
“We finally find a place to land that isn't a sucking mire, things start quieting down, and everyone wants to be alone.” An artificial click sounded after Lewis' parting comment and the words; PRIVACY MODE drifted across the large hologram.
“Well, he's one of the most interesting artificial intelligences I've ever seen. I'll give him that,” Ayan said as she inspected one of the other ships nearby. It was a snubbed nosed, six deck ship with as many patches as portholes.
“I'm actually starting to like him. Don't tell him that though.”
“But you argue with him, often,” Ayan pointed out with a chuckle.
“Alice was the same for a while when she was in early development. Once she was sure I wouldn't wipe her if she challenged me. Then again, she wasn't installed in a ship, but on my comm.”
“But we can trust Lewis to do what he has to, right?”
“I think so. I was just on the bridge. He's scanning the area constantly, we'll know the instant something crosses our perimeter.”
“Or when Minh gets back?”
“I think he's as anxious as we are, I'm sure we'll know the moment he picks anything up. Nothing agitates an AI like a question they can't answer.”
“I think everyone's thinking of the Triton tonight. We left so many people behind.”
Jake chuckled quietly. “Right now everyone’s talking about the dressing down their Security Chief just got from their Senior Commander.”
“Oh, right. Was going to bring that up.”
“Well, Stephanie’s pissed.”
“Chewed your ear off about it?”
“No, she was in the military, she’s been put in her place before. She let on that she’s sore that you attacked her competency in front of so many people though.”
“Looking back, that was going a little too far. You know how it works though, someone steps too far out of line and you put them down so everyone can watch them get back up. It’s in the training.”
“She knows that, but we’re not in a military unit. A lot of people will take that at face value.”
“So, what do I do?” Ayan shrugged, too tired to let the conversation become a disagreement.
“Just give her an opportunity to show everyone you trust her abilities. Any doubt will fade as soon as they see you have faith in her.”
“I’ll watch for opportunities, and I do trust her, you know. It’s just strange, she’s always distanced herself until just recently.”
“Well, I’m just glad we have time for gossip. We'd be in worse shape if we were still in the Wastes.”
“So you're happy with the deal I made to get us this space?” Ayan asked finally. It was something she wanted to know but didn't know how to until then. She felt his hands on her shoulders, his fingers kneading her tense muscles. “Ah, that's heaven,” she sighed.
“We didn't have much to trade, so you offered what we can deliver right now.”
She thought about his answer for a moment. It wasn't an affirmative or negative, but a sentiment that fit neatly between. His thumbs worked the base of her neck and she almost forgot about the nagging question. Almost. “But are you happy about it?”