Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework (56 page)

Ashley cocked her head quizzically as she
chewed.

“Oh, you haven’t heard? He and Paula are
expecting,” Minh said.

Ashley choked and coughed, keeping her mouth
closed, but her hand up in front for safety and politeness. Minh
stood up and patted her on the back urgently.

“Are you okay?” he said when it looked like
she was recovering.

She finished swallowing properly and nodded.
“Yup, gotta give a girl warning when you drop something like that
at dinner.”

Minh sat back down at the copilot’s seat.
“Sorry, I guess it’s not as big of a deal to me as it is to
everyone else.”

“Well, you two were together,” Ashley asked.
“So it’s a pretty big betrayal.”

“Who? Me and Joyboy?” Minh-Chu said with a
crooked grin. “A passing fancy, at best.”

Ashley was just about to try a smaller
mouthful of noodles when she was interrupted by a fresh chuckle.
“Eating is dangerous around you.”

“Okay, I’ll be more serious while we’re
chomping,” Minh-Chu said as he shoved hot noodles into his mouth
and wished he had something to drink. He could tell there was
something off about the noodles, but the flavouring was so powerful
that it could have been easy to miss if he was never told it was
processed algae.

Ashley was quiet until they were both
halfway through their takeout boxes before asking, “I gotta know
though… you and Paula? Are you okay?”

Minh-Chu finished chewing. “She wouldn’t
leave me alone,” he said. “I don’t know how, but she made it look
like we were in a relationship on Crewcast, too.”

“Really? She doesn’t have the rank to get
shower access, does she?” Ashley asked.

“Nope, not even close,” Stephanie said as
she entered the bridge.

“Shower access?” Minh asked.

“Oh, it’s what Ash calls Command Level
Access, because you can actually check on people while they’re in
the shower,” Stephanie replied. “It actually sounds a bit perverted
now that I’m explaining it to anyone else. I’ve never used my
access for that, just to be clear.” She dropped into the captain’s
chair and opened her own box of noodles. “It lets you monkey with
Crewcast, too. I don’t like talking about that kind of access
because it makes some people feel self-conscious, even though I
don’t abuse it.”

“I don’t really care,” Minh said with a
shrug. “People get to know each other really well in a military
unit, modesty gets out of the way when you’re taking your first
real shower in a month and the public shower rooms are all you can
get.” He couldn’t help remembering seeing Ashley ducking down
behind a shower stall door when he was in the pilot’s berthing
aboard the Triton. The memory brought a little smile to his lips.
He cleared his throat and pressed on. “Anyway, I don’t know how
Paula did it, but she faked the relationship on my end while I was
on patrol for pay.”

“I’ll have to look into that,” Stephanie
said.

“So that’s all it was?” Ashley asked. “She
faked the whole thing?”

Sometimes Minh-Chu didn’t like his belief in
pure honesty; it didn’t always lead to the things he wanted. “Given
enough time, a river can turn even a mighty stone to sand,” he
replied, shoving a generous bundle of noodles into his mouth.

Both women burst into laughter that almost
outlasted the time it took him to chew and swallow.

“So there was something,” Stephanie said
with a grin. “I should have put money on it.”

“She wore me down for a bit, and there was
snoggery, but the more she talked the less I liked her, so that
didn’t last,” Minh said. “That sounded harsh, but she’s just got
these opinions about people that are opposite mine. So, any
attraction that could have been there died.”

“Opinions like?” Stephanie asked.

“I’d rather she spoke for herself on that,
you can see it all on Crewcast anyway. I respect her work ethic,
but we just couldn’t see eye to eye.”

“So Joyboy knocking her up is the best thing
that could happen for you,” Stephanie concluded.

“Well, if that kid manages to have a good
upbringing, yeah. Joyboy’s not going to be happy though, I’m
putting him on shuttle duty once we get back. I know Paula well
enough to make sure that kid has a dad.”

“You never stop thinking of other people,”
Ashley said.

“Care for others and you won’t have to
wonder who will care for you,” Minh-Chu replied. “I grew up in a
passionate but tight family. Lots of arguments, but we always knew
what everyone else was thinking.”

“Reminds me of the Triton,” Ashley said
quietly as she absently dug through her noodles with her
chopsticks.

“What happened there? I haven’t had time to
ask,” Stephanie asked.

Ashley took a bite and finished before
answering in an uncharacteristically quiet manner. “You guys can’t
share this,” she said. “Not with anyone.”

“All right,” Minh said.

“It’s big security stuff,” Ashley
reinforced, looking to Stephanie, who nodded. “Okay,” Ashley
continued. “It’s a special type of human, that doesn’t look human
at all. Its memories told me that Earth used issyrian technology
and hundreds of years of research to make his species, and now they
breed them in a habitat that I think the Triton really liked.”

“What’s this?” Stephanie asked. “I missed
something.”

“The ship computer,” Ashley said. “It’s just
an interface for this being that took the Triton’s name. It’s like
it communicates with the ship so well that it’s just a part of it,
even though it uses some kind of impulse or telepathic trick to
communicate with the ship.”

“So it’s a human?” Minh asked.

“It’s based on us, but it looks totally
different. It’s like some cool, wide, eel that is one big, flat fin
that can expand and shrink. It can go through all the waterworks in
the Botanical Gallery, but was in stasis since Wheeler took the
ship. No one told it that Sol Defence let the Triton go so people
on Earth could study the galaxy through the people who took the
ship.”

“So it was left there alone?” Stephanie
asked.

“Yeah, but it was asleep the whole time. It
was lonely when we found it though,” Ashley said, sympathy in her
expression. “Almost the same loneliness that Oz has, I think that’s
one of the reasons why they bonded so well.”

“Wow, you guys really did have a serious
sharing session,” Stephanie said.

“It connected me to Oz, so I felt everything
he does, then I saw what the Triton sees.”

“Through telepathy?” Minh-Chu asked.

“Yeah, it was amazing,” Ashley said. “Not
scary at all, except for when it was scared, like when he was
attacked for the first time. I never thought I’d see a ship get
frightened, but he was so scared. The Triton isn’t afraid of
fighting anymore though, it seems like he likes it a bit. A lot
like Oz there too.

“Triton watches everything on the ship, it
likes to help us, to watch children grow, enjoys seeing people get
along, too. By watching everyone, it feels connected to us, and it
loves having a crew. Eventually it’ll directly connect to its
entire command crew, but it’ll take time for it to trust them,
because no one out here have really long records, like someone
would in the Sol System. For now, I think it’s really happy to be
connected to Oz, and it was really glad to meet me. I miss him
already.”

“Oz?” Stephanie asked.

“Him too, but not as much as Triton,” Ashley
said. “I want to be here, don’t get me wrong. I wanted to be here
more before Triton connected with me, though. He’s a really cool…
thing? Ship? Yeah, he likes being thought of as part of the
ship.”

“Where would you really rather be?” Minh-Chu
asked. “If you had a choice.”

Ashley thought a moment before answering.
“Here, I still have a lot to do here. Besides, even Triton thought
so. He likes me a lot, I could just tell, but I’m not ready to be
part of the command structure there. After what he’s shown me, how
big a ship like that really gets when there are thousands of people
aboard, I know I’m not ready. I’d rather be a pilot and mission
girl here.”

“Mission girl?” Stephanie asked.

“You’ll see, I have a few ideas about what
I’ll be doing when we land, already cleared it with Captain. I
might need something from that box I left with you,” Ashley
said.

“Oh, you can have all that stuff back,”
Stephanie replied. “Now that I know you were only gifting it
because you thought you’d have to go on the run after telling
everyone about your Triton access info.”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that,” Ashley
replied.

“Don’t do it again, you can always trust
me,” Stephanie said. “But I’m keeping a couple of things, just as a
lesson.”

Minh-Chu enjoyed watching the easy exchange
between Ashley and Stephanie. It was the best way to get to know
both of them, though Ashley captured most of his interest.

“Don’t worry, Boss, won’t pull anything like
that again,” Ashley replied to Stephanie. “Can’t wait to see what
you’re keeping, either. I bet Frost’ll be happy.”

“Later,” Stephanie said, smiling awkwardly as she
glanced at Minh-Chu. “And Frost is a very lucky man.”

Minh-Chu kept Ashley company for the rest of
her watch. Different crewmembers cycled through the bridge during
the hours that followed. she taught him the finer points of the
Warlord’s controls, and they talked about where they came from,
focusing on happier moments for the most part.

He caught himself forgetting that there was
an age difference after awhile, and when it was time to retreat to
his bunk, he couldn’t stop thinking of stories he could tell her
about himself, or the stories she’d shared with him.

Ayan’s fingers fumbled with the clips on the
extreme environment armour. Tears obstructed her view as she tried
to get the second outer layer of her suit to attach to her legs,
something she’d gotten used to doing, but she couldn’t find the
right connections. “Come on, I just need to get out there, help the
effort,” she said. “Just have to get to work.” The lights of dozens
of holographic status windows focusing on the settlement outside
the Clever Dream made the shadows shift and flicker.

The hatch in her quarters slid to the side
and she shouted: “I told you, Victor, I don’t need guarding while
I’m on the Clever Dream, and I don’t want you hovering…” she looked
up and saw Liam Grady entering, looking uneasy.

She hurriedly tried to remove the few clips
she’d managed to attach on her shins. “Bloody thing won’t come off
now,” she said. “Release, you terrible things.” At the command, her
suit allowed the armour to detach.

She wiped at her tears and threw herself
into Liam’s arms. Within his embrace, she didn’t cry, but found
herself breathing as though she had just finished a long run. His
arms were wrapped around her tightly. One hand started to run up
and down her back, comforting.

“Your guardians say you won’t let them in,”
he said. “What’s happened?”

“Jason’s gone,” Ayan replied. “He’s taking
the Victory Machine, he’s going to finish Roman’s work. He’s going
to close it down somewhere far away, and he’ll die alone, in the
dark. I tried to stop him,” she said. Her heart was racing, she
couldn’t slow her breathing down, and she had no idea why, but she
struggled against Liam’s embrace.

“We can’t control people,” Liam said. He
tried to hold on to her, but had to let her go when her attempts to
win free became frantic.

She summoned a reflective hologram and
looked into her own puffy eyes, saw her disheveled appearance and
tried to get herself in order. “I’m losing control, no one’s
listening to me. I have to rally,” she said with no grief in her
expression, yet tears still dropped down her cheeks.

Liam stepped in behind her then, close
enough to be in the reflective hologram, and he slowly closed his
arms around her midsection. She watched him, how he looked down at
her with concern, and couldn’t help but look back at herself. The
young woman looked so weary and frightened. “Oz followed you, even
though I know it’s the last thing he wanted to do. He and Alaka are
leading the efforts out there, and it’s all because they believe in
you. They believe without question, and they’ll work until they
have to stop. They all will.” He kissed the top of her head.

“They trust the woman I’m based on. Loosely
based on. Her experiences, her training, her accomplishments,” Ayan
replied. “I haven’t done anything to earn their trust.”

Liam looked her in the eye using the
reflection. “I didn’t know her,” he said. “I don’t care about her.”
He swept strands of her hair out of her face then wrapped his arm
around her waist. “Alaka and his family didn’t know that other
woman, neither did thousands of people out there, but you’ve earned
their trust since we got here. I’ve come to know a brilliant lady,
who’s stealing my heart. She’s in pain right now, and it’s not the
time to charge back in, but when you’re ready,” he gave her waist a
squeeze. “It’ll be magnificent, because you’re so much more than
the sum of your parts.”

Ayan was calming down, the manic need to
take control of everything around her was dissipating, and she was
left with the moment she shared with the man in her quarters. The
weeks with him at her side had been an impatient time, where things
seemed to move a quarter as quickly as they ought to, but they were
good times. Most of the good memories she had of her time in Port
Rush were accompanied by his presence, or centered around time they
spent together away, tending to things in Greydock, trying to
further their cause. What Ayan felt was more than trust or
respect.

“You’re a rare woman, Ayan,” he said to
her.

She turned in his arms and pulled the collar
of his vacsuit so she could reach his lips. Ayan curled the thick
fabric in her fist as she closed her eyes and kissed him
passionately. He returned the kiss and they were locked together
for a long, warm moment before he pulled away, his calm demeanor
broken.