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+ | We’re all going someplace. | ||
+ | VI | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | The hatch slid open and Malcolm McDonnell looked out upon Normandy’s bridge. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Captain Olivia Wyatt turned a smile towards him and spoke in a calm soprano. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “By your command,” Malcolm answered and stepped onto the bridge with Dawn on his heals. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia’s smile grew and she walked back to join them. She leaned back as well and scanned the displays showing Normandy and her charges moving towards the star system that would be their home. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I just received Erik’s report,” Olivia explained and waved a hand towards the darkness staining hyperspace’s rainbow colors ahead of them. “His scouts have detected no unauthorized presence in the system. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Erik,” Malcolm said with a teasing smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “He did,” Olivia said without taking her eyes off the displays. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I don’t think so,” Malcolm returned, willing to let her change the subject again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Well then, allow me to correct that error now.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That’s not going to be a problem for very long, is it?” Malcolm asked with a wry look. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Oh, no. Your friend Charles hid a few surprises aboard Surprise when he gave her to us that will take care of that issue real quick,” Olivia answered. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm smiled. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Precisely.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “With that warm up? Please.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia turned back to her bridge crew with a smile of her own. “Lieutenant Lopez?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Ma’am? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Prepare for surface action on my command.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Surface action on your command, aye Ma’am,” the helmsman answered immediately and ran his fingers across the helm controls. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia nodded in approval. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Ma’am? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Transmit to fleet. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Transmitting ‘Commence surface action, now,’ aye Ma’am,” the communications officer reported and leaned to the side to listen to her earpiece. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia aimed a pleased smile at him. “And now we get to enjoy the view.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’ve always enjoyed the view from up here,” Malcolm answered with a smile of his own. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She cocked an eyebrow at him as a squadron of Avenger starfighters opened a dozen holes in hyperspace and rose to the surface of normalspace in sprays of rainbow energy. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The frigates Crichton, Hammond, Reynolds, Parker, and Cochrane followed the fighters, arriving inside their defensive formation with perfection. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Wolfenheim, Surprise, and the remains of the captured Shang destroyer smashed through behind them, leaving Normandy and her Blackhawk starfighters alone in hyperspace. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Lieutenant Lopez?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Ma’am? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Commence surface action, now.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Commencing surface action now, Ma’am,” he answered and ran his hands across his controls. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Hyperspace rippled ahead of them as Normandy’s hyperdrive tore at the wall between them and normalspace. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She released her hold on hyperspace and it lashed her with one last tendril of energy that set off nearly every alarm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Rough ride,” Malcolm whispered just loud enough for Olivia to hear him. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’ve had rougher,” Olivia said as the consoles flashed with warnings and protests from all over the ship. Then she stepped away from the bulkhead. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Color me intrigued, | ||
+ | |||
+ | She paused for a moment and gave him a sly look. “Not in front of the kids.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then she left him behind and waded into the chaos of an entire ship’s crew dealing with a far too exciting ride. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A form flickered into existence next to him. It took possibly a second for the ship’s holoemitters to build her body and arms one curve at a time. A black leather jacket and ratty black jeans snapped into focus shortly before the rosy face and short, brunette hair. Ariel’s holoform pulled in a simulated deep breath and turned a smile towards Malcolm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We came in a little too close to the planet,” the ship’s cybernetic mind reported as her captain dealt with the crew and the mess they were all in. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm looked back and forth between Ariel and Dawn, once again amused by how similar they dressed and acted. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Did you break anything important? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We lost some capacitors when that last tendril hit us, half my sensors and other systems are blind, and I’ll have a scar down my starboard flank until we can get it fixed.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We shouldn’t have tried coming in this close,” Malcolm said as Lopez pulled them up and away from the planet under Olivia’s orders. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We didn’t, | ||
+ | |||
+ | “What happened? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I haven’t had time to fully diagnose the issue,” Ariel said with a wince. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Do you have any rough ideas?” Malcolm asked. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Ariel aimed an upraised eyebrow at him and snorted. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Ariel waved at all the flashing lights on the bridge consoles. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’m sorry,” Malcolm said. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Don’t be,” Ariel returned with a melancholy smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That’s the bright side?” Malcolm asked with a raised eyebrow. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “From a certain point of view,” Ariel said and winked. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Wow. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You tried to give this ship to a glorified AI,” Ariel said with a disgusted sniff. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “With cybernetic support,” Malcolm corrected. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “A fighter cyber, not a warship cyber.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm shrugged. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Worlds of difference.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “None taken,” Dawn answered with a mischievous smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “And not everyone has enough processing power to control hundreds of thousands of tons of warship,” Ariel said without missing a beat. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The two cybers aimed some truly epic side-eye at each other and Malcolm tried to suppress a smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm sighed and rolled his eyes at their display. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia finally nodded in approval and walked back to Malcolm’s bulkhead. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That was a ride to remember, | ||
+ | |||
+ | “The best ones always are,” Malcolm returned and raised an eyebrow at her. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She smiled and nodded towards a display showing the colony ship next to them. “We’re holding position off Wolfenheim’s flank, now.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Good,” Malcolm muttered and let out a long breath. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia shrugged. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm nodded in understanding. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You said Surprise had some surprises that could change that?” Malcolm asked. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Yes,” Olivia answered. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm nodded in understanding. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Order Wolfhenheim to deploy her colonization pods into orbit, now.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia returned his gaze for a second before nodding. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Ma’am? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Order Wolfenheim to deploy her stage one colonization pods into orbit, immediately.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Ordering Wolfenheim to deploy stage one colonization pods into orbit, aye Ma’am,” Jones repeated before whispering into her microphone. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm turned his attention to the forward screen focused on the Class One Colonization Ship and waited for the inevitable. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The colonization pods came last, one after another disengaging the bolts locking them into the superstructure before ejecting from the starship. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Wolfenheim had fulfilled her purpose. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Lieutenant Jones frowned and concentrated on her station for a moment before turning towards Olivia. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Yes, Lieutenant? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I have a message coming in from the surface,” Jones reported and looked straight at Malcolm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm chuckled at her diplomatic language. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I guess I have my marching orders,” Malcolm said to Olivia. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I guess you do,” she said with a smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I always do,” Malcolm answered, brought a hand up to make a sloppy salute, and turned to exit the bridge. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn leaned against one wall and smiled as the lift accelerated away from the bridge and sent them rocketing down through the old ship. The lift slowed to a stop as they reached a junction, and then they shot sideways. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm and Dawn stepped off into the long cylinder and stopped in their tracks as they saw the bald head and beaming smile of John Park waiting for them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Preacher? | ||
+ | |||
+ | The older man nodded his head at Malcolm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm sighed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | And the simple fact was that John Park was worth taking anywhere. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm nodded his acceptance and walked down the line of empty launch cradles. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Age before beauty,” he said and waved a hand towards the fighter. | ||
+ | |||
+ | | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm rolled his eyes towards Dawn and scrambled up after the preacher. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn flickered into existence atop the main console as he finished securing the last belt, her action figure-sized holoform smiling at him. She nodded and crossed her arms as she commanded the starfighter to come to life around them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Displays lit up all around him on the console and the canopy as it slid back to lock into position. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn gave him a single questioning look. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Let’s fly,” Malcolm ordered. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Arms crossed once more, and the launch bay’s hatch cover peeled away above them at Dawn’s nod to reveal the dark and starry space beyond. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then the main engines came to a blue fusion life and pulled the Blackhawk into the planet’s upper atmosphere. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A display blinked for attention and Malcolm looked to see a diagram of the landing spot John Clark had provided them. It was a wide flat area covered by a virgin forest canopy that reached nearly as high as the surrounding ring of hills and cliffs. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Asteroid impact crater. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm nodded in appreciation as Dawn brought them around onto final approach with a waggle and a curving slice through the air to bleed off the last of their velocity. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Bring us down right next to him.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “How close?” Dawn asked with a wry grin. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm considered the question for a moment before chuckling. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “By your command,” Dawn acknowledged. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm felt the local gravity take hold and pulled in a deep breath. | ||
+ | |||
+ | John Clark stood far too close to the landing starfighter with arms crossed over his broad chest, glaring up at Malcolm like he would any young punk who’d unwisely trespassed on his lawn. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm fought the urge to clear his throat. | ||
+ | |||
+ | John Clark had already been an old man when Malcolm first met him a century ago. The man had been old when John Park had first met him two centuries before that. He rarely claimed fame as one of the oldest Earthborn humans alive in all the worlds, but Malcolm saw that age behind the man’s eyes today. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Generations of progressively advanced and expensive medical technologies had kept thousands of his generation alive. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The John Clark standing before him now looked like a healthy pre-space forty or fifty, complete with barrel chest and wide shoulders. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Peloran medical technology was amazing when it worked right. | ||
+ | |||
+ | John Park brushed past Malcolm and stepped close to wrap his old friend up in a crushing bear hug. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “It’s good to see you again,” Park said with a beaming smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “And you,” Clark said and thumped the Preacher’s back hard enough to break lesser men’s ribs. They laughed as only old friends separated for far too long could do. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm saw himself and Charles in that camaraderie. | ||
+ | |||
+ | They were Family Men, come together once more to form a united front. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm blinked as the realization hit him a moment before the two older men sobered and turned watchful gazes towards him. If there had been any lingering thoughts that John Park had “just happened” to want to come on down, they died in that moment. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Family Men wanted to talk to him. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I read your report,” Clark said in a low rumble. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You’re quick,” Malcolm returned in hopes of keeping the conversation as light as possible. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Speed reading,” Clark said with a laugh. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then Clark aimed a determined frown at Malcolm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm shook his head and decided that candor was the better part of valor. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Clark shared a long look with the Preacher. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Park nodded. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Clark sighed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I agree,” Malcolm said, though he had a sinking feeling in the bottom of his heart that it wasn’t for the reasons he would want. “Though I’d like to know why you think we need her.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Because while you have been playing house on Alpha Centauri, I have stayed on the inside of Family politics. | ||
+ | |||
+ | And that was the sinking feeling right there. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Clark chuckled. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Loud and clear,” Malcolm said and bit his lip. Then he glanced at Park. “It’s a bit more blunt than we’ve been talking, but I think it’s close enough to what we’ve been thinking.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Preaching made him soft, kid,” Clark growled with a playful look towards Park. “Unwilling to say the hardest truths. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You mean I have to take advantage of her?” Malcolm asked and felt a pang of guilt in his core. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Clark cocked his head to the side and peered at Malcolm like an old wise crow. “You have feelings for her?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Yeah.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You guess?” Clark asked in a hard tone. “Or you do?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm weighed the question in his mind and saw Caroline’s face in his mind. The flirtatious smile that promised much and hinted at so much more. He truly wanted to follow her down the rabbit hole. He answered the question with no hesitation in his voice. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I do.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Good.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm nodded. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “What are his plans?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “He wants to be king.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm blinked in partial understanding, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Clark recognized both and laughed once more. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Charles, heir to the Hurst Family power and fortune, embezzled the funds to make this project a reality, and you know it,” Clark said with a single finger aimed at Malcolm like a gun. “And that might be the only reason Danaka has for keeping you alive. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Oh,” Malcolm said and his eyes went wide as he really understood. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Yes. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We never thought about that possibility.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Clark snorted and shook his head. Then he smiled and looked around. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm felt a shiver go down his spine, but smiled back at the older man. “Well, I was kinda hoping the medical benefits had something to do with that.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Clark laughed and looked at his young arms. “The benefits are amazing, kid. I’ll give you that. I haven’t felt this young in centuries.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then he aimed a serious look at Malcolm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Completely, | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Good,” Clark said with a smile. |