Melodrama, even if it's justified, really gets on my nerves. It used to drive me crazy listening to Ho constantly trying to embellish every detail of mundane life - rain, getting a meal, anything - with as much drama as possible. This Ebon was on my nerves and while he was panicking, we were apparently slipping into Mort's gravity well. I had to hand it to Bayer for picking his SLA targets -this was one way of blacking one of SLA's eyes that not even Third Eye could put a good spin on. I wondered if he wanted to drop the ship on anywhere in particular and decided it was best not to think about. There was not telling how big of a crater this thing would make when it hit, but it would sure wipe out a big chunk of real estate.
"Alright, it's losing its orbit," I started and the Ebon turned on me with what was probably anger.
"SHE is losing HER orbit! The Mariella is a SHE NOT AN IT!" he yelled, putting stress on the 'she' like the ship was a living thing.
He was terrified and I considered smacking him like they do in the movies, but didn't think it would help. It surprised the hell out of me when Gael stepped up and did just that, backhanding him hard enough that his head snapped to the side and then yelling at him in another language that I'd never heard before. It sounded pretty harsh and the barrage lasted probably a full two minutes, but brought him in line. Afterwards, he looked at me with watery eyes and wiped at his mouth with the cuff of his sleeve.
"Okay, okay," he started, still trying to gather his thoughts. "I'll find out what's happening."
The Ebon opened his oyster and readjusted his hands-off mike, which reminded me that I still had the DN set with me. Carefully fishing it out, I saw that somehow it had survived my slapstick routine on the tarmac on Mort. I fitted the earpiece into my opposite ear and for a few moments, all I got was static. After a few adjustments and walking around the bay, it picked up a faint conversation.
"-don't care what you think. Stop him anyway you can!"
"Sir, I'm not sure that-" came another voice, with far less confidence.
"DO IT, PRIVATE!"
"Yes sir," the second voice came back. They were definitely having problems and I figured that one of the vets was about to improvise.
A blast of sharp static stabbed my ear and I thought I had lost the connection, but realized that was the sound of weapons fire at close range. What was probably a wicked grin crept across my face as I listened further, straining to pick up the details. While the rest of the squad was talking, I cupped my hand over my ear and turned away to concentrate. When Angus noticed, he cocked his head and followed me, making me feet a little like the Ebon earlier.
"FUCK! Carson!" came the first voice again. That had to be Bayer, but I honestly couldn't remember his voice to save my life. Whoever he was, he was in charge and having even a worse day than I was. Glad to know that it was catching.
"Enroute and ETA five minutes. We'll take 'em down." came a third voice.
"Keep me updated."
"Yes sir, Red Two out."
My grin widened. It didn't sound like they knew we were here and I had learned a lot in just a few seconds. They were setup up in military units with a private who had just been spammed and a hardass-wannabe named Carson on "Red Team Two."
When I turned back to the others, I saw that the squad's conversation had ended and everyone was staring at me. My grin sagged and I felt my face flush. Self-consciously, I tucked the DN headset back into my raincoat and forced a smile.
"What is it?" Gael asked. I had a hard time not smiling when she spoke, and my forced smile grew a little.
"I just picked up something on this Dark Night mike and it looks like one of their vets has turned on them. What does he know?" I asked, motioning to the Ebon.
"My name is Theopolus and I'm the assistant to Navigator Prime," he said proudly. Being a stupid human with no idea what that meant, I shrugged and held out my hand.
"Alex Cole. Nice to meet you but let's dispense with the pleasantries," I answered, changing my tone. "What can you tell us?"
He looked at my hand like I was offering a case of leprosy and took in a breath before speaking. I guess Gael bitch-slapping him probably insulted what manhood he thought he had and it made him feel macho to be rude to the human. I lowered my hand and checked my Blitzer instead.
"Navigator Prime has lost communication to Propulsion and none of the crew in the aft section are responding to her hails. Her internal senses detect movement, but most of the higher faculties are inoperable."
"Internal senses? Is this 'navigator prime' the ship or a person?"
"Both, in a manner of speaking. The Navigator Prime is a Necanthrope whose consciousness is linked to the Mariella."
I didn't see how this was relevant and it must have shown on my face. Blame me for being ignorant of the Ebb, but I didn't think I needed a Dark Lament lesson right now.
"Like a deathsuit," Gael said and I nodded. That made a bit more sense to me, but I still wasn't seeing where this was going. I just wanted to know where Bayer's teams were so we could stop them as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the Ebon continued with his lecture.
"A linked Navigator can access the ship's internal functions like those of her own, including senses and security measures. The difficulties just began and she is completely blind from midsection to aft."
"Was a major conduit cut or something?" McNeil's voice asked from behind me.
"Some injury has occurred but nothing appears to have been 'cut'," he said with an increasingly condescending tone. "Something has anesthetized those areas, cutting her control from engineering and security."
"What could do that?" Angus asked and the Ebon answered without looking. He was obviously uncomfortable speaking with non-Ebons.
"I don't know how it was accomplished," he said more to me than the Frother. "The 'numbness' has to be undone for Navigator Prime to restore the propulsion and restore orbit."
"So spikey, where do we have to go to do this?" McNeil asked, stepping in closer and shouldering past me. There was a low rumbling from Obie and he flinched, and then stepped to the side. I would have growled, but the 714 beat me to it.
"The most likely point is the Central Control Nexus," Theopolus continued. "From there, I can ascertain precisely what has occurred."
"Why hasn't someone checked it out already?" McNeil asked again. From the set of the Ebon's jaw, it looked like jackass was annoying him too but he was only getting started. "Are you Pasties lazy or just cowards?"
I heard a Shiver call an Ebon a "Pasty" (or maybe a "Pastry" given their diets) once in passing, but it's not something I've heard since. The intent more than the stupid term sets them off, sort of like calling Obie vat-crap or K'rth a hiss and leads to a good ass kicking. Too bad the Ebon wasn't up to it, but his voice spiked slightly in response and he continued speaking without looking at anyone in particular. I wondered if McNeil could be any more of a poor example of humanity and that led me to ask what he really thought about Casper. After all, Brain Wasters and Ebons are of the same stock.
"Others have been dispatched, but they have not responded to Navigator Prime 's hails."
"Can you take us there?" I asked, stepping directly in front of McNeil. The Ebon met my eyes and nodded.
"Yes."
"Okay, let's divide up again," I said and looked at the squad. "Half towards the front of the ship-"
"It's called the bow," Theopolus corrected. I gave him a dirty look and kept talking.
"-and the rest of us towards the Control Nexus. Gael, take Angus, Casper, and McNeil and get to the Navigator. Theopolus is going to take everyone else towards the Control Nexus."
"Are you sure we should divide up?" Angus asked again, seeming a bit worried. There was no doubt that we needed to divide up and we needed his hand-to-hand skills to protect the Navigator.
"The Navigator would be a primary target if I were attacking this craft," K' rth answered for me. "I must assume that the Dark Night cell would do the same along with attacking anterior control sections. That would give them full control, wouldn't it?"
The Ebon nodded, so I spoke up as we started towards the corridor. "Keep in contact and once we secure the two areas, we can hunt for them. Any questions?"
"Yeah, why exactly should I listen to you anyway?"
That was McNeil again and I let my breath out slowly. I was so damn tired of him and his attitude. With the damn ship in a deteriorating orbit, he wanted to play king of the hill.
"Koz I sezso," Obie growled and that headed off any objections. Even if McNeil wasn't willing to take orders from me, he knew that the Chagrin would happily dismantle him if given a chance. I needed to lay out the law now before things got hairy.
"You either take orders or you're off the squad right now," I said, looking McNeil in the eyes and he just laughed. "What's your decision?" I asked, but he shook his head. His face was flushed slightly and I could feel Casper glaring at me.
"WHAT IS YOUR DECISION, MCNEIL?" I asked again, stepping up to him. No one moved until Casper punched him in the arm and he nodded, raising his hands.
"Okay, I'm in. You're in charge," he mumbled as one sentence. He still wasn' t looking me in the eyes and I couldn't read him, beyond knowing that he wasn't happy about being called in front of everyone. He'd either play by my rules or find another game.
"Understand this, asshole," I said. "If you get in my way or prevent us from doing our job, I'll drop you here and now."
He met my eyes and nodded, but his face was blank. If I had any doubt about him before, it was gone. I'd have to watch my back for the duration until we were on Mort again and I could put him into a gutter. That was when Gael stepped up and intervened, squeezing my arm and strong-arming him backwards.
"We're running out of time and need to move," she said, her face far softer than her voice.
After Theopolus gave her directions, Gael led her group into the corridor and I caught her eyes as she looked back. She was so damn beautiful that I wanted to kick myself - I never even got to kiss her.
"Man, this job can be such a bitch, " I said as the four of us followed the Ebon away into blue mist and the pulsating hall.
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