He had just typed the last sentence, describing the taking of the Relentless when the chime on his door rang.
“Open.” He glanced up at the silhouette found in the doorway, hands clasped behind its back. He knew from her stance it was his administrative assistant, Yeoman Lucia. The dark-haired woman stepped into his quarters and stood to attention, waiting for him to further acknowledge her. Her blue and black dress uniform revealed no blemishes, nor a crease out of place. Most of the crew typically wore fatigues, consisting of a grey tee and black cargoes, but Tallin preferred to have his yeoman in a dress uniform.
His critical eye brushed over her a moment; her shoulder length hair was pulled back in a regulation ponytail and her shoes and belt buckle shone immaculately. His yeoman was a perfect example of efficiency and regulation: the very reason he preferred a vat in the role.
“Something to report?” he asked.
“Tech Officer Bowden requests that you meet him on the bridge. He says he has found something to show you.”
It must be something Bowden wanted to keep off the transcom, Tallin thought. “Very well. Come along, yeoman,” he said.
“Yes, sir.” She had to walk fast to keep up with the captain’s long legs, but he did not care to slow down for her.
Together they made their way to the lift and took it up to the bridge. Generally, they spent little time in idle small talk; Tallin couldn’t see the need. All vats were programmed the same. All had the fierce loyalty and desire to fulfill the objectives of their officers. They were a means to an end. Lose ten, and the ACAS would send you ten more just like them. They would never be as resourceful or creative as a nat, so Tallin spent little time getting to know them on a personal level.
After taking the Relentless, the Phobos had broken down on their way back from the Border. Bowden, the tech officer, had been on base at training, forcing the ship to use a tech service on Omicron to get it back up and running. They’d returned to base and now Bowden was supervising the team checking the ship’s main computer for problems.
A separate crew was also combing the Relentless for data. Whatever they found would be used against the criminals in court. Tallin took a dim view of salvaging without a license. Those who did it deserved to be prosecuted to the fullest, in his opinion.
The lift door opened, admitting the captain and his yeoman to the bridge.
Bowden was jacked into the computer, his eyes unfocused as he used a hand to flip through information being fed to him via the node behind his ear.
Tallin tapped the man on the shoulder.
The tecker quickly disengaged from the computer and turned to them, seeing Tallin. “Yes, sir.”
“What have you found, Ensign Bowden?”
“Sir, there has been a security breach.”
Tallin narrowed his eyes. “Explain.”
Bowden pulled up a display of data on a nearby screen. “The Phobos was hacked while docked at Omicron. This is the date and time,” he pointed it out on the screen. “I’ve pulled up the security feed for both the bridge and the auxiliary computer room, and I was about to review it.”
“Do it,” Tallin rumbled. Several of the crew, busy with other tasks, looked up nervously at his words, then their gazes skittered away. They were familiar with the sound of Tallin’s displeasure and no one wanted to be the focus of the brutal commander’s attention. Tallin thrived on intimidation.
“Yes, sir.”
The three of them looked on as the security feed of the bridge played out on the small monitor. There was nothing unusual there. But the auxiliary computer room footage showed something interesting. “This one,” Bowden said, pointing at the screen. “He has to be the one that hacked the system.” The dark-haired man in the video footage was obviously jacked into the computer network and working his way through data, his hands flicking as he selected, moved, and deselected items. “He’s wearing the uniform for the support company that checked our computer systems on the station.”
“I want to know what data he stole and who this man is.”
“I’m already working on that, sir,” Bowden replied.
“Send me the data as soon as it’s done,” Tallin said as he stalked off the bridge without waiting for an answer, his yeoman at his heels.
“What did you find out from LanTech?” Beryl asked as she entered the common area and saw Tyce was back. He held up a hand to stall her and turned up the newsfeed.
Both knew that the Coalition skewed the newsfeeds their way. Filtering through the bi-horn shit with that in mind made it possible to get an idea of what was really going on in the Edge and the Inner Spiral.
The vid was from an ACAS ship, fighting it out with a heavily armed freighter.
“…The pirate ship was eventually disabled and boarded by ACAS soldiers,” the female announcer was saying. “After a firefight inside the ship, the ACAS forces subdued the crew, which was made up of vats and Al-Kimians. As you may remember, twenty-three years ago, Al-Kimia was a republic of five planets. There was a border skirmish over Shalia, a water world, and the Al-Kimians withdrew. Since then, tensions have cooled. Al-Kimia has been offered Coalition membership numerous times, but each time they have voted against it.
“Up until now, these attacks have been thought of as the actions of splinter groups, but now the situation looks grave. Some representatives are uncomfortable with vat soldiers being involved and have started calling into question the policy of releasing the lab-grown recruits after they have served their seven years of indenture. More on this later in the opinion segment of our feedcast…”
Indenture. It was the politically correct term for a vat’s forced servitude. They should call it what it is, Tyce thought bitterly: slavery.
Ty turned the feed off as Beryl came and sat down across from him. “I patched up so many vats during my years in the service. I always had a problem with how ACAS treats them,” she said. “Letting them out after seven years barely made it tolerable. What are they suggesting? Forcing them to stay indefinitely? It’s wrong.”
Ty looked down at his hands, knowing they both were thinking of the Ivor Nash problem.
“If ACAS has fixed the programming thing, staying in service might give vats a structure they’re familiar with. Not all of them do as well as Hal when they get out,” he said, but they were hollow words that he didn’t believe.
“Not all of them have someone like you,” Beryl replied.
Ty sighed. There was nothing they could do about any of it. Talking about it would only make him feel worse, so he just shrugged.
“Find anything out today at LanTech?” she asked.
He let his thoughts angle back to the problem at hand. “Yeah, LanTech has no permits available yet. Apparently, something’s happened that slowed the whole process to a halt.”
“Did they say what it was?”
“No. I even asked Cherise,” he said, referring to LanTech’s dispatcher. “Because we have a good record, she said as soon as we have our details, we’d get okayed. It would just take an extra day or so. Where’s Hal and Vivi?”
“Haven’t seen them since after lunch,” Beryl said
“Runa, locate Hal and Vivi.”
Hal and Vivi have gone to meet Astin Fortenot.
“Locate their handhelds, Runa,” Ty said, knowing it was the easiest way of tracking them.