3. Dead Freight
Part One
Before she left for the docking bays and her new posting, Storm sat down in an airy atrium near the heart of Arcturus, bathed in artificial sunlight and studied the personnel files for her new squad.
The files gave Lieutenant Storm an unexpected but welcome surprise. One of her squad was Corporal William "Wild Bill" Carver. Fresh from his stint whipping boys and girls into fighting men and women, Carver had been posted to the Tokyo. Storm wondered if he yet knew who he'd be serving under. It'll be nice to see him again, Storm thought as she read through his file. Carver was the only touchstone that remained of her old life, before Torfan. Well, him and her Kessler. But you couldn't trade scuttlebutt with a handgun. People tended to look at you funny.
Carver's file was all comfortably familiar to her, having served with him before but she absorbed the detail because it was her job.
At thirty-one, Carver was the 'old man' of her squad and had served the Alliance since his enlistment at age eighteen. Carver was an accomplished marksman, having won several awards for his gunnery skills over the years. Proficient with all the basic weapon types utilised by Alliance soldiers, the Corporal was also the designated demolitions expert for her squad, should they encounter anything that needed to disappear in a blast of high-explosive ordnance.
The other two members of her squad were both privates, kids, really having just graduated from boot camp at Fort Bannister on Earth. First shipboard posting, she thought with a frown. She scrolled through their files and saw they were zero G certified so at least they wouldn't embarrass her in front of her new CO by puking before they got used to the Tokyo's A-grav system. She remembered her first zero G experience. Having grown up on Earth, she didn't have the benefit of living with zero G like the spacer recruits or some of the kids who came from the Colonies. Storm had blown her lunch roughly five minutes into the acclimatisation exercise.
One of the FNGs, PFC Lucy Wilde was, like the Lieutenant herself, a tech. Though Wilde's training had leaned more heavily to the technical side of combat, giving her the skills required to over-ride the IFF systems of synthetic targets such as combat drones, forcing them to turn on their allies. Wilde was also her squad's designated medic though she was also proficient with a sidearm, having racked up the second-highest gunnery score of her training unit. "Let's see how she does against targets that shoot back," Storm said aloud.
The third and final member of her squad was the surprise packet of the bunch, though she should have seen it coming: she already had a combat and tech specialist, so assigning her a biotic, a Vanguard at that, made sense. With interest, Storm read the information contained on the OSD.
PFC Daniel Saunders, eighteen, had been exposed to eezo whilst in utero - as had all human biotics, to date. He began manifesting minor biotic abilities at a young age - the file said he was levitating his teddy bear at the age of five. At sixteen, he underwent the surgery required to implant an L3 bioamp and began the training required to achieve conscious control of his abilities and to use them in combat.
The portion of the file relating to Saunders' biotics ended with a summary of his 'powers' - he was able to generate mass effect fields to throw, lift and 'warp' enemies as well as use a biotic barrier to increase his defenses. Somewhere along the line, he'd gained the ability to create a singularity - which sounded a lot like a black hole to Storm. From what little she knew of biotic soldiers, the singularity was an advanced technique that usually only Adepts could master.
"Use the Force, Luke," she intoned with a smile.
In addition to the biotics, Saunders was especially skilled in close assault tactics, preferring a shotgun in combat and had trained heavily with medium-weight hardsuits.
Finished with the personnel files, she turned her attention to her squad's equipment loadouts. And blew out an exasperated breath - what was with Procurement and Aldrin Labs? The marketing pap described Aldrin Labs hardsuits as 'the affordable alternative to more exclusive models.'
Had the nimrods in charge of securing supply contracts not worn the Onyx whilst being shot at? Clearly not. Though Storm carried little hope of success, first chance she got, she was going to speak to the Tokyo's quartermaster and acquire improved gear for her troops. If it came down to it, she'd pay for it out of her own pocket.
Storm's private dream was to own her very Armax Arsenal Predator X hardsuit. Supplied to elite turian units, Armax gear was right up there in terms of quality - and price with firms like Kassa. She sighed wistfully. One day. Collecting her duffel, the Lieutenant walked briskly to the docking bays and the first day of the rest of her life.
---
Her orders are to report immediately to the Tokyo's CO, Captain Anna Montgomery. 'Monty' to her friends and 'Iron Bitch' to most of her subordinates, Montgomery is everything the Alliance looks for in an officer - calm under pressure, doggedly steadfast, determined and true to the ideals of the Systems Alliance.
Once through the airlock and the decontamination system - the fine lemon-scented mist always makes Storm sneeze - Hayley makes a beeline for the first superior officer she sees, returning salutes from the crew as she goes.
"First Lieutenant Storm. Can you direct me to the Captain's quarters, sir?" she asks a tall man of Asian descent who bears the rank of Staff Commander.
The Commander returns her salute and replies, "Welcome aboard, Lieutenant. The Captain said to show you to her as soon as you arrived. Please follow me. Tokyo's a bigger ship on the inside than she looks and she's easy to get lost in."
"Thank you sir," Hayley replies. Getting lost on the ship en route to see her CO? Yeah, not a good look.
Commander Sumitomo isn't kidding when he says the ship's easy to get lost in. Hayley doesn't think she'll be able to find her way back on her own. Luckily, Sumitomo sees the look of concern in her eyes and uploads the floor-plans to her omni. "If you get lost, just scream. We'll find you eventually," he says with a smile and leaves her alone before Montgomery's office door.
Hayley takes a deep breath, makes sure her uniform is in order and that her blonde hair is pinned up in the regulation bun behind her head. She presses the door button and a tone sounds from the room beyond.
"Enter," a contralto voice replies and she steps across the threshold.
The Captain's office bears little in the way of ornamentation - a rug that looks handmade covering the gunmetal grey decking, a polished wooden desk with a computer and in/out trays cast in black plastic. The only other decoration is a clipper ship in a large bottle that sits on a shelf on the portside bulkhead. Hayley's always wondered how you get the ship in the bottle. Now isn't the time to ask.
Standing behind the desk is Captain Montgomery. A tall woman, she overtops Hayley's height of 175cm by at least five and appears well muscled yet feminine beneath her uniform. Her greying black hair is pulled back from her face, giving her a taut expression, as though the skin over her forehead and cheekbones is being pulled back too far.
Coming to attention, Storm salutes the captain and falls into parade rest. The captain gestures to a comfortably padded seat before her desk and Hayley sits, maintaining a straight-backed posture. The captain resumes her seat and folds her hands before her on her desk blotter.
When Montgomery speaks, her grey eyes gaze at the Lieutenant steadily. "The reason I called you in, Lieutenant..."
Óh here we go, thinks Hayley, she wants to make sure I won't snap and kill her in her sleep. She doesn't need to worry. After all, she isn't batarian.
"I've read your file, Storm and I'd like the version of events on Torfan from somebody who was actually there. Not the fantasy-land rainbow and lollipops version the politicians prefer."
"Ma'am," Storm replies carefully. Her throat's suddenly dry; Hayley doesn't want to talk about this. She's been through this already with the bespectacled counsellor back on the Sydney. Then her brother's voice whispers encouragement into her mind, Hayles, the sooner you bite the bullet, the easier it'll be for you. Sis, you're stronger than you give yourself credit for. Julian's always doing that, seeing the better parts of her and holding them up for her to see.
With a start, Hayley realises it's been close to thirty seconds and she still hasn't said anything besides "Ma'am." Montgomery looks at her expectantly but says nothing.
Inhaling sharply through her nostrils and catching the faint odour of the Captain's talcum powder, she says, "Captain, Torfan was a disaster for us from the moment we made planet-fall. It was as close to a near-total rout for our side as I've ever seen. If the batarians had held out just a little longer, pushed us just a little harder..." she trails off. When she resumes speaking, she says, "Are you familiar with Gallipoli during the First World War, Ma'am?" and she feels just a little stupid, asking her CO to take a history lesson but Montgomery merely nods.
"The British High Command made an absolute mess of the landings and the Australian and New Zealand troops died in droves because of it but they kept fighting even though the Turkish defenders were better armed. Eventually it got so that the Turks respected the Anzacs for their bravery and determination. Torfan was like that, Ma'am. Except the batarians won't be respecting us for anything. I understand we needed to stand up and bloody the noses of the big scary aliens after the Blitz but part of me wonders what we truly accomplished. If anything." Nice one, Hayles. Why don't you go on and commit high treason while you're at it?
"I'm sorry, Ma'am," she says after a second. "It isn't my place to second guess command decisions."
The Captain surprises her saying, "Actually, Lieutenant, it's a quality I look for in my officers - knowing when to question orders and call bunk on bad decisions. I trust you'll do the same to me, if it comes to that."
Hayley blinks a few times. "Yes, Ma'am. Though I doubt the Captain will give me reason to second guess her."
Montgomery smiles at this and rises from her desk. Taking this as a cue to leave, Storm also rises. The Captain shakes her hand and says, "We ship out at 0800. Get your gear squared away and take a tour of the ship. Your shipboard duties will begin tomorrow. You'll be serving under our chief Engineer, Staff Lieutenant Michaels. See him for your assignments. Welcome aboard the Tokyo, Lieutenant."
"Yes, Ma'am. Thank you, Ma'am."
---
"I heard she single-handedly killed an entire batarian squad. Bare handed," PFC Saunders told Wilde as the two of them hung out in the mess. Wilde and Saunders had come up through basic together and were close friends. Sometimes Wilde caught Saunders looking at her that way and knew he'd like to be more than friends. Sorry guy, ain't gonna happen. This girl plans to go through OCS and doesn't need no jilted ex-lover screwing her over.
"Yeah?" Wilde replied, eye brows raised. "I heard she's ten foot tall and breathes fire!" Shaking her head she opened her omni-tool's interface. "I've been working on this damn decryption algorithm for days and I still can't get it to work."
Saunders, undaunted by Wilde's attitude, pressed on, changing tack, "I saw her when she was wandering around in the drop bay, damn she's hot! I mean, her face isn't drop-dead gorgeous like a model or nothing but the way she walks? Her ass? Hooee!"
"Saunders, you make me sick sometimes, you goddamn degenerate!" Wilde broke off as booted footfalls entered the room. Wilde looked up and gasped slightly, for before them was their squad leader, whom had probably just over-heard Saunders practically drooling over her. "Ma'am!" she quickly snapped to attention and saluted.
"Oh please," the First Lieutenant began, voice dry, "Don't stop talking about me behind my back on my account."
Wilde gulped and Saunders stared down at the floor, colour rising in his cheeks. "Sorry, Ma'am," he replied in a small voice.
"PFC Saunders, while I appreciate your admiration of my physical qualities, I'd advise you to keep such things to yourself in case the Captain should over-hear you. I'd hate for somebody with a promising career to end up being drummed out for harassment. Are we clear?"
Saunders stiffened and heard his spine crackle."Ma'am! Yes, Ma'am!"
"At ease, children," Storm said and crossed to the meal dispenser on the bulkhead nearby. "What's good to eat?"
"I'd steer well clear of the lasagna, Ma'am," a deep bass spoke from behind her.
"Carver?" Storm whirled around and saw the huge man enter the room. Something in her voice made both Wilde and Saunders give both the LT and Corporal a look before they glanced at each other knowingly. The LT and the corporal? Nah. Maybe?
"The same," Carver replied. "If I may be so bold, it's damn good to see you again, Ma'am."
"And you, Corporal, and you."
Making her selection of shepherd's pie, Storm sat at the mess table and signalled her squad-mates to sit as well. Storm took a bite of the pie and grimaced. "The hell? I thought this was shepherd's pie?"
"Well, there's shepherd's pie and there's the Tokyo'sversion of shepherd's pie," Saunders said cheerfully, struggling mightily to keep his gaze off the LT's chestal area. "And the two ain't really the same thing."
"I didn't think it was possible to miss Arcturus' food but I think I am."
"So, LT," Saunders began and Wilde could tell, even before he said it that he was going to bring up Torfan. Don't do it, you moron, just don't.
"What was it like on Torfan? Ow!" he whined as Wilde kicked him in the ankle, hard.
Storm leaned forward, eyes boring into Saunders' "It was hell, Private. That's a word that gets thrown around a lot these days but as far as Torfan goes, it fully applies. And before when you mentioned me killing a squad bare-handed? It was actually a combination of tech mines, my sidearm and a combat talon. That being said, I'll thank you never to mention that particular chapter of our race's proud history again while in my presence," she said, voice dropping to a whisper and forcing them all to lean in to hear her.
Saunders looked away from the LT's flat gaze with an inward shudder. I don't want to see her when she's really upset he told himself. "Yes, Ma'am," he replied lamely.
Leaning back in her seat, Storm pushed the plate of faux shepherd's pie away and wasn't a bit surprised when Carver slid it in front of himself and hoed into it with gusto
"You really have no functional taste buds at all, do you, Bill?" she asked. Turning to Wilde, she said, "You mentioned a decryption protocol, Wilde?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"May I?" Storm held out her left hand, palm up.
Wilde passed an OSD to her squad leader and came around to her side of the table to see what she'd do with it. "Try it now," Storm said after tapping a string of code into her omni-tool.
Taking back the OSD, Wilde ran the protocol and saw it worked perfectly. "How did you..?"
"Don't rely too heavily on standard Alliance decryption algorithms. I pulled that from the 'net, reverse engineered some hacker's coding."
"Thanks, Ma'am," Wilde answered, shutting down the omni-tool.
"Well boys and girls, I'd love to stay and chat but I think I'll catch some rack time," the Lieutenant said and left. Carver and Wilde nodded as she walked out of the mess. Saunders eyed the roll and sway of her hips with a slight smile. Wilde caught him looking and punched him in the shoulder.
---
The first several months of life aboard the Tokyo are perfectly routine. Tokyo's patrol route takes it past a number of stable human-settled worlds such as Eden Prime as well as through the livelier areas of Citadel space like the Attican Traverse. On more than one occasion, Tokyo encounters pirate or mercenary vessels whose crews don't have the sense to flee an Alliance cruiser.
On the first such incident, Storm is finishing up a diagnostics pattern on a sensor display in the CIC when the operator beside her says, "Contact! Bearing 0923, distance twenty-five thousands klicks." After a flutter inputs, the operator continues, "Modified Kowloon-class freighter mounting a pair of disruptor torpedo launchers. She's turning about, sir!" he informs Commander Sumitomo, who has the deck at the moment. Hayley steps to one side to observe the engagement unfold.
"They're actually trying to line up a shot? On a cruiser?" Sumitomo sounds amused. Then his tone is all business as he barks orders. "Weapons, give me a firing solution, helm, turn us about to minimise our targeting profile."
The orders are acknowledged and Hayley feels the ship move beneath her as the helmsman brings the bow of the cruiser around to avoid taking a shot to the flank.
"Firing solution acquired!" the weapons officer reports, her voice betraying her excitement. It's her first assignment since graduating and she's about to have her live-fire cherry popped.
Sumitomo nods once and says, "Fire at will."
A gentle touch of fingertips on the holographic interface before her and Serviceman First Class Banks pulls the trigger, unleashing a hyper-velocity round from Tokyo's main gun. Within moments, the shot hits home, punching through the modified freighter.
When she speaks again, Banks' tone is subdued. A touch of a lighted panel and she's killed a shipful of people. True, they weren't good guys and would have died pretty much instantly but still...they probably had families, kids..."Kill confirmed," she reports, voice leaden.
"Well done people, stand down."
As she leaves the CIC to return to engineering, Hayley passes by the weapons officer, gives her a brief squeeze on her shoulder as she goes. Banks nods gratefully. For a jarhead, the new LT isn't a bad sort, she decides.
---
In the cruiser's well equipped gymnasium, Storm pounded along on a treadmill, the holodisplay before her unspooling a path through a rain forest. The illusion's all but perfect and, if not for the earphones piping jazz, Storm would be able to hear bird-calls and the rustling of leaves as she ran through the 'forest.'
Though Storm was in better condition since before Arcturus, after a while a stitch settled into her left side and she tapped the controls on the treadmill, gearing down from a run to a fast walk. Beside her, a large form began to pound along, mouth set in a grim line. Storm turned to see Carver and nodded a greeting.
He and Storm had been spending a lot of time together since fate again threw them together. The Lieutenant and the Corporal. The PFC and the PFC. Like a pair of odd couples. Part of her knew that the Corporal bore more than a fondness for her and she was always careful not to lead him on in any way. She liked him, yes. Admired him, yes but it would be an abuse of her position as a commissioned officer to pursue any kind of liaison with one of her soldiers. Still, she'd catch him coming out of the locker room on occasion and wonder what his skin would feel like if she were to run her hands over it. Don't you even go there you idiot! she berated herself.
Then there was Saunders who was obviously infatuated with Wilde who was either completely oblivious to it or just acted like she was. Sometimes, the tension between them was palpable. On more than one occasion, Storm had to fight down an urge to scream, "Just sleep together and have done with it!" After all, neither of them were officers, they were both the same age and it wasn't like there were no lights out shenanigans going on between members of the other squads aboard.
Finished with her workout, Storm stepped off the treadmill and shut down the forest scenery. As she turned to leave the gym, towel around her shoulders, Carver said, "Ma'am?"
And she could hear the change in his voice. Oh Bill, no.
"Corporal?" she replied, all formal. Too late.
"I was wondering if you'd care for a drink next time we get leave?"
And there it was. Storm tried mightily but could not remember the last time she'd been on a date. Much less the last time she'd enjoyed intimacies with a man.
Storm wiped her forehead with the end of her towel, trying to buy herself more time. "Corporal, just so we're clear, any drinks I may or may not let you buy for me are strictly between two soldiers who've seen some shit together and enjoy a mutual respect and admiration. Is that going to be a problem?" she said and regretted the edge to her words and the slight wince that passed across his face. If she hadn't known him so well, she'd not have seen it at all.
"Yes Ma'am," he replied neutrally.
"I'm sorry, Bill," she said, gently.
"No Ma'am. It's all right. But I'd never forgive myself for not at least having the guts to try. You know?"
"Yeah. I know." and just like that, it's fine between them again. "Come on," she said, "I hear the XO's setting up another poker game tonight. Want to help me clean him out?"
Carver smiled and nodded.
---
The ship floating in space was derelict, drive flare long since extinguished and the Tokyo's scanners almost didn't pick it up. But a sharp-eyed sensor operator increased magnification and saw the Kowloon class ship with the words Sarah's Pride on the side drifting aimlessly through a little nothing of a system near the Perseus Veil.
Privately, the Veil gave Serviceman Second Class Scott the heebie-jeebies. Everybody knew that, after forcing the quarians to flee their own planet, the geth had retreated beyond the Veil and, to the best of anyone's knowledge they hadn't been heard from since. But occasionally, freighters would turn up floating dead in space with nobody at all aboard and he'd wonder...
"Captain," he called out to the Iron Bitch, in her seat in the centre of the CIC.
"What do you have, Mister Scott?" she spoke in clipped tones.
"There's a freighter here, Kowloon class. No energy signature or emissions of any kind."
"Put it on screen," the Iron Bitch ordered and on the holoscreen, an enlarged image of Sarah's Pride appeared. Silently the Captain, along with the rest of the CIC staff contemplated it.
"What do you think, Commander?" Montgomery asked her XO.
"The life support system's probably offline and has been for a while," Sumitomo replied, rubbing a hand along his clean-shaven jaw. "Still, protocol is clear."
"Agreed." The Captain addressed the crew through the PA system, "First Lieutenant Storm report to the CIC. That is all."
Storm looked up from the vid-recorder as the Captain called her. She'd been in the midst of composing a message to home. "Ah geeze. Mum, Dad, I gotta go save the world. Say hi to Gran for me. Love you," she said cheerfully and shut off the holo-recorder. She smiled in amusement at the thought of the Captain's address making it into the audio file. They'd be talking about that for days.
Pausing only to stow the vidplayer in her footlocker, Storm left the junior officers' quarters. As she went, First Lieutenant Baxter called out, "Hey, don't forget you owe me that thousand credits from our poker game!"
"Don't remind me," she grumbled. She was terrible at bluffing. Her right eye would begin twitching uncontrollably whenever she had a bad hand.
"First Lieutenant Storm, reporting as ordered, Captain!" she announced as she stepped into the CIC. Immediately she saw the image still onscreen - Sarah's Pride floating dead in space.
"Storm. I want you and your squad to suit up and board the freighter here," Montgomery nodded to the display. "Check for survivors. Otherwise, download the logs and report back. Dismissed"
Storm snapped off a salute and replied, "Aye aye."
As she wheeled around to leave, Montgomery said, "Helm, bring us in to dock with the freighter."
"Aye."
She found Saunders and Wilde, inseparable as always in the drop bay, playing a game of one on one basketball. Saunders was taller and had better reach but Wilde was faster on her feet and had breasts. It wasn't really fair of her to wear those tight tank tops, Storm thought with a smile as Wilde darted around Saunders and drove to the basket. The ball left her hand and sailed through the net with a whisk sound.
"She shoots, she scores and it's goood!" Wilde called out.
"Saunders, Wilde. Suit up and report to the airlock in ten. We're up," Storm called out. The Marines nodded and left to gear up. Storm removed her comm unit and keyed Carver. "Carver."
"LT?"
"Montgomery wants us to board and investigate a freighter that's turned up. Suit and up and report to the airlock."
"Ma'am," he replied and they clicked off.
Aside from the regular drills, Storm hadn't seen action since a short skirmish three months earlier when her unit and two other squads had been dropped onto an asteroid and tasked with eliminating the pirate outpost Intelligence had said was there. To everybody's surprise, Intel had actually been on the ball for a change.
Now, Storm keyed open her locker and removed her Mantis suit. Quickly stripping off her fatigues, she sealed the hardsuit around her and donned the helmet. The diagnostics reported she had full suit integrity and her O2 supplies were at one hundred percent. She clipped her heavily modified Kessler to her hip, eschewing the sniper rifle entirely. Too cramped aboard a freighter to be of any use.
On her way to the airlock on the main deck, Storm activated her omni-tool, keying up the schematics of a Kowloon-class vessel and beamed them to her squad mates.
By the time she arrived, the other three Marines were ready to go, imposing in their armour. Despite her best efforts, Storm hadn't been able to get the quartermaster to budge on her squad's loadouts. She had even briefly considered employing her long-unused feminine charms in the hopes the man would think with his dick long enough for her to get her way but decided not to lower herself to that level.
Instead she had made good use of the fabricator unit in the Tokyo's drop bay and manufactured the best upgrades for her squad that she could. Energised plating and medical computers all around. Saunders had looked at her like she was a goddess come from heaven.
"All right, people. This one's by the numbers. You all have the schematics uploaded to your computers so try not to get lost. Our orders are to locate survivors and secure the system logs."
"Aye aye," her team replied.
A/N Originally, this was meant to be one whole chapter but I felt it was too long to post all at once so I pulled a Tarantino and will publish the second part soon.