The Black

Commodore Gregory Burgoyne and his fleet had been in sub-light for over a 4weeks now. Those weeks had been in lightening as the GHO station he had been escorting had carried its own share of surprises. The station had almost every species in the galaxy as an occupant. The being in command could have stepped into the jungles of Earth’s Cretaceous period without being out of place. Ami, as she insisted on being called, proved to be a wealth of information and had given his crew some much-needed R&R while they waited for a GHO-marked Escort. This was apparently rare. The GHO had very few armed ‘void ships’, and mostly used The Unity’s navy for protection. The UGN was in a bit of turmoil, at the moment, with the Tetrarchy acting directly for the first time in living memory; the Grand Admiral, and his inner council had been summarily replaced as well as a staggering number of crews from several entire battlefleets.

Sadly, this meant that they had another two weeks to wait. Burgoyne’s ships were only capable of Slip jumps; while the GHO station had a subspace drive. That was until one of the LEAP engineers had taken a look at the station’s drive and had a terrifyingly brilliant idea. This idea was what brought him to the Coordinator’s Office.

“Ah! Gregory, I was told you were coming.” The now familiar rumbling soprano rang out from the cavernous office that was required for a being of her size and length. She stood from her seating behind the large desk and lumbered over to shake his hand. He smiled at the gesture.

“Ami, thank you for seeing me on such short notice. Yes, I may have a solution to our current Dilemma. But first I need to ask you some questions about your station.” he asked carefully. “Specifically, I need to know if It could handle being towed at Superluminal velocities.”

“Oh? It has been done in the past, it is not normally recommended to be done often. What do you have planned” her eyes narrowed.

“One of our engineers on Tours believes we can get your station into a slip-jump…” Gregory responded simply. “We would need you to completely sync your computers with ours, and surrender control of your vessel for the duration of the jump, but we think it can be done.”

Ami’s eyes widened at both the implication, and the request. “I have two questions. I need you to define ‘surrender control’ first.” She said very carefully, “Forgive me, I know that you saved us and this station; but you ask much when we know so little of you.”

Gregory raised one hand in a placating gesture, “You need not apologize, I know what I ask. In short. You would give us control of propulsion, and navigation. This will be a delicately calculated maneuver, and we would be folding your station into the data link system that we use for fleet jumps. I would be happy to have a small command staff, myself included, perform the jump from your station’s command deck; and we would be working with your engineers closely for calculations and preparations. Quite frankly, this either works or we all end up as space dust, but I do not like the idea of floating around out here waiting to get attacked again.”

“No, you are quite right about the risk we incur by remaining stuck here.” She reached for the com button on her desk, “Ji’ril,” she said.

“Ji’ril here, what can I do for you Coordinator.” Came a voice back.

“I’m authorizing a Joint procedure with the Humans. Contact their chief engineer” she looked a question to the Commodore.

“Derek Anderson.” Gregory said simply.

“Derek Anderson. Tell him we are on board and ready to get started as soon as possible, Ami out” she closed the connection. And returned her gaze to the commodore. “Now, I need to know how this is going to happen, in broad strokes at least”

“It’s a simple concept, with the execution being difficult. Simply put, without going into classified tech, our slip drives have two components to them. One is our propulsion on slip space, the other allows us to control the mass of our starships. It’s relatively new tech, within the last 50 of our years, but it exerts a field around the starship it is installed in, reducing its mass to near 20 percent of the original. This allows for a quick acceleration to jump velocities. We call it the Higgs Bosun field, simply the ‘Higgs field’. If we mag clamp all of my ships around the circumference of your station, we may be able to sync our drives to accelerate the station to the required velocities. We think, if you shut down to critical systems, and shunt all the extra power into your subspace drive, we may be able to use its field as a foundation link and stretch our Higgs fields around your station. If it works, we can go anywhere in this sector within about a day. We could probably reach Delmar in two.”

“Ancestors…. How!” Ami’s eyes were wide with confusion and surprise.

“I guess we have been talking about the rest of the galaxy more than you have been asking us about humanity. If you were to jump for Sol using your subspace drive. It would take you 20 ish years at maximum velocity. We made it to you in a week under 5 months. Furthermore, my flagship Tours generates enough power to run everything on your station somewhere between 7 and 10 times over, while still powering her own systems. It’s the reason we chose not to just install a spare slip drive on your station. The power required to jump would blow your entire grid.” The Commodore explained to ever more shocked Saurian.

“I see, I look forward to the updates.” she said as they both stood.

“Before I forget, I brought you a file. Your species closely resembles an extinct form of life our Terra produced pre-Human evolution. We piece together a few examples of what we think they looked like over the years. I thought you might find it interesting.” Gregory set a human data stick on her desk.

“Thank you, I look forward to browsing through it.” She said as they shook hands. The commodore made a small, tilted head bow that was a human approximation of a Saurian formal mannerism and left.

——————————————————————

Her doorbell rang, and Marge stood from her ‘couch’. She had not left her quarters since Traveler’s desperate sprint for home. She didn’t know what day it was; she didn’t know what time it was. She was losing weight quickly, barely able to eat. All she knew was that her last son was gone. Her husband had died from an offloading accident two seasons ago on another ship. Delmar women could not choose a mate a second time, not that Marge ever wanted another, as a rule. The bonding process was too complete. Brayton was the last child she would have, and he was gone. She opened the door and was immediately pounced on by a concerned Lyrian who wrapped her up in a full body and tail hug as Mac slowly walked into the house behind her.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. We should have been there...” Lyrian gently sobbed into Marge’s shoulder as her own tears broke free once more.

She leaned into the embrace, wrapping her own tail around Lyrian. This was not a Delmar way to show affection at all, but Marge had come to understand Mac’s Human mannerisms of affection and support. She melted into Lyrians arms for a moment and let herself be comforted.

“It’s ok, you were following orders.” she said finally. “I’m sorry I was not at the house for the mingling party. I just couldn’t….”

“It’s ok. It gave us time” Mac said.

“Time?” Marge pulled away from the hug as Lyrian drew her into the living room.

“Sit,” the much younger woman said as they all sat on the L shaped piece of furniture. Marge was on one side, Max and Lyrian on the other.

“The party was to introduce my Human friends and family to my Delmar family” Mac started, “but it was for more.”

“We wanted to wait until we knew for sure. Marge, we are having twins,” Marge’s face drew a shocked expression, but Lyrian continued, “Mac said that it gave us time because… Da’ confirmed it this morning. It’s a boy and a girl. We decided together, we would like our little boy to carry your son’s name.”

Marge broke down into sobs. Giving a child the name of a family member or friend was sacred in Delmar culture, more so it was a way of binding two family groups that shared no direct blood. Marge had married into Tribe Helyon, outside of her children. She had no Ken near her. Because of her status as a widow, doing this meant that Mac and Lyrian had just named her and her offspring as equal to direct blood family.

Lyrian surged across the gap and wrapped her into another embrace, gently cooing soothingly to her. “It’s too soon, I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize” Marge said finally Wiped her tears and looking at the to, “I am honored you would call me blood…I accept”.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

It was early afternoon when Clint stepped into the Hall of the of the Vacuum Exposure ward; only to be greeted by a wave from Frie and a smile from Hera’ who was in a Delmar floating version of a wheelchair, “We’re going to the roof!!” Frie proclaimed.

“I see” Clint smiled back, “I brought food, I Hijacked my brother’s grill after I tried what you call Hospital food. We are feasting for dinner!” He raised a small box with a handle.

“It’s a little early don’t you think?” Hera eyed the strange container.

“We will make a cookout of it.” Clint chuckled and followed the girls into the lift. Soon they exited into half covered pavilion at the top of the Hospital. The Hospital comprised multiple stories that stretched well into the upper canopy, being attached to the parent tree at several points along the way. Streaks of unobstructed sunlight blazed through, and the Auburn and Silver Foliage was punctuated by highlights of blue sky peaking through the edges and openings in the sea of leaves.

Frie settled Hera into a spot next to a table overlooking the Jungle. Hera was taking in the outdoors for the first time in weeks and Frie was watching her sister perk up from the galactically universal stuffiness of Hospital ward rooms. She turned just in time for Her to catch Clint gawking at the view.

Clint had spent much of his time in orbit, or in conference with the Confederation council with Admiral Gwen. He had not had a chance to see the Jungle this way yet.

“What do you think?” she asked, startling Clint from his stupor.

“Chan eil faclan agam (I have no words)” Clint responded bare’ above a whisper, “I mean... I, I’m speechless”

“Do what now?” Hera asked, “What was that first part.”

“The old tongue” Clint responded. “Anway, this is your afternoon, How are you feeling.” He asked sitting down on the bench next to Hera with Frie perched on the other side of her sister.

“Sore, but I needed this. What’s this dinner you speak of. It’s early, but I haven’t been eating. The food here is terrifyingly bad.”

“Cheeseburgers, I even found a lettuce and a Tomato substitute.” Clint set the strange box in his lap and opened it to reveal three chilled patties of ground meat and accompanying bread, and condiments. He took them all out before flipping the lid over entirely revealing four pads.

“Let’s let the Patties warm naturally for a moment, I didn’t cook them fully so that I could have them hot for us when I got here.” Clint mused. Looking over at the scene before him again.

“How are you going to heat them.” Hera asked.

“Humans have always had handheld ‘coolers’ or ‘ice chests’ of some kind. When we learned to be really really good at making and storing power; we figured out how to put heating elements and cooling elements into our portable food storage.” He said, pointing to the four circles, “Those are four cooking surfaces,” He pulled a hidden tray out of the bottom of the ‘ice chest’ and placed it on top of the elements. “It’s conductive, those four will heat the pan, the pan will finish cooking the burgers. They already have all of their smoke and flavoring from Mac’s grill, they just need a little finish to them.”

“I want one.. This isn’t one of those classified thingies now is it.” Hera waggled a finger at him.

Clint just chuckled, “Not classified, I’m guessing that Delmar will start producing all sorts of stuff like this if the brothers Grem have anything to say about it.”

“Why do you and Mac call them that.” Frie asked.

“Their last name is very close to a pair of brothers who helped create what are now very old Human children’s tales. The look on their face when Mac Gave them a book on the subject, was priceless.” Clint spun when he heard a pair of familiar chuckles.

“It took quite a while to get those translated into Common.” Mac said walking up arm in arm with Lyrian.

“You too!?!” Clint pouted looking at Lyrian, “He taught you that hunters walk of his didn’t he.”

“Not tellin.’” She said letting go of Mac and pantomiming a cartoon tip-toe sneaking motion before pouncing on Frie with a “HA!”

“Hey! Come here you!!” Frie shouted before chasing her childhood friend around the table once before they both settled down on the benches again.

“You and your Human freaky speed…” Huffed Frie as Mac pulled a round of Beers out of his backpack and handed them out to everyone but Hera. He handed her a Soda since she was still on medication to help with her recovery and prevent infection.

“Thanks, it sucks having to heal the slow way” She pouted, “How are we going to open these things anyway.”

Mac and Clint shared a toothy grin before Mac tucked the lip of his bottle cap under his Dura steel ring with tungsten inlays and flicked. Clint hooked the cap on the lip of the table and slammed his palm into it before taking a tug. Mac handed the open bottle to Lyri and opened the bottle she traded him for.

“So that’s why you were insistent on a durable ring.” Lyri giggled, Mac just shrugged.

Clint Opened both Frie and Hera’s drinks before they all settled in. “We didn’t know you were coming, or I would have made more paddies.”

“Nah, we already ate. We heard last minute that Hera was good for a small jailbreak and decided to drop by.” Lyri responded.

“Its nice to be out… I thought I would never see any of this again.” Hera turned and looked out over the Jungle again. “So many didn’t…”

“Hey,” She jumped at Clint's forceful tone, whipping her head around to get locked in his gaze, “Don’t... It will eat you until you go mad or take your own life…”

“How... But they are dead and I’m alive. I should be wi..” She was interrupted by Clint's tone again.

“No… Live the rest of your life in their memory if you feel you must, but never believe you were supposed to join them… It’s too dangerous... It only leads to….” Clint's eyes fell, staring down at his drink.

“I went through what you are going through after Mac and I survived the war... Mac found me in my apartment with an empty bottle of rotgut whiskey in one hand and a loaded pistol in the other” Clint shook himself before continuing, “It’s not worth it” he said finally.

Mac just bowed his head a moment and clamped a hand on his brother’s shoulder, “Cùm bràthair luath (keep fast brother)”

Clint shook himself once more, “Yea, fuck that place” he visibly brightened, “Alright, burger time!”

“You guys enjoy. We have a date at the Harbor.” Mac chuckled at Lyri’s groan.

“How romantic…wait…” Clint shot Mac a look, who just grinned at him. “Oh of course you would.” Clint laughed.

Lyrian just looked between the two of them several times before sighing in exasperation, “I’m going to have to get used to this aren’t I”

“Sorry love, we spent 8 years practically reading each other’s minds. It's gonna happen.” He turned to Clint. Frie’s eyes widened and Hera actually recoiled a bit as Mac dropped his Delmar safe front, “Nitro, Not. Another. Word.” He growled at his brother, but the smirk ruined it for Clint.

“Ha! Roger, Go, before I make you prove it!” Clint barked then chuckled as His brother and His sister-in-law headed for the lift

“What the fuck….” Hera was just staring, “What the hell was that? I thought he was going to kill you.”

Clint broke down laughing and both Frie and Hera just stared at him. “Don’t worry about it, time to cook!” he said as he slapped the patties on the pan and the smells of deliciousness drew their attention.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

“So, what do you think is going to happen there.” Mac asked as he and Lyri lifted off in Vito to head for the Harbor docks.

“I think Frie has competition. Did you see how Hera was looking at Clint?” Lyrian giggled, “Those two always had similar tastes.”

“Sad thing is, Clint is about as oblivious as Ivar. The poor man has no Idea that Martina has a crush on him. I worry about that one.” Mac responded in thought as they banked out of the jungle’s edge and soared up the coast toward the cluster of water-going vessels that made up the fishing fleets of Tribe Helyon. Seafood was a bigger thing in Helyon than in other landlocked tribes, and the fishing fleets made a comfortable living selling to the coastal restaurants that dotted the beach line of the straight.

“Because Human Females don’t have a claiming...” Lyri realized.

“That and Humans are quicker to become intimate, and less willing to commit compared to Delmar.” Mac said, “I hope Martina understands, or she is going to fuck up hard with Ivar. If she can even get him to figure it out...”

“Do I need to talk to her? Give her a girl-on-girl crash course on Delmar traditions?” Lyri asked.

“Ha! Now that I would love to see, but you might be on to something. Good luck. Ah, here we are.” Mac landed Vito a short way away from the actual harbor and shut down their venerable air car. Mac activated Vito’s home function, sending the air car back to their home as he led Lyri to a small inflatable power craft that was tied to a tree and soon they were blasting through the surf toward a small peninsula of land that jutted out past the harbor to its south. Lyrian started to get concerned at how far Mac was taking them offshore in such a small boat until that concern was replaced with curiosity as a Pole with a streamer began to peak around the rocky peninsula’s outcroppings. She crept to the bow of the Bucking Dingy beneath her as they rounded the small Horn of land. She hadn’t noticed Mac watching her closely as their destination appeared from behind the Cliffs. He heard a gasp as Lyrian saw her. Mac slowed to a crawl as they closed on the long fair lines of the Sailing Yacht, a perfect Duplicate of the one Mac’s family had owned for generations, as she lay to her anchor.

Lyri’s hands flew to her mouth as she read the wording stenciled in Delmar on her Stern. She was painted an iridescent silver top and down to the waterline where she was adorned with a deep-sea blue color from there to her full keel. She was flying a long pennant of deep blue with the crest of Helyon atop her main mast with the flag of Delmar just above the Flag of Sol flown from her larboard side shrouds. Her name, “Silver Lass” was in bold auburn Delmar cursive on her the starboard side of her stern. She bucked and rolled gently at anchor in the dying light of the evening. She had a small modern fusion Core that could power all her electrical systems even if it was Delmar-designed. There was a direct drive electric motor for emergencies and becalmings. Her main Strength was still tucked away on the rollers and under her Sail covers.

“James, is she…” Lyrian finally spoke recognizing the name as a version of one of Mac’s names for her.

Mac pulled alongside and tied off the Dingy to its tow line. “Yes, she’s ours.” he said as he pulled down the metal/composite ladder from the starboard quarter and waved lyrian onto it as he steadied the Dingy. “Let’s just say that I paid a little extra to put a rush on the Fabricators. She’s still Better Built than Eli”

“How! When!” Lyrain gasped as she looked around the cockpit of a yacht.

“Remember when we talked about my family’s boat? I sent the message that night to get her started. I’m still reeling from how quickly the Fabricators can finish something like this. On Sol, she would have taken 2 standard years to build. I wanted her to be finished before the Winter Celebrations. We are going to be joining in style.”

“She’s Beautiful, but when do we leave?” She asked as mac walked to the cabin door.

“In the morning, she is fully provisioned and ready for her trials. We could sail the length of Hilisty straight before we ran out of food and water. We depart in the morning.” He took a few steps down into the cabin before helping her down, as she was still getting used to the motion of a ship at sea. Inside she was a carbon copy of Eli, down to the deep earthy browns and Reds of a Ship born of Terra’s 19th Century. Mac shifted past her to close up the hatch. The galley was wrapped around the Larboard (port) side. Mac had always chuckled a little at The Greater Galaxy never making the change from “Larboard” to “Port” It turned out that the pronunciation of the two was different enough in Common and in most other languages that the confusion of the two never have happened.

“We are staying in here?” Lyrian asked. The inside was gorgeous but set up for living in, not sleeping in

“No love. Tonight.” He shifted past her to hit a button opening a sliding door behind her on the Starboard side of the Main Hatch stairs. Lyrian spun to see the entire quarter of the stern, beam to beam, was a massive master cabin with a comfortably if humanly, decorated double Berth. Lyrian’s breath caught as she stepped up to the door as the lights illuminated their Suit.

Mac startled out of her stunned state by sneaking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her to him to whisper in her ear, “Come to Bed, Love.”