CHAPTER 10 – VERMIN ERADICATION
22:16 (Universal Time)
Monday, October 14, 2335
Bridge of the battlecruiser TRAFALGAR
Emerging in the TOI 700 System
Fleet Admiral Jiro Yamashiro, sitting in the flag command chair of the brand-new battleship TRAFALGAR, was doing his best to give the impression of calm mixed with firmness to his subalterns. In reality, he felt both anxious and fearful about this combat mission into the TOI 700 System: anxious because he was deeply worried about what had happened to the inhabitants of the system following its invasion by the Space Predators; fearful because, despite his best efforts, he had been able to gather only seventeen warships bigger than corvettes for this mission, despite having literally scraped the bottom of the drawers of the Navy. Such a relatively small fleet would be at a severe starting disadvantage against an enemy fleet counting at least 32 asteroid-ships, each of them much bigger and better protected than his own flagship, despite the fact that the TRAFALGAR was presently the most powerful warship by far in the Spacers’ League’s Navy. However, that mission had to be attempted. The alternative would be the horrible death of over two million people on Nordland at the hands of those carnivorous monsters.
‘’We are now in the TOI 700 System, Admiral. Nordland is some 1.2 Astronomical Units ahead, slightly to the right of our center screens. We are now adjusting our flight trajectory.’’
‘’Thank you, Captain Multan! What are our passive sensors and electronic warfare suite telling us?’’
Multan consulted his chair’s display screen for a moment before answering him, some misgivings showing in his voice.
‘’The electro-magnetic spectrum is empty, Admiral. Nordland is completely silent, while we are not detecting any ship radar or radio emission. We are however still too far to visually detect ships which could be around Nordland. Should we probe the system with our long-range radars, Admiral?’’
‘’No! Keep electronic silence for the moment and let’s speed up towards Nordland. All our crews shall stay a battle stations until I say otherwise.’’
‘’Aye, Admiral!’’
The bridge complex then mostly fell into silence, with only operators and officers exchanging in low voices short bribes of information between them from time to time. As the fleet passed the orbit of the third planet, on the way to Nordland, the sensors officer made an announcement, with some surprise showing in his voice.
‘’We have an uncharted asteroid field visible ahead, some 8,000 kilometers away, Captain. I believe that we should either slow down or go around it in order to avoid a collision, sir.’’
‘’Pass to the fleet via directional masers: climb towards the system’s North in order to avoid that asteroid field.’’
‘’Aye, Captain!’’
‘’Sensors, what are our spectrometers and telescopes saying about that uncharted asteroid field? I thought that the TOI 700 System had been thoroughly mapped out during the last few years.’’
‘’One moment, sir: we are checking.’’
After another few minutes, the sensors officer looked at Captain Multan and Admiral Yamashiro with a stunned expression.
‘’Sirs, those asteroids are actually debris from destroyed Space Predator ships. We can see a number of large pieces of excavated rocky shells, along with various machinery and structural debris.’’
‘’WHAT?! ARE YOU SURE?’’
‘’Yes sir! These are the debris from at least a half-dozen Predator warships, sir.’’
‘’But who could have destroyed those Predator ships? Even for our present fleet, they would have been formidable opponents. The bulk of our Navy’s combat fleet is here, with us.’’
One young female officer who was sitting at a sensors station next to the sensors officer then bent sideways and whispered something to her superior, prompting the lieutenant-commander in nodding his head before looking at Multan and Yamashiro.
‘’Lieutenant Rodman suggests that this could be the work of the NOSTROMO, sir. It is the only ship powerful enough to defeat Predator ships and which is not with our fleet right now. I believe that she could be right, sir.’’
‘’The NOSTROMO, Captain Tina Forster...’’ said dreamily Captain Yusuf Multan. ‘’Then, if it really destroyed those Predator ships, I fervently hope that it is still intact somewhere near Nordland: our reconnaissance ship had reported no less than 32 Predator ships in the system. Even for the NOSTROMO, those are very big odds.’’
Multan then looked at Yamashiro, who raised his hand to stop him from speaking.
‘’There is no point in speculating about this, Captain Multan. Let’s continue towards Nordland. We will soon enough learn more about what happened here.’’
‘’Understood, Admiral.’’
Another half hour went by, during which the Spacers’ League fleet passed by more debris from destroyed Predator ships, something that made Yamashiro shake his head in disbelief.
‘’Captain Forster may be a pain in the ass from time to time but she is one hell of a Space combat tactician, I will give her that. Alright, Captain Multan, fire up your long-range radar and let’s see what we have in this system.’’
‘’Aye, Admiral!’’
After about three minutes, Yamashiro got the first results of the sensors active scans.
‘’Sir, our radars show a massive debris field in orbit around Nordland. We however can’t detect any intact ship at this time.’’
Yamashiro lowered his head in sadness on hearing that: the chances were that the NOSTROMO, if it was indeed it, had been destroyed while destroying the Predator fleet which had invaded the system.
‘’My god! Such a valiant ship. Alright, go active on all sensors! Let’s find out what is happening on Nordland. The Predators are liable to have landed troops on it in order to capture it. Search especially for high-frequency radio transmissions which would denote ground and atmospheric tactical activity.’’
‘’Yes, Admiral! SENSORS OFFICER, GO ACTIVE ON ALL SYSTEMS!’’
‘’AYE, CAPTAIN!’’
It took only a couple of minutes before the sensors officer reported back to Multan.
‘’Captain, our electronic warfare suite is reporting a fairly dense exchange of radio messages from the surface. They appear to be mostly communications between ground troops and fighter craft…human ones, sir: there is some serious fighting happening right now on Nordland, most of it centered on the city of New Oslo.’’
Multan slapped one hand on his chair’s left armrest in reaction to that information.
‘’The NOSTROMO was able to land troops on the planet and to launch its fighters. Commander Gonzalez, remind me about how many troops and fighters are normally carried by the NOSTROMO.’’
The operations officer of the TRAFALGAR answered him after a few seconds.
‘’Sir, the NOSTROMO is listed as transporting an internal security force of 800 androids and ten Human officers, plus a wing of 24 heavy fighters and over 34 shuttles of various sizes.’’
‘’Androids…’’ said softly to himself Yamashiro in a less than pleased tone. ‘’Could we listen a bit to those transmissions, Captain Multan?’’
‘’Certainly, Admiral! Lieutenant Xi, connect our command chairs to those intercepted transmissions.’’
‘’Aye, Captain!’’
Both Multan and Yamashiro were soon able to hear the kind of radio exchange typical of ground troops and supporting craft engaged in combat. That combat seemed quite intense, judging from what they could hear on the radio.
‘’Damn!’’ said Multan. ‘’Those guys appear to be presently facing some sort of mass ground assault by a large force of Predators. However, they seem to be able to manage…at this point.’’
‘’Then, let’s give them some support. Have our embarked battalion of Space Marines board their assault shuttles: they are to fly down to New Oslo as soon as they are ready.’’
‘’Right away, Admiral!’’
Those Space Marines and their assault shuttles were about to fly out of the TRAFALGAR when an operator nearly shouted, happiness in his voice.
‘’CAPTAIN, WE HAVE THE NOSTROMO IN SIGHT. IT JUST ROUNDED THE PLANET’S WESTERN TERMINATOR AND HIS HEADING TOWARDS US.’’
‘’Thank god: they survived!’’ said Multan, blowing air out in relief. ‘’OPEN A CHANNEL TO THE NOSTROMO!’’
‘’YES CAPTAIN!’’
‘’Let me talk with Captain Forster, Captain Multan.’’ then cut in Yamashiro.
‘’Uh, yes Admiral!’’ replied Multan, hoping that his admiral was not going to dump on Forster for her unannounced intervention in the TOI 700 System. He soon saw the head and upper torso of Tina Forster appear on his display screen. She appeared tired and a bit tense but had no visible wounds. Admiral Yamashiro then started speaking to Forster but, thankfully, kept a polite tone.
‘’Captain Forster, we are happy to see that you and your ship are still in one piece. That mass of debris in orbit of Nordland kind of made us worry. In what state is your ship?’’
‘’We have sustained some light hull damage from laser strikes but my NOSTROMO is still a hundred percent combat effective. The bulk of my security androids force and all my heavy fighters are presently down on Nordland and fighting with large numbers of Space Predators. Be advised that, contrary to our past combat experiences with those Predators, they came to Nordland armed with portable pulse laser rifles. Those laser rifles are powerful enough to kill a person who doesn’t wear body armor. Thankfully, our own disintegrator rifles are more than a match for these Predator laser rifles.’’
‘’Can you give us a quick report about the situation on Nordland, Captain Forster?’’
‘’I can, Admiral Yamashiro. Most of my androids fighting in downtown New Oslo are presently defending the main government administrative complex, which we were able to take at the start of the ground fighting. However, the Predators seem resolved to retake it at all costs and are in their second mass assault against the complex. However, my androids, supported by my heavy fighters, are still holding on and causing very heavy casualties to the Predators assaulting them. We have suffered some light casualties on the ground but the relatively low power of the Predator laser rifles has saved many of our fighters, who are using the cover offered by local buildings to the maximum. May I ask if you brought some ground troopers with your fleet, Admiral?’’
‘’I have one battalion of Space Marines equipped with powered armor suits about ready to fly down to help your own troops, Captain Forster. You want them to go reinforce your troopers defending the government administrative complex?’’
‘’Negative! We have a more pressing need right now at the meat processing plant situated in the Northwest suburbs of New Oslo.’’
‘’A meat processing plant? Why send troops there?’’
Tina Forster’s expression then hardened, while her voice reflected a mix of anger and urgency.
‘’Because the Predators locked up tens of thousands of men, women and children there, using the pens normally reserved for the heads of cattle due to be slaughtered. Those monsters had been feeding on those poor people for nearly two days now. One of my android units went there to free those souls and protect them but the Predator guard force at the meat plant is using their prisoners as human shields, complicating a lot the job of my androids. We need more troops there, urgently!’’
Those words made both Multan and Yamashiro freeze with abject horror for a moment before the latter shot back with a question.
‘’Can you provide us with the precise location and layout of that meat plant, Captain Forster?’’
‘’I certainly can, Admiral. I am sending now the overhead sensors imagery we have of that plant, along with its coordinates. Please make your Marines hurry: the situation there is both difficult and desperate.’’
‘’They will be coming down in minutes, Captain. By the way, you and your ship have performed valiantly in this fight. The Spacers’ League will owe you big.’’
‘’What I want right now is to be able to save as many of those poor Nordland citizens as possible, Admiral. Saving them will be my biggest reward.’’
23:11 (Universal Time)
New Oslo’s meat processing plant
‘’SET YOUR DISINTEGRATOR RIFLES TO MINIMUM POWER! WE MUST KILL THOSE PREDATORS WITHOUT HURTING THE PEOPLE THEY USE AS HUMAN SHIELDS. TAKE YOUR TIME TO AIM VERY PRECISELY BEFORE FIRING EACH SHOT.’’
Jehanne then preached by example and lowered the power setting of her weapon to the minimum level, then raised her disintegrator rifle above the edge of the low wall she and a number of androids from her century unit were using as cover against the heavy laser fire directed at them by dozens of Predators situated some sixty meters away. Using the aiming unit attached to her rifle and linked to her own helmet visor’s display unit by a fiber optics cable, she was able to put her crosshairs on the head of a Predator holding a terrified woman in front of him while he shot his laser rifle. Her shot, cracking out like a loud thunderclap, vaporized the head of the monster, making him release his grip on the woman. That woman, visibly hysterical, then tried to run away towards Jehanne and her androids but another Predator summarily shot her in the back, killing her and making her fall flat on her face on the concrete floor of the plant warehouse. Normally, Jehanne’s electronic brain would have simply recorded that moment but, as in many instances during the past few months, something else happened to her: she experienced what had to be the equivalent of feelings, feelings of rage and hatred towards those alien monsters. She quickly shot dead the Predator who had killed the unfortunate woman, then shot in succession two other Predators. The 32 androids who were with her proved no slouches either and killed a total of close to a hundred Predators before Jehanne shouted an order.
‘’WE MUST PUSH THOSE MONSTERS AWAY FROM THEIR HOSTAGES. JUMP THAT WALL AND CHARGE!’’
Nearly as one, Jehanne and her 32 androids got up and jumped over the low wall, then charged the Predators facing them while firing short aimed bursts from their disintegrator rifles. Those Predators tried at first to resist that charge but, with their rifles having only minor effects on the combat armored suits and helmets of the androids, soon broke rank in panic and tried to flee, abandoning their hostages where they had stood.
‘’DON’T LET A SINGLE ONE OF THOSE BASTARDS ESCAPE! KILL THEM TO THE LAST!’’
Her androids were too happy to obey that order and fired a hail of disintegrator beams which incinerated in seconds the fleeing aliens. With those monsters now dead, Jehanne judged that her main priority now was to bring to a safer place the hostages now standing or sitting inside the warehouse, both dazed and fearful.
‘’LET’S GUIDE THOSE POOR PEOPLE HERE TO A SAFER PLACE IN THE PLANT. WE WILL BRING THEM TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES OF THE PLANT.’’
As her androids started to gently guide the ex-hostages towards the administrative offices of the plant, Jehanne went to a little toddler girl who was simply standing in the open while crying, her whole body shaking. Crouching next to the child, Jehanne smiled to her and gently took her in her left arm.
‘’Don’t cry, little one. I will now carry you to a room where you will be safe.’’
The reaction of the toddler when she lifted her in her arm then triggered another unusual feeling in her: the child immediately glued herself to Jehanne, tightening her little arms around her neck with desperate strength while still crying hysterically. It was obvious to Jehanne that the child had been severely traumatized, something most understandable in view of her terrifying experiences during the last two days. Keeping the girl tightly against her and using her own body as protection for her, Jehanne quickly walked towards the administrative offices while frequently looking behind her to make sure that no other Predators showed up. Two minutes later, her group led a total of over 200 men, women and children into those offices, which had been cleared earlier of the Predators occupying them. She tried to gently put down the little girl in her arms on a sofa but the child immediately tightened her hold on her.
‘’NOOO! STAY WITH ME!’’
At first, Jehanne couldn’t decide how to react to that. She tried again to put the child down on the sofa but the girl only clung more tightly to her.
‘’NOO! DON’T LEAVE ME!’’
Unwilling to force the child to release her hold, Jehanne decided to keep holding her with her left arm, then activated her helmet’s radio headset.
‘’To all Alpha sub-units, report, over!’’
‘’This is Alpha One: we killed the Predators guarding the corrals where they were keeping the bulk of their prisoners. We are now forming a protective perimeter around the corrals but our line is rather thin: we would need to be reinforced at once, over.’’
‘’From Alpha Two: the building where the Predator guards had established their quarters is now secure, with all the Predators there killed. We however suffered two casualties who will need extensive repairs on return to our ship.’’
‘’Alpha Leader acknowledged. Alpha Three is with me in the administrative offices of the plant, to where we have guided 227 people we just saved. I will stay here and reassure those poor people until they could be evacuated. Alpha Two, send twenty of your people to reinforce Alpha One at the corrals. I will now report back to the NOSTROMO.’’
Jehanne then switched on to her long-range frequency.
‘’NOSTROMO, this is Alpha Leader, at the New Oslo meat processing plant, over!’’
‘’NOSTROMO here! Send, over!’’
‘’The meat plant has been secured. However, we now have thousands of people freed from the Predators who now need to be evacuated as quickly as possible to a safer place. They are presently very vulnerable to any Predator counter-attack and my force is thin on the ground, over.’’
‘’Understood, Alpha Leader. Be advised that help has arrived from Providence. A battalion of Space Marines is presently on its way and should arrive at the meat plant in about five minutes. I am going to send down our shuttles to pick up the people you saved at the plant. Do you have a rough estimate of the number of survivors you saved, over?’’
‘’Affirmative! We have some 13,700 men, women and children now in our care. Most of them are heavily traumatized and will need care, over.’’
‘’We will prepare our medical center for them, Alpha Leader. Did your unit suffer casualties during the fight at the plant, over?’’
‘’Affirmative! Two of our people were damaged. How are our people holding the city’s administrative center doing, over?’’
‘’They just managed to repel another Predator assault with the help of our fighters and caused very heavy casualties to the enemy. However, the fight for this city and for the rest of the planet is only beginning. Hopefully, Providence will be able to send more troops to Nordland, many more troops.’’
‘’Indeed! Alpha Leader, out!’’
Jehanne then concentrated her attention back on the toddler girl still holding desperately to her and spoke as softly she could to her.
‘’What is your name, sweety?’’
‘’Frida!’’
‘’Just Frida?’’
‘’Frida Thorund.’’
‘’Do you know if your parents are still alive, Frida?’’
The girl answered by shaking her head vigorously, while tears rolled down her cheeks.
‘’No! Mommy was killed by the monsters.’’
‘’And your father?’’
‘’He died in an accident two years ago.’’
Jehanne again felt something bizarre inside her brain as she stared at the oval face and big blue eyes of the sad little girl: that child was now an orphan. She was probably not going to be the only child in that situation here, by a long shot. Frida then surprised her by asking her a question.
‘’What is your name?’’
‘’Me? I am Jehanne, Jehanne de Domrémy.’’
‘’Will you stay and protect me, Jehanne?’’
‘’Of course I will, my sweet Frida. Do you feel better now?’’
‘’Yes!’’ simply replied the toddler before resting her head on Jehanne’s left shoulder, her arms still around her neck.
A few minutes later, five Spacers’ League Space marines in power armor entered the central office, with one of them then shouting out loud.
‘’WHO IS IN CHARGE HERE?’’
‘’I AM!’’
The leading Space marine, who wore the rank insignias of a major, then came to her in a few quick steps and pointed an index at her.
‘’My marines now control the perimeter of this plant. Take your…’’
‘’Stop it right there, Major!’’ cut at once Jehanne, not liking the authoritative tone of that officer. ‘’I am Senior Centurion Jehanne de Domrémy, Commander of the security androids force of the NOSTROMO, and I am not your lap dog. You came here to support my unit, not to boss it around. My androids will stay here and safeguard those poor Nordland citizens until the shuttles sent by the NOSTROMO can arrive and carry them to safety on our ship. If you want to make yourself useful, then have your marines do a detailed sweep of this plant and of its immediate surroundings, to make sure that there are no Space Predators still hiding around.’’
The man looked at her for a second with contained fury, apparently insulted that a mere android was trying to order him around.
‘’What the hell do you think…’’
‘’I AM NOT THINKING, MAJOR: I AM ORDERING! GET YOUR MARINES MOVING!’’ shot back Jehanne, using her most authoritative tone and raising the volume of her voice to nearly deafening level. The marine major was too stunned to argue further and walked back out with his four marines. As soon as they were gone, one of Jehanne’s androids, Decurion Sejong, applauded her lightly.
‘’Now, that is what I call ‘leadership’, Jehanne.’’
‘’Hey,’’ she replied with a grin, ‘’I had a bunch of proud French knights follow and obey a simple peasant girl while battling the English. THAT was leadership!’’
01:37 (Universal Time)
Tuesday, October 15, 2335
Hangar deck of the A.M.S. NOSTROMO
Little Frida was still stubbornly glued to Jehanne when she walked out of the shuttle which had carried her and a number of the people saved at the meat plant up to the NOSTROMO. Numerous crewmembers and volunteer family members were present in the hangar deck to greet and process in the first couple of thousands Nordland citizens evacuated to the NOSTROMO. Seeing three women and one man standing near the exit ramp of her shuttle, Jehanne walked to them, Frida held in her left arm. Janet Robeson was the first in the group to greet her.
‘’We are happy to see you back in one piece, Jehanne. Who is that cute little girl you are holding?’’
‘’Her name is Frida Thorund. Unfortunately, she is now an orphan: the Predators killed her mother right in front of her. She was quite traumatized by the horrors she saw on the planet and has refused to let go of me since I saved her at the New Oslo meat processing plant, along with over 13,700 other citizens of Nordland facing the prospect of being butchered and then eaten by the Predators.’’
Janet Robeson, her husband Gerald, Spirit and Eve all looked sadly at the toddler girl still cowering in Jehanne’s arms.
‘’Poor kid!’’ said Janet. ‘’We will have to find someone to take care of her until we can find if she has any other relatives still alive.’’
‘’I was thinking of asking Eve to care for her until I come back once the fighting is over. Would you accept to take care of her for the next few days, Eve?’’
The beautiful blond android looked for a moment at Frida before answering Jehanne.
‘’The real question is: will she accept to let go of you, Jehanne? You appear to be the only thing that can reassure her right now.’’
‘’True!’’ said Jehanne before looking down into Frida’s eyes. ‘’Frida, I will have to go back to the planet’s surface to continue to fight those monsters and to free more of our people. Will you let my friend Eve care for you temporarily until I return to this ship? I promise you that I will then take you back with me.’’
‘’Is your friend nice?’’ asked Frida in her tiny voice, making Janet’s and Gerald’s hearts melt.
‘’Yes, she is very nice and she loves little children, Frida.’’
In response, the little girl loosened her arms after a couple of seconds of indecision and allowed Jehanne to pass her to Eve, who took her in her arms and smiled to Frida.
‘’Thank you for accepting me, Frida. We will first have a doctor examine you, to see if you need any medical treatment. After that, I will have some nice snack for you, then a hot bath and a bed. You must be positively exhausted after all those hours of horror.’’
Frida simply nodded to Eve’s words. That was when four of Jehanne’s androids passed nearby, carrying on stretchers the stiff bodies of two other androids who had been severely damaged by Predator laser hits to the face, where their armored suits gave them the least protection. Frida then saw that they were clearly not humans made of flesh and bones and opened her eyes wide.
‘’They are robots?’’
‘’The more accurate term to describe them would be ‘androids’, artificial constructs made in the image of living humans and having artificial intelligence and individual personalities, Frida. Here, on the NOSTROMO, we consider and treat our androids the same way as living persons and not as simple machines.’’
‘’Are all of Jehanne’s soldiers robots too?’’ asked Frida, looking a bit unsettled.
‘Here we go!’ thought Jehanne, who had not told Frida yet about her true nature. ‘’Yes, they are, Frida. I myself am an android but I truly care for you and love you. Will you still let me care for you on my return to the ship?’’
To her immense relief, Frida seemed to accept her words without visible reservation and looked back into Jehanne’s eyes.
‘’Yes!’’
‘’Thank you for your confidence in me, Frida. Eve, I believe that Legionnaires Williams and Guzman will need to be either completely rebuilt or have their personalities and memories transferred to new bodies replicating their original ones.’’
‘’I believe that new bodies are in order in their case. I will program their construction on a priority basis. Thankfully, only seven of our androids have received significant damage up to now and will need repairs or rebuilding. We have been lucky in that aspect up to now.’’
‘’Yes, but this fight is only starting. We still have most of the planet to retake, a job that may take us a few weeks or even months. We can expect more casualties in the process.’’
That was when Spirit spoke up.
‘’Admiral Yamashiro has sent a courier drone to Providence to ask for many more combat troops to help clear those monsters from Nordland. He even asked in his message for Chairman Gasparov to gain the help of the nations of Earth, so that they could send some of their soldiers to help our marines.’’
Earth, helping us?’’ asked Jehanne, her voice heavy with sarcasm. ‘’Don’t hold your breath for that!’’
‘’Well, it is still worth trying, no? If we could get the nations of Earth to help us, then we could have armies of tens of thousands of extra soldiers to help us in Nordland. The worst that could happen would be to get a ‘no’ as an answer.’’
‘’True! Humanity sure could use a chance to unite against a common enemy for a change.’’ said Janet Robeson. ‘’Well, enough talking: I have lots of people to take care of here right now, with more soon to come.’’
‘’Right!’’ added Spirit before looking at Eve.
‘’Don’t worry about those two legionnaires, Eve: I will take care of building new bodies for them. Concentrate instead on little Frida here.’’
Jehanne, ready to board again her shuttle now that the evacuees were all out of it, took a step forward and planted a gentle kiss on Frida’s head.
‘’Be nice with my friend Eve, Frida. I will come back for you, I promise you.’’
Jehanne, along with the androids who had accompanied her, then walked back into the waiting shuttle, whose rear access ramp then closed up, with the craft soon lifting off silently from the deck of the hangar and heading towards one of the exit craft airlocks. Little Frida watched the shuttle go, fresh tears coming out of her eyes.
‘’Will Jehanne come back?’’ she asked, anxiety in her tiny voice.
‘’Yes, she will, Frida.’’ answered Eve in a soft voice. ‘’Now, let’s go see a doctor or nurse, so that you can be examined.’’
09:40 (Universal Time)
Office of Fleet Admiral Jiro Yamashiro
Spacers’ League battleship TRAFALGAR
In low orbit around the planet Nordland
‘’You wanted to see me, Admiral?’’ asked Lieutenant-colonel Vadim Suvorov after stopping at attention in front of Yamashiro’s desk and saluting.
‘’Yes! I have a few things to pass to you, Colonel. First, the good news. A miracle happened on Earth and the ASEAN{2} and the North American Union each pledged to send us a full division of their best combat troops in order to help us clean up the Space Predators still present on Nordland. The Scandinavian Federation, on its part, will be sending us a regiment of marines. As you may know, many inhabitants of Nordland originally came from Scandinavia and the Scandinavian Federation is looking at Nordland as being part of their responsibilities. All these troops should arrive within four days.’’
‘’That is great news indeed, Admiral!’’ said Suvorov, smiling with satisfaction. ‘’My marines certainly could us some extra help.’’
Suvorov’s smile quickly faded when he saw the way Yamashiro now looked at him.
‘’Now, about the bad news, Colonel. I have received a number of complaints from Captain Forster during the last 48 hours, complaints about the conduct of yourself and that of your officers on Nordland. Basically, and this was proved to me via the viewing of video recordings taken during the recent fighting, you are accused of having made your marines lay back while letting Captain Forster’s androids do the more dangerous work. Now, I will be the first to admit that I personally had a strong prejudice against those security androids…until three days ago. Since then, those androids have proved to be first-class combatants, highly-skilled and fearless and also totally dedicated to their duties to defend our citizens. They also happen to be highly intelligent and have proved to me to have true individual personalities, as I interviewed a number of them while visiting a couple of battlefields on the planet. I now am of the opinion that they fully deserve to be considered as truly sentient beings and as full citizens of the Spacers’ League. Your racist attitude and that of your officers towards them is thus riling me, a lot! Worse, your tendency to consciously let those androids do the most dangerous work in order not to risk your own marines is bordering on cowardice, Colonel.’’
‘’Cowardice, Admiral? But…’’
‘’I AM NOT FINISHED!’’ growled Yamashiro as he shot up to his feet and pointed an index at Suvorov. ‘’From now on, you and your marines will do your honest part of the fighting, or I will have you landed in front of a court martial for cowardice. I am moving your battalion to a separate sector of Nordland, where you will be alone to assume responsibility for the results in that said sector. No more passing the buck while circulating racist comments about Captain Forster’s security androids. If I find out in a few days that your unit is still underperforming, I will then relieve you of command and will place accusations against you and your least effective officers. Do you understand me, Colonel?’’
With blood rushing to his brain and starting to feel dizzy, Suvorov stiffened up.
‘’Yes, Admiral!’’
‘’Then you are dismissed, Colonel.’’
Suvorov, severely shaken, saluted Yamashiro, then pivoted on his heels and walked out of the admiral’s office, cold sweat on his forehead.
17:03 (Universal Time)
Wednesday, October 30, 2335
Apartment # 554-042, Habitat Ring Section, A.M.S. NOSTROMO
As soon as Jehanne walked into the apartment in which they had been living together for thirteen months now, Pieter Nordlung came to her to hug her and kiss her, with her returning his embrace.
‘’Thank the stars that you survived all that fighting intact, Jehanne.’’
‘’And I thank the stars that your fighter was not shot down by Predator laser fire. We were both lucky, I suppose.’’
‘’Well, there was a bit of that but I believe that our competence and skills helped a lot as well.’’
‘’Patting your own back like a typical fighter pilot, Pieter?’’ replied Jehanne in a sarcastic tone, attracting a light slap on her bum from her life companion.
‘’Shut up, ground-pounder! You reek of ashes and are covered in dirt and muck. Let me guide you to the shower, where I will give you a thorough scrub…a very thorough scrub.’’
‘’Then, you better undress as well, if you don’t want to wet your clothes.’’ replied Jehanne, making Pieter grin in anticipation.
‘’Still a nice, perverted girl, I see? I will teach you to behave.’’
The two of them quickly moved to Pieter’s bathroom, where both of them shed their clothes and stepped naked in the bathtub-cum-shower stall. Jehanne first let Pieter lovingly caress her while soaping and scrubbing her, even though she could not really feel sexual pleasure from it: what counted for her was Pieter’s selfless attention and care towards her. In return, once cleaned and rinsed, she returned the favor to him, ending with performing a fellatio on Pieter that brought him to an exploding climax. After a last mutual rinsing, both of them then stepped out of the bathtub and dried themselves, again concentrating on each other. Jehanne waited until they had dressed back in clean clothes before gluing herself to Pieter and looking up into his blue eyes.
‘’Pieter, I told you a couple of days ago about the little girl I saved at the New Oslo meat processing plant. Have you had a chance to go visit her since then?’’
‘’Yes, I did! I went to Eve’s apartment and visited her after supper time yesterday. Frida is indeed a very sweet and cute little girl.’’
‘’How was she? Does she still show signs of trauma?’’
‘’She is still reserved but I would say that she is much better now compared to the day you first met her. Eve confirmed to me that her medical and psychological examinations didn’t reveal any long-term sequels from the horrors she lived through. She however still grieves the death of her mother, a most understandable reaction. Eve also told me that she did some research about Frida’s family and relatives. Unfortunately, none of her relatives are still alive. Apart from her mother, her grand-parents and lone uncle were all killed by the Predators, part of the close to half-a-million citizens of Nordland slaughtered by those Space Predator monsters.’’
‘’Poor girl! She is thus truly an orphan. Pieter, I want to do something for her, something that will need your approval and support. I want to adopt her.’’
Pieter, who had expected that, gently took her head between his hands and kissed her forehead.
‘’Jehanne, I am with you on that. Let’s go see her and ask her if she wants to come live with us. We will worry about the legalities concerning this later.’’
17:51 (Universal Time)
Executive Apartment # 1, Executive Deck
Frame level # 505, core centerline section, A.M.S. NOSTROMO
Eve Silisca, as beautiful and youthful-looking as ever, smiled to Jehanne and Pieter on opening the door of her apartment to them.
‘’Come in, my friends! Me and Frida were about to go out to eat supper at one of the restaurants in the Habitat Ring.’’
The couple entered and waited for Eve to close the door behind them before Pieter spoke in a low voice.
‘’Could we first discuss something in private with Frida. You are welcome to listen in, as we may need your wisdom about what we want to discuss.’’
‘’Let me guess: you want to adopt Frida, right?’’
‘’Uh, how did you guess that?’’ asked Pieter, surprised, making Eve grin with malice.
‘’How? By analyzing all that I know about her situation and Jehanne’s state of mind about Frida. I just spent two-tenths of a second running the logics of that situation inside my electronic brain, a near-eternity for me. It actually wasn’t too difficult to figure your intentions out.’’
‘’And…if Frida says ‘yes’ to our offer, can we make it legal?’’ asked in turn Jehanne, a bit anxious about that. Eve thought that over for another few fractions of a second before nodding her head once.
‘’I believe so, Jehanne. You both have the status of full citizens of the Spacers’ League and, while no laws concerning legal adoptions specifically address the case of a human and an android living together, there is equally no laws specifically prohibiting it. I could be wrong on this, of course, laws often being less than logical, but I am pretty sure that you could have a judge rule in your favor.’’
‘’Oof! You do reassure me, Eve. So, how is our little angel?’’
‘’Much better than two weeks ago, when you first brought her on the NOSTROMO. Being able to interact with the small children of our crewmembers while in a normal environment did a lot to dissipate her trauma at losing her mother. She became a good friend with Tina’s five-year-old daughter, Janet. I also did my best to personally work on her stress levels and fears. However, she definitely is worried about what will happen to her in the coming future.’’
‘’Then, our offer may just calm her worries about that.’’
‘’JEHANNE!’’
The joyous shout from a tiny voice then interrupted them and they all snapped their heads towards the lounge, where they saw little Frida running towards them, a happy smile on her face. Jehanne crouched down and welcomed the little girl into her open arms, then kissed her repeatedly.
‘’My sweat Frida! You are still as cute as a candy.’’
‘’Are you okay? Did the monsters hurt you?’’
‘’No, but I hurt them…bad! You remember Pieter?’’
‘’Yes!’’
‘’Well, we came together to see you and ask you something very important. Would you like us to become your new Mommy and Daddy?’’
‘’Yes!’’ answered at once the toddler, tears appearing in her eyes. She then glued herself to Jehanne, hugging her with all her strength. Eve, watching that scene, could only smile in approval at that tender moment.