Omega Force: Rebellion (OF11), стр. 6
"Humans," he sighed again. "What have I done to deserve being saddled with these vicious little creatures?"
"He's still not talking?"
"Not a word," Twingo said. Jason and his engineer were in the galley, watching as Lucky walked through on his way to the bridge.
The battlesynth had good days and bad days. The integration into the new body was an ongoing process, and there were times when Lucky would freeze up and stay that way for a day or two before his matrix could process through the problems and get him moving again. His speech was also something that came and went. Jason tried not to let his frustration show, but the longer the issues went on, the less confident he was that his friend would actually make a full recovery.
Then there were some of the more immediate concerns. Lucky seemed to drift in and out of reality, not really sure where he was at times. One particularly harrowing incident, the battlesynth had managed to sneak into Crusher's berth, and when the warrior jumped awake from someone in the room, it had triggered something in Lucky, and he switched to combat mode. Crusher's quarters were close to engineering, and the ship had been in slip-space at the time, so a poorly aimed plasma blast could have killed them all instantly.
"Has our Tauless made any progress on his end?"
"Some," Twingo said carefully. "He'd need to see Lucky for an extended time, however."
"He's about to get his wish," Jason said. "I just spoke to Similan, and Mok is asking that we meet him. He's at his home compound, and Tauless has been there with him, using Mok's lab space to do his work, along with a few other pru who were briefed on the Mk.2 battlesynth body."
"He'll be okay," Twingo said, but Jason could hear that the usual confidence his friend said that mantra with was fraying around the edges. They all missed their comrade, and any one of them would do whatever it took to help him, but this seemed to be something Lucky would either be able to do on his own or it wouldn't happen at all.
"I'm sure he will," Jason said, pushing his tray aside and standing up. He went back up to the command deck and saw that Kage was still in the com room.
"The slip-com node we're using on Nabia-2 isn't as reliable as I'd like, but we're definitely getting somewhere," the code slicer said when he saw Jason standing in the hatchway.
"How's our good buddy, Noryant, doing?" Jason asked, leaning against the bulkhead.
"He fired his security company and hired a new outfit. He's also sent messages requesting a face to face meeting with someone we already know is an intermediary for the Zetasude Clan—they're that smuggling ring that runs in and out of the Concordian Cluster—but nothing that makes me think he's working with someone to get fuel to any hidden Eshquarian warships."
"Try and dig further into the Zetasude outfit. We've dealt with them before, and if they're the ones picking up that much liquid hydrogen, I still think we're on the right track," Jason said. He ignored Kage's exasperated expression and looked at the display to see how many messages went out to the local contact for the smuggling ring.
"Look, Captain, this was an interesting idea you had to try and track down those fleets by concentrating on the logistics needed to operate the ships themselves, but what if we're looking at this wrong?"
"I'm listening."
"What if the reason we haven't seen the Eshquarian fleet come back to liberate their own home system is because there isn't a fleet anymore. Maybe the commanders escaped, realized their support apparatus was gone, and offloaded the crew someplace before scuttling the ships," Kage said. "If not destroying them outright, they might have just stashed them someplace."
"The Imperial Navy had nearly two thousand capital ships, and the ConFed has managed to track down and destroy less than two thirds of them," Jason said. "That's a lot of ship commanders who have to agree to hide their ships, not to mention about a million crewmembers who have to be someplace, too."
"But it's possible, right?" Kage pressed.
"Yeah, if the ships were shut down in an orderly manner and left with just enough power to keep critical components from freezing, they could theoretically be stored indefinitely. You remember that time we fired the Diligent back up and used it as a battering ram? Same principle." Jason forced himself to concede that Kage's theory was just as valid as his own. Sometimes, he became so fixated on a particular target that he lost perspective and missed the bigger picture.
"I'll keep at this since it's the only lead we have," Kage said, uncharacteristically gracious in victory. "By the time we get to Mok's new evil lair, maybe I'll have something a little more solid we can begin to build a mission from."
"Thanks," Jason said and continued on back to the bridge. When he slid into the pilot's seat to check over the ship, he saw that Lucky stood near the canopy, staring at the moving star field, which was projected on it when the ship was in slip-space.
"I am not certain I will ever be full mission capable again, Captain," Lucky said, causing Jason to jump. "Your concerns about me are well-founded."
"I'm concerned for you, not about you," Jason corrected. "I don't care if you never do so much as drive the getaway car on a mission from this day forward, my only worry is that you're living a life you're happy with."
"It is…difficult," Lucky said. "This new body has so much latent power, but my matrix cannot access