exclamation point. “Examining them could answer a lot of questions for us, and provide a unique insight into the Namar themselves.”
Jessica weighed the options, then gave her consent. “I take full responsibility for this. Do it. But try and get it onto the Defiant alive.”
“We’ll do our best, Captain,” Chang said.
36.
Back on Earth, centuries before, it had been called a lasso. And the knot Lieutenant Jackson tied was not much different to what the cowboys of humanity’s childhood would have used. However he’d been taught how to tie it on one of the frontier worlds, back on the dusty colony he’d come from.
A lot of the Union’s finest came from the hind end of space. Young men and women eager to make their mark. Serve a greater good.
Captain Jessica King thought about the way she’d been taken as a simple orphan and moulded into command material. Little had she known at the time that the very man doing the moulding was in fact her real Father.
She watched Jackson approach one of the scorpions, turning the cord hoop over his head like a helicopter blade.
“Who taught you, Lieutenant?” Jessica asked him.
Jackson kept his attention focused on the scorpion, gradually creeping closer and closer, all the while getting ready to throw the cord and snare it. “My Dad,” he said over his shoulder.
Makes sense, she thought to herself. I learned a lot from mine.
Her thoughts briefly skipped to her Mother. The woman who’d brought her into the world, whom she’d never met. After watching the video her alternate had recorded for her, informing her about the fact Captain Singh had in fact been her biological Father. And telling her about Hawk/Dollar, the steadily developing psychosis of Swogger . . . after all that, she sat back and contemplated all she’d been told. It occurred to her that not even her other self had known anything about their Mother. Alt-Jessica hadn’t so much as mentioned her.
According to her birth certificate, kept on the Union database, her Mother had died in childbirth.
It seemed strange to her that she’d always thought herself an orphan, but that hadn’t been the case. She’d been in the company of her Father the whole time and didn’t know it. How might she have acted if she’d known the truth? Would it have changed her relationship with Andrew Singh?
Probably.
Now, she truly was an orphan. The offspring of dead parents. One she’d known, and called friend. As for Mother… she didn’t even know her name.
This is my family, she thought. Always has been. And now I’m the parent.
Jackson made his move on the unsuspecting scorpion. The lasso slipped free, landed neatly over the tail of the creature, then the Lieutenant gave the cord a swift yank. The knot tightened, the cord caught against the scorpion’s tail, and it slid along the floor. It’s eyes swivelled about to get a look at its captor.
“Careful, Lieutenant,” Chang said. She stood close by, visibly tense at what was taking place. Jessica got the impression the Commander didn’t fully agree with it.
That was fine. Not all of her orders were part of some democratic process of agreement and rejection. It was actually quite liberating, being the Captain.
She didn’t have to answer for herself. They had to trust that she would make the right, informed call. And she usually did.
“Now what?” Jackson asked. He was reeling the scorpion in towards him. Its legs scraped along the stone-like floor as it tried to escape. Its claws attempted to grip the cord. “It’ll get loose!”
“Bag it,” Jessica told Chang. The Commander got close, a sack from their survival pack open and at the ready. Jackson steered the creature close to the waiting sack, and Chang bagged the animal.
The scorpion struggled for several seconds, thrashing within the sack. Chang closed it up, and stepped back. The scorpion continued to fight, the sack jittering about on the floor.
“This isn’t going to
Jessica weighed the options, then gave her consent. “I take full responsibility for this. Do it. But try and get it onto the Defiant alive.”
“We’ll do our best, Captain,” Chang said.
36.
Back on Earth, centuries before, it had been called a lasso. And the knot Lieutenant Jackson tied was not much different to what the cowboys of humanity’s childhood would have used. However he’d been taught how to tie it on one of the frontier worlds, back on the dusty colony he’d come from.
A lot of the Union’s finest came from the hind end of space. Young men and women eager to make their mark. Serve a greater good.
Captain Jessica King thought about the way she’d been taken as a simple orphan and moulded into command material. Little had she known at the time that the very man doing the moulding was in fact her real Father.
She watched Jackson approach one of the scorpions, turning the cord hoop over his head like a helicopter blade.
“Who taught you, Lieutenant?” Jessica asked him.
Jackson kept his attention focused on the scorpion, gradually creeping closer and closer, all the while getting ready to throw the cord and snare it. “My Dad,” he said over his shoulder.
Makes sense, she thought to herself. I learned a lot from mine.
Her thoughts briefly skipped to her Mother. The woman who’d brought her into the world, whom she’d never met. After watching the video her alternate had recorded for her, informing her about the fact Captain Singh had in fact been her biological Father. And telling her about Hawk/Dollar, the steadily developing psychosis of Swogger . . . after all that, she sat back and contemplated all she’d been told. It occurred to her that not even her other self had known anything about their Mother. Alt-Jessica hadn’t so much as mentioned her.
According to her birth certificate, kept on the Union database, her Mother had died in childbirth.
It seemed strange to her that she’d always thought herself an orphan, but that hadn’t been the case. She’d been in the company of her Father the whole time and didn’t know it. How might she have acted if she’d known the truth? Would it have changed her relationship with Andrew Singh?
Probably.
Now, she truly was an orphan. The offspring of dead parents. One she’d known, and called friend. As for Mother… she didn’t even know her name.
This is my family, she thought. Always has been. And now I’m the parent.
Jackson made his move on the unsuspecting scorpion. The lasso slipped free, landed neatly over the tail of the creature, then the Lieutenant gave the cord a swift yank. The knot tightened, the cord caught against the scorpion’s tail, and it slid along the floor. It’s eyes swivelled about to get a look at its captor.
“Careful, Lieutenant,” Chang said. She stood close by, visibly tense at what was taking place. Jessica got the impression the Commander didn’t fully agree with it.
That was fine. Not all of her orders were part of some democratic process of agreement and rejection. It was actually quite liberating, being the Captain.
She didn’t have to answer for herself. They had to trust that she would make the right, informed call. And she usually did.
“Now what?” Jackson asked. He was reeling the scorpion in towards him. Its legs scraped along the stone-like floor as it tried to escape. Its claws attempted to grip the cord. “It’ll get loose!”
“Bag it,” Jessica told Chang. The Commander got close, a sack from their survival pack open and at the ready. Jackson steered the creature close to the waiting sack, and Chang bagged the animal.
The scorpion struggled for several seconds, thrashing within the sack. Chang closed it up, and stepped back. The scorpion continued to fight, the sack jittering about on the floor.
“This isn’t going to
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