Gall Force Fan Fiction ❯ Another Journey, Another Story ❯ Chapter 18

Gall Force: Another Journey, Another Story

Part Eighteen

 

Catty sat in the central seat in the computer room, cables dangling from the back of her neck to the primary terminals. A key was hit and light glowed from the conduits as systems activated, the figure in the chair twitching faintly. *reboot secondary systems* *purge junk files* *personality subroutines engaged* *primary systems... on*

 

Lieutenant-Commander Karin smiled slightly, her short black hair a bit messy as the three of them waited for her to come back on-line. Beside her Davies leaned against a counter, her arm still held in a sling from a injury a few days ago.

 

'Of course she's probably leaving the sling on just to get a few extra dates,' Allaine thought, the tall dark brown haired commander looking amused. She turned to Karin, "Thanks for pulling the all-nighter on this," she murmured.

 

"We were in the home stretch anyway," Karin shrugged, "and it feels good to be done."

 

There was a flicker of movement beneath Catty's eyes, then her chin rose just slightly, Her face became oddly more animated as her eyes opened, looking around her curiously. "How long was I out?" she asked curiously.

 

"About a week," Davies answered, studying Catty intently.

 

"Eight days, six hours," Catty corrected, accessing her internal clock. She tried to move then blinked, "There is a data-lock on my lower body?"

 

"We're running a test on your interactive programs," Karin explained, "one of the areas we had to prune out the most paranoid-related subroutines was in that area of code."

 

Catty thought about that a moment, "Reasonable."

 

With that Allaine, Davies and Karin ran through several interactive scenarios, noting Catty's responses and comparing them with what her onboard files said she should do. "I'm sorry if this is boring," Allaine found herself apologizing, "but it's necessary."

 

Catty actually smiled, her eyes crinkling with amusement. "No need to apologize, commander," she reassured her, "I understand the necessity."

 

"Ah, right," Allaine blinked.

 

Later, when Catty had safely been put back into her sleep mode Davies asked, "Is it me, or is she more emotive now?"

 

"It sort of makes sense," Karin noted, "with all the junk removed from her programs she probably responds better."

 

"So," Allaine brought them back to business, "do you think it's safe to fully reactivate her?"

 

"I'd say yes," Davies answered her promptly, "but I'd recommend adding some sort of monitoring chip, just in case."

 

Karin nodded her agreement, "We've gone through her code with a fine tooth comb, but Catty is remarkably sophisticated... I'd rather not take any chances."

 

"Fair enough," Allaine nodded, "I'll pass on your recommendations to the captain." Pausing by the door she added, "Thank you both."

 

With that Allaine headed towards the lifts, already considering what was coming next. They had bypassed one abandoned colony yesterday, deciding that their stores were still sufficient for the journey, but another Solonoid planet was coming up. The crew needed to be prepared for supplies retrieval or combat, as well as the ship itself.

 

'Thankfully Davies and the engineering teams have got the Star Destroyer power core installed,' Allaine thought as she entered the lift. The massive construct would supply their power needs and more, providing them with increased range and combat capabilities.

 

"Ma'am," Lieutenant Lauren nodded as she entered on another level, the small blonde helmswoman smiling a bit nervously.

 

"Lieutenant," Allaine nodded courteously, "I thought you weren't on shift?"

 

"The new ensign is still a little nervous," Lauren said, "I offered to help her run through some of the navigation drills."

 

"That's very kind of you," Allaine said, keeping her expression neutral. Privately she found herself a bit surprised that Lauren would be helping out the newcomer. 'Then again,' she thought, 'I haven't been impressed with her since she had her affair with the captain.'

 

"I don't want anything to go wrong," Lauren shrugged slightly. She hesitated, "It's strange, but now that she's working under me I feel so... responsible for her. Is that what it's like for you and the Captain?"

 

"Something like that," Allaine actually smiled faintly as they reached the bridge. She waved Lauren out first as she thought, 'Too bad she can't imagine what it's like to be responsible for all the people on this ship.'

 

"Commander," Danielle nodded from where she sat in the captain's chair, the tactical officer looking intently at the main screen, viewing out at the void.

 

Allaine returned the nod, "Status?"

 

Danielle smiled, the black haired officer saying, "Normal, ma'am."

 

"Is the Captain in the wardroom?" Allaine asked as she walked across the bridge towards the other access hatch.

 

"Yes, ma'am," Danielle agreed, turning back to her work. She spoke up, "Rakka, watch those controls please."

 

"Ma'am," the pink haired ensign agreed. Rakka smiled in relief as Lauren walked to her side, the two young women working together silently.

 

Allaine activated the chime first, waiting to enter until she heard a "Come in."

 

The redheaded Captain Gail looked up with a smile as she walked in, casually drinking from a mug of stimulant as she ran through various department reports at the table. Her eyes were tired but clear, her face looking remarkably beautiful despite the worry lines that were beginning to form at the corners of her green eyes.

 

"Captain," Allaine sat down beside her at the table and passed over the report, "Catty is ready to be reactivated."

 

"Good," Gail ran through the file then asked, "Security chip?"

 

"A precaution both Karin and Davies endorsed," Allaine answered promptly, "while they're confident that we've debugged her programs, they both want to be cautious."

 

"They wouldn't be engineers if they weren't," Gail agreed. She looked at Allaine curiously, "Do you agree with them?"

 

Allaine smiled wryly, "After staring at screens of code for so long I'm nearly going cross-eyed." More seriously, "We're ninety-nine percent confident we've done it... it's just the last one percent that worries me."

 

"Fair enough," Gail chuckled. She looked out one of the windows a moment then softly asked, "And how is the crew?"

 

Allaine looked at her sympathetically, knowing how isolated the captain could be from the crew. On one hand that distance was necessary for her to maintain command, but it couldn't be very easy for the other woman. "Morale is good," she said, "and the new crew members are integrating fairly well, so no problems there."

 

A smile twitched the corner of her mouth, "And the latest gossip?"

 

Allaine laughed, wondering how the crew would have reacted to their captain's interest in that! "Tanya and Danielle are still a hot item and they've even stopped fighting much in public. Jame and Karin finally went out, and I understand they're planning a second date...." Allaine relayed.

 

"Wasn't Meris interested in Jame?' Gail asked with some amusement.

 

"She isn't happy," Allaine agreed, "though her new assistant will hopefully distract her a bit." She look thoughtful, "Davies continues to work her way through the crew singles, too."

 

"Is she determined to bed every single woman on this ship?" Gail asked curiously.

 

"Looks like it," Allaine shrugged. She smiled slightly, "Thankfully she's so charming that she can get away with it."

 

"Just as long as she doesn't target you," Gail laughed, "I don't think I could stand the shock."

 

Allaine shook her head, "Not likely."

 

To be continued....