2.22.1

The Brother Owens

“I get it, I do,” Romo comforted. “But this isn’t exactly a full-disclosure job. You know that, right? We don’t get to know everything even under the best circumstances. Imagine if someone like Rue knew as much as the captain before she flipped. What she could have shared. This is a chess match, and the captain sees more of the board than we do.”

“And that doesn’t make you feel like a pawn?”

“Maybe,” Romo admitted. Still, he shrugged, then turned his face to her. “But you’re not a pawn, Astrid. You’re the queen. You’re critical. He can move you in any direction, and as long as we have you, we’re still in this game.”

“Then who’s the king?”

“The rest of the Channelers.”

Astrid looked to her friend. But before she could respond, the doors before them parted for a young man, dressed and pressed to make a good impression.

Ramsey’s clothing looked neat, despite that fact he donned fatigues, ready and eager to be put to task.

His uniform suit lay neatly in a garment bag over one arm, and a duffle bag slung over his shoulder. In his arms he held his own armor case.

He set it on the deck momentarily, to return their salutes.

“Lieutenant Junior-Grade,” Astrid addressed. “You remember Agent Adan Romo?”

“Of course,” he nodded to the man. “I’m afraid I missed your name upon our first meeting, however.”

“Specialist Astrid Hale,” she told him. “We’ve been instructed to welcome you aboard. Gunnery Chief Tenya Thompson will be your guide while you adjust, sir.”

“No need. If it’s all the same, I’d like to get to work and find out what we’ll be doing.”

Astrid collected the man’s garment bag and armor case and let Romo take over.

The men marched ahead, while the agent directed through the decks.

“About a year ago we discovered a cache of illegal weapons. Specifically, fusion-energy based firearms. The other departments, ATF, for example, took the initial reports. But fearing signs of either a raider armament, private army, or rumor of succession, after they found more, the Service enlisted Captain London’s Task Force to get to the bottom of it.”

Astrid didn’t mind listening in. Indeed, so much happened since, it felt almost refreshing to review from the comfort of perspective.

“We picked up Specialist Hale, who has a special talent for locating these types of weapons,” Romo brushed over her recruitment and trudged on. “Eventually, by tracking through the distributer, and their supplier, we discovered the Static Opposition.

“The Opposition developed the weapons to use against Channelers. Our investigation provided that the initial founders were a Guardian by the name of Walker James, and a Channeler, Rahna Connor. They both were survivors of the incident at Sanctuary Argos-- the rebellion that resulted in the closure of Maxwell Academy. The two events are one in the same. Though, details remain hazy.”

Ahead, Romo and Ramsey hit the stairs, with Astrid trailed behind.

“According to them, Maxwell was involved in a contract of experiments on Channelers. The degree to which they volunteered, or were volunteered against their will, has yet to be determined. Depending on the source, the school looked to help the Channelers. According to Rahna, the Channelers were being weaponized.

“All we know is that many Channeler subjects died in the experiments. The revolt that followed led to the death of innocents on both sides. Likely, some of your sister’s colleagues.”

“I had no idea,” Ramsey said again. Already, he seemed to walk faster, and Astrid hastened to keep up.

“Rahna and Walker hold fatalistic views that such a thing was inevitable. They sought to bring about a permanent solution to Channelers. Power inhibitors, early-gestation detection…”

“Severe.”

“A conversation that should have been handled by experts elsewhere. But the S.O. got their hands in it. We arrested them both, but it seems the ones that replaced them have ideas of their own.

“In the last few months they’ve kidnapped, or attempted to kidnap, dozens of kids across four Sanctuaries that we know of. And slain anyone in the way.”

“Why?” Ramsey asked. “Why kids, what do they plan to do that’s worth killing for?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Romo concluded while they neared the War Room. “We now have reason to believe they have relocated the subjects to Maxwell Academy. The school had been, as far as we know, abandoned since the rebellion. The fact that Ava suggested they moved back in piqued our interest.

“Our team believes that Maxwell provides the isolation, and the facility, required to carry out such a plan without prying eyes.”

The agent delivered them to the strategy table, where Anders and Tenya looked up from their work.

Anders met them first, with yet another firm shake to man. “Welcome aboard, Owens.”

“’Ramsey’ is fine, if it’s all the same to you, sir,” he countered.

“Lieutenant Junior-Grade Owens,” the captain descended from the Bridge at the sound of new voice on his deck.

This time, Ramsey snapped to attention. “Sir! I want to thank you for considering my transfer.”

“It wasn’t completely with our own gains. It’s a timely opportunity to reconnect with the Fourth Fleet. I’ve been in talks with the colonel. He speaks well of you. And we may have need of his help. You’ve been briefed?”

“In progress, sir,” Romo informed the captain.

“For what it’s worth,” London added. “You should know that a few of my crew also vouched for you. I trust you won’t let any of us down.”

“No, sir. Not if I can help it.”

“Good.” The captain took a gander of the War Room, as though with fresh eyes, he saw it return to a full table. Satisfied, he nodded. “We’ll be moving out to Argos immediately. Get up to speed, and then I’ll have Lieutenant-Commander Reeves go over our next operation with you.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Hale.” The captain then nodded to wear the Channeler stood, personal affects still in hand.

She did not miss the reminder she needed to serve her own personal debriefing with the newcomer.

~~~

Within transit to their next destination, it still took several hours for the ship to settle its excitement over their addition.

Astrid made herself scarce until the hubbub died down. She spent a little time in the commons with a book, and Endra’s potted plant, before she received word from Dell that Ramsey took up post in the room opposite the tech lab.

It sat a squat little space. But the new crewman moved around some of the crates to fashion himself a crude office with a makeshift desk.

Some of the supplies with which he arrived now lay unpacked. And Astrid’s eyes glanced over books. Then a personal datapad with a custom painted case. She couldn’t help but notice it matched the graphic pattern that adorned a rather beautiful looking rifle. By Astrid’s standards, anyway.

Personalized gear, she realized. By Tenya’s insights, a good sign.

“Hey. Specialist Hale, right?” Ramsey looked up from where he poured over an Aldebaran report at his improvised desk.

“Yes, Sir. Astrid.”

“Right, Astrid Hale.” The man rose to his feet and clicked the report off. “I hear I have to you to thank for my transfer.”

Astrid tucked her hands behind her back. A habit she picked up from the captain whenever she felt the need to reaffirm her professionalism.

“I’m quite low on the totem pole,” she insisted. “You’re here on your own merits. Not my word.”

“Yeah, your captain.” Ramsey had the good sense to look sheepish. “He has some serious pull.”

“To be blunt, Captain London is a very ‘ends justify the means’ type of leader.” Astrid almost felt guilty, like it sounded as though she disapproved. “Thankfully he also has a moral code just right of center. I still sometimes struggle with the balance. His leadership style sometimes conflicts with the closeness he promotes amongst the team. It’s not… typically encouraged, where I’m from.”

Ramsey nodded, as if the assessment verified his own impressions. Perhaps, Astrid surmised, his usual work in the Fourth Fleet also fostered more propriety than shown aboard the Aldebaran.

“Romo said I’m replacing someone,” Ramsey gestured mildly. “Someone who turned on you. I imagine that makes trusting someone new especially challenging.”

“There’s a lot of shifting allegiances these days.”

“I guess after learning about Ava, I can’t really argue that.”

It didn’t feel fair to pretend they wouldn’t be on their guard with him. Yet Astrid appreciated that he seemed to anticipate it, and that it didn’t deter him.

But in the silence, Ramsey eyed her, and after a momentary pause the Owens brother ventured further. “There’s something else I heard.”

“I’m a Channeler,” Astrid interjected. The words flooded from her lips, as though if she said it fast enough, it wouldn’t matter as much.

Ramsey, for his part, however, huffed a laugh. “Yeah, that was it. Didn’t know how to bring that one up.”

“I should have told you sooner,” she readjusted her stance. “What with your sister, and all. You seem to have pieced it together yourself rather quickly, though.”

“Um,” Ramsey’s lips twisted in a half-smile. “You have a Guardian onboard.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, he’s not so subtle,” Ramsey informed her with a little laugh.

“He made sure you knew, hm?”

“Well, he made sure I knew what he was. Between that and your ‘Specialist’ status, and the work you did tracking those energy weapons your intel agent described, I connected the dots.”

Astrid remained still as Ramsey inspected her form. Not her body, but the military colors in which she wrapped it.

“So, you’re the reason the task force was assigned to this business with the Sanctuary kidnappings,” he continued.

“For as long as the Static Opposition remains a Channeler-specific enemy, and at a manageable size, it seems the Aldebaran has been made their designated thorn-in-the-side, as it were,” she supplied. “But yes. In this case, it is particularly personal for me. They hit my Sanctuary first.”

“I see.” Ramsey’s expression fell sympathetic at her admission. “That must be hard for you. For what it’s worth, I apologize for any part my family played in assaulting yours. My sister, she was always troubled, but I never saw this coming.”

“You said you weren’t close?” Astrid pried. She couldn’t help herself. Being denied family, it proved easy to assume any siblings would be as close as Tenya’s. As that was how any Channeler willfully imagined the life denied them.

But perhaps that was not always the case.

“I can count on one hand the number of truly ‘good’ memories we shared,” Ramsey confessed. “Maybe I shouldn’t have joined the Service. I see now she felt I abandoned her. I just didn’t want to sit in it anymore. The grief, the regret. I needed to move on.”

“The grief. Over losing your mother,” Astrid presumed.

Ramsey nodded. “And our father, some time after. He didn’t take it too well, either. He spent a few years trying to find the baby but, of course, that got him nowhere. We named her Charlotte, but we don’t even have access to records. I guess I had a vain hope that I’d get clearance someday through the Service.”

“They would have changed it anyway,” Astrid told him as gently as she could. “There’s no way to know which Sanctuary they took her to, even if we could reach one. I’m learning the hard way they didn’t want us talking too much. Fear of coordinating a rebellion, I suppose.”

“I guess it was a long shot anyway. I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but you couldn’t be…?”

Ramsey let the sentence hang. A tiny invitation, a little crack in the doorway to familial connection.

But Astrid winced against the ephemeral hope that passed as soon as he extended it. “How old would your sister be now?”

“Seventeen, eighteen?” He estimated.

“Sorry. I’ve got you by at least two years,” she sighed. “I hope you’re not too terribly disappointed.”

Ramsey sighed and combed his fingers over his hair. “I guess I’m not as over it as I thought.”

“There’s got to be a way, some way to find out,” Astrid tried to help. “No system is flawless. If there’s anything the Sanctuaries have shown us, it’s that. They had to know some families would go looking. I wonder what other protocols they put in place to make it so difficult.”

“You really think they thought that far ahead?” Ramsey questioned. “That they planned for a liberation movement someday?”

“I don’t know. The further away from it I get, the more this all seemed inevitable. Like they knew it would lead to this and installed the Sanctuaries anyway. It makes me wonder what else they foresaw that we’re unwittingly walking into.”

They shared a pensive silence that allowed more comfort than Astrid expected. Her time with the new addition granted her more hope, not less. She found she enjoyed talking with him.

“You’re a good person, right?” Ramsey broached. “I mean, that’s a tough thing to ask considering we’re about to plan an op based entirely on deception but, If you’re not a good person, I’m about to look like a major ass to my family.”

At that, Astrid laughed.

“Yeah,” she countered. “Me, too.”