The Black

Frie’s consciousness fluttered out of her slumber as the light filtered into the window. She was warm, much warmer than normal... she wrapped herself more tightly around her softly snoring heat source and looked up at Clint as his arm tightened around her as well.

“Morning,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head.

“Did I wake you?” she asked as she looked up at him nipping him under the chin before getting a proper kiss in return.

“I’ve always slept light.” Clint groaned, as he stretched out while still captured by Frie. “Let’s get some breakfast, then I need to get to Port Royal. Aunt Gwen sent me an urgent message this morning. We can pick out some quarters while we are there, I want to add some tweaks to them while they are still being finished off.”

The two finally rose and took a shower that… almost… went without delay. Finally ready for the day, the two made it down the stairs to find Lyri in the kitchen and 4 plates of food on the table. Lyri was bouncing Tris on one hip, while Mac was being mauled by a very mouthy Bryton.

“Ow! Whelp, that ends that. Found a tooth.” Mac chuckled before removing his knuckle from the now unamused little one’s reach. He turned to watch Clint and Frie walk in. “I see you two didn’t learn your lesson.” Mac chuckled before spooning a scoop of food into his son’s mouth.

“Shit, you heard.” Clint said instantly.

“Enough...” Lyri chuckled before embracing her lifelong friend, “welcome to the family” she said as she warmly hugged a still-confused Frie.

“But you said they were soundproof!” Frie cried out as the reason for Clint’s emotions registered.

“I said the bedrooms were soundproof… you two weren’t in the bedroom were you...” Mac said carefully barely holding an amused smirk at bay.

“Oh…. My… Gawds!!” Frie’s auburn coloring turned bright as she hid her head in Clint’s chest in horror. Clint and Mac lost it at the same time, laughing hard enough that Mac had to set Brayton in his kiddy chair. Lyrian dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Frie refused to look at them, hiding in her human mate’s chest as it heaved in laughter.

“It’s ok, you are in good company.” Lyri finally composed herself.

“HOOOW” Frie was still distraught.

“Let’s just say…. that we are the reason that custom soundproofing….has been added to ……a certain couples berth on Lucid Traveler…. Silu still ribs me about noise complaints to this day.” Mac got out between gasps for air.

Fries eyes flew wide at that, “You were on her for months…”

“Yes, yes we were… luckily, Concord is a little more… soundproof…” lyrian made a point of looking at Mac with a pronounced lower lip bite, fang and all.

Clint snarfed into his coffee, “Whelp, I’m never sleeping in there again.” The four shared a laugh at that, as there was a ring at the door.

The human nurse, Nicole Broussard, had watched over the twins when they were infants. She had become good friends with Max and Lyri and had offered to babysit for the next couple of days. The twins had taken to her. Nicole, in her very Cajun way, had convinced Lyri to get out of the house for a few days.

Mac and Clint had been called back to Port Royal. Gwen had refused to state why over the comms. Lyri and Frie were going with their men.

“Doc Quinn Com’d earlier,” Lyri said with a smile, “Concord is quote ‘done.’”

“Oh, I’m guessing you want to go up in her” Mac asked with a mischievous smile, “you think you are back up to shape?”

Lyri gave him an aggressive grin, “let’s find out.”

——————————————————————

Professor Quinn stood as the door to the R&D hanger opened, “Ah! I was wondering when you four would make it!” He stood and greeted the two couples before pausing, “Frie, Clint. I see congratulations are in order.” He gave each of them a formal Delmar Greeting.

“Thank you.” Clint said. And Frie just nodded with a smile on her face.

Mac steered the conversation as the 5 walked toward the familiar Predator crouched in the corner of the Hanger. “So, you said Concord was ‘done’ but you never actually discussed what you had done to her.”

“Concord is… Remarkable... We have lived so many generations with limits to our power output... that it was a struggle to decide what NOT to put on Concord.” Professor Bart stated as he walked up from Behind the craft, “In the end I believe you will be impressed.”

“First off, Concord now only has one GAU. I know you humans are fond of your kinetics, however, we wanted to add a primary weapons option that would allow you to conserve ammunition.” Quin began, holding up a hand to plead to continue, “Humanity has never really had to worry about how efficient their energy weapons were; you simply used more power.”

“Brutally effective, with minimal complexity. It’s quite brilliant” Bart followed up, “Anyway, we were given permission to examine one of your ‘PAC’ hybrid beam and particle weapon. Your engineers and ours were able to combine our efficiency-based designs into your power generation capabilities…”

Mac’s eyes widened, “You didn’t…. You put a PAC in concord?”

“In the exact location and dimensions of your number two GAU” Quinn said with a smile, “It is still a fixed weapon, so you will still have to aim your craft to fire. We simply couldn’t fit a targeting lens and keep your weapons doors. We know you wanted to keep your stealth as much as possible.”

Mac stepped to the Port side of Concord, he activated the inspection function, and a panel opened. Mac looked inside to see an emitter, not a barrel staring back at him.

“Its performance?” he asked, buttoning up Concord once again.

“The beam will be narrower, 34 Millimeters in Diameter to keep the clearances the same for your firing port. However, inside of 10 Kilometers; you will have the half of cutting power the PAC’s mounted on your Tharsis class destroyers.” Bart positively beamed.

“That’s… not… Capacitors?” Mac’s mind finally clicked into place, “What’s my rate of fire?”

“One 10 second burst followed by a 35 second recharge if you use it all at once. These numbers are using max draw from Concords other systems. So, with the Slip Drive, and the Shields being charged as well as the rest of your normal systems.” Quinn responded.

“Christ almighty… wait… did you say shields?” Clint coughed; he had been drinking from a water bottle.

“Yes, you have Sol pattern shields... retrofitted with our bank-style systems using your capacitors. It takes about 2 minutes to charge.” Bart looked at Mac who looked concerned.

“We could have technically put shields on Concord when she was built, but she is a stealth platform. Shields would light her up like a firework explosion on a cloudless night...” Mac stated.

Quinn put a hand on his shoulder, “Keep an open mind, I will explain. You are correct, We could have installed human-style shield systems without much trouble... But we chose to use a Shield power bank for a reason.” He walked over and picked up a drone from its charging slot, and a data pad to control it. He launched the drone and Mac noticed a few new panels on top of Concord.

“Those new panels, they are the panels covering your shield emitters. We chose the power bank system because we wanted you to have the most instant shield activation possible, but without having to power them up from zero. Concord can power her banks without activating her shields keeping her stealth. Mac, you are not going to be solely stealth as part of Legion’s first fleet. Concord will need to be able to stand toe to toe with the enemy and take her licks. Her shield’s configuration will let you stay in stealth but Give you the staying power to brawl.” Bart explained, pointing out the new additions.

Mac nodded, “You make a good point, and you kept her stealth. It’s a good move, thank you. Anything else?”

Bart pulled out a pad and looked down on it, “Admiral Gwen authorized, ‘BLOCK45 ASTRI’ whatever that is. The admiral told me to tell you that.

“Jesus tap dancing Christ” Mac swore.

“I don’t follow” Clint said.

“Concord now had the AI WSO capabilities and sensor package from the TALON 4’s…. Please tell me that it doesn’t have to be used.” Mac asked quickly, he felt Lyri’s hurt worry.

“Yes, I am told that the Sensor’s and the AI are individually activatable. Concord retains her full traditional two seat capabilities.” Quinn then put a massive smile on his face, “The last part. I need you two to climb into your seats. Mac power up Concord if you please, everything but your propulsion will do.”

Mac gave the Brothers Grem a sideways glance as he and Lyri climbed into their warship. Bart put on a wire headset. Mac initiated Concord and the canopy closed.

*Start up initiated* the familiar voice of Jarvis spoke through the speakers in the cockpit *Welcome Captain, and Misses Grarzia. Please relax, Initiating Alpha Synce Selection 2*

“Wha…?” was all Lyri could say before her link with Mac exploded into detail.

“We were given permission by Admiral Gwen herself to look at the 3rd generation Syncing system,” Quinn’s voice came over the comm, “We combined it with our medical knowledge of Delmar Claiming to build a second setting for Concord. It won’t be perfect at first, but If you could both relax into the Synce you should be able to connect properly.”

Lyri was panicking. So much was flashing in her mind, not all of them Her’s. ‘Why was she seeing a hud, her helmet wasn’t on. Why am I seeing small children. What’s goin..’

“Breath and relax, love” a voice blasted Through he chaos, “This is Alpha sync. Close your eyes and focus on clearing your mind. Our minds are linking together, our memories, our thoughts, our emotions are all being blended and meshed... trust me love.” Mac’s soothing voice slowly brought Lyrian back down as she leaned back and closed her eyes, listening and focusing like she had with Concord that first time.

Images flashed before both of their minds, the Wilde cyclone of a first time Alpha sync took only 20 seconds, but it felt much longer for the two of them. Lyrian experienced most of mac’s life in hyper-fast forward, yet in perfect clarity. Mac was experiencing the same.

“how are you two doing,” Quinn asked over the com’s

“We are fine, that was intense.” Lyri and Mac said at once, almost in one voice.

*whoa, that’s crazy* Lyri thought

*Uh… I don’t think we are supposed to be able to think to each other.* Mac responded in her mind.

*That’s not normal? * she asked

*Oh Hell no! let me ask.* Mac responded before speaking out loud, “Uh, Doc? How deep is this Link supposed to go?”

“We.. uh… we don’t know… You are our first try. We think that the claiming link will deepen the sync, but we don’t know by how much.. Why?”

“Doc.. I think it worked, maybe better than you realize..” It was Lyri over the com, “Mac and I… We can talk to each other… without actually talking…” She stammered.

Clint did a double take and let in an explosive inhale of surprise, “You’re shitting me... You can think to each other?!?”

“Yea.. we can” Both of them stated in perfect unison, “Shutting Concord down now” They finished as Concord powered down and the link between them retreated to their original emotional connection.

They both stepped off the bottom of the ladder in turn, “Well, that was unexpected” Mac stated, handing Bart and Quinn, “I believe you will want to look at this, I flashed it with our Sync data. I need to know if it is safe.”

Quin nodded and shuffled off to the Console as Bart frowned while rubbing his beard, “I was not ready to hear you can read each other minds…”

“Can you give us a minute Professor” Lyrian asked him before walking Mac away from the group.

“Luv?” Mac looked at her worried, “what is it”

“I saw it… the RFG strike on your home... through your eyes... I saw everything, or at least pieces of everything... James, I saw it all…” She shivered, “All of it including our time together. What was that”?

“I don’t know, but I saw the same. You and Frie in school, you’re training. Your time on Traveler, meeting me... all of it.” Mac whispered to her, pulling her into an embrace, “I think they may have created something that used our memories to sync our minds completely. That’s never been done before… ever…”

Quin started to walk back over to the group and Lyri followed Mac back as well, “Well professor? Did you create your own Frankenstein?”

Bart snorted at the reference, and Quin just nodded, “I may have… We may need to do a more controlled test, but it appears that The Sync used the Link you two have. It dove deep into your subconscious to use Memory as a building block for a complete Merge of the Minds.”

“Holy fucking Spock..” Clint mumbled…

“Spock?” Frie asked in confusion.

Lyri giggled finally breaking the tension, “I’ll make sure we bring the appropriate movies for movie night tonight.” She said.

“Anything else before I stumble on the ability to make goats faint doc?” Mac asked only half amused.

“We... Uh… We were able to use the Slip Drives Higgs Boson field separately from the Jump engine. It won’t work for bigger craft, but.. Concord can now reduce her mass enough to achieve Hover and Vtol.”

Mac just started laughing... “Of course you did.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Frie Landed the shuttle in the middle of Port Royal’s commuter Hangers as a Ranger landed to her starboard, and Concord touched down to the Larboard. She shut the shuttle down and stepped out behind the rest of the passengers, Clint included, to hand it off to the returning pilot. “Watch number 4 thruster, it’s been sluggish lately” she mentioned as the other pilot nodded and stepped into the cockpit

“Well! I see Concord has some new tricks.” Ambassador Gwen states as the four of them walked away from their craft. “Everything shake out just Fi..”

Lyrian wrapped the much taller Scot into a tight Human embrace.

“Oh, my. Hai, Is everything ok?” Gwen asked immediately, worried.

“Later, everything is fine” Mac assured her as Lyrian let her go. “What was so hush-hush that we needed to come up here?”

“My office then,” Gwen stated, and they followed her down the hall to the Ambassador's Office.

5 minutes later Gwen closed the Door behind them and sat down on the couch next to a waiting Silu.

“In 2 days, the ING are going to be conducting a set of interviews. Some here, Some down on the planet. As you know, much of our data kept on the station it was duplicated. We think they are setting up a Hit piece on Humanity.” Silu began.

The next two days were a blur of information and strategy. The ING delegation never stopped making requests, and were incensed at how much that Humanity considered Top Secret… The group analyzed each request. Clint got a partial face from a corrupted video file from one of the Freight air locks in a former construction zone. Mac had gone out late one evening in Concord with Lyri and done a stealth sweep of the area.

What they found was... interesting…

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The room felt almost weightless, almost. It was at the request of the ING”s News investigator. The Invertebrate Being sat in the offered chair overlooking a viewer that currently showed the view toward the beacon and out into deep space, Gwen checked her watch, then smiled as the Being pulled out a data pad and nodded to His Camera Crews.

It was customary for the ING ‘agent’ Investigators to not give their name, a tradition of “impartiality” that meant very little in the current age. The being in front of Ambassador Gwen was likely given the questions to ask, and how to ask them by HQ. He was nothing but a puppet.

“Let us begin, Your name for the record?” The interviewer asked.

“Admiral Gwen Mackenzie Trenton. Commander of the first Expeditionary Fleet and Ambassador to the Delmar People on behalf of Humanity and the Sol system. For the purposes here, you may address me as Ambassador or Ambassador Gwen. I am not here in this interview in a Military capacity” Gwen answered calmly and evenly.

“But you are a Military Commander first are you not, Ambassador? You even give it Prominence in your previous answer?” The interviewer asked coolly.

‘Ah, one of these’ Gwen thought before answering, “I was given the title of Admiral before I was given the Honor of being an ambassador. Since I still Hold both Positions, it matters very little which one comes first”

“I see, Well, let us get started properly then, Humanity has had a rather Unorthodox entry into the Galactic Unity, As I understand it, Your First contact was accidentally accomplished by a Test pilot during a failed attempt to achieve faster-than-light travel?”

“Yes, Captain Grarzia, Then Lt Mackenzie, was participating in our first attempt at FTL, sorry ‘faster than light’. “

“This ‘eff tee el’ is a type of engine?” The interviewer probed.

“No, it is the acronym for my home languages are the first letters in the words that mean ‘faster than light’” Gwen explained.

“Ah a linguistic shortening, I see. You say his last name used to be Mackenzie?” The Interviewer prompted.

“Yes, he is my blood relative. Since his little adventure, He has married into Tribe Helyon of Delmar” Gwen responded with a smile.

“A political boon no doubt for Humanities entry into The most lucrative Trading monopoly in Galactic history.” The interviewer said seriously.

‘There it is’ “Now Sir, we know you have done your research. You know exactly why Captain Grarzia was initially Wed into tribe Helyon. We owe them a great debt, not the other way around.” Gwen chided.

“Oh? Care to elaborate?” The interviewer was not happy with that response.

“You should know the long history of ‘rogue’ factions of the Unity military and Science guilds experimenting on new races, only to be found out when that new race becomes politically or militarily strong enough to cause problems.” Gwen’s voice was calm, “In fact. Mackenzie participated in repelling two such attempts at “acquisition” while on board Lucid Traveler. The Unity courts have deemed it so.”

“Yes, 3 Pirate Barges, an escort carrier, and two Frontier Brigantines claimed destroyed. Another Disabled Brigantine the… Convergent Dawn. which subsequently went rogue to join the Void’s Revenge. All done by one Human, how fanciful. You cannot possibly expect us to believe that?” the being scoffed his tentacles writhing slightly in irritation.

“We do not expect you to. However, we are here, we are interested in very little more than trade and exploration. We are not toothless However, and we consider a single Human violated, pre or post ‘mortem’ to be an act of war.” Gwen held the being's gaze levelly, showing just a touch of the calculated human gaze that so many in the greater galaxy felt ancient Prey instincts while under.

“So violent” the interviewer stated.

Gwen looked at her watch and forced her face to not smirk, “My people have a saying, Interviewer. ‘Peacefulness without the capacity or will to do extraordinary violence is not peacefulness, but merely Helplessness’. Humanity Strives for Peacefulness but make no mistake. We will not suffer abuse.” Gwen turned to indicate to the viewer, “You mentioned our entry into Unity, We have done no such thing. WE, the United Sol Federation, are opening relations with who we deem appropriate inside The Unity. I accepted this interview to see if our suspicions were correct. And to make a statement to the Greater Galactic body politic.”

“And that would be” the Intense interviewer said coolly. No doubt looking at a gold mine of edited gatcha clips.

“That this is a hit piece on humanity. As you know, we were attacked here in Port Royal. We know It was an espionage Hit. We have cross-referenced every piece of requested data, denied, or approved against every piece of information stolen from us in that raid.” Gwen waited for a response. The interviewer started changing colors quickly and Gwen released her smile as she continued, “We do not believe that this visit is a coincidence. An emergency medical shuttle is on its way to Delmar at this instance with a very Familiar Lycan Man in critical condition from a botched mechanical Lung transplant. The pod he was in was very... enlightening…”

“WE are the ING! WE are impartial, how dare you! I will Bury you and all of Humanity!! You will be hunted when I am finished with this piece!” He finished with a wheeze of exhaustion.

“Interviewer, we suspected this from the start. Gwen’s smile broadened as the viewer flashed blue and white as 20 Human pattern Capital ships jumped into the Delmar system. The interviewer froze at the scene and could only watch.

“We are implementing a Joint Trade agreement with the Delmaracian Confederation. We will be giving Delmar Captains Human freighters to travel our territories, learning our ways, teaching Humanity about themselves, and likewise Human Captains will soon be captaining Delmar flagged ships. This” Gwen pointed to the view screen, “Is our response to the recent attacks on our people and this system. Delmar has suffered greatly in their defense of my people. We will Defend them, their freighters, and their home as they rebuild their defense fleets.”

The interviewer stood; he doubted This Gwen could understand his emotional colors at all. He Had her, He had enough to destroy her species reputation. He would be promoted for this. He bowed slightly in mock salute, “I have all I need here... Admiral.”

___________________________________________________________________________________

“You think they took the bait?” Clint asked, he was currently sitting on the couch of a Café/lounge with his bride leaning up against him as a back rest. He twirled the main tuft in the tip of Frie’s tail in his fingers causing her to melt into him.

“Hmmm I like that” She mumbled; eyes half closed.

“I think they did, that guy has to think our entire race is unhinged and barbaric” Mac chuckled. Lyrian was off with Aunt Gwen giggling and Cooing over baby videos on the other side of the room.

“They were always going to spin it. Humanity is the outsider for now.” Silu started sipping his drink.

“At least there will be two versions out there. That is about all we can do. How is our patient doing?” Mac asked.

“Icario reports him as stable, whoever ‘helped’ him butchered the man. He keeps begging to be killed, something about his family in danger if he is deemed a traitor” Silu stated.

“Shit…” Mac stated, “I guess we talk to him in the morning.”