Voyages of INS Roanoke and its crew

[Erremnart]

All Good Things... 4

---

Battlecruiser Roanoke was moored at Fort Ramsey, Ontario. It was no longer a Liberty Insurgency ship - it had been until an hour or two ago, but now it belonged only to itself and its ideals.
The hull was lightly damaged and scratched from the ice break-offs, the end of the main heavy battery sitting forward on the bow was damaged, but all of that was incomparable to the effect the whole defection had had on the interior of the ship - more of the crew had resisted than originally anticipated, nearly one eighth, and so the interior of the ship had been damaged by the fighting. In many places, electrical lines, various pipes and internal equipment and furniture were damaged. Even the bridge was not left untouched by the fighting - most of the displays and consoles broken, lights shattered and the entrance door warped from the massive explosion.
The surviving crew were recovering from their injuries, burying their fallen and generally recovering from what had happened on board. For most of them, today was a big win, but no one was in the mood to celebrate. Just not today, maybe in a week or two, when the intensity of the experience of killing their former comrades wore off. So now they were packing up their things and preparing to leave the ship, which would be in need of thorough repairs and revisions.


Virginia was sitting in her office, so she packed her belongings into a navy suitcase. After all, she did not have that much for herself - army clothes, army underwear, army boots - well, everything except her guitar and a few souvenirs was from equipment depots.
There was a knock on her door and Ben Sheffield entered, still bearing the signs of battle just like her. Their wounds had been tended to, but their clothes were still bloody and damaged from the fight.
"Did you want something from me, Crash?", he asked her at the door and walked in.
"Yes... I have a present for you... and a way home.", Virginia smiled sadly at him and nodded her head towards her desk where an envelope and an access card for one of their freighters.
Ben raised his eyebrows and first looked at the contents of the envelope - inside was an Orbital Spa and Cruise voucher for a two month family trip for two adults and up to four children. Ben looked at Virginia in surprise, "Where did you get the money for that?"
"You know how we saved that one freelancer's hide from a hacker? So he sent us his generous thanks - it's paid for with your share and part of mine.", Virginia replied.
Ben smiled gratefully at her and was about to hug her, but Virginia quickly stopped him with her left hand, "No, don't do that.". It did not sound threatening, more like somewhat sad and resigned. Ben obeyed her, but was curious about the rest of what she had to say.
"Don't do it because...", Virginia averted her gaze towards the floor and lit one of her aromatic cigarettes. She took a quick long drag from it and blew out a puff of vanilla-scented smoke. She stared at him silently for a moment as if gathering the courage to tell him something, "...because you couldn't contact your family due to the fact that they were on an evacuation convoy, but...", Virginia let out another long sigh and looked briefly into his eyes.
"What's wrong, Crash?", Ben asked her, frightened, not knowing her like this and at the same time beginning to worry about his wife and children. What had happened to them, he wondered, they cannot be dead, she would not give him the family voucher if they were.
"They're here, on the ship.", Virginia replied quietly, nodding her head towards the shuttle access card, "There.".

Ben shook off his fear for his family, but he did not like the fact that his family was on the ship in the middle of all this bloody chaos. "Why did you drag them into this, Crash?", he asked her slowly and quietly. He was usually calm, but now Virginia had crossed all boundaries and his blood was boiling in his veins.
"The convoys to Gallia weren't safe...", Virginia replied quietly, taking a drag from her cigarette, "... and since things were moving faster and we couldn't protect them...".
"Because we couldn't protect them - so what?!", Ben raised his voice at Virginia. His hands began to shake with anger, but he had no intention of hitting her - no, that was not his style, he was a professional and she was still the captain of the ship.
"... Because we couldn't protect them, so... I had them brought aboard, in stasis pods. They don't know or seen anything.", Virginia replied quietly, looking guiltily at the floor.
"Are you telling me you had my family kidnapped?", Ben asked her again, slowly and clearly.
"Yes. I ordered your family to get kidnapped.", Virginia replied quietly, looking briefly into his eyes, "I completely understand that you're going hate me, Ben.".

Ben Sheffield was speechless - their sincere friendship was gone. It would have been easier if they would never been friends - he might not have been far away from punching her in the face like he would anyone who dared to touch his family, scolding her with every curse word he knew, but he still could not do it. In some twisted sense he could understand her reasons, but the way it was done was just too much. He wanted out of here immediately - out of this ship, away from Xenos, he wanted to see his wife and children, and most of all he wanted away from the creature he had once called his friend.
"Have a nice life, Ben.", Virginia said as Ben grabbed the card from the freighter, walked briskly out of her office and slammed the door behind him angrily. "I'm so sorry.", Virginia said quietly, taking a drag from her cigarette as Ben's angry footsteps moved away.