COUNTER/Weight 25: You Can Call Me Captain

Episode description

The Kingdom Come has left the surface of Counterweight, but it hasn't quite made it out of orbit. Between a furious unit out for revenge, and a stuffy military bureaucrat insistent in doing things by the book, the Chime will need to get creative to get away. Cass tries to justify his ownership of Apostolosian materiel, Mako goes on a covert operation with his new best friend, and Aria and AuDy try to keep everything from spinning out of control.
This time on COUNTER/Weight: You Can Call Me Captain
Who's in charge here again?

"It’s heavy, is what it is." The veteran’s voice trailed away, and he thought about how unfair it all was, what a miserable responsibility to give to someone so young. He sipped at his drink, a glowing concoction of red and blue, a little umbrella with the colors of the Diasporan flag. Very patriotic. And Quentin — no, Jerboa, now his name was Jerboa, he reminded himself — he mirrored the action of his role model, eyes wide as the alcohol touched his young tongue.

"But don’t worry, little man, you can carry that weight."

Jerboa smiled.

"And hey, you got a good one. Detachment is… It’s like a falcon."

Confusion.

"Oh, uh, a falcon, it’s a bird, a big bird. Wide wings." He gestured, his arms stretched out, his body menacing and beautiful. The tourists on the boardwalk automatically cleared space for him without knowing why, whistling their nationalistic hits. "Sharp talons, incredible speed, a fierce hunger." Fireworks blossomed above them, punctuating this metaphor.

Jerboa tilted his head under the erratic light. "If Detachment is a falcon, then what’s Righteousness?"

Ibex resisted the mechanistic urge to bite his tongue.

"Oh, Quentin." He ran his hand down his little brother’s fresh fade. "It’s a vulture, man. It’s a fucking vulture."”

Plot

The Kingdom Come receives a communication from Minerva Strategic asking for their clearance. Three Horizon ships are arriving. AuDy feigns that they’re out of fuel. The Minerva Strategic worker, Johnson Jeremiah, concludes the Kingdom Come has been stolen by a robot. Minerva Strategic ships now approach as well.

Adler contacts them from Horizon, asking for them to hand over Jacqui Green, who has gone AWOL, and a down payment on the money owed to Petrichor for Mako’s robots. AuDy mutes the call while Mako produces a fake payment receipt. As the Chime starts arguing over what to do, Horizon fires a warning shot. Reopening comms, Adler accepts the receipt for now, but AuDy and Mako’s disagreement over whether Jacqui Green is on board is obviously fishy. Adler shoots again, hitting the ship. Mako falls and hits his head, and is now seeing Larry with him.

AuDy sends out the Queen Custom, pretending that Jacqui Green is inside it, and Adler accepts the ruse. But the Minerva ships want to board, especially after Mako pretends, over the comms, to be the Captain. After a frantic discussion, Jeremiah and twelve space marines are let on, and they start to interrogate the crew. At the same time, Mako is hacking into the Minerva ships.

Cassander defends the presence of Apostolosian mechs on board as “collector’s items”. Mako is followed in his fogging by Larry, but makes the Minerva ships’ weapons need to be recalibrated. Cass decides to reveal that they are an Apostolosian prince. Larry and Mako argue, and Larry returns to Mako’s body, possessing him.

Jeremiah lets Cass go, and wants to talk to Orth. Mako makes a Minerva ship spin around and send out a mayday signal; then he also returns to his body, so he and Larry are now cohabitating. The Minerva people return to their ships. Both Larry and Mako start talking to the Chime (to their confusion) as they receive an incoming call from Jerboa, candidate of Detachment.

Cast

Other Characters