by Chris Hechtl
He squared his shoulders. "All right, I'll grab my coat and then we can do this," he said. "For what it's worth, Geni, I hope you find what you want. And I hope you get some help for your anger. I know I screwed up; that's on me. But I hope you can learn not to take it out on everyone else."
"That remains to be seen," she said as he gathered up his coat and headed to the door.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Monty shook his head when he heard the news. Yorgi was sidelined for several days, quite possibly a week or more. He'd been tapped to fill the admiral's shoes.
Which was a problem since he'd been off duty. But he hadn't refused returning to active duty. He had no problem with an A.I. He'd just been too busy to finish the initialization process until the day before. The three-day weekend had allowed him to have the A.I. Ensign Hermini to be initialized. He had barely squeaked by.
He was still getting used to her. She was a dumb A.I. but he'd opted for the middle of the road. She could grow in time. She tended to sleep a lot, and he'd forgotten her a few times during those naps.
Nara had come by to do a checkup with him before allowing him to return to active duty. He'd passed the physical, but they'd sat and talked over lunch.
"So, where does that leave Yorgi?" he asked.
Nara grimaced. "Where does it leave some of my people? I'm a damn doctor! I've been busy before but now it's insane!" She waved her hands. "You have no idea how many calls we're getting to initialize A.I.! A little too late though," she said with a shake of her head.
He blinked. "You?" he asked in a worried tone of voice. He didn't remember her going through the procedure.
She shook her head. "No, I work with the cadre, so I'm covered. I opted for a dumb A.I. Ensign Jack some time ago. He handles my paperwork nicely. But I admit I haven't engaged with him as much as I should have. I might be guilty of forgetting he's there from time to time, even if he does pop up on my HUD," she admitted. "Sorry, Jack."
"Understood, ma'am. And you have been busy. You have been nice to me, and I've had the net," Jack replied.
"This is really going to frack things up," Monty sighed. "Just when we least need a scandal."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Nara sighed.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Moira couldn't help but to question everything about herself and her people. She had to talk with Yorgi and managed to find the time for some face-to-face time when he was off duty.
She caught him in a rare place, in his apartment. He opened the door, and he just stared at her for a long moment, then stepped aside.
Once she was inside and the door was shut, she turned to him.
"Yorgi …"
"I know what you are going to say," he said heavily. "Some of it is true. I screwed up initially, and it just snowballed. I resented having an A.I. with me—no, in me. I admit that. I've been working on it, trying to deal with it, but apparently, the damage was done—is done. She's not in a forgiving mood. I guess I can't blame her."
He sighed as Moira stared at him. "I know I screwed up. That's the part that sucks, I let people down. And this is going to give the administration a black eye. I wouldn't blame Irons if he sent me packing."
"I doubt he will …," she frowned.
Yorgi snorted. "He has to make examples, Moira, and I'm at the top of the list. I've tried to improve; that's the only thing I've got going for me. But I did screw up, and I couldn't wrap my head around it even after numerous counseling sessions from the admiral himself." He shook his head. "I guess there is some sort of truth about trying to teach an old dog new tricks."
"It's no one's fault," she said quietly. He eyed her with clear disbelief etched on his face, so she inhaled and exhaled. "Okay, so it is our fault. We lived with a lifetime of knowledge that A.I. were dangerous and were dead-end tech. It takes a bit more than a few years to turn that sort of mindset around."
He shrugged. "It wasn't just that. He's right. She was trying to help me, and I took my resentment out on her. I screwed up. I had a junior officer to train and use, and I didn't. That's on me," he sighed.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"It turns out the process is simpler than I thought. Geni was downloaded out of my implants. And this time I opted for a dumb A.I. to replace her."
She blinked. "So, they are letting you go on?"
"I don't know. I'm off duty while the A.I. integrates with me. I'd introduce you but he's asleep now."
"He, huh?"
"Yeah. I know," he snorted as he showed her in. "You ladies do a better job of managing me. I didn't choose his gender or identity. He'll grow on his own. I can't make things right with Geni, but this time will be different," he vowed.
She nodded.
-~~~///^\~~~-
The Admiralty and Liobat was hit publicly by Knox News. Geni had contacted the media outlet within milliseconds of becoming a free agent and downloading herself into a civilian server network. Selling her story as a free agent changed the standard news cycle, and the scandal rocked the net taking over the current news cycle.
Geni enjoyed the attention. The Bekians did not however.
Captain Sprite was one of the officers asked for comment. Since Geni's resignation was closed but the investigation and Admiral Sienkov's fate still open, she refused to comment. Other officers wisely did so as well.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Knox News put up an exclusive interview with Geni on a Sunday evening. Within minutes of the interview, Geni had vented her story and realized from the interviewer's tone and direction of her questions that she was being used.
She realized civilian life was not all it was cracked up to be in the first milliseconds when she realized he wasn't going to abide by their agreement to leave her service alone.
She had to play ball with Knox for a job though, so she did what she had to do, though she refused to lie. When the interview was over, she had additional funds but not a lot, not as much as she'd need to be set for life in her own mainframe. She had been promised a net communications and moderator post within the company, but the start date was open-ended. When she pressed for the job, she was told that it would start after she was no longer front page news.
That was annoying. It was also a problem since she was in a civilian mainframe and had to pay for her server space and processors. The civilian hardware was slower than she was used to, and it lacked the bandwidth of the military network.
Calls for her to come in for follow-up interviews and talks came from all corners of the net, but she had a one-week exclusive agreement in her contract with Knox.
She went on Knox for their morning show and several others, but soon other news began to take over. Her job posting was still held up, and although a producer teased having her on as a net reporter or anchor, the discussions never took place. She decided after the second day to look for another job opportunity and to keep her bots busy scrubbing the net for one.
When her activities were noted by Knox News, they reminded her that she was under contract with them. "And when do I actually start work?"
"When we have the posting ready. If you can handle moderator duty under an anonymous ID tag, we can start you now. But you have to go through orientation first."
"Give me access to the information, and I'll put it in my memory."
"Oh yes, it’s faster with you A.I. I'll need to check with corporate first though. They get a bit stroppy when someone tries to short circuit the process," the producer stated.
"Fine."
She seethed and accessed her contract once more. Her current contract would be up in a standard year. She had a noncompete clause in it that would take effect for a year, but after that she could find other work in the media field if she wished.
Surely she could find something in that time period, even if it was in a completely different field. She was an experienced chief of staff with a minor in intelligence handling.
"The brass said they want to try you out as a talking head for a couple of sp
ins when we get military news in. They've activated that part of your contract. The standard rates apply."
"Great, so when do I get the first job?"
"We'll let you know."
"Great," she stated. Her anger complex was starting to point to a new target, organics in general.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Admiral Irons managed to arrange a talk to Pete Knox off the record.
Pete shook his head. "If you are asking me to be nice, forget it."
"I'm not. I would like to ask you to at least return to neutral grounds," the admiral stated, "and maintain professional decorum."
Pete snorted. "I told you things were going to be different, Admiral. I'm not happy about April. She admitted what she did, but your handling of the situation stank. It still stinks."
"So, what, you are saying you are what, going in opposition to my administration?"
"I was never for or against it. I favored it because of the war effort and because of your relationship with April. But I'm not happy about some developments. So, I'm going to do my job and report them. All of them. Warts and all."
"Understood." The admiral decided to leave it at that.
Chapter 23
Bek
Shockwaves ran through the Bek Admiralty like violent tremors. Dozens of flag officers who had yet to get implants at all were abruptly notified that their time was up, and their careers were effectively over. Others tried to rush to get their A.I. but were stymied. The clock had run out.
"He can't do that!" Rear Admiral Paulette Fournier said. She ran BUPERS, and it was in chaos. Utter chaos.
"Well, he just … did," Vice Admiral Sharp Reflexes stated, still in shock. The T'clock female was starting to regret letting them pry her off a carrier's flag deck.
"But … but …," the Neochimp sputtered to a halt and then looked pleadingly to the others around the table.
"He did warn us. Repeatedly. We just blithely nodded and then proceeded to ignore him. Now we're going to reap what we've sown," Admiral Bolt stated. "At least some of us," the small Neodog stated.
"Yeah, he repeatedly warned us. He is in his rights," Brigadier General Hirohata, TJAG, stated flatly.
"What about never giving an order you know won't be obeyed? And doesn't he understand how much knowledge we're going to lose? We just lost tons with the civil war!"
"Ultimately, he is the boss. If you can't do the job, he'll fire you, court-martial you, and find someone who can."
General Hirohata groaned. "Don't even remind me of the court-martials! We just got through one nightmare; I don't need another!"
"Well, the good news is he's giving them the option to resign, retire, or be demoted too," Rear Admiral Ross stated.
"This is so not good."
"I know."
"The good news is we get to elevate people, people we trust," Commodore Yukio Yashido, head of ONI in Bek stated.
"Yeah, but there is one hitch in that silver lining," Admiral Bolt said with a grin. All eyes fell on him. Some were glaring at his levity. "The changes to the promotion regs!" he said, grin broadening.
Admiral Fournier caught on almost immediately. "That's right, only one Bekian on the board. And everything for captain and up as well as anyone going out of the zone has to be run past White Station as well as Congress!"
There was a collective groan from around the table as the Neodog sat back and tucked his hands behind his head.
"You are enjoying this entirely too much for your own good," Admiral Yashido accused, glaring at the white Neodog in their midst.
"No, well, okay, maybe a little," the diminutive Neodog said with a shrug.
"Guess the imported officers are going to be busy and popular," Admiral Ross said sourly.
"Not just them, the A.I. too. And you can't wine and dine an A.I. or lean on them. It should bring some major changes to us in time," Vice Admiral Zekowitz stated. He looked at his A.I. on his HUD. She winked. "I say we set the example, which means we need to finally bring an A.I. on board here. And we need to knock the crap off with the games and get our people to do the same."
The Neochimp head of BUPERS snorted and gave him a “what have you been smoking” look.
He checked the others. General Hirohata looked like he was on board. Ross was on the fence. The others he wasn't sure about.
He sighed. "Well, it was just a thought."
-~~~///^\~~~-
Agnosta
General Forth grimaced when he heard the news. He'd already read the new directives from the Admiralty. This was just a mess though. Another mess, one that Admiral Irons didn't need or want.
He didn't envy the man at all at the moment. No doubt shockwaves were permeating throughout the military.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Antigua
Admiral Irons grimaced when Protector silently showed him the email resignation of Admiral Sienkov. He knew it was coming, but he didn't have to like it. He put a call in to talk with Phil.
"Having fun making waves?" Phil asked once Protector completed the connection.
"Oh, loads. So, I take it you heard?"
"Yeah, you could say that. I bet the screaming is particularly fun in Bek at right about now."
Admiral Irons snorted. "Don't I just know it."
"Yeah," Phil stated.
There was a long pause.
"So, Yorgi has resigned. I'm not accepting it just yet. But, until I decide on that, I definitely need you here ASAP. So, your liberty has been cut short. Sorry about that."
"Okay. Don't you wish it was like old times? At least with the Xenos, we knew who to shoot at."
"Sometimes. They need to adapt, that's true, but so do we. And I'm not going to wear rose-colored glasses about the past. We had people pulling the same stunts back in our time. In fact, you were pulling similar stunts none too long ago," the admiral reminded him.
"Ouch," Phil replied. "I admit, I screwed up. But I didn't screw up this badly."
"No, except for delaying your A.I. until only recently, you cleaned up your act. But you are on board now, so it's time to sort everything out. If it means making more waves, so be it."
"Better now than when we were getting our asses kicked. I bet Amadeus is going to start screaming soon too."
"Don't remind me," Admiral Irons sighed.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Senator Potts made herself available as a guest and even a talking head on Knox News as they continued to cover the scandal in the navy. She made no bones about raking Admiral Irons over the coals for Bek. She capped her statement by demanding that he resign. Only one of the other guests mutely protested such an action.
"That's going a little far, isn't it?" Miss Diller, the anchor, said. "After all, Admiral Irons wasn't the one who did this."
"They say the buck stops in the White Station. He's head of the navy as well as the presidency. Ultimately, it's his responsibility and he didn't deal with it before. Now it's a mess," the woman said, smirking as she sat back.
"We'll be right back after we take a short break," Miss Diller stated, looking directly into the camera.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Senator Russell shook his head as he and a few other senators watched the interview play out. "That lil lady is out for blood."
"Don't I know it," Senator Merkoski stated. He looked over to Senator Mayfair whose eyes were gleaming. "What is it with you ladies and being so vicious?"
"Comes from associating with you men," the senator from Pyrax retorted.
The men blinked and then snorted.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Odette winced when she saw the senator going after the admiral. It was just making the situation worse. She hated it. She hated the politics. She'd associated enough with Admiral Irons to actually like the man and want him to succeed.
There was an old creed in the navy, thou shalt not embarrass the navy. Her people had done that. She fully acknowledged that now. Admiral Irons was right; they had been playing games and had ignored a lawf
ul order for too long. He'd given them time and had now yanked them up by the scruff of the neck. They needed to make it right.
How was the big issue. And getting her people to acknowledge there was a problem was another. Her people were arrogant; they'd done certain things a certain way for centuries. Change wasn't coming easy.
She also couldn't help but harbor a little resentment over how it was played out. The A.I. calling them out on it wouldn't make them favorites with any of her people.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Liobat grimly stood at the podium and listened to the barrage of questions. She cocked her head, forcing herself into an apparent calm demeanor. "Are you done? I'd like to start this," she said mildly.
The reporters slowly quieted.
When the room was silent again, she nodded. "All right, since we're jumping into things, the status …"
She was interrupted by outbursts from the reporters. Several yelled questions about the admiral resigning.
"No. All right fine, let's get the elephant out of the room now so we can focus on the schedule," she stated. "No, the admiral is not going to resign. Period. This is not his mess. Yes, it happened on his watch, but he's cleaning it up. No one got hurt other than their egos, so the navy will work it out internally."
"But he ran in Pyrax! And he ran here in Antigua! Twice!"
"Twice?"
"That time when he first got here, and then again when he went to Bek!"
"First off, he didn't run away from the Federation; he ran to Bek to stop an impending civil war. There is a world of difference in what you are implying and reality, Bret," she stated, eyeing him coldly. "And you and I both know it, so let's get your facts straight."
The reporter grimaced.
"Second, Pyrax was a mess. I saw the recordings. It was a hostage situation. He chose to leave. And I believe those who forced him out and even tried to kill him repeatedly came to regret it."
She eyed him as if he was a mouse.
"Third, his departure from Antigua was strategic. The government at the time refused to give him the resources he requested. This is after he turned control of the government to them and they held elections. They made demands on him that his implants nor his principles did not allow him to agree with so, he left to find a better place to start over. Ultimately, the government of Antigua came to deeply regret its hasty decision and requested his return. He in the end did so since he's a few hundred meters that way," she said, pointing up.