Federation Reborn 1: Battle Lines

by Chris Hechtl

  “Damn it …,” the captain sighed. “Figure something out—an extra ration, a couple rounds with the ship's sex slaves, anything,” he said with a grimace. He had grown accustomed to the tradition of keeping a couple of sex slaves on the ship for the crew's amusement. They needed the occasional outlet and relief, and using the slaves as barter and rewards helped to keep the crew in line. He drew the line at the sadistic shit though. And they'd better not beat up little Kin Yan. The sweet little thing could suck a grapefruit through a straw.

  “Well, sir, if it is anyone from Antigua, they'll be sorry they stuck their nose in this system. We'll kick their ass right back down the hell hole they came in from.”

  “That's the spirit,” the captain said, clapping his subordinate on the shoulder in approval. “Let's be on the safe side and drill with the other destroyers. I don't want to be caught flat footed if they do show in force.”

  “Yes, sir,” the XO said with a bobbed nod. Bones would be eager for a virtual showdown with the other ship captains. It would also give them all something to do other than just sit there in orbit bored.

  “I'll set up the conference for … tenish, sir?” he asked. The captain nodded. “Very well, sir.” He was glad he was with the captain. The captain was the senior most naval officer in the star system so he automatically held command, making certain the other ship captains knew that would be the first point of the conference. It might take a bit of flexing to show who was boss, but the XO was confident in his boss. The lingering doubt about what had happened to Admiral Rico and Admiral Cartwright was momentarily forgotten.

  Chapter 2

  Convoy 8b arrived in Agnosta in a chain of light explosions. To some it looked like a freight train of ships coming in, all neatly in line with the escorting frigates and destroyer Mary Apple on their flanks. The static discharge and rippling of space time as they exited hyperspace was eye searing.

  The convoy carried more than a cargo of precious equipment and recruits, however. Newly promoted Rear Admiral Phil Subert was among the passengers.

  He had recovered from his injuries and was ready to get to work. They were planning a brief stay in the star system, however. The six freighters, one transport, and three warships passed on their IFF and greetings to the picket force and orbital fortresses protecting the jump point zone and then lumbered in toward the blue and green orb.

  Some of the passengers would be getting off Admiral Subert reminded himself. All of the 943 marine enlisted recruits as well as some of the marine sleepers from Lemnos.

  There was a single lonely army officer, newly promoted Captain Poon Yee. He would be joining them on Agnosta. Captain Yee had come up through artillery but was the only army officer they had. Admiral Irons had put him in charge of rebuilding the army using the marine base and training as his initial template. It was a daunting task; one Captain Poon seemed unsure about.

  There was some concern about the division of resources. The marines were the traditional spearhead of the Federation ground forces. Unlike the army they were multitaskers, handling many different jobs and roles beyond the ever visible guards that the public saw or dealt with. They had their own air arm as well as Special Forces. They were light on artillery and armor however. They were the ones who were sent in to board ships or stations or to form a beachhead on a planet. Then the army came in to consolidate the beachhead and then move inward to take over a planet.

  Normally a smart native population surrendered once a hostile force had control of their orbitals. That wasn't always the case, however, so invasions became a necessity. Even the threat of one could force a capitulation and eventually surrender. But once a world was captured, you had to deal with its sometimes restive and unruly population. Terrorism, IEDs, and other common ground threats had to be dealt with.

  The army would be needed to garrison captured worlds, sure, but not for some time to come. They of course needed to get the ball rolling on recruiting and training the forces, but with the marines needing the lion share of the warm bodies to handle ship, station, and invasion forces, the captain had offered to transfer his commission to the marines. Admiral Irons had asked him to stay the course for the time being. They could always fold the army forces into the Marine Corps if it didn't work out.

  Two hundred and thirty-three recruits who had expressed a desire to join the army were in the convoy with him. Colonel Forth's people had already polled the marine records for officers and enlisted who had expressed a desire to join the army. Two ensigns in the star system had come forward right away; both were descendants of army officers, or so they said.

  One noncom and one enlisted had expressed an interest but were elsewhere. Sergeant Snorkle and Private Bailey had on record that they were descendants of army personnel. Both had expressed repeated interest in a transfer but both were on their way to Protodon with Admiral White.

  It would take time, at least forty-eight hours, to unload once they were in orbit. The convoy ships would then be refueled and reloaded with returning freight and passengers and then sent on out once more.

  Admiral Subert, six precious ansible cores, along with all the material destined for the Pyrax shipyard and ships were destined for Pyrax. Ships like Tris and 779 made regular runs between Pyrax and Agonsta, but they could only carry so much per load. The loads had to be prioritized for shipment. Some things like drives and reactors had priority over others. It was a given that the admiral and the ansibles would be on the first flight.

  Admiral Subert had two members on his staff. He was lucky; both were sleepers. Amadeus didn't have any or so he'd heard. Saul was shaping up well. Ensign, no, Lieutenant Junior Grade Roman Taylor—the young man was one of two doctors in the sleepers. He was good, though the admiral was fairly confident the gangly man would come into his own once they were in Pyrax. For the time being, he left the lad alone to his “research.”

  He'd tried to get his hands on newly promoted Lieutenant Commander Yan Li Wong. The raven was a genius with ships; he'd be a great asset running the yard. But John had been adamant; the raven had been immured in Antigua digging into the problems with the downloads from Lemnos while also helping Commander Sindri with the yard expansion projects. He shook his head. He knew he couldn't have his way all the time but that sucked.

  Phil wasn't certain of Lieutenant Colonel Forth. He was a character, of that he was certain. A quiet man, but apparently the jarheads worshiped him. They'd had a bit of friction over ansible discussions. Nothing major, but enough to let the visiting flag officer know that the colonel was both stubborn and used to seeing things his way.

  He wasn't too keen about how presumptive some of the officers were. Some like Forth hadn't been trained; hell, they hadn't gone to an academy, college ... he shook his head. But John was right; it was a chicken and the egg sort of thing. He'd needed officers and noncoms to train the following generation. They had caught up or so he said. Phil wasn't so sure. He had noted a lot of point failures in some of the people John had so much faith in. It was time someone did something about it, which was what he intended once he got to Pyrax and took over.

  It bothered him that a jumped-up yeoman and engineering tech was a captain in charge of the yard and the entire star system. What had John been thinking? He shook his head.

  One of the first things he did once they were off the jump point and in transit across the system was to order one corvette to go to B-452C, strip the satellites there and remain on station in the empty crossroads system until the next convoy passed through. They would return after two months and be replaced by another ship. The picket commander was not happy about the orders, but she took on fuel and stores and then moved out within an hour of receiving them.

  Admiral Subert made certain the lieutenant, nor others, called Admiral Irons behind his back to complain or try to jump his command. Once the corvette was gone, he returned to the anticipated tour of the facilities.

  The naval base in orbit was simple, a complex of warehouses and housing facilitie
s to handle the load of people and material passing through the star system. Warehouse stations were under construction at the B-452C jump point, but they had only just been started. Once they were up and running along with a tank farm convoy, ships would be able to make the turnaround right on the jump point, unload and reload in a day, and then return to B-452C.

  Shipping the material that way was a bit of a pain; after all, they had to load and unload in Agnosta. They also had a bit of a bottleneck with the ships coming and going from Pyrax to Agnosta. Apparently Captain Logan had gotten a leg up on the process by stockpiling material in Agnosta's orbital warehouses, but the ships were barely keeping ahead of the demand. Admiral Subert made a note to do something about that when he got to Pyrax.

  He was amused by the orbital training facilities for the marines. They had towed an asteroid into orbit and hollowed out caverns in it in order to use it as a space training facility. Airlocks and structures were attached to the surface in various places. It was crude but effective. He nodded in approval.

  ---<>---<>---

  “One of the best things I've liked about Admiral Irons is that he delegates. He tells us what he wants done and then leaves us to do it. This guy is cut from a different cloth entirely,” Lieutenant Colonel Jersey Forth said, leaning against a window frame to watch the marines marching in the parade ground off to his right.

  “Do you think it is going to be a problem, sir?” Major Pendeckle asked, shaking his head. He looked at Captain Myers and a few of the other officers and then back to the colonel.

  “I don't know. He's checking us out.”

  “So? He is going to be in Pyrax, right?”

  “He's a flag officer. He's used to getting his own way.”

  “He was recently promoted to flag rank, sir,” Captain Myers reminded him. “He was what, a commodore before he took the big sleep?”

  “I think … yes,” Major Pendeckle said checking his files. “Yes.”

  “Great. So now we have to worry about him feeling his way into the rank?”

  “The good news is he's got some training, some background. Our generation has been making it up and feeling things out as we go.”

  “It's going to take some adjustments,” Jersey said, turning back to his subordinates, “on all sides.”

  “Does the admiral plan to put an ansible in every star system?” the major asked.

  “Possibly,” the colonel replied with a shrug. He schooled his features as he took his seat again. “He's going to come down here; I've been expecting it. We'll need to lay out the red carpet—bands, the works. Make sure everything is spit shined. Get the maintenance people to do touch-ups where necessary. I want the guest BOQ to be spotless,” the colonel ordered, stabbing a finger into the desk top to show his meaning. “I don't want a single complaint from this guy. Spotless, everyone is to be on their best behavior. If anyone cuts up or gets out of line even if he isn't around, I'll have their ass.”

  His subordinates nodded and started to take notes.

  “Now, he'll want a tour, plus a meet and greet. I'm not sure about a formal officer's dinner but be prepared. I'm not thrilled about a damn ball. I'll draw the line there; we've got work to do,” he growled. The major snorted. Jersey eyed him and then shook his head slightly before looking away.

  “Are we going to get a chance to strut our stuff, sir?” Captain Myers asked hopefully.

  “I doubt it. But be prepared anyway. Most likely he'll take a tour. He's scheduled to be here in a day so get on it. I've got the list. Hit the high points, and get your people cracking now.”

  “Aye aye, sir.”

  ---<>---<>---

  Once they were in orbit and had transferred to the primary space station, they had another thirty-six hours of layover while the tender to Pyrax finished loading. Since she wasn't instantly ready, he took a tour of the ground base and facilities. During the shuttle flight down, he noted through the porthole and his implants that some things on the islands were rough. Typical marine bullshit about being hard-ass he thought as he studied the base from the shuttle. Others he recognized and approved of with a slight nod.

  He was amused when a marching band met his shuttle at the tarmac. Colonel Forth was on hand in uniform along with some of his senior officers. Apparently he'd gotten enough of a warning to anticipate the arrival and had planned on it. Good, Phil thought. He didn't want to give a speech however, so they waved to the crowd and assembled marines and then shook hands with some of the officers and senior enlisted.

  The dog and pony show wasn't just about familiarizing himself with the base and personnel but also to show the flag. To show the grunts that they cared, that they'd better care about appearances and doing a good job. And the admiral's show of approval of their hard work went a long ways towards morale.

  Colonel Forth was a busy man so he passed the tour over to one of his ensigns and then went back to running the base. He had Captains Lyon and Yee as well as the other marine sleepers in tow as he went back to his HQ. The admiral was amused by that but nodded in grudging approval. He'd get along with Forth because deep down he knew both of them were professionals; their differences weren't personal. It was a mark towards the colonel that he knew to delegate despite the slightly implied insult some would have assumed. Delegating the duty to a junior officer just made sense; the lieutenant colonel had his own duties to attend to. Besides, Phil thought with a slight pucker to his lips, he didn't need his hand held.

  During the tour he found out about the Navy SEAL program. He'd heard something about that; he frowned and made a note to check his briefing notes later. The idea amused him immensely, so much that he had to take a visit to the beach after lunch to see the latest group of recruits being put through their paces.

  He watched from the air jeep as a group of squids carried what looked like air-filled ocean boats of some sort over their heads. He shook his head. To some it was a strain; to others it was impossible. But the Neo apes in the group seemed to handle it with pathetic ease. But he could tell from a gorilla's dyspeptic expression that she wasn't at all thrilled about getting into the ocean. He snorted.

  Lieutenant Simpson came up and saluted; Andy then stood at parade rest while the admiral surveyed his command with his eyes. Chief Petty Officer Sho was busy bellowing at the recruits to hurry it up from on top of a boat. The recruits strained as they chanted and tried to pick up the pace. The neochimp hung onto a lanyard to stay upright in the shifting boat.

  They kicked up some sand and dust as they charged past. The Admiral waited until they were further down the beach before he shook his head. “I find it hard to believe you could bootstrap such a program, and marine trainers?” the Admiral tisked tisked.

  The Lieutenant spread his hands apart. He had no problem with the jarheads. They could be sadistic, but they got the job done. “It's what we have to work with, sir. We're training the next set of recruits ourselves. There aren't many though, not many naval personnel in the system interested. We are getting requests from other star systems though. I'm not sure how to handle the requests. How to handle transport and well …,” he shrugged, “the whole process.”

  “Good man, at least you are admitting your ignorance,” the admiral replied in approval. “Though it's not wise to admit it in front of a flag officer,” he stated with a trace of a teasing smile. The lieutenant flinched. He smiled at the SEAL's discomfort. “No harm done I suppose.”

  The lieutenant nodded. “Sir, we need experience. We need combat experience.”

  “You need more training. Yes, combat will come; it is the best learning environment for some. It is the final proof of training. But combat is waste. You'll lose people and the experience they had acquired. So be careful what you wish for. Don't be so eager to die son, no matter how much you want to prove yourself.”

  The lieutenant's eyes flicked, but he nodded dutifully. “Yes, sir.”

  “You know, I think we had a SEAL washout at Lemnos. One of the marines in security, he may have w
anted back in; I'm not sure. You may want to give him a call, see what he knows.” The admiral frowned thoughtfully.

  “She, sir,” Commander Garretaj stated from behind them.

  “She?” the admiral turned his frown on the commander.

  “Yes, sir. Sendril, sir, a genie Staff Sergeant Chalis Sendril I believe,” the commander said, checking the records through his implants. He nodded when he got confirmation, including the confirmation that despite her medical issues her bump in grade had gone through. He sent them to the admiral's inbox, but the admiral casually waved the email aside. “She's in Antigua currently, sir, still recovering from her injuries and time shock counseling, sir.”

  “I see,” the admiral nodded. His lips puckered at the mention of time shock counseling. He'd had a couple of rounds with a counselor, but although it had put some things in perspective, he preferred to get into the work. There was absolutely nothing he could do to change the circumstances of what had happened, the loss of friends and loved ones. It hurt, but it was undeniable. The best medicine in his estimation was working towards a new brighter future. He cleared his throat and nodded a second time. “Good catch, Commander. I'll see if I can get her transferred here,” he stated, turning back to the lieutenant. The SEAL lieutenant nodded back to him.

  “That's what a chief of staff is there for I believe, sir,” the commander said, with a bit of a preen in his voice.

  “That and keeping me on track. Good work, Saul. I know we still have some issues to work out, but you're doing fine. But the real test and the real work won't come until we get to Pyrax. Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and dig in then.”

  “Yes, sir. I'm looking forward to it.”

  “I know. I am too,” the Admiral admitted.

  The admiral dismissed the lieutenant to return to his duties and then continued his inspection tour.

  They didn't really need the young Ensign Timberlane as a guide. Both the rear admiral and his chief of staff, Lieutenant Commander Saul Garretaj, could have accessed their implants to get a map and guide. Or they could have accessed the base's dumb AI.