The cost in lives had been terrible. All three ships that started the battle on his side managed to make it through, but all three had taken such severe damage the dock workers in Reefhome had been stunned they had continued to function. All three ships suffered heavy casualties, as had the boarding crews that had assaulted the pirate craft. None of those losses took into account the assault ship that had been completely destroyed with the boarding crew aboard her, though the one that had been disabled had been recovered with only a few minor wounds to those aboard.
Reefhome Station had taken their own losses in addition to those who had fought in the battle. The missile which struck the station caused carnage in its wake. Over two hundred people died in the explosion, the secondary blasts, and the decompression of the surrounding areas. Fifty more died as the pirates on the station had rioted to free themselves. In the end, the prison break had been subdued after a hundred pirates were killed.
The ships had gathered around the station, and the repairs had started. Jacob didn’t have any illusions about being able to have the fleet manned and functional. Too many of his trained officers and personnel had been killed, and those who survived were wounded or already stretched to their limits trying to deal with the new recruits. More people had clamored to join as enthusiasm swept the newly freed Station, but he had held off on accepting anyone in order to avoid being overwhelmed.
Supplies weren’t looking very good either. The material aboard Wolfhound and the captured pirate ships was critically low, and repairs to the ships and the station were demanding every effort and scrap the docks had access to. While the station itself held more than enough hydroponics farms and smelting facilities to eventually meet everyone’s needs, there was going to be a temporary shortage as supply adjusted to demand. To make matters worse, they had a sudden need for medical supplies, and the burden of feeding and caring for the captured pirates was putting a strain on things as well. Jacob sighed heavily as he went over the reports. If I don’t think of something soon, we could get to starvation levels soon. We would have beat Dianton at the cost of having to evacuate Reefhome anyway. Something small and stubborn in him kicked out at the idea, and he set himself to looking for a way out.
Taylor had come over to go over some possibilities with Jacob. The former Gunnery officer was doing well in his first independent command, and he had already come up with a few interesting ideas on how to extend their limited stores. Jacob was still wondering what he would have thought if he had been told at the start of the cruise he would be talking over fleet supply issues with Ensign Leon Taylor when the doors to the medical suite slid open. He looked up to find Al-shira at attention beside his cot. Jacob smiled when he noticed the wound in her arm was healing nicely and set the reader aside.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
Al-shira smiled in return, though Jacob noticed some tension in her expression. “A little while ago the CNS Badger jumped into the system with a few escorts.”
Taylor shot straight up out of his seat. “The Badger? You’re sure?”
Jacob sat up straighter. “What are they saying? Have they brought supplies?” A hundred other questions and concerns rose up in him, but they were crushed down as the odd tension on her face grew more pronounced. “Al-shira?”
She continued slowly. “They actually wanted to meet with, and I quote, ‘Whoever is in charge of this circus’ and straighten a few things out.”
Taylor’s face went blank. Jacob could sympathize with the reaction. A lead weight seemed to have settled into his gut.
“Oh. I see.” He paused for what seemed an eternity, and then he sighed. “All right, set up the communications link. I’ll see that it gets taken care of without harming the rest of you.”
Al-shira shook her head, and her expression turned grim. “That won’t be necessary. In fact, they are already sending shuttles over as we speak.”
“What?” A spike of anxiety shot through Jacob. “When are they getting here?” One look at Al-shira's expression told him the answer. “Nevermind. Mensah, get over here. I need to get ready.”
The medical officer took one look at him and shook his head. “No, sir. You’re not going anywhere.”
Jacob tried giving him what he hoped was an intimidating stare. “I need to get ready, Ensign Mensah. I can’t meet whoever they are sending looking like this.” He gestured to the surrounding medical suite with one hand, trying to ignore the roots of pain that spread through him as a result.
Mensah returned the look with a level stare of his own. “I’m afraid you’ll have to, Jacob.” He held up a hand to forestall further protests. “Need I remind you that the medical officer can sedate and restrain his commander if it becomes medically expedient?”
Jacob’s mouth hung open for a moment before he clicked it shut. Reluctantly, he settled back onto the cot. “Fine. Have it your way.” He looked back at Al-shira. “So when will they arrive?”
“Any minute n—”
Shouting rose from the corridor outside, and a blond-haired officer stalked into the medical suite accompanied by a quartet of armored Marines. Jacob caught a glimpse of his own, half-trained spacers arguing with another pair of Marines before the door slid shut behind them. A sudden silence fell over the medical suite as the officer looked around, his gray eyes searching the cots filled with wounded personnel. “I am High Admiral Alan Nivrosky of the CNS Badger. I was told the ensign who had taken command was here?” His gaze fell on Taylor, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Jacob’s mind reeled. He had been expecting a captain, or a commodore at the very least. The man in front of him was far beyond that; he was the commander of the entire Celostian Navy. Momentarily at a loss for words, he struggled to find a response.
While he did so, Al-shira stepped forward, her stance rigid as she came to attention. “Ensign Naomi Al-shira, sir.”
Nivrosky nodded impatiently, and Al-shira motioned at Jacob. “Here is our commander, Ensign Jacob Hull.”
A moment passed. The admiral looked back and forth between the Jacob and Al-shira, his face darkening. For some reason, he glanced back at Taylor again. Jacob tried to straighten up, wincing slightly as pain shot through his torso, and he opened his mouth. Before he could say a word, though, the admiral shook his head and spitted Al-shira with a cold, humorless stare.
“Ensign Al-shira, I’m not sure what kind of training you were provided at the Academy, but when I came through they tended to frown on pranks pulled on senior officers. I’ll refer you to your superior for discipline once I’m done here.” He cut off her protests with one wave of his hand and glared at Taylor. “And you. I would have thought that you would have taken responsibility instead of allowing your personnel to cover for you.”
Taylor seemed to shrink back before the accusation, but Jacob had managed to recover enough to speak.
“Admiral Nivrosky, sir.” The admiral looked back towards him, and Jacob braced himself to face the officer’s displeasure. “What actions Ensign Taylor has taken under my command fall under my responsibility. He was acting under my orders, and if any disciplinary actions are merited, they are my responsibility as well.”
Confusion flitted across the admiral’s face. “Ensign Taylor?”
Finally, Taylor spoke. “Yes, Admiral. Ensign Leon Taylor.”
Admiral Nivrosky’s expression had turned incredulous. “I don’t believe this.”
Jacob glanced at Mensah and Al-shira. Both officers looked completely flabbergasted, a feeling that Jacob could sympathize with. He felt a little indignation of his own well up, but before he could speak again, the door slid open again, accompanied by a volley of swear words and curses that could only be from Turley.
The engineer stormed in, his eyes so focused on Jacob that he dismissed the rest of the people in the room out of hand. “Jacob! We have a big damned problem, and you’re gonna set it right. Yorky and the rest were working on the hole you left in our starboard side when a buncha Marines s
tormed in and arrested ‘em. How the hell are we supposed to run a repair and refit when your security types arrest our damned technicians?”
The flow of words stopped short when the engineer finally noticed the stunned admiral and his guards. Turley hesitated for a full second, and then glanced back at Jacob. “Visitors?”
Trying to suppress a groan, Jacob motioned to the captain. “Petty Officer Turley, may I introduce you to High Admiral Alan Nivrosky. Commander of the Celostian Navy.” He tried to put a little extra emphasis on the last phrase.
Turley looked the admiral up and down, and then snorted. “Well aren’t we all damn impressed. Took ya long enough to get here.” He turned sharply back to Jacob. “You’re gonna get the damn Marines outta my hair?”
Jacob glared at the engineer. “I imagine that those particular Marines are under the admiral’s command. They probably didn’t realize the spacers were authorized to work there.” A glance told him that Admiral Nivrosky was no longer indignant. Instead, he was looking at Taylor with a look of dawning comprehension. Turley seemed to be stubbornly ignoring the fact that the higher-ranking officer existed.
Turning back to Turley, Jacob nodded. “Get Sergeant Chiun to talk with them. Ashford’s still probably nursing his head wound, and Chiun will be able to vouch for the lot of them. At the very least they won’t get detained that way. I’m sure we’ll be able to work the rest out between me and Admiral Nivrosky.”
Turley nodded, and then with one more scathing glare for the admiral, the engineer strode out the door.
When the door had slid shut, there was an uncertain silence.
Jacob looked over at Mensah and motioned him over. “Hey, help me up for just a bit, would you?”
The medical officer hesitated, and then hurried over as Jacob started to push himself up on his own. After an agonizing effort, Jacob was on his own two feet, wavering a little as Mensah offered support. Jacob gave the admiral a slow, clumsy salute.
“Ensign Jacob Hull, acting commander of the Wolfhound and acting fleet commander of the Reefhome Fleet, reporting.” He dropped the salute and gave Leon a crooked smile. “Is there something you wanted from me, sir?”
There was another long moment before Admiral Nivrosky responded. To Jacob’s surprise, a certain amount of respect and caution had leaked into his voice. “I suppose we should start first things first. What happened to your commanding officer?”
“Sabotage and assassination, sir.” Jacob couldn’t manage to make the statement less blunt. It would have taken more than he had. “Traitors set up bombs and stormed the bridge. Commander Rodgers managed to turn the command codes over to me, and I ended up being of equal or higher rank than anyone else left alive onboard.”
“After killing the boarders on the bridge, of course. And piloting the ship through our first engagement with the pirate fleet.” Al-shira’s comment surprised Jacob, and he looked over at her. Her expression was remarkably neutral, and Jacob wondered for a moment what she was up to before he continued.
“Unfortunately, we have found ourselves repeatedly without the means to return to the fleet, so I have remained in command up until now.” He frowned to himself, as a burst of uncertainty rose in him. “Did you bring a replacement officer to take command?”
Admiral Nivrosky looked taken aback by the question; in fact, he seemed to have been struggling to catch up ever since Taylor had identified himself. “We’ll get to that later. What about the pirate fleet?”
Jacob blinked at the change of topic. “Well, we’ve had repeated engagements with Dianton’s pirate fleet. Apparently they were the ones who tried to take the Wolfhound. We’ve managed to fight and beat them three times.”
“Four.” Mensah’s interjection brought Jacob’s head around.
“No, it’s three.”
The medical officer seemed amused. “You forgot the time we escaped the Bloodthorne at the training site.”
Jacob shook his head. “That was more of a draw.”
Al-shira piped up from where she stood. “Well, you did hit them with the whole drone fleet before we jumped. Singh said he could still see the marks from it on Bloodthorne’s hull before she blew.”
“You’ve fought in four engagements?” The admiral’s incredulous voice broke into the discussion, and Jacob turned back to find the man staring at him in shock. Unsure of what to say, Jacob nodded. The admiral shook his head in baffled astonishment. “Is that why you took shelter here with this fleet?”
Jacob blinked. Still slightly unsure, he answered slowly. “Uh, no, sir. The ships around Reefhome are the ones we managed to capture. Most came from the last battle with Dianton’s forces.”
Taylor spoke up. “The battle where we managed to kill Dianton and capture or destroy most of his clan’s fleet. Sir.”
The admiral said nothing for a while; confusion and amazement warred on his face. As the uneasy silence grew, Jacob glanced at Al-shira, and was surprised to see her smiling openly. What’s so funny about this? I’m going to get court-martialed or something!
Finally, Admiral Nivrosky spoke, his voice as uncertain as Jacob felt. “Perhaps we had better start again from the beginning. If you could sit down, Ensign.”
Jacob nodded, as grateful to see the admiral had regain his composure as he was to sit down. While he settled in, Admiral Nivrosky motioned for Taylor to bring over a chair and sat himself. The admiral waved at Jacob with one overwhelmed gesture. “All right, start at the beginning, Ensign Hull. And leave nothing out.”
His mouth dry, Jacob explained. He started with the problems he’d found in the power relays, continued through to the fight with Schroder, and what he had seen and done on the bridge during the first attack. He continued speaking, describing each of the four battles and the preparations and decisions preceding each one. Now and again, the admiral would break in with a question about something Jacob had glossed over or forgotten, and occasionally Al-shira or Taylor would interrupt to provide their own perspective or a detail Jacob had not picked up on. Mensah, on the other hand, went back to work with his other patients, apparently uninterested in the event now that Jacob was lying down again.
After what seemed like forever, Jacob finished the tale. He felt tired, having recounted the whole experience. “We’ve taken heavy casualties, sir. One hundred and thirty two of the original crew are dead, and a lot of the spacers who signed up with us have taken heavy losses as well. Of the one hundred and fifteen original crew remaining, forty-nine of us have wounds of some kind, and that’s not counting the spacers who fought in the last battle. I’m sorry about the losses, but we did our best, sir, and they all fought hard. All of them.”
For a moment, Admiral Nivrosky stared at him, his expression blank. He seemed to be taking all the information in, analyzing it as he went.
Jacob waited for a response, but it was a long time in coming. “Sir, as I said before, if there are disciplinary actions needed, I take full responsibility for—”
A smile broke out on Nivrosky’s face, and the Admiral shook his head. “Oh, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that.” He chuckled slightly, then sobered a little as he looked around the room full of wounded. “You and your crew did well, Ensign Hull. You all did well.” The admiral looked back at Taylor, who smiled with apparent relief.
A swell of happiness rose in Jacob’s chest, blotting out the pain still throbbing in his shoulder. He blinked, and realized with surprise there were tears in his eyes. “Thank you, sir. Thank you.”
Admiral Nivrosky stood, his movements sharp and quick. “I expect you have matters to attend to, and you’ll need time to rest. I won’t trouble you until I hear you’re up and about again. From what I hear, I should talk to Reefhome’s council about signing a membership treaty, and send a signal drone back to Aresia. Then I want to buy you a drink, Ensign.” Amusement sparkled in Nivrosky’s eyes, and he saluted Jacob. Blinking away the tears, Jacob returned the salute as best he could. Then the admiral paused. “And Ensign, as
a personal favor, I would appreciate the chance to speak with Ensign…Taylor…privately. When you can spare him from his duties.”
“Of course, sir.”
Admiral Nivrosky nodded. Then he turned and walked back towards the door, accompanied by the four Marines. A couple of the soldiers paused, sneaking glances back at him for some reason.
You’d think they’d never seen a wounded ensign before. Jacob turned and looked over at Taylor. “Taylor, why would he want to talk with you? Just to double check my story?”
Taylor gave Jacob an odd smile. “No, I imagine he would just like to speak with his son.” Realization flooded Jacob, but before he could speak, Taylor held up a hand. “Get some rest, Jacob. We will talk later.” He walked to the door and followed the admiral into the corridor. When the door had slid closed, Jacob let loose a small snort. Of course we will, you bastard.
Surprised by the noise, Al-shira leaned over, her face softened by an emotion Jacob hadn’t seen before. “Are you all right? Are you hurting?”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll be all right.” He shook his head, scrubbing a hand across his face. “It’s over at last. I wonder what they’ll do with me now?”
Al-shira laughed, her face brightening with the sound. “Oh, I doubt that they’ll let go of you yet, Jacob. Heal fast. Heroes don’t get to rest for long.” She gave him a playful wink before she turned towards the door.
Jacob snorted again. Some hero I am. “I will, Al-shira. I will.” He watched her leave and looked at the closed door after she was gone. Then he caught himself and looked over to find Mensah watching him with an amused expression. “What?”
“Oh, nothing.” The amused expression deepened. “I would advise you to rest now, Ensign. That way you can be ready for your next adventure, whatever that might be.” The veiled tone in the medical officer’s voice baffled Jacob, but he ignored it as he settled back in the bed. My next adventure. The words had an appeal to them, and he found himself smiling. Whatever it is, it can wait for a while. He slipped into a dreamless sleep, the smile still fixed on his face, as the crew of the Wolfhound bustled around him. Only a while, though.
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