Free Fleet Box Set 1

by Michael Chatfield

  They nodded their heads. “This is a gracious offer. How do we know you will keep your word and not kill the civilians?”

  “Officer Turek, will I kill anyone because I feel like it?”

  “No, you will try everything to stop the loss of life. I have seen it with my own eyes and through the video feeds from the station during the attack. You arrest and even treat those who have attacked you.”

  “Thank you. You have my word no harm will come to civilians. At the same time, they will follow the rules of the Free Fleet. If they do not, they will face a trial in which a randomly selected group of mixed races will be asked to weigh judgment upon them.”

  “This is acceptable; we have learned we need rules or else we shall lose our Sarenmentity. Though we do not have codes such as assisting the enemy,” he said, turning the statement into a question.

  “It is, again, so we don’t lose ourselves; it raises us and our people to a higher level than those we attack. Also, we can gain information from those who have surrendered or are treated. If we act in a manner that we would want to be treated in, it can only make the enemy look bad if they do not. As we’ve learned with the newest batch of humans we rescued, they had no rules and were close to becoming savages. Humans have been fighting for thousands of years. We have found that combat is only honorable if following certain rules. Otherwise it is just killing without a thought.”

  “We will think on this.” Kareesh nodded. “As with your humans, we have seen it before. It will be hard to bring them back as they once were.”

  “Oh, they aren’t going to have a choice! All of them are going to go through training again, to get them on a baseline, which is a good portion of what I want you guys to be doing.”

  They looked at me with renewed interest.

  “I want you guys training new recruits that include Sarenmenti who do not meet a standard test, which is being devised.” I looked at the four squad commanders, who had mixed expressions on their faces. The rest of the table’s faces seemed to pale at the thought.

  “We are soldiers, not trainers.”

  “You have veteran experience which I need you to pass on to other troops, making them the deadliest bastards I can call on. Once enough are trained, you will resume your positions as special ops with increased special ops soldiers.”

  “I don’t think any of us like it, but we can see the logic behind it,” Dreckt said.

  “I’ll have it rotated around so two of you will be deployed while the other two and their personnel will be training.” This brought some smiles to their faces.

  “The rest of you are to submit rosters of your people and ranks to me by today. Tomorrow we will begin testing for joining the commandos. Questions?”

  Turek raised his hand, a human gesture learned by the Sarenmenti. I gestured for him to go on.

  “What if we don’t want to be a Mecha or a civilian? Are there any other options for us within the fleet?”

  “Look at the job opportunities board on your data pad. You can be anything you have the qualifications for. You choose what you want to do. Saying that, your first training will be as a Mecha and then you will go from there to do as you wish or further your training as Mechas. I don’t want people to be defenseless; I want everyone to know how to patch their friend up in a firefight. How to use a Mecha, be able to fight hand-to-hand, with any type of weapon they can find.”

  “That does make sense.” He accepted the logic, nodding.

  “Get working on the rosters. Also, pass any information about past worlds you’ve visited. We need information about this part of the galaxy if we’re to survive and fight back.”

  I gave them one more look before I stood and walked for the hatch.

  I strode through the station, getting a lift as the doors shut. I turned to the two members of Mecha Tail that I hadn’t seen in nearly nine months since we’d been set to compete in the Mecha Assault Three championships.

  Just looking at them I could see that these nine years had changed them from the people they were before.

  We’d talked to one another, but we hadn’t had any time to talk about anything other than our plans to free ourselves. In Sook and Joon Ho had a hard edge to their eyes and new lines on their faces.

  Their easy going manners were hidden beneath the hardened veneer they’d needed to cultivate to survive their training.

  “Damn, I missed you guys.” I embraced them both. In Sook giggled and Monk smiled as our Mechas clanged together, our massive shoulders knocking into one another as our heads touched. We stayed like that for a few seconds before we moved apart.

  “You’ve certainly achieved a lot, Joo Mi,” Monk said, his face showing his pride as I looked away, embarrassed.

  Psycho Cheerleader shook her head, a happy smile on her face. Her eyes teared up as she looked over to me and Joon Ho.

  “As soon as we can, we’re going back for Mi Young Ho,” I said definitively. The others nodded their heads seriously. Iron Bok Soo hated his actual name. His father undoubtedly had a great amount of fun with it when he’d been born, much to his son’s annoyance. He, like Monk, whose real name was Joon Ho, preferred to use their gamer tags. Joon Ho because he felt he was unworthy of a name given to him in the presence of Buddha. Iron Bok Soo because of his hatred for his real name.

  What a band of misfits we made. The lift signaled we were close to our destination.

  “They’re going to regret the day they thought to mess with Mecha Tail,” In Sook said, her face hard. My own face took the same hard edge as Monk frowned—it was the closest thing he came to showing his full outrage.

  “Indeed,” was all Monk said. When the lift doors opened, we walked out to the command center.

  “Free Fleet Commander on deck!” Rick snapped a salute.

  I tossed him one as the room relaxed.

  “Monk, Cheerleader, meet Rick Casterly, the newest member of Mecha Tail.” Monk and Cheerleader beamed at Rick as they introduced themselves and made the blushing Rick smile with gratitude and thanks.

  “Stop bugging the poor man, you two,” I said with a good-natured grin as I sat in the massive chair in the command center, able now to hold my armored bulk.

  “Don’t listen to him; he’s always a sour puss.” Cheerleader stuck her tongue out at me as she sat on one of my armrests.

  “Where is your wife, Rick?”

  “She’s onboard the Resilient, meeting and greeting and setting up a training schedule for tactical and gunnery coordination.”

  “Sounds like a great time,” I said dryly.

  “She’s enjoying it, from what I can tell. While you’ve been out, we’ve been affecting repairs as best as possible and trying to get the station sorted out. It was hectic without you in the driver’s seat.”

  “I’m sure you had it under control.” I saw more than a few backs stiffen with pride as I continued. “Is there anything else?”

  “Yes, Commander. Eddie, Felix, Min Hae, and Shrift are waiting for you in the ready room with plans.”

  “Why me,” I grumbled. The eggheads had obviously come up with something. I just didn’t think it would be this fast.

  “Also, there is a message for you from a man called Bregend.”

  I pulled up the message.

  “Why not throw Bregend in with the other prisoners?” Rick asked as I finished reading the message.

  “Bregend’s not my enemy. He was just doing what he could to keep his own people safe. The reason he fought me was because he didn’t know what kind of person I was. He didn’t know if I’d use kill switches or pain treatment on his people. He figured it was better for him to find out beforehand than make his people suffer through it.” I shut down my station and stood.

  “Can you see about connecting the Sarenmentis and the newly arrived humans to the forum? Watch the traffic and make sure it’s not connected to any systems, but it would be good for them if they were able to connect with one another. Who knows, some of them might find people they us
ed to know.” I walked to the conference room.

  “Woo! More announcements!” Rick said as he worked on his view screen.

  I opened the conference room door to a cacophony of noise.

  “James!”

  “Commander!”

  “Sir!”

  “Wait, one at a time.” I waved my hands down as all four of them jumped with excitement. “Eddie, you first.”

  “We’ve found an extractor and a processing system that will work, as well as the first asteroid to use it on.”

  “At the same time, I’ve fixed the problem we had with the lack of a full dock,” Shrift added. Both of the Kuruvians practically jumped out of their seats.

  “How will you make a dock and also get the materials at the same time?”

  “We don’t make it: we hollow out an asteroid in the shape of the dock that we need, add in reinforcement and then add more parts from more broken down asteroids as we need it.”

  An array of holograms came from the center table: A sped up simulation of an asteroid being eaten, creating a massive structure of scaffolding. Another identical structure appeared, connecting to the first like Lego bricks.

  “Is this really possible?” I asked, still looking at the hologram.

  “Yes,” Felix said in complete seriousness.

  “Okay, what about the extractor and refiner?” I asked, still mesmerized by the hologram. Everything was moving so fast.

  “They will be paired units. One refiner can be linked to multiple extractors and pump out the materials to waiting transports that can also be automated. Felix told us about automated systems and Min Hae showed us how they worked, so we combined our information together. Everything can be automated with a handful of people overseeing. Which, with our current manpower issues, is needed,” Felix said.

  “Well, it looks like you’ve got everything covered,” I said appreciatively. “You have my approval. You may begin work immediately. We need these systems up.” Their shocked faces told me they weren’t expecting to have it cleared so quickly. “Felix, you will be in charge of this project—you have the most expertise with turning information and ideas into reality. With this, use what we know and have. We need something reliable, at first, and then make something more complicated.”

  “Sir, wouldn’t Eddie be better suited for this, or Shrift?” Felix looked uncomfortable; the kid was only seventeen.

  “As they are both good in their own areas of engineering, they haven’t dealt with something on this scale before.”

  “Neither have I!”

  “You are better acquainted with factory production and haven’t been working on just Mechas or ships.” I turned to Eddie and Shrift, who looked a little downtrodden. “While you are both amazing in these fields, it also limits your thinking. With Felix, he hasn’t focused on one thing, so he’s open to new ideas. I expect he’ll make a few mistakes but he’ll have all of you and his team to fall back on if he needs help.”

  I turned back to Felix and Min Hae. “Plus, I’m going to need Eddie and Shrift to put back my ships and Mechas while we’re out in the black. Min Hae, I want you to stay here and create an intelligence gathering service. We need to know as much as possible about this galaxy we’ve come out into, and this looks as good of a base as any. You should think about making agents on every ship whose job it is to report to you and their captain, gathering and passing on information as we have it.”

  “Yes, sir. I was thinking along the same lines. I also have people disseminating information we’ve pulled from the station, ships, and prisoners.”

  “I like the initiative. Now, you all have a lot to do.”

  They took this as their cue and they stood.

  “I need to talk to Felix for a moment.”

  “Certainly, Salchar.” The others gave their two-finger lazy salutes as they left. As the door sealed, I put something on the hologram from my personal storage.

  “You’ll have two months to make this.” I pushed a group of items into the hologram as Felix pulled them apart.

  “How long have you been thinking about this, sir?”

  “For a while. I want the Epsilon done first.” I threw more objects into the holographic field.

  “We can’t make this many,” he said, holding one of the items in the hologram.

  I grinned as I gave him an information chip from my Mecha. “This will help you.”

  He connected the chip to his data pad and information scrolled down. “Sir, these are generations ahead of anything we have.”

  “Yes, and I want you to pull them apart, see how they work, and replicate them. We might not have the biggest fleet but I want to be the one with the biggest punch. I’ve outlined some other projects I want you to look at on the chip.”

  He kept scanning through. “Sir, this is—”

  “A treasure chest. I know. Felix, I want you to be my special projects manager. You will pick your own people to pursue advancements to assist the Free Fleet. You will have complete control of everything that happens, and you will report to only me. I’m also going to give you a platoon of commandos who will be directly under your command for security reasons. Min Hae will update you with any new tech he finds or information on it.”

  Felix’s eyes lit up as if it were Christmas morning. “Sir, I don’t know what to say.”

  “Well, you sure as hell won’t be thanking me after a week. I’m going to push you and your division hard. We need to make everything we have count, and without quantity, we have to make quality.”

  “I won’t let you down, sir.”

  “I know you won’t.” I smiled as the door chimed, telling me someone was outside.

  I looked at the view screen on the table, seeing the feed from outside. “With that, it’s time I get some food in my stomach. Make sure you make the others do too, and some sleep. I know you want to get started as soon as possible and finish as quickly as possible. But it’s going to take awhile to get all of this up and ready. Pace yourself. We’ve got a long way to go. There is an auto-destruct on the data pad’s information if anyone else views the information other than you. We cannot let this fall into the wrong hands.”

  “Understood, sir.”

  I stood and he gave me a two-finger salute. I returned it as he continued to read his data pad and walked out of the door with me following shortly behind. He looked up as he walked through the door, finding Cheerleader and Monk there. He nodded to them, hiding his data pad before he continued walking and scrolling through the information. Looks like I picked the right man. A weight shifted from my shoulders. This trusting other people is—good, I admitted as I walked out the door.

  “We found a cafeteria not too far from here,” Monk said.

  “They serve kimchi! Or at least that’s what it said on the food section of the forum.” Cheerleader grabbed my good hand and towed me along.

  Rebuilding and Preparing

  We sat at the table as more and more people flowed in. Jeremiah and a collection of my protection detail flowed in also, grabbing places as Henry and two of his people guided Turek and Bregend in. I wished Rick was there but he was on watch still. Yasu had been mysteriously missing for the duration I’d been awake. I didn’t want to admit it, but it hurt that she’d dropped me as quickly as she and the Sato sisters had found one another. I wondered what she was doing in the room when I woke up. Women were confusing as almighty hell.

  “Commander Salchar, why did you give us permission to leave our ships and meet with you?” Turek asked, indicating himself and Bregend.

  “Well, first of all, to get a measure of you and see if I want to put you in charge of a ship,” I said as I bit into the strange kimchi. The commando who made the food had been stuck in his bed when he decided to play with the food replicators. Once he’d gotten a hang of them, he’d started making food that someone could actually bite instead of slurp, then he went about changing the flavors.

  The texture still left something to be desired, but he’d gotten t
he soju and beer tasting similar, and the kimchi and rice tasted heavenly compared to the goop we’d been having.

  Bregend looked at me with wide eyes.

  “First, get some food and sit. I’m told they have something for Sarenmentis too.” They did so, quickly returning and getting seats. As they sat down, I began talking.

  “Yes, I need people to be commanders who aren’t human and aren’t those who initially came with me. You two are the ones I’ve had the most experience with and I know you have certain values you won’t overstep.”

  “Why don’t you think I won’t run at the first opportunity? Or that we have values which won’t make us overstep?” Bregend asked.

  “Three reasons. First, if you run away then you’re putting the people of all three races in jeopardy. All we know for certain is that the people on our ships and in this station are the only ones of each race left alive until we can find more, or even a planet. You think that everyone’s going to support you running away? Second, even if you get away with a couple of ships, do you know where to get things such as fuel, supplies, and the rest without turning into pirates, the very thing we’re fighting?”

  Bregend shook his head.

  “Didn’t think so. Now, the third and most important reason is because we have a very limited amount of people; it’s one of our biggest weaknesses. Ships, stations, marines: they need manpower, and lots of it. We need to show that we can allow people other than those who are in our group to take command positions. It shows that if you have what it takes, you will be rewarded accordingly. As for the values, with Turek I know that he is more aligned with the Special Forces than he is with the rest of the Sarenmenti forces. I’d even guess he’d been offered a position in the spec ops group.”

  A look of surprise, which quickly turned to calculation, ran across the Sarenmenti’s face. I’d learned how to read them as well as I could read humans. Again, I praised my celebrity trainers.

  “Bregend, you won’t have to fight anyone to get you respect; you will get it from your crew. What you do from now on will be based upon your actions. I know you’re smart. I looked at what you’d been doing with your data pad.