Convoy (The Shelby Logan Chronicles Book 1)

by Chris Hechtl

  “Come on. Let's get settled in officer's country. First drink is on me,” the captain said. “That'll give me time to track down some people and let them know I'm in town if they haven't already heard.”

  “I'm all for that, sir. We had some hairy bits there, and my parched throat is long overdue,” Brock replied heartily.

  Both apes snorted. Oppie clapped the navigator on the shoulder with his long arm and hand. “And no bombshells,” the navigator growled.

  “Awee …,” Oppie protested with wide-eyed innocence.

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  One of the unenviable tasks of a chief of staff's job was to handle problems as diplomatically as possible. That fell onto Saul's shoulders as he did his best to obey his boss while keeping the man from stepping on his own sword unnecessarily.

  Admiral Subert hadn't been happy about interrupting his schedule to meet and greet the new arrivals and had opposed it to the point where he'd made himself unavailable. He'd also just received word about what was going on in Bek and wasn't happy. So, he was snubbing the new arrivals.

  Saul had been ordered not to put on a reception, which was why they were standing in the entry to the station. He'd exchanged salutes with the senior officers and shook hands, but he realized right off that he hadn't brought enough people. And the Veraxin was the prickly type. Dealing with the annoyed Veraxin rear admiral turned out to be somewhat tricky. Prostrating himself in front of her and the other senior officers was galling, but he had to do it.

  “I'm sorry, ma'am, Admiral Subert was unavoidably detained,” he said patiently. “He had to log keys in the yard and is still en route. I am his chief of staff so he detailed getting you settled in and up to speed to me in his absence,” he explained.

  “I see. I expected a better turnout, at the very least a formal reception,” the Veraxin buzzed, looking around with her eye stalks. “I am senior officer in the star system now, I understand?”

  “Yes, in the star system,” Saul said slowly. He glanced at Commodore Ortiz who seemed to be put out at the reception or lack thereof as well. “I am … not sure what sort of command Admiral Irons has in mind for you yet though, ma'am. We need to get you up to speed on current events first,” he said.

  The Veraxin clacked her mandibles in annoyance. She signaled second-level resignation mixed with first-level annoyance. “Very well.”

  The commander extended his arm. “This way to the BOQ, ma'am,” he offered. “So we can get you settled in. I …,” he frowned as he tried to access her implants. “Ma'am? Is your ID implant encrypted?” he asked carefully.

  “I don't have one,” the Veraxin stated. “Is that a problem, Commander?” she asked pointedly.

  “Well, some areas can only be accessed with implants for security reasons, ma'am—the same for files. We um …”

  “Figure it out,” the Veraxin buzzed, signaling rising anger.

  “Yes, ma’am. As I was saying, this way,” the commander stated, leading her and the other officers off.

  “I guess that leaves the rest of you with me?” Chief Petty Officer Lafayette asked, eying the others once the senior officers had departed. There were seven noncoms of all three branches standing at parade rest, twenty-four middies, and what looked like eight civilians. “I'm sorry; I don't have your implant IDs …”

  “We don't have any,” a woman said snippily.

  “Okay and judging from your dress you are a civilian, ma'am?” the CPO asked her. She nodded once. He turned to the other four. “And you are as well?”

  “My, nothing gets past you,” the woman said nastily.

  The chief looked at her briefly, shooting her a low-voltage quelling look before he looked at the enlisted and … middies.

  “Okay, Middies, I believe you can report to academy processing. Captain Firefly?” he asked, looking up to the ceiling.

  “Who are you …,” the woman looked around them.

  “I'm accessing my implants, ma'am,” the chief replied.

  “Yes, Chief. I've been monitoring the situation since Barry is busy. I'll direct the middies to processing. They are coming midterm, so that will be fun to deal with. We also do not have their records on file, and obviously, they don't have implants or … I'll handle them.”

  “Thank you, sir. And the civilians, sir?”

  “I think someone from the government should step in. I just received a download from ensign Caroline. She informs me three are from Nuevo; the rest are from Bek. The Nuevo delegation are family or friends of the previous delegation it seems. There is some implied interest about college.”

  “You were thrown into the deep end, ma'am,” the chief said, addressing the woman. “The A.I. are consulting now. For the moment, I can escort you to a hotel for housing while they sort things out,” he stated.

  “Very well,” the woman said, lifting her nose. “I suppose I'll have to send one of your flunkies for my things?” she demanded.

  “I … can get with Caroline's bosun to arrange it, ma'am,” the CPO stated. He turned to the twenty-four middies. “You, sirs, are destined for the academy. Since you don't have implants, we can't direct you and you can't access parts of the annex without them. We'll have to detail an escort,” he said.

  “I'm on that, Chief,” the A.I. stated.

  “Captain Firefly just stated he's detailing one now.” He turned to the noncoms. “I suppose the same problem of ID is with you?” he asked.

  “Yes, Chief,” a Gashg stated. He had a greenish sash and waistband. They did nothing to cover the scars all over his body. “Nuevo. Army Reserve,” he said helpfully.

  “Okay,” the chief said with a nod. “We'll get you temporary billets. Marines and army will most likely be shipped out on the next flight to Agnosta however,” he said with a nod to them. Both groups signaled they understood. He turned as a Veraxin sailor came down the corridor. “R'v'r, you just got tapped for a special assignment. Escort the enlisted here to temporary enlisted housing. I'll take the civilians,” he said.

  “I'm, um … yes, Chief,” the Veraxin said, cutting off his protest when he saw the set expression on his senior's face. One of the enlisted chuckled, but sobered before the chief could turn back to look his or her way. “Very well. Let's get this parade on the road then,” he said, nodding to the sailors and then to the civilians. He extended his hand to them. “If you'll follow me ladies, and gentlemen, I'll show you to the hotel we have on base and get you set up there.”

  “Yes let's get going,” the woman said with a sniff.

  “What a clusterfisk,” one of the new Marine noncoms muttered just loud enough for those near to hear before the group split up.

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  “I still think we shouldn't go straight for New Horizon, ma'am. I know we're planning to picket the star systems on our route, but that's a lot of star systems.”

  “We've been over this, Commander. Once we take out the Konohagakure defenses, we'll leave the star system alone and move forward for Phase 2. I don't want to screw around,” Commodore X'll'rr said, indicating first-level firmness.

  “I know that, ma'am,” the human commander said doggedly. “But that is a lot of territory to cover. We can't be certain of any ships currently in hyper in-between any of them. We'll also allow the enemy to get around us and cut off our line of retreat if they send a larger force than we have.”

  “First they have to know we're coming,” the commodore argued as the door to the strategic think tank opened and closed. The flare of light from the open hallway beyond was a dead giveaway in the dark holographically lit room. The people within the chamber did their best to ignore the distraction.

  “I still say it's best to stay here,” the commander said, pointing to the empty crossroad star system one jump away from New Horizon. That will allow us to intercept any shipping from New Horizon or Garth. We still don't know if there are forces en route to reinforce the attack force that was set to attack Pyrax after all,” he pointed out. “From there we can leave a
large picket force to interdict the star system and move the main body on to New Horizon, reduce its defenses, then move to Finagle for the third phase.”

  “The third phase won't be initiated until Second Fleet has broken Dead Drop and has gotten to Garth. Once they take Garth, our rear will be secure. We'll be able to communicate with them up and down that warp chain,” the commodore said, pointing to the line between Garth and the empty star system the commander favored. She heard some scuttling behind her and turned to see a Veraxin and a few other officers behind her. She pinged them, but there was no return IFF. She wasn't certain what to make of that but turned back to the holographic tank.

  “My other reasoning is supplies. We're going to need supplies while we wait. New Horizon has them. The empty star system doesn't.”

  “True, ma'am,” the commander conceded.

  “I take your point about leaving a picket force of sufficient force in that star system however, Wayne. A cruiser division and an escort carrier should be enough to hit anything that comes down from Garth or any late comers from New Horizon.”

  “We'll have to deal with traffic coming upstream behind us as well, ma'am. From B101a1 and Konohagakure. I'm not certain three ships interdicting four jump points is enough to make certain none get away,” the commander cautioned.

  “True …” a scratching sound on the deck made her turn in irritation. “Yes? Can I help you …?”

  “Admiral. Rear Admiral V'r'z'll,” the Veraxin replied. “Are you Commodore X'll'rr?” the female Veraxin asked as the room's population came to attention.

  “Yes, ma’am, I am. I'm sorry, this is a closed meeting …”

  “Not anymore. I'm taking over,” the Veraxin admiral stated calmly.

  “Excuse me? I'm in command of this mission, ma'am …,” the commodore said furiously.

  “As I said, not anymore. I outrank you, Commodore,” the other female Veraxin stated. “I'm taking this mission. I'll give you the First Battlecruiser Squadron.”

  “Ma'am, I don't know your orders; I'm not getting an IFF …”

  “Take it on faith, Commodore. Of course, if you wish to test my patience, I can make you the commander of the fleet train,” the admiral stated as she scuttled up to the commodore's side. The commodore had gotten off her saddle in an automatic trained response to a senior officer standing in the room. The rear admiral moved in and took her seat. “Now …”

  The commodore's staff stared stunned at the sudden shifting of the baton, but then did their best to recover and continue the meeting while the commodore stepped to the rear of the compartment to fume and shoot off emails demanding answers.

  She didn't expect any quick responses. She was correct on that one.

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  “What the …,” Lieutenant Strongbirth blinked as she noted a demand from Commodore X'll'rr for clarification on her shifting of command, quickly followed by a request for transfer. “What is going on?” she demanded.

  Barry appeared on her desk. “A problem, Lieutenant?”

  “Yes. Has the world gone mad when I went off shift?”

  “The Bekians are making waves.”

  “I see. That explains this latest request for transfer,” the elf replied with a shake of her head. More emails came in; these with requests for clarification as officers reported they were getting conflicting orders from a new Veraxin admiral with no IFF as well as other officers. “Okay, we need to get a handle on this,” the elf said just as a dozen more requests came in.

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  Shelby got news of her father when Caroline returned and the mail was sorted out. He couldn't send her the information through the ansible network since the ansible in B-102C was so constricted. She frowned as she scanned the emails. There were videos attached , but she kept to the emails for the moment.

  Reading what her father had said, she found out things in Bek weren't going well at all. The brass was trying to keep the problems under wraps apparently. Things were ugly. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Good luck, Dad,” she murmured softly just as a PO came in to her open door and waved a tablet. She looked up. “Yes?”

  “The admiral's staff called. He's tied up dealing with the new arrivals so we're moving the schedule around, ma'am. I need to clear it with you, but you are also supposed to be checking in with your captains this afternoon, ma'am. You said to remind you of it and to remind you that you wanted some sims? Lieutenant Z'k'th'ss'th was working on a list. Do you have any specific in mind, ma'am?”

  Shelby settled herself, tugged on the hem of her jacket as she collected her thoughts and shifted them away from her father's problems. “Okay, yeah, I had a few scenarios in mind, but I really wanted to have him plug the astrography of Tau that we've got into them and then play with the scenarios himself. But off the top of my head, some anti-piracy ops are of course in order …”

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  Admiral Subert eyed his chief of staff. “Are they all settled in?”

  “Yes, sir, and already making waves,” the commander replied with a grimace as he entered the office. The admiral waved a hand as he leaned against his desk and crossed his arms. “So?”

  “So, the captain we can put to use. The same for some of the others, though two of the officers are on the flag officer's staff.”

  “Less we have to supply I suppose.”

  “Yes, sir. And the Marine colonel and the enlisted are headed out on the next ship to Agnosta with the army officer and enlisted.” Saul said, checking his notes. “The chief settled the civilians in the annex's hotel. I've passed on a request for help concerning them.”

  “You'll be lucky if you get a response in your lifetime,” the admiral said with a sniff. He shook his head and went behind his desk. “What else?”

  “Here is where things get dicey. The two flag officers are … raring to go I guess you could say, sir.”

  “And no ID implants, I've heard that part.”

  “Yes, sir. It hasn't stopped them it seems. Commodore X'll'rr has already been informed that the rear admiral will be taking over Battle Fleet once she is ready. In fact, she wanted to transfer to First Squadron and relieve the commodore last night, but First is out on maneuvers and won't be back for another two days. She did order them back early though.”

  “She had no authority to do that,” Admiral Subert growled.

  “Apparently, she does, sir. She's got you by date of rank,” the commander said. The admiral scowled blackly. Saul nodded slowly. “She's been a flag officer for a decade, sir. Six years as a rear admiral,” he explained.

  “So? She has me by date of rank. I'm still the commander of this star system not her!”

  “Yes, sir. But she is a senior officer. Last order by a senior officer applies in this case. Commodore X'll'rr requested input but put her command on a course to return anyway since you were asleep at the time,” he said.

  “Damn it,” the admiral growled. “She doesn't have implants; she's throwing her weight around … and what about the other one?”

  “Commodore Ortiz. He stepped up right off to get his ID implants. Oddly, none of the officers, enlisted, or civilians got them on Caroline. I put in an inquiry to Doctor Naroob. He replied that he asked while doing their health checkup, but they all declined. But now that he's here and sees the need, Commodore Ortiz has seen fit to get them.”

  “Well, good for him I suppose,” the admiral growled.

  “Yes, sir. He marched into the medical admin wing and ordered the implants,” the chief of staff said with a shake of his head.

  “Oh, spare me,” the admiral sighed, scrubbing at his face. He glowered at the bulkhead for a moment. “I bet Lieutenant Taylor was thrilled.”

  “It wasn't his shift, sir. Commander Fox was about to go off shift. He didn't know the commodore, and a stranger in uniform marching in and demanding an implant didn't go over well. Fortunately, Barry stepped in and verified the commodore's identity before the SPs arrived.”

&nb
sp; “Lovely,” the admiral growled, now thoroughly disgusted. “But he got the implants?”

  “After a full checkup. Commander Fox was adamant about that. And I do mean full, sir; he ran the commodore through the wringer.”

  “Good,” the admiral replied with a sniff. “Serves him right. What specialty is he?”

  “Also Battle Fleet, but carriers, sir. He's taken an interest in Collective Destiny. I understand he's trying to get on board her now.”

  “I bet security is in love with that. It explains the complaints at any rate,” the admiral said, shaking his head.

  “Yes it does, sir. I've bucked it up to the Admiralty. For the moment, no one in BUPERS has responded other than to have them run through medical, then the academy.”

  “And I know they won't listen since those orders are coming from a commander or captain.”

  “No, sir.”

  “Well, the Veraxin may not want to listen to me, but this is my star system.”

  “Yes, sir. Should I call her?”

  “No, I'll set the commodore straight. I need to call Admiral Irons and see what I need to do about the Veraxin.”

  Saul nodded as he made a note. “Aye aye, sir.”

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  A few hours later Admiral Subert checked the time and then put an ansible call in to Admiral Irons.

  “Phil? You usually pass on discussions. It's unusual for you to be waiting for me,” Admiral Irons said. “Problems?”

  “You could say that. Apparently, I'm outranked again,” Admiral Subert said with a grimace.

  “So, you've got the latest batch in from Bek. Any standouts? What about V'r'z'll?”

  “Admiral V'r'z'll … is prickly.” Admiral Irons snorted. That was a definite case of the pot calling the kettle black. “She's … flexing her muscles politically and starting to give me problems I have to admit. I'm trying to handle it. According to what we've found out about her, she came up through ship command. She has little if any experience in staff, carrier, fortress, medical, or engineering commands. She's Battle Fleet through and through, which is good I suppose. She's going to need to be brought up to speed though. They sent her without implants or any of the training you sent, sir.”