Convoy (The Shelby Logan Chronicles Book 1)

by Chris Hechtl

  “Sometimes.”

  “And well, don't you have to worry about splinters?” Cynthia persisted.

  “Something like that,” the panda said as she used a linen napkin to clean up the mess. “It's a diet thing for my species. I'm actually a mix of bear and panda I guess, but every once and a while …” she hefted the stalk.

  Cynthia snorted. She took a sip of coffee again.

  “So, no honeymoon?” Portia asked.

  Cynthia rolled her eyes. “No, too busy,” she said. “The boss cracks the whip all the time,” she said, fighting a brief blush at that vision.

  “That sucks. Not really many places to have one here I suppose,” Portia said as she finished up her meal. She got up and policed her dishes just as their implants pinged with Lieutenant Prometheus's scheduled muster call. The A.I. checked on everyone once a shift at random times to make sure where everyone was and that they were still breathing.

  “Still kicking,” Shelby muttered.

  “Something like that,” Portia agreed. “I've got the bridge shift in a few minutes,” she admitted. “Do you think Prometheus is going to be sitting in the star system for a long time, ma'am?”

  “Why? Worried you'll get stale?” Cynthia asked.

  “Something like that. To be honest I thought about putting in for a transfer if the commodore is planning on anchoring the ship here for a long time,” the Neopanda admitted. “I'm not trying to be disloyal or anything, but I do like to practice my nav skills, ma'am,” she said hastily.

  “If there are any openings, we'll keep you in mind I'm sure. There won't be any calls for new navigators for a while though. And we'd need a replacement here,” Cynthia warned.

  “Oh, I'm not saying anytime soon, ma'am,” the panda replied with wide innocent eyes. “But I do miss seeing the godsea,” she said wistfully.

  “Well, we'll keep it in mind,” Cynthia said uncomfortably.

  “Okay. With your permission?” the panda said, motioning to the door.

  “Go, before you are late,” Cynthia said, more brusquely than she intended. “Sorry. Have a good evening, Portia,” she said as the panda slipped out the door. The panda leaned back in to give her an OK hand sign and then headed to the bridge.

  Cynthia sat back as she thought about what the panda had said. She had been so focused on construction she'd left the manning duties on the ship alone. They all knew the jobs. It was a bit of complacency on her part, but one couldn't be strong everywhere. Now that Phase 1 was wrapping up she had a little more breathing room.

  She took another sip of coffee. She had worried that she or Chief Sulistyo would be tapped to run the yard. For the moment, there was a lieutenant designated, but he'd been swapped out for an engineer on another ship so now it was up in the air. She was tempted to bring it up to the commodore … but she didn't want Shelby to ask her to take the job on.

  She was actually thinking of asking for Prometheus. She was now comfortable in command, though she was a little leery about making some decisions. Besides, wasn't Shelby a commodore now? And Portia was right; they all deserved to stretch a bit. She frowned thoughtfully, then decided to talk it over a bit with Vlad the next time they crossed paths.

  She downed the remains of her coffee, then stood. Whenever that was, she thought just as her implants pinged. “Yeah, yeah, I'm coming,” she muttered as she rinsed her cup out and then put it back in its place. “Break over,” she muttered as she left the compartment.

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  Ayumu … fought a smile as he took his customary seat in the conference room. He'd taken on a job as a civilian computer tech intern in the station out of self-defense. His father might be proud of him for stepping up, but that wasn't quite why he'd done it. First, the place had nothing going for it yet so he had no social life to speak of. Second, he was taking classes, which was fine with him, but his mother was bored.

  That was the real reason he'd taken the job, even if it was just going around and plugging hardware in or loading software, or playing gopher for one of the real techs. He had to avoid his mother; he'd had enough of the woman on the trip out. Now that she was bored he had been dragged off to one project or another.

  Taking the job had allowed him to avoid his mother's projects like when she had dragged him off to help her plant her flowers in the station's park and then in the greenhouse. He still had dirt under his nails and a chipped nail from that experience.

  He couldn't help that she was bored and not happy about the lack of internal progress in the station. His stepping up was one way to help the progress along he thought. It also got him out from under her scheming thumb. If he played his cards right, he might be able to spin the internship into an apprenticeship. If that happened, he'd have a steady income and the right to request his own quarters.

  That was the end game for him for the moment, to finally achieve his independence. He was turning eighteen soon. He should have been granted adult status two years ago, but the trip to Tau had stunted that. It was his time to step up and be his own man he thought and then paused to recognize the thought he'd just had.

  Maybe he was starting to think a bit like his father he grumbled as the Veraxin chief tech came scuttling in the room carrying coils of cables. “We've got to finish the computer core install by Monday if we're going to be on target to install the station's dumb A.I. folks. So, I need volunteers to help run cable. It seems some of the cables got stretched between frame twenty and twenty-two, and two ODN cables were crimped on deck seven. So, we get to patch that for our sins,” the Veraxin started in to the heartfelt groans from the assembled team. “Now now, it's all for a good cause …”

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  Shelby, Cynthia, and Chief Sulistyo oversaw the installation of the dumb A.I. cores in the naval station, central logistics station, government station, and shipyard computers. Each of the A.I. had the latest Xeno Wraith protection systems installed. The A.I. came online one by one. They were initialized and then went to work running the electronic systems and monitoring security on their respective stations.

  Once that project was complete, the trio of officers turned their attention to the conversion project. The conversions had gone off relatively smooth, largely due to the modular design of the ship's class, though fitting out was turning into a pain as anticipated. Shelby had decided to go with two Liberty ships to start with which was probably for the best. They still didn't have enough medical personnel to fully man either of them but having the facilities would hopefully be of some use. Some of the native medics and even a few people who had no skills had volunteered to crew the ships. It wasn't enough. They lacked the right educational foundation and skills, but they wanted to help.

  Based on the news that Dancer had brought the relief ships coming from Rho would hopefully arrive before ME Mahoney arrived there. At least, that was her thought on the timing, whether it came together like that was unfortunately out of her hands.

  Converting the hospital ships and manning them brought up something else to her attention; each ship would need support and an escort. She couldn't afford to fritter away her warships on deployments around the sector and leave her base unguarded however. But, every moment they delayed meant thousands, possibly millions of more people succumbed to the plague.

  The expansion of the various facilities was an ongoing construction nightmare. The shell of the sector capital station was complete; outfitting the interior would take years. She was less concerned with that than she was with starting construction of the first ships in the yard.

  One of the things she did regret was not insisting on building a fifth space station as a college. More and more of the natives were stepping up to work. Sorting them out and training them on the job was an ongoing headache for her people.

  Half of the personnel on the transports were families of the crew of the starships. Many worked in jobs on the logistics bases, shipyard, or as crew at the growing naval base or government facility, forming the core personnel.
In time the native civilians will hopefully get up to speed. They were certainly eager and willing to do their part.

  Apparently one of the real reasons she'd gotten so much help, at least initially, was due in part to the refit of the colonies by her engineers. Seeing them do that had in part inspired the locals, but it had also made some jobs redundant. They'd had to find other means of employment. Whatever the reason, Shelby was grateful for the warm bodies, even if they caused the occasional mishap though their lack of skills. So far they had been fortunate that nothing had been fatal though, she thought.

  “We're getting there,” she breathed as she took stock with the senior staff. “I'd say Phase 1 is just about complete all around, right?” she asked, turning to Cynthia.

  “We're well into Phase 2 and 3 projects, ma'am,” Cynthia replied with a nod.

  “We're still getting calls to begin the anti-piracy patrols, ma'am,” Lieutenant Black reported. Shelby turned to her and then shook her head. “I'm just the messenger, ma'am.”

  “I know, Sadie. I'm not willing to let them off the leash. We've got two groups out, we've got two more preparing to go, I'm not willing to draw my forces down any further than that,” she stated flatly. “Not until we have more ships to picket the approaches,” she said.

  “I think they know that in theory, ma'am. They are in the ships; they aren't dealing with the construction. Some …,” the flag lieutenant grimaced. “Well, some seem like they do not understand what's taking so long.”

  “Give me a list of names,” Cynthia said. “I'll put them to work. They can rotate through the yard jobs for a week. That will shut them up,” she growled, looking from the black Neolab to the commodore.

  “Tempting,” Shelby replied uncommitted, but slightly amused by the idea.

  “Not for me. They'd muck it up,” Chief Sulistyo growled.

  “I know a lot want action. We know that there are pirate bases here. We have a vague idea on where they are, but space is vast,” Shelby said with a shake of her head as she looked at Ensign Slatterly.

  “Unfortunately, we don't have a location. We captured several of the Fourth Fleet ships in Rho but none had navigational charts for Tau loaded or in their databases. The few people who we captured who we confirmed had spent some time here had only vague information. They weren't navigators for instance,” she said. “We do have a general idea on where they are though,” she said, turning on the holo projector with a tap of her finger.

  “Based on what we've been able to pick up here plus information picked up in other star systems, we know there is at least one base, quite possibly a Tortuga here,” she said, circling an area of space within twenty light years of them. “It is near the center of the sector, which is logistically and strategically important. We know they pass some of their shipping through this star system.”

  “But they haven't yet,” Lieutenant Z'k'th'ss'th pointed out.

  “Exactly. Yet,” the ensign replied, looking briefly to the Naga. “We have a list of candidate star systems. When we have sufficient resources available, we might wish to scout them,” she said, turning to the commodore.

  “Also something I've had in mind. But it is a ways off. Taking out their base would help cut off their logistics in the area.”

  “Unless they have more than one,” Lieutenant Z'k'th'ss'th pointed out.

  “True,” the commodore replied, giving the Naga a slight quelling glance. “You have updated the Horathian war book, Fara?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And you said you've got a handle on their ship movements?”

  “To some degree … yes, ma'am. There is of course flex in any schedule. I expect a ship to be coming through any time next week. Unless this plague has changed them.”

  “Which it might. We need to get our hands on a live pirate ship—not too lively though,” Cynthia said. “Once we get that database,” she rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

  “True, very true,” Shelby murmured.

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  Lieutenant Z'k'th'ss'th considered his future career after the meeting concluded. The commodore had opened the door to promotions and transfers. She had promoted the middies to ensigns last week. Could he get a transfer? They had talked about laying the first ship … he didn't like the idea of manning a sublight ship on picket duty, but that might be a way to get back into the war he thought.

  He flexed his mandibles as he slithered back to the bridge. The meeting had gone quicker than expected so he might be able to get a tactical sim in before lunch he thought happily. Oz was too busy for a workout, but perhaps in the near future … yes, yes, indeed. He might even be able to convince the Neogorilla to perhaps put in for a transfer of his own? As a chief engineer? That might be worth exploring he thought, making a mental note.

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  On the heels of the staff meeting, Vixen returned to the star system. She transmitted her IFF and then sent an encrypted comm laser to the naval base informing them that she had news as well as a copy of a captured ship's cloned databases.

  “Ask and ye shall receive!” Cynthia said grinning triumphantly at the windfall when she got the news. “Though I'm not thrilled about what Otto and Ed said about Tortuga. Is it really …”

  “It looks that way,” Shelby replied grimly. That news was not something she was thrilled about at all. Sitting right next door to your mortal enemy wasn't conducive to sleep. Not when she knew they outgunned her force.

  “Are you going to pull the defenses off the other pickets and put them all on the Tortuga jump?” Cynthia asked, eyeing her.

  That brought the commodore out of her funk for a moment. “Why? Their shipping will still come from the other directions to get to Tortuga,” Shelby pointed out.

  Cynthia grimaced. “Well, that's true,” she admitted. “So … what now?”

  “We kick the hospital ships out and table the next set in favor of cranking up the small ship line,” Shelby said.

  “Now we're talking,” Cynthia replied. “Even if it means more work for me and the other engineers,” she said.

  “Other engineers? You've been moonlighting?” Shelby demanded.

  Cynthia squirmed a bit under that gaze. “Okay, maybe a little. I needed a break from the paperwork,” she admitted.

  “Well, you wouldn't be the first or the last engineer to admit that,” Shelby replied with a snort. “I know Admiral Irons plays hooky whenever he thinks he can get away with it. Since you haven't been letting the paperwork slip … you haven’t, right?” she demanded, eyeing the blond woman. Cynthia shook her head and crossed her heart. Shelby's lips quivered in a suppressed smile at that sight. “Okay, I'll let you off. Just don't make too much of a habit of it,” she warned.

  “Says the woman who does it too when no one's looking,” Cynthia said. Shelby glowered at her. Cynthia came up straight, squaring her shoulders. “I mean aye aye, ma’am!” she said in a slightly mocking tone of voice.

  “Right,” Shelby drawled as she picked up her tablet. “Go make sure the yard hasn't been torn apart by our noobs while I go over this again,” she said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Cynthia said with a smile of sympathy as she scampered out.

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  Two days after Vixen docked with the naval base the hospital ships were declared as complete as they could get. There were medical volunteers on each ship along with the original ship's crew. Both ships were very light on personnel but had the basic hardware to serve their intended purpose. Shelby authorized Mercy Flight 1 and 2 to get underway.

  Reluctantly Shelby also allowed Doctor Taylor to go out on 1353 since neither ship had a properly trained doctor on board. The two ships finished their shakedown cruise en route to the Tau-1929 jump point. Their orders were to travel to Lebynthos, each with a destroyer escorting them. One ship, 1353, had orders to go to Tau-27KC with the destroyer Herd Culler escorting her if the crew detected a recent ion trail to that jump point. The other ship 875, which
had less medical personnel on board, and her escort the destroyer Xiphos would follow Mahoney's trail to support them. If there was no trail to Tau-27KC, then 1353 and her escort would continue with 875 to support Mahoney.

  She had been tempted to release one pair to go west to Tau-35NFXL to follow that jump line, but she'd talked herself out of it. They had no idea what they were getting into on that jump line. She didn't like risking the ships in an unknown region and refused to send a light cruiser to scout ahead of them. The proximity of Tortuga made her realize she needed to concentrate her forces in the capital until she could arrange a first strike to take the pirate capital out.

  If that were even possible with a BC there, she thought darkly.

  Chapter 38

  The Federation Courier ship Dasher lived up to her name as she dashed across the Tau-247196 star system. She had one more 9.5-light-year jump to go before she was in the Platte cluster and could get back to distributing the steps on how to cure the population … if anyone remained alive to listen.

  ]][#]]]{OO}===}==>

  Strike from the Dark led her consorts back to Lebynthos. When they arrived, they downloaded the messenger buoy. They did not find any recent ion trails to star system 27. They did pick up several ion trails, but they turned out to be the couriers that had passed through the star system.

  “According to the download, the Mercy Flight from Rho should be arriving in the Trajin cluster soon,” Captain Corbin stated.

  “Does that mean we can continue hunting?” Captain R'x'r'r asked hopefully.

  Captain Corbin glanced at Captain Loggins and then shook his furry head. “No. We follow orders,” he said firmly.

  “Damn.”

  “If we'd picked something up, even a hint …,” Captain Loggins said.