by Chris Hechtl
That meant Knox news was getting the short end of the stick. As the head of the branch office April had to do something about it, get a scoop. The saying goes, you're only as good as your next big story. The little fish she'd picked up, like the proliferation of couples naming their kids after John wasn't enough.
So, she thought outside the box. She called Commander Sprite and leaned on her for an interview. The AI was amused to respond and allowed the contact so she could get into the reporter’s computers again. She appeared as a small holographic avatar on the reporter's desk. “We can do this as a fireside chat if you'd prefer, Commander,” April said.
“I had assumed this was personal. I came out of curiosity,” Sprite replied.
“No, business,” April replied. She tried stroking the AI's ego but realized the AI wasn't responding to the flattery. Subtle hints of blackmail only seemed to amuse the AI.
“Okay, three questions, just three and I'll call it a good day. Agreed, Commander?”
“Checking,” Sprite said, cocking her head. She quickly texted the admiral but he was busy. He told her to behave and do it as long as it didn't compromise classified data. Fine, she thought. “Okay, you are cleared for three questions,” she said after a moment.
“Why thank you,” April said, nodding politely. She sent out an implant signal to start the cameras in her office to record the interview. “This is April O'Neill, Knox news Antigua affiliate. I am speaking with Commander Sprite, Fleet Admiral Irons Chief of Staff. A pleasure, Commander. Congratulations on the promotion,” she said, nodding to the AI.
“Why thank you,” Sprite said, standing at ease with her virtual hands behind her back.
“First question, Commander, I realize you are a busy lady,” she said, picking up her stylus and tapping it on her chin as she settled her tablet in her lap. “Why, Sprite?”
“Why? Gee that's a loaded question,” the AI said with a chuckle. “Can you be more specific?”
“You're name. Why not something else? Something martial since you are a military AI?”
“Technically you just asked your three questions, but I'll be good,” Sprite said as April's face closed a bit. “What's in a name?” She asked, waving a virtual hand. “I am a being of the mind. Athena was the first, and her origins were very much like the myth. In my case the admiral named me. Sort of.”
“Um ...”
Sprite smiled again. “He saw how flighty I was and made a crack about an imp and sprite. I liked Sprite.”
“Okay. I was thinking Puckish but I understand that is a male ...”
Sprite's eyes narrowed. “Puck was an AI back during the bad old days of the first AI war. Even before actually. So, no. I like who I am.”
“I see.”
“And yes, as an AI I chose my own gender.”
April nodded. “I remember the lectures you did on Anvil,” she stated with a slight smile. “You are very good with kids.
“I ... yeah,” Sprite said with a nod. “So, I don't need to go into further details.”
“No. In general, how is it like to work with the admiral?”
“Question two?” Sprite asked. April nodded. “Very well,” Sprite said, coming to attention. “The admiral is a great officer. He does have a few weak spots, but I am trying to work on that.”
“Weak spots?”
“He's honest. He's a techy, he'd rather be elbows deep in a problem than running a ship sometimes. He hates paperwork, which a lot of officers agree with,” Sprite said with a grimace. “He also expects the best of his people, and expects them to be honest too. That includes politicians.” She shook her head mournfully. “So when he gets cut down it's rough on him.”
“Like in Pyrax,” April murmured.
“Yes. He's getting a thicker skin but it takes time.”
“Hmm ...”
“I can answer your other questions quicker this way,” Sprite said, waving a hand. She accessed the tablet and added her own back door, then found the opened file and answered the questions quickly.
“The ones I can't are a straight no comment. Don't read into that,” Sprite said.
“Understood,” April replied as the words appeared in red below her answers. She smiled slightly. “Thanks. Could I get you to answer a few more of these on camera sometime?” Not that she needed it, but it could be useful in order to get follow up questions and answers going. She wanted to build off the contact and keep the lines of communication open.
“We'll see. I am a busy lady Miss O'Neill. Speaking of which, I need to get back to work. Ta ta,” Sprite replied and winked out.
April read the answers and then nodded. Sprite hadn't said anything about current or future plans, operations of the ships or the admiral's schedule, but that was fine. Most of the answers were already in the public domain. She had plenty here to work with.
...*...*...*...*...
Once Governor Randall finished with the implant procedures the admiral came in and uploaded the keys for him. He also explained that the keys weren't a master key set, they were after all civilian, but he could do a lot. An impressive amount. What the admiral hadn't explained was how he could pass the set on to his successor. Not that he intended to retire at any time soon.
He held a discussion with his staff as he recovered in the presidential suite of Casino Superior. It was quite nice, very plush. Better than their home in the capital in many ways. The view into the interior of the station was spectacular. He also loved the wall screens. He reminded himself again to find a way to get them into the capital mansion. The kids would go insane with them he thought with a soft chuckle.
“Sir, now that you have finished getting your implants we must consider the next course of action.”
“I know that,” Jeff said mildly. “Something's have changed, but not everything. We're still up against the pirates.”
“But we don't need the admiral,” the chief of staff pointed out. “Not with your keys, sir.”
Sandra gasped. Jeff's eyes cut to her then back to his chief of staff. “I'm not sure I am following you.”
“The admiral is here to stay. Before he held the high ground. He had all the cards. Now you do.”
“And if he just decided to leave?” the press secretary demanded. “Take his ships and go?”
“He wouldn't do that. He's already committed to us here. But he can't dictate anymore. He's going to have to compromise.” He shrugged. “As I said, we don't really need him.”
“Only a fool and an idiot would think that Daffyd. I'm ashamed of you. He had the master keys. He is also a trained flag officer. The only one in existence. We owe him. Owe him a lot so kicking him to the side is just plain stupid. We need him. We need him badly,” Sandra scolded him. She turned her imploring eyes on her husband. Jeff nodded.
“Irons isn't going anywhere. We're going to keep him right here,” he said.
“For how long, sir?”
“As long as it takes to break the Horathians once and for all,” the governor growled. “He's not the enemy. Let's focus on that.”
“Yes sir.”
“Okay?” Jeff asked, turning to his wife. She nodded.
...*...*...*...*...
Meia transferred back to fighter command the moment the admiral allowed her to do so. She admitted she may have embittered a few people with her haste, but she didn't care. She'd brought her replacement up to speed within hours of his arrival.
Her replacement was first Lieutenant Braknaa, a Satyre. She'd never seen one of his species before, except in holos. The buck toothed alien had wide eyes and tended to glare about him. He had horns and fur. He preferred to wear a pair of shorts and a bandolier over a more traditional biped's uniform.
She had done her best to get him acquainted with the department and officers and then gotten out of his way and off Maine. He apparently knew his job since he had graduated from the academy, and he hadn't been thrilled about her “interference in his duty assignment” anyway. He was very abrasive though, sh
e felt a little guilty about leaving Mia behind to have to deal with him on a day to day basis.
She had thought she would immediately dive into the training of the fighter pilots but instead she'd been shunted to garbage scow duty, running shuttles and tugs about the yard for several days. That was when she found out to her chagrin that she wasn't the highest ranking pilot in the system when she inadvertently stepped on some toes to get out of the duty. Still, she hit it off with Lieutenant Carnique after their initial clash. Both women wanted a fully trained fighter wing and were eager to get there. Working together was good, but working in competition seemed to get some of the other pilots into gear. Once Meia collected her cobra fighter from the battlecruiser she buckled down into training.
Her first order of business was to escort a group of rookie pilots in brand spanking new cobra fighters to the carrier fortress near the Triang jump point. They had to boost for a lot of the time but that didn't mean they couldn't train. She'd picked up some tricks while on Maine including the one turning their fighters into simulators. They were in their cockpits for three long days, but they weren't boring. By the time they had arrived near the carrier fortress she had a good assessment of their abilities.
Before they managed to land they were all shocked when an unexpected arrival occurred at the Triang jump point threw everyone into alert status.
...*...*...*...*...
Sprite was rather busy, but also amused to find out about a crew attempting to purchase their ship. Apparently the crew of one of the freighter turned mining tenders had rounded up a couple of investors as well as drawn their families into investing into a start up. She had just gotten their business plan after requesting it twice. It was a bit vague, and a couple of their investors were shady but it was an interesting proposal. They supplied the station and Yard Dogs, with 90 percent of their throughput so it wouldn't affect the navy's orbital smelting works much. It would also allow them to rip out the hyperdrive and sell it and other components on the market in order to pay for a couple of orbital smelters and small molecular furnaces.
They had the dream, and the admiral was about that. He wanted people to expand, to grow industry into a self sustaining engine. She just wasn't sure if it was the right plan, it felt very thrown together. She put the proposal in his inbox along with a brief recommendation to see how far they were willing to take it. The navy didn't need the credits, but they might need the ship. But it would be months before they had enough equipment to justify pulling the ships working in the belt to be rebuilt ... she added a note that it might be better to build a Victory ship than rebuild the ships without working hyperdrives.
She finished the note just as a system wide alert sounded. “What now?” She asked, flipping into Maine's CIC.
...*...*...*...*...
Five weeks after their arrival, less than an hour after Sindri's people laid the keel block of their first native built gunship Commander Vargess arrived in Fuentes escorting a convoy in. The Nelson class destroyer that had been captured years ago in Pyrax was in fine form. The tin can escorted in Convoy 4. For the first time Horatio had initiated a convoy instead of waiting for the first to return. Apparently he had kept the two transport ships in Agnosta to work with the marines, Irons noted as he nodded in approval. Horatio had tapped the other ships he had available however. That was a good sign.
“I heard about the battle in Triang,” Captain Vargess said over the tachyon link. “Had a spot of bother along the way?” He had heard the news when they had passed through the star system and spoken with Charlie and Echo.
“More like Naomi came up a cropper. We got it sorted out,” the admiral replied from Maine's flag bridge.
“How is that gal doing anyway?” They talked about the battle in Triang,
The admiral checked Naomi's camera. The woman wasn't looking his way. He snorted softly. “She's settled in just fine. I gave her Maine. She's doing well with her new command, though she wants to get out and bang some pirate heads with her a little more than I'd like right now.”
Captain Vargess chuckled. “I can imagine. I'd love to be riding right along with her,” the captain replied. “ETA six days, Admiral.”
“You've got four freighters?”
“Aye, Admiral. Loaded to the deck heads with parts and hull sections. We've got some more people for you, but not as many as before. You'll have fun anyway I bet,” he said.
“Good,” the admiral nodded with a smile. “Good to hear. We'll see you in six days then. Irons out.”
“I have downloaded his initial sitrep brief, Admiral. I'm scanning it now. Nothing jumps out at me,” Sprite said.
“Okay, keep me posted.” He exhaled. “Now I get to go play catch up with the schedule,” he grumbled.
“Yes please. I'm already getting inquiries from Prime about your whereabouts,” she said.
“Joy,” Irons grumbled, getting out of his seat. “Hi ho, hi ho, off to the replicators I go,” he muttered under his breath.
...*...*...*...*...
Once Fuentes and her brood arrived at the yard, Admiral Irons had him buck the queue for repairs and refit while Sindri's people oversaw the unloading of the convoy. The admiral saw to the destroyer's refit personally. Fortunately Fuentes didn't need much since she had been recently overhauled in Pyrax. The admiral focused their efforts on equipment he had to unlock for them to rebuild or replace in a 72 hour marathon session.
When they were finished Fuentes was up to 100 percent. The admiral was careful to be in attendance when they held the meeting announcing that in the ship's wardroom. “Did you get your change of orders?” The admiral asked the captain as he looked at Fuente's senior officer. They'd all been primed with news of what was about to happen.
“Something about a promotion?” Commander Vargess asked, wrinkling his nose. He tapped his rank insignia on his collar. “I thought you had to be promoted by a captain's board, sir?”
“Sprite found some of the revisions to the orders while here in Antigua the first time, then got confirmation in Epsilon Triangula. She told me about them enroute to B100 omega,” the admiral explained.
“But, sir, I just got used to these,” Vargess said meaningfully, pointing to the insignia. Up until two years ago he'd been a lieutenant commander.
“Tough. Attention to orders!” the admiral intoned. Everyone in the wardroom snapped to attention. The commander caught a few of his people grinning. He did his best to glower at them into a more respectful attitude. “Commander Vargess, captain of Fuentes I hereby promote you to the rank of Captain JG,” the admiral said, fishing a jeweler case out of his pocket. He pulled the captain's old rank insignia off and then pinned the new ones on. Vargess stood deathly still. “I'm sorry we don't have time for a more formal ceremony,” the admiral murmured. “I know Renee would have loved to have been here.”
“It's okay, sir. Maybe when I get another promotion?” the captain quipped. Irons snorted as he stepped back and saluted. The newly minted captain returned the salute. When they struck the salute they shook hands. The room erupted into cheers of approval.
“I admit it feels good to be acknowledged,” the captain said. “For a man who'd never thought he'd survive the Xeno war, let alone get promoted or skipper anything bigger than a gunship, I seem to be rising fast in the ranks,” he observed.
“Cream always rises to the top skipper,” his XO said, shaking his hand. The admiral smiled and stepped back to allow the crew to have their moment with their skipper.
Admiral Irons had his own reasoning for the promotion. With his high rank the captain would be the acting CO for the star system in his absence. He would break that to Vargess at a later date however.
Captain Vargess was amused by the hoopla on Antigua and the station over his arrival. “Have you seen the news about us? I know why you wanted to come here now, Admiral, we're very popular,” he said when the general back slapping died down. The XO had to go back to the bridge but the chief engineer was already breaking out a bott
le of wine to celebrate. Vargess shook his head as they passed out glasses. He missed Renee but he knew that she knew that they are where they will do the most good.
“One of the reasons we chose to come here instead of going back to Pyrax. That and the larger population base,” the admiral stated, smiling politely.
“Yeah well, things are a little tight in Pyrax right now, with us here and Xavier as well, Admiral. I believe Captain Logan was expecting her to return. That was why Fuentes was allowed to do the turn around after delivering Convoy 2; he expected her to be arriving to cover for us,” he said reminding the admiral.
“We'll get it sorted out soon enough,” the admiral said with a wave of his hand.
“Those ships ... I caught a few more ion trails passing through the area,” the sensor officer said. “In B452c sir.”
“We must have missed them in transit,” the admiral mused.
“It's been known to happen. Most people don't realize space is big sir. And if the timing or bands are off ...” the captain shrugged. Irons nodded.
“Well, I have definitely had to rethink the escorts for convoys. No slight on Xavier or Fuentes but one is not enough,” he said shaking his head. “I'm going to have to send ships that can handle a fast journey with good legs and good firepower. One tin can and a smaller escort may not be enough,” the admiral said. He was now worried about the ships he was planning to send out carrying the smurfs and ansibles. He'd planned on sending them out in another three-five weeks but ... “You didn't see another ship while in transit? Just traces of them?” He asked, turning to the sensor officer and then back to the captain.
“No, nothing. I do have the recordings from the trail of surveillance satellites you left behind, plus the logs from the Triang picket though,” Vargess offered.
“I'll take that,” Sprite said happily from the holo emitter. The captain turned to her and nodded slightly. “And the rest of your news packet,” she said.