by Chris Hechtl
“No. She's too useful now, especially with what we know,” the admiral murmured.
“Wow. Well, I guess we underestimated her. You think you know someone,” she said.
“Yes. Something's changed. The guild protecting me? And for free?” The admiral shook his head slightly. “Never in a million years did I expect that. I wondered if they had done so during the Xeno war but ...”
“Apparently so. Now I'm curious as to why. Are you going to ask her?” Sprite asked.
“No.” He copied the links to a secured server then withdrew from April's mind. Proteus withdrew the nanites back into the admiral's body. He curled up to her and felt her sleepily wrap her arm around her. He nuzzled her hair with his chin. “No. For now, we're leaving it alone. But keep an eye on the situation.”
“Aye aye, sir. Are you going to tell her you are leaving?”
“When I have time. Night, Sprite,” he said.
“Good night, Admiral.”
...*...*...*...*...
“Thank you for meeting me here, Admiral. I know you are a busy man,” Governor Randall said, smiling politely as the admiral met him in his office. They shook hands and then the governor waved for them to take a seat in a comfortable nook near the window. A servant came in and poured them coffee, then retreated.
The admiral took the room's décor in briefly then nodded. The governor was a smart man, no doubt Sandra had something to do with the decorating but they had kept it elegant, slightly understated, yet blended modern with planetary touches like the native wood desk. He nodded in approval.
“Sometimes I curse you for sicking those delegates on me. That Yuzle woman is a terror,” Governor Randall said, shaking his head.
“I feel for you,” Irons replied with a slight smile. “Just be glad you're married. She chased me all over the fleet a time or two getting here.”
“I can imagine,” the governor replied with an amused snort.
“If you are wondering about the industrial board, we've got the last of them set up now,” the governor said ruefully, shaking his head. “Finding honest people was rough,” he admitted.
“And you thought Diogenes had it rough? Put yourself in my shoes governor,” the admiral replied with a half-smile of sympathy.
“So, what's this about? The next step in your plan?”
“Definitely,” the admiral said. “Governor ...” he paused when the governor held up a hand and set his cup down.
“Admiral, I think we can lose the titles at least in private. Call me Jeff.”
The admiral blinked. Sprite silently whistled on his HUD but he ignored it. He couldn't help but smile slightly again. “Only if you call me John,” he offered.
The governor's eyes lit. “Deal,” he said with his own smile. “Now, you were saying?”
“I am about to activate the next phase of my plan yes. But it involves some risk, and I have to go it alone.”
“Alone?”
“I'm taking a ship ... Xavier ...”
“One of the destroyers you brought in?”
“Yes,” the admiral replied with a nod. “We're going to head out. Not far,” he said, holding up a hand as the governor started to object. “And not for long. I can't get into details, it is all highly classified. I'm not certain what we'll find, but I hope it will help. At least I hope it will give us some answers, but I'm not even sure about that part,” he said shaking his head.
“Then why go?”
“Because I need to. Because I need to know. It could be important, not just in this war, but in other things. It may let us see a part of the bigger picture.”
“I see,” the governor said, picking up his cup again to take a sip.
“Good coffee,” the admiral murmured.
There was a long pause before the governor cleared his throat and responded. “The best.”
“I'll be bringing an ansible with me,” the admiral explained. “So I'll be in contact once I get where I'm going,” he said. “But I need to keep this low key. There is no need to start a panic. I will be back,” he emphasized.
“Well, I can't say I am happy or thrilled about your leaving Admiral,” the governor said.
“Trust me, it's not itchy feet. Far from it,” Sprite interjected.
“You're AI?” The governor asked politely.
“Yes. Some forget I always have an audience. They are always with me,” the admiral said with a shake of his head.
“Worse than a wife,” the governor said. “Glad Sandra hasn't figured out that trick.”
“True,” the admiral said. “She rarely lets me get away with anything. She just likes to let me think I am from time to time,” the admiral said. Both men chuckled.
“I heard that,” Sprite mock growled. That got them chuckling more. “Oh shush,” she scolded.
“See what I mean?” The admiral said as the snickers died down.
“I don't envy you, Admiral. Not in the slightest,” Jeff replied with a grin.
“Well, to be honest ... you have an AI in you now too. If you didn't already know that,” the admiral said.
Jeff's eyes went wide. “Come again? This is news to me!” he reached up to touch his temple with his free hand. “I don't hear voices ...”
“It is a part of the keys. It is an AI,” Sprite explained. “A simple AI program to make sure you aren't suborned and the keys aren't abused. It was all in the tutorial,” she stated.
“I um, must have missed that,” Jeff mumbled, looking away.
“I'll upload you another copy to see,” Sprite said. “With downloads to watch when you wish. All sorts of useful information to help you,” Sprite said.
“Um, thanks,” the governor said, now uncomfortable.
“We're here to help,” Sprite said cheerfully. “Now, I'll pretend I'm not listening so you fellas can finish your chat,” she said peachily. The admiral shook his head as she stopped talking.
The governor snorted, then wiped at his mouth with a napkin. “Yes, I don't envy you John. Not in the slightest,” he murmured shaking his head. “Talk about joined at the hip!”
“Something like that,” the admiral sighed. “She does keep things lively though.”
“As all women do.”
“With the industrial board set up the civilian side should be fine. I've left Vestri and Vargess plenty to do with the yard and the yard expansion in my absence. They have parts for over a hundred gunships, about forty corvettes, twenty frigates, two destroyers, and nearly a thousand small craft stockpiled. Along with about half a load for another convoy,” the admiral stated.
The governor whistled.
“Yes we've been busy and for good reason. Now you know my other reason why. That doesn't include the materials for the fortress projects, or other project. Plus more components to assemble into subassemblies before they are shipped out to Pyrax.” He picked up his coffee and took a sip as the governor digested that.
“I said we'd turn this into a black hole for pirates. I meant it. I wouldn't leave unless I was certain it was safe to do so. And as I said, I won't be long,” the admiral murmured.
The governor stared out the window, watching the birds flitter by and the leaves flutter in the light wind.
“I see,” he murmured.
The admiral finished the coffee and set the cup down on the tray.
“Sir, your ten thirty is here,” the aide said, coming in to stand near the door.
The governor turned to her and then nodded. “We're finishing up here,” he said.
“Yes sir,” she said with a pointed hint to the door and then retreated. Both men rose.
“I can't talk you out of it, so ... good luck,” the governor said gruffly. The admiral felt a clap on his arm, then a squeeze. “When you come back we'll have a barbeque. Some steak, baked potatoes and beer,” he said. That made the admiral smile and nod. “Remember, John. You always have a home here,” Jeff said roughly.
“Thank you. I'll be back in three to six months,” John said.
“Safe sailing, John,” the governor said as his staff and wife entered.
His wife saw his distress and saw him try to hide it. She went over to his side as the admiral left. She hugged her husband. “What's wrong?” She murmured softly.
“I'm no longer feeling safe about the future,” he murmured back.
“With him in our corner, I think things will turn out all right in the end,” she murmured back.
He nodded as the staff moved in. His hand snaked into hers though. “I'll tell you about it later,” he murmured. She nodded.
“Sir, we've got approximately two minutes before your meeting with Mayor Quimby. You wanted a thumbnail? I've uploaded it to your implants,” his chief of staff said.
“Thank you, Daffyd,” the governor replied politely, settling himself. He straightened his shoulders and went back to work. The admiral had shown them the path. Now it was their turn to walk it on their own. Hopefully he'd be back to help them through the more perilous parts.
...*...*...*...*...
Once Xavier was in dock the admiral called a last meeting of the staff to brief them on his intended journey. He explained he was leaving for a few months, but not where. “Where I am going is classified. You don't have need to know where. But I will be bringing an ansible with me.”
“But it's not Triang then,” Lieutenant Lake mused. “You wouldn't need one there. Or Senka ...”
“Don't bother to guess either, Lieutenant. You don't have the clearance,” Defender growled over the link. Lake blinked in surprise, taken aback by the AI's vehemence.
“There is classified, and then there is classified. It was classified long ago, it should be automatically declassified by the passage of time. But Defender and my own thoughts have decided to keep it classified. I don't want the enemy to know about it, or even some of our friends. So, for now let's just say I'm taking a short vacation to parts unknown.”
“Aye, sir.”
“And I'll be taking Xavier with me.”
“Why a warship, sir?” Captain Vargess asked. “You could take a collier ...”
Where we are going angels fear to tread,” the admiral explained. “We'll need her milspec shields and drives to stay alive.”
“Should you be going at all then?” Ensign Raynor asked, now worried.
“I've been there several times before. We can make it. Granted I've never piloted there before, but I can handle it. It is now or never. We need to know if it is still there. We may pick up some things to help us.”
“Or some people,” Sprite said in his ear. He nodded.
“You have all you need for the next year. I should be only gone a few months. When we get where we are going I'll use the ansible to establish a link, or at least to let you know when we are returning,” the admiral said.
“So it is a short distance,” Lake murmured. The admiral's eyes cut to her then away.
The captain looked around the room. It was clear the admiral wasn't going to be dissuaded. “Good sailing sir,” Captain Vargess said with a nod. The other officer echoed his wish.
...*...*...*...*...
By the time he was ready, the ten weeks he had originally planned to remain in the star system had been extended a week at a time into forty weeks before they were finished with phase 1 and well into phase 2 and phase 3. The first shipyard slips were complete, as was most of the core so Commander Sindri was happy. Ten gunships, one courier, six corvettes, and one frigate had been rolled out, along with four dozen fighters, five dozen tugs, and two dozen shuttles of assorted classes to date. Five more corvettes, eighteen more gunships, and one frigate were in the pipeline nearing completion. Sindri was also happy about the first frigate that had been completed the previous week. He was itching to lay additional frigates but they were out of yard space.
Now that they were hitting their stride, the gunship crew had squeezed the build time per unit down to under three weeks. Sindri was shooting for half that time by the time the admiral returned. If he could us the stockpile of parts without hitting a problem he might make it, the admiral mused. But he had to balance the supply and demand, he didn't want to run to far ahead of production. The main bottleneck was still getting materials to the smelters, and then from the smelters to the yard. There was the manning issues to consider. The voracious appetite of the yard meant the smelters were just barely keeping up with demand. It was only going to do worse once the next phase started up.
Four of the gunships were earmarked for Triang. They would be carried there by Lieandra with their crews a pair at a time. Le More was far too small to carry one of the small sublight ships. The admiral had been on the fence about detaching Collier 5 or 6 to carry additional gunships. For the moment he decided to hold off. Collier 5 needed an overhaul if she was going to ever get into the gamma bands.
The yard's expansion program was also in full swing. They had kicked out the asteroid forts and were building new destroyer class building slips in each of the slips. One would be finished within the month baring any more hiccups. Once the first was complete they would work on two more, and then four cruiser slips, and then so on and so forth. An exponential growth.
Yard Dog Inc's civilian yard was in full swing, not only were they also building a second larger military slip designed to build destroyers but also components of the nucleus of a proper shipyard facility. By the time they returned the admiral fully expected a full scale yard about 50 percent or better than what Pyrax had. Built in a quarter of the time to boot.
With the Admiral's keys Prime's industrial centers had constructed several rail gun, energy weapon, and missile defense satellites to go into orbit around the station, yards, and planet as an inner final ring of defensive emplacements. Each were about the size of a corvette, sensors, ECM, communications, a dumb AI, magazines, RCS for limited maneuvering ability, and a fusion reactor to power it all. The design was a quick and dirty one Irons had thrown together on a moment's notice. Most of the design used off the shelf equipment and he made certain they could make copies with civilian grade material if he was lost or inadvertently delayed. All of which had impressed Governor Randall when he had found out about the project.
The factory station had also planned on constructing additional ansibles for the Federation, over a dozen were currently stockpiled in special handling sections of the warehouses.
The Admiral left most of his fleet along with the original picket ships behind. He didn't need a fleet, one ship would take him where he needed to go. Governor Randall wasn't happy about his leaving but didn't stand in his way when he smiled and told him he'd be back.
The governor nodded as Xavier broke orbit. “We'll keep a light on for you, Admiral. Several of them,” he said.
“Thank you, sir. We'll be back. Hopefully with friends,” the admiral said with a grin. The governor blinked then slowly smiled.
“I see. Like that then. Safe sailing then Admiral. He nodded and cut the channel.
...*...*...*...*...
A few hours from the jump point the admiral called April, routing the call through the tachyon network in the system. “What's up? Coming around again?” She asked with a coy leer. She made sure to let him see down the front of her blouse.
“Not for a very long time I'm afraid,” he replied with a sigh. Her eyes widened. “Sorry to leave this so late honey, but I had to let you know. I'm leaving the system for a while.”
“What? Where??”
“I can't tell you. I can't tell you for how long either April so don't ask,” he said, shaking her head. She opened her mouth then bit back the reply with difficulty.
“Take me with you?” She asked softly.
“I will be back,” he murmured.
“I know that. I'm just ...”
“Sorry honey, but I can't tell you. It is classified. But I can tell you, I will be back. If what I am hoping for doesn't pan out, sooner rather than later.”
Her eyes narrowed in speculation. “When are you going?”
&nbs
p; “Now,” he said, knowing he was in for it now. She scowled blackly at his image. He shook his head. “Sorry about the short notice, but again, classified. And no, I can't take you with me,” he said.
She nodded slowly. “And you can't tell me where or for how long. Fine,” she said, sounding a bit huffy and more than a bit put out over the subterfuge. He winced at her testy tone. She held up a hand then dropped it. “I admit, I am hurt. But I know ...” she bit her lip, cutting herself off. “Just ... just stay safe okay?” She finally said, making an effort to soften her voice as she reached out to touch the screen gently.
He nodded. There was a long pause between them. A lot was left unsaid. He couldn't say it, no matter how much he wanted to.
“I'll be back. Again,” he said gruffly. He couldn't help but smile slightly at the qualifier.
She gave him a half smile. “I'll be waiting.” She blew him a kiss. He smiled and gave her a jaunty salute back and then cut the channel.
“Voice stress of Miss O'Neill proved she is breaking down, Admiral,” Sprite said after the conversation ended. “She may come forward on her own to you to confess with the right pressure.”
“No, it proves she's not happy and rather upset. It could go either way. There isn't enough to go on and you know it,” the admiral said mildly.
“True,” Defender stated before Sprite could respond. “Something needs to be done about the spies in the military, Admiral. They must be rooted out.”
“Put Lake on it. Have her start with the usual suspects,” the admiral ordered.
“Admiral ...”
He held up a hand. “Please. I've been around the block. I know a bit about the guild from before the war. Before I met you three,” the admiral said gruffly. “The society too. Back in my time the predator union was affiliated with assassin's guild. They had this thing about the hunt and making a kill. They also loved to hunt sapients. Start there.”
“That's racial profiling, Admiral,” Sprite warned.
“Tough.”
“To have gotten past the tests ...” Sprite frowned thoughtfully. “It cannot be done.” She shook her virtual head. “We monitor a subject's vital signs and thought processes carefully. They are constantly monitored by their implants as well.”