by Chris Hechtl
“We ... didn't think of that,” Phil admitted.
“Admiral, as you stated, hindsight is twenty twenty. We screwed up,” White admitted. “Then and now. For that I apologize. We,” he looked at the others. “Apologize sir. And for the record, yes, we should have done more to get home. We were certain there wasn't a home to return to.”
“I think we learned an important lesson here,” the admiral said, hands behind his back. “That witch hunts tend to get out of control,” he said. “And that even the best of intentions can draw the worst out of us,” he said. “Think about it. Consider that your penance for rushing to judgment,” he said. The officers nodded.
“This is also a distraction,” Sprite said. “We still have a killer among us. Yes I know you don't think so, but there is. That is what you should have been focusing on,” she stated, eying the security officers. “While we've been pointing fingers at each other, sowing the seeds of mistrust that person or persons has been allowed to roam free. To continue to hunt and kill our people.”
“That has to stop,” Irons said in agreement.
“So what do we do, sir? Lay a trap?”
“I'm not certain it will work,” the admiral mused. “I'll discuss it with Commander Howell and the security detail and we'll come up with a plan of action.”
“Yes sir. The sooner the better. And sir, we need to get off this rock.”
“We're not going anywhere with a saboteur among us,” Sprite said grimly. The flag officers froze. “Think about it. It wouldn't take much for this person to sabotage Xavier. We would never see home again.”
“That's a disturbing thought,” Amadeus murmured. “But she's right.”
“So, it's kill or be killed,” Egon said. “Lovely.”
Chapter 38
“I'm disappointed in you, Lieutenant,” the admiral stated to Defender when they were alone. “You betrayed me. I understood the watchdog program was to keep me on the straight and narrow. But you abused that.”
“I understand you aren't happy but I too stand by my actions, Admiral,” Defender said.
“And here we are, on the crux of a dilemma,” Sprite observed. Irons eyed her. “Do you act as a tyrant? Or forgive and not forget?”
“Cute,” the admiral growled. “We'll discuss this later. For now I need a break,” he said wearily.
...*...*...*...*...
The review had not gone as intended. The watcher's wrath was contained in the net, it couldn't express it by flaying the AI it had suborned. The file the admiral had used to end the proceedings in his favor ... it could not access. It was one of many it could not access, even with its puppets. Nor could it alter or delete the files. It was tempted to erase the file by overwriting it but held off. It would alert the AI around the Irons organic that someone was indeed working against him. That could not be allowed. It would have to step up its plan to get the organics to leave the station.
...*...*...*...*...
“So ... that's it sir? It's over? You aren't going to keel haul them?” Captain Sampson asked carefully.
Irons eyed him and then snorted. “Hardly.”
“Why the hell not sir? They deserved it?”
“Because I think they have come to realize what I did. That they had just undermined their own authority. By attacking me they did a lot of damage. Now it is up to me to be the bigger man and heal that damage before it gets worse.”
“But ...”
“By cloaking themselves in that farce of a board they came at me as a committee. The theory being that no one individual could be accountable for their collective actions.”
“But Subert was in charge, he should have ...”
“Yes he should have,” the admiral replied, cutting that off. “He knows his ass is grass. I'm not going to take it out on him. It would be like a senior slapping down a junior for pointing out the law. They were right, I had broken the law. On several occasions.”
“Um ...”
“But that is handled. I'll deal with it. For now, as I said, we need to move on. We need to return to the status quo, get back to the schedule.”
“If you insist sir,” the captain said with a nod.
“I do. Now, what's on the agenda? What did I miss?”
“Well, work across the station stopped when your board sat. Just about everyone was pissed on either side,” the captain stated. “It was getting ugly. Fortunately you handled it. The board officers are mostly laying low for the moment.”
“Off licking their wounds,” Sprite interjected.
“No doubt. Transfer of equipment?”
“We have the AI cores ready. Captain Egon and Commander Ray are not happy about how small they are however.”
“Understood. We're all going to be cramped aboard your ship captain. They can deal with it just like we did.”
“I think it will do them some good,” Sprite said in malicious amusement.
“Next?”
...*...*...*...*...
The reaction from Yao and Quigon when they caught up with the admiral the day after the board made him fight to keep a smile off his face. Both men were indignant over everything that happened, even more so than Sprite.
“Sir, after everything you did. You saved them. Us!” Yao said, shaking his feathered head.
“It wasn't personal, or so they said. I know I pissed them off by shooting them down. They don't want to admit it. They fell back on politics. I don't think they see me as an obstacle or threat ... at least not before. Now?” He shook his head.
“Yeah, I bet they think you are gunning for them. With good reason sir. You should have landed on them with both feet.”
“No. That was as close to a peer review of my actions as I could get. They got what they wanted off their chest and I faced my demons. Now we can all move on. I'm done running. I faced it, it's done, time to get back to work.”
“Move on? Admiral, they should be fired! Court martialed for mutiny!” Yao stated, feathers up in obvious anger. Quigon nodded grimly.
Admiral Irons was amused that they were full of ire on his behalf. He waved it off. “Thank you for that. But it's done. It's over with. It is in the past. Move on.”
“Aye aye, sir. Being the bigger man that you are,” the chief said, eying him.
“I wouldn't be,” Yao said bitterly.
Irons eyed him for a moment. “I didn't say I would let them totally off the hook. I think I'll find them some shit job eventually. But for now I need them. Tell everyone to play nice and get back to work. We've got pirates to squash. They are the real enemy.”
“Aye sir,” the warrant said with a grim smile.
...*...*...*...*...
The Watcher's programming prevented it from overt action. It couldn't use the Marine mechs deployed on the station to kill the organics. Such an action would alert the AI not under its control to its presence which was contrary to its programming. It would have to find other means to drive them off the station. After all, this was an old facility as they stated. And since they were taking it apart, accidents would be a part of the process ...
...*...*...*...*...
That afternoon there were a series of accidents, fortunately minor. Sprite was concerned that people were deliberately making mistakes out of a reaction due to the rift among the officers. She couldn't trace anything, Howell and the AI locked her out. She wasn't ready to discuss the situation with Defender. Defender was quiet as well. Then there was another fatality in the night. Sedrick Lexi, an E-3 in shipping and supply was crushed by an automated forklift.
“What the frack?” the admiral demanded when he heard the news.
“The killer struck again,” Sprite said. “...Or it is a genuine accident. Since I am barred from investigating ...” she said testily.
The admiral shook his head. Each death was a tragedy, these people were the core he needed to rebuild the navy. They were more precious than almost anything because of their lifetime of experience. Some were yes, new people to the navy, but ma
ny like Quigon were old sweats.
“What happened?”
“It looks like the forklift ignored the safety protocols built into it, built up speed and crushed the young man against a bulkhead. The tires were still spinning when the alarms went off and the nearest rating arrived on the scene.”
“He was a young,” the admiral murmured. “And a sleeper.”
“Are you worried that a gang war is going on Admiral? I would be,” Sprite said.
“A gang war?”
“Yes, us against them.”
“Damn it, there is no us, there is no them. We're sleepers too remember? Yes the ...” he scowled blackly, his nostrils flaring. “I was going to say new blood. Experienced vets versus new blood. But that is bullshit too. We're navy. All of us. Besides, so far all of the fatalities have been sleepers not ... damn it,” he said in annoyance. “We're navy! Make sure people know that.” He finally ground out.
“Well, all but the army officers we've got,” Sprite reminded him.
“Tell them to knock it off. In fact, order a stand down. No more activity on the facility, lock it down. I want a full investigation of each accident. And I don't give a shit what Howell and Winston say. Bring in people from outside, they are too close, too close minded to see what is under their damn noses.”
“That'll step on some toes. Not that I am complaining.”
“Tough shit. After what they just put me through, they can suck it up or resign. Their choice.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“I can help,” Defender said. The admiral stared at him on the HUD.
“You can't be trusted, Lieutenant,” Sprite said acidly.
“Either we are officers or not. We have to work together like the admiral said,” Proteus stated.
“Trust is a hard thing. It is very easy loose, very hard to rebuild once it has been violated. To some it is a form of rape, you feel violated,” the admiral mused. “I feel violated. I knew the watchdog program, you're assignment would or could be used against me. That oversight is on me. But you overstepped things, Lieutenant.”
“I know sir. But you were in the wrong,” Defender stated.
“Yes I know. And in a way, it was right for you to call me on it. Next time talk to me direct first like you did before,” he said. “I noticed you didn't protest or attempt to stop me when I used the nanites on April.”
“No. I didn't. I wanted to know as well.”
“I thought so. It's okay if I get in trouble, but not you. You just get to benefit from it,” the admiral growled. He shook himself, gathering the reins of his temper with difficulty. “Frack. Fine. Get into the investigation. Pull everything apart. Start with the evidence, leave their assumptions out of it.”
“A CPO Pult has already taken apart the forklift,” Defender reported. “So most of the evidence there is gone.”
“And he didn't find anything I suppose?” Irons asked. Defender shook his head. “I thought not. Find someone else to independently verify that.”
“That means I get access as well?” Sprite asked hopefully.
“Yes. If Egon or anyone bitch, let me know about it,” the admiral growled. “They can lodge a formal protest with me. You don't have a blank check to poke around, Commander, but I want this done. I want the son of bitch or whoever caught.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“We can't stay here forever. Get it done.”
“On it.”
...*...*...*...*...
The watcher noted the intrusion of the Irons organic's AI. It judged an intervention from its puppets would be unlikely to dissuade it so it didn't. Instead it hid behind them. The files on the 'Sprite' AI stated it had coding experience. That prevented the watcher from attempting further efforts to suborn it or the other AI. It would have to find another method to get them to leave. It scanned the personnel files and noted two individuals that stood out. Both were close to the Irons organic. Perhaps a threat to them would make his organic logic decide to abandon the facility? It decided to find out.
...*...*...*...*...
Admiral Irons ignored Amadeus's overtures of apology. Instead he pointed the neochimp to the ansible communication's room. “What?”
“You need to take a class. They are waiting.”
“A class sir?”
The admiral nodded. “As guest lecturer. I've been doing my part by uploading canned material I generated over the past year. Now it is your turn to inspire and train the next generation. The academy needs your services commodore. Get to it.”
The Neochimp's brown eyes studied him as he straightened. “Aye aye, sir. Thank you sir,” he said formally. The admiral patted him on the shoulder and departed.
...*...*...*...*...
Yao wasn't sure why the admiral had abandoned the effort to move the equipment. Sure they were having accidents but ... He shook his head. Technically all the equipment could be replaced. Was that it? He wasn't sure. He hoped the admiral valued the lives. He also hoped the admiral wasn't stopping out of fear.
“Anything?” Chief Quigon asked, coming up behind him. He snorted softly.
“Not a damn thing. I know Howell's been all over this, so there isn't much to see. And the AI have too.”
“It could be an AI you know,” Quigon said.
“True,” the lieutenant replied, suddenly unhappy about their exposure. “The AI stated that the mech was clean.”
“They said that. Did anyone else check it?”
“I don't know. If it was an AI would we even know?”
“That's the problem,” the Neogorilla said as he shook his massive head. “No we wouldn't. They could cover their tracks just as easily as one of us could.”
“Great. Back to pointing fingers again.”
“What was that?” Yao asked, looking up. His eagle eyes traced the columns of pallets.
“What was what?” Quigon asked, looking around as well.
“I saw something. Out of the corner of my eye,” Yao said, turning in place.
“Are you sure?”
“I can see movement pretty well. And low lighting doesn't bother me,” Yao replied. “Can you smell anything?”
“Not with you so close,” the gorilla said. “Let me get up high, see things ... Look out!” the gorilla snarled as the pallet of replicators came tumbling down on top of them. He shoved the lieutenant to one side then bellowed as a one ton pallet hit him in the back. He went down with a groan.
Yao gasped in pain as he looked back in bewilderment. His right leg was crushed under the pallet. He saw someone moving fast in the shadows but before he could localize on it the being was gone.
“Lieutenant Wong to security! We've been attacked! Get medical here stat! We need paramedics ASAP!” He said, punching a signal out. It bounced back initially so he repeated it, this time stepping his implant signal up. When that didn't work he hit it at max broadcast.
“We're coming, Lieutenant. Hang on,” a Marine replied. “Did you see who it was? Where they went?”
“No. I think I'm ready to pass out now,” the birdman groaned. He was glad the big lug had pushed him out of the way but his implants were barely keeping him conscious. At least they were preventing him from bleeding out. “Damn it, Chief?”
“We'll be there in five, Lieutenant. Hang in there.”
“Oh I'm not going anywhere,” the birdman said, looking at the pallet crushing his leg.
...*...*...*...*...
When Yao was judged stable enough for company he had a distasteful interview with Commander Howell, Winston and Commander Sprite. “We've downloaded your implant recordings. From both of you. But we need your input,” Howell said, shaking his head. “What were you two doing there Lieutenant?”
“Well, you didn't designate it as a crime scene. We were looking around.”
“Oh, so you two amateurs thought you could do my job?” Howell demanded.
“Well, someone had to since you weren't bothering to do it. Sir,” Yao said, eying the commander like
a mouse. Howell flushed. After a moment under the raptor's gaze he looked away.
“We did confirm something. I saw someone. Someone in the shadows just before the pallets fell. I didn't get a good look though, just a being nearby.”
“Scent? Smell?” Commander Howell asked. “Anything to identify them?”
The birdman shook his head.
“And unfortunately we can't get DNA or prints because just about everyone has been in that area in the past week,” the Commander said, shaking his head. He looked to Sprite's avatar. “You were right, Commander,” he said to Sprite.
“I'm not going to tell you I told you so. Oops, I just did,” Sprite said coldly. “So, now what do we do about it?”
“We eliminate whoever wasn't in the area from our suspect pool. Then go from there,” Howell said grimly.
...*...*...*...*...
“What the hell were they thinking?”
“They wanted to know who was doing it. An alternative perspective. They are tired of taking it on the chin,” Sprite said. The admiral paced, clearly upset. “They are stable by the way. The chief has a fractured vertebra among other broken bones and internal injuries He's in stasis now. Lieutenant Yao owes him, his leg was crushed beyond repair. It has been amputated and they are cloning a replacement now. They are lucky they didn't get squished.”
“And Yao said he saw someone?”
“Yes. But there were no cameras on in the area. Unfortunately they were off. I'm not certain if the chief shut them off so they wouldn't get in trouble for poking around or what. When he wakes I'll ask him.”
“Anything from Yao or the chief's implants?”
“No. I got a copy this time but the motion was outside his field of view. There is the sound of feet running and the hatch opening and closing however.”
“For now he's being evacuated to Xavier,” the admiral ordered. “Both of them.”
“Are we running?”