by Chris Hechtl
He snorted. If they only knew he had a squad of powered armor marines on standby within ten minutes or less of his location at all times. There would be a lot of brown and yellow stains if they ever had to be called out.
He shook his head. Hopefully, it would never come to that. He could look after himself with Protector, but he knew that having them handy was a good thing. At the very least they were very good at crowd control.
He glanced at the clock. April was working due to the news cycle, so unfortunately they couldn't hook up. He'd point that out to her, but he knew she'd find a way to turn it around. She always did. He smiled ever so slightly. But he knew that she knew that he knew that if she did, he'd tickle her into backing down.
He looked at the simulated bay window and then sat down again. He pulled up a virtual keyboard and jotted out a note to the NCIS director as well as D'red to swap notes and possibly instructors to get the civilian investigators off and running.
He followed that up with an email to find bounty hunters either on New Texas or abroad to help thicken the Marshal's service. They might be rough around the edges, and they wouldn't have much care for the constitution, but they'd be handy to have.
:::{)(}:::
The news cycle shifted Monday morning as the Surgeon General Doctor Kraft reported a minor outbreak on Syntia's World. He also issued a travel advisory to that area. They were still looking into the situation and trying to narrow down the vector. Minor viral outbreaks on some of the planets was a common occurrence. With commerce picking up though, the threat of cross contamination that could cause additional outbreaks on other neighboring worlds was a concern.
“It's not at the level of pandemic but close,” Doctor Kraft said as he briefed the president.
“So? You know how to handle an outbreak, Doctor,” Admiral Irons said. “Quarantine and treat the sick. Vaccinate the rest of the population.”
“I need to work with commerce to shut down movement, not just have the travel advisory. But they are balking. The same with local law enforcement. They just want a miracle cure, barring that, a vaccine. When we try to tell them to limit the spread while we get it to them, they give me all sorts of excuses,” the doctor said, clearly frustrated by the situation. “And I can't give them what I don't have. We don't have a sample of the virus, just the data from the local medics on the planet. And the best of them are only a couple steps above country doctor at this stage. There are definitely no virologists on the planet.”
The admiral nodded in understanding. “Ah.”
“We sent them some equipment and antibiotics, but they don't know how to use it either. Most of it is still packed or … missing,” the surgeon general said with a grimace. “If they could hook up the scanner, we could ID the bug and then take it apart to compare it to what we have on file. From there we could work a better treatment. But …,” he shrugged helplessly. “Again I've got Doctor Richards on it since ET has the best facilities,” he said apparently annoyed by the situation.
“Well, they've got the experience, Doctor,” Admiral Irons said. Doctor Kraft nodded.
“Your people are still setting up the CDC too,” Sprite said. “The initial funding was just passed in Congress, but the site is still up for debate. I believe the argument in favor of a space platform is going to win out in the end,” she warned.
“I'll take it anywhere as long as I've got what I need when I need it. Right now a budget, a couple admins, some doctors and lab techs fresh out of college, and proposal with some equipment aren't enough,” the human doctor said in frustration. “I shouldn't have let them try to set it up on planet. Nor should I have let them debate for so long on ET or Antigua. Having it here in the capital means we move on things faster.” He grimaced in self-disgust. “I know that the site was nice and remote, but when it hit the public and the backlash started, I should have just yanked it and went with the space setup,” he said.
“The fear of an outbreak from your samples is real doctor, especially on a planet. It is the Center of Disease Control after all. You have to have viable samples to make the vaccines and study the virus. And transporting them and contagious people …,” Sprite broke off as the doctor held up a restraining in hand.
“You don't have to tell me, Captain, I know,” he said with a bite in his tone of voice.
““Okay, moving on then,” Sprite said with a nod. She pulled up a bullet point.
The doctor glanced at it, snorted, and then nodded. “Okay, we've got a six-step approach to solving the problem short-term and long-term future outbreaks. Educate the people on what to look for, quarantine the sick, treat the symptoms, find the vaccine, test and vaccinate immigrants and emigrants to keep it from spreading, and eventually inoculate the population. After that we need to be on the lookout for carriers and mutations.”
“Somewhere in there you need to fit in teaching them better hygiene to keep it from spreading,” Sprite reminded him.
“That's where education comes in,” the doctor informed her.
“Ah,” Sprite said with a nod.
“Antibiotics are important, but this virus is adaptive enough I think. It will eventually become resistance against them.”
“You don't even know what it is yet, Doctor,” Sprite stated.
The doctor grunted. “I know what it's not based on—the symptoms. It is some sort of influenza, but since it's multi-species it's in the lungs. I can't tell you at this point if it is passed on by touch or air, most likely both.”
“Masks,” Admiral Irons murmured.
“Right. We need to communicate what we know and how to treat the symptoms quickly with the population. I also need a courier to transfer the live cultures to a safe lab location. And I need that location,” the doctor stated.
“I can throw a transhab together, Doctor, either in space here or even in orbit of Syntia's World. I could also detach a ship with lab equipment and techs to go to the rescue. We have hospital ships now,” Admiral Irons stated.
“The nearest free hospital ship available is Good Hope in Pyrax. Florence Nightingale is still a work in progress. Unless you want to detach Heavenly Touch from Protodon. I'm not sure I'd recommend that,” the A.I. captain warned.
“I'd go myself but …”
“You're a surgeon, not a virologist. You are needed here where you are,” Sprite replied.
“I …,” the doctor scowled.
“I know what you are feeling, Doctor, the urge to do something,” Admiral Irons rumbled quietly. The doctor turned to him. He nodded curtly. “Honestly, I do. I feel it whenever something like this happens or when our people have a disaster or go into combat. But, we can't be everywhere. So, we need to guide those we can send.”
“Every moment we waste debating it, more people die,” the doctor growled.
“Point. So, we've got a ship here,” the admiral said.
“Ship … a tender, sir?” Sprite asked. “There is one Liberty class about to launch. There are two Cervidae class that are in various stages of working up and builder trials. We do not have any Dora class on hand.”
“Go with one of the Cervidae,” the admiral ordered. “If we've got enough supplies, send both. We'll shift priorities and rearrange things for the convoys,” he said, addressing the A.I. Sprite nodded. He turned to the doctor. “I know it's not ideal, but it is what we need. Doctor, I want you to round up a team. Get Sprite a list of equipment, supplies, and such. Work on pulling what you can from your stores. I imagine she has a partial list in mind already; she can get started working on that,” he said.
Sprite nodded. “I can access what is on a hospital ship and tailor it to the need,” she said.
“Good. Get with Commander Bloodhound and get the ball rolling there. Talk to Nara; find out if any of our people in the star system can help. Also,” he paused with a frown. “We were going to send Good Hope with Prometheus. That can change. Instead,” he settled himself. “Cut orders for Good Hope to get underway soonest for Syntia's World.”
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“It'll still take them time,” Sprite warned.
“I know. But we march to the sound of the guns. In this case it's a gun of a different form, but death is still involved. We get them into position in case the outbreak spreads,” the admiral stated. “Which, reminds me,” he said. “Call Iab. Have him pass that travel warning to the neighboring star systems. Get him a list of all ships that's visited Syntia's World recently. Doc, I know you don't have any idea on an incubation period, but something might be nice.”
“I'd say three months. Check everyone. If they survived it, they might be a carrier. We don't want this spreading,” Doctor Kraft ordered.
Admiral Irons nodded. He could feel the doctor passing on orders through his implants. He nodded once more. “Good. Also,” he looked at Sprite. “Get with Doctor Richards. See if she has any virologists on staff willing to help or at least consult. If they are willing to help, stuff them in a courier or other vessel and get them here fast. We can transfer them to another ship or they can transfer to Good Hope while en route,” he said.
“Aye aye, sir.”
“That's treating the symptoms of this outbreak, but not the overall problem. We still need that platform—a dedicated fast communication's system that can handle the bandwidth to send the amount of data. I see the idea of having mobile units,” the doctor said with a nod.
“You obviously need a large ship to handle a planetary population. But if we can catch it fast enough, then we can contain and nip it in the bud,” the admiral said. “That's why I'm thinking a courier or Dora sized vessel or several of them staged from different locations,” he said.
“Here in Antigua, ET, and Pyrax obviously,” Sprite said. “Hidoshi's World?”
“Possibly,” the admiral said, spreading his hand. “I think, Doctor Kraft, you and your staff can work that part out later,” he said. The doctor nodded.
“The other problem is long term, specifically, the vaccination and inoculation programs. ET has it down, they are a model for the entire federation,” the doctor said ruefully. The admiral nodded. “They have a proactive and rather aggressive medical establishment going. I don't think a bug has a chance in hell of living on that planet for more than a second,” he said. Admiral Irons smiled indulgently. “We've met with some skepticism on the less-developed colony worlds initially however. The ignorant think it will cause additional health issues. That damn autism threat is still brooded about. People don't know what the hell they are talking about, but it still lingers,” he growled in disgust.
“Okay …”
“The good news is, at least locally around ET, the backlash on Gaston and neighboring worlds has been aborted when Doctor Richards and her people got behind it and pushed through the plague stories to the media. That reminded them of the recent Xeno plague there, and I know many do not want a repeat.” He shivered.
“We can throw them a bone I suppose,” the admiral said. The surgeon general cocked his head. Admiral Irons smiled. “It'll slow things down, but if you throw in a basic medical checkup, a basic ID implant, and possibly adolescent antigeriatric treatments, that might sweeten it for everyone. If we tie it to the school program as it has in the past, it'll help even more.”
He saw Sprite frown. She put a text up on his HUD as the doctor cocked his head and considered the proposal. “You realize the antigeriatric treatments are a major selling point with joining the military?” he waved a hand and spread his fingers to signal he understood.
The doctor nodded. “Having healthy kids is important. Everyone wants their kids to do better off then what they had. We can nip a lot in the bud if we see it early enough. But we've got to have eyes for that, and right now we don't. Doctors are a rare specialty it seems.”
“I know,” Admiral Irons sighed, “which means we need to expand the incentives to join the medical profession.”
“And make inoculations and vaccines mandatory. None of this opting out for any reason crap,” Doctor Kraft growled. “The whole herd immunity argument is bullshit. One person coming in from outside upsets it all. But now we've got to find a way to pay for it all. I've already got the budget worked out for this quarter. Getting this added …,” he sighed heavily. “We're going to eat into the reserve with the emergency response to Syntia's World …”
“Agreed,” the admiral said with a nod. “Perhaps a pilot program? Point to ET as a baseline?” he said. The doctor nodded slowly. “But the budget thing is going to be fun to get past Congress I admit,” he said. He shook his head as his Protector indicated the time on his HUD. He had another appointment waiting. “I don't envy you, Doctor, you've got your work cut out for you.”
“I know,” the doctor said as he rose from his seat. The admiral rose as well. He extended his hand and the admiral took it to shake it. “But with people like you, sir, and Helen, Nara, and others, we'll do our best to see it through. I won't say we'll win, but we'll damn well try,” he said.
“I know you will Doctor,” the admiral said softly as the doctor showed himself out.
“There goes a brave man. Medics never get the credit they deserve. They battle the reaper's angels of death every day. They know they will fail eventually, everyone owes them a death after all, but they go and do it anyway,” Sprite observed.
“I know,” Admiral Irons murmured softly. He shook himself and looked at Protector. “All right, what's next,” he said.
Chapter 38
Commodore X'll'rr worked on the plan for opening the eastern front with her staff in-between her usual duties running the First and Second Battle Cruiser Squadrons. Things were looking up; she'd gotten the basic plan sorted out, the latest INTEL, and support ships were being designated for her use.
She had put in a request for a Marine recon or cadre unit to go along for the ride in case of ground OPS. She knew she needed to launch her plan before Captain Shelby finished getting her Prometheus expedition underway however; otherwise, the ships earmarked for her might get poached and then she'd be forced to wait as more ships came online or came back to Pyrax.
She was getting Third Fleet's First Battle Cruiser Squadron as her main component. She had lobbied for the second and third as well, but Admiral Subert had been adamant against it. That had put a bit of a crimp in her plans and forced her to scale back her objectives. She also made it clear to the admiralty that if she ran into too much resistance she'd be forced to stand down or raid only, not perform the orbital scorched earth tactics they desired.
Her calculations had to be adjusted when a familiar ship returned to Pyrax space.
:::{)(}:::
Caroline returned to Pyrax without much fanfare. Once the light cruiser docked at the Naval Annex, the additional personnel debarked with the crew; Commander Garretaj was on hand to greet them. The senior officers were mildly put out that they weren't the big splash. They had turned into minor news given the coverage of Protodon. Captain Perth was amused, “No bands, no ticker tape parades. Nothing. So we've had our ten seconds of fame and the galaxy has moved on, apparently,” Captain Perth said.
“Apparently so, sir,” Lieutenant Brock agreed in an annoyed but amused tone of voice as he shifted his duffle. Caroline needed a refit after that last crossing. The Admiralty hadn't been thrilled about it but both Commander Galavant and the skipper had been adamant about it. Apparently they'd convinced Captain I'rll after they'd sent the Veraxin their logs and data. “I guess it's a good thing in a way, sir,” the navigator said.
“Oh?” the Neochimp captain demanded. “How do you figure?”
“If it's common place, which hopefully it will be, I'll take an uneventful ride over hoopla any day, sir,” Brock stated sagely.
The captain grunted then nodded. “True.”
“Apparently politics are getting complicated with Bek, sir,” Lieutenant Oppenheimer stated, coming up behind them. The captain and navigator turned and stopped.
“How so?” the captain asked, cocking his head at the Neoorangutan.
“I just g
ot word from a friend. It hasn't hit the news yet, but Commodore Logan got a less than stellar reception after we dropped him off. He essentially got exiled out of the star system. The powers that be are not amused,” Oppie said, shaking his head.
The captain's eyes narrowed. “How do you know this? And how did he exit the star system without us?” the captain demanded.
“Remember all that cargo we dropped off?” Oppie asked. The captain nodded, pursing his lips in thought. “Most of it has been sitting in storage collecting dust since we dropped the first load off,” she said. The captain blinked. “He used it to rebuild a ship when they signed off on the Harbor Station idea. He took a crew over to B102C. Just got there actually. He's been talking to Admiral Irons through it.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” the captain murmured. “It explains the reception now I think,” he said thoughtfully. He turned back to see the Veraxin flag officer talking with the commander. It was apparent from the rear admiral's buzzing tone that she wasn't amused.
“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.
:::{)(}:::
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.