by Chris Hechtl
Jethro closed his eyes and then moved away. He was still stiff and knew he wasn't fully 100 percent. But he was on his feet; he vowed to see this through. Bast he knew would help him out. He looked at her image on the HUD. She now had a disembodied head, one that had aged a bit, looking more Neo cat now than kitten. She still had the long ears, but there was something there, an echo of the matriarch in her form he thought. Of course, it could be all in his imagination.
Jethro wasn't happy about the media vultures watching them, nor were some of the others, but they put up with it. At least they did it from outside the auditorium though. Knox himself was in attendance, but as a guest not a reporter. Hurranna, Sergei, Valenko, Deja, and the other Neos still in the system had all received emergency leave to attend the ceremony. Despite the informal request Jethro like the others had come in full formal uniform. It seemed fitting somehow, their way to honor her. Each took their time next to her portrait.
“She'd be proud of you,” Hurranna said, saluting him with a long stem glass.
“Of all of us. She kept us on the straight and narrow as much as possible. She made it possible for us to survive and thrive,” Sergei said, saluting her portrait with his glass.
“To her honor,” Jethro echoed, voice still rough.
Most of the Anvil staff was also on hand. Jethro felt touched; she had apparently touched a lot of lives and had made a lot of friends.
He found out she had used the money from the Neos who had selflessly given her part of their pay to set up not only tickets out of the system, but also businesses, donations to repeal the neo tax, food and medical care for the poor, and scholarships for worthy students. He vowed to do something to continue her projects, but he wasn't sure quite how to go about it. He'd have to talk to the others later; now was not the time or place.
The Valdez family, Kincaids, Thornby, Captain Logan, Matilda, Smithy, and others Jethro barely recognized had put in an appearance. Many had lingered, catching up, or paying their respects. Jethro noted with approval that security was tight, not just on him and the other military personnel, but also on the whole proceedings. He didn't like the idea of what a poison gas or bomb could do in here.
Stories of her life circulated among her friends, and how she'd wanted a quick death. There was some debate about that, but someone played back a recording, how she had been a proud lioness, wanting, no demanding a quick dignified end, not a slow death of old age. She hadn't gone out on her terms, but close enough. Jethro overheard a few talk that she had asked about suicide at one point, but there was always something else to do, someone else to help.
Her death had however kicked things into action; it had done many things to further her causes along. Things many hadn't expected.
Her fight against the bigoted tax and the link the assassin Miss Persephone had to Governor Walker made her a martyr. Persephone's confession to Jethro had closed the case since she was dead but opened others. An hour before her wake the legislature had finished a repeal, named after her. It had passed with a two-thirds majority and automatically repealed the law. They had finished that after doing one other important piece of legislation. In a shocking move they had not only investigated, but rammed through an impeachment of Governor Walker the night before.
It would normally go to the Governor's office, but that was a mess. Governor Walker was out; he'd tried to fight the mess but the impeachment hearings had slammed him. He'd screamed bloody murder about being railroaded, but no one cared. His wife had filed for divorce. The justice department came down on him about several suspicious deaths, including his prior aide Nancy. His campaign finance issues, double dealings, mismanagement of public funds, actions against the military, and other things all came to light once more.
Nancy's body had been recovered secretly some months ago. An autopsy confirmed the parentage of her unborn child, as well as her murder. Her replacement Tracy turned state's evidence, as did the governor's chief aide Nelson and his personal physician doctor Oro; all three were in protective custody, some said in San Diego. All three witnesses plus what the AIs had turned up had been more than enough on Walker to kick the investigation over to the grand jury despite the attempts by the system prosecutor to slow the process down. When he'd been threatened with an investigation into his stone walling he'd thrown up his hands and let it go. One of his ADA's and a pair of NCIS agents sat on him until the arrest warrant was signed. They didn't want the old boy's network to get wind of the arrest and start the spin control.
Governor Walker had been arrested on the steps to the governor's mansion, in full view of the media as he went to work the day after the attempt on Jethro's life. He ranted about it being a set up and not having any warning. His impeachment investigation had hit an hour later.
When Walker had been taken out of power Lieutenant Governor Ralkin had taken his place promising a full and swift investigation. He railed on so much about how Walker would pay for his crimes that Walker in a fit of rage released his insurance policy, a series of files with damaging material on all his supporters and even some of his critics. Apparently he'd kept track of every dirty deed and had decided to go nuclear, taking them down with him in an exchange of mutual destruction. Ralkin was now out, implicated in the Vesta debacle that had chased Admiral Irons out of the system, along with a ton of other charges. The executive branch was in utter chaos so there was no telling when the repeal would be signed.
“He had nothing left and decided to take the whole system down with him,” a woman said shaking her head and tisk tisking. “I'm betting some will die or turn state's evidence to save their own sorry necks.”
“Or they'll come out smelling like a rose. You know Walker, he was known as the Teflon governor because no one could make anything stick. Hell, the people re-elected him!”
“Yeah well, apparently he thought it would be business as usual after the election. But there were some changes in the legislature, and he thought wrong,” Thornby said with a smile of approval. She nodded to Jethro. “I think everyone was about fed up with him.”
“Do you know anything about these investigations?” the woman asked, leaning over conspiratorially to the doctor.
Thornby snorted. “If I did I couldn't tell you, everything is sealed.”
“Oh,” the woman said, sounding disappointed. Thornby turned to wink at Jethro and then she moved on.
The legislature hadn't gone unscathed. Several of the governor's closest supporters had been implicated and therefore investigated and arrested. Senator Gerald Long had dropped from a stroke when he'd been arrested. He was in a coma and not expected to recover for some time, if at all. Mister Edever, Lake, Dean, and others were all under investigation. Lake and Dean vehemently proclaimed their innocence, but several of the roaches like Madra had already gone underground or left the system.
“Talk about a clean house! It's going to be quiet here...”
“Good. It's about damn time. We should be a...an example. A showcase of what others could be, leading the way you know?” Sergei said. “Not a laughing stock with corruption everywhere you turn.”
“There is still going to be corruption,” Hurranna reminded him gently.
“Yeah well, here's to hoping it won't be for a while,” Sergei said, nudging her.
She snorted. “Keep dreaming,” the Neolynx said, but toasted with him anyway.
Jethro was glad that Walker was out, or on his way, and so were the cronies. A general house cleaning was promised. He didn't care; it wasn't his problem. His future was in the stars, as a Marine.
The End
Searchlight: Pyrrhic Victory
Here is a short story with Firefly on her first patrol.
Firefly left Pyrax on orders from Admiral Irons to go to Gaston. She was in hyper the nine point five parsecs for thirty-one point seven days. The ship traveled in Gamma band, an almost leisurely rate after their Delta high speed runs.
Firefly had left the Yard with a couple external cargo pods on her hull and
her interior stuffed as much as possible with equipment. The external pods held several dozen spy satellites they were to deploy in each of the systems they visited. The spy sats would serve as bread crumbs for them, but also keep track of the coming and going in each system. Payload Assist Movers or PAM rockets were also packed away for use, they would help transfer spy sats to jump points the ship wasn't going to go to.
Captain Renee Mayweather and her senior officers took the added time to settle their crew. That included her new XO Commander Dart, who she found had never been out of the Pyrax system until now. He had yet to lighten up, which was annoying.
The turnover in her crew had been high lately, over the past year she had lost and rebuilt her crew four times. Fortunately most of the losses had been due to poaching in Antigua, Pyrax, B101a1, and Pyrax again. She sometimes missed the easy familiarity she had with her original crew. She knew it had been a time for a change. Janice and Shelby both needed to get out and spread their wings, but she still missed old familiar faces. She knew how they thought, and she knew they knew how she thought.
Part of her problem was getting to know the new faces and how they thought and reacted. Of course there was a remedy for that, the ship ran training simulations daily under the new XO's hand. He wasn't satisfied until they were up to his exacting standards. She liked that.
Renee was still of two minds about her number one. He was stiff, uncomfortable with informality with the crew, but he handled the paperwork side of the job with aplomb that made her a bit jealous.
The journey had allowed her to learn her crew and build them up into a working team. Some had been very green; the XO hadn't had the ability to deal with their insecurities and low confidence so Renee had found herself making small words of comfort or encouragement from time to time to make up for the lack.
Sometimes she wondered about that role. An XO was there to run the ship, to forge the weapon for her to use. A Captain was usually aloft, a stern parental figure that oversaw all and kept an eye on the mission. Her new XO was almost cut from the book for his role, while Shelby had been completely different. Renee had to remind herself almost daily to not compare the two command styles too closely.
One thing she had recognized was a distinct chilly atmosphere the XO projected around the nonhuman crew and the Marines. The Marines she understood in theory; there was the usual rivalry between the Navy and Marines. But being chilly to Purple Thorn or any of the others was odd. Fortunately, all kept a professional air so she hadn't yet had to take a hand in things.
For those that hadn't been out of the system, and for those whose first time had been their recent trip to B101a1, Firefly organized a crossing of the hyperwall party and initiation. The usually stuffy XO was quite hard pressed to keep up with the antics and embarrassments. The Captain had firmly put herself forward as on duty, taking away that excuse. Renee had all she could do to keep a straight face as the crew got some of their own back against the XO. They would be chuckling about the tomatoes alone for at least a week she judged. Good, that should help take some of the starch out of his shorts.
Gaston was planned as a brief stop. They were to look for Kiev, visit the recruiting station, add to the charts of the system, drop a few recon satellites, and show the flag. The Zanzibar tender Destiny had been through six months ago to make contact. Captain Logan had Destiny on a short leash, running her back and forth between the nearest systems around Pyrax. She didn't have a set schedule, but Renee expected the ship to return to Gaston sometime soon.
Apparently the visits and good will the Admiral and Destiny's gifts had built up had made the Navy quite popular. That and the fact that no pirate would dare stay in the system with a proper warship lurking about. Captain Mayweather wasn't happy about the media circus, but she played her part and was all smiles for the cameras.
She did a couple of mild interviews and dutifully passed on to them recordings and news broadcasts from Pyrax and abroad. The reporters were green; she could tell from their awkward questions and almost hesitant reactions to her answers. They definitely hadn't had enough time with their equipment. Most of it had either been built locally or purchased from Destiny.
She was just glad it was all over and the newsies had left. But then their people had gotten through the mountain of footage she had turned over and the news of all the battles Firefly has recently been in hit the main stream news media like a firestorm. Firefly's crew was besieged with requests for follow-up interviews.
The crew on leave on the planet received hearty pats on the back and offers of free drinks as well as services in bars and other places. The news sparked a major signup spree at the local recruiting officer. Everyone expected to join Firefly's crew and fight the pirates the next day.
Renee put a firm stop to that; she met with Mr. Fenly who had been designated the planetary spokesman. She thought of him as an ambassador, even though he still insisted he was just an honest broker. “Maybe we'll pick some up on the way back, if we have room. For now we're headed out and in a different direction,” she said patiently to the local recruiter and Mr. Fenly for the umpteenth time.
The ensign in charge of the recruiting office winced but nodded. He should have known better, Renee thought with a dark look in his direction.
“I see. But I must pass on a message from the mayor’s council. We are taking Admiral Irons advice and forming a constitutional convention to review and re-enact our system constitution, while reaffirming our desire to join Pyrax and others in reestablishing the Federation.”
Renee smiled with just a hint of enthusiasm. “That is great news!” she said.
The older man nodded. “We have to sort out the economics of it all, and the federal taxes of course. But we do want a ship or two ships on station here. If we're going to pay for protection we want that protection. That much we are firm about.”
Renee nodded. “I fully understand and agree with you. Especially after what happened to Centennial.” His eyes darkened at that reminder. “I can't commit to anything now, but I will pass on your request to Captain Logan. If you could have a formal written request for me drafted?”
He sighed and spread his hands. “I don't think we'll have it before you leave,” he said.
She nodded in understanding. At least they were talking, which was fine with her. “That's fine, we can pick it up when we swing back through to Pyrax. Along with any delegates you'd like to send along, and any other people who would like to join the military,” she said.
He nodded. “Will we get a large ship? Perhaps your ship?” he asked hopefully.
“I don't know,” Renee said slowly. She tried to think of a way to be diplomatic yet not get his hopes up. “I know larger ships are under construction again now. I will certainly put the word in. The ship will need to be supplied though.”
“I see.”
“Which we'll pay for. But initially it will most likely be one or two smaller ships. But they won't have their own shuttles, or if they do the shuttles will be dropped off on your planet and will need their own hangar. You can get into the details about basing rights, fuel, and such with the Captain and the negotiators. I know Agnosta cut a deal with the Navy and Marines, you may ask for that as a reference or template,” she said.
His eyes brightened. He licked his lips nervously. “Are you certain you need to leave?” He asked nervously.
She nodded. She knew they were nervous; after the report of the pirate fleets, they had every reason to be. If a pirate came in through the B452c jump point, but decided to nibble around Pyrax, she could jump to Centennial, then to the Janus system and hit Gaston. B452c was becoming a choke point system, a cross roads they needed to fort up and block the pirates from using. She frowned and then nodded as a thought came to her. “One of our missions is to look after shipping. A ship has been reported past due, and we're going to try to find her,” Renee explained patiently. “I don't know how long we'll be gone.”
“I see,” he said, bobbing a nod.
There had been no sign of the bulk freighter. Nor any word from the various ships that had passed through the system recently either. That could mean anything though. Hopefully nothing bad.
“Well, we'll keep an eye out for them, Captain.”
“Please do. If you do see them, let them know they are overdue, and we're looking for them. In the meantime, may the Goddess of space protect you and yours.”
“To you too, ma'am. Good hunting.”
---(<=>)---
Renee had to chat with Commander Dart about his formality and insistence on a formal mess diner. She didn't mind the occasional dinner with her officers, but even she was busy, and damn, it, sometimes too tired or cranky to jump through hoops. And yeah, sometimes she just wanted to relax. She'd put up with it for a month on their journey to the Janus system, but she was starting to agree with the crew. She was heartily sick of the hoopla.
He seemed to thrive in it, like it was their due as officers. She wasn't so certain; she knew he had yet to earn his spurs. She also noted that there was an increasing exasperation level in her crew. He was starting to slip in the respect department, and that she couldn't have.
Her new chief engineer was the most vocal opponent to the dinners; he found ways to get out of the dinners after a while. The chief engineers, like the Captain and XO, had no set schedule, having to make themselves available at all times to run the ship. They were busy, either overseeing tasks, dealing with paperwork, training, discipline, or covering a post if necessary.
The XO didn't like the dodge and called Lieutenant Saul Edinger on it. Edinger was good; he'd served on a couple of the frigates as a chief engineer before he'd done a tour in the Yard. He'd taken a hand as chief engineer of Damocles, but the mess during the training exercise had made him put in for a transfer in disgust. He'd been on desk duty in the Annex before Renee had snagged him.