I looked at Vonda to see if she wanted to add anything.
"General Chandra," she said. "I'm relieved to see that you've followed Admiral Hunter's suggestions, which I now change to orders. I am however, making one change to your orders. You are to personally remove yourself from the station, and take command of the planet. Leave the station in the command of the senior Marine. We all know that station is not likely to survive, and the planet will need you in the days ahead. You are to take one elite unit with you, to protect the civilian government in hiding. Good luck." She saluted him, and I followed suit with an approximate.
"Admiral Jedburgh and General Harriman. Thank you both for sending this officer here. When I was first told about him, I was skeptical about his worth, but I am now convinced he has an unorthodox battle genius, which if given enough time, will prevail in this conflict. While you doubtless wish you both had him with your own forces, I'm glad he is here. And in the longer run, this will prove to be the best place for him. As long as we can hold them here and in Miami and Midnight, we can contain the threat. When Admiral Hunter's fleet is ready, we'll start to roll them back. I'll append my aide's contact details to this email. Anything you can tell us, no matter how insignificant will be welcome. Likewise, we'll keep you advised of what we discover here." She looked at me to see if I wanted to say anything more. I shook my head. "Wellington and Hunter out."
I stopped the vid.
As I was assembling the email to send, it finally dawned on me the command structure I was in. Admiral Jedburgh was the equivalent of a four star General. Harriman was a three star, as was Wellington, but he had seniority. I was a two star, as was General Chandra. While this was across three different services, it struck me that I'd been dealing with top brass for a while now.
There was a lot more emails to look at, but those were the important ones. One not important one caught my eye though. The two freighters that I had salvaged in the Midgard system had been found to be privately owned and operated. Neither had any next of kin to pass on to, so they had been adjudicated to me. I asked Janet to set the repair droids loose on them, and at least bring them up to a space worthy standard. Once complete, they should be moved to the Orbital station for the time being.
I asked Jane to immediately let me know next time anything came in from a flag officer from anywhere.
We headed down to the Common room. There we found George and Eric surrounded by holographic controls and screens, dogfighting two Excalibur's with a strange looking ship. On closer examination, it proved to be the cluster of Talons I'd requested. Alsop came in after us, and we watched the fight. Both Excalibur's were killed one after the other by torpedo fire. They simply couldn’t counter twelve being fired at once, with follow up salvos so quickly.
Vonda and I applauded.
"Whew," said George. "She's getting faster. Neither of us even came close to inflicting damage on her this time."
"Can you simulate something different for me please?" I asked.
I explained what I wanted.
Jane set it up, and we watched her get slaughtered. The next time she did better. And better again. The last time, she almost had it. I nodded to Vonda, who twitched her mouth to show she wasn’t happy. But she nodded back. At least what I’d explained to her earlier in the day, seemed to have some merit.
"Jane, can you call everyone in please."
"Confirmed."
Twenty Eight
It took a little while for everyone to arrive. Jane shut down the simulator, and the room began to fill. I received hugs and congratulations from those who hadn't known I'd been promoted again. Colonel Smith and Captain O'Neil were both pleasantly surprised to see I'd more rank than them now, officially speaking. Outside our team, it hadn't mattered since I was the boss.
When everyone was present, I nodded to Alsop.
"Attention to Orders," he bellowed.
The room came to attention.
"Colonel Smith, front and center please."
Annabelle looked surprised, but marched to stand in front of Vonda.
"Colonel Smith," said Vonda. "You are hereby offered a commission in the SFSF with the rank of Colonel. Do you accept the offer?"
Annabelle stole a look at me. She was technically an employee of my company. I nodded.
"I accept," she said.
"Colonel," I said. She turned slightly to face me. "You are hereby promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Congratulations."
The room went crazy.
After shaking her hand, and then being hugged by her, I pulsed her SFSF fatigues, and epaulettes which would be used by both her uniforms. In mid hug with Alison, she glazed for a few seconds as the pulse came in. She stepped back from Alison, and made the change to her suit. Alison hugged her again.
I let the congratulations go on for a while, giving everyone time for a hug. I nodded again to Alsop.
"Captain O'Neil, front and center please."
He stepped into the place where Annabelle had stood before.
"Captain," I said. "You are hereby given the brevet rank of Commodore. Congratulations." He looked surprised. I think I knew why. His military days were long behind him, so he had long given up on any higher rank.
Brevet was temporary rank, usually awarded on a battlefield so that an officer could command when he was not the most senior. Commodore was the rank normally given to a naval or space Captain so he could command other Captains. While it was not Admiral's rank, a Commodore and a Rear Admiral (Lower Half) were technically equal. At the end of a war or emergency situation, the Commodore reverted back to Captain, unless promoted to Admiral. This ensured Admiral Dingle didn’t start giving him orders he would have to disobey.
I shook his hand, and so did everyone else.
I nodded again to Alsop.
"Sergeant Baracas, front and center please."
BA looked surprised for the first time I'd ever seen. She marched forward and stood to rigid attention.
"Sergeant," I said. "You are promoted to Command Sergeant Major. Congratulations." She looked poleaxed as the room went wild around her. I gave them more time for hugs, as I sent her new epaulettes for her suit.
I told everyone to be seated, and introduced Admiral Wellington and Commander Alsop. I gave them a brief outline of the situation. Most of them were shocked that Midgard forces could be here in two days.
"General," I said to Annabelle with a grin.
Funny how it was suddenly easy to think of her using her first name, now that I outranked her.
"Your promotion is for Hunter Security as well." She smiled at me. "We'll have troops arriving here very soon. We aren't sure how many yet, but every combat unit we can mobilize is coming here within the next twenty four hours." She nodded. "We'll be moving this station back out near the jump point. You will command her defense forces. We expect assault shuttles, so you will need to plan on entry being made to the station from just about anywhere. I hope we have the firepower to avoid being boarded but we'll plan as if it’s a certainty. Commander Alsop will send you the records of the three Colonels coming. Assign them and their troops as you see fit. Your team are seconded to the SFSF for the duration of this emergency." There were nods all around the table.
I turned to O'Neil.
"Commodore, when the Cruisers come out of repair dock, you will assume command of the John Wayne as fleet commander. Janet will set you up a simulator in your office on the station, so you can prepare yourself for deploying a fleet of ships controlled by an AI." He nodded. "However, that is four days away and the enemy could be here in two. In the meantime, you will take operational command of this station. You will run it as if it was a ship, in co-ordination with General Smith. We're having heavy weapons installed as fast as they can be done. Once everything is in place, we'll move this station back to the jump point and prepare for the Midgard fleet. Your job will be to turn this station into a Battleship."
His jaw dropped open. Everyone else looked surprised, with the excep
tion of Vonda and Alsop. I grinned round the table, and looked at Annabelle again.
"General, we need a complete evacuation of the station's civilian population, as fast as it can be done. Use the Liner to transfer people to the Orbital station, and leave it parked there when the task is complete. Tell the people they're getting an all-expenses paid vacation on Avon until the crisis is over. It's actually true. The government is appropriating all the tourist accommodation needed to house them, and will be footing the bill."
My eyes tracked around the table and stopped.
"BA, you will be senior NCO working directly for General Smith. All other NCO's, military or Mercenary, will report to you." She nodded. "Have rank insignia added to all the Combat Suits." She nodded again.
I turned to Abigail. She looked scared for a moment, as the attention of everyone shifted to her.
"Abigail, you will work with Commander Alsop. Your primary task is to set up a communication network between here and the jump point, to give us real time communications. The satellites are ordered, but it's your job to make them work." She immediately glazed over, accessing something.
I looked around the table at everyone.
"People, this is a volunteer show. Up until now, the situation has dictated your involvement. This is voluntary. Anyone who wants to opt out is allowed to."
"Boss," said BA. "I told you we always go in at the shit end. Nothing's changed."
"And besides," said Aline, "we've already been paid for the campaign."
They all nodded their agreement.
"Alright, let's get this done," I commanded.
The room broke up.
Vonda came up to me.
"I've seen merc companies that made me cringe. This team are professionals. You picked well."
I giggled. She looked at me strangely.
"Actually, I saved their lives the first time I was in a space fight, just by saving myself. They picked me. Up until a week or so ago, they'd been trying to recruit me. When I took ownership of the station, they joined me instead."
She laughed.
"And so the cosmos works," she said cryptically.
"Indeed," I said.
Alsop had gone vacant and rigid again.
"Commander?" said Vonda.
"All communications with Azgard have ceased. There are watchers at the edge of scanner range in Cobol, but so far, nothing has come through."
"So they're at the jump point, but waiting for something?" said Vonda.
"Maybe waiting for their Talons to catch up," I said. "I hope Cobol are ready for them."
"Nothing we can do for them I'm afraid. They're on their own."
"Dinner, General?"
She nodded and we headed up to my living room.
While we were eating, I had Janet move the station as close to the Shipyard as we could safely get. This reduced the distance needed to move guns, launchers, power plants and generators. We watched as an army of people and droids descended on the station, and after sealing the top level, began cutting into the outer hull. How much they could get done was up to Midgard's forces, since when they arrived defined what we could get finished. With this in mind, I set Point Defense as the top priority to have functional in two days. If nothing else, we had to survive the missile barrages before we could even think about taking any offensive action. We had to be on our way to the jump point by this time tomorrow, and everything we needed had to be on the station before we left, even if it didn’t work.
After dinner, we settled into the lounge chairs and brain-stormed. Angel helped, by taking our minds off being too serious, as she rushed around playing, sometimes demanding we play with her.
I thought about the station in the firing line. It needed some maneuverability. I pinged McLauchlan asking if he had any extra station class tugs, or if he could build more quickly. I asked if he could think of giving the station some way of getting out of the path of missile barrages if necessary.
As the hours went by, no word came of any intrusion into Cobol. Every hour they held off was a bonus for us.
With midnight approaching and topics of conversation waning, we took our leave of each other, and went to bed.
Twenty Nine
"GOOD MORNING AVON!"
I groaned. A half remembered dream started to recede. In it, I’d been blind and deaf, trapped in a room with no doors.
Angel stirred next to me, so I patted her, before heading into the bathroom.
While I was in the shower, Jane advised me that there was a squadron of Apricot Explorer's on approach. Their leader wanted to talk to me. I told her to invite him for breakfast, and let Eric know.
Dried and dressed, I hurried down the stairs to the common room.
The twins were at the table, and looked up at me as I approached.
"Did you have some horrible dream this morning?" Amanda asked.
"Blind and deaf and trapped in a room with no doors?"
"That’s the one," said Aleesha.
"We all had it again?" I asked. They nodded. "What does it mean?"
"Pretty obvious to everyone else I think," said George on his way in.
"Huh?" the three of us said together.
"You all slept separately last night. I bet if you slept in one room, you'd have all had eyes, ears, and found the door without any trouble."
"Why do you say that?" asked Amanda.
"Seriously?" asked George. "We've been hearing about your shared dreams since we met you both. The only really negative ones have been when you were separated, and since meeting Jon, weren't sleeping in the same room with him."
The penny dropped on the table with a solid clunk. Both the girls looked troubled. George grinned at them and took a seat.
Vonda and Alsop came in and seated themselves at the other end of the table. They had a conversation going in low tones and the rest of us kept away from them.
"Jon?" Jane spoke to me via my PC for once.
"Yes?" I subvocalized in return.
"Jeeves wants to order food. Can he do it himself and get them to send you the invoice? It will be reorders of what we have already had, or close equivalents."
"Yes, that’s fine. In fact, he doesn’t need to ask permission. He can do it when appropriate. I'll pay the invoices as they come in."
It was not as though I needed to count credits.
"Confirmed."
Jason was taking breakfast orders. I decided on something more than the usual, but less than what everyone else had. I still couldn’t get the hang of huge meals at the beginning of the day. In fact, some days watching everyone else eat, gave me indigestion.
Eric came in just then, with another man. He was older, with a short salt and pepper beard, grey creeping in to his hairline at the temples. Eric led him over to me.
"Jonathon Hunter, my boss, John Slice," said Eric.
We shook.
"Thank you for meeting with me Admiral," said Slice. "I used to be military. Wing Commander in the British Fleet. Call sign 'Apricotslice'. After I left the military I set up the Apricot Mapping Service. I'd noticed no-one had updated nav maps in over one hundred years and thought it was a good idea to get it done. I also saw that no-one was exploring for new jump points any more. I send out people like Eric here, looking for changes in systems and jump points that haven’t been found before. Yonder Wolf planetoid you would be aware of, is a prime example. It shifts orbit slightly every year. We make sure the nav maps reflect that. I appreciate you saving Eric. I'd have never heard the end of it from his wife, if he'd died in Midgard." Eric grinned.
"You're welcome," I said. "In fact, he's been most welcome. What can I do for you?"
"Several things." He made himself comfortable. Jason interrupted him, and he and Eric ordered breakfast. "Eric has told me about this ship. I know he mentioned I've been looking for a better explorer ship for a long time. I'd like the opportunity to look her over and take a good look at the specs for her sister ship. If possible, I'd like to fly your next mission
with you. Eric can fly my Explorer. Once I've seen this ship in action, I can evaluate what you're offering much better."
"Welcome aboard," I said with a grin.
"More importantly for you though," he went on, "I've brought eight Privateer class ships to join the fight. I'd have been here yesterday, but I took Eric's advice. I added another missile launcher and a torpedo launcher to them, with multiple reloads. The launchers are full of IR's. The ships don’t look so pretty, but they stand a better chance of surviving now. They don’t have enough Point Defense, but the IR's will help."
"Good. I hope to have four Mustang class available before we leave here, so we can make up a full squadron of Privateers. If we position them carefully, their new Point Defense should help keep missiles off the rest of you. We also have an Excalibur who can fly with you as well. It has the best Point Defense of any Privateer."
"Eric told me of them too. If your Camel wasn’t available, I'd be looking hard at the Excalibur. But I've come to the conclusion that the Privateer hull is just too small. And people like Eric need to be able to take their families along with them."
"When we get some free time, we can talk turkey, but for now, your welcome to look around anywhere on the ship, although I'd be careful of the XO's office and the staterooms, as you don’t want to upset the General."
He laughed.
"No, I won't do that."
At the mention of her rank, Vonda came over and was introduced to John Slice.
Breakfast over, I went up to my office. I waded through emails and status reports until Janet interrupted me.
"My Lord, the first combat troops are coming on board."
She popped up a vid. They looked like standard soldiers. No combat suits or heavy armour of any kind. I watched them file off the shuttle and head into the station. The shuttle pulled out, and another took its place.
A ping came in from Alsop.
"They jumped into Cobol at 7.30am and immediately headed for the Orbital station. Still six Cruisers and fifteen squadrons of fighters."
Send in the Hero (The Hunter Legacy Book 3) Page 19