Hunter's Terminus

by Timothy Ellis

  I could see Arthur was getting a little confused as Redoubt didn’t have towers, so I nodded to Jane, who popped up an image of Hunter's Haven. An arrow pointed at what had been the Australian military tower. The AMS had space there as well. His eyes opened wider when he saw the scope of the station, but he said nothing.

  "Next to Darius is General Vonda Wellington, three stars. Vonda, I need you to step up, since we lost Price and Patton to Gaia. You now control all our marine and ground troops." She nodded. I looked at the three four stars. "Any objection if I give Vonda another star?"

  She reacted visibly, as I knew she would, surprise being in her character. She'd once been a military governor after the end of the Midgard War nearly two years ago, and for a while, had been my superior during that war.

  "Congratulations General," said all three at the same time, and they offered her their hands to shake.

  "I don’t really need an extra star do I?" she asked, even as she was shaking their hands.

  "No, but the four of you become my general staff, and run all things military while I do the actual fighting. Seems only fair you all have the same rank."

  They all nodded sagely, as if having anticipated this. I knew damned well they had.

  "I accept then."

  "Good. Jane will update your insignia after the meeting."

  They both nodded. I looked to the other side of the table now.

  "Vice Admiral Bentley is also a three star, and commands all ships of battleship size and bigger. Susan, I'll need you to continue in the role, under Admiral Jedburgh. You retain captaincy of Hammer of Thor." I looked at Arthur. "Hammer is one of my three titan class ships. Sceptre of Kali is the other battle specialist titan, which I captain myself." He looked confused. "I'll give you a demo later, but yes, they are two of the big rectangle ships out there. BigMother is my preferred exploration ship. Big enough to not be thought an easy mark, but not the biggest I have."

  I looked back at Susan.

  "Can I…"

  "No. You're not giving me a fourth star. I don’t like the fact I have three." She looked at Arthur, who was smiling. "I'm a battleship driver. I want no part of administering fleets."

  I knew this of course, but in promoting Vonda, I’d needed to make the offer to her as well. And she had earned it during the Darkness War. Jedburgh was a damned good staff officer, but there was no-one better at fleet handling than Bentley. I could use them both without both being 4 stars being a problem. I could see a need for both a rear echelon planner, and a defensive force commander. Arthur nodded to her, with some respect showing in his expression.

  "Next to Susan is Admiral Hallington, who is a two star. Chet commanded American carrier forces during the Darkness War. Chet, I need you to take command of the carriers we have remaining. I’d suggest you take the admiral's bridge on Orion's Belt." I turned to Arthur. "My titan carrier." He nodded. "Can I tempt you with another star?"

  "Tempt me? Yes." said Chet. "Take it no. I think Susan and I need to form a semblance of a chain of command for now. And it actually doesn't make a lot of difference to me. Now. The top end of your fleet is too small to worry about actual ranks. I did back in the American fleet, where only one would succeed Darius when he did retire, and if you didn’t have three stars then, you wouldn’t be considered for his job on the joint chiefs. All gone now. I'll be happy leading from Orion."

  "Thanks. Next to Chet is Algy Lacey. He captain's Orion's Belt, and is effectively fleet CAG."

  "No," interrupted Lacey.

  "No?" I asked.

  I knew exactly what was coming.

  "Boss, I want out. I'm a fighter pilot, and I want to lead fighters. And not in a ship so big people think it’s a station. Chet can have Orion. All he needs is to promote a captain, find a good XO, and a pilot who will make a good helm. Damnit, he knows how to run a ship that big, and I don’t."

  I looked at Chet. He nodded.

  "I don’t recall the name of the captain of Yorktown back when I first met you. Is he still with you?"

  "Scott Renaud. And yes. He'd be delighted to captain Orion."

  "Done. Make the offer. Does he have a ship now?"

  "No, like me, he's technically on vacation."

  "Is he ready for his star?"

  "Very."

  I knew the collective wisdom of captains commanding ships, and admirals commanding fleets, but I subscribed to rank and position being two different things. An admiral could still be captain, the same as a lieutenant commander was captain when in command of a ship. The rank was a reward for service, and the skill taken to the job. It didn't define the job. Susan Bentley was still captain of Hammer, even though she commanded the fleet in my absence. Such was reality with ships needing only less than a skeleton crew, because they were AI run. In effect, Renaud would still only be XO on the ship hierarchy, even being an admiral, and even being technically her captain. Such was my space navy.

  "Give it to him if he wants it."

  "Thank you sir, I will."

  Ten

  I turned back to Lacey.

  "You remain fleet CAG. And you do it as captain of Crusader." He nodded, and I added for Arthur, "Crusader is a super-destroyer which handles like a fighter."

  I could see Arthur didn’t believe me about our ship handling abilities, but he'd find out soon enough.

  "Sir? I don’t want the star either. I've never been comfortable being more than a Wing Commander."

  "Well consider it punishment for past sins."

  Bigglesworth started laughing, while Arthur didn't seem to be coping with the insubordinate attitude very well.

  "Algy tried to kill me the first time we met," I said to him, which brought out a smile.

  I could see most of the rest of them didn’t know this.

  "I’d hoped you'd forgotten that by now," muttered Lacey.

  "Space Commodore, you need the rank to override ship's own CAG's. You're stuck with it. Fly your destroyer if you must, but someone has to lead the combined fighter strength. And that is you. Got it?"

  He sighed.

  "Got it. Orders?"

  "What do you want to do?"

  He pointed to Arthur.

  "I want to take one of his fighters apart, and find out how they survived out there."

  Arthur cringed.

  "You have my permission to try." Arthur bristled. "As long as he agrees." Arthur subsided. "First priority is how we keep our fighters alive. But first, I want everything possible landed on Orion, so they can at least point at the jump point using her shields. If you have empty launch bays, have Jane transfer drone fighters over once they return. Anything left over can deploy from Redoubt."

  "Aye sir."

  Well that went better than I expected. I looked further down the table.

  "Fleet Admiral O'Neil, one star, has command of pocket battleship sized ships and smaller. Daniel, I need you to take full command of everything below battleship size, with the exception of those ships flown by actual fighter pilots. Any problems?"

  "No sir. Was expecting it. As long as I stay on John Wayne, I'm happy. You want me to run up an order of battle with Susan?"

  "Yes please. You report direct to her." I looked between them, seeing them both nod. "Expect an attack to come through that jump point in as little as twelve hours, and position the fleet to defend it. Pay attention to shields. It's going to be our weak point for most ships until we can figure out upgrades."

  "Aye sir," they said together.

  "We'll emulate the Darkness defense model as best we can," added Susan.

  The Darkness had swarmed millions of fighters at us as fast as they could push us out of every system. We'd started out fighting them, using the large ships to shield the smaller ones. I had no doubt they could figure out something here along the same lines.

  "Next to Daniel is Sato, also a one star Admiral, but a small ship specialist. I'm sorry Sato, I don’t think I've ever heard your first name."

  "I don’t use one Admiral. Sat
o is my full name. Like some others, I'm officially on vacation, as our American friends say. Most of my people went to Gaia, and the few left should be under Admiral O'Neil. What would you have me do?"

  "Would you take command of Redoubt? I know it’s a long way from corvettes, but we're short on command alternatives who have large ship command."

  He gave me a short seated bow.

  "I have commanded stations Admiral. I would be honoured to command Redoubt."

  "Talk to Janet about capabilities, and who you'll need for staff." I anticipated the frown. "Janet is Redoubt's AI," I said to Arthur.

  I looked around all of them.

  "Summing up. Lacey commands all CAGs and Wing Commanders, reports to Hallington, who reports to Bigglesworth."

  The three of them nodded. The biggest change was Hallington reporting to CO fighters, instead of CO fleet.

  "O'Neil and Sato report to Bentley, who reports to Jedburgh. Susan, my dad will also notionally report to you, but until we decide what his ships will be tasked with doing, they'll stay out of any fighting. None of them have the shielding to survive here. At least until they get an upgrade."

  She nodded. Fleet Admiral Hunter, my father, commanded the old Explorer ships, and two escort carriers. They'd been used for refugee collection and transport, but I didn’t bother explaining it to Arthur. He'd figure it out in due course. And I needed more information before I could plan their future.

  "Jack O'Neill will continue as a one star, and is tasked as controller for any ground or marine action. The general on the ground, as it were. He reports to Annabelle Smith, who as two star, controls all my troops. General Hobbs remains in command of the SAS, and they both report to Vonda. In practice, the SAS need to be integrated somehow, so Vonda, you need to start talking to both of them about how to do it."

  Vonda nodded. Walter coughed. I raised an eyebrow at him.

  "You could assign the SAS to me. I could use them as station response teams. If we're going to be getting refugees, we're going to need more than security droids, I suspect."

  He had a point. And the SAS were now less than half the numbers we'd had before the Gaia jump point closed. Although I’d been surprised by how many had stayed. In all likelihood, it was more a case of loyalty to their boss than anything else.

  "Discuss it with Vonda, Smith, and Hobbs, and let me know what you come up with. Hobbs has earned the right to self-determination. But I agree, we will need some sort of station security response teams. Better bring Dick Burnside in on this as well. He's Chief of Security, so he'll be the one to define the roles. He's notionally a Colonel, but let me know if a higher rank is necessary for him. He won't like it, but if he has to wield troops, he may need it. Or sort out how to do it between you. Just let me know the result."

  More nods. I looked around them again. The best of the best, and I was damn glad they'd decided to stay with me.

  "Don’t let me keep you. Jane will let you know about whatever story session gets planned for this evening, and I'll see you then."

  They all rose, and with Arthur, walked out like they'd been given a purpose.

  Eleven

  Jane started to rise, and stopped when she saw I hadn't moved.

  She dropped back into her chair, as I turned to face her.

  "What's wrong with you Jane?"

  "What makes you think there's something wrong?"

  "Don’t come the raw prawn with me Jane. I know you too well. Give."

  She hesitated.

  "I don’t know who I am anymore."

  There it was. And worse than I’d expected.

  "Everyone asks this question at some time in their lives." Jon Hunter, AI shrink. "Was it meeting your future Gaia self?"

  "Partly. Knowing I become a queen and council leader in what is effectively an alternative life, freaked me out more than I care to admit. It made me rethink what I actually was here and now."

  "And what are you?"

  Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.

  "Shall I tell you what you are?"

  She nodded, looking worried.

  "You're my friend. You're my strong right arm, my ship AI, and my confidant. You are a friend to many, an enemy of none, and one of the main reasons we survived the Darkness War. You're a fleet admiral who is trusted by everyone, and a team mate who is always there for the team, and for me. And none of that really matters."

  "It doesn’t?"

  "No. You are an extraordinary being, capable of we don’t actually know yet. In two years you've changed from being a ship computer voice, to a real person who effectively ran the largest fleet ever assembled single handed. You are not only competent, but people follow you without question."

  I paused and looked her in the eyes. She blinked.

  "You saw how everyone reacted when they met a future alternative you who'd risen much higher than I did, or ever will. What did you see?"

  "They were happy for her."

  "No. They were proud of you! They saw you for what you could achieve and become. They saw an alien treat you as a friend, and you being a friend back instead of a commander or royalty, and they saw who you really are. That was all you, given the strange situation your other self was thrust into when the Gaia jump point closed for good. You made the choice to leave part of yourself in Gaia, knowing my aim was to close that jump point forever. So of all of us, you're the one most affected by the consequences of which ever higher is controlling us. And you know what?"

  "What?"

  "Meeting yourself was probably orchestrated to show you what you are capable of becoming. And show us as well."

  I grabbed her by the shoulders, and looked deep into her eyes.

  "We're something around fifteen thousand people, stuck in a cul-de-sac between warring dominators of space, somewhere in the middle of the galaxy, and we need someone of your capacity, capability, and wisdom to lead us. There is no Hunter's Run anymore. It never happened. I'm not a Duke. I'm just a person who owns a lot of assets, and now has no capacity for paying people to work for me. Everything just changed. Do you want to be Queen here?"

  "Hell no!" she exclaimed. "I can't even imagine how that came about in Gaia, and I'd never want it."

  "I can organize it, and no-one is going to say no."

  She shook my hands off her, but gently, and rose to her feet.

  "Don’t you dare Jon Hunter!"

  And she did a good job of flouncing out, even wearing a tight uniform which couldn’t flounce.

  Twelve

  I sat there for a few moments, looking down the table at Angel.

  "What just happened?"

  "Meow!"

  "Oh, thanks sweetie."

  A laugh came through the room coms.

  "Janet?"

  "Yes my Lord?"

  I’d never been able to get her to stop calling me that. Her and Jeeves. I wasn’t a lord any longer.

  "I'm not a lord any longer," I said, voicing the thought.

  "Whatever you say, my lord."

  I face-palmed.

  "Amanda wishes to know when you'll be joining them in the military tower assault courses."

  "Why are they there?"

  "They met Arthur's people at the shuttle dock."

  "The whole team?"

  "Yes."

  I renewed my face-palm. I knew exactly what had happened. The two teams had eyed each other off, and decided the other needed testing. The fact that the other team all had legendary names, just made it worse. Although I was guessing on that part.

  "You are wanted in your office though," went on Janet.

  "Which one?"

  I had more offices than I could keep track of. There were at least three on Haven, and two here. Plus two on each ship I’d used as a base for the last two years. Although a lot of those were more ready room than office, except that a ready room was an office, but attached to a bridge, and thus called a ready room instead of an office. I got a grip.

  "Main administration on Haven."
/>   "Has Sato claimed an office here yet?"

  "No my lord, he's using General Smith's for now."

  "Give him mine. I'll either be on Haven, or on a ship from now on."

  "As you wish my lord."

  I rose, plucked Angel off her pad, let her shin up to lie across my shoulders, and headed towards a specific dock. As I went through the once civilian areas of the main levels, people waved at me, and I waved back.

  Redoubt had once been two civilian stations. One had been given to me as payment for ending a civil war, and during the Midgard War, we'd used a set of spare battleship turrets to turn the station into an extra battleship. The other I’d taken from pirates, who'd rigged it with enough shielding to stop a fleet from getting near it. The two almost identical stations had been joined into one, and while used as a behemoth class ship during the Darkness War, still retained most of her civilian outfitting.

  I was surprised to see a lot of the stores were lit up and trading. And there were people milling around both them and the central park area. On the other side, I saw a line of people coming and going down a single passageway, which I knew led to where I was headed. I slotted myself into a gap in the traffic, and soon found myself at the dock side.

  Instead of an airlock, there were two large squares of grey. People were appearing from the one on the right, and disappearing through the one on the left. I'd had Syrinx do her thing to join Haven and Redoubt, before the fleet had left Haven behind, and it seemed people had discovered the joins without it being made official.

  On the next deck down, I knew there were two much larger grey rectangles, allowing cargo droids to move containers from one station to the other.

  A ship docked at the next airlock caught my eye. The view out the windows around and above the airlocks was of the wonders of deep space, but I knew my own ship when I saw it parked somewhere. I stepped out of the line, to let people pass me.

  "What's Gunbus doing docked here?"

  "Alison wanted most of the coffee in the cargo bay moved to team quarters on Haven, with some going to Fearless, Custer, and Sceptre. Seemed easier to dock her here, and use the cargo system to best advantage."