by Chris Hechtl
“I thought you did fine, ma'am. You held the hot seat for a year. We got some blowback from your time there. You didn't win any awards, but you are the only other living person other than the admiral to hold the job. And even though we didn't get any major things done nothing destroyed the Federation either,” Sebastian pointed out.
“Yes, but her ties to Bek are a hindrance here. It was during her time in the hot seat too,” Petina pointed out. “The whole reason the admiral had to leave was to get Bek back in line. We're still dealing with fallout there,” she warned.
“No,” Moira finally said as she made some political calculations. “I don't have the campaign funds lined up. I don't have the connections here yet. I'll stick to the long game,” she said firmly.
“Are you going to throw your support behind a candidate?” Geoffery Mahoney, her speech writer, asked. He seemed the most disappointed by her decision.
“No. We're going to remain neutral like the admiral. We have to since we're administering the election, right?” she asked, looking from Nadine to Sebastian. Both of them nodded. “Then we'll play it that way. Cut down any speculation that I'm interested,” she said, addressing her statement to Petina.
“We'll release a statement, and I'll nip anything in the bud,” Petina said, making a note.
“Good. In the meantime, we need to dust off the system for a Federation-wide election process. We've got a little less than a year to set it up in every star system.”
“Wait, everywhere? In all the star systems?” Geoffery asked eyes wide.
“Every system that has rejoined the Federation. Which is going to be tricky since some are still back waters,” Nadine said. “So, we need to work closely with election personnel there. We've also had a budget set up for this. The money has been stockpiled until now. We'll have to set up a plan and budget and then work on executing it.”
“This should be fun,” Sebastian muttered. “This on top of outreach programs all over the map,” he said with a shake of his head.
“And all our other jobs, yes. But we'll get it done,” Moira stated firmly.
“And thus proving you can be effective,” Nadine said with a nod. “And getting your presence known subtly everywhere, ma'am,” she said with a note of satisfaction in her voice.
“Let's just get the job done and save the patting on the back for later,” Moira murmured.
~~~^~~~
As additional governors and even a few senators tested the waters by throwing their hats in the ring, Governor Randall was attacked by a few. Some accused him of being the admiral's pet lapdog. It was a popular sentiment in the net as well as by fringe media. He noted the byline was picked up by some of the major paper publications.
Jeff understood why when he read the headlines. The paper mogul Gidong was paying him back for his supposed disinterest. Gidong could never forgive him for letting the fires burn the forests he owned. It had impacted everything from forestry to the mills, printing presses, and media he controlled.
Daffyd had explained to him that it wasn't just the fires though. “Gidong is a dinosaur. He's old school, a titan of industry, yes, but he's not adapting or at least, not adapting quick enough. He is feeling the pinch from all sides. First by the encroachment of electronic e-books and electronic media taking over the regular news outlets. And then there was the rising costs of his papers. Along with that came with the problems from the recent fires. Some of his forests had been devastated by the fires. The fact that he had refused to update his people and had screamed bloody murder when the government had put homes, hospitals, and lives ahead of his forests hadn't done himself any good. He hadn't been happy when the government hadn't paid him for his losses either.”
“We could pay him off,” Evillin offered but then shook her head. “No, it would be an obvious ploy,” she said.
“Exactly. It would be the abuse of power the fringe needs, using taxpayer money to buy the man's silence. No, we're going to play it straight,” the governor replied.
“Right. I noticed that of course the media hasn't seen the foot dragging Gidong and others caused when the government tried to get additional SAR and firefighting gear. The pet media he controlled of course wouldn't design to let it see the light of day.”
“No, but a few of the others did. Think you can remind them of that? Let them know Gidong is taking this personally? Undercut his image?” Daffyd asked.
The woman nodded and made a notation. It was all a form of pushback she thought as she smiled ever so slightly.
~~~^~~~
The media talking heads considered various candidates and took them apart, digging into their pasts and going over what they had accomplished. April took part in the discussions, sometimes feeding one side or the other and then sitting back to let them hammer things out. No consensus was ever reached but locally the ratings were high. The public was eating it up.
Then the discussions turned to how the election would be affected by late-joining star systems and if it should be held again at certain periods of growth.
Knox called her to congratulate her on the ratings and then ordered her to hike ad shares to rake in more credits so he could continue to expand his media empire. “We're going to need coverage when the election actually happens. We need to be on top of this so we need the most up-to-date info, slick graphics, and the works. That means I need you on top of your game red head; are you up for this?”
“Of course!” she replied indignantly. She hated that he couldn't see or feel her commitment.
“Good. Set up the graphics now so we can download them to the other outlets and then we can feed the data without the graphic interface. I trust you are working on your contact in the government?”
“Yes. Irons didn't say boo though.”
“I figured as much. He's a straight shooter. We should have seen this coming though. He did mention he offered the posting before. I'm surprised though that he's making Randall go through an election.”
“We can explore that.”
“Do it. Good girl. I'll set my people up here to do the same. That should keep things interesting, at least until we get more news from the war front.”
“Yes, sir.”
~~~^~~~
Professor Eldor listened to Gwildor's lecture and nodded. The dwarf had a knack for teaching, a love of involving a student and getting them engaged. It was no wonder why he was so beloved on the campus.
He didn't hand the students the easy answers either, asking them to think. Like putting questions to them about dark matter. He snorted. As if the kids knew the answers to those questions! Playing the what if game was interesting with grad students but introductory astrophysics students just got lost.
When the class ended, he saw Gwildor packing his things. The bearded man looked up at him with one eye twinkling. “You don't approve?”
“I'm just a guest, remember? I saw some of the kids leaving. They looked lost,” Eldor replied with a snort.
“Good! Getting them interested in such things, that's just the first step! Asking the hard questions no one is interested in wakes them to new opportunities!”
“I take it this came from a discussion about what science has left to offer?” Eldor asked, catching on as they headed to the exit and dinner.
“Yes, yes,” Gwildor said impatiently. “What did you think of the subject? What would happen to dark matter or exotic matter that was sucked into a dark star, black hole or hyper bridge? In hyperspace?” he asked.
Eldor paused as the question hit him and then snorted. “I'm a colleague not one of your students, Gwildor,” he scolded. “And I'm not going to answer the question for you. Half the fun is finding out for yourself.”
Gwildor cackled. “A man after my own heart!” He chuckled for a moment and then shook his head. “That's just one among many questions. We really need to push this science vessel, Eldor. We really do.”
“You are talking about exploring why the power of stars going nova hadn't crippled or des
troy worlds in neighboring star systems as the energy wave propagated outward,” Eldor said. “I know, it is a mystery and one of our jobs is to solve mysteries like that,” he said thoughtfully.
“I know! It is maddening that we are the only ones interested in it!” Gwildor insisted as they left the building and stepped out into the cool Eternia evening. “It is a fundamental element of physics that energy cannot be created or destroyed, just transformed! So, what happened to that energy?” he demanded.
Eldor frowned and went to open his mouth, but Gwildor continued.
“Especially those star systems near the explosion, they should have been incinerated but they weren't! Why? How? What mechanism was at work to block the energy? Was it redirected? How? Where did it go? These are just a few of the first inkling questions on the subject. There are more, so much more!” the little man said excitedly. He was practically hopping up and down in his zeal to know, Eldor observed.
“And we'll find out, in time,” Eldor said, already thinking about who he could contact to get the debate about the ship going again. Hadn't he heard something about the government building them a ship? He frowned and then made a mental note to look into it.
Further discussion was cut off as their stomachs growled. Eldor snorted and then laughed. “Come on old friend, let's go feed our bodies and then spend a few hours feeding our minds.”
“Or trying to. But I crave beer. Long speeches to students tend to do that,” Gwildor cackled as they walked on into the night.
~~~^~~~
Admiral Irons weighed in on the science vessel issue when Dreams of Tomorrow brought it up to him again. He waited until a question and answer session to air out the problem and his response to it. “Yes, I promised we would get back to science. We will do that. Unfortunately, there is a war on and that takes precedence. If people are impatient, they have options. They can find corporate sponsors, purchase a civilian ship and outfit it themselves. We'll still honor our commitment. Or, they can purchase an existing science vessel. I understand there are two known in our registry. Or, they can contract with those ship companies to have the vessels returned to stock and outfitted.”
“But both, no, all of those options, excuse me, sir, they cost money.”
“Welcome to the universe we're living in. Everyone wants their cut as the people of ET like to say. Everyone wants to earn a fair wage, and there is only so much to go around. Be patient.”
“And the latest idea? To explore the super novas?”
“Ever heard the expression let sleeping dogs lie?” Admiral Irons asked whimsically. “There are some questions we can wait on answers to. After all, they've waited this long, they can wait a little longer. But, I want you to think about their proposal. They want to send a ship to a star system that had a super nova.”
“Um, yes?”
“Think about it. Massive energy discharge. Yes, they want to know where the energy went. I do too but not at the moment. But, consider the safety of the ship. If they go to a nova event and jump slowly, popping in and out of hyper, eventually they might find that wake. They'll be torn apart.”
“Well, when you say it like that, it doesn't make a lot of sense.”
“No, no, it doesn't. There goes the ship, the crew and we won't get any information from it other than their absence,” Admiral Irons stated, shaking his head. “A better option is to stick to astronomy, send out probes, contract with ships to drop probes and pick them up, and purchase sensor data from commercial ships. They can also hire ships to mount science pallets for them to probe hyperspace as well as specific places.”
“Ah.”
Admiral Irons waited as the audience stirred uncomfortably as they digested what he'd said. “As I said, we all have options. Eventually they'll get their ship. Until they do, they need to learn to manage money and resources better and make do with the labs and facilities they have access to on the planet, in orbit, on Antigua Prime, and elsewhere.”
~~~^~~~
Jethro nodded to a few familiar faces as he walked off the shuttle. “You certainly took your time getting here,” a familiar feline voice said gruffly.
“Just wanted to be sure I've been missed,” Jethro said in a gravelly voice as he hugged his cousin. Letanga snorted and head-butted him. “Knock it off or they'll start wondering about us,” Jethro laughed, pushing his cousin playfully away.
Letanga snorted as he went around to the driver's side of the jeep. Jethro tossed his bag into the back of a jeep and climbed in. He looked over his shoulder to the casket that a Neobear tech hitched to the rear of the jeep. There were sounds of the safety chains and lights being attached and then the tech bounced the bumper twice. “You're good,” he said gruffly as he stepped back.
Jethro waved over his shoulder as Letanga took off.
“So, things have been quiet?”
“Just training SAR duty here on planet. I think the brass doesn't know what to do with us. I thought they were going to send us to the front, but that's a navy problem.”
“Pass. I've had my share of ship boardings. They aren't fun.”
Letanga flicked his ears and then adjusted his sunglasses.
They passed through layers of security until they were out on the open roads. Jethro thought they were going to fall into companionable silence, but Bast had other ideas. He noted she had the Wi-Fi open. One channel was downloading updates while another was sending files out. He frowned until he recognized Letanga and his A.I. Satet as the recipient.
“Your faithful minion is having fun updating me with images of the family. I think she wants to make me envious. Or she and Satet are conspiring to try to get me to hook up,” Letanga chuffed.
“Probably a little of both,” Jethro said as they climbed the hills to the base.
“There is an airstrip, but the colonel didn't want to draw attention to flying you in to a super-secret base,” Letanga explained.
“Oh.”
“We've got enough problems with the media knowing about us. Fortunately, you arrived while they are wrapped up with the front and politics.”
“Yeah,” Jethro said gruffly as they arrived at the outer layer of security.
Security was tight at the base, but they each had A.I. and therefore transmitted their credentials to the gate guards. Once at the base portal, Letanga pulled the jeep up and then waved to a pair of waiting techs. “They'll secure your armor in the armory. The boss wants to see you pronto,” he warned.
“Lucky me,” Jethro said as he pulled his bag out.
“I've signed you in,” Bast said softly. He flicked his ears in thanks.
“That's it? An ear flick?” another familiar voice growled. He turned and dropped the bag as he instinctively came to attention and saluted the base commander. “Damn good to have you back, Jethro,” the colonel stated gruffly as he returned the salute. “Sorry to hear your time at home got capped and you had to pull out.”
“I'm not thrilled about it, but I'm glad to see the kittens can look after themselves,” Jethro replied as he struck the salute. “Good to see you, sir. Colonel, Sir,” he teased.
“Don't start,” the newly-minted Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Lyon said as he rolled his eyes.
“I see the bird of paradise shit on your shoulders again, sir,” Jethro teased. “It looks good on you.”
Joshua self-consciously checked his insignia and then smiled politely. “Yeah, something like that. Bast getting you up to speed?”
“She's downloaded the updates and the news feeds now, sir. I'm glad I'm not in them this time. An election though?” Jethro asked.
Joshua shrugged. “Some things never change. Politics as usual.”
“Better than bad news from the front. We've had enough there,” Letanga growled.
“So I heard,” Jethro said as he shot his cousin a look. “Are we headed there or …?”
“You've got another stint in training of course, that is after Commodore Thornby runs you through the physical fitness checkup,” Joshua
said in a no-nonsense tone of voice that made Jethro groan and Letanga grin and flick his ears. “After that there is a mission proposed. Since the brass can't make up their mind about it, we're holding off on it and just gathering intel. It's not pretty though.”
“Right back into the deep end, sir,” Jethro said with a brief smile. Bast smiled on his HUD as well. “I was expecting it.”
“Well, like I said, we'll get you up to speed. I'll let you know about the mission later. For now, settle in and get caught up.”
Chapter 38
Eastern Front
TF3.2 spent two months putting the fleet back together and waiting for the ansible transport to arrive. Admiral V'r'z'll wasn't surprised that they'd outraced her one remaining transport. She was surprised that she had any at all. Based on the reports from her survivors though, at least one transport had gotten out of there and into hyperspace. The status of their precious cargo was very much in doubt though.
Until she knew one way or another, she was reluctant to send one of the couriers off with news to the nearest ansible. She'd just have to tough it out and wait until she knew one way or another.
Based on her TAO report, they had gotten their heads handed to them. Almost every ship had sustained some damage. A few like the fleet carriers had only sustained light damage. But others like Akagi had taken serious hits.
And then there were the losses.
Shokaku and Courageous had been destroyed along with their escorts as had two of her three CEVs. Silent Kill was her only surviving CEV, and she had been crippled loosing most of her wing to strikes to her hangar and maintenance areas.
Kerela had been destroyed along with another eighteen of her thirty-two destroyers. Each of the tin cans had laid their lives on the line to protect the larger ships they had been assigned to escort. She was humbled by their sacrifice.
The losses in her fleet train hardly bore thinking about. Half of her freighters, half of her munition ships, her single hospital ship, they'd all been destroyed or lost in hyperspace. Her tiny couriers were the only ship class that had gotten through the battle relatively unscathed.