by Chris Hechtl
“Of course, I do!”
“And you are worried about Horatio too,” she said. “So am I.”
“Yeah, that too. I wish I could get my hands on Yorgi. He knew this was going to happen!” Monty growled.
“He did,” Nara said. “That's why he's in transit, remember?”
“Yeah, but he didn't give us enough warning. Nor did he do it right off. He played games, delayed, hemmed and hawed … a lot of this could have been avoided if he'd come clean. They bitch about my mistakes!” he shook his head in anger.
“Agreed.”
“This is … damn foolish,” Monty said as he flopped into a chair.”
“But, he's doing it anyway. It is a calculated risk. We can't stop it. The best we can do is help him and help keep things together in his absence. He's putting a lot of trust in us.” He stared at Nara. “So, let's get it right and say bon voyage, right?”
“Yeah,” he said slowly as he nodded.
:::{)(}:::
“Hey Red,” Admiral Irons said with a smile as he put a call in.
“John!” April said; eyes wide. “I'd like to say this is an unexpected pleasure but I'm a bit busy and …”
“I wanted to talk to you. This is from me to you; no one else is to know.”
She frowned.
“I'm going to be out of contact for a while. I'm going on a trip you see. So I need you to keep a lid on things with the others. Keep people calm. It's just a trip. I'll be back in a bit.”
Her eyes narrowed. “How long is a bit?”
“A couple months,” he said. She hissed. He winced. “Sorry, it is what it is.”
“Where …?” He shook his head. She scowled. “Damn you …”
“I'll see you around.”
“Yeah,” she said gruffly. “Safe trip,” she said sourly.
He went to cut the channel, but she snapped her fingers, stopping him. “John,” she said roughly. Finally, she brought her fingertips to her lips, kissed them, and held them out to him. “Safe trip. Get back here soon. I mean it.”
“Yeah. Take care,” he said as he cut the channel.
:::{)(}:::
Moira stared in shock as she got the orders from the admiral's office. “Is he serious?” she demanded when she finally got through to Captain Sprite.
“As a heart attack.”
“Damn it …”
“He's going. You are in charge during the times he's incommunicado. I've got orders for us to follow. I'm sending them to you now.”
“Do I get sworn in?”
“He isn't dead yet. Consider this a trial run for when you do fill his shoes,” the A.I. replied dryly.
“Okay. What about, you know, moving in to the residence? The keys?”
“Not going to happen. The idea is to keep a low profile as long as possible to keep people from panicking. That means we've got to maintain an air of business as usual. The cover story is that he's busy with something highly classified that only he can do. It isn't a lie,” the A.I. said, forestalling a denial. “It isn't, trust me. It is the literal truth; we're just not saying where he is doing it,” she pointed out.
Moira nodded, then chuckled as it sank in. She was still in shock but at least someone was taking on the details like Nadine and her staff did. “Okay, what can I do?”
“As I said, I've got a list. I'm making myself available to you to help.”
“Understood. I'm opening the file now,” Moira said as she keyed the implants to open the file. She blinked and then her eyes scanned left to right. “Um …”
“We've got about ten hours for questions and clarifications and then he's on the courier. After that we've got about a day to get the rest straight.”
“Right. Sure, no problem,” Moira muttered as she pulled out her tablet and began to make notes.
:::{)(}:::
Pyrax
“My ship is ready to clear the yard for her final working-up exercises on the way to the B101a1 jump point. I'm leaving the dock in a few minutes and headed over to the fuel farm actually, the tugs just arrived to assist in the move. When we clear the yard, I will be too far out to spend a lot of time attending these meetings,” Firefly stated.
“So, we'll be losing your services,” Admiral Subert stated, staring balefully at the A.I.'s avatar.
“If the services of an A.I. you want, Barry is available to some degree as are some of the other A.I. in the star system. You are also supposed to receive your own A.I., sir,” Firefly pointed out.
“Eventually. None of them are you,” Admiral Subert stated, still staring at him.
“I didn't know you cared. Thank you, I think,” the A.I. replied. Saul surprised himself with a chuckle.
Admiral Subert shot a look at him to quell the snicker and then shook his head. “I do appreciate having you on my staff. Your services with the Xeno virus incident is one reason I don't want to lose them,” he admitted.
“I'll still be around, sir, for a few days. Possibly longer if we find problems.”
“Any sign of them?” Saul asked.
“So far so good,” Firefly stated. “I really haven't broken some of this hardware in fully yet.”
“Break in, not break,” Admiral Subert replied dryly.
“Yes, sir. But I want to head out with the other ships.”
“If you think Admiral Irons will take you along to Bek, you are sadly mistaken, Captain. He doesn't have the additional helm teams to handle your ship.”
“I'm aware of that, sir. But I'd like to get to my assigned station.”
“Okay. Fine. Whatever,” the admiral growled. “I still think this run is stupid.”
“Maybe you should talk to the admiral about it, sir,” Saul said, “air out the problem so to speak.”
“Yeah, I'll do that,” Phil grumbled, putting a call in.
Saul exchanged a worried look with Firefly's avatar, but the A.I. merely shrugged.
:::{)(}:::
Antigua
Phil insisted on a conference with the senior officers. Admiral Irons had intended to let them know his intent. As the courier began to take on the passengers and crew, he was forced to pause in order to deal with the conference. Captain Sprite, Vestri and every senior officer above the rank of commander was in attendance. Most would only listen in.
“I'm just concerned about the chain of command, sir,” Phil insisted.
“I'm still in command the last time I checked. I will be out of contact in transit I admit. But, Captain Sprite and each of you will keep me up-to-date through the ansible when I pass through a star system. Keep your news brief. I'll respond if and when I have time to do so.”
“Okay, but …”
“Admiral Sienkov is ranking officer after me in the chain of command. Yes, I frocked him to Fleet Admiral He is senior to all of you even without that. Remember that,” Admiral Irons stated.
“Understood, sir,” General 1010111 stated.
“I've left a long to-do list while I'm gone. I had Sprite issue you another one, Phil. I want that expedited now.”
“We're whittling it down now, sir,” Admiral Subert stated. “All three ships are taking on stores now. They should be underway by the time limit.”
“Good.”
“I know you do good work, Phil. Thank you. Keep up the good work.”
“We'll try, sir.”
“I can't stop in the star systems; I'm passing through on this pass. On the return, I'll stop and make arrangements to pass on keys and to visit time permitting. That should help manage the political fallout.”
“As long as the visits are brief. We need you back here in the capital, sir,” Captain Sprite stated firmly.
“Miss me already?” Admiral Irons quipped, aware that his tone wouldn't get through the ansible. She could get it just fine. “I'm not even gone yet!”
She rolled her eyes at him. “You have no idea. There is enough paperwork stacking up to make even me want to wring my hands and duck and cover. And by the way, clearing your
schedule abruptly will have Liobat turning in circles with the press corps tomorrow. A certain red head will also put in demands for answers.”
“Joy,” the admiral said sourly at that reminder.
“That's what you get for this unscheduled vacation,” she replied with a twinkle.
“Vacation she calls it,” Admiral Subert snorted. “So, what is the GOTH plan? Do I want to know what we need to do if you don't make it back in one piece?”
“Will we ever know?” Monty asked.
“You will. There is an ansible in B-102c after all,” Admiral Irons replied. “I'll check in there just like I do at each stop.”
“I'll forward your paperwork there then,” Sprite said. “It should take a long time to get it all through that low bandwidth though.”
“Joy,” Admiral Irons said again.
“You really are dead set on making him pay for this, aren't you?” Vestri rumbled. Sprite just shrugged at him. He snorted.
“If anything happens to me, Captain Sprite has contingency orders on file. Hopefully, it won't come to that,” Admiral Irons stated. That earned an uncomfortable silence from the assembly.
“When will we know when to activate them?” Monty asked.
“When I'm more than three months overdue,” Admiral Irons stated.
“And if you return after that?” Vestri asked. “Sometimes you have to drop to the slow speeds in hyper, Admiral. Look what happened to Caroline.”
He nodded. “We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Hopefully, I'm not late.”
“No plan survives contact with the enemy, Admiral,” General 1010111 reminded him.
“I know. I know Childress is an enemy now, and I hate that. But, hopefully there are enough good people left in Bek to help take him down.”
“Yes, sir. I think your impact will turn the tide.”
“We'll see.”
“Helm team has boarded the courier. All passengers are boarding now except one. Are you ready, Admiral?” Protector interjected.
“Final boarding call has just been announced. Any problems, you've got a couple days before I'm out of this star system.”
“Twenty-six hours actually. She's a fast ship, sir,” Protector stated.
“Right. Okay, a little bit more than one day. Make it count, people.”
:::{)(}:::
It was tight on the courier, very tight, John thought. Everyone was hot bunking, including him. He had Major Burrows and the small Marine security team to share his tiny cabin with. Fortunately, when they were on duty, they stood outside his door. Those who weren't on duty he was certain would make themselves scarce when he was in the cabin.
One group who needed not much space were the A.I. Sprite and the A.I. development team had assembled. He now had several thousand dumb A.I. templates as well as the cores and initialization sequences for four hundred smart A.I. for flag officers he encountered. They might as well get as much bang for the buck in the trip. He wouldn't be able to get the A.I. to Agnosta or Pyrax until his return trip, but that was fine.
The four-person water dweller helm team had their own cabin and special habitat built into the ship. Their comforts had already been planned for. The antimatter powered courier ship was their home. Each of the helm team had been rigorously tested and trained. All of them had experience in hyperspace. This would be the first time any of them had skipped a ship however.
The snow-white courier had been set up as Federation-One and had a thin blue and red line that led to the livery of the Federation painted on its flanks. It looked sharp he had to admit. He was giving her a hell of a baptism he knew.
As the courier moved out to the jump point, Admiral Irons issued his last series of orders to Sprite as well as through the ansible. One of those orders was to backstop Yorgi at their next stop. The admiral was to return to Antigua to take military command while the rest of his party continued on to Pyrax and eventually Bek.
That team would take the rapids in Justica at the ship's more sedate speed. He had other plans.
He just hoped and prayed all of the risks would be worth it in the end.
Act II
High winds and thunder brewing
Chapter 25
Federation 1
It took a few days for the passengers and crew to settle into the small courier ship's routine. It was not that hard to do; there were not that many places to go and little to do. The passengers couldn't escape into VR since all of the computers were needed for their high speed. Just finding a place to bed everyone had been a chore. He shared his cabin with his security team, though most of the time they stood outside the compartment.
A few of the crew opted to set up hammocks for those interested in sleeping in them. The passengers who didn't have cabins slept wherever they could. The engineering store rooms were highly coveted since they offered some privacy. Unfortunately, they came with a downside as that techs had to sometimes do work in the compartment outside, and sometimes needed something in the draws and storage cubbies in the room they were bunking in.
Even though they had it relatively to themselves didn't mean it was left empty. Since the ship was at its max capacity, every space was hot bunked. No space was wasted. The steward tried to ration the fresh food but it wasn't easy. The fresh food took up the most space.
Admiral Irons appreciated the balance between fresh food and the replicator rations. He honestly didn't care either way initially; he just saw food as fuel when he was on a mission. He knew he was going to catch hell when he got back. He'd firmly made Cookie stay behind, and she'd been practically seething when he'd left. He winced at the thought of April as well. He was going to be in the dog house for a good long time at this rate he mused darkly.
Oh well. They were committed, he reminded himself with false cheer.
Fortunately, the first leg of their journey was uneventful and short. Each of the two Selkies and two Picans took a six-hour shift at the helm for the three-and-a-half-day journey to Triang. He kept a close eye on them initially since they were going at a pretty high speed in Epsilon band. But, they handled the load with little signs of stress. He was glad of that; the real stress test would come in a short time. And once they were through all of the skips, they'd be in for the real test of their lives.
:::{)(}:::
The Triang picket was surprised by the arrival of a starship at the Antigua jump point. The ship had jumped in well outside the normal established jump zone, so there was initially some concern about a misjump or engineering failure. That changed to the possible scenario of an enemy scout. The alert went out and the nearest warship was dispatched to investigate. They started with a beamed inquiry to the intruder to identify themselves as their sensors probed the ship and the space around it for information.
They had a positive lock on the gravitational emissions of the ship within minutes. Using that, the sensor watch locked onto the coordinates with the ship's other sensors. It took time for the light of the ship's arrival to get to them. Once the burst of energy passed, they could see what they were dealing with.
The intruder was a red, white, and blue liveried courier ship three and a half days out from leaving Antigua. It wasn't anything like a record, but it was damn good for modern times. The helm crew and general crew were nervous about the planned skip however. The ship secured from jump but kept the hyperdrive charged. When the captain called him, Admiral Irons signed off on giving them an additional four hours to prep for the skip over the hour he'd planned on. He wanted time to get the data from the ansible anyway, whatever he could in that time before the drive cut things short.
“Sir, we're getting an IFF challenge,” the captain warned.
“Send them our IFF but send them the encrypted orders I gave you. They are to report our arrival, but they are not to let anyone know who we are. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
:::{)(}:::
Captain Amber Bevel of the Apollo class corvette Charlie frowned when the IFF came in. “It's def
initely one of ours, ma'am,” the comm tech said. He stiffened when he saw the notation on the screen before it blanked out. He paled when he got an encrypted file. He opened it with a tentative click through his implants and scanned it.
“What's going on? Where is the identifier data?” Captain Bevel demanded. She hated screw-ups, and she hated being in the tiny-ass ship. Sure, it was a hyper capable command, but it didn't do any good for her when all they did was sit on picket duty and watch convoys pass through the system. She was long overdue for a transfer or liberty. So was most of her crew. Charlie had been kept on the picket assignment a long time as well. Surely, someone would find a way to relieve the ship? Triang was an important star system, a node on the path between the capital and Pyrax. Convoys were turning around in the system weekly. Okay, so maybe they didn't need a fleet, but something more than the tin cans and corvettes, right? But no, the Admiralty was content with sending the best off to the front.
And that bothered her most of all she thought in a private corner of her mind. The idea that she might not measure up, that she had been selected to fill a post no one wanted—it rankled deep inside.
“Sorry, ma'am, classified.”
“Excuse me?” she demanded, rounding on him.
“I received classified orders. I have your copy,” Jed said. He copied her file and sent it to her. She read it and then pursed her lips in a thin sour line of displeasure. “I guess we'll have to wonder,” she muttered.
“Yes, ma'am.”
:::{)(}:::
Antigua
“Madam Secretary, you asked me to inform you when the admiral arrived. They did it,” an A.I. voice said from her intercom, surprising Moira. She looked up from her briefing notes with a frown. “They made it to Triang,” Captain Sprite reported. When that penetrated she sat back and scrubbed her face slightly.
“Good. Damn good time! Damn! That was what, three days? We took how long to get from there to here?” Moira asked.