“Both fleets?” James said. He knew the answer, this wasn’t the first time he had asked that same question.
“Yes sir,” Lee said. “They are both overdue. The troop transports did not transition. They were waiting for word from the Admiral it was safe to transition. The only thing that has come through are a pair of battleships with New Alamo markings and the transports lost sight of them after the New Alamo ships entered the system. The frigates guarding the transports thought it wise not to pursue the two intruders.”
“Dammit, why?” James asked.
“They would have been swatted like bugs,” Lee said. “The transports are returning. There is no reason to keep them there. Besides, we might need those troops here. The miners of Thor, on Callisto are threatening to strike again.”
“They sit at a desk all day supervising robots,” James said. “How hard can their job be? What are they whining about?”
“The usual,” Lee said. “Long hours and minimal compensation, food shortages, lack of consumer products.”
“Tell them to have more children,” James said scowling.
“Really?” Lee said.
“Of course not,” James said. “Feed them some garbage and tell them we will increase research into AI. Tell them we have leads on some Conglomerate designs that might be better and we are negotiating with a company to provide them. Just get them to shut up. Get a list of the more outspoken idiots and silence them.”
“Okay, but production is dropping and we won’t meet quota from Thor,” Lee said.
“Fine. We will punish them later. What else?”
“Food shortages at a couple colonies on Callisto,” Carl said. “There was a mutated virus that impacted food production at Aquarius. They’ve kept it contained, but they weren’t able to make quota and we the other incident has wiped out our reserves.”
“Find out who screwed up the projections and fire them,” James said. “We can’t have the appearance the government tolerates incompetence and it will give the people someone to blame.”
“About the fleets?” Lee asked.
“Stall,” James said. “Act like they are on a trade mission or something to the Conglomerate. Tell that to the rock kickers at Thor and if word gets out those fleets are destroyed, there will be heads rolling.”
“Yes sir,” Carl and Lee said in unison.
“How are we doing on Azura?” James asked.
“The Socialist Party continues to slip in the polls, nothing serious yet, just a percent, but that might delay things a little and the JSP doesn’t have the backing yet to push through a Jupiter Intelligence Services Authorization bill in the local senate, so we are still operating though the back door.”
“If the JSP wins Azura then we should be able to move in troops and establish a central committee,” Lee said. “Lots of pushback though because there are local companies that are too busy financially raping the people. Their pockets are deep enough to buy senators.”
“Well, have the Azura JSP push some new regulations, bring those bastards to heel, more taxes. We can’t unite humanity under our banner if they are so worried about making money,” James said. “Maybe if we started a branch of the Pro-United Human race there they could pressure those greedy bastards? Have the JIS team look into that.”
“Yes sir,” Lee said.
“What else?”
“Just the usual,” Carl said. “Prices are going up everywhere and people are complaining, but not too much. Most people understand the need for a strong fleet and internal security. Crime is on the rise because the less skilled are getting restless and aren’t willing to work for it. We might have to raise the guaranteed income to keep them happy.”
“Dammit,” Lee said. “We raised that a couple months ago.”
Carl shrugged, “and the price of everything else is rising. Fewer people want to work hard. Smarter robots are helping, but not fast enough.”
“So many damned lazy people,” James said.
“Empyrea is doing good,” Lee said.
“Well leave them alone,” James said. “The people seem happy so far.”
“But they are pro-capitalist,” Lee said. “People might draw a comparison.”
James scowled at Lee until Lee turned away.
“Eksjö and Falun colonies are doing well,” Lee said. “We could use them as examples.”
“Create committees to study them and their success,” James said.
“We did,” Lee said. “It is cultural. They were colonized by Swedes and they aren’t good socialist models despite the propaganda.”
“Well, get a committee to figure out how we can transfer those cultural values to other colonies,” James said remembering the study. Those two colonies on Callisto had been founded by Swedes a while ago when they fled their collapsing country on Earth. They had regained their strong work ethics and seemed to be a pleasant people, even if they were fanatical about not accepting anymore immigrants, unless those immigrants had a proven record and a strong work ethic.
“The meatballs have changed so much since Earth, you would think they were still being asked to accept raghead refugees to bolster their failing birth rate,” Carl said.
“Yea,” Lee replied with a scowl.
“Oh, save that damned racial indignation bullshit for the gullible commoners,” James said, turning back to his screen. Was it time to take complete control?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SarahGray
The over-sized behemoth stepped forward and grabbed Sarah by the neck. The move of an amateur, or a bodybuilder who thought strength was superior to skill, especially when dealing with a much smaller woman. At close to a hundred and ninety-five centimeters tall and over a hundred and fifteen kilograms, earth standard, he towered close to fifteen centimeters over Sarah, even though she towered over and out massed most women. Sarah was tall because she had been born and raised in lower gravity and her earth heritage made her that way, like the Viking women she had descended from, she was well muscled and coordinated, not what most men from lighter gravity were used to.
Man-muscle had a grin on his face as he squeezed. He didn’t expect Sarah’s half-smile as she grabbed his wrist and leaning back, straightening out his arm. Pulling back to keep from falling over on top of her, the muscle head did exactly what she wanted. Sarah launched her body at him while keeping his arm straight. Muscle head’s other arm came up to block any kicks to his midsection as he turned sideways, the only thing she had that could reach something beside his over muscled arm.
Her outer leg came up over his face as he fell over, all of her weight now pulling him to the side while her other leg came up to brace the shin against his armpit and ribs. With over sixty kilograms pulling him over onto an arm that was extended and trapped, the muscle head didn’t have a choice as her weight swung around him, pulling him down and propelling his face into the mat. Sarah used her legs, pushing him down further and her now free hand to cushion her own fall, but muscle head wasn’t so lucky as his face bounced on the mat. Grabbing his arm again in a good grip Sarah straightened her body and muscle head started screaming, the muscles in his arm straining but they would be no match for her entire body. There would be no way he could escape without a broken arm if she took it that far. Sarah had already planned her next move, which would be drawing a knife and placing it in the back of his head, underneath the lip of his helmet. This was training however, and she didn’t have knife and he wasn’t wearing a helmet.
“Stop!” a voice yelled out and Sarah let go and rolled away, coming to her feet.
The muscle head lay there for a few moments, not sure if he should try to stop the bleeding in his nose or deal with the pain in his arm. Finally, he pulled himself up to glare at Sarah as she stood nearby, watching and waiting.
“You okay Martinez?” the sergeant asked. Martinez nodded and Sarah thought she heard him mutter ‘bitch’ but that just made her smile more.
“Another round?” Sarah asked.
Martinez locked eyes with her, his face covered with blood. His nose broken where it had slammed into the mat and already one eye was swelling.
“No,” the sergeant said before Martinez could answer. “Lance Corporal Martinez, you get to sick bay. Get that ugly mug checked.”
Martinez left, his eyes shooting nothing but pure hatred at Sarah.
“Good job LT,” staff sergeant Berry whispered from nearby. Sarah glanced back to see most of her platoon standing around watching. They weren’t bothering to conceal their smiles or nods of approval.
“Anybody else?” Sarah asked the sergeant.
The Sergeant glanced over toward a group of men that were looking everywhere except at him. His gaze turned back to Sarah, and he didn’t look happy.
“I think the rest want to work on form, Lieutenant,” the Sergeant said. “I would say you proved your point.”
Sarah nodded and went back to her platoon members. The gym was a busy place with Marines everywhere pumping iron, rolling on the mats, running on a track or otherwise engaged in some form of physical torture.
“That was inspiring,” Sergeant Phyllis Daniel, the leader of first squad said with a smile.
“Thank you,” Sarah said to the smaller woman. Daniel’s hair was kept short and spiked out, but was currently flattened with a bandana to control the sweat. She wasn’t as tall as Sarah but she had plenty of muscle and attitude.
“Would that have worked in zero gravity Lieutenant?” Sergeant Beverly McCarthy asked, the leader of third squad.
Sarah glanced at the diminutive woman. Was that a legitimate question or an observation? The look in her eyes made Sarah realize it was a question.
“No,” Sara said, looking back to where Martinez was making his way out of the gym. “That much mass being slung around in zero gravity would cause both of us to spin out of control and slam into everything imaginable, but we wouldn’t be standing like that either.”
McCarthy nodded as Sarah continued to survey the gym. There weren’t many Valkyries, the Jupiter Alliance Marine term for Woman Marines and Sarah scowled.
“What’s up Lieutenant?” Berry asked noticing Sarah’s scowl.
“My Marine Corps looks like it is turning into a man’s playground,” Sarah said.
Berry shrugged. “There is more pay in having children. You and I both know we aren’t going into combat until the birth rate of the Jupiter Alliance climbs again.”
Sarah wanted to argue, but the was no use since it was true. The Secretary General was adamant about increasing the birth rate of the Jupiter Alliance. There were so many incentives for women to have lots of children, full health care, clothing allowances and more. There was no cost to having a child and more than a few benefits, but Sarah had no interest in children, not until the Caliphate was vanquished at any rate.
“Rumor has it they are about to decommission the Valkyrie Nine-fifty Commando because it is under strength. They will send the members to other units or the ‘Crap’,” Berry said. The ‘crap’ platoon was an abbreviation for CRP, known as Combat Replacement Platoon, which was actually more of a company in size.
Sarah’s eyes fell on the punching bags, one of the less used pieces of equipment. Several men were beating the pulp out of some punching bots, but the bags themselves were abandoned. The rest of her platoon broke away to resume their individual physical training since there was no chance of seeing their platoon commander fight again, but Staff Sergeant Berry remained with Sarah.
“Another rumor I’ve heard,” Berry said. “The ragheads are inviting the Jupiter Alliance to peace again.”
Sarah stopped to stare at Berry. Her Staff Sergeant spent a lot of time on the Social Nets, sharing rumors and news, which meant she had a much better idea of what was going on throughout the solar system, and the JAMC.
“After getting kicked out of Josocky? I thought they lost a major fleet,” Sarah asked.
“One would think,” Berry said. “I heard the NAMO’s kicked their ass without suffering any casualties using alien super-tech weapons. I even heard the ragheads had some asteroid turned monster battle ship, they are calling it a juggernaut. What is most interesting is the ragheads have the technology to transit to Josaka and we don’t.”
Sarah shook her head. She had read an intel brief about the New Alamo forces defeating a Caliphate task force, but didn’t remember hearing anything about a juggernaut. Berry’s information sources were usually questionable but Sarah found her platoon sergeant to be a better source of information than official briefings.
“Which means what?” Sarah asked.
“It means keep your eyes peeled Lieutenant and be ready,” Berry said. “The Caliphate has something planned and they wouldn’t be talking so much shit after such a major defeat unless they had other plans.”
Sarah had picked a bag and was heading toward it. Her platoon sergeant followed her, more interested in gossip than physical training. If Berry wasn’t in better shape than she was, Sarah might have given her a hard time about it.
“And?” Sarah asked. Annoyed at the company but also curious.
“Depending on what they have planned,” Berry said. “We could still see action. It has been a while since they tried to slip in suicide commandos.”
Sarah nodded and pulled on some gloves from a rack.
“I’m going to for a little run Lieutenant,” Berry said. “Have fun on the bags.”
“Thanks Staff Sergeant,” Sarah said as she eyed the back and set an internal timer in her InnerBuddy for a set of five, three minute, rounds.
Berry wandered off as Sarah released her anger and frustration on the heavy bag.
CHAPTER TWELVE
New Alamo
“So, the Bronkaw Grand Marshal wants a military alliance?” Day asked. “How impractical is that?”
“Very,” Mark said. “A month travel time? But how much help will we be to each other?”
“What did you say?” Day said.
“I said yes,” Mark said.
“Why?” Day asked.
Mark shrugged. “I wish I knew. But in his message, he said he wanted a battleship swap. He will send us three battleships to protect our territory and we send three human battleships and commanders to help him with his problem. He said as a sign of trust he was sending them first.”
“What happened to Admiral Kishi?” Day asked.
“Vakasa said Luke defeated an enemy and is taking the battle to them,” Mark said. "I'll send you Luke's report."
“Then why does Vakasa want humans again?” Day asked and Mark sighed.
“He said humans are better against their foes, someone called the Vress, and he said Bronkaw battleships will do better against the Caliphate.”
“No shit,” Day said. “Bronkaw battleships are huge, slow moving monsters. Still faster than the Caliphate, or Jupes and armed up the wizwang, but it seems odd.”
“Could our new battleships take on a Bronkaw battleship?” Mark asked.
Admiral Day accessed his InnerBuddy and did some quick calculations.
“Probably,” Day said. “We have better acceleration and maneuverability for sure. Mass drivers are still their standard, plasma lances ours, so we are at least on par with weapons since they have some huge coil guns. We have better automation, missiles and I think tactics, so yea. I think we would have the advantage over the Bronkaw battleships.”
Day paused and looked at Mark.
“You don’t think they killed Kishi and are planning to finish off the rest of humanity, do you?” Day asked.
“I thought about it,” Mark said. “But I think the dinosaurs are too practical for that. If these Vress are that nasty they must be ripping through the Bronkaw. The reports seem detailed. Luke's report was minimal, but he sent one.”
“Anything else?” Day said.
“Yea,” Mark said. “Vakasa has said he is contracting with the Nalee to build us several ships, a couple battleships and cruisers. We have to provide crews though. Can we?”
Day scowled.
“Yea,” Day said. “Possibly. Be moving up a lot of junior officers to command positions. Maybe we can recruit from Athena?”
“Good idea,” Mark said. “I got the impression they had a lot of officers and not a lot of ships to put them in. Refugees from the Jupiter Alliance.”
“It all seems too good to be true,” Day said.
“Yea,” Mark said. “That means things will get nasty.”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Day said.
Felix came over and slid his head under Mark’s hand for some attention.
“You sure you don’t want my job?” Mark asked scratching behind Felix’s ears.
“You couldn’t pay me enough,” Days said.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jupiter Recon
“Negative,” Harris said watching a nearby Jupiter Alliance Cruiser slide by at ten thousand kilometers. The CIC was silent and dim as everyone focused on their consoles. “No response.”
“Sounds like the Caliphate has better sensors,” Fry said. “They keep chasing off the Octavius.”
“More background radiation and debris here in the Jupiter subsystem,” Harris said. “Gravity fluctuations are also harder to map and spot. We are bottling our heat and the Conglomerate stealth is working beautifully. I would be surprised if they found us. Over seventy moons and a miniature asteroid field makes the space around Jupiter a happening place.”
“Aye Commander,” Fry said sounding unhappy.
“It will get boring,” Harris said.
Sonya glanced over and saw the frown on Fry’s face. He was younger and ambitious, the type of person that didn’t handle boredom too well.
Goodwin was rubbing his face.
“Anything Commander?” Sonya asked the intelligence officer.
“So much propaganda Captain,” Goodwin said returning to stare at his screens. “If it isn’t the Caliphate, it is the Xu’an Dynasty, or the Jupes. Vesta and the colonies around Saturn might be the only ones not saturating the airwaves with propaganda. Outside of that it looks like the Jupiter Alliance does mostly tight beam communication. It is a pain sifting through all the garbage to find out what is going on. It is like they are all trying to outdo each other.”
New Empires: Conglomerate Series Book 3 Page 6