Court-Martial (Horatio Logan Chronicles Book 2)

by Chris Hechtl

  He inhaled and then exhaled. “I understand some of the reasoning,” he said. “You didn't want hyperdrives so you wouldn't get the urge to poke the bear or in this case the Xenos. Not that there was much luck of getting out of the nexus without help.”

  “Some tried to keep our starships running but …,” Admiral Amir said and then shrugged.

  “Admiral, your time here is nearly up. Do you want me to push your schedule back?” Protector asked in the admiral's ear. Subtly the admiral shook his head.

  “I understand Nuevo wasn't happy about the balance of trade. We're going to fix that among other things. But those are problems for a later date,” Admiral Irons said rising from his seat. Others hastily rose as well. The old tradition of when the president stands, no one sits was still in force. “I think I've given you enough to consider for the moment. I've got another appointment. Consider what I said carefully. If I were you, I'd want to cooperate, get the legal problems behind you as quickly as possible so you can participate in the growth and economic boom Bek is going to see shortly.”

  “Thank you, Mister President,” Jules murmured as Admiral Irons left.

  “It looks like we've all got a lot to consider,” Admiral Open Eyes said.

  “He really did open our eyes to some things,” Admiral Amir said with a flash of a smile to the bug.

  “Ah hell,” Admiral Revere muttered as they left.

  @^@

  Horatio and Zek used Mercury to help with the overhaul of BUSHIPS. The A.I. had its limitations but it easily pointed out what parts of a cruiser could be produced by existing infrastructure and what needed specialized manufacturing from the replicators.

  Admiral Irons was amused when he dropped by to upload industrial keys and found out about it. “I'm glad he came in handy.”

  “Yes, sir. He was very good at helping with the design and construction of Ilmarinen and the Harbor Station.”

  “I'd wanted to stop in there and see your handiwork. Pity I didn't get the chance.”

  “Perhaps on the return journey, sir?” Zek suggested.

  “Maybe,” Admiral Irons said with a shrug. “I think I might have to give up dropping in on Nuevo. I might not have the time.”

  “That bad, sir?”

  “I'm the president. Being out of contact with the Federation for this long is considered a bad thing,” Admiral Irons said with a shake of his head as he finished uploading his keys. “This one is done. Next?”

  “Next door, sir,” Zek said, motioning to the compartment next to them. “Commander, excuse me, Captain Thistle suggested we cluster them together for the time being.”

  “I don't like the idea of something going wrong and taking them all out, but I can see how it is coming in handy,” Admiral Irons said. “Lead the way,” he said, motioning to the admiral.

  “Aye aye, sir.”

  @^@

  Many of the officers who had received promotions after Admiral Irons had ordered a freeze received a demotion after a review. Some of the list and flag rank officers received them for going along with Childress and Draken. One of the exceptions was Rear Admiral Ben Ross.

  Admiral Irons personally interviewed the admiral after he read Protector's report. “There are few officers I accept. You kept your head down and your wits. I know about your plan to defect to Bek B,” he said, smiling thinly. “I know you probably fear charges of desertion. I'm not doing that.”

  “What I am going to do is give you something rare, a second chance. You helped out where you could, specifically with the trial. Fine. I need you to watch Sharp Reflexes and the other officers' backs. I'll be pulling some reliable people out with me, so it might be tight for a while. Can you do it?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good.” Admiral Irons shook his head. “I was pissed about what happened and why no one stepped up to get rid of Childress and Draken. But, after reading about all the personnel ONI made disappear,” he grimaced, “I can't say I'm surprised any of you kept your heads down.”

  “Anything on them, sir?”

  “Some we've gotten back. But there are quite a few that just went down a rabbit hole, never to be seen again. I hate that. It's something Commodore Yashido and the others are digging into, on top of everything else they've got on their plate.”

  Admiral Ross nodded.

  “I need you to help with that. I'll find a place for you. For now, report to Vice Admiral Zekowitz for a temporary assignment.”

  “Yes, sir. Does this mean I'm relieved of my duty with TF 1.2.2?” the rear admiral asked carefully.

  “For the time being, yes. The entire sublight fleet will be undergoing a drastic downsize. Some will remain to support and protect the Republic, and of course for training purposes, but not all. So, if you want a fleet command, you better be willing to pack your bags and come out my way,” the admiral said, smiling mirthlessly.

  Admiral Ross nodded. “I have family here, sir, but I'll consider it carefully.”

  “Good.”

  @^@

  Stormkeeper arrived three days after her departure with Admiral Sharp Reflexes and his senior staff reportedly on board. The ship spent two days sailing through the void to Command One. While underway data and vid files flew fast and furious between the ship's passengers, Admiral Irons, and the Admiralty. By the time of Stormkeeper's arrival in port, the T'clock admiral was up to speed and ready to assume command of the Admiralty.

  While on board each of the Bekian officers had received basic ID implants from the ship's medics. The IDs were a starting point for the officer implants and flag officer implants that would follow.

  Colonel Hirohata led the contingent of JAG and NCIS officers and agents that Admiral Sharp Reflexes had brought along with them to help out. Admiral Irons appreciated the effort as did his already overworked personnel from Pyrax.

  One of the first thing the colonel did was suspend all active JAG designations of personnel who were under a cloud. That meant they couldn't participate in a prosecution or defense or give an opinion on behalf of the Federation until they were reinstated, if they ever got that far.

  He had also reactivated personnel who had resigned or had retired who were not under a cloud and then empowered probationary JAG designations on additional personnel that BUPERS scrounged up. They went so far as to dig into the civilian justice system and the academy for additional warm bodies.

  The colonel had a little help from a dumb A.I. Admiral Irons had brought along. Ensign Lady Justice as she was known had a blindfolded avatar some joked about.

  Vice President Nibs had also managed to be on board the ship so she too could confer with Admiral Irons and President K'k'R'll. She brought with her a piece of mixed news however. A referendum had taken place by the population. The vote had narrowly passed by a two-thirds majority. The population of Bek B no longer wanted to be in the Bek Republic. They wanted local independence and autonomy.

  President K'k'R'll was, needless to say, not happy with the news but unsurprised by it. It had been building up to that point for some time; the civil war had just been the excuse they needed to make the break official. He tried to take it the best he could while also trying to get them to slow the process down and think through everything carefully.

  @^@

  Zek surprised Admiral Irons by getting Harmony of Space back into space eight days after his arrival at Command One. As the ship worked through her working-up exercises to test her equipment, Second Chance was put back into space as well. It was decided that the two starships would run cargo and personnel between the two components of Bek until another ship could be built to connect them to the Sargasso star system.

  While Admiral Sharp Reflexes received his upgrades to flag officer implants, Admiral Irons initialized the T'clock's dumb A.I. as well as those of all of the other flag officers who had already undergone flag officer implant surgery.

  Horatio was surprised when his implant A.I. woke but as a nascent smart A.I. He was a little dub
ious about having the A.I. share his implants, but he knew he had no choice. Beau seemed to sleep a lot, so much that they hadn't made formal introductions. Apparently, such things could wait.

  Zek also got a smart A.I. and looked on to her with a bit of wonder and awe initially as did Admiral Sharp Reflexes when he returned to duty three days after he got his implants as head of the Admiralty.

  With him was Rear Admiral Ross who would head up Operations. Zek would of course handle BUSHIPS with Horatio as his XO. They had plenty of company with a newly-promoted Rear Admiral Brunswick and others.

  Vice Admiral Heals Quickly had been brought back to head BuMedical. The T'clock was in the process of receiving regen therapy.

  Admiral Bolt had reluctantly taken on Logistics once more. Colonel Hirohata had been promoted to brigadier and given command of JAG as TJAG. He had the unenviable task of overseeing the trials and sorting through the mess Admiral Shren had left behind. Colonel Talia, Captain Ross, and a newly-promoted Captain JG Chedwiggen would act as his seconds in order to help him ferret out the mess and set things straight.

  Admiral Nilsson took over Third Fleet. Fourth Fleet was to be stood down and absorbed by the other commands. Vice Admiral Champion was going to return with Admiral Irons to take a fleet command in the outer Federation.

  Commodore Yukio Yashido was promoted to rear admiral and given command of a much-reduced ONI. She would have her hands full for some time reorganizing Naval Intelligence into a respectable department.

  Newly-promoted Rear Admiral Fournier took on BUPERS with Captain Tisdail and Commander Si at her back. She had her work cut out for her.

  Admiral Irons and Protector made certain each and every flag officer was given full implants including an A.I. to monitor them. Additional dumb A.I. cores had been brought along in the battle cruisers. They were initialized and installed to help sort things out. There were some protests about the inclusion of A.I. and the thought of A.I. officers apparently offended some officers, but Admiral Irons didn't care. “If they want to stay in the navy, they'll shut up and step up or resign. At this point, I don't give a damn,” he growled when Protector informed him of the grumbling.

  “They'll keep an eye on things,” Protector stated. “And they should help watch Admiral Logan's back.”

  “Agreed,” Admiral Irons said. He knew that the Bekian admirals were not happy. Anyone who protested was reprimanded. If they put up too much of a fuss, they were simply relieved of duty. That had gotten his point across really quick that he wasn't interested in listening to their whining. There were reports on social media of some seething and sullen officers. That was to be expected, though many didn't like the comparison to two-year-olds. There was also a lot of backlash about how they should be ashamed of themselves for not doing their duty when they had the chance.

  He also made certain everyone knew Admiral Sharp Reflexes was in charge, irregardless of rank or time in grade. “I don't want any more bullshit from anyone. I don't give a damn about date of rank either. The first one to try any crap gets drop-kicked into the damn sun. I've had it,” Admiral Irons growled to Zek when the admiral came around for a face-to-face report. Zek snorted but nodded dutifully.

  “And I don't want to hear any whining from you about being stuck where you are,” Admiral Irons warned.

  “Me, sir?”

  “Yes, you. I know Horatio. You two are alike in some ways. You are both engineers like me,” Admiral Irons said with a slight twinkle in his eyes. “So, you're going to have to suffer while you two get the industrial plants and shipyards up and running right. You'll feel like you're drowning in paperwork and meetings but deal with it.”

  “Yes, sir. Penance and all that,” Zek replied with a brief smile.

  “To hell with that. I didn't do anything wrong that I'm aware of, and I've got it up to my eyeballs myself,” Admiral Irons grumbled. Admiral Zekowitz chuckled.

  @^@

  Admiral Fournier was swamped by all the changes in BUPERS and her implants, but she did her best to cope. Officers, noncoms, and enlisted put in to get out of their retirement and reenlist as did those who had resigned their commissions in protest of Admiral Childress. Just sorting through them would take time. And that didn't include the sudden upwelling of patriotism that consumed the population like a fever.

  BUPERS was overwhelmed overnight, not just from them, but also from the tens of thousands and then hundreds of thousands of people who signed up with the navy and Marines after hearing about the arrival of Admiral Irons and his shake-up of the navy. Kids as young as elementary school were drawing images of the admiral and begging for him to visit their school or area. Posters were up everywhere.

  Admiral Irons didn't have time to hold conventions or hallway meetings. He did make a few media appearances when he could squeeze in the time. Most of them were online while he was in transit between one point and another. Near the end of his time in Bek, he knew things had finally started to really turn around.

  Epilogue

  Before he was scheduled to leave, Admiral Irons did everything in his power to not only pass on keys but to upload keys to the few industrial replicators in use in the star system. Hundreds of the devices had been built just in the short time he'd been there, most of them with the help of Admiral Zekowitz and Horatio.

  The industrial replicators were only a small part of the puzzle however. The civilian industrial titans were still retooling their complexes and retraining their personnel, but some of the subassembly contractors were already building up a small inventory.

  The shipyards had yet to lay a hull. It was still far too early, but the logistics was ramping up production for a full-out effort. Admiral Irons had done his part by using his keys to build as many hyperdrive and other components as he could while he was on site. They had several hundred stockpiled, enough for the first two years of production once they started to lay down hulls.

  The industrialists were the real treasure. They were supplying parts in ever increasing amounts. They weren't quite military spec, not yet at least, but they were getting there. Better still, the medics had installed implants in over ten thousand military officers and over thirty thousand enlisted. Admiral Irons had initialized as many keys of senior officers as he could, usually focusing on engineering or medical officers.

  Also, President K'k'R'll and the Republic government had released the tax funds that had been banked. With that to help pay for it all, the economy had taken a turn for the better overnight. They expected the first heavy cruiser to be completed in six months and the first battle cruiser three months after that. Once the industrial plant got its feet under them and the bugs worked out, they could expect the tempo to pick up after that.

  With luck and careful management of their keys and the common parts, the ships shared they would get the schedule turned around and the Republic settled down. The civilian government was solidly in their corner, as was the public, so things were starting to return to normal. They were well behind the schedule he'd set however. He might as well scrap it all and start over from day one he thought as he checked things over one last time.

  At the dock, he shook hands with the senior staff and Horatio.

  “You deserve a medal for what you went through. Unfortunately, they don't make them for that sort of experience.”

  “Pity, maybe they should,” Horatio quipped. He was starting to feel a bit better. He was tired, far more tired than before the trial had ended, but he was more at peace too. It was a good sort of tired, one that came with accomplishments and knowing things were finally right and getting done as they should.

  “By the way, I liked your Sargasso Station. Nice job there. You used what you had available,” Admiral Irons said with a nod.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “It's an effective use of material on hand as I said. Very nice. The liner was an excellent choice. If I have time, I want to get a tour of it. I'd love for the media to get a tour with me. They'd get a kick out of it back home
.”

  Horatio was amused. “Yes, sir,” he said as the admiral patted him on the shoulder.

  The admiral turned to the assembly and nodded once.

  “Sir, the cameras are rolling in five, four …,” Protector stated.

  “Attention on deck!” a voice called out when the A.I. got to three. Admiral Irons and the staff straightened up and came to parade rest just as the lights under the camera lenses turned green.

  “I know things are still rough with the economy. But, I believe things will turn a corner soon. Investments have begun in reconditioning and refitting the industrial complexes. There is more to be done, a great deal of healing to do. I'll leave you to that,” he said.

  “I'm leaving the republic in good hands—both yours and President K'k'R'll and Vice President Nibs. You've all been through some rough trials recently. Hopefully, that is behind you, and it is clear sailing from here on out. Though, I doubt we'll be that lucky,” he said with a brief smile.

  He started to turn away but then stopped and turned back. “I'll be back. Count on it.”

  Admiral Sharp Reflexes led with his species version of a salute. The rest of the officers in the compartment saluted as well. Admiral Irons came to attention and returned the salute.

  He struck it first and then turned back to the boarding ramp. “Good luck,” he said by way of a parting shot as he boarded the shuttle.

  “Dismissed,” Admiral Sharp Reflexes said quietly. The assembly broke down as the cameras watched dispassionately.

  Horatio turned as the lock cycled shut and then looked out the window to see the shuttle leave with his friend.

  His friend, his president, his superior officer. But, most importantly of all, his friend. The three ships were going back stuffed to the deck heads with personnel. All of the JAG, NCIS, and other investigators had been left behind since the investigations weren't finished and the trials barely begun. But some famous names were going back with Admiral Irons in their place.