Enemy of my Enemy (Horatio Logan Chronicles Book 1)

by Chris Hechtl

  “Right,” Zek drawled. “I don't think they took what you were doing out on me. Don't worry about what you can't control, Horatio. I'll deal with it,” he said.

  “Okay,” Horatio said softly.

  The duo of flag officers checked in with academy commandant. Admiral C'v'll was busy with a minor crisis, a group of cadets had been caught in a prank gone bad, so the duo went on the tour alone. It allowed Zek to fill in some of his experiences in the halls.

  Horatio listened to the stories dutifully and laughed at the funny bits. That seemed to warm Zek up a bit.

  When they got to the navigational and helm wing, they stopped in to see Lieutenant V'l'r. The Veraxin was between classes. He told them about the classes. “I have finally gotten some of the tech and hardware I need to teach the advanced navigational courses,” the Veraxin buzzed.

  “Remember, some of your students have relatives in high places. They want them to succeed. They ultimately want you to succeed,” Zek informed him.

  “I'll try to keep that in mind, sir,” the Veraxin stated, signaling second-level agreement and understanding.

  “Much of the hardware, the computer hardware I mean is secondhand. It isn't geared for what I need, but it is okay for the initial classes. They need to learn at a slower pace,” the Veraxin stated.

  “That is how it is with the academy. They always get second or third hand,” Zek said with a shake of his head. “Get used to it.”

  “Some of the hardware is most likely due to our changes in BuShips and logistics,” Horatio noted slowly. The other two officers looked at him. He shrugged off their consideration. “I know we've made some small changes here and there. I understand it's kicked production into gear, and the old hardware has to go somewhere,” he explained.

  “As I said, second and third hand,” Zek said in agreement.

  “Gotcha,” the Veraxin stated. “I've also noted that my classes have begun to be audited by other more senior officers. Some are navigational officers on leave,” the Veraxin stated. Both flag officers nodded. “But I also noticed several officers aren't taking notes; they just seem to be watching.”

  Horatio nodded, shooting a quick look at Zek. He speculated in a text chat that they might be related to ONI spooks shadowing him and others. Zek grunted in agreement.

  The speculation seemed to create a pall on the tour however. They stopped for lunch, then went over to the engineering offices so Zek could finish his tour there and check on things. “My implants help me keep tabs on everything. I still don't have everything running quite the way I'd like, but we're getting there,” he said.

  “Good,” Horatio said, looking around. He loved the images of the ships, yards, and stations. Some seemed to leap off the walls. Zek's office was covered in such images.

  “Careful. Don't get too comfortable or you might wind up here,” Zek said dryly.

  Horatio cocked his head. “Then I'd be in good company, sir,” he said. Zek eyed him and then smiled slightly.

  “Come on. We can finish the tour up and then hit some of the other spots I missed. Lieutenant V'l'r wasn't the only one to be gifted with out-of-date hardware. It's turned into something of a minor windfall with my people. The professors like the idea of hands-on hardware. I know I do.”

  “Awesome, sir,” Horatio said with a nod.

  “I remember we used to only see it in the lab. Usually they'd send something for us to try to fix. Like a class. Normally it was small potatoes, minor bits, or something off a shuttle or lighter,” Zek said as they made their way out of the offices once more.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  As Admiral Zekowitz settled in, he started to think of his new posting as a semipermanent one. Obviously they wanted him to use his keys, but the brass was being bastards about it. They kept him chained to the academy out of some perversity that he couldn't understand and had a hard time not resenting.

  He had decided after a night of thought that Lieutenant Si shouldn't be dragged down with him. He thought about it for a day and even went so far as to check her records. She was due for a reassignment in three months anyway he had noted. That had settled the issue for him.

  The following morning he wrote Oprah a glowing review and got the flag lieutenant reassigned and promoted to Lieutenant Commander. It was a mark on the wall that Oprah didn't comment about the review or transfer, nor protest them.

  When he'd went to BuPers looking for her replacement as well as a replacement staff, he wasn't pleased by what he'd found. Apparently, he'd hit a bad time in recruitment. In the end, without anyone qualified available, he'd been forced to take on a green Neoorangutan ensign fresh out of the middy cruise. According to the ensign's records, Blakely had barely skated through the academy and had also barely passed the middy cruise. Blakely hadn't chosen a profession at the academy and had flunked or barely passed the bare minimum courses, including engineering.

  Zek was not happy about having the untrained klutz on hand managing his schedule, but he had no choice. He knew he had to be fair to Oprah and get her away from him before his unfortunate circumstances tainted her future career.

  The two bright points about the position was that he had access to the academy's engineering department as well as eager puppy-like students with their questions and unbiased minds. Breaking down how everything worked was relatively simple; most of the new hardware was just more efficient than what Bek could produce. But he still held discussions on the implications of the new tech and where Bek was going. He saw it as his duty to teach them the new technology from the beginning with an eye to prepare them for the future.

  That meant a change in the engineering courses had been in order. He'd gotten with the faculty early on and most of the professors had been okay with the new additions to the courses. They usually talk the basics, block diagrams during the theory initially, and then more detailed breakdowns of the components of each segment or stage further on.

  Lieutenant V'l'r requested that he help fully open up the old hyperspace navigation and helm courses, and refurbish their hardware. He'd turned the project over to a couple of his professors and their grad students. He and Horatio had fielded e-mail questions until they'd gotten the sim's bugs out.

  It was well that they'd gotten the hardware sorted out and up and running. By the time they'd finished, Ilmarinen's helm and navigational team came through to do a crash course with Lieutenant V'l'r and to use the sims to practice on.

  The courses had long been forgotten. Admiral C'v'll had been initially loathful in expanding them. However, since Bekian officers were going to be sent to the outer Federation, the brass under prodding from Horatio and Zek had finally accepted their reasoning that it would be necessary to have those skills, and therefore important to pass them on to their personnel. There was also an ever increasing demand from the students for such courses.

  A month into his stay and the commandant agreed with him and opened a few of the courses to the full student body. Lieutenant V'l'r was swamped overnight with students, both cadets and serving officers wanting makeup courses.

  Zek found himself drafted to help oversee the courses despite his ignorance in most of the subject matter. His implants helped him out a great deal there. He learned to delegate the questions though, and brought in TAs to assist the lieutenant.

  That had turned out to be a headache initially since he'd had to train the Teaching Assistants to be able to do their job. They couldn't learn as fast as he had in Pyrax. They barely kept a few steps ahead of the classes from time to time.

  Word got around the navy about the advanced engineering and navigational courses. Officers who were on distant postings applied to audit the courses through video. Some even came in to sit in the class and ask questions. It was disruptive since some came into a course half way through so they didn't have the foundation they needed for the questions.

  Zek was at first annoyed by it, but then realized his fellow officers were getting engaged. Not everyone was eager to drag their feet; it
seemed they were building a following.

  He also knew his own education in Pyrax had been rushed. Consequently, when he got stuck or backed into an area he wasn't certain of, he leaned on Horatio, Commander Thistle, or one of the other engineering officers when he was stuck.

  He even got Horatio to step in as a guest lecturer from time to time. If it was scheduled in advance, the room was packed and the academy techs had to reserve additional bandwidth for those online to watch.

  One thing he didn't hide or fight was the questions his students began to raise about why they were not using the tech and officers that had come in from Pyrax properly.

  It took him a little bit to get over the rather forward questions. The candid naivety bothered him; he knew ONI was watching.

  He was also aware that many of the students weren't quite as naive as they looked. Some were from military families or had friends and family in the navy and government. He tried to answer them as neutrally as possible.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  Admiral Hill read the report of questions being raised at the academy. The handler was careful to point out that the rear admiral didn't bring them up, nor prompt them, and he kept his answered neutral and short. But a few of the names tagged to the questions were there on purpose. She recognized a few from powerful military families in the fleet.

  “So, you are telling me, our attempt to get rid of him while maintaining his usefulness is turning around to bite us in the ass?” she asked as she set the tablet down.

  “Essentially, yes, ma'am. But it is a long-term issue. I understand it is linked to officers wanting to upgrade their ships and wondering why we haven't done that yet,” the commander stated.

  The Neochimp admiral stared at him with her brown eyes, then grunted before she looked away.

  “They are lucky they have their postings at all,” she said. “They don't understand that we should be downsizing. In fact, that is what Irons and the president called for. That would mean a lot of them would be out of a job.”

  “Ma'am, they are essentially doing make-work. They've come to realize that,” the commander said, taking a chance to play devil's advocate.

  “True,” the admiral mused. Most of the postings went to those who had the political connections as well as a clean record and the ability to keep the command. Favor exchanges were the norm in the navy—you scratch my back here, and I'll scratch your back later. That usually was the most prevalent in the promotions board.

  She was aware of the undercurrent of resentment building within some of the navy. There was also a growing desire for officers to get to the outer Federation. Those who made waves moved themselves to the top of the list or Admiral Childress's other list, his shit list.

  “Okay, I'll deal with it. Keep an eye on it,” she said. The commander nodded. “Anything else?” the commander shook his head. She waved a hand. “Dismissed then.”

  “Aye aye, Admiral,” the commander said as he left her office.

  Chapter 36

  Admiral Drake checked the latest reports on operations. There were a series of exercises planned; most of them were pretty basic. He'd spent a week orchestrating the planning of them as well as the plans for exercises of Bek B's fleet. The rotation of fleets was due in another quarter. The real action was in the Marine Corps however. There were a lot of small but noticeable changes there.

  Vice Admiral Ss'k'ttthhh had let him know that the general had put out a series of orders to his chain of command. Despite their budget cuts, the marines had stepped up their training. Clearly something was up.

  The Naga vice admiral had informed Admiral Draken about the brief meeting between Commodore Logan and Yeti. From the Naga's report, his agents hadn't been able to get in to record it, which had irritated him. The Naga was used to knowing everything. Just knowing the duo had met was knowledge however.

  He'd been worried about a possible mutiny and had considered going direct to Admiral Childress but had held off. The admiral wasn't certain what had been said until he saw the changes Yeti began to make to the Corps. Like the training, he thought, sitting back in his chair and flexing his claws. He was amused by it, and more amused by Omar's puzzlement and annoyance at Yeti's actions and his indifference to his nominal boss's approval or disapproval over his actions.

  Sherman considered what had happened, putting himself in Yeti's boots. The general wasn't happy about how things were going. He'd noted it, as well as similar feelings coming from Admiral Soar and Strike. The Delquir was due to retire soon or at least had been right up until Admiral Irons had waved the mandatory retirement rule and instituted medical changes. Now she could hang in there and hang onto her post if she wished.

  She was also busy writing up legal memos warning Childress and the staff about their present course of action. Omar wasn't at all happy about the insurrection in his ranks, but he couldn't exactly fire her for doing her job. He'd been tempted, but N'r'm'll and Draken had talked him out of the knee jerk reaction. They had just put the last controversy to bed; they didn't want or need it to be reawakened.

  He shook his head and returned his attention to the general. It was obvious now that he'd had a couple weeks of seeing the changes in the Corps that Yeti had asked for and received a copy of his orders from Admiral Irons. And Yeti was acting on them, ignoring Childress as much as possible in the process. He frowned. Again, Omar couldn't can him, not for doing his job.

  They were at a perilous point in things he knew. Omar had undermined his own credibility and was close to losing the respect and cooperation of his officers. With Admiral Soar and Strike in the JAG office, he was also aware that he couldn't prosecute people for doing what they saw as their duty despite his intentions. The old saying about never issue an order you know won't be obeyed rang through his mind.

  His golden eyes closed for a moment, then opened again as he began to speculate again. Did the commodore give the Neogorilla a copy of all of their orders? Or just those specific to the marines? He wasn't certain. He considered going to Zek or Logan to get his own copy. After a bit of thought, he realized that he was better off not knowing. Ignorance was the best policy and legal cover he could shelter under.

  “Sir, we've got that schedule change for the thirteenth. And the orders for Seventh fleet have been sent out. We've got a couple minor issues on the docket. Nothing major. Oh, and Admiral N'r'm'll's office called and asked if you were busy in an hour,” the yeoman said as she entered his office.

  Sherman nodded slowly. “I think I can spare N'r'm'll the time if we move things around. As long as he doesn't get all long winded again,” he said with a shake of his head.

  “I … don't think I can emphasize that the conversation stays on task. Not unless I tell his office you are time limited, sir,” she warned.

  “No, I'll handle it. He most likely just wants to vent again. What else?”

  “Well, we've got a lot more requests for refit. Apparently, it's changed from singletons to entire squadrons as the flag officers get involved. They want their ships to operate on a level playing field, not have a few that are faster and so on and so forth,” she stated, checking her tablet. “BuShips is dealing with it, but there are budget issues. I think that's why we are hearing about it now. And I think it's also in response to the exercise schedule.”

  “Okay, that's a long-term problem,” the admiral replied with a nod. “Write it up, give me the bookmarks, and I'll read it and present it to the senior staff at the next meeting. We'll see if we can hash out a fix.”

  “Aye , sir.”

  “Next?”

  “Well, Ilmarinen has taken on her crew. She has been released from her building slip and has successfully performed her drive tests. Her sublight drive tests I mean. They've had the usual round of bugs. She's headed back to the yard for her final fitting and such,” the yeoman said after checking her notes.

  “Keep me posted there. I know a lot of people are interested in her progress,” Sherman said with a nod.

  “Inclu
ding the media, sir. Public Affairs is fielding a series of daily requests for progress reports, images, and requests for interviews,” the yeoman said in exasperation.

  “We'll see if we can get them to put a package together by the end of the week,” the admiral said. The yeoman nodded and made a note on her tablet.

  “Next?”

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  Newly promoted Junior Captain Edgar Clayton knew he owed his present position to the kindness and thoughtfulness of Admiral N'r'm'll as well as Admiral Childress. If he had any doubts, they had been put to rest when the Veraxin admiral had pointed it out to him … at length.

  He blew a silent wuffling sound, almost a raspberry, as he remembered the interview and then did his best to put it out of his mind so he could focus on the here and now.

  He had never seen a ship blow through the design and construction stages like Ilmarinen had. It was unheard of. He'd checked the history books. The ships that had first been built to man the jump point could claim similar speed but they'd been crap. He'd toured a few of them in the museum station.

  He'd expected the factory tender to have a lot of the same rough edges, but he'd found the opposite. She had a well-thought-out design. She wasn't perfect, every ship had bugs and she had her fair share, but she wasn't the death trap some had made her out to be. Far from it.

  She had passed her initial drive tests fairly well. She hadn't had many problems crop up, most had been irritants. The only scary problem had been a backup in the fuel system. That had been run down and found in short order due to the computer, a clogged fuel line, fuel pump, and sticky escape valve. Tearing into them though meant a layup in the yard, not wholly unexpected given the circumstances.

  He hadn't been happy that a couple flecks of plastic and some metal shavings had been the reason the pump had clogged up. The valve had been replaced and thoroughly retested.