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Enemy of my Enemy (Horatio Logan Chronicles Book 1)

Page 66

by Chris Hechtl


  He shrugged. “Someone had to ask it. I'm glad we don't have to stab them, him in the back. I kind of like the guy,” he admitted.

  “You like this. This project. All the work involved. Seeing it come together,” Gemma teased.

  “Well, that too,” Leo replied with a brief smile. He eyed Mack.

  “You aren't going soft on me are you, Leo?”

  “No, sir,” Leo said with a vehement shake of his head. “I'll do my duty.”

  “Good.”

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  Billy “Thor” Thornton, Spacer Petty Officer Third Class, grinned tiredly as he deftly maneuvered Bobsy, his tug into position. Bobys had a sticky throttle on her port OMS, but he knew it so he didn't think it was necessary to bring her back to the barn just yet. He glanced out the windows and then his trained eyes scanned his instrument panels. They lingered briefly on the image of his girl he'd tucked onto the central panel and then went back to looking out at the job at hand.

  They had to maneuver the bastard of a ship into position. It was taking a lot of hurry up and wait, which he normally didn't mind, since he was getting paid for it, but he worried about soaking up the rads. As soon as he got back to Bek, he and Bobby, the real girl of his dreams, would be hooking up.

  At least, that was his plan. With all the space hazard pay he was accruing, he figured he'd have enough for the down payment on the condo she wanted, plus the ring she'd picked out and still have a good chunk of change left over to pay for most of the wedding if her parents stiffed them.

  “All right, people, we've been given the go ahead. Nestle in nice and slow. Don't go above one MPS, and damn it, don't tap her as hard as the last time,” the bosun said over the radio net.

  “About time,” Billy muttered as he fine tuned his tug's position. He reached up and flipped the flood lights on, but then cringed and looked away as the glare reflected off the ship's hull and into his face. He tried flipping his sunglasses down, but they didn't do enough to get rid of the glare.

  Finally, he got annoyed and shut the lights off with an angry flick of his hand.

  “Your lights are out, Bobsy. Do you have an issue?” The bosun demanded.

  “I can't see my hand in front of my face with them on,” he said, keying his microphone on and talking into it.

  “Turn half of them on. Keep your running lights on too, dumbass,” the bosun snarled.

  “Roger,” he replied. He sheepishly reached up and flipped one of the three light switches on.

  His moment of inattention coupled by the loss of his night vision made him misjudge his approach speed and angle. When he realized his error, he swore and kicked his OMS to decelerate and jockey into the right position, but when nothing happened initially, he panicked slightly and applied more thrust than he'd intended.

  That additional kick went through the sticky OMS thruster and kicked his ship to the starboard and drove his starboard bumper cluster into the hull of the ship. Newton's laws had to have their way. The energy imparted by his impact was transferred to the ship and to the other tugs attempting to maneuver the ship into her final resting place.

  F'r'll saw the ship's hull suddenly approach him too fast. He cut his primary thrusters and went to engage his braking thrusters, but it was too late. The hull impacted his bumpers and pushed his ship, overcoming her inertia and then driving her into the hull of the station. His tug's screens cracked when the tug was hit. When her stern clipped the station, it was pushed along it by the massive freighter for a brief agonizing moment before it was squeezed out like a seed, crushed and broken.

  “Frack me! We've got an accident! SAR get your ass in gear, F'r'll is a dead stick! F'r'll come in!” the bosun said urgently over the radio network.

  Billy closed his eyes briefly in pain, fighting tears. Tears in zero G were something you wanted to actively avoid. He inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly. “I'll get him,” he offered.

  “Stay put. Three ten and four six get that damn freighter under control now!” the bosun ordered.

  “We've got hull breach alarms going off in the station,” another controller reported over the network. Emergency breech on the station,” she said, voice picking up in alarm.

  “Frack me,” Billy muttered.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  The derelict tug was recovered by an SAR lighter craft, but her Veraxin pilot was dead. Testimony was taken of the surviving pilots and the witnesses. Records were checked, including the black boxes on each of the tugs. The crew waited impatiently for the results to be announced but didn't stop at speculating to what they'd find.

  Fatigue, pilot error, the sticky OMS, and vision issues were considered as contributing factors in the accident report by the single overworked and underappreciated NCIS agent on board. The accident was the first major accident in construction of the Harbor Station. It was also the first fatality.

  As senior officer, Horatio had to deal with the accident investigation and the blizzard of reports that inevitably went with it. Not only did they have multiple collisions but also damage and injury. He pulled up the relevant template files and then began to plug in the data from the NCIS agent. Fortunately, Agent Shaffer had already brought up some of the reports, so he deleted a few of his empty templates.

  Captain Clayton cautioned him on getting all his I's dotted and T's crossed properly. “JAG is pretty nasty if you don't, sir. We've got to be aboveboard on everything. Follow protocol to the letter. Undoubtedly, they will run a secondary investigation. We'll be tied up for weeks with this alone,” he said grimly.

  “That is the Bekian court. We're going to transmit the log, our reports, and such to Antigua and let JAG handle it from there.”

  The captain scowled. He didn't seem at all pleased by that retort. “We're still going to have to handle it here sir. And it will still be reviewed in Bek.”

  “I know. We'll do as you said. It will cost us some time but better to have our asses covered I suppose,” the commodore stated, relenting on the subject.

  Since it had been an accident that had involved major damage to a craft and a fatality, they had to convene a court to go over the findings. Testimony had been transcribed, but witnesses had to be brought back in to fill in overlooked details. They went over the video records with the witnesses. Spacer Thornton was a subdued man as he took responsibility for the accident.

  Captain Clayton seemed ready to push for a general court-martial and kept insisting on a negligence charge, but Agent Shaffer didn't back that call. The Neoorangutan insisted that the accident had not been due to deliberate action of the tug pilot, nor had he been drunk. His toxicology had come back clean.

  “I think we need to put this one to bed,” Horatio stated to the captain, NCIS agent, station master, and XO. “Accidents happen. I know we don't want them to, but they do. This wasn't any one person's fault.”

  “He knew about the sticky OMS. He should have come in and had the tug repaired,” the captain stated.

  “Which would have taken a shift or more,” the XO stated. “We pushed to get this freighter docked this shift,” she stated.

  “So now you are saying it is our fault?” the captain demanded.

  “I think everyone is looking for someone to blame. I bet Mister Thornton will have this on his conscience for the rest of his life,” the NCIS agent said quietly. All eyes turned to him. “He seems genuinely contrite and deeply regrets his part.”

  “He should,” the captain stated.

  “Captain, if you want to perform a nonjudiciary punishment for the spacer's tug, that is certainly up to you. But the bosun testified that she knew about the sticky OMS thruster. Flight maintenance knew as well. So you'll have a mess on your hands if you push this,” Horatio stated.

  “So, he walks?”

  “With that on his mind? He's going to be off duty, and he'll need a psych eval before we put him back in a tug. His friends and colleagues are going to treat him differently. Trust is gone. This is going to haunt him more than any f
orm of punishment would,” Horatio replied. “But if you want to push this, feel free. It is your ship.”

  “Yes, that it is,” the captain stated coldly.

  “How do we pass this up for review? Should we send it to Bek? How?” the NCIS agent asked tentatively.

  “Yes, we should,” the captain said as the XO sucked in a breath.

  Horatio shook his head. “I already determined the course of action.” All eyes fell on him. “And I've already reported the accident to Antigua.”

  That made the captain blink.

  “If they wish for more information, they will request it and we can reopen the investigation. Everything has been logged. So, we need to get back to work,” Horatio stated as he rose from his seat.

  “But sir, Bek …,” the captain frowned ferociously at his home star system's chain of command being jumped like it was.

  Horatio turned and eyed the captain. “As I said a moment ago, we are submitting our final findings to Antigua for further review. We are not going to go back to Bek to have our hand held. That will disrupt this project and mission. Get back to work,” Horatio ordered.

  “Yes, sir. But I will go on the record as stating this is a mistake, sir,” the captain stated formally.

  “If that is your desire, then do so. But the matter is now closed,” Horatio said. He looked at Agent Shaffer. “It will take time to transmit everything through the ansible. We'll get on it as soon as you are ready.”

  “Yes, sir,” the agent replied.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  Bailey had a hell of a time scouting for what he wanted. When he finally did find it, it took a bit of finagling and a bit of schedule shifting about to get a cleaning robot to help him put the rooms back into basic order. He decided after he had ripped it down to the bare walls that he was better off leaving it that way. That way she'd have input on the design.

  Besides, he knew she wouldn't care for his tastes in flooring and stuff anyway. It would just be wasted time on his part to put it in, so why bother, he thought as he caught up with her.

  “So? What's the big surprise? I've got one whole shift off,” she said eyeing him as he took her hand and squeezed it.

  He grinned at her and then tugged her along. “You aren't going to tell me, are you?” she demanded.

  He turned and smirked at her and then kept moving with her in tow.

  He took Galiet to the VIP section of the Quantum. She didn't quite get his intentions at first. “You are just looking for a place for us to get a little nookey ookey going,” she accused, eyeing him severely.

  “Well, there is that,” he said with a leer to make her blush and gurgle a laugh in despair. “But well, I wanted something a bit more … permanent,” he said as he lifted her up off her feet. She stared at him in surprise as he opened the door with one foot, nearly toppling them over in the process.

  “Easy there, tough guy,” she said trying to reach out for the door jam.

  “I got it, let go,” he said as he swung her through the open door and into the dark space. “Damn it, forgot the lights automatically turn off to conserve energy,” he muttered. He turned and tried to remember where the switch was. He was forced to set her down and then run his hands over the wall for the flat panel. When his fingers found the slight crease of the bezel he fumbled at the darkened panel until it lit up. He tapped the lights icon and the lights came on. “Walla!” he said, turning to her.

  She looked around the green room. It was nice but bare. It was roughly rectangular shaped with open sliding doors to another room that had to be the darkened bedroom. There was a sculpture of a tree embedded in one wall. Roots and branches extended out from it and wrapped around the room's walls. Her eyes followed them around, they seemed to wrap around the room.

  The room had high ceilings; she liked that. The carpet was gone, the drapes too. The bed was just a frame. But it was a king size bed, and there were wall screens … holo screen emitters, and some really nice features. “What do you think?” he asked with a bit of excitement and trepidation in his voice. “It is roughly two hundred square meters I think. The curved walls here and there plus the tree threw me off on my measurements. The walls are smart paint; we can program them to do a forest or night scenes. They have a low resolution. I bet Sylvia will go gaga over the tree!” he grinned “You should see the walk-in closets! There are two of them!”

  He grinned and pointed to some of the other rooms. She slowly walked in behind him as he turned the under cabinet lighting on in the kitchen, then the light in the bathroom. That one flickered and was pretty dark. “It has two guest bedrooms, but one is set-up as an office. Pretty slick,” he said.

  Galiet looked around, shocked by the sheer size of it after having lived in the small apartment in Anvil. The kitchen was twice the size of their Anvil one!

  “I'm still getting a handle on the walls. There are panels that need to be replaced,” Bailey said. He used his implants to trigger a demo scene. She watched the green walls fade to blue and then clouds appear. It was stylized, not very realistic. Almost cartoony in how pixilated it was, but she could appreciate seeing a ground scene, and the night scene was nice with all the stars.

  “Think we could fall asleep looking at the stars?” he asked with a grin. “I still haven't gotten the speakers to work right. They are supposed to tie into the effects package. Bird song, waterfalls …” he shrugged.

  She looked around, realizing she was like a bird checking out her partners nesting attempts. That amused her, and the analogy wasn't lost on her. It was definitely accurate she thought as she eyed her husband and then continued to look around.

  “I know it's bare. The paintings were nasty shit. The plants were dead and the carpet … well, let's never mind that. But we can replace it or put laminate or tile in if you want,” he said in a rush.

  “I like the wall color,” she murmured. “Not sure about the curves. Nice size,” she said. She gasped when she saw the massive master bathroom. “Oooh,” she said in appreciation, running a finger over the gold fixtures on the sink and tub. The walk-in shower sold her.

  “Very nice,” she purred.

  “So, did your shiftless husband bring home the bacon now or what?” Bailey demanded, hands on his hips.

  She looked over to him and crossed her arms. “Well,” she drawled, stalling. She knew what he was asking; she just wasn't certain if she was ready to commit.

  “Okay, I don't mean to rush you, but I did put a bit of effort into this,” Bailey said. He went into the living room and pointed to the fire place. “It is simulated of course,” he said. “I … to hell with it,” he said. He used his implants to turn it on. She smiled. “Imagine staring into that from the bed,” he purred.

  She glanced over to the bed and then to him. She lifted an eyebrow. “Not even a mattress?” she demanded.

  He threw his hands up in despair. “Give me a break woman!” he said.

  “Which vertebra?” she purred with a grin. He glowered at her. She walked over to him, practically strutting as she took him in and then looked around. She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew his head down to her forehead. “I suppose it will do,” she said.

  He grinned and picked her up and whirled her around. She laughed gaily at his antics.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  Horatio received a request for Bailey to be reassigned as the chief engineer of the station in an e-mail when he got up from a 4-hour rest period. After his coffee, Horatio talked with Lieutenant Commander Decoure, the Centillian station master. It only took a minute for the bug to agree. He signed the papers and then e-mailed them to Bailey and Galiet's inbox.

  When the duo was off shift, they packed and then moved their gear over to the station. They took a large suite in one of the VIP sections of Quantum, anticipating the needs of their large family coming to join them. They requested that neighboring quarters be designated for their family. Commander Decoure graciously allowed two such quarters, one on either side of their suite to be set
aside for them.

  Their move set off a precedent in the ship and station crew. A few of the station crew had been sleeping on the station but had yet to make the move for real. With their example, the stationmaster and then his crew made the leap. Those that were already set to move in talked about it with their shipmates during their meals and limited free time.

  To others, especially the more traditional bound crew members, the Neochimp's move seemed premature given the extensive damage on the liner and the recent accident. There were also mutterings of abandonment and good riddance. But Horatio picked up on a clear undercurrent of eagerness to stake out their own quarters in some of the group. Ilmarinen's quarters were tight enough with just her crew. With her extra passengers, some areas were hot bunk only. It took an entire shift before another person applied for transfer. That seemed to open the flood gates.

  Baxter was the second transfer request, and he hadn't so much waited as he hadn't heard about the request since he'd been so wrapped up in helping manage the factory components of the ship, while also coordinating the inventory of parts that were flowing into V'r'x's coffers. The Neocat quietly took up quarters on the same deck as Bailey and Galiet to simplify the life support requirements.

  Doctor Fa'rook requested his transfer, but he wanted a large place near the hospital for a fast commute. No such quarters were near the hospital complex, so he had to make do with quarters on the same VIP deck as the others until they could remodel quarters near the hospital complex.

  After the doctor made the leap, the rest of the designated stationers moved their gear over, freeing up room on the ship. That seemed to relieve some of the crowding on the ship.

  Chapter 45

  Once the station design was finalized and construction was well underway, Horatio turned his attention to the future. He planned to salvage and repair prize ships. If his numbers were right, he estimated that they could man the station and three ships max, not including Ilmarinen. They would be a bit light everywhere, especially the prize ships, but hopefully that wouldn't be for long.

 

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