by Chris Hechtl
Shelby grinned to herself as she topped the cup with a moderate, okay, maybe a little bit too much whipped cream. She had to use a finger to catch some of the overflow before it managed to escape fully. She cleaned her finger of the sticky concoction in the best way she knew how as she admired the cup.
“What is that?” Boni asked.
“You weren't paying attention?”
“I was in the net,” the A.I. replied. “It's hot,” she stated, checking the admiral's temperature sensors, “and sugary. Probably loaded with calories.”
“Yup,” Shelby said happily as she stirred the concoction and then took a sip. She smiled a little, but it wasn't quite perfect. “The flavors are a bit off. It might be due to the chocolate but I doubt it,” she said.
“Hot chocolate? Really?”
“I felt like indulging myself,” Shelby replied as she took the cup and its spoon to her customary seat.
“Is that why you were so interested in that recent shipment of chocolate from Delos?”
“Oh, not just for hot chocolate,” Shelby replied with a snort. “Pity Helen and Cynthia aren't around to enjoy it. Well worth the import fees,” she said as she took another sip.
The local government had hit upon the idea of taxing import fees over their own income. They'd also hit on the idea of licensing, registration, and inspection fees to raise money. They were putting some of it to good use; their latest venture was a SAR Guard that was normally customary in every space industrialized star system.
“Organics. You waste time and money on some of the oddest things.”
“It keeps stuffy A.I. busy scratching their virtual brains trying to figure us out,” Shelby retorted. “So,” she sat back and crossed her ankles. “What have you got for me?”
“Well, progress on the antimatter production facility is on track for the initial opening tomorrow,” Boni stated. “I was just checking the reports on that,” she stated.
“Ah, good,” Shelby replied with a nod. She had juggled logistic and strategic priorities in order to shift a factory ship over to deal with the project. Last week the project had been more or less completed and was in the fitting out and trial phase. Once it passed the final inspections, her people of course not the locals, they would leave the platform. It was set up to be completely automated.
The factory ship that had built the platform had been all set to build another but she'd shifted priorities again, this time to building a facility to make ansible cores. The keys to make them were coming in on the courier, but they could at least get the basic infrastructure and platform set up while they waited.
Fortunately, they had power from the Dyson sphere to power both projects now, she mused. With a bit of careful management by the time they had the third platform, back to making antimatter, she reminded herself, they'd have sufficient surplus power again to be able to power it consistently.
“Where are we with the vote?”
“It is still coming along. Trends haven't changed since the last poll,” Boni replied.
Shelby nodded. “And the yard?”
“As you know, the first CEV block was laid yesterday. There have been no problems. You scaled back destroyer production to make it happen so that has had a minor domino effect on the schedules on that side.” Shelby nodded. “The good news is that many pieces of equipment are universal so they can be shifted to the other ship line.”
Shelby nodded again. There were five major components of the carriers, the ships themselves, and the small craft that made up their flight wing, the crew, the pilots, and support. They had enough ordinance being built, minus a torpedo line which she craved, to handle most of the support side.
There were enough small craft being built to man all of the orbital forts and have a growing surplus. She still did not have enough pilots or a place to train them though.
“Where are we on the Mulberry forts?” Shelby asked.
“We have the blueprints but lack the reserve industrial capacity to begin constructing the modules. Essentially, they need a yard style of production … as you know,” Boni said, catching herself from going into lecture mode to the engineering admiral. Shelby tapped her spoon on her mug and nodded ever so slightly.
“Sorry. Until we have a handle on Tortuga and the other projects, we won't have sufficient reserve capacity to begin constructing them any time soon.”
“Which means?”
“Which means the missile pods and platforms you are shipping to Tortuga and elsewhere will need to have a ship in their command and control for the foreseeable future,” Boni replied.
Shelby grimaced but then nodded in acknowledgment of that point. There was only so much industry in the cupboard after all.
“Anything from the admiral?” she asked.
“If by the admiral you mean Admiral Irons, no. I have the basic news brief. There is a bit about shifting more forces to the front and of course the Mulberry forts, but you already knew that.”
Shelby nodded. “I actually meant the Ensign Pons matter.”
“Ah. No, not at this time.”
“We need to figure something out for her long term and set a precedent if we must.”
“How far do you want to push this?”
“Directly to the admiral if necessary. If he has to issue her a pardon, so be it. She has actively helped us and requested asylum. She didn't directly participate in piracy though she was on board when her shipmates did.”
“Technically, she then did participate or at least aided and abetted piracy, ma'am.”
“In some way, yes. But, she was on her second trip; her first as a middy had turned up mostly dry. Félicité had done the one raid on the Platte Cluster and look where it got them.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“We've run her through the ringer. We've gotten everything we can out of her. ONI has checked her over; she's telling the truth. I'd like to see the kid not waste the rest of her life in a brig.”
“Understood, ma'am. I'll forward the request again.”
“Yes, please do so. If they do not respond in a week, let me know, and we'll light the fires a bit brighter.”
“Understood, ma'am,” Boni replied as Shelby took a sip of her hot chocolate.
Chapter 38
Shelby noted Helen had sent a note when they'd gotten to Lebynthos. She nodded. She appreciated the heads-up. There had also been a note about basing but not much there. She was a bit puzzled by that.
<()>^<()>
Governor Adrienne was professional as the end-of-the-year voting began. The vote was on Federation Election Day but had some local matters they needed attending to as well. The name of the capital had been narrowed down to three selections. Federal mandates were on the ballot, but so were delegates and senate candidates.
For some reason the name Thunder Bluff had survived to be one of the three names. She had no idea why; her star system had no planets. Apparently, some had thought it sounded majestic or something or other. When Miss Trejo had explained that the name as well as the name of Mulgore had come from a fictional Terran video game, the name's importance had dropped in the polling.
But, not enough to knock it out of the running apparently she noted. If it didn't get knocked out totally, it might force another runoff between the top two candidates at the next election cycle.
It was shaping up to be a long night.
<()>^<()>
Rachel Trejo sipped her tea while the cameras were off. They were on a commercial break and she quite frankly needed the pick-me-up.
It was an exciting night. Already some of the celebrations had begun. She needed to pace herself; she might be at her desk for a long time.
<()>^<()>
Governor Adrienne was amused as the victors announced they were beginning to train for their new postings and even hire on staff. It had only been a day since the election night tallies were announced, but they were already agitating to be sworn in officially and to be transported to Antigua.
W
ell, their travel plans were either going to be commercial or at the mercy of the navy. Given their importance they would most likely travel by navy ship.
There was one spot of annoying news; Mayor Red Eye had won his senate race. No doubt by giving out free drinks to anyone who voted for him she thought, miffed.
That meant they'd need elections to fill in vacancies for a mayor who had won his senate race. She'd slapped down his attempt to appoint his cousin as his own replacement. Technically, that was her job, but she'd leave it to the constituents to choose later.
Which meant Red Eye's cousin, who no doubt would be inheriting the bar, would have to play the same game with free drinks to buy the votes he needed if he wanted the job.
She wasn't sure she liked the sound of New Tau Metropolis. It had won the vote though, so for the time being, she was stuck with it.
<()>^<()>
Miley smiled as she saw the final vote tallies. They really were doing it, running themselves like a republic.
She'd started to regret her time with the pirates for some time. Now she really hated herself over it. She was concerned about depression; the ONI spook she spoke with kept an eye out for it and had mentioned it. This was really the first time she'd gotten to know her people's victims.
And they had been. Victims that was. Not anymore. Now they were rising up with the navy's help. Now they were rebuilding, and that was fascinating to watch.
Also a little humbling too. Had her people kept them down for centuries? What would the sector had been like if there had been no pirates?
<()>^<()>
Hard on the heels of the vote came news from the ansible for requests for comment about basing in the sector. Rachel Trejo contacted Admiral Logan's office, but she gave the standard reply.
She managed to get a question in to Governor Adrienne during a press briefing about the election and state of the star system.
“I'm told that Lebynthos has put in for basing rights with the capital; any comments?”
Fred Muggs was nearby; he groaned softly, teeth grinding at the ambush.
“I hadn't known that,” the Tauren governor said, shooting a look at Fred. He shook his head slightly. She turned back to the reporter. Knox News was still the most professional outfit in the capital, though they now had some competition in the form of bloggers that were evolving into journalists.
“Can you cite your source?”
“I received a request for comment from the home office,” Rachel stated. “So, you are saying you didn't know this?”
“No, I didn't. Obviously, I'm here and Lebynthos is elsewhere so there are distances involved. “We'll have to look into that,” the governor stated firmly. She glanced at Fred. Fred nodded.
“Mister Muggs, Mister Muggs, care to comment on that?” Rachel demanded.
“Not at this time,” he demurred politely.
“So, if Lebynthos gets the base, does that mean we won't? Or the navy might move? What are they offering?” another reporter asked, picking up on the thread.
Fred sighed internally as the governor tried to fend off the requests for comment. He was definitely in for it now.
<()>^<()>
“Heads up, trouble,” Boni stated.
“Can you be a bit more informative than that, Ensign?” Shelby growled in exasperation as she put the tablet she'd been reading down.
“Sorry, ma'am. Politics,” Boni stated, putting up a window feed of the press conference.
Shelby pursed her lips as she heard the questions. “Damn it, find out about this.”
“I'm requesting input now. Mister Muggs is as well. Governor Adrienne is also demanding to speak with you.”
“Yeah, I'll just bet she is,” Shelby growled. “Tell them to get in line. I want answers too.”
<()>^<()>
Shelby was still trying to deal with the political fallout a week later. She'd finally agreed to the need to assign a larger ship to go to Rho. She hadn't wanted to part with one but had no choice anymore.
It meant the ship would also need to send an escort to the Trajin Cluster. She was not happy about that. But, she did acknowledge that the Trajin Cluster pickets needed to be replaced as well, so she might be able to kill two birds with one stone.
There were some bits of good news though. Like the news that the Platte Cluster was well on the way to vote to join the Federation, and news from a visiting civilian ship to Lebynthos had confirmed the Choker incident and that Governor Iapyx was now actively pushing for his star system to join the Federation. No doubt that push would gain a bit more steam when Helen's people returned for a pass-by visit.
Other star systems were leaning towards joining as well. News of the fall of Tortuga had been spread through the ansible to the Trajin Cluster and Lebynthos and beyond. She was pretty confident that news, plus the aide they were sending out, plus the news of the renaissance going on in her expanding AO, was going to get a lot of star systems signing up.
On top of that, someone had gone behind her back to Lebynthos. Lebynthos had put a pitch together to Antigua to build a Marine base on one of the islands there. They'd extended it to Special Forces Command and even a naval academy.
When she'd heard about that, she'd been pissed but not nearly as much as Governor Adrienne. Fred had spent a lot of time stroking her to calm her down. She'd assumed that all of the bases would be built in her star system. Well, she'd been wrong about that. Shelby didn't like it that people had gone behind her back and direct to the capital in their attempt to get a base.
She still didn't have the culprit though. Not that it mattered at this point.
When word had gotten around about the pitch, other star systems had put their bids in. The capital, Beta in the Trajin Cluster, Alpha in the Platte Cluster, and even Delos had thrown their hats into the ring. She knew why too; they wanted the economic pump that a base provided. Not only did they get a tax rebate but also the personnel stationed there would be spending their money there. Contractors would get work there. Goods would flow in and out of the area, which meant better spaceports, transportation infrastructure, all of it. A base, especially a big one, tended to have that sort of an effect on a region and sometimes an entire planet.
Not to mention with a base on the planet she'd have to station a permanent picket. For some of the star systems, that meant a more extensive space station and more ships.
She sighed in frustration and then rubbed the tip of her nose. She couldn't leave it off forever. She did appreciate Delos offering to sweeten the pot with more support and even building a hospital training complex. They technically weren't in the running; they still weren't a formal member of the Federation even if Governor Lor wanted to be treated as such.
No doubt when the other bidders got wind they'd up their own ante. She was curious about how that would turn out.
<()>^<()>
Fred came into their quarters and put his day bag down on the counter. He stretched and then checked the fridge. He took out a beer and popped the cap before taking a sip.
He chucked the cap in the recycler and then smiled when he got it in first time. “Two points,” he murmured.
“Two points for what?” a familiar voice asked.
“Oh, nothing,” he said with a shrug. He looked at Phoebe. She seemed better. He'd heard about her looking into temp agency postings. She'd even taken on a couple of work-from-home contracts. And apparently someone had hit it off with her; she was going out a little more often.
He was a bit wary about that though. She was the wife of a powerful member of the government and therefore a target. He'd tried to explain to her about security, but she'd brushed his concerns off.
“I do have news,” he said when she tucked her skirt under her and took a seat on the couch rather than come over and give him a kiss hello. She had yet to forgive him for blowing up at her, let alone getting them “trapped in the spirits of space heathen sector.”
“Oh?”
“I'm still dealing with the bas
ing mess. But, the recent vote has kicked Admiral Logan in the shin. She's been forced to send a ship back to Rho.”
She pursed her lips.
“Not a warship or a large liner. She's going to outfit one of the extended range Doras to carry the people going.”
“Who is going?”
“Well, the senators and delegates recently elected. They were elected for a double term considering the distances involved. They are going, their families and some of their staff. The ship will be picking up each group at each stop along the way. They might even take on some passengers too,” he said pointedly as he crossed his arms and held his beer up.
“Huh,” she said quietly.
The silence stretched for several minutes.
“So, if you really want to go back to the capital, here is your chance,” he finally said softly.
“Um …,” she played with her fingers, looking down. “I'll think about it,” she finally said.
“Don't take too long. I don't have an ETA on the ship but when it goes it goes.”
She grimaced but then nodded.
“I'll let you know,” she said softly.
“Please do,” he said, wuffling a sigh. He took another pull of the beer and then set it down on the counter. “I texted you and you said you were busy so I ordered out. The usual you said?” she nodded. “It should be coming in pretty soon. So, why don't you tell me about how your day went?” he offered, extending a virtual olive branch to her.
She smiled tentatively, eyes raising slightly but stopped when the doorbell rang.
“Oops, hold that thought,” he said as he went to get dinner.
<()>^<()>
Lieutenant Slattery was feeling overworked. Every time she thought she'd get a handle on things she got a new dollop of information in.
The good news was that she'd gotten a half dozen analysts and techs in the two convoys to help flesh out her staff. But they were also overwhelmed. She put in a request for another network and a second A.I. to help process the petabytes of data coming in.