by Chris Hechtl
A lot of it stemmed from the navy's policy of taking data as part of trade with civilian ships and entities. In essence they bartered for it, and the navy needed the information so they paid good credit for it too.
She didn't like that some of the credits came out of her budget. Her budget was growing, but that part sucked. It was why she insisted on checking the data before she authorized payment for it.
Which had added another level of bureaucracy to the entire process. She had to exercise some oversight, however.
Data that was centuries old as well as news from other star systems were of interest as long as it was something they didn't know. She paid more for new stuff or information about the Xeno war. Also any last known locations of ships and colonies.
ONI had a mandate to reconstruct the history of the Xeno war to learn from the events there as well as any ideas that had stemmed from it. For instance, a local R&D outfit during the Xeno war had tried to sell a quantum reactive armor. She was still unsure if it had been a scam or not. Based on the public news reports they'd bought, it seemed to have worked, but there were of course no technical diagrams or other data to go along with it.
According to the report, the system was supposed to shift energy to another dimension. But it was a hundred times as power intensive as a standard energy shield. Also, energy density allowed it to only cover a small surface area.
The small size and extreme energy demand had apparently doomed the project. She'd sent the report to Antigua, and they'd confirmed it from the Lemnos data.
Any Xeno war news and other information was compiled. Some of the information would go on to Antigua in a courier or other ship or through the ansible, some to a sector library once one was established. Her bosses at ONI seemed keenly interested in the news even though most of it was local.
Any local history and events was also sought after by both ONI and the State Department to give them a foundation to their work. That meant it was important to pick up on news of the Confederation.
Unfortunately, too much of it was dominated by the plagues she thought with a sigh.
She did have one small slither of good news; they had a little more information on this “Tauren Confederation.” Nothing about the intel was concrete; all of it was old too. She knew it had been founded by a Tauren named Kai. It bothered her that they didn't have a lot of information about them. They should know more, but apparently the Confederation had closed their borders.
She was overworked and knew it. She couldn't dig into that problem, the pirates, and all of the other projects on her plate. Fortunately, more help was coming. Not in the form of more analysts, that wasn't going to happen for several years apparently. But, the admiral had finally allowed them to start an ONI course at the college with it being earmarked for the academy as soon as it was constructed next year.
<()>^<()>
The launch of their third heavy cruiser had Abdul in smiles. They were creeping ever closer to the four-month standard build time for that class. They weren't quite there yet but getting there.
But to Shelby, the launch also made it clear they were beginning to scrape the bottom of the barrel in experienced personnel, especially captains. Shelby had promoted the last of her available destroyer skippers to command Tengu. The other skippers needed a tad more seasoning in her estimation though.
Over a weekend of soul searching, Shelby finally came to a conclusion. On the following Monday, she reluctantly turned Red Horn over to Captain S'th. She needed someone with experience to man the ship. She wasn't about to give the captain a shot at one of the newly-built heavy cruisers, however.
She called the Naga with the good news personally. The Naga blinked all of her eyes. “I don't know what to say, ma'am.”
“This is your second shot, Captain; don't screw this one up.”
“I'll try not to, ma'am.”
“Good.”
<()>^<()>
Fred Muggs was on hand when a civilian startup pitched expanding a small mechanic shop into a fully-fledged civilian repair center for tugs and shuttles. Apparently, they had a small boneyard on an asteroid that they'd used for centuries for parts. They usually traded with clients or bartered their services.
Now they wanted to restore those frames and build up a proper stockpile of parts. But they needed industry to support that. And they needed money which was why they'd asked for the State Department's help to get them a loan.
That was where he'd found his wife coming into the picture. Apparently, she had finally found an asset of hers she could exploit. Her time in Antigua had allowed her to generate an understanding of the levers of power there and the bureaucracies and how they worked. She'd signed on as a consultant to the project.
He met with Mister Zeloski at dinner. The invitation had come as a welcome surprise from his wife. He nodded at their pitch. “I understand your point; it takes money to make money. You need investors,” he said.
“Exactly. A lubber would call it a cart and horse I think,” the Neogorilla growled.
Phoebe coughed delicately into her napkin to hide a chuckle.
“Putting a cart before a horse,” Fred replied with a nod. “I can help you, but the more money you have raised locally and the more likely you look like you can succeed, the more likely you are to get the funding you want.”
“It's not just funding. We need replicator support too from the navy,” the Neoape said.
Fred frowned.
“Is that a deal breaker?”
“I don't know honestly. I can look into it for you. The navy and government are all about building local industry. But their resources are heavily taxed at the moment.”
“Taxed? We're the ones supposed to be payin' taxes. And I was hoping to get some help there. Some sort of startup rebate or somethin' or other.”
Fred cocked his head. “That's a bit over my head,” he said slowly, glancing at his wife. “You'd have to talk to someone in treasury who knows about that.” He felt his wife kick his shin gently. “But, I can look up the files when I get home.”
“Good. If this goes well, I'd like to open a chain of repair centers. And of course I'd like to offer you shares for your work on my behalf,” the gorilla added hastily.
“Well, technically, I can't accept them since I'm a government employee. But, since you hired my wife as a consultant, you can work out how to pay her between yourselves,” Fred said, dodging a landmine. “Let me see what I can find out about the tax situation while we wait on our order,” he said, smiling slightly.
The nod and shiny brown eyes of approval from his wife made him feel better about things.
<()>^<()>
“Heads up! Incoming call from White Station,” Lieutenant Enki stated in a text to Boni. Boni took the call and then received the authentication codes just as she broke in to the admiral. She was curious about how this would turn out.
<()>^<()>
“Admiral, incoming call,” Boni said abruptly, breaking Shelby out of her concentration on a file she'd been reading. They were making headway on expanding the base and adding a small dedicated training center with an academy and flight center. Not without some hiccups along the way though.
“What?” she asked, looking up and scrubbing her face. “Who?”
“Connecting you to the ansible now,” Boni stated. “Admiral Irons, Admiral Logan is now on the line,” she said as the familiar holographic image of Admiral Irons appeared.
“Admiral!” Shelby said, eyes wide in surprise. “It's nice to see you!”
“I don't have a lot of time, Shelby,” the admiral stated.
“Sorry, sir. What can I do for you?”
“You can explain this Pons pardon you requested.”
“I actually hadn't gotten that far, sir,” she said. “But I did drop a hint about it when no one would get back to me about her situation. She's in limbo, and I'd like the issue resolved.”
“You want to pardon a pirate?”
“A pirate who has turne
d over a new leaf and has been actively helping us. She was appalled by the changes to Horath, the xenophobia, the genocide. She genuinely has reformed; all of our tests prove that. She has no problem serving with other species. She's young and has asked for asylum.”
“And you want to set a precedent?”
Shelby nodded but then realized he couldn't see her. “Yes, sir. If we show her as reformed other pirates might actively help us to end their culture.”
“I see.”
“She can become a civilian or she can join the Federation Navy. If she joins the navy, she will be under a cloud for her entire life. I haven't extended the offer nor have I mentioned asking for a pardon on her behalf.”
“But you are doing it anyway.”
“Yes, sir. I and other officers who have interviewed her see the potential of a good officer. But she will have a long uphill battle ahead of her no matter which way things go. No one is sugar coating that. She'll always have someone suspicious of her motives. But, sir, I see a woman wanting to make amends for her people's misdeeds. I'd like to give her the chance if we can risk it.”
“She got caught up in the wrong crowd, is that your argument?”
“I'm not making excuses for her, sir. She has proven truthful across the board. She wants to redeem herself. According to my experts, she's starting to feel depression and being trapped. I'd like to change the course of her life for the better. Give her a chance to prove herself.”
“I'm not committing to anything, but I will take your recommendations under consideration, Admiral,” Admiral Irons replied.
“Thank you, sir. It is not just mine I'd like to point out. But thank you anyway, sir.”
“I noted Helen's report along with Captain Zu's and the other officers involved. Again, I'll consider it.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Antigua out,” the admiral stated. His image winked out after a half second.
Shelby sat back and rocked slightly for a moment.
“Well! That was a surprise,” Boni stated.
“Yeah,” Shelby finally said. “A little warning next time?”
“I didn't get much on my end, ma'am. Lieutenant Enki let me know Captain Sprite had put the call through a half second before I told you.”
“Oh.” Shelby snorted. “Well, I suppose we all serve at the pleasure of the president.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Shelby didn't say anything for a few moments.
“I'm curious how this will turn out. It might be more of a political headache on his end though. But showing pirates mercy, especially those who cooperate and who are willing to help us fight their own kind … it does bode slightly better for them, doesn't it?” Boni asked.
Shelby shook herself. “It might. We'll see what the future brings.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Chapter 39
TauG5R19-11 Minox IV
Director Blacksight read the report of massive convoys moving through Long Sands. They were confirmed to be pirate convoys too. Dozens upon dozens of ships in three convoys. The planet had been battered by the parasites; the operatives on the planet had waited until the last was gone before they transmitted their report. The report had taken weeks to get through the limited bandwidth of the ansible and then through the layers of analysts and bureaucracy before it found itself on his desk.
Long Sands had been a strategic placement of an ansible and team; one his predecessor had taken a lot of flak for. But, since it was between two of the pirate's bases, it held high intelligence value as far as monitoring their movements were concerned. Cenarius was another similar star system.
According to his people, the planet had been hammered by the pirates, pockmarked by repeated KEW strikes and stripped by the repeated locust visits in a short period of time. His team had taken a few hits; several of his agents had been killed. They had gotten him a choice bit of news though; Tortuga had been infected by the plagues and had been subsequently evacuated.
So, that explained that. He couldn't help but grin as he thought about the turnabout. It would be nice to play that up to the appropriate audiences too.
Of course he needed independent confirmation before he shared it with the other branches. But the loss of Tortuga could be spelled in two different ways. One, it was good for the sector in that the pirates were on the defense and running.
But, two, that also meant the Feds were winning. It meant they were expanding, and the pirate threat was ebbing. When they finally did finish the pirates off or more likely drove the remnants out, he was certain the Federation would continue to expand.
Towards him. Towards the Confederation. That wasn't good.
Half of his job was watching the sector while the other half was watching inward. The ever-seeing eyes, one turned outward for threats, one inward. That was one of the mottos of the Confederation Intelligence Bureau.
It bothered him that people were already talking about going to war with the Federation. Steering groups had redirected keen interest in the Federation into resentment over its interference in their affairs and over their lack of a presence for so long.
You had to love a good hypocritical argument.
<()>^<()>
Admiral Silvertip was not happy about being in the hot seat. No one was, getting raked over the coals publicly let alone privately wasn't something anyone wanted. He was also under oath and any little peccadilloes he got himself into could end his career.
“Senator, I'm fully aware of the situation. Director Blacksight has given me as much information as he has at this time. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of knowledge; we placed the few ansibles we could strategically in the sector so there isn't one in the star system where the Federation has set up shop. Which, given the amount of traffic they probably have going in and out is most likely a good thing.”
“I don't see your point.”
“Sir, the ansible can be detected. It is a space platform that our people communicate to. Their transmissions can be detected, intercepted, and traced.”
“Oh. Well, that isn't my purview. CID and ONI should be redressing any intelligence problems you have now though.”
The Tauren admiral nodded. “And they are doing that now, sir.”
“Well, I sit on the intelligence committee, and I haven't seen much progress,” the senator growled plaintively.
“Intelligence takes time to generate, sir. The plagues have decimated our people.”
“How is that possible?” Another senator demanded. “Weren't they vaccinated?”
“Against common biological threats yes,” the admiral stated. “But not weaponized ones, and certainly not all at once. And a vaccine doesn't protect the host against physical attack. The rest of the world was driven mad by the plagues, Senator. Essential services and civilization broke down.”
The senator grimaced at the reminder but then nodded.
“We're getting a bit off track, and the admiral's time as well as ours is heavily scheduled. Now, Admiral, why are you so against annexing our neighboring star systems?”
“First, sir, I will execute any order my chain of command gives me with my fullest ability,” the admiral stressed. “But, I'd like to remind the senator that annexation of an inhabited world is banned from our own constitution. It takes a two-thirds majority vote to agree to join the Confederation.”
The senator grimaced over walking into that one.
“Setting aside the problem of the constitution,” the senator stated, “what are your other concerns?”
“We know damn well what it is. He's in a rut. We all are. And he's timid,” another senator popped in with some heat.
The room broke out into muttering for a moment. The admiral didn't bother to answer; he merely took a sip of water and waited. He had no intention of speaking over the crowd or the gavel the head of the committee was currently banging for all he was worth.
“First, I'd like to remind my colleague of the rules of this committee. He will have his tim
e to speak,” the head of the committee said frostily once the room quieted. “Second, I do not appreciate anyone degrading someone who has served and is continuing to serve in that or any other uniform,” the senator growled.
The wayward senator mumbled an insincere apology. The admiral waited and then decided to address the concern.
Unlike the war party, he was very aware of the dangers of going to war. Some in the war faction see it as timid, cowardice. They thought he was biting the hand that fed him. They were wrong.
He was aware that they were moving towards war with the Federation. It was even being openly talked about. Most likely that was due to special steering from interest groups who saw the Federation as a threat.
“Senator, I think you have a problem with perception given your lofty post and lack of actual experience laying your life on the line,” he stated in an arctic tone of voice. The head of the committee touched his gavel but held off from calling the admiral out of order. “You aren't going to be on the front lines so stop being a hypocrite. We in uniform know what war costs. We know what we're talking about. We see the long term. You are focused on short term goals; you think everything will go exactly your way. Trust me, the enemy wants to live and win just as badly as we do. We are likely to win for a while. We might even push the Federation out of the sector totally. But, if we push and run into opposition we're going to run into casualties. And as the war escalates, we could find ourselves on the wrong side of it.”
“Then why fight?”
“Because, you insist we try. We will follow the orders of a lawful government as long as they do not break with our oath to the constitution. But we've put on blinders, we've settled for what is comfortable for us. The herd knows best.”
“And it does.”
“Does it? Does it know best even if there is a cliff in front of it? At one time we had carriers. We had an open mind about other species.”
The senator threw his hands up in the air in a great show of exasperation. “Not this again.”
Admiral Silvertip's eyes narrowed. “No, hear me out. At one time Kai set us on the path of being the inheritors of the Federation's legacy. We had non-Taurens in our government, our civilization, and our military. At one time we had carriers to balance our forces.”