Coming Home (Free Fleet Book 2) (16 page)

After the first week Rick had had a quiet conversation with me about the increased sexual activities of the human personnel.

With them being kids inside adult bodies, filled with hormones and working next to fit others and after having survived what not many would, Rick instituted birds and the bees classes. Much to his awkwardness, he became the teacher for it. Something Marleen and I had great fun talking about—much to his embarrassment.

Another project of mine was getting the FTL communications system up. There was a series of relays that had to be put in place and Parnmal was the only place yet making them. Chaleel was connected so far, but the relays were highly technical and took a long time to make, calibrate, and then put into position.

That would make it so that a ship was always at the wormhole line, the area which the gravitational forces of the system was small enough to make the calculations of wormholes much easier, and the possibility of running into an asteroid, planet, or something else that would ruin ones day much less probable. Anyway, that ship and another in Chaleel jumped back and forth once every day, making sure that we were in the loop constantly.

We set into a routine and we worked to improve the fleet, all while I dealt with the nearly daily talks with the world leaders as Earth slowly changed.

Chapter Slackers!

Eddie had finally allowed Shrift to come back to his position as engineer, but as the engineer in charge of overseeing the repairs to Hachiro and all of the other ships.

Can't have him becoming idle now that he's some use,
Eddie thought as he saw a Kuruvian playing games on his data pad instead of watching the gauges in front of him. A boot sailed through the air, making the Kuruvian stumble as it hit its hard shell.

“Get to work!” Eddie said as the Kuruvian's eyes went wide. It practically dropped its pad and glued its eyes to the gauges. Eddie tapped a control on his belt as the boot's built-in winch whirred, collecting the wire until it was next to his foot. He put it on, checking the cowboy boot before tipping his cowboy hat and continued his rounds.

Winch was a damned smart idea,
Eddie assured himself as past Kuruvians had taken his precious boots from him more than once or jammed his magnetic couplers.

The last time some aspiring Kuruvian had taken his boots, it took him four days to find them in a fuel station.

He never got his boots back, but the little whelp that took his boots had. It was one of the reasons Eddie had him running all the repairs.

Eddie grinned wickedly as people moved out of his way; ever since the Free Fleet had come into existence a man could get some room. Eddie mused as he got a few nods, but mostly harried looks.

“Good to see them moving with a purpose,” he said proudly.

“Indeed, I just wish we had more hands to do the work with,” Resilient said.

Should've thought about Ms. Nosy here,
He thought.

“At least we were able to spring some of those drones from Parnmal, and the Syndicate here were still using there's instead of feeding them into a dismantler.” Eddie's tone became hard as he reflected darkly on the kinds of idiots that would destroy perfectly good and useful drones.

It's a wonder the Syndicate is still standing with that kind of idiocy.

“So, how are you liking serving in the Free Fleet?” Resilient asked and Eddie pondered the question. As soon as Resilient talked to him, he knew he'd be her engineer. His changes from Syndicate to Free Fleet hadn't been that much, as no one messed with the guy that controlled everything around you. Even the personal crew, when they saw Eddie, made sure to give him a bit of a berth.

Yet, there was a completely different mood. People were motivated, driven even, to get things done.

Kuruvians, who would spend their days looking at the stars or reading their data pads without much care to their actual duties, were pitching in and getting their jobs done, their searching for new information only occurring after they'd completed their tasks.

Also, with the cross training of Commandos being engineers or environmental experts or computer specialists meant that the majority didn't only do their jobs but spent their free time helping to perfect other skills they were cross trained on.

“I like it.” Eddie surmised. He found himself nodding as he looked at coolant piping and he stopped, in his own world.

“That Salchar knows how to motivate people, plus, he tries to put ships back together instead of ripping them apart. That man always has a plan. Mark my words, he's fifteen or so steps ahead of everyone. We picked well. What do you think of him?”

“I'm surprised by him,” Resilient mused.

“Oh?”

“Well, I thought that he would be more self centered after all he's been through in his life, but instead he's putting his life into the fleet and the people in it. He truly cares, and I don't know what that will mean.”

“What do you mean?” Eddie said. He could swear Resilient was playing mind games with him.

“Well, the Galaxy isn't the most forgiving place, and I don't know if he'll be tough enough for what it throws at him,” Resilient said.

Eddie thought on that. “Well, I guess we'll just have to see. Now, I need to go and check on those new weapon installs, apparently Chief Zor is raising hell over it all.”

“Oh yes, it is quite spectacular.” Resilient sounded rather amused.

Eddie snorted as he thought of Zor's famed, colorfully filled sentences, one might say. It was rather at odds with Chief Brusk who, while not being any quieter, was never heard saying a colorful comment. Yet, their competitive friendship was legendary.

Should be their ability to drink plasma,
Eddie thought, thinking of the times the three of them had met up before finding a local brewery or a still in a secluded corner, some might call it,  which made stuff worse than the showers. Every time a small drink had turned into a contest of who could drink the most of the metal peeling mixture they'd obtained.

Eddie grinned as he shifted his weight to one hip and tucked his thumbs in his belt.
Maybe we should give that one another go. Though this time we should see if Earth sells anything more palatable.
Eddie hadn't felt his tongue for two days and then regretted when he did.

****

“Verlu, I swear you must eat helium instead of food,” Henry grumbled as he caught his breath again. Verlu grinned as he took a seat on the unfinished decking. The other officers coming in, similarly panting as they drank from the fountain that had been installed for the purpose of Henry's now infamous leadership meetings.

“I just ate all my vegetables.” Verlu grinned as Henry leaned back, trying to force more air into his lungs. Verlu made it look easy.

“Show off,” he said as Verlu continued to grin, Henry joining in as he looked away, trying to not give the other man the satisfaction of seeing him grinning at his antics.

“Alright, bring it in. I want everything.”  The leaders shuffled a bit but mostly stayed up against the walls before Henry started his lecture on who was doing what, anything new that was added to the schedule and such before leaving the floor open for anyone with questions or input.

Verlu leaned forward. He was one of the very few Sarenmenti platoon commanders and, from the way his people talked about him, Henry didn't doubt his commitment to the Free Fleet or his people.

“I believe that we should make an effort to intermingle humans with other alien races, as I have seen from your histories, if one group is not connected or knowing of the other, then prejudice and racism is the usual outcome,” he said.

“Do you have a plan to get humans more used to alien races?” Henry asked.

“Allow more people to come up here other than shrinks. With the civvie jobs, have them stay here a few days maybe, or also have postings for jobs going to Chaleel or Avar. If we bind these people together then they will all be stronger and better understanding of the galaxy we live in,” Verlu said and the other commanders nodded in agreement.

“I'll take it to Salchar,” Henry said. He already knew Salchar was working on a plan similar, but it was good to see others taking initiative.

“Also, if we took leave on the surface, that could help. Maybe ask which businesses would be interested in having us and if they have items that all races could use, not just humans.”

“Yeah, it would be nice to have some food that isn't a brick or slime.”

“I dunno, I'm rather getting a taste for the stuff,” Erkshaw said. He was playfully pushed by those around him as they overturned his opinion.

“You need to eat some real damned food, and soon!” Bok Soo said to Erkshaw's laugh.

“Bok Soo, how could I do that when all you're doing is eating it all.” Bok Soo took on a look of innocence as he shrugged.

“Well, I can't help it if you aren't fast enough.”

“That's the biggest oxymoron I've every heard,” Erkshaw said, smiling as he shook his head.

“Get the boy some food, his brains getting fried, doesn't even know what an oxymoron is!”

“Calm down, you two,” Henry said, shaking his head. “I swear you two are becoming the fleets foodies with the food you're eating.

Both of them took on looks of mock innocence and Henry chuckled at their attempts to admonish his point, which divulged into better tasting dishes.

Henry let it go on as the commanders started talking about different foods, highlighting the high points or low points of each dish.

Foodies, I'm in charge of a bunch of foodies.
Henry grinned mentally as it wound down.

“Now, there's one more piece of information I have to pass on. Talk died away as people looked to Henry with a mutual respect he shared with them all.

“Now, I know that we have lost a lot of people, to the dark and going home, it's left holes in our organization and, according to the Syndicate ways, we should be marrying singles together to create new teams.” He paused before continuing. The reactions of his people would be how he could gauge the Commandos as a whole reacting.

“Salchar and I have decided to let people pick for themselves whether they want to uphold their marriages or to have them annulled.”

Slow nods came back as they understood what he was saying, thinking on it.

“Any issues?”

“If a couple decide to end their marriage, will they still work together, or be split up?”

“That will be on a case by case basis. You will have to make that decision with your Commandos to make this transition quick painless and keep us running.”

No one had any, so Henry got them back on their feet, to the groans of them all as he led them back through Hachiro, stopping at the restaurant that had been created in what was being called the 'hump'. The hump that was a third of the way into the station. It was where the personnel crew had lived but was becoming the entertainment district, with the command center separated from it and connected to the training and barracks areas that lined the middle of the station.

“Maybe these meetings are getting better,” Rosa, one of Bok Soo's company commanders said. Bok So laughed.

“Alright, get some food, you goons. I'll pay this time,” Henry said. The commanders seemed more like kids as they moved en masse to the Sarenmenti that quirked an eyebrow at them all.

Rick, as well as Min Hae and the intelligence division, were in charge of making a monetary system. It was based off of platinum, getting the nick name plat. AIH and Chaleel had both adopted it. Some groups were trying to on Earth, but it was difficult.

Plat was connected with a person's identity chip. They passed the chip over a reader, similar to the one on personal rooms, and were asked if they wanted to pay however much plat an item cost. If they accepted, they got their purchase.

“Are you eating or trying to read?” He asked as the commanders went from pining over the menu to ordering. Henry sat back, waiting as someone sat beside him.

“Ahh, the piranhas at the ole watering hole,” Rick said as if he was reflecting on an old memory instead of watching a bunch of Commando commanders shooting the shit and making a ruckus.

“Definitely nothing like any military group I've seen,” Henry said as Rick grinned.

“Oh, we're completely insane; of course we're going to be a bit different.”

Henry let out a burst of air as his mouth tried to betray his amusement.

Rick leaned over. “We have a twitch, yes, confirmed. A twitch! By jove, I believe that handsome young Rick has done it!” Rick said in an announcer’s voice.

“The annoying chief of staff, he is,” Marleen said from behind him.

“Hey, Marleen,” Henry said, nodding as she smiled.

“Henry. What's my errant husband been up to now?”

“Admiring the view as some would say,” Rick supplied as Marleen quirked an eyebrow and her mouth in question, a hint of a grin showing through. “Not that kind of view, you know I only have eyes for you my lovely carjack.” She couldn't stop her grin as Henry shook his head.

“You really are such a charmer,” Henry said as Rick grinned, clearly unrepentant as he put an arm around Marleen's waist. She mussed up his hair as she leaned into him.