Federation Reborn 2: Pirate Rage (47 page)

“With medical personnel on hand?” Otto asked, frowning.

“Yes. Do we have any marines available?”

“I'll look,” Sprite stated before the lieutenant could. The commander checked the status board and came back with a response in less than a second. “One platoon, Admiral. They are ground side on training maneuvers. They were slated for Protodon though.”

The admiral grunted. “Get the ball rolling on them and a support ship and equipment. Standard TOE.”

The lieutenant looked down at his tablet and scowled slightly. After a moment he bit his lip and looked up. “Um, nature of mission, Admiral? A
Dora
doesn't have a whole lot of room for a general mission.”

The admiral grimaced. That was unfortunately too true. If he sent them in for a ground op, they'd be unprepared for a boarding action or vice versa. And if he sent them in to help with the relief forces as SAR and security, they'd be very light for any other duty. It was a gamble. He looked at the mission board.

“The only planets we've got in play are Briev, Hidoshi's World, Destria, and Protodon for the moment, and I could care less if Briev has been invaded or not. We've already got control of their space so they will be bottled up and we can take care of them anytime. Hidoshi's World is coming along, though I understand it's been reduced to a guerrilla campaign.” He scowled. Destria was of course out; Jersey and Phil were working on them on their end. The same for Hidoshi's World. He refocused on the other planets. “Protodon is under control. Centennial is big question mark though; we'll be going in blind. We have commitments to defend those worlds.”

He grimaced again and shook his head. He tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair. After a few moments, the lieutenant cleared his throat. The admiral's eyes cut to him.

Otto saw the admiral's hesitation and decided to act. The admiral's rare moment of indecision needed prodding along if they were going to hit the ground running on the mission. “I suggest we send them in for a ground op, sir. The warships have their own marine compliments, and they are set up for space ops over ground ops infantry, sir. The commander can swap them out or have one group backstop the other as needed, sir. As ground op they'll be fine for SAR or security as well.”

“Good point. Make it so,” he said with a nod.

Otto felt a thrill at getting it right. “Aye aye, sir.”

The admiral smiled slightly. The lieutenant was coming along slowly. He'd had to wait a bit longer than possible to draw him out, but he'd gotten what he wanted in the end. Good for him. It was the little things that built initiative, trust, and confidence. Nurturing that and encouraging those qualities took time and patience.

His eyes and mind turned to other problems.

---<>))))

Irons looked up at Sprite's holo image. "Am I missing something?" he asked. She'd just brought the holo up in her morning briefing without any orders or a word about why. It was too damn early in the morning for that crap. He needed plenty of coffee before he could play her games. He hadn't slept at all; he'd worked through the night again.

"Of a sorts. You do remember that you transferred Lieutenant Susora to the
America
to work on her launches and traps, right?"

The admiral nodded. That much he remembered easily. "And the ship is moving out. They'll need to recon the jump line to Centennial and ET to clear it for us," Irons said with a wave. He fought a yawn. He could have Proteus clear his body of fatigue toxins, but he knew he needed to sleep. He'd been up for sixty hours already.

"Which is going to piss Commander Yung off no end. Her getting a combat ticket punch on her jacket."

The admiral frowned.
America's
carrier group
might
see action in Centennial though he doubted it. If the timing was right, then the enemy would be long gone by the time she arrived. "
If
she enters combat. Big if there at the moment. They might have an empty system. She's on recon, Sprite, which they will need."

"True."

Sprite had spent a lot of time smoothing over things with the senate. She had checked the ansible. There was some discussion there, but it was not as bad as the commander had reported. She had wondered why he'd been so alarmist and stupid. Apparently Lao had been behind some of the rumors. An investigation was underway. The commander had been reassigned to other duties while they figured out what to do with him.

The admiral cocked his head and then shook his head as he turned to his coffee. "And I'm not going to try pleasing everyone every time. Never happen. He can piss up a rope if he's not happy for all I care. I know his kind."

That statement tickled Sprite's emotional modulators. "Kingdom builder?"

Irons nodded grimly. "Exactly. I don't like how he was taking it out on his own people. He's gotten stale stuck in that billet. Normal rotation is six months to a year and he's been there what? Two?"

"Two point four."

"Something in his jacket I should know about?" He frowned thoughtfully.

"Just that Captain Shedra picked up on his alien bigotry and stuck him somewhere he felt he could do the least amount of damage."

The admiral raised an eyebrow. Apparently the commander hadn't been counseled or the counseling hadn't stuck. He wondered briefly if the young man had Horathian leanings. It was something he'd have to ask intel. "Which didn't help those under him any, did it?"

"No."

"Right. Get Shedra to recommend additional counseling, more work with aliens and a new duty station." He rubbed his brow. Sprite really shouldn't be bringing him these problems; they were up to Otto to handle.

"Any ideas on that score?" Sprite asked amused.

"What am I the personnel bureau?" he retorted amused.

"Well, you're playing in their bailiwick as it is," Sprite responded in kind. When he tried to stare her down, she just raised an eyebrow at him. Finally, he snorted.

"Flag privilege. Give him, oh, something that will make him associate with aliens more. He'll either get over his attitude or it'll fester. But something challenging. I don't want to lose the investment the navy has in his education due to his temperament and ignorance."

Sprite nodded. "Right way, wrong way, navy way. Train them up right from the beginning. If they can't hack it, retrain until they get it right or fire them and find someone else who can. Okay, you are thinking a position,” she did a quick search before she came back with an answer, “like say a liaison position with the marine air wing?"

"What do you have in mind?" he asked suddenly suspicious but amused. At least her puckish nature was being directed at someone else for the moment.

"Oh, just that the marines need a liaison of his rank to manage their air ops since they don't have any of their own people who are qualified yet,” she said innocently. “Remember the discussion on MAWTS?” He nodded. “He'll have to set up the system and train the people to handle it." Slowly she smiled.

The admiral frowned thoughtfully. "Interesting."

"Also, since half of the marines are Neos or non-Terran he'll have to deal with it on a day-to-day basis. He'll have to get over it or run into their no-nonsense policy."

"Are you concerned he could be flipped as an enemy agent?" Protector asked, interjecting himself into the conversation.

Sprite blinked at the holo centurion. Her eyes shifted. "It is a thought," she said, turning to the admiral.

He nodded once. "I've been thinking along the same lines, especially with his problems with aliens. It could be obvious misplaced bigotry of course; a real spy wouldn't be that obvious. Make a note for intel to keep tabs on him. Make that a secret order. But make sure they don't jump at shadows or damage the man's reputation. His bigotry is confined right now, and we have no evidence of wrong doing."

"True."

"But it is a concern. Thank you for pointing it out, Protector," Irons said with a nod to the security AI.

"Yes, sir." The AI's avatar winked out. Sprite pursed her virtual lips then seemed to shrug what she was about to say off.

"Isn't
Vindramaitrix
one of the ships heading to Centennial and ET with the
America
carrier group?" Admiral Irons asked, checking the status board. They'd just added that to the
America
group an hour ago he thought. Was it an hour? He wasn't sure anymore.

"The tanker, Admiral? Why yes," Sprite answered warily, wondering if the admiral had changed mental tracks and subjects.

"Get the intel team on it then. I want them to expedite it. If they need a pilot …"

"Susora's unavailable, remember? They are already underway to the jump point," Sprite said slyly. “The tanker is supposed to catch up.”

"True." He snorted as he realized she'd seen through his matchmaking scheme. "She may not be suitable for that team. We'll have to see."

"Her current wing commander says she's got good instincts, but she lacks social skills." Sprite informed him after a moment. He raised an eyebrow. "He shot off a memo after I asked for an update on how she was settling yesterday, the day before they moved out. He said she refused leave with the rest of the wing and requested duty, even if it was as the deck officer."

The admiral frowned thoughtfully. He was struggling with something she noted but couldn't read his vital signs to judge it. Finally, he shook his head as if vexed. "Commander …"

That answered that question Sprite thought as she pulled the answer up for him immediately. "Commander Kyodai Mushi, another Terran Asian organic, but from Pyrax. He was one of the squadron commanders before he transferred here." She put his jacket and holo portrait up for the admiral to view.

"Interesting," he studied the holo portrait. The young man had longish hair and a somber expression. He scanned the bio. "Parents died in a meteor strike on their colony when he was a teen. Elder brother joined up just before he did and died in a yard accident." He frowned thoughtfully.

"He's good. Good wing commander, excellent pilot according to Captain Valdez and the string of excellent marks in his record. He's got excellent leadership skills and has the natural affinity to protect and nurture his pilots."

"Good."

"I think he'll do a good job of drawing out her full potential.
If
he has time," Sprite reminded him.

The admiral nodded. "They've got weeks to go in hyper before they get to Centennial, Sprite. That's plenty of time to work up, get the rough edges knocked off, and come together as a team."

"But he may decide to focus on his combat pilots since it is a combat op," Sprite reminded him. The admiral had a tenancy to take in strays, to slip them under his wing, and to shepherd them. She wasn't certain if she should attempt to break him of the habit or not. On the one hand, he was nurturing potential talent. But he was doing so at the expense of the big picture and showing dangerous signs of favoritism. Fortunately, it wasn't too public. At least not yet she thought, noting another gripe from Commander Yung in one of the forums. The man thought he was anonymous. No such state existed on a military site. He should know better.

"True." Admiral Irons grimaced in thought then shrugged. It was out of his hands anyway. Besides, focusing on the training of a recon pilot over an entire wing about to go into combat was silly. "Right, get the intel team a shuttle. A pinnace if possible."

"I wish we had a hyper-capable scout or
prowler
available," Sprite sighed. “Even one of the LCs might work.”

The admiral nodded. "So do I but we don't. So focus on what we do have."

"Yes, sir."

---<>))))

Commander Lao Cho stared at what was fast becoming the wreckage of his career and stood bewildered and confused as he was read his rights. So he'd exaggerated a bit, maybe stretched the truth. So, he'd bent the rules. But the admiral should have gotten moving on ET the moment he'd found out about it! He watched as grim faced investigators took over his office to pick through everything. Another held up a cable. He bared his arm to let them jack into his implants.

“Is all this really necessary?” he asked.

“We're just following proper procedure,” the NCIS investigator said. “We'll be done in a moment,” she said. She watched the download bar. When it was finished she nodded. “Okay then. A JAG officer will be assigned to your case as defense if necessary. For the moment we're done, Commander,” she said.

Lao watched her leave feeling relief, but also trepidation. Suddenly his bright future didn't look so rosy.

ACT II

Chapter
27

Admiral Irons grimaced at the lieutenant as she came forward. The bug approached tentatively, her whole body language spoke volumes. She either had something on her chest she needed to get off or more bad news and wasn't sure how he'd handle it.

He wasn't the type to shoot the messenger; his people knew he wanted the straight view right away to get a clear picture so they could act on it. He wondered briefly what was up.

“Something on your mind, Lieutenant?” Irons asked mildly.

“Yes, sir, I … that is I've been handling some of the personnel jackets, reviewing some for promotions, and I think we're growing a little fast.”

“You think we're pushing people too fast?” he asked. He was of the opinion that they weren't growing fast enough. They were meeting the quotas, and with the personnel in the pipeline plus the mothballing of some of the smaller ships, they were barely treading water.

As each planet was added, their numbers should go up. The small trickle was hopefully going to turn into a steady stream, then a river, then an ocean.

One that would flood the sector, drowning the Horathians, then move onward and outward to new challenges.

“Yes, sir,” she looked a little torn. Her upper torso signaled second-level indecision mixed with regret. “With me and well …”

“With you it's a bit of a different story, Qr'll'ck. You were a second lieutenant a year ago and were about due. I'm guessing it's the others? Despite the push to mothball the ships?”

“Yes, sir. We've got civilians, or at least former civilians, pushing captain's rank with little or no time in any of the other grades. Some have had no training at the academy at all. A few even
teach
there.”

“Correct.”

“We need to do something about that, sir; we're pushing them too hard too fast.”

“True,” he sighed. The latest round of early promotions had shown him there were a few weak links. Yung and Lao Cho came directly to mind. Lao … he shook his head ruefully. The young man's exaggerations could have precipitated a major crisis of epic proportions. He had, however, gotten the admiral off his ass; he had to grudgingly admit the young man had been right about that point. “Keep in mind though everyone starts as a civilian. We also don't have a lot to work with and a time limit.”

“Yes, sir, but some of these people …”

“For instance, Senior Captain Logan?” he asked. He was pretty sure some of the officers were starting to get wind of the flag officer's intention of promoting Horatio out of the zone. That was tough; they needed junior flag officers. He fully intended to bump up Amadeus and Phil when the opportunity arose.

“Yes, sir, he's one.” she looked relieved. “He was a junior power tech during the war. When he hatched …”

“Hatched?” Irons asked amused.

“Depodded, whatever, sir,” the lieutenant made a brushing motion indicating second level wasted amusement. He nodded. “When he woke up, he was in charge of main engineering of a space station.”

“For nearly a century.”

“Right. Then he became your exec.”

“Which he did a good job before moving on to captain a corvette, then as a captain of
Damocles
when she was laid up, then
Bismark
, and all the while also acting as the star system commander of Pyrax for the past six years before I sent Admiral Subert in.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And of course there is his daughter, Harris, and a few of the other senior officers. We haven't had any major problems in any of those commands. They'd done outstanding work, and done their best to get up to speed while also training their people to do the same. So, what's the problem?”

“Oh none, sir,” the bug said.

“So? You do realize you just undermined your entire argument, right?” he asked amused. “You should’ve picked a better example.”

“Um …,” she looked thoughtful. “Captain Mayweather?”

The admiral blinked then his face set. “Went up through the officer ranks on a yacht I admit, but she did a good job as XO, and captain of a corvette before being transferred to
Firefly
where she's done an exemplary job there. The first battle of Antigua is one example. New Andres is another. I admit Epsilon Triangula was a mistake. One I know she is kicking herself about. There is no need to add more to her misery; the board of inquiry will do that for us.”

“Yes, sir. I …”

He smiled. “I picked and fast tracked people with the raw natural talent, Qr'll'ck. People I was pretty sure could grow into the role and would shine in time. Granted they don't have our background or experience, but we're getting there with the new crop every year.”

“Yes, sir. It just seems a little fast.”

“For you perhaps. For me not nearly fast enough,” he said wryly shaking his head. “We've got dozens of ships under construction here, and dozens more in Pyrax as you know. We've got to man them somehow. If that means some of our people have more rough edges than we'd like, we're going to have to put up with it and hope they get worn smooth over time. There aren't a whole lot of options. The seasoning will come with time.”

“Yes, sir,” she said miserably.

“But you are correct,” he said.

She blinked at him in confusion.

“One of the things your department does is keep an eye on both those who are rising too fast, and keep an eye out for those to fast track. Try to keep a handle on that and pass that along to our people. We need people who can handle their positions.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Napoleon's men used to say there was a Marshall's baton in every knapsack. Think of it that way. We've got people with potential, now it's up to them to show it, and up to you and their immediate superiors to recognize it and nurture it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I don't think we're going to be pushing many flag ranks up the chain of command any time soon so don't worry about that. We've still a ways to go before that.” He didn't mention that he'd planned on moving Renee up to Commodore rank during the next cycle, then Harris and Trajan in the following one. That plan was now out the airlock, at least partially.

“The human idiom sounds appropriate here. 'Too many Indians and not enough chiefs', sir?” she asked.

“Other way around actually. ‘Too many chiefs and not enough Indians’ actually,” he said with a smile. “We've got plenty of flag rank officers now. Officers of experience we need.
Captains
with experience we
desperately
need. Enlisted we've got. We've got volunteers coming out of our ears. Put them to work.”

She signaled mixed disagreement. “Sir, the training is substandard …”

“Then get on them to train more. And keep on them. They have to pass the promotions boards, right?”

“Um, see that's just it, you've promoted out of the zone so often it's starting to catch with other captains and commanders. I'm concerned about nepotism and well …”

“You're correct,” he said wincing internally. “I myself was a bit guilty of that on the surface with Commander Shelby. But she did work out. Just keep an eye on it, and step on some if you have to. Lightly. Slap their hand or something. Start a minimum time in grade chart if you have to, but don't go by the old model. The one prior to the Xeno war.”

“
Not
the old model, sir?”

“Was that what you were using before?” he asked amused.

“Um, yes, sir?” she said uncertainly. He shook his head.

“Think of what our people went through in the Xeno war. They pushed people through the ranks fast to fill the holes. Sometimes it was a good thing, others …,” he winced at that thought. “But the old model was a peace time one. We're not at peace. Quite the opposite. We've got to get the ships out there to not only hold the line but also move it toward Horath and then eventually down their throats.”

“That's what I'm afraid of, sir. Someone making a major mistake that will cost us dearly. Like Mayweather did.”

“And that's one of the things you've got to keep an eye out for as I said before. Send out a memo. Promotions out of the zone and brevet promotions by ship captains have to pass a board review when the ship returns to port. An independent peer review, and the personnel who get the promotion will be automatically reassigned to a different command. Is that better?” he asked.

The bug gave a human nod but instinctively signaled first level agreement and relief with her truehands. “We need to keep an eye out for people who can't handle the job adequately or are promoted past their ability to get rid of them, sir.”

She was quick; he gave her that. It was one reason he'd wanted her for the position despite her light rank. “Yes, that's a concern. Do you have an idea on how to handle something like that?” Training her to come to him with a problem but also have a series of solutions ready was one thing he was doing with all of his senior officers. It encouraged them to work on the problem with their own initiative but not to get too cute and cut him out of the loop totally.

“We have a matrix, but it hasn't been tested yet. Normally filters caught it before but …”

“Not all that well, Commander. I've had some officers both under and over me who were … let's say not up to the task even before the Xeno war. Don't expect perfection, Commander, you'll never get it. But do keep trying for it though.”

“Aye aye, sir,” she said, nodding. He could tell from her posture that she looked a little relieved that he hadn't bitten her head off or shot her down totally.

He got up and stretched. “Good then. Let's go get some lunch, then we can go over the numbers again. I'd like to see if we can get another battle cruiser fully manned
before
she launches this time. I'd like to see at least one ship get out of dock with more than 80 percent of her crew establishment.”

The bug signaled uncertainty again. “Yes, sir. We'll try.”

“That we will, that we will Lieutenant.”

---<>))))

"This is boring," David muttered. He'd thought joining intelligence would be more interesting then shifting paperwork or running inspections on supplies. This though … this was a pain in the ass. They had both taken abbreviated intel classes at the Pyrax academy; in fact, they were still doing that. They'd also been interviewed, tested, and given sleep teaching. But that had only given them a little preparation for their more advanced course load and new job duties.

The lieutenant in charge of their section had them taking additional make up classes in their off time to get them up to speed as well as sleep teaching to help things along. He was getting crabby at the lack of sleep and class overload.

"We're never going to find anything. It's been gone over many times," David grumped, ready to give up.

"Then switch to something new. Fresh eyestalks David," the voice from the other bunk said. He snorted.

"I
did
that.” He checked the log. “This section has only been accessed a half a dozen times." He set it down and then got up.

David paced back and forth in the small room. His Veraxin roommate looked up and rolled his eye stalks. "You're not going to find it in the first try David or the second or the third. Hours of patience are necessary. Give it a rest."

"No it's not that. I … this is familiar." He paused and stared at the holo again. Their class in intelligence gathering had been assigned to go over the interrogation videos of captured Horathian pirates looking for new bits of information to add to the database. Lieutenant Peneker had cautioned them that they would most likely just be confirming what others found.

He looked at the video again and then tapped the control leaning over the edge of the table and watching intently as two prisoners talked quietly. He'd learned that sometimes people let more drop when they were together and thought they were unobserved. There were no notes attached to this section of recording.

"Remember, don't tell them about … cough." his eyes narrowed as the male speaking covered his mouth. The other glared for all he was worth. He went back to the beginning and watched it frame by frame.

"That won't help," Bright-day said, taking interest or at least humoring him a little to alleviate his own boredom. He reached out with a pincer and touched a control. His middle arms reached out and drew a box around the speaker's lips and then zoomed the image in. "Computer enhance audio, break down into captioned subtitle by syllable if necessary. Go frame by frame." the Veraxin ordered.

They watched as the first part of the sentence played out then the David's eyes lit. He started to sound out the word along with the computer. "Dai-yo …"

"Wait wait." He paused it again and sat back and thought.

"What is it?"

"The … look, humans cough with a ch sound or a hacking sound, not a D sound. That sounded like a name covered by a cough."

"And the glare on the others face spoke volumes over the slip," the Veraxin agreed, sufficiently conversant in human body language.

"Possibly. His body language was intense. The other seemed upset at the slip."

"The first question. what was the slip?"