Federation Reborn 2: Pirate Rage (94 page)

“Don't let me see you in front of this board again, Captain. This review is concluded,” the admiral said, tapping his gavel once then flicking the small brass bell with a finger. “If you should like to review this review or contest it, a copy of the paperwork and transcript will be made available shortly. Something tells me you don't wish that.” She shook her head vehemently no. “Very well. Dismissed.”

Renee snapped to attention the best she could and saluted. The admiral rose and returned her salute, as did the captain and commodore. The senior officers filed out. Once they were gone, the galley broke out into quiet murmurs of surprise and sympathy.

Renee looked longingly to the Marine guard near the private exit but decided it was best to take her full dose of medicine. That meant facing the media gauntlet one last time as she exited, head held high.

---<>))))

“Captain JG?” Admiral Irons asked over the ansible.

“You and I both know she screwed up. She needed to be slapped. The slap is a wakeup call to the navy in general that even our heroes can take their medicine. That even when they screw up they will face the consequences for it,” Phil replied.

“Gotcha,” the admiral replied, reordering his thoughts.

“And don't gripe about how this mucks your long-range plans up. She will eventually be redeemed. Give her time.”

“Yes. I agree,” the admiral replied.

“Understood. Anything else?”

“Nope. Antigua out,” Admiral Irons replied, cutting the circuit.

---<>))))

Renee knew her old ship was in dry dock; the commodore hadn't been kidding about mothballing her. A small anchor watch had remained on board after the yard survey teams had finished their business.

Firefly
would of course remain in service, but it would be a while before she ever flew in the void with a proper crew again. Renee vowed to see it happen. Perhaps Shelby might take her back out again? She wasn't certain what the future would bring for any of them.

One thing she did insist on doing was to check on her old crew. She'd managed to snag a few for her new command but most had been scattered to the winds of an uncaring BUPERS to fill in the voids of other ship companies or to be placed in staff or yard positions for a brief time.

She walked the dock and then went through the usual boarding ceremony at
Firefly's
entrance hatch before she made her way to the bridge.

“You didn't have to come, Captain, I am after all, virtual,” Commodore Firefly said over the intercom.

“Bullshit. You may be a mind, but the ship is your body. Don't think I haven't forgotten that,” she said, nodding to some of the anchor watch crew. Apparently they had come out to see her. She didn't envy them; it was a boring job. Also spooky since the survey team had powered down a lot of the ship and left the exposed panels in some of the damaged parts of the ship.

Hopefully they'd do something about that soon she thought. They needed every ship in space, right? She shook her head as she came onto the bridge.

“Captain on the bridge,” a Neogorilla ensign said, lunging to his feet.

“At ease. Technically you are still, Captain,” Renee said with a smile. “I'm just visiting an old friend,” she said, patting the hatch combing as her eyes roved the bridge.

They'd done what they could to make do with the damage. There had been a lot to fix, and the crew had been overworked. Still, the long journey in the low octaves of Alpha band had given them the time to make good on a lot of things. Some of the stations were still scorched though.

“So? Don't even ask for me to swap ships. This is my body as you said, Captain,” Captain Firefly said as his avatar appeared in his usual duty projector.

“I wouldn't mind it, but I know you, old friend,” she said, running an appreciative hand over the wood inlay. She felt every gouge in it, every minor scratch and imperfection. She crossed her arms. “You've been kept busy with the yard management? As well as managing the network and data sifting intelligence projects, Captain?” She asked.

“You could say that,” Firefly replied. “They definitely do not want me to be bored.”

She snorted. She had heard that he also took weekly guest lecture circuits at the academy and college just to keep things interesting. Of particular interest to both of them was the data from ET, which was why he kept his hand in intelligence. “Anything more on the bastards we bumped into in ET?” she asked.

“Out for revenge?” Firefly asked as the ensign eyed the two of them then stood back as if to give them some space.

She shrugged when the silence stretched out.

“I'd like to get the names of those ships. And the people on board,” Firefly admitted. “I too have a score to settle.”

“Yeah, it's always nice to find out who hit you in a dark alley so you can look them up at a later time,” Renee said dryly.

“Exactly,” the A.I. replied, surprising her. She hadn't known A.I. were prone to things like payback and revenge. That was funny, she'd been with him for over a decade and had never learned that until that moment.

Learn something new every day it seemed, she thought.

“Well, then,” she said, getting control of her surprise. “Do let me know if or when you find them. I'd like to be there.”

“Count on it, Captain. The good news is, there are a lot fewer of them. None of the destroyers escaped Protodon. Only the cruisers and escort carrier got away. According to our intelligence, they were led by a Rear Admiral Von Berk. According to some of the latest intel, his flagship was named
Apache
.”

Renee nodded. She too had read the Protodon reports once they had arrived in Pyrax., though the identity of the flagship she had missed. “Thank you for that, Captain. In the meantime, I've got a shiny new ship to get straightened out. No offense.” She grinned.

She was still in something of a stake of shock over her new orders. She'd thought she'd spend time on the beach, time at the academy serving as some sort of gory example, maybe even some staff time. A step up from that was command of a tin can or light cruiser.

What she was getting was
Shizouka
, the new, shiny
Newman
flight II battle cruiser about to launch for the last time from the yard. Apparently someone was ready to throw her right into the deep end. That was fine with her. Once she got her new ship straightened out, she'd prove herself all over again.

“None taken. I don't mind being laid up for a while as long as it isn't permanent. I'm not thrilled about taking my turn at network management, but I understand the need,” Firefly replied with a shrug.

“Okay, well, enjoy your staff duty assignment, such as it is,” Renee replied, shaking her head.

“I'll try,” Firefly replied dryly. “It's not like I have much of a choice.”

Renee cocked her head and then nodded. Of the two she was aware that she was getting a better deal than he was. It wasn't fair; she'd been in command. But life and the navy wasn't about being fair. It was about service and duty. He was needed here apparently.

She'd heard scuttlebutt that the navy was hard-pressed to man the ships coming out of the yard. She knew her new command was still short on warm bodies. She wondered briefly how true the rumors were.

“Keep me posted on your project. I'm going to put a word in with someone. And if you don't mind, I'll put a word in with Shelby too. I was thinking on my way over that
Firefly
would be a natural fit for her. Maybe, just maybe, we can pry her kiester out of engineering and back to where it belongs?”

“Who knows. Stranger things have been known to happen,” the A.I. replied. “I doubt she'll go along with it, but I'll support it.”

Renee nodded as her implants pinged. “Okay, I've got to skedaddle. You take care,” she said, coming to attention. She saluted him.

“You do have me by date of rank,” Firefly replied, already in the process of saluting himself. “But thank you. Spirit of Space speed and safe sailing Captain. Good hunting.”

“Definitely,” Renee replied in a parting shot as she walked out of the bridge into an uncertain future.

---<>))))

“I didn't think you'd wait long to get back in the saddle. Good for you, Renee,” Commodore Logan said with a nod of approval.

Renee nodded. Both Admiral Subert and Commodore Logan had turned out for
Shizouka's
commissioning ceremony. Both officers looked good in their dress whites. “Thank you, sir. I honestly don't deserve it, but thank you.”

“Don't thank me. This isn't any sort of
reward
, Renee. You were slated for more, but that has been put off,” he said with a hint of reproach in his voice to help dampen her enthusiasm. There were some officers who hadn't liked her getting off like she had. Nepotism was being whispered in some of the scuttlebutt grapevines.

For her part Renee winced. Sudden images of flag stars winging themselves away into the void filled her thoughts.

A soft, “Oh,” was all she let out.

“We need you. I know you know that, but you also need alone time to process what you've been through.”

“I'd just prefer to put it behind me, sir. I've spent a lot of time on the ride back here with my tail between my legs doing that. Now I just want to get back to work,” Renee replied evenly, still looking around the ship. She was like a shiny penny, brand new. She even smelled new.

She'd already taken her out of port once but only briefly. Her sim time was still climbing. Just getting from one end of the ship to the other was a learning process. A part of her precious time not reading and signing off on paperwork was pouring over the ship's blueprints.

Her implants made getting lost almost impossible but she wanted the memory to be muscle level, ingrained and instinctive.

“She's pretty,” Commodore Logan said looking around the bridge. Crew members were in uniform at ease at each of their stations as the senior officers and a select group of reporters and government officials took their tour. “We've gotten the bugs out of the previous version. There is always something new, and hopefully she won't turn around and bite you in the ass. But she's past her builder's trials, Captain. You should be okay,” Commodore Logan said with pride.

“Yes, sir. We'll see,” she said.

He snorted. “Be that way. She's a good ship.”

“Yes, sir, I suppose she is,” Renee said, fingertips stroking the wood veneer railing. Just like
Firefly's
but … not. Bigger, but lighter grain.

“Here are your orders, Captain,” Admiral Subert said, coming up behind her. She turned as she felt something ping her firewall. She opened a port and allowed the file to be downloaded. It opened like a blossoming flower. Her eyes scanned left and right as she rapidly absorbed it. According to the terse orders,
Shizouka
and her division mate
Jiangsu
were to perform working-up exercises as they set sail to Protodon to become a part of TF22's first battle cruiser squadron. “You can work-up and settle in along the way. We need you there yesterday,” the admiral said.

“Sir, what about um … article 345-44?”

“What about it? He's the flag captain. You are on a different ship. If you two happen to take leave at the same time, fine. Your boyfriend won't be there long,” the admiral said caustically.

“Sir?” Renee asked, wincing as she glanced at Commodore Logan. Apparently her relationship with Trajan was an open secret.

Admiral Subert snorted as he too glanced at the commodore and then back to the captain. He studied her for a long moment then seemed to decide to let her in on something.

“He's slated for another command by the end of the year. So, if you do get some time to hook up, make the most of it,” Admiral Subert replied.

Renee's eyes widened briefly before she settled herself. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

She had to imagine the fractional smile on the man's face. It was impossible she thought. He nodded once as he studied her. “Good. Safe sailing, Captain.”

She nodded as she came to attention. “Aye aye, sir.”

He finally did smile, even if it was brief. “And good hunting, Captain.”

“Yes, sir. We'll kick their ass.”

“You'd better,” he said severely as his chief of staff came up behind his elbow. He turned, nodding to Saul and then let himself be guided off.

Renee watched them go briefly, but her eyes strayed back to her shiny new bridge and crew. They had a lot to prove.
She
had a lot to prove all over again she thought.

---<>))))

A day after Captain Mayweather took command of her shiny new battle cruiser,
Mikhail Kutuzov
and
Wanda Lu r
eturned to B100 omega and the waiting replacement picket force there. They didn't return alone; they came with successful news of their mission along with two ships riding along tamely in their wakes.

The two light cruisers had run down the two transports that had brought the Horathian troops to Destria on their return trip. The ships had been lumbering along ahead of them and transiting hyper at Alpha speed. After they had caught them, the two ships had placed a volunteer prize crew on board each of them. Unfortunately, their slower speed had forced them to match it and delayed their return.