Jethro 3: No Place Like Home (51 page)

Horatio nodded. He made a note to have Lieutenant Veber look into that.

“We've learned a lot from the Horathians. Horatio, they are more than just run of the mill pirates. What we ran into here and what Firefly stomped on in Antigua, was their second and third attempts at a task force. We're still going over it, but they are moving to a war footing with a full fleet. A
professional
fleet,” he warned.

“Shit,” Horatio said in disgust. He swore for a second or two.

“You can read the intel extracts and examine the hardware for yourself. It's as bad as you think. The bastards aren't just putting their stolen goods to use, they are also manufacturing now—not just parts, but also ships.”

Horatio's jaw tightened. He paled, thinking of the implications as John nodded, completely sober. “Yes, that's right. Ships. They are manufacturing small ships, Apollo Corvettes, Manta frigates and a few others, but no doubt they are working on other hulls as they get the kinks out of the processes. Get intel on that.”

“Damn,” Horatio whispered softly.

“They can bury you in numbers if they want. Watch out for that. And that short jump Firefly did, they can do the same and stay out of range of your forts. So a balanced fleet is a necessity now. Which is why I've sent along what I could. Do what you can with it. I strongly suggest you stick to the small ships, escorts, platform redundancy. The reasoning is in the written orders,” he said waving a hand.

“When I get to Antigua I want to set up convoys like the ones you are doing now. We'll exchange material until I can come by Pyrax. And oh, the Ansible. We'll get that running too.”

Horatio smiled at that idea. Trust John to be a couple steps ahead.

“We're in the shit, but we can turn it around in time. We've bought the time here in B101a1 with blood. With sweat and tears on your end and in Antigua, we should be somewhere near to parity with the bastards in a year or two. We have to keep them off our backs until then.”

Horatio nodded.

“Let's see, firmware update for you with Firefly, got that covered. Oh,” he said snorting. “I promoted Jersey Forth to Lieutenant Colonel. Try to get to the bottom of the crap going on and get it sorted out. We don't have time to get into inter-service rivalries and crap. Figure it out.”

Horatio nodded. He'd send Hephaestus back to Agnosta now that John had sent along his care package. That and a note should help smooth things over. But they'd need a house cleaning in Pyrax. It was obvious the Marine side wasn't holding up its end.

“I also sent along everything you need to get Prometheus and her escorts flying. Commander Shelby Logan has agreed to take her place as Captain. I've cut orders for her and Firefly.”

Horatio frowned. He didn't like that. He opened his mouth to object but then paused. It would be useless he realized.

“Prometheus should head south to Seti Alpha, then work her way around to Epsilon Triangula. I've left a small naval reserve group there, most of them are medics,” he said.

“Thornby will love that,” Horatio murmured.

“I want Firefly to go to the Janus system, then head up to Antigua. Her orders are to find the Kiev 221, lay some groundwork with the locals, attempt to make contact with Centennial, and drop spy sats in every system. Once she picks up Kiev's trail she's to find her and return her to Pyrax, under escort if necessary. Kiev has a shipment for you, I'm worried that it is overdue,” John said sounding concerned.

“She is a bulk freighter, so slow despite being overhauled. But she should have gotten to Janus by now. I may have passed her when I left Antigua; we took the same first leg but at different times and hyperbands,” John explained. Horatio nodded. “I did pick up her Ion trail in B450a, so they aren't there. I've told Renee to look in the cul-de-sac systems if necessary.”

Horatio closed his eyes. He didn't like the idea of sending his largest most powerful unit off looking for that ship. It could be months, and it would be like looking for a needle in a very large hay stack.

“Horatio, trust me, it's necessary. I found out another one of those firmware updates...the one involving the security updates?” John said. Horatio opened his eyes. “It authorizes any engineering officer, hell, even noncoms to unlock coded equipment.”

“Oh shit,” Horatio said, eyes wide. “You are kidding me!” he said.

John nodded. “Yes. I'm still not up on the details, I haven't had time to go over it with Commander Sprite. But from what she told me, it is possible to get around them. I hard coded it to you, but apparently they had some problems with that during the war. Intended recipients ending up dead,” he said with an annoyed look. “So, they made it open ended for any engineer in case of that situation. That doesn't necessarily mean that if anyone gets the shipment they can get into it; they still need a fleet implant signature...” he shrugged helplessly.

Horatio remembered that some of the damn pirates had had implants that had been recycled. He now wondered about that. He couldn't see how they could get around all the coding but....He shook his head. No, not good.

“Get intel to go over those ships and their databases with a fine tooth comb. The same for the prisoners. We need every scrap of intel we can get—ships, locations, the works. Get the intel you pick up to Antigua on the convoy runs, or hell, in a courier if you've got it.”

Horatio nodded, making a mental note to get that going right away.

“The crews of Gypsy Rose and Minerva Alabama want their ships back. Horatio, they are prizes, but hell, those people have suffered enough. I'm not going to rape them twice. Make certain they and their ships are cleared, and if they still want to go, let them, but just them. The other ships I suggest you use or sell,” he warned. Horatio nodded. He knew the importance of freighters though; in a wartime situation there was never enough to go around. He'd have to consider that carefully.

“There is a lot more, I can't cover it all here, we're going flat out. So, I've written...” he paused and smiled. “Or I should say, I had
Commander Sprite,
” he said smiling teasingly, “write out supplementary orders for you. Go over them carefully. Good luck, goddess speed and long live the Federation Horatio.”

“To you too Admiral,” Horatio said as the image froze. “Long live the Federation,” he said softly. He turned as he shut the video off. He had work to do.

---( | ) --- ( | )---

Intel officers, investigators, additional security, and engineers had transported out to the fleet when they had passed through the defenses around the jump point, but there were only so many there at the time. The bulk of them ended up on the prisoner liner. The Oasis had been redirected to the prison colony once her cargo had been confirmed by her boarding parties.

Jethro gratefully handed his duty over to an incoming group of no nonsense looking MPs. He caught the shuttle back to Firefly with the other Marines before the ship was out of range. Ensign Esh'z had seemed more than a little put out over being denied the ability to brief his incoming replacement, but Valenko had told him to look at it from another perspective, he now had the opportunity to brief the intel shop in person. Apparently that had been enough of a sop to the Veraxin to accept.

Shuttles had cleared out some of Firefly's cargo and replaced it with raw materials. The ship AI had been careful not to touch the replicators on board. With fresh material and space they went back to work, churning out parts the Admiral had loaded into their programming.

Horatio and the other officers knew a blackout wouldn't stop information about Firefly and the battle from getting out, far from it. He'd instituted a com blackout on the B101a1 forces, but he was fairly certain someone would say something. It was just too juicy to not do so—if they hadn't before he'd cut the orders, which he judged was a distinct possibility. And once they did it would be all over the system. But he could and did insist his people monitor for anyone breaking his orders. The contacts were mapped carefully. The JAG would deal with them later.

The convoy made its way through the system; following orders they ignored hails from nearby civilian ships and colonies. Data flowed from the ships to the Annex. It was encrypted, stymieing any nosy civilian who attempted to listen in. Orders flew back and forth across the void.

Bismark followed in their wake, an hour behind due to Horatio's indecision. Horatio wasn't certain what to make of the whole thing. On the one hand he was elated. On the other, he was a bit put out. Not just because Firefly had stolen his thunder, or really, Admiral Irons had. No, Admiral Irons not returning bothered him, and then there were all the orders, not to mention the promotions. He wasn't sure how Matilda or Doctor Thornby would take to a full Commander's rank. Matilda would probably think it was just a waste of time, though the Doctor...he frowned for a moment and then shrugged, putting the thought aside.

A lot of the staff would be relieved when the promotions became official. He frowned. Things were going to get hectic with all the ceremonies, he thought with a pang. He didn't mind dressing up, but it would take time from his schedule. Time he'd rather spend on managing the yard and system.

He shook his head. His people did deserve it though; they'd put in a lot of hard work to get them. Junior Valdez...he smiled. That kid had done a lot of growing up. He was already digging into the shipment, pulling out the fighters and parts and getting them transferred to Kittyhawk and the fighter fortresses. The lad had already started new training ops and was agitating to get Kittyhawk in for a refit.

All the changes were a bit too much to handle all at once, Horatio thought. He did, however, like the cargo of goodies the convoy was bringing in. It would be like Christmas all over again. He'd already sent orders to track every bolt. John hadn't had the time to stuff industrial replicators on each ship, but he'd done the best he could for them and Horatio greatly appreciated it. He knew one thing. Walker, Dean, and Lake wouldn't get their hands on this shipment!

---( | ) --- ( | )---

Horatio noted the media circus over the ships arrival and scuttlebutt of battle was turning into a feeding frenzy. It built as the ships had crossed the system but didn't respond to radio requests for interviews. The Navy public affairs department put out a placating statement that didn't stop the speculation but only fueled the frenzy. Rumors and speculation of why the fleet wasn't allowing dialog was rife, some speculated that the Admiral was on one of the ships, others said he was dead. That kicked off a firestorm of talking heads.

Just as the little fleet arrived near the naval complexes Horatio finally authorized the release of the battle. The public affairs department went into overdrive, processing the information he let them have and putting together cut scenes of the battle and aftermath for the public. The media ate it up.

With the news already out there, the crews were allowed to communicate once more.

The ship's veteran crew members had been deeply shocked and dismayed to be greeted warmly by a newly re-elected Governor Walker. Firefly replied for the crew, smoothly complimenting the Governor on his re-election and thanking him for his time before explaining the ship was rather busy with post hyperspace chores. Then the AI cut the connection.

Officers and enlisted on Firefly and convoy wondered what the hell happened. Firefly downloaded the feeds from Smithy and Barry. The AI made them available to the senior staff first.

Horatio held the convoy off station for a day to allow the crews in the yard to warm up the docks and prepare the logistics for the incoming wealth of material. There was some grumbling over the delay, but the crew took it in good stride.

He came on board on a supply shuttle, and was piped aboard once he was there. Firefly had noted the last minute manifest change and had arranged the side party just in time for his arrival. Horatio smiled politely and then went through the ritual of boarding.

Once that was complete he turned to Renee. “I know you're busy Renee, so I'll make it short. This isn't a brief; this is me here for a nap.”

“A nap, sir?” Renee asked, head going back slightly in surprise.

“A nap.”

“An implant firmware update nap,” Commodore Firefly interjected. His ship Captain's eyes flared wide briefly and then she nodded in understanding. “I've taken the liberty of preparing a guest cabin,” the AI said.

“All right. We'll get together for the formal debrief and such later, Captain,” Horatio said, shaking Renee's hand. “But before that, good job. Damn good job. And a promotion well earned,” he said releasing her hand.

Renee smiled politely. He turned to a waiting yeoman. The yeoman flinched and then indicated the Captain to follow him. Horatio nodded and did so.

“What was that about?” Renee asked when he was gone.

“I'm not sure about the last minute thing. From the scuttlebutt I've gotten, there has been a few suspicious shuttle accidents lately. He's keeping his schedule vague or classified.”

“Ah,” Renee replied with a frown.

---( | ) --- ( | )---

The next morning Renee breakfasted with her XO. With little to do, Shelby had hopped a supply shuttle and came over to Firefly to see her dad, but Horatio had already departed. She was a little put out over that but shrugged it off. She'd catch him later.