Jethro 3: No Place Like Home (66 page)

“It could be that the raiders were a smoke screen. An act. All an act to let others think they were nothing more than common thieves and murderers. But for some reason, now they are changing, becoming a fleet.”

“Yes, we have seen an uptick in ships recently haven't we? And before, before there was one or two raiders, and they usually hit an area once or twice and then moved on.”

“And now...now they have more. They've been saving up the ships. That much is obvious. Salvage most likely, plus captured hulls. They've been putting all their ill-gotten gains to use. Their own use.”

“Yes, that is a problem.”

Waves of ships were now coming out of Horathian space, conquering the surrounding space and then moving on. Each wave was a task force. So far they had stopped three, the first in Pyrax, the second two in Antigua and B101a1. There was supposition of follow up forces and occupational forces.

“The question is, the hardware. How efficient is it? We know there is a big difference between civilian and military grade of course. And when you factor in the time since anything has been made...”

“But we can't just look at it with just salvage. Admiral Irons, Commander Sprite, and Firefly all identified new construction going on. Ships or ship components being mass produced. We need a hard look at their tech,” Monty said.

The others nodded. “This is getting complicated.”

“I'm wondering again what caused the change in tactics? Why did they start to pull the cloak off after how many centuries? Six? How long has this been going on? How deep does the plan really go?”

“Remember, we know a person with anti-geriatric treatments can live a good five or more centuries...” Lieutenant Teague said.

“Yes, but if you also factor in stasis...”

“Peter Pan? Yes...” Irene Teague's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

“So, did the battle of Pyrax make them come out into the open and change tactics or did their own politics? Is this still part of their plan or did something change? Obviously tech may also be a factor. We've got indications of Vinatelli; we need to look more into that. Get a background on him, his schooling, anything we can get from Antigua,” Monty said. Teague and the others nodded.

“We've got more too. Command wants an appreciation of the enemy, how good their ships are, their crews, how they may fight, and anything else we can think of,” Ensign Barry said.

“But we can only estimate some of that. We need engineers to go over that,” Esh'z protested.

“Yes, and we have their reports. We can compare the various reports, see what their trends are for general classes and come up with a baseline, then adjust it as necessary.”

“Most likely upwards,” Teague said darkly. “They are getting better. We've gotten word that some of their ships are efficient enough to hit the low octaves of beta band.”

“Is that even possible?” a midshipman said, taken aback. He wasn't the only one; more than one officer looked affronted by such an idea.

“So much for having the high tech solution,” Monty said, quieting them down. “I think they want to win just as badly as we do, so they will do what they can to redress the balance into their favor as much as possible. We need to be on the lookout for that.”

“An upward curve,” Ensign Kamia said. She pulled up a graph, with the tech listed on the Y axis and time on the X. “This is where they started, based on the tech encountered in the raiders that hit Pyrax.” She plotted a red dot near the bottom. “The blue dot is the normal specs of the ships,” she said. A second series of dots appeared, much higher than the red. “Now, factoring in what we've learned in Antigua and B100 omega and B101a1...” more red dots appeared, these halving the distance to the blue dots. “Now, if this trend continues,” she drew a line connecting the starting dots to the secondary dots, and then projected it on upward.”

“It may not be that bad,” Irene said, waving a hand. “After all, they don't have milspec. So I think they should plateau out before they hit normal spec.”

“True.”

“I want to know what the hell caused the sudden jump, and how the hell they pulled it off in such a short time.”

“And what else is coming in the pipeline. We may only be seeing the beginning of this...” Kamia said.

“Let's not scare us or others to death. But you are right,” Monty said waving a hand. “Good presentation, copy it to each of us please,” he said with a nod to the AI.”

“Yes, sir,” she said.

“In short, sometime in the past twenty years they seem to have been upgraded. Better education, medical, and other factors. That's causing an evolution in their tech and threat level. They are making better equipment, and learning to use it properly. Or will over time.”

“Not quite. B101a1 was a mess.”

“Yes, but if you look at it, you'll see that they were using mechs for security, engineering support, and moving cargo. That is something new. They are freeing up people to do more important things.”

“I don't like the sound of that.”

“Neither do I. Do we have a possible source for this change?”

“From what we've picked up, an individual named Leonardo Vinatelli. An Antiguan who apparently emigrated to Horath sometime in the past twenty odd years. He was drawn there by a woman he married.”

“Honey trap?”

“It seems that way.”

“It is hard to believe one individual could change them so radically in such a short time.”

“I agree, but the indications are there. This Vinatelli character was some sort of engineering genius.”

“Like the Admiral?”

“No, he has training and is a keymaster. No, this person was largely self-taught. I've read the reports,” Ensign Esh'z clacked. “A cross reference of the name by Ensign Barry,” he indicated the AI avatar who bowed slightly. “Found the name in several places in Antiguan history. Apparently, he did a great deal of innovating there before he left. My supposition is that he was recruited to do the same on Horath.”

“Why would...wait, you mentioned honey trap,” Lieutenant Teague said, rubbing her brow. “I forgot.”

“Yes, the power of a woman. Men have gone to war or built the impossible with that,” Monty quoted.

“True.”

“We have indications that he got the Horathians to look beyond the limits of our industry. To not think of a lack of replicators as a hindrance, but as a challenge. He was famous for finding ways around the locks by creating objects without using a replicator. He could take something apart and work out the manufacturing steps for each part.”

“Sounds like someone we could have used.”

“Can we do something about him?” Ensign Barry asked.

“Like what?”

“He is a legitimate target.”

“Are you talking about assassination?”

“If it comes to that,” the AI said.

“You don't have all the information apparently,” a human ensign stated, coming to his feet briefly. “I picked up in an interview that he died some short time ago. The circumstances were vague. I was trying to get confirmation that he was indeed dead before I reported it.”

“So, you don't have confirmation?” Monty asked.

“Accessing,” Barry said. His eyes shifted as he read a report. “I am updating my files and cross referencing them. According to the files Commander Sprite uploaded they also had indications that he was a major threat level, involved in some sort of cyborg dog. But she found indications that he was recently deceased.”

“And you didn't access that until now?” Monty asked.

Barry spread his hands. “I'm a station AI Commander. My normal job is to maintain order in the Annex and coordinate things there. Only yesterday did Captain Logan make me G-8 Logistics and the Resource Manager remember? And Ensign Kamia as G-6 Communications?”

“Unfortunately, we don't have a dedicated AI team,” Ensign Kamia said softly.

“Something we'll have to rectify,” Monty vowed. He shook himself and then nodded. “Okay, we're starting to get a bit frayed, and I'll speak for the organics when I say we need a break and some refueling. We'll break down into discussion groups after lunch. One to go over what we know about their tech, risk assessment, and changes. A second to look into potential threats based on past and recent behavior. I want to specifically look into the capturing of entire systems and their impact on us. Not just the material and manpower they'll gain.”

“Manpower to some degree, but digesting each will take time. And from what we've picked up Commander, they are instituting genocidal processes on each occupied planet,” Ensign Barry said.

Monty nodded grimly. The room seemed to get colder suddenly.

“So, we know what we've got to fight for. We need to protect what we've got while identifying the targets they'll most likely hit.”

“A strategy board? Isn't that a bit above us?”

“No, we're going to identify potential targets the enemy will go for.”

“We need a third-study group commander,” Teague said, raising her hand. He turned to look at her. “Internal politics.” He made a sour face. He wasn't the only one. She went on doggedly. “We need to measure the political climate, and more importantly, see if it is being influenced by the enemy. Either through contributions or criminal action.”

“Or see if they have information flowing,” Ensign Kamia said softly.

“For now, if we find them we do nothing. We just identify a source and do our best to trace their contact methods while cocooning the leak.”

“Aye, sir.”

“A fourth, the politics of the enemy. Not just how they were formed, but the trends of the population, media, and other factors that all influence their leaders. Dossiers on their leadership and a look at their chain of command,” Ensign Esh'z suggested, glad he could finally contribute something positive to the group.

“More likely, we're going to be using a lot of suppositions here, so we'll have to be careful. But we are asking questions, and that is a good thing. We'll have to come up with a list and find ways and means to fill the gaps,” Monty said, making a note.

“We also need to examine the implications in their changes, for instance, education and medicine. The education means a smarter work force, able to do more. It also means soldiers and sailors who can do more than press buttons and pull triggers. How much can they do?”

“And the medicine part,” Lieutenant Teague said with a nod. “That means they are caring for their own and living longer. Healthier. We may need to bring in a doctor to examine that.”

“And we're going off on tangents. I had a general plan, but everyone is bringing up various thoughts all at once. We'll work on them. If you have a thought, write it down and we'll get to it. But let's try to stay focused on one subject at a time,” Monty said patiently. He looked at the clock. “That's lunch then people. Meet back here in an hour. Dismissed.”

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

Jethro frowned ferociously on the shuttle as it docked. He had been called to the Annex to deal with paperwork in person. “It never fails, damn bureaucrats. They can't accept an electronic form, they have to have a body in person. Stupid,” the panther muttered to Bast. The AI purred, but he could tell she was amused by his rant.

He stomped through the corridors, following her map to the personnel and records department. There was no one in the small waiting room. He explained curtly to the woman behind the desk. She smiled politely and handed him a form to fill out. He sighed and took a seat and filled it out.

“As if they don't have all this anyway,” he muttered.

“We have to make certain you are you. And not someone pulling a prank or worse, identity theft,” the woman said from behind him.

Jethro frowned, flicking his ears. He looked at her for a moment. She shrugged. He sighed and went back to the form. Okay, so they might have a small point, he thought.

Once he was finished she pinged his IFF, and then dutifully made a note of it. “Okay, that's it,” she said.

“All done?”

“Yes. We'll update your records.”

“How long will it take?”

“About a month, Gunny, give or take how far back we have to go,” she admitted.

He frowned. That was stupid, it was just a name change. A computer bot could do it. He shook his head, ignoring the problem. “Fine then.”

“Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?” the woman asked coolly as she eyed him.”

“No, just tired of getting hauled across the star system to fill out a piece of paper. Now I get to go all the way back to go back to work.” he sighed rubbing the small of his back.

“Ah, yes, as I said, it's protocol,” she shrugged as if to say what could they do? He snorted and flitted his ears and tail as he exited the compartment.

He checked the schedule, but there wasn't another shuttle to San Diego for three hours. With nothing to do he decided to hit the mess and snack on something, then catch up with anyone he ran into. He padded to the galley following Bast's directions.

“You're getting good at this,” he teased. “Ever thought of being a tour guide?” he teased as he followed her arrows. She growled at him. He merely smiled back.

He practically ran into his therapist just outside the mess. “Sorry, ma'am, I didn't expect you,” he said.