Jethro: First to Fight (48 page)

Schultz grunted. He sent an implant
signal to cut the video and audio feeds to his quarters and then his own
implants. It might raise some eyebrows with the busy body AI, but he'd handle
it. Some things were best handled off the record and quietly. “Problem?” the
Gunny asked, returning his attention to his boot.

Jethro frowned. He wasn't sure where to
begin. He also had to take it on faith that the recorders were off. Finally he
decided to let his training take hold, just lay his cards out and see what the
Gunny said. “Something of the sort. I've got to talk to someone, but I'm not
sure if I should. It's important though.”

“Really.” The Gunny's eyes cut to him
then back to the boot. A minor blemish got a slight frown and a brushing.

Jethro fought the incredible urge to
squirm. “I... the problem is I'll be breaking an oath if I do,” Jethro
squirmed.

The Gunny's eyes shot to him and held
there. “If this is about that matter on...”

“No sir,” Jethro said immediately, hands
up. His eyes dilated fully open despite the light level but his ears went flat.

“Then what's it about?”

“I... off the record Gunny?”

“Sure. Sounds ominous though,” the
Doberman touched a control and the privacy light came on. Most people didn't
realize that the privacy light was just that, a light. The audio and video
system continued to work even when you turned it on. The AI didn't care about
prudish organics so ignored that sort of crap. “You've got five minutes. Start
talking.”

“I... I... I don't know where to begin,”
Jethro said finally. “Wish I had a beer,” he sighed.

“We can go get one in the pub. Firefly's
tavern should be open right about now.” Firefly's bar and mess hall were no
rank zones so both enlisted and officers could interact without fear of a charge
of fraternization.

“Too public sir. I can't talk about it
in...”

The dobies eyes narrowed again. “Spit it
out son.”

Jethro straightened instinctively. “I
was talking with the reporter Miss O’Neill and well... Gunny, when I was a kit
I was indoctrinated in the League of Shadows,” he gushed out, trying to get it
out before his nerves failed. His claws flexed in and out in distress.

“League of Shadows?” Schultz asked,
cocking his head, ears flicking in amusement.

Jethro really squirmed now. “It's an
assassin guild sir.
The
assassin guild.”

“I didn't know they really existed.
Still existed,” the Gunny mused, setting his boot down. “Why are you telling me
this?” he asked after a moment.

“I... sir my father was a part of the
guild. It was how he raised money for the pride. Well, one of the ways. I
wasn't comfortable about it and well, I was still in my apprentice stage when
the admiral showed up.”

“So you don't know a lot about it?”
Schultz asked.

“Enough that it exists and that the
members are out there. They look like ordinary people sir. Day to day you'd
never know one was there, they hold down normal jobs and stuff. They blend in
perfectly. But when they receive a contract they act on it.”

“Where are you going... wait. Destiny?”
The Doberman demanded, eyes flashing. Slowly Jethro nodded.

The Doberman rubbed his jaw in thought.
Jethro frowned, continuing. “The woman who did it... well, I heard from the
reporter about some of the attacks. They aren't ordinary attacks.”

Schultz nodded. “Too sophisticated in
the time she had to set them up. And some were built into the ship. We assumed
she had outside help.”

“Yes Gunny.”

“Interesting.”

“The thing is sir, I didn't
know
much. I know contracts were handled by cut outs and dead drops but not a lot
beyond that. Orders were passed down through a cast system but I'm not all that
familiar with how it was set up and I don't know who the players were. I
attended my initial interview and evaluation, and one ceremony when I was four
but well...”

“Are you worried about them?” Schultz
finally asked.

Jethro reluctantly nodded. “Just talking
about them is an offense Gunny. For me to do so means I am breaking one of
their sacred oaths. I, my family, and anyone I speak with are now targets. Also
everyone they know.”

The Gunny's ears went flat. “Oh
wonderful. Thanks,” he growled, eyes glittering.

Jethro shrugged helplessly. “Sorry
Gunny. I thought about going to the Major...”

“It's all right son, I get the idea,”
the Gunny said sitting back. He thought for a moment.

“I'm pretty sure this lady wasn't alone
sir. Targets of high status were usually assigned to a
team
. Most
masters had an apprentice with them. They called it the Sith rule of two. I'm
not sure about the reference though.”

“So you think she had a helper. The
admiral speculated about that but they didn't have any proof to back it up,”
the Gunny mused.

“What were you trying to do with this
information?” the Gunny asked as Jethro stared at a bulkhead uncomfortably.

“I'd... I'm not really sure sir.”

“Can you identify any of the others?”
Schultz asked carefully. He wasn't sure if the lad would or not.

Jethro didn't hesitate, he shrugged. “By
scent maybe. It's been a while sir. Years so the scent and memories fade.
Everyone was in black robes with hoods in the ceremony of induction Gunny. I...
they could have masked their scents with false ones. I don't know.” He spread
his hands apart helplessly.

“Ah. And if they were smart no doubt
they didn't leave a trail,” he grimaced. “All right, I'll put a bug in the
right ears discretely. We'll do a review of security and intelligence as well.
I want you to keep your eyes and ears open and mouth
shut
. If you're
contacted let me know though.”

“Yes sir.”

“I doubt you will be though.”

“I hope not.”

“All right, get out of here. Go get
ready for your shift. I've got a sneaking suspicion someone's in for a surprise
inspection tour later,” Schultz said pointedly as he keyed the privacy light
off and turned his audio and video system back on.

“Ah yes Gunny, thanks,” Jethro said
getting up.

“Don't mention it,” the Gunny said with
a snort as Jethro left.

ACT
II

A courier was sent to Gaston two weeks
before the Marines began to board the transports. Four Freighters, the factory
ship Hephaestus, one modified yacht turned dispatch boat, Hecate, and Firefly
were sent in a convoy to Agnosta. The freighters acted as transports, they were
stuffed with Marines and the equipment and material needed to set up their new
bases on the planet. Three of them were Clydesdales including the one that had
taken the first Agnosta Marine expedition to the planet six months ago. One
held over four thousand recruits in stasis. All told there were nearly twenty
thousand personnel going, eight thousand Marines, two thousand naval personnel
to man the navy side and the navy hospital, three thousand civilian
contractors, and another three thousand dependents. A lot of Marines quipped
that they'd rather ride in baggage like the recruits, at least they'd be able
to have their own rack for the entire trip and could sleep.

The Zanzibar class medium freighter
Destiny was a last minute welcome addition to the expedition group. The
spacebees, the Naval engineers were loaded onto the freighters last. They were
the cream of the engineering teams, Marine and naval personnel along with some
civilian contractors to liven things up. They had an incredible teamwork
ability, and a get it done attitude. No project was too small for them, only
small minds. Given enough time and resources they could rebuild a battle
planetoid, or an entire planet. They would be invaluable setting up the base
and then moving on to civilian projects all over the planet. The experience of
working on a planet, with all its pitfalls would do them good. Of course it
would probably inflate their egos beyond planetary orbit.

Protests from governor Walker and even
from various seemingly flash protest mobs on Pyrax colonies and on Anvil were
ignored. Court orders flew, but were all squashed, they had no jurisdiction over
Naval deployments. After a while the governor wrung his hands in the press,
bemoaning the situation. The loss of the factory ship in the system was a major
blow to Governor Walker. He was furious and vowed publicly to bring the
military to heel. Commander Logan ignored the threat.

“Commander Logan isn't the factory ship
needed here?” April asked during their interview. She was sitting across from
him with her legs crossed. For once she had changed out of her normal
trademarked yellow jumper in favor of a yellow sundress. Her legs were crossed
before her. Both were relaxed and enjoying the tit for tat exchange.

Logan smiled. “Not at all. Oh there are
odd jobs here and there but most of the basics have been covered over the past
several years. They have upgraded or repaired every colonies life support and
power systems as we had planned.”

“But I believe the governor planned on
more?” April asked.

“That's unfortunate that the governor
planned on using resources he doesn't control. Since the navy has been cut off
from funds we've had to recall our reserve vessels. The factory ship like all
hyper capable ships captured in that dust up two years ago is a military
reserve vessel.”

April looked thoughtful, artfully
pursing her full lips. “Interesting. You aren't concerned about the various
injunctions working their way through the courts?”

“The military is exempt from local
control as I have repeatedly informed the governor and the Pyraxian congress.
Their usage of the factory ship was the navy's way of helping the people of
Pyrax rebuild and upgrade. However the Pyraxian government have so far refused
to
release
the funds needed to continue the project. In other words all
the repairs the Vulcan has completed has been at the navy's expense. We have
other critical projects to pay for.”

“I believe a bill is working its way
through congress again in that regard Commander,” April said.

Horatio gave her a wintery smile.
“Maybe, but I, like you have seen these efforts before. They die off in
committee after committee.”

She winced. “What about Prometheus?”

Horatio scowled. “With the admiral gone
we've had to table a lot of our construction including Prometheus. He had sent
along parts in Destiny to help complete some of our smaller construction but
Prometheus is a little too large for the materials and equipment he sent back.”

“Bit off more than you can chew?” April
asked with a smile.

He shook his head. “Not at all, we've
just had to scale back our efforts in the admiral's absence. We are still
making general repairs to ships that come in from time to time.”

Which was true. So far twenty freighters
had passed through the system, most of them heading up from the Seti Alpha 4
jump point. Each of the freighters had taken an interest in the growing yard
and the offer of a free naval inspection and computer cleaning. Each had paid
through the nose to get as many repairs in as possible. They had paid less than
a quarter what they would have paid at Anvil and had received ten times the
work in exchange. The bartered resources were a sore point with congress. They
had repeatedly attempted to seize the assets or tax them. Most of the bartered
resources went to replace the materials used in the repairs.

“The factory ship will be in Agnosta no
more than three to six months. Hopefully less than that. After that she will
return to Pyrax for a short refit before moving on to Seti Alpha 4.”

“What is she going to do in Agnosta and
Seti Alpha 4?” April asked.

“Well, some of her work will be for the
navy and therefore classified.” She didn't look like she liked that answer. He
waved a dismissive hand. “But I can say that she will do a lot of what she has
done here in Pyrax, repairing the infrastructure of each colony and upgrading
what they can afford.”

“Afford?”

“Unfortunately the ship will require
resources to make the materials the colonies need so they will have to barter
for things like fuel and raw materials.”

“Oh.” She looked thoughtful for a moment
and then nodded. “That seems fair.”

“Both Agnosta and Seti Alpha 4 have no
space based industry. I imagine they may be interested in establishing
something of the sort there. Or at least a couple gas giant refineries and
automated tugs.”

“Interesting.”

“I'll send you a brief Miss O'Neill,” he
said with an amused smile.

She smiled back. Her eyes twinkled a
little. “I look forward to reading it. Thank you Commander,” she turned to the
camera bot. “This is April O'Neill reporting for Knox news.”

...*...*...*...*...

Of course there are some protests on
Anvil and Capital colony but there were counter protests as well. Horatio had a
brief ceremony when the ships reached the Agnosta jump point. “Good luck and
spirit of space be careful. We'll be waiting,” he said simply. Fuentes was on
guard duty at the jump point. She flashed her running lights in a salute. Each
of the convoy ships flashed their lights in return before they charged their
hyperdrives and left in a bright flash.

 The navy used the transit
opportunity to train the green ship crews and to train Firefly for convoy and
convoy escort. It was one thing to sim something to death, quite another to
experience the tasks for real, knowing there was no reset button. They had to
get the job done right the first time.

As ranking officer, Major Forth would be
the on sight Commander on Agnosta since the system would have a primarily
Marine presence. A small platoon of Marines remained behind in Pyrax in
scattered detachments on the ships and installations there. Lieutenant Myers
and newly promoted Captain Dana Harley were left in charge.

...*...*...*...*...

Jethro and the squad made the voyage on
Destiny. Once they were dropped off, Destiny and the factory ship Hephaestus
were going to unload and finish their projects as quickly as possible. The
schedule called for Destiny to do a quick turn around and head back to Pyrax
and then on to Centennial. The factory ship would linger in Agnosta space for a
couple of months before she returned to Pyrax and reassignment. Jethro met some
of the crew and talked with them. Ox hit it off with the chimp Chief engineer
Bailey. The Chief explained to them he had named one of his sons after Irons.

“Cursed the lad,” the assistant Chief
said with a laugh. “He was not as wily as Devin though. I didn't think you
could take apart a multitool. Some of those parts are supposed to be press
fitted! At least the one's not made in a replicator!”

The Chief's brown eyes laughed as he
smiled. “Served you right for leaving it out unattended,” he said. The lads
were giving everyone a run for their money. Fiben was a character but his
brothers John Henry and Devin were born engineers, much like his father and
John's namesake. Fortunately they were on Anvil with the girls. He wasn't sure
what the lads would do with all the Marines and their weapons and equipment
around. Probably do something he'd definitely regret which was why he was very
glad they were on Anvil. Of course he wasn't looking forward to the bill when
he returned.

They talked about Irons for a bit.
Jethro admitted to have met the admiral, but He was embarrassed and doesn't
embellish the story any. Mumbled about the brief encounter. The Chief surprised
Ox by asking about Taurens.

“He was ah...” Suddenly the Marines go
silent. A few squirm, distinctly uncomfortable about the tender subject.

“Maybe you can meet up with some if we
ever see Kiev 221 again,” The Chief said absently. When the others grow still
he turned in confusion. “What? Something I said?”

Jethro looked at Ox. “Ox?” he asked
softly. The Tauren's nostril's were dilating slowly, the only sign of life in
the big guy.

“I had thought I was the last. Feared
it,” Ox finally rumbled slowly. “The last of your species is a heavy burden to
bear.”

“And now you know you're not. Good,”
Jethro said feeling like a weight had been lifted. If it felt this good for him
it could only be better for the Tauren.

“The admiral will take good care of
them.”

“He will?” Jethro asked surprised.

“Sure, didn't you know He was on their
ship?”

“Is that how you knew?”

“Nah,” the Chief said waving a hand
before sitting back and hooking a thumb in his belt. “I ran into Kiev oh, ten
or twenty years ago. Just passed by. We did some trade with them. Big ass ship,
I'll tell you that. Bulk freighter they turned into a liner. Loads of people.
Thousands and thousands of people. I bet the admiral's got his hands full.”

Jethro nodded. “I bet.”

“If she was anything like this old girl
was before we showed up in Pyrax, probably. Hell definitely,” Bailey said with
a sniff of disdain before grinning slyly. “Which is probably what he prefers.
John always liked to be in the thick of things,” he said.

The Marines chuckled. Finally Jethro
waved. “So, you're dropping us off in Agnosta? Then what heading up the chain?”

“Nah, the powers that be are sending us
back to Pyrax and then on to Centennial to spread the good news. We'll pick up
my family and the people who got off on the way by.”

“Why did they get off? Oh to make room?”
Jethro asked.

“Nah, though I think the Captain wanted
a break from my lads,” the Chief grinned. “Some like my wives are getting
classes at the college. Others are getting implants and training. A few are
putting in for the naval reserves and are getting training too.”

“Oh.”

“Yup, I'd put in for implants myself but
I'm always too damn busy,” the Chief mused darkly. “I lost some of my people to
the poachers too so I've got to train up their replacements. I'll probably lose
half of them too.”

“If we're lucky the dumber half,” the
assistant muttered.

“Don't I wish,” the Chief muttered. “But
I doubt it. Being a freighter hand isn't all it's cracked up to be,” he
grimaced and ran a hand through his thinning head fur. “Boring as all hell most
of the time for some. The young ones, they want adventure. Now that you navy
and Marines are in the picture...” He sighed eying their khaki uniforms.

“It's not all fun and games for us
either Chief,” Jethro replied dryly.

“Says you,” the Chief snorted. “Bet
you've got a girl in every port.”

Jethro looked at the other Marines and
then laughed with them. “I'm a Neo,” he said with an ear flick. “A rare one. My
kind aren't exactly all that wide spread. Quite the contrary,” he said with a
shrug.

“Ah,” the Chief said, eying him. “You
are kind of unique. That green though...”

“It's the uniform of the day,” Jethro
said. He liked the digicam better. Skin suits were better for combat
situations, but they itched like all hell. They were also a pain in the ass to
clean, his fur got into everything. The khaki undress service uniform was utilitarian
enough to serve on a ship like this but it still looked good with the permanent
press creases and clean look. Marines wore green, the navy pukes wore gray or
blue.

“I've got to go, I've got to check on
the heat exchangers on deck two again,” the assistant said getting up. He
burped and set his beer stein down.