Jethro: First to Fight (67 page)

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

“If you can't keep up, that's on you,”
was the all too familiar cold bellow. “We want people without the ability to
quit. You can ring out at any time.” The DI's took notes and amused themselves
with comparisons. They set up a bell.

Fourteen Naval Buds stuck it through to
the second week to show the Marines up. Four of the original noncom volunteers,
one Ensign, two additional ratings stuck together as the core. They were
buttressed by six Marine Buds who had just finished boot, and another six Buds
who were given the option after waking up from stasis.

Opinions varied on why they hadn't quit,
they either didn't want to be seen as chicken, a false sense of bravado, or
they really wanted to prove their worth. To fill up the other two boat crews,
twelve Marines who had passed basic and had shown an interest in commando work
were allowed to join the Seals instead of waiting for a slot to open up in
Recon.

Bets were being taken on who would drop
out next. A total of thirty eight out of the original sixty four made it to the
half way point.

The group was a mixed bag, only two
Veraxin, but four Gashg and three Neo's. Sho was the only Neochimp. Most of the
remaining pups were human.

They ran an abbreviated training course
with four other Marine recon squads in training. All had implants, which made
the DI's ratchet things up a bit, they knew their enhanced strength and stamina
could take it, even though the recruits didn't. The seal pups had their
enhancements dialed down, but because of their blood lines and the basic
implants they had a higher baseline and quicker recovery.

Two major things they trained for,
attention to detail, zero defect mentality, and the ability to absorb pain and
not quit. It turned out most of the applicants had basic college courses under
their belt, some qualified for officer training but there hadn't been any slots
available for them.

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

The first couple of weeks the DI's used
a lot of stick, pounding on the crews whenever they screwed up. Usually it was
individually, but sometimes the team broke down as teamwork failed.

Taking care of their gear was an
important thing, something they occasionally overlooked because they were tired
or just sloppy. They had to care for their gear, make sure the salt water
doesn't rot their life jackets. “It's not a fashion statement! Take care of
your gear and your gear will take care of you!”

“Hooyah!”

A departure from Marine training, the
recruits were given a three day weekend to rest, recover, and get squared away.
What many didn't know was that the third day was a Federation Holiday, Founding
day. The Marines were given holiday rotation and light duty as well.

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

Jethro watched a boat crew come out of
the water dragging. The chimp Sho in the rear didn't look too happy, which was
unusual. He was grimacing, but he seemed to want to remain in the damn water
for some reason. Only in passing did Jethro get a whiff of the truth, and then
he wished he hadn't. He checked the chimp's rear in passing and noted the brown
stain. “Yeah, that's gotta suck.”

“What?” Deja asked, then saw the stain.
He snorted. “What can I say...”

“Don't say it,” Jethro mock moaned.

“Shit happens,” Deja said, eyes
twinkling.

“You would go there.”

“Hey, shit or get off the pot. You can't
hold your hand up and ask for a break in combat to take a dump.”

“Scared the shit out of him?” Jethro
asked.

“Okay, that too,” Deja said.

“Too many bananas?”

“At least he's healthy.”

Jethro made a face. “I'd hate to have to
clean that later. Or the barracks.”

“Should we make them wait?”

“No, let's be all nice for once. I don't
want him getting a rash and then having to go to the infirmary. We're already
down to two boats.”

“Nice?”

“Yeah, I know learning to get it sorted
out is important, and he should do it on his own. Let's give him the time and
see if he uses it right.”

“All right.”

“But yeah, shit happens.”

“Don't I just know it,” Deja said,
shaking his head. “I'll just um, give him a hint to do that in the ocean next
time. Drop, shit, then wipe with something handy.”

“At least he didn't do it on the beach,”
Jethro said.

“Point,” Deja said in passing, trotting
to catch up with the boat crew.

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

A change in schedule was missed by a
boat crew leader, Ensign Simpson had been banned from using his implants and
had been too tired to walk to the sign board. He had taken it on faith that the
schedule was the same.

The entire boat crew went to the wrong
rotation. When the DI's caught up with them, the entire group was punished by
doing exercises in surf. “It's the little things that can get you killed! Pay
attention! It's not just your life on the line, it's your team's!” Deja snarled
at them, watching them do flutter kicks.

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

Deja's work with them in the sea was
noted by passing native Selkie and sail boats. Once they were all swim
qualified they moved on to scuba certification, then the advanced activities.
The DI's used inflatable craft to drop off and pick up teams of swimmers. They
buddy swam, each buddy responsible for his partner. It was good practice for
space training as well. This was no nice clean pool to train in now, the DI's
realized when several cases of fatigue and near drowning happened. There was
one close call with a blue shark when they went to deep water. The blue, also
known as a dog of the sea because it was so common, came in to investigate the
divers. Fortunately it was driven off without incident.

They were well on their way to
graduating the first class when things changed.

ACT
III

"Sir we've got a situation, the
freighter Lieandra just jumped in system screaming her head off about
pirates," the communications rating said looking up.

Mayweather blinked from her Captain's
chair. "The Lieandra?" she asked. She remembered the ship, she'd had
contact with them once or twice on the Carib queen. They made a circuit run,
Centennial, Antigua, the empty b459c red dwarf chain, Protodon, Kathy's World,
then south to the B452c system, and then on to Agnosta, and then Pyrax.
Sometimes they mixed it up by heading to Triang but not often. It was one of
the better freighters out there plying the space lanes. She was a medium sized
freighter with three or four thousand people on her. "What jump
point?" she demanded sitting up straight.

“Briev ma'am."

"Did they say if they were
followed?"

"No ma'am. They were in Protodon
when the pirates came. They immediately ran for the jump point. The pirates
were on a short course for the point leading to Antigua and they just made it
clear and to the jump point to Kathy's world ahead of them."

"Lucky,” she said. She didn't sound
like she believed it though. She looked at her XO.

Shelby grimaced. It could be a trap, her
mind had tripped over that after a moment. She was pretty sure the Captain was
suspicious of that very thing. But something rang true.

"I'll say. They jumped to B452c but
went north to Briev with a pirate hard on their heels. They made their way out
from the Briev jump thinking they'd be followed but the pirates apparently
didn't follow. Only a frigate emerged and it went to the planet instead of
trying to run them down. They had just enough fuel to double back and head
here."

"Crap," a tech said softly.

Mayweather thought hard. A frigate had
short legs. Lieandra had pretty good legs, she had heard they could do up to
three jumps without a refuel. Apparently they'd picked up some legs somewhere
to have made it all this way. Most likely Lieandra had run the frigate to
exhaustion and she'd given up the chase to refuel at the planet. "Size of
the main force?" she demanded.

The tech looked down at his tablet.
"CIC designated the first force as Alpha. At least four ships CIC designated
frigates, a destroyer sized ship, a possible second tin can, one or two
corvettes, a tanker, at least a half a dozen freighters, and a dozen other
unidentified ships. Lieandra was too far away to see them clearly. That and
they said there were some asteroids in the way."

"Crap. How could they outrun
pirates?" she asked dubiously. Did the pirates really send just one
frigate to run them down? If so why? “Any self respecting pirate could overhaul
a lumbering freighter.” Their recent experience as convoy escorts had made that
point painfully clear.

“Unless they weren't interested in
catching them in the first place ma'am,” Commander Logan said quietly.
Mayweather glanced her way and then nodded.

The tech waited for the Captain to
return her attention to him before continuing. "Ma'am there is more.
Admiral Irons sent Lieandra out. Apparently he had repaired and upgraded her
Ma'am. She had a full drive and major system rebuild."

"He was aboard?" Mayweather
asked, sitting up straight, Her hands clutched at the arm rests. Her eyes cut
to Shelby. The XO was looking eager as well. Expectant faces turned to the tech
who shook her head.

Disappointment cut through the
compartment as quickly as the eager thoughts had. "No ma'am, he had
planned to leave Antigua on a rebuilt yacht some time ago. Dispatch 1701E he
renamed it Phoenix. He... Ma'am apparently he and the crew of the Kiev 221
managed to salvage a ghost station. A full factory city. Antigua prime!"

"Seriously?" Shelby asked,
eyes wide. "Anvil was just a pre-processing node for one but..."

The tech nodded, face serious as he
continued to digest the report. One hand was still on his ear, a clear signal
that he was still getting information. "Yes ma'am he did it. They did it I
mean. He sent Kiev 221 and Lieandra out to let people know. Lieandra was
supposed to let us know. Kiev 221 headed south to B450a and Centennial."

Shelby's eyes were wide. "So, if
the pirates jump to Antigua..."

"They'll have a cake walk. The
system is mostly undefended," the tech replied grimly.

"Not if Irons has anything to do
with it."

"He was not in system. He left for
Centennial ma'am."

"Shit."

"There are defenses on the planet
but they aren't well maintained. They also only cover a quarter of the planet.
If they stand out far enough..." Shelby said, pulling up a sketch report
from the mainframe. They had little intel on Antigua, most of it provided by
Mayweather herself.

"They can rock bomb them. Yeah. And
the station is completely undefended," the Captain replied grimly. She was
now looking at the report the communication's rating had just sent her. The
rating had highlighted that little tidbit of intel.

"Yes ma'am, apparently so. It had
been on the outer edge of the system, out beyond the heliopause apparently.
Kiev 221 literally stumbled across it while transitioning out of hyper. Now
it's in an Lagrange point in the inner system and lit up but defenseless. I'm
getting something about that, something about that's why the admiral left the
system, the people refused to defend the station."

“Lotus eaters,” the tac officer said.

Mayweather shot her a look and then
nodded. "We'll have to do it," Mayweather said as faces turned to her
XO.

Shelby blinked. She knew the way it was
going to go down but she also knew she had to play her role anyway. "Ma'am
our orders..." she started to say cautiously.

Captain Mayweather held up a restraining
hand. "There isn't time. A month one way? Two months?” She shook her head.
They all knew the information lag was a killer. “By the time we get
word..."

"It'll be too late. but
still..." Commander Logan said doggedly, feeling her own emotions twist.
On one hand she wanted to kick pirate ass. But she they also had a duty to the
people on Agnosta. Not to mention to Pyrax. Firefly was the biggest fully operational
warship in the sector. It was the only ship over one hundred megatons that was
fully functional. Even Fuentes had some rough edges.

"I think we can do it,” Mayweather
said tugging her jacket down firmly and straightening her shoulders. “Firefly,
prepare for movement. Get me Hecate, She was rearguard. Tell Lieandra we want
everything they've got and then to refuel and then head to Pyrax at their best
speed to report. Refuel on our tab. Dispatches to follow."

"Aye aye ma'am." He frowned, one
hand on his ear. “Ma'am the admiral has dispatches and cargo aboard the ship
for us.”

Mayweather's sculpted eyebrow rose in
polite inquiry. “Us personally or the navy in general?”

“The military ma'am,” he said, face
working. “They have a general inventory. Most of it is like what we received on
Destiny.”

She nodded. “Good. Send it along to
Pyrax then. They can sort it out there. I'll take a copy of the dispatches
though. Firefly can puzzle over them while we're in transit. Right Firefly?”

“A pleasure,” the AI responded.

“Aye aye ma'am,” the rating replied as
she looked at him.

"Get with the ground side. Let them
know the plan and that I intend to move out in six to eight hours. I want this
ship fully refueled and stuffed to the deck heads so get on that. We'll be a
long way from home so remember that. Barrels of spare fuel, parts, missiles,
stuff them in every nook and cranny you can find. Then call down to the planet.
Get the Major to send up his best, I think we'll need them. Recon and Raiders.
Noobs need not apply."

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

“Anything on the dump from Lieandra?”
Mayweather asked six hours later. It was getting quite past dinner time and she
was getting a headache from the lack of food. She had a lot to do and not a lot
of time to do it in so she'd skipped the meal. Now she was regretting the
choice.

“Not much more than we've already teased
out of it ma'am,” the elven tac officer said blinking her large eyes. “I'm not
sure we'll get much more out of it.” Each of them had the report in their cybernetics,
it was a matter of processing it. But organic and even inorganic minds tended
to strain things differently, sometimes missing something. That was why it was
important to filter the information through as many eyes as possible.

“Keep trying. Just fingerprinting their
emission signatures isn't enough.” They had a general idea of some of their
foes, and it sounded like a fair fight. She didn't like fair, and she didn't
like not knowing the full picture. She wanted every advantage her people could dream
up or tease out of the intel they had.

“I know ma'am. But at least Firefly has
refined the data on the frigate classes. The one freighter we also picked up on
let us know the best they can do in hyper is the low octaves of beta band
ma'am.”

“If, that is, they kept the freighters
tucked in with them. If they race ahead, secure a target with warships then
wait for the freighters to come in to loot it's a different story,” Mayweather
mused darkly.

“Doctrine change ma'am?”

The Captain grimaced. “I've been reading
some of the archives. We need to be prepared for that possibility.”

The elf nodded. “Yes ma'am. Was there
much from Admiral Irons on Antigua?”

Mayweather grimaced once more and shook
her head. “The good news is she was carrying a hold full of parts for the yard,
most of them were critical hyperdrive components and reactor components. There
were even a few military grade replicators and other tech toys. With them we
can build a few more ships or finish the one's we've got started.” the bridge
crew smiled at that. She didn't bother mentioning the Marine equipment he'd
tucked in as well.

“Most of the dispatches were tagged with
Commander Logan's name and coding so we can't decrypt them. Firefly picked up a
few with headers to us but they were general I guess.”

“In general?”

“General letters. Hey how are you, I'm
fine sort of thing.”

“Ouch,” the elf said, shaking her head.
“Not much to go on. We're going in virtually blind with little intel.”

“It's a thought. We're going to short
jump at each jump just in case someone's there waiting. It'll take us a bit
longer to cross the system though,” Mayweather replied. She wasn't happy about
the idea but it was the only thing she could think of to minimize the risk
involved.

“Can we do a short hop ma'am?” the elf
asked, pulling a holo up of the system. “It's been done before. Jump around the
peripheral of the system to the next jump point and then off to our next
destination.”

“We unfortunately don't have the helm
crew that can handle that. The way points...” Mayweather looked at Janice who
shook her head no.

“Are possible Captain,” Firefly said.
“The risk with the crew however...”

“Isn't worth it. I know I know, you told
me already,” Mayweather said, sighing. They had wrangled the subject in her
wardroom a few hours ago. “If we only had that Ssilli on board still. I bet he
could do it.”

“It is a regret. However we do have the
next best thing. Perhaps he can be persuaded to do it?” Firefly mused, looking
thoughtful.

“Something I'm missing?” Mayweather asked
raising a cool eyebrow.

“I'd rather not commit until I know more
Captain. Let me look into it and get back to you,” Firefly said. His holo
winked out.

The Captain glanced at her tac officer.
The elf shrugged. “I have no idea Captain, honest.”

“Neither do I. Maybe he can pull a
rabbit out of his hat.”

“Ssilli or cetacean actually Captain.
About the data we do have on the system. I was wondering if we could use that
and the information on that station's movement to plot the likely locations of
the pirates if they beat us to the system.”

“You're thinking about possible ambush
scenarios?” the Captain asked, glad someone else was planning a few steps
ahead. Her plan was a bit nebulous, get in there, kick ass, and drive the enemy
out period. She had a few ideas, but she didn't like to plan without intel to
go on.

“We can set up a sim and try a few
things Captain. See what works and what needs work.”

Mayweather nodded slowly. They had data
on the system, perhaps there was something there they could use. “Good. It
might be opening night jitters but I'd rather our people are kept busy. Set
them up. Throw in curve balls and worst case scenarios. I don't want to panic
our people but I don't want to sail fat dumb and overconfident into something
and get my head handed to me either.”

“Yes ma'am. I'll see to it.”

“Dismissed,” Mayweather said, turning
and pulling up an ops status display on her board.

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

“Major a moment if you will,” Firefly
popped in. Brevet Major Pendeckle looked up and nodded. The Major had
reluctantly sent him out with Firefly. Pendeckle knew how badly his boss had
wanted in on this, but his assigned station was Agnosta. Someone of senior rank
had to stay behind and tend to the growing base.