Federation Reborn 1: Battle Lines (35 page)

“You are on probation for the next six months, and you are going to have to requalify for suits and safety. You had better get more than a passing grade,” the admiral growled. “I expect an A minimum or we'll have to take more … punitive measures,” he growled.

“Yes, sir.”

“Dismissed,” the admiral said with a nod of his chin to the door.

“Again I am sorry, sir,” the spacer said to Horatio as he turned. Horatio nodded and then nodded to the door. The spacer nodded and walked out, a bit shaken.

“You could have really thrown the book at him, brigged him,” Horatio said mildly.

“You sound like you are gargling gravel,” Admiral Subert said, shaking his head. He frowned. “I'd offer you a shot, but I think the doctor's keeping you sober.”

“Yes, sir. And believe me, I could use a belt,” Horatio said, smiling whimsically.

“You lost what little hair you had left,” the admiral said.

“I didn't have much to begin with. I lost a lot exposed to radiation while tending to Anvil's reactors and systems all those years,” he said.

The admiral eyed him and then turned to look out the view screen window. “You were there what, a century?” he finally asked.

“Close to that, sir,” Horatio replied. “Trying to keep the lights on and people alive. People like my wife and daughter. Friends,” he said.

“And you did. But it cost you. I heard you were a slave,” Phil said, turning back to him. There was something different in his eyes now, not cold anger but a sense of respect.

Horatio nodded. “The port admiral kept my wife as a hostage whenever a ship was in. Or he kept a hard watch on everything coming and going through the docks.” He sighed. “To be honest it wasn't just him. Some of my friends like Enrique did it too. They knew if we left the station would fall apart. That thousands would die.”

“So you stayed.”

“I stayed. I hated it, but I did my duty.”

“You could have died.”

“But I didn't, sir. I'm a survivor. Harley won't screw up like that again. It took someone almost dying to wake him up, I admit he's a hard head. And I'm not thrilled about being the guy who got the end of the wrench,” he grimaced. “But I hope it will wake other people up.”

“I hope so too. So you have no hard feeling for him?”

Horatio shook his head. “He's always on time; he loves the black. He pisses his credits away in the bars and casinos but …,” he shrugged. “He doesn't want to be anywhere else than where he is right now. I can respect that.”

“I see.” The admiral looked away again and then shrugged. “Understood. Try not to mix it up with Murphy again anytime soon, will you? You used up a lot of Lady Luck's good graces staying alive.”

“I know,” Horatio croaked. “If that wrench had hit me in the helmet or the visor, I would have been killed.”

“I know,” the admiral grimaced. He was sorely tempted to land on Harley again for such stupidity, but he forced himself not to do so. According to Saul morale had been low after the other officers had departed. When Horatio had been injured, it had hit the crapper. Everyone had been asking about him every hour. Kalmia had kept a website and text update going. He realized that the man was idolized.

“I need to get back to work, sir. I've had enough vacation time,” Horatio croaked, straightening.

“Take another day off to recover. Hell, take two. I know you want to get back in the harness. But if you don't want to suit up ….” He left the idea hanging.

Horatio shook his head. “I'm a firm believer in getting back on the horse ASAP, sir. To get over the fear and to show others I'm not going to let it bother me.”

“I see. Well, I mean it about the time off. The yard deputies are handling the load. You are hands off until medical clears you.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Dismissed, Captain,” the admiral stated. The captain came to attention then about-faced and walked out.

---<>---<>---

“We damn near lost him,” the admiral murmured to Saul later. He couldn't get over that. Everyone was replaceable, but he'd learned to respect the old man.

“Yes, sir. But we didn't.”

“He needs to be careful. More careful. So do we. I want a review of everyone with safety violations. Anyone with serious violations are to get a brush up every three months,” he growled.

“That will play hell with the build schedules, sir,” the commander warned.

The admiral waved a dismissive hand. “I can't have this happen again.”

Saul realized that the admiral had started to warm to the captain. He nodded. He also hoped that got around to the officers and enlisted. If it did it might help morale and smooth things over with the forces in the star system. This just might be turning a corner he thought, hoping he wasn't jinxing or misreading the process.

Chapter 19

“Are you serious?” Admiral Frost demanded, glaring for all his worth at the two hapless lieutenant commanders standing in front of his desk. One meaty index finger stabbed down onto the blotter. “You two twits are telling me that a force has taken Protodon? A force of what, three destroyers and some support ships? And they took out Jean Bart and
three
of our ships?”

“Yes, sir,” Dutch said, finally glad the fat admiral had caught on to the obvious. “As you can see from our report and our recordings ….” He was feeling relief over the admiral's catching on. He'd had to fight through various levels of bureaucracy to get the admiral to talk to them and take the threat seriously.

Eight weeks and thirty-nine hours. That was how long it had taken them to get to the star system. A long drawn-out time period to jump the 12.4 light years, agonizing in that they'd been terrified that the enemy would be hard on their heels. At least Nuevo Madrid had a small repair yard; one that could theoretically rebuild the freighter.

He cut himself off when the admiral waved a curt hand for him to be silent. The admiral's pig-like eyes looked at Commander Kail. “Commander?”

“Sir?”

“And you support this?”

“I can't dispute it however much I'd like to, sir,” the commander said. She shrugged, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Dutch. They had butted heads a few times before the two of them had settled down. She still didn't like the man but they were fellow officers. She didn't have to like someone or respect them, but she did have to respect the uniform. He had to too, or so she kept reminding herself on a daily basis.

“Sir, what do we do? The enemy now controls the B-95a3 star system …,” Dutch said.

The admiral's eyes cut to him and then away. He snorted like a buffalo. “Ha! That piddly frigate? I'll send in my squadron to take it out. That's easy. But the problem is, it might retreat and call up reinforcements,” he said. He sat heavily. It became obvious to the two junior officers that the admiral wasn't certain what to do about that problem.

“I'm down to one courier. I can send it, but then we won't have one. And I just sent a damn courier in. There is no telling when I'll get any back.”

“And it will have to get past that frigate, sir,” Commander Kail stated.

“Thank you for reminding me of that,” the admiral said, shaking his head. “No, I'm not going to risk it.”

“Then what are we going to do, sir?”

“We're going to stand on the defensive. I'm putting my entire force on alert and on that jump point. If anything sticks its nose in, we'll chop it off as they materialize from hyper.” The admiral said. He put words to action, using his tablet to type the order out. He also ordered the shipyard to make repairs to the freighter and to freeze the expansion programs in favor of generating additional munitions.

Dutch nodded. Commander Kail smiled politely, but she had a shadow of doubt in her eyes that they'd be able to pull it off. After all, Earl Gumel had had four destroyers to the Admiral's one, though he had had less frigates. She silently shook her head.

“You disapprove, Commander?” The admiral asked, his accusing eyes locked on hers. He had obviously seen her slight headshake.

“No, sir. Sorry, sir, woolgathering. I was trying to game out the next move, sir,” the commander instantly replied, straightening.

“Your ship will be repaired, and then you are going to keep our forces on the jump point supplied. I'll look into packing some scrap or making improvised mines,” the admiral stated. Captain Kail nodded. She hid a satisfied smirk at the confirmation that she would retain command.

“And me, sir? Do you have a command or something for me, sir?” Dutch asked hopefully.

“I, um, don't have a command for your rank, Commander, nor orders to that effect. So for the moment I'll …,” the admiral frowned until an idea came. “I know what I'll do, I'll attach you to my staff! Yes, that's right, you can help us go over the battle in detail, pick it apart, and see what we can learn. Then we'll plug that data into what we have here to plug some holes.”

“Yes, sir,” Dutch said with a head bob. He fought to keep resignation out of his voice. At least he'd have access to the officer's club to drown his sorrows he thought.

“Are you going to send a ship to B-95a3 to scout it, sir? To get an early warning picket out?” Commander Kail asked helpfully.

The admiral grunted. “I'll think about it,” he finally muttered. She nodded, clearly annoyed by that. “Dismissed.”

---<>---<>---

“So, officer's club?” Captain Kail asked.

“Yeah. I suppose I should pack my things and get them down here. Sign in to guest BOQ and all that,” Dutch said. He tugged on his ear then used his pinky to work some dead skin or something out.

“Huh,” she said with a nod, looking away politely. She'd gotten him onto her side and working with her by the simple expedient of seduction. He wasn't her type; they both knew it. But he'd been smart enough to not look a gift horse in the mouth. Not many women actively courted him. And on
Charlatan's Prayer
there were few ladies to begin with.

His stocky body had a bit of stamina though. And he definitely could take some abuse. She had to admit she liked both. He'd taken some training though, which she didn't mind. Now he wasn't half bad in bed. All that slobber he generated was good for something she thought with a mental grin. “One for the road?” she asked simply.

He looked at her, licked his lips nervously, and then his eyes widened as she smiled slightly. His head began to bob as he caught on. She smirked as she saw the bulge in his crotch twitch right on cue. Easy picking she thought. She'd let him down easy after her fun, but the relationship might come in handy sometime in the future. At the very least, it got her mad out. His hide would heal. Eventually.

“Yes, ma'am,” he said eagerly as she took his arm.

“Good boy,” she purred as they walked back to the spaceport.

---<>---<>---

Admiral Frost nervously held the bottle as he stared off into the void of what could be a very short future. Most senior officers would see the departure of Rico and Cartwright as well as their captains as a blessing. Both officers had stuffed their commands with supporters as much as possible. That was par for the course. With the competition thinned out, it would mean more advancement for the likes of him.

Only he wasn't at all certain he wanted to be in the spotlight quite like that. It was one thing to go in against the dregs and conquer them. Quite another to go up against real opposition. Opposition that had taken out two good officers in the process of doing the same duty. The expectation to get it right would be high, and the fall would be spectacular if he misstepped even slightly. Even just holding back could be construed against him in some quarters.

He licked his lips and then poured himself a drink. He had to think about it, game out all the angles. One thing he refused to do is panic he thought.

The one good thing about the situation was that high command would have to send him adequate forces. Forces sufficient to take on the enemy. He frowned and then sighed. No, they'd dispatch another admiral with said force of course he thought with a sour grimace. He downed the drink and then set the glass down a little harder than he had intended.

But … if they didn't get here in time … he winced. He had to do something more about the jump point. More defenses … but he couldn't spin crappy straw into gold! All he had was crap to work with to begin with! He shook his head.

His people were scrambling to go over the records that damn freighter had brought in. One thing was for certain, he couldn't use that turd Lefou, not with his reputation tainted by his captain's defeat. The stocky man was under a cloud and most likely knew it.

No, he'd have intelligence pull the man apart. Sit him down and get everything out of him, anything he could think of. Game the entire battle out several times. Pick it apart as often as it took to get as much data as they could. If Lefou could handle that and did well, he'd find something for him to do—garbage duty or some other crappy duty.

Come to think of it, Kail and the others had all been in the star system too, right? He nodded. Yes. And since their ship was banged up, they could sit around for a bit while his staff put an engineering team together to do something about that. So, they too could be interviewed. Good.