Retribution (The Federation Reborn Book 3) (57 page)

“That is … something to consider,” Admiral Irons stated, nodding slowly. “You've given me a bit to think about, you realize that right?”

“Yes, sir. Fortunately, we've got plenty of time, sir.”

“Yes, yes we do,” Admiral Sienkov stated. “At least for that. If we don't get this meeting finished I think our keepers are going to be insufferable,” he said.

Admiral Irons snorted then nodded. “Okay, so, you have the basic frame of the battle in B-97A, and I assume you've run it past Otto and the tactical computers to sim out what we know so far. That's helped generate a list of questions for you. What else?”

“Well …”

:::{)(}:::

Two days after the news of the battle of B-97A came in to Protodon, a small bit of good news arrived as a fresh contact was forged. Admiral Irons got the news from Iab, the Neochimp secretary of communications. He stopped what he was doing to read the Neochimp's email.

The ship transporting the ansible links to Bek and Nuevo had only got as far as B102C before it had to stop. The journey through the rapids had left them with only 12 half-muons left in 1 of the Ansible cores so there was no point continuing on; the rest would be lost if they had tried. The limited connection would allow limited ability to communicate with the capital; therefore, Captain Greta Barnes of the
Dora
class
Sally Ride
made the hard call.

Her people set up shop in B102C. They deployed the platform and then carefully placed the ansible inside. When they were finished, the connection was down to eight bytes due to the additional jostling of the final transfer and connections. Bek and Nuevo would need to talk with capital with couriers to the ansible or low priority regular message traffic carried by ships that risked the rapids.

“Admiral, it's good news,” Sprite said.

“A small bit, yes,” he replied with a straight face.

“Very funny,” she drawled as her avatar rolled her eyes. “The other
bit
of good news is that her helm crew can be transferred to another ship to back up your harbor pilot concept, sir,” she stated.

“Once
Sally Ride
gets out of there you mean,” the admiral reminded her. “Still, there are what, three chimeras and two Agnosta selkies on board? That is good I suppose.”

“Though it will make further deployments of ansible cores not as smooth I suppose,” Sprite reminded him.

He frowned thoughtfully then shrugged. “For the moment, Bek has priority.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

“News on Horatio?” Admiral Irons inquired. Commodore Horatio Logan was on board the light cruiser
Caroline
en route to Bek. The light cruiser was carrying more manufacturing gear as well as data packets and officers to begin to bring Bek up to full federation member status.

And more importantly, to bring them into the fold … and their massive shipyards and industrial complex. They were his true ace in the hole.

“If you are asking about
Caroline
, no.
Sally Ride
noted the ion trail of a recent ship's passing. They are assuming it is
Caroline
.”

“Okay.”

“The captain is asking for orders, Admiral. Should she continue on to Bek anyway? Let them know the ansible platform is in B102C? Or should they start back now to B101a1? Or go to Nuevo?”

“Have them head back. Order them to transfer their helm team to the picket in B101a1. Wait,” he held up a restraining hand. “Sorry, have them swap with the helm team of the picket.”

“I was about to say, they'd still need a helm team. All right, orders … waiting, waiting … This is going to take a while. A
long
while,” she drawled in disgust.

“Rome wasn't built in a day, Commander,” Protector stated.

“Ha! Just don't expect to send your speeches or daily news dumps through this. My word is this slow!” Sprite complained.

It was the admiral's turn to roll his eyes. “Just get it done and spare me the complaints. We'll send another shipment when we can.”

“Speaking of …,” Sprite brought up. “You have a conversation scheduled with Admiral Subert in an hour. That might be a topic that comes up.”

“Joy,” the admiral said as he wrote a quick text to April.

“You're letting Miss O'Neill know ahead of the rest, sir?” Protector asked him.

“Yes,” the admiral said. “She'll be happy about the minor scoop.”

“And keeping the lady happy is important,” Sprite said dryly.

“You know relationships so well,” Admiral Irons said as he looked up with a smile. “So before I talk to Phil, what else can we do? This is a small positive piece of news. We need to build off of it. Get some momentum building again.”

“Rebuild trust in other words. Okay, well, I know people aren't happy about losing the dreadnaughts and First Battle Cruiser Squadron. The naval press office has tried to point out that we still have the second, third, and are starting the fourth squadron here. I think we need to make some headway on the flag rank front while also pointing out the new squadron. The tricky thing is how we go about doing that without being too obvious about it. We don't want to look like we're grasping at anything to shut them up.”

“But we don't want to be too subtle or they'll latch onto that too,” Protector warned.

“That part we can leave to them grumbling about how bad ass we are,” Sprite replied.

“Or they could think that we're not taking the threat of this enemy fleet seriously enough,” Protector warned. “If we suffer another setback, it could do even further damage to public trust and administration prestige. People need to know when the admiral says something; he means it and has the means to back it up.”

“Agreed. So, setting the right tone is important. No obvious grab for attention,” Sprite said thoughtfully.

“I can talk about it with Phil while we toss around ideas. A minor press release about the latest battle cruiser commissioning might be nice. Or …,” the admiral frowned, “I was going to say have a middy public tour or even a general public tour, but I'm now thinking … what about a scout campout?”

“Sir?”

“Antigua scouts. Kids, all genders, open to all who are interested, let them camp out for a weekend on a ship. Set it up a month or two off, not something now.”

“Which would be too much of an obvious distraction ploy,” Sprite inserted.

“Right. Set it up, and then let it play out. The kids will be excited. Didn't I read someone requesting this?” he asked.

“I'm writing a bot to check, Admiral,” Sprite stated. “Bot away.”

“Good. If they have, act on that. If it comes up, point out that it was suggested earlier. Joke about taking so long, that sort of thing.”

Sprite nodded. “I have several requests on file so we're covered.”

“Good. Good. Do that. Also …,” he frowned thoughtfully, “set up a meet and greet with kids. I'm avoiding the college for the time being …”

“Since you want to avoid the picketers laying in wait there,” Protector said.

“Ahem, yes,” the admiral drawled, shooting the A.I. a moderate glower. “So, maybe if I can't come to them, I'll pop in somewhere—an in and out.”

“Hand shake, photo op. Gotcha,” Sprite said.

“You let the other departments know about the ansible?”

“The news went out but I think Knox News … yup, they broke the story seventy-eight seconds ago,” Sprite said.

“Ooops,” Admiral Irons said with a shrug and boyish grin.

“Boys and mischief,” Sprite sighed theatrically. That just made the admiral's grin widen.

:::{)(}:::

April smiled when she heard the afternoon anchor break into the normal cycle to report the connection to the Bek nexus had been made. It hadn't worked out as planned, but at least they had a tentative link that could be reforged over time. For the moment, it was a step in the right direction … and a small bright glimmer of good news in a heavy news cycle filled with rancor and hand wringing.

The demands for action were getting old, even with the public. She knew it. She wasn't sure if the complainants knew it. She certainly knew John had already had his fill of it. She typed out a quick text thanking him for the heads-up before she flipped the channel feed to Galactic Spotlight News, Toni Chamber's channel. “We're receiving unconfirmed reports from other news outlets that the ansible link to Bek has come on line. I have to stress; this is unconfirmed at this time. It is reported that the link didn't get to Bek itself; instead it was set up in an empty star system on the other side of the rapids. Unfortunately, this information … okay, we're getting confirmation of our own now, and an announcement from the administration's press secretary that a news conference will be announced shortly.”

April flicked her implants to change the channel and then cracked her knuckles. “Eat that, witch,” she growled softly.

:::{)(}:::

Moira heard the news that they'd gotten a link tentatively forged as she ate lunch with the news playing. She used her implants to turn the volume on, interrupting the verbal brief from a stammering staffer. She frowned then smiled as it sank in. “Good to know,” she said nodding. “I wish they could have gotten it all the way in, but they did well to plant it there I suppose,” she said.

“A football analogy, ma'am?”

“What? No, just reflecting on what they achieved. They did what they could with what they had, and now we can build off of it. See if you can work that into a press release; maybe tie it into what we've done so far, and what we're going to do, and what White is going to do. Try to build up morale a bit,” she ordered.

“I'll um, see what I can do, ma'am,” her press secretary said, making a note.

“You do that,” Moira said, eyes turning back to the news channel.

:::{)(}:::

“Phil, nice to see you,” Admiral Irons said, nodding to his fellow flag officer's holographic avatar. “Before we get too far into it, I wanted to let you know I'm sending you a fresh shipment of ansible cores. That way you can set up the B101a1, another to Destria, and transfer two or more of them to Nuevo and Bek if possible, while keeping one in reserve.”

“Thank you, Admiral. Sending the one to B101a1 tapped me out.”

“I know. And I know it's always a good idea to have one or more handy in case of need,” Admiral Irons said with a smile. He picked up his coffee mug and took a sip before he put it down in front of him. “How goes things in Pyrax?”

“The usual,” Admiral Subert replied. “Same political crap, different day,” he admitted.

Admiral Irons snorted. “Just be glad you don't have to deal with Congress. It's not just the delegates and senators; it's their staffers you have to worry about too. And they want state functions now more than ever,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I've fostered as many of the state dinners off on Secretary Sema as I can get away with,” he said.

“Watch that one. She's ambitious,” Phil warned.

“Aren't all political animals that way? It goes with their predatory nature.”

“Yes, well, that one is liable to take a bite out of your ass if you turn your back on her for too long.”

“The same could be said of any woman who doesn't like being ignored,” Admiral Irons replied, cracking a smile.

Admiral Subert snorted. “True,” he admitted. “Just remember, she can go for the jugular. She wants your job,” he warned.

“She can get in line,” the admiral replied with a shrug.

“I know you were grooming Governor Randall for the job, but he screwed up by not taking the VP slot when he had the chance,” Phil stated.

“He didn't want to be divided between Antigua and the federation. I think once his kids are in college he'll step up more.”

“Possible. But by then it might be too late. The political stage is going to be crowded once Bek and Nuevo and the other sectors get involved,” Phil warned.

Admiral Irons shrugged. “It's not my problem. He'll deal with it when the time comes. For the moment he's content to stay where he is. And I'm content to let him. Any problems with sending more ansibles to the Bek nexus? I noticed you didn't object,” he said in a questioning tone of voice.

“We're going to need a better method to get them there. Or they are going to have to go at the first octave of alpha and take a hell of a long time to get there,” Phil stated. “Barnes got too cute, and it cost us. She was too impatient.”

Admiral Irons nodded. “Sometimes the turtle wins the race in the end. The important thing is to get them there safely. Speed can be a killer,” Admiral Irons retorted.

“True,” Admiral Subert replied.

“I read your status reports, so I think we can dispense with them for the moment. I was talking to Yorgi and Monty. They brought up a couple interesting things, including your interest in another duty assignment? ONI?” he asked, cocking his head and raising an eyebrow in inquiry.