Federation Reborn 2: Pirate Rage (92 page)

“But it will inevitably do so outside the range of your ships. What makes you think you'll be able to get to that ship and kill it before it gets away?” the admiral demanded. He studied the captain and then shook his head. “You don't. You can't guarantee it. I can see it written all over your face, Captain.”

Captain Post spread his hands imploringly. “There are no guarantees in life, sir. In this case … no. I'm sorry, sir but …”

“This is unexceptionable. But we can't do much other than stand down some of our forces, hide what we have and hope it hasn't noticed them. Hope that they underestimate our forces and send in too little,” the admiral mused. “I think I'm now sorry I didn't follow your earlier advice and leave a picket in B-95a3.”

“I … yes, sir. If you say so,” the captain said. He'd been trying to get the fat lard to send a ship, most likely one of the freighters, to the empty star system to act as a picket. But the threat of the two cruisers would have made the picket a fleeting one.

If they had left the ship more or less unmolested though, then they could have gotten an early warning of when the Feds were on their way.
If
that was, the ship managed to get back before the Feds jumped in. Since the Feds had the full tech base, they undoubtedly had better hyperdrives.

Better hyperdrives were the least of his concerns though.

“If I'd sent the picket, it would have had to have been one of your BCs. No other ship would have been able to stand up to the two cruisers you say are there,” the admiral said, near the level of a rant. “Now this,” he said throwing a hand up in despair. He closed his eye and rubbed his brow. “What else can go wrong,” he demanded.

Captain Post refrained from saying anything. He didn't want to tempt fate. They'd had enough crap thrown at them as it was.
More
than enough he thought.

“See what you can do.
Lingchi's
fighters, shuttles,
something
,” the admiral said.

“We … we can use recon drones, sir,” the captain said thoughtfully. He knew they were both grasping at straws. “We have so few fighters. If we pull the shuttles off the transport of parts to the ships that will slow those efforts down tremendously …”

The admiral grimaced. “Damn it to hell,” he muttered. “Get me a plan. Start with the recon drones if you have to. I'll … I'll countersign using them.”

Captain Post nodded.

“Expedite the repairs, Captain. Something tells me we're going to need those ships soon. Are they all refueled?”

“Almost, sir.
Calico Jack's
port fuel tanks are in the process of being patched now.”

“What happened to them?”

“Frame rupture, sir. We almost lost the ship during that last jump. She's not going to be able to make another jump,” the captain warned. “Not without significant repairs, sir.”

“I knew that. I didn't know it was that extensive. Engineers tend to overthink things or exaggerate in order to make themselves look good when they get it done faster than they estimated,” the admiral said peevishly. “I'm guessing her hull and hyperdrive are pretty much shot,” he said, eying the captain. Captain Post grimaced. “I see. So, she can't be used for any sort of evacuation, and she's a liability in combat.”

“But she is a cruiser, sir, one additional hull with firepower.” He was still struggling with the idea of evacuating the star system. They had no place to go really, their hyperdrives weren't going to handle more than one or two jumps. Even the freighter
Charlatan’s Prayer
was too damaged to go far. That was why Admiral Von Berk had left it behind.

“You mean another target for the enemy to destroy,” the admiral retorted. “I suppose getting them to waste ammo … then again, she is an additional platform.” He scowled then waved a fat hand. “Never mind. Get that recon drone plan to my office and in motion now, Captain,” he ordered.

Captain Post nodded, one hand reaching for the disconnect.

“And keep me posted on the repairs. I'll see if we can squeeze more material for you. I know there is a junkyard near. It may not have much in usable parts, but we can at least use the materials since they are already processed.”

Captain Post winced but then nodded. “Every little bit helps, sir. We really need missiles,” he said.

The admiral's eyes flashed. “Don't you think I don't know that?” he demanded. When he saw the captain's face turn into a mask, his scowl deepened. He wanted to vent, to rant, but he needed the man. He grunted in irritation. “Never mind. Get what you can done, Captain. And find me that ship.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

“Dismissed,” the admiral said, cutting the circuit on his end.

The captain stared at the blank monitor and then sat back in his chair. “Well, you heard the man; we've got our marching orders. We better do what we can while we can,” he said to his staff.

“Aye, sir,” Lieutenant Kuroma said. Techs were arguing over how best to fix a circuit behind him. “We're beat up, stuck together with wire and riggers tape, but we'll find a way.”

The captain felt a trace of a smile almost touch his lips. The effort to boost morale was appreciated. He nodded once. “Then let's see what we can do. We may be down, but we're not out as you said. Get me a recon drone pattern. Kuroma, you gamed out the scout's probable paths correct?” He received an instant nod in reply. “Let's see if we can narrow that down then,” he said.

“Aye, sir.”

“We may need to focus on the return paths since they all converge into one area of space,” the captain said. “In fact, I think we're also low on recon drones. Check the inventory for me. Based on what we've got, see if that plan is the best.”

“Set up a picket line between us and the inner system that they'll have to pass through, sir?” the TACO asked. “We can try. The ship will be trying to act like a hole in space, but if it is under power and moving, it will occlude the stars it passes in between itself and the recon drone's sensors I suppose. It all depends on how good our instruments are and how good their stealth is.”

“Do what you can with what we've got,” the captain ordered. The TACO nodded and then swung into action.

---<>))))

Moldy Crow
arrived in Garth orbit without any sort of fan fair. Far from it. Scorn from the fleet stationed in the star system seemed to be in the air as the ship's surviving crew timidly requested fuel and food to continue their journey.

Earl and former ship's Captain Commander Gaston Gumel did his best to take it in stride. He knew he was going to get the scarlet A for losing his ship. It was inevitable at this point. His only hope was that he wouldn't lose his life over it.

Well, there was one other hope he clung to. It seemed to be granted when he received word of the Sword of Retribution Fleet's passing. He couldn't help but grin at the thought of the Federation bastards getting some much deserved payback.

He just wished he could be there to see it happen.

---<>))))

Commander and Princess Catherine Ramichov did her best to sort out the mess her admiral had inflicted on her with their latest purloined acquisitions. They had picked up additional warships in Dead Drop.

These, however, were in far worse shape than the ones they had encountered in Garth. Admiral De Gaulte settled on appropriating four more tin cans to form another destroyer squadron with the Garth division. Once the six ships were arranged together he had ordered the staff to perform a live exercise while the fleet was in real space to break the new squadron in properly.

This would be the last opportunity to refuel before they got to Nuevo Madrid. The admiral was insistent that they take the opportunity to get as much fuel and fresh supplies as possible before moving on, despite the cost in time involved.

One thing he hadn't counted on was letting his crew down for some much needed liberty. A few of the ships had done so without his authorization. He hadn't made any noises about it until some stupid fool of an officer had fallen off his steed and broken his leg in a bug hunt. He'd immediately put a stop to all leave.

Which was a pity in Catherine's opinion. She had looked forward to seeing another planet. She'd managed to wangle a brief visit to Garth; she'd looked forward to going down to Dead Drop. Her presence would have drawn a lot of interest in certain circles. It would have let her forge some tentative links to the people in command of the planet as well as the officers charged with defending it. A gift of her praise would be like a blessing that might help her future career prospects in the long term.

But sadly, it was not to be. One fool's mistake had ruined it for everyone. She made a note of the stupid man to deal with him in the future.

She had to be honest with herself however. Her duties would have eaten up a lot of her time, perhaps more time than a political jaunt and sightseeing tour would have allowed. Admiral De Gaulte wasn't letting any grass grow under their feet while they were in port. Far from it. He was sifting through all the latest intelligence they had gathered. He'd turned the tactical departments loose on the strategic problems to see what they came up with.

The staffs had come up with plans to use the force based on the information they had available plus what they knew of their own ships. The plans were alternate strategies to the main frontal attack they were currently committed to following.

One plan revolved around splitting a force off and sending it up to Senka to flank the enemy. That force could then swing south to hit Triang and threaten the Federation capital on a second front while also cutting off the supplies it was exchanging in convoys with Pyrax.

Another plan was pitched to split off a force, most likely a squadron of destroyers, in Protodon to go south and sweep the jump chain there.

However, Admiral De Gaulte was a practical man. He wanted to keep the force concentrated since they didn't know what was in Antigua and he might need them all. But he liked keeping the staff thinking about contingency plans. It kept them on their toes and having them on file would be handy to use as a possible template in the future.

She shook her head. It had seemed like a monumental waste of time, but it wasn't. It had been a good training exercise for them all, a way for them to learn ways and means to think strategically and outside the box. She wished that they'd gotten to the stage where they could have plugged the data into the flag computers and then gamed out what the Federation might do in response.

Unfortunately, that had been the point where the admiral had shut them down. She wasn't certain if it was because of the lack of data on the enemy … or the realization that the enemy had the Federation full tech basis. If they did plug those numbers in, there was a very good chance that things in the sims would have gone badly. Perhaps badly enough to make them rethink the mission completely? She wasn't certain.

It was unlike the admiral to not want to know that though. She wondered why.

She had another project to keep her mind occupied, though it technically wasn't her venue as the admiral's ops officer. The four new tin cans had to be brought up to speed not just in training, but also with parts. That was a problem since they had run into the reserves with parts from the tenders. If they pushed it, they could bring all the ships up a few percentage points … but it would mean they wouldn't have any parts for later.

A problem the admiral was in apparent agreement with her that couldn't be so easily resolved. It was a gray area; one he was trying to figure out. Transferring the data they had on new part designs to the limited industry in the star system wouldn't help them. They weren't going to be around long enough to reap some of the fruits of that labor.

She sighed heavily. They were going to have to rework the old parts, perhaps recycle them? She wasn't certain. The fleet didn't have a replicator; the things were just too precious to risk. Could they capture one? That was important.

She checked the notes on the ships in Fourth Fleet, but it came up empty. But when she widened her search, she did get a hit. Admiral Frost had a small class one civilian grade industrial replicator. She nodded as she highlighted the entry and then flagged it for the admiral's viewing during her next presentation should she need it. It was at least something.

It still wasn't enough though she knew.

Chapter
53

Firefly
jumped into real space at the Gaston jump point. Her return to Pyrax was marked by her IFF being broadcast to the waiting picket. The picket fortresses and ships immediately signaled for the ship to pass and broadcast the latest pass codes and map to get through the minefield.

There was little to no chatter from the picket force. The absence and lack of even casual banter was keenly felt by
Firefly's
bridge crew.

“No ticker tape parades this go around apparently,” Renee said. “No matter.”

“One oh shit wipes out a thousand atta boys you mean, skipper ,” “Commodore” Firefly stated dryly.

“Yeah, that too,” Renee replied, eying the star system. A lot of things had changed in their absence. The star system seethed even more with activity than she remembered it, not all of it military she noted by the plot icons. But a lot were. Her eyes fell on the squadrons of battle cruisers out on maneuvers. A thrill as well as a twisted sense of envy and guilt ran up and down her spine.

Vanessa should be here to see this. To see what they'd accomplished. She still had mixed feelings about meeting her sister. At least they'd kept it on the comm and almost civil. Her last parting shot had given her a lot to think about. It and the realization that her sister had been doing what she had to do to protect her existing ship and crew had changed her outlook on her relationship with the woman. They'd never be friends but she had come to a grudging respect for the other woman.

And apparently the feeling had been mutual.

“Do we have a course?” she asked, turning to navigation.

“The latest map has been downloaded and processed now, ma’am. They don't want us running into anything or anyone it seems,” the navigator replied.

“Yes, let's not embarrass ourselves anymore than we already have, shall we?” she replied tartly. The navigator winced. “Very well then,” she said, settling herself with some difficulty. “Move us out then,” she said, facing the main viewing screen squarely. A stab of pain ran through her right side before her implants cut it off. She inhaled sharply anyway, nostrils dilating. Pain of a different source hit her a moment later. This was lower and more … natural. One she wouldn't be able to ignore for much longer.

Sometimes she envied the admiral and his implants she thought briefly.

“Aye, ma’am, helm, course twenty-four degrees by four by two. Follow the bouncing ball,” the navigator intoned, turning to the helm team. They echoed the order as they began to execute it.

“I'll be in my room,” Renee said, abruptly rising from her chair. “You have the bridge,” she said to the fourth in command.

“Aye aye, ma’am,” the navigator said, eyes wide. He immediately got control of his response. He went over to her chair as she slowly made her way to the hatch. “Are you okay, ma’am?”

“Me? Just peachy. I just need to … never mind,” she said as her bladder sent more painful signals to her. The walker moved a little faster. “Carry on,” she said over her shoulder as she moved through the hatch to her ready room where the nearest private head was.

---<>))))

“Commodore on the bridge,” Firefly intoned. Renee looked up from where she had been seated on a temporary chair as work crews kept working on her replacement chair. She'd been looking forward to seeing the project done before they got into dry dock but that hadn't happened. She was determined to see it through even if she lost sleep over it.

Besides, it was a good distraction from the crap the review board and media were going to throw her way. She was depressingly certain she was going to be torn apart by both. She also agonizingly knew she had it coming. She'd grown overconfident. She'd sailed fat dumb and happy into an ambush against superior numbers. She would be lucky if they didn't beach her.

“Carry on,” a familiar voice intoned. That got more heads to look up in surprise. She had just gotten to her feet and blinked when she saw Horatio Logan standing in the entry with his cover tucked under one arm. So he'd been promoted, she thought in wonder. It looked good on him. She nodded.

“Sir, if I'd known you were coming …,” she started to say, trying to salute but he waved her off.

“At ease, Renee, damn it. Lady, you should be in bed or in sickbay,” Horatio said, shaking his head.

“I'll heal. I want to see things right, sir,” she said stubbornly.

He smiled softly. “I know. I heard from Shelby; she wasn't too happy about the damage either. She wanted to stay with you the whole way back in, but ET was just too chewed up.”

Renee snorted. Shelby nursemaiding them would have helped the repair effort immensely but not her shattered ego. “I know, sir. They were needed there. We got in all right, sir,” she said proudly. They'd limped in, but they'd gotten there.

“I'm here bearing orders,” the commodore said, motioning Renee to take a seat. She wearily sat back down. His eyes looked at her in concern before he turned to Firefly to give her some time to get settled.

“Congratulations on the promotion, sir,” Firefly stated.

Horatio snorted as he tugged on one sleeve of his jacket. There was an extra bar there to go with the star on his collar. “Look at me. I never thought I'd go beyond yeoman or power room tech. Now flag rank,” Horatio stated, shaking his head.

“Well, it suits you, sir,” Firefly said.

“Suck-up,” the newly minted commodore teased. “You damn well know I'd much rather be in a coverall, right, mixed in with the rest of this lot,” he said, indicating the techs around the room. A few looked his way with brief smiles, some inviting. “Unfortunately, I can't. Now, you wanted to know the straight line. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”

Renee stiffened, then exhaled slowly. “I see, sir.” She knew it was going to be bad. She braced for the worst and started preparing mental arguments against anything he said.

“You both already know about the review board. The initial inquiry has been processed. Your testimony will finish it off, but I honestly don't see much more you can contribute to it. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, and they know it.”

“We, I still screwed up, sir,” Renee said softly.

“You were a tad overconfident,” the commodore said. “But you've sailed into less and won. The good news is, you kept your ship intact. We'll build off of that. Do your best to deal with the media, give them a statement or they'll get even more ravenous for a comment.” Renee grimaced blackly. “After you've given a statement you can politely refer them to the Public Affairs Department at your discretion. But a basic statement will help get them off your ass.”

“Yes, sir.”

The media was just starting to get into the backlash against the navy.
Firefly
had been held up as the shield against the barbarian horde. Well, the hero had stumbled, and even though he hadn't fallen, he had proven he was mortal. Worse, he hadn't been able to stop the horde from ravaging a population center. The fallout was rather painful and probably only going to get worse before it got better. Renee better watch her P's and Q's during her press conference.

“We've changed a lot over the past couple of years as you know. But we've picked up the pace … at some cost. Repairs are considered to be on the back burner due to the rush to push ships out of the production lines. Even major refits can sideline a ship or send her to mothballs.” Horatio intoned. He could see people stiffen in indignation. He shook his head. “It's the way it is; we need people to man the new ships too.” he turned to the A.I. avatar. “But don't worry, Commodore Firefly, we'll get you out sooner or later. More sooner than later, since you are a heavy cruiser and we need everyone we can get. Unfortunately, with a fresh crew and command team, but …,” Horatio stated.

“The surviving crew will be poached for other commands, sir?” Firefly asked. Renee wondered how he could be so damn calm about it all. Then she remembered, he was an A.I.

“Yours is the ship with the most combat experience. We simply
must
pass that along to as many people as we can. So yes, they are getting promoted and dropped into various ships,
after
they get some downtime. That part I've insisted on despite some howls in BUPERS,” he said with a grimace. “Not a lot of time off though,” Horatio grimaced, “and some more than others for the wounded.” His grimace deepened.

“Renee,” he turned to the human captain. “Once medical clears you and you've gotten a bit of downtime to put it all in perspective,” he paused at her grimace. She was aware wherever she went she'd most likely be mobbed by the public and media. “ … You're going to be shifting your lights to a brand new battlecruiser.” He could see her eyes light at that news. There were shadows of doubt to go with the spark of interest, but he expected it. She wouldn't hold it long he judged, she'd make flag rank within a couple years. Sooner if things went as far south as he was expecting. “We even,” his ancient eyes turned to Firefly, “toyed with the notion of tearing you out and sticking you into a new ship, Captain.”

“Pass, sir.
Firefly
is where I want to be.”

“I thought as much,” the commodore replied with a nod. “Renee, your ship is almost ready to launch. She's got another six weeks before we move her to the final fitting yard to take on stores. She just passed her builder’s trials, and we're building her crew. You're going to have your work cut out for you once you get back into the saddle. To put my earlier statement about the crew in jeopardy, I can get BUPERS to let you keep a few of the crew. Not many.”

“Given that most will be moving on to other commands, sir? That and we lost quite a few,” Firefly said in the quiet.

“Unfortunately yes, you did. You've been blessed by Lady Luck for a long time, but even her blessings run out or get shredded by Murphy eventually. Unfortunately, this was one of those times. You did a damn good job though. All of you.”

“Thank you, sir,” the A.I. said.

“Sir, I'd like to stay with
Firefly
if possible,” Renee said softly.

“Your loyalty is commendable, Captain,” Firefly said. “But it is time you moved out of the nest. I'll be fine. And by extension, the ship, which is my body, will be fine as well.”

Her eyes cut to the A.I.'s holographic avatar. His steadiness eased something in her own eyes. The shadows of doubt were still there but she nodded reluctantly once to him, and then her eyes returned to the commodore once more.

“Then that's taken care of,” Horatio said, feeling a trace of relief about not having to argue the subject further. “I've got a few more stones to throw here and there, a couple more presents to bestow on some of the crew. Which reminds me, we'll need your final personnel and evaluation reports on the promotions lists of course.”

“Of course,” Firefly stated.

“Firefly, you aren't going to be spending a lot of time bored in dry dock. The admiralty wants you to be plugged into Pyrax's network. You're going to be doing some staff work while also overseeing some yard projects, lecturing, and overseeing your own admittedly slow-paced repairs.”

“Yes, sir. I'm glad I can remain useful.”

“You'll get your own downtime to surf the web and do whatever A.I. do in their off time of course.”

“Thank you, sir. I'm looking forward to serving with you.”

“Not for long unfortunately,” Horatio grimaced. “I've been tapped to go set up a new yard in an undisclosed location. I'm supposed to run a scouting mission, get a feel for the locals, and then work on getting their yard straightened out.”

“You need more keys, sir,” Renee said, now concerned.

“I've gotten a recent update,” Horatio said with a shrug. “It's not enough of course, but it should serve for the moment.”

“Yeah, it's going to be a mess,” Horatio sighed. He looked at them and then snorted. “And no, you can't come along, even though I know you would only ask out of pro forma loyalty to me,” he said with a crocked smile. “You two are destined for other things.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Renee, you are off duty now that
Firefly
is in dry dock. You'll turn over command to Captain Firefly later this evening. Hold a ceremony if you wish,” he stated.

"So I am no longer going to be an honorary commodore. Pity. But I'd prefer a colloidal on the bridge," the A.I. stated.

"Deal with it," the commodore said. "Fortunately you aren't going to be going anywhere for a while. We might turn your ship into a training platform for a while."

"Just what I need. Students trying to fix me. Joy," the A.I. said sourly.

"Yeah, but you get to look over their shoulders to make sure they do it right," Renee retorted with a grin. He nodded. "And you'll get to use your tactical systems to train them on a real bridge."

"There is that," the A.I. admitted, relenting on the subject.

Renee turned to the commodore. “Sir, where is um …”

The commodore saw her color and come to a halt. He snorted at her expression of embarrassment. “If you are asking about Trajan, he's in Protodon. He's a skipper of a battle cruiser there. Actually, he's got
Lady Liberty
as flag captain to Admiral White if I remember right,” he said. She blinked in surprise. He smiled slightly. “You can check your mail, I imagine you've got a backlog to work through,” he said kindly. She nodded. “Good. If you get bored with your convalescence, shoot me an email. I know you are going to do debriefs for a while, but maybe I can slip you in as a guest speaker at the academy or even the crusher as an op force commander,” he said with a wicked grin. “Captain Firefly can do the same,” he said with a nod in the avatar's direction.