Hunter Legacy 5 Hail the Hero (2 page)

“In any case, as soon as we can clear
a passage to the jump point, I’ll send in another comnavsat. The state of the
other side of the jump point and who controls it, will determine my subsequent
actions. In the meantime, all we can do here is wait and hope. Hunter
out.”

I sighed, assembled the email, and sent it
off.

“Well put,” said Vonda.

“Did I miss anything important?”

“No. I’ll leave you to planning our
next step.”

She stood, and left.

I sent a quick text email to Miriam, asking
her to confirm she was alright, hoping it would be answered quickly.

It wasn’t.

I sat there wondering if I’d killed Miriam.

It had been my idea to mount their new
Pocket Battleships, Gunbus squadron, and Excalibur wing, on top of Yorktown,
and have her pushed into the jump sideways by a Cruiser.

It was my fault their Fleet Carrier was
sitting there sideways on, totally vulnerable to anything jumping in at them.
It had never occurred to me that Midgard might attack there again.

True, I couldn’t have foreseen what had
happened, but the blame was still mine.

I started down the emotional spiral. My Fault.
I’m to blame. Guilty of arrogance and stupidity. Risen to the level of
incompetence.

Was this my karma coming back at me? I’d
killed those two assassins without even thinking about it. And before that, I’d
flushed the mercenary team out an airlock. I’d killed when I hadn’t needed to.
Was this my punishment? And what about sleeping with Alison while I had
something going with Miriam? Was this punishment for that too?

In a dream, I’d seen Miriam vanish in
purple smoke. Was it trying to tell me she was soon to die?

I looked upwards, seeking guidance.

Tell me you haven’t taken my lover’s life
to pay me back for those I killed.

Tell me I’m not damned to remember her the
rest of my life as a curse for losing my spiritual way.

Tell me she hasn’t paid my debts.

Silence.

Tears came to my eyes.

A noise caught my attention. BA had her
head poked around a barely open door.

“No you don’t,” she said.
“You’re not doing this!”

“Which this is that?”

The flippant answer rolled off my tongue
without requiring thought.

She came in fully.

“You’re beating yourself up about what
might have happened over there, because you suggested it. You’re rapidly
convincing yourself you killed Miriam. Am I right?”

I looked at her miserably.

She pulled me out of my seat, causing Angel
to jump onto the chair rapidly from my lap, and hugged me.

For a full five minutes she held me, before
pushing me away, and turning to Angel.

“I’m going to borrow him for a while
sweetie. Is that alright?”

Mew.

“Thanks. I’ll bring him back when he’s
thinking straighter. Why don’t you visit your cat bed for a while?”

Mraa mraa. Angel jumped off the chair, and
ran out.

“Follow,” she said to me.

She led me down through the ship, into
Custer, and to the Gun Ranges. She programmed a two person assault course. I
was about to point out I didn’t have my guns, when she took two assault rifles
from a gun rack I didn’t know was there.

For the next two hours, she bullied me
through the course repeatedly.

Eventually, Jane announced the jump corridor
would be cleared in about ten minutes, and we headed back up the ship.

I hurt. Really hurt. BA hadn’t let up. She’d
pushed me to the limit of physical exhaustion, and my bruises hadn’t liked it.
But I savored the pain. I deserved it.

I limped back onto the Bridge, and sat. BA
and I were the last ones to enter.

I emptied the bottle of water waiting for
me. Jeeves quietly took the empty and dropped another full bottle in the
holder.

“Jane… Ouch!”

I looked around to see BA step back with a
medical device in her hand.

“Sorry Jon, I pushed you as hard as I
had to, but we need you pain free now.”

“Just as well you’re a superb combat
soldier, because you’re a lousy nurse.”

There was a titter of laugher around the
room.

“Jane, sitrep.”

“Almost ready.”

“Send the comnavsat as soon as you
can.”

“Confirmed.”

I waited impatiently. I had to suppress the
urge to get up and pace.

“Droid away.”

It took another minute to jump. The scan
data for Miami popped onto the screen again.

There was a mass of grey dots. No green
ones at all. Dread seized my heart and squeezed.

“What the hell happened?” asked
Eric, down in one of the Camels.

I hadn’t realized team coms was back on.

A huge area was marked as a navigation
hazard, but oddly, the down jump corridor was clear. And now I looked closely,
there appeared to be a line of grey dots ending in an arrow head, pointing into
Miami. Some of my dread lifted.

“Let’s go find out,” I responded.

I opened a channel to Repulse.

“BigMother is jumping into Miami.
Admiral Bentley, you have the fleet until I return.”

“Aye sir,” she replied.

Unlike me, she was professional enough to
not show any emotion. The channel closed.

I nodded to Jane, and she moved us forward,
and into the jump at a low speed.

The first seven ships we passed were all
Gunbus’. The next fifteen were Excalibur’s. They moved to follow us, showing
they were still operational.

“Coms?” I asked Jane.

“None.”

I tried pinging Miriam with a simple ‘please
answer this ping’ message.

“What took you so long?” came back.

I grinned.

I looked around, and they were all
grinning, seeing the dots following us.

“Sitrep,” I pinged her.

“The first two ships missed us by
inches. Yorktown and Lexington were both damaged by missiles, and cannot land
fighters. Two Gunbus’ lost. Seven Excalibur’s lost. Twenty three other fighters
lost before we could join the fight. Almost all ships of Corvette size or
smaller are damaged. Can you take the worst of us? At least we can ping basic
instructions to each other, so I can tell people to land if you can take us.”

“Yes. We can take four squadrons for
now. Send them in worst first. The Excalibur’s should fit in through the rear
of the Flight Deck, but some of you will need to spacewalk to an airlock, as
there aren’t enough bays. Six Gunbus can dock at our external airlocks. If
Greer is still with us, you and he report to my Ready Room please.”

I threw her ping to a side screen so
everyone could read it.

“Jane, prepare for fighters landing.
Get every repair droid we have to the Maintenance Deck, and the Flight Deck.
Find out why they have no coms, and repair whatever the problem is on the
Corvettes and Excalibur’s first.”

“Confirmed.”

“Both on our way,” answered
Miriam.

“BigMother Corvettes and fighters,
launch please. We need all available docking for incoming damaged ships. Custer
as well please. I want a general inspection of all ships in the American fleet.
If you get close enough, pings work, so see if you can make contact with each
one. Squadron Leader, take Lexington. Wing Commander, take the Yorktown. See if
we can set up any form of communication with them. If you can make contact with
an Admiral, I want to know immediately. Oh, and Wing Commander, deploy a
comnavsat please. And can you recover the one we sent through earlier, and see
if it, and the droid, are repairable.”

There was a chorus of acknowledgments, and
ships began to launch. Slice also acknowledged the additional orders.

I asked Abagail to cancel team coms, and opened
a vid.

“Marshall, Admiral, and Generals. I’m
in Miami, and the American fleet prevailed. However, it was at some cost. Both
Carriers are damaged to the level they cannot recover fighters. Nine of their
new Corvette and Privateer ships were lost, with twenty three other losses.
Most of their smaller ships are damaged, and I’m recovering the worst of them
now.”

“Something odd has happened here. The
entire American fleet is without coms, and their ships display on the scanner
as if dead. I have no contact as yet with anyone above the rank of Commander. I’ll
keep you informed as we learn anything new. Hunter out.”

I sent the vid off, having added Admiral
Bentley to the recipients, so she would know what had happened.

I turned to Jane.

“Did the work on the Pilot’s and Crew Mess’s
get completed?”

“Confirmed.”

“Fully ready for occupation?”

“Duh!”

The twins smiled at hearing Jane copy their
favourite saying.

I looked around the Bridge.

“Volunteers to meet American pilots
please. Take them to the Pilot’s Mess. Overflow to use the Crew Mess instead.
You’ll need to get directions, as I don’t even know where they are.”

“Confirmed.”

Everyone laughed. As a tension releaser,
Jane was doing well.

Most of the team left the Bridge.

I moved into my Ready Room, and had no
sooner sat in a lounge chair, when a flash of white landed in my lap. I gave
her a huge cuddle. A random thought told me Angel was now eleven weeks old.

“You’re getting bigger, sweetie
pie,” I told her. “Soon you’ll be able to jump up on things without
using a ramp.”

Meow!

She looked pleased with that comment. She tried
to jump to the top of the chair, landed two thirds the way up, and climbed the
rest of the way. She was soon fast asleep on top.

I tried to look at emails to pass the time,
but found I couldn’t concentrate.

Fifteen minutes passed, and midnight ticked
over. I started pacing.

“Jon,” said Jane through coms,
“there’s an email you must view now.”

I took my pad out, saw the email
highlighted with an urgent flag, and threw the vid to the wall. An American
four star General looked out at me.

“Vice Admiral Hunter. I’m General Patton,
of the American Joint Chiefs. Your communications about the Miami situation
have been received via the British Fleet. We appreciate you ensuring we
received your updates, in spite of not having the proper channels available.
You are hereby recalled to active duty. Until the status of Admiral Jedburgh is
established, you are placed in command of all American ships and personnel,
within the Miami and Midgard systems. You will please send all ships requiring
shipyard work back to Dallas, as soon as they can either move themselves, or be
towed.”

“You are ordered to destroy all
missile launchers on the surface of Midgard, and to blockade the Midgard
planet, in preparation for the arrival of a diplomatic mission. You are further
ordered to investigate the system for other inhabited planets, moons, or
stations. You will remove Midgard’s ability to wage war.”

“Orders are being sent to all ship
captains and unit commanders. I understand you don’t have an aide. You will
immediately appoint yourself one, who will communicate with my aide, to receive
copies of these orders, for communication through local means.”

“Admiral, please keep us up to date
with all new information, no matter how trivial it may seem. Patton out.”

There were contact details attached to the
email.

“Jane, whisper to Alison, and get her in
here ASAP, please.”

“Confirmed.”

I responded with an orders received and
understood message, adding we had no new information at this time, but we were
trying to make contact with each ship now.

I stood again to start pacing, when a
whirlwind crossed the room, grabbed me, and started to hug the life out of me.

I hugged her back for a good two minutes,
before disentangling myself.

“Hi,” I said. “For a while,
I thought you were dead.”

Miriam looked at me steadily. Then she
laughed.

“I came oh so close, but you don’t get
rid of me that easy, buster.”

This time she kissed me.

“Ahem,” came a voice from the
doorway.

We broke apart, and I turned to find
Alison.

“You wanted me Jon?” she asked.

I let go of Miriam, and walked to my
conference table, waving them both there as well. We sat.

“Are you up to speed on the duties of
an Admiral’s aide?” I asked Alison.

“Sure. Do you know an Admiral who
needs one?”

“Me. In fact, I’ve been ordered to
have one. Would you like the job?”

“Is this a trick?”

I laughed. Miriam didn’t seem to understand
what was going on.

“No, I need an aide, and I need one
now.”

“Okay Jon, you have an aide.”

“Good. When we finish here, claim an
office, and have Jeeves put your name on it.” I pinged her the contact
details I’d received. “I need you to contact General Patton’s aide
immediately. Identify yourself as my aide. You’ll be sent a series of orders.
Identify who those orders are for, and where they’re located at the moment.
Jane will need the list.”

“On it.”

She went blank as she began to compose an
email. I turned to Miriam.

“Who’s the senior American officer of
those who came on board with you? Or who is coming on board if not already
here?” I asked her.

“Greer. He was promoted a few minutes
ahead of me, so he has marginal seniority. He’s getting things organized in the
Pilot’s Mess, but should be here soon.”

“Get him up here now, please.”

“Okay.”

I pinged Vonda for her and Alsop to join us,
and pinged Annabelle as well.

“What’s happening Jon?” asked
Miriam.

“Patience. I’ll explain when the
others get here.”

We waited. Annabelle was first in. Vonda
and Alsop walked in together not far behind, and I waved them to the table.
Vonda had no sooner sat down, when she went blank. Presumably she had a ping or
email to view.

Greer came in almost at a run, and I waved
him to the table as well. He sat, looking very curious. Vonda was back with us
now I saw.

“Thanks for coming. You all need to
see this.”

I threw the General’s vid to the wall, and
watched the two Americans as it played.

“Orders sir?” asked Greer, after
the screen vanished.

“Commander, I need you to take a
shuttle to every ship in the Miami system. You’ll take a copy of the vid you
just watched, and show it to every ship’s captain, or whoever currently has
command. Start with the Carriers. I need to know what happened to the Admirals.
I want everyone on the list Alison will give you, or whoever has their command
now, here for a meeting at nine in the morning, at which time they’ll receive
orders direct from General Patton. The same applies for unit commanders. I
would assume that includes all Squadron Leaders, and Marine Colonels, and
above. Alison is acting as my aide from now on. I’m sorry you won’t be getting
much sleep, but with coms down, someone senior has to deliver the orders.
That’s you. Jane will be flying the shuttle. She is to receive the combat feed
from each ship. Keep her up to date with anything you discover. If need be, she
can pass the information straight on to me. Suggest to each captain or unit
commander they bring with them a report to be transmitted off to ASF Command.
As soon as you return, send off any information you find out, so the Joint
Chiefs have some sort of update before morning.”

“Yes sir. Leave now?”

“Yes. Jane, prep a shuttle, and direct
the Commander to it.”

“Confirmed.”

Greer stood, saluted, and left.

I sighed.

“Someone up there hates me,” I
mumbled.

“Maybe so Jon,” said Vonda,
“because I have to make this worse for you.”

She threw another vid to the wall.

“Lieutenant General Wellington,”
said the officer with four stars on his shoulders. “You are relieved of
your current duties, and appointed temporary Military Governor of the Midgard
system. You will pass command of the multi-sector fleet to Vice Admiral Hunter.
You are to assist him in the pacification of the Midgard system. When safe for
diplomats, you will work with the initial diplomatic team the Americans are
sending, to establish a peace. If Midgard don’t agree to peace, you will
command a blockade force around the Midgard planet, until other measures can be
considered, and put into place. Hopefully they’ll agree to peace, in which case
you will restrain all members of the current government, in preparation for war
crimes trials, and administer the system until relieved. Admiral Hunter is
receiving orders from the Americans. You will assist him in the execution of
those orders. Price out.”

There was silence around the table.

“What is thy bidding, my master?”
asked Jane through the coms. Her voice changed. “What does the head honcho
require?”

“Stop,” I said. “Let’s not
go through the whole list. We’ll assume the jokes were original, and we all
laughed.”

“Spoilsport, your big
cheesiness.”

I looked around the table. They were all
trying to keep their grins under control. And failing. I turned to Miriam.

“Commander, you better see to your
pilots. When you’re ready to sleep, use one of the suites on Deck Two.”

She looked about to say something, but
thought better of it. She nodded and stood.

“Sirs.”

She turned and left.

“Jane, how are we off for food, water,
and consumables?”

“The ship was only provisioned for
thirty for a month, plus what we brought over from the station for the marines.
All the same, we’re running through the provisions rapidly. Jeeves was going to
recommend a food order in another day from now.”

“Launch the small freighter. Give it a
new avatar, so any people it deals with, will think it has a captain. Do a
speed run to the Dallas Military Orbital. Pick up what’s waiting there, and get
it all back here, as fast as possible. Also, how many fighters are still flying
out there?”

“Confirmed. Three squadrons.”