Jethro 3: No Place Like Home (17 page)

With the off-duty crew momentarily distracted, Firefly went into action checking the various feeds. The ship AI immediately spotted confirmation that Admiral Irons had arrived in Epsilon Triangula and after apparently fighting some sort of plague there, he had then made his planned long jump to B100 omega, the neighboring system to B101a1 and the pirate staging area. The AI flagged that and sent it to the senior officers. No doubt they would put that into their briefs.

Once the download was complete the ship AI scanned the civilian side for any issues and then made it available on the ship net. Those on board who wanted to know took a little time to catch up on the news while in the mess or head.

Firefly downloaded the latest ship manifest and updated the ship's warbooks. The AI also downloaded the Fleet times and made it available. A list of personnel was also downloaded along with a classified intelligence briefing.

E-mail was finally allowed to be transferred as the last bit of information. The AI was amused that those who had called Pyrax home checked their e-mail quickly and sent out responses in their downtime. Even the Captain got into the act, catching e-mail messages from Harris and sending out a congratulations for taking over the Damocles.

Some of the crew had bots that scanned the download. Two of the ratings requested immediate leave to visit family, both were denied like all other requests had been. One of the ratings sourly pointed out that they had received word of a death in their family. The AI investigated and confirmed the report. The bereavement leave request was passed on to the XO and Chief engineer. Chief Chowler immediately okayed their departure, though he had misgivings about it he didn't pretend not to vent. The XO allowed the leave.

There were some stories of interest to them, such as the ship Mariah's Mischief having made it to Pyrax. They had heard of her in Antigua. She had even picked up a load the Admiral had left behind in Gaston and brought it in to the Yard. Apparently, the Governor had attempted to hijack the load and had been thwarted. The ship had been repaired and then had left some time ago for Seti Alpha 4.

Most of the political stories disgusted the crew it seemed. It did the AI as well. Sometimes he wondered about organics and why they tolerated corrupt individuals in power. The old saying about power corrupts wasn't true in his case, Firefly was certain Walker had started out that way.

Once the initial furor over Firefly's arrival died down to a general roar, other stories began to creep back into the media spotlights. Firefly highlighted an interview with a pair of civilian Captains. Apparently word of the Yard was spreading throughout the sector and surrounding sectors as the Admiral and senior staff had planned. Ships were changing course and coming in from all over. They took advantage of the free overhaul and tune-up, and those that had goods to trade frequently opted to get as much of an overhaul as they could.

They also took advantage of the college, medical facilities,and civilian augmentation as well. They downloaded the free library books and free college courses. Knowledge was flowing once again it seemed, all part of the Admiral's master plan.

Pyrax now saw a near doubling of traffic from three of her four jump points. Commander Logan had closed the B101a1 jump point when intelligence had confirmed the possibility of an enemy fleet in that system. Unfortunately, at least three ships had passed through that jump point. It was unknown if any had been caught or even if they survived.

The red headed April O’Neill interviewed the first ship's Captain. Captain Mayweather and Commander Logan paused their brief meeting to tune in.

The first Captain was interviewed as his ship was about to leave the Yard with another freighter scheduled for the following day. He was tall with brown hair tied up in a pony tail in back. He was trim and looked astonished. “You should see it! I'd offer you a tour but I've got a schedule to get back to. But it was worth it! Coming here,” he shook his head in wonder.

“That good?”

“Yes! The Navy...I mean, I never thought the old girl would get to Beta again!”

“And now she can?” April asked, pointing her microphone to herself and then to him to catch his reply.

“Yes. At least I think so, we'll find out when we jump I suppose,” the man said looking bemused. “She's an old Clydesdale. They even fixed her hull! Who does that?” he asked, rubbing his hands together in glee.

April smiled and waved the other man over. “And you sir? Captain...”

“Hammer.”

“Captain Hammer. So, how is your ship...”

“The Pride and Prejudice 90. She's good. Better than I'd ever dreamed. Every spacer has dreamed of finding a yard, of getting it running and fixing their ship. Now...” he shook his head, bemused.

“And you have no problems?”

“No, not that I know of. We'll find out when she launches tomorrow.” He grinned. “I'm looking forward to when she hit's hyper. I'll race you to Seti Alpha 4!” he said, turning to the other Captain. “I'll even give you the head start. First one there gets a bottle of the best hooch from the looser.”

“You're on,” the other captain said instantly. “Make sure it's a good one though,” he said with a grin. “My crew will appreciate it,” he said.

“Oh, we'll see,” Captain Hammer said. He tipped his cap to the red-headed reporter. “Ma'am, if I could get a copy of this? I'd like to send it far and wide. The whole galaxy needs to know about this place.”

“Me too,” the other Captain said with a nod. Both men seemed enthused that their ships could now make the high beta bands.

“All right,” April replied with a dazzling smile as she turned to the camera. “I'll do a lot for new fans,” she said wickedly. “This is April O’Neill with Knox news reporting.”

Renee snorted as the news channel went to a commercial about Lake Electronics. She flicked a signal through her implants to mute the vid screen.

“Have you organics sunk to that low? That you would think gaining a few octaves was much? It is or was common before the war. What amuses me is that they think this is a big thing,” Firefly said, for once sounding disgusted.

“Well, to them yeah. Hell, to me it was too,” Renee replied, smiling slightly to look at the AI. Her look conveyed a reminder that she'd been in the civilian shoes less than a decade ago.

“Yes well, a freighter, even a civilian one could easily hit Delta in my time,” Firefly replied. He sounded a bit haughty about that.

“With the right crew and if the ship was in good condition you mean,” Renee replied, holding up a stalling finger. “But you have to remember, most of these ships have been bouncing from star to star for seven-plus centuries. Some longer. Some are barely held together with rigging tape and prayers. A ship, any ship that can make it above the middle octaves in Alpha is a big thing. Many crews have long given up on getting back into Beta.”

“It's a wonder they fly at all in some cases,” Shelby added, nodding to the skipper. She set her tablet down to glance at the video conference on the wall screen and then back to the AI and skipper. “I remember what it was like on Anvil. Most of the lights out, jury rigged equipment, wiring...” she shook her head. “Dad had a hell of a time holding the station together. Pure willpower in some cases, stubborn willpower.”

“All too true,” Renee replied. She eyed the avatar. “It wasn't always like this of course, ships were moving around at what you said, high speed for a long time. But I've attended some of the history courses in the college, and I've heard some growing up. When the war kept raging on, people were drawn into it. Ships were pressed into service, like the Admiral's Phoenix. Crews were press ganged in some cases. That stripped the merchant Marine of people. Others rose to fill the voids, but they lacked the years of training and service.”

“True.”

“Once the war ended, the ships that were left had no support, little spare parts, but just...well, kept going on. Some became roving habitats. Others tried to keep things moving. But over the years, as wear and tear mounted, they kept slipping...” she cocked her head thoughtfully for a moment and then nodded slightly. “Slipping down the ladder rung by rung as the saying goes. Or in this cases, hyper band by band, octave by octave. Until we ended up where we are today.”

“True,” Shelby said softly. “Though we're working to change that.”

Renee nodded but then frowned thoughtfully. “I think once word gets around to the other sectors ships will come in from all over. Things will really get interesting then.”

“Are all the space bridges...the gates, are they all destroyed?” Shelby asked looking at the AI. “And what will happen to the economy and shipping in the sectors when ships leave them to come here?”

“More importantly, what will happen to things here when it gets very competitive,” Renee mussed. Shelby looked at her again. “It's going to get busy. I wonder if the Admiral planned it that way?”

“A resurgence of shipping, repairs...yes. I don't have the ability to handle such things in any detail. After all, I'm just a ship AI, but yes, I can see the strategy to some degree, which will have problems since the Admiral isn't here to execute it,” Firefly said. “A resurgence of shipping and interest in trade will kick things off. Couple that with a renewed interest in knowledge and education...”

“That's where the college comes in.”

“Yes. But again, without the Admiral here...”

“But Dad is. He'll do his best to get what he can get done,” Shelby said stubbornly. “We engineers don't have all the keys, but we've got some of the basic ones. We can make some replacement parts. Some stuff. Dad's still doing that. He's got quite a stockpile.”

“True,” Firefly replied. “And he's mothballed hundreds of partially built ships.” Both women nodded in reply. “As to the gates... I don't know of any that are functional. I ran a check on our intel files. No positive reports are in our files, but it is a big galaxy. They would need a local Dyson Sphere to power them though. Or a very large antimatter supply. I don't see either of those being left behind by the Xenos or the old Federation.”

“True. You'd think people would shut them down to keep the damn Xenos from using them to jump in though or blowing them up. Wouldn’t they make a black hole if you did that?”

The AI nodded. “Entirely too true I'm afraid. Which made moving goods and ships a lot harder to do during the war,” Firefly said. “Not to mention the damage and danger to local star systems if it was destroyed,” the AI said darkly. Both women nodded grimly in return. “Back to what we were discussing earlier, the ships...once basic augmentation, the repaired and restored ships, and even new ships start making the rounds, I believe we shall see a renaissance here that will slowly spread to the other sectors. I think that is the Admiral's strategy. Of course we'd have to speak with him to confirm it.”

“If we can sustain the repairs and well, everything,” Renee said, sounding doubtful. “I can see the advantages of having a fast ship. Moving goods from point A to B is what a freighter does after all, and time is money. Doing it quickly and safely is a big thing. There are going to be a lot of people wanting that. The competition alone will drive them to get it. Move fast or get cut out.”

“For the most part, the ships over the past seven hundred years really have made minor impacts on the local world economies,” Firefly said. The humans stared at the AI, seemingly scandalized. “It is true. Most worlds are self-sustaining at this point. They had to be to survive. You couldn't survive waiting on a ship to pass through the system once a year. Not on a population measured in the tens or hundreds of thousands.”

“True...” Shelby was the first to admit, drawling that admission out thoughtfully. “But they do make an impact.”

“In various degrees yes. The trade has a positive impact, both in keeping a rough community together in the exchange of news, goods, knowledge, and genetic material.”

Both women made a face at that last item. “Cute.”

“I'm looking forward to seeing the first ships hitting Gamma.”

“Didn't the Admiral say Io 11 could hit Gamma?”

“Yes. He and her crew restored her to that level. They could probably hit Delta if they had a fully augmented crew. But soon, there will be others. Hopefully many.”

“Here's to hoping. For now, we've got our work cut out for us. We've got a list of transfers Chief Chowler requested,” Shelby said, pushing her tablet across the table to the skipper. “He was going to bring it to you but he's wrapped up in the repair effort right now. The Annex quartermaster is balking at some of our requests for parts and the recon drones, and we've got some feet dragging going on about the replacement parasite craft and fighters. Any ideas on how to kick things into motion?”

“Well, as you said, we need to get Commander Logan on board. He's at San Diego right now, so we need to wait until he's back. Once he is, the rest will fall in line or get the hell out of the way...”

Chapter 8

When Firefly had jumped into the system Commander Horatio Logan had been in transit to San Diego for an inspection of the Bernal sphere. He refused to interrupt his planned schedule, but he did have his yeoman shorten it and clear everything he had planned afterwards.

The academy looked good as did the living quarters. The giant sphere station was still reliant on energy beamed in from the solar farms though, which bothered him. But they hadn't stopped on doing what they could, and so the habitats were all functional. One of the things they could still replicate was life support equipment, which they had put to good use in the station.