Jethro 3: No Place Like Home (82 page)

She had been astonished to find out that Molly was a new ship, freshly built. She had been on her maiden flight, testing her wings on their trip to Antigua. Apparently Captain Meikle was the former chief engineer of Io 11. Her replacement was a young woman named Jennie. The Clydesdale was named in honor of an acting chief engineer who the Admiral had known. She made a note to pass that on to him when she had the opportunity.

The survivors of Kiev 221 pitched in wherever they could. All of them were spacers they planned to join the crew of Molly. Some had family that had stayed behind in Antigua on the prime space station. From them Lieutenant Hang, who had survived to land on the planet, had learned that the Cutlass had been named the Argus. Her Captain, a Captain Opal, had been a brutal but very competent man. He had been ruthless. He'd trapped them in New Andres after Captain Chambers had diverted them to the system. Apparently Captain Chambers had thought their renewed speed would make the side trip worthwhile. They had paid in blood for such a mistake.

Intel debriefs of the Kiev 221 were mixed. The naval officers were keen to find out how the Horathians had broken the Admiral's lock out. Unfortunately none of the survivors knew. Nor did they know just how much the escaped ship had, or any details about it. Most had either been locked in their cabins or used as grunt labor to move the cargo out of the Kiev's holds.

“So, we do know they got some of it,” Renee mused.

“Based on the speed of that Clydesdale, oh most definitely ma'am,” Leo said. “We've got some mass readings from her, and we can get a rough estimate of her cargo based on comparing that to her warbook numbers for her dry empty mass. But we don't know what the ratio is to what they already had in their holds...”

“So we're guessing,” Renee replied in disgust. Leo nodded and spread his hands.

Most likely the Clydesdale had jumped to Centennial, then on to B452c and then from there who knew. Most likely she headed on a straight line course to the nearest Horathian safe port.

Renee had also found out that Io 11 had replaced half her point defense lasers turrets with rail guns. The primitive weapons hadn't been as effective as the original lasers, but the originals had been needed to give Molly some level of self defense.

Eventually though, the authorities and the Captains decided to get help from the nearest source, which was Antigua. Io told them both ships would be heading there after the initial clean up. New Andres was an off the beaten path place to visit, but she had quite a good population and all were very interested in not only trade, but in rejoining the Federation.

“Good,” Commodore Firefly responded. He and the ship AI Io had hit it off. Renee had twittered him a bit about romancing another ship AI and he hadn't risen to the bait. Renee had finally backed off, realizing it wasn't part of her business.

Two weeks after they had arrived in orbit, the planetary authorities on New Andres asked to join the New Federation and get additional support. Captain Meikle agreed with them. She'd spent a great deal of time coordinating the engineering efforts on the planet when her ship had been in orbit. With her and the engineers’ efforts they had repaired several hydroelectric dams and set up several water filtration plants. They'd also put a lot of kitchen sink chemistry and garage mechanic knowledge to work to try to plug as many holes as possible. More importantly, she'd taught them how to apply the simple tech and recreate it with hand tools and whatever materials they had on hand. The shuttle deliveries spread the documentation far and wide to help there too.

Renee promised a return flight to check on the planet. “I can't make any promises with Command, but I can request a ship or ships come by to help with the rebuilding efforts.”

“We would appreciate that,” Mayor Sedrige replied. He nodded.

“Molly will return probably, if only to stuff herself like a glutton again,” Renee teased Captain Meikle.

“Ah, don't fash yourself. We pulled the dribs and drabs we can fix for later. The rest went into the cook pot,” she said, waving a hand. Hearing this Gaelic accent took a little getting used to Renee thought. She knew both of the civilian ships had stuffed themselves quite well. All three ships were fully refueled and repaired as best they could. She was certain the natives wouldn't begrudge that.

“I can bring Molly back. If you want Io to remain in Antigua Captain,” Captain Meikle said, looking at the Captain of Io 11.

The old woman waved a gnarled hand. The other held her shawl. “We'll discuss it enroute, Faith. No doubt to death. Vanessa's been on to me about this plan to build another ship. It seems she'd rather we spend our time running around than in one place building. She does have a point,” she said. “Besides,” she said with a twinkle. “We can always trade with the people in Antigua or Pyrax to build another ship,” she said.

“Aye,” Faith replied with a grin. “That we can,” she said.

“Do you think you can catch up with that freighter that escaped?” Mayor Sedrige asked.

Renee shrugged. She'd pretty much given up the hunt on that. “We can try. But she's got good legs and quite a head start. We'll track her though. If she's left our sector we'll pass on her fingerprint to the rest of the Navy. That way we'll all keep an eye out for her. Eventually someone will catch her,” she growled.

“Good,” Faith growled with a nod. The others grimly agreed as well. The three Captains shook hands with each other and the planetary delegates before they then parted company for their respective ships.

Renee related the encounter to Firefly and her bridge watch as they moved out. She was pleased that Firefly and her engineers had managed to build some replacement missiles. They had only built a couple of each, four capital missiles and six counter missiles, but she felt a little better over it. She also felt good about the material they had tucked away on board. With Firefly's emergency restock key code trick they could wipe away at least 5 percent of their missile losses before they returned to Gaston.

“Fuel situation sorted out?” Renee asked. She didn't like how low the efficiency of the reactors were running. They'd run through a lot of fuel in a short series of hops. Of course the distances hadn't had a lot of pockets of free energy in hyperspace for the ship to use either. It was one reason that even though the chain of jumps was ten parsecs shorter than the Agnosta route to Antigua it wasn't as well used. It may be shorter but it used a lot more fuel and had no places to stop and refuel. They'd have to do something about that sometime, she vowed.

“Aye Captain. We're topped off. It's not as good as premium Deuterium and He3, but it will be enough to get us to Gaston,” Saul said with a nod.

“We need to get that fuel situation sorted out better, chief,” Renee said. He nodded. “Dismissed, go play with the drive. See if you can get some more joules out of the fuel,” she said. The Chief Engineer nodded and exited. Renee turned to the ship AI who nodded to her. “I'm glad they want to join the Federation though. A bit out of the way, but hey, any port in a storm I suppose,” she said.

“They want to prevent this from ever happening again. I get that. But we can't be everywhere at once,” the tired XO said, shaking his head. Renee nodded. She was proud of him, he'd gotten some of the rough edges off and he'd worked like a trooper.

“No. They aren't expecting that, they know we can't stay. But they want to help. Some of their people have asked to join up,” Firefly said.

“Revenge?” Renee asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Or like you said skipper, duty. To never let this happen again.”

The Captain nodded, tugging on her jacket and then adjusting her the sleeves of her cuffs. “Good.”

“A light in the dark, Captain. Like you said. A guiding hand.”

“Hell with that adventure. The young will go for it,” Commander Dart said. “But I agree; they want to keep this from happening again. Here or elsewhere. I speak for the crew when I say so do I.”

“I know. Perhaps some good will have come from this...mess. Someday,” Renee replied, waving a hand.

“I hope so too. We're documenting all of it for others to see. Back home and across the sector. Why we are fighting and what the bastards plan to do to others if they get the chance.”

“I'm not thrilled about showing them in their moment of pain and anguish. They just lost loved ones. They are still digging out their dead to bury.”

“I know. But in that we see a determination. To go on. To rebuild. To fight,” Firefly said softly.

“A light in the dark. I get that now. Thank you.”

“Sometimes, you have to take what good you can out of something bad like this. Even if it is very little.”

“I never knew the ashes of victory would taste so foul. That we could win so little at the cost of so many lives.”

“Pyrrhic victory.”

The Captain took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. “Yes.” She shook her head, eyes looking out at the battered planet below. “I don't have to like it.”

“I know. None of us do. All I can say is that we'll learn from it and rebuild,” Firefly said.

“True.”

“There is one other thing we can do,” the AI said. Renee looked over her shoulder to the holo avatar. “We'll make the bastards pay for it,” Firefly said firmly.

“We damn well better,” Renee growled grimly.

The End

Well, hopefully I'm finally getting around to answering the lingering questions and tying up loose ends. Speaking of tying things up, I hope now the cover art is clear. I had been tempted to change the name of the book to Meet the Reaper at one point. LOL.

This book went together quite well, which wasn't too much of a surprise, I've now got some experience, and besides, as you have no doubt noticed, I incorporated parts of Pirate's Bane into the book. That wasn't something like Weber's Harrington series; I don't plan on making a habit of it. Well, maybe crossover scenes with some of the short stories...Maybe. I dunno. We'll see okay? :D

The Searchlight short story should also wrap up some lingering loose ends and let you know what went on with Firefly after she left Pyrax for her first patrol. She's going to have some fun. I'm not certain how much just yet, and if she'll run into things when they happen in future books. That's too much of a coincidence. Once or twice a last minute rescue, but I doubt they'll manage to make a habit of it. Doubt. Maybe....

Marines:

Major Jersey Forth:
Commanding officer of the Marines. Senior most Marine officer. Former Captain of a planetary militia on Avalon. Former Captain of the Marines before promotion just prior to Admiral Irons departure from the Pyrax system. Later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

Captain Pendeckle:
former Commander of Agnosta 1st Marine recon detachment. Human male. Blocky body, broad shouldered. Tough minded, but fair. Frocked to Major while on board Firefly. Honorary promotion to Major confirmed and made permanent by Admiral Irons in B101a1.

LT Myers:
1st Lieutenant, Marine. No former combat experience. By the book persona, gruff, no-nonsense personality like his noncom Sergeant. Human male. He preferred his bald appearance to the Marine high and tight haircut. A former spacer with EVA and security training. He was a club bouncer as a teen. He joined the college as security guard prior to the pirate attack. The lieutenant signed on as a Marine but was sidelined by a twisted ankle and missed the combat. Offered compensation to officer training and accepted. Sent to Antigua.

Birute Pongo:
Lieutenant. Neo Orangutan with gene engineered purple fur with yellow highlights—injured. Transferred to the Admiral's convoy. Bit of a trickster like his Ape type.

Ensign Ufda:
male Satyre—rare breed, mean, holds grudge. braying laugh. He has a tech background. He is very much a micro-manager. Freshly graduated from the Academy in Agnosta. Injured in combat in B101a1. Transferred to the Admiral's convoy.

Ensign Tricia Ebensher:
human female—A recent graduate of the Academy, classmate of Ufda. She, like him, controlled four squads, mostly shooters. She was injured in combat in B101a1. -Transferred to the Admiral's convoy.

Ensign Esh'z:
Veraxin intel officer, classmate of Ebensher and Ufda. He was initially pissed at the transfer to Firefly. He was assigned duty on Oasis to gather intel from the prisoners. He stumbled onto a major secret but was nearly killed for his trouble.

Sergeant Minachelli:
Lieutenant Myers noncom squad leader. Human. Tough but fair. Sent to Antigua.

Sergeant Yelt:
bluff no-nonsense human male. The good Sergeant is the posture image of a noncom Marine. Sent to Antigua.

Sergeant Zerric:
simple Marine, pale skin, sunburnt, heavyworlder genes bald. He was a plodder, unimaginative but reliable.