Kelly Blake 3: Where the Stars Are Few and Far Between (44 page)

Admiral Chang asked, “Kelly, have you ever lost a crewman?”

Kelly, sensing what was coming, answered, “Not yet, sir, I’ve been lucky. I know it's only a matter of time before I do. I’m surprised I didn’t lose one on this campaign, but I spent a whole lot of time with the Angaerry far from the battle.”

“Well, you have been lucky. I’ve lost scores, hundreds when I commanded ships, task forces, fleets, and battle groups. Now commanding an allied fleet, I’ve lost thousands. Thousands of fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters, sons, and daughters that will never come down for breakfast, celebrate a birthday, or hold their baby ever again. How do I face their loved ones? How do I justify their sacrifice?”

Kelly stood up, paced a bit and said, “Sir, you were chosen for your job because you showed the ability to lead men and women in battle and succeed. You’ve won a great victory against the largest K’Rang fleet ever assembled. It will be decades before they will ever be able to threaten us again, which seems unlikely. Look how quickly they agreed to every proposal you offered. They agreed to limit their fleet, to establish diplomatic relations, to give us unchallenged transit rights across their territory, trade and cultural exchanges. Is there any demand they did not agree to? No!”

“You will tell the families of those lost in battle that their loved ones were heroes and gave their lives in support of freedom’s perpetual struggle over tyranny – that they sacrificed themselves so their loved ones could live in a better, more peaceful galaxy.”

“Ask yourself one question, sir. Could someone else have done a better job? If so, why weren’t they here to do it? The answer is that you are the best man for the job and no one could have done it better. You have nothing to feel sorry for or to apologize for. Mourn their loss, but think how many more might have died if a lesser man had occupied your seat.”

Admiral Chang sat for a moment with his hands clasped almost as if in prayer and said, “Thank you, Kelly, your words mean a lot to me. Of course, I’m just going through the after battle what ifs. I’m sure Alexander crossing Mesopotamia or Halsey crossing the Pacific or Okasan crossing Taurus all had these thoughts. It is a terrible burden, but I'll have to come to terms with it. Thank you. If there's nothing more, I’d like some time alone until dinner.”

Kelly excused himself and left the admiral to his thoughts.

* * * * *

The Orion stayed on G’Durin for two more weeks, as the official presence of the Galactic Republic. Admiral Chang returned to his command ship, the Montpelier, and used Kelly’s gate to come down for further clarification and negotiation. The K’Rang initially supposed that the admiral was on board the Orion, but quickly surmised that something else was at work here. They correctly guessed that some sort of ring technology was at work, but couldn’t quite figure what.

After two weeks, an ambassador arrived through the ring and the K’Rang’s suspicions were confirmed. The ambassador asked for the use of a building as the GR interim Embassy, until a proper site could be found and an embassy constructed. He was offered several buildings or parts of larger buildings. Several of Kelly's sensor techs accompanied the ambassador on his house hunting tour, pointing out the obvious listening devices and many of the not so obvious ones.

The ambassador chose a two-story office building adjacent to the government center and proceeded to move in. Kelly requested a company of construction engineers to help the ambassador move in and adapt the building to GR power and communications systems. Orion’s ring was used to deliver the supplies and equipment needed by an embassy. The ambassador soon had a fully functional embassy, minus 90% of his staff. They were coming by normal space travel and would be here in a week.

Finally, Admiral Chang released the Orion to return on its own to Antares Base. He gave Kelly one last mission before he let him go. He tasked him to deploy five relay satellites along his path to GR space. He needed to get real time communications back up. Kelly didn’t know it, but he was going to hate this mission. Each satellite weighed ten tons, took up almost the entire ring bay, had to be handled in zero G, and required evacuation of the ring bay atmosphere for each launch. Each satellite took two days to receive and deploy. It took him twice as long to get home.

* * * * *

Kelly gave instructions to Chief B and his department heads to start bringing the Orion off wartime status while still two days out. Individual weapons were gathered, inventoried, powered down, cleaned, lubed, and stored in the weapons lockers and the lockers were sealed. Classified material was scrubbed from terminals and data devices. Wartime viruses, worms, and bugs were accounted for and sealed on dedicated data devices that went into Kelly’s safe. Codes and encryption devices were inventoried and stored in the sensor section’s safe and the safe was sealed.

The last of the patrol rations were cooked up and served to the crew in imaginative ways. Replicators were used to supplement the later meals. Award recommendations were requested, reviewed, and submitted.

Kelly thought how fortunate he was to not have any letters to write to next of kin. Then he thought of Admiral Chang and how many he had to write. He mentioned that he would be writing a letter for each captain of a ship lost in the campaign. Kelly had seen the list of ships lost. Admiral Chang would be a long while on that task.

Antares appeared on the edge of the long-range sensors and a cheer went up from the crew. Kelly watched it get larger and larger on the screen as they made a standard approach into the system. The Orion was ordered to dock at Antares Station for damage assessment. Short of some paint smudging, the Orion was in almost new shape.

Released from the spaceport, the Orion was instructed to land at Antares Base. The helmsman made a standard approach and was directed to a parking apron close to flight operations. As the ship was hooked up to water, power, and sewage, Kelly gathered his logs and data devices and headed over to Scout Force HQ.

He made it to Flight Ops, expecting to use it as a shortcut through the building, when a running, screaming woman ambushed him. Candy had seen the Orion land and ran from her office to Flight Ops. The staff looked on, laughing, as she flew into his arms. Kelly and Candy hugged and kissed long enough for the staff to start coughing and saying, “Ahem.” When they broke the clench, applause rang out from the staff.

Kelly took her arm and led her outside. She flew into his arms again and kissed him.

“I’ve missed you so much. Are you back, or do you have to go back out again?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart. I have to go see Admiral Minacci. I’ll know better after that. Can you walk with me over to HQ?”

She smiled and said, “I think I can. I was briefing the JAG when I saw your ship. I left in mid-sentence. I’m sure he’ll understand if I’m a little late getting back. Besides, I was almost done anyway.”

Kelly laughed and strolled to HQ. Candy left him at the door and returned to her probably steamed boss.

“Kelly was met at the anteroom door by his old captain, Edgar Timmons. He gave Kelly a near-crushing handshake and welcomed him back.

“It’s so good to see you. Admiral Chang has already called the boss and told him about you being requested to be the Defense Attaché to the Angaerry. There’s also a request from the new Ambassador on G’Durin for you to come in as his Defense Attaché. You must have impressed a lot of important people. The Angaerry High Minister personally talked to the President about you.”

Admiral Minacci escorted a lieutenant out his door and asked Timmons to take care of him. He saw Kelly and speed walked over to shake Kelly’s hand and drag him into his office.

“Damn, Kelly, do you know that the Angaerry and the new Ambassador to the K’Rang Empire are fighting over you?”

“Yes, sir, Admiral Chang told me about the Angaerry request and Captain Timmons just told me about the Ambassador’s request.”

“The decision is on the President’s desk. We should know which by tomorrow.”

Kelly started and said, “Does this mean I have no choice in the matter, sir? When Admiral Chang informed me, it was up to me. I need to talk to Candy about this. This is a big deal to spring on her. Yes, she’s a Fleet Brat, but this isn’t just a new assignment here in the Republic we’d be moving to. This is moving to one of two civilizations quite a few light-years away.”

Minacci said ruefully, “I don’t know, Kelly. Seems it’s in the President’s hands now.”

Kelly made his report and returned to Orion to complete post mission checks. The crew had used the last two days well, and the ship was in pristine condition. All the myriad forms Kelly had to approve and sign were ready on his desk when he returned. He called in his A-team and ran down a few items he still wanted taken care of. He then authorized local Antares Base liberty on a 50% manning basis.

Kelly looked at his watch, which had reset to Antares time, and saw that it was close to quitting time for Candy. He called her and asked if she’d like to have a visitor for the night. She said okay, but he would need earplugs if he intended to sleep tonight. She planned to get rather noisy.

Kelly laughed and told her to wait for him. He would be right over as soon as he cleared out some paperwork. She told him to hurry.

Kelly took a walk around to make sure his department heads’ idea of 50% and his matched. He saw they understood perfectly then searched out Connie.

“Connie, the ship is yours. I have to go reintroduce myself to my wife and tactfully inform her that we may be spending the next three years living with the K’Rang or the Angaerry.”

Connie coughed and said, “I don’t envy you that task, sir. Would that mean you would be giving up command so soon?”

“I hadn’t thought of that Connie, but I suppose it does.”

“Of course, with the K’Rang humbled and treaties with the Moose and the Angaerry, there shouldn’t be that much to do. Make sure they put a ring at the Embassy wherever you get assigned, so you can come back to shop and visit.”

Kelly put a few things into a bag and called Candy. He met her outside Flight Ops and they left for their mountain retreat. He was kind enough and smart enough to wait until the next afternoon, when they got up for lunch, to tell her about his next assignment. After some initial ranting she calmed down and said, “Whither thou goest, so goest I.”

The matter was settled. Kelly let out a sigh of relief and asked if she had a preference. She thought the K’Rang would be the more interesting of the two. Either way, she thought it would make for an interesting three years. She wondered if the Embassy would be in need of a lawyer.

* * * * *

A call came in to the Orion’s comms suite that was answered by a signals technician and patched through to Kelly in his cabin. The technician said, “Sir, there is a call for you from the President. I’ll put it through.”

Kelly heard the line click, signaling the call had been put through. He said, “Commander Kelly Blake here.”

A female voice on the other end said, “Please hold for the president.”

The familiar voice of the president came over the line. “Good morning, Commander Blake, I hope you are well and your lovely wife, too. My wife was commenting last week how innovative and thoughtful your handwritten and scanned thank you notes were. She has all of us doing it now. She thought it so much more graceful than an electronic message.”

“But that’s not why I called. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the Angaerry and the new ambassador to the K’Rang are fighting over you. I thought before I decide on this, I’d best get your input and that of your wife. Does your wife know yet? Do you have a preference and why?”

Kelly took a long breath and said, “Mr. President, I spoke to my wife this afternoon, and after a brief rant she said that she would go wherever I was sent. She thought the K’Rang capital might be the best assignment from the standpoint of contribution to the continued peace and harmony of our part of the galaxy. She thought keeping the K’Rang in line was the better use of my talents. She also wondered if they might have need of a lawyer.”

Kelly stopped talking and it was several seconds before the president responded.

“Your counterpart will be the same Jotil Lenkva that requested you for the embassy on the Angaerry home world. I like your bride’s analysis better than what my staffer handed me. I’ll approve you for the G’Durin Embassy. I think I’ll see if we can’t get your wife an appointment as the Chief Counsel or deputy, at least. Thank you, Commander; you made this decision so much easier for me. Good luck on your next assignment, Captain Blake.”

The line went dead and Kelly hung up. The president’s last words hung in his mind, “Captain Blake.” Was he trying to tell him something? The next day, Kelly’s orders reassigning him as Defense Attaché to the G’Durin Embassy came through, and something else. The president was trying to tell him something. He also received a Presidential promotion to the rank of Captain. His orders gave him a reporting date to a Diplomatic Corps class for new embassy personnel one month hence and a Republic Intelligence Agency tradecraft school after that, which gave him just enough time to turn over the ship to its new captain and prepare the mountain house for rental.

Tammy’s squadron was being put into reserve status and mothballed on Leonov. She asked for and received assignment as the Transport Detachment Commander on Armstrong. She was devastated to learn Candy and Kelly would not be there. Fortunately, Angie would be only a ring transport away, as she was assigned as the 15th Fighter Wing Deputy Commander on Gagarin. Candy and Kelly agreed to let Tammy live at the aerie for free, provided she maintained it while they were gone. Better her than strangers that might not take as good care of it.

Admiral Minacci promised Kelly he’d have a job on Antares Base when his tour was up. He even promised to make his successor sign a blood oath that he would hold a similar job open for Kelly.

Kelly gave up command of the Orion and was promoted to Captain on the same day. Kelly and Candy packed up what they would be taking to G’Durin and left together on the passenger liner SS Capricorn. Kelly didn’t mind the relatively slow pace of the liner this time.