Retribution (The Federation Reborn Book 3) (90 page)

“Wait while he runs roughshod over everything we believe in. Wait and watch you say,” Senator Mayfair growled.

“I didn't say it'd be
easy
. But it's the best we've got for the moment,” Avery replied with a shrug.

“Heaven help us if you're wrong and we realize down the road when he's too big to stop that we should have nipped this in the bud now,” Senator Mayfair growled in disgust.

“That would be a bit of getting hoisted on one's own petard I suppose,” Senator Russell drawled.

Avery smiled crookedly at his two partners. “That's the benefit of hindsight; it's always twenty-twenty. I'll live with what I decide here and now with a clear conscience.”

“It's not just you that will have to live with it,” Senator Mayfair sighed.

:::{)(}:::

Admiral Sienkov and Admiral Irons finished up going over the ONI budget and goals for the following year. For once the two of them hadn't run over in time trying to get the job finished. “I think that about wraps it up,” the admiral said with a nod. He glanced at the clock. “And just in time too. I think if I missed another dinner Mrs. Garrett would disown me,” he said with a grin.

“Not quite, but she has been rather … volcanic when she hears her carefully crafted dinners have gone cold, sir. Based on what she is currently working on, you have just enough time to get to your suite and wash up before it is ready, sir,” Protector stated with a straight face.

“How about it Yorgi, you up for dinner?” the admiral asked, cocking his head.

“That depends. Is Mrs. Garrett making meat again? I'm not sure I can handle another of her marinara concoctions,” Admiral Sienkov replied with a protective hand over his belly.

“Yes, meatloaf, sir. It does have a tomato and honey crust, however,” Protector warned.

“Are you sure? I haven't had a decent meatloaf in a while,” Admiral Sienkov said, smacking his lips. “Of course you are. Sure, I'm in,” he said with a shrug.

“That's the spirit,” Admiral Irons said, clapping him on the shoulder as they exited the office.

:::{)(}:::

“That was a bit anticlimactic of you ask me,” Vestri said, eying the report on their implants. No one else in the restaurant could see it. It didn't matter though. The public version was all over the media network. The vid screens in the corner of the restaurant bar were playing bits of the story nonstop.

“You actually
read
the report?” Nara demanded, wide eyed in mock surprise, her soup spoon hovering midway between her bowl and lips.

He shook his head and then shook a meaty fist at her. “Behave,” he growled.

“I don't have to, I outrank you,” she replied with a sniff. He snorted as she sipped her soup. He could sense her lighter mood, sense it in Otto as well as the other patrons of the restaurant, hell, even the staff. It was like a big weight had been lifted off them.

“Yes, I read the report. All of it. I imagine just about everyone did. ONI will be picking it over and interviewing people for weeks once they get their hands on them,” he said. “And that's just the one encounter,” he growled.

“And you were interested in the in-depth because?” Otto Turner asked, eying Vestri as he picked at his salad.

“I wanted to know how the ships behaved of course,” Vestri replied with as much dignity as he could muster.

“Right,” Nara drawled in amusement. “We were all worried,” she admitted, eying him.

He held up his hands. “Okay, I admit I was too. I know we had sent enough to do the job. Which we could have … but it didn't come to that.” He grimaced. “Unfortunately.”

“Yes, unfortunately,” Otto replied, picking at his salad.

“Well,” Nara stirred her soup with her spoon. “I for one am grateful for the reprieve for the moment and for the time to get fully back on our feet and back on the offensive,” she said with a nod.

“I'm wondering when Admiral White will go on the offensive,” Otto said, looking up to the ceiling pensively. “I'm honestly surprised he's held back. I thought he'd be racing after them out for revenge,” he said.

“He's got a cooler head than either of us it seems,” Vestri rumbled. “Now, quit picking at your salad and eat it like the rabbit you are,” he said. Otto blinked at him then snorted.

“Just because some of us like a light meal now and then,” he said, shaking his head as the waiter came over with the dwarven commander's steak and baked potato.

“What? I'd like to say I'm a growing boy, but I gave that up long ago,” the dwarf replied.

“As your doctor I can safely say so much cholesterol isn't good for you,” Nara scolded, eying him with scant favor.

He frowned at her and then shrugged. “We all have to suffer for what we love apparently,” he said, cutting the steaming steak.

She snorted as she set her spoon down and picked up a fork. When he had a piece cut off though, she speared it with her own fork. “Hey!” he protested, eying her.

“Hay is for horses. You aren't the only one who likes the occasional bit of protein,” she teased as she popped the piece into her mouth with a teasing smile.

Otto ducked his head as he chuckled and picked at his salad.

:::{)(}:::

An hour later Yorgi sat back and patted his belly. “No more, I'm stuffed,” he said, pushing his plate away.

Mrs. Garrett aka Cookie came in and took his plate as he dabbed at his mouth with a linen napkin. “You're stuffed but not so stuffed you don't have room for a slice of fresh pecan pie,” she teased.

“Well, if you insist,” Yorgi replied with a grin. “I suppose I can find room,” he drawled. “Somewhere.”

“That hollow leg and all,” Admiral Irons teased. “To think, you're such an easy mark to bribe. Her meatloaf and that's all it takes,” he said, shaking his head in mock resignation.

“Actually, the pie was the clincher,” Yorgi replied with a wink to Mrs. Garret. “So, what do you bribe this one with?” he asked, nodding his head to the admiral.

Cookie sniffed. “That one can't be bribed with pie or treats. But if you withhold his coffee long enough, he goes into withdrawal and then he's amiable,” she said shaking a finger at Irons.

“Speaking of …,” the admiral said grinning as he held up his empty cup.

Cookie rolled her eyes. She had the carafe ready though so she poured him a cup. “See what I mean?” she asked bumping Yorgi's chair with her hip gently.

The vice admiral snorted. “You've got a lively one there,” he said.

“Don't I just know it,” the admiral said shaking his head.

“I heard that,” the woman said.

Yorgi turned to where she was standing near the butler's pantry. “Can I have some ice cream with my pie? Please?” he asked smiling endearingly at the woman.

She chuckled. “Well, since you asked so nice and all,” she said, making a small plate appear like magic. A scoop of vanilla ice cream was already there off to one side.

The vice admiral's eyes lit in appreciation as she set it down in front of him, and then another plate in front of the admiral.

“Thank you for spoiling us,” Admiral Irons said to her. She nodded and left. When the admiral heard the pantry door click, he nodded and picked up his fork.

“Mmm, heavenly. Fresh out of the oven. It's still warm,” Yorgi said.

Admiral Irons snorted softly as he dug in with his fork. “So, Nuevo Madrid. Your thoughts?”

“I think we're going to go for it of course. And I think Amadeus is going to go after De Gaulte. I think he's making certain the other man doesn't try to come back again, but I'm pretty sure he's going to go after him no matter what your orders say to the contrary,” he said airily.

“Funny, I never did pass on orders not to chase the Horathians,” the admiral said as his fork rose to his mouth. “I know better.”

The vice admiral chuckled softly as he got another forkful of pie.

:::{)(}:::

“Okay, Blake has scheduled two whole hours for this meeting. No offense but I don't want to turn this into another working lunch if we can help it though,” Secretary Sema said, shaking her head as she took her seat at the head of the conference table. She smiled to Nadine on her right. “So, without further ado, let's get this party started,” she quipped.

Nadine smiled slightly and then nodded to Petina. The press coordinator nodded back.

“Well, the good news is, the news from the war front has spread through the ansible network like wildfire and morale has picked up significantly again. And we're making some headway again building bridges,” Petina Grant stated with a grin. “The polls are up all over the place,” she said.

They had limited news from Pi and Tau sector. Most of it was old; some of it came from ONI. They were using it as a framework to build off of however. Along the process they were identifying people so they could build a map of contacts in the area. Interest in joining the federation had picked up as news of the federation and the recent battle began to spread. It had cooled somewhat when the threat of the Horathian fleet had hit the grapevine though. It would take months for the most recent battle news to get further out, but those nearest in the outer edges of Pi and Tau sector would learn of it first.

During the night a ship had arrived at Airea 3 orbit. She carried with her formal requests for the federation to send diplomats and care packages. Those requests had been forwarded to the secretary's office. Nadine had made certain they'd all seen them in their morning brief.

Geoffrey Mahoney sniffed in disdain at that news. “Of course they want the care package. Free stuff!” the speechwriter said with a shake of his head.

“After the centuries of being in the dark, you can't blame them …,” Petina rounded on him.

“That's not my point. My point is they want it free. They didn't offer to pay for it, did they?” Geoffrey pointed out nastily.

“No. No they didn't,” Nadine admitted.

“See? They've got their hand out,” Geoffrey said, sticking his hand out.

“It takes a bit of … I was going to say, a bit chutzpa to let go of your pride and ask for a handout. I'm not sure if that's true anymore though. There are those out there who just go around looking for a handout,” Nadine admitted.

“What a rather dark way of going through life, seeing it that way,” Moira murmured.

“You have to admit, the admiral has a great hook with the gifts,” Sebastian Whitman stated. “He's using the rule of reciprocation here. The sharing of resources makes others feel indebted to help the user in other ways. Giving something away for free in order to get something of more value is an old trick in marketing and politics,” the policy advisor quoted.

“Which people, especially cynical people, will see through,” Nadine pointed out, eying Geoffrey.

“That still won't stop them from asking anyway. They won't have a problem with their pride since they'll think and know it is a hook,” Geoffrey retorted.

“True. And we've got the hoarders and people who will do ill with the gifts they get. Or they'll use them for their own benefit and exclude their own population,” Sebastian stated.

“You just pointed out the hoarders,” Petina said.

“I know. Slightly different case I meant though. Hoarders will snap up the gifts and then save them for later or they'll sell them on the black market for insane prices,” he said.

“Back to your third point. But I get it,” Petina said. “I don't think we can do much to stop it. Complaining about it will point it out and possibly shame some, but it will generate ill feelings too.”

“Like cockroaches scurrying out of the spotlight,” Geoffrey murmured. All eyes turned to him. “Sorry,” he said.

“You always have a gift for phrases,” the secretary stated.

“So, what do we do, ma'am?”

“We get more gifts into the hands of the population and not trust local distributors,” Sebastian said before the secretary could say anything.

She turned to him in surprise. “You know, that's a good idea,” she said, marveling at him.

“Ah, shucks,” he replied.

“Thanks, I'll steal it,” Moira said. Sebastian snorted as she turned back to the staff. “What he said, plus a bit from you, Petina, about how we're trying to help as many people as we can,” she said. The press secretary nodded.

“I'll draft some responses and contingency responses for her,” Geoffrey stated.

“Good. Now, moving on,” Moira stated.

“Um, I know it's not on the agenda, ma'am, but has anyone brought up discussions with occupied planets?” Nadine asked.

The secretary blinked at her. She frowned thoughtfully. “You know, no … I don't think so.”

“Quite possibly because it's too dangerous and the enemy won't stand down,” Geoffrey said nastily. “So it'll be a waste of time,” he said.

“Since we're going to send the Marines in anyway, I agree,” Sebastian said, nodding to Geoffrey. “And giving them warning is asking for trouble. They could hold hostages or make threats and then carry them out which would devastate our public image since we'd be helpless to stop them,” he said, nodding to Petina.