Blockade

by Chris Hechtl

  Some might not see them again.

  "Admiral," Sprite said, surprising him.

  "Sprite? What's up?" he asked as she appeared on his HUD. He frowned and closed the window to the shuttle so he could see her better. Her avatar wasn't smiling. "I thought that went well?"

  "The usual spin is occurring. That's not the problem," she said.

  He inhaled and then exhaled. "What is then?"

  "We received a report from Dead Drop as you were in the hearing. I thought it best to sit on it until you were done."

  He nodded slightly.

  "A day after the battle of Garth the two fleets were on post-battle chores when an unexpected arrival came in. TF 2.4 was at the H002 jump point. The new arrivals arrived within weapons’ range, and the task force was outgunned."

  "How bad?"

  "Bad. They were hammered hard. The worst is that Shizoku was lost … with Commodore Mayweather."

  He felt like he couldn't breathe for a moment. It was like a gut punch. He'd lost friends before, but you never got over that feeling, that instant shock and then anger and sadness. "Damn," he murmured.

  "Yes, sir."

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Press Secretary Liobat felt like a very visible Cheshire cat as she listened to the reports of the news of the battle of Garth on all of the major media networks. So far so good, they were on top and handling the enemy again, keeping them on the defensive.

  Now the hard part. Admiral Irons had already confirmed the order to stand-down again. Second and Fifth Fleet would stand on the defense in Garth until the next phase was ready to go. Some might argue that taking pressure off of Horath was a bad thing.

  In a way, they were right. The enemy was going to have time to react, time to dig in. But they'd already had centuries of time to dig in. The Federation needed time to finish forging the weapons to break through that line.

  She was wondering what else she could do to capitalize on that when she got a heads-up email. She frowned at it, but the alert level forced her to open it immediately.

  Her feline eyes scanned the document and then closed in pain. So, their victory had just been tempered a bit. "Damn," she murmured.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Word of the attack was first sent out by classified email to the navy. It spread as various people talked about it. Monty consoled Nara and some of their other friends. In the morning Liobat announced the battle in a press conference and also announced a national day of mourning.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Knox News covered the Renee Mayweather memorial. Pete Knox ordered his people to be grudgingly respectful. He'd known Renee; she'd been a good woman, a good champion.

  More than one reporter admitted that she had fought well for democracy. "Had she not fought, we would not be here now. A defender of the light has fallen. Let us honor her life and her sacrifice."

  They also approved of the Senate's unanimous vote to award her and her unit the Medal of Valor for their sacrifice against overwhelming odds.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Skeletor received the news of the memorial but was in no position to take advantage of it. The timing was off for him, and it pissed him off to let it slide. First the failure of the assassination attempt, now this! He fumed, pacing and looking for a fresh target.

  What he'd love to do was something highly public. But the more he watched the more he realized that the Empire was on the ropes, quite possibly done. Even if he could do something, what would it prove long term?

  He needed to start considering his own long-term planning again.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Admiral Irons passed on the order to stand-down the fleets in Garth for the moment. He also ordered the long overdue promotions of Amadeus's staff. Getting the staff squared away will take some time. Getting a new staff in place and trained might take a bit longer.

  One thing he did need to sort out was the A.I. situation. Second Fleet including her flag officers had been spared receiving personal A.I. That needed to change. Amadeus needed to get it sorted out. He could opt for a dumb A.I. if he wished, but he needed to get with the program. He had hospital ships on station with his fleet; they could finish the install and oversee the activation of the A.I.

  The other flag officers would need their implants installed. He ordered a fresh courier to be dispatched with them. It would take several months, but eventually, they'd get that sorted out as well.

  Once those orders and news were transmitted, he released the courier in Dead Drop to return to Garth.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Pyrax

  Vice Admiral Phil Subert studied his drink. Word had gotten out about Renee. It was hitting some more than others. Irene Teague was a bit teary and quiet. Barry and Kamlia were subdued. He wasn't certain if he was feeling regret over the loss or not. Well, definitely regret. Irons was right; he'd been too hard on the woman. She'd taken command of the heavy cruiser without any formal training but fought brilliantly and valiantly. Along the way she'd shepherded a new generation into being, passing as much as she knew along the way while also running to seemingly hopeless battles.

  The battle in Antigua for one. The battle in New Andres and B101a1 were others. She had screwed up in ET; she'd admitted it. He'd landed hard on her, perhaps too hard.

  He exhaled noisily. What was done was done though; he couldn't change it. He could just … learn from it maybe. Learn and move on.

  Chapter 5

  Antigua

  Admiral Irons was on hand to witness the ceremony showcasing the expansion of the various academies and military colleges on Antigua. Pyrax, Bek, ET, and Agnosta had multiple campuses, but none had been expanding as rapidly as the capital was. Nor were any of the others as up-to-date as the capital's.

  Independent college campuses had been set up for engineering, navigation, tactical, ONI, command, flight, medical, Marines, and others. Instructors had been brought in from all over the sector or trained from scratch. The schools went so far as to have their own military boarding school and high school for students who put themselves on the track early. Many were children of officers or senior enlisted. High school and college ROTC were another path to an officer's career, but the Academy was quickly becoming the high mark for anyone to strive for in their initial military education.

  Agnosta's military campuses were focused on the Marines and army and were expanding nearly as rapidly as the capital's were. Bek's campuses were limited to naval but were now expanding. Nuevo had a minor army war college, but it too was expanding.

  He still believed firmly in merit-based promotions, but this was a step in the right direction. He spoke briefly at the ceremony and then attended the dog and pony show with Rear Admiral Cheech Lemans. He noted Matilda nearby. She grimaced, rolled her eyes, but then winked at him.

  No doubt she'd been stuck as the admiral's XO doing the lion share of the prep work for the opening. Lemans had no interest in sharing credit directly with her. He snorted mentally but kept an attentive face as the head of the navigational school showed off their new toys. The Ssilli instructors had their avatars near but neither wanted to be an administrator. Their talents were better suited to showing new students how to apply their innate skills and refine their instincts while wedding them to hard lessons in math and science.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  On the shuttle ride back up to the station, Sprite remind him of one ongoing problem with BuSchools. "I'm sorry; I guess I took my eye off the ball with everything else going on. What's the problem again?"

  "Admiral Lemans has refused to complete his flag officer implants, specifically the A.I. components. He is actively working with other flag and junior officers to circumvent the implant procedures."

  The admiral's jaw worked. "Didn't I counsel him on this before? Wasn't he supposed to resign or retire?"

  "You did, sir. And you've sent emails. Or, I should say I have in your place."

  "And?"

  "And, he was given a waiver from BUPERS for '
the good of the service.' It was a temporary waiver that they tried to renew before I denied it. Admiral Hill's doing."

  "I see," the admiral said, working his jaw. It seems he needed to chat with Admiral Hill.

  "He's had every manner of excuse on the matter. Everything from scheduling conflicts to colds. Apparently, the group who is resisting the order has a system. They know that if an officer has a cold a surgery is rescheduled since their immune system is down and their airways and lungs are compromised."

  The admiral scowled. "Call him."

  "Into your office or on the net?" Sprite asked, cocking her head in inquiry.

  The admiral cocked his head as he considered that. "Call him here. I want him here in person. We need to get this sorted out once and for all."

  "Aye aye, sir."

  "Why didn't you bring this up when I was on the ground?"

  "It was a positive experience in the eyes of the public, and I didn't want to ruin it or your reactions to it with a possible scandal."

  He frowned. "Don't manage me like that, Sprite. I need to get in front of problems like this."

  "You've been delaying problems like this. Admiral Sienkov's situation for one."

  "That is getting better, isn't it?"

  "Yes and no."

  "Is he in counseling?"

  "Yes. Couples’ therapy has helped his attitude but not hers."

  "Frack." He rubbed his brow. "Okay, I'll talk to him again."

  "I doubt it will help at this point, Admiral. And you have two new issues in your inbox."

  He scowled bleakly and then exhaled. "Okay, table the Sienkov issue to a back boiler, and let's deal with them while we wait on Lemans to arrive."

  "Aye aye, sir."

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Rear Admiral Cheech Lemans wasn't happy about his current predicament. A brief email ordering him to White Station after the dog and pony show was ominous. All of his back channel checks had come up blank, which was even more ominous.

  He wasn't sure what was going on initially. He was pissed at being called on the carpet; whatever it was could have waited until he was recovered from the whole dog and pony show. Was the admiral angry over something? No matter how he searched his mind he couldn't see a fault in his performance.

  He'd even kept his hands off that damn annoying captain. He grudgingly admitted that she might not be academy trained but she was an able administrator and a good teacher. She still needed to go, but after getting his hand slapped there, he had been scrupulously careful with her from then on out.

  Could he be up for a transfer? He wasn't sure. No, no doubt someone had run behind his back to the admiral while the admiral had been on the ground. He scowled. Yes, that was it, that bitch Matilda. He should have canned her ass long ago; he just didn't have the political points to do it yet. If not canned, then transferred out of his hair once and for all. He seethed all the way up on the shuttle ride to the White Station and through security, finding interesting ways to return any insult he was about to receive on whoever was responsible for it.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Admiral Irons stood as Admiral Lemans entered the room. The door snicked softly closed behind him.

  The visiting admiral marched up to his commander-in-Chief and came to attention. Admiral Irons nodded.

  "Reporting for duty as requested, sir," Admiral Lemans stated.

  "Admiral Lemans, I bet you are wondering why you are here," Admiral Irons said frostily. The lack of an invitation to sit or relax was a deliberate slap and a warning that this was official business.

  "I noted there was no subject in the email, sir," the admiral stated.

  "And I see you made good time," Admiral Irons stated.

  Admiral Lemans smiled briefly. "When your boss says come, you don't let your feet hit the ground on the way, sir, not if you can help it," he said. He looked for an answering smile. When he didn't see it, he looked over the admiral's head. "Sir."

  "You would have known what the subject matter was if you'd complied with my standing order and my direct order to you to get squared away. If you had then we wouldn't be holding this conversation at all," Admiral Irons said, hands together in front of him.

  "Sir? I wasn't aware my performance was lacking in any way," Admiral Lemans said with a hint of alarm in his voice.

  "All right, let's get into it. All flag officers are required to have an A.I. implant—an active A.I. adjunct and chief of staff. No exceptions. You've had all sorts of excuses, and you've delayed the install. I've run out of patience. I've given you your chance, and you've blown it, not once but several times."

  Admiral Lemans flushed angrily. "It's just …"

  "I'm not finished," Admiral Irons said in a cold arctic voice.

  "Sir," Admiral Lemans said stiffly.

  "You had your chance, and I'm done waiting. So, I'm giving you four options. One, you can accept a permanent reduction in rank to captain and take another assignment." He noted the man's blood pressure instantly increased over that slap. "Two, you can resign. Three, you can retire with full benefits. Or, finally, you can continue to refuse the lawful order and I'll have you court-martialed."

  Admiral Lemans's jaw flexed. "Sir, I can do the job just fine without an A.I."

  "I don't care. As a flag officer, we set the example. If you are willing to flout orders and the law, then others will try to do so as well. I'm done with playing nice. You aren't acceptable to me as a flag officer. So, I'm going to give you a moment to choose your path from here. If you don't, I'll do it for you."

  "Can I request another assignment? A return to Bek?"

  "All flag officers are getting A.I., no exceptions," the admiral growled. "So, you can resign, get demoted, or retire, and we'll ship you back to Bek."

  Admiral Lemans's jaw worked for a moment as he thought about it. "I'll retire, sir."

  "Your choice. Sprite?"

  "Paperwork is in his inbox," Sprite stated.

  "Good." Admiral Irons focused on the Bekian. "Fill it out and hand off your duties to your staff by tomorrow. I'll find a replacement I can work with," Admiral Irons stated. "We'll have a replacement for you within the week."

  "Yes, sir," Lemans said stiffly.

  "Dismissed," Admiral Irons said coldly.

  "Horatio was right; that was long overdue," Admiral Irons said after his door had softly clicked shut behind the retiring admiral.

  "You have a way of bending to try to accommodate your people. Sometimes it's for the good. Sometimes they and you need a swift kick in the pants," Sprite stated.

  "Agreed, sir," Protector stated.

  "I've no doubt this will get bandied about. Any ideas for a replacement?"

  "Matilda is on the short list."

  "Put her to the top. Ram her through to flag rank if you have to. I don't care who objects. Not anymore. The old boys club has had their way with the promotions board for entirely too long."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Make sure this is spread through scuttlebutt and let them know I mean business. We need to get everyone on board with implants."

  "That's very good, sir, and long overdue as far as the Bekians are concerned. There has been a lot of criticism from those who see you as letting them get away with not following a standing order and criticism from the other side for not giving them more time to adapt and get over a lifetime of bias."

  "Then that should mollify some of the critiques of how I run things or at least put a spike in some guns," Admiral Irons stated. "The rest better damn well learn to fall in line."

  "You are kidding, right? Nepotism anyone?" Sprite asked with a laugh.

  "Yeah, thought not," the admiral sighed with a rueful shake of his head. "Whoever said I wanted this job needs their head examined."

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Commodore Montgomery studied the report. Yorgi was right, the Shield team looked good on paper. He wanted to ship them to the front, but the admiral had already earmarked them for several other missions.

&nb
sp; He turned to another report and grimaced. He had been on the short list to full flag rank but had been “passed over with regrets.” No other explanation had been given. The officers on the board had all been Bekian officers he didn't know.

  He didn't care about getting another star. He did care about the bias he'd heard was creeping into things. And he knew there was going to have to be some sort of reckoning and soon.

  He noted Lemans' abrupt retirement announcement with a lifted brow. When he checked the scuttlebutt about the retirement, he whistled softly. Apparently, Admiral Irons wasn't fooling around.

  He guiltily checked his own status. He had the flag rank implant package, but he had no A.I. Could that be an excuse for being passed over?

  Whatever the cause he decided he needed to put it to rest and get his own situation sorted out. He put a call in to Nara to get it sorted out soon.

  -~~~///^\~~~-

  Every few months, when he had the time, Admiral Irons held a public discussion. It usually took the form of an open forum, sometimes on the net, but from time to time it was a before a live audience at an auditorium or college campus.

  He didn't care for the public speaking part and fielding the same old questions got old. Some questions he couldn't quite frankly answer because of an ongoing investigation or because the subject was sensitive.

  The latest event was televised. He'd been told that the moderator was supposed to be the Government Studies class professor, but he'd bowed out in favor of a reporter at the last minute.

  The admiral had realized he'd been set up for an ambush but decided to take his lumps. If it got too contentious, he'd have Protector activate a trap door program that would allow him to pull out on the grounds he had some matter to attend to.