“Much better to have me funneling you everything you need and you making me some engineers instead.” Salchar grinned. “You really do know how to boot them into shape.”
They both shared a grin.
“Well, thank you. Resilient, Commander. I think it best that I went over this here mess you’ve given me and see if me and some of my lads and ladies can figure out some other useful nuggets to throw together for this here fleet.”
“Go on then,” Salchar said.
Eddie raced for the door. He barely noticed Boot, a commander now of a BC and one of the better workers Eddie had taught. “Boot, what you doing here?”
“Seeing the commander, Chief Eddie.”
“Ah well, wish you’d come back to the engineering side of things. Need more hard workers like you.”
“I could work hard, but I didn’t like it much. Plus, I’m better at fighting a ship. Salchar said so himself. He was the one who saw my training videos and selected me.”
“Ah well, if the commander says so,” Eddie said, wondering where such garbage came from. Well, he did just get you to see past your blindness into Union technology. A bit of talking him up won’t hurt. Eddie rubbed his data pad absently.
“I best be getting in there then,” Boot said.
“Ah yes, very well. I’ll see you later, Boot.” Eddie walked out of the command center and into the nearest maintenance closet, taking the rat tunnels—which was what the maintenance walkways were now being called—into the heart of his own territory. He called a few hopefuls to the engineering break room.
Might as well see who will be making these bases and running the other projects Salchar wants done, while pulling gold from this beauty. What was that saying humans use? Two flying creatures, one thing for both of them? Oh well, more done in less time is always better to me, he mused as he walked.
“Resilient, I need you to get some people to meet me in the engineering break room.”
“Who?”
“Get Shrift to get me three people, and I’ll choose. Vule, Mark, and Jasper.”
“Done.”
“Good. Now we have the challenge of figuring out who’s best to get this system into a fleet outpost,” Eddie growled. Should be fun! Finally, I get to make something instead of watch as everything falls apart!
Small Victories
Rick was on his way down to Earth when the large carrier, which held the supplies from Parnmal, was detected in Sol. It transmitted its codes, confirming it was indeed the parts ship.
It’ll be good to have more than a third of our weapons online. Rick removed the news of the ship from his data pad, and the shuttle buffeted slightly before lowering as Rick stood.
He’d taken over Salchar’s position at the negotiating table with Earth’s representatives two weeks ago. He was having most of the same issues his boss did. The leaders had their aides talk to him more freely, which he hoped moved things along faster.
Though, nothing at all happening at a faster pace was still nothing at all. So far, Rick was running into the same issues of nations holding onto their nationhood and not accepting that they were one planet, and thus they would be treated as such.
Getting an ambassador figured out between Earth and the Free Fleet had been a goal since the beginning of the talks, though it had taken three concentrated days to figure out the exact guidelines of what kind of person an ambassador of Earth should be.
Rick already knew that Commander Heston was going to be the man in the area, and as the highest ranking member of the Free Fleet in-system, he would double as the Free Fleet’s ambassador to Earth. That deliberation had taken Salchar a thought and a talk with the man to make the decision. Rick wished Earth’s governments were as straightforward.
Rick was greeted by the regular throng of reporters, who he moved through easily. Krom had insisted on a personal guard and, with the media, Rick was thankful for their presence as two massive Avarians seemed to push people away with their mere presence. Their eyes caused even the bravest reporter to take an unconscious step back.
“What do you think of the tweets on Earth, paying to be part of a dictatorship?” someone asked.
Rick mentally sighed at yet another one of the asinine questions the reporters threw at him. “I think that the person who made that comment should go and read a historical or modern book on the military rank structure.” Other questions were hurled at him: about his supposed romantic involvement with Salchar, whether he used steroids, when technology would be available for public purchase. Rick answered a few that actually could benefit someone by knowing the answer before he reached the hotel and the reporters stopped, crowding him, and began yelling their questions in louder voices.
Rick grabbed some food from the food table. People wandered around the conference room, talking and mingling or taking their seats. Rick looked over the leaders of the world, becoming reflective.
These men control the nations of every human on this planet, yet I barely care for their opinion or am nervous in their presence. Before, I would’ve been looking around in awe and doing anything they asked. Now? Now, I see them as men, not rulers, but individuals who represent their people in varying different ways and are themselves as different from one another as possible. Yet they are all human, and all people that the Free Fleet will look after and die for if need be.
This is a strange fricking universe, Rick thought as he made no conclusions on the value of his own musings.
Rick noticed that the big players, the movers and shakers in the Western and Asian world as well as the Russians, which Rick didn’t really place with either, were looking to one another. Their mannerisms spoke more than Rick thought he would be able to understand in their words as he leaned forward.
Could they be doing what I think? Rick looked to the president of the United States, who looked as if someone had pissed on his table.
Yep, looks like it. With America being used to being the ones making demands, they were not happy when they were the ones being dictated what they had to give.
Rick didn’t know about this new president. The man wanted to take America back to a supposed golden age where the US was master and commander of the Earth, with a military that no one wanted to mess with. He bore looking at. Rick had not been blind to the careful hints that led him to think that if he wanted to go back to the United States, he would have a place open for him, and that the US was still trying to affect their claim over him as a member of the United States Air Force.
The presence of the chairman of the USAF had been a pretty big clue as to the president’s desire to have Rick back in the fold.
I agree with Salchar. After this, I’m not touching politics, politicians, or any of this mess with a ten-foot damned pole, he thought as the speaker arrived and everyone began making their way to their seats. The big leaders looked to one another as Rick’s stomach screwed up in nerves and the speaker opened up the conference.
I wonder if our announcement to move the station had anything to do with this decision. He shrugged.
***
The station and the majority of my ships were scheduled to move out in an hour, but I had two people I needed to touch base with first—Commander Boot and Heston.
They walked into the conference room, which had become my unofficial office.
“Commander Salchar,” Commander Boot said, about to give me a finger-tapping.
I stopped it before he began and waved them to their seats. “No need for all that nonsense here.” I grinned as Boot nodded and Heston relaxed slightly. He was obviously uncomfortable talking to someone high up. I had seen in his personnel file from Min Hae that Heston was quite a relaxed commander, which was something of an asset when dealing with fighter pilots nearly constantly.
“All right, you two. As you know, the plan is for the fleet and Hachiro station to move to Mars’s orbit.
“You both know your missions. Boot is to scout as many systems as fast as possible, seeding them with sensor buoys, wh
ile Commander Heston will see to the protection of Earth.
“Now, I wanted to see if either of you have any issues. Boot?”
“No, sir. My mission’s much too easy for anyone to mess up.”
“Yes, but it is vital nonetheless. Your scouting might find systems for us of tactical use.”
He nodded. He might be slightly displeased with his mission, but I knew he would carry it out to the best of his abilities. I had more than a few feelers in his ranks who had reported on his stellar performance. Reviews from his previous commanders made me confident in his abilities.
“Heston?” Now, I hadn’t talked to Heston much. Other than the files that Min Hae had sent detailing the man’s performance and knowledge of the fighters, his battle group was the best that there was in the fleet. His fighters, while being quite a small force, were hugely effective, as shown by their ability to keep my shuttles safe while taking out shields where necessary.
“I’m all good to go, though, I was wondering if Captain Xing and I could rename our carriers. C1 and C2 aren’t very memorable.”
“What were you thinking?” I’d seen more than a few pilots in the entertainment district. Although they were ballsy and good at their job, they were by the whole a rambunctious bunch who rode by the seat of their pants and lived for the thrill of flying. Oh, and named everything.
“FengFang and Pandora,” he said, not batting an eyelid.
I mentally praised his composure. “FengFang, as in the Chinese word for hive, and Pandora as in Pandora’s box?”
“Something along those lines.” A small smile crept on his face.
“All right, I’ll approve it.”
“Thank you, sir.” He grinned.
“How are your fighters and carriers, anyway?” I had read the reports, but it was always better to hear from the commander. Boot had already spoken with me about the situation of his ships the last time we’d met; if I asked him again, it would be questioning his reliability, something that I had no issue with. Heston’s face became somber as he recounted their situation from memory.
“FengFang got winged, but the sections that were damaged have been fixed. Pandora had power issues, though with the new ideas coming from the meeting of information we’re having with Earth, we’ve got new power lines in place to counter those issues. Our R and R time is not what I wished it was, but that comes with having basic haulers outfitted to be carriers instead of making a carrier from the ground up.”
“R and R?” I asked.
“Refuel and Rearm.”
“Ah, have you submitted your thoughts to Felix?”
“I have every department writing a brief every week on what works and doesn’t. Last communication I got from Felix, he said that he was going to see if he would be able to get one of the asteroid hulls for a proper carrier.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve already okayed it. After seeing what your ships did in our last engagement, and with the surplus of fighters in Parnmal, it would be idiotic not to attempt to increase our fighter numbers and get them a true carrier, no offense.”
“None taken. I’ve basically just got an electrostatic contained ramp diagonally cut through a hauler at this time. A real carrier, now that’s something I’m looking forward to.”
He grinned and I smiled. Although he might not be the man in a fighter cockpit, there was no denying that he was still a fighter pilot at heart. Chaleel had given him the bug. I just needed to make sure that he was ready to stay back instead of charging forward with his men.
“I was wondering if you would okay one of my pet projects,” Heston said.
I leaned in. “Which would be?”
“Okay, so the fighters are good at killing missiles and have the ability to kill ships if they get close enough with their missiles. Yet, with only four missiles, the amount of damage that they do is pathetic. I was wondering if I could maybe take a fighter and modify it to be a bomber.” Seeing my hesitation, he continued. “A bomber will have the thrust abilities of a fighter, yet it can hold many more missiles, even larger ones possibly. Meaning that ships aren’t shooting against a few handfuls of missiles. Instead, they’re up against dozens of close-range missiles. Each with the ability to maim or kill.”
I sat back in my chair, resting my elbow on its armrest as I stroked my chin in thought. “If you can give me positive simulations, I’ll okay it. We don’t have the resources to dive into something that might not be an advantage and will cost us a lot of resources.”
“I understand, sir.”
I could see in his eyes that he did.
Although there were a lot of things happening in the fleet, certain things had to be prioritized. I had to deny Eddie upgrading the weaponry the day before. It would improve our current weapons by thirty percent in range and power, yet the cost in resources and time was too much and would’ve meant not replacing two sections of armor, as well as putting a brace on one of the structural members of a destroyer.
My pad beeped at me and I picked it up. “Well, looks like you’ll be getting a little more firepower on your adventures, Boot. The shipment of weapons and miners has arrived.”
Boot nodded, and I couldn’t help but grin. My fleet was still not fully armed, but at least we would seriously mess up someone’s day if they crossed us.
I checked the time against the schedule as I stood. “Well, good luck.” I shook both of their hands as they, too, stood. “I’ll let you get back to your ships, and remember, if you need anything, ask.” I smiled as they nodded. The informality in the Free Fleet was something I enjoyed. Without it, I would never know the men and women around me. It made my fight for them even harder as I knew that some of them might be sacrificed in order to let others live. It was a bloody calculation.
Yet, for today I didn’t have to think about it. Heston asked me whether I’d like to take the fighter test the next time I was near his carriers. I laughed but said no. I could handle dropping in a shuttle onto a planet’s surface. Being thrown around like a rag doll as my battle suit tried to keep me from blacking out from huge gravitational forces was something I thought was best left to the damned crazy fighter pilots.
I gave them both a two-finger salute before I took my seat on Resilient’s bridge. “How long till we start moving Hachiro?”
“Twenty minutes,” Sook reported.
“Where’s Shrift?”
“Making final checks,” acting second-in-command Kawaga said, his face concentrated on his feeds. He’d played a lot of sniper games before the Recruitment, a skill that had carried over to being in the Free Fleet. It was that patience and cunning, as well as the ability to adapt on the fly, that had gained him the position of being Rick’s understudy.
Yet, although he earned the position, I didn’t know whether he was happy with it. I made a note on my data pad as I continued. For now, I could do nothing about it. I needed him where he was currently.
“Comms, confirm that the supply ships know where to rendezvous with us. Nav, I want you to confirm coordinates. “
“Shrift is saying that we are ready to go,” Comms said.
I nodded and pressed Shrift’s name on one of my screens.
His voice came through my implants. “We’re ready,” Shrift said, not even waiting for me to talk.
“I got that. Want to make the announcement?”
“You’re the commander though.” He sounded perplexed.
“Yeah, but you’re the one who’s put in all the hard work,” I pushed back.
“I should get a raise,” he grumbled, but I could hear the thanks in his voice that he didn’t say.
I laughed. “How about I let you pick your next posting instead of having Eddie just posting you to it.”
“Done!” he yelled, cutting the channel and making sure I couldn’t go back as he came on through the fleet-wide communications. “All right, let’s move this damned station! Helms people, let’s go!” A countdown started as Resilient computed how the ships attached to the station would have
to move in order to get it to break free of Earth’s orbit. The rest of the route had already been figured out by the navigators and helms personnel.
For the next few days, the station and the fleet would move, continuing on as they had when around Earth. There was no time to wait. There was always something to get done.
The bridge was tense for a few minutes before Helm relaxed. “We’re out of Earth’s orbit. Proceeding to Mars.”
I connected to Shrift again. “We good?”
“It seems so.” His tone told me he was sure something was going to go wrong.
“Good work, Shrift.”
“Thanks, James. Never promote me again!” he said with feeling.
I grinned. “Noted. I’ll leave you to it.”
Shrift cut off as I looked over the bridge, liking the feeling of actually being in command instead of having to do mountains of paperwork. My thoughts turned to missing Yasu for a change.
After our talk, a lot of things had changed. We slept in the same bed, when I did sleep. We fought when we had time to and we ate together whenever possible.
I sent a message to her, asking to meet me for a meal if possible.
Putting off paperwork? Mess hall C3. XO, she wrote.
I grinned. Paperwork isn’t everything.
***
I was walking through the gunnery decks, helping to get things ready for the new guns coming in, when Rick contacted me.
“’Sup?” I said, half out of breath as I pulled a burnt rail cannon from its housing.
“We have it!” he said, his voice clearly trying to hide his excitement, as if there were others around him.
“We have what?” I lowered the barrel to a grav cart with Krom. “Barrel done! One for recycler!” I yelled. One of the runners took the grav cart and I turned back to the gun, an overlay showing me what else needed to be done.
Free Fleet Box Set 1 Page 63
