Wolves at the Gate

by Shane Van Aulen

  The last thing he did before he left was to explain that Lt. Collins was waiting to see the admiral and had been there for the last seven hours. The new yeoman looked over to Mike and smiled politely. He nodded back forcing a smile of his own.

  Two hours later found them at nineteen hundred hours and nine hours since he had entered the office. He was going to give it another hour or two and then head out to try and find a ride back to the station. Maybe with a little luck, he could get a shuttle back to the Mastodon but he doubted it and would probably have to wait until the morning. He had checked the Goliad for its shuttle before he left. It should have had a basic type craft for just this purpose - ship to ship travel but it was gone. It certainly would have made his life a little easier if he had a shuttle to use.

  He wrote several letters to his mom and little brother back on Earth and to his father on the Prometheus. He usually did a vid letter but this wasn’t the place for that so he just went old school. He also wrote a letter to his love, Angelique Duarte though he wasn’t sure how he could get it to her as she was still on the Star Wolf.

  He didn’t know what to say about the awards he received except that he was lucky and other people did just as much as he had. He also congratulated his father for his defense of his ship and the success of the 40th Attack Fleet in holding a key bend point that could have opened up the Confederation rear to the enemy. He was very proud of him as only a son could be.

  Bored, Mike reached into his pocket and pulled out the two small ring cases and took a moment to open them up. He didn’t know what to do with them but he knew he didn’t want to leave them in his temporary quarters back on the space station. It wasn’t like it was his room on the Star Wolf. Maybe he should send them home to his mother for safekeeping?

  The evening shift’s yeoman had less to do than the day shift’s and she couldn’t help but noticed that the young officer, who was so patiently waiting, had something in his hands. They looked like ring boxes which got her attention. Craning her neck, she could just see them but then got up and casually passed by him to get a better look. She tried to make it look like she was leaving for a moment on a clerical errand.

  Getting a better look, she had to hurry out of the office so he wouldn’t notice her surprise. She didn’t know about such things but she could have sworn that the young lieutenant was holding a pair of Imperial Knight’s rings. One looked like a silver spur whereas the other looked like a silver star.

  Now she had a dilemma, having a minor ship captain and junior officer wait without an appointment was one thing while having an Imperial Knight’s Star winner was an entirely different story. Once in the hallway, she made up her mind and quickly made a call on a link line that was only to be used for the most important matters and emergencies.

  As the yeoman returned from her errand, Mike put away his rings and shoved them back into his pocket. He’d decide what to do with them later as he still hadn’t quite accepted the idea that such honors were his.

  “Would you like a cup of coffee, Lieutenant?” she asked.

  “That would be great, if it’s not any trouble,” he answered feeling like it was getting to be that time where he either left or settled in for the night.

  Twenty minutes after he finished his coffee the door to the office slid open and Admiral Janice Dupain entered the room. She was just short of being truly tall and was wearing a standard day uniform. Her hair was white and pull back into a bun.

  She was of the generation of Hope and Kirkland but her face was young looking, even for someone of her great age. Modern anti-aging drugs and gene therapy seemed to have done wonders for her. She was thin and walked with a purpose even though she carried a cane.

  The most remarkable thing about her was that she had a black eye-patch over her left eye. The re-growing of limbs and even cybernetic implants were commonplace on most Confederation worlds. Someone like an admiral would have definitely had access to such technology.

  Mike jumped to his feet and stood at attention as did the yeoman.

  “As you were,” the Admiral said and briskly crossed to her office door. Stopping right before the door’s biometrics sensor would kick in and open the door for her she looked back at the young officer. “You! In my office, now!” she said with all due authority.

  He quickly followed after Admiral Dupain entering her office just behind her. She walked over to her desk and moved behind it as he walked to the front of the desk and stood at attention.

  “Stand at ease, Lieutenant,” she said with a slight frown as he relaxed from attention.

  “Ma’am,” Mike started but did get a chance to finish.

  “How long have you’ve been sitting in my outer office making my people nervous?” she asked sitting down behind her plain metal desk

  “Almost ten hours but I don’t think either of your yeomen were all that nervous,” he said thinking that after all, they brought him lunch and a coffee.

  “Empty your pockets, Lieutenant,” she said in a normal voice.

  Mike looked at her questioningly for a moment but complied as you don’t argue with an admiral’s direct order.

  He put his wallet on the desk, along with several data crystals, his palm pad, and the two ring boxes.

  The admiral looked down at his few possessions still frowning. She then pulled the boxes closer to her looking down at the Imperial seals embossed on the lids. Holding the first box down with one hand she opened the lid and looked down at the signet ring with its silver spur. Her head nodded once and then she opened the second box and looked down at the silver star signet. Taking a breath in, she slowly exhaled through her nose.

  To Mike, the sigh didn’t sound good.

  “Where did you get these rings?” she inquired.

  He could have gone through the whole story but instead, he reached down and picked up his palm pad. He then opened it to the orders Captain Hunter gave him ordering the 34th to action and granting awards to the crew of the Star Wolf. He scrolled it to the right spot and passed it back to her.

  She looked up at him with her one dark brown eye as she took it. Reading it over she then scrolled the page and read the second and third pages that concerned the officer before her.

  “So, you are Lt. Michael Collins who fought the Battle of the Randori, who helped recover the Mammoth, and served on the Star Wolf.”

  “Yes Ma’am,” he said.

  “Harpers Academy,” she said.

  Mike was unsure if it was a statement or a question but more than that his schooling wasn’t in the file he gave her.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” he answered and asked, “how did you know that?”

  “The Star Wolf was last listed at Austro Prime where Harpers Academy is located,” Dupain stated as a matter of fact.

  “I helped steal her back from the Austro Prime government along with some midshipmen and old veterans.”

  “You are one of Hope’s boys,” she stated her lips pressing together.

  Mike looked at her serious expression and nodded.

  “Yes Ma’am, I am and in my opinion, there is no finer officer in the entire fleet,” he said getting his Irish up.

  She looked at him hard but he didn’t even flinch. Turning her chair around she reached for something on the shelf behind her. Spinning her chair back, she passed it to him and he saw that it was an old style digital frame. Touching the activation sensor with his thumb the screen came to life. The image was locked on one picture and it looked to be an old one.

  The picture moved slowly showing four young people - three men and one woman. All of them were dressed in Star Academy cadet uniforms and from the ranks on them, he would guess that they were all seniors. They were all smiling and hugging each other. He looked at their faces and it took him a second but he realized that knew all four of them. There, within the picture was the younger versions of Admiral Sir Randolph Hope, Admiral Sir Egbert Norton-Underhill, Captain John Kirkland and the woman was none other than Admiral Janice Dupain.

/>   Mike looked up at her and he was sure she could see the surprise on his face.

  “We were called the Four,” she stated reaching out and taking the picture back from him and looking down at her younger self. “We did everything together and were inseparable. That picture was taken on our graduation day from the Star Academy.”

  Mike knew that Kirkland and Sir Egbert were Hope’s old friends and comrades but he had no idea that they went back this far.

  “So, young Mister Collins, you are among friends,” she said putting the picture down on her desk.

  “Yes Ma’am,” he said unsure what else to say.

  “Please pick up your belongings,” she instructed and added, “If I were you I’d wear one of those knight’s rings, after all, you earned them.”

  Lt. Collins made a face at the last part of her statement and she noticed it.

  “I was recommended for this assignment by the Emperor himself but he was asked by Admiral Norton-Underhill for me to be assigned to this fleet. Later, it was Hope who requested that I and the 8th be moved up to cover his rear. I’ve read all of the reports that you and Captain Hunter brought back and I have seen the vids of the battles you and this Wolf Squadron have fought. In my not so humble opinion, you deserve those rings and all of your other awards.”

  “Thank you, Admiral, it’s just a lot of people died helping me to get them,” he said.

  “Nonsense! That is utter nonsense!” she declared and continued, “you did your duty, fought the enemy to the best of your ability and survived. Those that died knew the risks and died with honor doing their duty. There is no malice or shame in your actions. Admiral Hope was awarded the Knight’s Star as well. Would you say he doesn’t deserve it?”

  “No Ma’am, he is a true hero and deserves his Knight’s Star as well his promotion to admiral,” he replied without hesitation.

  “Agreed, and you deserve the awards you have received and I’ll hear no more of it,” she said like a mother setting her misguided child straight.

  “Aye Ma’am,” he answered as he took the Knight’s Spur ring out of its box and slid it onto his finger. He didn’t know how but the ring fit perfectly.

  “Now that is all out of the way, tell me what can I do for you?” she asked.

  “Well, Ma’am I’ve been given the command of the ISS Goliad, an old battle class frigate,” he started and then proceeded to fill her in on his problems with parts, repairs and crewing the vessel.

  After he was done the admiral had a few choice things to say.

  “Old Granny Essex sent you on a fool’s errand to punish you and to set you up to fail. I knew he was a twit but he and his sister are both admin pukes who should have been replaced when the war first broke out,” the Admiral said having no love for the ladder climbing, boot licking siblings.

  “You’ll get no argument from me,” Mike said, “I wouldn’t trust them though there are a lot of very good officers in their commands.”

  “Noted, now as for your problems. I can’t spare you any of my people as many of my ships have only two duty shifts as it is. The 8th Defense Fleet is leaving tomorrow, two days early for Starbase 24 and the Ryu-Six System. That one reason I’ve been out of the office getting the last-minute details and any minor crisis that always pop-up taken care off,” she explained wishing that she could spare a few people but she could ill afford to do that.

  “Ma’am, I have a plan to get the people I need,” he said passing her one of his data crystals.

  Dupain took the crystal and downloaded it to her desk’s computer. She liked officers who brought solutions to their problem but she had to admit this was a little unique.

  “You want me to stay or commute the sentences of fifteen prisoners that are currently serving out their time on the Captivity,” she stated looking up at him with that one dark brown smoldering eye.

  “Yes Ma’am, they are mostly non-violent offenders and many of them had been sent there by Commodore Essex, Captain LaFevers or Admiral Yancy. I still need to interview them but I’m betting most of them didn’t deserve it or were given excessive punishment,” he informed having been where they were not so long ago.

  “I’m sure this will not endear you any further with the aforementioned officers,” she said with a smile.

  “I just wish I can see their faces when they find out,” he remarked.

  “I do too, but I can only stay their sentences, it will take a two-star admiral or higher to commute or overturn their sentences,” Dupain stated being a rear admiral of the lower half or in layman’s terms having only one star.

  “No problem, I think I know a two-star admiral who might help us out at a later date,” Mike said with a slight smile.

  “Very well, you can have as many human prisoners as you need,” she said quickly sending the orders to the military warden of the Captivity.

  “Thank you, Ma’am,” Mike said happy to have that finally done.

  She saw his smile and shook her head.

  “I don’t know if I’d be all that happy to have convicts as the entire crew of my ship. It frankly sounds more like a ship of the damned.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m planning on setting a certain tone with the crew,” he said having already thought of an idea.

  “Better if I don’t know,” she said with a smirking kind of laugh.

  “I’ll still need a little help from the Mastodon if they care spare anything. Perhaps a few droids and a couple of people. There is a Senior Chief named Wineburg that could make things go a lot faster.”

  Dupain rubbed her chin and frowned a little.

  “I’ll talk to the captain of the Mastodon and to Commander McClune, the station’s commander and we’ll see what can be done but I’m going to tell them that all of their cruiser restorations projects still have first priority over your frigate. It is much more important to get those cruisers into action. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, Ma’am, any help would be greatly appreciated,” he replied.

  “Mister Collins, I afraid that it is time for you to go as I still have much to do. You can stay here the night in guest quarters or I can have you shuttled over to the Mastodon or the space station,” she said giving him several choices.

  “I think I’d like to go to the Captivity,” he said even though it was late.

  She nodded, knowing that the young man had his own mission to complete and little time to do it in.

  “I’ll let them know you are coming and I hope to see you soon at Starbase 24.”

  “Thank you, Admiral,” he replied sincerely.

  “Dismissed,” she replied as he saluted. She looked up from her work and quickly returned his salute.

  As Collins turned about and walked to the door she said one more thing to him before he left.

  “If you see those three rogues before I do, tell them that … well, tell them that we are the Four. They will understand.”

  Mike nodded, “Aye ma’am, I will.”

  When he reached the Shinano’s shuttle bay, he found that a shuttle was already waiting for him to take him over to the Captivity. The pilot looked bored and said almost nothing which was alright with him. Sitting back, he closed his eyes and took a quick nap as they crossed to the prison ship. By the time he got there it was close to twenty-four hundred hours and he was sure that it was already lights out on the ship. That was fine with him as he wanted them a little off-kilter and groggy-eyed.

  Reaching the prison ship, he was greeted by a marine 1st lieutenant and a detail of MPs who saluted as he got off the shuttle.

  “Welcome aboard Lt. Collins,” the marine officer said and continued, “I’m Lt. Rogen, I’m the duty officer. We received orders from Admiral Dupain to assist you and to release any prisoners you choose into your custody.”

  Mike returned their salutes and nodded as he handed him a data crystal.

  “Assemble these sixteen prisoners in your prison’s exercise area,” Mike instructed as he took off his Knight’s Spur ring and his Were
wolf Commando Badge.

  “Sir, this one prisoner …” he started turning his pad.

  “I know, I’ve got it covered,” Collins stated.

  The marine officer shrugged and got on his link to order the prisoners awakened and moved to the prison yard.

  “They’re not going to be happy,” one of the MPs said shaking his head.

  “Good,” Mike said walking to the bay’s airlock door with the marine lieutenant and the MPs rushing to keep up with him.

  The sixteen prisoners were indeed not happy as they were filed into the exercise yard that was located on D-deck of the Captivity. The fourteen men and two women were tired-eyed and complaining but the MPs were tight-lipped and forcefully as they moved them into a single file formation. There was one thing of note that they all noticed and that was they were not handcuffed or shackled.

  Lt. Rogen entered the room walking briskly to a position in front of the center of their formation. Turning smartly to face them he called for the prisoners to come to attention. Whether out of habit or just good discipline most of the prisoners snapped to and locked their heels.

  The marine officer turned about-face as Lt. Collins came into the yard. He walked at a normal pace over to and in front of Rogen and the formation of prisoners.

  Lt. Rogen saluted and said, “The formation is yours, sir.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Collins said returning his salute.

  The marine officer moved off to the side as Mike faced the formation.

  “I’m the captain of the frigate, Goliad,” he started.

  “So, what?” someone said from the ranks off to his right.

  Mike looked to that end of the formation easily spotting the man who called out. It was exactly who he thought it would be.

  “I’m authorized to recruit any human prisoners that I want for my ship. It won’t be easy duty, a lot will be expected of you and we will be going into battle,” he informed.

  “I’d rather sit in my cell,” that same voice said.