by Chris Hechtl
“A major security breach, sir,” Agent Setim said, shaking his head as he looked at the mess. “Damned if I know if I can get into details though. I know one thing, cleaning this mess up and figuring what the devil happened is way above me. I'm an investigator, not a cyber guy,” he growled. “But if you ask me, they'd be safer and smarter if they dump it in the sun. Pronto,” he said.
“Okay, so next question, who's going to pay for this?” the captain demanded. “And I've got thousands of people on board. Terrified people,” he pointed out. “Who's going to explain it to them?”
The NCIS agent just groaned and hung his head as the captain glared at him.
:::{)(}:::
Admiral Subert shook his head as he read the hot wash of the cyber engagement. He was deeply shocked that a Xeno A.I. infiltration had happened again in his AO right under his nose. He knew he wasn't the only one who was disturbed and shaken. “How the hell did this happen? How does it keep happening?” he snarled. “I want a thorough review of everything—every damn bit of the net. If you have to take it down piece by piece, do it. And I don't give a damn about corporate secrets or crap. This damn thing has to stop,” he snarled.
“Yes, sir,” Commander Teague said.
“The good news is I'm alive, of sorts,” Barry said, “and so are Captain Firefly and the other A.I. The experience was … unnerving,” he said.
“I'll bet it was. You came very close to becoming a zombie A.I.,” Firefly stated.
“Thank you again, sir,” the A.I. said.
“I'm curious as to why it didn't try to suborn Smithy. It had the ability, and he's a civilian A.I., so an easier target. I was watching him closely.”
“Which might be your answer right there,” the ONI spook said. The A.I.'s avatar nodded.
“We've got to prevent reoccurrences, not just find the ones that are already here and contain them,” the admiral snarled.
“It's going to take more than the resources we've got to handle this, sir. Most of our A.I., at least ONI's A.I., are tasked for other duties. Interrogation, analysis, that sort of thing. Cyber security is outside our purview,” Commander Teague warned. “We need a cyber security expert. And we need one that can monitor the other A.I. for intrusion.”
“Who watched the watcher though?” Firefly asked. “If this is set up, the next wraith might try to suborn the watcher first.”
“If it can. It obviously failed with Barry and yourself, sir,” the commander said with a nod to the A.I. avatar as she turned to the admiral. “Captain Firefly is the real hero here, sir. Without him here we would have been screwed,” she emphasized.
“Not completely,” Firefly replied. “I'm lucky I was inoculated by the research team in Antigua. I'm glad it worked; it hadn't been tested before. Now we know. But it isn't a fool-proof defense. We need to make sure everyone knows that. We need to improve on it.”
“Send them your logs,” the admiral ordered.
“Already done, sir.”
“Make certain the other A.I. have that inoculation—Barry, all of them. Check them thoroughly,” Commander Teague said, looking from the captain to the admiral.
“Agreed and so ordered,” the admiral said, flicking a finger.
“Okay. I guess I'm not going to get my ship back into space for a while longer,” the A.I. drawled.
“Not until we have someone here with your skills who can keep an eye on things,” the admiral growled.
“Lucky me,” the A.I. sighed.
Chapter 40
A week after the scout disappeared, Admiral White called a meeting of his staff, senior officers, and the other flag officers. It took several hours to get everyone on board Bismark. “Okay, now I think he's running,” Admiral White said, in preamble.
Garfield flicked his ears in humor. Kyle wasn't so certain however. “Are you certain, sir? You called it right the first time I know but …”
“He played the odds and lost. Remember, he's only got so much fuel and patience. He's used up a lot of both. His ships are also damaged again. He needs a place to resupply from his fleet train, someplace out of hyper. He didn't have them with him, so they have to be somewhere. That I'm betting is B-95a3. I'm also betting he had orders to relieve Nuevo Madrid. Obviously he rewrote his orders when he saw us. And he's good.”
“But you are better, sir,” Garfield stated loyally.
“Don't get my ego any more pumped up more than it already is,” the admiral stated with a small smile. “We're good, yes. But always assume your enemy is as smart or smarter than you are. Never rely on surprise as the main component of your battle strategy. This guy is good. He knows surprise is lost. My money is he's running. He might send another scout as a sacrifice so he could get away, but I doubt it. Which means …”
“We've got the speed advantage to run him to ground, sir. Can we get off our leash to do so though?” Trajan asked.
All eyes fell on the admiral.
The admiral smiled sardonically. “This is why they pay me the big bucks. It's also why Admiral Irons said he had political pressure from Congress but didn't give us orders not to go,” he pointed out, smile turning into a grin he didn't quite feel.
“And if we're wrong, sir? If they do come back?” Naomi asked carefully.
The admiral shook his head. “I doubt it. Remember, he's got battle damage to contend with. I think the cruiser was his one shot at getting a lick in, and he knows it failed. He's not going to throw good money after bad; this is a pretty solid character we're up against. No, he might drop in some cruisers here to scout, but they would only be here to delay us further and to buy his fleet time to run.”
Commodore Dwight Harris frowned thoughtfully. “But politics …”
“Admiral Irons knows the risks. It's why he didn't specifically order me to stand. We take a risk.”
“Sir …”
“I want orders issued to the minelayers now,” the admiral said, looking at Kyle. “I want them underway in no less than two hours. They are to get to B-95a3 at flank speed. I'm going to upload a plan to them. They'll have to work like demons to pull it off,” he said, uploading the plan for the others to review.
Renee whistled softly. It was bold and a little risky. But the payoff might be worth it.
“Anything less than 90 percent stays behind except the dreadnaughts,” Amadeus ordered, looking at Kyle. “No number fudging, I don't have time for that crap and anyone who pulls it will feel my foot up their backside. Make that perfectly clear. I'm leaving two of our newest CEVs behind with Illustrious. It's clear from the post battle reports that their crews need more work-up time. Fine. They can do it here and keep an eye on Protodon at the same time.”
“Covering all bases in case we're wrong. But sir, they won't have the guns to destroy that enemy fleet,” Dwight warned.
“They can stage the fighters from the fortresses,” Trajan offered. “And remember, the enemy lost its entire screen. All they've got left are bombers. They'll be very leery of going up against them,” he said.
Admiral White nodded. “Exactly,” he said.
“It's a race. Don't come in last; you'll get torn apart if you do. Don't fall back on the Protodon jump point. I'm leaving you instructions now,” the admiral stated as he uploaded the orders to the four ships.
“We'll get it done, sir,” Captain Casper said. The snow white Neodalmation nodded once and then cut the circuit.
The four mine layers and their deadly cargo had been sitting near the B-95a3 jump point, an AU between the jump point and the planet. The original plan had been for the ships to be available to throw up a road block in a hurry if the Horathians had made a direct run at the planet.
Now that changed as the ships charged to the jump point and entered hyperspace.
Admiral White nodded as their positions faded on the plot. The first stage was done. All of his ships that were going with him were en route to the jump point. It would be a few hours before someone realized something was going on. He'd locked
the ansible down with a military priority to keep word from spreading until he jumped.
He hoped and prayed he had his timing right. A lot was riding on it.
:::{)(}:::
“Admiral, we have a situation,” Protector stated.
“I hate it when you do that,” the admiral said, looking up from the meeting he'd been attending. “Take five everyone,” he said, nodding to the staff and accountants around the conference room. He rose from his chair and went out into the hallway. “Okay, what?” he demanded.
“Downloading a mission brief for you now.”
“From …,” Admiral Irons frowned as he quickly scanned the header. There was a video file attached but it was ten minutes long. He wasn't interested in burning that sort of time. He frowned. “Give me the synopsis,” he said.
“Running a script program. Script program finished. Compiling … completed. The details are as follows,” Sprite said, opening a document on the admiral's HUD.
Admiral Irons grunted as his eyes went back and forth scanning Amadeus's mission brief. “Bold but he has what it takes to do the job. I'm not thrilled about his leaving Protodon so naked, but he's got a point.”
“Hopefully he's right, sir,” Protector stated. “The media will be getting this shortly.”
“Yes, hopefully.”
“Did you notice he waited until after he'd jumped before sending you the mission brief, sir?” Protector asked.
The admiral's lips pursed in sardonic amusement. “Nothing like asking for forgiveness over permission. He knows how the game is played. Heaven help him and us if this goes south,” he growled.
“Yes, sir.”
The admiral rolled his shoulders and then smiled over to the Marines. Thomas cocked his head. “Just getting an update of sorts. Back into the wonderful world of accounting spreadsheets and bean counters,” he said, turning the knob and entering the conference room again.
Thomas chuckled ever so softly as the door closed softly behind the admiral.
:::{)(}:::
The first civilians to notice something was wrong were in the media. They had a small but constant stream of data being sent through the ansible. Usually it was just a couple kilobytes of data, story headers for the main office to cherry pick from. Any that sparked interest was then tagged for a more in-depth transfer.
But that changed when the ansible inexplicably was locked down. There was no excuse of maintenance or damage, just a military hold. That sparked interest and a request for comment and clarification from the navy. The request was at first sent to the local Public Affairs Office before some wits went the distance of asking Admiral White's staff direct what was going on.
Or, at least they attempted to do so. When they found out the admiral was not available, the concern began to grow of a second invasion. That concern ended when a few loose lipped people let slip through back channels that the admiral and most of Second Fleet was no longer in the star system.
Captain Renee Mayweather had been left in charge of the solar system since Shizouka had been one of the ships below the 90 percent threshold the admiral had set. It had been a frustrating experience to see the other ships march off to war. But she was a naval officer; she knew how to take an order.
When the media began to flay about the remainder of the chain of command, she stepped in. “This is going to be short and sweet,” she said in a radio call to the Associated Press Network that had been established on the planet. “Second Fleet has gone on the offensive. They are going to hunt that Horathian fleet down and tear it apart. That is all,” she said and then cut the channel.
Consternation hit the population as Renee's blunt announcement hit the air waves. There was some concern but also some cheering. Dom smiled at Caitlin. “It only took them what, a week to run after them?” he asked.
String shook his head. “Dom, they wanted to make sure they didn't come back. The pirates tried once you know,” he reminded him.
“I know. Think they'll catch them?” he asked.
“Even with the head start, the Horathians won't get far. The question is, what do they do when they do catch them? They aren't evenly matched, but it’s pretty close. It could turn ugly, into a slugging match,” Lieutenant Locke said. He seemed a little put out that the news had spread so quickly. He'd had a running bet that it'd take another day before someone noticed.
“It doesn't matter to us now. For the moment, we've got more important things going on,” Sinjin said. “I've got orders to go to MAWTS to act as an instructor. I'm shipping out in a week on the next return flight to Agnosta. So, String, you've got my duties here, but I heard we've got a possible sniff of the general?” he asked, eying the spook in their midst.
“She's cagey. Good. Damn good. She's keeping her people as a cohesive unit, and I think that's going to be her downfall in the end. We've got her cornered now that we've got enough units freed up to quarter each sector,” he said.
“She's staying away from the population centers,” String said.
“That's because we've got eyes on each. She could infiltrate with small groups over time. She's patient; I'll give her that. But she knows if she does get into an urban scenario she'll only have three things to do. Take them hostage and then we'll contain her, which is her stupidest move; break her people up into smaller packets and scatter them in terrorist cells …”
“Not a nice thought,” Caitlin growled.
“No it's not,” Jo said with a shiver.
“And the last, go to ground in an urban area and try to wait us out hoping we'll finally get pulled out.”
“Which is what we're doing. The army is taking over, but they have fewer people, less equipment …” String shook his head, looking at his brother. Sinjin spread his hands apart. “I know, orders are orders, but it still sucks.”
“I know.”
“So, it's good the rest of us are here,” Dom said as Jo wrapped an arm around his waist. “We'll make sure she is put in the ground properly,” he said.
“Here here,” Jo said in agreement. The others nodded.
“You just make sure the navy doesn't screwup and let the Horathians back,” Dom said, looking pointedly at the officers. All three nodded.
:::{)(}:::
Lil White heard the news as she nursed her latest brood. She hadn't wanted to turn into a baby factory but that seemed like the path fate and life had just sort of pushed her onto. She admitted she'd been a bit too defensive over it with her sister Lil Red.
She closed her eyes briefly then opened them to look up at the sky above. Somewhere up there in the heavens her sister was off having adventures. She missed her. And not just because she could use another babysitter.
“Are you going to class today, Mama?” Blondie asked her. She shrugged, gently checking the kitten's fur. The slums were a memory; there were plenty of places to live once the government had gotten into building low income housing. She drew a subsistence check and child support for each of her litters. There had been some talk about having her and others like her sterilized though.
She doubted they'd do that. There were too many legal challenges already, she knew. But they might get their compromise through, which was mandatory birth control implants. That was tempting. The litters were taking a lot out of her.
Hopefully, this litter would survive. She'd been damn near crushed when she'd lost her first. She wasn't certain how her mother had handled such losses.
“Mama, I'm hungry,” Blondie murmured, nuzzling into her chest.
“Okay,” Lil White said softly, letting the kitten pull her top aside to nurse. The suckling sound woke Blondie's sibling. After a moment she yawned and came over to nurse as well.
Lil White stroked them but then looked up to the sky above once more. Sometimes she wondered what her life would have been like if she'd chosen her sister's path.
Maybe, just maybe, in time, she'd find out or one of her kittens would.
:::{)(}:::
When the ansible was unlocked
, the news quickly spread to the capital. It hit the media like a bomb in the middle of the night. The political establishment woke to calls from their staffers telling them that the media was asking for comment on the move.
Most of the bewildered senators and congressmen managed to land on their feet. Secretary Sema's office released a brief statement praying for the lives of the sailors and soldiers out fighting for our freedoms.
“I'm in agreement with Secretary Sema,” Governor Randall said in a telephone interview. “Go back to bed, honey,” he murmured, just loud enough for the microphone to pick it up.
“Sorry, Um, I know a lot of people are off balance. So am I, this wasn't announced or planned as far as I know. I can tell you what some in the navy will tell you. No war has ever been won on the defense. In order to win, we're going to have to take risks, and we're going to take hits. But in the end, we're going to win. Count on that. Count on our men and women fighting for a better tomorrow for all of us,” he said.
Once the first round of calls for comment ended and the talking heads started in to spin the event with speculation, everyone clamored for the straight story from Liobat and Admiral Irons.
“Usually we do not comment on active military engagements or future ones,” Liobat stated. “Even though it takes time for the news to get to the enemy, we maintain a practice of limiting such information so that others cannot act on it. In this case, Admiral White made the decision as the senior officer in the star system. He has adequate forces to do the job. He left adequate forces to protect the star system in the event that the enemy comes back. It is highly unlikely that they will do so.”
“Shut it off,” Senator Mayfair growled as her trio watched the press conference. “She's just repeating the party line. Whatever the plan is, they aren't going to tell anyone. You know, just in case it blows up in their face, which it damn well can,” she growled, obviously thoroughly disgusted by the situation.
