What Jack had not counted on was the ex-slaves getting carried away as they so often did now that they were free. Luckily he had his construction requests in early when New Home found out he was headed that way with over 50 transports now, possible 50 battle transports later and a hundred Battleships eventually along with a Dwarf to follow. For a short time even work on the habitat and storage domes stopped on the bubbles shell.
Jack was a little surprised when he finally got back to the station and found out that Pan had made an executive decision in his absence. Fact, she made several. No, actually a whole bunch to be more exact while twisting the book of orders Jack had left her into a pretzel. Which she had decided was one of Earths better snack foods. Jack would not recognize the new station when he finally got back as it looked nothing like the original generic plan he had simply pulled out of the book of designs for the available modules. But at the moment Jack had other more important things to worry about with the over 50 transports to get to New Home in one piece.
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Dan Turner (Jack’s older and much bigger brother) sitting at the Comm console of the Turner Joy turned around to face the Trampship’s Executive Officer, his mother, sitting in the Command Chair. “Mom, message from the fucking Convoy Commander to all ships.” Dan did his best to keep a straight face and his temper checked as he turned red. He knew his parents had just about had enough of him. That he was one step from being kicked off the bridge period. It was bad enough that he was demoted several times over the last couple of years from being the ship’s First Officer and Pilot, and one step from promotion to Captain and having his own ship, to being reduced to Navigator then engineering Officer and then Cargo Officer and yet again to a lowly Communications Officer. But to have the reason he was reduced to an ensigns posting to suddenly appear at that very moment on the little screen at the corner of his Comm was unbelievable. Half in shock and not really believing what he was looking at, he did his job because he had no choice as his mind tried to process the new information.
His mother turned around baffled along with the whole bridge at hearing his disgust. “Put the fleet Commander on the main screen. What is your problem anyway?”
A few seconds later Jack appeared on the main screen and the ship’s Executive Officer sitting in the Command chair let out a huge scream of disbelief as Tears suddenly flowed and she started making hand jesters at the image on the screen showing the bridge crew around her what they could already see in shock themselves. Finally slapping the direct comm to the Captain’s Cabin Sweat, she screamed at her husband to get up there. She didn’t care if he had just gone to bed. Then went back to babbling at the crewmen around her in disbelief. Even calling Jack’s sister that had the next watch and was sound asleep.
Dan sat sick with hate staring at his low life brother that was the reason for all his misfortune. A brother once gone was no longer there to blame as Dan took advantage of every opportunity to profit from and abuse the crewmen under him as he was systematically demoted back through the consoles and postings for running any Tramp Transport. Having to actually do the work and pass the tests with ever increasing and closer observation of his work as he was repeatedly demoted for simply doing the jobs how he thought they should be done while taking advantage of every opportunity. His posting as Cargo officer just about bankrupting the ship in a matter of months until a series of corrupt and incompetent deals and trades came due at the same time with no money left in the ships bank to pay off and hide the facts any longer.
And then for his Grandfather to impossibly stumble upon his hidden ill-gotten fortune bank accounts when the ship was served with three bankruptcy debtor warrants after landing on some flee bag planet was just beyond reasonable. The fact that his fortune from years of crew shake downs and embezzling the ships funds was just enough to keep the ship from being confiscated and sold to pay off the depts, did not matter to Dan’s Parents. His father not seeing him as the hero he thought of himself being for having the money to keep the ship from being sold at auction. After all, it was his money that had taken him years to accumulate. That was when they started watching every damn thing he did. Not allowing him to get away with any of the dozens of schemes to get rich he had tried since then.
And it was all his puke faced little brother’s fault for running away and leaving him with the bag. Though once in a while he did think that maybe he had gone a little overboard beating Jack up and destroying everything of value to the little snot every chance he got. Especially the day Jack had left to join the damn Republic Navy. But Jack deserved having that stupid Sim he practically lived on destroyed for disrespecting him. Hell Jack was such a stupid shit and such a little weakling even if he was three times the kid’s size that Jack deserved to be taken advantage of and abused. After everything he had done for the kid over the years he deserved everything he had taken from the little shit.
Hell, Jack could barely talk when his parents had taken him away from the other family Jack had practically lived with for his first 6 years. After all they had a kid to that should have died years before as well. His parents should have left Jack there. But no, leaving him to practically raise the snot nosed retarded moron and teach him to speak and act a little like a human at least. Well his sister did most (all) of the work but still he had helped when he was forced to and Jack owed him big time now for that and even more now for leaving him holding the bag.
Shaking his head as he clenched his fists to keep his temper in check. Dan had put his little brother on the screen for his mother and the rest of the stupid bridge crew to ogle at the creeton. Listening to every word he uttered like he was some kind of Fucking God. He hadn’t wanted to listen to the babbling moron when he was six so why would he want to listen to him now. It was bad enough with his parents making the fucking mess deck quiet down every time his name came up on the fucking screen during a news cast or documentaries on the hero of the stupid Cloud Entry Battle and saving the transport fleet from certain destruction. God he was getting sick of hearing about that stupid Cloud battle and the damn movie someone had made about it made him want to throw up. So what, if he had been in Jacks place he would have destroyed twice as many ships as that moron and he would have been rich enough to be a king with all the loot he would have taken off the Godship instead of a few stupid slaves and weapons. Just looking up at him on the screen made him sick. Especially at the thought of Jack having thousands of slaves to pleasure him day and night.
Looking at his stupid brother sitting in a Military Command chair (that made civilian Command chairs look like camp stools), up on the screen in that stupid damn black and red striped suit made him want to puke. “God he looks like a fucking moron on a thrown.” Tron said out laud wishing he had both.
His mother whipped around. “You say one more word and you are off the bridge and assigned to waste reclamation where your father wanted to send you last month when he found you hording food. Now shut up and be still or you will be scrubbing shit from strainers and settling tanks.”
Tightening his lips as he turned red with hate and rage. He had enough food hidden away in his secret storage compartment to last him years and it was all Jack’s fault it had been found. If he had not started screaming at the screen showing a stupid news story of Jack assaulting yet another stupid Spider Battleship while cooking a steak, his father would never have found him and his little stash. The fact that he had forgotten to turn on the stoves air recycling purification fan, allowing the smoke and smell of the steak to spread throughout that section of the ship’s ventilation ducts making half-starved crewmen inform the Captain (Jack father) that someone had a steak somewhere, was beside the point.
Jack finally smiled and said. “Now that everyone is paying attention. I am acting Vice Admiral Turner.” His face turning stern. “We are now scheduled to arrive at what we call New Home, a secret hidden base somewhat like The Rock itself in less than two weeks’ time for the slower ships. High Command has decided that s
preading our forces around the Cloud in several secret bases will prevent the enemy from completely destroying our war making efforts if they accidentally discover one of them. In this case The Rock. For that reason you will not be given directions to this base or allowed to even have your navigation Computer on from this moment on. In fact any hint of its existence is a state secret and will be wiped from your computers before you leave again and to talk about it to anyone after you leave can get you arrested and even executed on the spot if our many security people deem it necessary or they just feel like killing someone at that time instead of hauling you off to dump you down a deep dark hole never to see the light of day again.”
Letting that sink in for a few seconds Sorry but you have no choice in the matter so I do not want and will not accept any discussion on the subject so keep any objections to yourself. And I mean that literally, even complaining that you cannot complain is enough to get you executed. Not that we don’t feel your pain and frustration but even talking about the fact that there is a secret base and that it is hidden can result in the enemy finding it eventually. The contracts you signed with the military allow us to do that. Sorry. Live with it or don’t and die. I really don’t care. I have a few hundred billion people more important than a few self-centered morons to worry about. Just remember a little sacrifice now will insure your family’s safety and freedom later.”
Jack’s stone face grew a smile as Dan turned to see a pair of marines take up positions to each side of the bridge hatch. One running a scanner over the consoles. He had seen the idiots all over the ship a few days before but to leave some aboard was ridiculous. And now to have them breach the sanctity of the Bridge with his mother accepting it with not even a glance just made his hate grow as he turned to face his brother on the screen again.
“Now we are going to break the fleet up into squadrons in about an hour. You all have been given enough reaction mass to produce a standard change of velocity, speeding up and slowing back down enough times to arrive at New Home using standard efficiency tables for each of your classes of transports. Basic ship handling. Now I realize that every ship is different and many of your ships have been modified for better performance through maintenance upgrades or more efficient engines than the fleet’s minimum specifications for your class of transport, so I expect you to calculate your own engines efficiencies and ability to increase your acceleration above the set standard accordingly without requiring additional reaction mass to cover the required route. This will allow the ships that can, to arrive at New Home ahead of others that do not have more efficient engines. Please contact the Red Pepper with your ship’s engines total Delta-V or Change in velocity capabilities with the reaction mass we have given you and we will group each and every one of you into squadrons of equally capable transports to travel together lead by a destroyer for protection and navigation. The sooner you get to New Home the sooner we can start overhauling and upgrading your ships and the sooner you will start receiving the increased payments that go with the increased cargo tonnage you will be able to haul.”
Taking a breath. “Hopefully allowing some ships to arrive in less than a week and stretch out the arrival times of the rest of the fleet to something the New Home Station can handle without having to put ¾’s of you in parking orbits waiting to dock and refit, will speed things up.” Jack took a breath. “Now some of you are going to be sent to another station that has room for you and will perform your ship’s needed upgrades for the upcoming mission. Do no ask what the name of that station is. You will not be told and if you find out you will not be allowed to leave so don’t ask or try to find out. Best just stay on your ship during the refit and resupply. Sorry for the inconvenience but with all the construction going on all across the stations, there really is not anyplace to go right now anyway. Besides I believe you will be happy with your added capabilities and income that include hauling more cargo and better engines at our expense. Just be patient for the ones that have to wait a few hours or days and remember you don’t have a choice in this. Thank you for your cooperation. I will talk to each and every one of you when we reach New Home during the refits and try to address any lingering concerns you may have or minor changes you wish to make in the plan we have for each of your transports. Admiral Turner Out.”
“He can’t talk to us like that. We are family. He should be giving us…”
“Just shut up.” The 3rd Officer turned to Dan. “It is your fault we had to sign with the military in the first place. No reputable company or passengers would ship with us by the time we found out about all your embezzling and get rich quick schemes. Hell you even started shaking down the Passengers for God sakes. Now shut up. Your Brother can not show any favoritism in public, he is an Admiral. I am sure he will help us when he can.”
“I was not shaking down the passengers, I was just asking them for what they should have been paying us in the first place. Besides they didn’t have to pay.”
“You held their luggage hostage demanding payment before they could leave their cabins let alone leave the ship when you were the ships Chief Steward. You even forced them to pay you gratuities to get there rooms cleaned each day along with everything else you could think of to charge them for even though all their tickets said the services were complimentary. Which means free. You even beat up passengers that refused to pay and cleaned their own rooms. How stupid can you get?”
“Not my fault they refused to pay. What was I supposed to do when they insulted and disrespected me?”
The 3rd Officer rolled his eyes as he turned back to his console shaking his head in disgusted disbelief. The Officer of the conn wiping her face still staring at the blank screen her son had just been on. Ignored the conversation behind her. Her mind was still dealing with the shock of hearing and seeing her youngest son she thought she had lost when word finally leaked out about the huge losses the fleet had sustained. Only to find out he was a national hero that was on some secret mission and could not be interviewed and then only minutes before to learn that he was an Admiral in Command of the Fleet they were a part of and not just the hero Captain the news programs said he was.
The Captain of the Turner Joy came running onto the Bridge, half dressed and out of breath. “What’s wrong?” He bellowed as he looked around for problems after his wife had screamed at him to get his butt out of bed and get to the bridge as fast as he could. Spotting his wife as she started bawling and babbling, she slapped the controls on her side screen and Jack appeared on the main screen. In shock he fell to his knees beside the Command chair clutching onto his wife and the arm of the chair to keep from falling as he saw his youngest son appear on the screen staring at him for a good minute before speaking. They had known the fleet was commanded by an Admiral Turner but had not even dreamed of the Admiral being their son. After all turner was a common name.
Dan wanted to puke as he turned to keep from seeing his stupid brother on the screen yet again making a fool of himself as his sister walked onto the bridge. His sister who had never expressed a desire to ever be a bridge officer had started taking her lessons serious when Jack had left and had worked her way up under strict supervision and increased testing, (after her brothers misdeeds and incompetence became obvious) to become the ships First officer only months before. He wanted to hate her too but knew it was all Jack’s fault. Jack was the one he hated enough to kill. Fantasizing about all the times he could have easily killed him instead of letting him live over the years. Knowing suddenly that he would have another chance when Jack made the rounds of the transports he said he was going to make and this time he would not take pity on the pore slob creeton.
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As the transmission was cut, Jack’s Steward came in with a Cup of tea. “Just the way you like it Admiral.”
Jack did not even notice as he turned to the Comm. “Get me Overseer Pan on New Home please.” Turning back he saw the marine steward turning to leave. “Oh Doctor how are the Staff doing with t
he breakfast? Are they showing any signs of problems?”
“I am keeping a close eye on them in the briefing room as they go over the cargo lists the fleet will be picking up at Q-19. So far they are keeping breakfast down. Though the Captain could have eaten what you had. I think she has been eating some solid food all along. The rest will be fine and in another couple of weeks they should be ready to eat a few bites of solid food. I am afraid I was too late sounding the alarm to the other officers and more than a few of them got a couple of bights down at breakfast and are now in the Infirmary. Several that pigged out are not expected to live even after getting their stomachs pumped. All the rest of TF-58 officers and crew are now isolated from food for treatment and should recover in time. Don’t expect them to be crewing any ships for a very long time though Sir. Those pills are a nightmare once they pass a certain point. You need to get TF-58 some kind of solid food to supplement the pills as soon as possible. Even a little something with a few calories and fiber to take with the pills for the body to absorb and process would go a long way to restart the body’s dietary metabolism and cut the side effects of the pills.” Shaking her head disgustedly. “It is a shit policy to have the crews wait until they run out of solid food before going to the pills. Which was what the Captain at breakfast had been doing. From what she has said she had stashed away crackers and dry cereals when it became obvious that the Task Force was isolated. Taking a few bights with each pill in the beginning with smaller and portions until she ran out I would say a couple weeks ago.” Seeing Jack troubled expression of disbelief. “My scans show her digestive system has been just as starved as the rest of the crew for six months except for just enough fiber and calories to allow her body to change and accept the pills over time without the shock of the sudden transition from all solid food to nothing but pills the rest of the crew is suffering from. Something she tried to get implemented across the Task Force before they ran out of solid food but the Chief Surgeon and the Admiral could see no reason for such measures with the Task Force expecting supply ships from The Rock any week after arriving at the Cloud. It sounds like to me that she knew something if you ask me.”
Battleship Destroyer 2 (Battleship Destoryer) Page 85
