I looked at her miserably.
She pulled me out of my seat, causing Angel to jump onto the chair rapidly from my lap, and hugged me.
For a full five minutes she held me, before pushing me away, and turning to Angel.
"I'm going to borrow him for a while sweetie. Is that alright?"
Mew.
"Thanks. I'll bring him back when he's thinking straighter. Why don’t you visit your cat bed for a while?"
Mraa mraa. Angel jumped off the chair, and ran out.
"Follow," she said to me.
She led me down through the ship, into Custer, and to the Gun Ranges. She programmed a two person assault course. I was about to point out I didn’t have my guns, when she took two assault rifles from a gun rack I didn’t know was there.
For the next two hours, she bullied me through the course repeatedly.
Eventually, Jane announced the jump corridor would be cleared in about ten minutes, and we headed back up the ship.
I hurt. Really hurt. BA hadn't let up. She'd pushed me to the limit of physical exhaustion, and my bruises hadn't liked it. But I savored the pain. I deserved it.
I limped back onto the Bridge, and sat. BA and I were the last ones to enter.
I emptied the bottle of water waiting for me. Jeeves quietly took the empty and dropped another full bottle in the holder.
"Jane… Ouch!"
I looked around to see BA step back with a medical device in her hand.
"Sorry Jon, I pushed you as hard as I had to, but we need you pain free now."
"Just as well you’re a superb combat soldier, because you’re a lousy nurse."
There was a titter of laugher around the room.
"Jane, sitrep."
"Almost ready."
"Send the comnavsat as soon as you can."
"Confirmed."
I waited impatiently. I had to suppress the urge to get up and pace.
"Droid away."
It took another minute to jump. The scan data for Miami popped onto the screen again.
There was a mass of grey dots. No green ones at all. Dread seized my heart and squeezed.
"What the hell happened?" asked Eric, down in one of the Camels.
I hadn't realized team coms was back on.
A huge area was marked as a navigation hazard, but oddly, the down jump corridor was clear. And now I looked closely, there appeared to be a line of grey dots ending in an arrow head, pointing into Miami. Some of my dread lifted.
"Let's go find out," I responded.
I opened a channel to Repulse.
"BigMother is jumping into Miami. Admiral Bentley, you have the fleet until I return."
"Aye sir," she replied.
Unlike me, she was professional enough to not show any emotion. The channel closed.
I nodded to Jane, and she moved us forward, and into the jump at a low speed.
Three
The first seven ships we passed were all Gunbus'. The next fifteen were Excalibur's. They moved to follow us, showing they were still operational.
"Coms?" I asked Jane.
"None."
I tried pinging Miriam with a simple 'please answer this ping' message.
"What took you so long?" came back.
I grinned.
I looked around, and they were all grinning, seeing the dots following us.
"Sitrep," I pinged her.
"The first two ships missed us by inches. Yorktown and Lexington were both damaged by missiles, and cannot land fighters. Two Gunbus' lost. Seven Excalibur's lost. Twenty three other fighters lost before we could join the fight. Almost all ships of Corvette size or smaller are damaged. Can you take the worst of us? At least we can ping basic instructions to each other, so I can tell people to land if you can take us."
"Yes. We can take four squadrons for now. Send them in worst first. The Excalibur's should fit in through the rear of the Flight Deck, but some of you will need to spacewalk to an airlock, as there aren't enough bays. Six Gunbus can dock at our external airlocks. If Greer is still with us, you and he report to my Ready Room please."
I threw her ping to a side screen so everyone could read it.
"Jane, prepare for fighters landing. Get every repair droid we have to the Maintenance Deck, and the Flight Deck. Find out why they have no coms, and repair whatever the problem is on the Corvettes and Excalibur's first."
"Confirmed."
"Both on our way," answered Miriam.
"BigMother Corvettes and fighters, launch please. We need all available docking for incoming damaged ships. Custer as well please. I want a general inspection of all ships in the American fleet. If you get close enough, pings work, so see if you can make contact with each one. Squadron Leader, take Lexington. Wing Commander, take the Yorktown. See if we can set up any form of communication with them. If you can make contact with an Admiral, I want to know immediately. Oh, and Wing Commander, deploy a comnavsat please. And can you recover the one we sent through earlier, and see if it, and the droid, are repairable."
There was a chorus of acknowledgments, and ships began to launch. Slice also acknowledged the additional orders.
I asked Abagail to cancel team coms, and opened a vid.
"Marshall, Admiral, and Generals. I'm in Miami, and the American fleet prevailed. However, it was at some cost. Both Carriers are damaged to the level they cannot recover fighters. Nine of their new Corvette and Privateer ships were lost, with twenty three other losses. Most of their smaller ships are damaged, and I'm recovering the worst of them now."
"Something odd has happened here. The entire American fleet is without coms, and their ships display on the scanner as if dead. I have no contact as yet with anyone above the rank of Commander. I'll keep you informed as we learn anything new. Hunter out."
I sent the vid off, having added Admiral Bentley to the recipients, so she would know what had happened.
I turned to Jane.
"Did the work on the Pilot's and Crew Mess's get completed?"
"Confirmed."
"Fully ready for occupation?"
"Duh!"
The twins smiled at hearing Jane copy their favourite saying.
I looked around the Bridge.
"Volunteers to meet American pilots please. Take them to the Pilot's Mess. Overflow to use the Crew Mess instead. You'll need to get directions, as I don’t even know where they are."
"Confirmed."
Everyone laughed. As a tension releaser, Jane was doing well.
Most of the team left the Bridge.
I moved into my Ready Room, and had no sooner sat in a lounge chair, when a flash of white landed in my lap. I gave her a huge cuddle. A random thought told me Angel was now eleven weeks old.
"You're getting bigger, sweetie pie," I told her. "Soon you'll be able to jump up on things without using a ramp."
Meow!
She looked pleased with that comment. She tried to jump to the top of the chair, landed two thirds the way up, and climbed the rest of the way. She was soon fast asleep on top.
I tried to look at emails to pass the time, but found I couldn’t concentrate.
Fifteen minutes passed, and midnight ticked over. I started pacing.
"Jon," said Jane through coms, "there's an email you must view now."
I took my pad out, saw the email highlighted with an urgent flag, and threw the vid to the wall. An American four star General looked out at me.
"Vice Admiral Hunter. I'm General Patton, of the American Joint Chiefs. Your communications about the Miami situation have been received via the British Fleet. We appreciate you ensuring we received your updates, in spite of not having the proper channels available. You are hereby recalled to active duty. Until the status of Admiral Jedburgh is established, you are placed in command of all American ships and personnel, within the Miami and Midgard systems. You will please send all ships requiring shipyard work back to Dallas, as soon as they can either move themselves, or be towed."
&
nbsp; "You are ordered to destroy all missile launchers on the surface of Midgard, and to blockade the Midgard planet, in preparation for the arrival of a diplomatic mission. You are further ordered to investigate the system for other inhabited planets, moons, or stations. You will remove Midgard's ability to wage war."
"Orders are being sent to all ship captains and unit commanders. I understand you don’t have an aide. You will immediately appoint yourself one, who will communicate with my aide, to receive copies of these orders, for communication through local means."
"Admiral, please keep us up to date with all new information, no matter how trivial it may seem. Patton out."
There were contact details attached to the email.
"Jane, whisper to Alison, and get her in here ASAP, please."
"Confirmed."
I responded with an orders received and understood message, adding we had no new information at this time, but we were trying to make contact with each ship now.
I stood again to start pacing, when a whirlwind crossed the room, grabbed me, and started to hug the life out of me.
I hugged her back for a good two minutes, before disentangling myself.
"Hi," I said. "For a while, I thought you were dead."
Miriam looked at me steadily. Then she laughed.
"I came oh so close, but you don’t get rid of me that easy, buster."
This time she kissed me.
"Ahem," came a voice from the doorway.
We broke apart, and I turned to find Alison.
"You wanted me Jon?" she asked.
I let go of Miriam, and walked to my conference table, waving them both there as well. We sat.
"Are you up to speed on the duties of an Admiral's aide?" I asked Alison.
"Sure. Do you know an Admiral who needs one?"
"Me. In fact, I've been ordered to have one. Would you like the job?"
"Is this a trick?"
I laughed. Miriam didn’t seem to understand what was going on.
"No, I need an aide, and I need one now."
"Okay Jon, you have an aide."
"Good. When we finish here, claim an office, and have Jeeves put your name on it." I pinged her the contact details I'd received. "I need you to contact General Patton's aide immediately. Identify yourself as my aide. You'll be sent a series of orders. Identify who those orders are for, and where they're located at the moment. Jane will need the list."
"On it."
She went blank as she began to compose an email. I turned to Miriam.
"Who's the senior American officer of those who came on board with you? Or who is coming on board if not already here?" I asked her.
"Greer. He was promoted a few minutes ahead of me, so he has marginal seniority. He's getting things organized in the Pilot's Mess, but should be here soon."
"Get him up here now, please."
"Okay."
I pinged Vonda for her and Alsop to join us, and pinged Annabelle as well.
"What's happening Jon?" asked Miriam.
"Patience. I'll explain when the others get here."
We waited. Annabelle was first in. Vonda and Alsop walked in together not far behind, and I waved them to the table. Vonda had no sooner sat down, when she went blank. Presumably she had a ping or email to view.
Greer came in almost at a run, and I waved him to the table as well. He sat, looking very curious. Vonda was back with us now I saw.
"Thanks for coming. You all need to see this."
I threw the General's vid to the wall, and watched the two Americans as it played.
"Orders sir?" asked Greer, after the screen vanished.
"Commander, I need you to take a shuttle to every ship in the Miami system. You'll take a copy of the vid you just watched, and show it to every ship's captain, or whoever currently has command. Start with the Carriers. I need to know what happened to the Admirals. I want everyone on the list Alison will give you, or whoever has their command now, here for a meeting at nine in the morning, at which time they'll receive orders direct from General Patton. The same applies for unit commanders. I would assume that includes all Squadron Leaders, and Marine Colonels, and above. Alison is acting as my aide from now on. I'm sorry you won't be getting much sleep, but with coms down, someone senior has to deliver the orders. That’s you. Jane will be flying the shuttle. She is to receive the combat feed from each ship. Keep her up to date with anything you discover. If need be, she can pass the information straight on to me. Suggest to each captain or unit commander they bring with them a report to be transmitted off to ASF Command. As soon as you return, send off any information you find out, so the Joint Chiefs have some sort of update before morning."
"Yes sir. Leave now?"
"Yes. Jane, prep a shuttle, and direct the Commander to it."
"Confirmed."
Greer stood, saluted, and left.
I sighed.
"Someone up there hates me," I mumbled.
"Maybe so Jon," said Vonda, "because I have to make this worse for you."
She threw another vid to the wall.
"Lieutenant General Wellington," said the officer with four stars on his shoulders. "You are relieved of your current duties, and appointed temporary Military Governor of the Midgard system. You will pass command of the multi-sector fleet to Vice Admiral Hunter. You are to assist him in the pacification of the Midgard system. When safe for diplomats, you will work with the initial diplomatic team the Americans are sending, to establish a peace. If Midgard don't agree to peace, you will command a blockade force around the Midgard planet, until other measures can be considered, and put into place. Hopefully they'll agree to peace, in which case you will restrain all members of the current government, in preparation for war crimes trials, and administer the system until relieved. Admiral Hunter is receiving orders from the Americans. You will assist him in the execution of those orders. Price out."
There was silence around the table.
"What is thy bidding, my master?" asked Jane through the coms. Her voice changed. "What does the head honcho require?"
"Stop," I said. "Let's not go through the whole list. We'll assume the jokes were original, and we all laughed."
"Spoilsport, your big cheesiness."
I looked around the table. They were all trying to keep their grins under control. And failing. I turned to Miriam.
"Commander, you better see to your pilots. When you're ready to sleep, use one of the suites on Deck Two."
She looked about to say something, but thought better of it. She nodded and stood.
"Sirs."
She turned and left.
"Jane, how are we off for food, water, and consumables?"
"The ship was only provisioned for thirty for a month, plus what we brought over from the station for the marines. All the same, we're running through the provisions rapidly. Jeeves was going to recommend a food order in another day from now."
"Launch the small freighter. Give it a new avatar, so any people it deals with, will think it has a captain. Do a speed run to the Dallas Military Orbital. Pick up what's waiting there, and get it all back here, as fast as possible. Also, how many fighters are still flying out there?"
"Confirmed. Three squadrons."
"Commander," I said to Alsop. "Can you communicate with Dallas Military, and organize us food, water, and consumables, for two hundred people, for a week?"
"Yes sir. I'll use what we ordered for your station, before the Avon battle, as a base to work from."
"Also, we'll need parts for the fighters. Jane will give you an idea of what we need, but get them to send us enough parts to repair seven squadrons of all the usual battle damage. Plus what the Excalibur's and Gunbus' need."
"Yes sir."
He went blank.
"Jane, you may need to do two trips. Food and supplies for two days first. Parts second. The rest of the food third. When the parts arrive, start repairing ships, starting with the least damaged."
"Confirmed."<
br />
I pinged Miriam to get her pilots to sleep, warned that as soon as their ships were repaired, they would be swapping with someone still out there. She acknowledged.
"Jane, give each pilot a minimum of six hours sleep. As a ship is repaired, and after the six hours are up, get the pilot up and launched, with instructions to tell the next fighter which needs repair, to land. We need to repair as many as possible as fast as possible. I don’t want us having to stick around here babysitting fighters for days on end."
"Confirmed."
I sighed again.
"Congratulations boss," said Annabelle with a grin.
I sighed yet again, and Annabelle, Alison, and Vonda laughed. Alsop was in his own world, and hadn't noticed.
I looked at Annabelle.
"Did you find out if the Americans have troops with them?"
"They don’t."
"At least that’s something. We could have taken fifty or so, but no more. Let's just hope we don’t need them."
I pondered for a few moments.
"Jane, how many more fighters can we take aboard?"
"The receiving and maintenance bays are full. The Midway class was only designed for four squadrons."
"What about moving the least damaged ones into the launch bays, with the outer doors sealed?"
"Confirmed. It'll be a tight fit, but we could get in another thirty six fighters that way."
"Prep another shuttle for Miriam please."
"Confirmed."
I pinged Miriam to take a shuttle out, and have the rest of the fighters land. I told her we'd worked out where to store them. They would need to enter through the forward end of the Flight Deck, as the rear had parked ships. She pinged back to say she was on her way.
I sighed again.
"You need sleep Jon," said Vonda. "Let the weight settle for the rest of the night, and pick it up again in the morning."
"I agree," said Annabelle.
I noticed Alison wasn’t there. Neither was Alsop.
"Angel," I said.
Meow?
"Bed time sweetie."
She stood, stretched, jumped down from the back of the chair, and ran down her ramp. The white flash vanished out the door.
Hail the Hero (The Hunter Legacy Book 5) Page 2
