Jethro: First to Fight

by Hechtl, Chris

  Protests from governor Walker and even from various seemingly flash protest mobs on Pyrax colonies and on Anvil were ignored. Court orders flew, but were all squashed, they had no jurisdiction over Naval deployments. After a while the governor wrung his hands in the press, bemoaning the situation. The loss of the factory ship in the system was a major blow to Governor Walker. He was furious and vowed publicly to bring the military to heel. Commander Logan ignored the threat.

  “Commander Logan isn't the factory ship needed here?” April asked during their interview. She was sitting across from him with her legs crossed. For once she had changed out of her normal trademarked yellow jumper in favor of a yellow sundress. Her legs were crossed before her. Both were relaxed and enjoying the tit for tat exchange.

  Logan smiled. “Not at all. Oh there are odd jobs here and there but most of the basics have been covered over the past several years. They have upgraded or repaired every colonies life support and power systems as we had planned.”

  “But I believe the governor planned on more?” April asked.

  “That's unfortunate that the governor planned on using resources he doesn't control. Since the navy has been cut off from funds we've had to recall our reserve vessels. The factory ship like all hyper capable ships captured in that dust up two years ago is a military reserve vessel.”

  April looked thoughtful, artfully pursing her full lips. “Interesting. You aren't concerned about the various injunctions working their way through the courts?”

  “The military is exempt from local control as I have repeatedly informed the governor and the Pyraxian congress. Their usage of the factory ship was the navy's way of helping the people of Pyrax rebuild and upgrade. However the Pyraxian government have so far refused to release the funds needed to continue the project. In other words all the repairs the Vulcan has completed has been at the navy's expense. We have other critical projects to pay for.”

  “I believe a bill is working its way through congress again in that regard Commander,” April said.

  Horatio gave her a wintery smile. “Maybe, but I, like you have seen these efforts before. They die off in committee after committee.”

  She winced. “What about Prometheus?”

  Horatio scowled. “With the admiral gone we've had to table a lot of our construction including Prometheus. He had sent along parts in Destiny to help complete some of our smaller construction but Prometheus is a little too large for the materials and equipment he sent back.”

  “Bit off more than you can chew?” April asked with a smile.

  He shook his head. “Not at all, we've just had to scale back our efforts in the admiral's absence. We are still making general repairs to ships that come in from time to time.”

  Which was true. So far twenty freighters had passed through the system, most of them heading up from the Seti Alpha 4 jump point. Each of the freighters had taken an interest in the growing yard and the offer of a free naval inspection and computer cleaning. Each had paid through the nose to get as many repairs in as possible. They had paid less than a quarter what they would have paid at Anvil and had received ten times the work in exchange. The bartered resources were a sore point with congress. They had repeatedly attempted to seize the assets or tax them. Most of the bartered resources went to replace the materials used in the repairs.

  “The factory ship will be in Agnosta no more than three to six months. Hopefully less than that. After that she will return to Pyrax for a short refit before moving on to Seti Alpha 4.”

  “What is she going to do in Agnosta and Seti Alpha 4?” April asked.

  “Well, some of her work will be for the navy and therefore classified.” She didn't look like she liked that answer. He waved a dismissive hand. “But I can say that she will do a lot of what she has done here in Pyrax, repairing the infrastructure of each colony and upgrading what they can afford.”

  “Afford?”

  “Unfortunately the ship will require resources to make the materials the colonies need so they will have to barter for things like fuel and raw materials.”

  “Oh.” She looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded. “That seems fair.”

  “Both Agnosta and Seti Alpha 4 have no space based industry. I imagine they may be interested in establishing something of the sort there. Or at least a couple gas giant refineries and automated tugs.”

  “Interesting.”

  “I'll send you a brief Miss O'Neill,” he said with an amused smile.

  She smiled back. Her eyes twinkled a little. “I look forward to reading it. Thank you Commander,” she turned to the camera bot. “This is April O'Neill reporting for Knox news.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Of course there are some protests on Anvil and Capital colony but there were counter protests as well. Horatio had a brief ceremony when the ships reached the Agnosta jump point. “Good luck and spirit of space be careful. We'll be waiting,” he said simply. Fuentes was on guard duty at the jump point. She flashed her running lights in a salute. Each of the convoy ships flashed their lights in return before they charged their hyperdrives and left in a bright flash.

  The navy used the transit opportunity to train the green ship crews and to train Firefly for convoy and convoy escort. It was one thing to sim something to death, quite another to experience the tasks for real, knowing there was no reset button. They had to get the job done right the first time.

  As ranking officer, Major Forth would be the on sight Commander on Agnosta since the system would have a primarily Marine presence. A small platoon of Marines remained behind in Pyrax in scattered detachments on the ships and installations there. Lieutenant Myers and newly promoted Captain Dana Harley were left in charge.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Jethro and the squad made the voyage on Destiny. Once they were dropped off, Destiny and the factory ship Hephaestus were going to unload and finish their projects as quickly as possible. The schedule called for Destiny to do a quick turn around and head back to Pyrax and then on to Centennial. The factory ship would linger in Agnosta space for a couple of months before she returned to Pyrax and reassignment. Jethro met some of the crew and talked with them. Ox hit it off with the chimp Chief engineer Bailey. The Chief explained to them he had named one of his sons after Irons.

  “Cursed the lad,” the assistant Chief said with a laugh. “He was not as wily as Devin though. I didn't think you could take apart a multitool. Some of those parts are supposed to be press fitted! At least the one's not made in a replicator!”

  The Chief's brown eyes laughed as he smiled. “Served you right for leaving it out unattended,” he said. The lads were giving everyone a run for their money. Fiben was a character but his brothers John Henry and Devin were born engineers, much like his father and John's namesake. Fortunately they were on Anvil with the girls. He wasn't sure what the lads would do with all the Marines and their weapons and equipment around. Probably do something he'd definitely regret which was why he was very glad they were on Anvil. Of course he wasn't looking forward to the bill when he returned.

  They talked about Irons for a bit. Jethro admitted to have met the admiral, but He was embarrassed and doesn't embellish the story any. Mumbled about the brief encounter. The Chief surprised Ox by asking about Taurens.

  “He was ah...” Suddenly the Marines go silent. A few squirm, distinctly uncomfortable about the tender subject.

  “Maybe you can meet up with some if we ever see Kiev 221 again,” The Chief said absently. When the others grow still he turned in confusion. “What? Something I said?”

  Jethro looked at Ox. “Ox?” he asked softly. The Tauren's nostril's were dilating slowly, the only sign of life in the big guy.

  “I had thought I was the last. Feared it,” Ox finally rumbled slowly. “The last of your species is a heavy burden to bear.”

  “And now you know you're not. Good,” Jethro said feeling like a weight had been lifted. If it felt this good for him it could only be better for
the Tauren.

  “The admiral will take good care of them.”

  “He will?” Jethro asked surprised.

  “Sure, didn't you know He was on their ship?”

  “Is that how you knew?”

  “Nah,” the Chief said waving a hand before sitting back and hooking a thumb in his belt. “I ran into Kiev oh, ten or twenty years ago. Just passed by. We did some trade with them. Big ass ship, I'll tell you that. Bulk freighter they turned into a liner. Loads of people. Thousands and thousands of people. I bet the admiral's got his hands full.”

  Jethro nodded. “I bet.”

  “If she was anything like this old girl was before we showed up in Pyrax, probably. Hell definitely,” Bailey said with a sniff of disdain before grinning slyly. “Which is probably what he prefers. John always liked to be in the thick of things,” he said.

  The Marines chuckled. Finally Jethro waved. “So, you're dropping us off in Agnosta? Then what heading up the chain?”

  “Nah, the powers that be are sending us back to Pyrax and then on to Centennial to spread the good news. We'll pick up my family and the people who got off on the way by.”

  “Why did they get off? Oh to make room?” Jethro asked.

  “Nah, though I think the Captain wanted a break from my lads,” the Chief grinned. “Some like my wives are getting classes at the college. Others are getting implants and training. A few are putting in for the naval reserves and are getting training too.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yup, I'd put in for implants myself but I'm always too damn busy,” the Chief mused darkly. “I lost some of my people to the poachers too so I've got to train up their replacements. I'll probably lose half of them too.”

  “If we're lucky the dumber half,” the assistant muttered.

  “Don't I wish,” the Chief muttered. “But I doubt it. Being a freighter hand isn't all it's cracked up to be,” he grimaced and ran a hand through his thinning head fur. “Boring as all hell most of the time for some. The young ones, they want adventure. Now that you navy and Marines are in the picture...” He sighed eying their khaki uniforms.

  “It's not all fun and games for us either Chief,” Jethro replied dryly.

  “Says you,” the Chief snorted. “Bet you've got a girl in every port.”

  Jethro looked at the other Marines and then laughed with them. “I'm a Neo,” he said with an ear flick. “A rare one. My kind aren't exactly all that wide spread. Quite the contrary,” he said with a shrug.

  “Ah,” the Chief said, eying him. “You are kind of unique. That green though...”

  “It's the uniform of the day,” Jethro said. He liked the digicam better. Skin suits were better for combat situations, but they itched like all hell. They were also a pain in the ass to clean, his fur got into everything. The khaki undress service uniform was utilitarian enough to serve on a ship like this but it still looked good with the permanent press creases and clean look. Marines wore green, the navy pukes wore gray or blue.

  “I've got to go, I've got to check on the heat exchangers on deck two again,” the assistant said getting up. He burped and set his beer stein down.

  “I'll join you,” Ox rumbled getting to his feet. The assistant looked him over and then shrugged.

  “Come on then, time's a wasting.”

  “Hope he doesn't plan on tearing into anything after having a couple of belts,” Jethro said.

  The Chief finished chugging his beer and then set it down on the tray as well. He patted his belly and then burped. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “Nah, he'll be fine. They'll log it for later. Speaking of later, I've got to drain the little man and then toddle off to bed. Long day in the morning. Night,” he said stumbling to his feet. He tottered out stiffly.

  “Wow, three drinks and they are plastered. Civilians,” Sergei rumbled with a laugh.

  “Not all of us are built like you,” Jethro muttered taking a swig from his stein.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Captain Mayweather sipped at her coffee mug, trying hard to not show her impatience. “You know, if the pirates get in, I can see where running convoy escort could be important. So yeah, training for it is important for the future I guess. I just can't really think of a way to really appreciate the... extra time involved to do so,” she said wryly.

  “True,” her XO replied, sipping at her own coffee. She couldn't blame the skipper for being unhappy about the slow speed in hyper, it was a pain. Their transit speed was reduced to the max the bumbling freighters could handle despite their overhauls. That meant they were going in the low octaves of Beta band.

  Fortunately they could do the crossing in six weeks, but it was still a lot longer than Firefly and Hecate could have done alone. Even Destiny could handle the upper beta bands and could pull the run off in less than four weeks if she'd been on her own or with the warships.

  “Think of all that splendid time to shake down and train indeed,” the Captain muttered, taking a deeper sip of her coffee. “Your father has your sense of humor. I see where you got it from now,” she said.

  Shelby smiled. “Actually, I got my sense of humor from my mom. Dad's is... close.”

  “Really,” the Captain said, cradling her drink.

  “Tell me Captain, any trepidation on your part when we entered hyper for the first time?” Shelby asked with a teasing smile not quite hidden by her cup.

  The Captain snorted, setting her cup down. “No, Janice's good at her job.”

  “I meant the hardware,” Shelby teased, not letting it go. “Though some of our people were rusty,” she said.

  “Despite all the sims, yes I know,” the Captain replied. Crossing the alpha wall meant a bit of a hiccup in the inertial dampeners. Some could ride out the transition, some couldn't. Two unfortunate ratings had tossed their cookies all over her nice clean bridge. She had rammed the AC up to full and just put up with the stench. No matter how much you warned them, how many times they simulated something, experience really was the best teacher.

  “Captain, learning to deal with this was a part of the training as well,” Firefly pointed out sweetly.

  “You stay out of this,” Mayweather growled, looking up at the ceiling. “It's too early in my morning to deal with snarky AI,” she growled.

  There was a ghost of a chuckle but Firefly didn't respond further. After a moment the Captain returned her attention to her XO. Her mild eyes looked at the XO as she continued to refuel on caffeine. From her look the ribbing hadn't gone over well, but the Captain was doing her best to take the ribbing in grudging stride.

  “Two more weeks to go, then the real fun begins,” Shelby murmured.

  Mayweather rolled her eyes. “Don't remind me. All hell is liable to break loose. They've got it planned with contingency plans and everything, but I still think chaos will have its way.”

  “Did you put your credits where your missives are?”

  “Are you kidding me? And be accused of deliberately messing things up in order to win some hundred credit wager?” the Captain demanded, mock affronted.

  “A hundred credits?” the XO asked, smiling.

  “None of your business XO,” Mayweather replied primly.

  “Right,” the XO chuckled. “Well, in that case, I don't suppose you'd like to go over today's schedule before we review the debark plan again?” She held up a tablet.

  Mayweather shook her head mournfully and then snapped her fingers. Shelby handed the tablet over. “Oh hell, why not. Let's see if we can make things interesting for someone somewhere. If I'm bored, they're bored, and we can't have that can we?”

  “Oh boy,” Shelby sighed, seeing the mischief in her Captain's eyes.

  Chapter 21

  Five weeks, six days, and nineteen hours after they left Pyrax, the convoy passed the final way points to the Agnosta jump point and break out. The occasion was marked the night before with whispers of a Neptune party. The Neptune party, or Crossing the line ceremony, was a way of relieving pent up tension
in a ship's crew by slightly hazing those people, spacers or passengers in a somewhat fun and sometimes embarrassing way. It was a lot of tom foolery for some. It was considered a rite of passage for many, one Jethro and most of his team were glad they wouldn't have to be a part of. The squids did most of it, the Marines tried to keep to themselves. Cheers rung in all the ships as they crossed the alpha wall back into real space.

  Major Forth was relieved, minor discipline issues due to the crowding and short tempers had started to crop up two weeks before. They had started getting progressively worse, despite his and the other officer's landing on them hard with a mast. They needed to get to ground and get busy, his people were thoroughly tired of being cooped up. They were at the point where further training was counterproductive.

  The squids of course had their own take on break out. After they had scanned the system and declared it free of Pirates Captain Mayweather had kept them on the jump point over night for a crossing the line ceremony.

  Those who had weathered a hyper jump initiated those who hadn't with what was called a 'Neptune Party.' Firefly took on the role of Davy Jones and was piped on board. Then a lot of tom foolery went on as the crew was put through various tasks or pranks.

  Major Forth had tried to keep his people out of it, but they had been drawn into the light hearted games. It was stress relief, a time to celebrate their survival and to celebrate their successful arrival in the system. The cap of the day was the actual party in full mess dress. The captain had appointed Commander Logan as president of the mess. The major had found the evening a bit stuffy, but he'd long since learned to grin and bear the Navy's idea of pomp and circumstance. He just wanted them to get over with it, get it out of their systems so they could get down to work.