Jethro: First to Fight

by Hechtl, Chris

  “Coming,” he said again, moving out.

  Chapter 37

  Cybers like Doctor Trask and the Stewards and Berkhearts were kept busy trying to piece the station together or keep essential services functioning. Doctor Trask was up to her virtual neck in helping triage the wounded.

  The Marines ultimately saved the station and many lives in Antigua, but the cost was dear. Thousands of civilians were dead, most had been executed by the Horathians long before Firefly had arrived, but a few had died in the fighting. When the fighting stopped the celebrations began. Hearing this the cowering civilians came out of their hiding places.

  Now that they had a handle on things Captain Pendeckle took a squad of Marines and relieved Jethro. The panther nodded and then left to return to his unit.

  “Sir,” the radio operator said, waving a hand. Captain Pendeckle turned tiredly. It had been a long couple of days, and he sorely missed sleep. Hell, he knew he was tired, the grunts on the line were probably dragging. He made a note to rotate his people to get some rest and downtime soon. Food at the very least, and not the crap they had in their suits, real food. “What is it? Firefly?” he asked, coming over to rest a hand on the back of the lad's chair.

  The radio operator looked up to him briefly and then shook his head and returned his attention to the screen in front of him. “No sir, we just sent them a sitrep ten minutes ago. No sir it's the Governor.”

  “Governor?” the Captain asked, now confused. Then he remembered his briefing, Governor Randall. “Oh him.”

  “He's asking to talk to you sir,” the operator said.

  “I believe he wishes to speak with all of us,” Yan Fu said, his holographic image coming over. He waved a hand and the Governor's image appeared in the center of the room. The room darkened a bit.

  The Captain scowled at the cyber but then turned his eyes to the image. “Governor, you're on,” someone whispered.

  “I am?” the governor asked, and then cleared his throat. He was a young man, in his thirties, brown hair, handsome, with a bit of a fatigued look. His eyes were a bit red, his face drawn from lack of sleep. It seemed that the Marines weren't the only one catching their Z's, the Captain thought.

  “My name is Governor Jeff Randall, Governor of the Antiguan star system. I'm addressing the people of Firefly and the Marines on Antigua Prime. On behalf of my people, I humbly thank you for your efforts on our behalf, and your sacrifice in doing so. Thank you for your heroic rescue, something we shall forever treasure.”

  He waited a beat then cocked his head. “I know you're busy, but what can we do to help? In other words, what do you need?”

  “A hot meal, a shower, and a bed would be nice,” a Marine quipped. The Captain turned a glare on the Marine who ducked his head. “Just saying.”

  “Saying something we'd all like. I've got the restaurants going back to work, we'll feed the Marines and the fighters from our best sir,” Yan Fu said, tucking his arms in his sleeves. “Our noble defenders deserve the very best,” he murmured.

  The governor's eyes turned to the image of the cyber in surprise and then he nodded. “Is that all?”

  “Sir,” Captain Pendeckle said coming forward. “My name is Captain Pendeckle. I'm the senior Marine officer.”

  “Ah, Captain Pendeckle. Thank you. I can't wait to meet you in person,” the governor said, smiling politely.

  “Sir, um, we could use some support. Additional medical support, as well as any police support you can muster. We've got the station locked down, but there are still a couple of Horathians on the loose here. Once the civilian population returns to fully occupy the station they could get lost in the shuffle. We'd like to prevent that if we could.”

  “I see. And I fully agree,” the governor replied, nodding grimly. “These... men must be brought to justice. I'll send up the deputized militia. Just as soon as we can get some shuttles down here to do so,” he said with a shrug. “That's a hint by the way.”

  “They're on their way governor, or will be shortly,” Captain Mayweather replied, entering the conversation. “Commander Mayweather, Captain of Firefly. We've been busy getting our damage under control and supporting the Marines, but our flight deck can launch a few shuttles your way Governor. If you'll let the spaceport people know they're coming I'd appreciate it. I don't want any nervous people shooting them down.”

  “Agreed. I'll take care of things on my end. I hope to meet all of you soon. Good work. Thank you, all of you.” the governor said and then signed off. There was a weary cheer from those in the room, some clapping, but it faded after a moment. People patted each other on the back or just rested, taking deep breaths. It wasn't over, but it soon would be.

  “And now back to work,” the Captain said tiredly.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Now that the system was secure, Firefly dispatched her shuttles planet-ward. Shuttles moved the newly formed Antigua planetary militia to the station. Relieved of that burden, the sheriff and his surviving deputies took over guarding the pirate prisoners so the Marines could finish sweeping the station. Once the station was secure they moved on to help secure ships that hadn't yet been boarded. Marines took whatever opportunity they could to sleep, some on shuttles, others while standing.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Once the station was cleared from top to bottom, they began assessing the damage and digging out care of the wounded and the dead. Valenko's squad was given the honor of hauling down the Horathian flag in park 5 and putting up the Federation colors. They did it quickly, but with full honors. The pirate colors were hauled down and then Harley tossed it into the air. Sergei tracked it with his plasma weapons and torched it.

  Panache and Jethro unfolded the Federation flag and then pinned it to the lanyard. The Marines came to attention and saluted as the flag was raised.

  That video of them raising the flag went viral on the station with the survivors, and then on the planet when it hit the media.

  Two days after the fighting finally stopped there was a sobering Memorial for the dead. The memorial helped bring the various groups closer together, even more so since in a rare act of unity the Marines and naval personnel that had died would be mourned right along with the images of the civilian dead.

  Captain Pendeckle hastily arranged an honor guard. The Marines that had remained on Firefly shuttled over to the station in their mess dress. They stood at attention with their weapons at port arms on either side of the images of their fallen brethren. When it came time to render honors they held their hands over their hearts.

  The Marines would have a second memorial and full formal funeral for their dead when they returned them to Agnosta for burial.

  The imagery was shown on every news channel across the station, planet, and system. Mairi stood beside Lieutenant Huert as the fallen pilots images were shown. Only images of each pilot was left, their bodies had been vaporized when their craft had exploded. The image of the young defiant teenage girl tucking her tiny hand into the pilot's and looking up to her in concern was a powerful one. Several people made posters and shirts of the image. It became a rallying cry to join Pyrax and defend the system.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The solar farms, some of the smaller transhab stations in orbit, and the two docking slips were still functional, though the slips had been chewed up a bit.

  Yard Dogs inc did a damage assessment within twenty four hours of victory. The slip was a twisted mess, the far end broken and twisted to wrap around itself. It drifted there, a torn mess. “A third of the main slip is a goner. The smaller slip is okay. The habs and assembly modules are okay, though two were breached. Both have been patched. It would be far better and quicker to just cut the mess up and start over,” Clio reported.

  The two freighters that had been trapped in the slips were intact, though one had some minor damage from when the dock wrapped around it. Petunia led a work crew out to cut away the bent metal and then feed it into the truss fabber.

 
One of the first items on the agenda was a replacement gas giant refinery. When the station and planet had refused to surrender the pirates had gone on a destruction spree, sucking the refinery dry and then blowing it up in a senseless act of destruction. The refinery was critical to maintaining the function of the station, yard, and refueling Firefly, so it had to be replaced ASAP.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Video of Firefly's incredible battle and the security camera footage of the Marines heroically fighting were big with the population. Euphoria over the battle and its aftermath hit the population like a wave as they realized that it was over, the nightmare had ended. Many took stock and somberly mourned their dead, or went looking for those that had just vanished in the chaos. Randor led his people out of the caves and back to Eternia city. Others did the same.

  The rocks that had fallen on their planet had done devastating damage to not only the PDC's, but for those that missed or had been chunked up by the defenders had rained down on the countryside, hammering everything in their path. Craters pock marked many parts of the planet. When the media showed that it got the population firmly interested in better defenses since all but a few of their ground installations were obliterated by the rock storm.

  Many of the militia wanted to sign up with the Marines. Others wanted to sign up with the Navy. Demands were placed on the mayors and governor to do something to prevent this from ever happening again. A petition made the rounds to join the Federation. It built up steam when the media got wind of it. Thousands stood in line to sign it.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  When things didn't seem to settle down Governor Jeff Randall mounted the steps to the capital building. A crowd gathered quickly as a podium was set up. This was unusual, it wasn't called for, the governor hadn't announced it, there were no planned events to mark it.

  It was an overcast day, moody, perfect for some. “Today, we mark a week since our system has been liberated from the Horathian oppressors. A week ladies and gentlemen, a week of silence, of mourning our dead, of burying them and taking assessment of the damage and trying to make good on it. A week to realize, we can never, ever, let this happen again.” He stared out, every fiber of his being the strong statesman. His wife nodded.

  Grim faces nodded to him. “We have much to thank, our liberators the good ship Firefly and the Marines she brought into battle. Without them we would still be under the boots of the Horathians, slowly watching them stamp out civilization, honor, and justice from our lives, watch them crush the life out of our people.” He paused, looking away to clear his throat. Someone in the crowd sneezed, another blew his nose. A few of the cameras clicked, and there was a rustling as journalists jostled to get better coverage but otherwise it remained quiet.

  The unexpected speech interrupted the media broadcast. Some bemoaned the interruption, resenting it, wanting to go back to their normal schedule. But they listened anyway, curious as to what the governor had to say.

  “We've been humbled ladies and gentlemen. I have been humbled. Humbled by hubris and by the incredible generosity and sacrifice of the military, who rode to our rescue without being asked, who laid their lives down so that we should live, without ever asking for thanks.”

  He looked away and then to the sky for a long moment. It was clouding up, the weather forecast was calling for rain. A few drops had hit, umbrellas were nearby ready for use. He nodded and continued. “I made a terrible mistake and many of our countrymen died for that mistake. But we must keep moving on, one foot in front of the other. We have learned a terrible lesson, and we shall take that lesson to heart,” he said, staring out over the crowd. It was a mixed crowd, some hadn't quite blamed him for the lack of preparation yet, but he knew it was coming. He had to get ahead of it if he had any hope of political survival. “Our ancient Terran ancestors once said something quite true. The price of liberty is ever vigilance. Lest we ever forget. Today, tomorrow, a hundred years from now we should never ever forget that again.” He looked at his children and his wife. He'd lost friends in the bombardment, family. “I will never forget,” he said simply, to them. His wife bit her lip and nodded. A few umbrellas were shook out and held up. Others followed as the rain began to pick up.

  “We have to do something. What has yet to be determined. Many have called to join the new Federation, to return our people to the greater civilization. For a while I and others thought we were better off alone, we ignored the events happening outside our system. After all, who cared? As long as they didn't bother us, we could care less.”

  He frowned. “And then they came. They came and killed. And we found ourselves on the receiving end. And when all hope seemed lost, we were saved by people trained by Admiral Irons in the highest standards of Honor, Duty, and Sacrifice.”

  “I don't know what the future holds ladies and gentlemen, none of us do. But I do know, right here,” he pointed to his feet. “Right here, we have reached a turning point. It is time to step up, to stop being selfish and take our place in history. It is time we looked beyond ourselves and to the future. It is time we protect our children and help those who helped us!” His voice was drowned out by a wave of cheers.

  “Now, let's get the hell out of this rain before my wife kicks my ass for letting everyone catch a cold and back to work!” the governor said, waving them inside. That got a laugh as people moved to obey.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The population of Antigua was grateful. They also demanded to join the Federation and receive naval coverage. They did not ever want the events to repeat themselves, which the Captain Mayweather thought, was smart of them. John Q Public was a bit more of an unguided mob when it wanted to see past its own short sighted nose. Governor Randall was clear on that, he supported Antigua signing the reborn constitution as well when the poll numbers came in.

  Mayweather was amused by this news, but she didn't have a right to negotiate and wasn't sure how to handle the situation.

  “So, what the hell do we do now?” she asked, looking from Commander Logan, to Firefly, to the Warners.

  “Go with the flow.”

  “Strike while the iron's hot you mean. They want this? Fine. Well, we can work with this,” Shelby said firmly. “But, they've got to do their fair share. This crap about us doing the fighting for them, we're not mercenaries.”

  “It's funny,” Taylor Warner said, shaking his head. All eyes turned to him. “When the admiral was here, he fought tooth and nail for this. For them to do this. They wouldn't budge. Now they're falling all over themselves to get in, they are demanding it!” Both Warners were amused and disgusted by the complete reversal. Earthquakes were still shaking the station council apart as well. Many of the pacifists had resigned from the council. D'red had fallen back as the station attorney. From now on he would give an analyst of liability for the station and represent it in legal battles but would no longer take a hand in the day to day running of the station or in forming any strategic plans for the future. The Stewards had taken the same attitude, resigning in favor of working in the life support department.

  “Nothing like a threat of a hanging to concentrate one's attention on what's important,” the Captain murmured. The Warners grimly nodded.

  “Sometimes it takes this, something to wake them up. Little else could, the threat certainly didn't. Now they know what can happen, what's at stake here.”

  “I don't know what to do,” the Captain said. “Politics... we're not supposed to dabble in it, we're supposed to be neutral. Stay out of it. At least that's what we've been taught. Look what happened to the admiral! I don't want that to happen to me!”

  “Shoot from the hip,” Firefly responded. “You're the lady on the spot. Or I will. I'm senior officer in the system after all.”

  “True. Do you want to negotiate?” the Captain asked.

  “I think we'll both do it. Together. But you lead. Deal?”

  “Of course Commander,” Mayweather replied, smiling slightly.

  They pleaded f
or help, even offering to pay part of GDP. She countered by laying out the Federal constitution. They would have to vote on it, accept it, and then pay in to the system like everyone else. They would have to help protect themselves in other words.

  “We're not going to do it for you, not forever. You're not going to sit on your ass and watch us sweat and die, have us spend our credits to do it when we could be defending other more deserving people. You want us, fine, then you've got to step up. Just like Admiral Irons tried to get you to do.”

  “We intend to,” Governor Randall said quietly before the mayors could say anything further. He looked at his countrymen. Slowly they nodded.

  “Fine then. I'm not sure about the details, that can be worked out later. But I can give you a copy of what was used in Pyrax and then we can use it as a framework...”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Jethro finally made it to Firefly. Sergei, Harley, and Clive remained behind, still on station. At least they'd finally gotten some rack time out of their suits.

  Jethro was tempted to go to Marine country but he had something more important to do first. He made his way to the infirmary. He nodded to a Veraxin SBA near the entrance. “Something I can help you with Sergeant?”

  “I'm checking in on two of my people,” Jethro said softly. He uploaded Kovu and Asazi's identity cards to the SBA.

  “Oh, um, let me check...” the Veraxin chittered. She froze for a moment then nodded. “Private Kovu was stable but his injuries too severe to remain stable and we needed the bed space. He's been put in stasis for the time being.”

  “Oh.”

  “Lance Corporal Asazi is also stable. She's in bed four. You can visit her, but you have five minutes, visiting hours are almost over.”