Jethro 3: No Place Like Home

by Chris Hechtl

  “Oh really,” Miss Persephone murmured.

  “He's...”

  “Here,” a silky voice said, placing a pale ghost-like hand on the chief of staff's shoulder. “Do be a good man and go about your business Mister Nelson. You're services are no longer required,” Madra said.

  Nelson looked up to the long-haired investor and gulped. He lunged to his feet and moved out of the booth. “Yes, sir,” he mumbled, dropping his head and moving out.

  “My, theatrical,” Miss Persephone murmured, smiling again.

  “Somewhat. I think the poor man is going to develop an ulcer or something sometime soon if he doesn't find a way to relax,” Madra said. “May I join you?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

  The woman nodded, transfixed by the eyes. They weren't perfect circles, slightly slitted like a snake. The man was a ghost, but one that reminded her of a snake. He was definitely a predator; one she would have to be watchful of.

  “I am disappointed by the failure in Epsilon but not surprised. I did warn Paul that the chances of pulling it off were very remote,” Madra said. A waitress came towards them. He turned his head and fixed her with a basilisk stare. After a moment she froze and then turned away, gulping.

  “There, that should insure we are not disturbed for the moment at least,” the investor said. He placed a small metal ball on the table. It rolled about the perimeter. The female assassin lifted her arm as it moved, wary of it. But it just went about its business and then stopped in the center. A red light on it flickered and then changed to blue. “And that will make certain we aren't disturbed,” Madra said.

  “Interesting toy,” Miss Persephone said.

  “A gift from Mister Lake. He refurbished it for me actually,” Madra said. “Now, we have several assignments for you. One is quite tricky and needs your...expert hand.”

  “Ah, I see,” she murmured in reply. “I do hope it is...final. Not being able to deal with a target can be so vexing. A handicap.”

  “Yes well, this one must be done just right or well, bad things will happen.”

  “I do so like a challenge.”

  “It will be hard. Getting near the target...” Madra shook his head. “He is a big one. Security will be tight. The window of opportunity... small.”

  “As I said, I love a challenge. And the bigger they are, the harder they fall,” she grinned. “Nothing is true, everything is permitted,” she quoted, testing him.

  “Revelations can turn one's world upside down can't it?” Madra said in a lilting voice. “But we both knew that already,” he murmured. “To the sparrows fall,” he said.

  She nodded. He'd given the countersign, the countersign of the guild. “May it be short but sweet,” she murmured back. This should be good; it should get her back into the good graces of all concerned. She listened attentively.

  ---( | ) --- ( | )---

  At the naval Annex, Firefly's crew swung into action once the last mooring line had been attached and the boarding tubes green light. They offloaded the half-trained Navy recruits, the wounded in stasis and gear they had made or picked up in Antigua that they wouldn't be using.

  Chief Chowler was a bit put out over losing some of the recruits. On the one hand he was glad to see a few of them go, but on the other, he'd finally broken most of them in and got them half trained. “Typical, I get them up to speed and I lose them. Sometimes I wonder why I keep this job,” he was heard to mutter.

  Intel officers swarmed the ship, downloading copies of the battle and their after-action reports. They chased down the officers and senior enlisted, questioning them over details, sometimes asking the same questions over and over.

  The pause in Pyrax had four intended purposes: refuel, rearm, repair, and return their crew manifests to normal. Somewhere along there were the debriefs and asking for permission to do what they had planned, Shelby thought with a wry twist of her lips. Oh, and the Marines planned to do as much external hull training as possible. That was good.

  For her sins she and the quartermaster were stuck playing choreographer or orchestra conductor in the chaos when they weren't answering stupid questions or filling out more paperwork. If she didn't have her implants she realized she would have gone insane long ago, she thought.

  Fortunately they had had plenty of time in transit to plan ahead and fill out the proper forms or so they thought. Commander Firefly had helped, and was currently running interference for her and the skipper with the nosey inspector busy bodies who wanted to know why they had left X amount of bolts or bits behind and not less. It was petty, time consuming and stupid; all three things she didn't have the time or patience for.

  In some ways her dad not being immediately on hand was both a blessing and a curse. It allowed them to get squared away without trying to divide their time in meetings with him and the senior staff. But it also ratcheted up the tension, the anticipation of the fight to come.

  ---( | ) --- ( | )---

  They had kept most critically wounded in stasis and Doc Standish had done what he could, but Doctor Thornby had much better people and facilities in the Naval Annex. Gratefully, the ship's doctor passed Asazi, Kovu and the other Marines and crew in stasis on to her and her people. The doctor passed his boss a tablet and quietly conferred with her as ratings and orderlies began the careful task of hooking grav harnesses up to them, then disconnecting the pods from the ship's power and data net before they eased them from their vertical position to a horizontal one for transport.

  Doctor Thornby took personal charge of the wounded in stasis. She did a thorough independent assessment of Asazi and Kovu before she reassured Jethro and team they would be fine.

  “I've checked their records. Asazi can handle cloned parts. Not a problem with rejection,” she said shaking her head.

  “And Kovu?”

  “He's going to need extensive work. Months of it before we decant him. He's borderline on the parts issue, but there are techniques we can employ to help out there. Cloning shouldn't be an issue, but some bodies scar easily.”

  “I know, doc,” Jethro replied with a grimace. The doctor looked up from her tablet and nodded, tucking it under arm.

  “Yes, I'd thought you would. I'll do what I can. If we run into too many issues we'll keep him in stasis or replace the parts with prosthetics.”

  “Thank you, ma'am.”

  “I don't see a problem for either of them to be back on their feet shortly.”

  “Good. Thanks, doc. Take good care of her,” Jethro said, resting a hand on the pod briefly, then placing another on Kovu's. Kiara was on the other side, one hand on the lion's pod as well. “Of both of them please.”

  Doctor Thornby nodded. “We will. You try to not send me anymore like them though,” she said roughly, nodding her chin to the pods. “I don't mind practicing my profession,” she shook her head. “But I'd rather do it on the enemy then you boys and girls.”

  “We'll do our best, ma'am,” Kiara growled.

  When the doctors and orderlies were gone Jethro turned to leave. Kiara followed. “Sir, a moment,” she said quietly.

  Jethro turned, locking eyes with her. “You know better than to call me that,” he said mildly. “What's on your mind private?”

  “Sir, I want to get ahead of a possible problem.”

  “And that is?”

  “I'm staying, sir. This is where I need to be.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes, sir. I'm up to speed, and anyone you pick up now you'll have to train all over again. Besides, I don't want to be stuck here...,” she frowned.

  He cocked his head, waiting. When she just toed the deck he flicked his ears in exasperation. “Out with it Marine,” he said, flicking his tail in annoyance. He had things to do.

  “Gunny, I don't want to be stuck behind.”

  “Oh?”

  “And...and I don't want to be stuck in a hospital holding his hand, watching the life support blink away. I...I've had enough of that. I think Kovu will un
derstand.”

  “Something tells me he'd better,” Jethro replied mildly.

  She grinned coyly at him and then purred a chuckle. Jethro snorted softly and then nodded. “Fine then, you're staying. I hadn't made up my mind yet. I'm glad you made it up for me.”

  “Thank you, gunny!” She said, now delighted.

  “Don't get your fuzzy ass in the same sling he's in. Keep it together and kick ass,” Jethro growled.

  “Aye aye, gunny,” she said, coming to attention.

  “Dismissed,” Jethro murmured, watching her go.

  ---( | ) --- ( | )---

  Once the transfer of wounded and supplies were underway and the recruits off loaded, BuPers began taking requests for replacement personnel. There was some nitpicking and griping about leaving so many experienced hands behind in Antigua. That was ignored. After the first day, a slow trickle of replacements started coming in.

  “It's like we have to pry them out of them with a crowbar. It's disgusting,” the XO said.

  “Don't knock it. So far so good. They are sending us experienced people too,” Chief Chowler said. “I know, I've met a few before. Tad used to be on Firefly, he'll work out as an assistant engineer I think.” The Chief nodded thoughtfully, still looking at his tablet.

  The XO looked at him in amusement and then shook her head. “I saw a few with rough edges. Either light on space duty or some discipline problems in their records,” she said.

  “But all volunteers. All up for transfer too,” Commander Firefly interjected.

  “True.”

  “Are you still ducking interviews?” the AI asked.

  Shelby made a face. “Oh, yea gads, that again?” she asked, sounding disgusted and annoyed. “Can't they get a life?”

  “It's a big thing. Antigua joining the new Federation, the initiative picking up steam...It's almost more important than the fleet about to attack here.”

  “Which we haven't let out on have we?”

  “No. I'm still getting downloads though,” Firefly reported.

  “Ah, I see.”

  News from Antigua had people in shock and surprise, and she wondered why. It was old news to her, almost a year ago. Still some found it in themselves to react. A few were angry at the new competition. She could understand that feeling. Others seemed ecstatic by what it meant, that the new Federation was picking up steam.

  “How are we going on the logistics side?”

  “I haven't checked with the quartermaster, but it looks good so far. We've gotten all our requested parts and material anyway. I'm glad we left a stockpile behind,” Chief Chowler said. “We also got a lot of the repairs done in transit and in Antigua, so it's mostly minor nitpick and tuning stuff right now.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  “Most of what we've got going on is replacing the munitions and equipment we expended or left behind, plus restocking our spares and supplies. It should be about another day or so, give a half shift.”

  “All right,” the XO said. “Recon?” She asked, frowning.

  “Recon drones. I think sensors and CIC put in a request for them, but since everyone is critically short on some things...”

  “Besides, we don't really have the room. I'd like to have a couple, they'd be invaluable,” the XO said with a nod. “What about replacements for the fighters and shuttles?”

  “That's a bit tricky. We're still not getting anything from up chain about them. You may need to bring that up in the debrief,” the AI said.

  Shelby nodded and made a note. She checked her next bullet point and then looked up. “Next is...”

  ---( | ) --- ( | )---

  Firefly's transit across the system had thrown the media and civilians into a frenzy. The ship's crew had attempted to catch up on the latest news, but their arrival had blotted everything out. When the ship docked Commander Firefly put in for a download from the Annex AI as well as Smithy, the Anvil AI. Smithy was a bit busy so he was slower in his response. Firefly received both the military and civilian downloads from the dumb AI ensign John Barry. Barry had been named after the father of an old Terran Navy.

  The first downloads the AI made available were the sports vids. Some immediately started playing them. The AI had picked only those the ship hadn't already downloaded in Agnosta. Apparently, a ship had come in from New Texas with the latest Football World Championship. News of that immediately hit the ship like a bomb, and the mess and rec deck were swamped by off-duty personnel interested in the game.

  With the off-duty crew momentarily distracted, Firefly went into action checking the various feeds. The ship AI immediately spotted confirmation that Admiral Irons had arrived in Epsilon Triangula and after apparently fighting some sort of plague there, he had then made his planned long jump to B100 omega, the neighboring system to B101a1 and the pirate staging area. The AI flagged that and sent it to the senior officers. No doubt they would put that into their briefs.

  Once the download was complete the ship AI scanned the civilian side for any issues and then made it available on the ship net. Those on board who wanted to know took a little time to catch up on the news while in the mess or head.

  Firefly downloaded the latest ship manifest and updated the ship's warbooks. The AI also downloaded the Fleet times and made it available. A list of personnel was also downloaded along with a classified intelligence briefing.

  E-mail was finally allowed to be transferred as the last bit of information. The AI was amused that those who had called Pyrax home checked their e-mail quickly and sent out responses in their downtime. Even the Captain got into the act, catching e-mail messages from Harris and sending out a congratulations for taking over the Damocles.

  Some of the crew had bots that scanned the download. Two of the ratings requested immediate leave to visit family, both were denied like all other requests had been. One of the ratings sourly pointed out that they had received word of a death in their family. The AI investigated and confirmed the report. The bereavement leave request was passed on to the XO and Chief engineer. Chief Chowler immediately okayed their departure, though he had misgivings about it he didn't pretend not to vent. The XO allowed the leave.

  There were some stories of interest to them, such as the ship Mariah's Mischief having made it to Pyrax. They had heard of her in Antigua. She had even picked up a load the Admiral had left behind in Gaston and brought it in to the Yard. Apparently, the Governor had attempted to hijack the load and had been thwarted. The ship had been repaired and then had left some time ago for Seti Alpha 4.

  Most of the political stories disgusted the crew it seemed. It did the AI as well. Sometimes he wondered about organics and why they tolerated corrupt individuals in power. The old saying about power corrupts wasn't true in his case, Firefly was certain Walker had started out that way.

  Once the initial furor over Firefly's arrival died down to a general roar, other stories began to creep back into the media spotlights. Firefly highlighted an interview with a pair of civilian Captains. Apparently word of the Yard was spreading throughout the sector and surrounding sectors as the Admiral and senior staff had planned. Ships were changing course and coming in from all over. They took advantage of the free overhaul and tune-up, and those that had goods to trade frequently opted to get as much of an overhaul as they could.

  They also took advantage of the college, medical facilities,and civilian augmentation as well. They downloaded the free library books and free college courses. Knowledge was flowing once again it seemed, all part of the Admiral's master plan.

  Pyrax now saw a near doubling of traffic from three of her four jump points. Commander Logan had closed the B101a1 jump point when intelligence had confirmed the possibility of an enemy fleet in that system. Unfortunately, at least three ships had passed through that jump point. It was unknown if any had been caught or even if they survived.

  The red headed April O’Neill interviewed the first ship's Captain. Captain Mayweather and Commander Logan paused their brief meeting to
tune in.

  The first Captain was interviewed as his ship was about to leave the Yard with another freighter scheduled for the following day. He was tall with brown hair tied up in a pony tail in back. He was trim and looked astonished. “You should see it! I'd offer you a tour but I've got a schedule to get back to. But it was worth it! Coming here,” he shook his head in wonder.

  “That good?”

  “Yes! The Navy...I mean, I never thought the old girl would get to Beta again!”

  “And now she can?” April asked, pointing her microphone to herself and then to him to catch his reply.

  “Yes. At least I think so, we'll find out when we jump I suppose,” the man said looking bemused. “She's an old Clydesdale. They even fixed her hull! Who does that?” he asked, rubbing his hands together in glee.

  April smiled and waved the other man over. “And you sir? Captain...”

  “Hammer.”

  “Captain Hammer. So, how is your ship...”

  “The Pride and Prejudice 90. She's good. Better than I'd ever dreamed. Every spacer has dreamed of finding a yard, of getting it running and fixing their ship. Now...” he shook his head, bemused.

  “And you have no problems?”

  “No, not that I know of. We'll find out when she launches tomorrow.” He grinned. “I'm looking forward to when she hit's hyper. I'll race you to Seti Alpha 4!” he said, turning to the other Captain. “I'll even give you the head start. First one there gets a bottle of the best hooch from the looser.”

  “You're on,” the other captain said instantly. “Make sure it's a good one though,” he said with a grin. “My crew will appreciate it,” he said.

  “Oh, we'll see,” Captain Hammer said. He tipped his cap to the red-headed reporter. “Ma'am, if I could get a copy of this? I'd like to send it far and wide. The whole galaxy needs to know about this place.”

  “Me too,” the other Captain said with a nod. Both men seemed enthused that their ships could now make the high beta bands.