by Chris Hechtl
“Really?”
“Yeah, it's...well, work and everything,” the lion said with a diffident shrug. Jethro eyed him, knowing there was more to the story than that.
“Going well? Career up, up, and away?” Jethro teased. He realized that their kind was not welcome from the occasional guilty or dirty looks. It made him itch. Bast snarled silently, ears back. She didn't seem to like the ambiance either.
“Not exactly upward. More...in a spiral,” Hrriss admitted. Jethro's beer arrived before he could reply or ask why. He paused to pay the girl. He took a sip and then put the mug down. It was strong, far stronger than he'd planned on. He didn't plan on getting smashed so early in the evening.
“Go easy man, I heard they've got some good liquor,” Hrriss warned, taking his own drink and putting it on the coaster.
“It is the best on the station,” the dealer said with a sniff. “It's not our fault you can't handle it.”
Hrriss turned a look on the young man. The man was in his thirties, blond and blue eyed, wearing black slacks, a white long sleeved dress shirt and a bow tie. “Mind your manners,” he growled, eyes slitting as he growled softly.
The dealer blushed but then pulled the lion's cards and brushed his credits back to him.
“Problem?” Jethro asked.
“Perhaps you gentlemen should find another table. Or another place to spend your credits,” the dealer said with his nose in the air. He waved to a boss.
“Why, my credit is as good as anyone else's,” Hrriss said, now indignant.
“I've never seen anyone turn down credits,” Jethro said loudly enough for the boss and a few other patrons to hear.
“Something amiss?” The pit boss asked, smiling politely. He was dressed in a business suit.
“Yes, we're being snubbed. That's odd. We just came in to see the sights and have a good time. This gentlemen was rather rude,” Hrriss said, indicating the dealer.
The blonde frowned but didn't reply. The pit boss looked at him as the young man shuffled his cards. “Okay then, we'll find another place for you boys to set up,” he said, indicating another table with a brown-haired girl behind it. She blinked but then nodded politely to them.
A half hour later Harley and a rather put out Liger came over to them. Both sported a half-filled beer mug, but they were also looking annoyed. “Lose so fast?” Hrriss asked.
“He tried the big ones. I tried to get him to stop but,” Harley tisked tisked mockingly shaking her head. The Liger chuffed.
“I don't get it. It says a winner every hour,” the Liger grumped. The girl indicated to them to ante in but the two Neos waved her off for the moment.
“A sucker born every minute you mean,” Harley said. “I tried to tell you Sergei you big lug, the house always wins.”
“Hey, we're here to have fun, see the girls and lose money,” Jethro said spreading his hands and trying to behave. “Not necessarily in that order.”
“Still not fair,” the Liger grumped.
“Ah come on, ante in. It's like the games on the ship just with real creds not time or jerky,” Jethro said. He'd had two beers and felt a bit loose. He'd kept his head though, while Hrriss had thrown credits down the drain chasing twenty-one. He'd come close a few times to winning back his losses but seemed to go ever deeper in the hole.
“There are no Neo girls. No Neos at all or aliens either. Only humans,” Harley observed, taking a sip of her beer. “The place is half dead. Is it normally like this on a Friday?” she asked, turning to their dealer.
The dealer shrugged. “It's a slow night. We get them in the middle of the week,” she said.
“I see,” Harley said.
Jethro was tired of losing money. Bast put numbers up on his HUD; it took him a few hands to realize she was attempting to help him. But he also realized he was just throwing good money away after bad, pissing away what winnings he got. He frowned, not liking how it was going.
“Come on, you've been here long enough. Let's go see a show or something,” Harley said, hooking his arm. He sighed and passed a chip to the dealer and then got off the stool.
She took it graciously and pocketed it. “You come on back now,” she said with a nod.
They wandered the place, but the shows were closed. They ended up at a table with a ball that went around in a spinning circle. After a couple of tries he was ready to give in but apparently his AI partner wasn't. She pulled him back, seemingly intrigued by the game. Bast put up a wire diagram of the gaming table and began to plot odds for him. Her scans however tripped an alarm. They found out about a ban on implants when the pit boss and another man, this one armed tapped him on the arm and politely asked for them to show their ID.
“Why?” Jethro asked stupidly. He pulled out his military ID and showed it to the security chief. The guy was human, tall, broad shouldered and wearing a business suit. But he was carrying, Bast identified a holstered stunner and a cattle prod. Jethro didn't like the look of either weapon.
“We're going to have to ask you to leave. I'm sorry sir,” the pit boss said. The security chief nodded. Additional security showed up around them.
“Again, I ask why? This is a public place,” Jethro said stupidly.
“Counting cards. And other things. You have calculators and computers built in. That gives you an unfair advantage,” the security chief said, waving politely for them to proceed him.
Security showed them the door politely. Hrriss was embarrassed. They were making quite the scene, and he hated it. He also hated the treatment the others were having; they deserved better. The Leo muttered about how things had changed and not for the better. Harley looked back over her shoulder. “Good riddance then,” she growled. “They don't want our creds, that's fine by me. Let's go find something else to do. A theme park or a bar,” she said.
“Theme park is out, but I do know a couple nudie bars,” Hrriss chuffed. “But they only have humans,” he said in disgust.
“Well, bugger that then!” Harley said. “Just find us a nice place with decent beer and a pool table. If it's fun we'll come back for more.”
The Leo cocked his head. “Darts?” He asked.
She blinked and then snorted. “You're on.”
Hrriss brightened. “Fine then, let's go. This way,” he said, leading the way.
---( | ) --- ( | )---
Three of the small captured freighters, Spaceways Whale 14, Minerva Alabama, and Gypsy Rose were run through the yard for light repairs and any intelligence and then turned over to refugee civilians. Gypsy Rose and Minerva had both been overhauled a year ago, so they had only light work before they were turned over to the survivors.
Some of the survivors had resettled in the system, others wanted to move on. The remainder formed a Merchant house corporation to raise capital, with the refugees in system as their first investors. Former slaves, now military personnel, also invested. Together they raised enough capital to float a loan for small cargo and fuel. They took the ships and departed with limited cargo, Gypsy Rose through the Janus jump point to Gaston, the Minerva Alabama south to Seti Alpha 4.
The Spaceways Whale had a light repair job, stopped by Captain Logan a day after she docked. She was put on the auction block and sold off. There was some complaint about the rapid speed the ship was sold, but apparently the Navy didn't care. Her new owners were a bit put out when they found that the ship hadn't been fully restored and that the Navy gave them only twenty-four hours to not only complete the payment, but once they did, get the ship out of the slip or endure a fine.
Oasis of Space was sold at a premium with several bidders including two colonies that wanted her for habitats. Her notoriety as a cursed ship also was of interest building up some interest in the media. The investors who bought her were a bit put out that she didn't have an overhaul by the Navy. They had to pay to get her overhauled and returned to service, more of an investment than they had anticipated.
The remaining freighters were organized into a convoy w
ith Clydesdale 779 as the flagship. They were loaded with goods and given an escort of two frigates. They headed out to Agnosta with plans to refuel and then move up chain to stop at Triang and eventually Antigua. There they would do a turn around and head south through the B450a jump point to eventually return to Pyrax through the Janus loop.
They were also ordered to pick up the space bees and return them to Pyrax on their return flight. Half of the yard’s engineers and space workers had transferred to the engineering battalions when the yard had gone into mothballs. Now they were needed.
---( | ) --- ( | )---
Since he was the highest ranking officer...and a bit too high ranked to be on the cruiser, and since Pyrax needed a good shaking up, Major Pendeckle left Firefly before Firefly left the system. He left a newly-minted Lieutenant on board as his replacement. Once he was certain Lieutenant Zeks and Ensign Glass could handle Firefly's contingent he turned his attention to where it was sorely needed. As senior ranking Marine in the system, Pendeckle took command of all the Pyrax Marines.
He hadn't wanted to; he'd planned on returning to Agnosta. But as ranking officer after the death of the First Lieutenant Nameli in a suspicious shuttle accident, he was left with little choice. Captain Logan wanted him in the slot, and he wanted out of Firefly. Apparently; there was some question of the Marines in the system, and after a quick cursory look, he acknowledged there was indeed a problem. He took Valenko with him but let the bear have a bit more of his leave. The grizzly had earned it.
There was speculation that Major Pendeckle and Captain Valenko had gotten out of Firefly to get away from the new marionette of an XO. The lieutenant Commander was rather snotty and seemed to particularly dislike Marines. He did go out of his way to nastily chastise them at any opportunity, usually publicly in front of the crew.
Renee knew all this, and as long as her new XO kept his bias under control she didn't see a problem. A good no nonsense officer could be what the ship needed. A change certainly but not necessarily a refreshing one. The jarheads could take it, and besides, they were the ones who said no excuses.
Commander Simon Dart was good on paper, but he was marginal in tactical and engineering sims. His tactical proficiency wasn't what Renee would call up to par, and he knew it. Fortunately, he didn't spare any punches on his own lack of performance and tended to outline means to rectify them. That made her cut him some slack. He did make up for some of his deficiencies with his almost magical ability handling the blizzard of paperwork the ship ran on. And he was a stickler for constant drills, accepting no excuses and insisting on perfection.
---( | ) --- ( | )---
It felt like old home week when Jethro ran into Hurranna in the Annex. It was a brief run in, she had just finished her advanced shuttle training course and was now cross training on SAR, AWACS and fighter duties.
“Wow!” Jethro said, giving the lynx a hug. “You've been busy!” he admired.
She eyed him, poking him with her fingers. “Not as busy as you I heard—Agnosta, Antigua, B101a1. You've been all over the place,” she growled. “In the thick of things as usual.”
He shrugged. “It's a gift or a curse; take your pick,” he joked.
“A bit of both I see,” she said.
“So....”
“So, I see the new rank; it looks good on you,” she teased.
“And on you. On your way to become a Warrant?” he asked. “Or are you going to trade it in for a commission like a certain teddy bear?”
She rolled her eyes. “Perish the thought. No, I'm going to stick with a Warrant thank you, less paperwork.”
“Marginally less,” Jethro teased.
“And I get to fly. You hear about the shuttles?”
“Um, no, fill me in over a beer?” he asked.
She shook her head with a moue, ears flat. “I wish, but I can't Jethro. I'm just passing through. I was on the Janus Fortress assignment making milk runs until the powers that be finally let me have my dream assignment, Kittyhawk.”
“You're serious? Congratulations! I think. I've heard some stories about that ship. Be careful,” he warned.
She nodded flicking her ears. “I know, but they've refit her and hopefully ironed out all the kinks. Hope so anyway, but if they haven't well, that's why they call us Marines in, to kick ass and get shit sorted out.”
“True,” Jethro replied, slowly releasing her. “So what were you saying about the shuttles?” he asked.
“Some yahoo paper pusher wants only warrants and enlisted flying them,” she said. She smiled wickedly. “Which means more fun for us.”
“Wait, what about the officers?” Jethro asked in confusion.
“Oh, they can fly them to keep up quals, but most are slated for bigger and better duties, manning a desk or in a fighter or at the helm of a bomber.”
“Oh. But you said you're headed in that direction too?”
She shrugged. “I'm thinking about it.” She flicked a piece of lint off. “Let's just say I'm keeping my options open.”
“I see,” Jethro said. “Well, if I'm in the system long, and the same goes for the rest of the crew, maybe we can get together sometime.”
“I'd like that,” she said with a laugh. “Though next time someone else gets to prop the fat ass up if he gets smashed,” she growled. Jethro laughed as they parted. She blew him a kiss in passing and then she was gone.
Chapter 27
“So, things are getting back to normal?” Thornby asked, looking at the rest of the command team. They had meetings every other day when possible, daily if there was something important in the works. Sometimes the meetings were productive, but sometimes they were rant sessions. She knew they needed to blow off steam, but they also needed to coordinate their activities and move along with the Admiral's plan.
Firefly's departure from the system the other day had been the last good blow. The media coverage had soured everyone's mood. Her orders weren't public knowledge, so John Q Public didn't understand why their best ship was going off in the opposite direction of the enemy. There was some speculation about cowardice and others about a possible attack coming from that direction. Public affairs was dealing with the hysterics the best they could.
“Goddess of space I hope not. Not for what passes for normal around here,” Horatio growled. “True,” Thornby said. She looked at him then shrugged. “I can't help but wonder what would have happened had Firefly and her people come in just a couple months sooner.”
“Yes, I know. It's over and done with though,” Ensign Barry said. “And we've settled the fleet down. The Yard construction is picking up steam?” he asked, looking at Horatio. Horatio nodded. “But that still leaves the horrid mess we're in. Anything on the tax front?”
Horatio snorted and shook his head. “They'll look into it,” he quoted, using his fingers to air quote.”
“Yep, right back to business as usual,” Thornby growled. “It didn't take them long at all did it?” she asked, sounding thoroughly disgusted. From the expression of the others around the room she was pretty sure she wasn't the only one feeling that way.
“Don't you just love it how his damn Neo and Alien tax worked out. Not only did he alienate them, but they left the system in droves. That blew one whole demographic all to hell, the one most slated against him anyway,” Decius said. Montgomery nodded.
“True. And I noticed he offered to repeal it even though the courts had suspended it, again, but once he was re-elected he dropped it,” Ensign Barry said. “That was an obvious political ploy, a sop to his opponents to undermine their base.”
“Yes. I so can't believe it worked,” Thornby sighed. “So, Walker didn't get thrown out of office like he so richly deserved. The bastards even re-elected him. Sometimes I wonder about the universe,” she said giving the JAG officer a look. “You need to do something about that. Justice really is blind, but this is getting ridiculous,” she growled.
Jeremy spread his hands apart. “My hands are unfortunately tied, ma'am
. He's got the attorney general and district attorney's across the system in his pocket.”
“Not to mention Long and his people. But I did notice some changes here and there. They may have cracks in their foundation,” Decius said.
“You've got to love the timing of those discoveries though. They timed them to come out perfectly. His people must have had those tucked away for a while. It covered his opponents in corruption scandals and muddied the waters for them. Fernando's death...” Horatio shook his head giving Monty a look. The intelligence officer just spread his hands slightly apart. “That opened the running to everyone. That meant they divided up between them. Divide and conquer. All that evidence dumped on Knox was just a bit too convenient if you ask me. All those blue ribbon panels and people coming forward...” he shook his head in disgust at the carefully coordinated plan. He had to admire it. “People moved away from them in droves. Better the fox you know, then the one you don't.”
“Yes, sir. Sucks though,” Jeremy said.
“Yes, yes it does. It does indeed,” Horatio sighed. “Four more years with that slime in charge.”
“Yes, sir. Thinking of a transfer to Antigua?” Decius asked. He cocked his head.
“Don't tempt me,” Horatio replied with a grunt.
“Well, Decius is the man to see about that,” Thornby teased with a grin. She shook her head. “We've got to get through this, I've got an appointment in...” she looked off for a moment and then grunted in irritation. “Ten minutes.”
Horatio nodded. “All right, moving on...”
---( | ) --- ( | )---
Now that death and doom wasn't pending, the red tape brigade kicked in with a vengeance it seemed. Jethro and all the Marines involved in combat in Antigua space, as well as all naval personnel still in the system had been ordered to go through a psych debrief and evaluation. A security eval was also attached since most of the personnel were overdue. A few had their contracts up, most signed back on immediately. The few hold outs signed on after a day or two to think it over. Only two sailors quit.
