by Chris Hechtl
Only Hrriss and a few other Neos were still on the station, those that had good jobs and could absorb the damn Neo tax. To add insult to injury, now that the station was restored they had finally worked out a budget. Real estate was at a premium, which meant the rents and leases went up when they expired. He thought it was unfair to pick on the Neos and aliens again, making them pay additional fees for life support filtration, sound insulation and maintenance.
Apparently the sounds, smells and shed fur wasn't for everyone. Jethro couldn't see how humans could complain; after all they made sounds and shed too! But no, his people were to blame. He shook his head in disgust. Most of the cat clan and many of the other Neos had transferred to other colonies or to Agnosta. Even his Aunt M'wvekii was gone. The Neo and alien enclaves had shrunken to small pockets, being absorbed and replaced by newcomers to the system, most of them human.
Hrriss told him he too was considering a change, possibly as a civilian contractor with the military. Jethro agreed to put a good word in for him.
“What happened to her?” he demanded.
Hrriss squirmed, thrashing his tail back and forth, ears flat. Finally he sighed. “She...we've been pooling our credits to get everyone out. Your aunt...she didn't want to go, but when Fernando died some damn bureaucrat in admin took a hard look at all of the...houses of ill repute,” he said in disgust.
“So?”
“So, they hit her with permit violations, tax violations, the works. It sucked a lot of what we had saved up dry. And your gram had planned carefully, but that hit us hard. She put aside her own needs and used the last of the money to get your aunt and her retinue out of here.”
“So...”
“So, she's trapped. I'm building up a nest egg, but it's hard with that damn tax.”
“I'll...I'll talk to the others,” Jethro said, now feeling guilty about their trip to the casino. “We can do something, I know it.” He made a mental note to see if Hrriss could get a transfer to one of the stations building in Agnosta. He'd have to find out a way to approach command about that.
Hrriss nodded; ears drooping. “I'd appreciate it Jethro, and I'd pay you back. But she won't go. Not until every one of us is gone. This is her home she said. She'll close the door on it when she's good and ready.”
Jethro closed his eyes in pain. He felt Bast try to comfort him. He took a deep inhaling breath and then let it out slowly. “I see.”
“She's stubborn as the day is long,” the lion sighed. He'd grown; his mane and body had filled out with adult fur and mass. He was now a lion in his prime and quite proud of it. But because he was a lion, he was a marked man on the station.
“I'll...hell, I don't know who to talk to. I'll see what I can do. Valenko definitely, I know he's got family here. I don't even know if his ex is still here or not.”
“A lot of us left. I don't know. I can find out for you though,” the lion suggested helpfully.
“I'd appreciate that, but I'm not sure if he would. He's sort of touchy about his family. My butting in might offend him,” Jethro said.
---( | ) --- ( | )---
When newly minted Captain Valenko came off his brief leave, he moaned at what he found. He dearly regretted taking the time off but realized it was probably going to be the only time he'd have off for some time to come.
To say things were a mess was putting it mildly. He'd actually had another week of leave, but an order from the Major had cut it short. He could see why now.
“What a fracking mess.”
“And we get to clean it up. I'm now wishing I went with Firefly,” the Major said, shaking his head.
“I see it's bad...”
“It's not just bad, it's...I don't know what to fricking say and that's saying something right there. A clusterfuck of the first order. And this damn shuttle accident...”
“Is...I'm guessing we lost some leadership?” The bear asked. He already knew the answer. It was why he and the others had been backstopped in Pyrax. Most of the Marine leadership had died in a suspicious shuttle accident shortly before Firefly's return. There had been no survivors.
The death of the Marine First Lieutenant on board had sparked a look into personnel for a replacement, which had stumbled across some interesting peccadilloes in the rather young Lieutenant's file. Things that were extremely embarrassing for officers who should have been keeping a better eye on things.
“Yes. You could say that. The NCIS and JAG are investigating. It's rather suspicious to have two shuttle accidents in a couple months. Once is an accident, twice can be a coincidence, but I'm not buying it. It's got to be enemy action. I don't care what the doubters say, there is something going on, but no one who knows anything is talking. Which says a lot right there.”
“Oh,” the grizzly said.
“Yes,” the Major said, eyes haunted. “What is scary to me is I get to go on a fact finding tour here in a bit. I need to visit all the damn fortresses and bases, colonies and stations and get them sorted out. On a damn shuttle.”
“Sucks to be you, sir?” The grizzly joked. If you couldn't joke, you didn't belong here he thought.
The Major eyed him thoughtfully. He frowned, knowing he was in deep. After a moment he raised a shaggy eyebrow. He was too old to squirm like some raw recruit. The Major snorted. “Well, I could send you, but I thought I'd take a personal hand in shaking shit up and getting some order established. But that leaves you minding the store here. I expect you to get a handle on everything while I'm gone.”
“Ah hell,” the bear growled. “I knew I was in for it.”
The Major snorted. “Well, just think, if I buy the farm in a damn accident as well, you get the whole thing.”
“Gee lucky me,” the bear growled, covering his eyes. “Okay, where do I start?”
“Get with the cat and your people. Pick people you can trust and get the ball rolling. I want results soonest. I want a plan by tomorrow.”
Valenko cocked his head and then accessed the computer net, putting in a request for information. It came back in a text file. “Jethro is on San Diego. I'll cut orders for him to come back here with your permission, sir.”
“Do what needs to be done. I'm on my way to the Janus jump point,” the Major said leaving.
“Ah me,” the bear growled.
Chapter 28
Disappointed with home life, the panther reported for duty and was transferred to San Diego. He was dismayed and appalled by what he found there. Camp Pendleton was a mess. There was a complete lack of progress, disorder, rank smells, lack of discipline, and low morale on the Marine side of the base. In fact, the Marines largely had to fend for themselves, either eating MREs or going over to the Navy side with their hat in hand to get fed or cleaned up.
No one did anything; they had no orders, didn't care or didn't want to be bothered.
“Talk about lord of the flies!” Jethro growled. Bast seemed to agree. She nodded on his HUD and flicked her ears. Lately she'd been leaving a ghost of her image on his HUD for him to see. He found it easier to understand her moods and expressions.
She was settling in; her mood swings had dampened down. She still refused to talk; though she did vocalize from time to time.
“You don't know the half of it,” Valenko replied, disgusted himself. He'd heard a bit about the mess, but hadn't looked into it himself until Jethro had gotten involved. He'd been wrapped up in the larger picture. “We just found out a damn midshipman turned ensign turned Lieutenant had been in charge. We're still getting to the bottom of it. He apparently knew how to work the system. Every time Commander Decius went down for a nap he and a buddy rammed through a promotion for him and anyone they liked.”
“You are kidding me, sir,” Jethro said appalled.
“No, I'm not. He knew how to work the system,” the grizzly growled, wishing he could get his hand on the little pizda. “He had it all sown up. Part of the pissing match between Colonel Forth and the Navy? That was his doing? He played one side against th
e other.”
“Oh,” Jethro said. Things were starting to make sense now. Colonel Forth and Captain Logan knew each other well; they'd gotten along together well before. “What about the people that were sent here?”
“Oh, he was a wise guy. Captain Logan wanted at least a platoon of Marines on each of the Fortresses. So, each time a shipment of Marines came in, the little bastard went and sent them to one of the fortresses. All plug and play, noncoms and all. And he sent along enough orders for them to keep busy and out of his hair.”
“Shit.”
“Oh yeah. There are Marines on or in I should say, every ship, military installation, as well as the largest colonies in the system. To top it off, he had promoted people out of the zone all over the place to fill in the gap, people who then owed him favors. Anyone who protested got a promotion, transfer to the outer system or on a one-way recruiting flight, or got demoted. It's a royal mess. A royal fracked up mess,” he snarled, shaking his massive head in disgust. He'd heard NCIS and JAG were finally getting involved. There was apparently a mess with Marine Logistics too.
“How the hell did this happen sir?” Jethro asked, eyes wide.
“It's Marine country. No squids allowed. That's a big pissing contest between some of the Navy staff and Colonel Forth and the rest of us caught in the middle. We're handling it, but well, this is our house, our frack up. We made the mess; we get to clean it up,” the bear replied succinctly. He grimaced.
“But...” Jethro shook his head. “To get this bad...”
“The most senior Marines all transferred to Agnosta remember? There are the Marine officers in the system now,” Valenko rumbled, stroking the hair on his chin. “I'm one of them for my sins. Teach me to do something right,” he grumbled. Jethro flicked his ears at the brief spot of humor. “Most of these are either dregs Colonel Forth left behind, people he thought who could handle them, or new recruits with no training. College kids.”
Jethro scowled, ears flat. “I thought the new enlisted recruits were supposed to be shipped out to Agnosta sir?” Jethro asked.
“I did too. Apparently they were waiting on a ship. After a couple of months, someone got the bright idea to put them to work with just sleep teaching under the command of a couple kids fresh out of the college.” He shook his head in disgust over that idea. “And since they did half-ass decent on the job according to someone, they decided to hang onto them since they were, quote, short on manpower as it is,” he said with a disgusted look.
“We need an AI, that I do know for sure,” the bear said in the silence. “No way would this have all happened if a damn AI had been paying attention.”
“Yes, sir. But they can only do so much,” the gunny replied.
“True. And the Navy is sucking them all up. Don't forget that. We've put in a word, but so far Command wants to keep them all for ship or station AI. Each of the bases are getting one, that's a plus. Some more than one. The fortresses too. But IG, JAG, and of course the Corps are last. In our case dead last, so we'll make due. The problem is, we need good people. Most of our good people are elsewhere, holding down the fort where they are needed.”
“Like you now, sir?”
“Don't butter my ass. It's slippery enough as it is,” the bear growled. “Yeah, but I need people who I can trust, people I know will do the job, and damn it do it right when I'm gone, which is another headache and a half waiting in the wings,” he said, throwing his hands up in the air.
“Break it down into boxes we can handle then work on it that way,” Jethro said, reminding the bear of his training. “So, what do we do about it, sir?” Jethro asked.
The bear eyed him. “What do you think? Right way, wrong way, Navy way. We'll sort them out. Even if we have to have GI parties daily and blanket parties every night,” he growled.
Jethro winced but nodded. “Where do we get started sir?”
---( | ) --- ( | )---
Jethro worked with the Marines on San Diego; getting their shit together had taken a visit and a full Gunny-mode session. Playing the bad ass was starting to come natural; he was glad he'd spent the time learning it in DI training and then perfecting it on Agnosta and with the recruits on Firefly. When he'd gone on to deal with the training for the B101a1 mission he'd had the big, bad Gunny-from-hell act down to perfection.
It wasn't even an act anymore, just something, a role he could play without even consciously thinking about getting into character. Bast had been shocked by the change in his demeanor, but he noted approval in her eyes after a while.
She was handy, bringing up files for him, including dossiers for him to view without his having to hunt for them. She seemed able to anticipate his needs, which was also great.
A few of the Marines he knew; they'd gone through boot under him so they quickly got squared away and back on track. Others had heard of him by reputation, but a few cautionary tales from those that knew them let them know not to cross the panther lightly. He may not bark like a dog, but his claws and teeth were sharp.
Jethro brought in Asazi to lend a hand and Harley when she was in the base. Their work helped him forget temporarily about the other Neo problems in the system and in his family. He gratefully used the work as an excuse to get out of additional therapy sessions. It wasn't like he could report to Anvil every couple of days when he was so busy. The therapist was a bit put out over that. He didn't care. He wasn't sure why she had a thing for him, but he had better things to do with his time.
He sicked Harley and Asazi on the recruits, getting them in line. Unfortunately he couldn't have everyone he wanted. Pa'nash was off in charge of a Marine compliment in the B101a1 command orbital fort. Sergei was doing the same thing, but in a fortress guarding the jump point to Seti Alpha 4. From the e-mails he'd sent, he wasn't at all happy with the egg heads who'd built the fort; he kept hitting his head on the low ceilings.
Jethro thought briefly that maybe it would knock some sense into him. But then realized who he was thinking about and dropped the idea. Besides, the Liger had already put in a transfer to Xavier. Valenko had let him know the Liger had the post sewn up.
Kovu and Kiara had been assigned duty on Bismark. The big battleship finally had a hyperdrive and was semi-functional as a warship. Scuttlebutt said it was going to eventually be sent to Antigua to be finished by the Admiral when he called for it.
Gusterson he'd heard was on the other side of the academy, teaching the initial first aid courses to the recruits there. Hopefully, the Neo greyhound would find some good people to replace him. They'd have to be very good though; Gusterson was top notch.
Spitterman had landed on his feet with Marine Logistics. He was running things, getting it sorted out under the Major's watchful eye.
Just getting the base turned around was one thing, but Jethro wanted more. He didn't want status quo, he wanted everything set up and running smoothly. Everything. Everything in the base blueprints. So on his own initiative he started working with the other noncoms on planning and implementing the construction of the base as well as the small training center. Once he was certain they were ready he put the plan into motion.
---( | ) --- ( | )---
Ox for his troubles found himself frequently borrowed to work on the engineering in various projects. Apparently his time as a brain stormer and as acting chief engineer had marked him for bigger and better things. He was all over the system, working with the engineers assigned to the construction of the fortresses, working with the Marines Jethro had in San Diego, and even doing a couple brief consults in the Yard. There was some speculation of his changing over to become a squid, possibly a naval officer.
“The problem is,” Ox rumbled when Asazi brought it up over beers. “The problem is,” he started again, apparently tipsy. “I'm not really interested in becoming an officer. It's too much damn paperwork,” he grunted.
Jethro chuffed as the others laughed. He could relate. His little projects were growing with the help of his friends. It had taken some time, b
ut they were starting to turn things around. “So, sticking to the corps?”
“Once a Marine, always a Marine,” the Tauren said.
“Semper Fi!” Asazi said, toasting him. Others said the same or a deep, “Oorah!'
---( | ) --- ( | )---
Five weeks after Firefly's return and two and a half after her departure the first of six Horseshoe class frigates were laid down in the yard. They were modified designs, personally modified by Admiral Irons and his AI Proteus. The Horseshoe class was one of the last frigate designs before the Xeno war. She was shaped much like a horseshoe. The Admiral had modified the design during his travels and uploaded it to Firefly. It had taken a bit of work to get the design into production, but fortunately they had a stockpile of components and hulls readily available. He had extended her length by an additional twenty meters by adding a central tail to her body, widened her by four meters, and extended her height by four meters. The added space wasn't without consequence, requiring an extensive design review before it had been green lit. After all, the structure and connections inside the ship had to work.
The new Horseshoe was labeled the escort variant despite looking like a horseshoe crab. The extra space allowed for a second reactor and a tiny boat bay. It also allowed for extra bunkerage for the ship's fuel supply, giving her greater range. The tail also had ECM and missile packs along its exterior to be used as needed.
She would be used for system defense or convoy escort. The first two ships were designated to cover the convoys to and from Antigua. Two others were already designated to cover Prometheus, while the remaining two were designated for guard duty in Janus.
Six Apollo class corvettes had been moved into slips, as well as two Nelson class destroyer frames and four more Kittyhawk escort carriers. The second EC, the John Paul Jones, was nearly a third complete. The two Nelsons were the Dunatis and Miyoshi. They had light crews working on them as they got up to speed. Hundreds of other ships were waiting for their turn.
