He stopped. There was silence.
All eyes turned to Annabelle.
For the first time I’d ever seen her, I thought she looked scared. I saw her get a grip. As junior officer in this company, and only recently promoted to flag rank, talking to this group as an equal was obviously daunting to her, where nothing else was.
“I left the Australian Militia,” she said, “precisely for the reasons outlined here today. I joined Jon when I saw he had the makings of a first class General. Even when he’s reacting to something unexpected, he thinks ten moves into the future. He plans when others are partying. I’ve watched him wrestle with things so far outside his training and understanding, and every single time he came to the right conclusion, and made the right decision. With the exception of General Harriman, Australian sector has no talented officers. Those of us who are, were effectively bullied out. A lot of it was politically based, by a government who didn’t want to hear about threats and inadequacies. Our current government, while trumpeting the threats, are actually worse than the previous one as far as addressing the problems are concerned. I’ve travelled extensively in the last few years. Much of all our best talent are now Mercs, or as said, junior officers. I’ve gathered the best of the ex-Australian infantry teams to me, and I regretted not centralizing us, since we needed them all with us over the last week. We let them go, and we paid the price for doing so. Not just my teams, now spread along the spine, but all the real talent from all our sectors. We need to repair the damage.”
She ran out of steam, and they all turned to me.
“This was a wakeup call,” I said. “Something big is coming. You were all tested. You know what the problems are. The governments will never do what we need them to. It’s up to you to deal with the issues, repair the damage of a century, and prepare your sectors for the real threat.”
“Ragnarok?” suggested Jedburgh.
“Two isolationist cultures, mine and Midgard’s, have prophesy of the end of the world. Both seem to be saying it’s very close now. One of them sought to prevent it in a way most would consider to be the madness response. The other sent me to deal with them.”
“Sent you?” asked Price.
“Why else would I be here? At home I’m sixteen years old, and not considered an adult yet. But I was brought up with prophesy from the moment I had my first nightmare about the coming darkness, which is the first sign. I was encouraged to build computers and simulators when other kids were playing ball. They didn’t dissuaded me from playing combat games, and studying military history. I wasn’t aware of it, but now it seems fairly obvious. I was identified by prophesy at an early age, and trained without obviously being trained. I can’t say for sure, but it feels like I was sent. As if those who know prophesy, knew I had to be out here now. Otherwise, why was I even allowed to leave home two full years early? It never occurred to me at the time, because I was so happy to get my first trip out system. It’s only been two months, but I feel like I’ve aged ten years.”
“Not aged,” said Annabelle, “but you perform at the level of a twenty year veteran.”
The others agreed with her assessment.
“So what are you saying?” asked Bigglesworth.
“I’m saying, this was a warning. When the real threat comes, we have to be ready, or nothing will survive. If we don’t combine our strengths and eliminate our weaknesses, we will be lost.”
“Any idea what the threat is?” asked Hallington.
“The Keepers call it the darkness. My nightmares begin with a single black dot, which becomes millions, and blots out the stars. Who or what it is, I’ve no idea. I’m not sure if the Keepers even know.”
“Timing?” asked Harriman.
“Not this year, but I don’t feel like it’s more than ten. I may know more in ten months’ time.”
“Why ten months?” asked Bentley.
“Outback has an isolationist policy, which is relaxed for only five days each Earth year. I’m here because I was in hospital when that five day window last expired. I have to wait another ten months to go home, before I can confront the Keepers about prophesy.”
“Wont they communicate before then?” asked Price.
“No. All coms equipment is turned off. Any attempt to land on the planet is met with force. We take our isolation seriously.”
“I want to be there when you go home,” said Harriman.
The four stars looked at each other for a moment.
“Jon,” said Jedburgh, “Each sector will be sending a representative with you, unless you object.”
“I won’t object, but the Keepers aren’t going to talk too just anyone. Or even let them listen. Whoever goes will need to be trustworthy and discreet. And even that may not be enough. Depending on how much they know, anyone who hears the full prophesy may need to be able to cope with some big shock, and be capable of knowing how much to tell others. We may find out, but be sworn to silence. The Keepers are a downright secretive bunch.”
“Let’s face that when we have to,” said Patton.
“Fine. Let me know nearer the time who’s going, and I’ll send transport to pick them up. I’ve tasked my AI to build me a new fast courier ship, specifically to break the speed records. So I should be able to solve the fast movement of key people problem Susan mentioned.”
“We’ll probably all be interested in buying them,” said Price. “Keep us in the loop for anything else you develop as well. I assume that’s why you appropriated the Midgard shipyard? So you can develop and build your own ships?”
Most of them looked surprised at this, but Bentley was laughing.
“You didn’t know?” she asked generally.
All except Price shook their heads.
“I knew he had another station on the way,” said Harriman. “But not a shipyard.”
“We jump into Midgard in the middle of the night, take out their fleet, and he leaves me holding the bag while he goes off to chase some intermittent scanner contact. By morning, he arrives back at the jump point with a giant shipyard in tow, and claims it was abandoned, and he couldn’t leave it there as a navigation hazard.”
They all joined in laughing.
“When General Wellington arrives a little later,” she went on, “he claims it was sitting there all on its lonesome, and followed him home like a kitten.”
The laughing intensified. I waited for them to get a grip.
“What’s this about another station?” asked Hallington.
“The Midgard official he talked to,” answered Bentley, “was so terrified of him, he literally kicked the location of Midgard’s Orbital station out of the person who knew. On the way there, he finds a Mining station, which was moved back to Midgard to be a base for General Wellington. When the Orbital station was found, his AI took over the station computer, and tricked most of the people into evacuating. He sent his Marines in to take out the rest. Then he had it towed to the Azgard jump point as well.”
They all looked at me.
“Spoils of war,” I said.
Jedburgh snorted, and Harrington looked worried.
“What?” I said. “You all keep putting uniforms and rank on me, but I started out as a Privateer. I built the ships you like by salvaging everything I could after each battle. The station and the shipyard are simply bigger hulls. Maybe it’s not what career military do, but I never considered myself to be career military. I see myself as a temporarily seconded Mercenary Privateer. Once I can shuck these uniforms for good, I’m the head of Hunter Security, and Hunter Trading, and salvage is part of my business.”
“Besides,” interjected Annabelle, “If what we think is coming is, he needs a decent base and support facilities.”
“Fair enough, I think,” said Patton. “I wouldn’t tolerate anyone in the ranks doing any such thing, but this whole situation requires its own rules.”
“Agreed,” said Price and Harriman together.
“So what do we do in the meantime, while we wait fo
r you to be able to go home?” asked Bigglesworth.
I chucked.
“First, you decide if you take me seriously or not.”
They all looked at me seriously enough.
“Well, you all have a piece of the military puzzle for this end of the spine. It’s up to you to do something about it. This is the first step. Let me know how you get on, and I’ll try to fit in with you if I can.”
The Marshall and the three four star Generals looked at each other, and then nodded to each other.
“I’m afraid you don’t get off so lightly,” said Bigglesworth with a grin. “You’re task in all this is to gather together the best of the Mercenary forces under your command. You get to go home now, but none of us have any doubt that a suddenly created Mercenary fleet is anything other than a call to create an independent force the sectors can call on in times of need. So take time for a rest, heal yourself, and then get to work. Admiral!”
I nodded to them, but wasn’t game to say anything. What he said did make sense. Annabelle was grinning at me.
“Is there anything else you would like to add Admiral?” asked Patton.
“Yes, I need a butler to bring me a pain shot.”
For some reason they all found this incredibly funny.
Twenty Three
After my pain shot, things settled down to a more general professional discussion. Rank vanished, and all sorts of subjects of interest were visited.
At one point, Price turned to me.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you, what did you do to Admiral Dingle?”
There were chuckles around the room, but everyone looked at me for an answer.
“Nothing I know about. Why do you ask?”
“Dingle was one of our most promising officers coming up through the ranks. He was a very effective Cruiser driver when he made Captain, so we fast tracked him. But when he received his star, he completely changed. Competence vanished, and was replaced with arrogance and self-importance. We couldn’t un-give him Warspite once he was appointed, because he never actually fouled up. But that ship wasn’t half as effective at anything, once he had command. Granted she was old and out of date, but she was still the flagship of our fleet, and he was only one of two one stripe Admirals we had serving.”
“Sounds like he rose to the level of his incompetence,” I suggested.
“You’d think so, except for his performance under you has been back up to the standard for which we promoted him in the first place. I wondered what you did to get it out of him, where the rest of us failed.”
I paused, thinking.
“My first contact with him was in the middle of the night, when I told him if he left his ship where it was, it would be in small pieces before the day was out.” They found this quite funny. “I had to show him a vid of the station jumping before he accepted it was possible, and Warspite just about ran me down moving.” The laughter intensified. “I gather Vonda took a piece out of him not long after, but I never did find out what she said.”
“That still doesn’t explain the change in him,” said Patton.
“Vonda wanted to replace him, but I convinced her he was better off where he was. We didn’t know Repulse was coming at the time, so we had two objectives. We needed a target the enemy had to take out first in order to focus them where we wanted them, as well as a station for them to take as a forward base. I convinced Vonda that Dingle was the right person for the job of sacrificial lamb, someone who would die gloriously, unaware of what he really was.”
“You weren’t really thinking of sacrificing a Battleship were you?” asked Jedburgh.
“Not as such. But at the time, I couldn’t see any way in which Warspite could survive. As it was, she almost didn’t, and we provided Midgard with two main targets instead of one. We simply didn’t have the Point Defense to save her, with her being the only main target. As it happened, we ended up with much more Point Defense than we’d first thought, but right then, Warspite had to be the focal point of our defense, and her survival wasn’t likely.”
The others nodded.
“As far as Dingle is concerned, it could have been a number of things which shocked him back to competence.”
“List them,” said Price.
“First off, we simply ordered him to prepare to defend the jump point against the expected fleet, told him what they would fire at him, and gave him a time of three seconds to train for, to fire on the first down jump. As far as he knew he was going to be facing the full fleet alone.”
“Hell,” said Harriman. “That would have given some flag officers a heart attack.”
“The battle itself could have been the turning point for him. He wasn’t a happy Admiral after, having his ship almost destroyed around him. He wasn’t impressed when I asked him if he needed a tow.” They all laughed. I turned to Price. “I guess the next thing was, having just about lost his ship in action, you didn’t relieve him of command. Instead, his ancient, out of date ship, received what he’d probably been pushing for since taking command, and came out of the yards a completely new force to be reckoned with.”
“You’re right,” said Price, “he was a constant pest with requests for Warspite to be upgraded. But he never presented them with arguments that made any sense. We always assumed it was his self-importance driving him.”
“So suddenly,” I said, “his ship is given a new lease on life. On the jump into Azgard, Warspite was the vanguard, even though we all jumped together. His new missile system was very effective, and even though the tactics were new, he was fighting a kick-arse ship now.”
The nods all round showed they agreed with my assessment.
“It’s hard to know when the change happened, or why, but that’s what I think led to it.”
“Could have been having a very competent commander to emulate as well,” said Chet.
“Vonda certainly was an effective leader,” I replied.
They all smiled.
“I wasn’t meaning General Wellington,” said Chet.
I looked at him, not understanding what he was saying. Smiles became laughs.
“Jon,” said Price, “I probably shouldn’t really say this, but Vonda told me, had she been in operational command, Avon would have been taken. She’s a very capable General, which is why I sent her, but the situation needed an Admiral, and we didn’t have one with the experience, or the stones, to get the job done. Had she managed to defend Avon, she was adamant the entire attack force would have died jumping into Azgard. I wasn’t asked to promote you to Vice Admiral, I was told it was essential she be relieved of the command, because she wasn’t up to the job, and you were. I couldn’t relieve her then, but as the same rank, she could defer to you without any problems for the lower ranks, especially since managing ships is an Admiral’s job, and managing troops is a General’s job. You probably weren’t aware of it, but from Cobol on, she effectively delegated the war to you, and was trying to stay un-noticed in case junior officers wondered why the senior officer wasn’t the one giving all the orders.”
I looked at him for a long moment.
“She’ll make a good Governor,” I said.
“She will, and she knows that.”
We were interrupted by butler droids bringing in lunch platters. I was relieved the conversation had been stopped at that point.
The group broke up after lunch, so we could all prepare for the party in the afternoon. I trailed Annabelle back to BigMother, in chameleon mode. The Americans had headed for Guam, docked on the opposite side of the station.
Angel was happy to spend some time playing with me, especially as I wasn’t sure when I’d be back next. I made a point of explaining it to her, and suggesting it was a good time for her to have some quality sleep.
Precisely at one thirty, a shuttle touched down on the Flight Deck, and was taken below, where we were waiting for it. Both Jane and Jeeves boarded with us, the latter with a supply of pain shots for me, so I wouldn’t have to seek them out. Jane
had done some work on Jeeves, changing his appearance to the Hunter Dress Uniform, without insignia. His orders were to see to my needs exclusively.
We were transported down to the planet, landing on the Palace roof. A grand staircase wound down the middle of the building, emerging into a huge vestibule area, with many rooms leading off it. We were directed to the main ballroom.
Although not yet two o’clock, we were announced, in order of rank. There was a receiving line of mainly politicians, whose names I promptly forgot, with Marshall Bigglesworth on the end. After shaking my hand, he waved a butler droid forward, and instructed it to take my party to our designated location. On the way in, I’d not seen this being done with anyone else. I was about to ask him, but he very slightly shook his head, so I nodded and followed the butler.
It led us over to the only clump of lounge chairs in the room. I lowered myself into the central chair, and a medical pouffe was placed under my leg. Jeeves dropped a ginger ale on the table beside me. Alison took the chair next to me on one side, and Amanda the other side. Jane stood behind me, as if to protect my back from any threat.
I told the rest of the group to go mingle, and after some reluctance, they did. Jeeves gave me a pain shot soon after. With the edge removed, I let myself sink into the comfortable chair.
People began to seek me out, and the chair opposite me was kept occupied. I tried to keep conversations general, and avoid saying anything which someone might later use against me. While I had no experience of this kind of event, I’d read enough as a kid, to know the politics going on behind the scenes was likely more important than the event itself. Politics of any kind was something I was very keen to avoid.
Sometime around three, I had a break in the conversation flow, which gave me a chance to look around the whole room. A movement above drew my attention, and I saw a pretty girl standing on the next level up, watching things unfold below her. She appeared to be about my age.
Hunter Legacy 5 Hail the Hero Page 14
