The Turning Tide (The Federation Reborn Book 5)

by Chris Hechtl

  Her bird flew like a pig. It was all because of the two ship killer missiles on her centerline. Well, I've got a cure for that she thought with a mental grin.

  Our turn she thought as her Artoo unit signaled they had a lock with passives alone. They would go active for only a six-second spread to make sure of the lock as the fighters went in for their final attack.

  She looked over to see Hanna's bird off on her flank. She turned back to their target.

  She double checked the telemetry feed. Her Artoo unit had a laser lock on all eleven of her fighters. “Cycle both birds after we go bright. Until then keep a cold nose until we get across the line,” she said over the squadron link.

  A series of clicks answered her. She smiled.

  As her ship crossed the Rubicon, she wiggled her fingers in her gloves and then settled herself. She took a deep breath and then exhaled as her Artoo unit began to beep insistently. “Light ‘em up! Fox One! Fox Two!” she said as she pulled the trigger twice.

  Her small squadron cycled their ship killer munitions fast and then started spewing decoys, flares, and chaff to blind the enemy sensors. She kept her people on a tight leash to pull out and away from the light cruiser's engagement zone.

  ~~~^~~~

  Captain Fisher had one moment to think they were in the clear before CIC screamed of contact reports. That was followed by a dreaded call. “Vampire Vampire! I say again Vampire! Multiple hostile missile launches detected on bearing two-one-zero mark four! Ten no, twelve, make that twenty-four incoming missiles!”

  “Defense condition one!” the captain barked. “Where the hell did they come from?” she demanded.

  “Fighter missiles!” her ATO reported as the TAO rushed on to the bridge and to his station.

  “Shields are spinning up. We'll have full power in ninety-one seconds!” the OPS officer stated as the tactical department began to button up. Point defense turrets were coming online and being fed data from their stern arrays, but the captain realized that it was already too late. The missiles had gotten into final acquisition mode.

  “It's too late,” she murmured, hanging her head as the missiles struck.

  ~~~^~~~

  Jane saw the cruiser try in vain to defend itself, but it had been caught flat-footed. The hunter had become the prey. Two of the missiles hit the cruiser's shields as it powered up, sending them into crashing back in a wave of energy distortion. She saw spitfire of PDLs trying desperately to get the right bearing but all for naught. The final twenty-two missiles tore through the collapsing shield and hammered their way home on the ship's port stern. She bucked and then erupted into a fireball. Jane caught the blast in her rear camera feed and grinned savagely. “Scratch one nosy cruiser!” she said as her pilots' yodeled and howled on the squadron link. Havana flipped into a barrel role and then righted herself. Jane made certain of the kill before she reported it to higher.

  “Damn, that was fun! Now let's go find us another!”

  ~~~^~~~

  Captain Senpi saw his ship's division mate getting ambushed from afar. He shook his head. So much for Kenya, he thought with a mental salute to the woman. “Sir, based on the explosions we've recorded, she's a goner,” CIC reported quietly.

  “That's enough of this. They don't pay our widows worth spit. Time to get out of here,” the captain growled. “Helm, make for deep space in the general direction of the Dead Drop jump point. We'll correct in hyperspace,” he stated as they ran.

  ~~~^~~~

  “Sir, another ship has lit off her drive. She is a confirmed Tango contact; she fits the fingerprint of the Omaha class LC. She is definitely running,” CIC reported. “There are signs of a hyperdrive charging.”

  “She'll be long gone before anyone can get her into range,” Garfield grumbled. “Darn.” he shook his head. “Well, we got one,” he finished, glancing at the admiral.

  “I'm not a proponent of the glass is half full all of the time,” Admiral White said. “In this case getting one was good, but I wanted both. But I'll take the one.”

  “Yes, sir. Does that mean I can tell Lady Liberty they did good?” Leopold asked.

  “Yes. But make sure they know they should have coordinated with the other net to nail them both at the same time.”

  “Next time, sir,” Commander Ch'v'tt replied.

  Amadeus grunted but then remained silent.

  Chapter 37

  Antigua

  Governor Randall kicked off his campaign for the vice presidency quietly or so some thought. He marched into the Antigua's secretary of state's election office on a slow Friday morning and asked to sign up for candidacy for the vice president's office.

  Gobsmacked clerk who was at the desk sputtered and then said she wasn't certain how to go about doing that. “I'd have to check with higher, sir. That's a Federation posting. Are you serious, sir?”

  Jeff smiled. “Never been more serious. I think its past time.”

  The clerk nodded and then did a quick search. She came up with a basic form for him to fill out. “I believe there is probably more—a background check, that sort of thing. But here are the basics I can find,” she said, handing him a tablet and stylus and then pointing to a seat in the waiting room.

  He was amused to take a seat like others and filled it out. He occasionally looked up to smile to people who were there for other reasons. One or two asked to take a photo with him or get his autograph.

  He let nature take its course as the secretary's staff quietly slipped it to the media and their friends. Before they'd settled on the paperwork, the media had shown up and were quietly watching. He filled out the paperwork, asked questions, and then signed on the dotted line. He then smiled as he tucked a copy of the paperwork under one arm and left.

  Outside he held an impromptu press conference.

  “I recently spoke with Admiral Irons. He agreed that the vice presidency has been vacant too long, and it is time we fill it. Well, I was offered the job once, but he is right in insisting that the people have a say there. So, I am announcing my candidacy for the vice president office. I believe it is now up to the Federation government to announce a special election and details.”

  “What prompted you to throw your hat in the ring?” a reporter asked as Jeff opened his mouth to continue.

  He stopped, cocked his head slightly in disapproval, and then nodded once. “I will admit Admiral Irons' recent absence had a lot to do with it. I also spoke with my family, and they approve. Or, at least the opinions of those who mean the most to me do,” he said with a brief smile. “Now, if you'll excuse me, my staff needs to get to work on this while I get back to my current job while I still have it.”

  ~~~^~~~

  Sprite caught the news conference and alerted Protector. Admiral Irons took a moment out of his schedule to catch a rerun of the press conference coverage. When the talking heads took over, he shut it off. “Well played, Jeff,” he murmured. The campaign would ignite after that. He wasn't certain what sort of interest other parties might have, who would throw their hat in the ring, but he approved of the low key, almost folksy method Jeff had pulled off.

  And he was glad that Jeff was pushing for a Federation referendum without it coming out of his office. Liobat had been quietly primed a month ago but it would come at her blind. She would have to scramble to cover it, and that would make it look like it wasn't coordinated, which it wasn't.

  They'd have to arrange a Federation-wide election as well as referendums on various subjects, bonds for one. The typical voting period was in the late fall after harvest season when people were less busy. That seemed like the best time. That would give Jeff a little less than a year to prepare.

  He wished the man the best of luck with the project and then returned his attention to the matter at hand.

  ~~~^~~~

  April was put out about not knowing about Randall's candidacy in advance. She of course took it out on Admiral Irons when she caught up with him. “I'm supposed to be enjoying a night off.
It's a slow news day. And your buddy has to dump his candidacy in the Friday trash? Just like that?” she demanded as she punched him in the arm. He turned away, gasping and guffawing in pain and amusement as their audience chuckled. They were having a late evening get together, a mostly informal affair, though nothing could be considered totally informal when the president was involved. April hadn't seemed to mind playing hostess to the group; in fact, she'd seemed to relish the opportunity.

  “Owe!” he protested, pretending to cringe away from her.

  “Serves you right,” she said with a malicious smile.

  “That really hurt!” he said, wide-eyed as he rubbed his arm. She always remembered his good arm too.

  “Baby,” she teased mockingly. “You need to work on your pout some more. Come on, put your lower lip out a bit more and pout. Give me a nice quiver. Come on, jut it out,” she mock teased.

  Their audience laughed even more.

  “Damn, she got your good arm too,” he said in amusement.

  She smiled a feral smile. “Yeah, I know.”

  He shook his head as he looked over to Major Burrows. “I always hope she'd forget it and go for the other one.”

  “Nope. I'll remember,” she said smugly. “The devil is in the details in my profession. I'm all about getting the details right.”

  “Well, you are half right. You are a she-devil,” he replied and then pretended to shy away and expose his right side at her mock glower. The audience chuckled.

  “Aren't you supposed to be protecting me or something?” he demanded of the major.

  The major snorted. “Some battles, especially those in the bedroom, you have to fight yourself, sir.” The admiral raised an eyebrow. “Besides, I'm smart enough not to get in her way. I don't want bruises any more than you do, sir!”

  That earned another laugh.

  “Smart man,” April said with a nod to the guard.

  Later she forgot her purse in the bathroom and had to go back to fetch it. He couldn't resist calling her on it.

  “So, I thought the devil was in the details?” he asked, grinning at her.

  “I can't remember everything,” she said testily, waving an airy hand.

  “What she-devil …,” the look she lowered on him spoke volumes about his chances of survival if he tried to finish that sentence. He stopped dead and squirmed a bit. Nara giggled.

  Finally, he decided not to test his luck. “So, ah … change of subject ….”

  That earned a laugh and chuckle from the audience.

  “Smart man,” Nara said as Monty smirked.

  “He's a strategist. He's smart enough to hold his fire within arm's reach,” Sprite said loyally.

  April eyed the A.I.'s avatar and then the admiral. “Is that so?” she demanded, crossing her arms as the audience snickered some more.

  “No comment,” the admiral said, hands up. “Can we get back to the subject at hand? Before Sprite conspires to get me into any more trouble that is.”

  “Sure, take the easy way out,” Nara snorted as she hooked her arm through Monty's. So, when were the rest of us going to find out about Governor Randall's plans? I didn't even know. You really kept it under the hat this time.”

  “Yeah, well, I kept a promise to him. I offered him the position, and I've tried to get him to take it. Then we set up the government and now he's got to take the long way to get it.”

  “He should have taken your first offer,” April murmured.

  “Perhaps its better he didn't. The Federation needs the reminder of how democracy works. We'll see how it goes,” Monty replied. “So, who do you think is going to win the Antigua World Series?”

  “Too early,” Nara protested.

  “It's a week out from the playoffs,” Monty protested as the group continued on their way under the major's stern gaze.

  ~~~^~~~

  When Jeff got back to the residence very late that evening, he was met by a bemused Sandra and Daffyd. “Well! That went as well as to be expected,” he said with a boyish grin.

  She shook her head but couldn't keep the severe expression up for long. Sure he'd caught her off guard, but they'd already talked about it. “Always you've got to get into trouble and then we've got to dig you out. Boy, what have you gotten yourself into this time?” she asked, tapping her foot.

  Daffyd snorted. “The deep end obviously. This should be fun. We've got the minimum plan set up and some funding to cover it. But it's going to be tricky. We definitely need to campaign outside of Antigua to make sure we get sufficient votes. And not just with ad buys through the news outlets that are friendly to us. You'll need face time. Are you ready for that?” he asked.

  “Bring it on,” Jeff replied magnanimously. “If that's okay with you, my dear?” he asked as he caught himself.

  His wife pretended to think about it and then nodded slowly. “As long as you do one thing,” she said as she came over to him and got into his personal space.”

  “Oh? And what's that?” he asked in a laughing voice as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down.

  “Win,” she said and then kissed him, standing on her tiptoes to do it.

  ~~~^~~~

  Evillin wasn't surprised when she received a non-discretionary order to report in. She made certain she was indeed clear before she went to the safe house.

  “So, you come? After not informing me?” a familiar voice demanded from the shadows.

  “Don't give me that. Look, I know you are angry, but my position was on the line. Only a small group knew about the governor's plan. I was one of six that I know of. If Daffyd's attempt to raise money had leaked, I would have gone forward and told you. But they didn't. I know, I was watching for the opportunity,” she said, keeping her voice under iron control.

  She refused to be intimidated by a speaker in the shadows. No doubt he was far away. That thought abruptly ended when a shape moved out of the deep shadows and a cowed being stepped into the dim light. She gasped slightly, giving in to her instincts to back away from the apparition before her.

  “I make the decisions, not you,” Skeletor hissed, baleful eyes staring out of the holes in his mask. She could smell the rotting flesh and did her best not to gag.

  “I can expose you at any time. I can remove you at any time. Your life is mine. I placed you there for a reason,” Skeletor stated.

  Evillin raised her chin defiantly. “If I'd told you, you would have leaked it or acted on it. Twice you've acted on information I gave you. A security leak was announced, and they did a thorough check of everyone. I don't need that sort of headache or exposure again.”

  “You will do as you are told,” the man said in a high-pitched voice.

  “I'm no good to you if I'm caught or dead!” she insisted, eyes flashing in anger.

  “You will do as you are told or else you are of no use to me. I need reliable sources.”

  “And I am one. But I will not give up a long-term position lightly. Did it ever occur to you that it could have been a trap? A way to smoke out a mole? And what would you have done about it anyway? Yes, he's running for the vice presidency. So? How can you do anything about it? Do you even wish to do so?”

  “I can plan on his campaign. I can find ways to make my presence known,” Skeletor said as he swept his cape out towards her and turned away. “It is not your place to question me. Never forget that,” he said over his shoulder as a knife blade came from behind to be pressed to her throat.

  “So? If you are going to do it, then do it. But don't threaten me, Skeletor; I don't have the time,” she stated, keeping her voice from trembling with iron control. She felt the prick of the knife and the trickle of something, most likely her blood on her ivory skin. Silently she swore, such a cut wouldn't easily be explained.

  “Not even you can question me,” Skeletor said, raising a hand and then waving it. Whoever had the blade withdrew silently. Evillin reached up to touch her neck and then turned away.

  ~~~^~~~

>   As news of the governor's candidacy worked its way through the media and the ansible network, it woke a frenzy of speculation. Some speculated if it was even legal yet. Others speculated if the governor would be the only one running.

  That speculation ended when Governor Tweed made a speech and literally threw his hat into the ring and then marched into the Epsilon Triangula secretary of state's office to sign his candidacy papers.

  A few other governors speculated they might as well. The governor of Airea 3 did so with a defiant dig at Admiral Irons. “Someone needs to put Irons in check and maintain democracy,” he stated in his candidacy speech.

  ~~~^~~~

  On Monday the secretary of state's office debated on how to handle the special election. “This is … coming out of the blue like this,” Nadine Neuwirth, the chief of staff, said with a shake of her head. “Is he serious?”

  “Yes,” Moira replied as she crossed her arms. “And as the secretary of state, it's my duty to oversee the election process.”

  “Oh. That's going to be fun,” Blake Beregen, her assistant said. “I thought you were considering the position, ma'am?”

  “I know. I thought so too,” Petina Grant, their Neo Press Coordinator said, turning her brown eyes to the secretary.

  “I thought about it, but I shot for this post instead. And I got it.”

  “So, are you going to throw your hat in as well, ma'am?” Sebastian Whitman her policy advisor asked.

  All eyes again fell on the secretary. She felt their intense curiosity and wanted to squirm like a little kid.

  “I thought about it,” she allowed. “I'm not sure I'm ready for it to be honest,” she admitted.