by Chris Hechtl
Jory frowned and looked at the clock. “Crap,” he muttered, eyes widening comically …
“What?”
“I was supposed to be home an hour ago. I am so dead. She's going to kill me,” the kid said mournfully.
Vestri snorted and then chuckled. “Well then, no harm in the beer since your nuts are already going to get squeezed. Might as well earn your whoopin' good and proper so you can enjoy it,” he teased maliciously.
Jory flushed but then got up. He saved his work and set the mainframe to run the simulations and then grabbed his coat. “One beer and then I'm off. I'll call her.”
“Good luck with that,” Vestri replied with a shake of his head as he went out into the hallway. “You comin’? Beer time is a wastin'!” he drawled.
“I'm coming, I'm coming,” Jory protested as he came out.
~~~^~~~
The following day Vestri mentioned Jory's preoccupation to Admiral Irons and Admiral Creator of Things. Admiral Irons shook his head. “I appreciate his efforts, but we've got working designs. Hell, we've got an archive of designs. He could have chosen a platform from them and updated it. A keel-up design is extreme.”
“Usually it takes an entire design team of hundreds of ship architects and engineers,” the T'clock observed. “This seems futile. Admiral Logan designed Ilmarinen with a minimum team I admit, and he did it rather quickly, but he used an existing platform.”
Admiral Irons flexed his jaw. He had designed the Shield Maiden and other designs while in transit with only Proteus for support.
“Admiral Logan also used Mercury extensively. Jory is doing so as well. He's also got Proteus checking in to keep them honest. It's not a complete keel up; he used what you came up with in your travels as a base,” the dwarf stated mildly. “He's on to something, yeah. All the advances you've put forth will keep us busy, but he's got an eye to the future. Don't knock it.”
Admiral Irons shook his head. He was going to say something, but the dwarf wasn't apparently finished.
“We talked over beers last night; he admitted he pulled a couple people in from time to time to help when he gets stuck on something. But I think he's on to something,” he said firmly.
“I wish I was in his shoes,” Admiral Irons muttered before he shook himself. “Wait,” he blinked and stared at the dwarf. “You do?”
“Yes, sir,” Vestri replied with a grin. He knew the admiral. He knew you could make him an admiral or president, but you couldn't pry the engineer out of him no matter how hard you tried. Every engineer was a tinker at heart. “I know you'd gladly trade places with him.”
“In a heartbeat. But, you are distracting me. What did you mean by you think he's on to something?” Admiral Irons asked firmly.
“I mean, he has a point. We've been applying the Lemnos material slapdash. A little here, a little there as the tech is cleared for use. Well, he's applying it all. And he's not working from the ground up actually; he started with the basic cruiser and battle cruiser frames you and Proteus created. He pulled everything out and then started over. Everything is modular. He's keeping everything you learned and pioneered, Admiral,” Vestri said pointedly.
“Ah,” the T'clock stated. “So, transitioning logistics would be a simple affair.”
“Yes. I like the concepts of the modular armor. I also like the idea of keeping everything in tight. He and you pointed out that a smaller radius means a stronger energy field though it means less hull to put them on.”
Admiral Irons nodded slowly.
“Hull real estate is a problem. He's more focused on mass, firing arcs, and structural engineering right now. But he did give me the write-up. I read it.”
“I bet you didn't sleep last night,” Admiral Irons accused, clearly amused.
“I'll sleep when I'm dead,” Vestri mock growled. “And no, I didn't get a wink. The kid has plug and play all over the place. Drop in; the design tools he came up with are good.” He pulled out a flash stick and plugged it into the holographic projector. An image of a ship came up. “He started with the battle cruiser and then scaled down.”
“I went the other way around.”
“Yeah, but he's got more room this way,” Vestri explained. He pointed out the ship's features. Admiral Irons and Admiral Creator of Things listened attentively to the impromptu proposal. “I think that we can bring this up to a full study, maybe even a prototype. It'll be sharp.”
“I'm a bit concerned by the design. The reason I had things out on booms was for the shields. Shields function better when you have a sphere. It also gave us more real estate. But I see the compact design works too,” the admiral said grudgingly.
Jory had taken the nacelles out and trimmed the ship designs down to the minimum, then scaled up the central hull by 20 percent to tuck in most of what he'd lost. The revised design had about 90 percent of his previous one when it came to fuel. The rest were arguable.
“Having a problem with someone fiddling with your design?” Vestri asked.
“No, actually I'm okay with that,” Admiral Irons stated, checking himself to be sure. He realized he really was okay with it. I take it Jory knows about tradeoffs?”
“He does. He got bogged down in things. I got an email from him an hour ago. I gave him some pointers and it looks like they'll work so he's just doing fiddly bits to finish it.”
“Okay. See who else you can pry loose to help on this. Then we'll run it through the tactical computers at the academy,” Admiral Irons said, looking over to Admiral Creator of Things. “If that is okay with you? I know I'm stepping on toes here.”
“My species fortunately doesn't have any. I agree however. I too would like to see this design in action.”
“Very well,” Admiral Irons said with a nod.
~~~^~~~
Jory was still fiddling with the design when he got an email from Vestri. He frowned and paused to open it. He blinked at the contents then jumped to his feet with a yodel. “I take it something is good?” Mercury asked.
“We're moving to phase two! They approved the initial design! Yes!” Jory exclaimed flopping down into his seat. He felt intense elation.
“That's good. But it only gets harder from here. We'll have to make certain everything fits perfectly,” Mercury stated.
“Don't I know it,” Jory said, heady elation coming down as he realized the enormity of the task ahead of him. He had the basic design, but before they went into construction, they had to run TAC sims to see if it was viable and worth it.
Hopefully, he thought as he checked the deadline. He sucked in a protesting breath when he noted the deadline was at the end of the week. “Not a lot of time. She's going to kill me for working late,” he muttered as he got to work.
~~~^~~~
Vestri wasn't surprised when he got a call in to have a face-to-face chat with Admiral Irons. The admiral was still insisting on acting as not only the secretary of defense but still overseeing the CNO slot as Admiral Pashenkov got up to speed. He also privately admitted he liked that John still met with him from time to time.
Admiral Irons smiled as he saw the dwarf enter. They exchanged brief salutes but then he waved the captain to take a seat. “I've got only a short time. Protector and Sprite blocked out an hour, but they know I'll run over. I always do.”
“Yes, you do,” Protector said in an aggrieved tone of voice.
“Ahem, anyway, I wanted to have a face-to-face chat to confess I'd wanted to send you to Lemnos to take the place apart. But,” he said hastily as Vestri opened his mouth to object. “ …As you know, that plan is on indefinite hold. We've had to send a lot of hardware everywhere else—Tau, Pi, and the front. That put my plan off for a while.”
“I'm in no hurry. Besides, Lemnos isn't going anywhere, Admiral.”
“Well, there is that.”
“And I'm also a firm believer in letting sleeping dogs lie. Sending me in to turn things on and potentially wake a copy of that damn Xeno Wraith virus isn't what I'd call a good
thing, Admiral,” Vestri said in respectful disapproval.
“I know. But there is hardware there we can't make easily or cheaply. Some of it will take decades to make, and we don't have the blueprints to do it. If we have to, we'll pull every bit of electronic hardware and replace it. I'm not looking for the station; I'm talking about the equipment. The science equipment, the prototypes there, the industrial equipment, all of that.”
“Ah.”
“But, as you said, it isn't going anywhere.”
“No, sir.”
“So, that leaves what to do with you.”
“Yes, sir. Is Admiral Creator of Things ready to take over?”
“He already is. He has a glowing report on you as his deputy, so no fears there. I know it's hard for you to take a step back and let someone else hold the reins,” the admiral said mildly, studying the smaller man.
Vestri shrugged. “I won't complain about getting my toes trod on sometimes. He's a good boss. He listens now that he knows what is going on.”
“And he finally took a look at your record. You impressed the hell out of him by building the yard mostly on your own,” the admiral replied.
Vestri made a brush-off motion with one meaty hand. “Spare me blushes. You and Proteus and Sprite for that matter were there as guiding hands. Plus, we've got good people.”
“That we do,” the admiral said with a nod of approval.
“So, keeping me close? Or am I due for a stint at the design board?”
“That, your deputy job, plus some teaching. Online courses,” the admiral stated, putting a hand up to forestall any objections. “And I know you've made noises about being stale. I get that. I do still want to keep you on hand to do the Lemnos mission in the future, so I've got to keep that in mind. Also, sending you to the war front is a little extreme. Sending you to Pi or Tau is also a bit extreme, though Shelby could probably use your talents in the yard she is setting up.”
“If it's just the same to you, I'd rather stick closer to home and see the war through to the end,” the dwarf rumbled.
The admiral nodded. “Agreed. Protodon has a minor repair yard, but she's running smoothly. Senka is after us to build a yard there …,” he looked at the dwarf to gauge his mood. From his expression, he wasn't too thrilled by the idea. Neither was the admiral. “The other option is sending you to Bek to help the yard updates there.”
“I thought Admiral Logan and Admiral Zekowitz have things in hand?”
“Oh, they do. They definitely do. But I'm going to need Horatio on other projects soon enough.”
“Well, I suppose it's a thought,” Vestri said thoughtfully. He didn't sound at all keen about the idea however.
“The problem is, transit time. You've got keys like me. I'm acutely aware of what time was burned in my absence here. We had some schedule slips.” Admiral Irons shook his head. “The last two options on the table are to send you to ET to liaison with ETMI's yard or to Pyrax.”
“Pyrax?”
“Pyrax. We're considering doing some shaking up there as well.”
“Oh, lovely,” Vestri rumbled.
“As I said no hurry on any of this. We'll see how things gel later as things settle down.”
“Yes, sir,” Vestri replied with a nod.
“How are the new designs going?”
Vestri snorted mentally at the change of subject. “Well,” he drawled. “Jory did okay. The crusher people who gave it a try found the designs to be more responsive. Nimble, though they have some faults. He's taken their initial hot wash to heart and is making corrections before trying it again.”
“Good.”
“As far as the yard is concerned, we've got a few hang ups with the new armor. The chemical matrix is quite frankly a bitch to put together right. We've got a high rejection ratio; it crystallizes easily. Once it does we're SOL and have to start the panel over. They burn through a lot of nanites too.”
The admiral grimaced. He knew about that part.
“The new power plants, plasma lines, and energy weapons seem to pan out. We've already tested them in Buships; your tweaks are minor and have improved things a few percentage points. There have been some minor changes to make access for maintenance easier. We did have a hiccup with one of the graser designs, moving the access panel opened up a can of worms with the armor though …”
Chapter 44
Antigua
Admiral Irons released the information about the battle of Garth to the media. The navy's Public Affairs Department stressed that TF3.2 retreated to regroup. The spillover hit Liobat's office within minutes of the announcement.
“No, we didn't sit on it for public morale. I spoke with Admiral Irons; they were still processing the data,” the Neocat said as she answered an onslaught of questions. She pointed to another reporter.
“The admiral in charge, will he be relieved? Admiral White has had a lot of losses …,” the Veraxin reporter from GSN began to ask.
“First of all, it wasn't Admiral White,” Liobat interrupted. “This was Rear Admiral V'r'z'll. Please check your thumbnail brief on her. She did get away as I said, after walking into what appears to be a trap. But, before leaving she trashed the inner star system. Not only did her bombardment take out most of the Garth orbital infrastructure, it also destroyed their civilian grade shipyard as well as dozens of ships there. So, although she was forced to retreat, we can't quite call it a loss. More along the lines of a bloody draw for both sides.”
There was a chatter of reporters as each tried to step on the other with sheer volume in the press to be heard. She shook her head, ears back. “One at a time! One at a time!” she stressed, trying to calm them down.
~~~^~~~
“She played that well, spiking that Veraxin reporter's guns like that,” Protector stated.
Admiral Irons grunted.
“Sir …”
“No. I'm not going to relieve her.”
“I wasn't going to ask you that. I was going to let you know Governor Randall has requested a ride in a courier to Triang.”
“A ride in a courier?” the admiral asked, wrinkling his nose.
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, we can't do that unless he has some sort of conference with the local government planned. It would be playing favorites. But, didn't we have a yacht in our courier inventory?”
Protector's image smiled. “As it happens, yes we do.”
“So, let's see if we can lease it to a company here and let them lease it to him. How about that?”
“I think the fiction won't work. But if we sold it, to say the Yard Dogs or ETMI or another friendly company, it might, sir.”
“Look into that.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What else?”
“Well, Senka is pushing for an upgrade to their repair yard. It makes sense, sir; they've got more resources than Protodon. They could have a full construction yard built in a year. They are still pushing one with ETMI. The biggest problem is manpower.”
“Interesting. See what they are willing to do to sweeten the pot for the navy. We need the additional resources. I'd also like an alternative repair facility closer to the front big enough to handle the larger ships. Protodon can't keep up.”
“Not so much. No, sir.”
“I wonder if ETMI and the Yard Dogs might be interested in a joint venture?”
“You wish for me to bring it up with the yacht, sir?”
“It's a thought,” the admiral murmured, dismissing the problem from his mind after a moment. “What's next?”
~~~^~~~
Governor Randall sat down with Daffyd and some of his staff to plan his first trip to Triang. The plan had hit a snag when he couldn't secure fast government transport, but that had changed when he had been offered a ride in a fast yacht with minimum staff.
“What we're going to do is a minimum amount of campaigning. We need to talk to people on the ground there. We need campaign managers to help maximize our time there and its impa
ct,” he said to Evillin and Daffyd. Both nodded and took notes.
“Ansible time is going to be expensive. Work that into the budget. See if we can send data. Compressed data if we can. Keep things from getting wordy. Set up an advertising campaign there and elsewhere. I want to do at least two town halls while I'm there. Good question and answer sessions. Televised if possible,” he said.
“We can arrange that. We're still looking into the ad buy-in,” Evillin said as she made a note.
~~~^~~~
Evillin nearly stumbled into the little bearded man waiting in the governor's outer office. “Oh, hello,” she said looking down at him. She was already starting to dismiss him as she wondered idly if she could arrange to go with the governor on the trip and arrange to stay on Triang thus getting herself away from Skeletor once and for all.
“Hello,” the little man said with a grin and twinkle. She was arrested by that as he hopped off his seat and came over to hold out a big hand. “I'm Professor Gwildor. And who might you be, lovely lady?” he asked.
“I'm late. I mean …,” she shook her head. “Did you say your name is Gwildor?” she asked, turning her eyes on him. “The Professor Gwildor? Of Eternity University?” she asked.
“You've heard of me?” he asked as they shook hands. He cackled in delight.
“Why yes,” she purred. “Indeed I have …”
~~~^~~~
Complaints from the small but growing group called Aliens First group hit social media outlets. The common thread was that all of the candidates were human. April ran a series on it. She was annoyed when Toni Chambers focused on other potential candidates, highlighting famous individuals and showcasing their species and history as well as an analysis of their potential to win the election and be able to handle the job.
April shook her head as she finished the last bit of paperwork for her third and final deferment. “Damn it, I should have done it earlier when it was quiet,” she lamented. “I had free time then! Now with the race for the VP slot heating up and word that something is going on with Second Fleet …,” she shook her head.
