by Chris Hechtl
His father had been embittered by that experience, further distancing himself from his clan and family. He'd blown his retirement on drinking binges. That had ended when he'd taken manual control of his ground car and hit a family coming home from a birthday at a theme park. The car they had been traveling in had been packed with kids, most of which hadn't been wearing seat belts. Many had been killed in the rollover. His father's car had been still functional. Instead of staying on the dark road and calling for help though, dear old dad had panicked and ran. He hadn't gotten far. He'd misjudged a turn in the dark, and with a damaged car, he'd gone over the cliff despite the guard rail and gotten himself killed.
To this day Niell didn't regret his father's death. He did regret what had happened to him however.
He had been punished by the navy for the old saying, the sins of the father. He had just made lieutenant and was quite pleased with his career prospects when his father's death had hit him and put the brakes on his career. The navy didn't like being embarrassed and took their ire out on anyone related to the one responsible.
He'd been about fed up with it and ready to resign and move into civilian life when Commander Draken had taken him under his proverbial wing and helped him get his career back on track. The delay had been hard on him. He'd fallen well behind his class, but with the commander's help, he'd kept his head and kept moving forward. His career after that was hardly stellar, but it had gotten him through his various commands. With the help of Admiral Draken's friends, he'd made list and then gained his first and second star. He'd passed on his thanks by scratching their back whenever he could.
But today was one of those days where his loyalty was severely tested he knew.
He'd taken command of TF 1.4 with the intent of keeping a lid on things. Sherman had assured him that things were under control, and he had faith in the chimera. Besides, he had always wanted a super dreadnought command of his own. Commanding a squadron of SDs from his War Maiden class ship Gunhilda, plus their attending escorts, was a heady experience, one he relished.
Well, he would relish if things hadn't gone so far south he thought sourly. What was Irons' problem? Omar … he grimaced. Okay, the man had played fast and loose with his orders but still! He couldn't understand it.
And that had led to this he thought as his force moved to stand between the escorts from TF 2.5.3 and a couple other squadrons and Command One. He did his best to put the past behind him as he tried to focus on what was ahead. So far there hadn't been any response to hails. He was almost to the point of firing a warning shot, but he was very much aware of where that could lead. He was on a slippery slope, they all were, and all he wanted was for everyone to stand-down, cool off, and think of what they were doing.
Problems had begun to mount up with some naval units who had refused to sign off on Admirals Draken’s or Childress's orders. Some refused to even acknowledge they'd received them! He shook his head at that. They'd already forced some units to stand-down by having someone on board arrest the bridge crew, but this was a different story.
The destroyers Punch Dagger, Katzbalger, Mackraka, and others had a solid core of people who were determined to do something about the situation. Or they were just suicidal he thought. They'd never make it through the gauntlet of fortresses and defenses around Command One.
Up until a few minutes ago, no one would stop them. They'd just sailed past every defender, and the defenders had just wrung their hands but refused to fire. What would eventually happen to them was anyone's guess he thought as he stared at the camera. “Josh, this is Admiral Rowley. You know me. You know I'm not going to back down. Talk to me,” he implored.
“Get out of the way, Rowley,” an audio message came back. “I have a bone to pick with the assholes that refuse to arrest Childress. We need to end this,” a familiar voice growled.
Captain David Stripe, the Neocat skipper of Gunhilda, winced and glanced at the admiral. The admiral just flicked his fingers. At least he had the other man talking he thought. That was half the battle, knowing who your enemy was and getting them to talk to you.
“What are you going to do, Josh, fire on anyone who stands in your way? Well, guess what, I'm in your way.”
“I'll go around or over or through. Your choice,” the other captain replied defiantly. “Someone has to stop this madness.”
“You are the one acting mad. Do you need a reminder of the brother and sister officers on the ships that you are willing to fire on? We're talking about people you've known and served with, some actual family members.”
“Don't mention family, you son of …,” Josh breathed hard as he cut in the video signal. “My wife was in that grocery massacre! She was pregnant, and those asshole spooks killed her and dozens of other people while trying to pick up a couple of kids talking trash! This has to stop.”
Niell winced. “I'm sorry about Beverly, Josh; I didn't know,” he said softly. He realized now that Josh had lost his entire world and had nothing left to lose. That meant he had to change tactics.
“What about your crew, Josh? They deserve better than this—better than being cut down for your actions.”
“They don't have to be shot at all! Can't you see we need to follow orders and get rid of that bastard Childress?” Josh demanded. “That's what we're supposed to do, and no one is doing it!” he snarled in impotent rage. He glanced to the side and saw indecision written on the face of his XO.
“Damn you,” he muttered.
“I'm sorry, Josh, but I can't let you go any further and you know it. It's not up to you or me what happens higher up; we just follow orders in the chain of command. We're sailors; you know that.”
“Yeah, funny. It’s okay for us to follow orders but that fracking bastard can ignore his own? It's not right, Niell, and you know it.”
The admiral's eyes hardened at the captain using his given name. “You won't get there, Josh. It's not going to happen. Between you and me, Command One is too much weight of metal for your tin cans to go through. End this before someone gets hurt.”
Josh's face worked in anger. His lips writhed with silent curses.
“You don't have anything to lose, but there are plenty of men and women on your ships who do. Those who still have families who need them. Come on, it hasn't gotten to a shooting match yet. Let's not start it here and now. Not ever.”
“Damn you …,” the captain looked around his bridge with a haunted expression.
Niell saw the opening and took it. “And don't do this to the families of the crews of those ships. They'll be put through hell; you can count on ONI and the media to do that,” Admiral Rowley warned. “Give over, Josh; it's for the good of your crew. They don't deserve getting killed for nothing.”
“Gods be damn you to hell,” the captain said softly.
Niell thought he had pushed the captain too far.
“Skipper …,” Josh's XO said softly in protest off camera.
“Damn you all to hell. And damn me too for backing down. We could end this if we just followed Admiral Irons' orders and restore order. Well played, Niell. You've got your wish,” he snarled, throwing himself backwards in his chair in frustration.
“I'll send the shuttles over as soon as your ships power down.”
“Fine. Whatever,” the captain said as useless tears fell. He rose from his seat like he was drunk. He reached out and cut the circuit.
Admiral Rowley sat back heavily as he closed his eyes. “As soon as they stand-down, send over boarding parties. We'll need prize crews and MPs,” he said roughly.
“I'll assemble the boarding parties, sir,” his chief of staff murmured.
“The senior officers will be arrested. Make sure your people do it as gently as possible. Don't restrain them. Don't make a scene.” He was half certain Josh would take his own life. He hoped not, but he wasn't certain of anything anymore. Forcing that capitulation had taken a lot out of him and left a sour taste in his mouth.
“What charges?” Captain St
ripe asked.
“Huh?” the admiral asked as the captain cleared his throat. It sounded like he was trying to hack up a hairball. “What, David?”
“Sir, what charges are you going to prefer?”
“Disobeying orders to stand-down. Stay with that. Don't push it. Let JAG deal with it later after they are clear of their ships and we've gotten people to cool off.”
“Aye aye, sir,” the captain replied as he turned away.
@
“That was a close one,” Captain Stripe said with a shake of his head an hour later as he came in to the admiral's office and gave a situation report. Ship's police and trusted officers from the capital ships had been sent to take control of the rebellious ships. The senior officers were already on their way over under escort. He'd have to confine them to quarters until something could be done with them. What was a big question on everyone's mind.
“Too close,” the admiral said with a shake of his head.
“Was it wise to threaten their families though, sir?” the Neocat ventured, ears half back.
The high elf admiral glanced at him and then away. “We play the cards we've been dealt,” the admiral said mildly. He had no regrets using that ace. It might come back to haunt someone, but it was a warning to others not to cross that line.
“What do you think will happen to them?”
“Them? The senior officers are done. They made their beds; they know it. Shren will throw the book at them. They'll be stuffed in a hole after he's done making an example of them.”
“That … are we even on the right side?”
The admiral glared at the captain so hard the captain reared back in surprise, eyes wide in shock, ears flat back to his skull. “Don't ever ask that—not of me, not of yourself, and definitely not out loud!” the admiral snarled. “You read me, Captain?”
The captain came to parade rest instantly. “Yes, sir.”
“Get out of here. And if I ever catch you even hinting about that again, I'll have your balls!”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir!” the captain yelped as he got out of the admiral's office like his tail was on fire.
“Damn it,” the admiral muttered as he considered what to do about this fresh incident. He didn't want to lose the captain, but if ONI had been listening … he scowled and then put in for a fresh captain. He marked it down as a personality clash and recommended the captain get some downtime leave. If the captain was smart, he would take the hint and either wise up and get with the program or resign.
@
“See? Now aren't you glad I sat on you and the other hot heads?” Commodore Ross asked as he had dinner with his flag captain.
“You were right,” the Veraxin buzzed. Captain Jurginsan had done the right thing the wrong way and had gotten stopped cold. That he'd even been able to move at all, and with so much support was telling. It was a pity ONI was breathing down everyone's necks and making them cautious of trusting each other. Paranoia was etched into every officer from their academy days, but things were taking on a new extreme.
ONI was cleaning house, focusing on the errant task force's command chain. They were hitting the friends and families of the command chain as well. Every officer was playing defense, doing their best to keep their heads down. Anything could trigger the eyes of ONI on them, with disastrous consequences for the officer in question as well as anyone related to them. Only a fool would make a move under those conditions.
“Yes, I was. A first semester middie could have predicted that outcome if it had come down to a firing incident, which it damn near did. We need to play things cool,” he said.
His flag captain went very still and then checked to make sure the pantry was shut. No doubt Bo was listening, but he couldn't help but look. Finally, he turned back to the commodore. “So, for the record we are considering this,” the Veraxin asked carefully.
“Maybe. I'm still not sure if it will be necessary or if we can even do anything worthwhile. I flat-out refuse to throw our people away. And I'm not going to do anything stupid and go off half-cocked. If we do something, it'll be carefully thought out.”
“Okay. As long as someone does something. Soon.”
“Now, I didn't promise that either. It might not be for a while. We have to wait for the right opportunity to present itself,” the human commodore stated as he dabbed at his chin with a linen napkin.
“When do you think that will be?”
“I don't know. I don't even know what the opportunity will be. Right now, Childress is acting like a damn turtle, safe in his fortress. We can't get to him directly.”
“So, we have to wait for him to come to us?”
“If he comes out, big if there,” the commodore shook his head. “He'd do so in one of his biggest supporter's ship—a DN or an SD. We can't take that on, not and survive.”
“Agreed. But if the opportunity presents itself?”
“We'll see. For the moment, that's all I'll say. Just keep everyone busy. Keep them working and not doing anything stupid.”
“I'll do my best, sir.”
“Good.”
@
Admiral Hill grimaced as she saw the report. Her people were swamped, and now they had to go through the fleet to find the troublemakers and stomp on them before they made things worse.
Her people had identified some of the crystallizing opposition by communications chatter and social media posts. Most of those were hot heads venting she knew, but she had no choice but to take them down before they decided to do something outright. Talk was cheap, but it could inspire others to do something stupid. She couldn't afford that.
But the problem was some had also been talking others down. They hadn't organized anything, just chatter, or so the reports indicated. The consensus was that someone needed to do something. Eventually, without them in the loop, she knew some hot head would pop off another shooting incident.
The best shooting incident would be one where someone got in close and popped Omar directly. She sometimes wished that would happen, but security around him was too tight. She shook her head at the traitorous thought and put it aside.
She also had to be careful of taking out witnesses and her own people, former Agent Shafer, for instance. He was ignoring the gag order and posting material on social media. He had been hired by planetary security recently; something that had surprised her. It had tempered his posts, which was a good thing. Had they hired him for that reason? Or were they shielding him? She wasn't certain.
She didn't like that the AG had slapped ONI down. She also resented that her safe houses were being identified and attacked. So far none of her people had been hurt, but the facilities had been compromised and destroyed. That sucked.
Somehow, they had to find a way to cool people off. Find a way to compromise. Finding the right way to please everyone though, her thoughts paused and then she snorted loudly. Fat chance on that! She shook her head and then groaned as her yeoman came in with a tray of chips.
“It is going to be a long day,” she groaned, rubbing her temples.
@
Admirals Childress and Draken were together when the hot wash of the incident made its way through the administration complex to them. The duo paused their discussion and each took the time to read the report on a tablet. Sherman kept sneaking glances at Omar to see his reaction. The other man wasn't angry, or at least didn't show it, so perhaps that was a good sign.
“He did well. Remind me to thank Niell when we're together in person. He definitely earned a gold star in his record,” Omar murmured as he read the report.
“Omar, this is getting out of hand,” Sherman said as he set the tablet down with the report.
“But they backed down,” Omar replied. “We've got them under arrest. The ships have our own crews on board, people we can trust.”
“Eventually, yes, they backed down because they weren't quite there yet to pull the trigger. Yet is the operative word here, Omar. Eventually someone some
where is going to be backed in a corner. When they see what we want to do with the people we just arrested, it could easily come to that.”
“They need to have the fear of the justice system put back into them to maintain discipline.”
“As long as we don't go overboard, Omar. Getting vindictive could trigger the shooting incident we're trying to avoid,” the chimera stated.
The human admiral rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “We need to vet everyone in command positions. Have ONI, JAG, and NCIS do that. Go over everyone. Beach anyone you suspect is not trustworthy.”
“Sure, I'll do that on top of a thousand other things I'm supposed to be doing. You realize all three are already overwhelmed, right? And all three have their own problems internally. How do you trust the people asking the questions or passing on the reports?” Admiral Draken demanded.
Omar stared at him. After a full minute, he grunted. “Okay, point. What do you propose to do about it?” he asked gruffly.
“I don't know.”
“Well, we better think of something before someone starts shooting.”
“Yeah,” Sherman replied quietly. “Yes.”
“Start with the capital ships. Start with the ones closest to us. We already put our people in charge of most of them. Touch base with them, remind them who they owe, get their temperature, and then move on.”
“Okay.”
“I'll shake the patron tree on my end. We've got a round of promotions coming up. We can accelerate that. Give me a list of names to slip onto it to fill vacant positions.”
“That will sweeten anyone's disposition I suppose,” Sherman replied with a nod and brief smile.
“Exactly.”
“What about the investigation?”
“What about it?” Omar asked as he began to make a list of calls to make.
“How are we handling them?”
“I've got ONI watching them. The same team watching Logan. Everyone is being reminded to keep their mouths shut. Daily if they have to be.”
“I bet they are just loving that,” Sherman replied dryly.
