Enemy of my Enemy (Horatio Logan Chronicles Book 1)

by Chris Hechtl

  He'd already outlined the ship's mission requirements along with a general scale. The ship was based on a support ship that was common in the Bekian sublight navy. At 2.5 kilometers in length, she should be large enough to fit what he had in mind. They had a basic hull form already laid out. He wasn't certain how effective it would be in hyperspace however.

  His team had started with the list of parts that were modern, but it was woefully short. The fusion power plants were a critical issue. The Bekian designs were inefficient and low powered. They were generation one designs, not up to modern standards. But that was an issue he'd have to set aside for the moment since they couldn't build modern grav emitters for the fusion reactors and drives to use.

  That pointed to another obvious deficiency. There was the problem of grav nodes, they just gave him fits.

  With Mercury's help they'd laid out the life support, habitat volume, and some of the runs within the first week. But he'd kept the design basic, just general concepts since some of the hardware they couldn't lock in was such an unknown.

  That had annoyed Dreamer of Ship who had already gotten into drawing up the CAD drawings of the gear they did have a use for. He was a detail-oriented bug who wanted to get into the nitty gritty and then argue about the design.

  The basic habitation systems were in fact, the easy part, the low hanging fruit. The real problems with the design were her hyperdrive, power train, and grav nodes. Horatio freely admitted he was not an expert on hyperspace geometry, nor was Mercury up to the task of simulating its effects on the ship model.

  He was also keenly aware of the bugs in Mercury, so he didn't completely trust the program's findings. It was a good sketch aide and did well pointing out problems. But, they needed more eyes.

  He did his best to draw in as many outside experts as he could. He started with Galiet and Bailey, hoping they'd solve his hyperspace geometry problems. However, he got his hand slapped by ONI when he tried to bring them in fully.

  For the moment he left that problem alone and refocused his team's efforts on the power train and sublight drives.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  The longer things went, the less Omar saw things settling down and the more problems cropped up in need of his attention. He felt like he was on a slippery slope, and his own people were behind him, ready to give him a push rather than a hand up.

  It was the nature of the game though; he knew it. It was the game he'd been taught, and there was no changing it at this point, he reminded himself sternly. But in moments of weakness errant thoughts like that came to mind and toyed with him, distracting him further.

  “I know we can't hit all of Irons' goals. It simply isn't possible given our … own priorities,” Admiral Draken stated, bringing his boss back into the meeting. “But we do need to show that we are trying to do something. That we are making some forward progress.”

  “Most of the progress is related to BuShips. We can't get personnel out of our star system until Irons sends another ship,” Admiral N'r'm'll stated.

  “Ah, not quite true,” Admiral Creator of Things said. “Or at least, we're working on it not being true. We're working on a way to build our own starships.”

  “Which was Admiral Irons' intent all along,” Admiral Hill replied with a nod.

  “Exactly,” the T'clock stated.

  “I don't know if it will appease him,” Admiral Hill mused. “Maybe initially, if we play it right,” she said, eyeing their boss. “And we've heard some of the benefits. Hell, looking back we've seen them,” she said.

  “Seen them?” Omar asked.

  “Of course. Remember, we had ships that used to jump between Component A and B. We also had ships that went to Nuevo. If we can do it again, all the arguments in favor pay off dividends, for us, with the public, with the administration, the senate, our contract supporters, Nuevo, and ultimately Irons,” Admiral Draken said smoothly.

  Admiral Childress grunted.

  Admiral Hill pretended to frown thoughtfully, giving the impression that she was considering the problem from all angles. In reality she was in support of Admiral Draken's proposal and was studying their boss. It was clear that Admiral Childress was unhappy about the situation. There was public pressure to update their current inventory of ships to both defend the Republic while also sending ships out to help fight the pirate war and rebuild the Federation.

  There was also mounting pressure to build ships to facilitate trade. Adding the pressure to find a way to appease Irons might be his tipping point she judged.

  He slowly nodded. She sat back, banishing her frown. Apparently, he understood that he had to go forward with the project and stop being an obvious object in the way. To turn it into his advantage.

  “We don't have a budget for this ship design. I've scrapped together a bare minimum for a paper study,” Admiral Creator of Things stated, clacking his mandibles.

  “And we've got problems with the budget in general. I'd say stand in line but …” Admiral Draken grimaced. “From what we've heard,” he glanced at Admiral Childress. “The current administration is ultimately behind it. They aren't happy that we've been exerting our … independence,” he said.

  “Tough for them,” Admiral N'r'm'll said.

  “Tough for us. They control the purse strings,” Admiral Draken retorted. “Not just to run the ships, but pay the personnel and so on and so forth. So this really is becoming a big problem. Or at least it will be within another two months,” he warned, shooting a look at their boss then to each member of the senior staff.

  “They have to pay taxes,” Admiral Toronto said.

  Admiral Childress sat back and stared at the normally quiet Neogorilla. Toronto had been a forced choice. He'd risen through the field to take command of the fortresses after so many other officers had put in their papers to retire or had been transferred elsewhere. Omar had been forced to accept him since no one else had the rank to take his place.

  “And just who assesses what they have to pay? And who do they pay? When do we get involved?” Admiral Draken asked. “I understand that's outlined in Admiral Irons' instructions to the present administration, but it's encrypted. We haven't accessed it.”

  “I've tried with ONI. We gave up after I don't know how many tries. It's not just heavily encrypted, the copies we've made keep self-destructing when we attempt to force them,” Admiral Hill said in exasperation.

  “Who has the keys? Can we get them from someone in the administration?” Admiral Childress asked.

  “Apparently, one or more of the government delegates has them. They are with the present administration,” Admiral Hill stated.

  “Great, so they've got the keys, we've got the message,” Admiral N'r'm'll said. “Both useless without the other. We obviously don't want the other side to see it. I don't know if they feel the same, but I wouldn't be too surprised at this point. So no basis in trust.” The Veraxin swiveled his eye stalks to the Neochimp. “So much for the much vaunted ONI in code cracking,” he said signaling first-level disgust.

  “Enough of that,” Admiral Draken said, cutting off Patty before she finished opening her mouth with her own retort. The red Chimera flag officer turned to their boss. “I think I see a way to get some money flowing again, sir,” he said.

  “I'm all ears,” Omar said.

  “A temporary funding solution will break the deadlock a bit. Patriotism will pressure them to make it real, as will the threat of us hanging over their heads. My suggestion is we get our civilian friends behind Logan's project.”

  There were mutters of protests from some of the officers. Most of it was token and pro-forma however, Admiral Draken judged. “Hear me out,” he said with a hand up. “If we leak it publicly, the public will be keenly interested in it and the progress. We can build on that.”

  “Senator Thurgunsson can guarantee it will get through the committees,” Admiral Hill said in support. Admiral Draken looked to her, nodded then turned his eyes on their boss.

  “I'm not
happy about the games they are playing with the budget. If this helps break some of the deadlock in our favor …,” Admiral N'r'm'll said quietly.

  “Oh, now you are for this?” Admiral Toronto demanded, snorting harshly.

  “I didn't look at the problem from the proper perspective,” the Veraxin flag officer said with as much dignity as he could muster.

  “So, we use the temporary stop gap measure to get additional funding, using Logan's project to leverage more funds. You'll have to go above board for it,” Admiral Childress said, tapping the table top.

  “Yes, sir. My staff has a plan for you to review,” Admiral Draken said.

  “Pass it on to my staff for review. I'll look at it later this afternoon,” Admiral Childress said.

  “Yes, sir,” Admiral Draken said, feeling slightly triumphant. He'd gotten past the initial hurdle. He noted his boss take a sip of water and savor it.

  He knew that Omar didn't like being chained to Logan, and he definitely didn't like playing ball with the administration. He'd taken too much pleasure in rubbing their newfound freedom and independence in President K'k'R'll's face, such as it was for a Veraxin. With Nibs on hand in the capital, they needed to be careful and play ball.

  He was aware that Admiral Childress would undoubtedly immediately divert most of the funds for the ship for his own purposes. That was the way the game was played. And undoubtedly Admiral Creator of Things would find a way to appease the commodore in a way that helped to advance the project.

  “All right, turning to other matters,” Admiral Childress said gruffly as he set his glass down.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  Zek heard about Horatio's project and reassignment from Lieutenant Si. He was initially amused by it. He knew it was a dead end, just another pie-in-the-sky paper study to appease the public and certain parties. But when the commodore started to get more support and little interference he started to resent it. He started to resent being passed over for the project.

  When he found out Vice Admiral Creator of Things was quietly backing Horatio's project, he suddenly understood how Horatio had gotten as far as he had.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  “He can't be serious,” Vice President Nibs said as she stared at the Veraxin pair.

  “We're telling you he is. We can't overtly break with him either. It will come back and bite us in the ass. So, we've got to go along with it for the time being,” L'r'kk stated.

  “Why? Why would we help them? Why do you want to?” she demanded, turning from the Veraxin chief of staff to their boss.

  “Because, we control the purse strings. They know it now, so our message has been received. This is their way of throwing us a bone I guess you could say,” Senator Thurgunsson stated.

  “Oh? I wasn't aware that they were in the mood to talk. This isn't a surrender, far from it. They know we have them over a barrel,” Nibs said. She turned to the president. “Sir, I say we go for the jugular. Hit ‘em where it hurts and knock them down for the count. Everything floats on money. Let their friends pay for them. We can just put our tax money in the bank and laugh. Let them try to fund their pretty fleet. I'd guarantee it'll grind to a screeching halt,” she said.

  “No sound in vacuum, Nibs,” President K'k'R'll stated. “And I appreciate the sentiment,” he said, raising his left upper arm to forestall her retort. “But we need to be reminded that they do indeed have those ships and the weapons on them. So, we need to compromise as well.”

  “That's not compromise, its capitulation,” Nibs retorted.

  “No. They get their temporary measure. Just that. If we don't see results with Commodore Logan, then we can rethink our support. But they are only getting the three months and only what we agree to—not a credit more,” the Veraxin said, signaling first-level intransigence.

  The Neocat studied him and then nodded once. “Okay. It's your call, sir.”

  “Think of it this way. This is our olive branch,” the senator said soothingly. “We can build off of it,” he said as she turned her ire on him. He shrugged her stare away. “We need to keep the door and lines of communication open.”

  “Sure. Keep telling yourself that,” Nibs growled in disgust. “I think we're just delaying the inevitable.”

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  With Admiral Childress's grudging blessing, Admiral Creator of Things signed off on Horatio getting lab space, some storage space, machine shop access, and parts. He gave them an old 3D printer to use. Horatio and V'v'n managed to fix it enough to suit their purposes. They had to ration their supply of plastic polymers though.

  Dreamer of Ships resented that they hadn't been given access to a more modern 3D printer or a CNC machine that could work in metal. He also had trouble adapting to Horatio's use of electronics and especially Mercury and virtual reality.

  Horatio didn't have more personnel but some he had were hands-on. He was a hands-on person as well, which seemed to scandalize the architects but not the noncoms. They built demonstration models in the machine shop and lab to test and to show other officers.

  Creator of Things came through two days after getting them the first push with a second gift, this one of nonpriority access to a mainframe. With it they could run simulations, including long-term virtual tests of hardware. It wasn't the same as having the physical hardware running the tests, but it was as close as they could get for the time being.

  Chief V'v'n turned out to be worth his weight in whatever precious metal Horatio wanted to name. The bug had excellent hands-on experience and could fabricate virtually any part given the specs and materials. He was also a patient teacher to the other enlisted.

  Admiral Creator of Things came by weekly to see their progress. On the third week, the T'clock took samples to the senior staff who green-lit small improvements to be sold to civilian subcontractors to supply the fleet.

  Horatio put forward a suggestion of selling some of the navy's supply of old hardware to help fund the project. “As long as it's not weapons, military surplus can be sold according to the regs. It is also highly prized since it is built to take a beating,” he said.

  The T'clock's mandibles and antenna twitched. Finally, the large, heart-shaped head gave a human head shake. “A drop in the bucket.”

  “Small drops add up to large amounts over time, sir,” Horatio suggested.

  “I'll bring it up with Admiral Bolt. It would hit the black market a bit,” the T'clock said.

  Horatio nodded. He knew his project wouldn't see a dime, but putting the idea out there would earn him a point or two with certain people. He knew they wouldn't be beholden to him, but it would help earn him a little respect and get them to listen to him later when he had more important things to suggest.

  “Baby steps,” he murmured after the T'clock had departed.

  “Huh? You say something, sir?” Pietro asked, leaning out from his desk to look into the main staff room that V'v'n called a squad room.

  “Nothing. Never mind,” Horatio said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Do you have those numbers for me?”

  “Working on it, sir. I never thought I'd play accountant too,” Pietro replied.

  “Neither did I. Keep me posted,” Horatio replied with a nod as he returned to his office.

  Chapter 31

  “Bek is a fracked-up mess,” Captain Perth mused as he toyed with his dessert.

  “Yes, sir. That it is,” Lieutenant Dvorsky said as she too toyed with her dessert. She twirled her spoon into the yogurt and fruit mixture. She was glad the flag officers, delegates, and senators weren't with them. It allowed her and her skipper to vent a little in relative privacy.

  “Full?” the captain asked.

  “No, just thinking,” the XO replied. “I mean, I don't know how much hot water I'm in for accepting that chip,” she said with a grimace.

  “None from me. And I doubt the Admiralty, the real Admiralty, will call you on it. Far from it,” the Neochimp said with a wave of his free hand. “You are in the clear as far as
I'm concerned.”

  “Thank you, sir. I know you told me that before, but until I get it from them, I'm going to still sweat it.”

  “And you'll sweat it when we go back I bet,” the captain stated.

  “Are we going back, sir?” she asked, turning her black eyes to her skipper.

  “Yes. I'm betting we're on this run until someone tells us differently or they get their finger out of their collective asses and build those transports they've been talking about,” the captain said.

  “I'm glad you had the crew perform those interviews, sir. I think our passengers twigged something was up but …,” Katherine shrugged.

  Captain Perth nodded. He'd sicked Ensign Falling Leaf on the project since she could get around the ship easily and she had a couple classes in intelligence under her diminutive belt.

  The ensign had each person she had interviewed write up their experiences. She dutifully read them and had Ensign Caroline help her to cross reference the reports. The duo had generated follow-up questions to expand on points that were unclear.

  Speculation in the ship was rampant. There were no explanations though; the captain was baffled as they were by the situation. He did his best to put the speculation to rest by having a morning address yesterday, exactly twenty-seven hours before they were scheduled to exit into the B-102C star system.

  He'd tried to keep it light and factual. But he had to say something in order to put the rumors to bed.

  “I know all of us are put out over what we just went through. I am too. I also don't know what to make of it. I can tell you now that Admiral Irons and others will read our reports and then decide on the best course of action. What we need to focus on now is getting this information to him. We need to continue our mission and follow our orders, so as to end speculation; no, we're not bypassing Nuevo. We will continue on mission and visit the star system.”

  “Mark my words though, someone will get to the bottom of this situation, and they will do something about it. And knowing this ship, we'll be right in the thick of it when it happens. I'm glad most of you kept your heads and followed the rule of three monkeys. Keep doing that when it comes time to discuss what happened in Bek. Let wiser and cooler heads prevail. That is all.”