Enemy of my Enemy (Horatio Logan Chronicles Book 1)

by Chris Hechtl

  “Are doomed to repeat it. I got that part.” The fleet admiral thought fast and hard about the implications.

  “So, we learned to make do without any of it. It's been that way for centuries.”

  “You do know that we learned from the mistakes too, right? It's why we don't go Xeno with nanites. We contain them, guide them, and are very careful about their use. The nanites in you can't replicate. They get the job done then they shut down and your body absorbs them or flushes them. Or they go into a containment vessel until needed again.”

  “I … see.” Yorgi brushed his lap a few times and then squeezed his thighs with his hands. “Clearly I need to brush up on such things, sir.”

  “Clearly,” Admiral Irons drawled. “Yorgi, replicators aren't evil. Tech isn't evil. It is how it is used that defines it and the person involved.”

  “That … is an existential argument.”

  “It's … I see your resistance. I think we need to explore this more. Definitely get it out into the open and addressed.”

  “I don't think it will work. There are too many people entrenched in what they believe to change or to allow change to happen. It brings too much risk.”

  “Then why come here? Why come at all?”

  “Because … because I thought it was worth the risk. Adventure sure, a new fresh change … choosing my own way out …”

  Admiral Irons frowned as his mind caught up to that statement and tore it apart. “Wait, choosing your own way out?”

  Yorgi shrugged uncomfortably. “I was about to retire. I was at mandatory retirement age and had nothing left to look forward to once Ismay died. So …”

  “So adventure?”

  “Yes. The risk too. And meeting you. And yes, the call of duty,” Yorgi shrugged uncomfortably.

  The fleet admiral frowned. “I'm still trying to get over the idea of a society who abhors A.I. and nanotech trying to defend against a possible Xeno incursion. You know you wouldn't stand a chance, right?”

  “I … no,” Yorgi said slowly, staring at him. “I thought, I mean, with the fleet holding them off …,” Admiral Irons shook his head meaningfully. “What?”

  “All it takes is a drop of nanotech to destroy a population,” Admiral Irons pointed out. A single drop. He put his finger into a glass of water and raised it to let a drop form and then fall off his fingertip. The vice admiral stared at it. “Just one and it would be all over. The Xenos used A.I. and self-replicating nanotech extensively. Their bodies were made out of it. Their ships, everything.”

  The vice admiral paled. “So … you are saying, if they'd gotten into the star system as it stands … we would have died?”

  “Yes. One drop sprayed at a starship, at a planet,” Admiral Irons said brutally, making the vice admiral shiver. “Look up a star system in this sector not far from here—P34cv9. It is still active,” he said. The vice admiral's eyes widened again. Admiral Irons nodded grimly. “There is little we can do for the planet. It is just one big hot zone. Any ship that tried to land was infested. We're lucky that the nanites aren't programmed properly.” He grimaced. “But that brings me back to my point. You've got no knowledge of the tech. No defenses. You need layered defenses against that sort of attack. Look up what nearly happened to Epsilon Triangula recently if you don't believe me.”

  The vice admiral looked away, apparently lost in the horrifying image, the fleet admiral had evoked. “Sometimes one has to use a tool. That is all they are, tools. Well, A.I. are sentient people …”

  “Thank you, Admiral,” Protector interjected.

  “But nanotech isn't intrinsically good or evil. It is all about how it is used,” he said. “But, I think you've got a lot to think about so we'll leave it there for the moment. I need to know more though Yorgi. Everything.”

  The vice admiral nodded dumbly, face still lost and pale. He licked his lips. “We … I never thought that through. Gods of space …”

  “It didn't happen, Yorgi,” Admiral Irons said.

  Admiral Sienkov seemed to snap out of it for a moment. “But it could have.”

  “But it didn't. Remember that too. But it's past time to get Bek on track.” He grimaced. “The question is, how since some people don't want us to help them help themselves.” He shook his head.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  “That really shook him,” Protector stated once Admiral Sienkov had left the office.

  “I know. I'm surprised it hit him that hard. He didn't bounce back like he should have. I think it rocked his entire world view to the core. I thought he was more adaptable than that though,” Admiral Irons mused, clearly reassessing the other officer's limits.

  “I monitored his reactions. Should I bring them up? You have a few minutes in your schedule left …”

  “No, I want you to call Captain Sprite. Send her your files; we need her in on this,” Admiral Irons stated.

  “You rang, Admiral?” Sprite said after barely two seconds. She blinked and then her virtual eyes narrowed. “Damn, sir.”

  “Yes, you just got the files?”

  “Yes. I scanned them; I'm going over them in detail now. It will take me a minute or two to finish making some connections … okay. I've spun off a spider bot to work on it further. Not good, Admiral,” she said, shaking her head.

  The admiral grimaced. “Understatement of the century there, Sprite. Why wasn't I made aware of this? What is going on here?”

  “Obviously they didn't tell us—garbage in, garbage out. They made certain that we didn't get it for some reason. Or if it wasn't active deception on their part, then it was omission as Admiral Sienkov indicated, which meant they thought we knew. They assumed that was the way the world worked.”

  “Could it be both?” Protector asked. Sprite turned to the other A.I. “They didn't give us a lot of detail initially. Very little when it comes to their history. Was that out of caution or some other reason?”

  “Valid concerns. I chalked it up to caution at the time. Now I am not certain,” Sprite replied. “Interesting. I just got a hit on something … it is in Commodore Logan's report. Tesla station.”

  “The name is familiar,” Admiral Irons stated.

  “That is because it was a famous station. A station in Alpha sector, not in Bek,” she stated. “Someone got their history mixed up.”

  “Again, is it deliberate …?” Admiral Irons paused then shook his head. “Is it even related to our current problem?”

  “I don't know. I don't have the resources to find out. My recommendation is to sit down with each of the Bekians and get to the bottom of this as soon as practical, sir. Which means bringing in ONI and Captain Montgomery. Which should make things lively since Admiral Sienkov is their nominal head.”

  “I am now regretting that decision,” Admiral Irons replied ruefully as he scrubbed his hand through his hair.

  “Should we suspend or yank Admiral Sienkov's security clearances, sir?” Protector asked.

  “I … don't know,” the admiral replied after a long thoughtful pause. “At the moment … no. My knee jerk reaction is to do so since he lied by omission, but … no.”

  “Trust once broken is hard to rebuild. Are you extending it in order to show you still trust him? Or to regain trust? Or to prevent a scandal?” Sprite asked.

  “I don't know that answer myself,” Admiral Irons replied with a shake of his head. “But you are right; we need Monty on this. But we need to do this low key.”

  “I'll give him a call and brief him,” Sprite stated.

  “I'll work him into your schedule, sir,” Protector stated.

  “The sooner the better please,” Admiral Irons stated.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  Caroline had been reported passing through the B101a1 star system, and they had put a status report in warning of the damage she had taken in her last transit through the rapids. They had been forced to drop to the low octaves of alpha to finish the journey and had to continue at that speed through the jump to Pyrax.

 
; A lot was riding on that ship, not just her crew and passengers. The files from Horatio and President K'k'R'll were too much for the ansible to transmit in B-102c, and the ship didn't stop to transmit them in B101a1.

  It was a much grimmer type of anticipation waiting for the ship and what she carried.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  Captain Montgomery entered Admiral Irons' office and sat down when the admiral indicated a chair opposite his desk. “I read the file from Captain Sprite. I knew Bek was screwed up in some ways, but I thought they had most of their act together. Now this. Great, more work for us. Now we have to check out our own people?”

  Admiral Irons shook his head. “It is called counter intelligence. Get used to it.”

  “Counter intelligence is defined as finding personnel or hardware that is leaking or has been turned and then trace their communication's pipeline. Once established you cocoon the known leak and either turn them or break them. But that's supposed to be against enemy units, sir, not our own.”

  “And we're not sure if these officers are truly on our side,” Admiral Irons replied with a nod.

  “I see,” Monty replied slowly. He started to kick himself about taking the vice admiral into his confidence so much.

  “The enemy of my enemy is one thing, Captain. Unfortunately, some people don't see it that way. We've got our own forms of politicians here. Also a lot of shenanigans. Foot dragging, lost or misplaced orders, that sort of thing. We need to know the players.”

  “The first part of planning a battle is intel. Know the enemy. Gotcha,” Captain Montgomery replied with a nod. “We've got a personnel list and also some files. Not a lot though. I don't know what we can do from this distance, Captain.”

  “Do your best with what you've got. If you need more, ask. Make up a list.”

  “Getting full histories bios and such would be a good place to start with that list. The best I can do for now is chain of command. We can tag trouble makers from Commodore Logan's report.”

  “Okay.”

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  “So, it seems like Horatio is up a creek. Do you have any ideas on how to fix it?”

  “I don't know. I want to promote him. It might have an impact … but then again, maybe not.”

  “It's a bit early, sir. He's only been a commodore for under a year,” Admiral Subert replied. “He has no fleet experience beyond what he exercised here. He hasn't proven himself as a flag officer.”

  “True. He hasn't been given an opportunity to do so,” Jersey replied. “But I think his prior experiences come into play as you pointed out. And he's an engineering admiral, not a fleet commander. The rank would help him deal with the people back in Bek.”

  “Really? It didn't seem to help Admiral Zekowitz much,” Admiral Subert retorted.

  “True,” Admiral Irons replied. “Okay, so we can table that for the moment,” he offered. “What to do about the Bek problem is my main concern. Even if we promoted Horatio, he would still be outranked by Childress. So Childress would just walk all over him,” he said.

  “Yes, I see your point, sir,” the general said slowly. “What about Yorgi, sir? Can you send him back to get things straight? Relieve or fire Childress?”

  “I don't know. To be honest, I'm not happy with the man. I don't like that he left out mentioning what Bek was like, how things were run. Granted what Childress has done amounts to a coup, but he left out a lot of stuff that Horatio found out. Like how ONI spies on officers for political reasons. It is a shark tank, very cutthroat. At this point, due to that omission, I am not even sure about his loyalties anymore.”

  “Not good, sir,” Jersey replied. “Trust is an important thing.”

  “Tell me about it,” Admiral Irons exhaled in exasperation. “I thought getting Bek into the war would be a huge kick in the pants for our side. We were supposed to gain experienced personnel and eventually equipment and ships. Now it's looking like either a kick in the teeth or parts south of the belt line.”

  “Yeah, not good,” Jersey replied with a wince.

  “Lighting a fire under us to promote Horatio out of the zone will either look like nepotism or a slap to them or both,” Phil said slowly. “And remember, he'll still be only a rear admiral. A mustang.”

  “Problems there?”

  “Not for me, not after I've seen the man's work ethic and the results he turns in,” Phil replied. “But with them? The Bekians are a different story, sir. I've been talking to Saul and our most recent arrivals. They are willfully blind to his accomplishments because he is a mustang. If he does get anything done, it will either not be enough or it will embarrass them enough to want to pull him and be vindictive.”

  “You are saying they are setting him up to fail,” Jersey said.

  “Welcome to the wonderful world of politics navy style,” Phil replied. “It's something Admiral Irons, Amadeus, and a few of the other sleepers had to put up with in our time. Not having it that bad here and now has been a refreshing breeze for me.”

  “Me too,” Admiral Irons admitted quietly.

  “But we're incorporating a stratified command structure into our own—one with its own politics and baggage. As Admiral Irons said, a shark tank. We're letting some of the sharks out of their tank and into ours. I don't honestly know if that is good or bad. So far we've been getting little sharks that the others do not want to eat.”

  “Joy,” Jersey growled. “I'm already getting flack from my so-called marine chain of command,” he said.

  “They have someone that outranks you?” Admiral Irons demanded.

  “They do, sir. General Yetmister has been a brigadier longer than I have. He has been a general for decades. Their only general by the way. He passed on a few things via Caroline,” Jersey said. “He sounds good in some ways, but he is definitely letting me know he's the boss. Apparently, he promoted a few people in his chain of command since Caroline's last visit, and he wanted to make that clear. And he mentioned some of the recent flag promotions in Bek. He even hinted about getting one himself if he stays in past the old mandatory retirement date. It is more or less automatic I believe,” Jersey said, “which means it should kick in at any time if it hasn't already. It is up to BuPers to figure out and pass on I understand.”

  “Pass me that. Anyone getting promoted over a certain level has to be run past me—me and the senate,” Admiral Irons stated. “That is irregardless of how long they've been in grade.”

  “All yours, sir,” Jersey replied, sending him the file.

  “We're getting distracted though. How to deal with this, at this distance …,” Phil shook his head. “I'm afraid we might be in the position of giving Horatio morale support but in the end he's on his own.”

  “I'm not thrilled about that,” Admiral Irons growled.

  “I know,” Phil replied.

  Chapter 42

  Caroline returned to Pyrax without much fanfare. Once the light cruiser docked at the Naval Annex, the additional personnel debarked with the crew; Commander Garretaj was on hand to greet them. The senior officers were mildly put out that they weren't the big splash. They had turned into minor news given the coverage of Protodon. Captain Perth was amused, "No bands, no ticker tape parades. Nothing. So we've had our ten seconds of fame, and the galaxy has moved on," Captain Perth said.

  "Apparently, so, sir," Lieutenant Brock agreed in an annoyed but amused tone of voice as he shifted his duffel. Caroline needed a refit after that last crossing. The Admiralty hadn't been thrilled about it but both Commander Galavant and the skipper had been adamant about it. Apparently, they'd convinced Captain I'rll after they'd sent the Veraxin their logs and data. "I guess it's a good thing in a way, sir," the navigator said.

  "Oh?" the Neochimp captain demanded. "How do you figure?"

  "If it's common place, which hopefully, it will be, I'll take an uneventful ride over hoopla any day, sir," Brock stated sagely.

  The captain grunted then nodded. "True."

  "Apparently, politics
are getting complicated with Bek, sir," Lieutenant Oppenheimer stated, coming up behind them. The captain and navigator turned and stopped.

  "How so?" the captain asked, cocking his head at the Neoorangutan.

  "I just got word from a friend. It hasn't hit the news yet, but Commodore Logan got a less than stellar reception after we dropped him off. He essentially got exiled out of the star system. The powers that be are not amused," Oppie said, shaking his head.

  The captain's eyes narrowed. "How do you know this? And how did he exit the star system without us?" the captain demanded.

  "Remember all that cargo we dropped off?" Oppie asked. The captain nodded, pursing his lips in thought. "Most of it has been sitting in storage collecting dust since we dropped the first load off," she said. The captain blinked. "He used it to build a ship when they signed off on the Harbor Station idea. He took a crew over to B-102C. Just got there actually. He's been talking to Admiral Irons through it."

  "Oh."

  "Yeah," the captain murmured. "It explains the reception now I think," he said thoughtfully. He turned back to see the Veraxin flag officer talking with the commander. It was apparent from the rear admiral's buzzing tone that she wasn't amused.

  "Come on. Let's get settled in officer's country. First drink is on me," the captain said. "That'll give me time to track down some people and let them know I'm in town if they haven't already heard."

  "I'm all for that, sir. We had some hairy bits there, and my parched throat is long overdue," Brock replied heartily.

  Both apes snorted. Oppie clapped the navigator on the shoulder with his long arm and hand. "And no bombshells," the navigator growled.

  "Awe …," Oppie protested with wide-eyed innocence.

  ~<><{<^>}><>~

  "Are they fracking serious?" Admiral Irons fumed after he read the latest report from Horatio. They'd used the ansible's break bit to get the B-102C download to stop. He had a copy of the report from Horatio courtesy of Caroline. But that was when the next headache had begun. No sooner had the break stopped the download when a fresh one came in, this one from Horatio himself. Apparently, he'd been exiled to B-102C to build the Harbor Station there with a factory tender he'd built, the Ilmarinen. Some of his abbreviated SITREP was still coming in. The low bandwidth was agonizing. "Horatio …," he shook his head.