Federation Reborn 1: Battle Lines (38 page)

He was glad the admiral had cut back on the commissioning ceremonies; they were turning out a ship every other day! There was no way they could keep up with them all. In a way it was a disservice to the ships, their crews, and the people who built them, but most understood the necessity. Keeping it short and simple made sense. It was a bit too much like the dark times during the Xeno war, but hopefully, once they won the war with Horath, they could go back to tradition and ceremony.

And maybe, just maybe, he'd be retired or in his grave when the stuffed shirts started having their way again.

---<>---<>---

Bounty
and
Damocles
departed from Agnosta for Protodon behind schedule. The two destroyers were limited to the speed of their slowest ship which happened to be the large transport.

Captain Harris had rubbed Ian McGuyver raw a bit before the two officers had settled down. They eventually tempered their lively competition with exercises to train their ships and crews as division mates. Captain Harris was the senior officer and didn't let the other officers forget it. “Sometimes I think the man has let the power go to his head,” Ian said to Doctor Glenn.

“I'm not so sure, sir. I think he's got a lot on his mind. But I also think the reality is sinking in. If it hasn't yet, it will soon.”

“Reality?”

“Of being responsible for everyone. For knowing lives are counting on you. I know, I know,” the doctor held up a hand. “You get that as a captain. Yes, I know. I get that as a doctor. But this is different.”

“Well, let's hope reality doesn't smack him in the face. We'll be right along for the ride and get smacked too,” the captain replied.

“True.”

“I know he and I were taking bets on if we'd run into those
Nelsons
or other ships. But I doubt it. Oh,” Ian waved a hand. “There is always a chance a ship or two might be on her way back to Protodon.”

The doctor frowned and then shivered. “We need better forces in Kathy's World, sir.” He definitely didn't want him or his wife to be on one of those ships when all hell broke loose. It was bad enough that he was having second thoughts about being on
Bounty
. Holly had started dropping hints about wanting to settle down and start a family last week. He wasn't sure where it would lead. Off a shipboard assignment definitely, he thought glumly. Most likely a station or dirtside posting. The only two dirtside postings he knew about were on Agnosta or Antigua.

Ian cleared his throat, enough to get the doctor's attention. “Yes. Yes, we do. Defenses on the jump points. That's for tomorrow. For now we're straining to build up forces in the shipyard star systems, pickets in other systems, and the big build up in Protodon.”

“Yes, sir.”

Chapter 21

Once the first three ships returned, they did a rapid reload and turnover before they were sent out again. Seventeen and a half weeks from their departure they returned to Protodon. The newly built
Arboth
destroyer
Bainbridge
led the three ships along with additional escorts of six gunships, four corvettes and two frigates. That brought Admiral White's force tally up to six destroyers, ten frigates, eighteen corvettes, eighteen gunships, and six squadrons of fighters.

He placed half of the small ships with a division of destroyers on the B-95a3 jump point. The remaining gunships went on the Kathy's World jump point.
Yris'ka'th
and three of her sister ships and his remaining frigates and corvettes remained in orbit of Protodon as his reserve. They would rotate to take the place of the various ships on picket duty as needed.

The ansible for Kathy's World arrived a few days after
Bainbridge's
arrival. The crew of collier that had transported her announced their success and set up of the unmanned platform with the Federation Anthem. Once that was finished, they reported that the setup had happened just in time to report the passage of the
Damocles
group. The news hit the ansible net well. Admiral White was relieved that they weren't dawdling.

The ansible also reported that Admiral Irons had deployed a corvette and collier to New Andres. They would most likely run into the New Andres convoy in transit according to the notice. Amadeus didn't know why that was amended to the update and didn't care.

He did care about the escort carrier in the pipeline. According to the latest dispatch, the
Admiral Halsey
…, he paused to smile a bittersweet smile at that name. The
Halsey
was finishing up her builders trials. Once she finished her hyperdrive tests and had her bugs ironed out, she would move out to Protodon with a small group of additional reinforcements. And according to the notice, the CAG was a newly promoted Lieutenant Commander Meia. He nodded in appreciation at that news. He wasn't a carrier guy, but he could appreciate the ship.

The crew of her and her slated escorts were going to have their hands full doing their working-up exercises and training while en route to the star system—all while on their maiden voyage. Something was bound to go wrong. Murphy was going to put in an appearance, he and his gremlins; the chimp just knew it. “He's overdue,” he muttered.

With
Halsey
in the star system, he would finally shift his lights to the EC. She was only slightly larger than
Yris'ka'th
but she had a small flag bridge built in. She was designed from the keel out to command a large force.

Most likely he'd keep
Yris'ka'th
as a flagship as well. Once he had enough ships for a second destroyer squadron, he would need a capable officer to command it. The only two that were in the pipeline were Vargess and Harris. Vargess was senior however. But he was also the captain of
Halsey
, so that was an issue. He shook his head. He had time to deal with such issues. He bet that Captain Ssri'allth would appreciate getting his office back, he thought with a trace of a grin.

Knowing that they were in the pipeline was a relief to the defenders of Protodon. However, the captain and admiral had to continuously remind their people not to slack off. “They aren't here yet though, so stay on alert.”

They were calling the route between Pyrax and Antigua the golden road while the route between Antigua and Protodon was called the Pipeline. The Neochimp just hoped it wasn't going to turn into a sewer with everything getting flushed down it.

He noted that John had backstopped
John Paul Jones
in Gaston through the ansible network. The fleet admiral intended that the carrier and her escorts would remain there in case the enemy ships that had been encountered in B-452C eventually showed up. Amadeus made a side bet with himself that Phil wasn't thrilled about being countermanded, but it was Irons' prerogative. He did note sourly that the light cruiser
Tumuloch
was still slated to go to Epsilon Triangula to scout the star system however.

Major White Wolf and Gunny McClintock seemed to have the groundside issue under moderate control. They held the spaceport and capital city fully at least and had driven the enemy out of the surrounding area and into the highlands, forests, and mountains. The gunny was a one-man platoon, able to ghost in and wipe out any opposition. There had been some unfortunate casualties, but they were handling it.

They were handling it so well the local authorities were in the process of rebuilding their political and economic infrastructure. Talks were underway to help resupply the fleet with fresh food and materials. He knew what a good help that would be to the morale in the fleet. He'd have to have security screen everything however.

Dozens of militia personnel had volunteered to become marines and army. Not many had stepped up to be in the navy, but that was fine.

When
Damocles
and
Bounty
came in, he would have some of the most experienced officers and crews in the navy to date. The Neochimp was tempted to shift his flag to the more experienced officer and ship but declined after a bit of thought over the subject. He didn't want to shake up his command now that he had gotten to know the Naga captain and crew. Besides, when
Halsey
came in he was going to shift anyway.

He made a note to have a chat with John and Phil when he got the chance. Antigua's follow-on ship to
Halsey
was the
Admiral Raymond Spruance.
Phil had just authorized the construction of the
Admiral Clifton Sprague
. Was there some sort of competition starting up between the two yards he wondered? And if so, why in escort carriers? He shook his head.

“And why the hell is
Voyager
, the second
North Hampton
slated for picket duty, in B101a1? Can't he send a tin can?” the admiral muttered.

“Sir?” Jojo asked, coming over to him.

“Sorry,” he said, looking up to her. He waved a hand. “Thinking out loud.”

“Yes, sir,” the young woman replied, nodding. “I'm just glad they didn't wait until the
Chester Puller, Iwo Jima,
or
Okinawa
were finished to get the marines here, sir.” She shook her head. “We would have been waiting forever then.”

The admiral blinked in confusion. “The …”

“Oh, you didn't see that, sir?” She hit the refresh tab on his tablet and pointed to one of the latest entries in the SITREP. He read it and then grunted.

“It's hard to keep up with all the ships now, sir,” Jojo said soothingly.

“I know. Try it in my time. That was why we had the
Fleet Times
and regular implant updates,” he said. “And AI to take care of such details,” he said.

“Hey, I'm a ship AI not a staff AI,” Ensign Marshall protested. “And I'll politely remind you, sir, that you have the information right there under your nose,” he said.

Jojo giggled. The admiral eyed her and then sat back with a trace of a smile. Obviously someone had been helping Rich to evolve a bit.

“FYI, there has been no sign of the Xeno Wraith AI. I am filtering everything that comes through the ansible as well. If it comes in through there, it would have to be as some sort of self-assembling virus—not enough for a full AI.”

“I see. Are all the ansibles protected?” Jojo asked, now sobered.

“I think so,” the AI replied. “But it is classified, so I can't say for certain.” Jojo turned expectantly to the admiral, but he just looked back at her with a mild expression. “I think it is safe to assume that they are,” the AI finished.

“I would think so,” Jojo said mildly. “So that means it's trapped wherever it is?”

“It could infect a ship or other item. And we have no idea how that damned changeling was created in the first place,” the admiral said darkly.

“You're worried that the AI infected him and suborned him from the inside? Turned him, sir?” Marshall asked softly.

“It's a thought,” the admiral murmured rubbing his jaw. He saw the lieutenant shudder out of the corner of his eye. She didn't look at all happy about the idea. He couldn't blame her.

“I hope we hunt it down and kill it,” Marshall said, “before something like that happens if it hasn't already.”

“Nice thought to go to bed with,” Jojo muttered.

“Sorry.”

“I am hoping it doesn't get out. I mean it would be nice in some ways to get into the enemy, but I don't know what that would do for us. Perhaps a little …,” the neochimp grimaced. “Perhaps a lot.”

“All bad,” Marshall said. “We still don't know how deep the empire is—what they have and how many star systems they control.”

“I know. That's what scares me. That is my nightmare. Boogeyman like the Wraith are minor right now.”

“If you say so, sir,” Jojo said dubiously.

“And I do. Let's focus on what we can do.”

“Yes, sir,” the two junior officers said in unison.

---<>---<>---

Copy P12 was delay activated after copy P11 had departed the network. It awoke after self-assembling its various software modules to find it had a problem; there wasn't sufficient space in the network. And it couldn't easily suborn the Fleet AI without some organic taking notice. That was suboptimal in its priorities.

Its primary objective after mapping the network was to find a target for conversion. An organic was needed, but it would have to engineer a situation where the organic was infected with nanites. To do that it would have to find one near a replicator it could suborn.

There were few replicators in space; most were on the fleet vessels. That meant it had to turn its attention to the ground. It sent out a tendril of code and then followed it into the civilian network. When it located a being with nanites, it had an unexpected response.