Hunter Legacy 5 Hail the Hero (3 page)

“Commander,” I said to Alsop.
“Can you communicate with Dallas Military, and organize us food, water,
and consumables, for two hundred people, for a week?”

“Yes sir. I’ll use what we ordered for
your station, before the Avon battle, as a base to work from.”

“Also, we’ll need parts for the
fighters. Jane will give you an idea of what we need, but get them to send us
enough parts to repair seven squadrons of all the usual battle damage. Plus
what the Excalibur’s and Gunbus’ need.”

“Yes sir.”

He went blank.

“Jane, you may need to do two trips.
Food and supplies for two days first. Parts second. The rest of the food third.
When the parts arrive, start repairing ships, starting with the least
damaged.”

“Confirmed.”

I pinged Miriam to get her pilots to sleep,
warned that as soon as their ships were repaired, they would be swapping with
someone still out there. She acknowledged.

“Jane, give each pilot a minimum of
six hours sleep. As a ship is repaired, and after the six hours are up, get the
pilot up and launched, with instructions to tell the next fighter which needs
repair, to land. We need to repair as many as possible as fast as possible. I don’t
want us having to stick around here babysitting fighters for days on end.”

“Confirmed.”

I sighed again.

“Congratulations boss,” said
Annabelle with a grin.

I sighed yet again, and Annabelle, Alison,
and Vonda laughed. Alsop was in his own world, and hadn’t noticed.

I looked at Annabelle.

“Did you find out if the Americans
have troops with them?”

“They don’t.”

“At least that’s something. We could
have taken fifty or so, but no more. Let’s just hope we don’t need them.”

I pondered for a few moments.

“Jane, how many more fighters can we
take aboard?”

“The receiving and maintenance bays
are full. The Midway class was only designed for four squadrons.”

“What about moving the least damaged
ones into the launch bays, with the outer doors sealed?”

“Confirmed. It’ll be a tight fit, but
we could get in another thirty six fighters that way.”

“Prep another shuttle for Miriam
please.”

“Confirmed.”

I pinged Miriam to take a shuttle out, and
have the rest of the fighters land. I told her we’d worked out where to store
them. They would need to enter through the forward end of the Flight Deck, as
the rear had parked ships. She pinged back to say she was on her way.

I sighed again.

“You need sleep Jon,” said Vonda.
“Let the weight settle for the rest of the night, and pick it up again in
the morning.”

“I agree,” said Annabelle.

I noticed Alison wasn’t there. Neither was
Alsop.

“Angel,” I said.

Meow?

“Bed time sweetie.”

She stood, stretched, jumped down from the
back of the chair, and ran down her ramp. The white flash vanished out the
door.

We also stood, and with a series of
goodnights, we headed for our suites.

In my bedroom, I managed to switch my suit
back to a belt, shuck my briefs in favour of boxers and t-shirt, and climb into
bed. Angel settled next to my neck as usual. I stroked her a few times, and to
the sound of her purr, I fell asleep.

I woke to find myself draped with naked
females.

Miriam was on one side of me, and Alison on
the other. Angel was curled into my neck as usual.

I gaped at the women in turn. I’d half
expected Miriam, but Alison as well? My mind boggled.

I gently moved the draped anatomy off me,
and crawled out, ducking into the shower.

“Time,” I said to Jane.

“Seven fifty five,” she replied
through coms. “I’m waking everyone in five minutes.”

“Good.”

“Where are you holding the
meeting?”

“Conference Room big enough?”

“Just.”

“There will do. It won’t be for
long.”

“Where are you Jon?” asked Miriam
loudly.

“Shower,” I called back.

Two naked women walked into my bathroom. I
looked at them. I closed my eyes, and opened them again, expecting to find
myself alone. They were still there.

“Wait,” I said. “Your Amanda
and Aleesha playing a joke on me, with good suit programming.”

“Wrong,” they both said together,
smiling widely.

Miriam entered the shower first, followed
by Alison.

“Umm,” I said, not really having
any clue as to what to say next.

“He’s clueless,” said Miriam.

“You’re surprised about that?”
responded Alison.

They both laughed at my obvious puzzlement.

“Put him out of his misery,” went
on Alison.

“It’s alright Jon. I know about you
and Alison. She contacted me, and asked my permission, before the Avon battle.
I’m a pilot. I get the whole tomorrow-we-might-be-dead thing. Lord knows, all
three of us have nearly died in the last week. You thought I’d be upset?”

I nodded.

She kissed me, and turned to Alison.

“I get the front, you get the
back.”

“Why do I get the back?”

“I outrank you.”

“Oh.”

“GOOD MORNING MIAMI!”

By the time I was able to exit the shower,
I was well and truly washed.

The three of us headed along to the Dining
Room for breakfast. For once, I was starving, and ate the full porky.

I didn’t linger, but headed up to my Ready
Room. Alison followed me. We sat at the conference table.

“Sitrep Jane.”

“All requested commanders are on the
way. All fighters were recovered. Freighter is due back in approximately two
hours. Work is in progress on the coms issue.”

“What was the problem?”

“The EMP from the two nukes fried most
external circuitry. So while coms were actually fine, every antenna array in
the fleet was rendered inoperable. Something like thirty percent of external
turrets were also affected, which is why so many of the Corvettes and
Privateers died. They just didn’t have enough working Point Defense for what
was fired at them.”

“Hell. It’s always the simple things
which get you in the end. We have the parts for the antenna arrays?”

“Yes, for the fighters anyway. The
capital ships should be able to do their own. If not, they’ll need a shipyard. As
far as other repairs go, we don’t have parts for Sabres and Epees, let alone
Excalibur’s. Two hours for them to arrive. Repairs will take the best part of a
day.”

“Gunbus’ and Excalibur’s first. The
rest in order of least damage.”

“Confirmed.”

I turned to Alison.

“Can you go to the Conference Room now
please? As each person enters, ask their name, or who they’re representing, and
ping them their orders. Seating is by rank. I’d suggest you make a plan of the
table and allocate, and tell people where to sit, or not, as they enter. Put
Yorktown on my left and Lexington on my right. Greer and Young next to them.
Then the two Pocket Battleships, and the Missile Cruiser.”

“I can do that.”

She left with a smile on her face. It
wasn’t often a Lieutenant was able to boss around higher ranks.

I reached for my pad, and checked for any
important emails.

A Lieutenant Colonel Ashdale, General
Patton’s aide, had emailed asking for more information on the fleet’s
condition. Jane told me the battle feeds, and a brief summary, had been sent
off, when Greer returned from his midnight jaunt. I replied I was meeting with
all ship commanders at nine, after which all of them would be submitting
reports, if they’d not already done so on arrival on board. I would send an
update after the meeting myself.

I continued wading through the daily
accumulation.

Precisely at nine, I walked into the
Conference Room from the Bridge.

“Admiral on deck,” said someone,
and the room came to attention.

“As you were,” I said. Those at
the table, sat. The rest stood easy.

The room was filled to capacity, with only
a corridor of space to let me get to my seat. Everyone in the room looked at me
expectantly. A few of them frowned when they saw my age for the first time. I
ignored them, and took my seat at the head of the table. To both sides were
Commanders. A few of the Captains further down the table looked upset at the
placement of junior ranks ahead of them. Greer looked tired for some reason.

“For those who don’t know me,” I
began, “I’m Vice Admiral Hunter. The purpose of this meeting has already
been achieved, being the delivery of your orders from General Patton. As per my
instructions, I formally take command of all American forces in the Miami
system.”

I turned to Yorktown.

“Sitrep,” I said to her.

“Commander Bowrey sir. Temporarily in
command of Yorktown. Yorktown survived the initial incursion because of your
orders sir. We were pushed down far enough for the first two Cruiser, whatever
they were-s, to miss the ships on our hull by inches. The two nukes they fired,
resulted in complete coms failure, and a lot of smaller turret failures.
Unfortunately, we ended up to the side of, and slightly below, the jump point,
and a Missile Cruiser was fast enough to get a barrage off at us, while still
in down jump. Combined Point Defense from the ships still on our hull took out
half the barrage, but the other half hit us. Yorktown needs a shipyard. We have
engines again, as of a short time ago, but won’t be making any speed records.
The Flight Deck was substantially damaged, and we can’t land anything. The
Launch tube system was also badly damaged, so we can’t launch either.”

She looked at me helplessly.

“Senior officers?” I prompted.

“The Bridge was badly hit. All the
senior officers are in medical Care Units. I was the senior officer in the CIC,
otherwise I’d either be dead, or in medical also.”

“Thank you.”

I turned to Lexington, and nodded to him.

“Commander Atwell, sir. The first
group of Missile Cruisers had time to turn and line us up really well. We took
most of a barrage. I’m not sure, but I think Lexington will have to be
scrapped. The Bridge was destroyed, the Admiral and Captain killed. I was also
in the CIC. We have major casualties. After Commander Greer left, we started
receiving damage control teams, and medical help from other ships, so we’re
holding our own for now. But Lexington will need to be towed back to Dallas
sir.”

“Thank you.” I looked towards the
first of the Captains. “Pocket Battleships and Missile Cruiser sitrep.”

The senior of the three Captains said,
“Captain Johansson, sir, of Harrison Ford. This is Captain Dunning of the
Mark Hamill, and Captain Channing of the Missile Cruiser Backblast. All three
ships are in good shape sir, thanks to the Mosquito systems, and Point Defense.
We took a few missiles each, but didn’t lose shields. We expect to have coms
back up by the time we return to our ships.”

“Good. As soon as you’re back aboard,
jump your ships through to Midgard, and report to Commodore O’Neil. You’ll join
his fleet.”

“Daniel O’Neil sir? Last I heard he
had the Mercenary Frigate General Custer.”

“That’s him. He works for me now. He
has command of the John Wayne.”

There were smiles from quite a few down the
table.

“About time that son of a gun lived up
to his potential,” grinned a white haired Captain, sitting next to Captain
Channing. Sounded like there was a story there, but now wasn’t the time.

“Anyone else damaged enough to need a
shipyard?” I asked.

A dozen hands were raised at the table, and
just as many among the standing officers. The former presumably had Cruisers,
and the latter most likely Destroyers, Frigates or Corvettes. With their lack
of Point Defense, the Talons had big juicy targets to aim their missiles at.
Each individual missile wouldn’t have done much, but a squadron launch at a
single ship, if they all hit, would have done a lot of damage.

“Who is senior Captain among those
ships not damaged?”

The white haired Captain raised his hand.

“Captain Pleasance of the Nicolas
Cage”.

“Form an escort for the Carriers out
of those ships also needing a shipyard. Have Lexington towed by the most
appropriate ship for the task. Include a tow vessel for Yorktown in case she
needs one as well. Leave behind all salvage droids to continue with the
cleanup. When you arrive at Dallas Shipyard, contact General Patton for further
orders.”

“Aye sir.”

“Who’s next in seniority, who won’t be
going back to Dallas?”

“Me sir.” A hand was raised next to
Captain Pleasance. “Captain Holloway of the Tom Cruise.”

“The remaining undamaged ships will
stay to blockade this jump point. Please supervise the cleanup. All debris is
to be cleared into a mountain well away from the jump point. No one is allowed
through except for the following. I have a freighter doing supply runs at the
moment. And the diplomatic ship Command is sending, with its escort. They should
jump into Midgard, and request instructions before proceeding any further.
Anyone else with what sounds like a good reason, should be referred to me for a
decision. Until we sweep the entire system, fingers will stay on the triggers,
so I don’t want any accidents with unexpected guests.”

“Yes sir.”

“Anyone not able to fix their own
coms?”

Greer and Miriam looked at me, and I gave
them a small head shake to mean not them.

No one moved.

“Good. No-one leaves this ship without
first sending a full report of the battle off to General Patton’s aide,
including a complete status report of their ship or command. The Joint Chiefs
want to know what happened, and how many pieces need picking up. If you need an
office, there are some you can use on this level, otherwise there’s a Rec Room
on the next level down. Let’s get on with it. Dismissed.”

I stood, and everyone stood as well. I
walked out, and returned to my Ready Room.