Hunter Legacy 5 Hail the Hero (6 page)

“I guess so.”

I grinned at him.

“And since you’re all crew on the
BigMother at the time of capture, under the terms of our contract, you’re all
listed as crew members of the station, and entitled to a share of the income it
produces.”

There was a mixture of smiles and shakes of
the head. I beamed at them until they were all smiling back.

It took another half hour to attach the
tow, and for station and escort to move off. The fleet started back to Midgard.
I switched my suit back to fatigues.

We all went down for a late dinner, where
we found the rest of the team, just arriving from Custer.

Dinner was a boisterous affair, now the war
seemed to be over. We were still lingering over desserts (me), and coffee
(everyone else), when we arrived back at Midgard. The return trip had taken
more than twice as long as the outbound trip, because we were escorting slow
freighters.

The Cruisers were instructed to dock at the
station, and offload everyone. All the freighters followed them. The station
was going to be crowded for a while, until everyone was ferried down to the
surface.

Jane sent her security droids in for crowd
control, using my shuttles, but not the Gig, which I didn’t want to get
trashed. Each shuttle also carried five combat droids. The security droids, who
appeared to be human, and thus wouldn’t alarm anyone, started loading
operations.

I instructed every ship with its own
shuttle, to provide a military escort for the pilot, and begin taking people
down. As well as the shuttle dock, we configured some of the main docks to take
shuttles.

The drop off point was a large field outside
the capital city. Those who were still out from stunning, went first, and were
literally dropped in a heap out of the way.

Once the Cruisers and freighters were empty,
I had Jane send over repair droids with fighter computers, so Jane could use the
ships fully. They also gave the ships Hunter ID overlays. As each one was
completed, it docked with a Pocket Battleship, loaded up with the salvaged
hulls it was carrying, and Jane sent it to the jump point, to dock with the
station. The super-freighter loaded all the remaining hulls, and was the last
to leave.

My small freighter landed on the Flight
Deck, was taken down, and unloaded. It didn’t need to do another trip, so it
joined the shuttles in moving people. The last lot of parts would hopefully see
the rest of the fighter’s combat ready by the morning. The ships might be
ready, but I doubted the pilots would be. Miriam had gone down to check on
them, and found a party in progress. By the sound of things, there would be
hangovers in the morning.

Vonda came back aboard, and we conferred in
my Ready Room. She sent off a vid announcing that two stations had been
neutralized, and subject to the patrols not finding anything else, the war
would be declared over the following morning.

We joined in the celebrations downstairs,
which had moved into the Rec Room. I was surprised to find Angel in there. She
was getting plenty of attention, and lapping it up.

Around eleven, I decided to called it a
night. I picked up Angel, received a mwow of protest, and a lot of wiggling,
and put her down again. She went off to seek someone else to pat her. I quietly
left.

I was in boxers and t-shirt when I heard my
door open and close. Miriam walked in with a grin on her face, pushed me down
onto the bed, and did a strip tease.

All thoughts of sleep, vanished.

* *
*

GOOD MORNING MIDGARD!

I jerked awake, as did Miriam beside me.

“Jane, did you do that to the whole
ship?”

“I certainly did,” she said with
a laugh.

“Sadist.”

“That’s one of the milder
comments.” The laugh echoed around the room.

“I bet,” said Miriam.

“You have orders Jon.”

Miriam pecked me on the lips, moved her
breasts against my chest, and ….

“YOU HAVE ORDERS JON!”

I rocketed up, Miriam pushed aside, and
fell out of bed, on my left side.

Miriam looked over the side at me.

“You okay?”

“No.”

“Jon, don’t make me send in a combat
droid,” said Jane.

“Yes mum.”

Miriam giggled.

I dragged myself up, and headed for the
shower. Miriam followed. Jane at least gave us time for a leisurely wash and
dry. Back in fatigues, Miriam headed for breakfast, and I to my Ready Room.

“Sitrep,” I said when comfortably
seated.

“Most of the pilots and marines are
hung over.”

“No surprise there. Tell me something
I don’t know.”

“All ships are back from their
patrols. Nothing additional found. General Wellington formally announced the
war to be over a half hour ago. The comnavsats are all placed. We now have an
unbroken coverage of ship movements all the way to Nexus.”

“Show me.”

The scanner map went up on the main screen.
It did indeed show all ship movements between here and the Nexus 618 system.
Nexus was the central hub of the Australian sector. I was interested to see a
lot of traffic heading in and out of Midnight, past my station, Hunters
Redoubt. As I watched, a blue dot detached from the station and headed towards
an Australian destination.

I dragged my attention away from it.

“You mentioned orders?”

“Check your emails.”

Indeed there were.

The first was from General Patton.

“Vice Admiral, congratulations on a
job well done. As soon as General Wellington can release you, you are to
proceed to Dallas Orbital. Bring the Corvettes and Privateers with you. They’ll
go into the shipyard to complete their repairs. Once you arrive, have the
Sabres and Epees transfer to the Military Orbital, or Shipyard, depending on
their condition. Advise my aide when you jump into Dallas.”

“On a personal note, I must say when
your promotions came up each time, I strenuously argued against them, based on
your age, and short experience. I admit I was wrong. You have conducted the war
better than most of the Generals and Admirals I know could have.”

“There will be further orders for you
once you reach Dallas Orbital. I’m sure the civilians will want a formal
celebration, so be prepared for one. Patton out.”

I sat back for a moment, absorbing what I’d
heard. A four star General apologizing? When I’d been responsible for getting
so many Americans killed? He was right in the first place, for Gaia’s sake. It
didn’t make sense.

I moved on to the next one, being General
Harriman.

“Congratulations Jon. You did the
impossible. And while I know you’re sitting there wondering what all the fuss
is about, take it from me, Australian sector is very grateful to you. The
Americans caught a series of bad breaks, and we feel for them. But all the
same, Midgard never entered American space, so their sacrifice was not in vain.
Don’t beat yourself up about the losses. It’s part of command.”

“Your station is becoming a hub of
activity here, as traffic between the sectors gets back to normal. It’ll be a
shame to move it now. Are you sure you want to do that? Let me know. I’m sure I
can convince Sci-Fi sector to allow it to remain here.”

“Enjoy the celebrations. That’s an
order!”

He grinned at me briefly, and the vid
ended. I started one to send back.

“Walter, thanks for your email. Order
accepted.” I gave him a grin. “The station can stay where it is.
However, make sure it’s well away from the jump point, and not in the line
towards Bad Wolf. I’ve taken possession of another station, one the size of
Sydney station. It will be heading your direction as soon as I can organize it.
It’ll go to the center of the Nexus system, just off the traffic routes between
the jump points. You can advise the merchants of the new station, and where it’ll
be. I’ll let them have first choice of moving to the new station if they wish,
or establishing themselves on both stations. Let David know, so he can make
preparations for moving there, and duplicating the administration section. It’ll
need some work first, so there’ll be no hurry to do anything.”

“I’m ordered to Dallas, and assume
there’ll be a delay in leaving there. At this point, I have no idea when you
can expect me back. But I’ll send the stations on soon, regardless of when I
can leave. I’ll advise you further when I know anything. Hunter out.”

The next email was from General Price.

“Congratulations Vice Admiral. Job
well done. I have to admit I had my doubts about you at first, but your conduct
has been exemplary. Proceed to Dallas, and offload the Americans. Leave the
Avon troops with General Wellington. I’ll have further orders for you when you
get there. Price out.”

Marshall Bigglesworth had the last word.

“Vice Admiral. Congratulations on a
job well done. I’ve heard nothing but good things from Admiral Bentley. I look
forward to meeting you soon, as do a few others here on London. Bigglesworth
out.”

I wondered what he meant by that. London
wasn’t in the general direction I intended going. Even if I was ordered back to
Avon, London wasn’t on the way.

I sighed. It would be good to get back into
my own uniform. It would be even better to get back into civvies for a while.

I called a meeting of senior officers for
nine.

I looked around the room. Seated at the
conference table were General’s Wellington and Smith; Admiral’s Bentley and
Dingle; Commodore O’Neal; Captain’s Johansson, Dunning, and Channing; and
Commander’s Greer and Young. Alsop and Alison sat at the other end.

“End of this road,” I said with a
smile. “I have orders to take the American pilots to Dallas.”

“I also have orders for Dallas,”
said Susan Bentley.

“Admiral,” I said to Dingle,
“You’ll command the Sci-Fi ships, under General Wellington. Give her all
the support she needs, as Governor of the system. You report to General Price,
through Commander Alsop. I’ve had no word about the status of this system, but
for now, assume it’s quarantined. You’ll need to put ships at the Azgard jump
point to stop people jumping in. I have assets there at the moment doing the
job, but they’ll be gone within two days. So work up a deployment plan that
blockades this planet and system. You won’t need to worry about the Miami jump
point yet. The Americans have a sizable fleet still there. If that changes,
someone will let you know. Although at some point, Sci-Fi sector will need to
take responsibility for that jump point as well.”

“Yes sir.”

“Captain Johansson. Harrison Ford,
Mark Hamill, and Backblast, will form the primary escort for the Diplomatic
Mission which is on its way. You’ll wait at the Miami jump point for their
arrival. In all other respects, which don’t interfere with the Diplomatic
Mission, you’ll report to Admiral Dingle, until a more senior American officer
arrives, or you’re recalled.”

“Yes sir.”

“General Smith, the Avon troops will
be remaining here. Debark them to the station, with enough supplies for three
days. The Senior Colonel has the command, reporting directly to General
Wellington. Move them to Custer, and have George dock her at the station for
the transfer. They can clean the station to keep them busy. Identify a place to
convert into an armoury.”

“Yes sir.”

“Commanders, your squadrons will be
returning to Dallas for repairs. Arrow formation ahead of the fleet please. No
point in having a normal CAP while we’re on the move.”

Why did that sound like famous last words?

“Sir,” said Greer. Miriam nodded.

I turned to Alsop.

“Commander, have you done provisioning
orders for the station yet?”

“No, sir. I was going to inventory
before ordering.”

“I think you can order without doing
that. The station will need a full complement of building, repair, butler, maid,
and cleaning droids. Add salvage, and search and rescue to the list, as well as
the normal amount of trolleys, shuttles and maintenance scooters. It needs a
new station computer as fast as one can be delivered. Assume the accommodations
will need rebuilding, or at the least, refurbishing, and order new beds, and
bed linens. Also everything else for kitchens, bathrooms, and Rec Areas. Order
enough food for five hundred people, for three months. Add whatever a normal
station administration requires, and anything Governor Wellington wants for her
comfort and wellbeing. Think of everything a station normally has, which a tech
hating people would destroy or remove. Get the order off as soon as you can. I
assume Avon will order from Dallas, and it’ll all be here tomorrow.”

“Yes sir.”

“Then you inventory. It’s faster to
assume there’s nothing on the station but empty space, and change orders after,
if need be. In the meantime, unless you find the miners lived high on the hog,
the Governor had better stay on Warspite until renovations are complete.
Talking of which, VIP quarters are first priority, followed by Diplomatic
meeting rooms, and administration. The Diplomats are going to be here for a
long time I suspect, and they won’t be wanting to sleep in tents on the
surface, or in some miner’s barracks.”

“Understood sir. I’ll get right on
it.”

“Governor?”

“It’s been a long road for all of us. Most
of the fleet has had its brushes with death. Pass on to your people, it’s been
a job well done.” There were smiles and nods all round. “Good luck to
all of you who are moving on. It’s been a pleasure working with you.”

The meeting degenerated into a general
expression of pleasure session, and broke up. Vonda remained behind after
everyone else had left.

“Jon,” she said, “I never
did figure out if you were a homicidal madman, or not.” We both laughed.
“But in spite of your age, you’re a natural leader. You joining the
Australian Militia was the best thing you could have done, and three sectors
are damned lucky you did.”

“I was drafted.”

“Drafted? You’re not serious?”

“Yes, I am. Australian sector lost
most of its pilots to pirates before I left Outback, and was down to only a
single patrol. I made ace on my first flight in a fighter, and General Harriman
drafted me when I arrived back at the station. I’ve never been happy about it,
but events proved it was probably for the best. It kept me on the straight and
narrow, and gave me some legitimacy. Without it, I might have become some sort
of pirate myself. I’ve skirted close a few times. Lacey was concerned yesterday
that I was turning pirate. I had to explain Privateer Law to him.”

“Oh? What did you privateer this
time?”

“Midgard’s original Orbital
station.”

She burst out laughing.

“You’re not content with a station
dressed up like a Battleship, and a huge shipyard, you want another station?
What else do you want?”

She couldn’t say that with a straight face,
and continued laughing.

“Actually, there’s something you can
do for me in that regard. General Harriman is going to be asking Sci-Fi sector
for permission for Hunter’s Redoubt to remain in Midnight as a control point
for ships entering Australian space. It could go in Nexus, but Midnight makes a
lot more sense, as it gives the sector a buffer zone if anything undesirable
gets past. The Orbital station is considerably larger, and is better suited to
the center of Nexus, which I have permission for already. If you could put in a
word on my behalf for permission to have a station in Midnight permanently, I’d
appreciate it.”

The laugh died. She gave me a long
speculative look.

“Done. And it’s my pleasure. It’s been
an experience working with you Admiral. I hope we cross paths again some
time.”

“Likewise. If you’re ever in my neck
of the woods, you’ll be most welcome.”

“On that note, I’d better get moving.
Take care of yourself Jon.”

“You too Vonda.”

We shook hands, and Vonda hugged me.