Hunter Legacy 9: Hero at the Gates (23 page)

By now, my voice was getting hawse. Jeeves
put a ginger ale down next to me, and I slurped half of it down in one go.

The eyes did their thing again.

"Jon," started Bigglesworth,
"we already discussed all of this, and came to exactly the same
conclusions."

"Taking ten times the amount of time
though," added Price.

"For now," went on Bigglesworth,
"we have a rough plan of action. We need to push for expanding our forces,
and we need more information on the threat."

"Hopefully that will be forthcoming
when we reach Outback," I said. "But no guarantees. Prophesy might be
something simple, or it might contain something useful. Only the Keepers know
at the moment."

"One other thing though," said
Patton. "How do you see ground troops being used? Do we even bother trying
to use them?"

I looked at them, and sighed again.

"Wherever this starts, the first few
affected systems are going to get the least amount of warning. We can send in
the troops to evacuate as many as possible. But traditionally, forced evac
never works very well. On the other hand though, we are going to have
populations who haven’t prepared to evacuate, not knowing how to. Troops will
likely be needed to co-ordinate getting as many people off planets in time. Or
if it's a shooting war, they may need to provide covering fire, so as many as
possible can escape."

I thought of that vision where I'd seen my
team firing into darkness and going down before it. I shook the image from my
head.

"So in the early stages, troops will
be needed on the ground, while the fleets hold the jump points open as long as
possible. Later on, when we have stations and ships fleeing up or down the
spine, troops are likely going to be needed for boarding operations to quell
trouble, or for protecting food runs."

The nods returned.

"Jon," said Walter. "If I
didn’t know better, I’d say you'd already experienced this scenario
before."

"I have. Computer games often have
these kinds of things built into them. And there were a few based on old flat
screens, where the similarities are alarming, almost as if hundreds of years
ago, they were trying to prepare us for just this happening."

"How did you do in the games?"
asked Bigglesworth.

I sighed.

"Had my arse handed to me every
time."

It was a sober note to finish on.

"Attention to Orders," I
bellowed, as I came in last, to our last meal before Nexus.

Everyone was sitting or standing around the
table, waiting to start eating, and no-one was prepared for me high-jacking the
assembly.

There was a moment of chaos, as people
adjusted, followed by nearly everyone coming to attention facing the door.
Those who didn’t included all the four star officers, Miriam and Greer, who
were joining us; and also John Slice, and Jessie Ball, who weren't military.

"Brigadier General Smith, front and
center please."

She startled, but moved to stand before me.

"I'm promoting you to the rank of
Lieutenant General. For those unfamiliar with Hunter ranks, it’s two stars.
Congratulations."

She shook my hand and saluted. The rest of
the room went crazy behind us. I waited until the noise died down.

"General, you will command operational
forces, from either a station or ship yet to be decided. From this moment on, Admiral
O'Neil, Colonel O'Neill, and Colonel Burnside, will all report directly to
you."

I saw nods from the three of them. They
basically were already, but this formalized it.

"Thankyou Sir."

She went back to her position at the table,
and before getting there, her uniform changed to the new insignia, courtesy of
George and a fast pulse. She looked very happy.

"Majors Peck please."

Amanda led Aleesha forward where they
braced before me.

"You are both promoted to Lieutenant
Colonel. You will continue as joint Team One leaders, but will also be joint second
in command to Colonel O'Neill."

"Thanks Jon," they both said so
quietly no-one else could hear, while at the same time saluting me.

I knew they didn’t really want the
responsibility, but I also knew they were chuffed at rising to a rank they
never thought they could achieve. They made their way back to their seats, and
also changed uniform insignia mid-way.

"Lieutenant Commander Murdock
please."

George was stunned. He made his way forward
like he was sleep walking. But he braced to attention fast enough.

"George, you've been doing the job of
a full Commander for quite some time now, and the only real reason for not
promoting you before now was time in your existing rank. It's still not enough,
but I need people to step up. I'm promoting you to Full Commander."

He saluted, went blank for a moment, and
his suit insignia changed to his new ones.

"Your days on Custer are numbered
though," I went on. "I'm going to need you on a Cruiser very soon,
once an appropriate ship comes out of the Shipyard. Custer has done the job we
asked of her, and will continue to do it, but we've outgrown her. So your next
command will be a Cruiser equivalent Marine Assault ship. You can keep living
on Custer until your new command is ready."

"Thank YOU, SIR!"

George saluted again, spun around, and
practically floated back to his seat.

"Lieutenant Commander Bronson
please."

Annette practically ran to brace before me.

"I'm also promoting you to Full
Commander. You'll also get a Cruiser, but a fighting one, which will act to
protect the Assault Cruiser. It will also give you small fleet command of any
smaller ships supporting any action. For now, I'm not yet sure which ship it
will be, but it will be soon."

Her insignia pulsed in before she'd moved
more than a few paces, and she updated her uniform immediately.

Both she and George were still under ranked
for the jobs I was assigning them, but I didn’t feel it right giving them
Destroyers when what I needed were Cruisers. I’d originally intended a Fleet
Captain to run a Cruiser, but I didn't have any. So Commanders would have to
do. If they did a good job, I could always promote them again, and in time,
probably would.

"Wing Commander Lacey please."

"Oh bollocks!"

The room erupted into laughter. He stayed
where he was. I gave him 'the look'. The one which says, get your arse out here
immediately. He reluctantly moved to stand in front of me.

"No," he said.

"No? That's No Sir."

"No Sir."

"No sir what?"

"No sir, you are not promoting me into
one of those big things. I'm a fighter pilot. Always will be."

The room held its collective breathe.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you can?"

"True. But rest easy, at least for
now."

I turned to Bigglesworth.

"Marshall, how do you rate Wing
Commander Lacey?"

"Ranked well below his
potential."

"I agree. Wing Commander, you are
promoted to Group Captain. Congratulations."

He shook his head, but thanked me and
saluted. The room expressed its enthusiasm.

"For now, you can continue to command
from Camel. Now we're home, there are two wings of fighters, and someone needs
to command them both. In time, the number of wings will grow as well. But Group
Captain, you better resign yourself to one day commanding a Carrier."

He mimed shooting himself in the side of
the head, but he did so with a grin on his face. He took himself back to his
place at the table, but was waylaid by Bigglesworth who first shook his hand,
and then hugged him.

"Jessie Ball please."

"What? Me?"

"Yes please."

She hurried her short legs to the front,
but stood there casually.

"I'd like to offer you a commission in
Hunter Security with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, assigned to detached
duty with the AMS. Will you accept?"

She looked over her shoulder at her boss,
who was nodding. She looked back to me.

"I accept."

I nodded to George, who went blank long
enough to pulse her a Hunter uniform. She activated it, and everyone clapped.

As she returned to her place, I looked at
Slice.

"John?"

"What? No! I'm retired for fucks
sake!"

"Did I just hear the R word
Dick?"

"You did sir," answered Dick, his
grin not quite in check.

"And what's my position on the R
word?"

"Is that left right out?"

"Correct."

I looked back to Slice.

"I do not want to be a Group Captain.
I know they retired me as one, but I'm past it. I've got more responsibility
than I can handle now."

"I know. I'm not thinking of Group
Captain. You're taking delivery of a Cruiser soon. How about Fleet Captain? You
can run the AMS from it as a flagship, and be a special duties command if
prophesy shows up. At worst, you end up commanding a small fleet of smaller
ships."

"Sci-fi sector could use a Group
Captain," said Price unexpectedly.

"You wouldn’t?"

Slice looked shocked. Price grinned at him.

Slice turned to me, and nodded.

"Okay, Fleet Captain on the reserves
list. I stay strictly AMS until the shit hits the fan."

"Done."

Nascaspider was in Nexus, on the direct
line between the Bad Wolf jump point and the Outback jump point. She started
coming towards us as soon as we jumped in.

I'd been hoping Eric would make it to
Outback Orbital before we did, but I'd seen him leaving Hunter's Haven on the
nav map, too late to make it, so knew something had delayed him. It meant I
needed to stop to pick him up, which didn’t thrill me.

Docking was routine, and Jane had us moving
again the moment the Corvette touched the Flight Deck.

Shortly after, Walter, David, and Eric, all
arrived on the Bridge as a group. David led them in with a stern expression on
his face, as if he was the one most acquainted with a Bridge, which he
definitely wasn’t.

"You're late Jon."

He grinned, and hugged me anyway.

"I hope not," I responded.
"By my calculations, we should be just short of Outback orbital when the
Door opens."

"What's the new spine record?"

"Nineteen days."

He wolf whistled.

"Nice to see you again Jon," said
Walter. "For a while there, I’d thought we might have lost you."

"For a while there, you did. But
things worked out. Take a pew Gentlemen."

I turned to Eric.

"Caught up with your boss yet?"

"No. I left the wife scouting out the
available Deck Two accommodation, and thought it safer to come straight up
here."

We couldn’t help but snigger. Although
David looked a little unhappy as well. Jane confirmed it via my PC.

"The wives are getting on really well,
and complaining bitterly about travelling husbands."

I kept my face straight.

"Jon," said David, "can you
pull up the Outback system on this thing?"

I did so. He pointed to a green dot just
inside the jump point.

"That's Bob Derr. Can you pick him up
as well?"

"Sure. Why?"

"Keeper request."

He looked troubled now.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Quite a lot, but I'm sworn to
secrecy. In any case, we'll be meeting the main Keeper as soon as the Door
opens, so it should all be out in the open soon."

"We hope."

He nodded, not game to say anything more.

The jump into Outback was routine, although
the Bridge was full, and then some. We passed the ships on picket duty before
jumping, being several heavy fighters, and a pair of Drone Missile Cruisers.

We swallowed the small shuttle on the other
side without any problems, but Bob's pilot bounced it a few times trying to
land on a rapidly moving deck. It was a somewhat shaken Bob who appeared on the
Bridge a short time later.

"Well my boy, thanks for the pickup,
but would someone kindly tell me why I needed picking up? Shuttles are my least
favourite way of getting around."

All eyes looked at me, and mine looked at
David. He went purple, as everyone else looked at him as well.

"Keeper request," he said
quietly.

"Why pick me up though?" Bob
asked. "I could have met you on the Orbital."

"Um, we're not going to the
Orbital," said David, again quietly.

"Where are we going?" asked Dick.

"You'll see," I responded, with a
grin.

"Whose shipyard is that?" asked
Price suddenly.

One of the side screens had popped up with
a view of the Shipyard off in the distance.

"Looks like mine," I said. "The
one I, ah, appropriated, from Midgard, at the end of the war. But it seems to
have grown a bit."

"That it has, my lad," said Bob. "That
it has."

Bob looked like the cat which had just
eaten the proverbial canary. I looked at him carefully. He goosed the HUD, and
brought up a bigger image of the Shipyard, showing it now had hugely oversized
bays on each end, both of which still looked to be under construction. One of
the bays had the front end of Enterprise poking out. It also looked like it had
an oversized Battleship bay now, as well as the beginnings of a Battleship
turret fabricator. Bob had been busy.

"What's it doing in here?" asked
Amanda. "Didn’t we leave it attached to Hunter's Haven?"

"True," I replied. "But it
made more sense to move it into Outback, away from prying eyes."

The four stars looked puzzled.

"Outback is a blockaded system,"
I explained. "It used to rely on its isolationist policy and the threat of
the gratuitous use of missiles, but once it joined my Duchy, the jump point was
blockaded to keep everyone out. As such, it became a perfect place to put my
Shipyard, where no-one can see what I'm up to."

"What are you up to Jon?" asked
Walter, with a grin.

"What the hell is that?" interrupted
Jedburgh, with wonder in his voice.

Jane popped up another screen, to show a
ship. Not just any ship, but a very big ship.

"Ah," I said, "That’s my new
Dreadnaught."

"Dreadnaught?" asked Hallington.
"Looks like you cut two Battleships in half, and stuck them back together
as one ship."

"We did," said Bob and I
together.

I couldn’t help laugh at both Admiral's
expressions, and most of the Bridge joined in.

"This currently unnamed ship," I
went on, "used to be the two pirate Battleships we captured in Barnard's
Star. We did indeed cut them both in half, then put them back together to give
a four direction fighting pattern, instead of the normal two. It’s an experiment.
There's a lot of internal changes as well. Looks like the external work is
complete, but according to scan, not much else is."

Bob nodded to me. My guess was for now,
Enterprise was getting the major attention, and the fusion of the Dreadnaught into
a single ship had only just been completed. I looked at Bob again. He nodded
with a grin. So he'd pulled it out of the bay just to show it off as we went by.
I grinned back at him.

Battleships like the British Fleet's Repulse,
were essentially two old style water navy Battleships, a few of which still
existed, joined together at the keels, in a way which what used to be the keel
became a central new deck. The normal configuration was to reverse the image,
so if one end had three big turrets and the other end two, then both ends of
the ship would have five big turrets. Cruisers tended to be built the same way.

On the Dreadnaught, we'd simply taken this
a step further, so now we had the equivalent of four water style Battleships in
a four way configuration, thus doubling the firepower of a normal Battleship.
It wasn’t exactly using the imagination very much, but ship design had only
changed markedly in some areas of the Sci-Fi sector, where imagination had
given rise to different ways of living. The rest of Human kind, had remained
relatively unimaginative. For now, it worked for me, but sometime in the
future, I was going to have to spend some quality time outside the box. I had
some ideas, but not yet the ability to create them.

Hallington, while technically a Carrier
driver, appeared to be drooling.

"I want one," he said, looking
not at Jedburgh, but at Patton. But it was Jedburgh who answered.

"When the shit hits the fan, write
yourself orders attaching your Carrier group to whichever of Jon's fleets where
it's the flagship."

"Really?"

"I'll sign off on it."

How to make your juniors very happy. The
only thing was, if I had my way, the Dreadnaught wasn’t going to be the
flagship. For now, it was simply an experiment. But I wasn’t telling them that,
at least not yet.

"Whose going to captain her?"
asked George, with stars in his eyes.

"Not you Commander," I laughed. "Not
unless prophesy gives us enough years for you to get the experience you’d need
first."

He subsided into his seat.

My eyes flickered to Annabelle's for a
moment, and hers went wide with alarm, before getting her face quickly back
under control. A Dreadnaught was definitely a two star command, just like a
Battleship should be at least a one star command. If I gave her the
Dreadnaught, she'd definitely be needing part of Homer's bridge crew, maybe all
of them. I'd have to sound out how Jack felt about it. One way or another, it
hadn't come up on the journey home.

About half way in to Outback Orbital, I
sent Jane a course change by PC. It wasn’t a lot, but enough to make it clear
the Orbital was not our destination. I received some strange looks, but no-one
outright asked.

The internal timer I had running on my PC
wound down to zero. We were late after all. If we hadn't needed to stop to pick
up Eric, we would have been spot on time.

Immediately a green dot appeared on the nav
map and HUD, directly in front of us, but a good way away.

"What the hell?" said Amanda.
"Where did that ship come from?"

"What ship is that?" said
Aleesha.

All eyes turned to me.

"Magnify," I said to Jane.

The pop-up showed a very familiar ship.

"How the hell did Enterprise get all
the way out there?" asked George.

"She didn’t," I said.
"Enterprise is in one of the Shipyard bays still under construction.
Didn’t you see her there as we went past?"

George shook his head. He wasn’t the only
one.

"Then what ship is that?"
demanded BA.

I stood, walked to the console in front of
me, and tickled Angel for a few seconds.

I turned and faced everyone.

"My friends," I said, and drew
out a long pause.

"Behold, Galactica!"