Send in the Hero (The Hunter Legacy Book 3) Page 3

  "Will I need them?"

  "Hopefully not. But having some stationed outside the CIC and key areas of the ship, will stop people getting stupid ideas. I'm doing the same with the Liner. As soon as you're loaded up, have Jane tow Custer out to you, and get her hooked up."

  "Right sir, I'll get on with preparations to leave." He stood, seemed to be suppressing a salute, nodded and left.

  "Email for you from Dallas Control," said Jane.

  I grabbed my pad and looked for it. Dallas wanted to know if I was able to carry cargo back to the planet Cobol and various planets in the Australian sector. Apparently, there was a big backlog as non-one had wanted to risk the flight there recently. I responded with a yes, assuming the station made the jump into Miami successfully. But I'd no spare cargo carrying capacity so they would need to organize the cargo to meet the station at the Midgard jump point. I gave them an ETA of when it should arrive there, and said it would likely be there for about a day, possibly less, depending on the situation we found in Midgard. I also specified that collection in Cobol would have to be organized as well, as the station would not be going to the planet itself. As long as I didn't have to actually do any cargo delivering, I was happy to haul what they liked. The station after all, did need to generate its own income, and aside from internal rents, freight handling was a major role for most stations.

  "Janet, when freighters arrive, dock them, unload and store according to destination, and have them depart as soon as possible. The station is closed as far as crews are concerned. Don’t charge them docking fees."

  "Yes my Lord."

  I pinged George to be next.

  "Jane, can you organize security and combat droids for both ships please? Send half the security droids to each, and have them appear as human security officers. Should make them easier for people to cope with."

  "Confirmed."

  I'd used this ploy before. When taking the station, Jane and I had the security droids with us, each wearing a belt and looking like real people in the station security uniforms. As good as Jane was, no-one could tell the difference. Combat droids on the other hand always made people uneasy, so they were really backup in case something got out of hand.

  George came in and sat down.

  "What's up boss?"

  "Will you pilot the Liner?"

  "Of course, but why do you need a pilot? Can't Jane handle it?"

  "She will. But for the passengers, it would be better if they saw a real person." He nodded. "If you want, you can wear a Liner captain's uniform, so you look the part." He grinned. "I'm sending you security and combat droids as well, in case someone decides to get stupid."

  "I hope not. That could get messy."

  "I hope not too, but we know nothing much about any of these people, so some healthy paranoia seems advisable."

  "Do we have to evacuate the whole station?"

  "I think it's advisable. No-one has jumped a station for centuries. For all we know, station building isn’t what it used to be, and it will disintegrate. We won't know until after we try."

  "Umm, yeah. I don’t think I'd want to ride it through the jump. There's being a mad thrill seeker, and then there's stupidity."

  "You'd know the difference if anyone did," I joked back.

  He grinned at me, and left. I pinged Annette.

  She arrived quickly as if expecting to be next.

  "What do you need?" she asked.

  "Can you poke your nose into Miami and see if there is anyone there near the jump point? If I was an Admiral who wanted to make a good impression with the new Pompeii government, without violating their space, I'd park a small task force at their jump point to stop any trouble makers from coming through. If so, they need to be warned we'll be attempting to jump a station through, and to keep their distance."

  "I can do that. Want me to jump back and forth for a while, so when you all show up at the jump point, I can go through first and give them a heads up?"

  "Sure. Good idea. If you get into trouble, jump back and call for help. If there's going to be a fight in the Miami system, we'll take it on in strength."

  "Understood. Want me to leave now?"

  I nodded. She left. I pinged Colonel Smith.

  "Jane?"

  "Yes your mightiness?"

  I sighed. I couldn’t get her to stop calling me silly titles.

  "Can you start launching all the claimed ships please? I want everything off the station before we jump it the first time. Don’t worry about salvaged junk, just the hulls. Also launch all the shuttles. Have all the SR, salvage, cargo and repair droids the station has, use Gunbus' Cargo Bay. Take all the butler and maid droids as well, but make sure they keep their assignments. Put them in the shuttles. Form the ships up into a convoy.

  "Confirmed."

  SR was Search and Rescue. They were droids with sleds who had air facilities for pilots who bailed out during a battle. Salvage droids moved large grav sleds around, collecting hulls and other debris from a battlefield. I made sure to collect everything. Maid droids were as they sound. Limited intelligence droids with no gender, used for changing sheets on beds and such things, one step up from cleaning bots. Butler droids were the next step up from a maid droid, with a medium level AI, and selectable gender and personality. They performed the same as a Maid droid, but had substantially more abilities. They had a range of roles they could perform. Mine were doing Butler and Doorman duties. Butler duties included feeding Angel, keeping her water full and cleaning her litter tray. The station likely had hundreds of them, all individually set up for their owner's requirements.

  "Janet?"

  "Yes my Lord?"

  "How is the testing of the new tugs going?"

  "Almost complete. I have them attached to the station in position, and am conducting stress tests on the station itself, where the gravity will come on. It would be wise to isolate those sections and the adjacent ones when you let people back on board, as some bleed through the station hull is likely."

  "Do that yourself. In fact, have those sections evacuated now, and isolate them so no one can return. Might be an idea to have some droids do a pass through those sections removing anything loose."

  "Confirmed."

  The Colonel entered and settled into a seat opposite me.

  "How goes the exodus?" I asked.

  "On schedule. Last shuttle expected back up by midday."

  "Any reason why we can't start loading the Liner and Cruiser with people now? It would be nice if we could leave as soon as that last shuttle gets back."

  "None at all. I'll get on with it."

  "Thanks. Could you send in Amanda and Aleesha when they're free?"

  She gave me an odd look. "Sure." She left.

  I started on an email for Bob Derr. I wasn’t very far in before the girls arrived.

  "You wanted to see us boss?" said Amanda.

  There was a slight emphasis on the word 'boss'.

  I winced and motioned them to chairs.

  "I've been missing you when I wake up," I blurted out.

  They winced.

  "Under the circumstances, we have to keep it professional now," said Aleesha.

  "That’s what I thought. Why though?"

  "Duh!" said Amanda.

  "You think I'm your boss, so therefore your code prevents what we had in the past?"

  "Duh!" said Aleesha.

  "Why should it though? Your team is contracted to me, not each of you individually. The team is a sub-contractor. You're not employees."

  "You're still our boss," they both said together.

  "Colonel Smith is your boss. She reports to me. You report to her."

  "You're still at the top of our chain of command," said Amanda.

  "No go area," said Aleesha.

  I sighed.

  "You're fired," I said. "Now can we…"

  "Nope. You can only fire the team, not us," said Amanda.

  "That’s my point."

  They sighed.

&
nbsp; I tried again.

  "The only way I can kick your arses, is if you invite me too."

  They giggled.

  "Damn it, do I have to move down into the barracks?" I muttered.

  "Wouldn’t change anything," said Aleesha.

  "Yes it would."

  "No it wouldn’t," they both said.

  I banged my forehead on the table three times, and left it there for a full two minutes.

  "I miss you."

  "We miss you as well." Heartache in stereo.

  "Is this your choice, or is Colonel Smith enforcing rules?"

  "Ours."

  "Well think about it some more. I don’t see any problem. Your choice is making all of us unhappy. Unhappy people make mistakes. Unhappy…" I floundered to a stop. "Just think about it."

  They sat there.

  I sat there.

  "I had the dream again this morning," I finally broke the silence.

  "We know. We saw it too."

  The three of us had been sharing the dream since we first met. Some sort of bond existed between us, the likes of which we had no clue.

  More silence.

  They looked at the door.

  I looked at the door.

  Meow?

  We all started. Angel shinned up my left side and sat on my shoulder.

  I waved them out, which I guess was a form of dismissal, even though I didn’t want to be that formal. They left, tails obviously dragging on the floor.

  "As for you missy," I said to Angel. She purred.

  I went back to my email. It was a series of suggestions for Bob to think about, which included moving his shipyard into Nexus, and at least doubling its size, especially the capital ship handling capacity.

  Three

  The last shuttle arrived back a bit before midday. It took on the last of the maid and butler droids, and joined up with the convoy of other shuttles.

  I was back on the Bridge, with Jane and Colonel Smith.

  "Ready to go Janet?"

  "Yes my Lord."

  "All other ships clear Jane?"

  "Confirmed."

  "Back us out. Form up with the convoy."

  It wasn’t long before we were parked alongside the Cruiser John Wayne. She dwarfed Gunbus, but for fighter combat, the Cruiser was sadly lacking in comparison. I planned to remedy that.

  "When you're ready Janet."

  There was a long pause as nothing happened. Movement became observable all of a sudden, and the station accelerated very slowly towards the jump point. So far, so good.

  "Any problems Janet?"

  "None. Station integrity is rock solid."

  "Jane, have the convoy follow the station, and take us to the jump point at normal cruising speed."

  "Confirmed."

  We left the station and the convoy behind. I wanted to check the way ahead. As we approached the jump point, a channel opened.

  "Nothing on the other side boss. It's clear to go through," said Annette.

  "Thanks. Go on through."

  "Roger that."

  Nightshade, Annette's Mustang class Heavy Privateer, jumped. Not long after, Gunbus followed. As she had said, and contrary to my expectation, the area around the jump point was clear. I had Nightshade and Gunbus move away from the jump point and off to the sides, so the station had a clear entry path. We both turned so we had a good view of the jump point.

  Jane was receiving a data stream from Janet, and she put the station view up on a side screen for us. We sat there watching the view from the station, as it approached the jump point. I had to admit I'd butterflies in my gut, wondering if this was going to be a disaster or not. Jane's research had revealed that all the early stations had been built in the shipyards above Earth, and towed to the systems they were to call home. But in the last three hundred years, all stations had been built from kits, parts of which fit into a super-freighter. Depending on the size of the station, assembly would use anything from six to a dozen kits. Shipyards were built the same way. Only special purpose stations used a single kit.

  As it neared the jump point, the station slowed. Janet was taking no chances, taking her in slow.

  On the screen, the station vanished. In front of us, the station appeared.

  "Nothing to it my Lord," said Janet. We were all grinning. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  "Any damage at all?" I asked.

  "None."

  "Move the station away from the jump point, headed for Midgard, and bring her to a stop."

  "Yes my Lord."

  I turned to Jane.

  "Once the station is stopped, bring all the ships through and dock them. We may as well offload everyone. They can continue the journey in better comfort in their own quarters."

  "Confirmed."

  "Janet, will the station move and jump safely with any ships docked externally?"

  "Yes. The amount of additional mass should be insignificant."

  "What about the Frigate?"

  "No, it should be towed, not docked." I'd thought so, but needed the confirmation.

  It took an hour to dock all the ships, with the exception of the Cruiser. The people on the Cruiser were ferried back to the station using shuttles.

  We formed a new convoy. Gunbus went first, with John Wayne towing General Custer after, the station next, with Nightshade bringing up the rear.

  Normally, the trip across the Miami system would take Gunbus about five hours. At the speed of the station, this would be closer to ten.

  With the exception of George, who was on the station, Annette flying Nightshade, and O'Neil on John Wayne, we all met in the common room for a late lunch.

  * * *

  We arrived at the Midgard jump point just after midnight. A task force of American sector ships were on picket duty. Dwarfing the rest, the flagship was the Carrier Yorktown. There had been so few Carrier class ships that they had never been given class designations. Instead, the few names from old Earth had been cycled through continuously.

  Around Yorktown was arrayed a mixed force of Cruisers and Corvettes. A combat air patrol (CAP) of a squadron of Sabres, was making a wide sweep around the task force.

  Yorktown issued a challenge as soon as Gunbus was in coms range. We were instructed to stop well away from the jump point, and await instructions.

  Assuming nothing would come until the next day, I went to bed.

  The danger alert woke me at 6am and I yelped as Angel dug her claws into my left shoulder. I tried to calm a distressed puss, as I climbed out of bed.

  "What is it Jane?"

  "Briefing on the flagship in half an hour."

  "You couldn’t have woken me an easier way?"

  "No." She laughed.

  "Can we dock with the Carrier?"

  "Certainly. The main flight deck is plenty large enough for a Corvette."

  "Request permission, and dock us please.

  I dived into the shower, and came out wearing fatigues. When I arrived back on the Bridge, I found Angel sitting in her usual position on the main console. I'd long ago disabled it after her first traumatic attempt to sit there, during a fight with some Bounty Hunters. She had killed three ships that day as she slid back and forth over the active console accidently firing guns and torpedoes, but it wasn’t something I wanted to let happen again. I didn’t need the console myself, so I left it off except when Angel wasn’t on the Bridge and someone specifically needed to use it.

  I sat in my chair and watched as we entered the cavernous flight deck, arrived at a spot opposite an airlock, and set down. I headed down to the Cargo Bay, as an umbilicus quickly joined the Carrier airlock to the one Gunbus had on the side of the Cargo Bay, used by droids and shuttles. I cycled through the airlock, walked through to the Carrier's airlock, and cycled through there as well.

  An Ensign met me outside the lock. I followed him through the ship to a transport tube, and was whisked along to wherever we were going.

  Coming out of the transporter, I saw signs that pointed in
several directions. We followed the one that said 'Admiral's conference room'. We were still some distance away when I started hearing voices from ahead. As I came closer, I started making out what was being said.

  "The fighters would be back by now if they were able to. And if the fighters were all destroyed, the Cruiser would have returned."

  "Which means the Cruiser was destroyed as well."

  "Most likely. What do you recommend we do?"

  "Send in the Hero. He came through the system on his own, his ship must be able to handle what's in there better than ours."

  The Ensign knocked on the hatch side, stepped aside and let me enter the conference room. I pretended I hadn't heard anything. The Ensign stiffened to attention, and left.

  There were two men in the room. Both had the look of seasoned warriors.

  The shorter of the two offered his hand, and we shook.

  "Lieut…" He stopped in mid word. I'd been promoted since the last time an American had seen me.

  "Commander Hunter," he continued with only a brief pause. "Admiral Hallington. You're reputation precedes you. Congratulations on your promotion." He pointed to the other man, who also took my hand. "This is Captain Renaud."

  The Captain had been the first voice, the Admiral, who wore the stripes of a full Rear Admiral, the second.

  "Sit," said the Admiral. We all sat at the conference table. "We're glad you're here. You seem to have the most recent experience of the Midgard system. We find ourselves with a situation. We sent in a diplomatic mission, which has failed to return, or make any form of contact. We're debating what to do about it."

  "How long ago did you send them in?" I asked.

  "Twelve hours," said the Captain.

  "What did you send in?"

  "The diplomatic party was on a Cruiser. She was escorted by a squadron of Epees. We thought this more than enough to cope with a squadron and a half of Talons, which is what you reported facing."

  "Not my first choice I'm afraid," I responded.

  "Why do you say that?" asked the Admiral.

  "Your Cruisers are armed more for capital ship engagements than fighters. They lack enough Point Defense to defend themselves against massed missile attacks. The Epee might match the Talon for performance, and your pilots are most likely better…" The Captain nodded. "…but they could easily have been outnumbered."