Admiral's Revenge (A Spineward Sectors Novel:) Read online

  “Please, Admiral, I’m not saying to let discipline fall by the wayside here. But at least allow me to handle my own people in the future,” Colin LeGodat said urgently.

  “No blood oaths on this,” I said with a nod, “but I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

  “Morale is high right now,” he replied with more than a touch of frustration, “and so soon after a successful rescue operation that’s not hard to understand, but we’re not in a position of strength and every single person here knows it. Central holds nearly every advantage now and they poisoned the well for us when they thrashed your image in the court of public opinion. It’s going to be difficult enough as is; there’s no need to help tear ourselves apart, Sir.”

  “Central doesn’t hold all the cards,” I said sharply.

  “Be that as it may—” LeGodat started.

  “No, Commodore,” I cut him off.

  The other man took a long breath, visibly struggling with his temper before once again assuming his usual professional demeanor. “Please go on, Admiral,” he finally replied, and if I didn’t know of his recent high emotion, I might not have recognized the slight tension in his voice.

  “I still have a few aces up my sleeve, Commodore,” I said confidently and then gave him a sly smile, “besides, let me assure you the ‘Core Worlds’ and their misguided opinions are not everything.”

  “This fictitious Border Alliance we all heard about, Admiral?” LeGodat said expressionlessly. “It was my understanding from reading the reports and talking with your bridge crew at the time that it was all a bluff.”

  I suppressed a frown, realizing he had been interviewing my bridge crew? I quickly produced what I hoped was a nice enigmatic smile.

  “Not everything is as fictitious as the ‘task group’ that helped rescue us at Praxis,” I said.

  “An interesting deception,” LeGodat mused, “although I’d hate to be on the planetary systems of the supposed alliance when Central gets around to sending an expeditionary force.”

  “All the more reason to support the Confederation and seek its protection,” I shrugged.

  “That seems harsh and overly Machiavellian,” LeGodat frowned a touch of hardness entering his voice, “I hope that bringing Central retribution down on the heads of innocent star systems wasn’t a deliberate result of your ploy.”

  “Of course not,” I retorted, “it was a creation of the moment, conceived only after seeing the threat plot on my main board.”

  That in a moment of time during the escape I had made the snap decision to shift the blame onto those Systems with the worst, most insulting and obstructionist governors on the border, I thought it better not to bring up.

  “I’ll have to remember that for the future,” LeGodat said thoughtfully.

  I raised an eyebrow quizzically.

  “Exactly how quick you can come up with one of your schemes, when put on the spot,” LeGodat clarified with a faint smile.

  My mouth tightened, as I knew that the last thing I needed was to become predictable—to anyone, even my closest allies. To hide the concern these words left me with, I leaned back in my chair with a pleasant, meaningless expression on my face and sat there waiting for his next move.

  The Commodore sighed, “What did you call this meeting for, Admiral? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t for the purpose of sounding out my officers, and I hope it wasn’t for having my Chief of Staff confined to her quarters.”

  I released a pent up breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and gestured to the former Warrant Officer. Disaster thankfully seemed to have been averted…for the moment.

  “I’ll have the Lieutenant Commander begin the presentation,” I said with a nod to Officer Laurent, who had been standing quietly—and more than a little wide-eyed—in the corner of the conference room to that point. I was going to have to remember that the man knew when to keep silent and let the leaders hash things out.

  “Admiral, you clearly want something so let’s save us all some time and cut to the chase. What exactly are you after here?” LeGodat said, starting to rise irritably. I stared at him for a moment and then motioned for Laurent to hold.

  “The Heavy Cruiser and two of your three Destroyers,” I said in a flat, no-nonsense voice. In this moment I wanted to make it clear that I was the Admiral, and I was issuing my instructions—or, rather, my commands.

  The Commodore sat back in his chair with a thump, and I knew that if there was going to be breach between us this was going to be the moment. The drama with his Chief of Staff was a peripheral issue; this was the critical juncture.

  Trying not to appear as if I was watching every move and gesture the other man was making, I reached over for the tea pot I’d requested be available before the meeting. “I also want McCruise’s dungeon ship and a pair of merchant freighters taken out of mothballs and refurbished on a priority basis for my recruiting drive.”

  Carefully I poured the tea into two cups and set one of them before the System Commander.

  “Sweet crying Murphy, but you don’t ask much do you, Admiral? You just want my entire order of battle!” the Commodore said sardonically.

  Flashing a smile to show I had acknowledged the hit I quickly schooled my face back into pleasant impassivity and cocked my head. Now it was time for the olive branch.

  “You haven’t heard what I’m offering by way of recompense yet, Commodore,” I said mildly.

  LeGodat picked up his cup and threw back the entire cup of tea in one shot. “This’ll be good,” he said leaning back in his chair.

  “In return for your three biggest ships, I’m willing to give you one of Druid’s corvettes and the Hydra,” I said, to which LeGodat snorted a tiny spray of tea out through his nostrils. “Besides,” I grinned, “you’ll still have all your current corvettes, plus one, and the Light Destroyer on top of that.”

  “You want The Gift, two of my Destroyers and the dungeon ship, in exchange for a Corvette and a wreck of a Medium Cruiser destined for the breakers!” LeGodat choked out the words, even as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped around his nose, face and hands.

  “Yes,” I replied simply. LeGodat carefully placed the handkerchief down beside his tea cup, careful to wipe the tips of his fingers first.

  “I think—” he visibly hesitated before continuing, “That is, I’m definitely going to need the long version on this one, Sir,” he said, picking up the tea service and carefully pouring himself another cup with unsteady hands. “Just tell me this first: what do you intend to do with them? I mean, my entire current mobile forces combined couldn’t take on two fully functional Battleships, let alone the Central or the entire Praxis SDF! We’d need our fixed defenses—which cannot be moved, Sir.”

  “I have a plan and no, it doesn’t involve dealing with the Praxis SDF,” I said simply, and then silently added, for now. Turning with a genuine smile, I gestured for the Lieutenant Commander to begin his presentation.

  Colin LeGodat leaned back and tried to look skeptical, but as Laurent got further and further into his presentation the Commodore started to lean forward and ask a series of pointed, technical questions and his excitement started to visibly rise before he caught himself.

  Clenching my fists under the table I could tell from the Commodore’s reaction that I had all but won. Oh, he might kick and scream for a while and drag his feet, but the initial plan was sound. Now all I had to do was start readying the ships.

  Unfortunately for the Commodore’s future piece of mind, I was holding back a few minor details so as not to upset him. After all, and as the former Warrant Officer himself had just pointedly informed me several times, Operational Security and a need to know meant even Commodores—or Admirals—might be left in the dark at times.

  In my considered opinion, the Commodore definitely didn’t need to know—at least, not everything.

  So that’s why I leaned back in my chair and smiled as the Lieutenant Commander went through the operational plan I’d had him draw up f
or me and felt a wave of relief wash over me that we had managed to, at least in principle, gain control over enough material assets to have a shot at pulling this off.

  As far as I was concerned, it was all over but the fighting.

  Chapter 6: It’s a Spalding

  He was the very model of a recently upgraded space engineer.

  “You wanted to see me, Sir?” asked a pleasant sounding, female voice

  “What?” Spalding jerked and his head slammed against the junction box near the entrance to the crawl space. His droid legs whined angrily in response and his precarious position half in and half out of the tube was lost. Gravity made itself known with a clang as he landed feet first on the deck and promptly over balanced.

  “Erk! Let me help,” exclaimed woman and he felt a pair of hands on his arm. Placing his weight on her shoulder proved a mistake and over they went to land in a heap on the floor.

  “Don’t sneak up on me like that,” Spalding said pushing himself off the floor and levering himself back up to his feet using the wall. It was only when he was back on his feet that he then started noticing that she was a petite-looking crewwoman—one definitely on the small, puny-ish side, if he was any judge—and definitely in a Confederation uniform. She was also wearing Com Tech patches on her uniform, his experienced old eyes noted, “what is the meaning of this ambush, crewwoman?!” he barked.

  “Sorry, Commander Spalding, no ambush intended, Sir!” the crewwoman drew herself up to attention and then saluted.

  “Oh, at ease, at ease,” he scowled thunderously and opened his mouth to castigate her properly for sneaking up on an old man like that when something she said caught him up short, “Commander? What kind of brown-nosing poppycock is this? I’ve never made it past Lieutenant.”

  “Sir?” the crewwoman asked hesitantly.

  “Brown-nosing a superior is perilously close to the black art of slacking, my young Technician,” he warned, wagging a finger at her. “Be mindful you avoid it at all costs whenever we are serving onboard the same ship.”

  The crewwoman blinked rapidly for several seconds.

  “But we’re not on a ship, we’re on a station, Comma—I mean, Chief Engineer Spalding,” she said hesitantly.

  Spalding could feel his ears getting hot.

  “Besides,” she added pulling out a data slate and quickly scrolling through it, “I’m sure I saw your new rank listed on the new Table of Organization updates.”

  “What?! Give me that,” Spalding ordered snatching the slate from her hands and staring down at the screen. “Why, I’ll be…a Commander at last.” He looked down at her and confided, “You know, I always figured the only way I’d make Lieutenant Commander was post-humorously.”

  When the little tech stared up at him in confusion he added. “You know, after I died,” he explained gruffly, then seeing the light of understanding illuminate her small head he smiled and looked back down at his slate, “I’ll be, I made Commander.”

  He was still shaking his head in wonder when the Tech sounded off. “Then allow me to be the first to compliment you on your promotion, ‘Commander’ Spalding,” she grinned up at him.

  “Why, thank you, lass,” he said happily and then caught himself. He quickly frowned at her, “What did you say your name was again?”

  “Oh right,” she said quickly drawing herself back up to attention and giving him a snappy salute, “Lisa Steiner, at your service, Sir!”

  “Steiner, where have I heard that name before,” he frowned searching his old memory banks before snapping his fingers in realization. “Ah yes, now I remember; you’re that half pint Com-Tech what tried to bust out the Little Admiral all on your lonesome! Good job, lass…now, that’s the kind of spirit we need more of in this here Confederation outfit we have going on,” he said chucking her on the shoulder in approval.

  When she staggered out of her ‘at attention’ posture and brushed up against the wall, he realized he’d once again over done it.

  “Sorry there, Lass,” he said with real concern, “those quacks gave me back my strength, and I fear I’m still not used to it yet.”

  “No problem, Sir,” Steiner muttered, rubbing her arm and then massaging it, “I guess I should have braced myself properly.”

  “No-no,” Spalding disagreed irritably, “the problem’s with the old curmudgeon—me. I’ve got to remember my strength is back like before I got old. Please accept the apology of an old, quack-bitten engineer.”

  “Of course, Commander,” she said with a last wince as she finished rubbing her arm, then releasing it she straightened. “Anyway sir, here I am and reporting for duty!” she finished flashing him a smile.

  Even though she looked pretty frail to him and there wasn’t enough meat on her bones to make up half a real woman like his fair Glenda, Spalding couldn’t help himself responding to her pluck and ‘can do’ attitude.

  “That’s the spirit, lass,” he said with a grin, “and welcome to the Admiral’s recruiting drive.”

  “Recruiting drive, Chief Engineer?” Steiner asked curiously.

  “Aye, the Admiral’s finally got it through his thick skull that we need to start recruiting full steam.” This time he gave her a wink, and tapped his own head for emphasis, “Took him long enough to figure and he needed a small push along the way, o’course, but he’s got the right idea now.”

  “I see,” the Com Tech sounded perplexed and looking very much like she didn’t quite see at all.

  “Now,” he continued, “the Admiral wanted me to directly oversee the drive, but of course he’s not looking at the big picture yet. Oh don’t you worry yerself; I’ll set him straight on that soon enough,” Spalding assured her. “Now, at the same time he’s recommended you to me as being a great communicator.”

  The Com-Tech looked uneasy. “I know to work the communication equipment and how to make sure the messages go out and come back, but knowing how to send information is pretty different from being a ‘communicator’, Sir,” Steiner said warily.

  “Nonsense,” Spalding retorted bluntly, “I’ve read the reports and talked to your fellow co-conspirators after the mutiny, after the Admiral recommended you to me. I think you’ll make a fine Officer.”

  “An Officer! Commander Spalding, I’m just a Technician!” Lisa Steiner spluttered. “I don’t have that kind of training.”

  “Oh, never fear, lass; we’ll give you time to get your face wet before throwing you off the deep end,” Spalding hastened to assure her.

  “Being an Officer’s like swimming lessons?” she asked incredulously. “In that case, I fear I’d drown. Please find someone more qualified, Sir.”

  “That’s why we’ll start ye out as a simple Warrant Officer,” Spalding continued, pointedly speaking over the top of her.

  “I’m really not sure if I’m even qualified for such a promotion,” the little Com-Tech said looking worried, “it’s not like I’ve done anything to really deserve this.”

  “Nonsense,” Spalding scolded her with a severe look, “you’ll do just fine. Both the Admiral and myself have looked at your file, and we—not to mention the entire MPF—are counting on you!”

  The little tech had the grace to duck her head shame-faced. “I appreciate your faith in me, Sir. You and the Admiral both, but are you really certain there’s not someone else that’s better suited for whatever job this is exactly?”

  “You don’t even know what the job is and already you’re trying to say how you’re not qualified,” Spalding glared at her. Thoughts of would-be slacking twirling through his brain, he hooked his thumbs through his tool belt. Unconsciously his hands seemed to reach for the plasma torch fastened there of their own accord.

  “What is the job?” she asked in a small voice.

  “The Admiral wants that Tracto-an gunner of yours to spear head the recruiting drive,” Spalding explained.

  “Us?” Steiner blanched with dismay. “I mean, I’m sure Hierophant makes a great gunner and there’s no one I�
�d trust more in any kind of a pinch but…us?” she trailed off to finish staring at him wide eyed.

  “Despite what the Admiral wants to think, I’m going to be far too busy with other things—like repairing the warships we’re going to need in order to reclaim the Clover! To hold hands on a simple recruiting drive….well I’m an engineer, not a recruiter,” he said shaking his head. “Anyway, that’s why the Tracto-an’s going to pose for the recruiting posters and holo-vid advertisement skits, and you’ll be there to talk to officials and convince the people they need to sign up for Confederation service,” Spalding explained.

  The lass started to open her mouth to protest yet again, he was sure. So he gave her a hard look, causing her to snap her mouth shut in an instant.

  “I can count on you, can’t I, Warrant Steiner?” Spalding seemed to say rather than ask, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a searching look, “The Admiral need us, girl.”

  “It’s for the, Admiral, is it?” she muttered under her breath, looking down at the decking.

  “Yes, Ms. Steiner, ye’ve been called to duty,” he said gravely, “will you serve?”

  Steiner stopped staring at the floor and looked up to meet his gaze with a new determined glint in her eye.

  “You can count on me, Sir,” Lisa Steiner said heavily before stiffening her spine slightly. “You and the Admiral can both count on us,” she added much more firmly than before, “I know I speak for Hierophant when I say that.”

  “Good lass,” Spalding said remembering at the last minute to reduce his power when thumping her on the shoulder much more gently than before, “you’ve just made an old engineer very proud.”

  “I’m glad you believe we can do this, Commander Spalding, because I have to admit that I’m more than a little worried myself. I mean, we’ve never actually done anything like this before…unless Hierophant was some kind of recruiter back on his home world and just never mentioned it to me,” Lisa added, worrying her lower lip between her teeth.