4 Weeks Later. April 29th, 2267. 07:58 St. Mary’s Station – First Fleet Command
John was sitting down in the waiting room for First Fleet’s primary offices at the station. There was a small fleck of off-grey paint that John was staring at on the wall behind the secretaries. To say that he was bored and disinterested was an understatement. He wanted to work, to be doing something, anything.
When the Waukesha, and her squadron mates, returned to the planet of Manchester things kind of went sideways. It was three days before they were allowed to depart their ship. Though that was due to the presence of hundreds of captured pirates so the focus was on interviews and determinations on them before John’s crew could leave the Waukesha.
As they were deboarding the ship everyone was given orders to return to their domiciles onboard the station and stay there. They were not, at that time, granted shore leave or even remit to do anything onboard the station. Each individual, one by one, was interviewed and either released from temporary confinement or put back into the queue to be asked additional questions.
John’s lengthy and extremely detailed first draft of his after-action report acted as an explanation of the events that led up to the initial assault, to the harrying of the Icarus, and finally, its destruction seemed to fall on deaf ears. That meant neither of the First Fleet admirals that mattered were in charge of this investigation. It was patently obvious that Fleet Admiral Benjamin Karlsson was running this show.
Eventually, the crew was given a degree of freedom with limited shore leave. Though none was given to John, his home suspension remained in place. And, at least to his beautiful wife, he didn’t see the honey-do list she had left which created a whole set of other problems.
Alice was rather inconveniently away for the first two weeks after John returned from a psychiatry conference in the Alpha Centauri system. John didn’t spend the time lounging about. His days were regimented, though they didn’t include any of the items like painting or moving and adjusting the rooms around.
Her return home was welcomed though a bit frosty initially because of the lack of perceived work John had done. Of course, she knew he wasn’t lounging about and did, somewhat reluctantly, blame herself for not either reminding him about the list or outright telling him in one of their many calls in the preceding two weeks.
John returned to active duty only a week ago. Though he was working diligently on his after-action report throughout. A draft of it had been handed in a week ago with a more finalized file was sent just two days ago. Hopefully, this meeting that he was asked to attend would shed some light on his fate. It was obvious he had pissed off a fair few people.
“Lieutenant Lief, I am relieved that I can assist in ending your boredom this morning,” the young ensign said with a bright smile, “Admirals Dickinson and Dufresne will see you now.”
John stood up and nodded, “Much appreciated ensign.”
The gate between the secretaries’ desks opened. John walked through and paused until the distinctive chime was sounded when the scan of him was done. A grin formed on his face during the scan, he didn’t need a gun to be deadly. Hell, he was reasonably confident he could kill someone with the wallet in his coat pocket. Nevertheless, regulations are what they are.
The door opened moments after the chime and John walked through. The consoles on the walls helped guide him to the appropriate room. This wasn’t exactly his first rodeo; the route was well-known to him. Though he was confident in his actions there was a bit of doubt that crept into his mind. Once again, the mission was over and once again it was apparent that he had stretched or outright misinterpreted the mission parameters.
But the lengthy review wasn’t because of his admirals. It was higher up in the food chain. That likely meant that they weren’t exactly upset with him. Or at the very least not any more than they normally would be with him.
That presumption seemed to be accurate when he entered the meeting room. The two admirals didn’t look angry or upset. In fact, they looked downright jovial and happy. John’s mood didn’t change though, his steely nature wouldn’t change until he actually heard the good news.
“Lieutenant Lief, good morning,” Admiral Dickinson said, “Why don’t you have a seat.”
John quickly saluted, “Good morning admirals.”
As John was taking his seat Admiral Dufresne spoke up, “First off, you have been cleared of any wrongdoing, though a couple of notes will be added to your permanent record. Admiral Karlsson was reluctant to come to this decision but was ultimately swayed to place a significant amount of emphasis on a technical clearing of wrongdoing, not that there were no illegal acts.”
“That is good to hear,” John allowed himself to smile but then added, “If I’m allowed to speak frankly for a moment?”
Admiral Dickinson nodded quickly.
“I suspect that his opinion doesn’t amount to much anymore.”
“A bold statement to make,” Admiral Dickinson grinned, “What makes you say that?”
“The two of you are positively giddy,” John sat up in his chair, “You wouldn’t be giddy over those results, not like this. The only thing that would make the two of you as happy as you look would be if he is retiring, forced or otherwise, and the two of you are moving into the vacated roles.”
Admiral Dufresne smiled, “Charles, I do believe you owe me a bottle of vintage Shiraz.”
“We were notified not seven minutes ago,” Admiral Dickinson leaned forward and smiled, “How did you find out about this?”
“I didn’t, I just read the room.”
“Good read, now, off the record, why did you kill the Icarus?”
“I did it to save the Confederacy, both her civilian and military wings, from itself. All of us in this room know the dog and pony show they, specifically the justice wings of both, would do with the crew of the Icarus. It would make a mockery of our deeply held beliefs. The people would, inevitably, lose faith in our institutions,” John sighed, “It’s what Rene and his crew wanted at the end. They wanted to be made examples, to be made martyrs. My butchering of them denied their desire. In the short run, I get looked at as a monster which if I’m being honest with myself that’s not exactly an inaccurate description of myself.”
Admiral Dufresne nodded, “Karlsson wanted to do just that. He would have planted the seeds for a whole new generation of pirates, he was completely blind to the likely outcome. The problem would’ve gotten better in the near term but would turn catastrophic in the long.”
“I am placing a friendly reminder in your official record that in the future you are to receive strict clearance on when and where you may end a surrendering ship. I’ll paraphrase it for you here and now, you aren’t allowed to do that, ever,” Admiral Dickinson said, “And a general note that is directed to your commanding officers that strict orders are to be given to you that remove your ability to interpret them different from the spirit of the order.”
John grinned, “Guilty as charged.”
“Now then, what is the most current ETA on the Waukesha?” Admiral Dufresne.
“Six months if we’re lucky, Marty seems to think we’re still another eight to nine months though. The worst-case scenario is pushing a year. We took a hell of a beating. The whole damn squadron did.”
“Sixty-four dead sailors, a shame on the loss of life, but a necessary evil on your part,” Admiral Dickinson brought up some of the summaries from John’s report, “How in the hell did your rag-tag group rack up one thousand sixty-eight ship kills?”
“Well, in a military conflict with another nation, these numbers are not possible. At all,” John said, “They were only possible because of the ship types we largely went against, and especially since we strip the hulls and internals of most of the weapon systems when we retire them. A pirate frigate sounds somewhat scary, but when you see them in a battle, they are duct-taped together and running on unicorn farts and dreams. Or maybe a cocaine or meth-fueled rage at the end.”
“I think you might enjoy this quote,” Admiral Dufresne said with a smirk.
The holographic screen popped up in between them. John looked at the name and chuckled. It was surprising to him who wrote them.
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‘It is without question that he violated the spirit of the orders he received, but I must question what would have been had he not taken the bold initiative that he did. The actions he, his immediate squadron, and the additional squadron that linked up with them, without a doubt ended the mess that we found ourselves in. I am concerned about the disregard he showed at the end, and that could have long-lasting consequences not only for him, but for the military as a whole, but I can’t say that I wouldn’t be tempted to do the same.’
“Admiral Petrov is no fan of you, but if he’s supporting most of your actions you know what likely happened with a meeting of the admirals.”
“If I had to guess Admiral Karlsson ignored the recommendations that the fleet admirals did, which was likely surmised with ‘please have a talk with him.’”
“He shot himself in the foot,” Admiral Dickinson said as he shook his head, “He disregarded everything from the admirals. Admiral Zhang then called for a vote of no confidence. None of the eight fleet admirals voted for him. The remaining admiralty finished the vote by the time the initial review was completed.”
“Congratulations once again,” John said with a smile, “So what are our plans?”
“Nothing you want to hear, I’m afraid,” Admiral Dufresne said, “First Fleet is receiving several new ships, the timing of which is rather terrible since the cadets graduating, and we can’t use them for nearly two months. Coupled with a necessary adjustment to who is in charge of what groups within First Fleet.”
“I presume my command staff is also being poached?”
“It is.”
“Leave Lieutenant Olson on the ship. It’s bad juju to replace an unwilling engineer,” John was pained to hear he was losing another crew.
“Understood,” Admiral Dufresne said, “Would you care to be the bearer of bad news?”
“Yes sir, we’re getting together to celebrate our release from unofficial home incarceration and a job well done later today.”
“I want to meet with you next week at this time,” Admiral Dufresne said, “We need to find some way to utilize those talents of yours while your ship is getting repaired. Oh, I can’t believe we almost forgot something. Congratulations on your pending promotion to Lieutenant Commander.”
John gave the two admirals a weird look. Admiral Dufresne seemed to enjoy confusing the young officer. The moment seemed to last an uncomfortably long time.
“I nominated you for an early promotion. It’s only about thirteen months early. Official word won’t come for a few days to a week,” Admiral Dickinson said.
“If I’m to be a lieutenant commander, wouldn’t I be in line for a battle cruiser or super heavy cruiser?” John managed to ask the question with a straight face.
Admiral Dufresne smiled, “We’ll have a conversation about that sooner than later. For now, enjoy some time off and rest well.”
John stood up and saluted. He then turned around on his heels and strolled out. His career was still good. Better yet, he was getting promoted. The downside, and this one hurt, was his crew was gone. That stung.
13:00 Mike’s Best BBQ and Alcohol
Alice walked through the crowded restaurant to one of the larger party rooms. When the doors opened, she strode in and surprised her husband by hugging him from behind. The room was full of people. She even saw a face that she didn’t expect.
“Lieutenant Vernon, what the hell are you doing here?” Alice sounded as surprised as she looked.
Patrice grinned as he watched Alice let go of her bear hug, “Through a bit of happenstance my squadron and I happened to be in the same system that Lieutenant Lief was killing pirates.”
“So, you rode his coattails again then?”
Brian laughed, “She ain’t wrong, boy is she not wrong.”
Alice then punched John’s upper arm, “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“I am not going to lie,” John said nothing more and took a large drink from his oversized beer mug.
Alice gave her husband an annoyed look. John shrugged in return. It was pretty clear he had simply forgotten to tell her or thought nothing of the situation and opted not to say anything. Nothing more needed to be said.
Just then the food arrived. The enlisted and junior officers were in the other rooms of the restaurant. Any of the crews in the ragtag squadron were welcome to attend. At John’s expense. He had already spoken to them and broken the news to his crew in particular about their pending reassignments.
John was many things, but he was very graceful in dealing with the enlisted and junior officers. He thanked them all for their hard work. He praised those that gave their lives while on duty. His, and theirs, success was only possible because of their hard work. Without them, John wouldn’t have been able to lead the squadron to a decisive victory.
It was now time to break the bad news about this room.
“Alright folks, I need y’all to be quiet for a few minutes,” John said as he stood in front of the buffet table, “First off, thank you all for your dedication to your craft and your hard work. None of this would’ve been successful without you. Our enlisted, junior officers, and all of you, our ship’s senior officers, made this mission successful.”
John raised his glass.
“Now we may or may not have bent or broken a few rules here and there. Some things may or may not have sounded or looked crazy. Let’s face reality, they probably were in hindsight. You all contributed to an ever-evolving battle plan, everyone played a critical role from start to finish. Admiral Dufresne, our new First Fleet Admiral, and Admiral Dickinson, our new high admiral, both wanted me to share the good news.”
“That there’s more food available, right?” Willy shouted out.
“Alright smartass,” John said, “Yes, there’s a pile of brisket behind me still. Everyone will be receiving a Pirate War campaign ribbon. We, the select few, will be receiving the Infamous End, a medal commemorating the end of both the pirate war and the sinking of the Icarus.”
“Here here!” Vanessa shouted as she raised a mug of beer in the air.
“All of the ships’ captains will also be receiving a listing of those that will be receiving medals. It is, to be brutally frank with everyone, a rather exhaustive list. There will be a formal ceremony handing these medals out scheduled in the near future. Several Navy Crosses all the way down to the Navy Commendation medals are being given out,” John said smiling, “I’d like to be the first to congratulate Patrice, Edwin, and Vanessa on receiving the Navy Distinguished Service medal for wartime readiness and your general kickass way of running roughshod through the pirates. Oscar, you my friend for being the sneakiest bastard of sneaky bastards, along with your two executive officers will be receiving the Navy Cross. No one, not from Naval Intelligences or any other forward operator, has ever been able to stick with an enemy fleet for that long undetected.”
Cheers rang out in the room. Poor Oscar was almost shaken sick by the crew being as happy or happier than he was. But it was well deserved, and John explained why when the room quieted down.
“None of this, and I mean none of what we accomplished was possible without your ship’s amazing efforts. Most of the crew of the Basilone will be receiving Distinguished Service medals as well. Out-fucking-standing work,” John grinned, “Unfortunately, I am the bearer of a bit of bad news for you and your crew in particular. Your new orders are to document the ever-living hell out of everything y’all did. You are being pulled from mainline service and will commence teaching the rest of our force recon operators to try and be a fraction as good as y’all are.”
“We’ve got a few promotions to get through too. For you non-Waukesha officers, I’m not really privy to who was what rank, but I’d recommend checking your rosters and give congratulations accordingly. My new Second Lieutenants are Deb and Emily. New First Lieutenants are Brian, Marty, and Ken.”
John took a drink before raising his mug, “Congratulations to those who got promotions. Now some bad news is affecting most of the ships that are in space dock at the moment. But this directly applies to my crew on the Waukesha. First Fleet is taking possession of several new ships. The leadership wants full crews on those ships. Ships that are being repaired are being, for lack of a better term, poached. The only person that will remain assigned to the ship will be Marty, though if you want a new ship let me know and I’ll get you added to the queue.”
“Fuck no, she’s my ship,” Marty shouted from the back of the room.
“Spoken like a true engineer,” John said, “It has been an honor to serve with you. It saddens me that you’ll be moving on to other ships, but I know you’ll be bringing the spirit of the Waukesha and others with you. I wish everyone nothing but the best in your new roles and positions.”
The room got quiet. All of the captains quickly checked their tablets to see if they were affected. Patrice was the only one that did wear the visible signs of disappointment on his face. John decided to cut the tension.
“I know this is probably a dick punch of bad news. It is what it is, we’re cogs in a pretty big war machine at the end of the day. One chapter in your books is finished, tomorrow, or I suppose whenever you get off leave and receive your new orders, but a new chapter begins at your new post. You’ll all do great. But for now, fill your bellies with food and drink and be merry. This is the least I could do in thanks to all of you.”
“Much appreciated boss!” Marty shouted.
Each table began its own conversation. The mood was a bit dour thanks to the bad news. But each table was talking about the old times, the good times. Laughter quickly permeated the air once again.
John sat down with a heaping plate of food. Across from him sat Ingrid and her husband. Flanking him were Alice and Brian. Brian was the one that had to ask the question.
“Did you try and fight the order?”
John shook his head, “Wouldn’t have mattered. We are getting twenty Scottsdale class cruisers and I think fifteen Tulsas. Those that are going to be stationed here were delivered earlier this week.”
“Holy hell, those are for us?” Ingrid said, “I saw a couple of them dock. I didn’t recognize their designations.”
“Unfortunately, my style of captaincy involves damaging the ship,” John grinned.
“Bad time for downtime,” Ingrid said.
“Oh hell, the academy doesn’t graduate for another two months,” Alice said, “I’m sure that played into it right?”
“Yeah, but about thirty ships are down for the count for long-term repairs,” John said, “Between our squadron and others that engaged pirates in battle.”
Patrice then joined the conversation from the other end of the table, “Commander Lief, why didn’t you mention your promotion or medal?”
John shook his head, “I didn’t bring people here to celebrate me. I want to celebrate them. That’s what we as captains ought to do for our crews.”
Patrice nodded; it was hard to argue the point. Though John wondered how in the hell Patrice knew about his pending promotion. And he was a bit annoyed at the can of worms that was opened at his table now.
“Nice, getting it a bit early, no?” Brian asked.
“About thirteen or fourteen months. Extenuating circumstances or some such nonsensical excuse was made to justify it.”
“So, what medal did you get?” Ingrid said, “Also congratulations on the promotion.”
“Yeah, congrats!” Brian said, “Has to be the cross.”
John nodded without saying anything.
The rest of the party went without incident. It was sad that several of the crews were getting split up, but as John said that was the nature of their service. A chapter had been closed in their lives and a new one was about to start. It was hard to not be excited about the potential the future held.