February 21st, 2262. 18:27 St. Mary’s Station – Carrier Ring

John yawned as he walked the gangway from the CNS Magnificent to the station’s outer docking ring. He had spent thirty-six of the last forty hours wrapping up that bloody after-action report. Scope creep had been an absolute bitch of a thing to deal with or let run wild in this case.

It had grown to nearly double the draft’s release size. John shook his head while he thought about that god-awful draft. It had generated so many questions that he basically had to tell five different admirals to very politely bugger off so he could finish the actual report.

It was hard to not smile knowing he was home. It was a goal or a hope for that terribly dark month. Nearly another month passed as the survivors were traveling home. John paused and looked out at the window to see the ring and all the ships that were docking and moving about. He didn’t want to admit it, but despite the steely reserved image he broadcast to his crew, doubts began to form during the voyage out of Alliance territory.

John snapped back to reality and continued walking down the gangway. He could already hear crying and happy wailing going on from family members being reunited with one another. Alice was on duty, something John specifically made sure to triple-check, and he wanted to surprise her at their apartment. He smiled at his deviousness.

The image of John being all normal and her walking into the apartment was absolutely going to be hilarious and quite memorable. As he was thinking of that and other ways to low-key shock her with his presence John’s situational awareness began to wane. He hung a right, then a left and there he was met by lots of his crew as they looked for their family in the large atrium.

John was a fairly large and well-built man. Standing at just over six foot two inches and clocked in around two hundred thirty or forty pounds, depending on the day. Alice on the other hand was five and a half feet tall and would weigh a bit more than half her husband’s weight. While no knock on her physical capabilities, John was much denser, stronger, faster, and more agile than her.

Yet Alice was moving almost at the speed of light coming from John’s right side. He didn’t see the blue camo and yellow flash sprinting at him. Nor was he prepared for her when she leaped at him, hugged him tightly, and basically blast him off his feet.

“Ow ow ow, stop it stop it!” John yelped as Alice squeezed John in a death grip of a bearhug, “Damnit woman, I am alive. Stop it!”

Alice did not listen to his protestations of John. Nor did she care about the scene she was making. Many of the people there were staring and beginning to laugh at John’s reaction. John sat there for three long and painful minutes before the vice-like grip finally receded.

John pried himself off of Alice and stood up. He began to chuckle at her reaction. He bent over and helped her up off the ground. Then he hugged her more normally.

“I made it back,” John said quietly.

Alice said nothing but quietly cried tears of joy. She was far from the only one and wouldn’t be the last either. More happy and wild reactions came as more and more crews left the carrier, though none were quite as painful as Alice’s had been.

22:50 St. Mary’s Station, Residential Wing Unit 3-B12

John was stretching on some new deck chairs. He reached over to the side table and grabbed a glass that had a healthy pour of bourbon in it. In his other hand, he held an aged Cohiba Esplendido cigar between a pair of fingers on his left hand. It was as if he was in a dream.

But the whisky and cigar were too real to be a dream. As were his ribs which were still sore. The scratch marks on his back were still fresh from their bout of lovemaking when they returned to their residence. John leaned forward and looked back into the condo; the clothes they were wearing were left in a trail leading to the master bedroom.

“Holy hell John. We made it home.”

John took another sip of bourbon and followed it with a long drag on the cigar. He slowly blew out the smoke and let it linger in front of him. He was watching the smoke dissipate when the call came in.

He looked down and pressed the green button on the portable terminal sitting on the side table, “Marky, how the hell are ya?”

“Jesus Christ, you survived,” First Lieutenant Marcus Robertson said laughing, “By the way, that was a hell of a job making lieutenant from the get-go.”

“Congrats on your promotion too,” John smiled and raised his bourbon glass to him.

“How’s sis doing?”

John laughed, “Dude, she straight up bum rushed me and locked me into a bearhug that I couldn’t get out. Straight up tackled me. She went through a hell of a thing.”

“Well, you did too. I called her a couple of times last month and she was a damn mess. I think every time she got levelheaded someone would call and try to help.”

John chuckled, “And then fuck everything up for her again.”

“How are you doing?”

“So far so good. But admittedly the easy part was getting home. It’s going to be a fucking clown show from here on out,” John shrugged and took a puff from his cigar, “I have a feeling it’s going to take a very long time to dig through the shit and get a resolution to it all. I’m worried about some of the parents of the deceased.”

“If you need anything holler. I gotta get back to duty. I’ll tell my brothers your back home. It’s good that you are still with us in the land of the living.”

“Keep out of trouble brother,” John smirked.

“No can-do bud. Peace out!”

The sliding door behind John opened. He smiled as Alice carefully sat down on the chair nearest him. She was holding her red robe tightly to herself.

“How was Marcus?”

“Not too bad. He was glad I was home. They were worried for you.”

“It’s not over, is it?” Alice sounded concerned.

“The easy part is behind us. The plus side to the future is I’m here so you won’t have to worry about things again.”

“The worst kept secret among the fleet is that Intelligence tried something on Villam.”

John took a drink, “I’m not supposed to talk about it. But the divorce got worse.”

“Why? Wait, you can’t speak about it.”

“Bullshit cover op,” John said shaking his head, “My hope is that my threat to them was credibly delivered and received.”

“You willing to talk about that bit?”

John took another drag on his cigar and smiled at Alice, “So you know how we’re richer than God?”

“I am aware that I come from money, and you are the kleptomaniac king.”

“Well, it’s good to be the king,” John laughed then sighed, “I basically threatened to go nuclear against them. I’ll bare all the questionable ops I did in their service. Against foreign and domestic targets.”

Alice was stunned, “You could go away for life though.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Yeah, fat chance of a court convicting me. The Navy took me and taught me to be a trained killer. Then unleashed me on the universe when I wasn’t old enough to vote, smoke, or drink. Ain’t no way a prosecutor could get a conviction on me. They could however use me to bury the assholes that did that to me.”

“I presume you’ve taken precautions to ensure certain things?”

John finished the bourbon and smiled, “If any of our family has accidents or is the target of a curious arrest, then things will be leaked. The severity of which will depend on the offense committed. If anything, your family ought to be in a much safer position than they were before.”

Alice shook her head, “Why’s that?”

“You got free guardians in Naval Intelligence. And they’ll have to look the other way if any minor sketchy things happen.”

Alice sighed then looked at John, “When did it really hit for you on the ship?”

John shrugged, “What do you mean?”

“Like when you felt like things really went pear-shaped and that you could die?”

John nodded. But then he looked up and played back the events in his mind. When did he think things went pear-shaped? Well, that one was easy. Shit went south once they charged the battleship. But when did he think there was a legitimate chance he’d die?

“Hmmm,” John said as he continued to think, “Well, I knew we had fucked up immediately. Though that was like a low-level ‘ah hell’ kind of realization. It got to ‘holy fuck’ levels of stupid at the end of the attack when we were getting swarmed. The fleet went out swinging though.”

Alice shook her head as she smiled, “That is such a John explanation.”

“Well, that’s basically how it played out from my perspective. I’m sure if that chair didn’t knock me out on the bridge that’s when I would’ve thought we were dead. When I woke up it was just doing this, do that, take a breath, repeat. Didn’t really have a chance to think about mortality.”

John laughed, “Now, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t on an emotional rollercoaster. Christ almighty, the highs were crazy good, and the lows were pretty rotten. But I couldn’t show any emotions for the betterment of the crew.”

“What was the worst low?”

John laughed more, “Oh hell. I’d say it was a toss-up with the bullshit that happened over Villam or when were in slip space heading there. A course correction was made that I immediately regretted. But by the grace of God, we ended up succeeding. Honestly, we should be drifting through slip space still.”

Alice stood up and walked over to John. She held his head gently and kissed his forehead. She released him and stepped inside their condo.

“Don’t stay up too late.”

“One more drink,” John winked, “And whenever this cigar is done then I’ll come inside to get some sleep.”

The door silently closed behind Alice.

John’s smile was wiped off his face when an incoming message blinked and then connected on his terminal, “My dearest John…”

“Look, I’m nothing to you and we aren’t close. I’m not marrying you now or ever. There will be nothing between us. I am not accepting any more communications from you. Send anyone to me and I will make sure to hurt them badly. Do not push me,” John all but hissed out the words before disconnecting the call.

Despite the recent bout of anger and bile, John continued to sit there in the relative silence on the veranda. An hour and a half later the cigar was finished and unceremoniously tossed into the ashtray. He had ended up enjoying three more healthy pours of bourbon instead of the one. As he took one more deep breath before walking inside, he smiled. He was home at long last.

February 22nd, 2262. 08:10 St. Mary’s Station – Admiral Dufresne’s Office

Admiral Dufresne threw the data slate down his table. It clanked loudly on the table in the quiet room and slid neatly into the hands of Captain Julia Ekre. She was in charge of the crew interviews and working with the inquest team.

Unsurprisingly an inquest was started moments after John’s after-action report had been submitted. The report was far more extensive and detailed than needed, or expected. This was a boon to the team as they had a great starting point. The flip side of that meant his report was available to the upper echelons in all of the fleets.

The report was far from a flattering view of the old guard and their offspring. Deficiencies in tactical awareness and capabilities, the ability to follow their wing's official orders, and a dreadful response to combat created numerous arguments and finger pointing.

“Julia, please tell me he’s embellishing things or making the former captains of those ships look especially awful.”

Julia raised an eyebrow, “You are well aware of his years as a desk jockey. He went above and beyond in this report. He even paints himself in a bad light on several noteworthy items. He’s left out only minor stuff, though nothing seems to be from a malicious standpoint.”

“Christ. The draft report was bad, but this…”

Julia leaned back in her chair and scrolled through the data slate, “How has Admiral Shephard taken this news?”

“Third Fleet, in general, are up in arms. Petrov already put him on administrative leave. A senator, their oldest was a captain in the fleet, is a Confederate Senator. I fear that this inquest will be the first salvo.”

Julia nodded as she continued to look at the data slate, “The civilian investigation is unlikely to bring up anything if we do our jobs correctly. I think we may need to level set with people that it may take up to a year to go through everything.”

“I’ve already said six months at a minimum. You have three weeks to get the crew interviews wrapped up. I need them serving again,” Tim sighed as he was rubbing his eyes.

“They’ll be done by Friday…” Julia paused and tapped the table, “I know Lieutenant Lief wants to serve. But he’s going to be a crucial asset to this investigation.”

“I was worried you were going to say that,” Tim nodded, “You are right. I will have him transferred to an administrative role so your team can have unfettered access to him in the interim. I’ll also have him work with the Marines onboard the station in a training capacity when you don’t need his services.”

The main viewscreen switched on and a very grim-looking Admiral Charles Dickinson appeared. He carefully placed a data slate on his table. There was a very loud sigh that was easily heard.

“Captain, how much of the ship’s logs and records do we have from the destroyed friendly ships?”

“Virtually everything sir. Most were transferred to the Des Moines minutes before their end.”

“Is the cult of persona accusation back up by any evidence?” Charles sounded equal parts disappointed and concerned over the possibility.

Julia shrugged, “We’re still very early in the investi…”

The Fleet Admiral cut her off, “Have you found anything to back it up?”

“We have,” Julia said quietly as she stared at a blemish on the surface of the table.

“Tim, I want a full review of all squadron and wing assignments under your command. If there is anything else similar happening like this ships and crew will be shuffled immediately.”

“I began a review three days ago when he transferred the report. Six ships have already been reassigned to different wings,” Tim sounded defeated, "We should be wrapped up with our investigate by the end of the day tomorrow."

“Fuck. I’ve already had three calls today from angry family members. Somehow they got a hold of a redacted report and are up in arms about the accusation that their children's ineptness and inability to follow orders got themselves killed.”

July cleared her throat, “With respect sir, that’s exactly what happened here. Presuming we find nothing else major.”

“This is a group of people that do not take kindly to criticism,” Charles sighed loudly once more, “Senator Fitzpatrick is expecting some sort of disciplinary hearing for Lieutenant Lief.”

Tim burst out laughing but collected himself quickly, “Apologies sir, but fat fucking chance on that.”

Julia raised an eyebrow, “I think a written reprimand is warranted for the last-minute course change. Though I doubt it’d stick because it ultimately was the safer option.”

“Plus there were no friendly assets in the other system. It’s entirely likely that Naval Intelligence could have killed the crew,” Tim added, “Admiral might I recommend we extend our investigation so as to ensure the civilian investigation doesn’t find anything we overlooked?”

Charles shook his head, “And now we get to the real reason I contacted you. This inquest will be a joint Naval and civilian inquest. The president is going to assign an inquest czar and nominate a group of political leaders to work with the czar and their team in the investigation. I am told they will be arriving at St. Mary’s station next week. Captain, you will share anything and everything you find with the civilians. The moment they withhold anything from us or delay in any way sharing with us I want to know immediately.”

Julia looked surprised, “Understood. With that said I need to get my team together and brief them on this.”

The two admirals nodded and she left the room at an urgent pace. Charles was in a rotten mood. Tim was already in a bad one and this recent news hadn’t helped any.

“They can’t accept that their children failed?” Tim asked.

“Would we be so lucky to not outlive our own children Tim,” Charles looked away from the screen, “I worry for the safety of our lieutenant. These are people who have near limitless resources.”

“Sir, I’d be worried for those families if they target him. God forbid they target Alice.”

“I’m aware,” Charles grinned, “There’s a team of marines being transferred onto the station for a long-term protective detail. Please let John know about the extra shadows. Naval Intelligence has grudgingly accepted our request to assign resources to this detail as well. Along with access to their communication scanning services for any threats to him.”

Tim laughed, “That’s rich. I will talk with him today about that. Is there anything else you’d like me to look into?”

“Be wary of Senator Fitzpatrick or any of his allies. I’m not sure what game they are going to play, but it’s not going to be one that will be compatible with an honest investigation.”

“I’ll pass that along to the captain, but why is that sir?” Tim looked confused.

“No evidence has ever been found to tie him directly to any crimes. But two of his most outspoken critics and enemies wound up dead. He also had contact within Naval Intelligence, who passed under curious circumstances. They were feeding him a wealth of information on contracts and intelligence reports.”

“Jesus, he had a mole there? When?”

“Six years ago on Terra Nova. Care to take a guess who was also stationed there when the traitor agent disappeared?”

“No, I don’t think I need to,” Tim chuckled.

“I want everything laid bare in this Tim, no matter how ugly it may make the old guard appear.”

Tim nodded, “Don’t you find it a bit, ironic sir?”

Charles nodded.

“Naval Intelligence tried to plant a command mole in the Navy five years ago. And that same individual is now at the center of a firestorm that may accomplish what they had originally wanted to in the first place.”