Jethro: First to Fight (46 page)

“You sound bitter Sergeant,” April said.

Jethro flicked his ears and took a deep
cleansing breath. “No ma'am, just not happy about how things have turned out
since the admiral left. But I'm a soldier ma'am, we follow orders. This is
above my pay grade.”

“True, so let's move on.”

He also made up his mind, he wanted out
of Pyrax hopefully for good. “So, your reaction on the Neo tax and military
tax?”

“As I said before ma'am, I'm glad I'm
going to Agnosta,” he replied. The orders were official.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, we're setting up a Marine
training base there. A full boot camp. I've been told I'll be tasked with
training and set up of the base as well as scouting. My orders were cut this
morning." He was a bit proud of that fact. He was fairly certain that when
that news hit the public there would be a rush on recruiters or on ticket
booths to get a flight out of the system. At least for Neos.

Suddenly he was curious. How many of his
kin could he buy tickets for with his back pay? What about Letanga and the
others? Could they pool their money to buy tickets? What about military family
transport regs? He'd have to check and put the idea forward. The clan deserved
a better life since Anvil was no longer working out.

"Oh!" she looked surprised and
genuinely enthused. His ears flicked in amusement. The first real amusement
he'd felt since the interview had started.

“We're moving out soon. Hopefully in a
month. They're almost finished packing the ships now. It'll be a tight fit, but
worth the journey. As you know it's a nice planet.”

“I didn't get a good look at it,” she
said, shrugging. “I covered the delegate talks,” she said.

"It's a nice world. The trees and
clear air are a nice change. Wide open spaces... A bit cool, a lot of snow, and
the winters are hard, but I think I'll manage. The people are nice too,"
he added hastily.

Her lips twisted a little in a slight
smile at that addition. "Is this a reaction to the tax changes?" she
asked.

He shook his head. “No, not at all.
You'd have to talk to the bean counters, but I believe this was in the works
long before that was passed. In fact I believe Admiral Irons had a hand in it.
Since Pyrax likes to mistreat it's armed forces I'm glad to be welcomed elsewhere."

"Fascinating," she said dryly.

"It's true. I'm expecting a lot of
people who are burdened by these cheap shots will get out of dodge too. The
Pyrax government likes to... hell!” he waved a disgusted hand-paw. “Look at
what they did to the admiral! He saved the system, rebuilt stuff, got us back
on our feet, started the navy, salvaged ships and colonies, and they black mark
his good name and run him out of the system!” He shook his head, teeth bared,
ears flat, hair on end.

She reared back, looking a little
afraid. He continued on, ignoring her reaction. “Then, when they realize they
need
him they try to get him back!" He shook his head. “The system economy is
going back in the crapper since the admiral has left and they damn well know
it! We all got what we deserve for letting it happen!”

"Not to mention the multiple
assassinations attempts," April said wincing.

"You'd know more about that then me
ma'am. I wasn't there," Jethro said, throttling his rage as he got an
incoming call from the Major. From the header on the email he'd better shut up
quick. "Um, ma'am..." If he could sweat he would have. It took all
his control not to pant. He realized he was in deep shit and wasn't sure about
how to get out of it.

April smiled and took pity on him.
"Yes, that's all the time we have for today, this is April O’Neill with
Knox news," the red haired woman nodded to the camera and then sent a
signal through her implants. The red light winked off after a moment. "And
we're clear," she turned smiling to Jethro.

Jethro sighed in relief and sat back,
shaking his head. He was more stressed now then when he'd been in combat.

"Wasn't so bad was it? Though you
did hit a nest at the end," she said with a toothy smirk. Humans tended to
smile way to often Jethro concluded.

"No ma'am, but I put my foot in my
mouth a few times," he admitted. He tugged on the base of one ear,
completely uncomfortable with the fact that he was now on several officer's
shit list. She threw her head back and laughed.

Her blue eyes danced as the laughter
faded. "Yes you did, but they had it coming so I'm not complaining. The
Major should have known you wouldn't pull any punches." She smiled,
brushing her hair out of her eyes. “You Marines are known as bluff no nonsense
people. You're just sticking to the typecasting.” There was that maddening
smile again.

"He just reminded me of that,"
Jethro admitted, tugging on one ear ruefully. He quickly scanned his e-mail and
winced. The Major hadn't been happy about the live broadcast.

April's left sculpted eyebrow rose.
"Oh? Well, too bad, he couldn't say it, so someone had to. He was using
you as a cut out so just take your lumps and then move on. He'll dump some shit
your way but it's all for the best really. I think it'll stir up a hornet's
nest, but honestly, I think that's a good thing. When people realize that their
protectors are leaving, something will break."

"Or their resentment will boil
over," Jethro sighed, shaking his head. He felt a pang at that, a pang of
guilt for causing trouble for the corps. He didn't like it. His last round of
political trouble had been a nasty affair he'd rather forget. He had been
trying
to keep a low profile. The fact that the Major had
insisted
he do this
interview hadn't helped.

“I hope we don't have any unrest or
other problems,” he said, suddenly wary of that very possibility. April shot
him a sharp concerned look.

April was now sober and serious.
"Hopefully not. I believe your good deeds and the actions of the others in
the military have certainly put things in perspective for some. Sure we don't
have a pirate problem right now..." she winced at his expression and held
up a hand, "Sorry, that didn't come out right. I'm a fan Sergeant, honest.
What I meant to say was that we don't have pirates knocking on the system right
this minute, but we will sometime in the future and it pays to be
prepared."

"Kipling ma'am," he said, ears
flicking forward. He stood, not sure what to do.

"Excuse me?" she asked,
looking genuinely curious.

He rubbed his cheek with a hand and then
tugged on his right ear. "Um, Kipling poem ma'am. Tommy boy I believe. I
read it on the flight out to Agnosta ma'am. One of the admiral's recommended
reading lists."

"Oh? I'll have to look it up
then," she said. She caught his hand and shook it. "But now I've got
to go, do try to stay out of trouble?" she asked, turning and flashing a
smile.

"Yes ma'am," he nodded. “I
think you've helped me get into trouble. Keeping out of it isn't so easy.”

She chuckled again and shook her head.
“Well, try anyway.”

“I will ma'am,” he replied with a nod.

"Good," she left. The remote
bobbed behind her as it floated off.

...*...*...*...*...

Horatio pursed his lips in a tight grim
smile as he caught the header of the incoming caller. The governor, how quaint.
Governor Walker had ignored his requests to talk. Now the panther's little
interview had stirred up some angst. From what he'd heard there were
spontaneous demonstrations going on all over the system.

“Yes Governor Walker, good morning. How
are you and your family doing this fine morning?” Horatio asked, trying to keep
from sounding too flippant or casual.

The governor's image flickered and then
his eyes narrowed. “Can the crap Logan. What the fuck were you thinking?”

“About sir?” Logan asked. He drummed his
fingers against the desk blotter in front of him. He really had better things
to be doing than sitting here listening to this pompous A-hole blow piss in his
face.

“You know damn well what I mean. You
couldn't get your own way so you sicked that dog on the public. It's blowing up
all over the system.”

“He was a cat sir.”

“Well, whatever he is I want him gone.”

“Consider it done sir. Most of the
Marines will be leaving shortly,” Horatio said. He watched as that hit home and
the governor's color darkened.

“Bullshit. You're bluffing,” Governor
Walker snarled.

“I'm an officer of the United Federation
of Sentient Species sir. We don't bluff about such things.  The Marines
are in final preparation to leave. I'm sending a naval detachment with them to
protect the system and serve as my eyes and ears.”

“You'll do no such thing. I order you to
stand down your forces Commander!” The governor growled.

“I'm sorry were you talking to me?”
Horatio asked, leaning forward. “I'm thinking you're talking to someone else
who actually
has to follow
your orders.
I don't
. As a Federation
officer I don't follow orders from
you
or anyone else in the system.”

“You...” If anything governor Walker's
face darkened even more. Horatio was taking side bets on whether the man would
blow a blood vessel or not. Most likely not, he couldn't be so lucky. “You...”

“Yes?” Horatio asked politely but
mildly, eyebrow raised.

“What are you playing at?” the governor
finally demanded, throttling his temper.

“Me sir? I'm not playing at anything. I
am fulfilling my duty as an officer of the Federation. A forward deployment of
assets serves multiple purposes including protecting a jump point to this very
system.”

“It...”

“It also provides a training place for
our Marines and special forces. It also fulfills a treaty obligation to the
people of Agnosta and it ties them into the growing Federation.”

“You...” Horatio waited as Walker
sputtered incoherently. Walker really wasn't much of a villain, he played
second fiddle to others, letting them pull his strings as he played mouth
piece. Now the puppet masters were either in hiding or dead. He wasn't sure
what the governor's role in the admiral's exile was, but he was fairly certain
the man had some role, even if it was a nod to let it happen.

“I of course will remain in the system
with some of our assets to guard the other jump points and to continue running
the yard and the San Diego base.”

“I... that's another thing. I want San
Diego. I'm nationalizing it under the eminent domain clause in the system
constitution...”

Horatio held up a restraining hand. He
waited until the governor stopped before he locked eyes with the man. “Under no
circumstances does the local government constitution allow you to nationalize
or seize Federation property. San Diego and the yard are out of your
jurisdiction. To summarize we the military are out of your jurisdiction. Good
day sir,” he said and signed off.

He sat back and blew his cheeks in and
out a few times, getting a grip on his temper. Damn the man he really was a
stupid ass. After a moment to get his thoughts in order he sent a signal
through his implants to his yeoman.

“Vicky? Get legal on the horn. Give them
a heads up that Walker's trying to pull a fast one, eminent domain of San
Diego. I want it squashed fast and hard. Send them a copy of my last
conversation with the good governor. Then tell the Major to expedite his
preparations to leave.”

“Aye aye sir,” Vicky replied with a nod.
“Will there be anything else?” she asked from his virtual HUD.

“I don't think so. No wait,” he said
pausing. “Backstop Destiny. I know they were going to Centennial after this
refit but I want them to take some of our expedition forces. Destiny is a
reserve vessel so don't let anyone give you any shit about it. Cut the orders
now.”

“I'll have them in your in-box in a
moment sir,” she said with a nod.

“Firefly is going along with them. I
want Firefly and Commander Mayweather in conference as soon as possible to go
over the orders. That goes for the Major as well. We're going to go over this
one more time. I know I'm opening a can of worms sending Firefly off.”

“She is our biggest and most powerful
ship sir.”

“She was big but the battleship is
bigger. We'll tow the big bastard out if we have to. No, She was going, She's
got our best tech team and fabricators on board.”

“Yes sir.”

“Also the armorer and his armory. Get
with Mayweather. Tell her I want more of her Marine compliment suited up. She
knows what I'm talking about. CC a copy to the Major. Provide resources as
needed. Don't hesitate, just get it done.”

“Aye aye sir,” she said.

“Tell the Major to go easy on Jethro.
The boy meant well but let's try to steer him away from interviews from now on.
I want an atta boy as well as a kick in the pants. The atta boy is off the
record. He'll understand.”

“Yes sir,” Vicky said, wrinkling her
nose. “If you say so.”

“I do. Get me a sitrep on our people.
Send out a warning to anyone in civilian country to duck and cover. I don't
want any incidents and I want our people on their best behavior. Don't start
anything and by the spirits of space don't finish anything we'll regret. Self
defense and get the hell out of dodge.”