Jethro: First to Fight (6 page)

The squad tried to get together off
shift at least once a week, or so they'd planned. Reality and wistful planning
usually didn't quite mesh up really well however. Take for instance their
erstwhile Commander, the Neogrizzly Ensign Valenko. He was still laid up in a
regen tank. He'd waited through the trip back on Destiny for one, only to find
a waiting list when they had arrived. He'd finally gotten his turn but since
his body had scared over somewhat the nanites were forced to debride his scar
tissue in order to make the repairs. From what the others heard when they
stopped by to visit, it was a painful tedious process.

“What's Able's problem?” Jethro asked,
playing with his coaster.

Hurranna sipped her beer and grinned,
licking foam off her whiskers. “Seems like he was the one with the problem. Guy
has a perpetual stick up his rear.”

“He was stuck in a dead end job,” Asazi
said knocking her drink back. They glanced at her. She shrugged, rolling her
shoulders as she did so. On her massive heavyworlder frame it was impressive.
Not that they hadn't seen it before, they'd been together since boot. “What I
heard. He's been in life support on Centurion for what? A year or so now? As a
Ensign? Got one promotion to Jig and he's been stuck there while others passed
him by.”

“They should rotate him to a different
slot. Engineering, or tactical or something,” Jethro replied wrinkling his muzzle.
The man was going stale and getting bitter and taking it out on everyone around
him. He was fairly certain of that now.

Asazi sighed. “None available
apparently.”

“Ouch,” Jethro winced. The build
schedules had been thrown to hell with the admiral's departure from the system.
Destiny and the parts he had sent back with the freighter had changed that
slightly. They had managed to complete all the smaller ships, but they were
stuck on the larger ships. Or so the scuttlebutt said.

“I heard there's a few openings in the
yard and in the station, in fact there has to be some on some of the new ships.
He doesn't have what it takes for command?” Hurranna asked.

“It takes all kinds,” Asazi said. She
put her glass down and stretched. “It's what I heard anyway.”

“Not everyone is up for command,” Jethro
mumbled, remembering he'd been pushed to an officer's slot a few times. Now he
wasn't comfortable with this discussion.

“True, but you recognized your limits,”
Hurranna said maliciously. Trust her to see to the heart of his discomfort.

“What'd I miss?” Sergei said coming in
and waving to the bartender for a drink.

Jethro and the others looked up and
smiled as he came. “Not a whole hell of a lot, usual bull session.”

“Oh is that all? Well, wait till I get
my beer then we'll get on the gossip. I've just played with the new mortars, I
can't wait to get them in the field! Seeing them in the bay is one thing, and I
admit VR is cool, but damn it I wanna see some dirt fly for real!”

The others laughed at that.

The next morning just as he started his
morning jog, Jethro ran into an equipment move of some sort and was forced to
halt. He paused at the noise. "Make a hole! If you've got somewhere else
to be take a different route!" A voice yelled.

"Seriously big hole people! Get the
frak out of the way. If you can be someplace else then do that. That's even
better." An annoyed petty officer ordered walking slowly backward around a
corner. Jethro blinked as a giant cylinder came slowly into sight. Instinctively
he followed the directive, moving to a cross corridor and backing into it,
blocking it off.

When someone came up behind him he put a
hand out to stop them. The man grunted as he looked over Jethro's shoulder and
saw the workers.

The shiny metal and glass cylinder they
were moving was on its side, translucent windows were on the sides facing them.
He was surprised to see water sloshing inside. Then a flash of color and
tentacles. He blinked in confusion. As the transport moved closer he gasped.
"Ssilli," the voice behind him said softly. He glances that way to
see a tech.

"Yeah," Jethro replied,
turning back to the officer. He came to attention and saluted the water alien.
The tech did as well. The water alien turned an eye stalk in their direction
and flashed a rainbow of color. After a moment one of its main tentacles gave
an approximate salute back.

They watched as the tube passed, leaning
into the corridor see it go.

"Where is it going?" Jethro
asked. "Out for a walk?" he asked. His ears flicked in amusement at
the thought.

"No it's got a habitat waiting
inside San Diego."

"The base?" Jethro asked
blinking down at the wiry little human. The man shrugged.

"I heard they've been cutting up
the inside, carving out places for buildings and such. They cut out a huge area
for him, something like a kilometer across and a hundred meters deep. Big ass
bowl they filled with water."

"Wow," Jethro said trying to
imagine that in the sphere.

"It's got a glass top, you can see
it when you're inside," the tech said. He went over to an LCD on the
bulkhead and tapped at it. "There. See?" Jethro blinked at the
magnified view. It looked like a greenhouse filled with water.

"He'll be a lot more comfortable
there instead of crammed in the tank here."

"Who's steering it? Oh wait, implants?
Or is it Firefly?" he asked looking at the nearby tech.

"No he is, He's sapient," the
tech said smiling. "They have to be given the same rights and privileges
we've got."

Jethro flicked his ears. "Oh,"
he said sheepishly.

"I heard they had wanted to ship
him off to Agnosta but the doc said she needed him here."

"No man it's cause the seas on
Agnosta are poisonous to him," another tech said.

The first tech turned to the second.
"Really? Not what I heard."

"Yeah man, something about saline
or mercury, not sure," the other tech said. Jethro left them arguing so he
could be on his way.

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

Jethro mangled a hat with his hands,
trying to get it to take the shape he wanted. Unfortunately the memory material
in the hat kept reshaping it back to its original design.

Asazi entered the compartment, stopped
at her locker and then stared at him. “What the heck are you doing?” she asked.
“Did that hat do something or what?”

The panther sighed, sitting on the bench
and tossing the hat up in the air for the moment before he caught it. “No, I'm
trying to get it to fit me. See, the bush hats we wore on Agnosta were a pain.
They're a one size fits all sort of thing and they just don't work with Neo
ears,” he said, flicking his ears.

She looked at his ears and then the hat.
After a moment he put the hat on and she could see it for herself. She agreed
with a nod. “So, you need to look for a Neo design and have one made,” She
commented, opening her locker and turning to its contents.

“Have one made?”

“Hang on a sec,” she said, stripping off
her sweat soaked top and dropping it behind her. She grabbed a towel and some
latrine things and then turned. “I'll hit the shower. I think you can find one
in the net, give me a couple of minutes and I'll show you where I saw it.”

“You saw it?” he asked.

She smiled as she pulled the towel she
had behind her neck. She held onto it with both hands, coincidentally covering
her now naked breasts. It didn't matter to Jethro, he was a Neo and he didn't
do humans. Asazi was a team mate, and a long time ago a professional fighter.
She wasn't body shy. But some conventions died hard so she still covered her
exposed nipples with her towel and wrists. “Yeah, what can I say, I'm a lady.
We always love to shop,” she said with a slight smirk, turning and exiting.

Jethro snorted and then took in a deep
breath. He cocked his head. From the smell Asazi was in or near an in-heat
state of her metabolism. That was odd, the implants normally regulated it.
Unless... did she get off on the work outs? She did seem to enjoy pasting her
opponents... especially men. And she did let slip the other day that she used
to wrestle and pin rich men for the odd credit or two... He flicked his ears
and then shrugged the idea aside.

  He checked his implants, he had
time. He was technically off shift for the next 2 hours. He got up and
straightened his locker, keeping his back to her as she padded back damp. She
dried off and then got dressed in her usual tank top and uniform cargo pants
she wore while off duty. When he heard her blousing her pants over her boots he
sat again, holding a tablet.

“Did you look?” she asked. He shook his
head. “Why not?”

“I got into cleaning my locker,” he
said. She snorted.

“Here, give it over,” she said. He
turned and handed her the tablet. She pursed her lips and picked through the
ship's net before she found the archive. “I know I saw them somewhere...”

“Archives?” Jethro suggested.

“Maybe.” Together they hunted through
archive until they found a bush hat design. It was an Australian style bush
hat, with the front part of both sides turned up to accommodate ears and or
horns. “This should do,” Asazi said, holding up the tablet.

Jethro nodded. “We can try it.”

“Yeah, I think Hurranna and the others
would appreciate it too,” Asazi said. “Let me check here...”

After a few minutes of looking she
grunted in irritation. “They don't have it. Why wouldn't they have something so
simple in the textile archive?”

“It might have been deleted. Or lost
when Firefly was a derelict,” Jethro suggested.

“Well,” Asazi said, bookmarking the
images. “We can make one.”

“Make one? Me?” Jethro asked.

“I don't mean you literally, I mean find
someone who can make one. Let me look into it,” she said waving a hand as she
downloaded the bookmarks to her implants and then handed the tablet back.
“Eat?”

“I thought you'd never ask,” Jethro
said, flicking his ears in humor. She snorted and reached out to tug his ear.
He swatted her hand away. She laughed, pushing him.

“You aren't as bad as the bear or the
liger, but you Neo's always are up to proving you're predators. Come on, let's
go,” she said.

Later that evening they crossed paths
again. He could tell from the way she was walking with her hands behind her
back and the slight smug expression on her face she was up to something. “Close
your eyes,” she ordered. He sighed and did so. He felt her fit something over
his head and under his chin. After a moment she patted him on the shoulder.
“Okay, go ahead,” she said.

“Okay,” he drawled. “I'm not seeing it
you know?” he asked, raising an amused eyebrow and then flicking his ears. He
cocked his head, feeling something brush the edge when he flicked his ears, but
realizing he could flick them. With a hat on.

“Come on, let's find a mirror,” Asazi
said, poking him along.

Further along the corridor they found a
head. They entered the compartment, amusing a pair of techs there. Jethro
looked around until he spotted his reflection in the mirror behind the sinks.
“Cool huh?” Asazi said, all smiles.

“Very,” he said, checking himself out.
It was digicam, with a hexagon pattern mixed with the digicam design. Right now
it was blending in to the ship's interior colors. He sent a signal to it
through his implants and felt the cover respond. After a moment it changed to a
forest pattern of greens, tans, and black. Another signal changed it to a
tropical pattern, then an arctic one.

“You're not normally so narcissistic,”
Asazi replied, now crossing her arms in amusement. “Normally you're downright
transparent.”

“Funny,” Jethro drawled, looking at her
in the mirror. “Very funny,” he mocked. She smirked. “Thanks,” he said, ears
forward.

She reached out to touch the hat. “Well,
I'm glad it fits you. I was afraid you'd get a swelled head,” she teased. He
snorted.

Letanga exited a stall and blinked at
his cousin. “Hey! I want one!” he said pointing. “Where'd you get it?” he
demanded.

Jethro snorted and flicked his ears. He
then jerked a thumb over his shoulder to Asazi. “Talk to the miracle lady
there,” he said.

“Cool!” Letanga said, golden eyes
turning expectantly to his team mate. “Where'd you get it?” he asked. “I had to
use rubber bands to keep mine together like that when we were in the field,” he
grumbled.

“I've got a friend who can do it. She's
pretty good at making modifications since she's a skinsuit tech.”

“Cool! Can I have one? Can I? Can I?”
Letanga asked.

Asazi laughed. “You sound like a 2 year
old. Fine, yes, I'll get you one too.”

“You'd better get one for the others.
They see us with them on and they'll want one too,” Jethro said. Asazi rolled
her eyes.

“Gee, what was I getting myself into.
Fashion designer for Neo's. Fine.”

“And Taurens. Don't forget Ox,” Letanga
said.

“Right,” Jethro said nodding solemnly.

“Oh you!” Asazi growled, poking Jethro.
The cat chuffed a chuckle, flicking his ears. “You know the real reason I did
this right? So I can grab those ears when I need to get you to move,” she
teased.

Both cats laughed.

Letanga washed up and then they left the
compartment. They paused as a group of Marines passed, all headed to the
galley. Several Neo's and even two Veraxin spotted Jethro's new head gear and
asked where he got it. Each time he indicated Asazi.

“Gee thanks,” she blushed at the
unexpected praise and requests. “What'd I ever do to deserve this?” she asked.
She did seem to preen when a rather large human male asked if he could have one
too. Jethro felt him send his contact info to her implants. Asazi stuffed her
hands in her back pockets, for once off balance it seemed.

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

Hurranna took an interest in small craft
when she was assigned to guard the boat bay. She had wanted a pilot slot since
she graduated boot, but had been put on an ever increasing waiting list. She
sighed, watching the mechanics as they finished buttoning up a craft.

It was a standard Skyhawk, the navy's
version of the Marine Warhawk. The hawks were the most up to date shuttles in
their arsenal. They were robust craft, able to share 90 percent of the same
parts. They shared the same airframe, but there were some differences other
than the obvious color. Skyhawks were work craft, carrying crew and cargo
between ships or stations. They were navy gray with flat black trim along areas
that saw a lot of heat, such as the forward swept wing's leading edges, nose,
and canted rudders.

The navy version had windows along the
flanks under the wings. Passengers tended to be more comfortable with something
to look out through. The Marine version lacked the windows, she'd found out
that it was because each was a potential breaching point if a seal ruptured in
flight. The Marines were a flat Marine olive drab, with again the flat black
trim.

Their rudders were canted inward, to
lower the aircraft's radar profile as well as to make it more space saving on
deck. The forward swept wings could pivot, folding at the joint half way along
the wing inward to again save deck space. With their wings folded they looked
like birds with their wings over their heads resting.

The Navy Skyhawk had a hexagonal door on
her port side near the bow, as well as the standard boarding ramp in the rear.
The Marines had again opted for just the one door, the rear ramp. But the
Warhawk was armed, with a drop down turret under the nose, and another on a
robotic arm inside the main bay. The forward turret could soften up an LZ,
while the robotic arm could deploy and angle out of the ramp to provide
covering fire.

The hawks were sleek, with orbital
maneuvering thrusters and shields built right into her skin along her flanks.
She had intakes under the wing root to suck in air, each could close during
re-entry. She was a hexagon in cross section, but looking at it from the side
she looked like a bird, with the nose tapering down, the forward swept wings
swept down and seeming to merge backwards into the body in a smooth transition.