Make or Break the Hero (The Hunter Legacy Book 4) (19 page)

An email came in from Miriam, and I threw
it to the wall.

"Safe? You call that antique safe? I
wouldn’t trust the coffee pot on that old heap. Are you nuts?"

Maybe I was. I couldn’t help chuckling.

"And what's with the red color? That
is seriously ugly. Who in their right mind colors a ship that bright a red? Oh,
I forgot, I'm talking to you. Jon Hunter and right mind, shouldn’t be used in
the same sentence. Sometimes I wonder about you. Then I think of your cute
butt, and forget what I was wondering about." She laughed. "Damn Jon.
You've enough firepower now to start your own empire. I don’t know if I should
congratulate you, or fear you. Some will fear you now, make no mistake about
that. You've shown yourself to be a serious threat to anyone doing the wrong
thing. That doesn’t go unnoticed. So watch your back. Or better still, let me
watch your butt." She giggled. "Can't wait to see you again."
She blew a kiss, and the vid ended.

I rose, shifted the puss, changed my
fatigues to a belt, yanked down my briefs, and zoomed a cam in on my butt. I
let a vid record it for a full minute before I pulled my briefs back up,
snapped the belt back into fatigues and zoomed out. I turned to the cam.

"Ask and you shall receive." I
grinned and winced all at the same time. "This is my living room." I
panned the cam around so she could see it all. "I assure you it's one
hundred percent modern, as is most of the rest of the ship that counts. The
hull might be old, but it's sound and solid."

I paused the vid. Angel was shredding her
scratch pole now. I asked her if she wanted to come to the Bridge. She stopped,
considered, ran over and shinned up onto my left shoulder. It twinged, so I
shifted her to my right. I could use my left arm to some degree, below shoulder
height, but the shoulder was still a major pain source.

"Jeeves?"

"Yes my Lord?" He appeared as if
by magic.

"Can you monitor where Angel is at all
times?"

"Yes my Lord."

"She has full access to my suite, the Rec
Room and Dining Room, but nothing else on this level. She can access the Bridge,
my Ready Room, and the Conference room on the Bridge level, and the mess when
I'm there, but not the kitchen. Is it worth having a maid droid available to
open and close doors for her?"

"If you wish my Lord."

"I assume you can do it, but it would
impact your ability to do other things."

"Yes my Lord. There will however be
another butler droid here shortly, who can also perform that task here on this
deck. With your permission, Jason will attend to Deck Two and Jenkins to the
Marine Mess. But there's another alternative."

"What?"

He told me.

"Fine, I'll leave it for you to
organize."

"As you wish my Lord."

I limped out to the stairwell, and stood
there looking at the stairs going up. I looked at Angel.

"Are you game to try something
new?"

She looked at me expectantly.

I stepped into the access shaft, bent my
knees a little, and straightened. We floated upwards slowly. At the top, I
reached out for a rail, and swung us lightly onto the deck. I still stumbled a
bit under the gravity, and Angel, caught unprepared, dug her claws into my
epaulettes to stay in place.

Weow!

"Does that mean don’t do that again,
or let's do that again?"

Mew.

Serves me right for asking two questions at
once.

I limped onto the Bridge, and walked over
to the main console. Jane was still where I’d last seen her. I picked Angel up,
and placed her down on the cat mat, now sitting there waiting for her. She
sniffed at it, and settled, watching us move through space.

My figurines of Kali and Ganesha had also
moved onto the console. They'd been a gift, and to date, I had no idea why I
was continually moving them around with me. One day I’d get to talk to the
person who gave them to me, and find out why they felt so necessary.

I sat in my chair, and started the vid
going again.

"This is the Bridge." I panned
the cam around, and used several others so she could see the whole room.
"As you can see, state of the art, no expense spared. I guess it's kind of
a bit much for one person, but the team should be on board soon. Miss
you." I blew her a kiss, and ended the vid. I used our encryption for the
email, and sent it off.

I did miss her. I was surprised to discover
this. She was older than me, but not significantly. I figured her to be about
twenty four. At home, folks would be freaking out about a six year difference,
but to me we were both pilots doing what we loved. Where did age come into it?
The same applied to the twins and Alison. The twins I thought were early
twenties, and Alison was later twenties. I had no idea why Alison was attracted
to me. Technically, Alison had broken 'the code' by sleeping with me the night
before the first Avon battle. I'd slept with the twins as well, back before
team complications had set in. I wondered where the twins were with sorting
that out, and if they'd spoken to Alison about it all. They had to be aware
something had gone on. Didn't they?

I sighed. My understanding of women
wouldn’t fill in a shot glass.

I sat there, watching the distance to Cobol
wind down. Custer was still in orbit, and no other ships were on the scanner.

"Did freight scanners get installed on
BigMother Jane?"

"No. But we've some we can install,
left over from making them for the station. Where do you want them?"

"All around the ship the same as the
station. So we have a kilometer coverage in all directions out from the hull."

"Will do."

"Thanks."

"Your welcome."

"I know I am."

"I know you are too."

"Good."

"Good."

I let her have the last word. Apparently my
understanding of AI's wouldn’t add to the shot glass either.

I sat there just watching the view, until
Annette walked in and took a seat on the other side of the main console from
Jane. She looked flushed. I gave her 'the look', the one you use when you want
to know, but don’t want to ask.

"Those access shafts are serious
fun," she said with a giggle.

I shook my head a little.

Pilots!

A few minutes later, the 266 squadron guys
started arriving. By the time we were in orbit, and to a position not far from
Custer, they were all sitting there.

I opened a channel to Custer.

"BigMother to Custer, anyone
home?"

"What?" It was Alison. "Who
is this?"

We all laughed.

"It's me, Jon. I'm back. Jane, show
her the ship on her nearest monitor."

"Confirmed."

"Holy shit!"

"No, BigMother. Holyshit was already
taken."

"What the hell is that, thing?"

"Escort Carrier. Now my mobile base.
Care to come on board?"

"Sure, I was getting lonely up here on
my own."

"Strap in somewhere, Jane will dock
the two ships. Once docked, come aboard through the main airlock in the Cargo
Bay."

"Okay. See you soon."

I closed the channel.

"Jane, nose to nose please."

"Confirmed."

"Jeeves?"

"Yes my Lord?"

"Once we're docked, can you transfer
everyone's belongings to their suite here please?"

"Yes my Lord."

There was groan from behind me which seemed
to indicate someone hadn't thought of that. I grinned.

"Annette, you want to go meet Alison?
Jane will operate the trolley by remote, unless you want to figure it out
yourself."

"Sure. That might be fun too. Anyone
want to come?"

They all left.

Pilots! I shook my head. Anything to do
with speed, and you couldn’t keep them away from it.

Maybe I needed to get Jane to rig a bungee
in one of the access shafts for them. On the other hand, that could be
seriously dangerous in low gees. But on the gripping hand, a pilot would
probably love that. I sighed.

I sat there, and watched while Custer
docked with BigMother. Two large ships kissing, I thought. I cracked up, and
instantly regretted it.

"Jane, when Jeeves has all personal
belongings off Custer, button her up, and have the building and repair droids
make the changes I wanted for her. Can you shift her so they don’t need to
evacuate the air, but do the hull work through the cargo airlock?"

"Confirmed. But we won't be able to go
anywhere until the work is complete."

"How long will that be?"

"Four or five hours."

"Fine. I don’t really want to start
the next offensive until tomorrow anyway."

A channel opened from the planet.

"Smith to unknown ship. That better be
you Hunter."

Jane looked at me with a look of pure glee
on her face, and raised eyebrows. I gave her the thumbs up. Her suit changed to
a strange black armour with tubes going in weird directions. She focused an
obviously mechanical eye on the nearest cam, and turned the vid on. General
Smith appeared on the screen, with Alsop and a few others in the background.

"This is BigMother of Borg," Jane
said in a multitude of simultaneous voices. "You will be assimilated.
Resistance is futile."

"What the fuck?" blurted Alsop, a
look of panic on his face.

I could hear Eric in the background having
total hysterics, and I couldn’t help but join him. The pain was worth it.

Jane changed her suit back to normal. The
cam focused on me instead. I made a huge effort, and got a grip.

"Sorry General, we couldn’t resist
that. Yes, BigMother is mine."

"BigMother?"

"It’s a funny story for another
time."

"If you say so. Can you come down here
please? The locals would like a word."

"Sure. Now? Its late evening up here.
I was hoping for some sleep."

"It's midafternoon here, and none of
us have had any. Sleep will have to wait. Land on the shuttle pad on top of
Government House."

"Can I bring a date?"

The channel closed. I chuckled again. In
theory, I could refuse to go as I outranked her, but in practice, Vonda
outranked me, so that card could be trumped. And truth to tell, I was curious
what the locals wanted.

"Jane, ask Annette and the others if
they want a trip down to the planet. Prep the Gig, and direct them to it, if
they wish to go."

"Confirmed."

I told Angel I was going out for a few
hours. She should go to sleep without me. She didn’t look happy, but curled up
on her pad.

"Jane, where's my guns?"

"Ready Room."

I went in, and found my three guns hanging
on the wall, in what looked like custom charging slots. I took down the Long
gun, and one of my gatling stunners. I holstered both, with the Long gun on my
right thigh.

I limped out, followed by Jane. At the
access shaft, I dropped in, and let myself float gently down to the Cargo Deck.
Jane followed. A two person trolley took us to one of the side access shafts,
and we went down again.

At the Launch Deck level, we swung out of
the access shaft, and Jane directed me to another two person trolley, which
took us to where the Captain's Gig was waiting. It was a shuttle, but specially
fitted out for a captain's private use. In other words, it was luxurious. It
had been on one of the ships I'd salvaged along the way. I found the others on
board waiting for me.

Alison gave me a careful hug, before taking
a seat. Annette gave us a probing look for a moment, but didn’t say anything.

A cargo droid attached its sled to the Gig,
and pulled us onto a lift. It disconnected, and left the lift, which started
rising. It passed through a series of levels designed to contain the air in the
deck below, as we transitioned to the airless Flight Deck above. Once there,
Jane flew us out the back of the ship, since the front was mainly blocked by Custer.
The Gig angled down towards the planet below.

We landed on the roof of an imposing
building. General Smith was on hand to greet us, along with an SFSF Lieutenant.
Annabelle and Annette hugged, before the Lieutenant led the way into the
building. Annabelle did look tired, which accounted for her tone and word
choice earlier.

I had déjà vu walking into the conference
room. Except for the room itself, it was the same conference I'd spent a lot of
time in on my way to Avon. I really hoped this meeting wouldn’t be running as
long as the last one. I really did need sleep. The rest of the team were around
the walls, all looking like they were running on empty.

The pilots with me, joined the team along
the walls, while I took my seat at the door end of the conference table. At the
other end, General Chandra looked like he'd lost a great deal of weight, and
was not at all well. To his left, was General Wellington.

He started clapping as I finished seating
myself. Everyone around the table joined in. I looked directly at General
Chandra, and gave him a slight shake of the head. He stopped clapping immediately,
and the room fell silent.

"Welcome Admiral," Chandra said.
"We understand we've you to thank for our liberation."

"Rubbish," I said, gaining a few
negative reactions from around the table. "I merely neutralized the
Midgard defenses. It was General Smith's team which did the hard work."

"Quite so, and we've already expressed
our thanks to them. But I also know how difficult the task was you personally
faced, and how well you did it. I was there in the compound at the time. I saw
the whole thing, and will never forget it. In particular, I've never seen such
a display of sniper fire before, and this is saying something, as I've known
some very good snipers. Thank you Admiral, you saved a lot of lives from a very
slow lingering death, and we appreciate it."

"Hear, hear," rang out from one
of the politicians, echoed by others.

"That done, the purpose of this
meeting is to determine our needs, and how they can be met."

"Do you need my people here for this
General?" I asked.

"No, we're finished with them for now."

"General Smith."

"Sir?"

"Take the Dropships up to BigMother.
You'll find accommodation for all of you on Deck Two. Your names are on doors.
Custer is undergoing some refit work, so don’t go there. I had all your gear
moved before the work started. All the facilities on Custer are duplicated on
Deck Two. Go and get some sleep before you all fall down. It's after eleven up
there, so its sleep time anyway."

"Yes sir." She motioned towards
the door and they started filing out.

"Wing Commander."

"Sir?"

"Use the rear Flight Deck entrance,
the forward one has Custer attached. Jane will give you lift assignments on
approach. Better give George the procedure, as he's never landed on a Carrier
before. Don’t go back to Apricot One yourself, there should be a door with your
name on it as well. We'll talk in the morning."

"Yes sir."

"Squadron Leader."

"Sir?"

"Follow the Wing Commander out and
introduce yourselves. Up to you if you want to return to the ship now, or wait
for me."

"We'll wait sir. It's been a while since
we were dirtside."

"Fine, see if you can be
helpful."

"Yes sir."

They departed as well.

"Jane, have a butler droid meet them
when they land, and escort them to Deck Two. Have them leave their combat suits
on the Launch Deck somewhere for now. Can you make a list as we go along here
of what needs to be freighted in?"

"Confirmed."

I nodded to General Chandra.

The meeting lasted for several hours, and
showed me just how devastating the invasion had been for this planet. They'd
almost no means of feeding themselves for one thing, and no longer had a
functioning station to facilitate the arrival of food.

I had Jane throw the list she'd made to a
wall screen.

"Anyone want to add or change anything
on this list?" I asked.

Some suggestions were made, and a number of
things were added, while the amounts of several others were increased.

I opened a vid.

"General Harriman. I'm here in a
meeting with Cobol's military and political leaders. The planet urgently needs
food and medical supplies. My station is the closest. Can you please assemble
anything on the attached list which can be spared, and ship it here using any
of my freighters currently on their way to you, which can land on the planet.
The station here is unusable. We'll be asking Avon for the bulk of the relief
needed, but you are closer. If my second Drone Freighter is still there, unload
it, fill it with supplies, and send it here as fast as possible. It can get
here faster than anything else. Let Jane know it's coming if it is. We can
offload it on my Carrier and shuttle down the supplies, while we're still here.
But we'll be leaving in about four hours from now, so it must get here
first." I looked at Jane, and motioned something coming down and landing.
She shook her head. "Hunter out."

I assembled a priority email with the list
attached, and sent it off.

"Thank you Admiral," said General
Chandra.

While we watched, Alsop did a similar vid
and email, addressed to the authorities on Avon. His included details of the
station, and what was needed to repair it.

The meeting broke up.

General Chandra gave me the nod, and I
stayed in place as everyone left. Quite a few shook my hand on the way out.
Only General Wellington and Alsop remained, Jane still behind my chair. I rose,
and limped up to the other end of the table, taking the seat opposite Vonda.
Jane followed.

"I won't keep you any longer
Admiral," said Chandra. "I know you still have a war to win. I just
wanted to thank you again before you left." He held out his hand, and I
shook it. He also shook the hands of Vonda and Alsop. "You've done your
best by us, now go win the war."

"Good luck General," said Vonda.
"Keep me in the loop with your supply needs. And General?"

"Yes sir?"

"I'm damned glad you obeyed my
order."

"Ah, yes sir." He was going red,
so I wasn’t at all sure he'd obeyed it to the letter.

We left. I pinged Lacey to meet us at the
Gig, and we headed back to it. We arrived first, and made ourselves
comfortable.

I couldn't stop myself from yawning.

"Are we keeping you up Jon?"
asked Vonda.

"Yes." I grinned quickly, and it
didn’t hurt much. "There's a suite with your name on it as well General.
And you too Commander." They nodded.

The pilots returned a few minutes later.
Jane boosted us.

"I need three volunteers to stay awake
for a few hours."

"Sir? What for?" asked Lacey.

"There may be a medium freighter
arrive in two or three hours' time with a load of food and medical supplies. If
so, it'll need to dock with the Carrier, be unloaded, and reloaded onto the Dropships.
Three Dropships, three pilots."

Lacey looked to his men, and the three
youngest ones nodded.

"Thanks. You can sleep in after. We'll
be moving into Azgard tomorrow, but not bright and early. Jane will tell you if
and when the freighter arrives, and give you directions to the Dropships. They'll
be moved onto the Flight Deck, so you'll need to access them through an
umbilical connection. The freighter should be able to land at the end of the
Flight Deck, so we won't need to bring stuff through the ship at all."

"Yes sir," they said together.