Shelby 8 Snippet 3

 Sitrep:

So, I finished the first act of Jethro 9 and sent it off. I'm almost done the second act so truckin' right along there!

In other news, Rea sent Shelby 8 back to me. I sent it off to Goodlifeguide so the clock is ticking down to when it gets published!

 And on to the next snippet:

 

Chapter 2

 

Minox IV, Confederation Capital

 

The new government was struggling with getting approval of their replacement appointees let alone clean house in the army and law enforcement. The Attorney General’s Office was swamped. Everyone was scrambling. The ruling war party was in chaos. Nearly half of their old members had stated they were retiring or had immediately retired. A few had left the star system. Several had died from coronary events or strokes. They were rudderless and gave off mixed signals on their intentions.

Congress barely had a quorum half of the time. The markets had been frozen to keep chaos and panic down. Each time they were released the slide began.

Former Senator Scar Chin was president. Speaker of the House Kas was now acting vice president. There was some chatter that his elevation was not legal, but the herd needed a leader so many in both parties supported the duo initially. When President Scar Chin announced that there would be a full investigation and that the guilty would be charged and held accountable, it eroded some of his fragile base on both sides. The old war party wanted to be covered.

They bleated that they hadn’t done anything wrong or that it had been Ramhorn and the late senators who had supported him. Many hit on the party line of doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.

Some of the proposed terms from the Federation were leaked. The population approved of keeping their sovereignty in a poll as well as restoring the rights of nonTaurens. They also supported relocating them to the Federation but balked at paying reparations.

They did want to hold those who had cause the mess and who had committed war crimes accountable. That sent all parties into a frenzy of finger pointing and hysterics to the point that the government ground to a crawl and little more got done.

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Former Admiral Togo and Gambit were together when the news that General Dun had been arrested. They watched as the general was escorted out of a home and to a vehicle and driven away. “Perp walk,” Togo muttered. “What an indignity.”

“I know.”

“I’m glad we didn’t have a hand in war crimes,” Togo muttered.

“I hope not,” Gambit replied. Togo looked at him sharply. “I know, we didn’t but some of the field commanders might have gotten … a bit … risqué in their orders.”

“That is on them.”

“It depends on how the AG interprets the ROE we cut for them,” Gambit warned.

Admiral Togo winced and flapped his ears. After a moment, he grunted.

“Who is in charge? Any clue?”

“At the moment? No idea. We’re out, that is all I know,” Togo said. His wife had left him. The same for Gambit. They had been forced out of base housing. Their spouses were suing them, and their money had been locked up by the courts. With the financial markets frozen, they couldn’t get at investments. They had come together to stay at a cabin that many flag officers used as a vacation retreat.

Flashing lights appeared outside. Gambit and then Togo looked up and out of the window to see a herd of Tauren agents pulling up.

“Ah hell and Murphy,” Togo muttered as his shoulders hunched.

“He does love his little tricks,” Gambit muttered.

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Blacksight shook his head as he saw arrest after arrest on the news. He was out of it; he had fallen through the cracks and disappeared. He’d even gone so far as to fake his death the moment President Ramhorn’s government resigned.

He didn’t know if it would protect him but he hoped so. It was now his only recourse, to fade into obscurity and hope he died of old age before someone tripped over him.

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Admiral Fiddlybit was reeling over the losses in ships and lives, not to mention his world view. He was apolitical so he should be okay. Some of the flag officers, however, were on extended leave. It left dangerous gaping holes in their chain of command.

At the moment, he was acting head of BuShips. Admiral Byx was in temporary command as acting CNO per the acting president. Admiral Silvertip had been in talks to return to the office but he was tainted by past actions involving the mistreatment of non-Tauren species so that was delayed or off.

It was a mess. He couldn’t blame some bulls for laying low. But someone had to keep things running and the lights on in their absence.

For the moment, they were trying to keep things running until a bull was found who had not been tainted by the war or by prior bad acts was found. What was the old saying? For want of an honest bull?

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