Jethro 9 Snippet 3

 

Chapter 3

 

Antigua

 

Jethro continued to deal with the pain of loss of Lil Red. Shanti continued to blame herself. Both had been to a therapist but it helped to talk to each other. “I was supposed to keep her safe,” she said.

Jethro shook his head. She sounded so … broken. Like it was her fault. It wasn’t; they both knew that. She hadn’t been home; it had been a freak crash during an air show that had killed their adopted daughter.

“You can’t be blamed for a freak accident! Murphy maybe, but not you love. It happened. We can’t wrap them in cotton and keep them safe forever.”

“You’d think she’d be safe at home! I should have insisted she stay with you.”

“It happened,” Jethro sighed. “It is something that … the rest of us will have to live with. I love you,” he said softly.

“I love you too,” she murmured back, kissing her fingertips and then holding them out to him. He smiled tenderly to her holographic image.

A blinking LED caught his attention. He knew it was time up. He reached out for a phantom caress of her cheek. She smiled tenderly and closed her eyes and seemed to rub into it.

“I won’t tell you to stay safe. I know you too well,” he said.

She chuffed.

“But watch your six and kick ass.”

“Yeah,” she said huskily. “We have to go.” She dashed a tear and then straightened up and nodded. “Kick some pirate ass. I love you.”

“I know and I will. And I love you too,” he said. “Thanks, Captain,” Jethro said as he looked up.

“You’re welcome, Chief. Terminating virtual chat,” Commander Enki replied.

<<O>>

Jethro prepped for work quietly. “Was that mom?” Baghera asked sleepily. He was the black panther male of the quartet. All four had a ways to go in the maturity department. A bit of that was because he hadn’t been around to be a father. He was trying to make up for lost time but it wasn’t easy this late in the game.

“Yeah, she had to go; sorry, you lot were asleep.”

“Was she here?” Bagheera asked, looking around in confusion. He sniffed the air, his brows knit still in confusion. “Wait, I don’t smell her.”

“No, it was a holo call. Brief,” Jethro explained patiently as he cleaned up the kitchen.

Bagheera blinked in confusion. “Oh,” he said.

“Red is …”

“They cremated her body and will ship it back as a diamond,” Jethro said quietly.

 Bagheera blinked again and then yawned. “Damn,” he muttered. “It is … is she really gone?” he asked and then ran a finger under his nose as he snuffled.

“I’m afraid so,” Jethro sighed softly. Some of the family were still struggling with the loss. Red had been their adopted daughter and an older sister/aunt/sitter to each of the litters. They were each dealing with the grief in their own way. The FBI as well as the Cadre had each offered a grief counselor to the family. So far he wasn’t aware of anyone taking them up on it.

The first litter were buried in their work. They were more mature and knew intellectually such things were bound to happen eventually. The sudden reaction was what caught them off guard.

“Mom should have left her here to be safe with us,” Bagheera muttered bitterly.

“Red was an adult; she wanted to be with your mom to help her out and so she wouldn’t feel so alone.” Jethro shook his head.

“Yeah? And it cost her her life!” Bagheera flared.

A corner of his father’s mind recognized anger as one of the stages of grief so he kept to reason. He didn’t want to provoke the fragile truce with his son or make the irrational anger turn towards him.

No, it wasn’t irrational, the anger was real. It was just adrift without a target as they all were, he reminded himself before he spoke.

“No, a freak accident did. She was at home safe. It could have happened here as easily as their or anywhere,” Jethro said, trying to keep his tone even. Bagheera glowered at him. “When fate chooses to snip your thread, it's a part of the circle of life.”

“Oh gah, not that shit again,” the smaller black panther said voice rich with disgust. He snorted harshly.

“It is what it is,” Jethro said with an ear flick of a shrug as he felt his fur stiffen. Bast shook her head on his HUD. He took it to indicate a lost cause. “Some things are just out of our control. It sucks. Trust me, I’ve felt it. I still feel it.”

He reached out to touch his son but his son turned away and headed into the bathroom. The door clicked shut with a sound of finality to the argument.

Jethro escaped to his commute to work while he could.

<<O>>

Jethro saw motion in the hallway near the floor as he walked through the new section of the base. His attention flickered from thinking about the list of things he had to do to prepare for the movement to curiosity. Bast rolled her eyes on his HUD and highlighted a familiar feline figure crouching in the shadows.

He chuffed softly in amusement and pretended to ignore her in passing. Ember had figured out how to cloak in order to try to sneak out of the crèche again. She was good, but she had been tagged with an IFF tag and her cloak was only good if she didn’t move. She didn’t have implants or an AI to manage her cloaks so everything ran on instinct.

He turned suddenly and swooped in to catch her and swing her off her feet. She growled in surprise as he held her with one arm under her armpits and the other under her bottom as he leaned over her and gave his invisible prey a cheek rub.

She mock growled and her ears went flat but he chuffed and purred. After a moment, she started to purr in response.

A tech saw him cheek rubbing something and holding it but whatever it was it was invisible. The human stopped and stared until Jethro tickled his prey. Ember growled and lost focus and faded into place in his arms giggling and squirming. “Stop!” she said in a high pitch giggly voice.

Jethro churred and laughed at her and hugged her tightly. The observer then blinked and puckered his lips and looked away. After a moment, he shook his head and walked off.

“So, what are you doing out and about, young lady?” Jethro teased. “Aren’t you supposed to be with your friends?”

“No nap,” she growled as he slung her up to his shoulder. She began to play with his ear in retaliation.

“Really? You don’t like to nap?”

“No,” she pouted as he walked to the crèche.

“Uh huh,” he said. “Do they know you are gone?” he asked in a light voice. She suddenly looked shy.

Bast rolled her virtual eyes and sent a text out to the crèche as well as Zuhura.

Just as she did a security alert came over the 1MC to look for a lost black kitten.

“I think they know you are missing. Your mommy is going to be upset,” Jethro warned.

Ember looked a little contrite but then flicked her ears.

Find out supposed to be in crèche. Snuck away in naptime.

Zuhura arrived outside the crèche. She was clearly exasperated with her wayward charge.

Jethro play fought to hand her over, eventually relenting with a mock pout. Ember giggled. The byplay lightened the mood.

“You aren’t supposed to leave the crèche without an adult, young lady,” Zuhura scolded.

“She’s getting good at being sneaky,” Jethro said. “She almost got past me,” he said. He shrewdly tickled her. “Almost,” he teased as she shrunk back and giggled and then growled and play swatted at him.

She might be playing but her eyes flashed, her ears went back and she started in with her trademark head cock that said she was ready to get feisty.

“Uh oh,” Zuhura laughed. “Now you’ve done it,” she chuffed. She pretended to hold her charge away from Jethro as Jethro pretended to box with her and then hold his arms out on either side and then move in to strike. She couldn’t look in both directions and growled ears flat.

Zuhura chuffed as her father used one hand to distract and the other to strike. The head cock came out again.

“I think they need to learn to wear this little lady out a bit more before naptime,” Jethro observed.

“No nap!” a certain kitten said, crossing her arms and instantly pouting.

“Yeah,” Zuhura said with a snort as she took the kitten into the crèche. “Thanks, dad.”

“Anytime,” he said with a wave to the kitten.

<<O>>

Jethro 9 snippet 2

 Sitrep:

So, yesterday I was at the hospital waiting on dad's pacemaker install and heart checkup. He's good, ignoring doctor/nurse's orders as usual so... normal. That is a relief? Maybe? 

Anyway, while I was out Rea finished Jethro 9's edits and shot it back to me. I just dealt with the final edits and shot it off to Goodlifeguide.

On to the next snippet!

Chapter 2

 

Antigua

 

Jethro called a family meeting. Cleo and Shy were on their way home and arrived before the Cadre members did.

Bagheera complained about the interruption when Cleo went into his room and practically dragged him out by his ear.

“Will you sit down and shut up? This is important,” Cleo growled.

“How do you know that?” Bagheera demanded as the toilet flushed in the hallway bathroom. The sink turned on for a moment.

“I can tell just from looking at them,” Cleo retorted, nodding her chin at the Sabu, Suqi, the holograms of their AI, and Jethro.

“This isn’t another lecture about getting a job or going to school is it? I mean, I am taking classes …” Bagheera insisted.

“Believe it or not this isn’t about you,” Sabu rumbled quietly. Bagheera glanced at him and then fell into a pensive silence when he started to pick up on the vibes in the room.

“Yes, well, Zuhura and Ember will be joining us in a bit. But …,” Jethro broke off and glanced to the side as Shy left the bathroom and sank into the seat next to Cleo. Suqi reached out and grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

She looked at her and noted that Suqi was looking grave and sad. Her ears were back. She looked to Sabu and saw similar looks coming from him. She felt her ears go back as trepidation mounted. “What’s wrong? What happened?” she asked.

“Did the cancer come back in White?” Cleo asked suddenly. Bagheera felt the mood shift and slowly sank into a chair. Sabu reached out and patted his shoulder gruffly.

“No …,” Jethro said slowly.

“I’ve got a class in an hour and a half …,” Cleo warned.

“You may want to skip it,” Suqi said softly. She looked expectantly to Jethro.

Jethro felt his insides twist. Bast gave him a sympathetic look.

“There is no easy way of saying this,” he said. He wiped at his eyes. The kittens all stared at him. The ones who didn’t know suddenly had an inkling. All of their ears were back and eyes wide.

“There was a crash on ET …”

“Mom!” Cleo wailed, lunging to her feet.

Jethro and Suqi immediately shook their heads. Suqi pushed Cleo down gently. Slowly she sank back into her chair. “If not mom …?”

“I’m afraid Red was killed by a fighter that crashed into their apartment complex. Your mom is fine,” Jethro said roughly. He paused as there was a knock at the door and then it opened to reveal Zuhura and Ember. Zuhura was somber and Ember had clearly picked up on the vibes and was looking troubled and confused.

Cleo and Shy teared up as Suqi tried to comfort them. Sabu hugged Bagheera. Jethro got up and hugged Zuhura, squeezing Ember between them until she nipped him.

He chuffed in amusement and felt her little arms wrap around his neck. He took her from her adopted mother and hugged her for a moment. “Sorry, sweetie, we just got some bad news,” he murmured.

“I’ll say,” Bagheera said. He got up and went to his room and slammed the door. The others watched him go and then gave out a soft collective sigh.

“We each deal with grief in our own way,” Sabu said as he still looked at the door.

“Give him a moment. We’ll talk to him in a bit,” Jethro said.

<<(O)>>

Jethro had to deal with the flood of sympathy from friends and colleagues.

Hurranna texted him that she had received the news. She sent her condolences to Jethro and the family and stated that she’d be by later for a hug.

He appreciated that.

<<(O)>>

Chief Warrant Officer Ox and his dwarf counterpart Warrant Officer Mariah Willow were putting their finishing touches on some of the robots when he received an email about Riley. He shook his head.

“What?” Willow asked. Minotaur and Peggy were busy going through lines of code with their respective debug bots to clean it up.

“Riley will be in town shortly. But she said she has a gig and can’t chat tonight. Oh, well,” Ox said with a flap of his ears as his hands continued to assemble a robotic leg. There were some delicate connections but his massive fingers handled them easily.

It helped that he and Minotaur had a master grade level of control over his implants and nanites.

Minotaur and Peggy looked up and then both turned to their respective partners.

“What?” Willow asked. “Finished all ready?” she asked.

“No. We have news,” Peggy said.

“Out with it,” Ox said absently.

“There has been a death in the McClintock family,” Minotaur said in a bass rumble. Ox stopped what he was doing and looked up sharply.

“Suqi and Sabu?”

“No. Lil Red was killed on Epsilon Triangula.”

“Oh, damn,” Willow said. “Isn’t that Jethro’s adopted daughter?”

“Yes,” Peggy replied.

“Please send our condolences,” Willow said.

“Done,” Peggy said.

“Minotaur, do the same. And tell Jethro I’ll check in with him when he’s ready,” Ox said gruffly.

“Understood,” Minotaur replied.

Ox went back to working, but after a moment, he pushed the robot leg aside and sat down heavily.

Willow patted him on the shoulder gently.

<<(O)>>

Jethro 9 Snippet 1

 Sitrep:

So, all of the betas are done with J9 and I sent it off to Rea Saturday. So, here is the first snippet!

 

 

Antigua

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jethro McClintock noted the flutter of the wind, picked up on the heat rising and ran mental calculations even as Bast fed him the data. What he saw matched her data roughly so he fed it to the sniper.

The sniper was a new recruit to the Cadre, Sergeant Manoox. The sergeant had sniper qualifications from the army but seemed to struggle with accepting data from his AI.

“Target at two-five-six-one meters. Up one point five. Wind at nine o’clock six clicks.”

“Two-five-six-one up one point five, winds… got it,” the sergeant replied in a text through their implants. The duo was side by side so their respective AI had established a wired nanite link between them. That facilitated conversation so they could not be picked up or overheard.

“Send it,” Jethro growled.

The sergeant gently squeezed the trigger. As always it came as a surprise to them.

The round went down range and slammed into the target.

“High point two,” Jethro observed. “To the right point four.”

“Roger,” the sergeant said as he made adjustments.

Another sniper fired a shot off to their left. A target plinked.

“Send it,” Jethro ordered.

This time the round hit dead center as expected.

“Good shot. New target…” Jethro moved on across their zone as the first target reset.

<<(O)>>

Sergeant Suqi McClintock noted the target hit and smiled. She was dialed in. She quickly made it through the qualifications and then rose when her spotter cleared her. Half muscle memory, half training she cleared her weapon and looked around. Sabu was finishing up his quals to the far left of her. Their father Jethro was in playing spotter for another student.

She glanced to her right to see Hurranna wrapping up her quals. The lynx sat up when she finished and stretched and then scratched at her back.

“Getting old?” Suqi texted.

Hurranna turned to her, stuck out her tongue and then stretched again. Suqi chuckled.

Chief Warrant Officer 1 Hurranna was their ‘aunt’. She had grown up with their father and others on Antigua Prime. She had served with them in Sigma Sector hunting pirates, though she had done so in a fighter as a Marine pilot while Sabu and Suqi had been sergeants in the Marines.

All 3 had been tapped to join the Cadre. They had done a bit of soul searching and then had agreed much to the chagrin of their respective commands. It was that or get rotated home to serve in a training force or standing guard duty at some building somewhere. None of them wanted that.

Hurranna had been threatened with a commission a few times. She had considered it but hadn’t liked dealing with the paperwork and the headaches involved with being a commissioned officer. As a warrant she could get to the rank of a CAG but not much further. She had said that she hadn’t considered getting out of the pilot seat until she had found out that the Cadre also used pilots.

Since she had finished her integration she had taken up duties with the shuttles that occasionally moved the Cadre to distant exercise locations.

Hurranna joined Suqi at the table where the weapons were laid out. “It took a little bit to get my eye back in I admit. But it’s like riding a bicycle.”

“If you don’t practice regularly you forget the tricks,” Suqi retorted.

“Like I said, like riding a bike. Once I had a refresher it all came back,” Hurranna replied.

Suqi flicked her ears.

“So, what’s next?” Hurranna asked.

“The finals for camouflage for the second half of the class. Since you already passed it, you lot can head in and pack it in,” Chief Humble stated. He was a big albino Neogorilla.

“Take your weapons with you,” the chief growled as the duo turned to leave. “Turn them in to the armory and clean them. You know the drill.”

The girls sighed. “I hate getting my nails dirty,” Hurranna mock whined.

“I hate chipping a nail,” Suqi said, pretending to look at her nails. Her claws came out as she examined them.

“My heart bleeds,” the chief said gruffly, rolling his eyes at them.

The girls smirked at each other. “Want to get our nails done after this?” Hurranna suggested.

“Sure,” Suqi answered. She turned to the chief. “What do you say chief? I think hot pink is your color,” she teased.

“Pass,” he growled. “Get out of here before I throw you two out. And you two are small enough that I can do it too,” he said eyeing them.

“I think he means it,” Hurranna chuckled as the duo put their sniper rifles into their carrying cases and then headed off.

“I’m sure he’s just a softy at heart,” Suqi said. The chief roared and both girls startled and turned back to him. He was growling at another student.

“On the other hand…” Suqi drawled.

“Yeah, maybe we should tease him later,” Hurranna agreed with a nod.

<<(O)>>