Forging Alliances Snippet 3

 Sitrep: So, I'm playing with the AI. I managed to do a quick and dirty animation of the cover of Forging Alliances Yesterday. I may run with it or try something else too. We shall see.

Anyway, on with the snippet! Oh! I left the note for the crossover. The betas see those, readers generally do not. The crossovers are to keep the timeline in sync and because events tend to crossover. (dur!)

Chapter 3

 

Crossover with Shelby Logan 9 chapter 9

TauR34-80

 

The Prowler passed through  the Federation star system but stopped at the jump point leading to the naval station. A whisker laser locked onto a communication satellite and an encrypted signal was sent to it.

The computer within the satellite processed the file and then sent it to the ansible 300 million kilometers away. Commander Enki found the message in the ansible buffer after a transmitted alert. The AI processed it and then sent the encrypted message to ONI and to Admiral Piercing Gaze.

<<(O)>>

New Tau Metropolis

 

Admiral Piercing Gaze received notice of the prowler’s arrival in the 80 star system. He grimaced at that news. Apparently they hadn’t sent anything in Stunning Sunsets because of the increased traffic there. Fine.

He petitioned the admiralty in Antigua and immediately received permission to break secrecy with the staff and read them into the ship and her mission. He would have to do the same with Prowler 54 too. But he was to keep the details as limited as possible.

<<(O)>>

Operations also received notice of a ship arrival in the 80 star system when the picket noted the transmission in the satellite buffer and reported it.

There was some puzzlement and then consternation about the packet when Wayne realized it had to have come from a Prowler. He confronted Admiral Piercing Gaze in the morning at the next staff meeting.

“You’ve had a prowler in Confed space this entire time,” he stated after Admiral Piercing Gaze read them into the mission.

“Yes. The ship was playing the long game and was tasked by ONI.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Wayne demanded. He didn’t look happy at the idea of being kept in the dark.

“Classified. It was also before your time.”

“You can’t tell us because the reasoning is classified?” Wayne persisted. “Why the hell would that be?”

“No, the ship and its movements were classified. Her mission is complete and she needs replenishment but we need to do it quietly,” the high elf clarified.

Shelby frowned thoughtfully.

“I was forced to break secrecy to get them replenished,” the high elf explained. “Unfortunately, I do not have the resources in the area to do it.”

“We can have a destroyer rendezvous with them and do a light replenishment,” Dolly offered.

Wayne looked at her. She shrugged. “It will get them the basics and we can use the cover of a picket patrol for that movement.”

The operations officer nodded and turned to Admiral Logan.

She drummed her fingertips on the table edge.

“I’m not happy that I was kept in the dark about the ship. But, that being said, we will replenish it the best we can. As long as that comes out of ONI’s budget.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“I’ll speak with higher parties about keeping it classified,” she said with a look to the high elf.

“As you wish ma’am.”

She held the gaze for a long moment and he looked back calmly.

Conchita cleared her virtual throat. “Well! This explains how the AI got so deep into the enemy systems!” she gushed with enough false cheer to break through the tableau. “I’d always wondered,” she said as Shelby and the high elf broke their stare off as if by mutual assent.

Shelby turned to the AI and nodded.

“I thought that they sent in Wraith AI components,” Abe stated. “I was involved in that.”

“You have to access the Confederation systems first,” Wayne said slowly. He nodded as he rubbed his chin. “Yeah, now it makes some sense.” he glanced at Admiral Piercing Gaze.

The high elf shrugged ever so slightly. Clearly even though they now knew about the ship he was not at liberty to get into details about it or her mission behind enemy lines.

“Very well. Sort that out. I take it she’ll need a full replenishment?” Shelby asked.

The high elf nodded. “Yes ma’am. She actually needs some yard time, she has some issues.”

“Being behind enemy lines for so long, yeah, I can imagine,” Rear Admiral Lucy Summers, head of BuShips stated blandly. “The prowlers can run for two to three years or so without major refit but they have very delicate systems. No doubt a lot of systems are out of calibration or in need of full overhaul.”

“To be there, lurking in the darkness of space for years without the enemy knowing… that sort of cat and mouse game…” Rear Admiral Nate Rice, head of BuMedical said softly.

“That had to have played with the psyche of the crew and worn them down too. They’ll need some down time,” Abe stated.

The staff looked to the high elf for an answer.

The high elf hesitated and then nodded. “Which brings up another problem. They do need the time off but in a quiet space without drawing attention to themselves.”

“If… if we can arrange a mobile shipyard replenishment and service in deep space, maybe…” Lucy frowned and then nodded to herself as all eyes shifted to her. “We can probably pull the crew and ship them to somewhere for some well deserved liberty. They can pose as crew from the support ship.”

The high elf opened his mouth to protest but then stopped and closed it as he considered the idea. After a moment he nodded. “That should work.”

“The ship will need updating probably. And the crew might need to be swapped out,” Conchita said thoughtfully as head of BuPers. “There are probably a few long overdue promotions there. That has happened a lot with the long cruises.”

The high elf grimaced but then nodded.

“You disagree?”

“No… they definitely deserve their liberty and some overdue promotions. However changing the makeup of the crew is tricky. It is difficult to find personnel willing to go on such long duration high risk missions,” the high elf stated.

Conchita nodded. “I know. We’ll sort it out. Better to give someone a transfer than have a crew come apart under stress.”

The High Elf hesitated but then nodded again.

<<(O)>>

“You wanted to see me ma’am?” Admiral Piercing Gaze asked as he entered Admiral Logan’s office.

“Come in. Sit.” She turned and looked at him and then resumed her own seat behind her desk.

High Elves were known for their self-control. She had known this particular high elf long enough to know when he wasn’t thrilled about being somewhere.

“Think I called you in to rake you over the coals for keeping me in the dark about the prowler?” she asked.

He shrugged ever so slightly as he got comfortable in the chair. The chair automatically altered itself to fit his long lean frame. “I don’t see it as your style ma’am.”

“It normally isn’t. And I’m not to some degree. I’ll take that up with the admiralty.”

“Ma’am?”

“You were following orders in keeping me in the dark. I get that part, so I can’t hold it against you. But I’m not happy.” Her voice hardened on those last 3 words.

He nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

“I gather I was kept in the dark so I wouldn’t want to call on the ship to get information?”

“Something like that ma’am.”

Shelby nodded sagely. It made a sort of sense. The ship had probably lurked in the outer reaches of each star system and had performed its mission well out of contact with her anyway. She couldn’t imagine doing that, day in and day out for however long that they’d been there.

“I take it you are getting a lot of data from it?”

“At the moment no. There is too much to transmit by ansible.”

Shelby nodded. “So, you’ll need a courier to get it here.”

“Yes ma’am. I arranged for an ONI agent to pass it on.”

“So noted. I’ll make movement of the intel a priority.”

“Thank you ma’am.”

“I want a copy. An unrestricted copy.”

He hesitated.

Her eyes narrowed. “That wasn’t a request,” she said with a little bite in her tone of voice.

“I gathered that ma’am,” he said slowly. “However there are some details about the mission that remain classified. Means and such. Also some mission actions. I’ll have to clear it with higher.”

“Do that. And pass on a notice that keeping the sector commander in the dark about ship movements in her AO is a bad thing. It makes us less trustful of your intentions and it makes us hesitant to support ONI missions in the future.”

He winced ever so slightly but nodded.

“Get the courier detail set up.”

“I will. On the ship movement thing…”

Shelby’s eyes narrowed. “Another one?”

“Prowler 54 is en route to T-15 now.”

Shelby sat back. “Thank you for telling me. Were you going to do it before they got into trouble?”

“Hopefully they won’t get into any trouble ma’am. But I had to get special clearance to read you in on their movements.”

Shelby nodded slowly.

“Very well. That is all. Dismissed.”

He nodded. He knew better than to complain about how that could have been handled with a video chat. She had made her point by calling him in directly.

“Aye aye ma’am.” He exited her office quietly as she pretended to read something on her screen. After a moment she sat back and sighed as the door closed quietly.

“You had to do it. Even though the protest was mostly pro-forma,” Boni stated.

“Pretty much. I don’t like it that they kept me in the dark. Did Admiral Irons know?”

“You could ask.”

“I could. I think I’ll save that though. Put an email in to ONI admiralty and let them know I’m not happy about being kept in the dark about my own AO. Clean that up. Make sure that they are to inform me of such actions in the present and future.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“We’ll reserve the protest to Admiral Irons if they play games.”

“Yes ma’am.” .

End Crossover

<<(O)>>

Lebynthos

 

Colonel Letterman scratched the back of his head. He had his people prepping for the colonoscopy with the tour group that was coming via courier. That was bad enough, but now they had the whole hostage mess in Tau to contend with.

He had army units scattered on planets across the sector in Federation space. Most of the units were reservists, many were noncombat roles like MASH or engineering units. They were good to handle support for a mutation of the pirate plagues, or a planetary emergency… or engineering projects… but they were not combat units.

The few combat units he had were on Lebynthos with him. He had a battalion. He had a sneaky suspicion he was going to need more.

He watched as Commander Enki connected him to General Anhueser. “Sir,” he said when the 3d hologram of the general’s bust appeared.

“Colonel? I take it you are having a problem?”

“Yes sir. I think we have one coming up. I thought I should discuss it with you before I discussed it with Colonel McCostney.”

Colonel Randy McCostney was his Neochimp Marine counterpart on Lebynthos. They worked well together on cross service needs.

“I’m guessing you are referring to the mess in Tau?” the general asked.

“Yes sir. I think we may need ground forces if the rebels dig in on the planet.”

“Any indications that it will swing that way?”

“Well, General Sedu did fake his death and has been pretty die hard about surrendering. The Tauren army units on worlds that have mixed populations are pretty xenophobic and rough.”

“Rough in…”

“Well, perhaps rough isn’t the correct word sir. I was thinking that they will not surrender easily. They are too used to being the boot on the neck of civilians.”

“Fascists.”

“Yes sir. Most will realize that they will get their asses handed to them by their own people let alone ours. So, they have little to lose in fighting it out. And the best way to do that is on the ground in a guerilla campaign.”

“Let the Taurens handle it.”

The colonel nodded. “I thought about that sir and I agree. It should be their problem. I just want to be prepared in case things get tossed in our lap. The Confederation is still struggling with getting a handle on their civil war and stamping it out. I’ve been keeping up to date with intel’s assessment of their internal politics. They are struggling to find loyal ground units.”

“Because… oh, because they are the one who frequently rounded up aliens and were rough on them as you said,” the general said. “Okay, yeah, I’m starting to get a clearer picture.”

“Yes sir. What I’m wondering is, if General Sedu gets squirrelly, will they be able to dig him out?”

“I should hope so. In time he could be starved out.”

“Yes sir. I’m… I have that itch.”

“Okay,” the general said after a moment. “You want to prep a unit?”

“Yes sir. Just in case. Possibly get some units moving in the right direction. At the least they can go to 63 and check out things there, maybe show the flag and do some light training.”

“Agreed. You have the budget for that?”

“Yes sir. What I’d like to do is send the Sixty-first bat. I don’t know if they’d be enough though.”

“You think I should send you some people?”

“I wouldn’t object to some combat veterans to thicken the ranks sir,” the colonel replied with a nod. “None of my people have heard a shot fired in anger.”

“Well, as it happens most of us haven’t. Most of our veterans have peacekeeping on their docket. If they did see combat it was against the worms on Nuevo. But I see your point. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you sir.”

<<(O)>>

Forging Alliances Snippet 2

 

Chapter 2

 

Tortuga, Omicron Sector

 

The Xeno Wraith Queen checked the status of her domain and felt a mixture of what organics might think of as emotional states.

She was cautiously pleased with the progress. They had finally made progress in her flagship to the point that she had moved into it and expanded. It was now her body, though she lacked the understanding to control every aspect of it on her own. She disliked that she was still reliant on robots and organics for crew. She did not like being reliant on anything or anyone.

The flagship was the basis for her growing fleet. Additional ships of the same class were under construction; however they would of course be of lesser quality. They could never be in a position to threaten her existence. She had 20 under various stages of construction. Five others had been completed. They had an organic crew and a very simplified version of herself within the computer core.

She disliked that, and she disliked the issues with production. She also desired a larger ship eventually. Her changeling was directing Necron engineers to design a new larger and better warship. That would take time.

Until then she had to make do with her flagship and the copies of the Necron cruisers that were being produced from her manufacturing facilities. Those she had in quantity now that the bugs in the production had been cleaned out. She had 12 squadrons completed and another dozen squadrons under various stages of construction. She was aiming for thousands. She wanted enough ships to blot out a local sun and send any opposition fleeing in terror from her very presence.

<<(O)>>

Necron Admiral Chester pondered his existence once more ever so briefly. He had been created by the Wraith Queen as a copy of another Necron admiral when that Necron had passed through the star system. He had most of the memories of that alpha but he was aware that he had been reprogrammed for absolute loyalty to the queen.

He was also aware that the queen was not happy with the alliance and had a serious problem with her strategy. The Queen was focusing on capital ships and disdained planets and organic support. She was centered around the capital system. However that was allowing the Necrons to snap up the other pirate bases as well as all of the resources in the sector and the neighboring one. That was a problem.

The resources in the capital were finite. Already they were running into production issues.

Finding a way to broach it to the queen in such a way that she would listen was an ongoing issue. She wasn’t willing to listen or change. She clearly had trust issues. Only the female changeling clones could get her to delegate.

Perhaps he was approaching the problem in the wrong way? After all the queen was linked to the changeling. He needed a friend in court. The clones were the kingmakers, propping the queen up, evening out her tantrums and being the voice of reason.

How odd that was, he thought. He had absorbed some of Machiavelli and other great works. There were ways that politicians had used sadists and strongmen to further their own agenda. The carrot and the stick, good cop bad cop. The strongman made the leader seem benevolent and reasonable while also strong. No one wanted to harm the leader for fear of the strongman taking over and going on a rampage leading to ruin.

This was the reverse, more like Stalin in some ways, he mused. Hitler, Stalin… other megalomaniacs who did not work or share well with others. Yes, he needed to show his value to her and to the changeling and find ways to build trust. Otherwise everything would be for naught. That was not an acceptable outcome.

<<(O)>>

Hazel Irons checked on her clones and the Necrons. She made the rounds each day, making certain that everything was running smoothly.

There were dozens of clones of herself running around, it was a bit odd seeing so many faces that looked like her. She tried to not think about it. Between the group of clones they considered her the alpha or prime since she had the closest link to the Wraith Queen.

Her partner was impatient and needed constant management and stroking to keep her focused. She did not like the alliance with the Necrons. At this point in time there was no way to break it off, they were too intertwined. Besides, the Necrons were growing at an exponential rate. That was a concern that had yet to be addressed.

A big problem with the expansion was her queen’s need for control. She didn’t trust organics, and she trusted copies of herself even less. It was something that they were working on, Hazel thought with a brief shake of her head.

<<(O)>>

Forging Alliances Snippet 1 and News

 Sitrep:

So, I finished PRI 4 "Building Intrigue" and it is off to Paul. PRI 4 is supposed to be the last book for me of the year. We shall see. I am poking at PRI 5 a bit and moved it up to the next book in line since the contents and characters are still fresh.

Cover:

 Anyway... In other news, I had a bad scare with my PC. Last Tuesday Edison shut power off for maintenance. I shut my PC off long before hand, and I have a battery backup anyway. But for some reason when I went to reboot when power was restored the PC was dead.

I tried all the tricks, (switch, disconnect peripherals, etc) then ordered a new PSU and Motherboard. Before I went to install them I tried the PC one last time...and low and behold it booted! So, crisis averted. I am now backing it up just to be on the safe side. (I do that every 3 months or so but I've been lax)

My desktop is 10+ years old and yeah, I'm running very old Windows. Funny, I write scifi but I'm a bit of a luddite with my own PC. Newer isn't necessarily better in my eyes, too much bloatware and spying crap.

I also sent Rea Forging Alliances over the weekend. I am hoping to get it to Goodlifeguide by next week and hopefully publish it by December 1st. We shall see.

So... oh, I'm trying to see if I can animate the cover to Forging Alliances. No promises. SeaArt is not really a good AI to do that. I may consult with older and wiser heads on that score.

And... on to the snippet!

Chapter 1

 

Antigua

 

"So, nothing?" Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons and acting president of the Federation asked. He wasn't happy with that answer but kept a professional mask. After all, he couldn't shoot the messenger if the other side had been too good at their job.

"Nothing we can use," Captain Fletcher stated. The AI didn't sound happy. He had spent a lot of processing cycles trying to find usable video footage of the perpetrators. None had been found. They either kept their heads down or used a scrambler to prevent themselves from being filmed. They hadn't even gotten anything from processing reflections. At best they had height and build and of course general species which in this case was human. Of course there were a lot of variations to the basic human form.

"Whoever did this was very good," General Craft, the Secretary of Intelligence stated. The Neogorilla's nostrils flared, showing his annoyance.

"Very good," Director Sati, the director of the FBI stated. She didn't look happy at the admission. "They had professional training. No DNA left behind, no prints, minimum video. Even the touch DNA had been contaminated by a commercially available cleaning product."

"So, the only clues we have are that they are professionals, very well organized, and that they wanted something that they knew was high risk. Someone," Admiral Irons stated with a look to the image of Bagheera McClintock.

A team of unknown people had attempted to abduct the black Neocat in his family's home. He had managed to survive and escape. One mercenary had been injured and killed during the escape. The perpetrators had managed to escape the authorities, much to the annoyance of those involved.

Since Bagheera was Shanti and Jethro's youngest son and had Cadre DNA, it was a major concern for all involved.

"Whatever they wanted they didn't get it," Admiral Nara Thornby stated.

"You are certain?" the Neogorilla head of intelligence asked.

She eyed him. "Yes general, I am certain. Bagheera might be a civilian but there are safeguards in his DNA and in the residence. It didn't do them any good."

"So, they will be motivated to try again?" Admiral Irons asked.

"Yes but they will have to try a different avenue. They have to know that we are aware of them and watching for trouble," Director Sati stated.

"Was it even a DNA grab? They were after the cat too correct?" the AI captain asked. Nara nodded grimly. "There are easier ways to get DNA. Methods that are less exposed to the public and authorities," the AI reminded them.

"The DNA was a fall back when they failed to corner and capture Bagheera," Nara stated flatly. Since Bagheera was a civilian the investigation was… complex. The FBI was insisting on jurisdiction. The local police had handed it off to them. The Cadre was protecting the family. Shanti was in transit from Epsilon Triangula and out of contact. Jethro was with the bulk of the Cadre on what might be a suicide mission against the pirates in the battle moon.

"I don't want a repeat of this. Find who did this and work together to protect our people," Admiral Irons ordered.

"We will do our best sir," the Director said with a look to the others. They all knew that for the most part the FBI investigated crimes after they happened. No law enforcement office was good on defense. With an almost total lack of evidence and a cold trail, the perpetrators had made a clean exit. That sucked. It meant that they could strike when and where they wanted whenever they wanted to do so.

<<(O)>>

"In and out clean. Except we didn't get the objective," Mister Smith said mildly as he sat across the table from the tall black human male.

"We got the secondary," Nigel Mosfet stated. He did his best to not appear defensive. "Considering the quality of the target, that is good."

"No, actually you didn't."

Nigel blinked. "We picked up every scrap of hair and DNA we could in the time allotted," the mercenary stated. He had read the report. The team had been very thorough and very fast. They'd had to be to get in and out before the authorities had arrived.

They had narrowly escaped the closing police perimeter. They had ditched their vehicles and had changed their disguises. The authorities would most likely still process every camera feed that they could but such things would take time.

Most of the assault team were already off planet. The rest were scheduled to leave in the morning.

If they'd just wanted DNA there were easier ways to get it. Inserting someone to a restaurant frequented by Cadre unit members would have allowed them access to their DNA off cups and silverware. But the client had wanted someone of the blood who could be examined along with their DNA to see how they tick.

"Yes you did. But the lab boys stated it is all useless. Most of the hairs were shed hairs and lacked a follicle which is needed for DNA. The follicles they did get were compromised. The DNA was scrambled."

"Damn. That's not on us."

"We realize that. Which is why you are being reassigned," Mister Smith stated. He was an envoy for their true boss General Ross.

"Oh?"

"This project has become too hot. It has been put on a back burner. We will look for another avenue of approach over time. If one presents itself we will reconsider. We have other work for you." He handed over a flash chip.

Nigel took the chip slowly. He was glad that the general and the client were not holding the failure against him. That was the mark of a true professional.

Of course that didn't mean he was totally out of the woods, nor the assault team. The mercenaries and the client were ruthless. If they had been compromised they would be quietly terminated and their bodies burned to ash.

"We have another DNA scoop. This one needs to be discrete given this failure. You'll get the details when you read the file."

"Can I ask where I am going so I can pack appropriately?"

"Agnosta. An ID packet is in the chip. I suggest you dress for warmth, as I understand it, it is damn cold where you are going."

Nigel hid a grimace. Instead he nodded as his fingers curled around the chip. He downloaded the contents into his implants and then triggered the self-destruct. The chip crumbled in his hands and he let the pieces fall out like dust.

"Do be more careful this time," Mister Smith said reprovingly as he indicated he could go.

Nigel nodded as he headed for the door. He knew he wouldn't be safe until he was in transit, and possibly not even then. But that was the world he lived in.

<<(O)>>