The Clones of Mawcett (42 page)

“Great. She wants to set the date for the wedding. The San Francisco is supposed to head to Mars for an overhaul of our temporal field generator after this patrol. I should be able to get two months off while it's in space dock. I hope you can make the wedding.”

“I'd love to, you know that, but I don't have any idea when I'll be able to get away from here. If I can't make it, cryogen a piece of the cake for me.”

“Of course.”

“How's everything else?”

“Great. I love my job, my ship, and my future wife; not in that order. When we leave here we're going over to sector 8667-4869. That's confidential though.”

“I won't tell a soul. Be careful, Richie. There's still a bit of Raider activity over there.”

“I'm looking forward to meeting them. So far, only you and Dad have come up against the Raiders, and he only had one brief contact, while you always seem to be in the thick of battle. The rest of us want a crack at them now, before you get back to your ship and wipe them out.”

Jenetta laughed. “Wipe them out; as if that was possible. The Raider organization is like the Lernean Hydra of mythology that Hercules destroyed. Cut off one head of its nine and two more grow in its place. We need an Iolaos to hold a torch to the cut-off heads, to keep new ones from growing back out while the others are cut off by Hercules.”

Then it was Richie's turn to laugh. “It seems like you're our Iolaos.”

“Me?”

“You certainly prevented Raider-One from growing again, and now you've done the same with Raider Three. By turning this former Raider base into a Space Command base, it can't grow out again. Can you do it six more times, and then also cut off the indestructible head that finally becomes vulnerable without the others?”

Jenetta grinned. “If given the chance I'd sure love to try. Who's playing the part of Hercules and wielding the sword in this little drama?”

“With Raider-One, you kind of filled that position. Space Command took care of it this time. We'll just have to see what happens next. Maybe one of the new Prometheus class battleships will cut off the next head.”

“New Prometheus class battleships?” Jenetta echoed.

“Yeah. I heard they're supposed to be named Epimetheus, Hercules, and Atlas. Remember, it was Chiron and Hercules that saved Prometheus from the wrath of Zeus.”

“And Epimetheus was Prometheus' brother, while poor Atlas was doomed to carry the world upon his back. When are they supposed to be launched?”

“I'm not sure, but it won't be for another year at the earliest, maybe two. Last I heard they had just started to apply the middle plating to the frameworks of the three ships. They started laying down the keels just after the Prometheus and Chiron were stolen by the Raiders. If you hadn't recovered those two ships, the Raiders might have become unstoppable.”

“I wouldn't want to face them in battle, that's for sure.”

Richie nodded, then said, “So far all we've done is walk and talk.” Gesturing to the warehouses they were passing, he said, “Tell me what I'm seeing here.”

“Sorry. There's nothing special here. This is just the main cargo storage area. The warehouses that we used for the temporary prisons are a little further on. The levels below us are all used for military purposes, while the shopping concourse is on the next level up. Above that we have a floor of civilian office space and then floors of living quarters, both for civilians and Space Command.”

The tour lasted for two hours, and ended when they arrived at Jenetta's office.

“I don't know what's so difficult about this job,” Richie said. “You weren't paged once.”

“That's because I told my aide that I'd make him work a double shift tonight if I was disturbed,” Jenetta said smiling. “Here, look at my calls from the time while I was with you.” Jenetta turned the com's view screen so that Richie could see it.

“Wow,” was all he could say as the list scrolled on for several pages.

“You should have seen it several months ago. It was three times that long every couple of hours. I've finally gotten things somewhat organized. I never realized there was so much to running a base. Like you, I thought that it would be like running a ship, but it's actually been ten times more work. Of course, I started off with no computer, no staff, and no procedures in place. My replacement won't have it nearly so tough.”

“You'll just have it running the way that it should be running when its time to walk away from it.”

“That's fine with me. I wouldn't want to leave a mess for someone else to clean up. Another month should see things about as stable as they're going to become. All the key positions are filled now and the personnel just have to learn their jobs.”

“How many people do you have here?”

“Two-thousand three-hundred forty-two Space Command personnel, not counting visiting personnel like yourself and your crewmates, and almost four-hundred civilians. The base can house almost six-thousand military and two-thousand civilians, in our present configuration, so we're far from overcrowded.”

“Wow! That's more SC personnel than you'd find on a heavy cruiser. I have to hand it to you, Jen. Running a base with this many people has to be a chore.”

“I'm just glad that our numbers have shrunk so much.”

“Shrunk?”

“Of course. We had almost three-thousand prisoners here when I became the Base Commander. Add in another thousand or so Marines, engineers and assorted temporary personnel, and our current size is much smaller.”

“Oh. Well, I can see your point. Three-thousand prisoners?”

“Yes, didn't they release that to the press?”

“I heard that five-thousand were killed and twenty-six ships were destroyed, but I don't remember hearing about any prisoners taken. I do remember that you wiped out more than eighteen-thousand in Raider-One.”

“Eighteen-thousand two-hundred thirty-one. Because of their losses at Vauzlee and Higgins, half of which came from this base, they were understaffed here by at least eight  thousand.”

Richie shook his head a couple of times. “I can see where these losses would leave quite a hole in their organization.”

“It's knocked them back further than they've been in years. With the loss of two important bases, and so many ships and personnel, they can't operate openly any more, so it can almost be considered safe to travel in this part of the galaxy. We believe that they have just one more base operating in this immediate part of space.”

“You know where there's another base?”

“Not precisely, but based on the attacks that have occurred, we think we know the territory that Raider Two spans. And part of it extends into sector 8667-4869. That's why I said you should be very careful on your next patrol.”

“Okay, sis, I'll be careful. Speaking of my ship, I have to be getting back. I haven't had any sleep since coming off duty and I'll need to get some rest before my watch tonight.”

“Third watch?”

“Of course; I'm the second officer.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow?”

“Sure. How about I stop by for lunch?”

“Great. See you in my dining room at noon.”

After sharing a hug that clearly demonstrated their close bond as siblings, Richie returned to his ship. Jenetta read through her messages and then called the captain of the San Francisco. She invited him and his senior staff to have dinner in the Base Commander's private dining room. The Captain enthusiastically accepted and Jenetta set the time. She next called her dining room and told them how many to expect for the meal. Such was the life of a Base Commander. Meet and greet, wine and dine, and wheel and deal.

Captain Fortins of the GSC destroyer San Francisco, followed by the staff members that he'd chosen to bring, entered the private dining room of the base commander promptly at the appointed time. Jenetta, wearing her dress uniform, stepped forward to greet the small dinner party.

“Welcome to the Dixon Space Port, Captain Fortins. Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen.”

Fortins extended his hand to Jenetta. “Thank you, Commander. It's a pleasure to be here, and a real pleasure to meet you. Allow me to introduce my staff. This is Lt. Commander Van Buren, our chief medical officer.”

“Welcome Doctor Van Buren.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

“This is Lt. Commander Kirvan, our chief engineer.”

“Welcome Commander Kirvan.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

“And these are Lieutenants March and Flores.”

The younger officers' eyes were glued to the medals, the most prestigious in the galaxy, that Jenetta wore on her uniform. Seldom did a young officer have an opportunity to meet someone that had received the Space Command Cross, and almost never one who had been awarded the Medal of Honor. Since Jenetta was the only Terran ever to have been awarded the Nordakian Tawroole Medal of Valor, it was doubtful they would ever see that medal again on a Space Command uniform. The SC Star, Bronze Comet, and two Purple Hearts were like icing on a cake. The three ribbons that represented participation in a major engagement, one each for the Battle at Vauzlee, the Battle for Higgins, and the Battle for Dixon, were aligned below the medal ribbons.

“Welcome Lieutenant March.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

“Welcome Lieutenant Flores.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

“My First Officer and the second watch group are still on duty,” Fortins said, “and your brother and the third watch group are asleep. You were together with your brother today, I understand.”

“Yes, he came for a visit as soon as you docked, and I'll be seeing him again tomorrow. Shall we take our seats at the table?”

The mess attendant immediately began to serve appetizers once the six officers had taken their seats at the large circular table.

“What do you think of our prize, Captain?” Jenetta asked.

“I'm impressed. This is an amazing base. Was Raider-One similar?”

“Very. This asteroid is a little larger overall, but the basic construction of the port is the same. According to the construction records we've found, they first hollow out the asteroid. Then they construct an interior shell of pre-stressed plasticrete panels, linked together for strength. Lastly, they backfill any gaps between the panels and the hollowed out area with vacuum plasticrete to provide maximum strength. It's a phenomenal engineering feat. The habitat area is almost identical to that of Raider-One; at least as far as I know from my examination of the floor layouts in the computer and the limited movement that I had in the corridors of Raider-One.”

“Commander,” March said, “we were able to hear everything that happened to you at Raider-One because of the trial, but we haven't been able to find out very much about the Raider officer that attacked you while you were in command of the Song. Could you tell us about that?”

“Oh, there's not much to tell. Commander Pretorious stole a uniform and laser pistol from the Delhi after it was destroyed in a collision with a Raider destroyer during the Battle of Vuazlee…”

The young officers were spellbound as Jenetta recounted the entire tale. Even though she didn't embellish it at all, they sat with their mouths open until she was done.

“Wow,” March said.

“Ditto,” Flores added.