Chris Hechtl's Blog, page 41
November 4, 2016
Convoy
Okay, I sent this out to the Betas, I've gotten enough positive responses to feel comfortable moving forward with it as the cover:
Prometheus is front and center. There are Resolution class heavy cruisers, some Apollo class corvettes, Manta class frigates, Arboth class destroyers, and support ships made from Rj001's archive of ships I bought. :)
The Betas should (fingers crossed) have Convoy back to me so I can send it off to Rea sometime next week. I'll start putting up snippets this weekend. (if I remember)
Also, I changed the cover to J5 slightly on Rick's suggestion:
I'm slowly getting caught up on my To-do list. I'm still debating if I want to do more character renders or animate the Convoy cover (which would be cool!) or do something else this weekend. :)
Prometheus is front and center. There are Resolution class heavy cruisers, some Apollo class corvettes, Manta class frigates, Arboth class destroyers, and support ships made from Rj001's archive of ships I bought. :)
The Betas should (fingers crossed) have Convoy back to me so I can send it off to Rea sometime next week. I'll start putting up snippets this weekend. (if I remember)
Also, I changed the cover to J5 slightly on Rick's suggestion:
I'm slowly getting caught up on my To-do list. I'm still debating if I want to do more character renders or animate the Convoy cover (which would be cool!) or do something else this weekend. :)
October 5, 2016
Gods of War, Jethro 5 goes live in 5...4...3...
That's right, I just got it back from Shelley over at Goodlifeguide.com and Gods of War has just been upload it. Expect it at Amazon and B&N within the next 24 hours!
Master Sergeant Jethro McClintock and his A.I. Bast had fought the good fight on Protodon. His next mission was a brief stop on his wife's planet and then some time training the next generation of Marines on Agnosta, the Marine and Army world in the growing reborn Federation. However all was not well on the planet as treachery waited for the black Neo-panther. Navigating it the panther managed to survive and then ship out to Antigua, capital of the Federation where an even greater danger where his future, and quite possibly the future of the Federation was at stake!
I'll post the links when they go live. As a famous news ladies says, "Watch this space!"
Master Sergeant Jethro McClintock and his A.I. Bast had fought the good fight on Protodon. His next mission was a brief stop on his wife's planet and then some time training the next generation of Marines on Agnosta, the Marine and Army world in the growing reborn Federation. However all was not well on the planet as treachery waited for the black Neo-panther. Navigating it the panther managed to survive and then ship out to Antigua, capital of the Federation where an even greater danger where his future, and quite possibly the future of the Federation was at stake!
I'll post the links when they go live. As a famous news ladies says, "Watch this space!"
September 29, 2016
J5 snippet 4
First a sitrep:
I received J5 from Rea this morning. I went over the edits, then added the missing pieces (TOC, etc) then just sent it off to Goodlifeguide.com.
I also started the second act of Shelby's book, Convoy on Monday. I've been so wrapped up in it plus my doctor's appointment I have totally forgotten to post snippets the past couple of days. My bad!
Speaking of which... still in chapter 2, picking up right up where we left off:
General Forth eyed the division commanders and Major White Wolf as he met with them in the big conference room the following morning.The coffee fiends had hit the urn hard and had forced the staff to brew a second and then third pot. They'd also blown through a lot of the donuts someone had thoughtfully laid out. He'd have to ask where they'd gotten them; the éclair he'd managed to snag had been good and fresh.“Now that we've all had our morning caffeine jolt, I suppose I should get around to the business of the day before the sugar rush wears off and we all fall into sugar comas,” the general said as he stirred his cup.There was a soft chuckle from the assembly of officers.“First up, we've got a winner on our unofficial competition,” he said almost absently. He noted out of the corner of his eye that the assembly seemed to stiffen and sit up straighter. “Colonel Harley, you'll be taking the fight to Destria,” he said after a long moment of anticipation. He reached into his breast pocket and fished out an order chip. He slid it over the desk to her.There was a smattering of applause that grew before it faded.“Congratulations, Colonel. Kick their asses hard,” Valenko rumbled once the clapping ended.“Oh, I intend to,” the woman replied with a nod and small smile. She kept herself from smirking in triumph at the bear. It was hard. She'd earned the job and bragging rights, but she managed to keep a straight face as she nodded. “We'll prep for movement immediately, sir,” she said as she took the chip.“Don't get into too much of a rush,” the general said dryly.“Sir?” Dana asked, blinking.“We're still waiting on transport from the Navy,” the general replied in a disgusted tone of voice. “They captured a couple of Horathian transports over the years, but we're using most of those to ferry troops to and from Protodon. They've got two others that had been captured in various places recently; supposedly, they were going to be refitted. That's a big question mark since they are pretty down the list on priorities,” he said with a grimace. “And I got word that one will not be used to carry troops. It's supposed to be a modified carrier design to carry our aircraft.”“So …?” Dana frowned as she turned the problem over in her head. “What are we supposed to do, sir, walk?”“No. We're getting our own transports within the next two to six months. I just got word this morning. Since we want to land your force in one go, you'll have to wait until they are all ready to go.”“So they have to what, go through the working-up exercises and stuff? Are we supposed to crew them, sir?”“That we don't have to do,” the general stated with a shake of his head. “We're getting the specs now. I'll forward them to you. I want a general TOE from you by the end of the week, Colonel,” he stated.“Aye aye, sir.”“I want a need and want list. Don't be shy, but don't get carried away,” the general continued. Dana nodded. “This time you are going to get air support from the beginning,” he said grimly, “with naval support from the get-go.”She nodded again. “Good to know, sir.”“Which is why we're actually glad we've got a small window before the transports show up. It will give the current crop of students at MAWTS-1 time to get the rough edges off,” the general said eying Major White Wolf. She nodded.“I'm going over the syllabus with the staff now, sir. Lieutenant Rivers is the only other combat veteran instructor for the moment. He's good but even he has some rough edges,” she stated.“Work on them. You've got some time but not a lot, Major,” the general stated.“Aye aye, sir.”“Air cover, bombardment … am I going to get much INTEL? What about the INTEL from the ships the Navy captured, sir?” Dana asked as her fingers curled around the chip. Her hand jack accessed the chip and put the orders up on her HUD in a series of files. There was a lot of paperwork but not a lot of INTEL. She'd already known and practically memorized the Encyclopedia Galactica entry.“ONI is still processing it, but there is a backlog. Don't get your hopes up. I'm trying to get the raw take so we can process it ourselves if need be. So far, not much luck on that front, but I'll keep trying. You might have to pick up the data and any fast and dirty ONI conclusions in Pyrax,” the general stated as Dana scowled. He held up a restraining hand. “ONI is swamped, Colonel; it is what it is. Deal with it.”She grimaced and then nodded curtly. “Yes, sir.”“I'm still trying to get a spook or better yet, a team of spooks assigned to you. I think we might get something done there but no promises at this point,” the general stated. “ONI is one of the most overtaxed departments in the Navy it seems.”“Yes, sir. What about RECON and SPECOPS?”“Check your mission brief. If you have a specific request, let me know.”“Yes, sir.”“Fine then, moving on to new business …,” the general smiled maliciously as he turned to the Neowolf in their midst.Moira's ears went back warily as she returned his gaze. “Yes, sir?” she asked.“I just got confirmation from BuPers this morning. We'll hold a brief ceremony tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know your promotion has gone through.”“Sir?” Moira asked, blinking at him in confusion. “Oh, you mean to major?”“No, to lieutenant colonel,” the general replied. He caught a brief look of concern flash across Dana's face. He turned to her, but she instantly schooled her expression into a mask. “Do you wish to say something, Colonel?”“Congratulations, Colonel,” Dana said with a nod.“I don't know what to say,” Moira said with a shake of her head. “It's a bit soon, sir,” she said. “I'm still just a reservist,” she warned.“And a planetary head of state,” the general stated. “I know. Yes, politics are at play as well but not all of it. I read your report from Protodon, and I put in a good word with Admiral Irons. We need your grit to help us get our feet under us. I know we won't have you for much longer; the convoy to go to Kathy's World will be assembling in another two weeks or so. So, we'll make the most of it.”“And get whatever press we can out of my promotion,” Moira said with a bit of amusement in her voice as she got her mental feet back under her. She nodded once. “Yes, sir.”“You earned it on Protodon and Kathy's World. This isn't a publicity stunt,” the general said in a stern voice.“Yes, sir. Thank you for clarifying that,” she replied.“Good, now …”
I received J5 from Rea this morning. I went over the edits, then added the missing pieces (TOC, etc) then just sent it off to Goodlifeguide.com.
I also started the second act of Shelby's book, Convoy on Monday. I've been so wrapped up in it plus my doctor's appointment I have totally forgotten to post snippets the past couple of days. My bad!
Speaking of which... still in chapter 2, picking up right up where we left off:
General Forth eyed the division commanders and Major White Wolf as he met with them in the big conference room the following morning.The coffee fiends had hit the urn hard and had forced the staff to brew a second and then third pot. They'd also blown through a lot of the donuts someone had thoughtfully laid out. He'd have to ask where they'd gotten them; the éclair he'd managed to snag had been good and fresh.“Now that we've all had our morning caffeine jolt, I suppose I should get around to the business of the day before the sugar rush wears off and we all fall into sugar comas,” the general said as he stirred his cup.There was a soft chuckle from the assembly of officers.“First up, we've got a winner on our unofficial competition,” he said almost absently. He noted out of the corner of his eye that the assembly seemed to stiffen and sit up straighter. “Colonel Harley, you'll be taking the fight to Destria,” he said after a long moment of anticipation. He reached into his breast pocket and fished out an order chip. He slid it over the desk to her.There was a smattering of applause that grew before it faded.“Congratulations, Colonel. Kick their asses hard,” Valenko rumbled once the clapping ended.“Oh, I intend to,” the woman replied with a nod and small smile. She kept herself from smirking in triumph at the bear. It was hard. She'd earned the job and bragging rights, but she managed to keep a straight face as she nodded. “We'll prep for movement immediately, sir,” she said as she took the chip.“Don't get into too much of a rush,” the general said dryly.“Sir?” Dana asked, blinking.“We're still waiting on transport from the Navy,” the general replied in a disgusted tone of voice. “They captured a couple of Horathian transports over the years, but we're using most of those to ferry troops to and from Protodon. They've got two others that had been captured in various places recently; supposedly, they were going to be refitted. That's a big question mark since they are pretty down the list on priorities,” he said with a grimace. “And I got word that one will not be used to carry troops. It's supposed to be a modified carrier design to carry our aircraft.”“So …?” Dana frowned as she turned the problem over in her head. “What are we supposed to do, sir, walk?”“No. We're getting our own transports within the next two to six months. I just got word this morning. Since we want to land your force in one go, you'll have to wait until they are all ready to go.”“So they have to what, go through the working-up exercises and stuff? Are we supposed to crew them, sir?”“That we don't have to do,” the general stated with a shake of his head. “We're getting the specs now. I'll forward them to you. I want a general TOE from you by the end of the week, Colonel,” he stated.“Aye aye, sir.”“I want a need and want list. Don't be shy, but don't get carried away,” the general continued. Dana nodded. “This time you are going to get air support from the beginning,” he said grimly, “with naval support from the get-go.”She nodded again. “Good to know, sir.”“Which is why we're actually glad we've got a small window before the transports show up. It will give the current crop of students at MAWTS-1 time to get the rough edges off,” the general said eying Major White Wolf. She nodded.“I'm going over the syllabus with the staff now, sir. Lieutenant Rivers is the only other combat veteran instructor for the moment. He's good but even he has some rough edges,” she stated.“Work on them. You've got some time but not a lot, Major,” the general stated.“Aye aye, sir.”“Air cover, bombardment … am I going to get much INTEL? What about the INTEL from the ships the Navy captured, sir?” Dana asked as her fingers curled around the chip. Her hand jack accessed the chip and put the orders up on her HUD in a series of files. There was a lot of paperwork but not a lot of INTEL. She'd already known and practically memorized the Encyclopedia Galactica entry.“ONI is still processing it, but there is a backlog. Don't get your hopes up. I'm trying to get the raw take so we can process it ourselves if need be. So far, not much luck on that front, but I'll keep trying. You might have to pick up the data and any fast and dirty ONI conclusions in Pyrax,” the general stated as Dana scowled. He held up a restraining hand. “ONI is swamped, Colonel; it is what it is. Deal with it.”She grimaced and then nodded curtly. “Yes, sir.”“I'm still trying to get a spook or better yet, a team of spooks assigned to you. I think we might get something done there but no promises at this point,” the general stated. “ONI is one of the most overtaxed departments in the Navy it seems.”“Yes, sir. What about RECON and SPECOPS?”“Check your mission brief. If you have a specific request, let me know.”“Yes, sir.”“Fine then, moving on to new business …,” the general smiled maliciously as he turned to the Neowolf in their midst.Moira's ears went back warily as she returned his gaze. “Yes, sir?” she asked.“I just got confirmation from BuPers this morning. We'll hold a brief ceremony tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know your promotion has gone through.”“Sir?” Moira asked, blinking at him in confusion. “Oh, you mean to major?”“No, to lieutenant colonel,” the general replied. He caught a brief look of concern flash across Dana's face. He turned to her, but she instantly schooled her expression into a mask. “Do you wish to say something, Colonel?”“Congratulations, Colonel,” Dana said with a nod.“I don't know what to say,” Moira said with a shake of her head. “It's a bit soon, sir,” she said. “I'm still just a reservist,” she warned.“And a planetary head of state,” the general stated. “I know. Yes, politics are at play as well but not all of it. I read your report from Protodon, and I put in a good word with Admiral Irons. We need your grit to help us get our feet under us. I know we won't have you for much longer; the convoy to go to Kathy's World will be assembling in another two weeks or so. So, we'll make the most of it.”“And get whatever press we can out of my promotion,” Moira said with a bit of amusement in her voice as she got her mental feet back under her. She nodded once. “Yes, sir.”“You earned it on Protodon and Kathy's World. This isn't a publicity stunt,” the general said in a stern voice.“Yes, sir. Thank you for clarifying that,” she replied.“Good, now …”
September 19, 2016
J5 Snippet 3
Sitrep: I received most of the input from the betas and I've waded through their suggested corrections. I just sent the manuscript to Rea. Don't worry, Tim, Jory, Poon, I can incorporate your suggestions when you get them to me once she's sent it back.
I'm a bit distracted with the new Shelby book and stuff going on in real life. (and worried about the Edison fleet out front. Am I going to loose power AGAIN???)
That being said, on to the snippet!
Chapter 2
Bast received an email request from Marine security as well as the local ONI office to update the base's firewalls and security files to protect the Marines from the Xeno virus. She considered the problem for a long moment before she decided to do a bit of horse trading. First she would need access, she had no intention of turning the files over so they could be easily accessed, copied, and potentially taken apart by a Xeno virus.She also wanted, no, need additional processors if she was going to keep her eye on Jethro.Her emotional modulators indicated amusement when she received an email saying they would get back to her on her request.Apparently they weren't that eager to protect themselves from the virus she thought as she returned to watching over her host the best she could.\<)>^<)>/“So, are we ready to finally do this?” Admiral Irons asked.“I believe so. I'm just amused about how the competition has turned out,” General Forth stated. He felt a little nervous over it all.“Competition... between the divisions yes?”“Yes sir.” With more planets joining the Federation and regular interstellar trade picking up recruits were turning up everywhere. Agnosta had its fair share, as did Pyrax and Seti Alpha 4, but new Marine and Army recruits were being shipped in from all over the western side of the sector and the numbers were steadily climbing. So much so that they now had roughly a thousand recruits a month for the 2 branches. He knew the navy had plenty of recruits that passed through Agnosta on their way to the training centers and academy in Pyrax, but they weren't his problem. The new troops were.So far a majority of the recruits were for the Marines. That was changing as the Army started to get its feet under itself. He knew they had a long way to go before they were ready to stand up, so he was glad there was no active recruiting going on for that branch. Captain Yee was also busy as their local artillery expert so a lot of the Army was suffering for his distraction. Eventually that had to stop he knew.But with so many recruits showing up with each convoy or tramp freighter meant he had to expand the corps at a faster pace. Many of the recruits had to go through a series of pre-training and medical clean up before they went into boot camp, but some were ready from the moment they landed, enough to still force them to expand the boot camp until it was almost bursting. Hence the expansion of the brigades into divisions.Originally there had been four brigades, his First, Archie Pendeckle's Second, Dana's Third, Myer's Fourth, and one planned for Valenko. They'd lost some good personnel and officers when the Admiral had insisted the Army be started up, but they still had enough to expand faster than he'd expected. With so many warm bodies he had given in and paired Myer's brigade with his own to form the First Division. Archie had not only his brigade but also troops that had been shipped in from Antigua as well as thousands of militia recruits from Protodon to justify his having the Second Division. Dana had moved herself and part of her senior staff up to form the Third Division, handing control of her Third Brigade over to Major R'nz while a new brigade had been stood up.Valenko had shown up just after Dana's Second Brigade's command team had settled in. He'd been handed a full Division to stand up from the beginning. He'd poached some good people from First and Third division to do it. His was the greenest of the four divisions but they were also the best in sims. They should be, he drilled them intensely he mused. At the moment each division had 2 brigades. Each brigade had 3 battalions. There were 5 companies in each battalion, and 4 platoons made up a company.They were still integrating infantry, powered armor, mechanized, and air units into the mess. If he had his druthers he'd keep Major White Wolf and have her take over his division or set up a fifth division with a heavy air and mech component. But he'd been warned she had too many irons in the fire to be talked into it. After meeting her and noting her ansible traffic to Kathy's World he'd come to the reluctant conclusion that the Admiral and ONI had been right.Which was a pity, she was good. She'd even given Valenko a pounding in some recent air sims they'd arranged.He shook his head. His house was getting crowded again but it was all good, he knew they could handle it. All this while the Army made up a single company of trained troops with a bunch of enlisted who'd barely scraped through Marine boot and had opted to switch branches, he thought.Valenko's division was almost up to full strength. It was one factor he'd had to consider in the 'competition'.He didn't even want to think about having to stand up another division so soon. But he knew he was going to need to do so most likely before the end of the year if recruiting continued at the pace it currently was. And if more planets were added, as he knew there would be, then things were really going to get hectic.The other thing that bugged him was that all the orphans he had out all over the sector on ships, planets, and stations. They were not assigned to a proper chain of command like they should be. Just another thing he would have to sort out soon, he thought.“Getting a bit rough?” Admiral Irons asked, breaking in to his thought process.“Not at all. They've actually kept it pretty clean and let their records speak for themselves. Which is what we're going off of. The final record is that Harley has more stand up time than Valenko does, despite his combat record and his division's better sim record. He's also still a bit short in the personnel department, not that he's let it stop him when it comes to sims,” he said with a sour face. “But I think he's been a bit cute about how hard he's pursued this command.”“Oh?”“He's gotten a bit aggressive about it pursuing it. I thinkhe's employing a bit of little reverse psychology; I'm attributing it to 'don't throw me in that briar patch'.” he said. “I don't think Harley has figured it out. At least, I don't think she has.”“You lost me on the reasoning there. Valenko... Valenko...”“The bear. Major Valenko Kodiak I should say,” General Forth stated. He knew the Admiral or more likely his A.I. would pull up the bear's record for him to look over. “He's playing his chess and thinking long term strategic with his career goals. She's thinking short term tactical,” he explained.“Ah,” the admiral said as Protector put the bio up for him.“I guess it comes from his Russian heritage. He's a wily old bear,” the General replied with a snort. “He may think he's pulled the fur over everyone's eyes playing the stereotype, but I know better. He's really after Horath. What he doesn't know is that I believe that Horath is going to be a tough nut, and therefore most likely an all hands on deck sort of thing.”“True,” the admiral replied with a snort of amusement. “So, you think he maneuvered Harley into aggressively pursuing this command in order to open up a future one for him to slot into?”“Almost certainly.”“And you're going to let him get away with it?” Admiral Irons asked. The ansible leached out most of the emotion with the text messages converted into robotic verbal readings, but Jersey still read a bit of humor into the question anyway.“Oh definitely. Valenko might not have much seat time but he's definitely damn good at the job. He's got the division eating out of his hand and setting records. Granted he's following in others footsteps, learning from our mistakes, but I know he's damn good. His record speaks for itself.”“So why not send him to Destria?”“Because I think his division could use the extra time to train... and because I think we're going to need his grit when it comes time to take Nuevo Madrid or whatever planet you choose next,” the General replied. “So, he needs to get the division fully integrated. They are still at ninety percent,” he said.“Point. Okay, so Harley will be going to Destria. I'll have Sprite cut the orders to get the ships moving.”“A lot of them sir?”“Actually, not as many as you'd think. She's getting a small task force, but as far as the division is concerned, she's going to get the second group of Marine transports. She's also going to get her hands on the first Marine Command ship. That should make your bear regret not pushing the competition harder.”“It just might,” the General replied with a chuckle. “I think I'm going to burst the bear's bubble and have his division relieve Pendeckle's in the next six months. That way Archie can get his house in order properly and the bear can really blood his troops.”“Sounds good,” Admiral Irons said. “Hey, I've got to go. Major White Wolf's promotion was approved by the way. Um... crap, my schedule...”“Yes sir. Thanks,” the General said hastily. He knew a losing battle when he heard one. He glanced at his door to see his own appointment manager checking on him in the small glass window.“Antigua out.”“Agnosta out,” the General replied as he cut the channel to the Ansible.\<)>^<)>/
I'm a bit distracted with the new Shelby book and stuff going on in real life. (and worried about the Edison fleet out front. Am I going to loose power AGAIN???)
That being said, on to the snippet!
Chapter 2
Bast received an email request from Marine security as well as the local ONI office to update the base's firewalls and security files to protect the Marines from the Xeno virus. She considered the problem for a long moment before she decided to do a bit of horse trading. First she would need access, she had no intention of turning the files over so they could be easily accessed, copied, and potentially taken apart by a Xeno virus.She also wanted, no, need additional processors if she was going to keep her eye on Jethro.Her emotional modulators indicated amusement when she received an email saying they would get back to her on her request.Apparently they weren't that eager to protect themselves from the virus she thought as she returned to watching over her host the best she could.\<)>^<)>/“So, are we ready to finally do this?” Admiral Irons asked.“I believe so. I'm just amused about how the competition has turned out,” General Forth stated. He felt a little nervous over it all.“Competition... between the divisions yes?”“Yes sir.” With more planets joining the Federation and regular interstellar trade picking up recruits were turning up everywhere. Agnosta had its fair share, as did Pyrax and Seti Alpha 4, but new Marine and Army recruits were being shipped in from all over the western side of the sector and the numbers were steadily climbing. So much so that they now had roughly a thousand recruits a month for the 2 branches. He knew the navy had plenty of recruits that passed through Agnosta on their way to the training centers and academy in Pyrax, but they weren't his problem. The new troops were.So far a majority of the recruits were for the Marines. That was changing as the Army started to get its feet under itself. He knew they had a long way to go before they were ready to stand up, so he was glad there was no active recruiting going on for that branch. Captain Yee was also busy as their local artillery expert so a lot of the Army was suffering for his distraction. Eventually that had to stop he knew.But with so many recruits showing up with each convoy or tramp freighter meant he had to expand the corps at a faster pace. Many of the recruits had to go through a series of pre-training and medical clean up before they went into boot camp, but some were ready from the moment they landed, enough to still force them to expand the boot camp until it was almost bursting. Hence the expansion of the brigades into divisions.Originally there had been four brigades, his First, Archie Pendeckle's Second, Dana's Third, Myer's Fourth, and one planned for Valenko. They'd lost some good personnel and officers when the Admiral had insisted the Army be started up, but they still had enough to expand faster than he'd expected. With so many warm bodies he had given in and paired Myer's brigade with his own to form the First Division. Archie had not only his brigade but also troops that had been shipped in from Antigua as well as thousands of militia recruits from Protodon to justify his having the Second Division. Dana had moved herself and part of her senior staff up to form the Third Division, handing control of her Third Brigade over to Major R'nz while a new brigade had been stood up.Valenko had shown up just after Dana's Second Brigade's command team had settled in. He'd been handed a full Division to stand up from the beginning. He'd poached some good people from First and Third division to do it. His was the greenest of the four divisions but they were also the best in sims. They should be, he drilled them intensely he mused. At the moment each division had 2 brigades. Each brigade had 3 battalions. There were 5 companies in each battalion, and 4 platoons made up a company.They were still integrating infantry, powered armor, mechanized, and air units into the mess. If he had his druthers he'd keep Major White Wolf and have her take over his division or set up a fifth division with a heavy air and mech component. But he'd been warned she had too many irons in the fire to be talked into it. After meeting her and noting her ansible traffic to Kathy's World he'd come to the reluctant conclusion that the Admiral and ONI had been right.Which was a pity, she was good. She'd even given Valenko a pounding in some recent air sims they'd arranged.He shook his head. His house was getting crowded again but it was all good, he knew they could handle it. All this while the Army made up a single company of trained troops with a bunch of enlisted who'd barely scraped through Marine boot and had opted to switch branches, he thought.Valenko's division was almost up to full strength. It was one factor he'd had to consider in the 'competition'.He didn't even want to think about having to stand up another division so soon. But he knew he was going to need to do so most likely before the end of the year if recruiting continued at the pace it currently was. And if more planets were added, as he knew there would be, then things were really going to get hectic.The other thing that bugged him was that all the orphans he had out all over the sector on ships, planets, and stations. They were not assigned to a proper chain of command like they should be. Just another thing he would have to sort out soon, he thought.“Getting a bit rough?” Admiral Irons asked, breaking in to his thought process.“Not at all. They've actually kept it pretty clean and let their records speak for themselves. Which is what we're going off of. The final record is that Harley has more stand up time than Valenko does, despite his combat record and his division's better sim record. He's also still a bit short in the personnel department, not that he's let it stop him when it comes to sims,” he said with a sour face. “But I think he's been a bit cute about how hard he's pursued this command.”“Oh?”“He's gotten a bit aggressive about it pursuing it. I thinkhe's employing a bit of little reverse psychology; I'm attributing it to 'don't throw me in that briar patch'.” he said. “I don't think Harley has figured it out. At least, I don't think she has.”“You lost me on the reasoning there. Valenko... Valenko...”“The bear. Major Valenko Kodiak I should say,” General Forth stated. He knew the Admiral or more likely his A.I. would pull up the bear's record for him to look over. “He's playing his chess and thinking long term strategic with his career goals. She's thinking short term tactical,” he explained.“Ah,” the admiral said as Protector put the bio up for him.“I guess it comes from his Russian heritage. He's a wily old bear,” the General replied with a snort. “He may think he's pulled the fur over everyone's eyes playing the stereotype, but I know better. He's really after Horath. What he doesn't know is that I believe that Horath is going to be a tough nut, and therefore most likely an all hands on deck sort of thing.”“True,” the admiral replied with a snort of amusement. “So, you think he maneuvered Harley into aggressively pursuing this command in order to open up a future one for him to slot into?”“Almost certainly.”“And you're going to let him get away with it?” Admiral Irons asked. The ansible leached out most of the emotion with the text messages converted into robotic verbal readings, but Jersey still read a bit of humor into the question anyway.“Oh definitely. Valenko might not have much seat time but he's definitely damn good at the job. He's got the division eating out of his hand and setting records. Granted he's following in others footsteps, learning from our mistakes, but I know he's damn good. His record speaks for itself.”“So why not send him to Destria?”“Because I think his division could use the extra time to train... and because I think we're going to need his grit when it comes time to take Nuevo Madrid or whatever planet you choose next,” the General replied. “So, he needs to get the division fully integrated. They are still at ninety percent,” he said.“Point. Okay, so Harley will be going to Destria. I'll have Sprite cut the orders to get the ships moving.”“A lot of them sir?”“Actually, not as many as you'd think. She's getting a small task force, but as far as the division is concerned, she's going to get the second group of Marine transports. She's also going to get her hands on the first Marine Command ship. That should make your bear regret not pushing the competition harder.”“It just might,” the General replied with a chuckle. “I think I'm going to burst the bear's bubble and have his division relieve Pendeckle's in the next six months. That way Archie can get his house in order properly and the bear can really blood his troops.”“Sounds good,” Admiral Irons said. “Hey, I've got to go. Major White Wolf's promotion was approved by the way. Um... crap, my schedule...”“Yes sir. Thanks,” the General said hastily. He knew a losing battle when he heard one. He glanced at his door to see his own appointment manager checking on him in the small glass window.“Antigua out.”“Agnosta out,” the General replied as he cut the channel to the Ansible.\<)>^<)>/
September 13, 2016
Jethro 5 snippet 2
Progress report: I 'officially' started Shelby Logan Chronicles 1: Convoy yesterday. I'm dipping my toe into it, the acts are broken down into chapters and I've got a handle on the plot though I need to make a few revisions. So far so good, I'm up to 70 pages though I haven't settled down to write from the beginning as of yet. Still skipping around and doing prep and research. :)
I'm hoping to get my battery backup today, as well as Captain America 3 and other stuff. Last Friday's 14 hour power outage was the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm tired of stuff like that happening, and scared it will eventually do damage to my PC again. (and loosing work sucks! Been there, done that!) I know with my monster of a PC it will only last 10 minutes, but that is a 10 minute window I'll be able to save my work and shut down properly with!
It is gorgeously cool today so I've been productive... despite the antics of the furballs. (one is in my lap again as I try to type this) I am seriously in love with the 60 degree weather. I'll take gloom and cool weather over 100 and sunny any day!
On to the snippet! Still in chapter 1:
The following morning he formally reported in, but the duty officer told him he wasn't needed for the day. “It's Sunday Master Sergeant. Get some rest, check in tomorrow with me then. General Forth didn't tell me you were coming so I don't have specific orders for you,” the Naga lieutenant said. “He's off on a fishing trip, so I'll email him when he returns tonight.”“Understood,” Jethro replied with a nod.“Dismissed then,” the Lieutenant said. Jethro came to attention, but the Naga had already turned and slithered away to attend to another problem. He about faced and walked out of the room and then out of the admin building.It seemed he was given time to familiarize himself with the changes to the base. So, he decided a quick tour, some time at the PX and BX, and then a more in-depth tour of the spec ops community was in order. He himself didn't know what General Forth had in mind for him, though he had a general idea whatever it would be, it would be temporary.He checked out the facilities but they were only lightly used at the moment, given it was the weekend. Apparently someone had set up a regular schedule with time off. It was almost quaint, he thought, though the enemy didn't follow any sort of schedule like that he thought. Combat came when you least expected it sometimes, usually when your guard was at its lowest, he reminded himself.Then he shook himself. He didn't need or want to get himself too edgy, he thought. He had time to decompress on Kathy's World and on the flight to Agnosta he thought. No need to borrow trouble.Orders from General Forth came in just before he was going to go to bed at 2200. They were brief he noted as he stood by the window. He noted people straggling back to the barracks along the winding paths below. Solar powered lights lit up the path nicely, and the light was directed down at the path itself, so there was little light pollution. More than a few of the people who were straggling in weren't very steady on their feet, and one or two had to be propped up by a buddy. He scanned the orders but they were minimal. A welcome to Agnosta, and a note that he would be on detached duty to observe and counsel the spec ops community. He had a small office in admin overflow, and that was it.So, until the powers that be knew what to do with him he decided to make the most of it and check in with a few familiar faces.\<)>^<)>/On the second day in the base Jethro ran into an old friend, Gunny Schultz just as he exited the restaurant he'd stopped in to have lunch at. His former DI and sergeant was still an E-11, a Master Gunnery Sergeant, though there had been talk about moving him up higher. “Good to see you Gunny,” he said with a nod to Schultz as he walked up to the Neodoberman. “Damn good to see a familiar face.”The Neodog's pointed ears flicked. “I heard you did well in Kathy's World and Protodon. Though I think your mama dropped you one too many times on the head to try that fool jump in Kathy's World,” the Neodoberman said with a shake of his head. Jethro flicked his ears in humor. “You know that's becoming something of a legend in the corps already?” Jethro suddenly grimaced in embarrassment. “Yeah, you are a character, the whole boarding a ship all on your own,” the Neodog said, shaking his head in mock amusement.“I didn't have much time to think about it. And an order is an order Gunny. At least I had my armor. For a minute there I thought they were going to send me over with a butter knife in my teeth and without a suit,” Jethro joked. Bast flicked her ears on his HUD.The Neodoberman chuckled. “Sounds about right,” he drawled as he shook his head. “Keeping with tradition and all that they probably should have.”Jethro flicked his ears, good humor restored.“So, what are you up to?” the Neodoberman finally asked.“You mean you, with all your connections don't know?” Jethro asked, staring at Schultz in mock surprise.The Neodoberman rolled his eyes. “Give me a break. I knew you were coming, but there is a lid on your file remember?” Jethro nodded. “Yeah, so, you're here. Now what?”“I'm only here for a short time. My orders are to go elsewhere, but they don't specify doing what or where I'll end up,” Jethro said carefully. What they said was he was going to Antigua. But since the Gunny didn't know, and his orders specified to tell no one, he left that part out.The Neodoberman stared at him for a long moment then snorted. “Typical, they won't tell even you,” he said.Jethro flicked his ears and then spread his hands. “You can't tell what you don't know I suppose. Besides, we're soldiers, we go and do what we're told,” he said.“That's true,” the Neodoberman said in a slightly aggrieved tone of voice. Jethro's ears perked up. The Neodoberman eyed him and then looked away. “Don't give me that look,” he growled.“What look?” Jethro asked innocently. He saw the severe look his former boss had and knew something was eating at him. “What's up Gunny?” he asked in a cooler tone of voice.“It's...”“Come on, you can tell me,” the Neocat wheedled. The Doberman eyed him for another long moment, as if sizing him up before he snorted again, softer that time and then decided to unload a bit.“This really should be over beers, but...” The Doberman inhaled then exhaled slowly. Jethro cocked his head as the Gunny unloaded.He had everything under control, it was smooth sailing... and that seemed to be the problem. It boiled down to the simple fact that the gunny was bored and needed a new challenge. “I hate whining but...”“You aren't whining Gunny. You've sucked it up, but you taught us that everyone needs to vent sometime,” Jethro corrected.“I know. But asking for a combat posting...” Schultz shook his head. “It's like they need me here, that usual crap. I know I can do more than be an administrator...” he said.Jethro grimaced and flicked his ears. The needs of the Marines had pushed them both up through the ranks like a meteor. And the higher you went usually the more administrative duties you had and the less actual hands on with the troops.“They finally cycled Brenet and Jefferson out of training to infantry, though I heard Jefferson was thinking about going mustang. That might be a part of my problem, they might think since I'm here, they are safe. Everything's covered, smooth sailing, leave him where he is. I'm... wuff,” the Neodog said heaving a sigh.“Something to think about,” Jethro said slowly, eying him. It was the most he'd ever heard from his mentor. This was really bothering him he knew.The Neodog snorted. “I'm a noncom thank you very much. I'd rather execute the orders than have to come up with them. Besides, I've got a bit less paperwork where I'm at. I still have some, and I have to put up with enough meetings to make me want to shoot myself, but I know I'm lucking out in not having to go through all the hoops an officer does. And I don't like playing dress up for the cameras and the party crowd. Thanks but NOthanks,” he said with finality in his voice. “The idea is to get away from the hoopla and do what I've been trained to do.”Jethro snorted. He cocked his head again then nodded slowly. “I think you should put in for a transfer. Do your homework, and put in for something new. New horizons, a place where you can still be a positive influence.”He knew they'd most likely transfer the Neodog to Antigua to help set up the Marine training centers there, but he was wise enough not to point it out.The Neodog shook his head. “They won't allow it. I'm too much of an asset here,” he said with a grimace.“By hook or by crook Gunny. Put in for a transfer. You of all people know how to game the system to make it clear it's time for you to move on. Let them know you are feeling stale and want a change in scenery. If they don't bite, well, find a way to lean on them if you have to.”The Neodoberman nodded slowly. “I'll think about it.”“Good. You don't want to get stale here,” Jethro said firmly.That simple statement of agreement seemed to help ease something in his former boss's spine a bit. “They'll need someone to replace me,” the Neodoberman said as he eyed the Neocat. “Want the job?”“Me? I wouldn't mind it, at least for a while,” Jethro said slowly. In all honesty his wife would love that he was in a training post rather than in combat. Especially after what happened to her younger brother on Protodon, he thought.But it wasn't up to him he knew. Others had plans for him. “I'm slated for something else. The brass wants me in Antigua for my sins. I'm probably going to be paraded before the cameras so they can reenact that ceremony, and who knows what afterward,” he said with a shake of his head. “Either off to recruiting or Protodon or...” he shrugged.The Neodoberman nodded slowly. As much as he'd like to hand the job over to Jethro... the Neocat was definitely qualified given his DI background, he knew he couldn't. Jethro had a target on his back. The assassin's guild hadn't let the matter drop he knew. Anyone near the cat unknowingly were on the same bulls-eye. Therefore, Jethro had to be a movingtarget. One that was kept away from those he loved in case what came after him spilled over on innocent bystanders as well.It sucked, but such was life he thought as they returned to their separate duties.\<)>^<)>/When he got back to his temporary office Jethro checked in with the sniper classes to see how things were going. Sergeant Major Jefferson was no longer in charge of the advanced training and he didn't recognize the new guy. Obviously there had been some teething issues as the new administration got settled in it seemed. A bit of slack here and there, or just Murphy's intervention had caught up with them. He'd heard the scuttlebutt; he just didn't want any of it happening on his watch.Even though he was only going to be on planet another month or so.Each incident had been investigated by NCIS and JAG, but Jethro knew it was a bit more than ass covering involved. The current leadership might have tried to shift the blame, but that had failed utterly. Fortunately for them, most of the problems were indeed found to be the fault of other factors... or as he had noted a moment ago, Murphy putting in an appearance.Not even Admiral Irons could count on Lady Luck's blessing forever he knew. As he looked in deeper he didn't like what he found. There had been a rash of recent accidents some weather related, but a few others stood out as well. Two of the accidents had been in the field, but the more serious ones had been on shore while the troops had been off duty. A ferry bringing them back from the mainland had capsized in a storm and had unfortunately killed several Marines and civilian contractors before rescue arrived. Another group of Marines had been critically injured or killed after a night of partying and racing.When the survivors got out of the hospital they were going to wish they'd been numbered among the dead once Schultz got through with them. The 2 accidents.... he pulled up the files before Bast could do so and then his eyes scanned left and right as he read the reports. 1 had been due to a nasty fall, the other was indeed shitty luck; a widow maker in the forest had been freaky enough to catch someone off guard.He shook his head. Murphy indeed, he thought, though he still wanted to look into the training standards to make certain people weren't getting slack or careless. Usually people tightened up after a gory example to remind them to take things seriously... but not always.He scanned the recommendations and then nodded. Good, someone was a step ahead of him.The accidents in sniper school had forced the trainers to undergo a review and tighten up not only the training, but also their entry standards. They had learned a lot after learning hard lessons in combat, applying that knowledge and passing it on to the next generation of Marines was therefore critical.That was why he was back, even if only briefly. He wasn't certain what he could pass on, especially if he was in admin shuffling paperwork and getting acquainted with the changes to the programs and schedule. He couldn't do anything about it though, those were his orders.The accidents did open up some slots in the program. He noted half of them had yet to be filled. Well, he could do something about that, he thought.\<)>^<)>/
I'm hoping to get my battery backup today, as well as Captain America 3 and other stuff. Last Friday's 14 hour power outage was the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm tired of stuff like that happening, and scared it will eventually do damage to my PC again. (and loosing work sucks! Been there, done that!) I know with my monster of a PC it will only last 10 minutes, but that is a 10 minute window I'll be able to save my work and shut down properly with!
It is gorgeously cool today so I've been productive... despite the antics of the furballs. (one is in my lap again as I try to type this) I am seriously in love with the 60 degree weather. I'll take gloom and cool weather over 100 and sunny any day!
On to the snippet! Still in chapter 1:
The following morning he formally reported in, but the duty officer told him he wasn't needed for the day. “It's Sunday Master Sergeant. Get some rest, check in tomorrow with me then. General Forth didn't tell me you were coming so I don't have specific orders for you,” the Naga lieutenant said. “He's off on a fishing trip, so I'll email him when he returns tonight.”“Understood,” Jethro replied with a nod.“Dismissed then,” the Lieutenant said. Jethro came to attention, but the Naga had already turned and slithered away to attend to another problem. He about faced and walked out of the room and then out of the admin building.It seemed he was given time to familiarize himself with the changes to the base. So, he decided a quick tour, some time at the PX and BX, and then a more in-depth tour of the spec ops community was in order. He himself didn't know what General Forth had in mind for him, though he had a general idea whatever it would be, it would be temporary.He checked out the facilities but they were only lightly used at the moment, given it was the weekend. Apparently someone had set up a regular schedule with time off. It was almost quaint, he thought, though the enemy didn't follow any sort of schedule like that he thought. Combat came when you least expected it sometimes, usually when your guard was at its lowest, he reminded himself.Then he shook himself. He didn't need or want to get himself too edgy, he thought. He had time to decompress on Kathy's World and on the flight to Agnosta he thought. No need to borrow trouble.Orders from General Forth came in just before he was going to go to bed at 2200. They were brief he noted as he stood by the window. He noted people straggling back to the barracks along the winding paths below. Solar powered lights lit up the path nicely, and the light was directed down at the path itself, so there was little light pollution. More than a few of the people who were straggling in weren't very steady on their feet, and one or two had to be propped up by a buddy. He scanned the orders but they were minimal. A welcome to Agnosta, and a note that he would be on detached duty to observe and counsel the spec ops community. He had a small office in admin overflow, and that was it.So, until the powers that be knew what to do with him he decided to make the most of it and check in with a few familiar faces.\<)>^<)>/On the second day in the base Jethro ran into an old friend, Gunny Schultz just as he exited the restaurant he'd stopped in to have lunch at. His former DI and sergeant was still an E-11, a Master Gunnery Sergeant, though there had been talk about moving him up higher. “Good to see you Gunny,” he said with a nod to Schultz as he walked up to the Neodoberman. “Damn good to see a familiar face.”The Neodog's pointed ears flicked. “I heard you did well in Kathy's World and Protodon. Though I think your mama dropped you one too many times on the head to try that fool jump in Kathy's World,” the Neodoberman said with a shake of his head. Jethro flicked his ears in humor. “You know that's becoming something of a legend in the corps already?” Jethro suddenly grimaced in embarrassment. “Yeah, you are a character, the whole boarding a ship all on your own,” the Neodog said, shaking his head in mock amusement.“I didn't have much time to think about it. And an order is an order Gunny. At least I had my armor. For a minute there I thought they were going to send me over with a butter knife in my teeth and without a suit,” Jethro joked. Bast flicked her ears on his HUD.The Neodoberman chuckled. “Sounds about right,” he drawled as he shook his head. “Keeping with tradition and all that they probably should have.”Jethro flicked his ears, good humor restored.“So, what are you up to?” the Neodoberman finally asked.“You mean you, with all your connections don't know?” Jethro asked, staring at Schultz in mock surprise.The Neodoberman rolled his eyes. “Give me a break. I knew you were coming, but there is a lid on your file remember?” Jethro nodded. “Yeah, so, you're here. Now what?”“I'm only here for a short time. My orders are to go elsewhere, but they don't specify doing what or where I'll end up,” Jethro said carefully. What they said was he was going to Antigua. But since the Gunny didn't know, and his orders specified to tell no one, he left that part out.The Neodoberman stared at him for a long moment then snorted. “Typical, they won't tell even you,” he said.Jethro flicked his ears and then spread his hands. “You can't tell what you don't know I suppose. Besides, we're soldiers, we go and do what we're told,” he said.“That's true,” the Neodoberman said in a slightly aggrieved tone of voice. Jethro's ears perked up. The Neodoberman eyed him and then looked away. “Don't give me that look,” he growled.“What look?” Jethro asked innocently. He saw the severe look his former boss had and knew something was eating at him. “What's up Gunny?” he asked in a cooler tone of voice.“It's...”“Come on, you can tell me,” the Neocat wheedled. The Doberman eyed him for another long moment, as if sizing him up before he snorted again, softer that time and then decided to unload a bit.“This really should be over beers, but...” The Doberman inhaled then exhaled slowly. Jethro cocked his head as the Gunny unloaded.He had everything under control, it was smooth sailing... and that seemed to be the problem. It boiled down to the simple fact that the gunny was bored and needed a new challenge. “I hate whining but...”“You aren't whining Gunny. You've sucked it up, but you taught us that everyone needs to vent sometime,” Jethro corrected.“I know. But asking for a combat posting...” Schultz shook his head. “It's like they need me here, that usual crap. I know I can do more than be an administrator...” he said.Jethro grimaced and flicked his ears. The needs of the Marines had pushed them both up through the ranks like a meteor. And the higher you went usually the more administrative duties you had and the less actual hands on with the troops.“They finally cycled Brenet and Jefferson out of training to infantry, though I heard Jefferson was thinking about going mustang. That might be a part of my problem, they might think since I'm here, they are safe. Everything's covered, smooth sailing, leave him where he is. I'm... wuff,” the Neodog said heaving a sigh.“Something to think about,” Jethro said slowly, eying him. It was the most he'd ever heard from his mentor. This was really bothering him he knew.The Neodog snorted. “I'm a noncom thank you very much. I'd rather execute the orders than have to come up with them. Besides, I've got a bit less paperwork where I'm at. I still have some, and I have to put up with enough meetings to make me want to shoot myself, but I know I'm lucking out in not having to go through all the hoops an officer does. And I don't like playing dress up for the cameras and the party crowd. Thanks but NOthanks,” he said with finality in his voice. “The idea is to get away from the hoopla and do what I've been trained to do.”Jethro snorted. He cocked his head again then nodded slowly. “I think you should put in for a transfer. Do your homework, and put in for something new. New horizons, a place where you can still be a positive influence.”He knew they'd most likely transfer the Neodog to Antigua to help set up the Marine training centers there, but he was wise enough not to point it out.The Neodog shook his head. “They won't allow it. I'm too much of an asset here,” he said with a grimace.“By hook or by crook Gunny. Put in for a transfer. You of all people know how to game the system to make it clear it's time for you to move on. Let them know you are feeling stale and want a change in scenery. If they don't bite, well, find a way to lean on them if you have to.”The Neodoberman nodded slowly. “I'll think about it.”“Good. You don't want to get stale here,” Jethro said firmly.That simple statement of agreement seemed to help ease something in his former boss's spine a bit. “They'll need someone to replace me,” the Neodoberman said as he eyed the Neocat. “Want the job?”“Me? I wouldn't mind it, at least for a while,” Jethro said slowly. In all honesty his wife would love that he was in a training post rather than in combat. Especially after what happened to her younger brother on Protodon, he thought.But it wasn't up to him he knew. Others had plans for him. “I'm slated for something else. The brass wants me in Antigua for my sins. I'm probably going to be paraded before the cameras so they can reenact that ceremony, and who knows what afterward,” he said with a shake of his head. “Either off to recruiting or Protodon or...” he shrugged.The Neodoberman nodded slowly. As much as he'd like to hand the job over to Jethro... the Neocat was definitely qualified given his DI background, he knew he couldn't. Jethro had a target on his back. The assassin's guild hadn't let the matter drop he knew. Anyone near the cat unknowingly were on the same bulls-eye. Therefore, Jethro had to be a movingtarget. One that was kept away from those he loved in case what came after him spilled over on innocent bystanders as well.It sucked, but such was life he thought as they returned to their separate duties.\<)>^<)>/When he got back to his temporary office Jethro checked in with the sniper classes to see how things were going. Sergeant Major Jefferson was no longer in charge of the advanced training and he didn't recognize the new guy. Obviously there had been some teething issues as the new administration got settled in it seemed. A bit of slack here and there, or just Murphy's intervention had caught up with them. He'd heard the scuttlebutt; he just didn't want any of it happening on his watch.Even though he was only going to be on planet another month or so.Each incident had been investigated by NCIS and JAG, but Jethro knew it was a bit more than ass covering involved. The current leadership might have tried to shift the blame, but that had failed utterly. Fortunately for them, most of the problems were indeed found to be the fault of other factors... or as he had noted a moment ago, Murphy putting in an appearance.Not even Admiral Irons could count on Lady Luck's blessing forever he knew. As he looked in deeper he didn't like what he found. There had been a rash of recent accidents some weather related, but a few others stood out as well. Two of the accidents had been in the field, but the more serious ones had been on shore while the troops had been off duty. A ferry bringing them back from the mainland had capsized in a storm and had unfortunately killed several Marines and civilian contractors before rescue arrived. Another group of Marines had been critically injured or killed after a night of partying and racing.When the survivors got out of the hospital they were going to wish they'd been numbered among the dead once Schultz got through with them. The 2 accidents.... he pulled up the files before Bast could do so and then his eyes scanned left and right as he read the reports. 1 had been due to a nasty fall, the other was indeed shitty luck; a widow maker in the forest had been freaky enough to catch someone off guard.He shook his head. Murphy indeed, he thought, though he still wanted to look into the training standards to make certain people weren't getting slack or careless. Usually people tightened up after a gory example to remind them to take things seriously... but not always.He scanned the recommendations and then nodded. Good, someone was a step ahead of him.The accidents in sniper school had forced the trainers to undergo a review and tighten up not only the training, but also their entry standards. They had learned a lot after learning hard lessons in combat, applying that knowledge and passing it on to the next generation of Marines was therefore critical.That was why he was back, even if only briefly. He wasn't certain what he could pass on, especially if he was in admin shuffling paperwork and getting acquainted with the changes to the programs and schedule. He couldn't do anything about it though, those were his orders.The accidents did open up some slots in the program. He noted half of them had yet to be filled. Well, he could do something about that, he thought.\<)>^<)>/
September 11, 2016
Jethro 5 Gods of War Cover and snippet 1
Okay, first up, here is the cover.
I've lightened it under the advise of Rick and a couple of the other betas.
I haven't worked on the write up yet. I'll get around to it eventually. :) On to the snippet!:
Act I
Chapter 1
Weeks of travel, sitting on his ass, working out in the ship's cramped smelly gym, and otherwise feeling sorry for himself for leaving his new family all for this, Master Sergeant Jethro McClintock thought as he shouldered his duffel and followed the line of debarking passengers out through the transport tube.His other gear was checked in to the secure cargo hold of the ship. He knew Bast was a bit anxious about it, he'd noted her checking on it every few minutes right up until he unjacked from the ship. She would be a pain in the ass until he personally laid eyes on it too, he thought, eying the A.I.As if following his train of thought the A.I. flicked her long virtual ears at him on his HUD impudently. He flicked his own ears. He knew the armor wouldn't be needed, but it was a part of him. Of them, he reminded himself as a familiar Neowolf slowed her pace and allowed others to pass herHe flicked his ears to her again once he caught her looking at him. She sniffed delicately and then turned to continue through the debarking onto the station. He had traveled with Major White Wolf and the recruits from Kathy's World and Protodon. Those that were destined for the Marine or Army would ride the shuttle down with them the following evening he knew. They'd just missed the last shuttle down for the day. Fortunately the recruits, including the few navy recruits among their number were no longer his concern. He wished them all well. They'd do better in boot camp... and worse in some ways since they had already tasted combat. In some ways that robbed them of the true Marine experience. So be it though, sometimes things like that happened, he mused as the line moved forward incrementally.He caught sight of the white wolf once more. She was only a few people ahead of him he noted. From what she'd said on the trip out she wasn't going to be on the planet any longer than he was. She was supposed to help set up or overhaul the MAWTS facilities and faculty while getting a medical checkup and debrief. After that she would have to ship back to Kathy's World on the next available flight he knew.“So, this is where we part ways Sergeant. At least for the foreseeable future,” Major White Wolf said as they passed through security on the station.“We may see each other on the ground ma'am,” Jethro said with a nod to her as others passed them in their haste to get through the station to their own destinations.“True. Do you have anything for Shanti and the kids? I'm going to be here a couple of weeks and then I'm headed to back to Kathy's World,” the white Neowolf said with 1 hand paw out.Jethro looked at it and then grimaced ruefully. “I do but it's in here,” he said, tapping his head with one finger.“Upload it to me. Or have Bast do it. The mail sometimes runs slow. I promise I won't read it,” she said.“Thank you ma'am,” Jethro said. He touched her hand and felt Bast open a port in her firewall and then send the files through.“Oh, it's not just a favor for you. Shanti is one of my best deputies. I can do her and your kits this service,” the wolf said as they broke the touch upon completion of the transmission. “Keep kicking ass McClintock, consider that an order.”“Aye aye ma'am,” Jethro said as he came to attention. He saluted her but she snorted.“You need to brush up on your etiquette McClintock, you won the medal, people like me are supposed to salute you,” she said and did so.Jethro blinked then flicked his ears as she struck the salute and then picked up her bag and left for the officer's quarters on the station.“Well! That was fun. Any ideas...” Jethro stopped himself when Bast flicked her own long ears and then pointed to the left. He turned and noted the sign “Noncom temporary billet this way.” He snorted and followed the directions. \<)>^<)>/As the shuttle came into its final approach to the island landing field Jethro looked out the porthole. He could access the shuttle's cameras and sensors if he wished, he knew Bast was doing so, but he wasn't interested. At least, not initially. She was naturally curious but also a bit paranoid. He knew she was going to get a bit worse since his armor was going to be housed in the armor morgue while he was on groundside duty.Outside he saw the clouds part and then the island chain spread out among the glittering waters in all their majesty. From what he'd heard they had expanded to the second and third island. His eyes caught the straight lines and glitter of metal on the most distant island, as well as some of the lights, but then the shuttle banked slightly and his view was obstructed.From what he'd heard the second island was one designated for the advanced training areas, while the distant third had been deeded over to the growing Army group. The Army group relied on the Marine base for its spaceport needs of course. There was no point building two spaceports a few kilometers apart.He'd also heard that up until recently the set-up of the Army had been something of a half-hearted affair. The brass wasn't interested in setting up what would be a bunch of garrison soldiers in his opinion, and he agreed with them... in theory. However, after his recent adventure on Protodon, he now saw the need to have troops on the ground holding it.Which probably explained why the Army, under the nominal command of Captain SG Yee, had started to rise in importance. He wondered if the recently promoted Brigadier General Jersey Forth and the other Marine brass resented the growing competition the Army would have with the Marines. Would they be forced to give up some of their personnel? He hoped not. Some he knew might volunteer, more out of a chance at rapid promotion and some semblance of pride in an ancestor who'd served in the Army.Best luck to them, he thought as the shuttle lowered itself to the long stretch of runway.\<)>^<)>/After he went through groundside security, he ignored the personnel bus with the recruits milling around it and hopped onto the truck with his armor. He saw Bast's nod of approval and flicked his ears in humor.He felt her reach out with his LAN implants to link electronically to the armor's computer systems. It was his turn to flick his ears in humor, but she ignored him. Something strangely like a sigh of contentment ran through the A.I.. Her eyes went half lidded. He could feel information flowing through them.“Don't overdo it you know,” he scolded softly. She opened her eyes to stare into his briefly before she turned and went back to whatever meditation or other thing she was doing.Most likely she was updating the memory in the armor, accessing it to see how it had been handled, and then using the on board processors to do any processing she had time for before they arrived at the morgue he noted.He felt a series of bumps as they passed through the outer layer of security around the morgue, then they were stopped for another security check. The guard on duty checked the driver and him, and then checked the contents carefully.“Master Sergeant? You um, aren't on the list.”“I know. I wanted to make certain my armor was put to bed before I went to the billet.”“Um, understood Master Sergeant,” the private said with a nod. He pressed the button and then waved them through with his tablet.Jethro flicked his ears in humor and continued to watch the road as they drove around the armory, stopped, and then backed up to the loading docks.Once the black armor and the crates of parts and equipment were signed into the Armor Morgue he caught a ride to the barracks. The sun had almost set by the time he arrived in the temporary noncom barracks. Bast accessed the barracks Wifi and logged him in to the log book. He paused at the door.“You um...”“I'm logged in I know,” Jethro said to the startled guard. “I did it remotely,” he said. Bast glowered at him on the HUD but he ignored it. He didn't want or need to explain her to the private.“Yes, um, sergeant um...”Bast put a map up on his HUD. “I've got the location of my quarters. Have a good evening private,” Jethro said as he picked up his duffel again and strode along the path Bast had indicated for him to follow.\<)>^<)>/
I've lightened it under the advise of Rick and a couple of the other betas.I haven't worked on the write up yet. I'll get around to it eventually. :) On to the snippet!:
Act I
Chapter 1
Weeks of travel, sitting on his ass, working out in the ship's cramped smelly gym, and otherwise feeling sorry for himself for leaving his new family all for this, Master Sergeant Jethro McClintock thought as he shouldered his duffel and followed the line of debarking passengers out through the transport tube.His other gear was checked in to the secure cargo hold of the ship. He knew Bast was a bit anxious about it, he'd noted her checking on it every few minutes right up until he unjacked from the ship. She would be a pain in the ass until he personally laid eyes on it too, he thought, eying the A.I.As if following his train of thought the A.I. flicked her long virtual ears at him on his HUD impudently. He flicked his own ears. He knew the armor wouldn't be needed, but it was a part of him. Of them, he reminded himself as a familiar Neowolf slowed her pace and allowed others to pass herHe flicked his ears to her again once he caught her looking at him. She sniffed delicately and then turned to continue through the debarking onto the station. He had traveled with Major White Wolf and the recruits from Kathy's World and Protodon. Those that were destined for the Marine or Army would ride the shuttle down with them the following evening he knew. They'd just missed the last shuttle down for the day. Fortunately the recruits, including the few navy recruits among their number were no longer his concern. He wished them all well. They'd do better in boot camp... and worse in some ways since they had already tasted combat. In some ways that robbed them of the true Marine experience. So be it though, sometimes things like that happened, he mused as the line moved forward incrementally.He caught sight of the white wolf once more. She was only a few people ahead of him he noted. From what she'd said on the trip out she wasn't going to be on the planet any longer than he was. She was supposed to help set up or overhaul the MAWTS facilities and faculty while getting a medical checkup and debrief. After that she would have to ship back to Kathy's World on the next available flight he knew.“So, this is where we part ways Sergeant. At least for the foreseeable future,” Major White Wolf said as they passed through security on the station.“We may see each other on the ground ma'am,” Jethro said with a nod to her as others passed them in their haste to get through the station to their own destinations.“True. Do you have anything for Shanti and the kids? I'm going to be here a couple of weeks and then I'm headed to back to Kathy's World,” the white Neowolf said with 1 hand paw out.Jethro looked at it and then grimaced ruefully. “I do but it's in here,” he said, tapping his head with one finger.“Upload it to me. Or have Bast do it. The mail sometimes runs slow. I promise I won't read it,” she said.“Thank you ma'am,” Jethro said. He touched her hand and felt Bast open a port in her firewall and then send the files through.“Oh, it's not just a favor for you. Shanti is one of my best deputies. I can do her and your kits this service,” the wolf said as they broke the touch upon completion of the transmission. “Keep kicking ass McClintock, consider that an order.”“Aye aye ma'am,” Jethro said as he came to attention. He saluted her but she snorted.“You need to brush up on your etiquette McClintock, you won the medal, people like me are supposed to salute you,” she said and did so.Jethro blinked then flicked his ears as she struck the salute and then picked up her bag and left for the officer's quarters on the station.“Well! That was fun. Any ideas...” Jethro stopped himself when Bast flicked her own long ears and then pointed to the left. He turned and noted the sign “Noncom temporary billet this way.” He snorted and followed the directions. \<)>^<)>/As the shuttle came into its final approach to the island landing field Jethro looked out the porthole. He could access the shuttle's cameras and sensors if he wished, he knew Bast was doing so, but he wasn't interested. At least, not initially. She was naturally curious but also a bit paranoid. He knew she was going to get a bit worse since his armor was going to be housed in the armor morgue while he was on groundside duty.Outside he saw the clouds part and then the island chain spread out among the glittering waters in all their majesty. From what he'd heard they had expanded to the second and third island. His eyes caught the straight lines and glitter of metal on the most distant island, as well as some of the lights, but then the shuttle banked slightly and his view was obstructed.From what he'd heard the second island was one designated for the advanced training areas, while the distant third had been deeded over to the growing Army group. The Army group relied on the Marine base for its spaceport needs of course. There was no point building two spaceports a few kilometers apart.He'd also heard that up until recently the set-up of the Army had been something of a half-hearted affair. The brass wasn't interested in setting up what would be a bunch of garrison soldiers in his opinion, and he agreed with them... in theory. However, after his recent adventure on Protodon, he now saw the need to have troops on the ground holding it.Which probably explained why the Army, under the nominal command of Captain SG Yee, had started to rise in importance. He wondered if the recently promoted Brigadier General Jersey Forth and the other Marine brass resented the growing competition the Army would have with the Marines. Would they be forced to give up some of their personnel? He hoped not. Some he knew might volunteer, more out of a chance at rapid promotion and some semblance of pride in an ancestor who'd served in the Army.Best luck to them, he thought as the shuttle lowered itself to the long stretch of runway.\<)>^<)>/After he went through groundside security, he ignored the personnel bus with the recruits milling around it and hopped onto the truck with his armor. He saw Bast's nod of approval and flicked his ears in humor.He felt her reach out with his LAN implants to link electronically to the armor's computer systems. It was his turn to flick his ears in humor, but she ignored him. Something strangely like a sigh of contentment ran through the A.I.. Her eyes went half lidded. He could feel information flowing through them.“Don't overdo it you know,” he scolded softly. She opened her eyes to stare into his briefly before she turned and went back to whatever meditation or other thing she was doing.Most likely she was updating the memory in the armor, accessing it to see how it had been handled, and then using the on board processors to do any processing she had time for before they arrived at the morgue he noted.He felt a series of bumps as they passed through the outer layer of security around the morgue, then they were stopped for another security check. The guard on duty checked the driver and him, and then checked the contents carefully.“Master Sergeant? You um, aren't on the list.”“I know. I wanted to make certain my armor was put to bed before I went to the billet.”“Um, understood Master Sergeant,” the private said with a nod. He pressed the button and then waved them through with his tablet.Jethro flicked his ears in humor and continued to watch the road as they drove around the armory, stopped, and then backed up to the loading docks.Once the black armor and the crates of parts and equipment were signed into the Armor Morgue he caught a ride to the barracks. The sun had almost set by the time he arrived in the temporary noncom barracks. Bast accessed the barracks Wifi and logged him in to the log book. He paused at the door.“You um...”“I'm logged in I know,” Jethro said to the startled guard. “I did it remotely,” he said. Bast glowered at him on the HUD but he ignored it. He didn't want or need to explain her to the private.“Yes, um, sergeant um...”Bast put a map up on his HUD. “I've got the location of my quarters. Have a good evening private,” Jethro said as he picked up his duffel again and strode along the path Bast had indicated for him to follow.\<)>^<)>/
August 29, 2016
Jethro 5 Gods of War
Okay, sitrep:
First, you might have noticed, the title changed. Jethro 5 is now titled Gods of War. I had the original title long before I wrote the First A.I. War. While writing J5 I got into A.I. names and realized Ares God of War wasn't appropriate.
Second, I have finished the first draft just before a rather late lunch today. It is 564 pages so far, I expect it to top out over 570 by the time I add the TOC, edits, and back matter.
I was told by some of the betas, plus other people that I should split the book. Have act I and II as 1 book, act III as the second. There is a lot going on in the third act, it is... 31 chapters long. lol Usually I have it at 15 chapters.
There are 2 endings. If you want to know why, go over to the Facebook Fan Group. Remember to vote!
I've been told that the feeding frenzy is slowly picking up speed. I've already gotten the first nips from some of the betas. lol
I've got a ton of edits to wade through, some other corrections, and Wayne's act II edits, plus spell checking act III before I farm it out to the first of the betas tomorrow or Wednesday. It should be interesting how it goes. :)
It should also be interesting to see who among the betas (other than Wayne) who lines up first to read it. :)
Third: I am going to do the cover art later this week then look at working on that Sluggyfreelance.com guest strip I pitched to Pete Abrams and Mechmaster a while back. I might take a couple weeks to play with that.... depending on how it goes and how the temperature is. (I hate rendering when it is 100+ ouch, which it will be all week! GRR!) I am not sure when I'll get around to more content for the wiki. We'll see.
Fourth: Given that J5 took a bit long to write I can't guarantee it will be out next month. Maybe. Highly doubtful though.
Fifth: There were a lot more retcons than expected. I didn't realize I stepped on my... ahem, anyway, confession time... (tugging on collar) ...I messed a few things up in writing Pirate Rage and Retribution. Getting them sorted out has been a headache.
Sixth: The next book is up in the air again. I said I'd do Shelby Logan's adventures but I'm seriously tempted to go back and play with the short stories in the Foundation time period.
First, you might have noticed, the title changed. Jethro 5 is now titled Gods of War. I had the original title long before I wrote the First A.I. War. While writing J5 I got into A.I. names and realized Ares God of War wasn't appropriate.
Second, I have finished the first draft just before a rather late lunch today. It is 564 pages so far, I expect it to top out over 570 by the time I add the TOC, edits, and back matter.
I was told by some of the betas, plus other people that I should split the book. Have act I and II as 1 book, act III as the second. There is a lot going on in the third act, it is... 31 chapters long. lol Usually I have it at 15 chapters.
There are 2 endings. If you want to know why, go over to the Facebook Fan Group. Remember to vote!
I've been told that the feeding frenzy is slowly picking up speed. I've already gotten the first nips from some of the betas. lol
I've got a ton of edits to wade through, some other corrections, and Wayne's act II edits, plus spell checking act III before I farm it out to the first of the betas tomorrow or Wednesday. It should be interesting how it goes. :)
It should also be interesting to see who among the betas (other than Wayne) who lines up first to read it. :)
Third: I am going to do the cover art later this week then look at working on that Sluggyfreelance.com guest strip I pitched to Pete Abrams and Mechmaster a while back. I might take a couple weeks to play with that.... depending on how it goes and how the temperature is. (I hate rendering when it is 100+ ouch, which it will be all week! GRR!) I am not sure when I'll get around to more content for the wiki. We'll see.
Fourth: Given that J5 took a bit long to write I can't guarantee it will be out next month. Maybe. Highly doubtful though.
Fifth: There were a lot more retcons than expected. I didn't realize I stepped on my... ahem, anyway, confession time... (tugging on collar) ...I messed a few things up in writing Pirate Rage and Retribution. Getting them sorted out has been a headache.
Sixth: The next book is up in the air again. I said I'd do Shelby Logan's adventures but I'm seriously tempted to go back and play with the short stories in the Foundation time period.
July 27, 2016
Enemy of my Enemy Publishing TODAY!
A funny thing happened while I was taking a break from J5 and checking my email today... it seemed Goodlifeguide.com finished up EE quick like a bunny and wow! It was in my inbox! Awesome!
So, instead of making you wait (I can imagine the reaction to that... pitchforks and torches maybe?) I decided to bite the bullet and publish it now. :)
As in... right now. I just finished uploading it. It should go live within the next 12 to 24 hours. As soon as it does I'll post a link to each site.
Newly promoted Commodore Horatio Logan had never expected to be commissioned as an officer, let alone survive to where he was now. But the Reborn Federation needed officers and engineers, needed them desperately so he'd stayed in and somehow he'd managed to thrive under the workload.
He'd seen friends come and go. He had seen his daughter off on her own command. He wasn't content in his lot in life but he wasn't a complainer either. Like Fleet Admiral Irons, he buckled down and got things done.
When the Light Cruiser Caroline returned with her payload of Bekian and Nuevo officers and delegates Horatio found himself opening up a new unexpected chapter in his life... a chapter that would forge a stronger relationship with the lost colonies with the fledgling Federation.
But Bek has it's own issues, ones no one warned them about. Navigating the sudden minefield would take a deft hand... but Horatio hadn't survived as long as he had or come as far as he had to give up or go home with his tail between his legs. He would drag the lost colonies kicking and screaming into the present even if it killed him.
... and it just might!
So, instead of making you wait (I can imagine the reaction to that... pitchforks and torches maybe?) I decided to bite the bullet and publish it now. :)
As in... right now. I just finished uploading it. It should go live within the next 12 to 24 hours. As soon as it does I'll post a link to each site.
Newly promoted Commodore Horatio Logan had never expected to be commissioned as an officer, let alone survive to where he was now. But the Reborn Federation needed officers and engineers, needed them desperately so he'd stayed in and somehow he'd managed to thrive under the workload.He'd seen friends come and go. He had seen his daughter off on her own command. He wasn't content in his lot in life but he wasn't a complainer either. Like Fleet Admiral Irons, he buckled down and got things done.
When the Light Cruiser Caroline returned with her payload of Bekian and Nuevo officers and delegates Horatio found himself opening up a new unexpected chapter in his life... a chapter that would forge a stronger relationship with the lost colonies with the fledgling Federation.
But Bek has it's own issues, ones no one warned them about. Navigating the sudden minefield would take a deft hand... but Horatio hadn't survived as long as he had or come as far as he had to give up or go home with his tail between his legs. He would drag the lost colonies kicking and screaming into the present even if it killed him.
... and it just might!
July 25, 2016
Enemy of my Enemy Snippet 4
Sitrep: EE is off to Goodlifeguide.com. Shelley said she should get the book back to me by or on 8/4/2016. So, expect the manuscript sometime between now and then. Well, not now since I just had to send her the revised manuscript... ugh. never mind.
Also, I finished the rough out of Act I of J5 Saturday. I am poking at Act II, mostly in the sections that do not deal with Jethro yet. (alternative perspectives) Writing them now keeps them fresh and consistent... I hope. Since I'm a bit button punchy, I'm going to stop for today. (funny thing, I got that way yesterday and nearly corrupted the manuscript! Yes, I was a tad freaked! Lucky me I got it fixed....)
Anyway, on to the snippet!:
Chapter 2
Horatio smiled as he spun the image of Bismark around on the holo table. He loved the ability to just … he reached out and touched a section of the ship and pretended to pinch and pull at it. The A.I. interpreted his intent and pulled the section apart in an exploded diagram he could turn and see from different angles.“Nice,” he murmured softly.The small silver blob at the bottom of the table and off to one side seemed to ripple at the compliment. He glanced at it and then to the image of the ship.
Admiral Irons had sent him both the software package and the latest blueprints of Bismark to … well, he wasn't quite sure why. To play with? He wasn't a ship designer. He'd been half tempted to turn the dumb A.I. over to one of them, but he'd hung onto it.The A.I. was named Mercury. It barely rated a name though. It was an early version of Proteus, so it was buggy as hell. He'd enlisted the services of Lieutenant Kamia to help debug the A.I. She had managed to get a few of the big bugs out and had gotten a handle on the crashing problem. Now Mercury just froze instead of crashing.But he had a bug report. He wasn't smart enough to fix himself … Horatio snorted. Technically the A.I. wasn't even an A.I. or a he. He just thought of it as a male due to the name.Each time he tried Mercury out, he found something new … and his limits. For instance, the assistant couldn't multitask. And it had a finite memory. It also had memory leaks, which was what caused the crashes and freezes.So, there was no way he was going to load the thing into his implants. Not anytime soon at any rate.He could see the intent though. The A.I. once it was debugged might serve as a good design aide or a good diagnostic tool. But again, only when they got the bugs out. To be honest he thought the A.I. was too much. It was taking on too much and might be suffering from code bloat. He made a mental note to run that question past the so-called experts sometime.He frowned thoughtfully as he examined the ship section he'd pulled out without really processing it. He let go, then used the flat of his hand to gently push it back as if he was closing a desk drawer or filing cabinet drawer.“Nice. Any problems, Mercury?”“No, sir. The latest patch seems to be holding,” the A.I. replied.Horatio nodded. “Good to know. So you are using billboards?” he asked, curious about the process.“I'm no longer attempting to load the entire design into my RAM. I have the overall specs up and just call up the sections you want when you indicate, sir. Just those sections,” the A.I. stated.“In basic detail I see. You didn't color code the various subsystems,” Horatio stated.“No, sir. Did you wish for me to do so?”“No. I was just curious. I'm glad you didn't push your limits,” he stated.“My limits aren't just software. It is hardware as well—specifically ram and processors,” the avatar stated.Horatio frowned thoughtfully and then nodded slowly. “Okay. Pass your log on to Kalmia and the coders. Flag any problems of course.”“Yes, sir.”And that was just about it, Horatio thought as he flicked his hand to wipe away the image of the dreadnaught. Mercury had a very basic ability to process vocal commands but no personality. He didn't have much of an ability to learn, a rudimentary one at best since his code and hardware were so limited. He was a tool, little more. He checked the clock and then nodded. He had about a half hour before the meeting. “Can you pull up my inbox?” he asked carefully.“I was not designed to interact outside my designed parameters,” Mercury stated. “Nor do I have the proper access codes,” the A.I. stated.“Of course not. I'm going to need to either look into getting you an upgrade or finding out if Admiral Irons is going to actually call me to Antigua to get my own version of Sprite,” he said as he jacked in. He found his inbox and started picking through his e-mail. Fortunately, there wasn't a lot in it.When he was finished he turned his attention to his to do list. He opened a vidchat window to the command link and left it open. Eventually the staff would start to log in. While he waited he thought he might as well get some paperwork done.“Paperwork, the bane of the navy,” he muttered, digging into the reports. Mercury bobbed but didn't respond since the comment was rhetorical and not addressed directly to him Horatio noted. Horatio remembered he wasn't set up for conversation so he focused on the report while he waited.~<><{<^>}><>~Despite his duties in the yard, Horatio still acted as a go-between to smooth out Admiral Subert's acerbic personality and orders to the navy as well as to the civilians who interacted with them on a regular basis. From time to time, he was approached by civilian politicians, industrialists, and business people to act as a sounding board or their intermediary with the admiral or his staff.He has to be careful since such “interference” has been known to come back to haunt him when he misinterprets something or appears more flexible or is asked to intervene on someone's behalf.He listened with half an ear as a couple of the department heads grumbled about some miscommunications and changed priorities.“One of these days he's going to have his command style blow up in his face. And you aren't going to be around to smooth things over,” the G-6 A.I. Lieutenant Commander Kamia said as the staff assembled. As usual Saul and the admiral were running late.“Possibly,” Horatio mused, eyeing her avatar thoughtfully. He knew she would be aware if anyone was eavesdropping or recording their discussion.“No possible about it. It isn't a question of if; it is a question of when,” Kamia pointed out. “I want to be there to see it, but I don't want to be caught up in the works myself,” the A.I. said wryly.“The proverbial fly on the wall,” Horatio murmured. That was pretty much stock for all A.I. he knew. “Voyeurism. Just don't get swatted.”“Yeah, as long as there isn't a fly swatter in sight,” Kamia said with a holographic grin. Her daily interaction with people had done wonders for her development. So much so that she had put in for an upgrade and a transfer herself. Horatio wasn't sure what to make of that. He wouldn't be around to see if she got her wish. Wishes, plural, he reminded himself.“True. I'm not doing it for his sake,” Horatio said in a sudden act of bravado. He questioned it, but rolled on Barry and the other officers leveled a look at him. “I mean, if that's what you are thinking.”“I knew you had his back. I wasn't sure why,” Lieutenant Strongbirth admitted, turning her goat eyes on him. Horatio didn't let the Elf's diminutive size fool him. He knew behind those big eyes was a first-class mind.
Even if it could fit in the palm of his hand with plenty of room to spare. Elves had incredibly dense neural networks.“I …,” Horatio stopped himself then shrugged uncomfortably. “I'm not doing it for him as I said—for the sake of the navy and Federation, yes. We have to remember we're all on the same side. We just have different command styles as you said, and different ways of doing things. Some work better than others but not necessarily. We all have to adjust and adapt.”“Try telling someone else that,” Lieutenant Lavot, the JAG growled. He saw the closed pained look from Horatio and realized he'd overstepped himself finally. “Sorry, sir,” he said, hunching his shoulders slightly.“You should be,” Horatio said severely, trying to temper his ire. “Jeremy, all of you for that matter,” he eyed the group. “You want to be careful who you unload to and how you go about doing it—especially when I'm gone. Don't insert your foot to the point you get yourself up on an insubordination charge,” he warned.Jeremy nodded, but he immediately latched onto one word in that warning that the others hadn't. “Gone? Sir? Are you going somewhere?” “I'm a flag officer now. That means I'm destined for elsewhere, other postings.” He didn't want to admit that they had plenty of room for flag officers in Pyrax. Technically, they could use a flag officer running each department as well as fortress command and the fleet. But it wasn't up to him. “There are only so many of us going around. Admiral Irons no doubt has a place in mind for me.”“Can I come too?” Kamia asked hopefully.Horatio snorted. “I don't even know where I'm going yet. Just that I'm going to be going somewhere eventually. It's all part of being in the navy.” He shrugged, trying to keep the fatalistic tone of voice under control. He hoped and prayed he didn't have an aura of resentment in it.“Yes, sir,” Jeremy said, face working as he realized Horatio was being serious. He nodded. “We'll miss you, sir.”“I'm not gone yet,” Horatio said in exasperation. That earned a chuckle from the group. As the chuckle died down, Saul and Admiral Subert's icons logged on. “Admiral on the deck!” Horatio intoned, instinctively coming to attention despite being a half a million kilometers away.“Can the formalities, we've got some work. Admiral Sienkov may or may not be sitting in on this sometime. If and when he does, give him the respect of his rank, but he is to be an observer only. Remember that. We'll operate as we usually do. Now, Commander Ch'n'x, why don't you start us off with Ops,” the admiral said.The Veraxin clacked her mandibles in a signal of agreement and then started her department's SITREP.Horatio sat back and listened with half an ear as the familiar steps of the meeting began.~<><{<^>}><>~
Also, I finished the rough out of Act I of J5 Saturday. I am poking at Act II, mostly in the sections that do not deal with Jethro yet. (alternative perspectives) Writing them now keeps them fresh and consistent... I hope. Since I'm a bit button punchy, I'm going to stop for today. (funny thing, I got that way yesterday and nearly corrupted the manuscript! Yes, I was a tad freaked! Lucky me I got it fixed....)
Anyway, on to the snippet!:
Chapter 2
Horatio smiled as he spun the image of Bismark around on the holo table. He loved the ability to just … he reached out and touched a section of the ship and pretended to pinch and pull at it. The A.I. interpreted his intent and pulled the section apart in an exploded diagram he could turn and see from different angles.“Nice,” he murmured softly.The small silver blob at the bottom of the table and off to one side seemed to ripple at the compliment. He glanced at it and then to the image of the ship.
Admiral Irons had sent him both the software package and the latest blueprints of Bismark to … well, he wasn't quite sure why. To play with? He wasn't a ship designer. He'd been half tempted to turn the dumb A.I. over to one of them, but he'd hung onto it.The A.I. was named Mercury. It barely rated a name though. It was an early version of Proteus, so it was buggy as hell. He'd enlisted the services of Lieutenant Kamia to help debug the A.I. She had managed to get a few of the big bugs out and had gotten a handle on the crashing problem. Now Mercury just froze instead of crashing.But he had a bug report. He wasn't smart enough to fix himself … Horatio snorted. Technically the A.I. wasn't even an A.I. or a he. He just thought of it as a male due to the name.Each time he tried Mercury out, he found something new … and his limits. For instance, the assistant couldn't multitask. And it had a finite memory. It also had memory leaks, which was what caused the crashes and freezes.So, there was no way he was going to load the thing into his implants. Not anytime soon at any rate.He could see the intent though. The A.I. once it was debugged might serve as a good design aide or a good diagnostic tool. But again, only when they got the bugs out. To be honest he thought the A.I. was too much. It was taking on too much and might be suffering from code bloat. He made a mental note to run that question past the so-called experts sometime.He frowned thoughtfully as he examined the ship section he'd pulled out without really processing it. He let go, then used the flat of his hand to gently push it back as if he was closing a desk drawer or filing cabinet drawer.“Nice. Any problems, Mercury?”“No, sir. The latest patch seems to be holding,” the A.I. replied.Horatio nodded. “Good to know. So you are using billboards?” he asked, curious about the process.“I'm no longer attempting to load the entire design into my RAM. I have the overall specs up and just call up the sections you want when you indicate, sir. Just those sections,” the A.I. stated.“In basic detail I see. You didn't color code the various subsystems,” Horatio stated.“No, sir. Did you wish for me to do so?”“No. I was just curious. I'm glad you didn't push your limits,” he stated.“My limits aren't just software. It is hardware as well—specifically ram and processors,” the avatar stated.Horatio frowned thoughtfully and then nodded slowly. “Okay. Pass your log on to Kalmia and the coders. Flag any problems of course.”“Yes, sir.”And that was just about it, Horatio thought as he flicked his hand to wipe away the image of the dreadnaught. Mercury had a very basic ability to process vocal commands but no personality. He didn't have much of an ability to learn, a rudimentary one at best since his code and hardware were so limited. He was a tool, little more. He checked the clock and then nodded. He had about a half hour before the meeting. “Can you pull up my inbox?” he asked carefully.“I was not designed to interact outside my designed parameters,” Mercury stated. “Nor do I have the proper access codes,” the A.I. stated.“Of course not. I'm going to need to either look into getting you an upgrade or finding out if Admiral Irons is going to actually call me to Antigua to get my own version of Sprite,” he said as he jacked in. He found his inbox and started picking through his e-mail. Fortunately, there wasn't a lot in it.When he was finished he turned his attention to his to do list. He opened a vidchat window to the command link and left it open. Eventually the staff would start to log in. While he waited he thought he might as well get some paperwork done.“Paperwork, the bane of the navy,” he muttered, digging into the reports. Mercury bobbed but didn't respond since the comment was rhetorical and not addressed directly to him Horatio noted. Horatio remembered he wasn't set up for conversation so he focused on the report while he waited.~<><{<^>}><>~Despite his duties in the yard, Horatio still acted as a go-between to smooth out Admiral Subert's acerbic personality and orders to the navy as well as to the civilians who interacted with them on a regular basis. From time to time, he was approached by civilian politicians, industrialists, and business people to act as a sounding board or their intermediary with the admiral or his staff.He has to be careful since such “interference” has been known to come back to haunt him when he misinterprets something or appears more flexible or is asked to intervene on someone's behalf.He listened with half an ear as a couple of the department heads grumbled about some miscommunications and changed priorities.“One of these days he's going to have his command style blow up in his face. And you aren't going to be around to smooth things over,” the G-6 A.I. Lieutenant Commander Kamia said as the staff assembled. As usual Saul and the admiral were running late.“Possibly,” Horatio mused, eyeing her avatar thoughtfully. He knew she would be aware if anyone was eavesdropping or recording their discussion.“No possible about it. It isn't a question of if; it is a question of when,” Kamia pointed out. “I want to be there to see it, but I don't want to be caught up in the works myself,” the A.I. said wryly.“The proverbial fly on the wall,” Horatio murmured. That was pretty much stock for all A.I. he knew. “Voyeurism. Just don't get swatted.”“Yeah, as long as there isn't a fly swatter in sight,” Kamia said with a holographic grin. Her daily interaction with people had done wonders for her development. So much so that she had put in for an upgrade and a transfer herself. Horatio wasn't sure what to make of that. He wouldn't be around to see if she got her wish. Wishes, plural, he reminded himself.“True. I'm not doing it for his sake,” Horatio said in a sudden act of bravado. He questioned it, but rolled on Barry and the other officers leveled a look at him. “I mean, if that's what you are thinking.”“I knew you had his back. I wasn't sure why,” Lieutenant Strongbirth admitted, turning her goat eyes on him. Horatio didn't let the Elf's diminutive size fool him. He knew behind those big eyes was a first-class mind.
Even if it could fit in the palm of his hand with plenty of room to spare. Elves had incredibly dense neural networks.“I …,” Horatio stopped himself then shrugged uncomfortably. “I'm not doing it for him as I said—for the sake of the navy and Federation, yes. We have to remember we're all on the same side. We just have different command styles as you said, and different ways of doing things. Some work better than others but not necessarily. We all have to adjust and adapt.”“Try telling someone else that,” Lieutenant Lavot, the JAG growled. He saw the closed pained look from Horatio and realized he'd overstepped himself finally. “Sorry, sir,” he said, hunching his shoulders slightly.“You should be,” Horatio said severely, trying to temper his ire. “Jeremy, all of you for that matter,” he eyed the group. “You want to be careful who you unload to and how you go about doing it—especially when I'm gone. Don't insert your foot to the point you get yourself up on an insubordination charge,” he warned.Jeremy nodded, but he immediately latched onto one word in that warning that the others hadn't. “Gone? Sir? Are you going somewhere?” “I'm a flag officer now. That means I'm destined for elsewhere, other postings.” He didn't want to admit that they had plenty of room for flag officers in Pyrax. Technically, they could use a flag officer running each department as well as fortress command and the fleet. But it wasn't up to him. “There are only so many of us going around. Admiral Irons no doubt has a place in mind for me.”“Can I come too?” Kamia asked hopefully.Horatio snorted. “I don't even know where I'm going yet. Just that I'm going to be going somewhere eventually. It's all part of being in the navy.” He shrugged, trying to keep the fatalistic tone of voice under control. He hoped and prayed he didn't have an aura of resentment in it.“Yes, sir,” Jeremy said, face working as he realized Horatio was being serious. He nodded. “We'll miss you, sir.”“I'm not gone yet,” Horatio said in exasperation. That earned a chuckle from the group. As the chuckle died down, Saul and Admiral Subert's icons logged on. “Admiral on the deck!” Horatio intoned, instinctively coming to attention despite being a half a million kilometers away.“Can the formalities, we've got some work. Admiral Sienkov may or may not be sitting in on this sometime. If and when he does, give him the respect of his rank, but he is to be an observer only. Remember that. We'll operate as we usually do. Now, Commander Ch'n'x, why don't you start us off with Ops,” the admiral said.The Veraxin clacked her mandibles in a signal of agreement and then started her department's SITREP.Horatio sat back and listened with half an ear as the familiar steps of the meeting began.~<><{<^>}><>~
July 18, 2016
EE Snippet 3
We're still in chapter 1:
The party was just as boring and dull as he'd feared. Stuffed shirts all milling about, drinking wine or champagne and patting themselves on the back for the achievements of men and women and neuters who were out there still busting their asses for low pay and little regard.But, that was how civilization worked, Horatio knew. He also knew as much as he detested such events they were useful and in some ways critical. It allowed the movers and shakers to socialize and to get to know one another in a formal and structured situation but without a lot of pressure. At least, he hoped so.He was also well aware that he was going to have to put up with more and more of them the higher he climbed in the Navy's chain of command. That was a depressing thought he realized.The good news for him was that the civilians and junior officers were still enamored with the Bekian delegation. Each had a knot of eager people chattering with them or listening to every word they said. “Um...” he turned in surprise to a woman with flat black skin and white markings. She had a sheer gown on with crystals that just covered her private areas tantalizingly. He smiled politely. “Yes ma'am?”He'd parked himself in a corner but had drifted away from conversations. He'd realized he'd drifted over near the entrance to the rest rooms but had no way of getting away from them with all the people around him. The only places clear of people were the balcony and the center of the room it seemed.“I must say, it is so exciting, seeing such things going on more and more,” the woman said, eager. She grinned at him with pearl white teeth. “And to meet someone like you...” she purred. She puzzled at his rank.“Commodore. We haven't been introduced,” Horatio said politely, setting his drink down on a passing waiter bot's tray. “Commodore Horatio Logan,” he said with a slight nod to her.“Oh!” her eyes widened. It took him a moment to realize it was in dismay. “But I thought...” she looked around the room.“Thought ma'am?”“I thought all the flag officers were from Bek?” she asked.Horatio smiled. “No ma'am. I was recently promoted,” he said.“So, you aren't from Bek?” she asked, eyeing him as if she was sizing him up before her eyes started to roam the crowd for her intended prey.“No ma'am, I've never been there. I've spent the past century here in Pyrax,” he said.“I see,” she said in a different tone of voice. He realized she'd singled him out in order to make a connection. Once she knew who he was she left with a sniff and murmur that she had to be elsewhere. He snorted and shook his head at her departure.“Sour grapes?” a voice asked behind him.“Apparently,” Horatio said, turning as his implants oriented on the female voice. He raised an eyebrow when he noted it belonged to Miss Sema, the former Lieutenant Governor of Bek A. He bowed briefly to her. “Having a good evening here ma'am?” he asked smoothly.“Some more than others I suppose,” she said with a quizzical smile. “Something tells me you'd rather be anywhere but here Commodore,” she said with a slight trace of a smile and twinkle in her eye.He snorted. “Am I that transparent ma'am?”“You don't wear your heart on your sleeve but your occasional long looks to the door and the clock tend to give you away,” the woman teased with a slightly broader smile.“You know, I could call her back here. She was more interested in rubbing elbows with the likes of you ma'am than me...”Moira's lips puckered in a mock sour expression. “Now now, no need to be nasty about it,” she said, tucking her arm in his to his surprise. She smiled at his expression. “Shocked?”“Just... flattered ma'am. You are a gorgeous woman. You've got the pick of just about any single person here and you chose me.”She shook her head slightly, letting her hair bob. She clearly liked the compliment. “I like to choose the best,” she said, holding onto his arm possessively.“Flatterer,” he growled. She snorted.“I've heard your history. Let's say I'm suitably impressed. I know the history buffs will get it wrong, and I definitely know the media never gets the whole story, they never do!” she shook her head. “So, while we're waiting for dinner, why don't you trot out a couple stories and fill me in. Purely to entertain a lady in distress,” she said with a moue.“Distress ma'am?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow skyward.“Of dying of terminal boredom,” she said with a suffering sigh. He chuckled as she pretended to wring out her free hand. “And of getting the delicate bones in my hand crushed by another person eager to introduce themselves...”Horatio's polite chuckle turned into a more natural sympathetic one. “Well, what would you like to hear ma'am?”“Hmm...” she frowned thoughtfully. He had to admit, she struck a nice figure in the glittering red gown. It was off one shoulder and open on her right flank. It was also split up the side and showed just the right hint of leg to make a heterosexual male like him interested.“Well,” she said coyly, one finger playing with her bottom lip as she pretended to think it over. “I heard a few things about how you met Admiral Irons and knew him. And well, there is the whole story about how you two somehow found each other again despite this being such a big galaxy,” she drawled, eyeing him.Horatio smiled indulgently. He could tell people around them had quieted to hear some of the story too. “There isn't much to tell about the first ma'am, we saw each other only briefly before the war. I was surprised he remembered me. We only served together a week. He was filling in while some of the flag officers were on leave.”“And the other incident?” Moira asked, looking up at him. He could tell she was genuinely curious. He just wasn't sure why.“Well,” Horatio drawled. “As it happens, Admiral Irons was assigned to this quadrant of the galaxy like I was. That is how we met before the war. And he did a lot of work in Sigma and Rho sector since he was tapped to work on the Stargate project. So, I suppose it's not much of a surprise that his ship was lost in Senka. As to my being here, well, Washington was torn up and the skipper wanted an out of the way place to dock to make repairs. To lick our wounds and then get back into the fight I guess you could say,” he said thoughtfully. “It's been a while since I've thought about that time actually,” he admitted.“If it troubles you...” Moira said with a hint of concern in her voice. She guided him away from knots of curious on lookers and out into a balcony area. He looked out at the black stars and ships beyond the dome for a moment before he answered.“No, no, no trouble. I know Admiral Irons dispatched a cruiser to Washington's exit point in order to see if they could find any surviving pods. It's like looking for a lot of tiny needles in a vast black space, but I appreciate the effort,” Horatio admitted.Moira mentally filed that little tidbit away for future reference. It was a good sign that the Commodore had opened up and given her that little tidbit of information. Doing so in seeming confidence helped build trust too she knew. “But they haven't found anything yet?” Moira asked, clearly curious and eager.Horatio frowned thoughtfully. “They left a few days ago. They are tasked to look for two months since the pods could have spread out anywhere over the seven light years since I'd been found. I don't honestly know if they will find a pod. The odds...” he shrugged, voice rough. “And the odds of finding a pod with power...” he shook his head.“Don't be too surprised Commodore. My grandmother was found in a pod oh, years and years ago,” Moira admitted. He blinked at her. She smiled. “It's something we have in common I suppose you could say. Well,” she cocked her head. “I suppose once removed on my part.”“I appreciate the effort ma'am,” Horatio replied.“Thank you Commodore. Chalk it up to a politician’s urge to bond with a potential voter,” she teased.“Please, call me Horatio ma'am,” he said.Her eyes lit slightly. “I'd be delighted,” she purred. “But only if you call me Moira,” she said with a nod.“Thank you ma'am, I'd be honored,” Horatio replied softly, feeling a stirring of something long since thought forgotten within him waken. Down boy, he thought as they slowly walked to the double doors leading to the dining room.~<><{<^>}><>~
The party was just as boring and dull as he'd feared. Stuffed shirts all milling about, drinking wine or champagne and patting themselves on the back for the achievements of men and women and neuters who were out there still busting their asses for low pay and little regard.But, that was how civilization worked, Horatio knew. He also knew as much as he detested such events they were useful and in some ways critical. It allowed the movers and shakers to socialize and to get to know one another in a formal and structured situation but without a lot of pressure. At least, he hoped so.He was also well aware that he was going to have to put up with more and more of them the higher he climbed in the Navy's chain of command. That was a depressing thought he realized.The good news for him was that the civilians and junior officers were still enamored with the Bekian delegation. Each had a knot of eager people chattering with them or listening to every word they said. “Um...” he turned in surprise to a woman with flat black skin and white markings. She had a sheer gown on with crystals that just covered her private areas tantalizingly. He smiled politely. “Yes ma'am?”He'd parked himself in a corner but had drifted away from conversations. He'd realized he'd drifted over near the entrance to the rest rooms but had no way of getting away from them with all the people around him. The only places clear of people were the balcony and the center of the room it seemed.“I must say, it is so exciting, seeing such things going on more and more,” the woman said, eager. She grinned at him with pearl white teeth. “And to meet someone like you...” she purred. She puzzled at his rank.“Commodore. We haven't been introduced,” Horatio said politely, setting his drink down on a passing waiter bot's tray. “Commodore Horatio Logan,” he said with a slight nod to her.“Oh!” her eyes widened. It took him a moment to realize it was in dismay. “But I thought...” she looked around the room.“Thought ma'am?”“I thought all the flag officers were from Bek?” she asked.Horatio smiled. “No ma'am. I was recently promoted,” he said.“So, you aren't from Bek?” she asked, eyeing him as if she was sizing him up before her eyes started to roam the crowd for her intended prey.“No ma'am, I've never been there. I've spent the past century here in Pyrax,” he said.“I see,” she said in a different tone of voice. He realized she'd singled him out in order to make a connection. Once she knew who he was she left with a sniff and murmur that she had to be elsewhere. He snorted and shook his head at her departure.“Sour grapes?” a voice asked behind him.“Apparently,” Horatio said, turning as his implants oriented on the female voice. He raised an eyebrow when he noted it belonged to Miss Sema, the former Lieutenant Governor of Bek A. He bowed briefly to her. “Having a good evening here ma'am?” he asked smoothly.“Some more than others I suppose,” she said with a quizzical smile. “Something tells me you'd rather be anywhere but here Commodore,” she said with a slight trace of a smile and twinkle in her eye.He snorted. “Am I that transparent ma'am?”“You don't wear your heart on your sleeve but your occasional long looks to the door and the clock tend to give you away,” the woman teased with a slightly broader smile.“You know, I could call her back here. She was more interested in rubbing elbows with the likes of you ma'am than me...”Moira's lips puckered in a mock sour expression. “Now now, no need to be nasty about it,” she said, tucking her arm in his to his surprise. She smiled at his expression. “Shocked?”“Just... flattered ma'am. You are a gorgeous woman. You've got the pick of just about any single person here and you chose me.”She shook her head slightly, letting her hair bob. She clearly liked the compliment. “I like to choose the best,” she said, holding onto his arm possessively.“Flatterer,” he growled. She snorted.“I've heard your history. Let's say I'm suitably impressed. I know the history buffs will get it wrong, and I definitely know the media never gets the whole story, they never do!” she shook her head. “So, while we're waiting for dinner, why don't you trot out a couple stories and fill me in. Purely to entertain a lady in distress,” she said with a moue.“Distress ma'am?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow skyward.“Of dying of terminal boredom,” she said with a suffering sigh. He chuckled as she pretended to wring out her free hand. “And of getting the delicate bones in my hand crushed by another person eager to introduce themselves...”Horatio's polite chuckle turned into a more natural sympathetic one. “Well, what would you like to hear ma'am?”“Hmm...” she frowned thoughtfully. He had to admit, she struck a nice figure in the glittering red gown. It was off one shoulder and open on her right flank. It was also split up the side and showed just the right hint of leg to make a heterosexual male like him interested.“Well,” she said coyly, one finger playing with her bottom lip as she pretended to think it over. “I heard a few things about how you met Admiral Irons and knew him. And well, there is the whole story about how you two somehow found each other again despite this being such a big galaxy,” she drawled, eyeing him.Horatio smiled indulgently. He could tell people around them had quieted to hear some of the story too. “There isn't much to tell about the first ma'am, we saw each other only briefly before the war. I was surprised he remembered me. We only served together a week. He was filling in while some of the flag officers were on leave.”“And the other incident?” Moira asked, looking up at him. He could tell she was genuinely curious. He just wasn't sure why.“Well,” Horatio drawled. “As it happens, Admiral Irons was assigned to this quadrant of the galaxy like I was. That is how we met before the war. And he did a lot of work in Sigma and Rho sector since he was tapped to work on the Stargate project. So, I suppose it's not much of a surprise that his ship was lost in Senka. As to my being here, well, Washington was torn up and the skipper wanted an out of the way place to dock to make repairs. To lick our wounds and then get back into the fight I guess you could say,” he said thoughtfully. “It's been a while since I've thought about that time actually,” he admitted.“If it troubles you...” Moira said with a hint of concern in her voice. She guided him away from knots of curious on lookers and out into a balcony area. He looked out at the black stars and ships beyond the dome for a moment before he answered.“No, no, no trouble. I know Admiral Irons dispatched a cruiser to Washington's exit point in order to see if they could find any surviving pods. It's like looking for a lot of tiny needles in a vast black space, but I appreciate the effort,” Horatio admitted.Moira mentally filed that little tidbit away for future reference. It was a good sign that the Commodore had opened up and given her that little tidbit of information. Doing so in seeming confidence helped build trust too she knew. “But they haven't found anything yet?” Moira asked, clearly curious and eager.Horatio frowned thoughtfully. “They left a few days ago. They are tasked to look for two months since the pods could have spread out anywhere over the seven light years since I'd been found. I don't honestly know if they will find a pod. The odds...” he shrugged, voice rough. “And the odds of finding a pod with power...” he shook his head.“Don't be too surprised Commodore. My grandmother was found in a pod oh, years and years ago,” Moira admitted. He blinked at her. She smiled. “It's something we have in common I suppose you could say. Well,” she cocked her head. “I suppose once removed on my part.”“I appreciate the effort ma'am,” Horatio replied.“Thank you Commodore. Chalk it up to a politician’s urge to bond with a potential voter,” she teased.“Please, call me Horatio ma'am,” he said.Her eyes lit slightly. “I'd be delighted,” she purred. “But only if you call me Moira,” she said with a nod.“Thank you ma'am, I'd be honored,” Horatio replied softly, feeling a stirring of something long since thought forgotten within him waken. Down boy, he thought as they slowly walked to the double doors leading to the dining room.~<><{<^>}><>~
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