Wings of Steele- The Series, page 168
part #1 of Wings of Steele Series
“No movement,” announced the EWO, “you got 'em all Skipper.”
Dar Sloane keyed his mic, “Zulu One - Clear. Repeat, clear. Ground units pull back to LZ...”
CHAPTER NINE
UFW CARRIER CONQUEST : THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN'
Studying a live zoom of the planet below, Steele looked up from the holo-chart in the Admiral's office, “Come...”
Captain Paul Smiley stepped through the door as it slid into the bulkhead, saluting casually. He walked without speaking to the chart table, standing across from Jack. “Rescue Two has lifted off; they're all headed back...”
Steele didn't look up from the chart, staring blindly through the image. “Did we lose any birds?”
“No...” Paul fidgeted, staring down, avoiding eye contact, lest he lose his composure. “Ahmm,” he cleared his throat nervously. “We um... We... We lost Maria.”
Steele straightened up and took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “Yeah. I know.”
“You know?” asked Paul incredulously.
“Yeah.”
“How?”
Jack rubbed his forehead, “Remember when I told you where they went down, but I said don't ask me how I know?”
“Yeah...”
“She told me. Well, us actually – me, Fritz and Lisa.”
Paul raised one eyebrow, “What,” he said, deadpan.
Jack pointed at the sofa where Fritz was sitting like a human, his right foreleg on its arm, “She sat right there, where Fritz is sitting now. She hugged him.”
“She came to say goodbye,” annunciated Fritz.
Paul's eyes shifted from Jack to Fritz and back again. “You're serious.”
“Completely.”
“You realize how this sounds, right?”
Steele smirked, “And the reason I didn't share it with you earlier – we didn't have time for a debate.”
“ And Lisa saw this too?”
Jack casually folded his arms, “Yep.”
“Holy crap.” Paul was pinching his mouth with his hand, “But how did you know where we should search?”
“It wasn't so much that she said something,” recalled Jack. “It was more of an image. Like an area of a map or something.”
Paul shook his head in disbelief, “Well you were right. They were halfway between Taybad and the Afghan border on Highway 36. Iranian military units stationed five miles in either direction. If we hadn't known where to look, they wouldn't have made it; they were surrounded.”
Steele was chewing on the inside of his cheek trying to stay on task and not think about Maria's loss. “What did we do about the Dragonfly?”
“Destroyed,” replied Paul. “But not before they cut Maria from the wreckage. Her remains and the remains of the French astronaut are returning on Rescue Two.”
“Thank you,” exhaled Steele, relieved he would get a chance to say goodbye to the woman who had been a big part of their lives for the past three and a half years. He swallowed the aching lump in his throat, “I'm going to miss her...”
“Me too,” croaked Paul. “I'm still trying to wrap my head around her loss... She deserves a citation for bravery...”
“Absolutely. Look into whatever is appropriate.”
“I wonder how Commander Brighton is going to take the news...”
Jack's moth skewed sideways with distaste, “Not really sure I give a crap.”
“Look,” began Paul, “I know you're not exactly in the Derrik Brighton fan club...”
“An understatement...”
“Buuut,” continued Paul, “he and Maria were pretty tight. You can't discount the fact that they were emotionally and physically involved.”
Steele rubbed his temples, “I think you're giving that lying, sack-of-shit too much credit for having a heart... I trust him about as far as I can throw him. And that's not something I want to say about an Ancient Knights Templar.”
“I remember when you had similar sentiments about Maria,” countered Paul.
“Yeah. Well. That was different.”
The door from the bridge chimed a moment before it slid open with a hiss, a lanky communications officer standing in the doorway, “Sorry to disturb you sirs, but we have a new arrival to the task force. It just jumped to us from the Elyse Core gate and is falling into formation now...”
“What is it?”
“The UFW655, a new type of fast cargo, Admiral. Never seen one before.” He pointed at Steele's communication's screen, “Her Skipper is hailing on a secure frequency, asked for you directly.”
Steele nodded, “Send it.”
Jack shrugged, exchanging a curious glance with Paul as he dropped into his seat, Paul standing silently off to one side, out of the camera's angle. Steele typed in his pass code and a blue UFW screen flashed before showing a line profile of the other ship as the connection initiated. The form was bulky like a cargo ship but sleeker, smoother, more elegant. The fact that she had a GOD drive, jumping across the system from the gate to the Task Force was a surprise; he wasn't aware of any UFW jump-capable cargo vessels. “Hm,” he grunted, “It's called a Quasar...”
“Kind of an over-impressive name for a cargo ship, isn't it?” commented Paul.
Steele touched his lips with his index finger signaling Paul to remain silent as the screen flashed to picture; the connection complete. Steele stiffened visibly, “Fleet Admiral Higdenberger!” he saluted. “I wasn't expecting you.”
“Of course not, Mr. Steele,” replied Higdenberger. “Why would you?” The question was rhetorical and the Admiral continued; “Meet me on your flight deck in fifteen minutes, Mr. Steele; I'll be shuttling over.” The comm winked out, back to the blue UFW screen.
“I don't like the sound of that,” commented Paul Smiley.
“You and me, both,” replied Jack. “But maybe it's for the best...”
“Huh?”
“The Fleet Admiral and I have a few things to discuss...”
“Jaaack,” cautioned Paul.
“This whole Operation Magic Pawn fiasco...”
“Don't do it, Jack...”
Steele's jaw set, “I don't like being played, Paul. This whole thing; everything,” he waved at the holo-chart, “it was all a setup. A plan.” Jack called up his TESS, “Lisa Steele...”
Lisa's face appeared on his screen, “Yes Admiral?”
“Meet me on the flight deck. Ten minutes.”
“We flying?”
“No, we're meeting Fleet Admiral Higdenberger.” Steele swiped the screen and it ended the connection, the holographic screen disappearing. The little voice in his head was shouting all sorts of warnings to what he was thinking. He pushed it out of his mind.
“This isn't a good idea, Jack. In fact, it's a really bad idea.”
“I know, Paul. Walk with me, we need to discuss a few things...”
Fritz launched himself off the sofa to catch up to the two men as they passed from the office out onto the bridge.
■ ■ ■
Jack and Lisa Steele stood on the flight deck watching the Admiral's shuttle taxi to a stop, directed by a deck hand using comms and hand signals to communicate with the pilot. Fritz sat at Jack's right hand, leaning against his leg.
“I hope you know what you're doing, big brother,” commented Lisa.
“Funny, Paul said the very same thing.”
“Well he's not wrong, you know...” lamented Lisa.
“I can handle this.”
“Be nice,” she urged. “For the love of God, be diplomatic.”
“When am I not?”
Lisa shot her brother a look of utter disbelief, “Seriously? Are you kidding me?” She shook her head, “You're about as diplomatic as a hand grenade...”
The shuttle settled to the deck, squatting, an armored panel in the side popping outward, tracking up and over the hull, the interior hatch already open. Two Space Marines exited first, stepping to the deck, bracketing the entry. A Lieutenant Commander stepped to the deck a heavy bag slung over his shoulder, saluting, “Permission to come aboard.”
“Permission granted, Lieutenant Commander” responded Steele with a salute.
Fleet Admiral Warn Higdenberger appeared in the hatchway, stepping down to the deck with a briefcase sized valise, saluting casually without waiting for a response. “Lieutenant Commander, issue the announcement.”
“Aye, Admiral.” The Commander flipped open the cover of his e-Pad and busied himself with electronic files.
Having returned the salute, Steele stepped forward anticipating a handshake. Getting no indication of that gesture he resisted the urge to extend his hand. “Welcome aboard the Conquest, Fleet Admiral. To what do we owe this visit?”
The Admiral exchanged looks with the Lieutenant Commander, getting a subtle nod in return. “You are relieved of command, Mr. Steele...”
Steele's eyes widened in surprise, “Excuse me?”
“You are relieved of your command duties, Mr. Steele.” repeated Higdenberger calmly.
“What the hell for?!” shot Jack. He felt Lisa's boot kick against his and waved her off. “No, I want an answer! I deserve an answer.”
“In my office, Mr. Steele.”
“Your office?” he scowled.
“You remember the one - it used to be your office,” commented Higdenberger, walking passed the stunned Steele, Lieutenant Commander in tow.
■ ■ ■
“TASK FORCE LANCER: To all ships - effective immediately; Vice Admiral Jack Steele is relieved of fleet command; further communications are prohibited. Fleet Admiral Warn Higdenberger has assumed task force command for the duration. All ships are to maintain current assigned operational status until review and further notice. That is all.”
“Whaat?!” Brian Carter smacked his knees on the console of his command chair when he jumped to his feet, “Son of a bi...” the rest turned into an unintelligible grumble as he rubbed his smarting knees. “What was that crap?” he snarled, nodding at the comm screen. “I don't get it, what the hell is going on here?” He limped toward his ready room, flexing his knees. “Mr. Ragnaar, you have the bridge.”
Brian took a deep breath and stared at TESS's holo-screen, contemplating the ramifications. Her animated face staring back at him, awaiting his command. Screw it. “TESS, Jack Steele.”
“Connecting with Admiral Steele,” she replied. The usual strings of digital code scrolled past underneath TESS's image but her image did not give way to a comm screen, her expression reflecting concern.
“What's going on TESS?”
“I am having difficulty connecting with Admiral Steele, Commander Carter.”
“Is he out of range, or is his TESS off?” inquired Brian.
“No, Commander. I can see his TESS in the network... it appears I am being blocked from connecting.”
“Is there any way around that?”
“I will try an emergency response ping...” Her face turned momentarily to a profile and Brian could imagine her unseen hands working a keyboard or console. “No,” she turned back to face him, “that has been blocked as well.”
Brian ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, “Well what the hell do I do now...” he mumbled aloud.
TESS's holo-screen remained floating midair in front of him, “Might I suggest, Ensign Steele?”
“Ahh, good idea,” nodded Brian, “she ought to know what's going on. Connect to Lisa Steele.”
“Connecting to Ensign Steele.” Again, the strings of digital code scrolled past underneath TESS's image but her image did not give way to a comm screen.
“Aww, c'mon!” ranted Brian. “Really?”
“Her TESS is connected, Commander. She is simply not responding.” Her expression changed, “Wait... incoming.” NOT NOW appeared on the screen below TESS's image.
Brian pointed at the text on his screen, “What the hell does that mean?”
“I believe it means; not at this time...”
Brian waved his arms in frustration, “Yeah, I know what it means, but what does it mean?”
“I fail to see the difference in your distinction, Commander.”
Remembering he was attempting to converse with a literal computer who had no reference to emotion, intuition or interpretation outside the boundaries of literal meaning, he ditched his line of thought. “Connect to Pappy...”
“I have no Pappy within the TESS network.”
Eyes closed, Brian Carter took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Captain Paul Smiley.”
“Connecting...”
Paul Smiley's face appeared almost instantly, “Brian...”
“Pappy, what the hell is going on over there? I can't get Jack, I can't get Lisa...”
Pappy shook his head, “Don't even try. Jack's been cut off, you'll only get yourself in hot water.”
“What about Lisa?”
“They're all in a meeting in the Admiral's office...”
“All who?”
“Higdenberger, his aide - some Lieutenant Commander...”
“Fleet Admiral Higdenberger? He's actually here?”
“Came in on the UFW655. He's in a meeting with Jack, Lisa, Derrik Brighton...”
“Durock Brithauz...” muttered Brian with distaste. “What happened?”
“Paul's face looked away from the screen momentarily, apparently making sure he was alone. “Jack's a little hot under the collar, he feels we got duped by the UFW on this whole thing... that they were taking advantage of us or something.”
“I could see that pissing him off...”
“Yeah, well,” continued Pappy, “When the UFW655 jumped in and first contact was a secure comm with Higdenberger, Jack was in fight mode...”
“Aww shit,” groaned Brian, “what'd he do?”
Pappy rubbed his forehead, “My boys on the deck said Lisa had him on a pretty tight leash, he looked calm. As soon as Higdenberger stepped off the shuttle he dropped the bomb, Jack barely had time to greet him...”
Brian's eyes narrowed, “What the hell...”
“It's obvious.” countered Paul. “It was pre-planned.”
“But why?”
Paul looked around again, “I don't know. Maybe Jack was right...”
“Man, I don't like this.”
“Me neither. Just keep it together, brother.” He looked over his shoulder then back, “I gotta go, Rescue Two is on final approach. You heard about Maria?”
Brian sighed, “Yeah. Kinda breaks my heart after all we've been through together... after all she'd been through.”
Paul nodded, “Tell me about it. Ok, listen, I'll get back to you as soon as I know more... I'm out.” The video frame flickered and winked out, leaving Brian with more questions than answers.
■ ■ ■
“That's absurd!” scolded Fleet Admiral Higdenberger in the ready room's muted light, waggling his finger in Jack's direction. “That is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth, Mr. Steele. The thought that we would welcome this type of outcome,” he waved at the hologram of Earth floating over the holo-chart, “is ludicrous.” Sitting in the chair behind the desk, he steepled his hands in contemplation, “Though given the circumstances and how the chain of events played out, I suppose I can see how you might have come to that conclusion - no matter how flawed it is,” he swept his hands wide in exasperation.
Lisa sat mute next to her brother and Commander Derrik Brighton sat in a chair across from them in his official position as Colonel Durock Brithauz; GIS spy. It didn't have the same ring as, James Bond, 007, but his sudden smug and cool demeanor annoyed Jack. Steele redirected his gaze, “With all due respect, Admiral, you can't expect me to believe...”
“Mr. Steele, I can assure you,” interrupted Higdenberger, “the UFW is not in the business of conquering worlds, we are in the business of creating allies. In my many years of service, I have personally been involved in nearly a dozen operations to recruit planets into the Federation, and every one has had unique and different problems that arise - including violence. But nothing on this scale. Never have I had an operation go so entirely off course as this.” His posture changed, leaning forward, his hands on the desk laying palms-up and open, “It pains me greatly that this has occurred... I consider any loss of innocent life, tragic.” He shot Derrik Brighton an angry glance, “Our intelligence is usually quite good, but when it falters, it has the potential for disaster. It is why, Mr. Steele, we sent you...”
“Excuse me?” Jack responded incredulously. “I'm not sure I follow your reasoning there...”
Higdenberger pursed his lips, “You had an invested interest, to do whatever you could to protect your fellow Earthers. We knew you wouldn't overlook any measure to do whatever was needed to avert global disaster. And for as bad as it looks right now, I can guarantee the results would have been far less favorable than they are at this moment had we sent someone else...”
Steele angrily indicated the holo-chart, “You call this favorable...?”
“Admiral Steele,” ventured Derrik Brighton rising from his chair, “we...”
Steele pointed, flashing him a furious glare, “Don't you even...”
“Gentlemen, gentlemen,” urged Higdenberger, raising his hands. “Please,” he waved at Brighton's seat, “sit down.” He redirected his gaze at Steele, “Jack, your task force did a tremendous job under staggering pressure; I expected nothing less should things go wrong...”
“And it did,” countered Jack.
“Yes. But to your credit, and the credit of the men and women of your entire task force, you saved countless lives and disrupted one of the largest covert enemy operations I have personally ever seen.”
“Like Veloria?” queried Jack.
“Veloria was amateurish compared to this; though it was a UFW failure to recognize the severity of the situation. Unfortunately, we're spread pretty thin – both militarily and in the intelligence gathering sense. It's a big Universe out there and predicting where their interests or targets are, is... well, highly difficult to predict. The positive here, is that your planet and its people will recover. They will be stronger than before, and you will have brought them the benefits of space travel, science and commerce that they may never have survived long enough to attain...”
