Hawk Genesis: Peace (Hawk Flight), page 36
John had also spoken to the captain who was in charge of the Navy presence in Grenoble. He’d asked her to vigorously patrol the system for the two weeks prior to that date. He worried that pirates would anticipate the departure of the Navy ships and sneak into the system beforehand.
The soon-to-be Grenobian Prime Minister had already prepared for the transfer, and had published a new set of travel restrictions. Their armed shuttles would gather arriving freighters and convoy them to and from the planet and the jump points. This would create a headache for freighters, and also drastically lower insurance rates.
None of the other former rebel systems were as close to freedom as Grenoble, and none of the Navy commanders in those systems were taking the same precautions. For their part, Maya, Elyse and a few of the other systems were taking similar measures. Elyse had worked out a trade, selling two new-build freighters to Maya, and getting in exchange a total of forty armed shuttles, fifteen of which had already been delivered. The first freighter was nearing completion. It was a medium-sized freighter, roughly twice the size of John’s armed versions, and less than half the capacity of the behemoths favored by Earth.
Maya was contemplating the purchase of the armored coating and the addition of four energy mounts to the new ship. If John’s destruction of the hidden bases in Nasser didn’t eliminate or greatly reduce the frequency of armed attacks, he thought the system would pay for the expensive additions.
Chapter 38
John spent the next two months at home, learning to be a daddy and an uncle, and relearning his abiding and overwhelming love and admiration for his incredible wife.
Jennifer graduated from high school, honors attached, with numerous boys wishing they were as well. Jordan completed her studies a year early, meaning the two would enter the university together. Jennifer could easily have done the same thing, but the death of their parents had turned an already close relationship into an almost inseparableness.
Bong Cha completed her studies, received a terrific party, cried, hugged everyone and was returned to Lubya. The armed shuttle that John sent to return her home picked up their very first load of iron ingots, destined for Grenoble. Iron massed a great deal, meaning the shuttle bay was virtually empty. However, that first load was worth a few hundred thousand dollars, and within weeks they would receive a shipment of structural steel, destined for the first of a number of permanent warehouses, whose foundations were already in place. The Koreans were working like crazy.
The Russians had already tried to push them around, and they had resolutely pushed right back. The Russians were actually good people, but this one single colony represented a significant portion of the entire nation’s economic output, and they reasoned that if they could gain any slight advantage, they would do so.
John had also begun establishing a relationship with the Russian effort. They were in the process of learning the difference in attitudes that six hundred light years made. They had arrived as “Earthers”, tending to view the universe from the standpoint of Earth’s values. At John’s suggestion, Mrs. Minh made a special trip to their colony and over the course of a week opened their eyes to the view of the world as seen from a colony of Earth. They were two very different universes, and the colonists, who were not lacking in intelligence, had decided to hedge their bets. They already had iron-bound contracts with numerous Earth-based consortiums, but they were quick to realize that developing good relationships with the already-established colonies would sooner or later pay off. John thought the benefits would show up much sooner than sooner, and the first was Four Stars Shipping, LLC, the name of their freight company.
Grenoble, Maya, Orleans and Fujian were already able to provide a small percentage of the immediate needs of Lubya, and the Russians were carefully examining their contracts with the eye to the future. Kasdan and Kasdan was one of their legal firms, and Eleanor had carefully inserted minor clauses here and there that allowed the colonists to either lessen their dependence on Earth corporations, or free them to pursue multiple, competing contracts. Earth was going to get it’s pound of flesh out of the colony, but at least the colony was able to retain a little for itself, and in the process develop ties to the other colonies and help them to recover from the devastating war.
Over the next six months, there were a few reports of acts of piracy, but the frequency and severity dropped to such an extent that everyone began to congratulate the Navy for its’ success in eliminating the scourge.
On a related note, the admiral in charge of Nasser, who had just recently been praised for his destruction of the pirate bases, was charged with receiving kickbacks from a variety of corporations. His trial date was set, but Admiral Inno told John, with a great deal of satisfaction, “He’s gone, gone gone, and along with him, a number of prominent civilians on Earth. It’s only a start, but it’s a good start.”
Michel and Arsinoe held a wedding and reception on Grenoble, attended by John’s entire family, plus the Flaubert’s, whose daughter brought along a seriously smitten young man from Maya. The wedding was a big deal, and Michel and Arsinoe were deliriously happy.
Nasser remained a snake pit of corruption, violence and hatred. The only real construction boom on the planet had to do with the building of new prisons.
Elyse’ economy was exploding, demonstrating that there was a tipping point at which a colony would transform from economic dependence to rapid growth and independence. Maya was doing very well, and was now very close to paying off its’ investors. The date was already set, and would become a national holiday.
Grenoble was now free, and had not suffered one single act of piracy. The system had fourteen armed shuttles and was awaiting delivery of twenty more. They could perform multiple functions, including system defense, where they were replacing the usual destroyers; customs, even exploration and science projects.
Armagh received a delegation from John’s foundation, and they jointly developed a series of projects designed to push forward the colony’s ability to train and educate her people, develop her natural resources and fold her into the rapidly expanding freight routes of Four Stars. That company had contracted with Elyse for the purchase of four new medium freighters. They would be delivered at the rate of one a year. This would put an admitted strain on the company’s ability to pay for them, but they were already looking to a future that didn’t include the need for small, armed and expensive-to-operate freighters.
Earth was now in the throes of a large number of corruption trials. Heads were rolling and national governments reeling from a stunning series of revelations.
John’s large home was routinely packed with visitors, usually at least one from the Hwanghaebuk-do portion of Lubya, and now, one from Armagh.
John was invited to develop a lecture series for Tenochtitlan University. He chose to focus on the events that caused and led up to the civil war, as well as the war itself, focusing on the civilian factors that caused the war to last far longer than it ought to have; and on the events that were just now beginning to unfold as Earth, the massive engine that drove and dominated human civilization, suffered through the beginning of very large changes in her own internal life, and her role in the federation.
His first lecture was broadcast live to the entire system. At his request, and over the protests of virtually everyone, John chose to hold that lecture in the same exact aula where he’d spent the years leading up to the war. Privately, he told Jessica that his primary reason was that it was in that room that he first laid eyes on her. She promptly cried.
John’s services as a visiting professor and lecturer were in constant demand across virtually every system, even most rebel worlds. Earth was not terribly interested, and there were a few holdout systems that would have preferred to shoot him.
His son was now six months old, Caridad nine months and crawling like mad.
Within days of each other, Castidad and Jessica told their husbands that they were once again going to have to endure nine months of pregnancy. The women meant that they were going to have to endure it, but John and James took it in an entirely different way.
The day finally arrived that General Chamberlin retired from the Army. He sent a formal invitation to his three sons and their families to attend the small ceremony.
Peter, John and James decided to accept, although it was a decision that required some thought. They brought their wives and related family members, plus two amazingly beautiful babies, the ones General Chamberlin had never seen or, frankly, inquired about. They sat and watched the modest ceremony, but as soon as it was over, the former general left the stage without speaking to his sons, meeting his daughters-in-law or grandchildren. Peter flushed with anger, but John simply said, “He may be ashamed. Whatever the reason or reasons, I’m hungry, Jamie the Handsome is hungry, and Caridad is suffering an odiferous moment – at least, I think it’s Caridad.”
Jessica asked, “Jamie the Handsome?” John pointed at his brother, “Obviously. Two individuals with the same name? We have to have some means of differentiating between them.” James’ stormy expression collapsed into laughter, as did the rest of the family – the exact result John desired. He didn’t say it, but he felt that his father was not worth the energy to hate or even dislike.
Castidad, who was holding her daughter’s hand, pointed at john and said, “Caridad, Uncle John wants to hold you.” John laughed with delight as the little girl tottered into his outstretched arms.
Including Nasser, four of the sixteen former rebel worlds continued to be hotbeds of anti-federal activity, and between them required a majority of the Army’s personnel, just to prevent a collapse into anarchy or another attempt to withdraw from the Federation. The four were all, or had been, far enough along the journey to ecological and economic independence that their survival was not in doubt; but their stability as productive societies was, if not lost, certainly in doubt.
John thought that nearly all the twenty-one federal colonies and twelve of the former rebel systems were transitioning back to a joint and reasonably amicable future. It might take a few decades for the latter adjective to take hold, but they were making progress.
The veteran’s associations initiated a campaign to raise funds to honor Admiral Grigorivich. Between them and the active-duty personnel, over one million dollars was raised, a sum John quietly matched. They held a design competition and ended up with an entire park. Oddly, it was not situated on a planetary surface, but was an orbital facility. It could be disassembled and moved from system to system. It was dedicated above the beautiful green and blue planet of Elyse, and John ended up being the unanimous choice as the one to officiate. The permanent exhibits included recordings of all the major battles the admiral led, as well as a huge library of his daily activities, speeches, his efforts to rid the Navy of cowards and crooks, and the inevitable bronze statue. He would have hated the statue, but as John told the system-wide audience, “…unfortunately for him, he’s not here to heave it out an airlock.” John hoped that people would visit it to research his history – it was a history of the federation in crisis, and revealed all the warts as well as the heroism of hundreds of thousands of veterans, living and dead, rebel and federal. It also contained a database of every single volunteer, on every single planet, including rebel worlds.
John’s organization grew around him to the point that his physical presence in other systems was normally no longer required. Peter became the CFO of his holdings, and the principal spokesman; James the COO. Michel was given a somewhat vague title – Chief Negotiator – that allowed him to continue to develop relationships with former rebel systems as well as help them to develop their own plans for a return to full independence. His value to the effort was impossible to overstate.
As a bonus, Arsinoe became pregnant.
Maya was now free of debt, the seventh of thirty-one colonies to achieve that lofty goal, and the smallest in terms of population. All of the sixteen worlds had, by rebelling, effectively canceled out their enormous debts to the various enterprises that had funded them; Earth’s government assumed that debt, added significant penalties and took over repayment. John’s foundation focused primarily on assisting them, to the extent that they would allow, to work on preventing Earth-based companies from gaining total control of their resources. In his own estimate, his efforts were in a few cases mildly successful.
Castidad assumed the independent role of helping the former Korean colony, plus Armagh and three other tiny and struggling colonies, to acquire new colonists and gain good footholds on their future. Her long-ago decision to focus on Maya’s development had blossomed to include multiple systems.
Karl refused to assume any additional official duties in John’s organization. He liked being John’s personal bodyguard and while John thought it was a huge waste of natural talent, Karl would simply smile and say, “Record…” In fact, in Karl’s mind, John was a precious resource for all of mankind, and one he was personally going to ensure was able to reach the stage where he spoiled grandchildren.
The fifth anniversary of the conclusion of the insurrection was celebrated on many if not all worlds. Former rebel worlds were conspicuous for their failure to do much more than make note of it.
On that national holiday, John and James joined the relatively huge crowd that gathered in Chavez’ main public square and spread up the connecting streets. The Prime Minister of Maya spoke, followed by the mayor of Chavez. To John’s ears, their speeches were somewhat florid, and the reality of the events was becoming overtaken by history, which usually colored the events. He knew that neither politician had served in the military, although both had served. Both knew that on that day John wanted to be in the crowd rather than on the dais, and his wishes were honored.
He stood with James, a little apart from everyone else. They listened tothe words, but their hearts and minds were on a long ago day when they stood in another, smaller crowd of young men and women, waiting to recite the words, “I do solemnly affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Maya against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the Prime Minister of the Republic, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
Robert Little, Hawk Genesis: Peace (Hawk Flight)
