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

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

Crossoverwith Shelby Logan 9 chapter 9

TauR34-80

TheProwler passed through  the Federationstar system but stopped at the jump point leading to the naval station. Awhisker laser locked onto a communication satellite and an encrypted signal wassent to it.

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

<<(O)>>

New Tau Metropolis

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

Hepetitioned the admiralty in Antigua and immediately received permission tobreak secrecy with the staff and read them into the ship and her mission. Hewould have to do the same with Prowler 54 too. But he was to keep the detailsas limited as possible.

<<(O)>>

Operationsalso received notice of a ship arrival in the 80 star system when the picketnoted the transmission in the satellite buffer and reported it.

Therewas some puzzlement and then consternation about the packet when Wayne realizedit had to have come from a Prowler. He confronted Admiral Piercing Gaze in themorning at the next staff meeting.

“You’vehad a prowler in Confed space this entire time,” he stated after AdmiralPiercing Gaze read them into the mission.

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

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

“Classified.It was also before your time.”

“Youcan’t tell us because the reasoning is classified?” Wayne persisted. “Why thehell would that be?”

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

Shelbyfrowned thoughtfully.

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

“Wecan have a destroyer rendezvous with them and do a light replenishment,” Dollyoffered.

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

Theoperations officer nodded and turned to Admiral Logan.

Shedrummed her fingertips on the table edge.

“I’mnot happy that I was kept in the dark about the ship. But, that being said, wewill replenish it the best we can. As long as that comes out of ONI’s budget.”

“Yesma’am.”

“I’llspeak with higher parties about keeping it classified,” she said with a look tothe high elf.

“Asyou wish ma’am.”

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

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

Shelbyturned to the AI and nodded.

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

“Youhave to access the Confederation systems first,” Wayne said slowly. He noddedas he rubbed his chin. “Yeah, now it makes some sense.” he glanced at AdmiralPiercing Gaze.

Thehigh elf shrugged ever so slightly. Clearly even though they now knew about theship he was not at liberty to get into details about it or her mission behindenemy lines.

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

Thehigh elf nodded. “Yes ma’am. She actually needs some yard time, she has someissues.”

“Beingbehind enemy lines for so long, yeah, I can imagine,” Rear Admiral LucySummers, head of BuShips stated blandly. “The prowlers can run for two to threeyears or so without major refit but they have very delicate systems. No doubt alot of systems are out of calibration or in need of full overhaul.”

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

“Thathad to have played with the psyche of the crew and worn them down too. They’llneed some down time,” Abe stated.

Thestaff looked to the high elf for an answer.

Thehigh elf hesitated and then nodded. “Which brings up another problem. They doneed the time off but in a quiet space without drawing attention tothemselves.”

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

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

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

Thehigh elf grimaced but then nodded.

“Youdisagree?”

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

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

TheHigh Elf hesitated but then nodded again.

<<(O)>>

“Youwanted to see me ma’am?” Admiral Piercing Gaze asked as he entered AdmiralLogan’s office.

“Comein. Sit.” She turned and looked at him and then resumed her own seat behind herdesk.

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

“ThinkI called you in to rake you over the coals for keeping me in the dark about theprowler?” she asked.

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

“Itnormally isn’t. And I’m not to some degree. I’ll take that up with theadmiralty.”

“Ma’am?”

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

Henodded. “Yes ma’am.”

“Igather I was kept in the dark so I wouldn’t want to call on the ship to getinformation?”

“Somethinglike that ma’am.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Thankyou ma’am.”

“Iwant a copy. An unrestricted copy.”

Hehesitated.

Hereyes narrowed. “That wasn’t a request,” she said with a little bite in her toneof voice.

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

“Dothat. And pass on a notice that keeping the sector commander in the dark aboutship movements in her AO is a bad thing. It makes us less trustful ofyour intentions and it makes us hesitant to support ONI missions in thefuture.”

Hewinced ever so slightly but nodded.

“Getthe courier detail set up.”

“Iwill. On the ship movement thing…”

Shelby’seyes narrowed. “Another one?”

“Prowler54 is en route to T-15 now.”

Shelbysat back. “Thank you for telling me. Were you going to do it before they gotinto trouble?”

“Hopefullythey won’t get into any trouble ma’am. But I had to get special clearance to readyou in on their movements.”

Shelbynodded slowly.

“Verywell. That is all. Dismissed.”

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

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

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

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

“Youcould ask.”

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

“Yesma’am.”

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

“Yesma’am.” .

End Crossover

<<(O)>>

Lebynthos

Colonel Letterman scratched the backof his head. He had his people prepping for the colonoscopy with the tour groupthat was coming via courier. That was bad enough, but now they had the wholehostage mess in Tau to contend with.

He had army units scattered onplanets across the sector in Federation space. Most of the units werereservists, many were noncombat roles like MASH or engineering units. They weregood to handle support for a mutation of the pirate plagues, or a planetaryemergency… or engineering projects… but they were not combat units.

The few combat units he had were onLebynthos with him. He had a battalion. He had a sneaky suspicion he was goingto need more.

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

“Colonel? I take it you are having aproblem?”

“Yes sir. I think we have one comingup. I thought I should discuss it with you before I discussed it with ColonelMcCostney.”

Colonel Randy McCostney was hisNeochimp Marine counterpart on Lebynthos. They worked well together on crossservice needs.

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

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

“Any indications that it will swingthat way?”

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

“Rough in…”

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

“Fascists.”

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

“Let the Taurens handle it.”

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

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

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

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

“Yes sir. I’m… I have that itch.”

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

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

“Agreed. You have the budget forthat?”

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

“You think I should send you somepeople?”

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

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

“Thank you sir.”

<<(O)>>