Orbital Academy 18

"I don't know what you-"

"Please, sir." Kathryn held up a hand. "Even if I hadn't known about your relationship beforehand, your reaction to her betrayal in the past forty-eight hours has shown your feelings, at least to your Chiefs. If you were thinking more clearly, you would see the danger of blindly accepting someone on board who actively sabotaged Orbital Pivot's efforts."

"Very well, you're right. Chief Errisa is my wife." Any reservation that Hunter had seemed to pale in the face of getting into that hangar, of speaking to Errisa. "I don't care what danger I'm blindly accepting. Since you seem to have forgotten Kathryn, you are subordinate to me. You will follow my orders."

"General, I can't force you to do anything, but I'm the Chief of Security and it is my duty to protect the men and women of this Orbital. You're willing to risk your life for her, but I can't let you risk everyone else's." Hunter stared at his Chief for long moments, and she met his gaze, unwavering.

"You realize that by pressing this point you are risking your career, Chief Kathryn."

"I realize sir."

Hunter's eyes narrowed.

"Well then, as long as you realize." He spun on his heel and re-entered the control room.

"Keep scanning that ship." He snapped. "As soon as they land, seal off the hangar bay. I'm going in through the airlock alone, I want any air contaminated from the hangar vented into space. What are the nearest wireless access points?"

"The hotsources on Decks F and I serve this deck sir."

"Shut them off and lock them down. No wireless access within a hundred meters of this hangar. As far as physical security goes, I'm sure our Chief of Security has a squadron of security forces waiting outside of the main hangar doors-"

"Two squads." Kathryn murmured.

"-give them full access should she order it. If anything happens to me that incapacitates me, I am officially transferring command to Kathryn. Is that understood?" The mood in the control room was so tense that Hunter could almost feel the air buzzing, but he was distracted at the sight through the window, as on the other side of the glass the hangar bay doors slid open. The techs were smart enough to keep silent as the small ship slipped into the bay.

Nicknamed after an ancient thrown weapon, the dart-class was the fastest ship in the Orbit, and it took less than a second for it to move into the middle of the wide deck and settle to the deck floor. The faint noise of instruments ticking and pinging were the only sounds that filled the small room, but to Hunter they seemed too loud. Two people exited the ship before the hangar bay doors had even closed, which meant both were synthetics for whom the lack of oxygen wouldn't be a hindrance.

*Is that who she left me for?* The sight of Errisa felt like a punch to the heart, but Hunter didn't recognize the man next to her, a middle-aged man with wise creases at the corners of his eyes. *Not wise creases, artificial creases.* He thought bitterly, surprised at himself at how quickly the thought came to him. Was he so petty that a betrayal from his wife would make him prejudiced against all synthetics?

The two were standing in front of the ship now, and the hangar doors had sealed shut.

"The bay is sealed off sir." One of the braver techs said quietly. Hunter felt numb as he stepped down the stairs at the bottom of the control room, entering the airlock. Behind him the first door sealed, and in front of him the second opened. The hangar seemed so much larger as he walked across it, but Hunter barely noticed anything but his wife, standing there with her companion next to the ship. Her head was tilted to one side, and she was watching him with a strange smile on her face.

*Mocking? Pitying? I've been married to her for seventeen years, but I swear I haven't seen that smile in my life.* It felt as if the walk was taking forever. What would he even say to her? What was there to ask? "Why" seemed so inadequate. He was only a few feet from them now, and he opened his mouth awkwardly.

"Oh Hunter!" The middle-aged man cried, and he threw himself into Hunter's arms.

*What.*

The General's eyes widened, and he tried to force the universe to make some kind of sense again. The stranger was clasping him in his arms so tightly, sobbing into his shoulder, and somehow, in some way, there had to be an explanation that made that make sense. In front of him, Errisa broke down into peals of laughter.

"Oh my god," she gasped in between giggles, "oh my god your face!"

"Errisa..." Hunter stood ramrod-straight, as if he could force the world into order, while the man took a sudden step back, looking embarrassed. "...what."

"No no I can't." Errisa was doubled over now, laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face. "It's too funny, oh my god you have to tell him Errisa, I can't."

"Hunter." The man spoke gently, as if soothing a confused child, making a calming gesture that was intimately familiar. "We need to talk."

***

Hunter entered the Chief's conference room in something of a haze, both happy and distracted. He had cleaned and shaved, and was wearing a fresh uniform, and as he sat down in his customary seat he felt whole for the first time in days. The conflict between Academy and Pivot seemed trivial now that he had his wife back, even if there was the small matter of an extra personality in the mix.

"Chiefs." He smiled at the assembled men and women, the best minds on his Orbital. "I've just received a news ping, and by now Generals Poulay and Buramis will have received it as well. General Auspus has been removed from command of Orbital Academy." The reactions were as dramatic as he had hoped. Chief Pepper gasped aloud, his eyes bugging out, and even Chief Kathryn raised a surprised eyebrow.

"Orbit save us!" Muttered Chief Mabel. "The Marshal has interceded! What did Auspus do to change the Marshal's mind?"

"The bulletin didn't say." General Hunter leaned back in his chair. "But needless to say, the new General of Academy is going to be quite busy with his sudden responsibility. I am entirely confident that this feud between us and the Academy-Techrider alliance is drawing to an end."

"I'm glad to hear it." Chief Adamsly nodded. "Minera has been hounding us for locitor spikes, but without new ones coming in from Techrider we don't know that we can spare any of ours."

"Our security's weapon cores drain after about three weeks." Chief Kathryn added quietly. "Their charging stations are large enough that only Academy houses them; we have enough to last our security's weaponry for another week before they need to swap out."

"I didn't know that." Hunter said with surprise.

"Didn't see the need to trouble you with it until now sir."

"I also worry about our production lines." Chief Exla spoke up. "With no shipments made, we're getting a little backed up down in...assembly..." She trailed off as the middle-aged man entered.

"Chiefs, please welcome back Chief of Information Errisa." Hunter said as Errisa sat down, a little clumsily, in the seat reserved for her.

"Not quite myself." Errisa joked in the voice of the older man. "But the information you've heard about my betrayal was false. Strangely explainable."

"Sir, with all due respect we can't sit here and accept Chief Errisa back in our ranks, not without a heavy inquiry, or at the very least some proof of whatever excuse she's managed to come up with." General Pepper huffed.

"Her....his....Chief Errisa's explanation was enough to satisfy me." General Hunter said. *Confusing, but enough.* "There will be an inquiry, and there will be explanation and proof, after a sort. In the meantime, however, I'm afraid you're all going to have to trust me, because there is a time-sensitive matter in which I would like your opinions." Hunter met the eyes of each of his Chiefs in turn, waiting until they either nodded their compliance or looked away. He knew he was burning away much of his capital with each of them, asking them to trust him, but he had priorities. "Glad to hear it. Now, with ex-General Auspus removed from command, I'm expecting a transmission from his replacement at any minute. I'm surprised, in fact, that he's taken this long to get in touch with us."

"It's most likely that he's meeting with General Poulay." Chief Kathryn was checking stats on her screen as she spoke, but Hunter didn't begrudge her that. She had proven that she could multitask and still hold a conversation. "As the ally of Orbital Academy, Techrider will want to be heavily involved with any deals they make to stop the embargo. Auspus' replacement will probably want to pick Poulay's brain on tips and tricks, since Poulay is his or her one General-level contact."

"Typically a new General meets in open session with all of us." Hunter growled. "I'm not quite sure I like that this kid's first impression of dealing with Generals is going to be whatever messages Auspus left behind and Poulay's manipulation."

"Can you blame him? We're at war General Hunter, I would hardly consult with my enemies for tips of the trade."

"Point. So, what tack should we take with the newly minted General when he finally does communicate with us?"

"I would suggest we make a bid for peace." Chief Pepper said at once.

"I didn't think we had that many casualties, for the Chief of Health to be so eager to end the embargo." Hunter raised an eyebrow.

"There don't have to be casualties to see how this situation doesn't help us sir. We may not have many injuries yet, but if we keep up this stalemate it will slowly grind away at all of the Orbitals but Basura in the Orbit. This is the best time to make a bid, when we're faced with a green General who will be willing to back down."

"Especially if we don't demand concessions." Hunter was unused to the wise gravelly tone that Errisa now bore. "He would see it as an out that let him save face without having to deal with a war as his first order of the Orbital."

"Why not demand concessions? We're winning this fight." Chief Mabel said. "Is that what you've come back to do, convince us to back down?"

"The Chief of Information is right." Chief Pepper frowned. "I'd much rather end this quickly. We don't-" His words were interrupted by an emergency ping, the red light indicating a General on the other end.

"Thank you for your input." General Hunter said, and the Chiefs sat a little straighter, their expressions a little more severe. General hunter watched the subtle transformation around the table with pride. His Chiefs bickered and fought among themselves, they challenged and questioned him, but against outsiders they would back him up to the hilt. Hunter squared his shoulders and slid his hand across the acceptance button.

In the center of the table, two holographic screens opened, the first displaying General Poulay's severe face, glaring down over her glasses with disapproval. On the other was a bright and rugged face, grey hair matching a grey scar that ran the length of his face and down across his throat.

"Congratulations on your promotion, General Winchest." General Hunter nodded to the new General, ignoring Poulay.

"Nnnnot bad for someone who was sitting in your prison cell just a few short days ago, eh Gen'ral Hunter?" Winchest's throat augmentation took a second to kick on, and the first few words of his sentence came out in a harsh rasp, but the man seemed in good spirits.

"It's a messy business, this." Hunter nodded sagely. "I hope that we can end this 'embargo' matter quickly, now that we don't have stubborn hands at the helm."

"His was not the only stubborn hand at a helm, General." Poulay spoke sharply.

"I'm just as eager to end this nastiness as you, General Hunter. Fortunately for both of us, I fully expect this meeting to end our differences." Winchest spoke much more confidently than Hunter would've expected. During his first few meetings, Hunter had stuttered and stammered over the most basic trade ratio agreements; he wasn't sure how he would've handled a war meeting back then. Out of the corner of his eye, Hunter watched small messages scrolling across the top of the screen at his desk, sent surreptitiously from his Chiefs.

"Seems too calm." ~Errisa

"Smooth as steel, this one. Expected jumpier." ~Mabel

"Too easy. Has ace-in-hole?" ~Kathryn

"Am I to take it you have a proposal?" Hunter cleared the messages with a wave. Despite his Chief's misgivings, he was calm. Hunter was prepared to end the war now, without concessions on either side. If Winchest was about to make an offer, it could hardly hurt to hear him out, and perhaps Pivot would come out ahead in this little misadventure.

"I do." Winchest looked down at the screen in front of him, invisible to General Hunter. "I am proposing that you step down as General of Orbital Pivot." He would've gone on, but the Chiefs around the table erupted into exclamations of shock and outrage.

Too calm. What are you holding? Hunter scrutinized General Winchest in the screen, trying to read something in his face. After a few moments, the din died down, and Winchest continued as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"You will remain in Orbital Pivot as a Chief-level, in a position of your choice. Control of Orbital Pivot will pass to me, to be held in addition to my current post."

"You have to know my answer to this question, General Winchest." Hunter felt more keyed up and tense the more relaxed and comfortable Winchest seemed. "We're at a stalemate in this war, and by our calculations you'll have to switch to half power in a few days. You can't keep this up without the supplies from General Buramis and Orbital Minera..." Hunter sighed and closed his eyes at the realization. "...who has thrown her lot in and joined you, hasn't she."

"Unfortunately not. General Buramis," General Poulay spoke the name as if it had a distasteful flavor, "has for whatever reason made it clear that she still wishes to back you in this childish and dangerous midlife crisis."

"What then? I don't have time for this." Hunter slammed his hand down on the table. "What have you got that makes you so god-damned cocky?"

"General Hunter, the technicians of Orbital Techrider have made note of activity on a vector towards Orbital Pivot." To his credit, General Winchest didn't deliver the news with the smugness that Auspus would've, although Poulay looked on with a self-satisfied smile. "At this point there is enough resolution to identify it through the fog. There is a Terran Shrike team on a course for your Orbital."

"You're lying." General Hunter spat. Across the table, Chief Exla stood from her seat and made her way out of the room, and Chief Kathryn slammed a few keystrokes into her personal screen. Hunter nodded as emergency lights across the edges of the room glowed with a steady blue. The same emergency warning lights would be lighting in every room and hallway of the Orbital. Lying or not, they couldn't afford to take chances.

"We knew you would assume as much." General Winchest said. "We have a transmission packet waiting to send, containing the scan data. You'll see that we aren't lying."

"The last Drake attack was two months ago, Winchest!" Hunter shouted. "They can't rally a Shrike team that fast, they've never been able to, we know that about the Terrans."

"And the Drake attack preceding it was only three months before that, Hunter. Which, if you'll remember, had also never happened." Winchest was too calm for such a disaster, Hunter was so sure that he was lying...no matter what his gut was telling him. Hunter rested his head on one hand, the energy and life that had surged through him a mere hour ago suddenly drained.

"You son of a bitch." He snarled, staring at the table in front of him. Around him, his Chiefs were frozen and staring back and forth between them, all but Kathryn, who continued to throw orders across her screen as fast as her fingers would let her.

"I assure you General, I'm not the one that brought them."

"You're the one who's fucking lying about it." Hunter snapped. "A Shrike team, coming up off the surface less than ten weeks from the last Drake attack? And of the five Orbitals to hit, they just-so-happen to be headed for Pivot? Bullshit."

"He's having so much trouble accepting this, I almost don't want to tell him the rest." General Poulay smirked.

"He deserves to know." Winchest said shortly, turning back to the screen. "Hunter...they've got a Drake with them."

The silence stretched for long minutes, before Hunter gave off a strangled laugh.

"A Shrike team and a Drake. Now you're just being transparent Winchest. What else is there? Are they sending the fog at us like a weapon? Perhaps tossing the planet at us with an oversized slingshot?"

"Hunter, this isn't a joking matter."

"Oh no, I should think not, what with Shrikes and Drakes and the kitchen sink flying in our face. It's about as serious as matters can get." Hunter chuckled weakly. "And I suppose Orbital Academy can convince them all to turn around and fly away if we give you what you ask for?"

"I'm going to be honest with you, Hunter." General Winchest leaned forward. "I'm not sure we can drive them off. Both at the same time? I'm not sure at alll. But if we do, it will only be because every damn ship, every damn trick, and every damn resource in the entire Orbit is dedicated to it. Even with all the firepower we can throw at them, it might not be enough."

"So I abdicate, you take over, and we just wait for this convenient swarm to show up then shall we?" Hunter said sarcastically. Kathryn had finally finished typing in her commands, her men presumably moving through the station to prepare.

"No." General Winchest shot a look at his other screen before speaking. "What happens is that you give me your word, in front of us Generals and your Chiefs, that you will abdicate. Then we will collectively deal with the Shrike and the Drake."

"Are you a fool?" General Poulay looked surprised for the first time in their conversation. "You're going to give away your one bargaining chip on his word?"

"General Hunter is a man of his word." Winchest kept Hunter's gaze. "And if we wait until the very end, it might be too late. We mobilize now, and we do what needs to be done. I trust Hunter to keep his promises."

"That's a very foolish trust to place on him." Poulay began, but General Winchest cut her off sharply.

"You mentioned in our meeting that you would follow my lead in the negotiations, General Poulay. This is my lead. I would ask that you keep your own word and follow."

"It makes no difference." General Hunter stood up from his seat. His blood was pounding in his ears. "I'm not going to be bullied into stepping down from my place as General by whatever your plan entails."

"General Hunter, I would urge you to reconsider." Winchest said earnestly. "Do not risk the lives of the men and women aboard Orbital Pivot, your men and women, over stubbornness."

"You're the one risking their lives." Hunter snarled. "Your selfish bid for power is the only thing keeping you from your duties. If Orbital Academy isn't willing to protect the Orbit from this, what the damned hell are you good for?"

"Orbital Academy cannot protect the Orbit without the support of the Orbit, Hunter. Your war has removed that support."

"This conversation is over."

"We are sending you a live stream of the scanning data from Techrider, General." Poulay was keying in strokes even as she spoke. "Much as I dislike you and yours, the men and women under your command don't deserve to die because you're too stupid to make good choices."

"I hope you reconsider, General Hunter." It seemed like General Winchest had aged over the course of the conversation. "Every last Academy flyer will be prepped and suited up and in the Academy hangar bays, waiting to launch. All you need to do is say the word, and I'll give the order."