G-Pol Ch. 14

Chapter 14

When Czarina exited transit space, she was almost directly opposite Luna in Earth's orbit. Natasha immediately began their descent to Volkshaven. Vixi had made up her mind shortly after they'd left Aphrodite's space and wanted to apply with Wolfpack command as a G-Pol exchange officer. She and Karl had officially been entered into G-Pol service after the bombing of the Center Club out at Aphrodite, and their official confirmation paperwork had arrived via the subspace net during their trip to Earth. But still, Vixi was going to have to run the gauntlet for entry into the Wolfpack program, once that was, she could get approval from G-Pol for her ambitions. It helped that her Captain Natasha had recommended her for Wolfpack training through colonel Giovani, and the Colonel had agreed and signed off as well.

Blackie's Blackguards' actions last year after the pirate nuke incident had changed the Enclave's practices concerning the Killhounds of Wolfpack command as well. Things were fluid at the moment, while the Bavarian government and society figured out the Killhounds' new role, rights and freedoms. Supposedly, they were as free as the intelligent dolphins they'd encountered on Aphrodite, but in practice this had never been so. Much of the bureaucracy still thought of them as property, little more than trained animals and continued to treat them as such. Still, progress was being made daily.

One of the newest policy changes, was the fact that Killhounds now had the option to choose their own service paths. This meant that Bona and her other G-Pol counterpart soon wouldn't be the only two. In fact, according to several interdepartmental memos passed along by Giovani, there were several unbonded Killhound applicants hoping to enter G-Pol service already. This news had electrified Vixi and clarified her personal goals for her. She wanted a bondmate!

Vixi was thrilled when as they were descending, Natasha used the ship's com to contact her Wolfpack recruiter, the man who'd brought her in for testing all those years ago and who'd in a way, been directly responsible for Tasha's bond to Bona. As they reminisced over the vidcom connection, it was soon clear that that team was still active and still stationed at Volkshaven, which led to the moment Vixi couldn't help anticipating. "Well, Victor, I think I have a new candidate for you." She switched the com over to include Vixi's station. "This is her. Her name is Michelle Vargas, but Bona and I know her as Vixi. Her psionic abilities have recently come to the surface and she's surprisingly, perhaps even dangerously powerful. I've already sent through a recommendation that she be approached for service in Wolfpack, but she's been accepted as a G-Pol officer in training and wants to stay with G-Pol. If you look her up, you'll also find a similar recommendation from Colonel Giovani of G-Pol. We met with him on Aphrodite station after a terrorist attack by Sean Mallory who as you probably know, I've been assigned to hunt down."

The man nodded knowingly. "Actually, I've been expecting your call Tasha. Not only Giovani wants her with a Killhound partner, but so do a couple of other high-ranking G-Pol officials. Wolfpack command has already agreed to allow her into the training program if she can find a bondmate. We have more than a few Killhounds anxious for the chance. Several young Hounds are ready and willing to meet with her to see if and how things work out. I'll schedule her orientation for tomorrow afternoon. I've also been informed that the G-Pol office here in Volkshaven has quartering set up for you and your team here on base, so there shouldn't be any issues. They also have a landing slot open and set aside for your use at the military section of the Volkshaven spaceport facility. That all said, I'll leave you to finish your landing preparations and say goodbye for now. I'll see you when you arrive." With that, the connection was broken.

Vixi was ecstatic. It seemed as if everything was falling into place to make her dreams come true and she couldn't get her feelings to settle down. It was a challenge keeping them to herself, she just wanted to radiate her joy for the whole world to feel! Lisa was grinning at her almost maniacally. She couldn't help asking, "What? Why are you looking at me that way?"

Lisa just laughed out loud. "Everything you're thinking is written all over your face! You look like a kid on Christmas morning. You're practically shivering! Excited much? Believe me, I'm glad to see it. Seeing you this happy makes me happy too."

"it's good for all of us." Bona agreed, "A little excitement and wonder is always a good thing. That's why I like kids so much. That's why most of us Killhounds like kids so much for that matter. It's usually so easy to make them happy, to make them forget what's troubling them, for at least a little while."

The long flight down to Volkshaven, the landing and checking in took the rest of the day and they'd arrived at shortly after dawn local. Surprisingly, they were met at the spaceport by Natasha's parents who were waiting for them in the Military terminal building. When she was informed of her awaiting visitors after check-in, Natasha led her friends to meet her family. She'd intended to introduce them anyway, but this made things that much more convenient. Now she didn't have to move them out to the Urals, or bring her parents out here.

Her mother greeted her with a rib-cracking hug. "When we heard about the things that were happening out where you were, we couldn't help being worried, especially after the reason you had to go out there in the first place!"

Natasha nodded, "Yeah, it got pretty rough a couple of times. The worst was the bombing though. We were some of the first officers on the scene. I don't ever want to see anything like that again! After that, catching Mallory has become something of an obsession for us. Thinking he'll do it again is all the motivation we need to track him to the ends of the universe."

She shook her head. "Anyway, I wanted to introduce you to my new teammates. This is my new boyfriend, Karl Steiner. This is my new Engineer, Lisa Miller and this is my Medic and Lisa's girlfriend, Michelle Vargas. We all call her Vixi though. And just so you know, we also ran into Sohnia out there, you know, my friend you met from the G-Pol academy? She got hurt on an assignment and spent a lot of time in medical and rehab. Now she's been assigned to Aphrodite as a secretary. She says her special forces and SWAT days are over now. Her knee was pretty badly damaged and she didn't want a cybernetic prosthesis."

"We heard about that." Her father agreed, "We actually talked to her over the com a few months ago just after it happened. She was actually looking for you to let you know what was happening with her. I guess things got pretty busy for her right after that, but we thought you'd been told. Obviously, she never got the chance. It didn't even occur to us to mention it when you were home last."

Natasha's mother walked right up to Karl. "So, you're Tasha's new boyfriend? I'm Greta, Tasha's mother since we never got to finish the introductions. That's my husband Gregory, Natasha's step-father. We don't talk about her father."

Karl nodded in acknowledgment. "Yeah, Tasha told me about that. As far as both of us are concerned, Greg is her father. He's the one who did the job after all."

Greta smiled happily. "I knew I was gonna like you Karl! Call it a mother's intuition if you will."

Their conversation had dominated the meeting as soon as it started and now Greg interrupted. "So what have you done to my ship? I saw the new gun ports..."

he was cut off by Greta's laughter. "I knew you wouldn't be able to let that thing go when you said you wanted to give it to Tasha! In his head, it'll always be his ship!" It was a humorous rant so they all laughed appreciatively. "Actually though," Greta went on after, "I guess I can understand that. We did make our living and our home onboard for years. So I guess it is kind of a family heirloom. Tasha, why don't you take us aboard and show us around a bit?"

Tasha smiled and nodded. "Sure, why not? We're already checked in and we don't have to be anywhere until tomorrow morning. So anyway, where's Aaron? I was kind of hoping he'd be here too. I haven't had much chance to spend any time with my little brother."

Greta sighed theatrically. "Bad timing I'm afraid. He's gone on a vacation with your younger cousins. Hedda's family. They left a week before we knew you were coming home. They won't be back until around Christmas. They're on one of those long star tours."

So it was that Tasha and Lisa showed off their modifications to Czarina to her original owners, or at least the previous ones. The tour and the descriptions ended with a viewing of the recordings from the final antimissile test run, from both the Czarina's perspective and the Jessup's. It made quite an impressive show now they paid attention to it in that way. Even Greta was impressed.

"It worked even better in action against the pirates out there right after this was recorded." Natasha boasted proudly, "We got it done just in time too. Do you remember that young singer Bradley Stewart? The one who disappeared a few months back? Well, the pirate ship we captured had her as a captive on board."

"Along with almost a dozen others." Vixi added, "That poor girl had it pretty rough for a while there."

Greg was nodding and smiling. "Yeah, we saw a news story on that just last night! All they said was the rescue was performed by an anonymous G-Pol Special SWAT unit. So that was you guys?" At Natasha's embarrassed nod he grinned proudly. "Now I'm glad you went to G-Pol instead of into the usual Wolfpack service. Your mother and I are both fans of Bradley's. You seem happier this way too."

Natasha nodded smiling happily. "I am, and so is Bona."

Bona's characteristic canine grin told them she agreed with her bondmate completely. "And it's a lot more fun than the militaristic stuff we'd have had to put up with otherwise! Plus, we'd have never made friends with Vixi and Lisa, and that would've been a real shame. Those two have been good for Tasha, but Karl has made the most difference I think. She's a lot more confident now and it shows in her posture and bearing."

Greg returned the subject to Czarina. "So how did you get her to maneuver like that? I didn't think she had that in her."

Karl smiled and waved to Lisa, who answered. "We made a few more upgrades. I noticed first that her structure had already been seriously reinforced, so I took that a step further and upgraded all her maneuvering thrusters with units salvaged from a captured pirate ship With Karl's and Natasha's help. We also upgraded her engine output by increasing the rating on the Grav system's capacitive power supplies and replacing the main engines with the ones out of that same pirate ship. I also added in power leads to incorporate a pair of additional light fusion cores for emergency power and we added a backup point defense targeting computer. WE hadn't realized how advanced the one you guys built in was, or we wouldn't have bothered. Still, once we realized what we had, Karl thought we should integrate the systems and Natasha thought that was a good idea, so we did that too. Finally, I upgraded the force shields by integrating additional and more powerful capacitors to make use of the increased capabilities of the power system you installed. Now we want to upgrade the Main guns and add a couple more point defense turrets. We already have them blueprinted, so all we have to do is get them built, installed and properly adjusted."

Natasha nodded. "That, and we're gonna add at least two more crew members if G-Pol has some people we can work with available. Our little pirate encounters told me I needed a few more people if we were going to do this successfully. Not to mention, they'll come in really handy in the hunt for Sean Mallory."

"I would Imagine so!" Greta muttered, "I've heard a little about that monster on the news. After that bombing, they did a whole story on him, and some of the stuff they had to say about him, well..."

Vixi was nodding enthusiastically. "Believe us, we know exactly what you mean!"

After that, Natasha changed the subject and the conversation went on in the lounge for hours afterward. Instead of moving into their G-Pol provided quarters that night, Czarina's crew elected to stay on board and Greg and Greta stayed in one of the spare cabins rather than returning to their hostel. The next morning, they all shared a hearty Bavarian breakfast before they all parted ways. Tasha, bona and Vixi would be heading for the Wolfpack training facility for Vixi's meetings. Tasha and Bona would be leaving her there to go and meet with Karl and Lisa to see about recruiting some new crew members and making arrangements for Czarina's further upgrades. Greg and Greta promised to help with this as they were able.

Karl, having been trained in the CAF military, had been given a G-Pol commission and was now a second Lieutenant under Natasha's command. Since he'd religiously kept his licenses and certifications up to date throughout the human sphere, he had only to take a few classes at G-Pol academy to catch up. To be sure though, he would be going through G-Pol's Officer Evaluation Testing protocols to determine what, if any additional training he might require. Both he and Natasha were confident his educational needs would be minimal, and most of the classes he would be taking would be elective. Things he thought would be useful for himself and their unit.

Vixi sat waiting nervously in what appeared to be an office waiting room without a reception desk. She suspected this was one of a variety of tests she would be put through to establish her suitability for Wolfpack training. One of the first things she'd established on arriving was the fact this room was psionically suppressed. This meant her psionic abilities wouldn't function while within these four walls. This didn't bother her in the least, since she hadn't had her abilities long enough to have become dependent on them. She imagined that some who had, would probably find this space a very uncomfortable place to be for any length of time.

She on the other hand found it a bit of a relief. Shielding her mind and controlling her newfound and still blossoming abilities was an exercise in frustration and control. She could actually feel the action of the suspension field, so she would know immediately if it were shut down, and she would have to take up her personal control again. Bona and Natasha had both pushed her to learn of this awareness and make it a gut level thing. She was still working on it, but she thought she'd been doing pretty well too. Both Bona and Natasha seemed to think so.

An hour later, the door finally opened and a tall curvaceous older woman entered. "Good Morning Miss Vargas. Please follow me. I was told you'd been informed several Killhounds have applied for G-Pol service. These are who you will be meeting first. If you do not bond one of them, you will then be introduced to others who've expressed interest in G-Pol service as a secondary career path."

Doing as she was asked, Vixi followed her into a large warehouse like building attached to the rear of the building she'd been brought to by Natasha earlier. Inside the large open space looked like a show dog agility training facility. It was festooned with configurable obstacles, bridges, and even climbing walls. There was also what she could only describe as a canine lounging area. It consisted of a ring of eight comfortable looking thickly cushioned and sturdy... nests? Several of these had Killhound occupants, five in all. Each and every one of them had his or her head up and was looking her over speculatively.

Understanding what was expected of her without having to ask, Vixi made her way to one of the seats and made herself comfortable among the hounds. She began by taking note of their various breeds. She recognized them all, having done her homework once she'd made her decision. there was one each of a springer, one of the very rare spaniel breeds, a German shepherd, a rottweiler, an Irish wolfhound, a greyhound and a Doberman pincher. She broadcast to the group telepathically, "Hi, I'm Michelle Vargas, but you can all just call me Vixi. It's good to meet you all."

Each of the Killhounds got up, came over and introduced itself, one after the other. All the other names vanished from her mind though when she came face to face with the Wolfhound. "Hello Vixi, I've been waiting for you. I'm Angus and I'm very happy to finally meet my bondmate!"

Vixi threw her arms around Angus's neck and hugged him tight. He was a real bruiser too. He was nearly a meter tall at the shoulders, and probably weighed only about a hundred kilos or so due to the wolfhounds' characteristic lean slim build. His fur was a kind of fawn with faint brindle markings with a darker head, spine, tail and lower legs. His eyes were a deep dark brown and thoughtful looking. Interestingly, his forelegs or arms were equipped with obvious laser weapons built in above his wrists. There also seemed to be a pair of slots that if she didn't miss her guess, probably allowed the extension of vibro-blade fighting claws! His fingertips were obviously equipped with retractable climbing claws. As were his hind feet which also seemed to be equipped with full hands rather than the usual canine paws.

Noting her interest, Angus explained. "I've always been good at the climbing part of my training regimen, so I decided to request a cybernetic upgrade to take advantage of this, thus my claws and the modifications to my hind limbs. I also proved more than able in hand-to-hand combat, and thus the vibro-blades. Since I was interested in being assigned to G-Pol, it made sense to have ranged weapons equipped that couldn't be dropped or taken away from me without some serious effort, and so, here I am as you see me. I'm also rated as a Medic First Class and an Engineer Technician. As I understand it, that'll be very useful in your current assignment."

Vixi nodded smiling. "Oh, no doubt about that! Everybody's gonna love you! Have you checked up on bona too? She's Tasha's Killhound partner and she's one of the smartest people I know! You sound like the two of you'll get along like old friends."

Angus' canine grin made her want to grin in return. "Yeah, she's the reason I decided to try for a G-Pol assignment in the first place. I'm looking forward to meeting her. I'm eight years old now, so she's a couple of generations older than I am, and I hope I can learn from her experience."

Vixi did smile at that. "I'm sure she'll be happy to meet you. As I understand it, she doesn't get to meet other Killhounds very often, so it'll be a real treat having you with us now. I don't know if you've noticed yet, but I have a soulmate too. Lisa's the Ship's Engineer, so I know for a fact she's going to love you to death!"

Angus' grin seemed to grow even brighter. "Yeah, that was kind of hard to miss! I already know I'm going to love her right back. After all, she's my soulmate too now we're bonded."

Vixi looked chagrinned. "Yeah, I should've realized that shouldn't I. My excuse is I'm so excited by this, I wasn't thinking!"

Angus' canine chuckle was deeper, but remarkably similar to Bona's. "It's as good an excuse as any I guess! C'mon let's get out of here and I'll show you around. We'll be here for a month or three as we learn to work together and for your military training, then we'll have to go to Luna for our classes at the G-Pol academy. So for now, let's take advantage of our little free time together." With that, they waved goodbye to the other Killhounds and the human observer and made their way outside.