BoTH Chpt 77

==Blood on the Horizon - Chapter 77 -==
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===Docking Day===
Date: October 4th, 3007Location: Zenith Point Jump Point - New Avalon System, Federated Suns
Lieutenant Henry Hober and I piloted the last of the DroSTs we'd been awarded for our work to the JumpShip King Henry V. 
"Ease up on the throttle, boss," Hober directed while keeping his focus on the docking camera. "We want a gentle kiss, not a rough one."
 
"Firing retrothrusters," the DropShip slowed down gradually as it began to coast up to the JumpShip.
 
"Now hold her steady," Hober gripped the sticks that controlled the docking thrusters. "I'm taking control."
 
"Setting to station keeping," I released my sticks and pushed a button, giving the pilot full control.
 
The Lieutenant eased the DropShip in to the docking collar, slowly lining it up and triple checking the seals before releasing the stick.
 
"Dropship is docked!" he announced. "All DropShips have been secured to the King Henry and Tornado, Major."
 
"Good," I sagged in relief, unstrapping myself from the chair and floating up. "Go get some rest, Lieutenant. I'll handle getting everything else from here."
 
"You sure, sir?" Hober yawned. "You've done more of these DropShip runs than anyone else."
 
"I'm sure," I replied, stifling a yawn of my own. "Besides, I'll have time to rest once we're underway."
 
I opened the cockpit and headed for the place where the JumpShip and DropShip were joined, cycling the airlock before pushing through and into the King Henry V. 
 
"Captain Frye," I nodded as I floated onto the bridge. 
 
"I told you to call me Kaylee," she winced at her last name. "Now, I believe your DropShip was the last one that needed to be docked?"
 
"Yeah," I replied. "We can head out when everything's charged up."
 
"I'll relay the message to the Tornado," the brunette acknowledged. 
 
"Great," I gave a thumbs up. "I'm going to head on over to the Messenger and crash. I've been awake for far too long."
 
I then headed directly for the Messenger, barely remembering to stop and look over my terminal to make sure there weren't any messages before passing out.
 
"Huh," I muttered tiredly as my eyes passed over a handful of messages. "She must have been busy, I expected a message months ago. Oh, well," I yawned again and closed my eyes. "I'll deal with it tomorrow."
 
I drifted off into sleep as my body did likewise in the low-gravity, the text on the terminal shining brightly as I did so.
----
===Named for Pin-up Girl===
"The Davions did more than keep their side of the bargain, I'll give the smug bastards that," Henry Hober spoke, wiping a bit of chicken broth from his goatee. "They didn't quite get the DroSTs fully refit to the standards of the Sting, but they did manage the intermediate refits we put together while on Eidelon. And as for the Black Eagles, they did manage to fully convert those over to the modern specs we gave them."
 
"Still seems like you have a problem though," Mathis sipped at a glass of water. (there were advantages to eating on the grav deck.)
 
"Yeah," Hober sighed. "It's not that I hate everyone from the Federated Suns, but we just handed the Davions the work we did for refits without them having to pay for any of it. And if things go wrong…" The Dropship pilot and captain drifted off into his thoughts.
 
"Then the Concordat can deal with it," Mathis shrugged. "It's not like we haven't already given you Taurians a leg-up over the rest of the Periphery."
 
"Fair enough," Hober chuckled. "It could be worse, we could be working for the Capellans."
 
"Don't even get me started," Mathis shook his head. "The stories I could tell you about my time before being medically retired…"
 
"It's so strange, Y'know," Hober stood up, brought his dishes over to the counter and swapped them out for two beers, handing one over to the massive Marine. "How well we seem to get along for a unit that's mostly made up of Taurians and Fedrats."
 
"It's the Canopians that glue us together," Mathis joked. "We're united against the wanton hedonism."
 
"Something like that," Hober sipped his beer. "I'm renaming my Dropper by the way."
 
"Oh?" Mathis raised his eyebrow. "What to?"
 
"Well, since in hindsight, it's obvious that Katherine Smith was really Archon Katrina Steiner," Hober began. "But she was my gunner, so I want to do something to honor her. I'm thinking of calling her, The Archon's Favor. I'll redo the pinup, rechristen her, the whole nine yards."
 
"What're you gonna do for a pinup?" Mathis polished off his beer and threw the bottle in the trash. 
 
"I've got a few ideas," Hober grinned. "But I need to send a couple of messages to the right people first. Don't want to get sued into oblivion by the Steiners."
 
"Fair enough," Mathis sat back down. "I'd like to review the pinups in advance though. I'm not good at drawing or painting, but I've got an eye for whether something looks good or not."
 
"Here," Hober pulled out a sketchbook. "This is what I've got so far."
----
===Messages from Friends===
DropShip Messager
My eyes slowly opened to the darkened captain's cabin, the pale yellow lights simulating twilight, I blinked sleep from my eyes and stretched out until I felt the tension in my back release. "Oh, that's nice," I groaned, feeling relieved. "Nothing like zero-g for back pain."
 
Once I was awake enough, I shoved off of one of the small handholds bolted in the ceiling towards the restroom. Some bodily needs always came first thing in the morning.
 
I took care of the necessities and trimmed my beard a bit before leaving, a fresh uniform in hand that I changed into. 
 
"Now let's take a look at the messages I saw last night," I muttered, opening the terminal to read what had been forwarded by the local HPG before we'd left New Avalon.
 
The first few messages were generic updates on the status of our base construction on Pierce without getting into details.
 
Another one originated from the Lyran Commonwealth, and so I tabbed over and began reading it, saving the video message from the Magistracy of Canopus last.
-----
 Major Hull of the Marksman Mercenary company, I hope this letter finds you well. 
 
 By now, I'm certain that you and your people are well aware that I used an alias during my term of service with you. (That is, if you weren't already aware). 
 
 As such, I am formally apologizing for using such while working for you. While my takeover as Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth was bloodless, I cannot say the same for my predecessor. 
 
 Under his direction, both myself and my two compatriots were targeted and we went into hiding as a result. In your unit, we found a safe haven and a home. 
 
 Therefore, should you or your unit ever require it, you will find safe haven here in the Commonwealth as long as I live.
 
 Your Friend,
 
 Katrina Steiner, 
 Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth
 
 PS. Thank you for the educational visit to Eidelon, it was ever so helpful in the few stops that we made on our return journey and helped us avoid a few traps that otherwise might have spelled our doom."
----
I shook my head and grinned as I made my way through Katrina's letter. Eventually, I'd have to pin her down and pry answers out of her or Arthur, maybe see if they still managed to find Black Boxes or not. But for now, I'd have to settle for trying to keep them alive if they still ended up with cancer.
 
Flagging the letter for me to go over again later, I shifted, opened the attachment on the next message, and pressed play.
----
 
 "Hey Hull," Colonel Jackie LeAnn's face greeted me."I know this is a bit of a long shot, but I'd like to take you up on the offer you made me a few years back. I don't know if you meant it or not, but my unit's tired of being underfunded and hung out to dry." she glanced around as if to make sure she wasn't overheard."And with the stupid nobles purchasing commissions, we're being hamstrung by idiots left and right. Now, we won't be able to bring much gear with us aside from a few of us that own our own rides; But pretty much my entire Battalion is willing to sign up."
 
 "We know you're working out of the FedSuns and Concordat for now, so when this gets to you, we'll probably already be cashing out our retirements and making tracks for one or the other. Still, it'd be nice to work for a competent military force again."
 
 "Hopefully we'll be in touch soon," the Canopian smiled. "LeAnn, out."
----
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Chapter 77