TBntG-2 Chpt 18

=The Bull and the Genie=
==Chapter 18 - Book II - The Ninety-five Theses==
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==And the Reward For a Job Well Done....==
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===Message from Home===
Grimm Memorial Hospital - Oberon VI, Oberon Confederation
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"And it is with great pleasure that I am cutting this ribbon!" Mary said, cutting the ceremonial ribbon to the Grimm Memorial Hospital." Next to her Hendrik, looking every inch the bandit king, applauded wildly, joined with everyone else.
 
It didn't take much convincing. The hospital had six hundred beds, fifty ICU beds, and five operating theaters, and if they were mostly staffed by NGO's and Taurian doctors, there were more natives who were going to be taking their place. 
 
A third rank local hospital on Taurus, and here it was the shining beacon of Grimm's new renaissance.
 
And for once I'm not involved in some political mess. The outcome of the "First Taurian Process Server Campaign" was still playing out. The defense team had managed to stop proceedings, arguing that refusing to speak to anyone who did not address him as Celestial Wisdom, and informing guards that Candace was to be assassinated, was a sign of mental illness, and everything had come shuddering to a halt while the Defense and Prosecution debated who would examine him. 
 
If he is sane, he's not very smart. Because being a loon might not be something you got called out on when you had an army… but Liao didn't have an army any more, his daughter did, and she was busy negotiating with the Federated Suns and battling her former "allies." 
 
"So, thinking about Max?" Hendrick asked. 
 
"I—how did you guess?"
 
"The expression. Every Taurian has it. It's the expression that says: I can't just toss him out of airlock, but I wish I could." 
 
Mary shook her head. "It'd probably save some trouble, but we must remember that he has not been found guilty in a court of law."
 
"Your people should be careful. One day, kings and princes will worry about the law when they make decisions, and where will we be then? I'll tell you! Far too many of us will be dying in bed!" 
 
"And you fear dying in bed?"
 
"It depends. How many women were in it at the time?"
 
Mary rolled her eyes. Hendrick was… okay, rough around the edges. But he couldn't disguise the pride he'd had in the hospital, bouncing like a kid at a birthday party.
 
"I couldn't comment. The only thing that ends up in my bed is paperwork and I—"
 
"General?" the messenger was from the political legation. 
 
"Yes?"
 
"We have a message from the Protector."
 
"Are you certain you don't want to just die in bed? With some cute soldiers?" 
 
"No, because I'd have to fill the paperwork out!" she called, as the press advanced on her. Well, the Protector would have to wait a while, there wasn't anyway she was getting through that mob without smiling and talking for the camera.
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"We're having to recall you. I know your XO and he can handle things, but you have a reputation," Edward's recorded message sounded in the room. "And you are trusted by a lot of foreign nations and this is important. Melissa Steiner-Davion did a very good job convincing people that the Lyran side of the new alliance is not about to throw us to the wolves, but that doesn't mean things aren't tense. We're actually now in charge of policing and protecting a region not much smaller than the Concordat, with a larger population and industrial base, and you can bet the pirates that are left are slavering, and I've already got information from TMI and LIC that the Free Worlds League is going to keep pressing. Under the table, MIIO sent of some information that indicates that they may be about to enter into one of their semi-regular civil wars, especially given how unpopular Janos is, which could see either less or more crossborder activity, depending how how the tea leaves are read.
 
"I know this doesn't sound very good. You've got McCarron's Armored Cavalry for ground pounders, but you may have to keep a tight leash on them. Both I and Candace Liao have let them know that in this case, ROE's are not suggestions. Still, the FWL should probably think twice before engaging them. We also have a few battalions of Capellan troops, who remained home to defend their lands, and who will now assist us. Yeah, if you're saying their Candace's way of keeping some leverage you're right. Use them, but they may have their own agenda. The rest of the material is in your briefing packet, and you'll have command over the fourth RCT(M), Third Fleet, and the local forces we'll be working with. Good luck."
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Mary rubbed the bridge of her nose. When I joined the military, this wasn't what I had in mind. On the other hand, at least I'm not under arrest.
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===Present before you Go===
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"Well," Thomas said. "I wish I could give you a better going away present." He gestured at the immaculate laser pistol. "We got it off a trader, the gentleman was very quiet about where he got it from."
 
"Star League vintage." Mary said.
 
"You'd think, but no." Thomas told her. "One of the armory sergeants is a collector and he sort of… appropriated them. Then he came to me."
 
"And?"
 
"It looks freshly made. No wear, no signs of long-term storage. So we got curious and took one apart." Thomas gestured at the big screen, showing a close up of the internal capacitors. "First thing, Sergeant Gully is convinced those capacitors represent an improvement over any known Star League design. Not greatly, but it's there. So then we checked the micro-engravings for inspector's marks and we found this."
 
The screen flashed and then there was a little engraving, one that normally would be nearly too small for human eyes to see. Mary blinked. 
 
INSPECTED 3/12/3005
 
Okay… 
 
"So we tore some others apart, and checked the area where the external mark would be, and they had all been ground off. But we were able to get a partial read off of one, and, well, see here."
 
The image was only partial, but… 
 
"It's a bird, holding a sword." 
 
"Yep. An animal insignia of some kind. Sound familiar?"
 
"Friends of the Wolverines?"
 
"I don't know, the trader was gone by the time we got this information."
 
Mary frowned. "We need to send some expeditions—or you do. Because there's one thing you may have missed."
 
"What?"
 
"A pistol is a crappy gun for the battlefield. It's the last thing you make. So if they're able to, whoever they are, make pistols with advanced components…"
 
"They already had a lot of industry."
 
"Not for certain, but more likely than I am happy with. I've got a few days to get things in order, and let's try to set up some deep recon. They may not be close but people who talked to them might be closer. But keep it quiet. I don't want to read that the Children of Kerensky are returning on the evening news…" She paused. "And if they are out there, I don't want them reading it." Whoever has the tech to do this, could have been talking—hell they could have been making a mint with the Inner Sphere. So they might not be thrilled to hear we're poking, or that we have hard evidence. Put everything else in a data packet, and I'll have it hand-delivered."
 
"Understood."
It could be nothing. Mary thought. But that was the problem. Sometimes the only way you found out that there was smoke under that fire was when your house burned down…
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Book 2 - 18