CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

ADMIRALTY BUILDING – PLANET ARIEL – WHITE SUN SYSTEM

"Welcome back, Garris", Admiral Hendrix sad as he walked into Cain's office, "I take it you enjoyed your honeymoon with Sophia?"

"Bellerophon was a great place to get away from it all, Jimi", Cain replied, using Hendrix's old gunship call-sign, "but when my daughter and son-in-law picked us up from there yesterday, we were both ready to get back to our jobs. Sophia simply thrives on work at parliament".

"Just like you thrive on work yourself, Garris", Hendrix pointed out, "that uniform and the office really suits you".

"Well, I don't hope to be getting too used to the office, Jimi", Cain replied, "because as you know, the Battlestar AMERICA will be the first Alliance-built battlestar in service, and my flag will be transferred there so fact after the commissioning you can measure it in milliseconds".

"With that call-sign of yours: 'Renegade'", Hendrix responded, "I would not presume to get in your way. I suppose I should give fair warning to Commandant Ruger as well".

"Hardie Ruger from the DORTMUNDER?" Cain inquired. Hendrix nodded.

"That's why I dropped in; Fleet Personnel is assigning him to be commandant of the AMERICA. As the DORTMUNDER is being decommissioned shortly, the AMERICA will be his new assignment".

Cain nodded. As a Vice-Admiral, Cain would be commanding one of five eventual fleets of battlestars – the Home Fleet, which had defense responsibility for the Core Worlds – but the person directly commanding the flagship battlestar would be the commandant, and they usually regarded Admirals on board their ships rather askance.

"I hope he makes a good battlestar commander", Cain replied.

"He actually asked to be assigned to your flagship", Hendrix said, "He wanted to learn battlestar command techniques from the best".

"Then I think that Commandant Ruger and myself will get along very well", Cain said with a smile.

VIPER TRANSITION TRAINING – NEW PICON – PLANET MIRANDA

"Another day down, Ice. At least these guys aren't green-as-grass rooks", Grant Wise said to Frank Truly as they left debriefing.

"Most of them have told me that transitioning from a gunship to a viper was a lot easier than expected, Zapper", Truly replied, "but as we both know, the Mark 2 was designed to be like that. When we start getting Mark 7's, we'll see if our Alliance pilots will be having the same sentiment.

Wise nodded. After the PEGASUS had gone to Salisbury to pick up more of the newly constructed Viper Mark 2's, Commandant Tolen had sent Truly down with the Viper 7 assigned to the Blue Sun Corporation's Astronautics Division for examination, copying, and building. The last remaining raptor on board had also been dispatched to Blue Sun for similar treatment. That just left the raptor that Gene and Tricia Syke had flown back to Miranda from the core.

"You think that Hondo will be enjoying his new job?" Wise asked Truly next.

"Wouldn't you, if you were offered a lucrative test pilot contract and a chance to test-fly more advanced ships than vipers and raptors?" Truly replied as a rhetorical question, "He really must have impressed the brass at Blue Sun to get that contract".

"You should have gone on the fuel run instead, Ice", Wise said with a chuckle, "Then Iblis would have met you instead and you'd have been offered the contract instead".

"Me fly a peregrine?" Truly shot back, "Not a chance, Zapper! In any case, after the first class of Viper 7 pilots graduate, Rogue and I will be establishing the new A.T.T. school on Boros. Admiral Cain got the go-ahead to have the school started and neither Rogue nor I could resist his offer of command".

"You and Rogue just want to show off hot-dogging vipers to the Alliance jocks, Ice", Wise said jokingly. He knew that Truly was a methodical pilot who had exceptional piloting skills; an ideal choice to command the school, but as getting the Viper 7's would not be for a few weeks and that they had to get pilots trained on it, Advanced Tactical Training School was still a few months away…

"You and Ginnie will be married soon", Truly commented to change the subject, "Have you both decided what you both are going to do?"

"Ginnie and I want to stay here on Miranda", Wise replied, "And as long as Viper Transition is based right beside New Picon, I've got no complaints. Ginnie though wants to resign her commission and become an archivist".

"What do you think of that?" Truly asked.

"It's her decision, so what I think doesn't enter into it. In any case, she had no objections to my staying in the service to teach wanna-be fighter jocks how to fly vipers", Wise replied.

Nodding, Ice continued to walk with Truly to the changing rooms in order to get out of their flight suits.

TYLLIUM REFINERY – NEW PICON – PLANET MIRANDA

"Well, that's the last shuttle-load of the stuff off to the PEGASUS", Engle commented smugly.

He was right to feel proud of things. The mining complex had come fully on line a few days previously, so the refinery's operations had started to move up into top gear. Engle thought initially that the security requirements protecting the ingredients of the catalysts were going to slow things down – and with a couple of attempts by unknown persons to break in made such additional security measures necessary – but despite that, fifty thousand barrels of the volatile – but extremely efficient – fuel were heading for the battlestar which was in orbit over Miranda assisting V.T.T. in getting the student pilots used to being catapulted out of the launch tubes, and to make both normal and combat landings in the landing bays. Both Wise and Truly had supervised their class of trainees each make ten catapults and ten landings before bringing them back to New Picon for debriefing.

"The Alliance Tankers will be here in a few days to pick up the consignment for Sihnon", a technician pointed out, "It's going to be cutting things close getting their shipment prepared on time".

"Then we'd better get things going", Engle replied, "If nothing else – it will help push things along in getting that second refinery we asked for set up".

FREIGHTER SERENITY – PLANET JIANGYIN – RED SUN SYSTEM.

At a private club in New Beijing City, Mal Reynolds and the other members of the SERENITY were having a private celebration after their second voyage to Earth to pick up more artifacts

"Here's to wealth, and all the good things that come from it", Mal said as a toast.

"Especially the good things", Jayne said next, "though that bounty hunter that tried to hump us ain't going to get a chance to celebrate his".

Jayne had been referring to a hired gun that had tried to shoot Mal after SERENITY had landed at the spaceport. Mal had drawn first, winging the would-be-assassin. Jayne's less-than-subtle methods of persuasion on the wounded assailant had found out that he was a bounty hunter trying to collect on a bounty on Mal's head. He didn't know who the employer was though…

"Could be anyone we ran afoul of who put up the bounty", Zoe said, "Anyone from Adelai Niska to Badger. Perhaps even Patience".

"Or your 'ex-wife', Mal", Jayne added, "She'd have a good reason to have you shot after Inara messed up her double-cross".

Inara smiled at that. She knew that Mal would be betrayed by that woman, so she made sure that she got to the loot first, telling her that Mal had sent her…

"Maybe then the best thing to do – now that we have the money – is to square things", Mal mused, "because having to look over our backs every time we make planet-fall gets rather annoying".

"How are you going to do that, Sir?" Zoe asked, "You try to approach any of them, and they might try wasting you before you can say 'Hi'".

"Just get a secure place on a Core World instead", Jayne suggested.

"Remember, despite Admiral Cain and his wife being our guardian angels, there are still heaps of folk in the Alliance who don't care for us, and personally, I don't like the idea of keeping myself in a guilded prison", Mal replied, "so since this latest batch of items we got from Earth are set to rake in about five million credits, I'm for paying them off".

"And if they try and waste us regardless of the cash?" Zoe asked.

"Then we waste them ourselves, or better yet, we hire folk to waste them for us", Mal replied, "after all, if that's the tactic they want to use on us, we can turn it back on them".

"So why would you want to pay them off?" Simon asked, "If you now have the means to put a hit on them?"

"It's good business, Doctor", Mal replied, "and remember: we ain't going to have a monopoly on the F-T-L for too much longer, so this way, it keeps things on a business level and business is what motivates those folk".

"Not Blue Sun", Simon muttered. He still shuddered, thinking that despite him and his sister no longer tagged as fugitives, Blue Sun would still seek to take River and continue their brain-butchery at the Academy…

"Even Blue Sun", Mal corrected, "After all, with money coming in from Cain and his military hardware, they are taking big portion of the government contract money. That would change if Cain heard that Blue Sun tried something like that".

VICE-ADMIRAL CAIN'S OFFICE, ADMIRALTY BUILDING – PLANET ARIEL – ONE DAY LATER.

"Enter", Cain said to the knock on the door.

Cain's aide entered – a newly commissioned Alliance Ensign – with him was Lieutenant Higgins.

"Lieutenant Higgins to see you, Admiral", the Aide said as a formality.

"Thank you, Ensign", Cain said. Nodding, the ensign left the office.

"Take a seat, Matt", Cain said, gesturing to a chair. Higgins sat down.

"I wanted to take the time to personally thank you for offering me that slot at Boros A.T.T.", Higgins said, "And Lieutenant Truly asked me to convey his thanks as well. We're both looking forward to it".

"Well, you two went to A.T.T. back at the Colonies, so you two are the natural choice", Cain replied, "and since a command like that means promotion, when you two report to A.T.T., you'll both be wearing the insignia of Major. Congratulations!"

"Thank you, Admiral", Higgins replied warmly, "Still, not having Hondo with us is going to make things a little bit empty".

"I'll tell you something, Rogue", Cain said, "He had contacted me expressing some doubts about the Blue Sun offer, but I suggested that he accept it. Not only does he get a very good salary and fly as much as he likes, he also becomes my eyes and ears there on Salisbury. Despite Blue Sun's quality of equipment, the reputation that they have concerns me some".

"I thought that was exaggerated felgercarb, Admiral", Higgins said.

"There is always some truth in rumor, Rogue", Cain replied, "and corporations tend to think of profit before anything else. That's why I'm holding off contracting out the peregrine until my concerns are put to rest".

Higgins nodded. Cain made sense.

"I know that my new assignment won't be for another few months, Admiral", Higgins said, "but with V.T.T. up and running on New Picon, shouldn't I be there to help out and get up to speed for A.T.T.?"

"You will – eventually", Cain replied, "but at the moment, Captain Sanders needs you at the attaché's office until your replacements arrives. Then you'll be free to get back to New Picon".

"Replacements", Higgins asked, hearing the plural.

"Oh, didn't he tell you?" Cain asked, "When I go onto the AMERICA, he'll be coming with me as the AMERICA's new CAG. Commandant Ruger asked me to pick a colonial for the job, so I picked him".

"So that's why he's been walking around with that broad smile on his face", Higgins said.

BLUE SUN CORPORATION ASTRONAUTICS DIVISION – PLANET SALISBURY

"Thanks for getting me the job, Hondo", Sims said, "It just wouldn't be the same without you as pilot".

"Well, when Commandant Tolen dropped off not only the viper 7, but also the raptor, I know that the test folk here would need a good RSO to get them up to speed. You're the best from the PEGASUS, Coffin", Hunter replied.

"Those technicians all over those birds… you'd think they had never seen spacecraft before", Sims commented, gesturing to the rear of the hangar where the Mark 7 viper and the raptor were being closely examined by a gaggle of technicians and analysts.

"They were like that with the Mark 2 as well, Coffin", Hunter pointed out, "but we get the good job: flying their designs, and I've already seen some specs regarding next generation fighters based on the viper. These people know their jobs".

"And they know what questions to ask", Sims added, "I've got to write up a report on the console diagnostics procedures for the raptor technical team, and then I've got to get the test technicians assigned to flight assessments up to speed fast".

"At the speed that they make their ships, you need to be fast", Hunter pointed out, "They are already cranking out three hundred Mark 2 vipers per week, so they'll be finishing their contracting total of five thousand within three months!"

"That many?" Sims replied, impressed.

"They are to be used for training, and for interdiction missions from the converted cruisers", Hunter explained, "The order for fifteen thousand Viper 7's and one thousand raptors will be dedicated to the new battlestars – apart from a training contingent for the new A.T.T. school, and the raptor transition school".

Sims nodded. He had heard that the battlestars would be taking over mobile deployments while the cruisers would be decommissioned and converted to super-sentinel posts which would be stationed along the rim. These – Sims suspected – would be providing early warning should Cylons or other unknowns come across the Alliance…