Chapter 5

Matt strode up to the office beside Bill's. It contained the only other pilot in the squadron who had an office, the new quartermaster, Randall Lynx.

Matt pressed the chime, stared up at the camera, then strode in once the door opened.

Randall was poring over a list of requisitions, most of which appeared to be some sort of component Fuzzy needed for shield generators or communications and sensor arrays.

"Hiya, Randall. How're you adjusting to the squadron?" Matt asked.

"Fine, just fine. Most of 'em are pretty cool, and I've learned to watch my back around Swipes."

Matt laughed. "Yeah… Well he's gonna be off-base for a couple of days, so you're safe for now."

The Lynx looked up. "All right, so what can I do for you?"

"Well, Kina and I need some hardware to start programming a new communications/sensors program for the arrays Fuzzy's fitting to the starfighters, I was just wondering if you could get me something."

"Let me see." Randall checked some files. "What kind of processing power do you need?"

"Anything GigaWare 2 or better which is compatible with our starfighter systems." Keeler replied.

"Well, if you don't need anything newer or more powerful, that could actually be quite easy." The Lynx said, bringing up some files on his terminal. "All the files of the old pilots are here, and there's quite a load of junk they didn't return, some of it went home with them but most of it ended up with Colonel Grey. He in turn kept them in military storage here in this base, under the names of the original pilots."

Randall adjusted the hologram so that Keeler could see it more easily. "Here's what we got, erm, a Gigaware 1 under Kenneth Darwin, nope that one's too old, umm, a Figment 221, will that do?"

"No," Keeler shook his head. "That one's mainly used for gaming and graphic design, not what I have in mind."

"Let's keep looking then, shall we?" And the Lynx scrolled down more, coming across a Gigaware special, which was useless to Keeler.

As he scrolled past another Gigaware 1 Keeler suddenly told him to stop scrolling.

"Hang on, go back there."

"There's no hardware here." Randall replied, confused.

"No, look at this. Barry H. Keeler. This pilot was with Husky Squadron when it was still with the CDF, a year before Colonel Grey took command."

The Lynx noticed, but didn't seem to care much.

"Yeah, Keeler's a common name. What's up?"

"Barry H. Keeler was my Dad's name." Matt frowned, wondering what it meant. "I always knew he was in the armed forces, but no-one ever told me he was in Husky Squadron, and that's weird, because I would have expected at least the Colonel to have pointed it out by now."

"Why, didn't you ever know your father?" Asked Randall.

"No, my parents broke up when I was three. I always knew my father was with the CDF, but my mother didn't tell me anything else."

"That can happen when two people break up." Sighed the Lynx. "She might have thought she was protecting you from him."

"Hmmm." Keeler shook his head. "Never mind. I'll ask Bill some other time."

"Right." Randall didn't look very much farther when he spotted exactly what Keeler wanted. "Ah! Catch of the day! A Gigaware 3, signed out under the name of Brent Zeeman who died during the first War. Looks like nobody bothered to clean up his belongings after his death. That Gigaware 3 must have been brand new if he had it all those years ago" The lynx flashed Keeler a toothy grin. "Don't worry, Matt. It'll be in this office within two hours. You run along and amuse yourself for a while."

"… So with General Rathcoat and his clone under detention, General Forbes will run as the leader of Starfighter Command until another General takes his place. But with six Cornerians and one Katinian, General Weismann, going for the spot, it could take a while until we have a new leader." Bill finished. Perry and the two Lieutenants looked aghast.

"Rathcoat was a spy?" Francine sputtered.

"That's right." Bill shook his head. "He's responsible for a lot. I hope they throw the book at him."

"The only penalty for treason is death." Fuzzy said darkly. "I reckon he deserves it. So do they know which one is the real Rathcoat?"

"Who cares? Vape'em both." Perry spat.

"Yeah." Bill said. "But it's not in our paws. Anyway, by tracing how he behaves, as well as chemicals present in his blood, intelligence found out which one is the real Rathcoat."

"Yeesh, that's scary." Said Perry. "Makes you wonder if Forbes is honest."

"He is, because now there are agents everywhere reporting directly to the President. They know about him. In fact," Bill lowered his voice. "I wouldn't be surprised if one of our recruits is one of those agents."

A brief silence followed.

"That sucks." Said Fuzzy at length. "So what do we do now?"

"Easy, we just be ourselves. It's not like anyone here has anything to hide." Bill replied. "So now, how are the upgrades going, Fuzzy?"

"Complete on three of the new fighters, half finished on two of the others and the last one hasn't been touched yet. I'm waiting for Lynx to get the rest of the parts so I can finish, and Keeler's getting some hardware off him now so that we can get a program together for the new systems. Won't take long."

Bill nodded. "Well, the long and short of it is, once we get onto the Archangel, the whole battle group's jetting off for Fortuna. The Home Defense Fleet will be charged with protecting Katina from attack." The husky gave each officer a datacard. "I have also received word that Aquas could soon come under assault. The fleet defending there is too small to fend off the invaders, but it is sufficiently close to home to be considered a vital objective. Therefore, the Cornerians are sending a fleet to deal with it."

"Why would the invaders be interested in a ball of water?" Perry asked.

"I don't know, but we're probably going to find out soon."

Matt was waiting outside the conference room as the four officers walked out. Matt greeted each one as they walked by until Bill stepped out, last of all.

"Colonel, can I have a word with you?"

Bill locked the door and turned to face the young pilot. "Sure, Matt. What do you need?"

"Well, has there been any other pilot named Keeler in this squadron before?"

"Sure." Bill said. His eyes lost focus as he seemed to try and remember something. "Barry Keeler, I think it was. Why? Think you're related?"

"Barry was my father." Matt said.

Bill blinked. "You sure? I should have gotten something in your file a long time ago if he was."

Matt nodded and folded his arms. "Positively. I had a look at his photo in the archives, and he was definitely my dad. Most of the stuff about him was deleted though."

"Deleted?" Bill asked, now looking thoroughly perplexed. "That's weird. I'll look into it. But it might take some time, I mean there is a war on and my attention is needed elsewhere."

"Oh, I understand, Sir. I appreciate the help." Keeler saluted. "Don't worry about it unless there's nothing else to do- after all there'll always be time after the war to go over it and figure it out."