Crineal Chronicles 1: In Hera's Service (21 page)

There
was a pause before a pleasant, slightly high-pitched female voice that Strieger
didn’t recognize answered. “Thank you, Sir. I’ll be just a minute.”

Following
a very brief wait the door opened to reveal a woman in the standard short dress
of a recreation assistant. She matched the description of Cyndora that Feldea
had given her in the med bay. Her eyes were striking and she was pretty, but
nothing that Strieger could see would have made Crineal change his attitude
towards recreation assistants.

“Cyndora?
I’m Major Strieger, General Crineal’s second in command,” she said politely.

The
woman stepped back to allow her to enter. “Yes, Ma’am. Please come in.” As the
door closed behind her, Cyndora asked “How can I help you, Ma’am?” Strieger
thought that she was most polite and respectful, but not servile or cowed,
interesting.

“I’d
like to see the general.” It was somewhere between a request and an order.

“I’m
truly sorry, Ma’am, but he’s sleeping at the moment and the doctor’s
instructions were not to disturb him from rest in the next few days.” Some
steel there, too, Strieger noted, or a strong desire to protect the general.
She wasn’t about to fault either trait.

“I
understand. I don’t want you to wake him I just want to see him with my own
eyes.”

The
redhead hesitated a second and then nodded. “Yes, Ma’am. Please be quiet
though.” She led Strieger to the bedroom door and palmed it open. Crineal was
asleep on the bed and snoring lightly, his entire left side swathed in
bandages. The major looked at him for a long moment before nodding. She spared
a quick glance around the rest of the room and picked up on a few oddities.
There was a cot bed next to the main bed that the general was sleeping on. It
didn’t seem to be that recently installed. Also, there was a pair of women’s
long shorts and matching top that were resting on a cabinet. They appeared to
have been hastily dropped there. Curious and curiouser, she mused. Strieger
stepped back into the lounge and allowed Cyndora to close the bedroom door.

“So,
you’re Cyndora. Lieutenant Feldea has a lot of good things to say about you.”
Strieger stood with her hands behind her back scrutinizing the girl with the
practiced eye of a woman who had been around a bit. No marks, bruises or
anything else to suggest abuse, or physical contact of any kind come to that.
The woman looked healthy and fit.

“Lieutenant
Feldea is very nice, Ma’am. I enjoy talking with her. Can I get you some
refreshment?”

“A
cup of kafe would be appreciated. Thank you.” Strieger sat down in an easy
chair and studied the other woman as she went about supplying her drink. Her
bearing didn’t match that of the other recreation assistants who were favorites
of someone or another, either. They looked comfortable, but underneath there
was always a nervousness, a fear of being discarded and losing the little
extras. Cyndora had been on board less than two weeks, if Strieger had it right,
and the girl should have been unsure of her position, awed at serving a general
and generally scared out of her wits after being assaulted by another officer.
She was none of these things. She had all the poise of a woman who knew she was
cared for and totally secure. Strieger accepted the cup from Cyndora and
studied her as the other woman sat down opposite her in the other easy chair.

“I
understand that you only came on board recently?” she asked with a casual air.

“Yes,
Ma’am, less than two weeks ago,” Cyndora nodded.

“And
how are you finding life aboard the Annihilator?” Strieger sipped her kafe
whilst constantly appraising the young woman.

“It’s
been mixed, Ma’am. Some of the people, like the general and Lieutenant Feldea,
have been very kind to me. Even the admiral was most polite and pleasant.”
Strieger’s eyebrows rose a notch, she’d met the admiral. She had been getting
around. “Of course, there have been incidents that weren’t nearly so good.” I
bet, thought the major. “And I didn’t expect to be separated from my friends in
the dorm like this. But the general allows me to visit them so I’m not really
cut off,” she smiled at Strieger. So, Crineal was giving her an awful lot of
latitude for a newcomer, even for an old hand for that matter.

“And
you like the general?” Strieger knew the answer to that one but wanted to see
the body language that went with it. She took another drink from her cup.

“Yes,
Ma’am. The general is very good to me. I’m lucky to have been assigned to him.”
Hmmm, the answer she’d expected but something was wrong about the last part of
it and she felt that Cyndora didn’t feel just lucky but exactly the way Feldea
had described her, happy and content. Totally devoted to Crineal, and you
didn’t get that feeling built in eleven days.

Putting
her cup down Strieger rose from the chair. “Well, thank you for the hospitality,
Cyndora. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other. I know you’ll take good
care of General Crineal. I’d appreciate if you told him that I visited and if
you’d keep me informed if anything happens.”

“Yes,
Ma’am, I’ll do that,” Cyndora said as she stood as well.

Strieger
nodded to her and left the room with a deep suspicion of what was going on. But
before anything else she needed to track down two pilots and make sure they
were set firmly straight about some matters.

The
major marched into the Hera mess room to find three pilots clustered around a
table at which sat Muscovy and Staller. They hadn’t noticed her enter and were
busy discussing something.

“I’ll
take an average of four and a half.”

“Put
me down for six point two.”

“You’re
crazy.”

“I
reckon the general’s good for that.”

Strieger
moved quietly up behind them before announcing her presence. “Gentlemen, Ladies.”

The
five pilots snapped to attention. The two women and the man who had been
talking to the pair she wanted looked guiltily at her. Staller and Muscovy
looked like they had come fresh out of school and were totally innocent of the
world’s corruption. Strieger thought they were true professionals.

Muscovy
spoke first. “Ma’am, a pleasure to see you back. We weren’t expecting you yet.”

I’ll
bet you weren’t, she thought. “So what’s the pool on today?”

“Pool,
Ma’am?” Staller tried for the misdirection approach.

“Staller,
give me some credit and don’t assume I’m stupid. It’s not a good career move.” She
gave him a withering look. The other three pilots were visibly nervous. “Now,
what are you taking bets on?”

“The
number of patrols we’ll make before our next stopover, Ma’am,” Muscovy
projected complete honesty and Strieger didn’t buy it for a minute.

“Really?
So these two clowns think we’ll be running a half and point two of a mission?
Let’s try it again.” She fixed her stare on the younger of the two women.
Entara had just made lieutenant from pilot officer. “Lieutenant,” and Strieger
made it sound as if that rank was in grave danger at this moment, “I’m sure you’re
dying to tell me what you think four point five is a good bet for.” She gave
the pilot a smile that had all the charm and appetite of a tiger that hadn’t
been fed for a week. The major saw her eyes flicker towards Staller and Muscovy
in desperation. “I’m right here, Pilot Officer!” she snapped out before smiling
sweetly. “I’m sorry, I mean, Lieutenant.”

Entara
folded. “On how many times a day the general is getting laid, Ma’am,” the lieutenant
said in a rush. The silence following her confession was deafening.

Strieger
stood there looking at the five of them, as she tried to find the words. The
pilots were now all standing rigidly at attention and looking anywhere but at
her.

“Just
when I thought you two couldn’t get any worse.” She shook her head in
disbelief. “Kreltar? Six point two times a day? Seriously? What were you going
for? The top end to outbid everyone else?” she asked incredulously.

Staller
cleared his throat. “Actually, Ma’am, the highest bet is nine at the moment.” His
mouth closed abruptly as Strieger turned her glare on him.

“I
don’t even want to think about how you planned to get a count, so as to declare
a winner.” Her mind shied away from the thought of what these two were capable
of. “But this stops here and now. If I hear even a whisper of this again then
I’ll be holding you two personally responsible and handing the matter over to the
general for his opinion. I’m sure he’ll find it most entertaining.” The five
officers looked pale and Strieger thought that Entara might faint. “Now get out
of here and find something useful to do before you all find yourselves sharing
a cell with Del’Tarim.”

They
all saluted and were gone so fast that Strieger thought they might be able to
make the Annihilator’s sprint team. She sat down heavily on a chair in the now
deserted mess room. She’d been back less than four hours and she already needed
leave again.

Crineal
lay in bed, stirring a little but not really wanting to move. His bladder was
telling him otherwise. He groaned as he tried to sit up, pain shooting all
along his left side. Looking up, he wondered if someone had invented teleportation
whilst he had been asleep. Cyndora was now standing by the bed and he was sure
that she hadn’t been there a moment before.

“What’s
up, Crin? Do you need something?” she asked him solicitously.

“Eh,
I need to use the bathroom,” he replied, trying to swing his legs over the side
of the bed. Wow, that hurts, he thought.

“Let
me help you.” Cyndora held out an arm so he could steady himself and then took
hold of his right arm to help pull him up.

“Ouch,”
he grimaced.

“Just
lean on me,” she said as she helped him into the bathroom. Once in there, she
helped position him in front of the toilet and then stepped to one side.

After
waiting for a moment Crineal realized that she wasn’t going to leave. “Uh. I
think I can manage by myself for this part?” At least he hoped he could.

Looking
doubtful, Cyndora nodded. “Ok, I’ll just wait in the bedroom,” and she left him
alone but without closing the door.

Crineal
found that peeing one-handed wasn’t as easy as he had hoped but he managed,
even with the door open so Cyndora could probably hear everything. He’d hardly
finished when Cyndora was back to help him.

“I
found you this,” she said holding up a long bath robe, “I don’t want you
getting that gel goop over the nice one you got from Pallonus IV.” Putting it
on, even with her help, was a task all on its own.

“Bed
or sofa?” she asked as she moved to support him again.

“Sofa,
I think. I need to check messages and the like.”

“Ok,
but take it easy. Tell me if you start getting tired.” As they made their way
into the lounge, Cyndora continued, “Oh, a Major Strieger stopped by and insisted
on seeing that you were ok.”

“Ah,
she’s back from leave. No doubt she’ll be in again to check on me tomorrow.” He
let out an ‘oof’ as Cyndora eased him onto the sofa. “Any other visitors?”

“No,
just the major. She took a look at you whilst you were asleep in bed. I gave
her a cup of kafe and she asked me about myself a little.”

He
considered this for a moment and wondered what she’d asked and why. But he
didn’t want to alarm Cyndora by being too inquisitive. Strieger was very sharp
and although she appeared to be on his side he was worried what she might have
deduced. Cyndora brought him his data pad and then went into the kitchen whilst
he started checking his messages. She came back with a cup of tea for him and
sat down in the closest easy chair.

“The
admiral wants to visit as soon as I’m awake. Looks like we’re having visitors
today.” He glanced at her. She was wearing another of the silk shorts outfits
she seemed to have grown a liking for, this one a pale lilac color. Not that he
was complaining. They were a heck of a lot better to look at than the pants
outfits she had worn that first week. “I guess you’d better be ready to change
again.” His data pad beeped and he looked at it. “Yep, he’s on his way.”

Cyndora
gave him a playful pout. “This is just a plot to keep getting me to undress,
isn’t it?”

“Nope,
I’m just lucky like that. Anyway, it’s not like you do it in front of me,” he
replied with a mournful expression.

“Poor
you,” she said unsympathetically as she headed back to the bedroom to put on
her short uniform dress.

Cyndora
was easily changed and back before the admiral arrived and she was waiting to
let him in. “Good afternoon, Sir,” she greeted him.

“Good
afternoon, Cyndora. You’re looking lovely again today,” he responded, giving
her a suave but genuine smile.

Cyndora
blushed. “Thank you, Sir.”

“General,
how are you doing?” he studied the injured man on the sofa.

“Excuse
me for not rising, Sir, and I’m doing fine.” He gave Ken’Rathel a salute. “You
can stop trying to woo my assistant away from me, though.”

Ken’Rathel
chuckled. “I’m sure she’s not interested in an old man like me. Are you, my
dear?”

Plucking
up her courage, she decided to try and counter with her own banter. “Well, Sir,
I’m sure I could be persuaded to tend to you in your elderly condition, if you
were to find me some nice tokens of appreciation. In the meantime, can I get
you something to drink?”

The
admiral gave a bark of laughter. “I can see why the general here likes your
company, and a cup of kafe would be good. Thank you.” The black-haired admiral
sat down facing Crineal. “I’ve studied the battle logs, General, and before you
even think about making your own report I want to say that you and your pilots
distinguished yourselves. You have nothing to fault yourself on.”

“Thank
you, Sir, but I still lost twenty-five pilots,” he replied bitterly.

“I
know that, Crin. But you saved fourteen, plus the four scouts, and made sure
that their data got back here. Under the conditions you faced that was a
remarkable achievement. Thank you, my dear,” he said as Cyndora handed him his
cup of kafe. “So I don’t want to see any self-recrimination rubbish in your
report. You hear me?”

“Yes,
Sir,” he paused. “What’s going to happen with Ares?”

“They’ve
been deactivated for the moment. I’ve put out requests for some veteran
replacements as well as the rookies I know personnel will try and give me. Then
it will be up to Major Jolienze to get them into shape.” Ken’Rathel looked at
Crineal a second to catch his attention and then, with a minute gesture at
Cyndora and then to the door, indicated he wanted to speak to Crineal alone.

Crineal
took the hint. “Cyndy, Hon? Have you been to the gym today?”

“No,
Sir. I’ve been watching over you as per the doctor’s instructions.”

“Well,
why don’t you get changed and have the guard escort you down there?  I’ll get
another guard assigned to the door whilst you’re gone.”

Quick
to realize that they must want to talk in private, her response was immediate.
“Yes, Sir, I need to make sure I keep up with my exercise schedule.” Crineal
tapped the extra guard request into his data pad whilst she changed, smiling as
he thought about her earlier comment of kept being made to undress.

She
came back out in her exercise gear and nodded to them both as she left. “Sirs,
I’ll see you later.”

Once
she was gone the admiral put his cup down. “I do have one concern about the
patrol. What were those Axes doing out there powered down?”

Crineal
considered it. “You’re right, it’s odd. Were they waiting for us? And if so,
how did they know we’d be there? Or were they out there as a sentry post or
some such? And if that’s the case, then why two full squadrons sitting doggo at
such a remote spot? None of the options seem plausible,” he mused.

“Well,
let’s consider the first option. Who knew about your course out there?” the admiral
asked.

“Only
Captains Trovas and Linenty were briefed prior to the flight, the rest of the
pilots didn’t get the actual course until ten minutes prior to launch. I don’t
know if the two captains told anyone else though,” he frowned for a second, “and
Cyndora was there.”

This
piece of information didn’t seem to surprise Ken’Rathel. “Do you think she
might have passed on anything to anyone? She did belong to a rebel cell.”

“I
was with her for almost the entire time between the briefing and the launch
because of the incident with Del’Tarim. It’s possible she could have gotten a message
to someone whilst I was sleeping but I don’t think that’s likely. She’s learnt
some things about the rebellion that have disillusioned her more than a little.
I will, of course, check the communication logs from this room though.” He tapped
a query into his data pad.

“Hmmmm…
I’ll trust your judgment on her. So, if not her, then who else could have
passed the information on? Del’Tarim? It’s in his interests to see you dead
right now.”

“Still
don’t see it, Sir. Yes, he has cause, but I don’t see it as feasible for the
information to get to him and then him arranging to pass it on.” His data pad
beeped “No, no communications sent from this room apart from the ones I
recognize as sending. I’ll forward the file to your terminal, Sir.”

“So,
a spy passing the information along seems unlikely.” He looked up at the
ceiling in thought “So why keep two squadrons under stealth in the middle of
nowhere? I can see maybe one squadron at a push, but even that’s a lot of
resources to use on a sentry duty like that.”

“Beats
me, Admiral. I wish I knew.” Crineal shook his head.

“Well,
it’s given me enough reason to request a set of probes to be sent into the
area. High Command has ordered me to stay on station here until we get the
reports back from them. We’ll see if Intel was right about a base.” The general
nodded. “Second matter is Del’Tarim’s court martial. The doc says you’ll be fit
enough to attend in four more days. So that’s when I’ve scheduled it to start.”

“I’ll
be there, Sir.”

“I’m
sure you will. I have to say I did wonder if you really expected the trial to
take place. Del’Tarim has the best political connections. Then, this morning, I
received a list of the officers who would be serving on the court panel. It was
sent under the highest encryption.”

Crineal
looked unruffled by the odd security. “Really, Sir? That sounds most strange.”

“Even
stranger is the names on the list. I expected a bunch of appointees who were
certain to acquit Del’Tarim or at the worst give him a slap on the wrist.” Ken’Rathel
said, looking intently at Crineal. “Instead the officers are all totally honest
and completely loyal to the Emperor. The sort of men and women that will do
their job and hand down a death sentence on Del’Tarim.” Noting Crineal’s
complete lack of surprise, he continued, “So, General, what do you know about
this trial that I don’t?”

“Me,
Sir? Why would I know anything?” Ken’Rathel’s stare was steady. “But, if I had
to guess, I would say that someone wants to send a message that this kind of
behavior will no longer be tolerated in the Fleet, no matter who your daddy
is.”

“Really?
And do you know the kind of trouble this particular ‘daddy’ can make for the
Space Corps if we shoot his darling little boy?” Ken’Rathel looked almost angry
now.

“I’m
sure that due consideration has been given to the political ramifications of
the situation, Sir,” Crineal replied formally.

Letting
out a breath Ken’Rathel shook his head. “I do hope so, General. Whilst I would
be loath to suggest that the Vice Chairman is vindictive, I don’t imagine that
he will respond well to the death of his son. I’d guess that you and the girl
would be the first people whom he would come looking for.”

“I
feel that Lord Del’Herat is an honorable man, Sir, and would never dream of
taking revenge when it’s clearly obvious that the fault lies with his son,” the
general said serenely.

“You’ve
got something up your sleeve, General, and I wish you’d tell me what it is. I
also noted that Lord Sar’Clax’s name seemed to appear a lot in connection with the
court papers. Wasn’t he your commanding officer for a while?”

“Yes,
Sir. I served with him for about seven years. That was before the emperor made
him a lord, of course.”

“I
see, and it’s just a remarkable coincidence that he’s taking an interest in
this?” The admiral didn’t try to conceal the disbelief in his voice.

“As
First Lord of the Space Corps I would say that he’s exercising due diligence
over a serious breach of discipline.”

“I
just hope that the two of you know what you are doing, General,” he said
shaking his head. “This whole thing could go south very fast.”

“Yes,
Sir. I have complete faith in the military justice system and of the wisdom of
the Imperial Council.”

Ken’Rathel
decided that he wasn’t going to get anything out of Crineal about what was
really going on. “Well, General. I guess that covers everything. I hope you’ll
be able to return to duty soon, but until then I expect you to rest and get
well. Let your young lady nurse you.” He rose to his feet. “Stay where you are.
I’m sure I can find the door myself,” and with that, the admiral left.

Cyndora
left Crineal’s quarters and looked at the Marine standing guard outside, “The general
has ordered me to get some exercise and said that you should accompany me. He
said that he’d be requesting another guard whilst you’re away with me.”

The
marine consulted his data pad and then said, “Ok, after you,” he gestured for
her to lead the way.

She
turned past him and headed to the gym with the guard following in her wake
looking menacing. They arrived at the gym and she did her warm up before
getting on to the cross trainer she preferred. Cyndora had just started her
routine when the gym doors opened and a mixed group of men and women in gym
outfits entered. She thought she recognized two of the men, one thin, one
bearded. The six made a show of looking around before one of the women pointed
to the row of cross trainers where Cyndora was. Leading them across the gym she
stopped the group in front of Cyndora. The marine didn’t seem to be very
concerned that the group posed any danger and she thought that he might have
exchanged a nod with the bearded man.