Crineal Chronicles 1: In Hera's Service (26 page)

“Commander
Del’Tarim, having been found guilty on all charges, this court notes that the
appropriate punishment for the crime of illegally accessing a flag rank officer’s
quarters is death by firing squad. However, the members of this court received
a petition from General Crineal.” Junon became alert as this was hardly usual
and he couldn’t imagine General Crineal saying anything nice about Del’Tarim.
Maybe he’d asked for him to be boiled in oil or something. “The general
suggested that the commander had perhaps suffered a mental lapse due to stress
and that the court might find a way to show leniency.” Junon couldn’t have been
more surprised if the Emperor himself had appeared. Del’Tarim looked equally
amazed as well. “In light of this extraordinary request this court finds as
follows: That Commander Del’Tarim will be immediately stripped of all military
rank and privileges. He will then be transported to Dalgon VI on the first
available transport where he will serve a term of seven years. In view of the
evidence submitted to this court and the circumstances of the case, no appeal will
be permitted. The prisoner will be allowed to apply for parole after one year
of his sentence. This application will be heard by General Crineal. If the
general is not available to hear the application then it will be automatically
rejected and the prisoner will serve the remainder of his sentence. This court
is dismissed.”

Junon
sat there as Del’Tarim was led shambling away in total shock. So, he thought,
General Crineal was the ruthless bastard everyone said he was. Seven years on
Dalgon VI. Shooting Del’Tarim would have been kinder.

Admiral
Ken’Rathel watched as Crineal sipped his tea. Cyndora sat at the general’s side
looking nervous at being in the admiral’s office.

“Well,
General, I have to say that was as fine a piece of maneuvering as I have seen. Del’Tarim
gets to live at your whim and you buy yourself a year free from the vengeance
of Del’Herat. What do you plan to do once that year is up? If you grant Del’Tarim
parole, then his father is free to act against you. If you decline it, then
there’s no reason for him not to act against you. His son is as good as dead,
anyway.”

“I’m
sure that the conditions of Del’Tarim’s parole will buy me some more time… in
fact I think they might buy me a lot more time.” Crineal smiled at his
superior.

Ken’Rathel
steepled his hands together. “And if Del’Tarim doesn’t survive Dalgon VI?”

Crineal
shrugged. “It’s a chance I’m willing to take with him.” The admiral chuckled.

Cyndora
looked between the two of them in confusion. “I don’t understand. What’s Dalgon
VI?”

“It’s
the Empire’s harshest military penal colony. We reserve it for the worst of the
worst. The longest anyone has survived there is four years,” Crineal replied.

“Oh,
I thought that the short prison sentence meant that he was getting off lightly.”

The
admiral shook his head. “No, young lady. Even one year there will likely make a
wreck out of him. Seven years is a long, slow death sentence.” He turned back
to Crineal. “Leave finishes tomorrow and we go back on full duty. I thought
we’d run an outer system sweep to see if we could find anything. Also, we’re
due to get our replacement pilots tomorrow. Would you mind giving them the
usual welcome speech? I know that you’re not officially off the sick roster
until the day after…”

“I
think I can manage that, Admiral. I might have to do it sitting down though.”

“Good,
I’ll leave the pilot allocations to you. We’re expecting the probe information
back in the next few days. I’ll let you know as soon as we have it.” Ken’Rathel
looked thoughtful. “Why don’t you assign Hera the first patrol on the sweep?’

 “But,
Sir, I won’t be flight approved by then,” Crineal protested.

“Exactly.
It will extend your non-flying time a little and give Major Strieger some
practice at leading a squadron.”  Crineal looked rebellious, but nodded his acquiescence.
“That’s settled. Now all I need to do is find a new Alpha Flight Bay
commander,” he grumbled good naturedly. “General, all you do is cause me
problems.”

“That’s
what Doctor Marrash says, too,” Crineal replied with a little shrug. “In fact,
I’m heading to med bay next to improve his day.”

“Very
well, General, I wouldn’t want to deprive the good doctor of your company. I’ll
let you know when I get those reports in. Dismissed.”

Crineal’s
visit to medical took longer than expected as he had to ease out of his uniform
to get the bandages removed and then back into it afterwards. Doctor Marrash
gave him clearance to begin light duty in two days and then shooed him out of
the bay. Crineal was relieved to get back to his quarters and sit down. It had
been a long couple of days with his injuries. Cyndora fetched him a nice, cool
glass of soda.

“Thanks,
Cyndy,” he said after taking a gulp. “At least that’s one problem out of the
way for the moment. You’re protected, too, you know? Del’Herat will know that
if anything happens to you, his son will be staying on Dalgon VI.” Cyndora
nodded. “And tomorrow I get to see what kind of replacements we get.” She
looked at him sympathetically, knowing how much the loss of the Ares pilots had
hurt him.

“Crin?
Can I get some new nightwear please? My current pjs are just too warm.” She
knew she had his permission to get what she needed, but she liked to ask first.

“Sure,
you don’t need to ask.” He waved her to the main replicator as he lay there
with his eyes half-closed. Crineal could hear her humming to herself as she
made choices.

“What
do you think?” he heard her ask. Prying his eyes open Crineal found Cyndora
standing in front of him holding up a spaghetti-strap shortie top made of cream-colored
silk. It was about as long as her uniform top. Dangling from one hand was a
pair of matching shorts.

“Looks
like they’ll be a lot more comfortable,” he said, trying to picture her in them.
Down boy, Crineal thought.

Cyndora
nodded in agreement. “I’ll order up a couple more sets in different colors.”
She went back to the replicator and, once done, disappeared into the bedroom.
She came back to find him half asleep. “Come on, Hon, nap time for you,” she
said helping him up off the couch.

When
they got into the bedroom it took Crineal a moment to realize that something
was missing. Then he saw that Cyndora’s bed had been packed away. She gave him
an embarrassed little shrug.

“My
old pajamas were going to be way too warm sleeping next to you,” she explained.

Crineal
turned to face Cyndora. Pushing an errant strand of her hair to one side he
pulled her gently against him and, after a moment’s hesitation, he kissed her
very softly on the lips. Cyndora responded and put her arms carefully around
his neck. After a minute or so, Crineal broke the kiss. “Cuddle with me?” he
asked.

Cyndora
nodded. “That sounds perfect.” She felt a surge of happiness because she knew
he was trying to be slow and gentle with her. He took off his jacket and top
whilst Cyndora helped remove his boots. She was still wearing her assistant’s
outfit so only needed to kick off her sandals before they settled down to kiss
and cuddle, enjoying the closeness. Soon they were both asleep, wrapped around
each other.

The
next day started as usual with a visit to the gym. Although Crineal still
wasn’t allowed to exercise he accompanied Cyndora, anyway. He figured he needed
to do some walking at least. He rested on a bench and watched her work out.
There were worse ways to pass the time, he mused, studying her figure appreciatively.
After breakfast Crineal made his way to his office whilst leaving Cyndora to
plan a visit to the rec dorm. It felt like months since he had last been in
here as he settled behind his desk. Crineal worked through the backlog of
messages to start with and then took a look at the information on the
replacement pilots. Too many rookies, he thought. They would have to be spread
between the other squadrons so as not to leave the reformed Ares Squadron too
inexperienced. He could take two pilots fresh from the academy into Hera to
replace Bannerman and Rochelle, but that would still leave others needing a
home. He sent a message to the other squadron leaders and Major Strieger
requesting their attendance at a midafternoon meeting. He wasn’t looking
forward to facing Major Jolienze. A reminder alarm went off on his data pad and
he realized that it was already eleven hundred hours and he was due to address
the new pilots. Stiffly, he made his way to the Hera ready room where they were
gathered. The door slid open and he hobbled in. Someone called for attention as
he headed to the stand at the front of the room. Once there he turned, faced
the assembled men and women and returned their salutes.

 “At
ease, and please be seated.” He looked over the room and picked out a lieutenant
in the front row who was sitting next to an empty chair. “Lieutenant? Would you
do an old general a favor and bring me the chair next to you please?” The woman
rushed to place the chair so that Crineal could sit down, which he did with a
huge sigh of relief. “Thank you, Lieutenant…?’

“Gallanz,
Sir,” she replied.

“Lieutenant
Gallanz. If you could all move forward so I can see you all better it would be
appreciated.“

“I
want to welcome you all to the Annihilator. I’m sure that I don’t need to tell
you that we think she’s the best ship in the fleet, every ship thinks that. Of
course, in this case it’s true.” That got some polite laughter. “I was just
working through your files but hadn’t got around to finishing them yet, so
perhaps I could have a show of hands from those of you that have seen combat
before?” Crineal thought about half of them had raised their hands. “The
Annihilator gets the toughest missions. So, by the time we reach our next
stopover, I expect that all of you will be raising your hands when asked that
question. I know some of you have been assigned here from other ships and
others are here straight from the academy. I’m concerned with how you perform
on this ship, not your past. I don’t care if you were the darling of your last
squadron leader or the worst pilot to graduate from the academy. What matters
is what you do here and now. Take the opportunity to talk to the other pilots
on board, they’ll tell you what a hard ass I am and how I’ll have you thrown
off the ship if you incur my displeasure.” He could see a few smiles here and
there. “They are absolutely right. If you screw around and endanger your fellow
pilots you’ll be gone so fast you won’t even have time to collect your gear.”
The smiles disappeared. “If you’re thinking that because you’re on board the
Annihilator, you are now considered the best of the best, then you should think
again. You’ll see the best when you start flying patrols and I expect you all
to live up to that standard. If any of you think you aren’t up to the challenge
or want an easy life then stay behind afterwards and put in a transfer request.
I’ll approve them and you’ll be gone to a ship that doesn’t care as much.” The
pilots in the room were all sitting up straight now. “Some of you are probably
wondering why I’m half-crippled at the moment. During the last patrol I flew,
the squadron I was leading was ambushed by two full squadrons of rebel
fighters. They were blacked out and we didn’t see them until they lit up their
engines. Out of forty pilots, fifteen of us made it back. There were no rebel
survivors. That’s the kind of pilots you’ll be alongside.” He let them look
around at each other for a moment. “I’ll be arranging your assignments with the
squadron leaders this afternoon. You’ll be notified of them by oh eight hundred
tomorrow morning. We’re going to be doing a sweep around the edges of the Sol
system for the next few days so you’ll all get some flight time in. Now, does
anyone have any questions?” No one moved and Crineal smiled to himself; he knew
they were about to be told the most horrific stories about him by the other
pilots. No doubt the legend of Commander Del’Tarim was about to be added to
that list. “Then you’re dismissed to quarters.” The pilots all stood to
attention and saluted him. He returned the salute from his chair and watched as
they filed out of the room. No one stayed to put in a transfer request. He gave
them all a few minutes to clear the corridor outside before pushing himself up
out of the chair and slowly making his way back to his office.

Crineal
skipped lunch mostly because he wasn’t hungry due to the discomfort he was in
and at thirteen hundred hours he dragged himself along to the conference room
to get there in time for the meeting he had set for fourteen hundred hours. He
hoped to arrive before anyone else so they wouldn’t see the condition he was in,
but Strieger was already there studying the files when he entered. She leapt to
her feet to help him to a chair.

Once
she had him seated, she saluted him “Good afternoon, Sir. Permission to speak
freely, Sir?” She didn’t wait for his approval. “With all due respect, Sir, the
general is an idiot. You should be in your quarters resting.”

Crineal
looked up at her and chuckled. “It’s a good job I’ve already filled my week’s
quota of court martialing people.”

Strieger
fetched him a drink. “Have you taken any painkillers?”

Crineal
shook his head. “No, I haven’t had anything to eat to take them with. Was
hurting too much.” She gave him an exasperated look and got up again. Strieger
came back with a couple of ham sandwiches and a tablet. “Thank you, Major.
Remind me to put you in for another commendation.”

“Just
eat, Sir, and take the tablet. I’ll call Cyndora and get her to take you back
to your quarters.”

“I
appreciate your concern, Major, but I need to get these assignments sorted out
and brief everyone. I’m going to leave Hera in your hands for a week or two
whilst I get some more rest. I promise I’ll stay in my quarters and work from
there. Will that satisfy you?”

Strieger
sighed. “No, but I’m not going to get a better offer, am I?”

“Sorry,
Major, but no, you’re not.” Crineal started on the sandwiches whilst they
waited for the others.

Major
Jolienze was the first to arrive. She stood at attention in front of Crineal
and saluted.

“Please,
Major, at ease. I want to tell you how sorry I am about Ares.”

Jolienze
sat down. “Sir, I’ve seen the reports and talked to my pilots. I’m amazed that
any of you got back. None of my pilots blame you for what happened and neither
do I. We’ll all be proud to fly with you again at any time, Sir.”

“Thank
you, Major. We’ll see if we can find you some good replacements.” Crineal was
touched by her loyalty and confidence in him.

“I’m
sure we can, Sir. If some of them survive lunch.” Jolienze looked amused.

“Oh?”
Crineal raised an eyebrow quizzically.