Crineal Chronicles 1: In Hera's Service (30 page)

The
communications point in Crineal’s office became heavily over-worked in the next
few days as he contacted old comrades scattered throughout the fleet to catch
up with their doings and make suggestions that they might want to get their
commanders to start filing transfer requests for their problem people. Crineal
was almost relieved when he was able to lead Hera Squadron out on a short
patrol two days later as the Annihilator once again sat parked around Earth
Orbital Three. The flight was uneventful and Crineal was glad to get back on
board the carrier without incident.

Strieger
cornered him following the debrief meeting. “Any news on what we’re doing, Sir?
We were originally scheduled to swing out by a couple of the newer colonies on
our way back to sector HQ.”

“Just
waiting for new orders, Major. I’ll tell you as soon as the admiral tells me,”
Crineal told her unhelpfully.

She
made a face at the lack of information before speaking again. “Hartmann and
Gyrenne seem to be shaping up nicely. They both have good attitudes and are
fitting right in with the rest of the squadron.” She paused and checked to make
sure they were alone in the ready room. “How are you and Cyndy doing?”

“Officially,
I’m very happy with the performance of my assistant.” He smiled at her. “Just
for you though, we’re doing well. Taking things slowly. Her year in the prison
system left a lot of mental scars and I’m just giving her as much love as I
can.”

Strieger
nodded somberly. “It’s much easier to look at the assistants when they are just
a name and a face and you know they are criminals. When you find out they are
real people it’s a lot harder, isn’t it?”

Sighing,
he agreed with her. “Yeah, I always knew that some of them didn’t always
deserve what was happening to them. Others probably do, but how do you tell the
difference?” The general shrugged helplessly.

“Fel
thinks the world of Cyndy. She doesn’t see her as an assistant, either. I hope
you’ve got a long term plan for her though.”

Crineal
shook his head. “Not yet. I think I can get her transferred with me if I’m
moved anywhere but I’m more worried about what happens to her if I don’t make it
back from a patrol one day.”

“If
that happens I’ll do what I can, Sir. Perhaps call Lord Sar’Clax and see if he
can help?” Strieger suggested.

“Thanks,
Major. It helps knowing that someone will be looking out for her.” He gave her
a warm smile. “Now, I need to go and change out of this flight suit. I’ll see
you later.”

His
arrival back at his quarters was greeted by a flying hug and Crineal found his
arms full of Cyndora. “Miss me much?” he asked as he returned her kisses.

“I’m
sorry, Sweetie. I was worried because it was your first patrol since you were hurt.”
She kissed him some more.

“It’s
ok. But I would like to get out of this flight suit,” he laughed.

Cyndora
put her arms around his neck and looked smolderingly at him. “Want some help?”

“Now
that’s just mean. I have to get back on duty and you helping me would delay me,
pleasant as it would be.” Crineal looked into her sparkling eyes and seriously
considered her offer. “Could I take a rain check on that for this evening?”

She
let him go reluctantly. “Maybe, if you hurry home.”

“That’s
all the encouragement I need.” He kissed her again and went to get changed.

Admiral
Ken’Rathel sat at his desk looking at the latest readiness reports from the
strike force when his comm link buzzed and announced that Lord Sar’Clax was
waiting to talk to him. He opened the hyper relay and the First Lord of the
Fleet’s image appeared. “Lord Sar’Clax. Good morning to you, Sir.”

“Morning,
Admiral. How are you doing today?” Sar’Clax inquired.

“Very
well, thank you. Just reviewing some readiness reports,” Ken’Rathel replied.

Sar’Clax
nodded. “Good, I’ve sent out orders to the other strike forces to make a
rendezvous with you. I’m sending you a data package with the details. The fleet
has decided to adopt Operation Coventry. I want General Crineal to implement it
under your guidance. All the information is in the transmission.”

The
admiral nodded his acceptance. “Thank you, My Lord. We’ll get the job done.”

“You
have my fullest confidence, Admiral. Now, don’t let me keep you,” and with that
Sar’Clax broke contact.

Ken’Rathel
was a little surprised that they’d approved the plan after only a week and he’d
expected Aldar’s plan to be the one accepted. But then who knew what went
through the minds at HQ. He’d been studying the file from Sar’Clax for about an
hour when Clandad buzzed him to announce that Captain Aldar would like to see
him. The admiral told him to show the captain in.

“Captain
Aldar. How fortuitous,” Ken’Rathel greeted Aldar as he entered. “I was going to
send for you in a little while. We have the go ahead. HQ has opted for the
general’s plan.”

Aldar
nodded. “It’s a good solid plan. We’ll take casualties, but the rebels will be
hurt more.”

“I
agree. I’ll call a preliminary meeting with you and Crineal to go over it. Now,
what can I do for you?” he asked settling back into his chair.

“It’s
about those transfer requests we submitted. They’ve been approved.”

“Well,
that’s good news. How many of them?” asked Ken’Rathel, looking pleased.

Aldar
gave him a steady look. “All of them.”

The
admiral’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? Every single one?”

“Yes,
Sir, and some of them have been approved with promotions,” the captain replied
with a troubled expression on his dark features.

“Promotions?
For who?” Ken’Rathel was now looking at Aldar incredulously.

Referring
to his data pad, Aldar began to recite a list. “Lt. Commander Gar’Tara has been
promoted to commander. There are promotions to lt. commander for Ineskar,
Purleot, Lythia, and Mangann. There are a few others, but these are people I’ve
had work for me.”

“Gar’Tara
is an idiot! And a thug to boot. How many times did we charge him with abuse of
junior crew members? The others are as bad if not worse. They need to be
mustered out, not promoted! What does Personnel think they’re doing?” The admiral
was incensed. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter as they aren’t our problem
anymore. I pity the ships they are headed to though,” he muttered angrily.

“You
mean ship, Sir. They are all going to the same place. Well, almost all. They’ve
received orders to report to the Devastator or one of its escorts.”

Ken’Rathel’s
eyes narrowed. “The Devastator? They hardly need more problems. Wait…let me
guess where our replacements are coming from: the Devastator,” he groaned.

Nodding,
Captain Aldar confirmed his guess. “Yes, Sir, but the records of the incoming
crews would indicate that we seem to be getting competent, hardworking people.”

“Are
you sure? That doesn’t seem likely.” The admiral looked doubtful.

“As
sure as I can be without seeing them work, Sir. I found it all very odd, too,
which is why I thought I should bring it to your attention.” Aldar seemed to be
as perplexed as he was.

“Thank
you, Captain. Leave it with me and I’ll have a think about it. I’ll see what I
can find out. I smell a rat, which is odd as they all seem to have been
transferred.” Ken’Rathel nodded an informal dismissal to Aldar and sat back to
think as the captain departed. After a few minutes he opened up a hyper relay
link to an old friend on the Strike Carrier Cataclysm. The image of a strong-faced,
silver-haired woman appeared in front of him

“Rath,
to what do I owe this pleasure?” she asked with a delighted smile. “I thought
you’d be seeing me soon enough according to the orders I just received.”

“Hello,
Sybil, I’ve been most remiss in not keeping in contact. How is life treating
you?” he inquired with a warm smile.

Admiral
Sybilene let out a little chuckle. “You know how it goes in charge of a strike
force, too much work, never enough time. So… what are we going to be up to? The
orders I got were very cryptic. Rendezvous with the Annihilator where I’ll fall
under your command.”

“Sorry,
Sybil, can’t tell, much as I’d love to. I’m afraid I have my orders, too,” he
told her regretfully.

The
woman’s image pouted at him. “Spoilsport. I bet I could change your mind over
dinner and some wine, just like old times.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

“I
bet you could,” he chuckled. “I’m not sure that my wife would be too
understanding, though.” Ken’Rathel looked at her affectionately, remembering
the affair they had engaged in before he was married. “Actually, Sybil, I’m
calling on a semi-unofficial matter.”

“Semi-unofficial,
huh? I smell intrigue. What’s up?” she asked, her curiosity stirred.

“I’m
not sure. Have you put in any crew transfer requests recently?”

“Funny
you should ask. I did about a week ago. My flight commander had said she’d
heard a rumor about a big reshuffle.” She raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

“Let
me take a wild stab at this. Your requests have all been approved for your
problem people and the personnel are heading to Devastator. The ones you’re
getting in return all look to be good quality.”

Admiral
Sybilene’s eyes narrowed at him. “How did you know that? What’s going on,
Rath?”

“I
wish I knew, Sybil, but something stinks. Did your flight commander say where
the rumor had come from?”

“No,
she just said she’d got it from a well-placed old friend. You think I should
ask her? Colonel Barazon doesn’t usually dabble in murky stuff.”

Ken’Rathel
sat up straight. “Barazon? She did a tour here on Annihilator. My flight
commander recommended her for a command of her own. That was two years back.”

“You
mean Crineal? If Barazon was any less competent then I’d offer to trade you,
but he does train up some great commanders,” she commented approvingly.

“Crineal
suggested to me that we apply for some rotations based on a rumor he said he’d
heard. That was about a week back, too.” Ken’Rathel looked thoughtful.

 Sybilene
returned his look. “You think they heard the same rumor?”

“Maybe,
maybe not. This feels like a setup but I can’t see who is being set up or why.”
Ken’Rathel shook his head in puzzlement.

“You’re
the noble, Hon. If anyone can smell chicanery going on, you can. You want me to
grill Barazon?” she asked gravely.

“No,
let’s keep this to ourselves for now. If I find out anything that you should
know I’ll get straight on to you. But I will host you for dinner when we
rendezvous. We can catch up properly then.”

Her
smile lit up her face, softening the strong lines, and it brought back to him
why he’d fallen for her all those years ago. “You have a date, Rath, and I promise
I’ll behave. See you soon.” Her image blew him a kiss before the connection
shut down.

Crineal
sat in front of Ken’Rathel. He could tell the admiral was irritated and
wondered what he’d found out.

Following
a few minutes of studying the general silently, Ken’Rathel spoke up. “General,
I’ve known you for three years now. I’ve come to respect your abilities
tremendously and I even like you as a person.” He paused significantly. “I
don’t like it when my senior officers are playing politics behind my back. So
I’m hoping that I can prevail on you to tell me what’s going on with these
transfers you so conveniently suggested.”

“I
don’t understand, Sir. Is there a problem with them?” Crineal inquired with all
the innocence he could muster.

“Apart
from the fact that they’ve all been approved and we seem to have good
replacements? Oh and all of our transfers have gone to the same place. And
we’re not alone. It appears that other strike forces have had similar good
fortune. Apparently they all heard the same rumor and acted on it.” He gave
Crineal a hard stare. “Now, I don’t want to bemoan the fact that we’ve improved
the quality of our crew, but I would like to know why.”

Crineal
sat looking at the admiral for a moment. “Sir, I have the deepest respect for you
and your integrity. You’re one of the best commanders I have worked for and I
hope you know that I would never want to put you in a position that would
damage your reputation.” He took a deep breath. “I would therefore ask that you
trust me when I say that I only have the best interests of the fleet and the
Emperor at heart.”

Silence
filled the admiral’s office for a long minute. “Is it that bad, Crin?” Ken’Rathel
asked softly.

Crineal
nodded slowly. “I would not want this on your conscience, Admiral. I respect
you too much for that.”

The
two men sat staring at each other before Ken’Rathel broke the silence again.
“All right, you’ve done enough to earn my trust, Crin. I’ll drop this for now.
But I expect you to tell me if anything goes wrong that would endanger our
people.”