Crineal Chronicles 1: In Hera's Service (35 page)

She
eyed him nervously. “Can I help you, Sir?”

Crineal
smiled at her reassuringly. “I hope so. My name is General Crineal and I’m
looking for a gift for my recreation assistant.” The look of disgust that
crossed her face told him that she knew exactly what a recreation assistant
was. “Her name is Cyndora and I thought she might like some perfume. Perhaps
you can help me find something appropriate?”

Anddav
tried her best to look helpful, although Crineal could tell she just wanted him
to go away. “Well, Sir, what kind of scents do you like?”

He
shook his head. “No, you misunderstand. I want something that she would like.
Perhaps if I described her to you?” Anddav’s face took on a puzzled look, not
understanding how this was supposed to help her, as Crineal continued. “She’s
about my height with long, chestnut-red hair, green eyes, freckles, pale
complexion, slightly long face.” He watched as the woman paled, recognizing his
description, and for a moment he thought she might faint. “I care for her very
much and wanted to get her something she would like, if you understand?”

Thankfully,
Anddav was quick on the uptake. Prisoners weren’t allowed to visit or contact
their families in any form nor ask others to do so on their behalf. Crineal
hadn’t even mentioned this part of his visit to Cyndora and had quietly made inquiries
from his office about her sister and where she worked.

“I
see, Sir,” she replied a little unsteadily. “And do you like her a lot? So I
can see how much you might like to spend?”

Crineal
understood the implied question. “I like her more than I can say. I know she
misses her family very much and I wanted to get her a reminder of home.” He
could see tears forming in Anddav’s eyes.

“I
know her family misses her too, Sir,” she said with a little catch in her
voice. “Her mother would be so pleased to hear news.”

Crineal
nodded. “She’s very precious to me and I want to take good care of her. So what
would you suggest to show her my feelings?”

Anddav
gathered herself for a moment and then went to a display counter at the end of
her little island before coming back with a bottle containing a golden liquid
labeled ‘Ashinara’. “This is very popular, Sir.”

Crineal
took the bottle and nodded to her arm. “May I?” She hesitated a second before
holding out her hand. He sprayed a little onto her wrist and then bent his head
to test the fragrance. “Perfect. I think she’ll love it. I’ll take a large
bottle, please. Do you do gift wrap and cards?”

Anddav
was still fighting back tears. “Yes, Sir.” He watched as she crouched to find
the paper and card from underneath the counter and to take the time to wipe her
tears away. Having composed herself she rose with a selection of both paper and
cards for him to choose from whilst she fetched a bottle of the perfume. “Will
this do, Sir?” Anddav asked as she returned with a box of the scent.

“Ideal,”
he said glancing at the box. “I’ll take this paper and this card. I’d like the
card to go inside the wrapping if that’s ok?” Anddav looked puzzled, but nodded
and found a pen for him to write out the card. He pushed both the pen and card
back to her. “Perhaps you could write something appropriate? I’ve always been
bad with words,” he said gently.

She
looked at him in disbelief of what he was offering and then bent to write on
the card whilst casting nervous glances around. Once she was done she took the
card and wrapped it up with the box of scent before offering the register
screen for Crineal to authorize payment. He approved the transaction and smiled
at Cyndora’s sister. “Thank you, Miss. You’ve been most helpful. You might want
to keep an eye out for me on the news. Maybe you’ll see me with Cyndora.” He
took one of the spare cards and wrote his name on it. “Just so you remember who
I am.”

“My
mother and I will do that, Sir. We won’t forget your name.” Crineal nodded to
her and turned away. Anddav watched him leave with tears running down her
cheeks.

It
was almost midnight ship time when Crineal returned to his cabin. Cyndora was
still awake and bounded up to give him a kiss and a hug.

“Did
your visit to your parents go well?” she asked with concern.

“Yes,”
he nodded. “It was very settling. And I got you a present.” He held up a bag
with the IGO logo on it.

“Oh,
Crin, you shouldn’t have. What is it?” Cyndora said taking the bag with a
pleased smile. She sniffed. “Perfume?”

“Sit
down and open it.”

She
sat on the sofa and Crineal eased down next to her. She took the gift wrapped
box and tore off the top of the wrapping her eyes lit up with delight.
“Ashinara! How did you know this was my favorite?”

“The
sales assistant was a very helpful young lady. There should be a card in there,
too.” He gently took the box from her hand as she pulled the card from the
wrapping and read it. ‘To Cyndora, I love you very much. Andy’. Her hand went
to her mouth and she looked at Crineal, realizing the risk he had taken for
her.

“Is
she well?” Cyndora asked with a sob.

Crineal
nodded. “She was very helpful at finding just the right gift once I explained
who it was for.”

Cyndora
threw her arms around him in a flood of tears. “Thank you, Crin. I couldn’t
have asked for a better present.” Crineal held her as she wept. Finally,
Cyndora quieted and sat back looking at the precious card.

“Better
put it somewhere safe, Love. Don’t want it to get damaged on our travels.” He
reached out and wiped away the tears with his thumb. She smiled at him with all
of her love, knowing that their future was together.

A
silver-haired man sat at a desk in a luxurious office. Everything from the fine
décor, to the genuine wood shelves and the antique books that filled them
screamed wealth and power. He studied a series of reports on the holo screens
in front of him in grim silence. The documents came direct from Space Corps HQ
and detailed the attack on the rebel base at Larahope. The carnage wrought on
the rebel forces as described therein was nothing short of appalling and he
found very little in any of the individual reports to offer him much cheer. The
awful reality appeared to be that the base was a total loss and the mobile
forces had been completely wiped out. Scrolling through a few more pages the
expression on his face became more troubled at some of the details missing from
the reports, particularly those concerned with any intelligence finds. Finally
he shut the screens off and sat staring into space, wondering how such a major
attack had taken place without him hearing anything of it beforehand. In the
past his sources had always managed to give him a heads up and avert total
disaster. This time they had failed and the results had been catastrophic. His
mind had picked out a few relevant pieces of information though, Lord Sar’Clax
and General Crineal seemed to be deeply involved in what had happened and
between them they had bypassed the usual channels of information and Space
Corps general staff. The silver-haired man found himself tapping a finger in
irritation on the surface of his exquisitely polished desk as he wondered what
else was being kept from him. At last he opened up a new screen and typed out a
message naming a time and date for a meeting. He added the four recipient’s
code names to the message before running it through an encryption program and
sending it off via a secure channel; a channel so secure that it would have
made the officers in fleet intelligence blink had they known of it. With that
done he shut the screen down to leave empty air in front of him once more. The
others weren’t going to be happy about this series of events and someone was
going to pay for it, he thought. Two names sprang to mind immediately and he
fervently hoped that they could find a way to get to them.

Walking
down the white coated corridor towards the recreation dorm gave Cyndora an odd
feeling. It had been just three months since she had first arrived on board the
Annihilator as a new recreation assistant with a twenty five year tour of duty
stretching in front of her. An eternity of virtual slavery and degradation had
been waiting to fill Cyndora’s’ days. The ship back then had looked like a
prison to her. And then a miracle had happened. Cyndora remembered the panic
she had felt as they had marched her out of the rec area to be assigned to a
general, the feelings of dread building inside her as she awaited his arrival
fearfully, followed by her shock at finding out that the general was in fact an
old friend.

Their
first week together had been stormy but soon they were deeply in love. Now the
Annihilator felt a little bit like home and here she was going to the rec dorm
for a visit with her friends before leaving with Crineal for a visit to the
imperial capital. It would be the last time she saw them for a few weeks so she
was determined to make the most of it. Cyndora patted her bulging purse as she
entered a corridor with a green stripe on the wall indicating the recreation
section and headed to the standards dormitory. She’d left Crineal making the
last arrangements for the transfer of his duties whilst they were away from the
ship. As he was the Annihilators flight group commander this meant a lot of
work that needed to be delegated and he had been tapping away at his data pad
furiously when she stepped out of their quarters, leaving him to work in peace.
Finally Cyndora arrived at the dorm and immediately spotted one of her friends,
Xianing. The tall oriental looking woman waved at her as she entered, a smile
lifting her rosebud lips.

“Hey
Cyndy. I hear you’re going travelling?” Xianing said as she hugged the redhead.

Cyndora
laughed as she hugged the taller woman in return. “I see the rumor mill still
works fast. We leave tomorrow for a few weeks so I thought I’d come and say
goodbye to you all.”

Xianing
stepped back to look down at her friend. Being a galactic gave her a good six
inches height advantage over the Earth born Cyndora.

“No
one can believe that a rec assistant is actually leaving the ship for a trip.
It’s never happened before that anyone can remember. Everyone here is excited
for you and wondering if others might get the same chance.” Xianing grinned
infectiously. “It’s like we have a little hope again. Plus the regular crew is
treating us all much better.” She gave Cyndora a little kiss on the lips “And
we have you and the general to thank for it.”

The
redhead blushed a little. “Awww, it’s mostly the general but thank you Xian.”
She looked around the dorm. “Are Jay and Marsh here?”

The
oriental looking woman shook her head, her long black hair billowing behind her
“No, they are on duty at the moment, but their shift is due to finish in a
few.” The pair moved to Xianing’s’ bed and sat down.

“Oh
I brought you some more of that lipstick you like. To keep you going whilst I’m
away.” Cyndora reached into her purse and tugged out two small tubes along with
a couple of chocolate bars. “And I thought you might like these too,” she said
with a grin at her friend.

Xianing
grinned back at her. “If only you knew what I would have done for chocolate and
lipstick a few months ago. You’re spoiling me you know, unless you’re trying to
buy my services?” she teased, arching her back and puckering her lips
suggestively.

“XIAN!”
exclaimed Cyndora blushing furiously.

Her
friend gave out a little trilling laugh. “I’m messing with you Cyndy.” Then she
smiled wickedly at Cyndora “I’m always willing to make you happy for free my
shenou.” Xianing had told her that ‘shenou’ was a term of endearment from her
planet that roughly meant ‘little one’. Cyndora blushed some more as she was
well aware that her friend was naturally bi-sexual even though she was fairly
sure that Xianing only saw her as a good friend. “You’re so cute when you
blush.” Xianing threw her head back and laughed again.

Cyndora
was saved from further embarrassment by a shout from the far end of the dorm.
“Girlfriend!” Jaydea ran across the room to give the redhead a hug. She took a
look at her friends’ bright scarlet face. “Has Xian been teasing you again?”
The moon faced woman gave Jaydea her best innocent expression as the dusky
skinned Marshalla ambled up behind Jaydea.

“Hey
Cyndy. How’s it goin’?” Marshalla asked giving Xianing a mock stern glare.

“I’m
good thanks Marsh. Just came to say goodbye before my trip.” Cyndora said
smiling up at Marshalla.

“Yeah,
wow, we heard about that. You’re really going to see the emperor?” Jaydea asked
with a wide eyed look of amazement.

Cyndora
laughed. “No, I’m just travelling with Crin. I don’t think I’ll ever be meeting
the emperor. I can see the news casts now ‘Recreation assistant meets with his
Imperial Majesty. Palace is now being fumigated following the audience’. ” She
shook her head wryly and the other three laughed at her self-deprecating
expression. Recreation assistants were hardly considered members of polite
society.

Her
fellow Earther grinned at her. “I guess not. Still, you are getting away from
here and that’s just awesome. I’m so excited for you.”

“I’m
excited too. And I get to spend some nice snuggle time with Crin.” The four
women giggled conspiratorially. “Oh, and I brought you a few goodies for you as
well.” Xianing blew her a little kiss as she gave Jaydea and Marshalla the
makeup pieces and chocolate that she had brought for them. Jaydea and Marshalla
hugged her in thanks.

“Gonna
be weird travelling dressed in uniform I bet.” Marshalla nodded at the very
short white toga dress that all assistants wore.

“You
really think Crin would let me travel like this?” Cyndora chuckled as she
indicated her short toga dress with a wave of her hand. “I’ve been shopping and
have a suitcase full of travelling clothes.” Actually over half of their
luggage space contained her new outfits. She had tried to pack a minimum for
herself but Crineal insisted that she make sure she had plenty of choice and in
the end Cyndora spent more than a few hours at the replicator picking out
clothes for the trip.

Jaydea
pouted at her. “Now I’m jealous. I wish we could have some proper clothes to
wear. Even just for around the dorm would be nice.”

Cyndora
nodded in sympathy with her friend. “Yeah, although I have to admit that I only
wear shorts and a sleeveless top when I’m in our quarters. Anything heavier is
just uncomfortable.” Being on board a space ship meant that the usual concerns
about local climate didn’t apply to clothing considerations. The temperature
was maintained at a constant level.

“I
guess.” Jaydea replied thoughtfully. “But the choice would be nice. So how long
are you going to be away?”

“Crin
says the trip there will take nine days and we’re booked in at a hotel for a
week in Caradon City near to the palace and then I guess about the same time
back. It kinda depends on where we’ll have to meet back up with the
Annihilator.”

“Wow,
a whole month on vacation. Unbelievable.” Jaydea shook her head.

Cyndora
tried her best to look wounded. “Excuse me! It’s not a vacation. I’ll still be
working hard as an assistant and seeing to the generals’ comfort and pleasure.
Oh the shameful things I’ll be subjected to just to satisfy his sordid whims,”
she wailed plaintively. Her three friends broke out in gales of laughter and
Cyndora was unable to maintain her pose.

“Poor
you.” Xianing smiled. “All those long nights of having to share his bed and
being oh so dreadfully used. How will you cope?”

They
all knew how Crineal and Cyndora felt about each other and kept the secret to
themselves. Cyndora was pretty certain that Colonel Strieger and probably 1
^st
Lieutenant Feldea knew too. But they seemed to be keeping it quiet as well. The
truth was that although Cyndora and Crineal shared the same bed and were very
much in love they still hadn’t fully consummated their relationship despite
lots of very heavy petting. Crineal was extremely conscious of her feelings and
was allowing her time to mentally heal. The next step would be all her choice
whenever she felt ready. His tenderness towards her just made Cyndora love him
all the more. The four assistants spent the next few hours chatting and
giggling together before Cyndora hugged and kissed them all goodbye, promising
to send them a holo-card from the capital. Then she made her way back to the
cabin she shared with Crineal.