"Warrant 1st Class Dialene Romanov, the purpose of this hearing is to inform you of this board's findings in the matter of your using one type five assault shuttle in an unspecified manner. Before we begin, do you have any statements you wish the board to consider?"
"Yes Sirs, I felt at the time, and I still feel now, that the cost of the shuttle, as well as the possible risk to my own life was far outweighed by the lives of my fellow troopers, and the mission objectives."
"I see," said the man sitting in the center chair. The name plate said Smith. "Which motivated you more Miss Romanov, the mission, or the loss of life?"
"Well Sir," I sighed, "The mission was important, but it was their lives that motivated me the most."
"Quite a risk to take, isn't it? For someone not born and bred to this company." Asked another male human. His plate said Hastings.
"Well Sir, I don't quite see it that way."
"How do you see it?"
"Permission to speak freely Sir?"
"Granted."
"Sir, I come from a company that I know people here don't like. Because of that I know I'm viewed by many with a certain amount of suspicion. But to tell the truth I have no love for the company that spawned me. The treatment I received there was that of a slave, and not a valued slave either. Yet here I have been treated fairly, always, even at the mines, a job that is considered punishment, I was treated well and fairly." I started off slowly, but picked up speed as my confidence grew in what I was saying.
"At my subsequent positions again, I have been treated fairly, and rewarded when I earned it. This company, my co-workers, my superiors, have all accepted me, become my friends, my family. In all honesty I would rather work back in the mines then go back to my old company. Even there the treatment was far and away better. This is my company now, you are the people I want to work for, and my co-workers are my friends. And if I found myself in the same situation tomorrow, I would do the same again, even if you fine me the full amount of the shuttle."
"No regrets then?" Asked Smith again.
I smiled, "No Sir! I know I made the right choice. If I have to pay for it, I will."
He smiled back. "Your Captain told us you'd say that."
I nodded.
"You may also wish to know that the entire company of Hawk block informed us via their Captain that if you were fined, that they would voluntarily take the burden."
I must have looked shocked, "Excuse me Sir?" I gasped.
He nodded, "You saved a lot of lives, they owe you and wanted to make sure we understood that.
"Anyway Miss Romanov, I'll make this brief and ease your mind. We all feel that you made the right decision as well. A shuttle isn't worth more than the lives of our people, and we are all rather impressed by your actions. You've made it clear where your sympathies lie and how you feel about your friends and co-workers. In this company those sentiments are important and we like to encourage them. We consider ourselves a family and we have to admit that you are definitely a member."
"So I don't have to pay for the shuttle?" I said with a sigh of relief.
"No, you don't. We're also authorizing you a bonus to cover the cost of your gear that was destroyed in the crash. We'd give you more, but we can see in your file that you've already been rewarded for your actions by the company."
I nodded.
"Well, Good Luck Dialene, again, we're happy to have you as part of the company. Dismissed!"
I saluted and left the room, smiling quite happily. I ran into Ron as I walked down the hall.
"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" He smiled.
"You knew, didn't you?" I grinned.
"Yup, they told me last night. But I couldn't tell you, they wanted the pleasure of that. They don't get to give out such nice surprises very often."
"So what's gonna happen to you now hon?"
"I honestly don't know. Commanding the Hawk was quite a privilege, I don't think I want to go back to only being the first officer again. But I don't think they've got any billets open for Captains on any of the regular deep space ships. Well nothing bigger then the packet ships."
"Why not come back to Hobson with me? Meet the family," I grinned, "stay awhile."
He stopped and turned to look at me. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Welllll, this vixen isn't exactly ready to be a one tod girl yet. However I'm not looking to live up to the more extreme limits of my reputation anymore." I leaned over and kissed him. "Who knows, maybe you can get me to change my ways."
"Now that is a worthy challenge!" He snickered giving me a swat on the rump and chasing me down the corridor as I squealed.
So now I'm back with my adopted family on Hobson. Sabre and Samantha have already had one kid, and another I suspect isn't too far away. Kind of weird that whole bit. Cam and I still occasionally get together, but mostly it's just Ron these days. He's stayed on this long, and I have to admit I don't want him to leave. I'm working as Sam's pilot and driver again and Ron's been working as her executive assistant of all things! Seems he got in an argument with Sabre over me or something and read him the riot act. I guess Sabre and Sam figured anyone with that much spunk would be good for the job, supposedly too many of the previous assistants would panic when Sabre growled. Ron just gets in his face and growls back, Sam thinks it's because of his experience commanding a warship. Sabre claims it's his experience 'taming' me. I kicked him in the shins for that one!
Anyway, although it's a bit of a jump for Ron, dealing with company operations for a planet instead of just on a ship, Sam tells me he's pretty damn good. But he has confided in me that he misses being able to blast problems out of existence sometimes.
It's funny how things in my life have changed. I even ran into one of the two crewmen who saved me back in my damaged shuttle. He was rather happy to see that I had done okay. I was surprised to find out that they had worried about me! Can you believe that? One minute I had been trying to kill them, and not only did they save my life the next, but they were concerned about what would happen to me!
Sometimes when it's late at night and Ron's not around I wish Neal was alive and with me. I miss him still, probably always will. But I'm not fool enough to feel sorry for myself. I'm alive, I've got a family now, good friends, and Ron, who loves me. And I honestly think I do love him more than I did Neal.
I wonder what he'll say tonight when I tell him I'm pregnant with his cub?
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