The shuttle had a data and news feed from Athena and Luke scanned the news, alerts and warnings about services being restored, or routes being closed for repair. Besides Gray and Musashi, the rest of Luke's droids were still aboard Athena, helping with the repairs and recovery. Things looked bad, and the Caliphate had done plenty of damage, but it wouldn't get worse thanks to New Alamo. He had heard talk of moving the Breadloaf to the Sol side to guard the wormhole, or at least moving it closer to the Josaka wormhole where it could inflict severe damage on anything coming through.
New Alamo was sparing no resource to help Athena and there was a steady stream of help and supplies coming into Athena from New Alamo.
The shuttle didn't land in a bay, instead it latched onto an airlock not far from the space port. Luke relaxed since you couldn't fit that many people into an airlock reception area. There was no gravity either.
When the hatch slid open, an honor guard of Jupiter Alliance Marines slammed to attention saluting with their weapons, the slap of palm on rifle a single sound. The floor was red and Luke recognized Admiral Wyatt at the other end. There was no gravity in this section but all the surfaces were covered with velcro so people weren't floating around. A quick glance showed the honor guard was professional enough not to hit their weapon so hard they lost contact with the floor.
But there were no crowds. Luke glanced at the troops lining the wall, such a waste. Stepping in, Luke saluted the Athena emblem, some warrior maid praying with a sword in a circle. Then he turned to walk down the corridor, the crush-rip the only sound in the corridor. Luke tried to hide his smile when he saw Leonessa standing nearby, just out of sight of the hatch. He had to keep the bounce out of his step and the smile off his face, but he could feel them there. She was dressed in a sharp looking orange and brown Jupiter Alliance uniform. Luke didn't recognize most of her medals. She smiled at him and Luke smiled back. Even Carmichael, Burke, Bebchuck and the Doc were there, which made Luke feel a little better. There were more faces he recognized than ones he didn't.
"Welcome aboard Admiral," Admiral Wyatt said stepping forward and shaking Luke's hand. Always an exciting exercise in zero gee where one could be an asshole and pull the other person off the velcro and send them floating away. Luke was tempted, but he didn't know the Admiral well enough to want to embarrass him.
"Thank you," Luke said taking the Admiral's hand, wondering how long he would have to play the dog and pony show. Luke's orders had been to take his team and proceed to Athena and work with Admiral Wyatt and Jupiter Alliance Intelligence to understand the Conglomerate. JAI and Athenian Intelligence had been given plenty of material about the Conglomerate from New Alamo archives but it was different to have someone present who was familiar with Conglomerate politics and procedures, to help them understand what had happened to Leonessa and her crew. It would also help provide reports for senior leadership and help them transition into dealing with the Conglomerate.
Even Chief Executive Allison Perro appeared from behind Wyatt and after shaking his hand she disappeared. It was an honor for her to meet him here, but it was obvious to Luke she had more important things to worry about than some war hero.
"Congratulations on your promotion Admiral," Admiral Wyatt said with a smile that seemed genuine. Luke didn't trust it though. Admirals were more political animals than combat creatures. Luke bit his lip. Dammit. He was an admiral now.
"Thank you," Luke said, glancing at Leonessa.
"How does that work?" the Admiral asked. "Admiral, commander, captain, colonel? Why not just one?"
Luke smiled and relaxed.
"New Alamo does it for several reasons," Luke said. "It gives people goals to strive for. It is an indication of knowledge and seniority. You wouldn't want a starship captain thinking he could lead a squad, or a platoon of Marines in an assault. The rank provides a measurable level of skill and trust."
The Admiral nodded like he already knew and Luke suspected the Admiral was being political and making small talk.
"A mercenary commander is the equivalent of what?" the Admiral asked.
"Maybe an admiral," Luke said. "Mercenary Commanders have a small fleet. There are four officer ranks in the New Alamo mercenary officer corps. Lieutenant, Major, Captain and Commander. Not as expansive as fleet or ground forces, but then we aren't a major branch and our formations are much smaller. Our Fleet and Marine formations use traditional old American rank structures. The mercenary ranks correspond with the Conglomerate ranks. They have Shoka, which is senior, followed by Shoku and Shoka-ta. Each has specific legal rights and authority in Conglomerate space. We may use fleet ranks, such as Lieutenant Commander or Commander, but they are alway subordinate to the senior mercenary."
The Admiral nodded.
"You are a colonel in the New Alamo Marines?" he asked.
Luke nodded, "I'm rated to command a brigade, or regiment, although on average my ship carries a battalion."
"Interesting," the admiral said. "Is most of your experience staff or combat?"
"Very little staff experience Admiral," Luke said trying not to wince. Staff? Being a staff officer would have landed him in jail. "Almost all of my experience is combat related."
"Call me Mike," Admiral Wyatt said with a smile. "Otherwise we will end up admiraling each other to death."
"Thank you, Mike," Luke said. "I go by Luke."
Admiral Wyatt nodded.
"We have quarters for you in Aeaea," the Admiral said, the name rolling off his tongue. "Which is where the Athena military headquarters are, if you will follow me?"
Luke nodded as the Admiral headed off deeper into the colony. Leonessa fell in besides Luke.
"How are you doing?" Luke asked.
Leonessa nodded, she seemed distracted.
"Doing well Admiral, you?" she said. Luke tried to catch her eye, but she didn't seem to be here.
Luke slowed down and looked at her. Admiral? Why so formal? When he realized he was slowing down those behind him he sped up again.
"Better," Luke said.
"Tell her you missed her meat sack," Musashi sent.
"Hell no!" Luke transmitted back.
"The Commander was telling me how much he was looking forward to working with you again," Musashi said from behind Luke. The ghost of a smile played across Leonessa's lips as she glanced back at the droid.
"Really?" she said.
"I'm going to kick your ass metal head," Luke transmitted but gave Leonessa a smile.
"I think he told Admiral Harrison he wouldn't take the posting unless he got to work with you," Musashi said.
"Will you shut up?" Luke said to Musashi out loud, getting annoyed but Leonessa's smile took the sting out of it.
"Hah!" Musashi transmitted.
"Are they grilling you bad?" Luke asked and Leonessa nodded.
"I've never had to deal with spooks that were so damned tenacious," she said. "They won't leave me alone and I've run out of words trying to describe things, so they drag me into a Virtual Reality and tell me to build things, same with the rest of the crew. It is like they want us to rebuild Bizzen and everything that occurred there, including the patrol transport, the aliens, everything. Every single minute of every day, non-stop. I'm not dealing with just a few officers I'm dealing with about twenty."
"Well," Luke said. "I have good news that might get them to give you a break."
Leonessa looked at Luke hopefully.
"Turns out I have a copy of the data from your suits," Luke said. "Helmet cam footage, conversations, everything. Nelson backed everything up to the Leonis Ultio data stores and he placed a copy of the data stores aboard our pod."
"Bless him," Leonessa said and Luke could see how relieved she was since a lot of the data would have been overwritten by more recent events.
"Maybe we could dump that on them and get you a couple days respite, maybe you could show me around this place while the spooks drool all over themselves?" Luke said.
"You're my hero," Leon
essa said and Luke tried not to scowl at that. His opposition to hero worship was becoming ingrained.
A tram was waiting for them but he didn't get to sit next to Leonessa and had to put up with polite questions from Wyatt and his chief of staff.
CHAPTER NINE
Sight-Seeing
Luke's quarters in the Aeaea habitat were luxurious, five stars in fact, and the personnel officer refused to give him more modest ones, something about being an admiral and a hero. There were still homeless people wandering the habitats, and while they had food, a place to sleep and basic facilities, many of them had to live in large chambers with hundreds of others. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses were wrecked. Staring at the walls Luke didn't even want to turn on any of the 'entertainment'. It would be a reminder of what he had, and they didn't.
It was almost dinner time when the door chimed announcing Leonessa and Brita.
"Come in," Musashi said before Luke could.
The door slid open and Leonessa stood there smiling. She was wearing the normal clothes, a skintight blue jumpsuit with extra short sleeves, just past the shoulder and the knees. A pair of blue slippers completed her outfit and Luke tried not to stare. Leonessa was beautiful, but out of uniform she didn't look like Luke had expected. It only made the gap between them greater and more daunting. In uniform, they had something in common. She was way out of his league and there was no mistaking how much of a woman she was. He looked at her and saw what an out of date ancient he was. There could be no doubt now that her perceived interest in him had been a stupid mistake on his part.
Brita was wearing less, just a thin dark blue matching sports bra and some skintight shorts that might have been painted on. Any less and she would be nude. Luke just had a pair of plain loose black shorts, a plain red, short sleeve shirt and slippers. The climate control for the Aeaea habitat was working fine so space station clothing was in effect. Some people went around nude or wearing nothing more than underwear but that was too little for Luke to feel comfortable. Practical clothing was light clothing that protected knees and elbows, and maybe had pockets.
Glancing at Brita, Luke was glad she had dressed up. She had no taboos about going around naked on-board station and she had nothing to hide. Luke was sure he would not be able to talk in complete sentences had she shown up nude.
Luke was sure he would never get used to nudity. Ever.
"Ready?" Brita said leading the way in and looking around. "Nice."
"Thank you," Luke said. "I'm ready. Where are we going?"
"Amanda and Jeremy won't be able to make it," Brita said peeking into the bedroom. "Charming. Room enough for two or three in that bed."
Luke stood there frozen, his mind going in too many directions as he tried to think of a response.
"Amanda and Jeremy had promised to spend time with her father," Brita said walking over toward the kitchen area as Leonessa stood by the door. "I think they are all spending time in medical helping, not anything fun."
Luke nodded. Amanda's father was a doctor and was always busy. Luke didn't mind letting Amanda and Jeremy help, it wasn't like he had a lot for them to do, and it was good public relations.
"There's a decent restaurant not far from here," Leonessa said. "The White Dwarf is where a lot of officers eat during off hours. It is more popular with Marine officers."
"Sounds good," Luke said, feeling naked without a weapon, armor or at the least, full length pants and boots. Musashi and Gray would stay in the room, leaving him without close friends.
"Marines," Brita said with a grin. "My type of people."
"Thank you for that data," Leonessa said to Luke. "The Intel Colonel said it would take them several days, even with Captain Walt reviewing and scrubbing certain sections."
Luke raised an eyebrow.
"The Colonel was pissed at first since he thinks the data belongs to Athena, but he mellowed a little when Captain Walt promised to include some of your data feeds and information," Leonessa said.
"Great," Luke said wondering how he could avoid it. "The Colonel will probably try to contact me to complain."
"He already tried," Brita said looking in the refrigerator. Luke wasn't sure if he should tell her to stop investigating his apartment or ignore it. What was the protocol?
Luke locked his eyes on Brita wondering why she hadn't sent it to him. She was acting as his XO and acted as a social buffer.
"I told him you would discuss it with Captain Walt," Brita said opening a drawer in the refrigerator. "Fresh vegetables? Yummy."
"You didn't tell me anything," Luke said.
"Sorry," Brita said without sincerity. "Must have forgot. I'll tell you later."
She didn't seem sorry at all as she pulled a carrot out of the crisper.
"You don't think I need to know about such conflicts?" Luke asked, glad he hadn't, but feeling uncomfortable about it.
"No Admiral," Brita said taking a bite. "The Captain is following New Alamo protocol. He knows what he is doing, and he is bending over backwards to accommodate the Colonel and his coven."
Luke shook his head, not sure if he should be angry or relieved. Watching his executive officer standing in his kitchen, eating one of his carrots wearing clothes that would have earned her the death sentence in a Sharia court on Earth was surreal.
"Let's get something better to eat," Brita said and pointed Luke's carrot at the door. "I'm getting hungry for real food, not this hamster stuff."
Leonessa led the way and Brita walked beside her, there wasn't room for three people to walk abreast so Luke followed along, feeling guilty and trying not to enjoy the view of the two beautiful ladies walking in front of him.
"You like Marines?" Leonessa asked.
"I hold the rank of Major in the New Alamo Special Operations command. I was a platoon commander back when I was active. Before I became an officer, I fought the Caliphate on Mars in the Jupiter Alliance Marine Corps, I was with the twenty second Commando."
"You fought on Mars?" Leonessa asked, stopping to stare at Brita.
"Not for long," Brita said. "I was there for the final defense of Olympus Mons. My platoon was one of the first evacuated. At the time, I was just a team leader."
"Wow," Leonessa said and then glanced back at me. Luke wondered what she was thinking. Did she think of him as an old man? Too old for her maybe?
"How about you?" Brita asked. "Didn't you say once you served in the JA Marines?"
Leonessa nodded. "For eight years," she said and her voice dropped a notch, Luke suspected it was bad memories. "I was with the fifteenth Commando's before I transferred to fleet. We were active."
Brita nodded. Even Luke knew 'active' meant lots of fighting and casualties.
"The Admiral was a United States Marine Lieutenant back on Earth, fought in some of the ground wars there," Brita said. Leonessa glanced back at Luke, and Luke tried to act like he hadn't heard, staring up at the neat rows of buildings on the ceiling above them. Damn that made him sound so old. Neither Brita nor Leonessa had ever been to Earth.
Luke listened with half an ear as the two women chatted. It gave him a chance to look around. Space stations and habitats were always fascinating to Luke, how people lived and worked. There didn't seem to be many people about, but he saw them. Above him, off to the side there appeared to be a couple kids a ball game on the Luke's ceiling, their floor. On another part of the ceiling, almost the wall he saw people strolling through a park. His senses told him they should be falling. A thin cylinder running down the center of the habitat in zero gravity acted as water storage and Luke knew it would spray water to keep the air moist and to water plants and wash away any dust that would accumulate.
The ladies had a lot in common with their time in the Jupiter Marines, even though they had been many years apart. Both attended the same boot camp facility in Atlantia and they had both gone to the same NCO school, none of which sounded familiar to Luke.
"Where did you go to NCO school?" Brita asked Luke.
>
Luke shook his head, "I didn't. I went to college and joined the Marines as an officer. I went to the Basics School in Quantico Virginia."
"Wow," Brita said. "You are an old man."
Luke tried not to scowl.
"Think of all the experience you have," Brita continued and nudged Leonessa. Luke hoped he wasn't blushing as her meaning became clear.
The Aeaea habitat was a large cylinder, ten kilometers long and about a kilometer in diameter. Most of the interior surface was parks and squat buildings and Luke knew there were about five levels beneath the surface that provided gravity. The visiting officer quarters were in one of them. The center of the cylinder was occupied by a structure stretching from one end to other that contained bright lights and water tanks that would shoot water out to vegetation while moisturizing the air. Luke always found it fascinating because he could look out across the habitat and see people walking above him on the ceiling. Going about their lives, above or to the side of him. He kept thinking they should fall or something. Even after fifty years of living on space colonies, it didn't feel natural. Perhaps it never would. The rotation wasn't obvious. In fact, it looked like the cylinder in the center was spinning.
This part of the habitat was spotless and had not seen combat. There weren't many people around and to Luke it felt like it was early morning or the place felt deserted.
When they reached the White Dwarf, it was deserted and Leonessa took them to a table in the back. There was some soft music playing in the background and everything was glistening and white.
"Usually this quiet?" Brita asked looking around and spent too much time watching a young man as he walked out.
Leonessa shook her head. "Most people are pulling double shifts," she said looking a little guilty. "Just not many people off duty. Everyone is over in Neritum habitat which is where most of the fighting was."
Luke and Brita nodded. There was another pair of officers on the other side of the restaurant eating. They both looked tired and were concentrating on their food.
The Darkness: The Conglomerate Trilogy (Volume 2) Page 7