by C. R. Daems
Kollar’s remarks seemed to easy the tension and everyone started talking at once.
* * * *
Three hours later quarters had been arranged for everyone, some in hotels, others in private homes, and the Wasps at the army garrison. They assigned me a room at Tamerland’s Navy Intelligence facility along with Commander Wang and her remaining staff. Three of her people had been killed and two wounded when level two had been hit by two missiles.
I assumed the navy thought that would create the fewest problems. At the hotels, I would be exposed to the public with unpredictable consequences, and they doubted they could find a private resident to take me. Although I wouldn’t have minded, the garrison didn’t appear appropriate.
Wang gave me a personal tour or the facility in spite of Lieutenant Commander Prudet’s protest. She clearly objected to a Riss-human having access to sensitive information.
“Another one of your kind is being returned to Saipha, Reese,” Prudet said with a sneer.
“Who?”
“Alena from the Kestrel. Five down, five to go.” Prudet spit the words out. I ignored her and turned to Wang.
“Commander, will you allow me to contact Lieutenant Alena?”
“No!” Prudet said.
“Yes, Reese. You can use our facilities to contact her and to get her reply. I authorize it, Prudet, although it isn’t necessary. Lieutenant Reese could demand it under her contract and insist on an SAS inquiry if you denied it,” Wang said.
I used the Intelligence unit’s message center with their priority codes.
Several hours later, Alena replied that she was tired of the abuse she’d been getting from the officers and enlisted personell. She’d been raped recently and no action had been taken to investigate the incident.
I sent a reply, asking if she intended to return the Riss. She indicated, Quiet night under the moon, would be her companion for the rest of her life. I convinced her to stay on for her Riss-sisters. I suggested she tell the Captain she insisted on an SAS injury into her rape and his failure to take action. That wouldn’t undo what had happened, but I suspected it would reduce the abuse she’d being enduring.
Eight hours later, Alena informed me the rapist had been caught and sentenced to a dishonorable discharge and ten years at the SAS penal colony. In addition, she’d noticed an immediate change in the Captain and crew attitudes. She’d decided to stay for the Riss’ sake.
I didn’t like using our contract’s right to demand an SAS injury, but it had proved necessary. To some extent it helped to offset the prejudice the tattoo caused.
“Well, are you satisfied you forced my Intelligence unit to cater to your whims?” Prudet said, when I left the message room. I felt exhausted and in no mood for her nonsense.
“Yes, ma’am. It helped stop bigots from abusing an innocent woman for no other reason than their ignorance.”
“How dare you insinuate I’m ignorant! I’ll have you up on report.”
“Commander Prudet, I merely answered your question. I said nothing about you or insinuated anything about you. I’m, however, sorry if you think it applies to you.”
“Enough Prudet, unless you’d like to take this discussion to the admiral.” Wang had obviously been listening from a few meters away.
The laugh tingled through my spine and spread throughout my body.
* * * *
The Heavy cruiser Bateleur arrived two days later with a Light cruiser, the Shikra, as an escort. The missiles were loaded by the end of the following day, and the Bateleur scheduled to depart the next day. Rumor indicated the raiders had damaged Tamerland’s central security control center, but they expected the engineers to have it working before the Bateleur departed.
Both cruisers were fully manned and had little extra space. The Shikra was able to accommodate only a few of the Wasps and Navy personnel from Peregrine. The Bateleur only had sufficient quarters for the senior officers.
Three bays were emptied and set up to accommodate those well enough to make the trip. Two bays were set aside for army and navy male personnel and one for army and navy women.
* * * *
“Reese, the Captain’s asked me to talk to you. The Captain of the Bateleur doesn’t have room to accommodate all of the officers, and you’re the lowest ranking lieutenant,” Wang said, looking a bit concerned. “He’d like you housed in the woman’s bay and to be in charge. It honestly has nothing to do with you being a Riss-human. The Captain’s talked with all the people you’ve worked for and the Chiefs. He said you appeared the best qualified. You know the Wasps, and he’d bet every navy woman knows who you are. Since the Riss-humans were an SAS experiment, he thought giving you a variety of responsibilities would help the overall evaluation. I agreed with him.”
* * * *
When I entered the bay, I found it considerably larger than the sixty-four women needed. The beds and lockers were well spaced to give everyone plenty of room. My information sheet indicated I had four JGs, one ensign, and two second Lieutenants. The enlisted included thirty-six navy and twenty army. Twenty of those had been wounded but were well enough to travel.
“Bay, attention,” someone shouted and the room jumped to attention. I looked around and almost laughed. Very few were fully dressed. Most wore an assortment of military dress and work uniforms. I felt embarrassed. A room full of women stood at attention for me—senior or not. Some were looking straight ahead, some looked afraid, and others looked unfriendly.
“At ease. Gather around so I don’t have to shout.” I waited until they were closer before beginning. “First, no saluting or jumping to attention among us in the bay. Treat this bay as if you were off duty in your quarters with friends. If there’s something you need, beside more money or rank,” that got some laughs and smiles, “come to me, and I’ll try to resolve it.”
“Lieutenant, there’s only a one head in here and no showers,” a young Petty Officer, with her hand raised, said.
“Ma’am, a few of us are without a change of uniform. We lost them when the crew quarters got hit,” a Wasp corporal said.
“I’ll see if I can resolve these issues quickly. If you think of anything else, let me know. I may not be able to help but I’ll try.” I turned and headed for the Wasp’s area. As I passed the Wasps assigned to the Bateleur, I received some strange looks.
When I reached the Colonel’s office, a tall lanky Sergeant greeted me. “Can I help you, Lieutenant?”
He looked young but confident, although he did lose a bit of it after a second look at me.
“Yes, I’m Lieutenant Reese. I’d like to see the Colonel when he’s free.”
The sergeant sat back down at his desk and used his Comm to query the Colonel.
“Colonel Kissom will see you now, Lieutenant.” He rose and walked to the door, knocking once. After he heard the Colonel reply, he opened the door for me. I entered, braced to attention, and saluted. In the process, I noted Colonel Quentin seated off to my left.
“At ease, Lieutenant. What can I do for you?” Kissom was a broad-shouldered man with short brown hair, a square jaw, and pug nose. He looked to be a match for any of his troops.
“Sir, I’ve sixty-odd women in Bay 28 with no shower facilities. I wondered if I could make arrangements to use the Wasps’ showers, preferably when they aren’t using them,” I said before I realized that could be interpreted as facetious. I didn’t mean to be funny.
“Alone would probably be best, Lieutenant.” He grinned. “Talk to Gunny Howard. Tell him I said to arrange it. I understand from Colonel Quentin you spend time working out with the Wasps and have good friends there.”
“Yes, Sir. Master Gunnery Sergeant Valk has taken me u
nder his wing.”
“That’s good company. When you get settled, I’d like to talk to you about the Riss and your trip to Saipha. It sounds like an interesting story and good Wasp training.” He looked over to Quentin who nodded to me. “If you need anything else, let me know.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
I found Gunny Howard and explained what I needed. Apparently, he and Valk were old friends and had already discussed me. He agreed to three hours each morning beginning at 0800 hours.
“I understand you may be using our workout area with Valk,” Howard said. “Anyone who’s a friend of Valk is a friend of mine. If you need anything else or need to get hold of Valk, give me a call. Your old SID codes won’t work here. My code is H8, set yours to H308.”
“Thank you, Gunny.” I made my way to level one and went looking for the XO, Commander Delfont. I found him in the officer’s mess.
“Sir, I’m sorry to bother you. I’m Lieutenant Reese and responsible for the women from Peregrine in Bay 28.”
“Sit down, Reese. You’re the talk of the Bateleur, although I imagine that’s nothing new.”
“No, Sir.” I pointed to my face. “I’m kind of hard to miss.”
Delfont laughed. “That’s an impressive tattoo. What can I do for you?”
“Sir, many of the women from the Peregrine lost their lockers and literally have only the clothes on their backs and no personal effects. They don’t have money available because the ship’s accounts are on the Peregrine. I hoped you could help.”
“I’ll set up an account of three hundred credits for each woman to buy clothes and personal items. The Captain will have to approve it, which shouldn’t be a problem. Will that be sufficient?”
“Yes, Sir. That would be very helpful. Could I also get your permission for them to be out of uniform on level one? I’m hoping to borrow some work clothes from the Wasps.”
Delfont nodded. “I had heard you had Wasp friends. Maybe sometime we can discuss your adventures with them on Saipha.”
I agreed and headed back to the bay to share the results of my discussions. The news was greeted with cheers and jubilation.
I hoped the next six days to Eden would be easy. I guessed wrong. The next day a young Petty Officer met me on the way to the showers.
“Ma’am, there are three men in the showers. They’ve been making all sorts of lewd remarks and refuse to leave.”
“Want me to throw their asses out, Ma’am?” Terril said with a smile on her face. I had no doubt she could. But I didn’t want or need that kind of trouble.
“No, let’s talk the idiots out. Otherwise we’re going to spend the rest of the day answering silly questions and filling out paper work.”
“I don’t mind, Ma’am. I don’t have anything else to do.”
It was true. We didn’t have any duties and would be sitting around doing nothing all day. I shook my head and opened the door to the showers. It was a typical shower area: five commodes and urinals on the left side, and ten showers on the right. Three naked men, one partially erect, stood under the showers. Dressed for the showers, my current assortment of clothes didn’t have any rank; however, by now everyone on the ship should know me and my rank.
“Well, look here. They’ve sent a navy woman to entertain us. I’m first,” the tallest young man said, holding his crutch. The other two had big smiles.
“Your time’s up, and you’re delaying us from our showers. Get your clothes on and leave.”
“We don’t mind watching and feeling and fucking, do we boys.” With that he began advancing on me. “I’ve never had it on with a Riss thingie.”
I felt the world slow around me.
“Yes?”
“Gunny, this is Lieutenant Reese. I’ve three male Wasps in the showers, who don’t want to leave. If you’re busy, I could have the women Wasps throw them out, but then they won’t be available for duty for a while.” I smiled at Howard’s answer. I knew he was red in the face and wanted to shout.
“Master Gunnery Sergeant Howard said to tell you that if you aren’t standing in front of him in sixty seconds, you’d better find a way off this ship—today.”
The two who were standing rushed by me with only a towel wrapped around them, grabbing their clothes on the way out. The one on the floor crawled towards his clothes. I picked them up and handed them to him as he staggered out the door naked.
“Shower’s free, ladies.”
The shouting and laughing could probably be heard all the way to the Wasp’s quarters.
* * * *
The next three days were uneventful. The XO had gotten each woman three hundred credits, which they used to clean out the navy exchange. I managed to convince the Wasp’s supply sergeant to issue some fatigues to the women, after he had gotten my accounting of the shower incident. I had a few workouts with Valk and listened to Terril retell the Saipha adventure several times. Each time it got better.
The Bateleur docked at Hercules three days later.
Chapter 21
When the Bateleur docked, the wounded were evacuated first and transferred to shuttles for transportation to military hospitals. Although a quarter of the crew were due for retirement or new assignments and remaining personal entitled to shore leave, we were all loaded into shuttles and taken to the Riss Project building for examination and processing. The building easily accommodated everyone as it had been designed to process the three hundred candidates plus staff.
The building hadn’t changed over the years, only the administrative and medical staff. It took a week for them to conduct their evaluation and debriefing. Ten navy personnel and one Wasp were found to have suffered post-traumatic shock and were dispatched to an Eden medical facility, Demeter, for further psychological evaluation and treatment.
I underwent special testing, since my records indicated that I’d been involved in an explosion. Of course, they had to ask my permission for each test. I insisted on a technical explanation for and approval from Thalia before I allowed them to proceed. It took two days for what should have been two hours.
The psychological testing was really amusing. Two psychologists trying to prove they knew how I, a Riss-human, should feel.
“The Riss have never been on a spacecraft and never in a battle. She must have affected you,” the woman, Commander Clare, said. She sat back with an I know smirk on her pale, plain face. She was tall and looked down at me with an attitude of superiority. The other doctor sat off to the side, taking notes or doodling.
“Thalia thought it was interesting.”
“You kept her calm!”
“The Riss are a naturally tranquil race. She can keep me calm, but I can’t keep her calm.” It dragged on and on for the better part of a day. By the time I left, I would bet they had head
aches. Thalia, as usual, thought it amusing.
* * * *
As our evaluations came to an end, we were told that senior officers would be arriving the next day, and we were required to wear our dress uniforms. Fortunately, they’d provided each of us with a complete set along with the appropriate insignia. The next day we all reported to the auditorium at 0900 hours and waited.
<‘Hurry up and wait’ is the navy’s motto.>
An hour later, four officers and two sergeants appeared on stage: an Admiral, a Captain, a Commander, a Lieutenant Colonel, Sergeant Major of the Wasps, and a Master Chief Petty Officer. I recognized Gebauer, Riddler, and Quentin. The Admiral walked up to the microphone.
“It’s my pleasure today to recognize the contribution the men and women of the Peregrine made repulsing a superior raider force from attacking Tamerland and destroying the raider ship, Sidewinder. You’ve all earned the Raider’s Battle Ribbon and the thanks of a grateful empire. When you leave, you can collect your metals, which are on the table in the back of the room.” The Admiral paused and looked down at a document on the podium.
“Your commanders have identified individuals who by their actions have earned special recognition. Petty Officer First Class Mandell, please step forward.” Mandell made his way onto the stage, saluted, and stayed at attention. It wasn’t every day one stood in front of an Admiral.
“At ease, Mandell. Petty Officer First Class Mandell is awarded the Bronze Star for distinguishing himself during the Peregrine’s engagement with the raider ship Sidewinder by risking his life to save six individuals who had been injured and trapped in the Maintenance Bay on level one…
Eight more Bronze Stars were issued over the next thirty minutes. It proved interesting to hear the actions people had taken while the ship was being blown apart. Three of the nine individuals were Wasps who’d worked with the navy repair and rescue teams.
“Lieutenant Reese, please step forward.” I stood in shock. What had I done? I was on the bridge the entire time, which was never damaged.