by K. Aten
“Lieutenant Commander Tosh, a moment please?”
While her anger had faded overnight, it had been replaced by irritation and disappointment. She watched Olivienne striding down the hall and wanted nothing more than to ignore the infuriating woman. But she was an officer and an honorable one at that, and she was being hailed by her Sovereign so she waited. “Yes, Connate Dracore? Is there something you need?”
“I need to apologize.”
Castellan sighed. “I assure you that an apology is not necessary. Let’s just mark it up as a lesson learned, shall we?”
Olivienne stepped closer and looked upon Castellan with wounded eyes and unnaturally pale face. The distance between Olivienne and the lt. commander was maintained by the large duffel but they were still close enough for Castellan to notice that the Connate looked drawn. “I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am and that it was indeed a lesson learned. I have apologized to my Shield unit and promised to follow proper protocol in the future. I need to be a better person not just for them, but for myself and all the people who count on me.”
“I’m sure they were relieved to hear that. Now if you’ll excuse me...”
“Please, Commander...Castellan...” The officer turned her pale eyes back to the sovereign with barely disguised annoyance and Olivienne tried again. “Please, I don’t want us to part as enemies. Can we not find our way back to friendship?”
Castellan straightened to her full height. “You are a sovereign of Psiere, we could never be enemies. As for a friendship, I don’t know. You have callously disregarded beliefs that I hold dear. Beyond that, I have no idea where I will be stationed next. It may be that we’ll never see each other again for as long as we live.” Olivienne started to speak but Castellan held her free hand up to stay the Connate’s words. “I hold no ill will, nor even anger toward you, but friendship is beyond me at this moment.” She cocked her head to the side, considering Olivienne’s pledge to think more about others in the future. “But if you truly mean the words you’ve said, then who knows what the future will bring. Perhaps we will indeed meet again on friendly terms. Good luck with your search for answers, Connate Dracore.”
Olivienne gave the officer a sad smile. “And good luck in your search for adventure, Commander Tosh.”
THE RAILER STATION in Tesseron was in complete chaos and it didn’t take Castellan long to see why. Despite the early oor, both the Queen and the King had come with full units of Shield guardians to protect them. Certain that their arrival was out of concern over the assassination attempt on their daughter, Tosh thought it even wiser to slip through unnoticed. She didn’t want any more attention drawn to herself where the Connate was concerned. She merely wanted to receive her new post and get on with life.
Outside the busy station it was easy enough to flag a delivery moto that could take her to the other side of Bindle Bay, where the Psi Defense Corp headquarters was located. Tesseron was a bustling metropolis, with buildings as much as ten levels high. Dirigible shipyards were on the south side of the bay, near the railer station so they ran no risk of catching on the beautifully carved spires and building peaks featured throughout the capital.
When they arrived, the driver stopped where the road ran in a circle around a grand fountain, just outside the steps leading up to the main entrance of the Defense Corp building. Castellan was irritated with herself that she didn’t have the woman pull around to the side entrance but there was nothing to be done about it at that point. She handed over creds for the service then shouldered her duffel and made her way up the stairs. Castellan hadn’t been in Tesseron for more than five rotos and seeing the grand building was a little overwhelming. She had forgotten how beautiful the edifice truly was. If there ever was a testament to the merging of function and art, it was the Psi Corp buildings. The only thing more beautiful was the royal manse that housed offices and the living space of the Sovereign family.
After a moment of disorientation in the grand entryway, Castellan made her way to the security desk. There were half a dozen soldiers spread throughout the lobby. A sturdy and serious looking young private was manning the desk and he stood and saluted as she approached. “May I help you, Commander?”
She set the duffel down and dug out the missive she had folded and placed in her waist pouch. “Yes, I have an assignment meeting with General Leniste.”
The private ran his finger down the slate on his desk and stopped when he found her name. “Yes, ser. You are scheduled to meet with him and General Renou in General Leniste’s office at seven hundred. His office is on the fifth floor, corridor G. There is a desk upstairs too, so if you get lost you can ask for directions there. Currently you are about thirty-five meens early, just enough time to break your fast in the eatery we have on site.”
Castellan’s pale brow rose. “General Renou? Are you sure?”
“Yes, ser.” She was surprised enough to find out in the missive that she would be meeting with General Leniste himself upon her return to Tesseron. He was the head of the Psi Defense Corp and was not known to involve himself in the dae to dae placements of ordinary officers. But to find that she was also to meet with the general in charge of the Psi Shield Corp, that was most disconcerting. She wondered if the addition of General Renou had anything to do with her actions in Penterole. It made sense that Lt. Savon would have put her name into the report that would have gone to the Queen and the Imperium. The private interrupted her swirling thoughts. “Is there anything else I can do for you, ser?”
“Yes. Is there someplace I can store my duffel until after the meeting?”
He stood from his chair, then grabbed a ring of keys from the desk and came around the short counter that separated him from any visitors. “If you’ll follow me, I can lock it in a storage closet until you return.”
His statement seemed nearly like a question and the lt. commander nodded. “That would be acceptable, thank you.”
Castellan kept her meal light in the eatery yet still the questions and concerns about the addition of General Renou to her reassignment meeting compressed the fruit and warm bread into a hard brick in her belly. At quarter to the oor, she made her way upstairs to the location of the general’s office. There was another desk outside, manned by yet another private and she waited while he used the teleo to inform the general of her arrival. He listened for just a sec longer before disconnecting the line and waving her toward the plain wood door. “He is ready for you, Commander.” As Tosh opened the door, she wondered if she was ready for the general.
As soon as she was fully in the room, both generals stood and she saluted them proper. She had only met General Leniste once, and never General Renou. Leniste was a big man, still imposing and fit despite being well into middle age and his nearly ten rotos as the head of the Psi Defense Corp. In comparison, General Renou was a woman smaller than even Gemeda Shen’s sixty-four inces. What General Renou lacked in height though she certainly made up for with sheer crisp authority. With striking gray eyes and short white hair, she drew attention wherever she went. Leniste waved her toward an empty seat that was equidistant between himself and General Renou. She waited for both to sit before taking her own seat. “Sers.”
Never one to skirt a subject, General Leniste started straightaway. “We heard you’ve had an eventful couple daes, Tosh.” By using her last name only, the general was giving permission to speak informally with them.
“Yes, ser. I suppose you could call it that.”
“Are you whole and hale now, Tosh?” General Renou seemed especially keen to hear the answer to her question as she leaned forward in her seat.
“Yes, ser. I strained my channel in Ostium the dae before I left to come north. Doctore Gemeda Shen is a personal friend of mine and healed much of the strain on the railer but events in a small town along the way strained me again. Whatever ails I may have been suffering from that second event were certainly healed by the doctore in Penterole when I was shot in the assassination attempt.” She shrugged. �
�I am well now, if suffering slightly from blood loss. Nothing a few daes of rest and extra fluids will not cure.”
General Renou looked pleased and Castellan grew wary. “Good, good!”
“I suppose you’re wondering why you’re meeting with me about your next placement instead the head of the re-assignment division. You’re probably even more curious as to why General Renou would sit in on our meeting.”
Castellan’s wariness tripled. “Yes, ser, I am.”
He smiled in an attempt of reassurance. “I’m not sure if you remember, but we met once nearly six rotos ago. You were near the end of your term here in the north, right before being sent down to Dromea.”
“Yes, ser, I remember.”
“Yes well, even then I remember thinking to myself, ‘that officer is going somewhere!’ After consulting with your superiors, and reading through your transcripts, I see that your actions down south have earned you a promotion.”
Relief coursed through Castellan as one of her dreams was about to come true. “That is what I was told, ser.”
“Ah, well as luck would have it, you’ve come to the attention of more than just your superiors in the Defense Corp. It seems you, my dear Tosh, are a valuable commodity.”
“Ser?”
Her gaze was drawn to General Renou when the trim officer began to speak in a voice that was like soft cotton. She was surprisingly quiet but Castellan had no doubt the woman could get her point across when she had to. “Yes indeed, Lieutenant Commander Tosh. We have been looking for an officer who is both highly capable and has a high channel rating. We are looking for someone whose dedication is unmatched and loyalty unquestioned. After much consideration, we would like to offer you leadership of a Sovereign unit in the Psi Shield Corp. With your new positon, you would also be promoted to full Commander.” Her smile was wide and friendly, anticipating the excitement that her words would bring to Tosh.
Tosh had a feeling, but she had to be certain before she could make her decision. There was only one sovereign that was missing a lead for their unit and her stomach turned with the thought of having to see the Connate again so soon. “Which sovereign’s unit would I be commanding?”
Renou looked surprised by her question. “Surely you knew that Connate Dracore’s team is lacking leadership. I was informed that you two spent most of your time together on the railer during your trip north. Not only that, but I was also told you made a great team during the rescue and you even took a shell protecting the Connate herself. If that does not single you out for the role above all others, surely I do not know what would. Well done, Tosh!”
Despite the immense honor it was to be chosen for the Psi Shield Corp, Castellan Tosh was not excited at all. She swallowed the bile down as she realized she would have to derail her future purely for the sake of honor. “I’m sorry, sers, but I regretfully decline your offer.”
“So beginning todae all your vellumwork will be transferred to—what did you just say?” Leniste looked at her as if she had just grown a second head.
Castellan cleared her throat and tried again. “Regretfully, I must decline this posting.”
Renou looked dismayed. “Why ever would you do that?”
“It is personal. But suffice it to say I am unsuited to this duty.”
General Leniste’s face purpled. “Bollux! There is nothing personal in the Corp! Why would you feel unsuited?”
The officer sighed, hating the fact that her private life was going to be brought into the discussion. “Sers...the Connate and I had...relations on the railer north. Relations that were known by her guardians. It would not be honorable or appropriate for me to head up her Shield Corp unit.”
Leniste sat back in his chair and glanced over at Renou. “Well I certainly didn’t expect that.”
Renou answered swiftly though. “We don’t care.”
Tosh looked at the head of the Psi Shield Corp more closely. The older woman was resolute, unaccountably. “But, ser, I thought only the rank of Captain could take control of a Shield unit?”
General Renou brushed a bit of dust off her sleeve before meeting Tosh’s eyes. “It was decided unanimously that your capability and qualifications perfectly matched our need in this role and the requirement for captain’s rank would be waived for you and you alone. Beyond that, in two roto’s time, we would re-evaluated your performance and decide then if you would be suitable for a further promotion to captain.”
Castellan leaned back in shock. To be made a captain before the age of thirty-four rotos was unheard of, as was only spending two rotos as a commander before another promotion came along. It was the pinnacle of career achievements and her heart sank. She looked down at her hands and sighed again. “Again, my apologies but I will still have to decline. Connate Dracore and I—we did not part on the best of terms and I’d rather not be placed in charge of her protection unit.”
“Lieutenant Commander Tosh...” With the use of her full and proper title, General Leniste had firmly taken the meeting back to professional business. Gone was the man who espoused pride in her achievements and skills. “Is this worth throwing away your career?”
Dread crept into her belly. “Ser? I’m not trying to throw away my career, but with all due respect, I’d rather advance through the ranks in my own Corp and not because the Shields are desperate.”
Sensing a display of Leniste’s famous temper, Renou tried to step in. “Germaine—”
Her words were cut off when Leniste’s deep voice thundered through the office. “If you do not accept this post then you will not advance rank through any Corp!”
General Renou tried to salvage a situation gone badly. “Lieutenant Commander Tosh, I did not lie when I said you were exactly the person we’ve been looking for. Yes we are desperate but it is out of necessity. You witnessed that yesterdae in Penterole. But the fact stands that we feel you, above everyone else, are the perfect person to do this job. Please reconsider your decision.”
While she respected General Renou and her honesty, Castellan had lost her respect for her own commanding officer. Anger replaced the sick pain caused by General Leniste’s words and she moved her steady gaze from Renou back to Leniste. It was anger and lost respect that fueled the words that could have sent her straight to the prison island of Aetate. “I will not be bullied into a position that I find inappropriate and dishonorable. For my commanding officer to do so tells me that his own honor is lacking. You can drop me from a dirigible straight into the Caerula Ocean and I will still say nay.”
“Why you insolent little—”
The head of the Psi Shield Corp cut off her counterpart before he could finish his threat. “Before we resort to anymore threats and bullying—” She spared General Leniste a dark look. “I would like you to take one full dae to think about your decision. I understand your position, Tosh, and I admire your honor greatly. But our need is also great and I truly do not think this post would compromise either your duty or your honor. You are too good an officer for that. So please, allow yourself a full dae of review before giving me your answer.” She looked at General Leniste. “Is that acceptable?”
General Leniste deflated instantly, realizing how badly he had misjudged Tosh, and how poorly he had reacted to her words. He ran a hand through his short-cropped gray hair and met Castellan’s eyes once again. “My apologies, Tosh. I fear that I let my temper get ahead of me and I took it out on you. We are under pressure from the Queen herself to fill this position and you were the name that came up again and again. Please try to see this situation from our side.”
Tosh looked back and forth between the two Corp leaders. The fact that they were being pressured by the Queen put their reaction to her refusal into better perspective. “I can give you a full dae before I make my decision official. But I honestly don’t see my answer changing between now and then.” She looked back at her own general. “Without an assignment, I currently have no place to stay while in Tesseron. Is there a temporary bunk I can use?”
Leniste opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Renou. “I have a guesthouse you can use until this situation is resolved. Will that be acceptable?”
The Shield Corp general was trying to soften her up, to bribe a positive answer. It would not work of course but Castellan agreed to the guesthouse anyway. “That would be fine. Thank you, ser.”
Camen Renou smiled at her before reaching into her waist pouch and pulling out a small card. She stood and walked to Leniste’s desk and borrowed his stylus to jot something onto the back. When she was finished, she walked to where Castellan had stood from her seat. “This is the address for the guest house, and the combination for the gate lock is written on the back.” She turned to Leniste again. “Is eight hundred oors good for meeting again tomorrow?”
General Leniste looked over at the slate that he had pushed off to the right side of his desk. He scanned the planner and then looked back at the two women in the room. “I have an oor of time then, so eight hundred is acceptable.” He stood and nodded to Castellan. “You are dismissed, Lieutenant Commander Tosh.”
“Sers!” She saluted both generals and walked out of the office in a daze.
Chapter Ten
IN NO TIME Castellan found herself in front of the imposing Psi Defense building holding her retrieved duffel in one hand and the card that General Renou had given her in the other. Her mind whirled with everything she had just learned and been offered. Castellan shook herself free from those confusing thoughts and peered closer at the card. She noted the address and called up the city grid in her head. If she wasn’t mistaken, the general’s guesthouse was less than ten squares away so opted to walk rather than call on another moto. She was still quite drained from her journey north and a few oors of rest might be good for her.