“You really are a pabu sometimes.” She moved her head off my shoulder, tilting my head so she was looking directly into my eyes. “You are Commander Salchar of the Free Fleet, my husband and the deadliest bastard in space. The man who will pull apart the Syndicate and lead the broken people left behind by the Syndicate into the light of peaceful times. You will lead men and women into battle and many will not come back, but you will do your duty and crush the Syndicate no matter the cost.”
I growled as rage filled me. “Yes.” I looked back out to the fleet. The need to punch something grew inside me.
Yasu came closer, touching our helmets together so we didn’t need a radio channel. “Now I think we should try out some of those hand-to-hand moves in our quarters and I might let you sleep afterward.”
I looked over as she bit her lip. In a second, I was up, throwing her over my shoulder to her protests as I ran to the air lock. Krom and Calerd rushed after me.
“Put me down!” Yasu howled, laughing as she kicked and punched ineffectually.
We cleared the air lock. The Sato sisters’ faces were slightly stunned as I sprinted down the corridor with Yasu over my shoulder. I ran for the elevator. Krom and Calerd cleared the air lock, following the Sato sisters, who were now running after me and Yasu. People looked up from their work as I made it into the elevator. I twiddled my fingers at mine and Yasu’s protection details, a grin plastered on my face as I put in the override codes. The elevator shot toward the Resilient.
I put Yasu down just as we stopped. We straightened our appearances so our hoods retracted and our battle suits unsealed. We had a speed walking competition to the ship. I gave a two-finger salute to the air lock guard who was at attention, saluting me. He dropped his salute, turning back to the air lock to hide his grin as Yasu and I rushed to our room.
Janice and Dave were already waiting outside of our door, obviously being forewarned by mine and Yasu’s protection detail. They hit the hatch release as Yasu and I rushed inside. Yasu hit the closing button.
I pinned her to the bulkhead. Our lips came together in a rush as she hit the lock button. Our hands found the battle suits’ releases as we furiously wrestled to the bed. Our clothes fell away as our hands wandered over each other. Yasu pushed me back and I fell on the bed. She quickly followed and I pulled her to me.
“I think this is how I stopped you in training,” I said.
She grinned wickedly. Her hair fell on my face, making a curtain that closed us off from the world.
Recruiting Drive and Changes
My implants and data pad went off, announcing that some new issue had arisen.
I got up groggily, looking at the bare back of Yasu. I gently caressed my fingers over her back as she nuzzled her pillow, unwilling to wake up. I grinned as I got out of bed and stepped into the head to take a shower. She’d been right. There hadn’t been much sleep, but the few hours I had gotten had been the most relaxing I’d had in a while. I’d dreamed of Yasu instead of the many souls that visited me every night. I checked myself in the mirror, running my hand through my hair before letting it settle in its half slice. I put on a new battle suit while Yasu shifted in bed. She cracked an eyelid at the light from the head.
“Turn it off!” she said into the pillow. I did so, my eyesight adjusting to the minimal light in our quarters. “Now say good-bye,” she said with a smile. My face split in a grin as I kneeled down and she raised her head to meet my lips.
“I’ll see you in a bit,” I said.
“Yes, you will. Now get us the people we need for your fleet and hurry up about it. It’s about time we went and saw Monk. Remember to figure out how to house the families of those you offered accommodations to,” she said sleepily as I grinned at her reminders.
“Yes, dear.”
“I like the sound of that.” She smiled sleepily as I stood, shaking my head, not wanting to leave as I got to the hatch.
“Close the hatch after you!”
My grin widened as I walked outside and followed her instructions. Who would have thought that I would actually enjoy married life? I certainly hadn’t, but I couldn’t keep a stupid grin off my face as I walked.
“All right, well, let’s get to work then,” I said to my fully assembled protection detail as they fell in around me and guided me to the conference room turned office.
It was a few minutes until someone walked in.
“Hello, Shrift.” I put down my data pad.
“James.” Shrift was one of the few people who still called me James, and only when behind closed doors. He took a seat as I sat back. “So, I know you want to be kept up to date with what’s happening with the shipyard and dock. Now, I would have my brother be here, but he’s more like Eddie in this regard. The only time that he’ll go to meetings is when it’s for something he deems interesting.”
“We should have some coffee and tea,” I said as Shrift’s businesslike manner relaxed. Although Kuruvians couldn’t drink coffee, they loved the aroma, finding it relaxing. Somewhat akin to candles.
I ordered some from the mess. Rank did come with some privileges.
“So, did you find out anything about the rest of your family?”
“It seems that they all died when there was an outbreak of a ‘virus’ created by some kind of biological terrorist attack. It allowed the Syndicate to impose martial law. They uprooted a massive amount of troublemakers and sent them to the mining colonies.” Shrift looked to the table.
“Flor will be freed from the Syndicate as soon as possible.” My tone belayed the relaxed position I sat in.
Shrift locked eyes with me before he nodded. “I don’t doubt it, Commander.” There was silence for a few moments before Shrift also lounged in his chair.
“So, how’s the married life?” He grinned.
I returned it. “It’s...interesting.”
“Even while you two were being pissed off at each other, the entire time training I knew that you liked each other.”
“There’s no way you thought that,” I scoffed.
“Call it a Kuruvian’s intuition.” He grinned as he tried to look all-knowing.
“Why aren’t you married, Shrift?”
“Kuruvians don’t marry. We associate with one another, but we move from partner to partner a lot. If we want to have a litter, then we actually have to activate our reproductive organs.”
“So, you can’t have kids until you want to?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s just cheating.”
“We don’t cheat. We just don’t stay attached to another for long, usually. There are always exceptions, like my parents, though there are only a few.”
“Why are there fewer female Kuruvians than male?” I asked.
Shrift grinned. “We can choose our gender. Most who are on ships choose to be male or neutral, as I am. On ships, we’re brothers. On Flor, we’re siblings.”
“That’s got to be confusing.”
“Quite.”
The coffee and tea arrived and someone from the mess put it between me and Shrift.
“Thank you,” I said as he made a nervous bob before practically fleeing from the room.
“Strange.” An alert sounded on my data pad. “One minute.” I sighed as a channel popped open.
“We found the reporter who leaked the video,” Henry said. “The person was resourceful. They’d gotten from the Resilient to Hachiro, moving from the trainees to fixing up the video and sending it back to Earth through the Free Fleet’s communication system.”
I’d had Henry go through Hachiro. It had taken quite some time, especially with his Commandos being stolen for other jobs. “Who is it?”
“Evelyn Sparks,” he said.
“Bring her up.” I sighed as Henry cut the channel and I turned to Shrift. “It’s never just one thing.”
Shrift grinned. “Shall we go over what Nancy and my brother are up to before she gets here?”
“Certainly.”
“
Okay, so we’ve nearly cleared out the smaller ships up to destroyers. As you said, cruisers that are below a certain standard are being used as parts and then melted down. Shirley is doing a crack job of mining. She’s almost got an output a third of our own.
“Our miners and refiners times change due to their distances. With the fuel that they’re burning and the amount that we have at Hachiro, we’ve begun construction on an atmospheric dipper and refiner for Saturn and Jupiter.”
I nodded and took a sip of my tea. Shrift’s coffee released an aroma through the room. “What about the destroyers and bigger ships of the line?” I asked.
“Well, making the dipper and refiner has moved back our timeline a bit, but we think that within three months we could get them to the standard that they were before the battle.”
“You mean the standard of the Syndicate which is, basically, it works, has armor and guns?” I crooked an eyebrow.
He nodded. “Pretty much.”
I nodded. “I want overhauls.” I felt a twinge of regret for my words. Overhauls would take considerable time, but the ships would then hopefully be close to the condition they were in when they were really part of the PDF or system defense forces.
“Really? That will triple the amount of time.”
I nodded.
“We have one thing going for us right now—training. Add that training with ships that are actually close to fully operational and we have a force multiplier.”
Shrift nodded.
“While we’re doing these changes, we can make it so that the ships are all universal, making it easier for crew to move from one ship to another without needing special training.”
Shrift nodded as he pulled out his data pad and began making notes. The door opened and a woman as well as two Mechas walked into the room.
“Thanks,” I said to the two Commandos, making it clear that they could leave as I reclined more in my seat and studied Evelyn Sparks.
***
“Listen up, trainees!” Yasu said. They were all gathered in the massive running track dedicated to their training, the same one Yasu had run on thousands of times during her own training.
Silence overcame the room after a few seconds of hushing.
“You have stories and hopefully some training and useful information that you can share with one another.” She paused for that to sink in before she continued. “But you are still trainees. You have a lot to learn and getting an inflated head is one way to get kicked out of the Free Fleet.”
Takahashi and the training cadre behind Yasu nodded in unison.
“Keep that in mind when training.” She turned to her staff. “Commanders, take your trainees.” The training cadre broke apart as they took their isolated squads off to their squad pods and training rooms. A few began running on the track.
Takahashi came up beside Yasu. They worked together, but there was a lack of personal interaction between them. For now, it was only business.
He used me in order to try to prove Salchar’s inability to command. He twisted what I saw until I only thought of him as a cheating bastard. Yasu felt a nasty taste in her mouth.
“Shall we have people finish the battle damage training quickly?”
Because they’ve already been taught it, Yasu mentally finished. “Make it so.”
Takahashi looked almost as if he were working up the courage to say what was on his mind.
After a few seconds, Yasu turned to him. “What?” She was unable to hide the coldness of her tone.
Takahashi’s nervousness disappeared and he straightened, as if under review like the trainees. “I wanted to tell you I was wrong in what I did.”
Yasu hissed, “Don’t you think I already know that?” Takahashi didn’t recoil from the words, but Yasu knew they hit home as the man kept talking.
“In wanting to look after my Commandos, I thought that only I was the best commander for them. I thought that Salchar would just get them killed, that they were a number to him.” He looked to the floor. “And while a lot of them have died, I saw how every single life to Salchar is much more than a number. I saw how he uses everything in his arsenal to keep his people alive.” He turned to look in Yasu’s burning eyes, his own open as he smiled a little bit.
“I saw how he loves you, and that he will be there for you no matter what. You have found a good family, Yasu. Mecha Tail, while being great fighters, are no mere friends. They work so well together because of their complete trust in one another. A trust that few families of blood can reciprocate. Your father would be proud that you have found people who you can grow with instead of just train with.” With that, Takahashi bowed before leaving an emotional Yasu in his wake, who turned to see the last of the squads being guided to some new training.
When did I become so caring about words and feelings? Yasu wanted to run to James, have Salchar melt away and have his arms wrap around her and never let her go. Just Yasu and James Cook, not Commander Yasu and Commander Salchar. She turned to go to the training commanders’ office.
How was I so blind? She thought back to her time as the Blade Mistress, when training had begun and when she fought James. She smiled to herself as she strolled into her office, its window overlooking the track. “The one thing that went right was marrying that dolt.” There was no other man she’d want to have by her side for the rest of her life.
She saw Takahashi giving a lecture off to the side of the track and her line of thinking soured. “I’m going to have to figure out a way to look past his idiocy. He was doing it for his people, as blind as he was, and he also cares for me.” She sighed as she sat at her desk and opened her hatch.
“Natsuko, Tomaki,” she said as the two sisters walked in.
Both of them were a couple of the deadliest people in existence, despite their girlish appearances, and completely loyal to Yasu.
“What are your thoughts on Takahashi?”
“Good fighter,” Tomaki said.
“Emotional, makes him falter,” Natsuko replied.
“Preferred weapon.”
“Sword.”
Yasu held up her hands as the two started finishing each other’s sentences.
“What do you think of the man?” And for once, the cold looks of the sisters broke as they looked at each other.
Yasu smiled. She couldn’t help feeling motherly over the two. She was, after all, the one who had found them as toddlers about to be killed by gangsters for not pickpocketing enough. She had raised them the only way she knew how, with fighting. I guess it’s time I taught them about people.
She stood. “All right, you two, you’re going to have new training.” To someone else, the girls’ looks would have been one of neutrality, but to Yasu, they were practically rolling their eyes and saying, “Come on, we’re already the best damned fighters you’ve got.”
“You’re going to work for Hachiro’s theater.” She grinned as the two looked confused. Hopefully, movies and dealing with people constantly will have something of an impact.
Natsuko spoke up. “But who will look after you then, mistress?”
It was Yasu’s turn to look unimpressed. “Takahashi.”
Tomaki’s expression said, Bout time.
While Natsuko’s was, Are you sure?
Yasu nodded to the silent questions. Trying to humanize the Sato sisters and be friends with Takahashi? I think I’m going space crazy.
Gaining a Press Officer
Evelyn had been surprised by the speed with which the Free Fleet had gone through their fleet, trainees, and then Hachiro. Altogether, it was a lot of real estate to cover. Yet they’d done it meticulously, giving her nowhere to run. That said, she didn’t make it easy for them to find her even as she’d come to that assessment.
They’d dragged her out of some duct, frisked her, and then taken her to the Resilient. She knew the corridors and the familiar smell. It’s strange how we gain connections to a place where we thought we might die, she thought as she was made to face the bac
k wall of the bridge. She was then ushered into the conference room that lay behind it.
“Thanks,” the Commander Salchar said to the Commandos who saluted before leaving. Salchar tossed them one in return.
The man looked perfectly at ease with an unbound woman who had recorded him in battle and had hid in his fleet. The Kuruvian Shrift shrugged before he continued to work on his data pad. He obviously didn’t think what was going on was any of his business.
“Want anything? Water? Food?” he asked as she looked for any signs that he was overly mad. He appeared as if he sat on a tropical beach, sipping a Mai Tai for the way he was acting.
“Water might be good.”
He grabbed a water bottle from his leg and he threw it across the table. She grabbed it and sat down, squirting the contents into her mouth.
“Okay, so when do you want to go home? We have shuttles running every four hours still for trainees.” He sipped on something warm-looking.
“Uh, as soon as possible would be nice,” she said as the door opened in a rush.
“Ms. Sparks!”
She whirled around and was greeted by the grinning but harmless smile of Rick.
“Haven’t you learned to knock at this age?” Salchar asked as Shrift chuckled.
“Nope, rather like the shock and awe aspect,” Rick responded.
Salchar grinned at this.
Rick walked around to the other side of the table so he could look at Evelyn. “So, how would you like a job, Ms. Sparks?” he said with a grin as everyone in the room stared at him. “What? I am chief of staff,” he said defensively as Salchar flicked his hair out of his eyes and Shrift shrugged.
“Why would you want to hire me?” Evelyn asked carefully.
“So we can have you talk to the people protected by the Free Fleet—”
“And make some propaganda up that the Free Fleet is awesome.”
“No, and get the separate races used to one another and comfortable with working one another.”
“Huh?” She looked to Salchar, who reclined back, watching her and listening to what was going on. Shrift was still on his data pad.
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