Crineal Chronicles 1: In Hera's Service

by Raymond L Jennings

  He saluted the admiral and took a seat at Ken’Rathel’s gesture. The office was large and well appointed, with tasteful pieces of art from the Imperium adorning the walls. Apart from the four standard utility chairs in front of the admiral’s desk there were also several, more comfortably designed, seats around the room.

  “Well, General, I hear you ran into some rebels the other day?”

  “Yes, Sir. We got lucky and the rebels ended up dead. I wish all our fights were like that,” Crineal gave the admiral a brief smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  “Can’t argue with that,” the admiral paused for a second. “We’re going to arrive at Earth Orbital Three in two days. Rebel activity in the area has been slow recently, which leaves me wondering if they have something planned for our arrival. I see you haven’t applied for any leave and wondered if you’d mind filling in for the other squadron leaders when necessary?”

  Crineal could tell that the admiral was itching to ask why he hadn’t applied for leave, but the man was far too professional to raise the matter. “I’d be honored to, Admiral. Everyone’s been working hard during this tour and they all deserve a break.”

  Ken’Rathel nodded. “I agree. I’ll make sure you have leave at the next layover, even if I have to order you to go ashore.” He smiled at Crineal. “We’re also having some crew rotation at Earth Orbital. Your landing bay officer is being posted to the Orbital; apparently they could use his expertise.”

  Crineal sighed regretfully. “I’ll miss Commander Hantos. He’s done a great job. Earth Orbital will get a fine officer. Any idea who his replacement will be, Sir?”

  The admiral shook his head. “No, Personnel Section didn’t see fit to give me that information yet. You know how it goes.” Crineal nodded. “I want you to have one of your squadron launch as soon as we come out of jump and give us an escort into Earth. Once we’re docked and have the initial crew rotation and leave parties away, I’d like you to take out Hera Squadron and run a patrol.”

  Crineal thought about it. “You don’t think they’ll hit us on the way in but they’ll try and smack us when we’re all over the place?”

  “Yes, General, that’s exactly what I think.” Ken’Rathel gave Crineal a wintry smile. “It’s what I’d do at least.”

  Crineal gave the admiral a nod. “I’ll have Hera out there looking and two more squadrons standing by ready to launch, and one of the bomber squadrons, too. Just in case they want to risk any of their big ships.”

  “Thank you, General. Forward me your patrol plan and I’ll sign off on it. That was all I had for you.” Ken’Rathel stood, indicating that the meeting was over. Crineal followed suit and saluted the admiral before turning and leaving the office.

  He made his way back to the flight area and Major Strieger’s office. She was alone at her desk reviewing reports. “Are you busy, Major?”

  She stood up and saluted as he entered. “No, Sir, nothing that can’t wait at least.” Strieger resumed her seat as Crineal sat down. “What’s up?”

  “The admiral wants us on patrol the first day at Earth Orbital.” He watched as Strieger groaned and put her head in her hands.

  “There goes the leave roster,” she sighed.

  Crineal gave her a sympathetic look. “Let’s see it. We’ll do something with it. Oh, and Hantos is being transferred to the Orbital.”

  Strieger shot him an acidic look. “Great, just as we get a good bay commander they move him on. Do you know who his replacement will be?”

  He shook his head. “No, I asked the admiral and he didn’t know either.”

  The major called up the leave roster on the screen and adjusted it for Crineal to see. “Any more good news for me, Sir?”

  Crineal grinned at her. “Not yet, but I’ll be sure to share it with you the moment I do.” He looked at the roster. “Hmmm… How about delaying the first set of leaves until the second day on station? That set is only two flights instead of three, and the other squadrons will be running patrols as well. We’ll just have a one day overlap where we’re down five flights, and that’s on a day the squadron isn’t scheduled for patrol anyway. If we’re hit by something big enough that the rest of the wings can’t handle it, then the extra two flights aren’t going to make a difference.”

  Strieger looked at the list for a moment and then shrugged. “Works for me.” She made the amendments and hit the Commit key. “There we go. Posted. Let’s hope the admiral doesn’t have any more bright ideas.” She sat back in her chair and looked at him. “What are you going to be doing during our station time, Sir?” Crineal sat silently. “You didn’t volunteer to cover the squadron leader’s leave again, did you?” He stayed silent. “Arrrgh, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with you, Sir. You need R & R as badly as everyone else.”

  Crineal held up his hand placatingly. “Don’t worry, Major. The admiral said he’d order me to take leave at our next stopover.”

  “Good for the admiral. I wish I could order you as well,” Strieger said, frustrated.

  Crineal gave her an amused look. “I thought you ordered me around already, Major.”

  “I wish, Sir, I wish.”

  He stood up and motioned for her to stay seated. “Well, let’s make sure the boys and girls get some rest before we hit the Orbital. I have the same feeling as the admiral. I think we’re going to get hit.”

  Strieger nodded somberly. “I wouldn’t bet against either one of you and I’m sure as stars not going to bet against both of you.”

  “I hope we’re wrong, but…,” Crineal shrugged and turned to leave. “You get some rest, too, Major. You could use the leave as well.” He threw her a backward wave as he exited her office.

  Streiger sat looking at the door. He was pushing himself, she thought. I hope it’s not too hard. Even the best can break. She shook her head as she recognized how much she cared for her commanding officer. He was a good man, a terrific pilot and the best boss she’d had. She again toyed idly with the idea of seducing him but she knew neither of them would go through with it. Even if regulations would permit it, they might ruin the great relationship they had and neither would risk that. Strieger sighed once more, she needed leave just as the general had said and probably needed to get laid, too.

  Crineal sat down in his office chair and sent a message to Commander Hantos inviting him for a farewell drink in the Officers Recreation area later that evening. Ten minutes later his message box beeped at him with a reply from Hantos, thanking him and accepting the invite. He finished up the last few requisition requests and forwarded them to Supply Division. Then he headed back to his quarters for a shower and some dinner before meeting with Hantos. He finished drying off just as the replicator unit pinged and delivered his meal. Crineal took the tray from the unit and settled down at the table to eat. The roast beef was excellent despite being artificial. Most of the Galactics he knew said they could always tell when food came from a replicator as opposed to being the real thing; it lacked the right flavors. Crineal guessed he was just a back-world hick because it all tasted good to him. He finished eating and shoved the tray into the recycler before getting dressed and heading to the O-Rec. As he opened the door to the lounge the sounds of laughter, music and the buzz of conversation swept over him. The lounge was a typical relaxation area. There was a bar at one end, tables and chairs were scattered around the open floor area and the walls were lined with booths for groups wanting a little more privacy. He spotted Hantos over at the bar and headed towards him. The commander looked up, saw him coming and waved him over.

  “Sir, very kind of you to invite me. I’m most honored,” Hantos said with respect in his voice. Although he had worked with Crineal for over two years now, he had been surprised and pleased that the general had invited him for a social meeting. Most flag officers barely deigned to notice lower ranks outside of their duty stations.

  “It’s the least I could do, Commander. You’ve done a great job running the fighter bays and I and my pilots ap
preciate it. Now what’ll you have? And please don’t be shy about ordering. Your bar tab is on me tonight.” Crineal watched with amusement as a startled look passed across the commander’s face.

  He recovered quickly though. “That’s very generous of you, Sir. I don’t know what to say.” Hantos couldn’t believe that a general was buying him drinks, not only a general but one of the most decorated officers in the Space Corps and not with what he called phony awards, either. Most of them were gallantry and heroism commendations.

  “Well, you could start by telling the bartender what you want,” Crineal suggested.

  Hantos ordered a whisky to go with the beer he already had; Crineal ordered a lager. It was funny, he mused, how much food and drink was common to both the Galactics and Earthers. It was one of the cornerstones of the arguments for the alien seeding of humanity theory put forward by some Imperial scholars.

  “So, Commander, does your transfer come with a promotion?” Crineal asked as he sipped his drink. He wasn’t a big drinker and much preferred non-alcoholic beverages, but the odd pint here and there to be sociable was fine with him.

  Hantos took a big swig of beer. “Unfortunately not,” he said regretfully. “It’s a bit more responsibility but no extra grade. So it’s kind of sideways and a little up. At least I’ll be able to get regular planet side leave,” he grinned.

  Crineal raised his glass to that. He liked Hantos. He was bluff and forthright and ran the fighter bays with a calm efficiency. He didn’t tolerate slacking from his crews or stupidity from the flight crews, either. If Hantos passed a report along for him to deal with, Crineal knew one of his pilots had screwed up royally. He was going to miss Hantos. “Is this a regular duty rotation?”

  Hantos knocked back his shot of whisky and signaled for another. “No, I wasn’t due for a station change for another six months. I hear that they’ve been having some problems in the cargo bays and wanted someone in there as a troubleshooter.”

  “Sounds like someone wasn’t on top of the job,” Crineal observed.

  Hantos nodded his agreement. “Any suggestions for places I could visit on Earth? I hear you’re from there?” he ventured.

  Major Strieger entered the O-Rec and looked around for any of her regular drinking cronies and nearly fell over when she saw Crineal at the bar. She had to look twice. He never came down here apart from promotion parties for his pilots or similar events, and even then he usually excused himself early. Then she saw who he was with, Hantos. Ahh, she thought, that explained why he was here. She made her way over to the bar to where they stood chatting. “Sir,” she nodded to Crineal. “Commander,” this time nodding to Hantos. “May I join you?”

  “Of course, Major,” Crineal replied as he gestured to the bartender. “Drink for Major Strieger. I might have known you’d show up when you heard there were free drinks going,” he teased, his blue eyes twinkling.

  “I’ll take a white wine with lemonade,” Strieger told the bartender before turning back to Crineal. “Actually, I’m here because I heard the most amazing rumor that the general was in the O-Rec and, therefore, the universe was about to fall apart in shock.” The bartender returned with her drink and she raised her glass to Crineal before taking a sip. Crineal laughed. Hantos stared in amazement at the banter between the two.

  “Have you managed to convince the good commander here to accept a demotion to stay aboard the Annihilator and make our lives easier?” She smiled at Hantos and raised her glass to him, too.

  “Sadly, no. I was just contemplating calling for Staller and Muscovy to come up with a scheme to kidnap him and hold him here until we break orbit.” The pilots Crineal referred to were the squadron’s two most incorrigible pranksters and con artists.

  Hantos groaned. “Not those two. You’d probably never find me again and I’d end up trying to survive in a remote cargo hold eating rats.” He’d had his own run-ins with the pair.

  An ensign staggered up to the bar with his arms wrapped around a pair of female recreation assistants and bumped into Crineal. He peered around one of the women he was cuddling to see who he’d collided with and started an apology, “Sorry about…” He trailed off as Crineal turned around to look at him and the young officer realized whom he had just jostled. He snapped to attention immediately and gave the general a salute. “I most humbly apologize, Sir.” The ensign had gone from slightly tipsy to stone cold sober in an instant. The two women looked nervously at Crineal. They weren’t sure who he was but he was obviously powerful which could mean trouble for them.

  Crineal raised his glass to the young officer. “No need to salute, Ensign; we’re all off duty here. Go ahead and enjoy your evening.”

  The sandy-haired junior officer gave Crineal a tentative smile and then turned away with the women to find a safer spot in the O-Rec that wasn’t occupied by generals. Crineal watched him go, the two women trailing along in his wake, their short toga style dresses displaying all of their legs and sometimes the curve of their buttocks as they moved. The garments were also sleeveless and mostly side-less, frequently exposing the roundness of a breast and often a lot more. Crineal looked around at the other recreation assistants that were moving through the room to see to the needs of the officers. He snorted to himself; recreation assistants indeed! Why couldn’t Space Corps call them for what they were; sex slaves. They were here to keep the crew of the carrier happy in whatever form a person might wish and ‘No’ wasn’t an acceptable answer to a request. He knew that all of the men and women serving in the role were criminals and had volunteered for the assignment. The volunteer bit was also a joke. Each of them had a twenty year sentence or more hanging over them. Or they could ‘volunteer’ to become recreation assistants to serve their debt to the Empire. Mostly that meant at least ten years of shipboard service unless they violated any of the rules, in which case it could be much more, or perhaps much less with a one way trip to an airlock. He watched as a tall female brunette commander cuddled up to a handsome, athletic-looking man in his short toga outfit, fondling his bottom as they headed out of the O-Rec and likely back to her quarters. At least it wasn’t sexist, thought Crineal a little mockingly. A lot of the prisoners were probably rebels. Captured rebels faced the stiffest sentences. Even providing minor support to the rebels carried a thirty year sentence. And the rebels were getting better treatment than Imperial prisoners did at rebel hands. It was the hopeless look a lot of them had that Crineal found hard to stomach. He noticed Strieger watching him as she half listened to Hantos chatting away to her. He wondered if she ever availed herself of the O-Rec’s services. He finished up his lager and put his glass on the counter.

  “Well, I should get some sleep. It’s going to be a long couple of days. Best of luck to you, Commander,” he said as he held out his hand to Hantos. “I hope that we get a chance to serve together again soon.”

  Hantos took the general’s proffered hand and shook it. “Thank you, Sir. It’s been a privilege working with you. Something that I can tell stories about at the O-Rec on Earth Orbital.”

  Crineal laughed good-naturedly. “Try not to make them too tall, Commander. I’ll see if I can pop in before we pull out of Earth Orbital and say goodbye. Have an enjoyable rest of the evening.”

  Strieger took another swallow from her glass before putting it on the bar next to Crineal’s. She sighed theatrically. “As a dutiful second-in-command, I guess I’d better follow the general here and get some rest too.” She gave Hantos a quick hug, which surprised both him and the general. “Next time the drinks are on you as host on Earth Orbital.”

  “Anytime you’re in port, Major,” Hantos said cheerfully as Strieger and Crineal turned and walked out of the O-Rec together. He wondered if they were going to end up in the same quarters tonight, despite regulations. They certainly seemed to like each other enough. Hantos shrugged; even if they were, which he thought unlikely, it was none of his business. The commander signaled the bartender for another whisky.

  Strieger walked
beside Crineal towards the pilots’ quarters. “I bet that ensign has a great story for his work section tomorrow. How he bumped into the great General Crineal and wasn’t burned to ashes by his glare,” she gave out a melodic laugh that Crineal always found appealing. “He might even suggest that it’s possible you’re human after all,” Strieger grinned at Crineal.

  He adopted an aloof air. “Talk like that could get you busted to his rank, Major,” Crineal suggested with mock severity.

  She looked horrified at the idea and put her hand dramatically to her chest. “But, Sir, whoever would you find to put up with you then?” and she laughed once more. Crineal gave a snort of amusement as they arrived outside her quarters.

  They both stopped and he inclined his head to her. “Thank you for your company this evening, Major. It was as lovely as usual. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Strieger nodded back “Thank you for the drink, Sir. I hope you sleep well.” She watched as Crineal turned and walked off down the corridor towards his own quarters, once again contemplating smacking him from behind and dragging him into her room. Strieger sighed. She really, really needed to get laid.

  Chapter Three

  The next day the strike force made the jump for Earth and Crineal was back in his home system for the first time in twelve years. He stared at the system display as he monitored the space around the Annihilator. Crineal had ordered all squadrons on alert. He hated keeping Hera there in light of their patrol tomorrow but he didn’t want to take any chances. The hours passed as the force edged in towards Earth Orbital Three and he breathed a sigh of relief when they finally docked. He passed the order to his pilots to stand down and be ready for tomorrow. Crineal then checked in with the other squadron leaders and made certain he had a complete list of who was on leave and when so he could make sure all the patrols were covered. With that done he called it a day and turned in himself. He just knew tomorrow was going to be rough.