Thank you for your service to the Empire.
Fleet Admiral W. O. Stephenson
Fleet Admiral O. Blackman
Today is an especially busy day. The forensic examination of the Quadrant One, Theatre Two Command, and the Orion Fleet, along with, the complete investigations of four more Theatre Two Fleets are all on my desk. I have to examine them carefully, check and edit their summaries, and sign off on them. I end up generating Arrest Warrants for one more Fleet Commander and his two Task Force Commanders. Other Fleets were exposed to communications but never intended to participate. I carefully scrutinize all the records and make sure that in the summaries, I point out that it is an offense to have information on a criminal conspiracy and not report it, but I am not pressing charges. However, I make it clear that a reprimand has been inserted in each Commander's personnel file.
Back on the sixteenth, I advised Chris Sparks of my intention to promote him. Roh looked over his history and his recent performance with the IGB and agreed. I have prepared his personnel file, the warrant, and summoned him to my office.
"Lt. Colonel Chris Sparks reporting, as ordered sir." He snaps officiously.
"Colonel, you're out of uniform. You're improperly dressed.' I say sternly.
He fumbles, checking his shirt, belt, and collar insignia.
'You have the wrong rank medallions on. Why aren't these on your collar, Colonel?" I bark with a smile as I point to the Eagles on my desk.
"You mean I got it?' He yelps.' Here, I'll put them on." He says with his hand out.
"No Colonel, we have to do this right.' I say and begin reading the promotion warrant. When I am done, I remove his shiny oak leaves and pin the silver eagle atop the number six on his two collar points and offer him two more sets. I put out my hand. 'Congratulations Colonel Sparks, you earned this.' I say with a smile as we shake hands warmly. 'I'll buy you a drink in the pub, after work. Bring a guest. I know I will." I add.
"Yes, sir. I'll be there. I'll contact you when I'm finishing to see if you're ready, sir." He responds as he turns and leaves, neglecting to pay the usual respects, in his excitement.
We meet in the bar at seventeen hundred. I am accompanied by Helena. Chris has a sweet young Ensign on his arm. I use her name three times in early conversation, but can't remember it an hour later. We enjoy a light dinner and a few drink before breaking for the evening.
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Today, I've scheduled a light workload. After all, the big date is tomorrow, and there is always a lot to do on the eve of your wedding. I'm tidying up records, like the personnel notification of Sparks promotion, and forwarding the warrant to all appropriate levels so it can receive the perfunctory approvals and registrations. I am also taking one last read of yesterday's investigation reports before sending them off to the C&C and the appropriate commands. Then there's lunch. I don't know how many have asked me to join them. I think it will turn into quite the little do.
After the two-hour break, I head back to the quarters I still have on the Valhalla to check out the dress uniform I will wear tomorrow. Dinner is a little more relaxed for everyone but those at the head table. We will all still be in our blacks, but everyone else can wear daily grays for comfort. Helena, Marie, and Olivia will all be wearing the new gowns Helena designed. She will change into hers from her wedding one, after the cocktail party, following the wedding.
I lay out the appropriate rank insignia and call in Dave Angstrom. He and all my original stewards have followed me along on the ride to my current rank and position. He is now a Chief Master Petty Officer in charge of a team of eight.
"Dave, can you have two of my shirts pressed, and have two sets of slacks and dress jackets steamed and pressed too, please? I put out two sets of insignia, ribbons, and lanyards, and one set of medals. I only need the medals on one uniform. Put the insignia on both shirt collars, will you?" It's really an order.
"Yes, sir. You can't be too prepared. Will you need me in the morning, for your personal preparations, sir?" He asks.
"It wouldn't be a bad idea. I always have a lot of trouble with the bow tie, but clip-on ones don't look very good with a tailored formal suit." I say with a smile.
"Can you have a daily uniform pressed, right away? I think I'll wear it to the bachelor party, tonight." I ask.
"Aye, sir. We'll have it back in an hour, if that's okay, Admiral." Dave responds.
"That's fine Chief," I answer.
I putter around my quarters, reorganizing things that are already okay. I chuckle when I realize that I am experiencing a slight case of jitters. I guess everyone has some nervousness over such a significant change in their lives. But, what is actually changing? I love Helena, and she loves me. Our relationship won't alter, that way. We will not have to skulk around to each other's quarters, anymore, but we already enjoy a great physical relationship. Being housed together shouldn't change that, either. Neither of us have been carousers. We've both had casual relationships before, but we were too busy with careers to get serious. It took meeting each other to change that. I guess it's the commitment. You're saying you'll be there if the other is sick or in trouble. You will be their backstop for the rest of your lives together. But, I already feel that I would give up my life for hers if it were required to protect her.
At nineteen hundred thirty hours, I head to the Valhalla number three shuttle bay to motor over to Lowry’s on the Examiner. George had decided it was fitting since it was my pub, and I had even named it. The weightless fifteen-minute ride and docking to get there are relaxing. The atmosphere allows me to unwind a little. My mind even wanders, and the shuttle pilot has to tell me when we are actually ready to disembark.
Sort of tongue - in - cheek, Commander MacDonald, Captain of the Examiner, has me piped aboard. It is acceptable protocol, but we stopped it a long time ago. I am always moving between the Valhalla, the Examiner, the Midgard and OESA headquarters, so it seems a real pain. But, he says it’s the last time he'll get to do it for Admiral Brubacher since by tomorrow I'll be Admiral Leeds.
The group is already in Lowry’s when I step in the doorway. Bryant, Nichols, Stephenson, Blackman, Moe, Sparks, are just a few of those present. In all, the group is around twenty. They raise a loud cheer, stomping and hollering as a welcome and an attempt to embarrass me.
They immediately start with a B52 toast. It's a tradition that has survived more than two centuries. I whisper to the bartender to keep bottled water coming for me, alternating between straight and sparkling. It will maintain the impression I am tipping back, and dilute any alcohol I do consume. I do not want a big hangover, on my wedding day. And, most importantly, I do not wish to play the fool. We are all the senior managers of over three million. The press is embedded, everywhere.
"What's up Kurt?" Bryant asks, sensing my reservations.
"I'm just being careful. I don't want a big headache, tomorrow, and this is my Command ship. I don't want my people seeing me falling-down drunk. I'd like to have fun but keep it a bit controlled if you don't mind." I respond.
"I still outrank you, and I'm ordering you to have fun." He counters to a raucous round of laughter.
"Yes, sir!" I snap as I salute smartly.
But, I decide to keep my head and stick to my plan. I will sip a drink for every couple of bottles of water I consume. And, I'll be gone by one hundred hours in the morning, at the latest - maybe sooner, if there's any half-naked women popping out of cakes, or some such nonsense. I'm not interested in dipping my nib in any other inkwell. Helena is the woman for the rest of my life.
There is a lot of laughter through the evening. The loudest is the response to Admiral Bryant's story of Marie and the new midshipmen, though he is careful to never even infer, I was one of them. He embellishes Marie's actions a little more each time he tells it, and it's always new to those like Sparks who haven't heard it before. Even those of us who have, love the way he
tells it.
At one hundred hours I excuse myself from the table, as if, going to the men's room, and slip out the door of Lowry’s unseen, heading for my quarters on the Examiner. Though I didn't consume that much, the booze helps. Despite my anxiety, I drift into a deep sleep almost immediately, after my head hits the pillow. The next thing I know, a steward is knocking at the door at eight hundred in the morning.
I brush my teeth and order breakfast, dressing in last night's daily uniform to head back to the Valhalla. My two dress uniforms are set up for me in my quarters, there. I shave, shower, and don dailies for the trip to the Flag Bridge so I don't wrinkle everything. I'll carry one dress uniform there. The ceremony is at eleven hundred. I'll change in the bathroom adjoining Bryant's office.
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I make life and death decisions for thousands every day, but I'm more nervous waiting for Helena to appear than ever before in my life, as I stand at the edge of the raised platform with my best man on my right. We are half turned, watching down the center aisle for her to appear. The hundreds on the bridge, the star-field backdrop, and the atmosphere barely register; as anticipation piques me like thousands of little insects crawling around all over and inside me. I am probably the only person in the Empire who hasn’t seen Helena in her gown. It was modeled for everyone, but she was careful that I never see the images - honoring the centuries-old tradition that the groom should not see his bride in the gown, until the wedding. As the Orion Empire anthem begins, we all snap to attention.
As the hymn ends, two rows of Marine honor guards forming a corridor respond to a present arms order by drawing swords and crossing them above the aisle, as a small live orchestra plays Wagner’s Bridal Chorus. Two bars into the march, Helena appears arm-in-arm with her father, walking in short glide-steps behind two young children spreading flower petals ahead on the pathway to the "altar." She is stunning. The gown is incredible. It takes her rank insignia, ribbons, lanyards and braids without appearing garish. Hundreds of flashes fire, as she takes each step, making her all the more, a surreal image. Behind her, four bridesmaids follow dressed in the new dress uniform she designed. Despite my love of Helena, I am struck by Marie Bryant's sheer beauty in the exclusive gown.
Four ushers step into line beside Admiral Bryant. The Emperor falls in behind George. He will present the rings. It is incredible that all seven of us can stand in this tight formation without entangling our ceremonial swords.
As she reaches me, Helena releases her father and takes my hand. He moves off to the left returning to his wife in the first row of guests. Helena is sobbing quietly.
"You're crying?" I whisper softly, afraid that she's having second thoughts.
"I know. I'm happy." She chokes out softly through the sobs.
"Through the centuries it has been a ship captain's privilege to join ship born couples in matrimony... ' Commander MacDonald, the Examiner's Captain, begins, and, I drift into somewhere, until my mind registers that he said; 'Do you Kurt Brubacher take Helena Leeds to be your lawful wedded wife...' After my response, I drift again. I am lost in the depth of her gaze. Helena is absolutely bewitching to me, at this moment.
In the back of my mind, I hear her say; "I do." Helena is still sobbing quietly. Most of those in attendance are too.
I snap back to the reality of the moment.
"You may now kiss the bride." I hear the Captain.
I turn Helena to me, take her in my arms, oblivious to the crowd behind. Our lips meet. We pull our bodies together. It is a long slow kiss that draws audible gasps from women on the flag bridge - and then - applause.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Officers and enlisted personnel, I present to you Mister and Misses Kurt Brubacher." The Emperor calls out as we turn to face them.
We walk under crossed swords down the aisle as the orchestra plays a few bars of Mendelssohn's Wedding March, then something I helped choose, but can't remember the title of, at the moment, as the crowd tosses oversized confetti above or heads. We head to the Flag Bridge Conference Room to be joined by the wedding party, the bride’s family, the press, and a few other especially honored guests.
Tables are filled with hors d'oeuvres like thinly sliced smoked turkey breast rolls stuffed with salmon, Russian sturgeon caviar with onion crackers, and a hundred other offerings. Bottles of red and white wine grace the tables. A bar on either side of the room offers any beverage those of us in the room could imagine, and stewards circulate with trays of champagne filled crystal flutes. Everyone takes a glass. There is the ringing of someone striking a glass with a piece of silverware.
"Ladies and gentlemen, could I have your attention, please?" Admiral Bryant calls out. He has his arm around Marie who is tight at his side. As best man, it's his responsibility here and at the receptions to make the first toast.
"I have known Kurt since I took him for assignment from the Academy a good number of years ago. He has always been a man of honor and hard work, and, he is loyal to those close to him, including those in his Command. It hasn't been as long, but I've known Helena quite awhile, and she is a force to be reckoned with. So, Kurt better be careful, from now on.' He pauses as people in the room laugh. 'I want to extend our best wishes to Mister and Misses Brubacher. We hope they have a long and pleasurable life together." He finishes as he raises his glass.
"Rah!" The room calls back, in response as they all raise their glasses.
"Now it's my turn!" The Emperor calls out.
"Kurt and Helena have served the Empire faithfully for most of their adult lives. They have done many things to personally make my life a little better and safer. I owe them a lot,; as do all the citizens of our wonderful Empire. We cannot thank them enough. I want to wish them a long and prosperous future together, on behalf of my family and me and all of the Empire." He finishes as he raises his glass.
"Rah." Everyone responds again and sips.
"Okay everyone let's enjoy. There's lots of fine food and drink, and a host of good company to enjoy. Here's to all our friends!" I call out as I raise my glass.
"Here - here." The room responds with raised glasses.
We spend the next hour milling about and visiting. People have dropped gifts on the tables. I have my stewards pull them all together, and we spend part of the time opening them, mostly for the benefit of our guests. One is a draft from the Emperor for one hundred thousand Sovereigns. We thank him without making a scene. We go back to the conversation for awhile after opening the presents.
"Sir, your gift is too generous. I am uncomfortable accepting it." I whisper when we finally corner Edward.
"Nonsense my boy. You have made a big difference in my life, both now and in the future. Just accept it gracefully and enjoy it. It is a small amount to my family. A token of our thankfulness." He says with a warm smile as he places a consoling hand on my left shoulder.
"Well... we thank you, sir." I feel the tears well up in my eyes and notice Helena sobbing softly again. I guess she's happy. Edward gently rubs her back consolingly, for just a moment.
The cocktail party breaks up at fourteen hundred. Helena and I pay short visits to both the Loki and the Examiner. We are toasted and gifted at each. While on the Loki, she asks her steward to move her eveningwear to my quarters on the Valhalla and to attend her there for the rest of the day. Then we head to my quarters on the Valhalla to make love and get a little rest.
Chapter 20 A New Beginning
Sunday November 29, 2257
"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." - Samuel Johnson
After boarding the Shield Maiden, Helena's Admiral's Craft, we gave her Captain orders to just cruise slowly to a point away from the Loki, for a day, to where we could return to it in another day.
Being with nearly twenty-five thousand people on three different vessels the day before, makes the silence seem like heaven. We spend most o
f the morning just laying around our quarters unclothed and talking, taking panicked breaks for lovemaking. I think it's the first time we've had a couple of days alone since we met. We finally dress at noon to head to the lounge for lunch at thirteen hundred.
In the lounge, I have the steward turn on the system and navigate to a news site. We are shocked, immediately. The Emperor has wasted no time. There is a headline story about the new Constitution he submitted to the Assembly and counsel. However, it's being crowded out by coverage of our wedding. There are even images of the Shield Maiden. We laugh at the knowledge the press is even following us out here.
"I guess we better close the drapes in your bedroom, from now on," I remark, bringing Helena to tears with laughter. I have the attendant turn off the news.
The stewards serve an elegant and delectable luncheon with wine. An original creation of baked apple and plum on a graham crust is served for desert. The chef aboard my craft is excellent, but hers is amazing.
We laze about, highlighting various stars and space phenomena to each other for the rest of the day, but stopping to cuddle in each other's arms, from time to time. We end the evening early, heading to her quarters around twenty hundred hours. We look naively at each other and laugh when she closes the drapes. She takes on a devilish nature after undressing, aggressively tearing back the drapery - her nudity in full view.
"If they want to look, let 'em. I want to see the stars." She sassily feigns anger bringing me to tears with laughter.
I am not upset by this. Her body is so amazing, I know every man in the Empire would be jealous of me if they could see it. So, all the more power to us, if the press manages to snap a picture. We fall asleep around one hundred thirty hours in the morning, after consuming a bottle of Chardonnay and enjoying each other's pleasures for hours.
Righteous Reign The Series: E-version Boxed Set Edition Page 53
