Resilience (Warner's World Book 6) (38 page)

“What, you want me to spy on her?”

“I wouldn’t put it like that. Let me blunt. LCmd Songa is being given a second chance here and by rights I should be supervising her closely. But that’s not easy to do from another ship, especially if you’re operating independently. I need your help here. If for any reason you doubt that she is acting in the best interests of the fleet, her ship and her crew then you need to contact me and you are authorised to do so directly. Don’t worry commander Songa knows about this.”

“Well if you say so Sir.”

“Good.”

Dave realised he was running out of time so he took the remaining officers into the briefing room and gave them the spiel about the changes. Most looked happy about the changes. Crystal did not. She cornered Dave straight after he exited.

“Please Sir, can I come with you” she pleaded.

“I would like to Crystal but I have already plundered Ivan’s staff as it is” explained Dave.

“Please Sir, you’re the only senior officer I know that understands me. We’re family aren’t we?”

Dave could see that Crystal’s normal composure was abandoning her. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. “Yes we’re family Crystal. Let me have a talk with Ivan.”

“Thank you.”

As Dave made his way back to his cabin he hailed Alex to ask him if he could find a new battle systems officer for the Resolute. He could take one from the Audacity if need be.

“I’ll see what I can do. Any more changes or can we sign off on this?”

“No that’s it.”

Dave hurried back to his cabin, took a quick shower and got changed. He had to hurry to make his scheduled shuttle trip back to the Kiev. The admiral was quite particular about drinks in the mess.

As Dave sat in the back of the warthog he said out loud “Not a bad day’s effort.”

Chapter 19. Kiev over Q2, 1730, 29 September

Dave walked into the mess on the Kiev to find Phil already downing a beer at the bar talking to some other officers that he didn’t recognise. He looked around to see Rihan but she was nowhere to be found. He quickly hailed her and asked when she was going to arrive. She had told him to hold his horses and that a gal needed a bit of time to prepare herself. She had hung up without waiting for him to respond.

Phil excused himself from the group and brought two beers over with him. He handed one to Dave and pointed to the lounge area. “So how did it go with Aubrey?” asked Phil.

“No problems” answered Dave as he sat down in a big comfy chair.

“What, just like that, she accepted it?”

“Pretty much. The promotion helped. Oh, by the way…”

“Yeah Rihan raised the matter with me…”

“She did?”

“Yeah you’ll get your second pip, Rear Admiral. Alex should process that tomorrow so you’re still dressed correctly” said Phil with a wink.

“Well thank you Sir. But actually I was going to ask you about Rihan’s promotion.”

“Yes” said Phil drawing out the word.

“It’s a Commodore’s position. The ground and flight commanders are Commodores. So my flag captain should be too.”

Phil thought for a moment. “She’s impossible to control as a Captain.”

“It’s not about control Sir. She needs to have the rank that goes with the authority and responsibility of the position, especially if she needs to take command for any reason.”

“OK, if that will make you happy.”

“What will make him happy?” asked Rihan from behind Dave’s chair. She was wearing a stunning red evening dress. Her auburn hair was down but most importantly from Dave’s perspective was the fire in her green eyes.

Dave stood up, kissed her lightly and said “you look ravishing.”

She gave him a knowing smile. “Why are you still in uniform?  We’re officially on leave, aren’t we?” she asked.

“Well yes but…”

Rihan shook her head with a disappointed look. But then her expression changed as she asked “So what will make you happy?”

“Seeing my wife a Commodore” replied Dave with a big smile.

Rihan turned to Phil seeking confirmation. He smiled and said “But it’s provisional on you showing me proper respect.”

Rihan leaned over and gave Phil a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you” she said softly in his ear.

“Now that’s more like it” said Phil.

Rihan turned back to Dave and asked “So where are you taking me on this leave of ours?”

“Ah yes, well I…”

“Haven’t thought that far in advance” answered Rihan. “You are a sad case Dave Warner. Lucky you married me. I’ve got something organised.”

“You have?”

“Do you know how hard it is to get accommodation below where the beds are big enough” replied Rihan with a smile directed at Phil.

Phil laughed.

“Oh you are amazing honey” said Dave.

Rihan leaned close to Dave’s ear and whispered “and I will be later lover.” She kissed his ear sending a shiver down Dave’s body.

At the end of the following dinner Phil briefed Dave on how the Qwantum Resistance had already raised two brigades for service abroad. “There’s no shortage of volunteers Dave. They’ve been promised a ticket out of the system. The trouble will be the quality.”

Dave nodded. A thought occurred to him. He was annoyed with himself for not thinking of it earlier. He turned to Rihan and asked “have any leave arrangements been made for my crews?”

“It all happens tomorrow morning” advised Rihan “I’ll fill you in later.”

“Where would I be without you?”

“In a sad and desperate place I’m afraid.”

Dave leaned closer to her and whispered “I’m ready for bed.”

“Me too” she whispered back. “I’m packed and ready to go.”

Dave shook his head with a smile before making his excuses to Phil.

Chapter 20. Resolute over Q2 2100, 29 September

By the time Dave had closed the door to his cabin Rihan had dropped her bag, stepped out of her shoes, taken off her earrings, put her communicator on the side table on ‘her’ side of the bed and turned around to face Dave, who was now looking for a space to set down her two other bags.

“You in a hurry?” asked Dave with a smile.

“What do you think?” she replied with a wry smile. She put both arms around his neck and pressed her ample breast to his chest. She caught his gaze going down to her cleavage and then felt his hands clasp her buttocks pulling her even closer. She stared into his eyes drawing them up from his current downward focus.

She kissed him softly on the lips but felt his tongue part her lips and lunge towards hers. She felt this surge of passion and pushed back strongly. He pulled her off her feet and she wrapped her legs around his torso. He carried her to the bed, depositing her onto it. She relaxed her grip with her legs allowing him to pull up her dress. In a single motion he pulled down her nickers and dove in with his head.

She began sighing but then called out “Come on honey, give it to me.”

He withdrew his head from between her legs and tried to undo his pants. But he was having trouble with his belt. She sat back up and in a swift motion had his pants down.

But something clicked inside Dave and he found he was no longer sexually aroused. “I’m sorry honey but I…” said Dave. This hadn’t happened before and he struggled to find the words he hoped would be an adequate excuse.

A wave of frustration swept over Rihan but it didn’t last long. As she stared into his eyes she felt a swell of compassion rise up within her. She put her forefinger on his lips and she gently pulled his head towards her chest. “It’s alright Dave. Come, we can just cuddle up together.”

“I’m really sorry honey” reiterated Dave as he lay next to her on the bed.

“Shoosh” she said soothingly. “You’re just exhausted darling.”

Fifteen minutes Dave was asleep. They had changed into their shorts and tees, got under the covers and he had cuddled into her back. But it wasn’t long before his arm that had been draped over her hips had dropped back.

Rihan reflected on what had just happened or more specifically not happened. Yes she was disappointed. She had been looking forward to this for so long. But that was a minor matter really. What concerned her most was Dave’s state of being. She had known him now for nearly two years and she had seen him endure losses before but she had never seen him in such a low state.

‘You put on your business face my love’ said Rihan to herself ‘and that gets you through the day. But I get to see the real you.’ She lay there in the dark for another minute. ‘This is not the real you. No, I’ve got to help you get back to your true self darling.’

Chapter 21. Spectre over Istridium 2205, 29 September

They had warped in ten minutes ago. It had taken them that long just to catalogue all the entities of interest over and on the surface. The holo had so many icons on it that Sheldon had asked for them to filter out non-military ships. Even so there were still 12 caps and 21 lights plus a space station.

“So that space station thing is similar to the one over Cheklin” queried Sheldon.

“Similar signature” replied 2
^nd
Lt Michael Thurbar his CI officer.

“So we should definitely avoid going down under its gaze.”

“It looks like it’s focussed over a place called Orina, but it has a huge scan zone.”

“That’s where I need to get to” chimed in Angina.

Sheldon rolled his eyes. “It would be, wouldn’t it?”

“Dawn is at 0550” advised 2
^nd
Lt Addo Omabe, the OPS officer. “If we have to go in, then sooner would be better.”

Angina was looking sternly at Sheldon trying to firm up his resolve.

“Well that’s what we have come here to do. Are you ready Maam?” asked Sheldon.

“Most definitely” said Angina. She maintained her eye contact on Sheldon who glanced over to Evie. Evie nodded.

“OK let’s do it.”

Chapter 22. Orina 0110, 30 September

Angina arrived exhausted at what was now the Istridium Resistance HQ. Milus had been roused out of bed an hour earlier when he received her call. It had come as a complete surprise to him. When they met physically inside what appeared to be a university they hugged. Angina had worked with Milus almost her entire career. For the last fifteen of which he had been her Communications Manager. But his talents were broader than the title might suggest and his skills had been broadened further since the overrunning of the ‘complex’.

“You look exhausted Angina” he said once they retreated inside under the lights. “Best to rest first and we can talk in the morning.”

Angina nodded. “But first I need to acknowledge to our friends overhead that we’ve arrived safely. Can you send a signal on this frequency from a proxy that won’t trace back to here?”

Milus looked disappointed but replied “Of course Angina. Just because we’ve been booted out of our premises doesn’t mean we have lost such rudimentary capabilities.”

“Good to hear Milus. I just wasn’t sure.”

“That’s all right. Leave it with me. Come, I’ll show you where you can sleep.”

Chapter 23. Whiskey 1 to Pesminitar 1130, 30 September

Finally they were on their way to their leave destination. Rihan had pulled off the organisation required to shuttle over 500 personnel to eight different locations using a plethora of shuttles from different ships.

The local Government was providing the accommodation and facilities as part of their contribution to the hosting and security arrangements. Rihan had chosen a mix of location types from what she was advised by the local authorities as being the best the planet had to offer.

“So where is this Pesminitar and what’s there?” asked Dave.

“It’s in the sub-tropical north of the main continent. It boasts the biggest waterfall on the planet” responded Rihan.

“Oh really. Well that I would like to see.”

“It also boasts me, for the duration” said Rihan with a smile.

“I never tire of seeing you darling.”

“That’s as well. By the way, if we feel up to it, there are walking tours up to the top of the falls. Supposedly, the views from there are spectacular.”

“That would be nice” said Dave.

“What would be nice?” asked Art who was sitting with Sue just down from them.

“You guys interested in a hiking trip up to the top of some falls?”

“Depends how tired we are” chipped in Sue.

Art chuckled. “How high is the climb?” he asked.

“Don’t know but we can ask when we get there” suggested Rihan.

“And if it’s too much we can always request a warthog, right?” proffered Sue. Rihan raised one of her eyebrows. “I think we deserve it” said Sue.

“Yeah of course we do” said Dave and with a smile added “I’m a rear admiral after all.”

Sue cocked her head to Rihan with an expression that said ‘see I’m right.’

“Oh the delusions of grandeur” retorted Rihan.

They came into land through a huge cloud of vapour created at the bottom of the falls as they spilled into a sizeable lake. They were at a small spaceport built specifically to handle tourists. The facilities were not designed to hook up to the warthogs. So they disembarked onto the hardened landing bay. It was warm and humid. The sun was burning off the moisture in the air. Dave took a big deep breath in and smelt the fresh air – his first in a week. It felt terrific, like he was inhaling goodness.

There was a sweet fragrance wafting in on a gentle breeze from the surrounding vegetation. Dave did a 360 scan and realised that in fact the jungle was all around them, save for the lake. But he could see green on the far side of the lake. It was then that he saw the mountain through a break in the vapour cloud. “My god that is one tall hill!” he exclaimed.

Art wacked Dave on the back. “That my friend qualifies as a mountain in my classification system.”

“And you want us to climb that?” Sue asked Rihan.

“Tall isn’t it” said Rihan.

A rogan approached asking for a Commodore Kabel. Rihan conferred with him for a moment and then announced “this way folks.”

They were unpacking their gear into their cabins at a resort called Konisius. Dave looked at the bed. “I thought you said they would have big beds.”