Crineal Chronicles 1: In Hera's Service (10 page)

She
held her breath for a moment, she hadn’t used that name for nearly fourteen
years, hadn’t been able to by law. But she’d already broken the law more times
than she could remember now, so what did once more matter? “My name was
Samantha Davies, Sir.”

The
black suited figure grew very, very still for a moment and then nodded. “You
are thirty-four years old, you were born in Leicester, England and worked in a
government office in Coventry before Earth joined the Empire,” he stated.

Her
eyes widened in shock. How had he known that? Did he have access to her
complete record? The Imperial Adjudicator who had passed sentence said that her
records would be sealed so that her past life would be gone and that her
history would only be available to the highest levels of the Justice
department.

“You
left the job just after the occupation and went to stay with your family back
in Leicester,” Crineal continued.

Cyndora’s
mouth worked, trying to find some words. “How…,” was all that came out.

Crineal
reached up and pulled off his helmet. “Hi Sam, nice to see you again.”

Cyndora
just stared at him, the face seemed familiar, she knew him, but where… then it
clicked. “Chris Neal! What… wait, General Crineal? That’s you! Crineal is your
Imperial name.”

Crineal
nodded at her. “Yes, we never talked to each other after the various Imperial
edicts started to be imposed,” he gave her a little smile. “Samada isn’t bad, I
guess. Sounds a little exotic.”

She
was still looking at him in shock. “You joined the Imperials? Why?? What would
make you do that? They invaded us!!”

The
smile dropped from his face. “Yeah, they did. And I wasn’t that happy about it
at first. Until the rebels came to help ‘liberate’ us.”

“The
bombing of Coventry… you were still there,” she said in realization.

Crineal
nodded. “Yes. I was, and my family were, and my friends. They weren’t there
afterwards, though,” he finished grimly, remembering the terror of the flames
and the explosions as his apartment was destroyed around him.

Cyndora
put her hand to her mouth. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Chris. But it was a
mistake. They told us all about it. The rebels only meant to destroy the new
imperial factories there and some target markers were misplaced. It was all a
horrible accident.”

He
looked at her coldly. “Is that what they told you? The rebel commanders?” She
nodded mutely. “Well let me tell you what I know. I’ve seen the Space Corps
recordings and report of the attack. The rebel bombers came in and first bombed
the main arteries in and out of the city to restrict movement to and from the
city. No evacuation out or aid in. Then they swept across the whole city east
to west, carpet bombing it with high explosives and incendiaries. The
conclusion of the report was that the raid was designed to not only take out
the factories, but create injuries, a lot of dead bodies and instill fear in
anyone supporting the Empire or living near Imperial facilities.”

She
shook her head in denial. “It wasn’t meant to be like that!”

Crineal
snorted derisively. “Of course it was. They have the same tech that we do. If
they wanted to just destroy the factories they could have done that. Even the
major Earth militaries could have done that fifty years ago. If they just
wanted to destroy the city, they could have done that, too, just like London or
Washington. But that wouldn’t have left survivors to spread fear, or dead
bodies to be dug out of the rubble and put into mass graves. It was a
calculated exercise in terror. I spent a day buried in rubble. And I was lucky,
I guess. I got out alive, unlike my parents and almost everyone else I knew. I
signed up for the Space Corps as soon as I got out of hospital.”

Cyndora
was on the verge of tears. “The rebels aren’t like that, they’re fighting
Imperial tyranny.  You don’t know what it’s like down there now…”

He
looked at her stonily. “So tell me. Tell me what made you join the rebels?”

She
was crying now. “I had gone out shopping. Whilst I was out the Imperial
Security forces did a sweep through our area. When they came to our house my
mum didn’t want to let them in. They knocked her down and kicked open the front
door,” she sobbed. “My sister was home and tried to protect her. They beat her
senseless and left them laying there whilst they wrecked our home looking for
rebels. Mum and Andrea were in hospital for two weeks. I didn’t actually start
helping the rebels until years later, though, and I never did anything to hurt
anyone. I know some who did, but I didn’t want to. I just wanted the Empire
gone.”

“And
now here we are,” Crineal said wearily. “You, the rebel convict and me, the
Imperial butcher. That’s what you think of me, isn’t it?” She looked at him
mutely, her face red from her crying. “When I saw you get out of the shuttle
yesterday, I couldn’t believe it. I thought everyone from my past was gone, and
there you were. And then I had this crazy idea that maybe I could do something to
help. Get you out of the rec areas and make things a bit easier for you,” he
paused to think of how to continue.

Cyndora
glared at him with tear-filled eyes and spoke before he had a chance. “Having
you screw me every night instead of a bunch of thugs down in the rec area is
your idea of making things easier for me?” she spat.

Crineal’s
face hardened. “So that’s what you think I’ve become? A rapist as well as a
butcher?” He stood up and dropped his helmet onto the seat behind him. “Fine,
my mistake for trying to help someone I cared for.” He turned his back on her
and went over to the comm unit by the door. She watched tearfully as he keyed
in some things but couldn’t see what.  Then he stepped back and retrieved his
helmet before looking at her once more. He gestured over his shoulder with his
thumb towards the comm unit. “There, I’ve set up a request for Recreation
Division to come and return you to your dorm as you don’t seem suitable after
all. All you have to do is hit the green send key. You can go back and get more
justification for hating Imperials and I can get on with running my squadron
and trying to make things better. I’m going to have a shower and get changed.
You do whatever.” She looked up blearily as he stalked past her and through the
door into the sleeping area. It slid shut behind him and he disappeared from
her view

Crineal
stood under the hot water stream in the shower, cursing himself for a fool. He
had actually imagined that just because he knew her from before, when they were
close friends, that she might be glad to see him now? Stupid man! Losing
Bannerman and Rochelle, seeing Feldea that badly hurt and the injuries to the
rest of his pilots must have upset him more than he thought, he realized
bitterly. He should have just taken Strieger up on her offer and given her a
tour of Earth. They could have stayed out of bed and kept it within regs,
maybe… maybe not. They were both pretty strung out right now. One wrong gesture
or word and they would have ended up between the sheets. A not unpleasant image
of Strieger writhing and gasping in passion under him entered his mind. Crineal
shook his head clear of that, the consequences would be entirely too unpleasant.
He sighed, turned off the water and turned on the dryer. Once he was dry Crineal
left the shower and hung up his flight suit before putting on his uniform,
still berating himself for behaving like some damn fool white knight rushing to
a damsel’s rescue. He should be far too jaded for that nonsense by now. He
sealed the front on the jacket up to his left shoulder and went back into the
lounge area. To his surprise, Cyndora was still there, but standing by the comm
unit. He supposed that Rec Division must be busy with the inductions.

Cyndora
sniffled, her face still blotchy from crying. “Sir? Chris? I’m sorry. I didn’t
mean that last bit. I was… was angry and upset. I know you’re trying to help
me.” He looked over her shoulder and saw that the message to Rec was still
there on the screen, unsent. “I’ll go if you want me to, but I think I’d rather
stay. Here, with you.” She looked at him pathetically.

Crineal
studied her for a long minute, trying to decide if she was being genuine or had
just come to the conclusion that life here, even if it meant sharing his bed,
was going to be better than being down in the Enlisted Rec. He finally decided
it was the former, probably. He moved over to her, reached out over her
shoulder and hit the ‘cancel’ key. Crineal saw her flinch before she turned and
saw the ‘Message Canceled’ flash on the screen. Cyndora sagged visibly. Crineal
took her by the arm and guided her to one of the easy chairs, and then he went
on into the kitchen area. He came back a minute later with a glass of water and
a pill. He held both of them out to her.

Cyndora
took the glass and looked at the pill uncertainly. “What is it?” she sniffled.

“It’s
a powerful aphrodisiac and will reducer, so I can have my way with you,”
Crineal looked solemnly at her and then cracked a slight smile. She gave him a
weak grin in return, took the pill from his hand, popped it in her mouth and
washed it down with a gulp of water.

She
looked up at him, still clutching the glass. “So what was it really?”

“It
was a very mild sedative to calm you down.”

“Oh.”
Cyndora took another sip of water as Crineal seated himself in the other easy
chair and watched her as he propped up his head with his right hand. Her
breathing finally steadied and Cyndora looked up at Crineal. “I really am so
sorry about what I said Chris… Sir.” She didn’t know how to address him. “You must
be hurting at least as much as me over what happened to our families.” Cyndora
took a breath. “So what do I have to do?”

Good
question, Crineal thought, he hadn’t even got as far as figuring that out. He’d
been so focused on just getting her away from Rec Division that he hadn’t given
the day-to-day stuff any thought at all. “Well, let’s see… umm… you can keep
the place tidy and clean,” he said looking around his spartan quarters. Yeah,
that would take her all of five minutes a day. “Ahh, prepare our meals.” Another
one minute. “Just keep me company when I’m off duty, I guess. Oh, there’s also
the entertainment unit.” Great plan, he thought, you’re a real strategist.
Cyndora smiled a little at his awkward answer, it was just typical of the Chris
she had known, do good first and figure out the details afterwards. “What were
your duties and schedule down in Rec supposed to be?” he cringed to himself
even as it came out, knowing what part of her job was.

“We
hadn’t been given anything specific yet. I was told that I had to exercise and
shower every day and, apart from that, ‘entertain’ the crew, I guess,” she
replied quietly.

Wincing
at the emphasis on the word ‘entertain’, he tried to move past the implications
of that. “Ok, hmmm, having you go down to the rec dorm exercise area seems
stupid. You can use the flight crew gym with me every day. I suppose we need to
make it look like you’re carrying out your duties and staying fit. If you show
up with me it will make you look more like an obedient pet.” She gave him an
indecipherable look. “Sorry to have to put it that way, but it’s true and the
appearance will matter.”

Cyndora
thought about it and nodded and then looked down at her toga. Crineal followed
her gaze. “Yes, not really suitable for exercising, is it?”

She
shrugged and took another drink of water. “The other assistants exercise
naked.”

Crineal
almost went cross-eyed at the thought of her jogging, naked. Quit that!! “I’ll
set up access to the replicator for you and allocate a budget for some extra
clothing. Lots of officers do that for their personal recreation assistants.”
Cyndora didn’t have to stretch her imagination as to the nature of the likely
clothing the others would be getting. “I figure a sports bra and matching
shorts with some running shoes would be about right. Also you can order some
day wear for around here. Whatever would make you feel comfortable.”

“You
don’t want me to wear this?” she asked, indicating the short dress.

Crineal
shook his head. “Only if I have a scheduled meeting so as to keep up
appearances. If anyone drops by unexpectedly then they won’t be able to enter
if I’m not here to give permission. Unless it’s the admiral or the ship’s captain
and the chances of them dropping by are so remote as to be non-existent. So
you’ll always be able to slip into the bedroom and change before I let whoever
it is in. Apart from that, you wear what you want.” He paused, thinking about
his routines. “Oh and once or twice a month I hold a small dinner party for my
pilots. I have a roster and vary the invites each time so I can get to know
them all a bit better off duty.”

“I’ll
wear this then?” Cyndora asked.

Crineal
cocked his head at her and thought about it. “No, I have a certain reputation
about how I feel towards recreation assistants being forced to show their
bodies. I’m trying to lead by example and just your being here is undermining
that. But that’s something I’ll have to work on.”

Cyndora
looked at him curiously. “And does it work?”

He
nodded. “Mostly. If I find out one of my pilots has been brutalizing any of the
assistants then I have them transferred immediately. Although it’s technically
against regulations, the justice department aboard ship views it as acceptable
so I can’t discipline them; moving them out is the best I can do. The attitude
is spreading through the other squadrons, but it’s slow.” Crineal shrugged a
little dispiritedly.