All That Glitters Ch. 24

"I will recommend that The Wanderer follows existing Navy rules about the absence of Senior Command members while in a hostile environment despite the fact that she is very much a wolf in sheep's clothing, a Navy ship pretending to be a pleasure barge.

"Due principally to the admission of culpability by New Hadria Planetary Control, this inquiry will not initiate disciplinary actions.

"The results of this inquiry will be sent to higher command for review and could still result in recommendations for disciplinary actions against members of the crew. The Senior Review may also recommend citations for the ship and her crew above and beyond those that this inquiry has already mentioned.

"I would personally like to give my thanks to the members of the investigation team for the speed and detail they put into their investigation, allowing this inquiry to be completed in the short time that it has taken. You have the Navy's appreciation for a job well done.

"Finally, I release the body of Analisa Talbot for the long overdue funeral arrangements she is due.

"This inquiry is adjourned." Charbonnier banged his gavel and stood up as members of the crew broke out in a cheer.

Liramor City, Liramor Prime, Liramor System

It was three days after the end of the inquiry when the funeral of Analisa occurred. Analisa was well known and well liked by many people on Liramor Prime and beyond. She was also a hero of The Unification War, having received two separate medals for bravery. She had also received accolades and medals for her work with VSC. She had helped train many hundreds of local police officers, members of the local IPPF, and Navy personnel from the local base.

Wilford J. Holloway, the President of the Union, had taken a day out of his busy schedule to attend the service of one of those who had recently saved his life and the life the delegate of Hadrian's Planet.

Marcel Lapierre, the President of Liramor Prime and his daughter Lillianne were in attendance, as were thousands of others. Analisa's sister Tatyanah, her only living relative, was there to receive the Liramor Prime flag from the President of Liramor Prime, she received a Police Services Medal from the Ambassador of Hadrian's Planet, whose delegate she had saved, and receive the Union's Gold Medal of Police Services from the hand of the President of the Union.

The crew of The Wanderer finally had the opportunity to grieve for the loss of their friend and fellow crewmate. Kim and Liea almost broke down during the ceremony, held together by the strong arms of Ululla and Raymond, respectively.

The reception after at the Liramor Family Estates, was very trying on those who were close to Analisa. With the help of the crew as a whole, they managed to get through it all.

"I will miss her," Annette Liramor told Liea and Raymond. "I always liked the way she was so unguarded in my office, yet so in the moment as soon as she left it. It was like she was saying to me, I and my charges are safe in your presence."

"I remember when you first told me about how rich I was becoming; Analisa was almost in shock when we left your office. You should have seen her reaction!" Liea giggled.

"I remember when she stepped in to take care of that lecher who was stalking me the first time we went dancing as a group," Lissette mentioned. "She did it so casually."

"And the time she gave me that look of praise when I saved Fiona and Helga from those would be assassins," Lynne Ducharme commented. "I always wanted her to give me that level of praise again, but the closest I ever got to gaining acceptance from her was when she gave me my ship's nickname 'Fudge'." That brought another giggle from the group.

"A toast," President Holloway said, raising his glass. "To Analisa. May her memory always bring a smile to our lips."

"To Analisa!" the group chorused and downed their drinks. The long day was slowly closing, but many didn't want it to, as Analisa would only be a memory after its end and for now, it was if she was so near to them...

Conference Room One, Liramor-23, Piscium System

The NS Dewfall arrived in the Piscium system two days after the nuclear attack on the platform, VAdm. Hittu and FAdm. Thenton were on board.

That Thenton was furious on hearing what had happened was an understatement. His anger was something truly amazing to behold.

"Using atomics on a civilian platform to take out one person!" he shouted. "What kind of idiots are these people?"

"I'll leave that to you to figure out, Charles," Fiona replied, amazed and just a little bit put off by the vehemence of his outburst.

"It's a damn good thing that fucking Captain is dead!" he shouted.

"Charles," Fiona snapped, finally having had enough. "Restrain yourself please or leave the conference room. You are not setting a good example for your subordinates!"

Thenton took a deep breath and faced Fiona, anger still in his eyes.

"I apologize, Fiona. But this has come as a severe shock to me," Thenton told her. "Atomics were only used twice during the Unification Wars, both times by the Confederation of Planets and never against civilian targets. I cannot believe that these people would do such a thing, or that pirates have nuclear weapons."

"Science has looked at the remains of the second weapon," Fayad interjected. "They are older weapons, probably from Confederation times. I'm surprised that they were still functioning, actually."

"Well obviously they were," Thenton snarled back. "I am so pleased, Fiona, that your people were able to stop those weapons.

"Mirotomo, these people are going to Terra for trail," Thenton ordered. "We are going to make an example of them at the highest level to ensure that no other pirate ever again contemplates using nuclear weapons."

The JAG just nodded his head. He too was shocked to discover the use of atomics against a civilian target, all in order to take out one person.

"The late captain of the Pegasus Guardian was a fucking madman," Hittu snarled. "But you never heard that from me. That would indicate that I have prejudged this incident."

That brought a smile from the attendees.

"By the way, Charles," Fiona interjected. "One of our Marine Lieutenants had the fortunate idea to tell the crew of that ship that I had been away during the attack. It broke the crew's morale after the fact. You need to look at this young man, Lt. Penton has a head on his shoulders."

"Indeed? Thank-you for that Fiona. Something good may come of this yet."

"And Charles, the Pegasus Guardian is repairable." Fiona said sweetly.

Thenton burst out laughing. "By the Gods, Fiona! I needed that laugh!"

Grand Temple of Andanii, Aereet City, Andanii District, Planet Anuura, Fifty-Six Light Years from Terra

Henadi Noor slowly came to her senses, her head pounding with a sever migraine. Her body was weak, which suggested that she had been out for several days and had not been fed.

She was bound to a padded table, and she was cold, but that was because she was naked. She was also gagged. Being gagged meant that someone didn't want her to be heard.

Looking around the room, she noted the distinctive stone masonry. The stone was unique to the Andanii District of Anuura and the masonry work was unique to the Grand Temple.

Shit! Henadi thought. That means Andjuran has me. That is not good.

Henadi heard a door open behind her and the soft slap of feet in slippers coming across the floor. She couldn't see who it was but the scent of familiar food soon came to her nose.

Henadi recognized Waleeya Hasnaoui, the first wife of Amar Kanget, CFO of the Church of Andanii and henchman to Wassim Andjuran.

Without preamble, Waleeya pulled the gag from Henadi's mouth offering her a straw. Henadi sipped and the sweet nectar of a fruit only found on Anuura filled her mouth.

She swirled the nectar in her mouth, trying to get the dryness out of it while savouring the taste of home. A taste she never thought she would have again.

Waleeya served her meatballs, pasta, and vegetables infused with spices unique to Anuura. Once again Henadi enjoyed the flavours of her home world, keeping thoughts of why she was here at bay, for now.

While tasty, the meal was very sparse but Henadi's stomach felt very full afterwards, confirming for her the fact that it had been several days since she had last eaten.

Waleeya placed the gag back in her mouth and left, without a word having been said.

Henadi needed to think, but her full belly betrayed her and she found herself nodding off despite the chill in the room. The pain in her head receded as true sleep finally overtook her.

Central Control, Liramor-23, Piscium system

Fayad Ouihya was on duty as SOps in Central Control when the alarms started sounding.

"Unexpected FTL wavefront forming in the commercial inbound lane," Science sang out.

"Man the weapons," Fayad ordered. "Comms, contact Dir. Marsh and Capt. Davis. Advise the miners in the cages that we might have a situation, have them standby for further information."

"Liramor Control, this is The Wanderer, Raymond Clark speaking. We are in system to resupply. We need to speak to senior level command personal on a personnel issue."

"Control, roger. You may take the same parking orbit you were assigned last time you were here. Please remain in your parking orbit for safety reasons as this is an active mining facility and rocks are being jettisoned from the cages at random interludes. Be advised that Central Control is still located on Whiskey Level until the rebuild of the platform is completed. Welcome back, Wanderer. Control, out."

Fiona caught the conversation as she came into Central Control.

"Right, The Wanderer will likely take forty-five minutes to get a shuttle to the platform. I need all senior personnel that are available in Conference Room One at that time.

"Fayad, please remain in place until we are ready to seal the room, then you can come in." Fiona finished.

Fifty minutes later, Fayad walked into the conference room and it was sealed for the brief.

"I'll make this short," Raymond began. "I regret to inform you of the death of Analisa Talbot on our last mission. She died in the unsuccessful attempt to prevent the kidnapping of Capt. Noor."

The news hit those in the room like a bombshell. Many knew Analisa, and all knew Henadi Noor.

The people in the conference room stood and held a moment of silence for their fallen comrade.

"It seems that death is a constant companion of Lirmaor-23 of late," Fiona told the room after the minute of silence. "That is something I would like to bring to an end.

"I assume Henadi was kidnapped for the bounty?" Fiona asked.

"We believe so," Raymond stated. "It has been almost a week since the kidnapping, so she is now likely on Anuura."

"FTL event in the Navy inbound lane," Comms reported to the conference room.

"IFF confirms NFT Roger Dancer," Comms confirmed momentarily.

"Central Control, this is NFT Roger Dancer, Capt. Corine Leonard commanding. We are returning with our last load of supplies from Sector Forty-Two, over."

"Comms to me," Fayad ordered then opened comms with the ship. "Dancer, this is Central Control, welcome home, your parking orbit for now will be with The Wanderer. Contact the ship's Quarter Master and resupply as required," Fayad finished.

"Dancer, roger, out."

"You're getting good at this, Fayad," Raymond stated the obvious. "Looks like your temporary promotion to SOps could become permanent soon enough."

Fayad smiled toward Raymond. He'd always liked the man, and his partner Liea Samson.

"Alright people, let's hear what Raymond has to say about his latest trip and what they saw on New Hadria," Fiona said to bring everyone back to the here and now.

Raymond went through the points of the trip to New Hadria, leaving nothing out, the good with the bad including the results of the Navy Inquiry that had just finished. An hour later, just as he was getting to the end of the tale, they were interrupted as the alarms began to sound.

"Unexpected FTL wavefront in the Navy inbound lane," Comms stated.

"IFF identifies Valour Class NS Ora Evanest, out of Navy HQ Terra," Comms responded momentarily.

"Central Control, this is the NS Ora Evanest, Lt. Ishanvi Mehrotra commanding. Adm. Rolland Heist and a guest are with me. The admiral is requesting senior civilian and Navy personnel be present for a briefing, including Fayad Ouihya and Cdr. Franz Teal as this information is pertinent to their work. Over."

"Roger, Evanest. You may berth in Construction Bay twelve. Senior officers and section heads are currently in a meeting in Conference Room One. Please note that Central Control is still located on Whiskey Level. Control, out."

Fiona's Aide-de-camp, Helga Hellebore, left to meet Adm. Heist. Twenty minutes later they heard "Ora Evanest, Arriving!" piped over the comms to Raymond's amusement.

"Raymond?" Fiona asked.

"Sorry, just thinking how Rolland must be just a tad ticked off at the moment. He is the head of the Department of Naval Intelligence, a department, not a command. As such, the Lieutenant in command of the Evanest is accorded command privileges ahead of a full Admiral," he finished with a smile.

Ten minutes later, Rolland Heist walked into the room with a tall woman wearing a tight fitting, light-blue, long gown. The woman had eyes for only one person in the room.

"FAYAD!" she cried out.

Fayad was up and running in a heartbeat, the chair he had been sitting in crashing against the wall three meters behind him as he ran to pick up Hanalei and spin her around in a tight embrace, the two kissing and crying in their moment of reunion.

"Hanalei, how are you here?" Fayad asked confused after a few moments.

"The Johal Compound was attacked. We were rescued by the people that you sent to recruit me," Hanalei told him.

"Let's everyone take our seats please, I have much to pass on," Adm. Heist told the assembled.

It turned out they were one chair shy, but Hanalei just sat in Fayad's lap and laid her head on his shoulder. Fayad sent an apologetic look to Fiona who just smiled.

"That's alright. This wonderfully touching moment makes up for the bad news we had received earlier," Fiona stated for all, getting smiles and nods from around the table.

"Ms. Hanalei Anar, Fayad's intended, is here because of a raid by pirates on the Johal Compound which resulted in five civilian deaths," Adm. Heist told the assembled.

"Ms. Anar had been recruited to provide information from inside the compound due to the suspected activities of one Senator Wassim Andjuran. Ms. Anar found several pieces of incriminating data on our favourite Senator. Including confirmation we had been searching for on the location of his banking accounts.

"Senator Andjuran is a billionaire several times over, due entirely to his illegal activities, including being part owner of the shipbuilding enterprise that provided some of the ships that attacked Liramor-23 during the Second Battle of Liramor-23." That bit of news drew some heated comments from the attendees.

"She provided proof that Andjuran has been steeling from the Human Resources and Refugee Committee. This has led to a public inquiry into Senator Andjuran's actions, and the first step in having him deposed as a Senator and criminal charges brought against him by the Terran Union Senate for misappropriation of funds from a Senate controlled committee.

"She also confirmed the method by which Andjuran was sending data to the pirates. Once a month or so, the pirates would rent a villa at Denders Resort and then simply 'attend' the Temple of Andanii in the Johal Compound. They would not go to the temple but would go directly to the door from the courtyard to Andjuran's office. They would take Andjuran's intelligence and provide him with intelligence requests from other pirate groups that he would try to fulfill. Andjuran has been providing some very lucrative intelligence to the pirate syndicates since he took over from his predecessor.

"It was one of these persons who attacked the compound and killed five people living there, including the Matriarch, three guards and one of the women. Hanalei activated her escape code and we came in to rescue her and the remaining women.

"IPPF is providing for the women who were left behind with support including education for their future. They are also still going through Andjuran's computers, which are heavily encrypted. With what has already been found, we are very eager to have access to the last two computers.

"Incidentally, young lady, there is a substantial bounty on the pirate that you personally captured, some 100,000 credits," Heist told her.

"You captured a pirate?" Fayad asked, a look of pure admiration on his face.

"How did you manage to do that," asked Gillaya, Fiona's bodyguard.

"He was trying to rape me," Hanalei said, sitting up, a look of pure hatred on her face. "So I crushed his balls. The rescue team arrived then and stunned the two trying to help him. But they gave me the credit for capturing the leader."

"Can I keep her?" asked a suddenly fascinated Gillaya.

"Gillaya, behave," Fiona told her, but sending an acknowledging nod to Hanalei.

"Additionally," Heist continued, trying to regain control over the meeting, "you are entitled to ten percent for finding that source of funding for a criminal organization, to wit, Andjuran's clique. Andjuran is worth just over three billion dollars, which means you are going to find yourself fairly wealthy and be able to provide much of the support for your new house. I cannot say for certainty how much you will eventually be entitled to, but it should be substantial," Heist informed the young couple, who looked totally overwhelmed.

"Henadi Noor has been kidnapped, we think by Wassim Andjuran," Raymond told the newcomers. "By now, she has likely been delivered to him.

"Where do you think they would take her? Raymond asked.

"She is considered apostate," Fayad began, after a moments relaxion. "They will take her to the Grand Temple. They will want to make an example of her."

"How long would it take to prepare the populace for such an event?" Fiona asked.

"It wouldn't take long," Fayad said, "but Andjuran is a traditionalist. He will want to wait for the third day of the second month, just over a weeks time away now. That is the day on which the Profit Andanii died, and the day on which those who have transgressed the church would be punished. It is sometimes known as the day of atonement, the first day of the second month being the day of punishment. Apostates would be scourged on the first, vilified and sent from the Temple in shame on the third, never to be part of the community of Andanii again."

"Noor already was outside of the community," Adm. Hannison stated, for the record. "Why would he bring her back if he was only going to throw her out again?"

"Three times in the past, criminals have been executed on that date," Fayad told them. "However, those criminals had conducted horrible atrocities to the community of the Andanii. I think that Andjuran wants to turn Henadi into that kind of criminal level apostate. If so, he will have her executed.

"Beginning on the first day of the second month, she will be punished. Punishment will include having her flesh scourged in public..."

"Scourged?" Fiona interrupted.

"Whipped," Hanalei informed her. "She will be tied naked to a pole in the center of the grand square and she will be scourged. Her name will be denounced, and so might the name of her family."

"The Noor family is too powerful for Andjuran to attack directly," Fayad told them. "However, if the Noor family speaks out on the actions taken against Henadi, Andjuran could use that to ruin the family name, bringing the family down from its current status within the church.