All That Glitters Ch. 38

"The key will be getting the emergency declaration without informing the public of what it is. That will take the personal intervention of the President himself," Heyya stated.

"Shit. No pressure then, eh?" Dostier said, shaking her head.

Heyya just gave her a smile.

************

Raymond and his team were able to work out the necessary options for the additional pickups within three days and gave the brief to the captains involved in the Planet Adenomere raid on the fourth day.

"We will need to make an additional fifty pickup points in order to accomplish all of this. Fortunately, our citizens are being kept in large groups in these locations," Raymond explained.

"How many per group?" one of the captains asked.

"The largest consists of over 25,000," Raymond returned, shocking the captains on the Adenomere raid.

"The key to successful pickups is still the same, suppressing the planetary defences. That will allow us to deploy our shuttles for the pickup. We are going to have to work hard to make sure that our raiders have enough electronic lock kits for the slave collars. I think that instead of having half the team with the kits, the new pickup points will require all team members to have the lock kits." Raymond explained.

"That will pose a problem for security," one of the Marine officers commented. "If our attention is divided between security and breaking the collars, we could wind up in an unexpected situation. I would suggest that we have a few of our people dedicated to security on each pickup site. They can provide a trip wire for the rest of them."

"We could also leave teams on the planet as the shuttles return," someone suggested. "They could remove the collars in anticipation of the next shuttle drop."

"But that would hold the risk of people being left behind if a shuttle cannot get back to the ground," another person noted.

"We are Marines, sir, risk is part of our job description," the original speaker noted.

"Those who are left behind will incur the wrath of the local population, sir," another speaker replied. "That is not an acceptable risk. Getting to the ground and back out is one thing, leaving people on the ground to face the ire of a planet's population is foolishness."

"Are we going to have enough ships to get those people out? I think we will be pretty packed with rescued citizens on our ships," one of the captains noted.

"Yes, that is correct," Raymond told them. "For this reason, it has been decided to include civilian supply ships. We will have to bring additional shuttles to transport our people. Most civilian supply ships can hold ten to twelve full-sized shuttles in their shuttle bays but normally only carry four or five. We can provide them with shuttles to max out their lift capacity. Fortunately, Pallanders has been building new Combat Shuttles and Combat Drop Shuttles as well as civilian style shuttles, which have so far been undelivered. We will confiscate them for our needs and return them for redistribution after the fact. So, our priority on the new pickup points is to suppress the planetary defences to the point that unarmoured shuttles can make the trip."

That brought a lengthy discussion from the assembly that Raymond eventually forced a stop to.

"The key will be if we can suppress planetary defences to the point that we can get the shuttles into the area of concern. If we cannot, then we need to abandon these new pickup points," Raymond noted.

"We have additional support for this, mostly Valour Class and Whippet Class expressly provided for this part of the raid. They will be slotted into the existing matrix, no change in that regard. The supply ships will be given the pickup point; however, we will need to get Marines and Navy personnel to those ships to be on the shuttles. We will be pulling shuttles from everywhere for this one. I will leave it up to you on how you coordinate the movement of your Marines but they need to be on those ships before we make the final jump to Planet Adenomere.

"The one thing going for us is that all of the pickup points, both old and new, are on the same continent. We only have to suppress the defences on that side. The fastest way to get forces from one side of the planet to the other, is via suborbital flight. Anything coming out of the atmosphere, we will deal with via our forces in orbit.

"That will leave the opposition with only one effective means to get forces to the area, via atmospheric flight. That should give us a minimum of two hours and a maximum of six hours to get the job done. Our task then is to accomplish the pickup of all our citizens in as close to two hours as possible, three hours maximum.

"This was never going to be an easy task and it just got harder by our discovery of these additional citizens. We have been given an additional week to train for this. Let's make use of that time to get this right," Raymond ordered, dismissing the group.

Aurelia's Apartment, Adenomere Estate, Planet Adenomere, Adenomere System

Aurelia held tea for the ladies from the diner party in her sitting room. All six of them were there, including the famous Courtesan, Brianna.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you ladies again," Aurelia simpered, as her staff prepared tea and snacks for the ladies, then withdrew. The only member of her staff remaining was Cierra, who waited against the wall.

"Thank-you for having me, Mistress Aurelia," Brianna replied, genuinely happy to have been invited.

"Think nothing of it, Brianna. While the other ladies may hold you in something with less than open arms, we are all very much jealous of your skills as a Courtesan. I personally would not shy away from any advice that you could give me considering my upcoming nuptials," Aurelia stated, surprising everyone in the room.

The ladies looked at each other then smiled broadly.

"You have us dead to rights, Aurelia," Priscilla Adenomere stated. "We all have held our heads high when dealing with Brianna, as she is often on the arm of one or another of our husbands but you are right. Her skills must be amazing if she managed to use them to gain her emancipation. It is no wonder that our men enjoy her company so much."

"Maybe we could all benefit from closer association with Miss Brianna, ladies," Aurelia said, getting nods from around the room.

"What do men like, Brianna?" Wilma Adenomere asked.

"Men like all kinds of things, Madam, sometimes their preferences can change day to day," Brianna confided. "But one thing most men like is good oral sex."

"How does one perform good oral sex?" Priscilla demanded.

"That depends on the man. You have to learn what each man likes and dislikes and focus on the things they enjoy," Brianna began. "Each man is different in where they like to be touched, and with what they like to be touched, hands, mouth, or other body parts on their manhood.

"Then there is the level or pressure you use. Sometimes a light touch is best, other times a little bit firmer. It all depends on the mood and the moment. Then there is technique.

"Oral sex is not just taking a cock into your mouth, you have to know how to take it in, how much suction to apply, how much tongue to apply, and when to apply any of it. That takes experience. You need to pay attention to your man when you do give oral sex.

"Many women believe that taking a man into their mouth and applying suction is good oral sex. Nothing could be further from the truth. You do not start with him in your mouth, you touch him with your hands, kiss it all over, lick it up and down and around the head, before you take the head into your mouth.

"Just the head, to begin with, nothing more. You close your mouth around the head and suck just enough to make him jump. You will feel his response and you will feel his body respond if you do it right. His cock will jump in your mouth and begin to swell up, if it isn't already a nice fat prick," Brianna's last comment brought giggles from the ladies, whose faces were flushing as they imagined themselves doing all that Brianna said.

"Then you must break the suction and use your tongue around the head for a moment, close your mouth back over the head and suck hard a second time..."

"How hard should we suck?" one of the ladies asked.

"Once again, you have to play it by feel. His body will tell you if you are doing it right," Brianna told them. "You must break the suction once more and do more licking around the head. The next time you close your mouth over his cock, you need to take as much of him as you can into your mouth before you suck hard on everything you have in there. If he isn't hard by the second time you suck him, he will be when you do that.

"Once he is completely hard, you can begin bobbing your head up and down on his hard-on. He will appreciate that. You have to adjust how hard you suck in order to both give him pleasure and to allow you to move your mouth on his member.

"If his member is too long, you can use your hand or hands in conjunction with your mouth to make him think you are taking more of him in than you actually are. Take too much into your mouth, and you might trigger your gag reflex, which he will not appreciate. So, using your hands can be essential to those who cannot overcome the gag reflex.

"But the thing which will give most men pleasure is the enthusiasm with which you give oral pleasure. The more enthusiastic you are, the more they will enjoy it. If your hands aren't on his cock, then they must be playing with his balls, or with his ass," Brianna instructed, to gasps and giggles from the ladies.

Brianna's comments kept coming much to the merriment of the ladies until, much later, they ended their tea party.

"Thank-you Aurelia for having us," Wilma said, giving hugs all around. The ladies present were more than enthusiastic in their praise of the event. Brianna held back for a moment of privacy.

"Thank-you Aurelia for all that you have done for me today," she told Aurelia with tears in her eyes. "You have opened the ladies to my presence, something I have not been able to do on my own."

"Think nothing of it, Brianna," Aurelia returned. "You are more than welcome here at any time."

"I think not, Aurelia," Brianna replied. "While you are most kind to me, the masters of this house are not as enthusiastic about having me here."

"A double standard, Brianna, considering that they vie to have you as an escort whenever they need your presence," Aurelia scoffed.

"Yes, Aurelia, that is my lot in life. But you should not put yourself at risk for me. The men of this house are some of the most spiteful on the planet. They can and will be dangerous if you go against their wishes," Brianna advised.

"I am well aware of how dangerous they are, Brianna," Aurelia told her in hard tones. "I do not intend to be one of their victims."

Brianna held her hand against Aurelia's face, a single tear running down her cheek. Then she turned and fled the apartment.

Military Control, Pallanders-4, Punarjanm System

Fayad, Raymond, Junelliya, and Dr. Heyya, were seated in Cmdre. Dostier's office as she made contact with the Office of the President.

"One moment for the President," said the secretary. The scene shifted, showing the President with Adm. George Ramison, Chief of the Navy, Adm. Rolland Heist, Chief of Navy Intelligence, Adm. James Hannison, JAG of the Navy, Charles Ronter, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jason Canter, the President's Chief of Staff, and Senator Jonathan Winslow that Raymond recognized as a senior member of the Senate in charge of the Military Oversight Committee.

"Good morning, Mr. President," Dostier greeted him and those in his presence.

"Commodore, it is good to see you. This is your time, though, so I would advise you getting to the point," the President ordered.

"Of course, sir. We are going to need a lot more medical staff than we had originally intended. We have come across more information on the location of Citizen slaves on Planet Adenomere, something in the order of 150,000 extra citizens, sir," Dostier advised.

That got a surprised look from the President, his chief of staff, Minister Ronter, and from the Senator. Dostier noted that the three admirals did not respond to her comment. They were aware then of the added information. She was surprised that they had not informed the President.

"And you have contingency plans to make use of this information then?" the President asked.

"Yes, sir. They were always there, in case something like this happened but we needed the specifics of their locations to make use of it. We will need to extend our practice by one week to make sure we can get as many people out as possible, sir. But that is not why we have made this call, Mr. President.

"Sir, this is Dr. Heyya, from Liramor-23 hospital. She is a trauma specialist and the medical advisor for OP Sandcastle," Dostier turned the brief over to Heyya.

"Good morning, Mr. President, it is good to see you again. I hope we find you in good spirits because what I am about to suggest is going to mean a lot of work for you and your staff, sir," Heyya began.

"As you are aware, OP Sandcastle is going to be a massive undertaking. We were looking to see if we could get 35,000 or our citizens out of the Alliance of Planets. Now, we are tasked with getting 185,000 people out, sir.

"We simply do not have the number of medical staff needed to help them even if we were only able to get half of the additional numbers out, sir," Heyya stated.

"What do you suggest then, Dr. Heyya?" Jason Cantor asked.

"I suggest that we initiate Operation Asclepius, sir, and place the resources on the two planets whose Navy bases we will be staging out of. (Asclepius was the God whom the ancient Greeks revered as the father of medicine, his snake enwrapped staff becoming the symbol of medicine. A similar staff, held by the God Hermes is called the Caduceus, the more common name of the symbol.)

"We need to brief one of the Presidents of one of the staging planets and have that person initiate a request for Op Asclepius. He need not say what has happened to require this activation, only that as many as 185,000 injuries are anticipated.

"It will be up to you and your staff to brief the Senate and have them approve activation. If we get even half of the numbers we are seeking, sir, that will mean we can have over 90,000 people who will need medical care. We are hoping to get 75% of the numbers, in other words, around 135,000 people who will need care.

"With those kinds of numbers, even the lower numbers, that is justification for initiating Op Asclepius. The key here is that we must retain secrecy on the need for the activation until after OP Sandcastle has been completed. Only then can we tell everyone what has happened," Heyya finished.

"No pressure then," Jason Cantor puffed out, getting grins from the three admirals.

"Yes, that is why you are paid the big bucks, sir," Heyya replied with a smile. "I just have to slug it out in the trenches, you have to do the dirty work."

This time, her comment got open laughter from the admirals and a smile from the President.

"Jonathan?" the President asked of the Senator.

"Gods! 185,000 of our people. If we get half of them out..."

"92,500, sir," Dostier slipped in. "We suspect that over 500,000 of our citizens have been taken over the last twenty-four years, sir. There may be as many as 400,000 still alive."

"That doesn't matter," Adm. Hannison stepped in. "What does matter is that we will bring a singular blow against piracy and against the slave trade on the Alliance of Planets. With proof that our citizens have been in Alliance hands all along, with the Alliance continuously stating that they knew nothing about our lost citizens, we will now have legal grounds to act against them.

"No matter how many we initially get out now, we will get the rest out through diplomatic negotiations, backed up with the threat of a blockade," Hannison told him.

"Isn't that rather dramatic?" the Senator asked.

"Are you suggesting that the murder of countless thousands and the kidnapping of 500,000 of our citizens is not, Jonathan?" the President asked, his voice going hard.

Senator Winslow locked eyes with the President, then swiftly backed down. "No, Mr. President. I think that I will ensure that the Senate will act according to your needs, sir."

"Thank-you, Jonathan, you will receive a Presidential Commendation if you can make this happen with the least amount of fuss," the President replied solicitously to the Senator.

"Sir, we will be activating OP Sandcastle in a little over a week from today," Dostier informed them. "OP Sandcastle will run for twenty-four hours. At the end of that time, we will need every available medical staff we have to help our citizens.

"Two days before we activate, we will initiate the requirement for Op Asclepius. There must be no hesitancy on the part of the Senate if we are to meet the timelines of OP Sandcastle. We do not want to have to wait on the Senate, that could spell disaster for our citizens and for those engaged in the operation. If the intent of OP Sandcastle gets out, the Alliance will have a chance to prepare for the raid and it will fail," Dostier ended.

"We will do our part, here, Commodore," the President replied. "I am sure that Jonathan will do his part in the Senate. You will have your medical staff. You just get our citizens to safety."

"Yes, Mr. President. The next time we call, sir, we will be requesting permission to activate Sandcastle. I will only do that if I am certain we stand a good chance of success, sir," Dostier stated.

"Thank-you, Commodore. do your best to make that happen," the President ordered, signing off.

Aurelia's Apartment, Adenomere Estate, Planet Adenomere, Adenomere System

Aurelia had been holding court all week with the female members of the Adenomere and had extended the invitations to other families that the Adenomere's had been 'friendly' with, if any Adenomere could be called friendly to anyone. The Adenomere's were so clannish that they had informally adopted an insult that was rather true to form: One for all and all for Adenomere.

However, Aurelia's openness and willingness to listen and advise, had made serious inroads into the misperception of the Adenomere's, at least where she was concerned.

The constant flow of people in and out of her apartments had irritated Marius, who liked to have some order in his house...forgetting that this house was not yet his. In fact, his father was scheduled to announce his selection as heir to the house for his thirty-first birthday, which was to be two weeks after the upcoming wedding.

Marius gritted his teeth and said nothing, allowing Aurelia to keep up her activities, for the moment. One thing of note had come out of Aurelia's tea parties, the impressions of the Main House of Adenomere had risen in the eyes of the other houses, all due to Aurelia's activities.

"I do not know if we can get rid of Aurelia immediately after the wedding," Jaar announced one day to his son. "It might be too unseemly, considering how popular she is with the others. We might have to wait a few months before we can do anything out of the ordinary.

"You will have to appear to be the devoted husband to your new bride, Marius," Jaar ordered.

"Father, you cannot be serious?" Marius demanded.

"I am, Marius," Jaar replied. "We will have to bide our time and start to isolate her after the wedding. Her disappearance immediately after the wedding will look far too suspicious under the current circumstances."

"Shit!" Marius spat out.

As Jaar left, Marius thought, just for a brief moment, that he saw a look of sheer loathing on the face of Korman as he turned to follow Jaar.