Starlight Gleaming Ch. 10

"Oh, that bitch! I bet she turned off my phone on purpose! Oh, this is so--"

"Hey! Make the call to the Diner," I told her, handing her my phone. "I don't know why I have service if you don't. Right now, it's not important. Order the food. The Diner is in my contacts."

Nodding, she stepped away. Pulling out her charge card, and walking to the kitchen, she started the order.

I looked at the private. Sosha looked right back, her face thoughtful.

"You okay?" I asked her.

She started to say something, but shook her head.

"Go on," I encouraged. "If it's out of line, I'll say so. But I won't chew you out for it."

"She's your woman, too?"

"She is," I confirmed. "All warrior and all mine."

"I think you're a good man. Most wouldn't have turned down free pussy, even if you didn't ask for it. Is the other one an officer, too? And they're okay living together with you?"

"Private," Janetta said crisply, "who he sleeps with is my business, not yours. Ranji, here's your phone back. The food won't be done before eleven-thirty. That's more than an hour from now. As soon as Cholan's ready, we're heading to the hangar."

I put the phone back into my pocket. "I'll follow you over. I want to help, and once I'm done this afternoon, I'll be back to do what I can."

"You're not an E--man or a mechanic, but I am happy having you around. Cholan!" Janetta called out. "How much longer?"

"Getting my shoes on, sir!" she replied from the bedroom.

Janetta gave me another quick peck, then called out again as she headed out the door. "I'll meet you in the HueCac!"

"Let's go, Sosha," I said, retrieving my satchel from the kitchen counter.

Cholan came around the corner, dressed in clean work fatigues. She had her own laptop over her shoulder, busy tying her neckerchief around her braid. "Bye, Lieutenant!" she said, hurrying out the door.

I quickly closed up the windows, and turned off the fans. In a decently made building, I'd leave the fans on, and the windows open. With the crappy electrical system, and shoddy construction, I didn't dare leave the fans on unattended. We already had issues with bugs, mice, and lizards making their way inside. Sosha helped with closing up the front windows, and I did the bedrooms.

Sosha was quiet during the short drive to the hangar, and frankly, I was busy driving and thinking. Mostly about Janetta. I wasn't overly religious, but I thanked whatever gods that were listening that Janetta hadn't been hurt.

* * * * *

When we entered the hangar, Cholan was on the raised work platform, her head buried in the avionics compartment. The panel was open, and the system attached to the panel looked badly scorched. Janetta, Zinja, and Ixma stood around, watching the display monitor, listening to her assessment of the electronics. The camera cable was on, so I moved to watch with them.

Cholan pulled out, grabbed a light, and buried her top half inside again. Then something zipped across the screen. Cholan jumped, then let loose a stream of East Islander. I didn't understand what she said, but her tone was clear enough.

Janetta and Zinja moved closer. "You okay?" Janetta called.

Cholan leaned back out, spitting, and choking, and wiping. Lines of hydraulic fluid had doused her from her hairline to her left breast. "That shit is vile!"

Zinja grabbed a handful of rags, and tossed them up to her. When her face was clear enough, she asked, "Who removed the wire on the hydraulic line?"

"We both did," Zinja answered. "My say so. Why?"

I saw a Group Captain walking toward the hangar, with a sergeant right behind him. Janetta saw them, and swore quietly before straightening her shoulders and saluting.

He nodded back. He turned to me, a question on his face, then he did a double-take on my name tag. Grinning, he held out his hand. "Group Captain Pentil Tanosca, commander of the 233rd. So you're the one who put the spin on my newest pilot! Glad to meet you at last. And, I'm really glad she is sorted out." He shook my hand, then focused on Janetta. "Well, Lieutenant? How is it looking?"

She looked up. "Sergeant Cholan?"

Cholan leaned back into the fuselage, speaking loudly so we could hear her. The camera feed on the probe moved around inside. "See here? Long Range Targeting scan board is fried. That's easy to fix. Just put in a new one. See here? Weapons Control computer. Burnt to toast. Anti--air Counter Measures. Toast. Fuel monitor -- everything the master board controls, including the master board itself. Even the backup surge regulator, all gone, and need to be pulled. About five hours work, if it goes without a hitch. But I would not fly it, until the rest of the systems are tested, to make sure they aren't compromised."

She came out of the fuselage bay, to finish her assessment, wiped her face again, and tossed the rag aside. "Three, maybe four days, of solid work, replacing everything. It's quicker to do that than to test every system. That's double--shifts, if I'm working on it by myself, without having to do other work. Lieutenant, if the radio wasn't a discrete system, you would have lost radio, and identification broadcasting, too."

Losing her ID broadcast meant Janetta's interceptor would have suddenly registered as an unknown military aircraft to the anti--air systems surrounding the airfield. The automated SAMs would have kicked in, before the humans monitoring could have reacted. I swallowed.

"Okay," Janetta asked. "Do you know why it happened?"

"Oh, yeah," she nodded, holding up a small, scorched circuit board. "The J--27 regulator. And it's a good thing you were able to get down when you did, too, sir."

"Why is that?" Captain Tanosca asked.

"With the regulator out, and the boards shorting, power was still going into the system from the batteries. When you told me that the LRAT went out first, I was pretty sure I knew what had happened. The surge overloaded the rest of the systems, fine. You still had hydraulics, radio, and your guns. Handicaps, but still viable. The avionics and hydraulics work good together for the 2230 series. We replaced that with the new 3100 board last month. Trouble is, the 3100 is a smaller, more compact system. The hydraulic line runs right over the secondary regulator. Once the regulator blew, power kept feeding into the system, cooking the hydraulic tubing, as well as the other systems connected to it. The god of the Air Service likes you, sir. Another ten or fifteen minutes with the power on, and you would have had an onboard fire. Fire, and no hydraulics, in the Lightning? You'd be flying a dead stick."

"Seven hells," I muttered.

Janetta shook her head. "I don't buy that. Otherwise, the other Lightnings would also be having problems. So why aren't they?"

Cholan nodded. "Excellent question, sir. They need to use a J--35R regulator with the 3100 LRAT board. The newer board runs hotter, and it needs a stronger regulator, to handle the discharges. Either the other crews figured it out, or they are still running the 2230 boards."

Janetta went to the diagnostic console and pulled up the avionics menu, then selected the Long Range Targeting system. "I'm looking at the specification manual, and it says to use the J--25 Regulator."

"I know what it says, sir," Cholan answered. "And it's wrong. When I did the upgrade, I kept blowing J--25s whenever I put power through the system. Went through half a dozen regulators, the first day. You were grounded at that point, sir, so I had time to troubleshoot it. Took me two days, but I settled on the J--35R as allowing the proper amount of current back into the rest of the avionics. And as a safety measure, I hung the starboard hydraulic line so it doesn't even touch the 3100 board."

Captain Tanosca looked thoughtful. "Sergeant Vanu, are you familiar with what Sergeant Cholan is talking about?"

The captain's aide checked his tablet, then nodded. "Yes, sir. Four days after we received the 3100 hardware, there was a software update. The update notes confirm the change in voltage regulator series. J--35L is considered acceptable, but the R version is preferred. No mention, though, of the hydraulic line."

"So there was a defective digital manual sent out, but it was corrected later?" he asked.

"Affirmative, sir," Sergeant Vanu replied.

Cholan climbed down, joining the rest of us crowded around the display screen.

"Bring up the system status, Sergeant," the captain instructed.

Sergeant Vanu entered commands, and the diagnostic system displayed its report. According to the computer, it had queried the Air Service mainframe just two days earlier. The log reported twice-weekly contacts on schedule.

The captain saw the readout and frowned. "Verify the program version, please."

The sergeant consulted his tablet, then compared it to the status report. "It's off, sir." He tapped a few keys on his tablet. "According to the update history, this diagnostic is using software from .. that's more than seven weeks ago, sir."

Cholan immediately went around the back of the console. I stepped around to see what she was doing. She fished out a key, crouched down and opened the back panel. It was dark within the unit. I reached up to the work platform, retrieved the light, and handed it to her. Captain Tanosca stepped around to see what we were doing.

"Hello, there," Cholan muttered. "What are you--"

"Stop! Don't touch anything, Sergeant!" the captain ordered. "What do you see?"

"A strange circuit board, sir, in the network slot. Not what's supposed to be inside this unit. And, it doesn't look like Imperial manufacture, sir."

"Close it up," the captain said. "Lieutenant Tlacotli, I consider this an attempt on your life. For the moment, we act as if nothing is amiss. Sergeant Vanu, get a truck, return to my hangar and bring my diagnostic unit here. I'm off the flight rotation for three days, so I won't need it. We need the assistance of Security to proceed, but almost all non-combat services are locked down, with the Imperial forces running around pell-mell on base. I hear Air Security is going through the grinder with Imperial Security at the moment."

"Sergeant Vanu and Private Sosha, please step outside the hangar," I said.

The sergeant looked at his officer. Captain Tanosca raised his eyebrows, but said, "Do as he says, Sergeant. I'm curious to hear what Lieutenant Kandikan has to say. You're okay with the Lieutenant's Flight Crew remaining?"

"I trust them with my life, sir." After the two enlisted moved out into the roadway, I spoke quietly. "I used to work Security at Tikun War base. I could get some recommendations, find someone here that's trustworthy. You are thinking of checking for fingerprints, Captain? And forensics on the circuit board?" He nodded. "I'll handle that. Someone came here when no one else was around. I'd like to set up a discreet camera array hardwired to a control unit and data storage, and put them inside the office. The Lieutenant's Flight Crew can help me get it installed. Set up for continuous motion sweep, with option for on--command record. The Harbinger series are compact, will record standard, infrared and ultraviolet. If there are any repeat visits, we'll catch them."

I thought about the satellite feed over the base, but knew it was a dead-end. Imperial Security kept secret the fact that we were monitored, and I did not see us getting access to that information easily. The camera system was the next best option.

Captain Tanosca looked at me. "You have access to that type of equipment?"

"If not now, I will."

"All right, Lieutenant Kandikan. Make it happen. And I want you to keep me in the loop. Nothing digital, strictly in-person updates only, until we have hard evidence. We are on a deadline. If this is being monitored, you have two days, max. Then I need my own diagnostic system back, and we have to get a new unit assigned to this team. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"Tlacotli, it appears your bird is dead, and will take some time to return it to flight-worthiness. Go to Air Maintenance, and draw a fresh bird from the reserve pool."

"I'll want to check over the new one before I fly it, sir," Janetta told him.

"Agreed." The captain looked at his watch. "You have eight hours to find and verify the bird before your duty shift begins. Now, tell me why you look like shit."

Janetta did look tired. "Sir?"

"You have been off for nearly three weeks. This is your second day back, on a six-week assignment of Over-Flight Support. How long since you last slept?"

"Yesterday at noon, sir."

"Lieutenant, you are on Over-Flight duty. Six hours of flight time spread out over sixteen hours of duty time. You are supposed to nap at least two hours between flights, while your crew keeps your craft combat ready. You had a systems failure, so I understand why you aren't in bed right now. But explain to me why you did not do your earlier naps per protocol."

"I was given extra duty, sir," Janetta replied.

Captain Tanosca put his hands on his hips. "What sort of extra duty? From whom?"

"Captain Angawa gave me reports to complete. I am to turn them in tomorrow, at the end of my duty shift."

"Show me."

He and Janetta headed to the office. I turned to the others. "All of this is not for discussion outside our group, understood?"

"She's our officer. Count on us, Lieutenant," Zinja assured me. Cholan and Ixma confirmed their support. Then Zinja gave me a sly look. "That was really sweet, what you said to the Captain."

"That? It's true. I do trust you," I told them.

Ixma moved closer to me.

"Yes, well, thank you, anyway. Corporal! Hands to yourself! If you flaunt your affection in front of Captain Tanosca, even if he chooses to ignore your breech of military conduct, you will embarrass your officer, and you will embarrass me. I will regret chewing you a new asshole, but chew it I will."

Flushing, Ixma stepped away. "I hear you, Second Sergeant."

Cholan smiled at Ixma. "Take solace in knowing you did your job, Ixma. What happened was sabotage, and not your fault. Focus on the fact that Lieutenant Kandikan is going to help us find the bastard who did this."

"Hey! No promises," I objected. "I'll do what I can, but no promises!"

"You told me this morning that you believed in me. I believe in you, Lieutenant," Cholan said matter-of-factly.

Just great, I thought. Then I thought of something.

"Cholan, open up that panel, and shine the light in. Point out the strange circuit board to me. I want a picture of it." She got down again to do as I asked. "When I get the security cameras, I will count on your help putting them in."

"You got it, sir," Zinja promised.

Retrieving my laptop, I booted it up, and using the record feature, captured the image digitally. When I was done, I told her to lock it back up. I sent the image to Capisco Travel Guides, with a single question, 'Have you seen this type of circuit board before?'

I powered down my laptop as Janetta and Captain Tanosca returned. The Captain was speaking to her. "Go ahead and finish the reports for Captain Angawa. I will deal with him at a later time. Haul your dead bird over, and swap it out for a new one. I seem to recall this one was already due for engine replacement. Might as well let Air Maintenance replace the electronics, and the engines, at the same time, with an order to test all the wiring. I will counter-sign the authorizations. When you have your new bird here, make sure the doors are secured once you leave. Then I want you to go to the naval base, and get checked out. The Air Service Infirmary is closed at the current time, and we need the exam to justify you being off duty tonight. I will note in my report that you 'don't feel well' from your hard landing. If the new Lightning is not up to your safety specifications, call me, and tell me you still have a headache. We'll go from there. Clear?"

"Yes, sir. And thank you."

"You are taking this calmly, for someone who's survived a death attempt."

"People have tried that before, sir," she replied. "I'm a warrior, and I still stand." Meaning that everyone who had made such an attempt was dead.

"As it should be," he told her. "Sergeant Cholan. Your knowledge of the internal workings of the AT--7 is remarkably thorough. I will note that in your personnel jacket. In order to help keep the saboteur in the dark, I will withhold my report for the next several days. The Safety Board will review, but at this point we are going with mechanical failure. Lieutenant Tlacotli assures me that she, too, trusts all of you with her life. That is high praise." With a nod, the captain and his sergeant departed.

I glanced at my watch. It was past time for me to be at the Cafeteria. "Janetta, go ahead and use my vehicle. It's got more room, and when you are done, you can all come home together. I've got to leave right now, so I'll take your HueCac." I stepped over to her, and gave her a light kiss. "I'll stop by later, and see how you are progressing. Don't forget your food at the Diner."

Pursing her lips, she nodded. "Thank you, Ranji. Knowing I can depend on you means a lot. Now get out of here. I have work to do."

"Thank you, my Queen," I laughed, collecting my laptop.

"Queen?" Ixma asked.

"I am the Queen Bitch," Janetta declared.

"That's for sure," Cholan dead-panned.

Raising her eyebrows, Janetta continued, "And you are all my bitches. Cholan, you and Ixma go to the Commissary Diner, and pick up our food. It's already paid for. Zinja, we're going to secure the doors, and take this dead Lightning to Air Maintenance, and get a new one from Reserves."

"Yes, sir!"

I collected Private Sosha, and hopping into the smaller, two-door electric HueCac, we drove to the base Cafeteria.

* * * * *

It was almost half-way through the lunch hour when we arrived. There were almost double the number of people from this morning waiting for me. Almost half were women. Logistics and Supply. Vehicle Maintenance. Air Maintenance. Command and Control. Medical. Quartermaster's Office. Security. Even a Postal Carrier. Sosha joined the long line of people awaiting my protection.

I grabbed a seat at the end of the table, and stood on it. "All right, all those who seek Intercession, raise your hands." Everyone nearby raised their hands. I needed to make this manageable. "All right, if you have not given your names to Second Sergeant Matiwatli, please do so. I will process men first, in the order they are on the list. Please sit, and if you need to get up, and get food, or go to the latrine, do so. I'm not going anywhere, not until everyone has had a chance to present themselves."

I booted up the laptop, and prepared to record the sessions. Names were taken, statements given. I glanced at my watch. Four down, forty minutes gone. I realized this was going to be a long night.

Just then two things happened at once. There was a pop-up message from Capisco Travel Guides. At almost the same instant, I saw flashing lights as two Air Security cruisers shot by the windows, almost immediately followed by the pop-pop-pop of automatic rifles, and the heavier pops of assault rifles being fired.

Several people jumped up, and not just from our group, rushing to the windows, to see what could be seen. I was prepared to resume taking statements, when someone yelled out, "Hey, there's something going on at the Commissary!"

I had already hit the accept on the pop-up. It read, 'If you can reach any women officers, stop them from suicide. Already lost seven. Expect more. Tell the women I will protect them. -- O.'

I closed out the programs, shut down the laptop, and I climbed up on the top of my chair. "All right! I need your attention. I need to go check on something. I will be back as soon as I can. I want all of you to remain right here until I do. However, before I go, I need to speak to the women. I know why you are here. Do any of you know, or suspect that a woman officer is in the same condition you are?"