Starlight Gleaming Ch. 15

My mother flushed. "Do you mean that you have had to -"

"While at Tikún, Janetta was required to submit almost daily, and sometimes more than once. I've had to be with those of higher rank as well. As a woman, and more, as a beautiful woman, Janetta has had to endure it a lot more than I ever had to deal with. I became aware, too, of how many in my own unit endured in silence. Which is why when I got my own command a couple of months ago, I issued the first Unit Protection Order."

To her puzzled look, I explained, "It's an order forbidding forced sex between other members of the unit, regardless of rank, and includes their civilian spouses and family members. Consensual sex is allowed, but ordering another to submit is no longer allowed within the unit. Now, those outside the unit - if they are of higher rank, they are not bound by the order, but without question it gives people the option to say no. More important, it gets them thinking that it's no longer a given right. Several other units have also adopted the order, and it's growing in popularity, with a lot of men supporting it, too. Yes, there's resistance, and in some cases, it's quite vigorous. Still, it's a price I am willing to pay."

Mother looked at Father before returning her attention back to me. "How many others have become protected by this Order of yours?"

"The commander of my associated unit has two companies - a few hundred people. Some of the units are small. Janetta's commander has amended his previous orders about Janetta so as to make it affect the other women in his unit, but that's another hundred or so. A marine lieutenant heard about the order, talked about it with his wife, and issued the order for his own company. Probably the most influential, though, is Commander Barankoshto of the 67th Armored and commander of the 1st brigade. She is well liked, and she's issued it for those under her command. That's another fifteen hundred. Chances are it will spread to the rest of her division. People are talking about the Protection Orders, Mother! The main effect is to treat forced sex as the crime of rape, the equivalent of assault. Morale in those units adopting the Order has been amazingly positive."

I remembered the bus of women who helped us move into our new home, and their shouting out, "Llam Nuqan - we work together". The sheer love and admiration in Janetta's words last night, talking about how much the Protection Order meant to her.

"Words elude me, Son," my mother said, then giving my suddenly smiling father a warning look before continuing. "On the one hand, I'm appalled by your living situation. I am eagerly looking forward to meeting your new daughters, but five women! Some would say you are overly enjoying your male privilege. I believe you when you say they are willing. I believe you feel you are acting honorably, and I trust you, my son. Still, I will feel better when I can see for myself how you and they interact. Yet this other news you bring is remarkable. Fantastic even! If enough people in the military adopt this Protection Order of yours, it could filter out to the other castes! Imagine, women having the right to say no. That's... words escape me, my son."

"That's the hope," I agreed.

My father burst out laughing as I realized what I'd said.

"No, no! What I meant was I hope it spreads," I protested.

My mother looked shocked for several seconds, then glared at my father.

"Not that you... oh, gods. I am truly sorry, Mother." I bowed my head.

"Don't blame him, Shanti. Look at the boy. See the dark circles under his eyes? He looks exhausted."

Mother looked back to me, and her face softened. She appeared about to say something, but my father added in, "Still, it was pretty funny."

She whirled. "Arjun! That is not very nice of you."

"Agreed," he chuckled. "But who else can I tease and talk to if not you? And you know that I absolutely adore you."

Narrowing her eyes at him, she said, "Arjun, I love you. But right now I don't like you very much."

"I promise to make it up to you later," he said with a smile.

"Ranji, you I forgive. Your father is right. You do look tired, and now I will worry more about you. Calia should be taking care of you. I will talk with her about this. But the news you bring about these Protection Orders, it fills me with such pride and such love. I am very aware that I enjoy a life filled with privilege and protection, and that when my husband isn't laughing at my expense, he truly is a good man."

"There it is." My father grinned.

Ignoring him, she continued. "What prompted you to do this?"

"You did. You and Father. I grew up seeing how it could be - no, how it should be between a man and woman, a husband and wife. Janetta, too - seeing a bit into what she's had to endure for simply being a woman. I keep hearing how a woman can't fight, but a woman can shoot as well as a man. And Janetta's aerial combat ratings are incredible. I saw her and her crew forced, Mother. It changed me. Made all the things I knew in my heart that were wrong and made it personal. With the way things are now, half of our potential as a nation, as a people is locked away. Until women are on a parity with men, the Empire will never reach its full potential, and its people will never be truly happy."

Bilan turned to me. "You are my brother. I have seen this, and turned my eyes away. You have not. I hope to refill our decimated company with some recruits from Sentry War Base. For my Rana and for my sons, I will issue my own Unit Protection Order at the next opportunity."

"This morning you asked why we are brothers. This is why, Bilan. This is why."

I decided that it was time to deal with the matter at hand. Stopping the assassins. I pushed my plate away, setting my napkin onto the table beside it.

"Shall we retire to the lounge?" Mother asked. "You've given us a great deal of news, but I want to know more details and my rear is tired of this chair. I want something with a bit more give to it while we visit."

"Yes, the reason for my visit. I need to discuss that with the both of you, right now." I gave meaningful looks to Styen and Bilan, both of whom took note.

"Are you going back to that War Base after your visit with us?" Mother shifted in her seat. She wanted us to move, but so far, her desire to not miss a word was overriding her sense of comfort.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I have a training assignment afterward."

"How long will you be away?"

"At least ten weeks. Maybe more."

"That's a hundred days, Ranji, almost a third of a year!" Mother took a sip of her tea, long since cold, frowned at it, and set it back onto the table.

"Trust me, Mother. I and they all know that. While am glad to see you both, there is a reason why I came, and why it was at such short notice. Late yesterday I got a strange, disturbing email."

My father had picked up his newspaper, but then set it down again.

Bilan's hand moved under the table, slowly inching toward the heavy stunner in his holster. I unhooked the strap on my Talon, and flipped off the safety.

"Supposedly this message was from Calia," I began. "That in itself was quite odd. Calia is now living with me. Why would she send me a message when she could simply wait until I got home from work? Even more puzzling was that it was so poorly written. Still, all those things are irrelevant. The important part was the message itself. It stated that you are not my mother, but that my real mother was Persavati, your-"

The effect was immediate.

Shrieking, the young serving girl grabbed a knife from the table and charged around the table toward my father. More immediate to my mind was Muni, who snatched up a knife from the table, and being so close, stabbed my mother in her side.

"Rakshasa kuttiya! Randi backarchodu! Marana, bhula se deva!" Muni hissed. "Demon bitch! Whore fucker of goats! Die, forgotten by God!"

The look on Mother's face! I didn't know if it was the pain of the blade or the words that cut deeper.

Styen moved, and with two quick blows, deftly felled the girl, and then grappled with Muni.

I started to rise when I got plowed from behind. Beechan drew a very sharp dagger and moved to bury it within me. Bilan reached over me, using one hand to keep the knife away from me, while the other pointed the heavy stunner and fired point blank. To no effect. I saw the flare of golden sparkles and my guts went cold.

With a swing from his other hand, the draconian easily knocked Bilan away.

"Haramzadi! Bastard child!" he growled at me. "All your gloating will come to nothing! All your plans will become dust. After I kill you I will eat your children and enslave your women. Keep them chained and naked. I will fuck them every day, and they will curse the day they ever met you!"

With one hand, I tried to hold back the dagger, but the draconian was stronger. Before he could add his other hand to the blade, I managed to put the pistol against Beechan's guts. Sparing it a disdainful glance, he actually laughed. "Stupid monkey-"

I fired. Over and over.

He looked shocked as the fleshettes tore into his guts. Then he tried using his weight to drive the dagger into my chest. I lifted the muzzle higher and fired again. Beechan jerked, his claws suddenly ripping into my arm. I gave him two more rounds.

Anger crossed his face, then disbelief as his grip weakened. "No. Impossible!"

I forced my leg in between us and kicked him away. He lay there, twitching. Standing up, I put three shots into his head.

"Shanti!" my father cried. "Shanti, don't leave me!"

Coming around the table, I saw the girl and Muni lying motionless on the floor.

Blood soaked Mother's right side, the knife still embedded in her ribs. My father held her in his arms, cradling her, tears falling. Styen examined her wound.

I kneeled by Styen. "How bad is it?"

"Bad," Styen replied. Reaching up to the table, he grabbed more cloth napkins and pressed down, packing them around the wound. "We dare not remove it in case it's hit an artery."

My father gave me a helpless, despairing look before focusing back on his wife. "Oh, my love, my Shanti."

Bilan stood next to me. One side of his face was darkening from the blow he'd taken. "Ranji?"

"Secure the girl and Muni, Bilan. Metal cuffs, not plastic restraints." Reaching to my belt, I handed him my own. "Use truth drugs, whatever you need to do, but don't let them die or commit suicide. I want to know how they got to Muni, and how this girl passed inspection! And where's the rest of the damned security?"

"Ranji, she really needs a hospital," Styen said. "She's bleeding too much."

"Then let's go!" I snapped.

He shook his head. "The clinic in Ofiya has limited facilities, and half the time, the doctor is out on house calls. The nearest hospital is in Tohingo. Paxilman and the civilian hospital both have Nano-Treatment facilities there. But they are over two hours away. I don't think she'll make the trip."

"What about the Sunskipper?" I demanded.

My father shook his head. "That's no good, Son. The pilot is away on leave."

"I can pilot the shuttle!"

Hope suddenly filled Father's face. "That's right! You can!"

"You need to move, Lord Kandikan," Styen told him. "I need to come around and pick her up from the other side so I don't jostle the knife."

"No, I will carry her, Styen." Leaning down carefully, he lifted her up into his arms. Pale and unconscious, my mother suddenly appeared fragile, even frail.

Just then, a Ground Service corporal entered the room. "My Lord, the servant Beechan has been found... in a closet - Holy gods!" He lifted his radio microphone. "Alert! Alert! There's been an attack inside the main house. Main Dining Room! Lady Kandikan appears badly injured. Some servants have also been injured. We need the Medico Sergeant here immediately!"

Outside, a distant klaxon began.

The shuttle bay was offset from the main house, built into the hillside behind and beneath the main residential structure. I led the way as we hurried through to the rear annex, where I accessed the coded elevator that would take us down. Bilan and the corporal kept pace, squeezing in with us. The elevator descended.

The doors opened and we moved from behind the blast wall and into the main hangar proper. In the center was the Sunskipper, a sub-orbital shuttle, and the most advanced aircraft known to Chimorran aerospace. It is a joy to fly. The main body of the shuttle is built fairly low to the ground, needing only a short ramp to enter the passenger-cargo area. The Sunskipper didn't have a great deal of range, but with one turbine under each wing and one at the rear, it is amazingly fast. And right now, speed mattered a great deal.

None of the maintenance crew appeared to greet us. In addition to the pilot, normally there were a minimum of four men assigned to care for the aircraft.

Hustling ahead of the others, I opened up the main door of the shuttle and entered first. With some quick adjustments, four seats quickly converted to a railed bed. My father gently laid my mother down and settled in next to her.

Unhooking my weapon belt, I handed my pistol and its spare clips to Bilan. "The fleshettes are the only thing we've found that's effective against draconian body shields. Take it."

"What should I do? And what about you?" he asked. "And what will you do for protection?"

"Stay here, Bilan. Protect your family. Interrogate the prisoners. I need you to find out how that draconian got into our home!"

Styen looked at me. "I should come along. Your father and mother will need protection."

I nodded. "Strap Mother down, then both of you get belted in. You need to leave, Bilan, right now. We'll be back as soon as we can. Maybe you can salvage some of that breakfast for your wife and boys."

He smiled grimly as I guided him out. "Good luck, Ranji! To you and your mother."

"Get clear of the shuttle, at least thirty feet. Behind that barrier near the door is best. I'm going to crank up the engines and then hit sky. The jet wash, if it catches you, will throw you against the wall like you were a rag doll. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir!" He buckled on the Talon, saluted, and hurried to the protected part of the shuttle bay, physically hauling the protesting corporal along with him.

I secured the door, then moved to the pilot's seat. I didn't have time for a pre-flight or external exam. Protocol was that it was supposed to be kept ready to go at a moment's notice. Hopefully, no one had interfered with that protocol.

Slipping on the headset and securing the seat harness, I started flipping switches. Banks of light flickered on. There was a deep hum, and with another switch, the engines ignited and deep rumbling could be felt throughout the craft. The next switches started up the internal air system, and fired up the maneuvering jets. Reaching up, I flipped on one entire bank of avionics - the ID beacon, ECM, ECCM, MAWS or Missile Advanced Warning System, radar, and the transponder visible to civilian air traffic. Power and fuel read one hundred percent. All systems were active and good to go.

"Styen, is Mother strapped down?" I began rotating the shuttle, and tapped the remote to open the bay doors.

"Yes."

"You both buckled in?"

"Yes," they informed me.

As the bay doors widened, a squad of Ground Service swarmed into view, waving weapons. I switched the external speaker. "Clear the shuttle bay! Emergency medical departure! Clear the flight path or I will run you over! On my mark, take off in fifteen seconds! Mark!"

Bilan added his own shouting, ordering and waving the soldiers out of the way.

Out of the big bubble windows on the far side, I saw legs on the ground, poking out from around some crates. One of the crew?

Using the speakers again, I called out, "Bilan! Once we're airborne, check the hangar for the flight crew. I can see a body."

He gave me the hand signal for message received. I disengaged the outside speakers.

The restraining cable was still in place, but I also locked the brakes as I carefully opened up the throttle to the halfway mark. The sound in the bay became a deafening roar as the engines screamed to life. Soldiers covered their ears, grimacing at the noise, finally deciding it was better to run clear of the hangar doors.

A second glance to confirm. Fuel tanks full. Power readings - normal.

Raising the flaps, I hit the release. Catapulting forward, we burst out from the shuttle bay as the energy slammed us back into the seats. Pulling back on the wheel, we lifted, and within hundred feet, we were fully airborne. Up came the landing gear as I engaged the HUD. Then I began radio communications as I scanned the sky around us.

"Sentry War Base Control Tower, this is Sunskipper 2, come in. Sunskipper 2 calling Sentry War Base. Come in, please."

Keeping low, I kept the shuttle less than five hundred feet above the tree line, hugging the surface as close as I dared.

"This is Sentry Control. No flight plans are on file, Sunskipper 2. Please identify nature of flight and pilot."

"Sunskipper 2 with a medical emergency. Lady Kandikan, wife of Lord Arjun Kandikan, injured by knife wound and bleeding heavily. She is aged forty-six. Injury site is center of right, possibly lower lung or liver. She is in need of immediate medical attention. Repeat, in need of immediate medical attention. Please have medevac transport waiting for our arrival. Pilot ident, Senior Lieutenant Ranji Kandikan, serial one-two-four-chan-kay-seven-seven-qwa-mun. Medical emergency, requesting priority clearance." I glanced at the dash chronometer and calculated. "ETA to Sentry is eight minutes."

Radar and MAWS suddenly gave me fourteen separate tones. Images populated the HUD. Sentry War Base was first to show, and then others blinked in, filling the screen.

The second was from a UFO on my left rear, rising up from the ground, hovering in place. The third was from a second UFO, also rising, about three hundred rads east of us.

Computer identified both UFOs as draconian craft.

"Kali's throbbing cunt!"

The rest were SAM batteries; four were outside Sentry, two at Paro about seventy rads to the southeast, one was at nearby Bresh to the southwest, and surprisingly, two batteries from home! One tone was a combined read from the Combat Air Patrol flying above Sentry War Base. The last one was a satellite ping.

I was suddenly a popular boy, and none of the reasons were good ones.

Then the tones from both draconians went solid. My guts went cold.

I dropped us lower, hugging the tree line, while kicking back and forth on the rudder to fly in a horizontal zig-zag.

"Sentry, I have two draconian aircraft, repeat two alien aircraft with active targeting locked. Taking evasive action!" Over my shoulder, I yelled, "Hang on back there. It might get rough!"

The Sunskipper had a score each of flares and chaff bursts, as well as a defense computer to help against close-ranged targeting. That's it. No offensive weapons at all. The Sunskipper depended on its great speed to escape danger. Besides, the Sunskipper flew so fast that it overran any projectile gun or missile in our current air weapons inventory.

But against draconian ships and their advanced alien tech? This might be a very short ride. However, I didn't plan on giving up without a fight.

The CAP in front of me split into two formations; four craft continued circling near the base while the other six turned to our direction and rapidly closed the distance. Alarms on the HUD flickered, and the second draconian craft shifted, suddenly appearing immediately behind us. A proximity alarm blared in the cabin.