Starlight Gleaming Ch. 18

"Excuse me, Sergeant." Sisi led me over to where Mack sat in a chair, weeping as she cradled her son. The other women looked at her with sadness.

I crouched down. "What's wrong, Mack?"

She wiped her eyes. "Tambo won't eat. He's sick and the Navy won't treat him."

"What?"

She retrieved a crumpled letter from beside her and handed it over. I scanned through it. She was being refused because her records showed she had a dishonorable discharge on record and was therefore unable to apply for credit and a payment plan.

Standing up and stepping away, I checked my watch, then called Sergeant Chita. I asked questions and she told me that there were three other women who had returned to Air Security who needed supplemental medical assistance, two of them for their children. Medical reports on several others were pending.

"Is the Air Service clinic back up and running?"

"That's been merged with the Ground Service clinic. And we aren't having any issues with treatment at the clinic."

I pulled out my card and gave Chita the account number. "Get them squared away, Sergeant. I want them focused on work and getting settled in. They can't do that if they or their children are sick. Notify the others to inform you right away if they have medical issues and the Navy won't extend them credit. For those who need advanced care, use my card and pay for it. I'll be back in tomorrow morning. When you get in, I want to deal with this further - the Care Center and medical coverage."

"Yes, Commander." I could almost hear the smile in her voice.

Hanging up, I walked back over to the others. Before I could say anything, though, the front door opened, and six women in Air Security uniforms entered, carrying their kits and several bags of food from the Commissary Diner. Two homed in on Mack, asking her what was wrong. The others hurried upstairs.

A corporal looked at me and gasped. "Commander Kandikan! Hey, everyone, it's Commander Kandikan!"

More shouts and women came out of other rooms. In no time at all I was surrounded, some of them carrying babies or toddlers. They were effusive in their thanks, and it took a few minutes to get their attention.

"I appreciate your gratitude. I understand some of you are running into issues with medical care. Inform both your officer and Sergeant Chita right away. We are dealing with it. For the rest of you living here, if you have any needs or problems, please contact Sergeant Chita."

"Mack, Tambo's burning up."

Everyone's attention turned to Mack and the woman next to her.

"Do you have a thermometer?" I asked.

"We have very little medical supplies here," Corporal Cooma said. "We don't even have milkers to help with getting the milk out."

Several others nodded.

"Mack, do you have a bag of supplies to care for Tambo?"

"Stay here, Mack. I'll get it," the corporal said, and dashed off.

"You live here?" I asked.

"Yes, sir," Mack answered.

"That helps. Come on. We're taking Tambo to the clinic. Sisi, come along."

It wasn't coming down in torrents any longer, but it was raining pretty heavily. Corporal Cooma carried the bag out to the cruiser, braving the pouring rain with us. While I got Sisi buckled in, Cooma gave Mack a quick pat on the shoulders saying, "Good luck," then shut the door and hurried back inside.

With the new destination, the driver set out while his partner updated Dispatch on our location.

Then the Dispatch operator said, "There is an incoming call for the Commander. Rerouting to your location."

There was a pause, then Janetta's voice came through the speakers.

"Ranji? Where are you? You were supposed to take it easy today, and now it's almost dinner time. Calia said you took Sisi with you. Where are you and why aren't you home?"

"Hello, Janetta. I love you, too. Yes, Sisi is with me, and we're fine. We're taking a mother with a sick child to the medical clinic."

"Shit. All right. Do what you have to do. If it's going to be over an hour, you call me, you hear? And you make sure you feed your daughter."

I heard Zinja say, "Real food, Commander! Not vending machine crap!"

The driver slowed down as traffic picked up. "Thank you, Janetta. Call home in an hour. Feed Sisi real food. Anything else?"

"Safe flight and safe return, Ranji. Sisi, too."

"Contact terminated," the AI intoned.

The trooper slowed down at a major intersection, and we continued to slide an extra few feet. Barely missed two ChoCacs. I winced, convinced we were going to have an accident. Going slower, however, we made it without any more near misses.

The troopers dropped us off at the Emergency Entrance, and one of them escorted us inside. It was damp out, but fortunately the area was under cover.

Once inside, reception summoned a nurse, and we stayed with Mack and her son. The aide applied cool packs to the boy, trying to bring down his fever while the nurse monitored his temperature.

While they worked, I provided financial information to the admissions clerk to cover Tambo's visit. They confirmed they recognized Mack's reinstatement. Once that was done, the doctor stopped by, examined the charts, and pulled us both away to talk about her son.

"It's serious," the doctor said. "If you can afford it, he needs nano-treatment."

"That's the problem," she said, tears streaming down her face. "The Navy said they won't let me make payments, and won't even tell me what's wrong with my son!"

The doctor frowned. "They should have at least told you that. He has acute myeloid leukemia or AML."

She looked puzzled. "What's that?"

It was at times like this that the real differences in education even for those who were literate hit me. Even those trained in skilled tasks like Air Security often lacked the basics of a general education. I wasn't medically trained like Calia or Sowitwee, but I knew what leukemia meant.

"It's cancer of the blood-forming tissues, Sergeant," the doctor explained. "As young as he is, Tambo wouldn't survive chemotherapy or the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, both of which combined are much cheaper than the nano-treatment. Nano-treatment's best, of course. One initial four-hour treatment, with three follow up exams to make sure there's been no resurgence. Without any treatment at all, Tambo has at best six months to live."

She almost missed the chair as her legs gave out. Sisi, who'd been hugging my leg went over to her.

"Mack? Can I give you a magic hug?"

Overwhelmed, she looked at me.

"Her hugs are magic," I assured her.

While Sisi hugged her, I turned to the admissions clerk and the doctor. "You have my charge card. Put me down as her payee with the Navy, and get her an appointment. Doctor, I need you to do whatever you can to get Tambo moved up on the Navy's appointment schedule, even if it costs extra. I assume with the fever, he has some sort of infection going on?"

Mack looked lost, struggling to take it all in.

He nodded. "Yes, we'd like to keep Tambo overnight. We'll hook him up to an IV and get some fluids into him and some antibiotics. You're welcome to sleep next to him, Sergeant."

All she could do was weep quietly and nod.

I looked at her, and my daughter gently patting her back. "I think a meal break is in order. I'll bring the Sergeant back when we're done."

Mack looked up at me. "I don't think I could eat, sir."

"It's not a request, Sergeant. How are you going to take care of your son if you aren't taking care of yourself? We'll be back in an hour. Go say goodbye to Tambo. I'll wait for you."

"Tambo's sick, isn't he, Tenant. Can I give Tambo a hug, too?"

"Yes, he's sick, but give the hug to Mack and she can give it to him, all right?"

While Mack went back to the examination room, I asked the doctor, "Where do we get milkers?"

"You mean for expressing milk? There's a maternity section at the Commissary. Good ones run around a hundred and fifty credits."

"One more question, doctor. Would it be feasible to have a second nano-treatment facility built here at this clinic?"

He blinked. "Well, certainly. I think we have the room, but I'd have to check with the chief surgeon and director, of course. The main problem is getting trained staff and the machinery. Supplies, of course, are horrendously expensive."

"But if there was a second facility, it would speed treatments?"

"Yes, it would. The Navy gives a priority to Navy and Marine personnel, and then any patients at the hospital. Military are a priority. Officers first and then enlisted. Anything considered non-urgent or outside someone's budget gets onto an appointment system. Sometimes it can take weeks to be seen."

"Talk to your bosses, doctor. An ER nurse told me that there's an add-on module available for women, so that when they receive treatment they don't have to abstain from sex to avoid pregnancy."

"I think that's true." He looked at me thoughtfully. "I meant what I said about it being expensive, Commander. It's on the order of a hundred-fifty to two hundred thousand credits."

"I have a gold card, doctor."

"If you're serious, I think there would be a great deal of interest in moving forward with your proposal, Commander."

"Put together a proposal, doctor. I want to see something on my desk by the end of the week."

Mack came back, holding Sisi's hand.

We covered up and hurried through the rain. Once we were back in the cruiser, the driver set about returning us home. Meantime, I called Janetta.

"Tlacotli here."

"You have room for three at dinner?"

"You're late. And who are you bringing with you?"

"Sergeant Mack, Sisi, and myself."

She sighed. "You will explain when you get here. What's your ETA?"

"Fifteen minutes, depending on traffic. Some of the streets are flooding."

"See you soon. Be safe."

I put away my phone.

"You're taking me to your house for dinner?" Mack asked.

"Yes, I am."

"I don't understand, sir. Why?"

"It's dinner time. I'm hungry. Are you hungry, Sisi?"

"I'm starving, Tenant. I didn't have no snack today." She growled. "Did you hear my stomach?"

I managed not to laugh. "I did, Sisi. There, you see? Sisi and I are both hungry. You need to eat, too, Mack."

"Yes, sir," she mumbled, trying to take everything in.

"Our motto is we work together, Sergeant. Llam nuqam. But in this case, there's another reason. It's obvious you love your son. I'm new to this, but if my girls were hurt or became sick, I'd do everything possible to help them get better. You're a single mom, Mack. But you aren't alone. I think you might like Second Sergeant Zinja, Sisi's mother. She raised Ixma alone."

Sisi looked up at me. "What's a single mom, Tenant?"

"It's a mom raising her children alone, without a husband or family to help her. It's very hard work raising children alone, and it means the mom loves her children very much."

Mack looked at me, then wiped at her eye, blinking rapidly.

I informed the troopers that they were to take a meal break, and then return, as we'd need to get Mack back to the clinic.

"We'll probably need to switch out, Commander. We'll notify Dispatch and they'll send another vehicle."

"Excellent," I replied. "You have my thanks. Good night, and be safe."

Once we were parked in front of the garage, we got out and ran to the covered overhang before the front door. Mack carried Sisi's safety seat. I checked the door and found it locked. Then house AI then greeted us and unlocked the door.

Sisi homed in toward the table, but Ixma rose from the table and said, "Wash first, Sisi."

My daughter lifted her blouse and sucked in her stomach. "I'm starving, Ixma. Can't you see my ribs?"

I snickered and even Mack smiled. Taking the safety seat, I set it by the front closet.

"No nonsense from you, Sisi Kandikan! You know you're supposed to wash before sitting down at the table. Arguing about it just makes it take longer before you can eat."

Sisi turned, looking toward the living room. "Mama Zinja-"

"You heard your sister, Sisi!" Zinja came around the corner, taking Sisi's jacket from her. "Go wash your hands right now, girl. Now git!"

Ixma waved her finger at me. "You aren't helping, laughing at what she said."

"You're right, Ixma. I'm sorry about that. Please show Mack the downstairs bathroom where she can get cleaned up. Come on, Sisi. Let's go upstairs and wash. We'll put away your jacket, too." I collected the jacket from Zinja and walked into the living room.

Ixma took the slicker from Mack and hung it up to dry in the foyer closet.

I didn't see Janetta or Cholan, so I followed Sisi upstairs, and joined her in washing my hands. Almost five, she had a bit of trouble reaching the water knob, but she managed. When she counted to twenty aloud as she lathered her hands, I smiled.

As we rinsed, I said, "Good job, Sisi. I'm proud of you. Who taught you to count to twenty while washing?"

"Calia said it makes bad germs float away so we don't get sick."

She dried her hands and skipped out of the bathroom, humming to herself.

While energetic and busy, Sisi was also caring. Mina, too, had been good, even when she'd become tired. I was immensely proud of my girls.

I took Sisi's jacket to her room and hung it up, then swung by the bedroom. Janetta was at her desk, typing on her laptop. I sat on the corner of the bed, waiting. She finished, then roughly closed the lid and pushed her seat back, scowling at me.

Janetta glared at me. "You were supposed to be taking it easy today. You know? Resting after getting back from taking the girls to school. Where have you been all day, Ranji?"

"After you took off, I learned the girls had a field trip. Just before we left, Mack and the two servant girls showed up. Apparently Calia has taken on two new servants to help out around here."

She folded her hands. "Yes, I've met Terra and Salvia. Go on."

"Mack is one of the women who was forced out of Air Security because she became pregnant. From the numbers, I'm sure they were tampering with their birth control drugs before they tried it across the entire base. Mack wants to work here as a full-time guard. Since the girls seemed to accept Mack, I took her with us on the field trip.

"We went to the aquarium in Capisco. I think the girls had a great time. I know I did. That was our first outing together as dad and daughters. Because of how late we got back, the girls didn't get a chance to have a nap during the day. I dropped off Mina because she was tired and wanted a snack, and Calia was up and about. Sisi asked to go with me to take Mack to her quarters. It wasn't far and it was raining pretty hard."

"And the sick child?"

"Mack's son. Since I was there, we took her to the clinic, which was closer than the naval hospital."

She waited about two seconds, then said, "You aren't done. Spill it, Kandikan."

"I got a chance to meet some of the women who'd been enslaved by Voyacherno. Saw their new setup. They are adjusting pretty well, but I think they need more follow up. And apparently the Navy Finance Division has decided to be pricks. They're refusing credit for dependent medical care. When the doctors examined Mack's son, she learned he has leukemia. The little guy was burning up, and when we left, the nurses were working hard to bring his fever down."

"Of course you went ahead and tried to fix it."

"Yes, I did. And by your tone, you aren't happy about it. Mack and the other women who came back are now part of the 602. They are mine. The Navy denying them coverage because of what happened to them ticks me off. What Voyacherno and the others did to them also ticks me off."

"It's the same argument we've had before. You can't save everyone, Ranji. You keep spending a thousand credits here and ten thousand there, and even your enormous fortune will disappear. No, I'm not saying you're wrong. But you need to put limits on what you do for others."

"Then you are probably going to have a cardiac. I talked to the doctor at the clinic. Told them to put together cost estimates on what it would take to build a second Nano-Treatment Center here at High Guard. As officers, we get priority, along with Navy and Marine personnel. Then enlisted get their access. Dependents often have to wait weeks, sometimes months for appointments."

"And what? Are you going to foot the cost yourself? How much?"

"Probably around two hundred thousand credits when it's all said and done."

Janetta exploded. "Are you out of your fucking mind? That's a gods' damned fortune, Kandikan! Ten families could retire and never have to work a day in their lives with that amount of money, and you are talking about spending it like it was nothing!"

"I'm aware of the costs, Janetta."

Exasperated, she took a deep breath. "You are starting to worry me, Kandikan. Your brother said if you started acting funny, you should see a specialist. Well, I'm telling you, I think you should get checked out."

I frowned. "That's not funny."

"What am I supposed to think? Challenging the Base Commandant? And then you nearly died! Instead of resting today, you are gallivanting around like you're on vacation."

"Are you done?"

"No! Are you even listening to me?" she demanded. "We heard from the television that you and that marine were poisoned and were on your way to the hospital. By all the gods, Kandikan, all of us, and I mean all of us were scared we were going to lose you! It's like what happened didn't even phase you."

I shook my head. "What do you want from me, Janetta? I came up here to give you a hug and a kiss. To let you know I was home, and it seems like you want to fight."

She jumped up, knocking over her chair, one hand clenched, breathing hard. "Maybe I do. Maybe I need to know I mean something to you."

I rose to my feet. "I love you more than anything, Janetta. I try to let you know that every chance I can."

"Then show me, damn you!" Eyes dilating, nostrils flaring.

The previous night it had been the woman I'd reassured. Now the warrior wanted her turn. The next instant, I was shoving her against the wall, seeking her mouth with my own. Both of our hands worked frantically to open the trousers of the other. Just as we were successful, she sucked in my lower lip and bit. Hard.

"The fuck?" I jerked back, tasting blood.

"You want me? You take me," she challenged.

Tasting blood, I grabbed her arm. Spinning her around, pinned her arm behind her and forced her down onto her desk. Pushed her trousers and panties down.

"Oof!" Then she turned her head and laughed.

As I hardened, I felt my heat rise. I slapped her butt hard.

"Ow! Damn you, Kandikan! That hurt!"

My hand probed her damp slit and she widened her stance. I chuckled as I freed my cock. "That's what I thought."

"You gonna fuck or-oh, gods! Hunh! Ranji, ah!"

As I bucked into her, I looked over her prone form and saw Cholan standing in the doorway, staring at us.

"You can watch," Janetta grunted. "But close... the door. Ranji, what the fuck are you doing?"

I'd pulled out. There was heat between her legs, but little moisture. She struggled to turn around, but I pushed her back down. Gathering spit, I slathered it over my crown and pushed back into her folds. Using one hand for leverage, shoved deeper.

"Fuck," she moaned.

Once I had her depth, I began slamming into her. She got wet fairly quickly, making it easier to pound into her center.

"I'm still... the Queen Bitch... around here," she grunted, staring at Cholan.

"That's right," I growled. "You're the Queen. But you're my Queen Bitch, Janetta. Hear me? Mine!"