Starlight Gleaming Ch. 18

I paused, smiling. "You like listening to the stories?"

"I do, actually. I hear the love for your girls in your voice. The voices you use are... inventive. It's something the rest of us can share in. My own father died too early for me to have many memories of him. When I listen to you, I sometimes imagine this is what my own father would have done with me. It comforts me and I fall just a little bit more in love with you." Then she scowled, shaking her head. "Enough of the touchy-feely stuff. Just don't try to do everything yourself. You have good people. Use them and delegate! Also, don't neglect your other women. Even a hump and dump is better than being ignored for weeks at a time."

Glancing at her, I chuckled as I finished up. "I'll remember that."

"You going to wash your dick before you get dressed?"

I rinsed and put away the razor, then washed my face. "Isn't your scent on me how you mark me as yours?"

"That only matters if they know who I am," she replied. "Save it for after they start liking you. The men will admire you for all the pussy you get. Once they learn you have five women, all of whom live openly with you, your reputation will skyrocket. That kind of thing earns you a lot of male-mojo points."

Male-mojo points? I grinned in amusement. "All right."

"Oh. And another thing, Ranji. You don't seem to have any trouble getting women to fall for you. Remember, you have five women right here who love you and are eager to fuck for you. You best think real hard before you dip your wick elsewhere."

I raised my eyebrows. "Not something I'm even considering, Janetta. I appreciate knowing there are five who are eager, though."

"Women are attracted to strong men. You're a young officer, you're wealthy, you have power, and you are kind to women and children. You are out there making positive changes and you are becoming well-known. Trust me, you will get offered pussy. Probably more than you can shake a stick at."

"Duly noted, Lady Tlacotli." Deedee had also warned me about that possibility.

Janetta momentary narrowed gaze to see if I was being sincere. Satisfied, she tied up her hair and went to the shower, turning on the water and testing it before stepping under the stream. I stepped in right behind her. A gentle kiss here and there, a quick lather and rinse and we got out.

We both dressed for dinner; Janetta in a casual blouse and shorts and sandals. Her shorts emphasized her lovely, long, lean legs.

I put on a clean Class B uniform, putting on both sidearms. Checked for my metal cuffs. Keys, phone, lanyard, belt knife. Went into the closet and took out the reinforced vest.

I had rarely seen Janetta in civilian dress, and even in casual wear, she looked incredible. Lustrous black hair and large, intelligent black eyes that took in everything around her. Bright perfect teeth and pert nose. Long, smooth, copper-skinned legs. I wanted to pick her up and toss her back onto the bed, rip off her clothes and bury my face in her pussy. Do my best to inhale her tits. Make helpless from the pleasure. Grab those tight globes and impale her all over again. Then I'd make slow love to her all night long, relishing the prolonged union of our bodies.

Even that short image forced me to readjust my trousers and underwear. She caught me looking at her, and grinned knowingly at my discomfort. I was a lucky man and I knew it.

As we exited the bedroom, Cholan was just stepping onto the landing. "Dinner's ready." She turned around and went back downstairs.

Dinner was good, though I don't recall what it was. The women took in my clean uniform right away. Janetta explained that after story time with the girls, I was returning to work.

I added, "Late nights and long days will likely be a thing for me. Hopefully it's just for the next two months. In the meantime, I will do my best to be home for dinner every night and to read to Sisi and Mina."

"We will do our best to support you, Ranji," Janetta replied, gazing meaningfully at the others around the table. "You have made us safe, and now you need to make sure that High Guard War Base is safe, too."

There were murmurs of assurance from my family, but the other women became subdued. There were thoughtful looks from Sowitwee and Nariya as well.

Lifting a forkful of food, I said, "Lady Tlacotli, unless I'm mistaken, you might be the ranking Eagle Warrior. You should consider your position with them."

Janetta gave me a thoughtful look. "Thank you, Commander. I do believe Aerie Captain is open. I will consider it."

I resolved that when she returned to the Eagle Temple, there would be eyes on Janetta to make sure she walked out again. Perhaps see which of the women officers in my command were interested in joining.

After the meal, Calia, Ixma, Cholan, and Sisi cleared the table, then we all retired to the living room. Sisi and Mina each picked a story, which I read aloud. Then it was hugs and kisses goodnight. Even though Ixma extolled my virtues, Mina still expressed some reservations about me. On the other hand, she didn't fight me either. I counted it as another small victory in winning back her heart.

Sisi asked me if I was coming home later.

"I will do my best," I replied, getting to one knee to look her in the eyes.

She hugged me tight. "It's an extra magic hug, Tenant. Just in case."

I hugged her back. "Thank you, Sisi. I needed that."

"My lord?" Calia said. "Your mother was concerned about our journey. Perhaps a call to let her know we arrived safely before the girls go to sleep?"

Pleased at the notion, I nodded. "Excellent idea. Will you please take care of that? Have the House AI make the telephone call from the master bedroom. Let the girls see their grandma and say goodnight. Regular follow up calls, too. At the end of the week during the afternoon, so the girls can enjoy a longer chat. Hopefully their grandpa will be available, as well. Maybe some time for Sisi to keep in touch with Powan and Mika."

Calia beamed at me. Sisi blinked, looking thoughtful.

"What do you think about that, Mina?" Ixma asked, picking up her daughter. "After you brush your teeth, you can say goodnight to your grandma Shanti. How about that?"

"Grandma Shanti?" Mina looked around for her.

I noticed Janetta carried a tray of glasses and a fresh bottle of Blue Label metl juice into the living room. She announced she was going to have a talk with her crew.

Sowitwee reappeared then, wearing a fresh Class B uniform, with his vest over it and armed with his belt knife.

Raising my eyebrows at him, I said. "You've been away from Nariya a long time."

Nariya stood by the door to their bedroom, already in her nightgown, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. She watched us intently.

He gave her a nod and turned back to me. "Yes, sir. She and I agreed. Llam nuqan, sir."

"Thank you, Wit. I appreciate your support. Let's go to work."

* * * * *

Part 2 - Taking Stock

* * * * *

I knew there was at least going to be a skeleton crew present at the HQ building. Doyya had already established an evening and night watch crew for both the base C&C and our building.

What I didn't expect but found upon arrival was four of my people already there, talking loudly in an open conference room near my office. Doyya, Chita, Yalcamara, and Stimmi sat around a long table, empty food containers from the Commissary Diner pushed off to one side.

As soon as I entered, they stopped talking and grinned at me.

Doyya handed me back my charge card. "Thank you for dinner, Commander."

I laughed as I put it back into my wallet. "You aren't even surprised to see me, are you, Doyya."

"Uh, no, sir?" My Second sat back down. "We knew you'd be along eventually."

"Okay, what are you four working on?"

"Going over about what needs to be done, sir."

I grabbed a cup and poured myself some cahault from an urn on a side table. Pulled up a chair. "All right. Show me what you have so far."

They talked and discussed and even a few times argued about what needed to be done. I let them go on for an hour, and even heard a few good ideas, which I wrote down. Doyya and Yalcamara got bogged down in talking about shift rotations, so I stood up and they quieted down.

"The person here with the most time in Air Security is Yalcamara, with what, six or seven years service time?" Then I winked at her. "Stuck at the rank of corporal before I led you astray and corrupted you."

There were snickers at that from around the table. Yalcamara blushed as she grinned back at me.

"Let's start with basics, shall we? What is our mission, Stimmi?"

"Security Services are both warriors and peacekeepers. We lead warriors, protect lives, and ensure property is maintained on military installations."

"That's good, Stimmi." Rising, I grabbed a marker. Finding an open whiteboard, I wrote down his words. "To that, I would add that we enforce military regulations. What is our creed?"

"Loyalty to the Emperor, to the Air Service, and to our fellow warriors," answered Yalcamara. The others nodded their assent.

"Perfect," I said, writing quickly. "What's our motto?"

That one I got in stereo. "Llam nuqan! We work together!"

I laughed as I wrote it down, then continued speaking. "All right. The 602 Air Security Regiment is a battalion of three reinforced companies of security troopers, one company for each duty shift. Additionally, there is a company of CID specialists, and a company of administration and specialized support staff. Correct?"

Nods from everyone.

I looked at Sergeant Chita, who was trying to look around me. I glanced at the corner of the board and moved out of the way so she could see the wifi-address written. "You logged into this board?"

Tapping away on her tablet, Chita nodded. "Got it saved now, Commander."

Wiping down the board, I wrote out tasks. "What do our Security troopers do?"

"Gate duty."

"Control traffic."

"Handle family disturbances."

"Stockade duty."

I wrote down answers, and after much discussion, we ended up with seven main tasks, with some supplemental sections. And, for the record, these tasks didn't exactly match those outlined in my course in Air Security Basic Procedures.

"So in review, here's what we have. First task is security. That includes monitoring the gate, patrolling the fence line, both in coordination with Ground Security. We also patrol Air Service mission-critical areas of this war base. Guarding dignitaries that show up. Second, control of traffic, especially at choke points and busy intersections. Third, we respond to emergencies. Fourth is investigating minor crimes, forwarding anything that needs additional investigation to our CID specialists. Our fifth task is to support combat troops by maintaining security, including checking ID and manifests, to prevent theft of vital supplies, and to keep out or deal with imposters and enemy agents. We also provide supplemental heavy weapons units for defense of the war base. Sixth is public bus protection. Finally, seventh is internment operations, that is, processing, guarding, and transporting inmates.

"In the past, the field trooper companies have been of unequal size. That ends now. We are doing Air Security duties at all times, regardless of time of day. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir." Nods of agreement from everyone.

"Next are the two Specialty Companies. CID is now designated Company D. They handle major crimes, auditing, police intelligence gathering, and counter-intelligence."

Writing quickly on the whiteboard, Chita tapped away, keeping up with me.

"Specialty Support, Company E, will include everything else. The Safety Division is new and attached to Specialty Support. They will incorporate some of the duties that the 945 once did, such as inspections of emergency shelters. They will also have troopers assigned to remain at the schools. They will be expected to interact with the students, and need to complete basic classes in teaching and developmental psych. They will look for signs of trouble, such as illegal drugs, bullying, and watch for safety issues. My initial thought is two troopers each for both the primary school and the secondary school. We'll evaluate their status in six months and go from there. The troopers can interact, yet they need to keep in mind their other goals, too.

"Other divisions in Company E include Human Resources, Training, Motor Pool, Records, Armory, Logistics, and Supply. Oh, and Office Manager. Agreed?"

"Yes, sir," Doyya confirmed. The others nodded in agreement.

I put down the marker on the rail beneath the whiteboard. "I'm at the top. Right now, there is no Executive Officer to handle some of the paperwork that the Air Service requires. At the moment, Doyya, it means you have to pick up the slack as my Second. That means you are juggling your duties as my Second, as XO, and duties as company commanding officer. I know I'm asking a lot of you. I'm well aware that's three fires with only two hands to manage them. My task, with your help Doyya, is to get an XO to get that load off your shoulders as soon as possible. Even after we have an XO, your load is going to be a handful. Let me be clear, Doyya. This is going to be a lot on your shoulders. You are a capable officer. But if I see you are burning yourself out, I might make you give up the field command, so pace yourself and delegate. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Doyya, you and Lieutenants Raltikon and Fortri will each command a company of the Security troopers. You will need to work out with Raltikon and Fortri who is covering what shift. As the ranking officer, you get final say on who gets what, and you get your choice of preferred shift. Besides Jay, Pen, and you two, how many other officers are there, alive and assigned to the 602?"

Doyya glanced at her laptop before answering. "Fifteen. The breakouts are two senior lieutenants, five lieutenants, and eight sublieutenants."

"Okay, let's talk numbers," I said, turning to write on a fresh whiteboard. "A full reinforced company is eight platoons of forty troopers each. A platoon is led by an officer and three supporting NCOs. That makes four fire teams of ten led by an officer or an E4 or above. Or, it's twenty pairs of field troopers who work together as partners.

"To avoid confusion, the company CO will hereafter be referred to as the Shift Commander. Company second in command is the Deputy Shift Commander. The executive officer is the Assistant Deputy Shift Commander. Each of those people will have an NCO aide to help them complete their duties. Extra paperwork will be farmed out to the Office Manager as needed.

"That means Doyya, you will need to pick yourself an NCO aide to be your shadow and to help you get things done as Shift Commander. You will also need to pick a second NCO to help with your duties as my Second. They need to be separate NCOs. The workload demands it. Your sergeant as Shift Commander needs to be a qualified field trooper. Your aide as my Second, however, does not have to be field qualified."

I did some math on the whiteboard. "Optimally, each full reinforced company is three-hundred-twenty-six troopers. Three companies, plus three officers and three NCOs makes six more added in... that comes to nine hundred and eighty-four personnel. A total of thirty-three officers and nine-hundred forty-eight enlisted."

I wrote out columns for Companies A, B, C, D, and E. I duplicated the numbers under the first three reinforced companies.

"Company D, which is our Criminal Investigations Division, is supposed to comprise two-hundred-forty special investigators. If I'm reading things right, Lieutenant Jondeen Laroks is the ranking CID officer at the moment, with two sublieutenants also currently assigned to that unit. Laroks doesn't want command because he wants to stay in investigations. I've agreed to let him. For now, anyway."

Doyya and Chita both nodded as I wrote out two-forty under Company D.

"Company E, the Specialist Support Company, is supposed to number two-hundred-thirty-five." I wrote that under the last column. Above that, I added the entry CMD. "Command of the regiment, including administrative sergeants, is nine, but at this time, Sergeant Chita and Captain Lovyanchiti are doubling up, so we're under-filling two slots. Counting the two under-fills, total fielded strength is supposed to be one thousand, four-hundred-and-sixty Air Security personnel. Doyya, what are our current actual numbers?"

She looked at her laptop, then sat back, pursing her lips. "Three-hundred-and-twenty-seven Air Security. Not including the fifteen officers."

I whistled. "We're supposed to have fifty six officers. There's three here, plus Lieutenants Raltikon and Fortri are joining us, plus the fifteen. That means we need to find thirty-six more officers. Doyya? What's the total unit strength supposed to be?"

"Fourteen and four, Commander."

"That means the regiment is currently under twenty-five percent of strength. We have to find one thousand and seventy-nine new bodies to fill slots. From what I understood, the regiment was operating below strength before the fight." I looked to Doyya to confirm that statement.

"That's correct, sir. The last status report shows the regiment was operating at seventy-two percent of normal, at a thousand-and-thirty-four people, sir."

"A good portion of those we do have are part of Company E, the Specialist Support Company, correct?"

"Yes, sir." Doyya fiddled with her pen. "Support has one-ninety-seven out of two hundred and seventy-nine. CID should have two-hundred-forty, but currently has only twenty-nine. Six are office staff, which is short by four. That leaves us ninety-five for splitting into the patrol units and for stockade duty."

Yalcamara shook her head. "So basically, we have most of the support company, and we have to fill both CID and the field trooper companies."

"That's about it," Doyya confirmed.

Faces became pretty grim as they looked to me.

"Anyone currently assigned to internment is now a field trooper. Once we reach fifty-percent strength, they can apply to return to that specialty if they so wish. Right now, Ground Security has the manpower to do the job. I'll talk with Ground Security about them taking anyone arrested until we have enough staff to fill the ranks."

Chita spoke up. "What about Building Maintenance?"

"What about them?" I asked.

"They aren't on our chart, but they really should be. Six are foreigners, contracted civilians from the Seven Nations. One plumber, one HVAC specialist, one for communication services, two electricians, and a building supervisor to oversee remodeling and repairs. The rest are indentured or slaves, doing clean up. I'd like to ask that we re-verify background checks on the civilians. Or shift to military personnel for our maintenance."

I nodded. "Thank you, Chita. Those are good ideas. Add them to the Org Chart in the Support Section where you think appropriate. Make a request to get guild-trained military personnel to take over those maintenance tasks as soon as possible. You're right. Those jobs should be done in-house. Letting foreigners into Air Security is asking for trouble. They may be upright workers, but they aren't Imperial citizens. We can't submit them to Truth Drugs without causing diplomatic issues. In the meantime, ask our own CID people to do the background checks. Chita? I'm placing Building Maintenance under your command, too. Class B coveralls to identify them, and they get to wear 602 patches and name tags. If they have been slaves or indentured longer than five years, begin the paperwork to emancipate them, and enlist them into the Air Service as provisional E1s. Supervisors, at your discretion can be upgraded to E2 or E3, but no higher. Set a tickler. In six months, you and I will review this. Evaluate who would benefit from being sent to basic training for full Air Service status. Make the educational classes available to them as well. Let me know the costs.