Starlight Gleaming Ch. 21 Pt. 03

Giving her a hug and a kiss on her forehead, I said, "By the gods, Calia, you have nothing to apologize for! What you did was amazing. Look, I need to leave. There's more that need help. You stay and rest now, you hear me?"

She mumbled and then passed out. I kissed her cheek and caressed her face.

Ixma's eyes were open, watching me.

I whispered, "The First Home for the women troopers is gone, so I brought them here. We'll work on finding them new places tomorrow. Your job is to take care of our girls and to make sure Calia rests."

Little Mama simply held out her arms and I gave her a hug and a kiss, too.

Then I went back upstairs. Izel handed me a bottle of electrolyte water and I downed it.

"You're going out again, aren't you," Izel said.

"I have to," I said quietly. "The Seven Nations is offering emergency supplies, and I've been asked to broker those deals."

Looking at my watch, I saw it was just after zero four hundred. "We normally have around fifteen people living in this house, Izel. At this particular moment, I think we're above sixty. This situation is dire, but there are many other Imperial citizens in even worse shape. With the Greys helping Atlantis, we sometimes lose a Condor transport, its crew, and all of its cargo. Now Atlantis has this new technology. Getting resupplied will be even harder. Even with emergency stores, High Guard will soon run out. This meeting may save thousands. I have to go."

She moved closer and gave a heartfelt smile as I put my arms around her. "Let me go with you, Husband. I can offer you my advice and my support."

"All right. I'm going to go up and see if I can find a fresh uniform--"

"No, that's the wrong approach," she said, shaking her head. "Your uniform shows exactly what you've been doing -- saving lives. Let the soot and dirt show the urgency of our need. The uniform shows you are a warrior, still ready to meet the Empire's foes, but also undaunted."

"All right. Before we leave, I need to talk to a few people first."

Retrieving my laptop, I sent a quick message to Tikún Travel, quickly outlining the initial damage estimates. Then I wrote that I was going to negotiate for supplies from the Seven Nations, and then sent the email. Next, I called C&C.

"Command and Control, Night Operator. How may I direct your call?"

"This Commander Kandikan, Air Security. Is the Commandant available? If not, who's in charge at this time?"

There was a short pause. "Voiceprint confirmed. Commander, the Commandant is in Operations, directing the relief effort. I will see if he's available."

Another pause. While I waited, my laptop pinged, letting me know I had new mail. It normally did not do that. Checking, I saw it was a reply from Tikún Travel. It read,

Original travel orders technically never rescinded. Do what you need to do to save vacation resort. If you have not done so, bring your new wife with you. -- Tikún Travel

I reread it, then chuckled.

"Thank you for holding, Commander. I have Commander Sangoo from Base Operations on the line for you. Transferring." Another short pause, then, "Kandikan, the Commandant is busy. What is it that you need?"

"I'm going to meet with Sammi Reo, the reporter from the Seven Nations. She's arranged a video teleconference with their state government and the city of Capisco to obtain emergency supplies. I thought the Commandant would like to have one of his staff work with me on the negotiations."

"What? You aren't authorized for that!"

"Look, Sangoo, I'm not going to argue with you! I'm telling you what's going to happen! We have no working water supply. We have thousands dead and more thousands injured and many homeless. Hundreds are still missing. We also need food, medical, and building supplies. The airfield is out until repairs can be made. On top of it all, some of the fires are still burning out of control! Relay my information and request or I'm hanging up right now."

Another pause. "Rikoletsi here."

I quickly explained I was meeting with Reo to discuss aid and purchases from the Seven Nations, and that I was bringing Izel with me. I added that I had also received approval from our mutual friend from Tikún.

He chuckled. "Fortune seems to follow you, Commander. I wish I could be there with you but elements of the Atlantean Navy are moving closer, and we're working with High Command and the Naval Service to respond. We'll do our best to discourage them from coming any closer, but it could easily turn nasty. We're also trying to coordinate rescue operations. General Barankoshto is overseeing that part of operations.

"You've shown yourself to have a cool head under pressure, Commander. Be careful about any commitments. Lady Izel is sharp and thinks on her feet. If she's available, take her with you. Our primary need at this time is water. The tanker trucks have been loading up with seawater, but it's not enough. By the time one building is contained, three more buildings are in flames. Worse, the seawater causes clean-up problems afterward. See if you can get a freshwater line in from Capisco. It's against regs, but if we don't have fresh water soon, we're going to lose a lot more people. Right now, we're primarily focusing on putting out the little fires to keep them from spreading and putting in some fire breaks. We expect the numbers of dead, injured, or missing to rise throughout the night. Record the meeting and send a copy to me afterward. Any questions?"

"No, sir. I'll do my best, General."

"That's all anyone can do, Son."

"Rikoletsi out."

After putting away my phone, I closed up the laptop. Securing it into my satchel, it settled onto my shoulders.

"Well, Izel, it's official."

She cocked her head at me. "What's official."

"I've been told by General Rikoletsi to take you along because in his words, 'you're sharp.' How does it feel to have others recognize your skills and abilities?"

Izel gave me a shy smile, answering quietly, "It feels good."

Just then, Cholan stumbled the front door, and my Island Girl looked dead-tired. She saw me and half-stumbled into my arms.

I squeezed her until she squeaked even as she squeezed me back. I brushed at a dirty smudge on her nose, then kissed her. She melted again in my arms.

Then I realized who'd brought her home. "Sergeant Kitam brought you, didn't he! Grannok! Get in your cruiser and flag down the vehicle that just left. It's probably headed for the Ground Service barracks. Turn it around and bring it back here. I need to speak with that man!"

Trooper Grannok and his partner, Jomin, shot out the door. Soon, lights and the siren were on as the cruiser flew down the street.

Cholan blinked as I took her back into my arms. "Welcome back, Island Girl."

She sighed, burrowing into my chest. "I'm so tired, right after this hug, I'm going to get some water and then go to bed. No hurry about the hug, though. Take your time. I'm down with five, six hours. Seven, tops."

Izel rolled her eyes and grinned at us.

"In the morning, get the others to tell you about the men who attacked our home."

Her head jerked up and she stared blearily at me. "What?"

"Oh, yeah. Twenty-two confirmed dead. We lost Wit's father, two of Izel's guards, and her servant, Ando."

"No shit? Holy..." Then Cholan's eyes caught sight of the missing east wall of the living room and she broke from my embrace, taking a slow walk into the living room, and noticed that as she took steps the carpet made squishy sounds. "Holy fuck!" Alarmed, she shot a glance at me, then stared at where Terra and Salvia's room used to be. "My room?"

"A corner's missing is all, but I don't think it's safe to sleep in. Besides, the sprinklers went off and everything got wet. The bed and blankets are soaked. We stripped it down and propped the mattress up onto its side to help it dry out."

"Damned Atlanteans! Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?" Then she apparently noticed that some of the troopers standing around had small children in their arms. "Are these the women you rescued?"

"Yeah. Their home is completely gone. Look, the gym and the west-end bedrooms survived, but they have some smoke damage. There are emergency mattresses and blankets downstairs in the shelter. It's not terribly comfortable, but there's no smoke down there. The vents at the entrance are keeping it from coming in when you open the door."

She gave me a bleak look. "I'm so tired. I can't believe this." Tears began to spill down her cheeks.

"You made a big difference, helping to restore that cell tower. It could have been much worse, Island Girl. We only lost a few people, and all of your High Guard family are safe."

She just nodded, her face bleak.

Scooping her up into my arms, she drank down the water bottle as I carried her downstairs. Exhausted, she was asleep even as I laid her down on the other side of Calia. A kiss to my island girl's forehead, then I headed back upstairs.

A few moments later, two vehicles returned to our front drive. A few minutes later, Grannok, Jomin, and Sergeant Kitam entered.

Dirty and tired, the mobile construction sergeant blinked at me. "Commander? Is this something that can't wait till tomorrow? My crew and I have put almost two full shifts already."

"Sorry to keep you from your sleep, but no, it can't wait. I'm headed to a meeting right now. High Guard needs fresh water and I have the authorization to get it piped straight from Capisco if we can. Right now High Guard has no freshwater. I need you there because once the agreement is reached, I will need you and the rest of your mobile construction team to get to work right away. I will also need you and your team to work with the Capisco people. It's against regs but we need to get water in before most of the war base is burned to the ground, and that may mean letting their civilian crews work beside ours."

"What about my men?"

"They will come with us. I'm sure we can find someplace for them to crash until they're needed."

He gazed at me a moment, then gave a tired sigh. "Okay, Commander. I guess I'm your man."

Grabbing our vests, we drove to the Ground Service VIP housing area, Kitam's huge utility-construction vehicle following us.

* * * * *

Part 14 -- Negotiations for Aid

* * * * *

After greeting and reassuring a scared Emilo and the rest of the parents and teens, Sammi Reo led Izel and me to a nearby building. Inside was a conference room where her cameraman was setting up connections. Three Air Service media specialists were puttering about, one of them working with the cameraman on connecting cables. A large portable screen was set up in the middle of a table and we took adjacent seats at the end.

Kitam and his crew were given a liter of bottled water and shown to some empty beds. After downing the water and kicking off their boots, they collapsed into a deep sleep.

I explained the need to record the meeting, and Sammi said she'd expected that. "This will be a historic meeting, Commander. We will record the entire meeting, and are happy to make an extra copy for you."

Then the meeting began. Greetings and introductions were made, and several people were on the large monitor, some of them still yawning. I counted five different locations.

Initially, there were demands to do the aid as a single package deal, but with a glance from Izel, I refused that outright. So we settled down to individual aid packages, each to be negotiated separately. Surprisingly, a few of the business reps seemed to be relieved at that, as they would not have to remain after their portion was signed and done. The single package deal was likely something their state government had been pushing.

Restoring access to fresh water was of paramount importance.

After three hours, an agreement with the City of Capisco was finally reached with oversight by the state officials. There were plans to do something temporary above ground, but again I refused. I had no idea how long it would take to rebuild the desalination plant or whether the War Ministry should scrap it and rebuild it from the ground up. What I knew was any surface piping would be vulnerable to another air attack.

The cost was enormous. Forty-two thousand credits. Capisco agreed their utility crews would work with ours to dig a huge trench across the no-man's land and connect up to our system. Backhoes would dig the trenches parallel to the road while their trucks brought up the huge connection pipes. Ground Service would provide the minesweepers to clear the work area as well as the safety zone; Mobile Construction had a large crane capable of moving and laying the huge pipes needed.

I used the Bank of Atlantis card to pay for the work. Izel stayed while documents were signed while I roused Sergeant Kitam.

Quickly explaining what was needed, Kitam left a message for his captain to call back. In the meantime, Kitam got on a separate phone and talked shop with the Capisco water utility representative. The Sappers Unit began removing mines in and around the work area. Details were worked out while I coordinated with the Base Commandant's Office so the Sappers could get to work.

The Capisco City Manager informed me that he had thirty-one firemen and three doctors and eight nurses volunteering to come to High Guard to assist wherever we needed them. I was eager to have them and requested a digital list of names and basic personal information sent to Air Security so that temporary guest ID cards could be generated and issued.

Meanwhile, Izel and I stretched our legs, took a latrine break, and found some cahault before returning. As it was past dawn and five hours into the talks, Izel and I both took two more stim tabs.

I had just checked my watch and we were approaching zero-seven hundred when Doyya and a dozen troopers entered the room. I was surprised to see Mack and Haytam among them. Once Doyya spied me, she headed right over. By the look on her face, I could tell it was serious.

I got up and met them off-screen. "Whatever it is, lay it out fast."

She nodded and plunged right in. "Your phone was off, Commander. When I went to your home, Lieutenant Durie said you were here. Second Home has been hit."

"Hit? What do you mean? Were they hit by the Atlanteans? Was there a fire?"

"No, sir." She took a breath. "The building itself is intact, but all the residents are gone. Troopers, care-givers, the pregnant women. There were signs of a scuffle, but all the people are gone, Commander. Kids, too. And except for some service weapons, everything else was left behind. Even diaper bags."

"Holy gods, Doyya. That sends all kinds of flags up for me. That's a lot of people to go missing all at once. All those kids? Someone somewhere had to have seen something. With the Main Gate on lock-down, they can't get off the war base."

"There's more, Commander. An hour ago, a Ground Security patrol unit found three of our missing troopers from Second Home in a narrow alley near Avenue 20 and Royal Park. That's just inside the Warehouse District. All three women were without shoes, their feet abraded which indicated they had walked a distance barefoot. Their faces had been severely beaten and they were each killed with a single gunshot to the back of the head."

"Who'd we lose?" I asked.

"Corporals Mia and Sotsi, and possibly Sergeant Bekslana. Hard to tell as her face was such a mess."

Clenching my fists, I let my breath out slowly. "Seven hells. That Ground Security patrol didn't see any sign of the others?"

"No, sir. They stayed, cruising the area while we checked out the home, but I had to let them go attend other emergencies. There are still so many fires out of control."

"I'm aware and working to get us water." Clenching my fist, I scowled. "The only way they could have disappeared is if there's another way onto the war base. Doyya, do you remember last year, when the man who took a shot at me and General Barankoshto ended up dead, with bullets to his head before his body was burned?"

Doyya nodded. "Yes, sir, I do. Stimmi and 'Mara were with me. We never did find out who killed him or how he got away."

"What is your assessment of the situation?"

"We have a rat-hole, Commander, and the rats are coming and going onto the war base at their own time of choosing and in whatever numbers they can sneak in. It explains how that force got onto the base just before the Atlanteans hit us. I think this was from the local cartels, possibly as revenge for helping the civilian police shut them down. If the Minister knew about this secret entrance, more of his agents would have come, and they would have taken more of us from our own beds."

I nodded. "I agree with you. I truly want to help find our missing troopers and their families. Unfortunately, I've been tasked by the Base Commandant to handle negotiations for emergency supplies, especially fresh water. Captain, you are my Second. Find someone to watch the shop but this is now your top priority. You may be looking at a minimum of twenty or more armed criminals, probably more, so be prepared to shut them down with deadly force. Captain Lovyanchiti, I want you to search everywhere! I don't care if you have to dig down to bedrock, you find our troopers and their families, and bring every one of them home, even the dead ones. And plug that rat hole! If it's a choice between getting our people home safe and killing or capturing those who took them, the safety of our people comes first! They cannot be replaced!"

Doyya snapped to attention, saluting. "Yes, sir!"

"I'm going to call General Barankoshto to get you some support. You need some dedicated soldiers able to bring some heavier firepower to bear. I'll get you what I can. I know a lot of them have been pressed into service trying to contain the fires, but there should be some units in reserve. Captain, show those sons of bitches what it means to come into our backyard and provoke the Empire! Do whatever you need to do, Captain. Whatever happens, I'll back you. Good hunting!"

Doyya and the rest of her crew snapped a salute, which I returned, and they departed.

Voyacherno's skull might be doing duty as a urinal but this rat hole was likely created with his permission if not his participation, but it was my duty to fix it.

Sammi Reo came over. I could see she was curious, but I said I couldn't say more at this time. "They're ready to continue if you are, Commander."

I asked for fifteen minutes more, as I had to give an update to my superiors.

The reporter said she would inform the representatives.

It took several minutes, but I managed to get a hold of General Barankoshto and explained the situation. After a bit of swearing, she confirmed that many of her warriors were fighting fires and doing search and rescue, and the absence of water combined with the loss of many of our fire trucks was hampering efforts.

"I have two companies of infantry in reserve. I will mobilize one and make them available for your Second to use at her discretion. I will send you the company CO's contact info to her email."

"Thank you, General."

"I'm aware of your own critical mission, Commander. You can thank me by finding your people and killing the bastards who took them. Leave no stone unturned. Now I need to figure out how to try to give those in the field time to rest, eat, and sleep before going back into the fray."

And she hung up.

Next, I called the Main Gate and gave them orders. The two incoming lanes were to be switched to two-way traffic while closing off both exit lanes to allow the construction crews and the huge crane space to work.

Then I called Dispatch and was forwarded to the Watch Commander.