Starlight Gleaming Ch. 21 Pt. 05

"You would stand in the way of getting this prototype into our fighter aircraft?" the general yelled. "While you're fussing about written orders, our pilots are dying!"

"You are out of line, General!" I snapped back. "There are reasons we have security protocols in place and it is well within my job description to remind you of them! The alternative is even more pilots and good warriors are killed by our enemies! Lord Roshan needs to pass a security check and I need written authorization. Without both of those happening, no transfer will take place!"

Turning to the man in question, I said, "Lord Roshan, I presume? Will you follow me?"

The man I looked at replied, "Commander," and nodded in acceptance.

"You don't comprehend how urgent this is," the general snarled. "From this point forward, the death of every pilot will be on your head, Commander."

Roshan, who looked uncomfortable, said, "While I appreciate your support, General, the commander is just trying to do his job. My ID clearance with Itcha Aeronautics should make this easy."

The retinal scanner confirmed Roshan's identity and his security clearance.

As we strode back through the bull pen, he asked, "Satisfied, Commander?"

"Yes," I replied. "What about your two people?"

"My bodyguard and my assistant? Both men have been with me for years on other secure projects, and they have the same clearance. My word on that."

"Lord Roshan, since you passed, it's discretion who you involve after things leave my custody. But I still need that written order. Let's continue this discussion in the privacy of my office, shall we?"

Once again, we were gathered just outside my office.

"It's not your office anymore," General Ulee'ar declared.

Roshan and his two civilian attendants went into my office without complaint.

I looked at the general. "You've given me the Transfer Order, sir. I have until end of shift today to report for duty at my new billet. Until I depart, I remain the commanding officer of this regiment, sir, and this is still my office. I will remind you, General, that it's dangerous to talk about the Empire's secrets in public. If you continue to do so, you will force me to take action that neither of us wants. I am the security officer here. Let me do my job!"

He grumbled, but went into the office after Roshan. The two Air Service lieutenants tried to follow, but I demanded, "Unless your security clearance is Top Secret, gentlemen, you need to wait here!"

Chagrinned, they hovered about Hanami's desk.

"You are welcome to find chairs while you wait for the general. Cholan? Do you still feel you can help with figuring out this technology?"

Without batting an eye, she said, "I do, Commander."

"Into my office," I told her. "Mack? Inside, too. Akama, please stay here and keep these two honest. With the exception of Captain Lovyanchiti, I want you to make sure no one below the rank of general tries to enter my office. If you are so inclined, you can tell these officers where they can find a fresh cup of cahault."

"Yes, sir," she said, taking up position by my door.

Turning to my admin, I said, "Hanami, I need to you to draft a memorandum explaining my departure as CO as my taking temporary command of the 1267, and that effective today at twelve-hundred hours, Captain Lovyanchiti is in command of the 602 until either my return or there are written and signed orders from either the Base Commandant or the Air Marshal indicating my replacement."

"Yes, sir," she acknowledged sadly. "Will... will I be going with you, sir?"

"I'm afraid not. If this was permanent, yes, I'd take you. However, it's not. I don't know how long I'll be there, but you should stay here to help the Captain run things. All right?" I gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder.

I followed Mack into my office, pulling the door closed behind me.

Going to my desk, I sat down and pulled out my laptop, connected it to power, and set it to booting up. The general and Roshan occupied the two chairs. Behind them stood Cholan, Mack, Roshan's two people, and the two Imperial Security troopers standing guard, Field Corporal Paco and Private Nodin.

"All right, as the senior security person, understand that I'm the one who is running this meeting. What I say in this office goes." The general looked about to rebut my statement but I noted that Roshan briefly touched his shoulder and the general squelched his objections.

Pulling out my key, I unlocked the bottom drawer, pulled out the cube and set it onto the desk. "Lord Roshan, will you introduce your assistant and bodyguard to me?"

Roshan replied, "My assistant is Lord Jerum Hickatay. My bodyguard here is Eeso Tlakatsl. He is armed and he's a Jaguar Master."

"All right, the security clearance level is an issue. My understanding is that only those rated Top Secret and above were to have access to the manual and the prototype circuit board. Because of the communications issues I outlined earlier, that creates a problem for Lord Roshan and his people. However," I raised my open hand to forestall the general's objections, "I am ready to submit the necessary paperwork to increase Lord Roshan's security clearance to the necessary level, pending later approval by High Command. But I do have a condition that Lord Roshan must agree to before we proceed."

"There it is!" crowed the general. "Your true nature is out. I'm a witness! You will not extort any money from Lord Roshan. I won't stand for it!"

"Do you routinely accuse senior field officers of criminal behavior without a shred of evidence, General? You impugn my senior staff and now attack my own honor, sir? Do you have proof of your accusation?"

The general just scowled, glaring at me.

"No? I thought not," I growled.

Roshan touched the general on the shoulder. "I'd like to hear this condition."

I turned my attention to the man from Itcha Aeronautics. "I want Sergeant Cholan Yakalme to be on the research team as an active member."

Roshan's face curled into disdain. "I don't like working with women. They're too emotional, and frankly, they're not as bright as men. Unless she gives good head or has a tight pussy, Commander, I'm not interested."

Both the women present stiffened in suppressed outrage as Roshan gave Cholan an inquisitive leer.

"First off," I began, "you should have been notified upon your arrival that High Guard War Base has something called the Protection Order in effect. That order has been signed off by the Base Commandant, so it affects everyone at High Guard, including everyone in this room. The Order states that no one may force anyone to provide sex without their consent, and if they do so, they face arrest for assault and battery. This Order applies not only to officers and enlisted, it also applies to civilians, including servants. There are a surprising number of men who support this order, men who have wives, daughters, and other female relatives and don't appreciate their women being forced to satisfy the lusts of random men."

I leaned forward, my voice becoming laced with anger. "Second, and let me make this perfectly clear so there's no misunderstanding, Cholan Yakalme is part of my household and I love her. Her happiness and welfare are important to me. If anyone ever hurts her, I will land hard on their ass with both my feet!"

Cholan gave me an emotional smile that spoke volumes. I kept my focus to Roshan and the general.

General Ulee'ar leaned forward. "To what purpose are you forcing this sergeant onto this Top-Secret project, Commander? Are you hoping she will gain recognition for simply being a part of the upgrade process?"

Roshan nodded speculatively. "Since the Commander has made it clear the Sergeant belongs to him and is sexually off limits, I too confess to curiosity regarding his reasons."

I said, "Sergeant Cholan is an experienced avionics specialist and her security level is already at Top Secret."

Roshan barked out a short laugh. "So what? With the recent pilot casualties, I have my choice of nearly a hundred avionics specialists to choose from, some of whom are more experienced and of higher rank than her. Oh, I'll concede to your demand, Commander, but as soon as secure communications are restored, I will inform High Command of your arbitrary and ridiculous condition imposed on me and this vital project!"

Looking at him sternly, I said, "Apparently, when I mentioned her name and her latest accomplishment earlier, neither one of you were paying attention. She's not just an avionics specialist. She knows more than how to run the diagnostic machine she uses. Sergeant Cholan's a skilled and brilliant electrical engineer. I repeat what I said earlier. Working with a Mobile Construction crew in the hours following the attack by Atlantis, she oversaw the successful repair of one of the cell towers, enabling cell phone communications for Imperial military personnel and civilians to resume. Last year, the AT-7s here at High Guard had their Long-Range-Targeting computers upgraded, from the 2300 to the 3100 series. Are you familiar with that system upgrade, Lord Roshan?"

"Yes, I am," he admitted, his interest clearly piqued.

I continued. "With the LRAT upgrade, the power regulator on the Master Controller board was also supposed to be upgraded from the previous J-25 series to the R-25 model. The diagnostic computer Sergeant Cholan was using had been compromised by saboteurs and wasn't updating properly. Without benefit of an accurate working diagnostic computer, she correctly diagnosed the issue on her own and through testing, determined that the power regulator needed to be upgraded to the R-25. Additionally, she moved the starboard hydraulic line so that it didn't make contact with the LRAT board as she said it ran hotter than the previous circuit board, and the heat from prolonged contact was sufficient to compromise the hydraulic line, resulting in a partial, possibly fatal loss of powered flight control."

Roshan turned to Cholan, looking at her speculatively. "How long did it take you, without a diagnostic computer, to diagnose that the power regulator was insufficient to properly support the new LRAT upgrade?"

"Three days," she said.

He shook his head in surprise. "It took a team of five engineers a week to figure out what was going on, verify the fixes, and send out the updates. Six months later, scattered reports of starboard hydraulic failure led to the recommendation that the line be secured to the fuselage. All right, I'm convinced, Commander Kandikan. Sergeant, you're on my team."

I glanced at the general, who harrumphed and refused to meet my eyes.

It took ten minutes, with Roshan providing his particulars, for the request for a security clearance upgrade to be completed. I printed it out, along with two blanks for his two civilian supporters to complete later. I exited the office, retrieved the printed forms from the printer by Hanami's desk, re-entered the office, signed the one for Roshan, and handed him all three forms.

"Once the forms for Lord Hickatay and Tlacatsl are done, bring them to me at Ground Security for signing. Lord Roshan, your form will need to be taken to the Base Commandant for his signature, and to speed things up, I suggest you go there straight away and get it done. Be aware the Commandant cannot sign the form without my signature as the commanding officer of a security regiment already present on the form. Being as my counterpart is dead, I'm it for High Guard. Technically, you could get Captain Lovyanchiti to step in, but Security at High Command may throw a fit later. Get these forms completed as soon as possible. Do not put this off, Lord Roshan. I will check, and if all three forms haven't been filed in three days with both sets of required signatures, I will make a personal visit to you, and I guarantee that I will be peeved and I will not be alone. At that point, until the forms are completed, your people will be suspended and banned from the project's work area. I will also expect a list of those on your team be sent to me, and they too will need to have completed applications for Top Secret clearance ready for my signature and they must pass initial background checks. Once secure communications resume, normal background checks for everyone on the project will be initiated."

"Yes, yes, I understand, Commander," Roshan replied, waving his hand impatiently. "This isn't the first project I've worked on. We'll head for C&C right after we leave here. Now, will you hand over the manual and prototype?"

"I still need written orders. However, I will call the Commandant's Office. I will accept an email directing the change in custody."

Using my desk phone, I made the call, and after a bit of juggling with the Commandant's gatekeepers, managed to speak briefly with the man himself. I explained the situation, and after speaking on speaker-phone with General Ulee'ar and then Lord Roshan, agreed to write the order and send it right away.

Three minutes after I hung up, the awaited email arrived, and I had it printed out. After retrieving it, I went to the safe and opened it up. Into the safe went my copy of the orders to turn over custody of the items. I retrieved the manual and handed it over. Roshan immediately handed the document over to his assistant. Then I retrieved the circuit board and presented it to him.

"Where's the rest of it?" he exclaimed.

"This is all that was given to me three days ago," I replied.

"No, no, no!" he exclaimed in alarm. "There's a small module that the circuit board slots into. It's a narrow strip, barely an inch wide, that's designed to integrate into the AT-7's avionics with minimal alteration. Without that component, it'll take us weeks to make a replacement!"

Roshan's reaction told me that he had prior expectations of what he was to receive.

"I knew it," Cholan muttered, her voiced concerns the previous day vindicated.

Roshan and the general looked at me.

"That's right," I informed them both. "Yesterday evening, Sergeant Cholan let me know the interface piece was missing. Let me call the man in charge of the security team who brought these to me and see what he has to say."

I dialed Captain Taruca. It rang eight times. I usually don't wait that long, but this was important. When the phone finally picked up, I said, "Taruca?"

"Who is this?" was the response.

"This is Commander Kandikan. Captain Taruca is a security officer and part of my command. Identify yourself and explain why you are answering his telephone!"

"This is Sergeant Zatic with Ground Service CID, Commander. I'm Lieutenant Killayana's new partner. We're in the captain's quarters, and I'm afraid Captain Taruca is unavailable."

"How did he die?" I asked. Several faces, including Roshan, looked at me in alarm.

"I said nothing about the captain being dead, Commander," Zatic countered.

"All right. Second question. Is there a hard-frame attaché case with security locks, such as used to transfer important documents, at your location?"

"No, Commander, I've not seen anything like that."

Roshan deflated at the news.

"Zatic, as of today, per the Base Commandant, I'm your new regimental CO." I looked at my watch; it was nearing ten-hundred hours. "Fine, we'll do this in person. Tell me where you are and I'll be there as soon as I can."

Zatic paused, then gave the address. I wrote it down, confirmed it, then hung up. Then I asked Roshan for his phone number. As he told me, I added it to my phone. Then I turned off the jamming cube and put it into my satchel along with my laptop.

"What do you plan to do, Commander?" Roshan inquired.

"The man who gave me these items has been attacked, and considering who answered Taruca's phone, is either at the hospital or he's been murdered," I said. "Hopefully, Taruca is alive and will be able to shed some light on the situation. I'm going there to find out the details and conduct a search of the premises. Hopefully, I can find the missing piece. I'll look for the original carrying case, but I will also look for the interface module, as the two could have become separated. You said it's a strip about an inch wide, that fits over the circuit board connector pins?"

"Yes, that's right," he confirmed. "We need that part, Commander!"

Despite having been told it was a waste of time, I went over to the closet at the other end of my office and removed the fresh shirt from the hanger, then returned to stand by my desk. As I unbuckled my shoulder holster, Mack moved next to me, holding out her hands. I handed the weapon over to her. I unbuttoned and tugged out my blood-stained shirt and put on the new one. It already had the High Guard and Air Security patches on the new shirt. I removed the name strip from the old one and slapped it into place. Mack handed me back the weapon, and while I secured it into place, she removed my grade pins from the shirt, and while I stood there, she quickly pinned them onto my shoulder boards.

Cholan watched the exchange like a hawk, her face unreadable. I hadn't asked Mack to help, but having her hold my weapon while in the presence of the general, Roshan, and his two people, all of whom being strangers, I'd appreciated her gesture. Mack assisting with my grade pins hadn't been requested, but her efforts certainly made the process easier.

Tucking in my shirt, I said, "Corporal Paco and Private Nodin, you will accompany Lord Roshan and continue to provide security for the prototype and manual. Something seems to have to have happened to Captain Taruca. Once you are at the work site, you will inform Lieutenant Compeche of your new location, and cooperate with Lord Roshan about security issues. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" they replied, giving me a salute.

"As soon as I find out any news of Captain Taruca, I will inform Lieutenant Compeche," I added. I attempted to stuff the bloody shirt into the satchel; it didn't fit, so I took it out and tossed it onto my chair.

Mack grabbed it as she stepped back.

"Thank you, Commander," the corporal said.

As they filed out, Mack muttered to me, "It can't be a coincidence that their captain and Lieutenant Ja-See were attacked during the same night."

Ja-See had started to say something about enemy agents before she passed out. "I agree. Let's collect Akama and go find out about Captain Taruca. If we're lucky, we'll find the interface piece while we're at it."

* * * * *

Part 25 - Adjustments

* * * * *

It took us ten minutes to arrive. There was a forensics tech on site and working to collect fingerprints, but neither Lieutenant Bennet Killayana nor Third Sergeant Zatic looked hopeful as they searched the cramped quarters. It was a single room in the Bachelor Officers' building. There was no body present, but by the blood-soaked pillow and sheets, I would have been surprised if Taruca had survived. Most of the blood appeared to have dried, meaning that some time had passed.

Stopping just outside the door and taking a chance, I said, "Bennet, how's it looking?"

"Not good, Commander," he admitted. "We only knew of the death because one of his people called us in." He gave me a rueful look. "I'm not sure if congratulations are in order. Zatic says you're our new CO. Is that true?"

"So I was told in a surprise announcement this very morning. Can the both of you step outside here? I have pertinent information you need to know, and I don't have booties or gloves and I don't want to contaminate the scene."

Both men came outside, Zatic pulling the door closed, leaving the working tech alone inside the tiny room.

Killayana looked at me. "I don't know what 'Tactical Ops' means, Commander. It was on his uniform, but that unit doesn't exist on the regiment's org chart. The only thing I do know for sure is his name and that he's part of Air Security. What can you tell us?"