Starlight Gleaming Ch. 22

Giving a long exhale, my fiery warrior woman relaxed, shifted, and burrowed ever so infinitesimally closer.

Happily sandwiched between two women I loved, I soon drifted off.

* * * * *

The following week there were actually two events that brightened our lives. The first was largely due to the tireless efforts of Third Sergeant Paolto Spokane. His work with the Seven Nations in the aftermath of the Atlantean attack had procured partnerships with several regional dog breeders as well as piquing the interest of the Hasseeyet state police.

After months of rigorous training, we welcomed twenty more pairs of working dogs and handlers to the ranks of the 602. The next platoon of dog teams was scheduled to join Ground Security, and they were on track to graduate in two months. Commander Terkouri had seen a demonstration of them working, and I believe he might have actually salivated in anticipation, and Sergeant Spokane had some eager Ground Security troopers shadowing him throughout their training days.

Unlike the rest of the single enlisted who slept in barracks, the handler and dog teams were each allotted a small apartment to themselves. Paolto assured me this was important in helping maintain the bond between the dog and their handler. I told Terkouri to look at what we had set up, and that he needed to arrange something similar, he made it happen.

It helped that we had had Sergeant Kitam and his mobile engineer team provide part of the construction expertise. Terkouri promised he would be ready when the new teams graduated.

Some of our dog-team graduates for Air Security went to work at the Main Gate and the airfield. Two days later, they caught smugglers driving two trucks of contraband narcotics headed for the Navy yard. Likewise, the extra teams working at the airfield made similar arrests, impounding crates among the incoming flights.

As a reward, I requested Paolto's promotion to First Sergeant, putting him in charge of overseeing the entire program at High Guard as well as interfacing with the Seven Nations people. I also arranged for three clerks to help him with the paperwork, vetted by the very able Sergeant Chita. All of this was approved by the Base Commandant.

The Seven Nations observers had been watching our program and successes keenly, and were excited when they were slated to get half of the dog teams from the following two cohorts, and they were busy selecting their own volunteers. Sergeant Spokane insisted they shadow the current training teams, to watch and learn what was expected of them and what their dogs needed.

The one sticking point was the astonishment by the Seven Nations officials that the dogs had military rank, and that it was one step higher than that of their handler. That fact had been the case for several years within the Empire.

War dogs were incredibly useful in combat. They were also expensive to train, and these new dogs were even more extensively trained and valuable; successful wardogs weren't always smart enough for the follow up training, learning to detect narcotics and explosives, and also respond to their handler's voice commands in high stress situations. Giving the animals rank helped instill respect in their handlers for their animal companions. Anyone caught abusing their dog soon found themselves in serious trouble. It's a fact in our military, beating on someone lower in grade might be frowned on, but didn't incur much of a penalty, and depending upon the attitudes of the unit superiors, might even be encouraged. However, the reverse of that - striking someone of higher grade - was serious business. Punishment was stockade time, flogging, demotion, and even dishonorable discharge, and if the dog was seriously injured or killed, the perpetrator could face the death penalty.

First Sergeant Paolto insisted on their honoring the practice, and in meetings with Seven Nations law enforcement, both Commander Terkouri and I backed him up.

The benefit of the new arrivals was that our more experienced dog-teams were able to ease back on their admittedly heavy workloads. Paolto cut their workloads in half, redirecting some teams to helping with selection of new dogs, evaluation, and training. Using the trained dogs helped train the handlers so they learned proper procedures to minimize transferring in any bad habits to the new dogs.

Current demand greatly exceeded our graduation rate, but there wasn't much we could do about that. The intelligence and temperament of both the dog and their handler were big factors, and finding enough good dogs and good handlers to match them was sometimes a struggle. And, to be fair, this was a supplemental program to an already intense curriculum that both dog and handler had to complete prior to learning how to detect and respond to the presence of explosives and drugs. Nonetheless, the arrival of every dog and handler team was extremely welcome.

Because he had the time and expressed an interest, I assigned Jay to support First Sergeant Paolto; sometimes an enlisted man ran into problems, and needed the backing of an officer to get things done. I had floated the idea of promoting Paolto to sublieutenant, but there wasn't support at this time, and it was no longer considered an emergency situation. Paolto said it was important that any permanent officer know how to work with the dogs. Thus far, Jay ran interference for the sergeant, and things were running okay.

The second event that week was all due to Sisi. It was after we'd just finished filming the latest Reading Time with 'Tenant, and Sisi asked about the commander. Perplexed, I asked, "Who?"

"The commander. You know, the one who saved me and Mina?"

I laughed. "Oh, she's not a commander any longer. She is a general now. Why are you asking about her?"

"At school, Jako invited me to his birthday party. Since I mention her in my prayers, I wondered when her birthday was. Do you know when it is, Tenant?"

"No, I actually haven't a clue. Were you wanting to do something about that?"

Sisi nodded. "She should have a party, with cake and ice cream and presents. Mina and I can make her cards."

Ixma looked thoughtful, but it was Izel who grinned at me. "I understand that before I arrived, everyone celebrated Janetta's birthday. If we were to arrange for General Barankoshto, should I contact Sergeant Barris?"

"Yes," I agreed, "I think she would be perfect contact to help with arrangements."

"I'll contact Lady Killa, too," Izel added, speaking of the Commandant's wife.

So it was that two days later in a staff meeting, with the topics having been reviewed, that General Barankoshto began wondering where her aide, Barris, had gotten to, as she'd been absent for a while.

The Commandant's phone beeped and he glanced at it, then nodded to his admin, Sergeant Bomar. There was a knock on the door and Bomar opened it wide. Barris pushed in a cart with a large cake with three half-gallons of ice cream. Behind her filed in the Commandant's wife, Izel, Ixma, my girls, and Nariya with her guitar.

"Barris? What in the world is going on?" Then she looked around at all the grinning faces, her eyes narrowing. "You're all in on this, whatever this is!"

"Yes, General, we are," Barris admitted. "Imagine my surprise when I received a call from Sisi Kandikan asking when your birthday was, and if she could come to your party."

"But... I'm a woman. Women don't get birthday parties!"

Lady Killa, grabbing a seat next to her husband, said, "Well, Lady General, don't you think it's high time that changed? If we celebrate the sons and men in our lives, why shouldn't we celebrate the daughters and women as well?"

The Commandant smiled, taking his wife's hand into his own. "I quite agree. This has been a year of a great many changes, some of them quite terrible, but also some quite marvelous. I know that my life would have been much poorer without my wife to support me at home, or without you, my friend, who has so ably supported me in my career in the Ground Service." He paused, then said, "I understand there's a song?"

Ixma lifted up her sister so she stood on a chair. "It's your song, Sisi. Time to sing!"

"Happy birthday, General, dear General. Happy birthday to you. May each day be fun, with hugs and kisses, too. Happy birthday, General, dear General. We love you." Sisi and the rest of us clapped. "Yay!"

Izel then said with a conspiratorial grin, "That song is short and simple enough. What do you say, why don't we all sing for her? Sisi and Nariya will sing part, and we'll repeat the words."

Nariya strummed, and sang with Sisi, and we sang along.

General Barankoshto looked gobsmacked.

Concerned, Sisi got down and came around the table. "Are you okay? Do you need a magic hug?"

"Do you think I need a hug?"

"'Course!" Sisi answered. "Mama Zinja says everybody needs hugs, even if they don't know they do!"

"And you remember who I am?" the general asked.

Sisi nodded seriously. "You and Commander Orchid saved us from bad men and monsters who wanted to eat us."

Ixma added, "Sisi and Mina pray each night for their family, and they ask the gods to keep you and Commander Orchid safe, too."

Getting out of her chair and dropping to her knees, General Barankoshto said, "I would be honored to get a magic hug from you."

After they hugged, Sisi said, "You need to get one from Mina, too! Come on, Mina!"

I thought Mina might balk, but she didn't. When Ixma set her down, she walked right over and gave the general a hug, and Sisi cheered for her.

Commander Markan, General Barankoshto's XO, made room and Sisi sat next to her. Barris cut slices of cake for everyone - turns out the general liked coffee cake - and Izel scooped out vanilla ice to go with it. Sisi and Mina gave the general their hand-made cards, which the general oohed and awed over, and she and Sisi chatted quietly together between bites of food. She was surprised that Nariya gave her and the Commandant autographed copies of her music CD as a thank you for their support of the show.

* * * * *

The weekend following was planned for us to enjoy another outing. Since we'd already gone to the Aquarium and City Zoo, we had the option to go to the local amusement park, go to the beach, or visit to one of the secure parks - secure as in the government did their best to keep out the megafauna and any major predators so that people would have a decent chance of escaping getting mauled or eaten.

A vote was run by Chita, and the park narrowly won. People liked the beach, but it was heading into winter, and it wasn't as much fun if you couldn't swim a little.

Because of the popularity of the outings, I was looking at over four hundred people attending - plus kids and significant others. Almost a hundred and fifty were off-duty Ground Security guests; they'd heard through the grapevine how much fun these outings were, and with free food and drinks, they were eager to partake. Sergeant Kitam and his crew were also included on the guest list.

At Doyya's suggestion, I also invited the two detectives from Capisco, their significant others, as well as Sammy Reo and her people. To my surprise, they accepted.

Another surprise, which I hadn't expected, was the arrival of General Barankoshto, Sergeant Barris, and Commander Merkan with his family along with a platoon of warriors ready to relax and have fun. Apparently, during the general's birthday party, Sisi had invited her to come along. The general apologized for crashing the party, but explained the situation, and told me not to make any adjustments. "Pretend I'm not here," she said. They brought extra food, and they joined in the fun and games.

The trip to the park was catered, and there were over two score vendors set up in the parking lot to feed us; that was in addition to the huge amounts of food we had ordered through the Commissary and brought with us. We also brought several portable barbecues, as well as ball games and other surprises. To encourage the vendors to truly prepare, Chita gave them three hundred credits to buy the food and drinks to serve, and to keep track of what meals or sides were provided.

One amusing event was during these outings, there was the conspicuous presence of the Capisco Police Department. For the city attractions, we had between a dozen to a score local law enforcement cruisers that hovered nearby, making sure we behaved ourselves. We smiled and waved at them, but generally ignored them. If they persisted, they were invited to eat with us. If they accepted, great. If they didn't, well, their loss. Because we were at the park, there were five patrol cars parked near the entrance, but they left us alone. Chita later told me they took advantage of the free food and ate like pigs.

Only about half of the attendees were field troopers. Besides those from Ground Security and the Ground Service, we had several from the 602's support companies, and the caretakers from Second Home along. With the girlfriends, spouses, kids, and others, I think we were probably near seven hundred guests. All I knew was it took us eight buses, and three of those were borrowed from the 851^st Mechanized infantry, on condition that two platoons could come along. The general came with her own escort of vehicles.

One might criticize me for allowing my Second and one of my other Watch Commanders (Pen) to attend with us, but both Doyya and Pen had good Seconds who were getting more command time, and besides, they were going on the next outing as compensation.

For the first part of the day, departing every fifteen minutes to avoid crowding. many split off into groups and took one of the five hiking trails. For those who stayed, there was plenty of chatting while people were drafted to set up tables and prepare for the second half.

Since we were on the edge of wilderness and could possibly run into dangerous wildlife, we designated groups of off-duty troopers to work in short shifts to watch out for the little ones. We also emphasized no solo expeditions, that traveling in pairs was a minimum, and larger groups of four or more were preferred.

During all our day trips, some were armed, and our off-duty personnel were strongly encouraged to wear a belt knife. For our trip to the park, most every adult wore a sidearm, as sometimes predators or larger herbivores were often making their way into the park preserve. We also packed two score first aid kits because there's a reason why they are called wildlife.

The only SNAFU from the hiking was one of the groups, to avoid the aggressive bucks, went off the trail and discovered a huge hornets' nest. Ixma later informed me that fall is when the bucks fight for the right to mount the does and some will attack humans if they feel threatened. Sadly, hornets feel threatened anytime someone is within twenty feet of their hive, and the vicious little bastards chased us for quite a distance. Live and learn. For those of us who got stung - ow! I got hit three times! - Nu-skin patches were applied, and after Calia got a chance to focus for a bit, she was able to quickly touch those affected and neutralize the poison without anyone the wiser.

At lunch time, we did a head count and everyone was accounted for. I thanked everyone for showing up, and then turned it over to Doyya and Chita. There were games, races, and more. Izel and I learned what a three-legged race was. By the time we figured it out, the race was over. Oh well.

Some played with lawn darts, trying to get them to land in the circle for points. I would never have imagined trying to run with a raw egg carried on a spoon. I would have won, too, if my arm hadn't been bumped, Pen! Other distractions were a set of relay races, and we set up a simple obstacle course. The sun came out in the afternoon, and we had great fun. Chita had had special tee-shirts made for winners of various contests, and extras were for sale for seven credits at the event or ten credits later. The front had the event and date, the reverse had the words llam nuqan in Queschuan; whether in navy blue for Air Security or the light tan for Ground Security and Ground Service, they were popular items, and sales helped defray my expenditures.

A lot of people took the option to get food to take home with them for their evening meal. All told, while huge and fun, this outing was almost eleven thousand credits, which was more than double what the trips to the Aquarium and Zoo had run me.

Going forward, I had to put a cap on the number of attendees. No more than two hundred from the Air Service, with most of the slots for Air Security, and up to a hundred for other guests - mostly Ground Security or the Ground Service. With families and such, it would keep the numbers under five hundred.

The only disappointment was that both Janetta and Zinja had declined to go with us, citing urgent work needs.

One of the pitfalls of being so busy is that it's easy for people to let commitments to grow larger and larger while neglecting their personal lives. This was even more a problem when one's job was seen as urgent.

I understood what drove Janetta and Zinja. My biggest concern was they were pushing themselves too hard.

During the following week, I checked into the situation, and despite working long hours day after day, week after week, things were actually much worse than even Janetta knew.

Commander Jedak Stokono was the CAG, or Commander, Air Group in charge of all combat aircraft at High Guard. He was determined to get as many Lightnings upgraded and operational as fast as was humanly possible. Because of her involvement with the first prototype built at High Guard, Janetta was a big part of that project.

While refusing to admit it, I believe she had taken being trapped in our family bunker like it was her personal shame, that while her fellow pilots fought against impossible odds and died, she had been safe. She also tended to forget she'd been suffering from a migraine at the time, brought on by toxic chemical buildup in her body, inadvertently poisoned by our desalination plant. Had she gone into the air, impaired as she was, I don't think she would have survived. I did have the good sense not to voice those feelings aloud.

The current Atlantean leaders might want peace, but governments can change. Our intel was that regardless of pause in hostilities, Atlantean factories remained at full production.

Upgrading the Lightnings was only an interim fix, but at least the upgraded aircraft couldn't be batted aside with complete impunity; they could take hits and those armed with the plasma cannons could bite back.

Janetta and the remnants of the two interceptor groups worked long and hard hours. To date, they had the thirty aircraft that had flown in from Sentry War Base to add to Janetta's working aircraft. At the moment, Janetta's was the only one equipped with the plasma weapon.

I learned that after that initial batch of aircraft, that High Command had turned over production of the circuit boards to Itcha Aeronautics. Shockingly and maddeningly, many of the first batches of circuit boards delivered were defective, and we learned it wasn't a consistent defect either.

Clearly, there was sabotage going on at this newly retooled manufacturing plant. Heated inquiries were made, and even the Base Commandant was stepping in - all with no result. High Command became so touchy about the situation, they weren't even acknowledging the issue. The most common problems were the wrong components had been installed, they were the right components but with the wrong tolerances, or they were installed backward.

Try as they might, the e-men knew what had to be done, but most didn't have experience with soldering components onto circuit boards, and many boards ended up too damaged to work right afterward. This wasn't their fault, and it was partly the result of training the enlisted to the bare minimum to do their jobs.