Starlight Gleaming Ch. 22

I called up Sergeant Villea and took her and Hanami to lunch where we got more details. Later that afternoon, when I had a free moment, I made official critiques of the Review. With Hanami's help, I included the relevant combat reports that refuted General Ulee'ar's false assertions. I finished late in the afternoon and sent my critique to Air Service HR, with courtesy copies to General Barankoshto and Lieutenant Hanti.

The next day, first thing in the morning, Hanami let me know that Hanti had been ordered to appear before General Ulee'ar; I knew that because Villea called Hanami in a panic, and the call was passed to me. Well familiar with his demeanor and his willingness to throw out baseless accusations - and being from a general, even baseless accusations tended to stick more than they warranted. I assured Villea I would go and lend my support to her officer.

After picking up Second Sergeant Mack to attend with me, we drove through the current rainstorm to the Air Service C&C. Mack was sharp and knew security regs by heart; I figured it couldn't hurt to have her as a witness.

During the drive, I told Mack what the general was doing, and let her look at both the performance review and my addenda. Having been present during my first meeting with the general and Roshan, she knew of their biases against women in uniform. Word had quickly spread through the 602. While I was at the 1267, I made arrangements that any calls to Doyya from General Ulee-ar were to be re-routed to my phone instead. Giving her a heads up, Doyya forwarded everything he sent to her to me, and where possible, I got in his face about it. Security services could be invasive and aggressive in the wrong hands. In this case, I was able to mitigate some of the damage the general was doing.

While Corporal Keedra drove us to the Air Service C&C, Sergeant Alto sat in front; Mack handed back the reports and asked, "What are your intentions here, Commander?"

"I'm going to put myself in the line of fire, Mack."

"He's a general, sir. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I've worked hard to make High Guard a decent place to serve the Empire, and both the Commandant and General Barankoshto have made their own contributions. I'm not going to stand by while he systematically forces out good people because he believes women shouldn't serve in the military. This is the same shit attitude that led to you and the other women troopers being forced out because your meds were tampered with, or worse, got good field troopers sold into slavery because traitors to the Empire thought they could get away with it.

"Besides, this isn't the first time that Lieutenant Hanti has been targeted unfairly by higher ranking officers." While she may have heard about it, I explained about Belliko and Hanti, which in turn had led to my duel with the previous Commandant.

Mack shook her head, giving me a wry smile. "I was just making sure I understood the situation, Commander. I heard about the fight and what happened afterward. I wasn't aware of Lieutenant Hanti's involvement. When people talk about your duel, the fact you were poisoned, and your miracle survival, Lieutenant Hanti's involvement is never mentioned."

"Context can be crucial to understanding, Mack."

"Yes, sir, it certainly can be," she agreed.

We parked and after dashing through the rain, we entered the Air Service C&C, making our way to the general's office, rain dripping from our slickers. Outside his office, I noted both of the general's security troopers standing at attention outside the general's door. Both men gave me a brief nod.

I took my slicker off and hung it on the coat rack behind the general's admin, Lieutenant Toomie. Toomie was one of the two men General Ulee'ar had brought with him when he arrived at High Guard.

The troopers with me likewise divested their raingear.

We could hear the general yelling through the door.

Looking at Toomie, I asked, "Is Lieutenant Hanti already in there with the general?"

"The general is busy, Commander," he curtly told me. "You need to go away and come back at another time when he has time to deal with you."

Leaning down, I got into his face, growling out, "Watch your attitude when you speak to a higher-ranking officer, Toomie! Now answer my question! Is Lieutenant Hanti in his office?"

Muted through the door, we heard the general shout, "There's nothing you can do to stop me! Sign the resignation or you'll be discharged with a dishonorable so fast it'll make your head spin!"

Alarmed, I strode to the door and barged right in. The guards let me pass. Yes, they were assigned to guard the general, but I was their CO.

Toomie jumped to his feet, yelling, "Guards! Stop him!"

Once inside the office, I was too close to do more than jerk my head. The riding crop cracked across my cheek hard enough to break the skin.

"What the fuck?!" I blurted, my hand going to my face. Feeling wetness, I glanced at the blood on my fingers, then glared at General Ulee'ar, the man who'd just hit me.

Then I realized Hanti's back had been his target.

The portly, grey-haired man whirled on me, yelling, "Kandikan?! You can't just barge into my office! I'm a general! How dare you disrespect me and my authority that way! This has nothing to do with you. Get out, Kandikan. Get out this instant! I'll deal with your insolence later!"

Ignoring his tirade, I stepped around until she could see me. "Hanti, are you all right?"

His face darkening with rage, he shouted, "Kandikan, I ordered you to get out! Troopers, do your duty and remove this man from my office, this instant!"

Standing at the entryway, Mack exclaimed, "Commander, your face is bleeding!" The next instant, her heavy stunner was pointed at General Ulee'ar. "Freeze! Drop the weapon! Now!"

"You dare draw a weapon on me? A flag officer?" he roared at her. "I'll see you flogged and exited from the Service for that!"

"You've struck my CO, a security officer! I said freeze, General!" Mack barked back. "Do not move! And drop the weapon!"

I could see Hanti was struggling to maintain her composure. I asked her, "Lieutenant, did he strike you?"

"Yes, sir, he did," she answered, plainly relieved to see me.

"She's a lying cunt!" the general yelled, turning an even darker shade of purple.

"General-!" Mack began.

"Sergeant Mack! Stand down," I ordered. "I'll deal with this situation. You and the others are witnesses. General Ulee'ar, when you struck me, you made this situation the business of Air Security. Striking a security officer is a serious offense, even for a flag officer. You need to step back and remain quiet while I question Lieutenant Hanti. And if you don't stop swinging that riding crop around, I'm going to have to take it from you."

"It's your own fault you were hit," the general argued. "You shouldn't have come into my office without knocking first! If you had followed proper military discipline, you wouldn't have gotten hurt!"

"General, if your actions cause someone injury, regardless of circumstances, you are responsible. Lieutenant Hanti is Warrior Caste in a designated non-combat occupational specialty. She is a noblewoman and an officer and she has rights. She's just made a serious charge against you, and you were heard just moments ago attempting to coerce her to resign. You'll get your turn to explain your side after I've finished questioning the lieutenant. This won't take long." I turned my back to him. "You said you were—"

Hanti suddenly yelled, "Commander, look out!"

At that moment, several things happened. On reflex I ducked to my right away from the desk. The general clipped my left shoulder with the statuette in his hand. At the same instant, I heard a stunner behind me firing three times in rapid succession. As I spun, I batted away his second strike and punched his nose dead on. Rewarded with an explosion of blood, I followed it with three punches to his chest and the fifth of the combo to his gut. Jaguar School really is perfect for close-in fighting.

As the general collapsed to the floor, I turned and saw all my troopers outside the office crumpled in a heap. I saw Toomie in the doorway with a stunner pointed at me. A stunner he shouldn't have.

Enraged, he said, "You struck the general!" and aimed the weapon to fire.

Hanti jumped in the way, taking the full brunt of the energy discharge. She grunted, crashing to the floor.

Knowing his stunner was empty, I closed the short distance. When he pointed it at me and pulled the trigger again, nothing happened. Snatching his wrist, I spun him around. Locking his arm behind him, I nudged the back of his knee and shoved him down to the floor, hard. With my left hand, I pulled out my cuffs and slapped one cuff around against the wrist I had. The steel ring clicked, locking into place.

Realizing if I cuffed his other arm, he could stand and still cause mischief, I shifted my focus. Before he realized it, I grabbed his leg and before he realized what I was doing, the other half the cuffs were around his ankle.

"Lieutenant Toomie," I barked out, "you are under arrest for six counts of assaulting security personnel in the performance of their lawful duty. You also attacked Hanti, a superior officer. If you have any sense, you will sit still and shut up."

Standing, I glanced at my fallen troopers. Corporal Brecker's holster was empty, which told me where Toomie had acquired the stunner. Ah well, shit happens.

With his free hand, Toomie tried to grab my leg to trip me. With a sigh, I kicked loose, grabbed his arm, and pulling out a zip-tie, secured his other arm. Then, just to be sure he stayed put, I applied a pressure point, grabbed his free leg, and secured as well. Some people are just hard-headed.

Drawn by all the noise, hallway doors were open and several gawkers milled about, trying to see what they could. Thankfully, they had the sense not to approach.

I turned my attention back to the general's office. Hanti was awkwardly sprawled on the floor, and a short distance away from her, the general was struggling to sit up, gasping for air, blood dribbling down from his broken nose, liberally staining his shirt and the carpet.

Keeping an eye on him, I knelt down and checked Hanti for a pulse. Rapid but steady. She'd been blasted at around five feet. There was a good chance she'd lose bladder control. As a precaution, I straightened out her body and rolled her onto her side in case she vomited. It was rare, but some people hit with a stunner spontaneously vomited while unconscious, and I didn't want her to choke. I'd get to my troopers after I secured the general.

"I'm going to end your career," General Ulee'ar wheezed at me. "You struck a flag officer!"

"You struck me twice before I laid hands on you, you pompous prick! I am allowed to defend myself," I snapped back. Pulling out my phone, I set it to record. "You assaulted me with a weapon when my back was to you, after Lieutenant Hanti had accused you of whipping her. I accuse you of cowardice, General! Any warrior who would attack another warrior while their back was turned cannot be trusted with their word to not break parole. Down on the floor on your belly and hands behind your back!"

"Kandikan, you're enjoying this!"

"Yes, I am, actually. I thought you were smart, but today, you were caught red-handed with actionable violations of the Imperial Uniform Code of Military Justice. You are under arrest!"

"I'm your superior officer!" he blustered.

"No, you're merely higher in grade. General Ulee'ar, you are under arrest for two counts of assaulting a security officer in the performance of his duty, assault with intent to kill, striking a woman officer with intent to injure her, and other charges that will undoubtedly be forthcoming. Because you failed to comply with my orders, I'm adding resisting arrest to your charges."

Grabbing his arm and using a pressure point, he whined as I used my greater strength and forced him onto his belly, then pulled his arm behind him. He started swearing at me as I worked, including calling me "Vedan trash." He could run his mouth. I'd heard that shit before and focused on making him secure. Rather than use a single tie to lock his wrists together, I used one around each wrist, then a third one to tie them close.

From through the open doorway, I heard shouts of, "Make way! Security! Coming through! Make way!"

"I'll get you, Kandikan," he growled. "I have friends."

Still on his belly, I dropped my full weight onto his back.

He went off, "Ooof!" then between wheezes, continued muttering curses at me.

"General, you say you have friends, like that's a threat and I should shiver in my boots. Well, I have friends, too."

Sergeant Haytam appeared in the doorway, taking in the scene at a glance, then looked at me. "Commander, are you all right?"

I gave her a rueful smile. "My shoulder hurts where the general hit me with his statue, but I'll live. The others were hit by a stunner fired by Toomie out there. He hit them three times, so they might be out of it for a bit. I'm guessing, but I believe he grabbed Corporal Brecker's weapon. When I looked, it was his holster that was empty. Be good enough and see that your fellow troopers are positioned onto their sides."

"Yes, sir. We'll update Dispatch," she replied, bringing up her tablet and snapping two quick pictures of the scene. Then she put in a call to Dispatch while her partner shuffled unconscious troopers. Because General Ulee'ar was involved and under arrest, General Barankoshto, as the Commandant's Second in Command, had to be notified.

I just sat and enjoyed the fact that the man who'd been deriding me for the past couple of months - and getting away with it when out of earshot of the other two generals at High Guard - was now in restraints under my ass. My shoulder hurt, but I felt good.

When Haytam returned to the doorway, she was holding up her tablet again. "Done, Commander. You're being recorded, sir. You were saying to me that you were struck by the general?"

I said, "Yes, I was. Let me start from the beginning. When we arrived, I inquired with Toomie, the general's gatekeeper, if Lieutenant Hanti was in the general's office. He refused to answer and tried to brush me off. We could hear General Ulee'ar yelling loud enough that we could clearly hear his words through his closed office door. I heard him shout to someone they had to sign resignation papers or be dishonorably discharged. Suspecting the unknown person in question was Lieutenant Hanti, I opened the door, and entered, whereupon I was struck by the General swinging a riding crop. The injury on my face is from when he struck me."

Toomie started to yell, but after being told to be quiet and ignoring the order, his mouth was taped shut.

Once the noise abated, I continued speaking. "Seeing that the general had been aiming his blow at Lieutenant Hanti's back, I warned him off and tried to question her. I asked if General Ulee'ar had struck her and she confirmed that he had. Then she shouted for me to look out. I dodged, but he clipped the back of my shoulder pretty good. He tried to hit me again, but I blocked his second attack and gave him a five-point combo starting with his nose and he went down.

"Meanwhile, Toomie shot the other troopers with the stunner. I heard three discharges, so it's likely they were all hit with multiple stun blasts. He screamed at me for hitting the general and discharged the stunner at me. Hanti jumped in the way and took the hit. Knowing the stunner was empty, I closed with him, took him to the ground and cuffed him, arm to leg. I told him he was under arrest for at least six counts of attacking security personnel and whatever else we decide to charge him with. When I stood up, he tried to trip me, so I secured his other arm and leg. Then I came in here, and after checking on Lieutenant Hanti, I arrested the general and placed him in restraints.

"Toomie can go into custody, Sergeant. Charges to start with are six counts of assaulting a security personnel, two counts of assaulting a superior officer - that's Lieutenant Hanti and myself - stealing and discharging a restricted weapon, and resisting arrest. Put him in our stockade in isolation. Toomie may be the general's admin, but I'm going to push for using Truth Drugs on him during my interview."

I paused, then commented, "You got here pretty quick, Haytam. I thought you were on patrol today."

"We were, sir," she explained. "Sergeant Mack was on the radio with Dispatch when they heard the stunner firing and she was cut off mid-sentence. They couldn't raise her for a response, so we were immediately ordered here to assess and assist."

"Who's with you?"

"Sergeant Tall Pine. Her first day back on the job in two years."

"One of those we rescued?"

She frowned at my question. "She's been cleared for duty, sir. And she's experienced. She doesn't have the extra training yet, but she'll get there."

I frowned back at her. "I'm not your enemy, Sergeant. Have I done anything to warrant the sudden defensive tone I'm hearing in your voice?"

"No, sir." Her face flushed, she looked ashamed.

"I remember not so many months ago when my wife proudly pointed out to her chief guardsman the vigorous defense of my wife, of Lady Captain Tlacotli, and of me by you and Sergeant Cooma. I already assume if Tall Pine is on duty, she's fit to serve. You are an excellent Air Security field trooper, a skilled and veteran warrior. Not all men are evil, Sergeant, just as not all women are good. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," she replied contritely.

"It's done and past. You better bag the statue on the floor for evidence. It's what he used to attack me."

"Yes, sir," and she snapped a few shots of the statue before putting it into a plastic evidence bag and sealing it up.

"Fucking pansy," the general grunted out. "Catering to worthless pussies. If they can't man up, they shouldn't put on the uniform!"

I slapped the back of his head. "You need to stop resisting arrest, General Ulee'ar. I know Sergeant Haytam and trust her with my life. You? You are a miserable coward, a disgrace to Warriors and to the Empire. You waited until my back was turned before you tried to kill me. I won't forget that."

I winced. With my adrenaline fading, my shoulder was starting to hurt worse. I reached back, but couldn't quite reach the injured area.

Honor is an intangible thing, and it's not the same thing to everyone; it can vary from person to person. Men in uniform are expected to abide by the rules of honor. For warrior women, if they serve in combat roles, like Janetta does, they are expected to be able to defend themselves, and indeed are expected to perform physically within twenty percent of male performance requirements. The up side is that women can bring pride to their family. The down side is that all women - and some men -- suffer the humiliation of sexually servicing those of high rank, and the prettier they are, the more they might be harassed.

Lieutenant Hanti commands a non-combat unit. If faced with the enemy, she and the rest of her unit would no doubt fight to the best of their ability, but as mail-carriers, they are and were support personnel. Elsewhere in the Empire, as a woman officer, Hanti might have to sexually provide for men of higher rank as long as they did not injure her beyond simple bruising that might happen during sex. That said, as an officer, she did not have to stand for physical abuse, and could even ask for a champion to defend her honor. Even if she was roughed up during her rape, if she was physically injured, she could lay charges against the officer who injured her, for while elsewhere she was expected to cater to the sexual needs of the men around her, the men were prohibited from injuring the women, even if it was to help him ejaculate; the regs were geared to straight hetero sex, and officially, exotic and extreme fetishes were not condoned. Unofficially, the waters were a lot murkier. While some men might brush female injuries like bruises and even sprains under the rug, even to using their rank to quash inquiries, the Empire's official position is that injuring officers or enlisted just to empty one's balls was officially viewed as abusing their station and the Emperor's indulgence.