The Dofu Defense Station orbited Callisto, the most distant and least developed of Jupiter’s large satellites. White light reached the station from the icy surface of two ancient craters, Valhalla and Asgard. It flared brilliantly from their icy outlines. The station’s cylindrical outer corridor surrounded the inner as they rotated around a central axis. Its docks opened for an old cruiser returning from defense duty in the asteroid belt. The cruiser’s smoke-stained cannons sunk tiredly into the mottled hull.
The newly captured Neimun was attached to the station pinnacle via anchor cables because of its length. Karvar fighters patrolled with a single torpedo craft idled in orbit around the station. A metal cylinder extended from the station pinnacle to connect with the frontward hatches of the Neimun. The connection gear proved incompatible. The two sections clashed with a hiss as the seal failed before the tunnel withdrew. After this failure, a transport docked with the Neimun.
Lieutenant Soel stood soberly before Admiral Igito Norima and the officers from the station. Second Lieutenant Forgisom remained three paces behind his commander. Both men were in full dress uniform, neat black pants and gray over coats. The first Imperial Infiltration Company entered the bay, where they formed two lines. Theys stopped behind Lieutenants Soel and Forgisom. The Admiral had donned a few medals for the occasion; dual laser pistols hung from his holster. Lieutenant Soel saluted the admiral briskly. Igito pinned a metal bar on Soel’s jacket. General Dispaer, Vice Admiral Fortali, and Rear Admiral Tennyson congratulated him with handshakes. Karen filmed the formalities for immediate broadcast across imperial territories.
Admiral Norima shook the new Colonel’s hand, “You should come with us to the station for the festivities.”
“I must decline the honor. I’m going to stay with my company. This achievement belongs to them.”
“Understood Colonel. You’ll need to reorganize your unit now that it will officially become a brigade.”
Four transports hauled the company into Dofu. The wounded went first, two were carried out on portable gurneys. One transport handled only luggage. Small casks containing the ashes of the dead were handled by servants. One square plastic case with a large handle was hauled by a tall sergeant with the help of Lieutenant Forgisom himself. The case had an extremely small ventilation fan on its backside. Colonel Soel waited for his entire company to finish boarding and supervised the positioning of storage items before he joined the Admiral.
-----
The dull surface of the dock hangar rotated outside the port window. General Dispaer’s reception room was directly above the station’s core. A portion of Callisto featuring Tindr, a crater with a flattened southeastern wall, could be seen past the structure. A long cushy sofa decorated the starboard wall while a card table with four chairs held bolted into the carpet at the center. A screen in the back wall with speakers for communication remained blank. General Dispaer removed his outer vestments and placed them on a rack that withdrew into the wall. Admiral Norima, who didn’t know the rack code, threw his hat and coat upon the sofa. Both men were thin and pale. They looked ragged, almost sickly.
Colonel Soel entered, finding a rather large reception of high ranking officers in attendance. He saluted everyone but Vice Admiral Fortali, who flicked her hair back impatiently.
He looked to Admiral Norima with a half-suppressed smile, “The Dorian is beyond repair from what I hear. Isn’t it nice that the fleet can count on the special forces to bring them a new vessel. Granted, the Neimun is not suitable for combat purposes.”
“I’ll order some drinks,” Dispaer said, unable to suppress a nervous frown, “We’ll celebrate the Colonel’s achievements. What do you prefer Colonel?”
“I never drink.”
“Relax Colonel,” Fortali chided, “In a few days you might make general.”
“I could use a glass of brandy and water,” Admiral loosened his tie. “Let’s not fret about military business now. We can save our plans until after the celebration of our capture.”
Soel shook his head, “If we’re not here to discuss military business then I have no reason to be here. Considering that the entire front is on the verge of collapse, I have more important matters to attend to than a drinking social.”
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Soel saluted respectfully and left without another word.
“He’s brilliant and loyal, but far too much a military partisan to ever effectively deal with the Senate,” Norima suggested.
“We’d be better off without him,” Fortali said, taking a drink.
You’re both wrong,” General Dispaer growled, “He’s a gifted commander with a brilliant military mind. If you two weren’t so prejudiced against army officers you’d see it yourself. Remember this, the army special forces were successful, we fulfilled our mission with no support from the Dorian, which I believe was too busy retreating to be of any real use.”
“Watch what you say General,” Norima said, “I outrank you.”
“Not here. This is my district, and this station was transferred to army control twelve years ago. You can take any complaints to the Supreme Commander himself.”
With those words the army general raised his glass and took a long sip of his bourbon.
-----
Amidst the halls of the sector seven, Lieutenant Forgisom and Sergeant Norwalki found Soel’s chambers. They rolled the large plastic case gently on the carpet of a little room with a single bed, a simple desk, and a storage locker. One pulled the covers of the bed back while the other unsnapped the case. It hissed upon opening. Destiny curled up inside as foam cushioned her body. She drooled over the shoulder of her uniform in a deep slumber. Together, both men reached in and pulled her on the bed by the legs and underarms. Sergeant Norwaki rested her head on a thick pillow while the Forgisom placed the covers up to her waist. The usual military posture of Soel’s second in command drifted into a sloppy lean against the bathroom door as Sergeant Norwaki pulled himself the chair from under the desk.
“That’s one of the girls who arrived with the mercenary,” Norwaki said, “Did he sell her?”
“The mercenary, you mean Defacto?”
“Yeah, did the mercenary sell her? What about that other girl, wasn’t she important?”
“You’re not relied upon for your genius, are you?”
“Why did we bring her here?”
“You’re asking too many questions for a Sergeant. And none of them are relevant to engineering.”
Sergeant Norwaki leaned over to caress Destiny’s cheek with the back of his hand. He laid his index finger over the bottom of her lip, then slid it over her chin and down her neck. His finger slid back to hover over her mouth, where he could feel her warm breath. He watched as the covers moved up and down with her breathing. Lieutenant Forgisom glared, so he stopped to rub the hair on the back of his head.
“I couldn’t resist that. She’s my type. The commander always gets his price for the pretty ones though. I wonder who brought her?”
“What did I say about questions?”
“We’re friends right, let’s keep this to ourselves. I’ll owe you one. I don’t want to get in trouble over a little touch. No harm done, right?”
“Consider it forgotten.”
The sergeant jumped nervously as Colonel Soel suddenly entered with a man dressed as a staff sergeant.
“Sergeant Norwaki, you’re not needed here.”
The sergeant stood, saluted, and left.
“You’re the one who did this to her!” Soel yelled after the door snapped shut, “You should know how to undo it. I can’t ransom the crystal for a vegetable. My word is on the line.”
The doctor pulled a pin from his pocket and looked at his watch, “I already started the process of dissolving the robotics. They’re degraded substantially as it is, just barely keeping her asleep. The process will be finished within two to five hours. There are so many factors involved; the acidity of her blood, sodium intake before injection, that sort of thing.”
“A few hours, then you might as well wake her now. Do you have the control?”
“I’ll get her conscious. Proceed slowly or her blood will become toxic. I’ll need an IV to keep her hydrated while flushing her blood.”
“She won’t remember a thing?”
“Not a thing.”
“What are you waiting for? Get her awake.”
Soel knelt by the bedside, coughed to freshen his voice, and adorned himself with an aura of concern. She groaned and pressed her palm to her forehead as she sat upright. The room was a blur, but gradually her vision cleared. Colonel Soel stood over her. Watching. She bowed her head, then surveyed the room before shifting to the other side of the bed.
“Are you all right?” Soel asked.
“What happened to me?”
Colonel Soel walked into the water closet to dampen a towel, which he gave to her, “Put that on your forehead. You’ve been running a high fever since you fainted on the Neimun. You’ve been delirious, but the worst has passed. The news of your father’s passing put you in shock. Your employer left you in my care. A wise decision considering seeing the urgency of the situation. He should be arriving here in a few days. A gala will be held to celebrate the Neimun’s capture. Attendance is mandatory. In the meantime, you should rest.”
Destiny pushed her back against the headboard and placed the towel over her forehead. The cool water helped relieve a dull headache.
“My father’s dead?”
“Defacto reported back to me. Justice was served to the men who killed your father, but he was unable to locate the body. Your father would have been alive today if you hadn’t run off.”
“It’s not my fault!”
“Then the mercenary is to blame. He promised to save your father and failed.”
“You can’t blame Fade. He did his best. You can’t blame anybody except the men who killed him.”
“His best wasn’t good enough. Don’t leave the room. I haven’t yet secured your clearances. You’ll be apprehended by security if you leave and you need rest anyway. These gentlemen will see to your immediate needs while you recover.”
Forgisom and the doctor saluted as Soel left.