A Galaxy Unknown (36 page)

The rest of the week dragged by as Jenetta spent hour after boring hour plotting star positions in the globular cluster, and examining the anomalous readings. The high points in her week occurred when she received messages from her four brothers, all happy and excited to learn that she was still alive, and hopeful of seeing her soon. They had frequently been at each other's throats as siblings, but once grown they had become as close knit as a family could be. Being a total military family gave them a common bond that would sustain them for the rest of their years, but Jenetta had begun to seriously consider tending her resignation. Her first month aboard the Vordoth, before she had accepted command, had been so wonderful. Perhaps she could get a berth on a freighter; possibly even the Vordoth. Any berth, on any ship, would be better than working in the Science section with Kesliski. But resigning from the service was a major career move. She had worked all her life to become a Space Command officer. She would have to think it over for a couple of more weeks before making a decision, or even making inquires about the satisfaction of her educational obligation.

* * *

On Friday morning, Jenetta was working on computations related to the globular cluster anomalies when Lieutenant Kesliski approached her workstation.

"Carver," Kesliski said, "drop whatever you're working on and get over to headquarters."

"What's up, Lieutenant?"

"How should I know? They just called and ordered me to send you over immediately. Maybe they've come to their senses and have new charges to file against you. Get yourself in gear, Ensign."

"Aye, Lieutenant."

Jenetta stood up, straightened her tunic, and walked to the door. She hoped that Lieutenant Kesliski didn't have telepathic powers, but— it would be okay if she did. They couldn't put you in the brig for what you thought of a superior officer, as long as you didn't actually vocalize your feelings, or record them where others could easily access them.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

~ February 20
^th
, 2268 ~

A sense of extreme uneasiness began to grow in Jenetta as she hurried to the headquarters section of the space station. Lieutenant Kesliski's speculation was probably responsible in no small part. Having just been released from the brig a week earlier, she had no desire to relive that experience.

Redirected three times after reporting to the HQ administrative office, she ultimately wound up in the outer offices of Admiral Holt, the base commander. The admiral's aide told her to have a seat and she would be called shortly. As she sat there waiting, Commander Kanes of SCI arrived and was sent immediately into the admiral's office. He had looked at her, nodded, and said, "Ensign," as Jenetta had jumped to her feet. A few minutes later, Commander Pierce, the JAG officer that had prosecuted her at the court-martial, arrived, and was also sent directly in. He also acknowledged her, as Kanes had, when Jenetta again jumped up.

Getting more nervous by the minute, Jenetta fidgeted in the chair. Could it really be as Kesliski had speculated? Were they preparing to bring new charges against her? She didn't think that she could be tried again for the original charges, so it must be something new. Sabotage of the Hokyuu? That seemed to be the
only
thing that she hadn't been charged with yet, unless she was to be charged with exceeding the ten-kilometer allowable length when she had towed the Nordakian freighter with the Vordoth. Or was there something that Doctor Praeges found while rummaging around in her mind? Had he discovered that Arneu told her she might live a substantially prolonged life? Was she going to become a lab rat while they experimented on her to find out the secret of near immortality, if that was even true? So far, she'd only had Arneu's statements to that effect. Would they send her to a special hospital where she would never again know freedom? She knew that while she was on the space station there was nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide. She shouldn't have delayed submitting her resignation. Once she was detached from active duty, their ability to commit her would be seriously diminished. For now she would simply have to play along, and watch for an opportunity for escape. If she could get to the Vordoth, perhaps she could stow away until it left orbit. There were plenty of planets in the Frontier Zone where one could get lost.

The com panel on the aide's desk sounded just then and the aide looked at the message. "You may go in now, Ensign," he said.

Jenetta stood up, straightened her tunic, and arched her back. ‘
Well, here goes
,' she said to herself. Walking to the doors that led to the admiral's office, she took a deep breath and released it slowly before moving into the sensor area that would announce her readiness to enter.

The doors opened to reveal an enormous, lavishly decorated office filled with senior GSC officers. Jenetta's eyes widened. It seemed as if everyone on the base with the rank of Commander and above was there. Everyone stopped talking and turned to stare at her as she entered. Jenetta took two steps into the room and came to attention as the doors closed behind her. With everyone staring at her, her concern was growing with each passing microsecond. Her only consolation was that she felt sure that they wouldn't have assembled a group like this if their intention was to commit her to a hospital, but she couldn't fathom why else she'd been summoned.

Admiral Holt, sitting at his desk in front of a SimWindow currently displaying a view of the enormous GSC Space Command base in Nebraska, said loudly, "Come in, Ensign; all the way."

Jenetta advanced to about two-meters from his desk and again came stiffly to attention. The admiral rose, came out from behind an ornately carved desk that appeared to come from a different era, and confronted her. At six-foot two-inches, and over two-hundred pounds, the still fit seventy-one-year-old admiral, cast an imposing figure as he stood in front of her, unsmiling.

"For such a small officer," the admiral boomed as he towered over Jenetta, "you throw a mighty big shadow, Ensign. I've done little except talk to people about
you
for the past four weeks. I've been fielding calls from the Galactic Alliance Council, Space Command Supreme Headquarters, the Admiralty Board, the Nordakian Palace, the Nordakian Space Force, and every damned news organization in the galaxy."

"I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble, Admiral."

"Trouble? Did I say anything about trouble?"

"Uh— no sir. I thought that was what you meant."

Admiral Holt smiled and said in his booming voice, "Hell no! I've been having the time of my life! It's the most excitement we've had around here in years!" Lowering his voice to a more normal speaking level, he added, "That yarn that you spun at the trial was one of the best stories I've heard since I was a small boy, sitting on my grandfather's lap as he read C.S. Forester's epic tales about his fictional seafaring officer, Horatio Hornblower."

"Fictional? I
assure
the Admiral that every word of my testimony at the court-martial was true."

"Oh, I believe you, Ensign. Your story's been put through the wringer and checked every which way from Sunday to Saturday, and back again. Commander Kanes' boys and girls in Intelligence haven't been able to find a single statement that they could disprove— or even doubt. In fact, most of it has been verified by as many as fifty witnesses. If anything, the witnesses unanimously say that you understate your own participation and heroism in the events that transpired."

"I only did what I felt was fitting and proper for a Space Command officer, sir."

"It's our considered opinion that you went well above and beyond ‘fitting and proper.' You showed initiative and daring, properly coupled with superior intelligence and training. Those are qualities that we prize highly in our officers. Your escape from the detention center enthralled me the most. That was all guts and glory, from the moment you killed your guard in unarmed combat, and then single-handedly took out all the other guards, until the space station blew up. It's unfortunate that you had to leave Captain Starnos and his first mate behind, but confidentially, in your place I would have done exactly the same thing. You must be hell on wheels with a pistol, Ensign. The witnesses unanimously state that you drew your side arm so fast, they didn't see your hand move, and that you had shot Starnos' mate before Starnos had even started to fall."

"I anticipated trouble from someone, Admiral, so I was ready. I'd had a couple of weeks to plan every phase of the escape."

"But you couldn't know who would challenge your authority for command, or what the situation would be like once you got out of the detention center?"

"The situation was a bit fluid, sir, but aren't all military operations? I calculated that if the command issue was raised, it would likely come from someone not accustomed to following orders, such as a freighter captain or senior officer. I regret that I had to leave Starnos and his first mate behind, but a second escape group would have significantly reduced the odds of anyone attaining freedom. I knew that I was never going to be shipped off to a pleasure resort in the Uthlaro Dominion to live out my life as a mindless sex slave, so I was prepared to do whatever was necessary. And I'll make no apologies for the destruction of the station."

"And you shouldn't. We're not upset about the loss of that spaceport. Hell, we would have blown it to Hades ourselves if we knew of it. We're also extremely grateful that you were able to bring back both the Prometheus and the Chiron."

"Thank you, sir. It's nice that someone has acknowledged
that little fact
— at last."

Admiral Holt chuckled and said, "Been feeling a little unappreciated, Ensign?"

"Yes sir, a little."

"Well, don't be. We
had
to do what we did."

"Sir?"

"We had no choice but to put you through the hell of a general court-martial. You killed, on your own initiative and virtually single-handedly, over eighteen thousand Raiders in the spaceport, and another thousand or two in the ships you engaged while acting as captain of the Vordoth. That's more Raiders than all of Space Command has captured or killed in the past decade. There's no way in this universe that could just be swept out the airlock. There would have been a formal inquiry even if an authorized task force had destroyed the base.

"Supreme HQ believed that some of the more radical members of the press might try to propagandize the annihilation of the Raider Base as an example of military excess, so we decided to give them a different rallying position. They all love underdogs, so we gave them one they could really get behind, you. Commander Kanes, who by the way has been one of your staunchest supporters since your identity was confirmed, assured us that you could hold up through the rigors of the court-martial. After the things you accomplished, we all knew that you were made of stern stuff. The trial itself was planned down to the smallest detail, even to eliciting sympathy for you by hobbling you with prisoner transport chains during the early stages. I hear that fact alone brought people over to your side in droves before the trial even began."

Jenetta was stunned by the revelation. "You mean that it was all rigged, sir?"

"Oh, no, it was a real court-martial. The six jurors, who are all in this room right now by the way, weren't a party to discussions about the case until after the court-martial was over. We just knew in advance that the overwhelming evidence would lead to your acquittal. In fact, we made the charges as preposterous as possible so that acquittal was the only sane response. You see, this way people can't say that the military is trying to hide anything. Occasionally, situations do occur which the public is far better off not knowing about, but this was much too big to keep under wraps, so we had to bring it out into the open. Now everything has been bared, inspected under a microscope from every possible angle, you've been acquitted, and it's over. There are no dirty little secrets for reporters to dig out. Is that clear?"

"As crystal, sir."

"Good. And there won't be any further discussion of what I've just said, outside of this room?"

"Did you say something, sir?"

Admiral Holt grinned. "You'll go far, Ensign." He looked over at Commanders Kanes and Pierce and said, "Gentlemen?"

At that invitation, both officers came over to face Jenetta.

"Ensign," Pierce said, "we very much regret the way that we had to treat you, but we had difficult roles to play. We had to suppress our respect and appreciation for the incredible things you've done, while appearing cold and angry, and we needed your reactions to appear genuine. The fear and anguish that you had to be feeling after serving Space Command so heroically must have been horrendous. I know that nothing I say can ever erase that memory, but you should know I admire you more than I can adequately express."

"Ditto from the Intelligence section, Ensign," Kanes said, "but after what you did, and from the time that I spent interviewing you, I knew that you could take the heat without cracking. You're one tough little customer. Well done, Ensign. Very well done!"

Jenetta wondered what they'd say if they knew just how close she'd come to resigning her commission and separating from the service. Understanding the reason for the unfair treatment didn't erase the resentment she felt for being used so badly, but it began the process of healing the hurt. She swallowed the words that she'd like to hurl in their faces and instead said, in diplomatic fashion, "Thank you, gentlemen. I admit that I was feeling a little down, but you've completely restored my faith in the service."

"The reason that we've called you here today," Admiral Holt said, as Pierce and Kanes returned to where they had been standing before coming over to face Jenetta, "is to thank you for what you've done and let you know that all of us here support your actions one hundred percent. Most of us are even a little envious of the excitement that you had for a few months. The worst thing in the universe, for a command officer, is to be stuck behind a desk, as many of us here today can testify."

"Yes sir. I know
exactly
what you mean."

Admiral Holt chuckled. "Not happy over in the Science Section? I can understand that. The work performed there is important, but it's not for everyone. Posting you there temporarily was just another part of the plan. We've all come to realize that you can best serve the Galactic Alliance in another role, but until we'd had a chance to perform a full psych exam, we couldn't possibly appoint you to any position that required more than a basic security clearance. You were in the hands of the Raiders for a full month, after all. Dr. Friedlander's call to the Psych Department was just a coincidence. You were already scheduled for a complete exam. Dr. Praeges has restored your security clearances, and your service classification has officially been changed from science officer to something more befitting your abilities and desires.

"Next week," Admiral Holt continued, "you'll report to your new ship. You'll be back in space again, and this time you'll be in a command position on the bridge. I wish that I was going as well, but my job is riding that desk back there now."

If Jenetta received nothing else for everything she had done, transfer to a command position as a helmsman or astrogator would be reward enough. She hoped that the position would be aboard a research ship instead of a quartermaster ship or reclamation vessel, but she would be immensely satisfied with any command slot.

"
However
," the admiral continued, "one of the best parts of this job is what I get to do now. The room shall come to attention."

The officers in the room formed several lines and adopted the appropriate rigid stance while the admiral took a holo-tube from his desk, activated it, and read the page that popped up.

"Ensign Jenetta Alicia Carver, by special order from Space Command Supreme Headquarters, with unanimous confirmation by the Galactic Alliance Council, you are immediately advanced to the rank of Lieutenant Commander." Lowering the holo-tube, he said, "Congratulations, Commander."