Crineal Chronicles 1: In Hera's Service (11 page)

“At
least you’re trying. So what do you want me to wear?”

“How
about office wear? Blouse showing a little cleavage, mid-thigh length skirt,
nylons of your choice, moderate heel shoes? Smart, attractive but not flaunting
anything?” he looked uncertain as he spoke.

Cyndora
shrugged. “That sounds ok. It’ll be better than this.” She sat there for a
moment. “I should wear my uniform if I’m out of these quarters, otherwise?”
Crineal nodded “And if I’m on my own and I’m stopped and asked to ‘entertain’
someone?”

Crineal’s
eyes hardened a little. “The only people who have the authority for that are
the admiral and ship’s Captain Aldar. If anyone else tries anything, you tell
them who you’re assigned to and report it back to me. It doesn’t matter what
threats they use, they can’t do a thing.”

She
looked reassured. “And I call you Sir in front of others?”

He
nodded again. “You still call everyone Sir or Ma’am, I’m afraid.”

“How
much authority do you really have?” Cyndora asked curiously.

Crineal
gave a small shrug. “I’m the third highest ranking officer in this strike
force. I’m outside of the regular chains of command as I lead the small craft
forces. I only answer to Captain Aldar and Admiral Ken’Rathel. Plus, I have a
reputation to back me, so I guess I have a bit. That’s why no one should be
stupid enough to mess with you once they know who you’re assigned to.”

Hearing
this made Cyndora feel a lot more secure. Then she braced herself and asked.
“And where do we sleep, Sir?”

Crineal
stared at her steadily. “You can sleep where you choose. I was going to suggest
I order up a cot bed from Supply and place it in the bedroom.”

She
digested this idea for a moment. “You don’t want me to sleep with you?”

He
snorted. “There’s a leading question. I’ve always liked you, Sam, you know that
and I can’t imagine I would have turned down that offer before. But here? Now?
No, not if you come to me out of duty or gratitude. To me it would still be
rape. You decide you want to share my bed because you like me, then we’ll
talk.”

Cyndora
thought about that. Sleeping with him wouldn’t make any difference to her after
what she’d already been through and deep down she knew she owed him. But she
understood what he was saying as well and, if nothing else, he deserved her
honesty. “The cot bed sounds good, thank you.” The redhead put on a brave
smile. “I can always come and cuddle up to you if I get cold.”

He
smiled back. “On those long winter nights in deep space, huh?”

She
gave a little laugh at the absurdity of that and tried to remember when she’d
last laughed. Her stomach gave a little growl.

“When
did you last eat?” Crineal frowned at her.

“This
morning before the safety lecture. I even had a bit of a choice for breakfast.
It was good. I didn’t think we’d be allowed things like that.” She had opted
for the scrambled egg and bacon hash and been amazed when it actually looked
and tasted like potato, egg and bacon. And there was fruit juice, too. The
meals on board had been the first time she’d had anything resembling real food
since her arrest. Prison fare had been all protein pastes and mush. Nutritious,
but not food.

“How
about an early dinner then, whilst I order a bed from supply? Then I need to go
and check on some of my pilots that are still in the med bay. That will give
you a chance to order up some clothes whilst I’m out,” Crineal suggested with a
warm smile.

Cyndora
thought his smile always looked a bit goofy but endearing. “That would be
great.”

He
stood up and led her into the kitchen and the food replicator unit. “You’ve
used one of these?”

She
nodded. “Yes, they started to become a little more common on Earth a couple of
years ago. We had a basic one. This looks a lot more fancy.”

“It’s
still the same principle, just more choices and probably the flavors are more
accurate. I have some presets and I think I’ll have the lamb dinner for now.
You can set up your own.” He turned away to head to the comm panel.

“I
can choose what I want?” Cyndora asked him with a little surprise.

Crineal
looked at her with exasperation as he reached the comm panel. “Yes, silly. If
it’s on there you can have it.” He started punching in the request for the bed.
Once that was done he set up Cyndora with access to the main replicator and
created a sub account for her as part of his own main account. He was surprised
at the current balance. A general’s pay was pretty good and he hardly went on
leave or used the O-Rec facilities so right now he was pretty well off. He
finished setting the limits on Cyndora’s spending abilities just as she was
putting the trays on the table. As he took his place he saw that she’d opted
for chicken pasta in a cream sauce. He looked at her glass. “Water? I remember
you having wine with meals.”

“Oh!
I can have wine?” She looked surprised again.

“Sure,
as long as you’re not getting drunk. You’d have been plied with booze down in
the rec area I have no doubt.”

“Yes,
but we were told that the bartenders were under orders to only supply us with
nonalcoholic versions of whatever was ordered for us. They didn’t want us
getting drunk either.”

“Interesting,
I hadn’t heard that. But go get yourself some wine, might want to be a bit
careful because of the sedative.” Crineal waved her to the kitchen as he dug
into his food. He was hungry, too, having missed lunch whilst on patrol.

Cyndora
came back to the table with half a glass of a white wine and nervously started
to eat, not sure how she was going to react to proper food again. Crineal
watched her surreptitiously as, after the first few bites, her pace picked up
and she finished well before he did.

He
chuckled. “You were hungry I see.”

Cyndora
gave out a small groan and wiped her mouth with a napkin “That was wonderful.
I’ve not eaten like that for so long…” Crineal stayed silent and took another
mouthful as he imagined her thoughts. They both looked up as the door panel
buzzed.

“Probably
Supply with the bed. Would you mind?” he asked her. She stood up and went over
to the door uncertainly. “Just palm the plate and hit the green button. It’s
keyed for you,” he told her. She followed his instructions and the door slid
open to reveal a young female crewman holding a long package in an upright
position.

“Delivery
for General Crineal?” inquired the crewman, as she eyed Cyndora with more than
just a casual appraisal.

Crineal
called from the table. “Bring it in, Crewman. Lean it up in the corner there.”

“Yes,
Sir. Can I give you a hand with setting it up, Sir?” she asked, still trying to
discreetly eye Cyndora.

Crineal
watched her, amusement playing over his face. “I think I can manage. Thank you,
Crewman.” She propped the package up in the corner near the bedroom door as
instructed and then pulled out a data pad and brought it over to Crineal.

“Authorization
please, Sir?” as she held the pad out to him.

He
glanced at it to confirm it was correct as he wiped his hands on his napkin and
then thumbed the pad to confirm receipt. The crewman saluted him. “Thank you,
Sir.”

“Thank
you, Crewman, You’re dismissed.” He watched as she turned and left his quarters
passing Cyndora at the door. If the sailor was still looking at her Crineal
couldn’t tell. Once she was gone he said, “I think she liked you.”

Cyndora
returned to the table and sat down to finish the remains of her wine.
“Probably, if I was in the rec area I might well be keeping her happy,” she
said with a slightly forced casualness.

Crineal
tried to hide his surprise “Oh uh, I didn’t know you were ummm… A bit bi?”

She
looked at her glass and toyed with it a little. “I wasn’t, but when you
volunteer for this you don’t get a choice anymore.”

Crineal
didn’t know what to say. He’d honestly never thought about that aspect. But
thinking on some of what he’d seen in various O-Recs he couldn’t believe he’d
been naïve enough to think that that many of the O-Rec assistants were
bi-sexual by choice. He returned his attention to the remains of his food to
cover his embarrassment and he finished his meal in silence. Once he was done,
Cyndora picked up both of their trays and glasses and put them in the recycler.

Crineal
got up as she came back from the kitchen. “I need to head to med bay to check
on my people. I’ll stop by my office on the way back to see if there’s anything
urgent for me to deal with before coming back here. I’ll be a couple of hours.
If you need me you can use the comm unit to page me. Just palm it and speak my
name. It’ll connect you. Try not to bankrupt me with your clothes shopping if
you can.” His smile was a little strained as he was still slightly off-balance
from his remarks.

Cyndora’s
return smile seemed genuine though so he guessed she was at least a little
immune by now. “Thank you, Chris. I’ll do my best.” He nodded to her and then
left.

Cyndora
watched him go, still a bit surprised at how unaware he was in some things but
very worldly in others. She went to the replicator unit and activated it with
her palm. She’d not used one like this before and hoped it wasn’t unlike the
food version. The display showed her name and her available balance. She had to
look twice. He’d given her HOW many credits to spend? Unless the price of
shipboard clothes was far more expensive than that of Earth there was no way
she could spend even a fraction of that, even with a complete wardrobe unless
she included ball gowns and evening dresses from the top designers. Cyndora hit
the menu tag and the display came up with a number of categories for her to
choose from. She keyed the clothing option and the unit flashed with a query:
Cyndora? Other? She took the Cyndora option and it gave her lists of women’s
clothing categories. As she started looking through the clothing lists it
seemed that most items were cheaper than Earth prices. She started with the
sportswear and picked out a grey with pink trim sports bra and matching figure-hugging
thigh shorts, plus some running shoes and a couple of hair bands. During her
time in the recreation training facility on Earth her hair had grown back to
its full length from the prison buzz cut she had been sporting following her conviction.
During this morning’s workout her long tresses had been a bit of a nuisance and
she’d had to keep pushing strands off her face. She was going to be glad of the
bra top, too. Her breasts weren’t huge but big enough to be uncomfortable after
an hour of exercise with no support. Next on the list was something for around Crineal’s
quarters. She found some cream pants in a kind of sweat pant style that looked
comfortable and some long sleeved t-shirts in various colors. Both items looked
to be baggy and it would be nice to be fully covered again. With that thought
in mind, Cyndora spun the list down to the underwear section and ordered some
basic bikini panties and a couple of comfortable, if plain, bras. Nightwear,
she thought, and added some comfy-looking, cotton, knee-length pajamas to her
list. Finally she found the items for waiting at Crineal’s dinners, white
button-up, short-sleeved blouse, black short skirt, sheer black pantyhose and
some strappy heeled sandals. She nodded to herself. That seemed to be
everything. She punched the commit button and the replicator started to produce
her new wardrobe.

Crineal
was pleased to find that the medical staff had now discharged all but ten of
his pilots. Even if a lot of those released weren’t fit for duty, they were fit
for leave. He hoped they were kicking back and having a good time somewhere. He
spent an hour chatting with those still detained, hopefully making them feel a
little better. Then it was on to his office and more paperwork. There was
nothing demanding his immediate attention so Crineal set about finishing up the
battle report and started in on the commendations list. He was about halfway
through it when he realized that his duty shift had finished twenty minutes
ago. Crineal saved his work, made a last check for messages, shut down the
displays and left the office. He entered his quarters to find Cyndora sitting
in front of the entertainment unit watching a news program. Her outfit caught
him little by surprise, slightly baggy pants and long sleeved top. He couldn’t
remember seeing her in anything quite that frumpy back in Coventry. She looked
up as he came in and his thoughts must have been showing in his expression. She
stood, holding her hands in front of her nervously.

“If
it’s not ok, I can find something else to wear,” she offered.

Crineal
blinked. “No, it’s fine. I just don’t remember you wearing anything like that
before. The main thing is that you’re comfortable.”

Cyndora
gave him a quick nod. “Yes, it feels good.” Crineal gave her an understanding
look. He figured it must be after being forced to parade around in next to
nothing for all that time.

“Let’s
see about getting that bed set up and you can put your clothes away, too.” He
nodded towards the pile on the table and then moved to the corner, palmed open
the door to the bedroom and lifted the long bundle. Cyndora followed him into
the room and looked around. It was spacious for a starship’s quarters: a double
bed, closet space and drawers and a door to one side that must be a bathroom.
Crineal dumped the package on the floor next to the bed and caught her taking
in the room.