Crineal Chronicles 1: In Hera's Service (29 page)

Hartmann
stood as well. “I should get going too, Sir.” He was wondering how he was going
to explain the dinner to Gyr, who had forced him to promise to tell her all
about it. She wouldn’t believe a word.

Crineal
rose and shook Hartmann’s hand. “Thank you for coming, Hart. We look forward to
inviting you again.” He turned to Strieger and gave her a hug and a kiss on the
cheek “You can bring a dress to wear next time, Stri. Or I can have Cyndy loan
you one of her uniforms, if you really want to join my harem?”

Strieger
hit him, careful to make sure the blow landed on the right arm. “In your dreams,
but I will bring a dress.”

The
major and the pilot officer departed, leaving Feldea, Saphya and Cyndora still
chatting to each other. Crineal was starting to feel a little tired but joined
in the talk and at last Feldea went into the bedroom to get changed and she and
Saphya left after a hug and kiss from both Crineal and Cyndora. Wearily he made
his way into the bedroom and sat down to take off his boots. Cyndora followed him
in.

“Thank
you for inviting Fel and Saphy. They are so nice and I had a great time.” She
bent and kissed the top of his head before helping him pull off his shirt.
Cyndora watched him slip off his pants as she removed the earrings he had given
her as a present before the dinner and then did a balancing act to remove her
heels. Crineal was stretched out on the bed in his shorts feeling tired when he
noticed Cyndora start to take off her blouse. Under it she was wearing a simple
white bra with a little lace trim to it. The redhead put the blouse on a hanger
and unzipped her skirt pushing it to the floor revealing matching white
panties, stockings and a garter belt. Crineal was now more than awake. She hung
the skirt up with her blouse.

“Uggh…my
feet hurt,” she complained. “It’s been ages since I wore heels.”

“Why
don’t you lay on the bed and I’ll rub them for you?” Crineal offered.

“Would
you?” Cyndora flopped onto the bed and moved around a little so he could reach
her feet. Crineal sat up in a cross-legged position and started to massage the
soles of her stockinged feet whilst enjoying the sight of her in her lingerie.
“Mmmm… that feels so good, Sweetie,” Cyndora purred happily.

“My
pleasure, Hon. You looked particularly lovely tonight.” He kneaded the balls of
her feet hard, causing her to groan. “Starting to feel better?”

“Ummmm
uh much.” From the way Cyndora was moving Crineal thought she might be
referring to more than her feet. She stretched and writhed a little on the
covers, obviously enjoying the intimate attention. Crineal stopped the foot
massage and moved up to kiss her on the lips.

“Thank
you, Sweetie,” she said as she put her arms around his neck and kissed him
back.

“Mmmm…
Let me see if I can make you feel lots better?” Crineal offered and started to
walk kisses down her throat and onto her upper chest. As his lips reached one
of the cups of her bra he gently pulled back the material to fully expose her
breast so he could continue kissing her bare skin and nipple. Cyndora hummed
with pleasure at his touches as he moved his attention to her other breast for
a little while before continuing the trail of kisses downwards over her
stomach. Crineal stopped at her waist but continued to kiss her silky soft
lower stomach as he undid the straps on her garter belt that were holding up
her stockings. Then, with that done, he very slowly pushed her panties down and
off before bending once more to continue kissing.

Cyndora
was now moaning softly as she could feel his mouth on her, kissing and gently
licking. She rested a hand on the back of his head in encouragement, starting
to gasp a little now as the excitement built within her. Cyndora couldn’t
remember the last time she had felt so good, having someone love her rather
than just use her.

“Please,
baby, that’s so good, don’t stop… oh, ooohhhhh.” Cyndora felt a wave of heat
wash through her body and her muscles tighten. She pressed her legs together as
she shuddered and gasped in ecstasy. Crineal sat up a bit to watch the
expression on her face, eyes shut tight, her cheeks flushed and her head moving
from side to side a little. He moved up to lie alongside Cyndora, pulling her
on top of himself. Cyndora rolled against his side, cuddling him, still gasping
with her head nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

Eventually,
she whispered breathlessly into his ear, “That was so good it should be illegal,”
then kissed his cheek. Crineal gave a self-satisfied chuckle. “Brute,” she
teased him, still breathing hard. “Taking advantage of a woman helpless after a
foot rub.”

“You’re
welcome, Love,” Crineal replied kissing the top of her head.

“Help
me the rest of the way out of this bra would you? And the garter belt too,” she
asked in a voice that was starting to sound sleepy. Crineal complied whilst
Cyndora slipped the loose stockings off her legs and then cuddled back up
against Crineal once she was naked. Soon he could feel her breathing deepen as
she drifted contentedly off to sleep and he reached up to kill the lights.

Waking
the next morning Cyndora found her head pillowed on Crineal’s shoulder, his arm
against her back cuddling her to him and her body still draped over his. She
wormed her way a little closer with a comfortable little smile on her lips. The
slight movement disturbed him from his sleep

“Mm…”He
fumbled for the light and turned it on to a very low setting. Crineal opened
his eyes and looked at her in the dimness. “Well, good morning,” he greeted
her, his voice still a little slurred by sleep. Craning her neck a little she
kissed his cheek and they lay there for a short while, enjoying the feel of
their bodies touching.

Eventually,
Cyndora broke the quiet. “Thank you for last night, Crin. I finally felt like a
person again. Dinner with friends, the conversation… and then after…. You made
me feel loved. I never thought I’d be able to feel that way again,” her voice
soft in the gloom.

Crineal
tenderly stroked her hair. “You are loved and I’ve never seen you as anything
but a person,” he replied gently.

“I
know that now. Just like I know how careful you’re being with me. And I think
that’s what I need.” Cyndora took a deep breath. “I’ve had to do things that
were horrible, where I had to let go of my dignity just to make it through.”
Crineal held her tighter, trying to quietly support her as she talked. “One
time they made me and my friend Jaydea… perform… with each other in front of
the rest of the prisoners.” Her hand clutched the sheet as she remembered. “I’m
not sure if it was better or worse that we were friends. Some of the other
stuff we had to do… I just can’t bring myself to think about. They tried to
train us to accept almost anything so we could serve better. I was lucky I had
Jaydea with me. I don’t know how I would have got through some of it without
her. And now you.” Cyndora titled her head to look up at him. “You must know
some of what I had to do, had done to me, but you still care for and love me.”

Softly
he planted a kiss on her forehead. “Because you’re still you, how could I not?
Do you think that your feelings for me are because I helped you? Or because I
care for you and you don’t think anyone else will?”

“No,
Crin!” Her eyes went wide open in hurt and worry that he might think such a
thing. “I feel this way because of who you are, too.” Crineal gently kissed her
on the lips to reassure her and she smiled at him a little as they pulled back.
“You’re still the idealistic kid I first knew sixteen years ago. I loved you
then as a friend. Now I feel it’s more. It’s just so natural laying here with
you. It feels like home.”

Tilting
her chin up with his left hand he looked into her green eyes. “I hope that you
never want to leave.”

Tears
formed in her eyes. “I hope you never want me to go,” she whispered back as she
started to cry softly. The man from her past held her with all the love
he could find.

The
patrols from the Annihilator continued their searches over the next few days
finding nothing but space debris. Hera went out on another patrol without their
leader and once again it was uneventful. On the fourth day Crineal was still behaving
himself and working from his quarters when he was interrupted by a comm
message.

As
he responded to the message bleep, Admiral Ken’Rathel’s voice came through.
“General? I’d like to see you in my office immediately.”

“On
my way, Sir,” he answered. Crineal figured that it must be important as Ken’Rathel
wasn’t normally that brusque. He hauled himself to his feet and grabbed his
jacket. Cyndora looked up at him from where she was doing a little studying
about the Imperial political structure. “Admiral wants me for a meeting, Love,”
Crineal told her as he finished sealing his jacket.

“Ok,
Sweetie, you take it easy getting there though. No sprinting,” she said with
concern.

“I
will. I’m doing much better now.” Crineal bent down and kissed her lovingly,
Cyndora responded in kind and he had to tear himself away. “Quit that. I’ll be
late for the meeting.” The redhead smiled at him wickedly and gave him a little
wave as he left.

Crineal
arrived at the admiral’s office not even out of breath, which pleased him. Ken’Rathel’s
adjutant immediately escorted him in to see the admiral. Crineal found that
Captain Aldar was waiting there, too.

Ken’Rathel
waved him to a seat. “Good news, Crin. The probes found something.” He paused
whilst the general seated himself. “A major rebel base. The biggest we’ve found
so far,” he said, handing Crineal some hardcopy reports and images.

Crineal
studied the films. “Static base on a barren rock, two orbital docks, fixed
defenses and… ” He looked closer. “Five cruiser squadrons.” He looked up at the
other two men. “That would be about a fifth of the known rebel forces. Do they
know we found them?”

Aldar
nodded. “That’s what Fleet Intel thinks and no, the probe is in silent mode
apart from a two second burst transmission every twelve hours. The rebels are showing
no signs of evacuating.”

The
black-haired admiral rested his arms on the desk. “Lord Sar’Clax has asked us
to put a plan together. He wants us to capture the base and get as much intel
from it as possible. He’s giving us five other carrier strike forces. If we can
come up with a plan, we’ll be leading the attack.” He smiled at them wolfishly.
“I’ve forwarded you both the information from the probe and Intel’s analysis. I
want us each to work up a plan independently and then we’ll put our heads
together and see what we have. I’d like you both back here in three days when
we’ll reach Orbital Three again. Crin, this is your priority; no flight duties
until further notice.”

Crineal
grimaced. “Yes, Sir.”

“Alright,”
the admiral smiled. “Get going. You’re both dismissed.”

Studying the layout of the rebel forces
again, Crineal frowned. He’d been at this for a day now and it still didn’t
look any easier. The forces available to him were sufficient to do the job but
they would take heavy casualties doing it in a frontal assault. The rebel fixed
defenses would make up for their lack of heavy ships. The Imperial forces could
come in from outside of their range and launch a ballistic bombardment to take
them out but then the rebels could just flee. They’d lose the base and docks
but the Empire wouldn’t get much information. The most obvious attack would be to
jump in on one side of the perimeter and smash that side with overwhelming
firepower, but the Imperial losses would still be bad. He estimated perhaps
thirty to forty percent. The rebel losses would be much higher, but he didn’t
like throwing away lives like that. They could try an enveloping attack and
jump in on all sides, but if the rebels reacted well they could form up and
hammer one or two of the Imperial formations and escape. He wasn’t going to
count on the enemy sitting there fat and stupid. Crineal rubbed his forehead in
frustration. What if the rebel defenses were looking the other way though? He
ran a sim that had one strike force jump in just ahead of the others but right
into the center of the rebel area. Then, the remaining Imperial forces all hit the
perimeter whilst the rebels were distracted. The projections looked better;
casualties at twenty percent or less, but the first strike force would be
almost completely destroyed. Better overall, but he couldn’t imagine trying to
brief that strike force commander and tell him he was going into certain death.
Crineal sighed. Now if he was ordering Del’Tarim to do it then he wouldn’t have
a problem; in fact, a force full of Del’Tarims would be ideal. He sat back in
contemplation, an idea starting to form in his head. Hmmmmmm, could he get away
with it? He set to work again, fitting the pieces together. Late that evening
the plan was finally ready, all three parts of it. But he couldn’t present it
to the admiral. It was completely unacceptable militarily. Crineal sighed. He
was going to have to be up very early in the morning to make a call. Closing
down the data screens he went to join Cyndora in bed.

At
oh five hundred the following morning Crineal crept out of bed to avoid
disturbing his partner and by oh five thirty he was in his office. He activated
the comm and put in a request for a full security hyper relay channel. As soon
as it was made available to him he entered the codes to Lord Sar’Clax’s private
line.

“This
is General Crineal for Lord Sar’Clax. Urgent priority, maximum security.”

The
talking sim head responded, “Please wait,” before disappearing and being
replaced by the distinguished features of his old commander.

“Crin!
Two calls in a month? I didn’t think you’d be that lonely especially with such
a pretty girl to distract you,” he chuckled. “How are you both doing, my boy?”

“Cyndy
and I are doing well thank you, My Lord. And yourself and Lady Sar’Clax?”
Crineal responded politely.

“Magdarla
is busy organizing the first reception for the spring season and enjoying
herself immensely judging from the litany of complaints I hear from her every
evening.”

Crineal
smiled. Sar’Clax’s wife loved the social scene and threw herself into every
occasion she hosted. “I’m glad to hear she’s gainfully employed, My Lord.
Please give her my regards and love.” She also had a tendency to look on
Crineal as an adopted son and mothered him terribly whenever he visited. He was
very fond of her.

“So,
may I assume that this is not a social call? Something to do with the planning
for the operation?” Sar’Clax asked shrewdly.

“Very
astute, My Lord, I have a proposal that I want your opinion on before
submitting it to the admiral.”

“Alright,
Crin, let’s have it,” the older man said indulgently. Crineal transmitted his
first data package which detailed a frontal attack along one side of the rebel
perimeter. Sar’Clax studied it. “Hmm…fairly orthodox, high casualties, but
probably acceptable in light of the results. I expected something more
imaginative from you.” His look wasn’t quite disapproving.

“I’m
sorry to disappoint you, My Lord. Would you mind if I sent a separate annex?”
Sar’Clax waved his assent and Crineal transmitted the amendment to his plan
that had a single strike force jumping into the middle of the rebel held area.
He watched as his patron’s eyebrows lifted in surprise as he viewed the revised
plan.

“Well,
Crin, that looks better apart, from it being totally ruthless. You’d really
sacrifice an entire strike force? Order them into certain death like that? I
thought you cared more for your comrades.” Sar’Clax frowned deeply at him.

“Yes,
Sir. I do. But what if Del’Tarim was in command of that force,” Crineal proposed
with a predatory smile.

Sar’Clax
looked confused. “Del’Tarim? He’s on Dalgon VI by now. You’re not planning on asking
for his release are you?”

 “No,
My Lord, Perhaps I should have said what if someone like Del’Tarim was in
command? In fact what if the entire force was manned by crews of Del’Tarim’s
quality? The vicious, the incompetently dangerous, the violent troublemakers
that no one wants?” The image of Lord Sar’Clax sat back thoughtfully. “I
noticed we’ve been allocated the Devastator Strike Force. It has the worst
performance and discipline record in the fleet. If Personnel Section was persuaded
to arrange some transfers, I thought that we might salvage whatever good crew
is left in that force and transfer in all the rest of the fleet’s rotten
apples?”

Sar’Clax
looked at him sternly. “I’m shocked, Crin, truly shocked that you could think
that the fleet could have so many undesirables.” The supposedly stern demeanor
wasn’t helped by the spreading smile on his face. “I couldn’t even imagine
agreeing to a plan that would sacrifice so many brave men and women. Out of
curiosity how would you get them to commit this form of suicide? I can’t
imagine them blithely saying ‘Yes Sir’ and jumping into certain death,” he
asked curiously.

“Well,
My Lord,” Crineal sent his third data package, the one containing the two sets
of jump instructions. “As you can see, the attack instructions would be as
outlined in my original proposal. However, I feel that given the quality of
crew in the Devastator force it’s entirely possible that some errors might
occur in the programming that would cause the force to act as in my annex. The
proper instructions overwritten just minutes before the planned attack. And
then rewritten just after the jump to cover the incompetence?”

“Utterly
regrettable. Those brave sailors inadvertently sacrificing themselves in a
glorious battle…,” Sar’Clax said with a serious look on his face.

“I
thought that some of the trickier transfers into Devastator could be
accompanied by much needed promotions for the crew members involved and perhaps
we could use our contacts within the fleet to gently suggest to various
commanders that now might be a good time to review their personnel needs?
Whilst you use your influence with the personnel department at HQ?” Crineal
suggested helpfully.

Sar’Clax
looked at something out of Crineal’s view in apparent surprise. “What a shame,
Crin. I seem to have accidentally deleted your second and third transmissions.
I do hope they weren’t important?”

“Not
at all, My Lord. Can I ask that you’ll give my plan due consideration when it’s
submitted as part of Admiral Ken’Rathel’s proposals?”

“Of
course, Crin. You can rest assured that the best attack plan will be selected,”
Sar’Clax said. “Now, Ken’Rathel mentioned that you’re due leave at your next
stop over and Magda insists that you come and visit us. Bring your pretty assistant
along, too. She might protect you from my wife’s matchmaking attempts.”

“Tell
Lady Sar’Clax that she can expect us during my next vacation,” Crineal replied
with a warm smile.

“Good,
that means she won’t badger me to have you arrested and dragged here in chains.
Well, if there’s nothing else then, I hear an attractive lunch calling my
name,” Sar’Clax attempted a plaintive tone.

“Then
I won’t keep you, My Lord. Enjoy your food,” Crineal said before Sar’Clax
signed off.

The
following day Crineal was back in the admiral’s office alongside Captain Aldar.
The admiral looked at them both. “Well, gentlemen? I hope you’ve got something
good for me.” Aldar and Crineal transmitted their individual plans to Ken’Rathel’s
data pad and waited whilst he studied them. “Not bad, Aldar. The encirclement
attack could be promising. Risky though.” Then he frowned as he looked over Crineal’s
submission. “A frontal attack, General? I expected something more enterprising
from you. It’s very traditional.”

“I’m
sorry, Sir. This seemed the best way to avoid giving the rebels a chance to
escape. I’m sure Lord Sar’Clax will weigh up the advantages of all the plans
and select the one he feels is most appropriate.” Crineal gave a slight shrug.

The
admiral studied him for a minute, disappointed in the brute force plan that one
of the fleet’s best tacticians had come up with. “Very well. I’ll submit the
plans to the Fleet’s First Lord and notify you when I get an answer. Is there
anything else?”

Crineal
appeared to think for a minute before speaking. “I’d like to return to flight
duties, if I may, Admiral?” Ken’Rathel nodded his approval for the request.
“Also, I’ve heard on the grapevine that Personnel Section might be considering
a large scale redeployment of crews. So if we have anyone that’s causing us
problems now might be a good time to submit transfer requests,” he suggested
thoughtfully.

Aldar
raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Oh? I hadn’t heard anything. You know that we
always try to clean house but never succeed. And for every problem we do manage
to get reassigned, we just get another back in return.”

“I
know, but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying though,” Crineal said with a
smile.

“I
haven’t heard anything either, General. How sure are you?” Ken’Rathel inquired
curiously.

“My
source is pretty well placed. It’s no certainty but I think we might want to
start doing some paperwork to be ready.”

The
admiral shrugged. “Well, it can’t hurt. We’ll get started on that whilst we
wait for Lord Sar’Clax to give us a decision. Alright, gentlemen, that’s all.
Dismissed.” As he watched his two subordinates leave Ken’Rathel felt he was
missing something important, but he couldn’t quite grasp what it might be.
Eventually he just shrugged it off as a bad feeling and started to compile the
proposed plans for Sar’Clax’s consideration.