Interregnum (Children of Steel Book 2) Read online

  The company of course considered us all to be married; it was a term more understandable to humans than ‘mated.’ Even that term was different among the different species. For most animen, if you mated, it was for life. Pairing was the term normally used for relationships that weren’t as permanent.

  "So, the captain tells me Cassandra is paid off now," Balizar said as he led us outside to a waiting taxi. Balizar was the head of ship security and any military forces onboard the Astra, which effectively put him as third in command, after the captain and the executive officer.

  "Really?" Terease said surprised. "Well congratulations, Cassy!"

  "Yes, congrats!" Banner added smiling.

  Cassandra sighed. "He snuck off and did it before asking me," she grumbled.

  "Feel that guilty?" Sharazad, who was Balizar's mate and ran the Astra's intelligence section, said teasing Cassandra as we all got in the back of the taxi and Balizar gave the driver our destination.

  Cassandra nodded.

  "Why in the world would you feel guilty?" Terease asked curious. "It makes perfect sense."

  "Because I desperately wanted to have him do it," Cassandra admitted ears going flat as her facial fur bushed out, blushing.

  "So?"

  "All of the money was his; Raj stopped paying down his debt over two years ago."

  "You have changed that back now, Raj, right?" Sharazad said giving me a nasty look.

  I nodded, "Did it right after I paid Cassy off."

  "Still," Terease said picking back up, "It makes a lot more sense to pay one of you off, then the other. Raj has the bigger debt I’m sure, so pay off the small one first." Then she grinned at Banner, "And you can’t have children on a spaceship, now can you?"

  Banner suddenly looked very embarrassed and I noticed Cassandra started to fidget a little as well.

  "Thinking of cubs already?" Sharazad said surprised.

  "Let’s just say I’m laying the groundwork," Terease snickered.

  I looked at Banner and he looked back at me and just shrugged. Terease was like a sister to me, and we shared quite a lot about our spouses, though it had been more me sharing with her since I got back onboard, as I was still rather new to all of this. Obviously I’d have to start paying more attention to what she was telling me about Banner.

  "So, Balizar, any idea when we’re leaving?" Terease said turning to him.

  Balizar quirked an ear and looked at Terease, "And what are the grounds for this latest deduction?"

  "The engines are finished as of yesterday afternoon. So there’s no reason for us to sit in orbit anymore." She said smiling.

  Balizar nodded. "Sound reasoning. Yes, we will be leaving soon. We even have our orders."

  "So where are we going?" I asked curious.

  "Because all of our trading schedules are so out of order, I’m not at liberty to discuss our next stop." Balizar said smiling. Then he looked at Terease, "And if you think you’ve figured it out, you can talk to me about it in my office. Otherwise, no speculations in public. Understand?"

  Terease nodded and smiled, "Yes, Sir."

  "Sometimes I think you’re being wasted down there in Engineering," Sharazad laughed. "Your knack for making logical conclusions based on scant evidence is rather impressive."

  Banner let out a massive sigh rolling his eyes towards the roof of the car as he looked up, and we all looked at him.

  Terease stared at him, "Whaaaaat?" She teased.

  "I haven’t been able to surprise her with a gift, a date, anything, for almost two years now. She always figures it out, and she knows all of my best hiding places."

  "Yes, the trials of being mated to an engineer," Balizar laughed. "But there are worse professions to be mated too!" he said with a smirk and looked at Sharazad who just smirked right back.

  We arrived at the restaurant about then, and went inside.

  "So how have you been holding up?" Sharazad asked Cassandra and me, as the others went on ahead.

  "I’m fine actually," I told her. "My nightmares stopped pretty quickly after I found Cassy."

  "And you?" she asked Cassandra.

  Cassandra sighed, "I’m still having them. Most of them aren’t that bad; I wake up, smell Raj, and know I’m safe."

  "And the rest of the time?"

  Cassandra’s ears flicked back and she looked down at the floor stopping. "About once a week I have a pretty nasty one. Just waking up doesn’t stop my panic. Raj has to turn the lights up and calm me back down."

  Sharazad nodded, "Don’t be afraid to talk to me or Bal about it. We’re both experienced with these kinds of problems, and we want to keep it in the clan. Don’t worry if they don’t stop right away. It’s going to take a while, don’t try to rush it, and don’t feel guilty about it."

  Cassandra nodded, and we went and caught up with the others.

  The day was an enjoyable one; Cassandra and I met with Gabe, my friend and former crewmate and his girlfriend Karen later on for lunch and spent the day out with them. Gabe was a foxmorph, and a pilot like me. We'd meet on the Astra when I'd first been assigned there right out of flight school. When he finished his first tour, Karen's family had used some of their influence to get him stationed here, as the two of them had gotten quite serious with each other.

  Karen was human, from a rather wealthy and powerful family here on Hobson. Their relationship had been something of a surprise to most of us, especially now that they were engaged to be married. Cross-species relationships weren't common, ones with humans were even less so.

  "So, set a date yet?" I asked the two of them later over dinner.

  Karen smiled and Gabe nodded. "December, which is two months before my assignment here is due to end."

  "Wonderful!" I said and Cassandra echoed.

  "We bought Cassy out yesterday," I said and leaned over and gave her a kiss.

  "Well, congrats to the two of you as well!" Gabe said.

  "If you ever need a place to stay, Cassandra," Karen said, "Our house will always be open."

  Cassandra bushed, "Thanks, I appreciate the offer."

  We talked awhile more about nothing really in particular, I’d already recounted my war stories, and Cassandra hers, on previous engagements. So we really didn’t bring that up again. I know Cassandra didn’t like discussing what had happened to her much, she had only told me some of the nastier stories and I think even bringing up the more tame ones still bothered her.

  As for my stories, well, she’d sort of just stare at me with that ‘you ever do that again and you’re in trouble’ look while I recounted them.

  The next day everyone was ordered back to the ship. We loaded for a day, and only into the central cargo hold, the two cargo modules we’d picked up were left empty. We’d also picked up two troop modules, one of which was full, and broke orbit as soon as the last cargo shuttle unloaded.

  "So, anybody know what kind of troops we're bringing along?" I asked as I sat around on alert with the other shuttle crews playing cards. It was kind of nice to be sitting alert on the Astra again; I was surprised to find that I had actually missed it.

  "I heard they opened up the access way once they finished the departure burn." Carol said. Carol was a female otter who had been with the Astra since it had dry-docked at Earth when the war started. She originally had been brought in as my replacement. She’d been flying for over a decade and apparently was rather accomplished as a pilot.

  As a poker player however, she wasn’t so great. "They were packed in there pretty tight, and they have moved quite a few out into the ship's general quarters." She continued.

  "Going to see if any of the old Falcon block members are onboard?" Dave asked as he anted up.

  I nodded. "Eventually. Not like there’s a big rush, they’re not going anywhere."

  "Wow," Chief Shandour said tossing his cards in and mucking them. "You have changed."

  I looked at the big tiger; Chief Shandour was still huge, one of the biggest tigers onboard. I was surp
rised he was playing cards with us; or rather, I was surprised that I was now sitting at the table with all the senior hands, which was the only one he ever played with. He was the head of flight ops, and in charge of all of the shuttle crews.

  "How so?" I asked curious.

  "Well, not only are you not in a rush to go see what kind of troops we got onboard so you can swap stories, but you’ve learned to use your tail to trick rather gullible pilots into staying in when they should have folded."

  Carol blushed and mucked her cards rather quickly.

  "Aw, Chief, I was going to use that money to buy Cassy a nice necklace," I said smirking. I only had a pair of twos, and the chief probably knew it. But Carol was a pretty wild bettor, and kept seeming to think she’d win on the river.

  "So, how is married life?" Jeb, one of the pilots who had been here when I’d first come onboard asked.

  "It suits me," I said smiling. "It really does. By the way, whatever happened to Jerry? I’m sort of surprised he isn’t still here."

  "Oh, when they built those two cruisers they were looking for some really hot shuttle pilots to fly the new attack fighters they designed to go with them. Jerry took one look and was in love," Chief Shandour said. "Last I heard he had racked up quite the number of kills."

  "Yeah, well, he is an eagle," I said chuckling.

  "Most eagles aren’t half as good as Jerry. I’m hoping we can get him back when they put the cruisers into mothballs."

  "Do you think they will?" Carol asked.

  Most of us nodded, "They’re too expensive to keep running around," Chief Shandour told her. "They don’t make any money for the company. They’ll stick them someplace out of sight; keep them maintained and ready for use if we ever need them again. But after the blowup we just had, no one is going to want to go to war again for a long, long, time if they can help it."

  "Yeah, war is just way too expensive," Jeb agreed nodding.

  When I got off shift I went and found Cassandra, and we went to the cafeteria together to eat lunch. As I had expected, the place was packed. It was a heavy combat group: tigers, leopards, wolves, about what I would have expected. I got a few looks; I was after all rather large for a leopard. Cassandra got quite a few more, as we got our food and found an open table, until they noticed we were both wearing mating earrings.

  "As I earn my pay! Raj!" I heard and turning around saw my old corporal from the Falcon.

  "Brasile!" I said and waved him over "Or should I say, ‘Sergeant Brasile now?" I grinned noticing his extra stripes.

  "Well, they had to put someone in charge of the maniacs after you left," he said sitting down. "Hi, Cassandra," he nodded to her, "you’re looking better than when I saw you last."

  "Thanks Brasile," she said smiling.

  "How many of the old squad is here?" I asked curious.

  "All of them actually. A couple of other squads from the Falcon are here too. The rest got spread around through the different battalions, or moved into other assignments."

  I nodded, "Who’s the battalion commander for this group?"

  Brasile grinned, "Johnson, only he’s a light colonel now."

  "What about Aruba?" Cassandra asked, her voice a little low.

  Brasile’s eyes got a hair wider, "Oh, yeah. She’s a captain now. I’ll let her know you’re onboard."

  I put my arm, and my tail, around Cassandra, "Don’t go looking for trouble, Hon, she’s in the past now, and you know it."

  Brasile snickered making both Cassandra and me look at him. "What?" I asked.

  "Just the idea of you of all people telling someone not to go look for trouble is all."

  "Oh my paycheck! Is that Raj?" I heard and looking over I saw Hess with a tray in his hand standing with the rest of the old squad. A minute later and they were sitting down to eat with us.

  "Hey Brasile," I said in a very loud whisper. "Who’s that new Sergeant sitting over there?" and I motioned towards Hess. "He looks familiar, but I could have sworn that no one would be stupid enough to put stripes on that particular uniform."

  Hess blushed and then laughed. "Okay, yeah, I let them give me some stripes."

  "Oh, that’s not the worst of it," Brasile said whispering loudly back. "Some idiot actually made him the squad second!"

  "Will wonders never cease!" I gasped as Hess threw a roll at my head and I caught it in my mouth.

  "Hey, I survived you, the ‘Terror of Falcon block!’ What’s a few stripes and a few troops to lead after that?"

  We laughed and I shook my head, "Well at least we made it through, right?"

  We all nodded.

  "So what's the name of this group?" I asked.

  "We're the 'Second Heavy Infantry;' it's a pretty big group too, which is kinda weird after being in a group with only sixty in it."

  "So, any idea where we’re going?"

  They all shook their heads, "I’m sure we’ll learn soon enough."

  Brasile introduced the new member of the squad, a young female leopard named Kennedy who was fresh out of training. Then they told me a little about the awards banquet, or rather, more about some of the drunken antics afterwards.

  Cassandra and I had the rest of our other regular duties to attend to after that, for me it was a lighter than normal load because I was part of the alert crew, and even though this was my off shift, I had to be available at a moment's notice. We were twelve on, twelve off, unless there was an alert of course, then I’d run for the shuttle bay. I spent most of my extra free time either studying, or working out. Then dinner with Cassandra and off to bed.

  That was the routine for the next three days. Riding as light as we were, the Astra made fairly good time out to the Eschar limit and we entered jump-space. The captain had a ship wide briefing scheduled for right after we jumped, which I watched from the flight deck as I was still on duty.

  "Attention to Orders," the captain started on the screen, he was sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge. "As you all know, the war has been hard on Tri-Star's business, and our shipping schedules have been heavily impacted. For the next several trips the Astra has been pulled off of her normal shipping schedules to deal with some remaining issues that have come to the company's attention."

  Several people on the flight deck groaned, and I suspected that sentiment was shared by more than a few people onboard. If the Astra wasn't trading, then we weren't making money, and that meant there would be no bonuses at the end of the ship's fiscal year.

  "Yes, I realize that this will have an impact on the ship's fiscal status, and I have taken that up with the company," Captain King said. "I have managed to secure a guaranteed minimum bonus for all of those still indentured, regardless of our trading profits," I saw everyone's ears go up at that comment, "provided of course that we carry off our assigned missions successfully."

  He paused a moment to let that sink in, Captain King was pretty well respected by everyone onboard, and the underlying message here was that he probably had put his own reputation with the company on the line for us, to win that concession.

  "As for where we are heading today, there are several small concerns that were wiped out, or which folded, during the war. The corporations that took part in the fighting have divided up those assets, which they know about, and we're off to collect some of those assets that now belong to Tri-Star.

  "Our next stop is a small mining and research facility owned by the now defunct Sagert Company on a planet known as 'Tualatin.' As far as we know it has been several years since any ship called at this facility, its location was not public knowledge and only became known to Tri-Star after we acquired its assets.

  "So this is as much of a rescue mission as it is one to recover new assets. The second troop module that we're carrying contains the replacement crew for that site; we will be taking off any surviving members, again, we have no idea what shape the survivors there will be in, or if there will even be any. We do not know if the site was attacked by any of the humanist movement during the wa
r, and the records we do have on the site are incomplete."

  I thought about that, and wondered if that was why we had troops onboard?

  "As for the troops we are carrying," Captain King said, answering my unasked question. "It has come to the attention of Tri-Star and their allies in the war that there were a few companies that were assisting our enemies. We will be engaging in a hostile takeover of some of their assets after we have completed our mission at Tualatin. You will be briefed on that mission after this one has been completed.

  "We will be leaving jump in forty-one days, your section heads have been briefed, you may ask them for further details. Thank you, Captain out."

  "Forty-one days," Dave said looking at Chief Shandour, "that's pretty far out, isn't it?"

  Chief Shandour nodded and looked at us. All of the shuttle crews were here, even those who were off watch. "The Sagert company was a concern based out of Alexandra, they didn't have many holdings, but they had been doing fairly well until the war broke out. They had their headquarters at one of their larger installations, and it was completely destroyed by an orbital bombardment about half way through the war, which wiped out the board and several of their major investors. No one even knew about that until a little over a year ago."

  "So how long have then been isolated?" Carol asked.

  "We don't know, at least two years, maybe three."

  "Guess we'll find out when we get there," I said. "What kind of planet are we looking at?"

  Chief Shandour shrugged, "No idea. We recovered the name and location from a surviving company navigation database, along with the names and locations of the rest of their sites. Tualatin was far enough out that it must have been discovered by a private survey, so we won't know what we're dealing with until we get there. For all we know it may have been raided by the enemy during the war as well."

  "Well, hopefully it isn't a hole in the ground, I don't think that would help the bonus situation much," Jeb sighed and the rest nodded in agreement.

  "Well, until we get there, we won't know," the Chief agreed. "For now however, we have maintenance to do, and training to perform. Now, let's go over the schedule."