Starlight Gleaming Ch. 11

There is a scene describing a family murder-suicide after leaving the hospital. If such disturbs you, there is a break where Ranji and Zinja get the weapons from his vehicle; from there, you can skip to the next break mark.

Near the end of the chapter, Zinja sing an Oexecan song. The quote indicates a glottal stop, when the syllable is cut short. The language is a complete fabrication, but I wrote it after listening to a couple of albums by Radmilla Cody.

Thanks to my reader, gyfurune, who helps catch the errors. Any mistakes that slip through are my mine.

=========================

I awoke groggy and disoriented, wondering where I was. My next thought was how stiff and sore I felt. The low light, the cream and chrome decor, the ice cold rail of the hospital bed against my back, and Janetta snuggled close -- all coalesced into my awareness. We were in the Naval hospital.

Shutting off my watch alarm, I got up as gently as I could, but even drugged with sedatives, my battered warrior noticed me leaving.

"Ranji?" she murmured, reaching after me.

"It's okay, Janetta. I have to go to work, but I'll be back later." I nuzzled her, gently kissing her cheek and lips.

"'Kay," she mumbled, and wrapped her arms around her pillow. Then she rolled onto her belly. Burying her head under the pillow, she moved her foot with the cast until her toes hung off the mattress edge. Sometime during the night, she had removed the flimsy hospital gown. The marvel of her tight, feminine butt brought a sad smile to my face, her beauty marred by the bruising she'd suffered.

The Nu-Skin patches on her back were almost completely absorbed. By tonight, the deep, draconian claw marks on her back and the bite at the base of her neck would be healed, leaving only thin marks and lines in her skin. While the patches were less effective with bruises, they did help, as the timed-release of the analgesic reduced the pain while the muscles healed.

I stretched a bit to work out the kinks. I was in need of a shower, a shave, a fresh uniform, and breakfast. A couple of cups of hot cahault would also help improve my outlook. A year ago I'd never had the chocolate-flavored coffee so popular in the northern states of the Empire. Now, I found it hard to go without drinking four to six cups a day.

After slipping my shoes on, I pulled the sheet over Janetta, but she immediately fussed and wriggled it mostly off.

Seeing her there like that was an exercise in heartache. Even battered and bruised as she was, her butt cheeks were pure perfection. Attached to those smooth globes were strong, lean legs that went on forever, all part of the amazing beauty of Janetta Tlacotli. It was her physical charms that first turned my head. It was her direct, forthright, yet sassy manner that fed my hunger for her. But it was her strong heart, so full of passion, that won my own.

Fully cognizant of the jokes I'd get if word got out, I kissed her ass. Both cheeks. "I love you, Janetta," I whispered.

During the night, the Imperial Security private outside her room had been replaced by a corporal. I suggested to him three reasons why Janetta and Cholan should share a room: it would improve their morale, it would make them easier to guard, and it would free up a room, the latter which would make the Navy medical staff happy.

"I'll pass it along, sir," he said.

* * * * *

Nu-Skin was an invention of Imperial bio research, and one that we in the Empire of Chimorro were justifiably proud. Once released to the public, it was quickly pirated by the other nations of the world. A simple product, it is quickly absorbed by the skin with minimal or no scarring. Just remove the back cover to activate the compounds and the sticky patch is ready to adhere. The patches safely store for up to three years, a further boon to their usefulness.

Complementing the development of Nu-Skin were the breakthroughs in nano-technology. Those microscopic nano-machines were capable of rebuilding shattered bodies, reconnecting severed nerves, and regrowing limbs, or cleansing diseased organs. Even shattered bones would migrate back together and reform as a single unit within a week, and be fully healed within a month. A broken foot once took four to six months to fully and safely bear weight once again. Broken ribs could take as long as a year for the last ache to fade. The process requires some sedation as bone growth, and even bone-knitting, was a painful experience. Nonetheless, the effects were nothing short of astounding.

The nano-treatments were a complex healing system. I didn't know the specifics, of course, not being a physician, but I did have a basic understanding of the process. The technology requires mapping both the genome and the phenome of the individual. A genome is the entire genetic coding that makes up a person; it is all the potential that resides within your body. For example, within the genome is the code for making your hand have three fingers, four, or five, whether you have an opposable thumb, or whether you have fingernails instead of claws.

If one's genetic history and potential is the genome, the phenome comprises what genetic switches were turned on, and in what order. Sometimes it was one gene sequence for one trait, but as often, one codon controlled several traits, whereas another trait might require several combinations of code. There's more to it, a lot more, but that's the gist of it.

Medical computers, too, are required to monitor the process, keeping the nano-robots on task. The liquid supplements and bathing in nutrient solutions help provide the extra raw materials for the tiny machines to complete their work. Without the supplements, the microscopic workers would plunder nearby healthy systems for needed resources, creating a viscous cycle of universal deprivation to the host, often resulting in an excrutiating death.

There were, however, two drawbacks to the nano-treatment. First, it remained expensive, and outside the financial reach of most citizens. One treatment would set back a lower class family for a decade or longer. The military would pay for nano-treatments only if the injury was incurred in the line of duty. Otherwise, older, more traditional methods were used. That had been the argument I'd had with the doctor over Cholan's treatment. Because her thyroid condition had not occurred in the line of duty, the Air Service wouldn't pay for the added cost. The focused treatment on her thyroid, that she should have received upon enlistment, would have taken an hour as an out-patient. Now it would take a year to bring her body safely back into balance.

The second drawback affected women in the military. Sterilizations were healed, and birth control drugs were quickly flushed from the body, rendering them ineffective.

That meant no sex involving vaginal penetration for sixty days following the last nano-treatment. Even if the Fallopian tubes were subsequently cut, to be safe, there was a thirty day wait to make sure an egg hadn't slipped by, and was waiting quietly in the uterus for a sperm bath. Just putting the cock inside, with the goal of pulling out prior to ejaculation, was taking a risk. Once hard, pre-cum lubes the pathway while cleansing it of urine. Prior to ejaculation, though, small amounts of semen also leak out and mix with the pre-cum. It only takes one single sperm cell to do the job. Granted, the risk is small, but it's still a risk. For Cholan, it would end her career. For Janetta, it was recklessly putting her life in danger.

Despite the fact that Janetta and Cholan were healing at an accelerated rate, I didn't see either of them being too happy about the sexual restrictions. If she craved penetration, Cholan might be open to the alternative, which was plenty of oral with some anal action.

I did not see Janetta accepting that. One of the first things she told me was that her ass was off limits. During her time at the military academy, she had been repeatedly raped by two men determined to make her quit the service. Some women take to anal right away, and some never like it. Ever. My personal servant, Calia, and I had tried it a few times. Calia told me it made her feel incredibly submissive. It takes patience, and a lot of care and arousal to do it without hurting the woman. And, there's no doubt that if the nerve cluster in the anus isn't sensitive enough, there's less incentive for the woman to repeat the experience except as an act of love for her man. In Janetta's case, however, she had had almost two years of pain associated with the act.

Birth control drugs were cheap, costing about two credits for a month's supply. Yet there was another, legal alternative to the drugs, and it was one that wasn't well known in the Empire.

Condoms.

With the limited rights of women in the Empire to have a say in their sexual partners, and with nearly half of women still being illiterate, it wasn't surprising that condoms were a rarity. The man had to be willing to put them on. The low cost of the drugs, too, further discouraged their usage.

In many places, condoms had to be special ordered. In that respect, having the Seven Nations so close was a boon. I had seen various brands available at the apothecary in Capisco.

If the Commissary didn't stock them, I would make a special trip into Capisco. At least, once I obtained another vehicle for my personal use.

In the interim, I would use my fingers and tongue to keep Janetta's pussy humming from the coming. Imagining her writhing on my face gave me a huge grin. She liked it and it made me feel good giving her such pleasure.

* * * * *

Since they were closest, I visited Sowitwee and his wife first. I was unsurprised to find him rumpled and fitfully dozing at her bedside.

His wife, Nariya, was awake when I arrived. A nurse was putting on fresh Nu-Skin patches onto her wounds. Already, most of the third- and second-degree burns were covered by new layers of artificial skin. Once the dangers of infection were gone, the nurse informed me, Nariya would be moved from her private room to shared quarters on the first floor.

I found Nariya herself to be very polite and quite charming. I was surprised to discover that she was mute. Watching them converse in sign language was heart warming, their devotion to each other plain. I was also quite clueless as to what they talked about.

Hustling him out, we went up three floors to Ixma's room, and I re-introduced Sowitwee to them both.

With my ChoCac gone, all we had for transportation was Janetta's two-seat HueCac with its short cargo bed in the back. My plan, I explained to all three of them, was to drop Sowitwee by his place to get cleaned up. Then I would swing back by on the way to work. Sowitwee's first job would be to drive back to the hospital and pick up Zinja and Ixma by mid-morning, and --

"Sir? I can't drive," Sowitwee interrupted.

I blinked. "You're kidding me."

"Ixma can drive some," Zinja noted blandly. "She only hits guard rails and fence posts about a third of the time any more."

Her daughter narrowed her eyes. "It was only the one time--"

"Twice," her mother corrected, narrowing her gaze in return.

"There was no damage that second time, so it doesn't count," Ixma insisted.

"The post was plastic, so you lucked out, girl. Had it been metal, you would have bent the bumper and possibly the frame." Turning to face me, she continued. "It's only six rads, sir. Not a bad walk. We'll stop by your work in a couple of hours."

"Hmm," I thought aloud. "I could come by during lunch and pick you up?"

"Navy is cutting us loose about an hour after breakfast," Zinja replied.

"Let's talk to your guard. Maybe he can arrange transportation." Stepping into the hallway, I explained to the guard my desires. He raised his eyebrows but remained polite about the request. He would pass it along, I was assured. I re-entered the room, not very encouraged.

Zinja asked for an update on Janetta, which I gave. As we were about to depart, Ixma insisted on a kiss goodbye. Slipping out of bed, she wrapped her arms around me and laid on with sincere interest.

When I managed to get some air, I shook my head. "What am I going to do with you, Ixma?"

"I'm your woman, Lieutenant." She smiled, looking up at me. "I want you to keep making love to me. What? I can't help it, sir. I love you." Rubbing the stubble on my chin affectionately, she stepped back. "Your turn, Second Sergeant."

I half expected her to demur as she usually did, but Zinja stood up and drew me in for a gentle hug and an easy, lingering kiss full of underlying heat. Leaning in, she whispered to my ear, "Don't forget, I made a promise to you. Like a vacuum cleaner, sir."

My groin twitched. When I remembered to breathe again, I cleared my throat. "Thank you, Sergeant Zinja. Come on, Sowitwee. Let's clear out while I'm still standing."

Zinja laughed while I retreated from the field.

Downstairs, we stepped out into the early summer morning. There was a bit of humidity in the air, so I looked southeast toward the ocean. Dark clouds lined the edge of the horizon. I hadn't heard anything recently, but I had been too busy to check. When I got to work, I planned on getting a weather report. We were heading into hurricane season at High Guard.

Sowitwee and his wife lived in the NCO dorm, sharing their ten by twenty room and bath with another couple. Corporals didn't make enough money to afford their own housing, and with the graft that had been going on, they likely had little to spare each month to cover things like laundry and extra clothing for his wife. Hopefully, with the exacting eye of Imperial Security, and the various accounting offices, going through the finances of the base operations, things would get to a normal level of chaos, instead of the penury the enlisted, and many of the officers, had been forced to endure.

We arrived at Logistics and Supply with a good ten minutes to spare, so we sat in the HueCac. On the way, I had bought us both breakfast from the Commissary, so while we waited, we ate and enjoyed the morning sunlight. Over two hundred men and women were gathered around the building's entrance.

Sergeant Doyya spotted me and made her way through the crowd. Bold as brass, she grinned at me. "Beautiful day, sir, isn't it?"

I nodded, taking a drink to clear my throat. "You look happy."

"Best night's sleep in a month. Can I speak freely, sir?"

"Go for it." I took another bite of my breakfast wrap.

"You look like shit, sir."

Sowitwee started choking on his food.

"If you are going to heave," I warned him, "do it outside the vehicle. You do not want to get on the bad side of Lieutenant Tlacotli, believe me." I turned to Doyya, smiling thinly. "Thank you, Sergeant. It's what I needed to hear first thing this morning." I took another bite of breakfast.

Doyya looked at me with concern. "No, really, sir. At the end, when you left last night, you looked pretty bad. Did you get any sleep at all?"

"A little. I live with four people, Sergeant, and all of us spent the night at the Naval Hospital, and three of them are being treated. Sowitwee's wife is there, too. The good thing is they are all alive. A very good thing." I clapped Sowitwee on the back a couple of times until he held up his hand, breathing easier.

She nodded. "Understood, sir. I just meant that you need to take care of yourself. You're a decent officer. We need you." And with that, she gave a respectful nod and moved away.

Sowitwee looked at me in surprise. "You actually let her talk to you like that, sir?"

"Sergeant Doyya doesn't work for me, but it's a sergeant's job to keep the officer up to date with what's going on. An officer who only wants to hear things are going well is not a good officer. Sergeant Doyya was expressing concern, even if she was being remarkably blunt about it. While I worked last night, she stayed for hours, volunteering her time, keeping me in food and cahault."

He looked thoughtful."Yes, sir."

We dumped our trash in the bin beside the building and went around to the front.

Just then, three vehicles pulled into the parking lot. One was a Tortoise Troop Transport. The back hatch opened and ten Imperial Guard spilled out, taking up stations around the newly arrived vehicles. The other two vehicles were ChoCacs, and several Imperial Security got out. A senior lieutenant, attended by a half dozen aides, strode through the crowd, and stepped onto the landing in front of the main doors.

There were seven officers, including myself, present in the growing crowd. Our names were read off by a second sergeant. The senior lieutenant consulted his tablet computer, then announced that the first four were confirmed at their present rank. One lieutenant was demoted to sublieutenant. The other lieutenant was promoted two steps to captain and made provisional CO for the 917th Logistics and Supply Division. Mayerka Xotochan.

That meant that all the remaining officers, of senior lieutenant rank and above, had either been demoted and transferred out or had been executed by Imperial Security. That fact was not lost on us.

A security sergeant handed out the grade changes right there. As the lowest ranking officer, my name was the last one to be read.

"Sublieutenant Ranji Kandikan?" spoke the sergeant.

"Here," I answered.

"Promotion to Senior Lieutenant, in command of the new Auditing and Security Oversight unit. Step up and receive your grade change."

Once I was on the landing, the sergeant removed the single pips from my shoulder lapels and replaced them with the line of three circles. Then he handed me a plastic bag with more triples inside. I raised my eyebrows. "I was told you need extras," he muttered.

Counting six extras, I couldn't help but smile. Commander Orchid was being thoughtful while she indirectly teased me about Janetta's flight crew.

The senior lieutenant looked me over. "Lieutenant Kandikan, your unit is the first one to be re-authorized in your Division. Captain Xotochan, you and the other officers here have one week to review current work flow and present any changes to Command and Control, while the Naval Office of Accounting performs an inventory of all supplies on hand. Lieutenant, you need to appoint your Second Officer and your senior NCO."

It was a gamble, as I hadn't had a chance to review her personnel jacket. However, she struck me as being smart, honest, ethical, loyal, and a hard worker -- everything I would want in a Second. "What is the status of Sergeant Doyya?" I asked.

"Sergeant Doyya Lovyanchiti?" asked the security officer. "Status is .. grade confirmed as sergeant. No change."

"Sergeant Doyya, advance," I called out. I saw her eyes widen.

She moved to the front of the crowd, then snapped to attention. "Sir!"

"Promotion to Second Sergeant, effective immediately."

"Noted," the security officer said. Setting his tablet on the wide hand rail, he tapped on the screen. "Sergeant Doyya confirmed as Senior NCO--"

"And," I continued, "brevet promotion to Sublieutenant as my Second."

I thought Doyya was going to pass out for a moment, but she recovered quickly, standing her ground.

"A moment, Lieutenant. I will need to confirm this request." The senior lieutenant typed on his tablet, then waited. Several minutes went by, then spoke. "Promotion confirmed, brevet grade for one year, pending review at that time. Signed, Commander Orchid."

Doyya closed her eyes a moment, exhaling slowly. Several others blinked at the mention of the Commander's name.

"Easy, Doyya," I whispered.

"What about your Senior NCO, Lieutenant? I need to know your selection."

I pulled out my laptop from my satchel, flipped up the lid and pressed the power button. "You have your lists for the enlisted? Send them to my computer. My laptop should be showing up as available on your network any moment."