Chapter 19: Promotion

“I intend to leave after my death a large fund for the promotion of the peace idea, but I am skeptical as to its results.” – Alfred Nobel.

York, Great Britain. June 1072

Colonel Baker slowly opened her eyes. She had been unconscious since the building had been dropped on her. At first, she couldn’t figure out where she was since the air was cool and her bed didn’t rock. Then, a redhead pulled back the fabric surrounding her bed.

“Well, you’re a hard woman to kill, Colonel.”

Madeline looked up as if she saw an angel, “Doctor Kensley?”

“I’m no angel, although I know a man who would dispute that. How do you feel, colonel?”

“Terrible, everything hurts.”

“Considering what happened to you, that’s no surprise. What do you remember from the battle?”

“It was a hard battle. The enemy knew we were coming and was ready for us. A couple of arrows hit me, but they weren’t bad.” Alice gave a glance but kept quiet. “The last thing I remember was taking cover by a building; then there was a loud explosion. After that, everything is a blank.”

“You should have been evac’d when you were shot in the back. That arrow did a significant amount of muscle damage. It was lucky for you that the ship’s surgeon is outstanding. You owe your life to that man.”

“By the way, what day is it?”

“Saturday, 5 June.”

“Oh. What happened to the rest of my grenadiers?”

“Most of the wounded survived, although not all will be able to return to duty. Two hundred and forty-nine were KIA, and a further 45 died of their wounds before the task force returned to Britain.” Seeing Madeline begin crying, Alice continued, “I’m sorry, Madeline.”

“Don’t say you’re sorry, doc. It cheapens their sacrifice,” she sighed. “Was the battle worth it?

“Yes, it was. Almost 2,500 slaves were released, including 62 British merchant sailors. Those sailors and almost 1,000 of the former slaves are now here, although many of the slaves are having a hard time adjusting.” By this time, Madeline could barely keep her eyes open. Seeing this, Alice smiled. “Rest, colonel. When you wake up again, a navy captain is dying to see you.”

Madeline smiled and fell asleep.

The next morning, Madeline woke up with a change in hospital shift. This time, she felt much better and could order breakfast, which turned out to be yogurt and juice, despite her order of steak and eggs. When Madeline looked at her plate, the nurse smiled.

“You can’t have more until you can get to the bathroom. You really don’t want to use the bedpan, do you?” Madeline frowned, and the nurse smiled. “Come on, Colonel; we need to get you cleaned up since there’s a handsome captain here to see you.”

“Tostig is here??”

“Yes, he is. He hasn’t left your side much since you arrived.”

“But what about his duties?”

“Relax. Admiral Ewing talked to the queen, and everything is good. He can return to his ship once you have recovered.”

“Oh. Thank God. Tostig would be crushed if he lost his command.”

“I almost forgot, but a large man came in a little bit ago wanting to talk to you. I don’t know him, but he looks important.”

Madeline could see past the nurse, and when she saw who the nurse was talking about, she pulled herself to attention the best she could.

“As you were, colonel,” Luke said while sitting beside Madeline’s bed. “You’re a hard woman to kill and one hell of a commander.”

“I told her that yesterday,” Alice said when she walked up behind Luke and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“General, will I lose my command?” Madeline asked, fearing the answer.

“Why would you ask that?”

“My command suffered 30% killed, and most remaining troops were wounded.”

“Colonel, I read the reports and talked to the survivors. You did an outstanding job of taking a heavily defended city. Most armies would have still been fighting to capture the city. You took it in five hours. Colonel Baker, that accomplishment alone is worth the Distinguished Service Cross. The fact you took the city while severely wounded means you have been put in for a second Cross of Honor and Valor. That is in addition to another Purple Heart. We will have the official ceremony for those once you can move around. And before you get any other ideas, as soon as you are cleared for duty, you will begin rebuilding the grenadiers, general.”

“W ... W ... what?!?!” Madeline was like a fish out of water.

“You heard me, general.” Luke chuckled. “You are being promoted to brigadier general, and the grenadiers are being expanded to a brigade. Those soldiers might be more expensive, but the return is much higher.”

Madeline could only stare at Luke as she tried to get her brain to engage. Then Luke pulled a small box out of his coat pocket, opened it, and pinned Madeline’s star to her shirt. Once Luke put the box on the nearby table, he stood and saluted the newly minted Brigadier General Madeline Baker.

Luke noticed Captain Tostig had returned, so he stood, saluted Madeline again, and left with Alice. Tostig stared at his wife while she told him what had just happened to her. Once she was done, he carefully wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. At that point, Madeline broke down and wept into Tostig’s shoulder. All the strain she was under was too much, and it felt good to cry. Tostig said nothing as he held her and rubbed her back until Madeline finally stopped crying.

From the door, Luke and Alice watched Tostig comfort Madeline as they smiled at each other. At various times before, both had been in both positions, with Alice crying when she lost patients and Luke crying when the army suffered heavy casualties. Luke’s next stop was a certain blonde woman’s office.

Marion looked up from her work when Luke slipped into her office.

“What’s up?”

“Just talked with our newest general.”

“Ah. How did that go?”

“Excellent, although I think she’s still in shock. She thought I would relieve her of command because of the casualties she suffered in Tripoli.”

“With the slaves she helped release and the treasure she helped capture? I don’t think so.” Luke let out a barking laugh. “When she is decorated, I will announce bonuses for everyone who participated in that expedition. Before you say anything, with the massive amount of treasure they sent back, I can afford it and still come out ahead.”

“Just be careful, sweetheart. You don’t want it where the troops always expect a bonus when they get home.”

“I will, Luke, and they won’t because I’m going to make it clear this is a special occasion. Actually, the main reason is my treasury is packed full, and I have no room to put any more treasure. The extension won’t be ready for six months.”

“Damn, I didn’t realize just how much loot they sent back.”

“I didn’t either until Wealhmær came to see me this morning. At first, I didn’t believe him, but then I carefully reviewed the reports, and still, I did not believe it. Gabby and I visited the treasury. If anything, Wealhmær understated the problem.”

“Damn! Just don’t waste that money on silly or stupid shit.”

“I know Luke. If I ever need a reminder, all I have to do is look at some of the news stories you have saved on your computer. I can’t believe your politicians were so idiotic.”

“They were, but they were not the only stupid politicians. All politicians love to spend money. They might claim they are against waste, but what they really mean is they are against waste in areas they oppose. If the waste happens in areas the politician supports, it’s not wasted but needed investments. We had some politicians who foolishly thought the military should be disbanded while others believed all social safety net programs should be eliminated.”

“Just how stupid were the politicians from your time?”

“No dumber than politicians from any other point in history. One of our problems was the amount of money available to bribe the politicians; although they didn’t call it a bribe, it was a “campaign contribution.” It didn’t matter since they are the same thing.”

“Oh.”

“Yep. It’s something you will have to watch out for. Wasted money is wasted money, no matter where it’s spent, and corruption is corruption, no matter what it’s called. My government’s biggest problem was the massive amount of overlapping vague laws. That allowed lawyers and nutty judges to rearrange laws to anything they wanted. Congress made the problem worse because they kept passing vague laws. If they passed laws that were not vague, they knew the voters would blame them for how fucked up the laws really were.”

“So, is that why you pushed me to set up the laws the way they are?”

“Yep. I don’t want future generations to fuck up what we are trying to accomplish.”

“How did we go down this rabbit hole, Luke?”

Luke smiled at Marion, “We started talking money, and I got carried away.”

“Was there anything else?”

“Unless you have about twenty minutes to spare,” Luke said with a leer.

Marion looked at him, stood up, and locked the door. Luke moved to her and started working on her button-down shirt while Marion worked on his pants. They only had about twenty minutes until Marion had her next meeting. As soon as Marion’s shirt was unbuttoned, Luke’s hands were cupping her tits. Marion moaned as Luke’s fingers pinched her nipples. Luke pinching Marion’s nipples sent electric shocks straight to her clit.

With fluid leaking out of her tunnel, Marion pushed Luke on his back and whipped her pants off before she mounted him. She rode him hard and, within moments, had a powerful orgasm wash over her. Before Marion could recover, Luke flipped them over and put her heels on his shoulders.

Luke drove deep into Marion’s core as one of his hands pinched one of her nipples while he played with her swollen clit with his other hand. Marion’s orgasm never seemed to end as she rode from one peak to the next. Luke couldn’t last long while feeling Marion’s tunnel flutter and massage his member. All too soon, Luke buried himself deep into Marion and unleashed a torrent of white goo. It took them almost ten minutes for their breathing to return to normal and their skin to dry.

They finally got up and helped each other dress. As they finished, Marion’s secretary knocked to inform Marion of her next meeting. Luke and Marion smiled at each other, and Luke let himself out. Marion’s secretary gave him a knowing glance, and he offered her a smug grin.

Luke decided that since he was already so close to home, he would call it a day and spend the rest in his workshop. Since he had finished the master micrometer, he had completed six more, with five being sent to a workshop specializing in measuring tools. Having the more precise micrometers made Luke’s engine project much easier. Even though he only had the new micrometers a month, he had made more progress on the diesel engine than in the previous six months. At the rate he was going, the first diesel engine would be done by the end of the month. Then, he would have to get it to start using biodiesel.

The possibilities were limitless once Luke had the diesel engine working, although he already had plans for the first use. Knowing the limitations of steam engines, Luke would put the diesel engines in navy ships that currently used oil to power their steam engines. With diesel engines, they could move faster while saving fuel simultaneously since there was no need to heat water to boiling before moving.

By the end of the day, Luke had most of the major pieces done. Machining the pistons, Luke swore he would build a friction welder in the next couple of years. Friction welding pistons leave the pistons as strong as if they were forged from one piece while making it possible to include internal passages for oil to cool the piston. Instead of flat piston heads, Luke cut a cup into them with a corresponding bump in the cylinder head. This increased the surface area of the piston, allowing more energy to be transferred to the piston, resulting in a more efficient engine. Luke always tried to build things as efficiently as possible.

Once Luke was done with his shower, he was mugged by the children, and he spent a few hours playing with them. They wouldn’t come close to him when he first walked into their chambers because he smelled. Watching the children hold their noses as they backed away from him caused Luke to double over in laughter. He chased a couple of kids around before climbing into the shower.