Chapter 12

BOABDIL UPPER

Edita Macquarrie stared curiously at the two groups of ships entering the Boabdil system. Both were friendly. One was a convoy from Home escorted by the carrier Manzikert. The other was a pair of cruiser squadrons commanded by Admiral Adana Korina. Change was obviously coming to Boabdil. She looked at the symbol for Admiral Korina. If the Admiral took over here, then that meant she was going to be reassigned. She wondered what her new assignment would be. Whatever memories people had about Setosha should certainly have been laid to rest by the battle she’d fought at that collection station. Whatever her new assignment was, she hoped it would give her a chance to rip into the Empire again.

“How long till they reach Upper?” she asked the gal at the Astrogation console.

“Five more hours, Ma’am.”

“Very good,” Edita said. “I’ll be in my quarters if you need me.”

She trailed her good hand over the control station before walking back to her quarters. The station, Boabdil Upper, was still strange to her, despite two months of occupation. She knew why it felt different: different designers with different ideas.

The corridor was a good example. Vertical pipes broke the corridor every few paces, square air chutes stretched across the top of the corridor every dozen meters. In a Families Station, those pipes and chutes would all have been covered with false ceilings and bulkheads. She looked at the corridor wall just outside the Command Center. The builders had apparently been addicted to gray and beige. There was no hint of color anywhere on the station. That was another thing you would never find in a Families’ station. The Families liked color. A Families’ ship or station was a riot of color.

She stopped at a group of three girls cheerfully repainting a section of the corridor. “What do you have so far?” she asked. She tilted her head, trying to make sense of their work.

“Ma’am,” one gal acknowledged. She put her hand on her hip and stepped back. “Well, we’re trying to do a sunset over a lagoon with trees on both sides.” She grimaced and waved her brush vaguely at the painting. “Right now, though, it looks like Pauline had an accident with the yellow and red paints.”

Edita tilted her head slightly the other way. “It looks better than it did two hours ago,” she judged. “The last time I saw it, I could still see some of that horrid gray.”

The gal laughed. “Anything is an improvement over that gray.” She sighed and tilted her head the other way, studying their work. “Maybe we need to make the scene a little less dramatic.”

“I don’t know, Masha,” another gal said. “We still haven’t put in the framing scene yet. The trees will help tone it down.”

Edita nodded. “Could be. Well, good luck. Hope it works out the way you want it to.” She walked slowly down the corridor, hearing the three bickering good-naturedly behind her. She passed other parties painting other sections of the corridors. Repainting corridors and compartments was one of the traditions of the Fleet. On board ships, it was one of the ways you passed the time during long deployments. It often led to competitions between departments and a feeling of the constant change of life. That was important with long deployment cycles.

Back in her quarters, Edita slowly began organizing her things. It was odd that Admiral Korina was coming here. She should be out tearing another piece off of the Empire. Still, the Admiral had just done six straight months of combat operations, followed by a stint of diplomacy at Medina. Maybe this was meant to be a rest for her. Goodness knows, with a sib murdered by the Impies and the long strain of that attack through the middle of the Empire, the woman needed a rest. The last time Edita had seen her had been on Home just before shipping out to Setosha, and Admiral Korina had been nothing but skin and bones held together by sheer determination.

She sighed, looking around her quarters. The Imperial who had used them last had certainly lived in luxury. This was a five-room suite. Edita had turned three of the rooms over to her staff, leaving her just a sleeping room and an office. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could need more room than that. Even the Eldest of her family lived in smaller quarters than this, and Family River Valley on Weon was a rich and prosperous family.

She ran her hand over the desk in her office. Still, she would be a little disappointed to give all this up. It wasn’t the size of the rooms that mattered, but here at Boabdil, she had an established command. She was doing something important for all of the families.

Six hours later, Edita’s world turned completely upside down. They had all gathered in the Main Reception Room on Boabdil Upper: Admiral Korina and three of her staff; Captain Debra Mathies, the Commander of the Marines on Viktor Leonov; Captain Jesse Ulriksdotter of the Manzikert; Second Officer Elisa Davenport of the Residence on Boabdil, and Captain Lyssa Alvarda of the Yi Sung Sin. Also present, though running a little late, was the courier who had come out on the Manzikert, Fifth Officer Avis Hardesty. From what Edita could gather, rumors had swirled around the young woman like leaves in a storm.

“Fifth Officer Hardesty,” Edita said when the young woman entered the Conference Room. “Per your request, every senior Families officer in the Boabdil system is present. What do you have for us from Home?”

“News and orders, Ma’am,” Fifth Officer Hardesty said. She put her pouch on the table in front of her and looked around the table, nodding to herself. “I have specific items for each of the people here, but first I have the following announcements from Fleet Headquarters.” She took out a single sheet of paper and cleared her throat.

“All the usual routing information. But this is information for all Families military forces in the Boabdil System.

“1. Admiral Volyn Carter has resigned as Eldest of the Navy. Admiral Loretta Richards has been named as her successor. Admiral Richards will assume her post 30 days after reporting her arrival in the Home System. Until that time, Admiral Leah Bridges, Retired, is Acting Eldest of the Navy.

“2. Admiral Adana Korina: upon conclusion of your family leave, you are requested and required to return to the Home System for consultation concerning future operations. Further details, including intelligence summaries, are included in an Eyes-Only pouch.

“3. The Light Carrier Manzikert, and its consorts, are assigned to the defense of the Boabdil System. The Manzikert will form a carrier squadron with the Yi Sung Sin until such a time as the Fleet Carrier de Ruyter arrives at Boabdil. At that time, the de Ruyter will assume the role of squadron command. This squadron, and other such ships as are assigned to it, will constitute and be known as the Boabdil Battle Group.

“4. When the de Ruyter arrives in the Boabdil System, the Yi Sung Sin Battle Group will return to the Home System to prepare for future operations.

“5. The 9th and 17th Cruiser Squadrons, and the 21st and 25th Escort Squadrons have been assigned to the Boabdil Battle Group and are proceeding independently to Boabdil. Upon arrival, they will report to the senior officer of the Boabdil Battle Group.

“6. Captain Edita Macquarrie is promoted to the rank of Admiral and assigned as Admiral Commanding of the Boabdil System.

“7. The rank of Marine Commandant is created, ranking as equivalent to Naval Captain Commanding.

“8. Marine First Officer Alayta Anna Rodrigues is promoted to Commandant and Eldest of the Marine Corps. She will report to Admiral Richards. The Eldest of the Marines will have the right of presentation in the Council of Families.

“9. The following Marine First Officers are promoted to Marine Commandant of their respective commands: Svetlana Tarra Johnson, Marine Commandant Home; Gerri Karin Dickerson, Marine Commandant Weon; Marine First Officer Brynna Lynne Hampton is reinstated from Retired Status and promoted to Marine Commandant Setosha. The Marine System Commandants will rank as Eldests and have command of all Marines in their respective systems. The Marine System Commandants will report to the Admiral Commanding of their respective systems for all but internal administrative matters, in which cases they will report to the Eldest of the Marine Corps. Marine Commandants will not have the right of presentation in the Council of Families.

10. Within 30 days of this announcement, new regulations will be published concerning the administrative duties, requirements, responsibilities, and privileges of Marine Commandants.

“11. The Marine First Officers in command of the Marine Detachments on the Viktor Leonov, Chu Wei, and Peter Young will draw all operational and administrative orders from Marine Commandant Rodrigues.”

Volyn Carter, Admiral and Eldest, United Families Navy; Leah Brides, Admiral and Acting Eldest, United Families Navy.

Fifth Officer Hardesty folded the piece of paper, then reached into her pouch and pulled out a small green box. She walked around the table to place it in front of a stunned Edita Macquarrie. “Congratulations, Ma’am,” she said, saluting.

Edita looked at the box in surprise. Hesitantly, she reached for it with her good hand. It had her name and serial number on it. She was surprised to see her hand shaking. Admiral. She was an Admiral. They had promoted her to Admiral. She fumbled with the box, almost dropping it. Finally, she pried it open. The bar of an Admiral was nestled inside.

“Allow me,” Admiral Korina--no, cancel that, Adana--said, smiling. In the Families Navy, Admirals always called each other by their first names. Adana deftly removed the bar from the box, and the duplicate tucked in below it. She unfastened the wreath and star Edita wore as a Captain Commanding and clipped on the Admiral’s bar in its place.

“That bar looks good on you, Edita,” Adana said, stepping back.

Edita cautiously raised her hand to her collar, feeling the shape of the bar. After years of wearing a Captain’s insignia, this felt strange. Her emotions were all twisting around: happiness, dread, and several things she couldn’t quite put her finger on. This had caught her completely by surprise, and she wasn’t sure she liked surprises, even this one.

“You’ll find that bar is heavier than it looks,” Adana murmured. “It’s heavier than a Captain’s wreath.” She smiled a little sadly. “Much heavier than a Captain’s Wreath, even the wreath and star of a Captain Commanding.”

Edita took a deep breath, trying to settle herself. “Well,” she said. “Well.” She tried to collect her scattered thoughts, finally looking at Adana for help.

Adana smiled sympathetically. “I felt the same way the day they gave me my bar,” she said. “I tried to talk them out of it.” Her fingers brushed her own rank badge. “We all know how far that got me.” She glanced at the courier. “Is there anything else for general distribution?”

“Aye, Ma’am,” the courier said. She reached into her pouch and extracted two bundles. She passed one to Admiral Korina and the other to Edita. “I have the usual Operational Directives and the Reporting Summaries to deliver to both of you and Operational Directives for your respective senior commanders. I also have an Eyes-Only pouch for Admiral Korina, but that is to be delivered to her in private.”