Chapter 39: Peace Through Providence

The statement from Governor Johanes lowered the temperature in the room even as James shifted his weight. My master seemed ready to lunge forward across the table and I held him tighter, trying to keep him from getting in trouble. It seemed he was not going to calm down and I was starting to lose my grip.

"Excuse me, James?" a feminine voice said. I had my eyes closed as I strained to keep James in his chair and had not seen anyone approach. James tensed one more time and then seemed to relax back into the chair. Seizing the moment, I jumped into his lap and put my arms around his neck before turning to look at the voice.

While I had been fighting to calm James down, four people had entered the room. The closest was Bernadette Werfel. She looked much like she did the last time she had visited. Her brown hair was tied up in a bun and, although I knew her eyesight was perfect, she wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Her outfit appeared to be an immaculate version of a naval uniform with a white knee-length skirt and long sleeved jacket. Around her neck, the medal she had been awarded hung, shining in the light of the lab.

To her left was another naval officer. This woman was also wearing a naval officer's uniform, but I did not recognize her. She had short blond hair that was cut in a style that reminded me of a hairstyle I had seen on some pixies a friend of mine liked to draw. She was tall and athletic looking, standing with an almost casual confidence.

Behind them stood two concubines. Bernadette had been followed by a young man wearing a loincloth. He looked like one of those boys you find singing in a teenage band. The man's black hair was short, but stood up in an untold number of small spikes and he had a bored expression as he stood waiting.

The woman behind the other officer was a truly spectacular blond. If her look was natural, she probably matched Lindsay for beauty. Her hair was in a ponytail that fell down to touch the top of the thong panties she was wearing. The rest of her outfit looked like a black football uniform jersey with the sleeves cut off and the number sixty-nine in pink on the front. The woman scanned the table and winked at me just as I finished looking over the group.

Governor Johanes broke the silence. "Who are you?" he snapped.

I was looking toward the newcomers, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Kilroy reach out to touch the governor's shoulder. "Stay calm," the young scientist said. "The one captain is wearing the Confederacy Cross. We can't afford an incident involving her."

James merely nodded at the two ladies while he put his arms around me. "Captain Werfel, Captain Johnston. What brings you here?"

"You know these two?" the Governor asked James.

"I know Captain Werfel," James said. "She's been here twice before. In fact her medal presentation occurred while she was visiting. I'm guessing that her companion is Captain Johnston."

The blond haired woman smiled. "I heard you were a perceptive man. I also was told that we need to talk to you about shore leaves and recreation for our crew while repairs continue."

James pointed at Governor Johanes. "I have been rather pointedly reminded that the wise heads of Central Command have decreed that while he is performing some scientific investigations, Colonel Clint Johanes is acting as governor. You'll have to obtain his approval for the shore leaves."

Captain Werfel turned to look at the scientist. "Oh? I wasn't aware that Central Command could override a local district commander and appoint a governor. Welcome to Borneo District, Colonel."

"Central Command wanted me to examine some artifacts found in a nearby system," Colonel Johanes said. "They felt that I'd receive more cooperation if I was also governor over the planet while I was here. I have to say, I am finding Private Rabb and the other citizens to be difficult to work with."

"I never found them so," Captain Werfel replied. "Not even when they had to basically walk me through guiding Andrew Jackson towards Inanna after the debacle at Wolf."

"You were there?" Captain Johnston said. "I was on leave when that happened, but some of my crew still have nightmares about the battle."

Captain Werfel nodded. "I was an ensign on Andrew Jackson. And by the time we arrived at Ishtar, we only had three officers on the entire ship. Worse, both the bridge and auxiliary control had been hit by the Sa'arm sliver weapons. I ended up having to try to guide the ship in from the weapons station in auxiliary control. I'm just glad that Tiffany was able to guide me."

Captain Johnston nodded. "I had heard stories. Is that where you earned your medal?"

"Yes," Captain Werfel replied.

"Enough!" Governor Johanes roared. "I am busy and do not have time to waste listening to the two of you reminisce about a battle we lost. Now explain this idea of shore leaves to me. I thought you would be staying on your ships."

Captain Johnston laughed. "You must have been based on a planet. Governor, we are on combat ships. These ships are designed for combat, not comfort. The officers get small staterooms that are not much bigger than a closet. The crew usually share bunking spaces and have no privacy. So if we are visiting a friendly planet, a chance to get off the ship is welcomed by the crew. My understanding is that Ishtar has always welcomed visiting crew and even has some facilities for them."

Esther nodded. "We've actually done some remodeling and expanded what we have. There is now a full bar, complete with entertainment screens and dart boards. Next to that we have an ice rink, although it hasn't seen much use. We also have a gym setup that offers a full size basketball court. There are even bleachers so that concubines can sit and watch."

I looked at James. His jaw was still clenched, but the fire in his eyes had started to fade. "We also took some of the abandoned home pods and converted them. Now they have several individual bedrooms so that visitors will have a private place to sleep." I glanced over at Governor Johanes. "I believe you are living in one of the pods we set up for visiting ship commanders. I haven't seen those, but I understand that they are quite luxurious."

"You haven't seen the pods?" Kilroy asked.

Esther giggled. "It wasn't one of her assignments. Most of the work was performed by the children of the colony. Reggie thought it would help them grow and learn responsibility."

"Reggie?" Governor Johanes asked.

"Reggie Bustos," James replied. "He worked in education before he was picked up. One of the things we decided to do was have a school for all of our underage children. Reggie has trained to work in the command post, but most of the time he acts as the principal of our school."

"Why waste his time?" the Governor asked. "There should be something a bit more important to do."

"Other than train and educate the children who will be the next generation?" Yvette asked. "I'm not sure I agree with that thought. And for a long time, the only duty on the planet was the two people who needed to be serving in the command post. We had eighteen citizens who were willing to work there, so with a normal rotation most of us might serve there once every three days."

"Whatever," The governor said. "It's not important right now."

He seemed about to say more when one of the scientists in the room started jumping up and down. "It moved! I have a positive reaction! Clint, come quickly, you have to look at this!"

The governor had a foul look on his face. He turned away from us to look at the excited scientist. The screen the man was looking at faced away from the table, so it was impossible to see what the man was looking at.

James gave me a gentle pat on the back. "This is probably important," he said toward Governor Johanes. "Perhaps we should allow you to pursue your research. If you want, I'll check with Louis on the status of our other probes."

"Other probes?" the governor asked absently.

"Well, once we found these artifacts, we had one of the replicators based on Inanna build us three more probes. These had more storage space for artifacts they might find. One was sent to the system where the first artifacts were found and programed to conduct a long survey. The artifacts were found on one of the moons of the fourth planet in the system. The survey was to cover the fourth planet and then check the three moons until it runs out of storage. The other two probes were sent to the next nearest systems. We wanted to see if the alien race had discovered interstellar travel and established any colonies."

"Yes, that is a perfectly reasonable plan," the governor said. He was still staring at the scientist who had called for him. "Why don't you go and do that."

"And the shore leaves?" Captain Johnston asked.

"Just keep your crew out of the way of my marines and scientists," Governor Johanes said as he stood up and started to walk to the viewscreen.

Kilroy jumped to follow the governor. As he did, Esther reached out to collect the two trays we had brought. She stacked the trays and then gathered all of the cups onto the top tray. James waited a moment longer and then nodded to Yvette.

"Let's get out of here," he said.

I jumped from my master's lap and then reached out to pull him to his feet. Once he was on his feet, we all rushed to the exit of the room. I expected that we would turn left and head towards the pressure doors, but we turned right. As a group, we stopped by the replicators so that Esther could put the two trays into a recycler.

Once that was done; James appeared to relax a little. "Sorry," he said to the captains. "This new governor just arrived and he's been less than friendly. I'm afraid I can't promise our usual hospitality."

Captain Werfel shrugged. "I've met his kind before. Hopefully, he'll be replaced or recalled soon."

"You could call Admiral Himmel and try to arrange that," Captain Johnston said.

"James," the AI said. "Colonel Johanes is requesting that he be informed of all communications with Borneo and that the calls be recorded so he can review them. Shall I honor this request?"

"Well, that eliminates calling Borneo. If we block our good Colonel from hearing what's being communicated he will definitely flip. Our best move is to let him do his spying but make sure there is nothing to hear," James said with a bark of laughter. "AI, go ahead and honor that request."

"Command accepted," the AI intoned. "Please note that a message drone has just left from Sir Paridell. Based on its trajectory, it's heading to the scientific outpost at Tulakat."

"Which is where our wonderful new governor hails from," Yvette observed. "James, we seem to have become a pawn in some game."

Bernadette Werfel giggled. "It seems like something I remember studying back at the university. We were in a physics class and the professor was explaining the laws of thermodynamics."