While Kelly was changing he heard a knock on his door. He opened the door to see Mary Chen in her hot weather dress uniform. It featured a white hat and shirt worn outside the waistband of the red skirt, which showed off Mary’s shapely legs.
She strode by Kelly without asking. Kelly shrugged, closed the door, and continued getting dressed. He wore his blue-black pants and a T-shirt, having not yet put on his uniform shirt. Mary sat on the bed, smoothing her skirt to prevent wrinkles.
“What can I do for you, Mary?”
She laughed and said, “Well, I’ve been trying to get into your bed for a while now and this is as close as I’ve gotten. No, I got ready too soon and was becoming stir crazy in my room. I hate these events. I never know how to make polite conversation. I hope you don’t mind the company.”
“It’s alright. When in doubt, ask if the weather is normal. People love to talk about their weather to strangers. If that dries up, compliment them on something cultural you’ve seen as you’ve wandered around the city. I would recommend asking them about the ruins of the previous civilization. Ruin View is the name of the restaurant.”
She shifted slightly on the bed, causing her skirt to hike up and expose more of her nice legs. She said, “Thanks, I’ll use those. As you might have imagined, my Dad was not big on protocol or niceties. He was a legend in the Marines, but not for his tact or diplomacy.”
Kelly pulled on his shirt, buttoned it, and tucked it in. Mary got up off the bed to help him get it tucked evenly across the back. When they both looked in the mirror and were satisfied with their appearance, they left the room.
Alistair and Connie were in the corridor. Kelly had noticed the two becoming quite chummy in the last week. He wished them the best. Their duties wouldn’t allow much chance to be together after Alistair was delivered back to his ship. The Vigilant’s patrol schedule and the wide-ranging assignments of a Reporting Officer would make future meetings rare. They looked happy in each other’s company, so Kelly kept his thoughts to himself.
They met the Admiral in the lobby, and waited a short time for Mr. Delvane to arrive with a ground car. The ground car was a luxury model and they all fit in the passenger’s compartment with no crowding. Mr. Delvane kept a running commentary of local sights and places of interest. Kelly elbowed Mary so she’d pay attention.
Shortly, they arrived at the restaurant and Alistair had a sheepish look on his face. Kelly asked what was the matter when they all got out. He mentioned that he had been here quite recently. Kelly could only imagine what that meant.
They had the restaurant to themselves. Mr. Maynard met them at the door. He escorted the admiral into a small, intimate bar and got a drink for him. He had arranged for all their counterparts to meet them at the door and similarly escort them to the bar. Kelly’s unfortunate counterpart was the Torpedo Ship Wing Commander. A handsome, but celibate, Ascetic Presbyter, first-class, escorted Mary. A Torpedo Ship Flight Commander was Connie’s escort. Ambassador Thorson escorted Alistair.
After a couple of drinks and some polite, but sometimes restrained conversation, all were ushered into the dining room by Mr. Delvane. The dinner was marvelous, a delicious four-course meal of soup, roast meat with local vegetables, salad, and a dessert. Kelly noticed the Ascetic Presbyter had no problem consuming the fine food. The Admiral asked if he could compliment the chef and a short pudgy woman in white chef’s clothes was brought out to meet him and share a glass of wine.
She was only slightly embarrassed by the effusive praise heaped upon her by the Admiral. Then she saw Alistair at the end of the table. She walked up to him, slapped him on the back, and said that he did look them up as he promised and this time he did come in through the front door. An awkward moment was diffused when Alistair replied that he just had to come back to sample more of her exquisite cuisine. She beamed.
After tables were cleared and brandy had been served, Steven asked the admiral about the K’Rang. He asked if they had any evidence the K’Rang were going to advance into the Star Cluster. Admiral Minacci replied that there was a K’Rang fleet poised just outside the cluster, but that they had yet to exhibit any behavior that signified they were preparing to move into the cluster. Steven vowed to place all Baratarian forces under Admiral Minacci’s command if the K’Rang made any move into the cluster. The Admiral thanked him for his faith in him. He told Steven that he had requested a cruiser squadron be sent to reinforce him. Now, if they only get here before the K’Rang moved.
The dinner broke up. The Admiral, Kelly, and Mary were dropped off at the guesthouse, while Connie and Alistair were taken on to the Vigilant. Kelly changed into his duty uniform and met Mary to walk over to their respective charges. Kelly made a quick walk through of the Vigilant; saw all was as it should be. Mary made a similar walk through of her unit berthed on board the AS-500, and returned with Kelly to the guesthouse.
Kelly awoke alone in the early morning light. A fully dressed Mary Chen leaned over him, kissed him, and said, “Go back to sleep. You have two hours before the alarm goes off.”
She said she was going back to her room to change into her physical training clothes and go for a run. She asked if he would care to join her. Kelly rose up, kissed her, and said he’d already had enough exercise keeping up with her. He’d pass on the run.
She asked, “Would you like to help me get cleaned up after my run? You could scrub my back.”
Kelly smiled at the thought, but passed. He would probably be back on the Vigilant for breakfast. “Why don’t you join me there after you clean up from your run?”
As she headed out the door, she said, “An unmetered shower together would have been a lot more fun.”
The time for the ceremony approached. Kelly called his crew into formation and inspected their uniforms for the ceremony. Mary’s inspection was formal and highly regimented, while Kelly’s inspection was relaxed and matter of fact. Kelly was impressed with the way she could slap the heavy M57 blast rifle from the arms of her Marines and twirl it like it was a plastic toy. When it came to a stop she let go and it hung in the air for a split second, then the Marine grasped and cycled the weapon closed and safe.
Kelly had his people relax in the shadow beneath the Vigilant. Mary filed hers back inside the AS-500. Kelly considered moving his crew back into the cooled Vigilant, but the Ascetics started marching onto the field. Kelly checked his pocket terminal and saw they were only 30 minutes away from the start. He told Chief B to fall them in on their positions at 15 minutes out.
He watched the Ascetics march in long battalion formations onto the field in their camouflage uniforms, with their traditional white tunic surmounted by a red cross. Surprisingly, at the end of their formation was a mobile air and space defense battalion floating onto the field mounted on their hover carriers. Kelly didn’t know where this equipment had been. His sensors hadn’t found them. These combined missile and hypervelocity plasma gun systems would prove useful and effective if the K’Rang penetrated all the way to Barataria. Kelly was just glad they were hidden away while he was merrily skipping across the atmosphere. He would have to ask one of the Ascetics where they had been stored.
Chief Blankenship formed up the ship’s company and marched them into position to the left of the reviewing stand. No one would mistake them for a drill team, but the crew was obviously doing their best. Their turning movements were crisp, they were in step, and they all halted at the same time. On the opposite side of the reviewing stand, Mary marched her company to their places and halted them precisely on their marks.