Sevin: The Deulxe.
Galen: On my way. I’m going to get tore up.
Sevin: Okay. Make sure Spike knows.
Galen: Roger.
Galen called Spike, who happened to be in the command center on the mountaintop, and told him he’d be the boss for the next two days. Then he left his hooch, turned right and marched the full kilometer to the Deluxe Lounge. Outside it was just another simple metal building with some pipes and other metal scraps attached as decoration around the door. Galen studied the front of the building for a while and then realized the improvised artwork was supposed to be the hand grips and control arms of a civilian-style one-seat skimmer as viewed from the front, the building’s front door in place of the air intake. Two women walking together approached him. The one on the left said, “You want a date?”
“Maybe later.” Galen pulled open the door and stepped inside. There was an older woman at the far wall in a booth, managing the music. She looked up and recognized Galen and stopped the music and said over the speakers, “All rise and stand at ease for the Brigade Commander, Command Sergeant Major Galen Raper.”
The two dozen troops, a few of them EugeneX, and the half-dozen drinky girls and the three barmaids and the stage dancer all faced toward Galen. He stood at attention and bellowed, “Carry on!”
The music resumed; an easy-to-dance-to thump-thump-thump version of the Brigade’s anthem, not quite loud enough to cause hearing loss but loud enough to be heard by troops who had suffered ear damage in battle.
Sevin sat at a table in the second row back from the stage, a drinky girl on his left arm. He pulled out the chair to the right and said, “Have a seat, Smaj.”
Galen sat and ordered a pitcher of ale. A drinky girl sat with him.
“My name’s Destiny. Buy me a drink?”
Galen shrugged. “Sure, why not.”
The girl waved at a server, who brought a delicate, small-stemmed glass of red punch, mostly ice, for Destiny.
She took a sip and said, “So where are you from?”
“Ostreich. How about you?”
“I’m from Terra, New York City!”
Galen thought and said, “Sure you are, you all are. So what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”
“Oh, I’m saving up to go to medical school. Education is very important, you know.” She drained the liquid from her glass with her second sip. “Buy me another?”
“Sorry, doll. No thanks.”
Destiny pouted, then stood and moved to another table to talk to another troop. Galen finished his pitcher of ale and ordered another. He looked around. The women in their skimpy outfits, the large-breasted barmaids showing cleavage, the drinky girls in tight shorts and bikini tops and high heels, hair done up, makeup galore; the dancers, six of them rotating through one at a time, dancing, taking off clothes through three songs to end up topless, thongs the only thing left at the end of the show.
Galen watched as the first girl returned to the stage to dance and realized he’d seen the full rotation. He knew a corridor connected the three adjacent clubs, so that the dancers could rotate through them all. But in his state of mind, he didn’t appreciate the female form at all, not that night. He also realized that his second pitcher was empty. He stood, bid farewell to Sevin and left the club.
He walked back to his hooch and looked up at the sky full of stars and then back down the street, empty as he neared his building. His wrist chronometer said it was 02:41 local time as he went in and climbed the stairs and opened the door to his room and sat on his bed and took off his boots. He checked his personal communicator and there was a voice message from Karen.
He played it. Karen’s voice said, “I’m staying in my new executive suite tonight. See you in the morning, Galen. I love you so much!”
Galen flung the communicator as hard as he could against the wall. The rugged, combat-capable device made a dent in the metal of the wall and bounced back to skitter under the bed. Galen paced for a moment and glared out his window at the mountain, lights from the windows of some of the buildings on top shimmering in the distance. Then he flopped onto the bed face down and slept.
A knock came at the door and Karen walked in. “You missed staff call.”
Galen rolled over and sat up. “Not that it’s any of your business, Master Sergeant, but I’m taking today off.”
“Well,” said Karen as she sat in the desk chair, “Spike told me you weren’t feeling well. Out late last night, were we?”
“None of your damn business. How was your suite?”
Karen bit her lower lip. “It’s very nice, like a hotel. Clean and bright.”
Galen got up and said, “Let me show you something, then you can explain why I shouldn’t cash you out right now.”
She stared.
Galen said, “Get out of my chair, stand over there, at parade rest, and watch.”
Galen sat and turned on his flat screen. “According to the time stamp, when you were supposed to be on shift in the control tower, less than two hours from this units’ departure, you, the Brigade logistics officer, were engaged in other pursuits that clearly were not in the best interest of this Brigade and clearly prevented you from performing your assigned duties.”
“Please…”
“Since when do you run your mouth at parade rest?” Galen searched for the file.
“Don’t show it.” Karen stood hands at her side, shoulders slumped, head down.
“We have a lot to talk about, or maybe we don’t. You are relieved of duties effective immediately. Come see me at 1600 hours tomorrow in the conference room and we’ll talk about it. Until then you are dismissed.”
Karen turned slowly and walked down the hall, then down the stairs and out of the building. Galen went to his window and watched her walk away down the street. His chest tightened and a lump formed in is throat. He sat on his bunk, head in his hands, head pounding from the hangover.
Next day at 1530, Galen sat in the conference room with Spike, Chief Koa and Chief Polar, Commander of the Brigade Support Battalion.
“The reason I’ve asked you here is because I need to evaluate the duty performance of Master Sergeant Mitchell and I’m absolutely certain my judgment has been clouded by my own personal feelings.”
“Okay, so what’s the deal?” said Spike.
“Okay.” Galen leaned forward. “I have to decide whether or not to cash her out and send her home. But because of my relationship with her, I’ll have to pass that decision off to you, Spike. I’ll still sign off on everything, but I’m going to follow your recommendation.”
Spike said, “Okay, so I’ll just take control of this discussion right now. What are the grounds of dismissal?”
Galen said, “When she was on shift in the tower, within hours of the unit blasting off, she was making an adult film.”
Chief Polar said, “I was wondering where she went.”
Spike said, “Okay, dereliction of duty. Anything in the scene that gives away operationally sensitive information or just plain degrades the unit’s reputation?”
“Well, she starts off in uniform. And the others in the scenes… she takes on eight Mandarin men, spaceport cargo handlers. And through the windows in the background, our vehicles and drop boats can be seen.” Galen leaned back and folded his arms.
Spike said, “Chief Polar, what is your professional opinion, as a logistician, of Karen’s abilities as the Brigade logistics officer.”
Polar thought for a moment. “In that context, compared to all the other Brigade logistics officers I’ve had to deal with, she’s pretty damned good. She’s had some very good ideas, like parking logpacs in the tunnel, and she does her own work instead of dumping it on me. Plus, the little tiff with the nearby town was unforeseen and she got things hooked up with the town farther away very quickly, and now we have everything we were supposed to have, without violating the original time table. Honestly, she’s pretty damn good at her job.”