CHAPTER SEVEN
“Commander Westiel. Please report to the Captain’s office. Commander Westiel to the Captain’s office, please. Thank you.”
The voice wakes me. I wasn’t sleeping all that well, but I know I didn’t sleep the whole night. I tap the holoterminal, and it confirms my suspicions. It’s still the middle of the night in Admiralty City. That can’t be good.
A second more of thought and I’m fully awake. The voice was my communicator, relaying a message from Cap’s yeoman. All captains and admirals have a personal yeoman to do their easy paperwork and manage their scheduling… and to call and wake Executive Officers when they’re needed. At least this elf girl has a nice voice. Cap’s last yeoman was an older dwarf who must have had gravel permanently attached to the back of his throat. That’s not something you want to wake up to very often.
I grab my communicator and touch the blinking spot. “Commander Westiel acknowledged. ETA five minutes. Out.”
I sit up in bed and start to get to my feet when the communicator beeps. “Commander Westiel. Fifteen minutes. Formal dress. Thank you.” Her sweet little elf voice stops me cold. Formal dress? In the middle of the night? Right before an admiral is supposed to come on board? Wait… oh. Oh! The admiral’s staff must be on-ship and finalizing details. But formal dress? The admiral’s staff must be high-ranking. Captains and above. That’s no problem. It’s still my ship, and they’ll still respect my authority on it... unless I show up in my robe.
I reach for the covered hanger holding my dress uniform – the same colors as our jumpsuit uniforms, but admiral-style with a jacket and slacks instead of one piece. I’m now extra glad that I cleaned myself last night before falling asleep. Finishing that cake-and-ale mess completely wiped me out, and left me a bit disgusting. I was incredibly thankful that the mess staff had something to get the dried cake off the ceiling – a long staff with a bent metal bit on the end that was able to scrape the ceiling. They didn’t even seem surprised by it. I need to commend them later and find out exactly how often things end up on the ceiling that they actually have a tool specifically for it.
I’m also thankful that I didn’t have a lot to unpack and put away. I don’t know how someone like Tanna can constantly shuffle all those clothes and cosmetics and things around. Only having two bags is nice. It all comes back out and goes back where it belongs in a few minutes, so it’s no effort to reach for my clothes and hair supplies to get myself back in order. A quick application of some face cream and some color for my eyes, and I’m ready to go.
Senior officer quarters are all located on level six, one level above the command rooms, specifically so we can get to them quickly. There are still four levels of quarters above us, designed so if something big falls on the ship and crushes it, senior officers in the center should still be safe. Same reasoning applies in the case of a battalion coming in at the bottom and working their way up, but I’m not worried about that. They’d have to get through Gimmir and Simon. Then they’d have to get through Lada. I don’t think there’s an army strong enough.
Walking down the stairs between levels six and five, I can see some guards standing outside of Cap’s office farther down the hallway. That’s interesting, but not unheard of. Some admirals have their own security teams. Considering the mission, I guess it’s not surprising. But why are they here? Protecting the admiral’s staff because it’s the middle of the night? Something’s not right.
As I get closer, one of the security officers turns to me and blocks my path. He’s a goblin in silver chain mail, carrying a long pike. His angry eyes look me over, determining if I’m a threat. “Name. Rank. Father’s name.”
Standard security protocol. Cap’s yeoman would have given security this information to authorize me, along with the rest of the senior officers and some of the service staff. I come to a stop and look him in the eyes. Anything less than a show of confidence can get you skewered and an “Oops. Sorry.” sent to your family. Goblins. “Commander Rylae Westiel. Executive Officer, UCST Corsari. Daughter of Jakobian.”
The goblin nods and moves back to his place guarding the doorway. I touch the doorway charm to sound the door chime in the office, and only a second passes before I hear Cap’s voice. “C’mon in, Rylae. Been waitin’ for ya.”
The door fades out and I step into the office. Cap’s office isn’t as large as our discussion room, but it’s enough to hold Cap’s desk, some chairs, and a small round table which can seat six. Cap’s sitting at the table with two goblins, and all three of them turn to me as I enter. They’re all wearing dress uniforms, which explains why I needed mine. From the insignia on his uniform collar, the goblin closest to me is a Captain. The one behind him… dragons be damned! I snap to attention and salute.
The three officers at the table return my salute without standing, then Cap waves me off. “Ease, Commander. Admiral Shockpaw, Captain Darkmuck, this is Commander Westiel. Rylae, grab a chair. Sorry for wakin’ ya, but, well…” He motions at the two officers across from him and shrugs.
I grab a chair next to Cap and take a seat. The Admiral’s already here, in the middle of the night, with no fanfare, and with some high-ranking relation of the LC in custody on Stenchstone. There’s obviously more going on than I originally thought.
The admiral’s staring at me. “Commander. I trust you remember this is Level 0. Not only are a lot of the details of the mission Level 0, but my ‘appearance’ on your ship is Level 0. Captain Darkmuck’s entire visit is Level 0. Beyond us, no one will know he’s even here. Understood?”
I nod. “Understood, sir. Multiple members of the crew know you’re going to be on-ship, and I assume we won’t have to keep you a secret after we’re off-world, but your arrival and the Captain’s existence won’t leave this room.” The admiral nods in acceptance.
Cap turns to me. “The admiral’s yeoman and steward are already on-ship settin’ up the guest quarters, and ya’ve already met his security detail. Apologies for not gettin’ with ya earlier today, and nothin’ personal o’course, but we had to keep this one ‘Captain’s Eyes Only’. “
Captain Darkmuck nods. “Yes. Our office has a report of a possible attempt on the Admiral’s life tomorrow when he comes to the ship. Some elements on Terra seem to want this war to happen. We do not have a full explanation yet.”
An attempt on the Admiral’s life? That’s interesting. “Captain, I assume then that you’re a member of the Office of Intelligence?” Another nod. “Can I also ask how you’re related to LC Darkmuck?”
A scowl crosses Captain Darkmuck’s face. His demeanor changes from giving-a-formal-report to obviously-disgusted. “That idiot is my brother’s son. Our family is from Stenchstone. Spazkin took an assignment there as a weapon maintenance technician. I don’t know how he got involved in this pile of rotted traitor brains. It’s all dark enough to hide bodies.”
“Commander, this is why I wanted to bring the Captain with me. He was the one who brought the assassination plot on me to my attention, but he also has nothing else to add. I thought it best for you to hear that directly from the Captain to truly understand the details.” I glance at the admiral while he’s talking, and he’s still staring at me. Has he been staring at me the entire time? That’s awkward. Almost as awkward as bringing someone along just so he can tell us that he has nothing to tell us. Goblins are so damn weird.
There has to be more here. I know they didn’t wake me up just to tell me nothing. “Thank you, Admiral. I appreciate the information from Captain Darkmuck. I’m thinking there’s more to this meeting, though. Is there more information I need to know?”
Captain Darkmuck looks at Cap. “You were right, Gravelhand. She is good, even when she’s half awake. No wonder that hit squad on Firefork had trouble with her a few years ago. They probably didn’t even know she knew they were there. Stupid troll-lickers. They deserved what they got.”
I’m not surprised he knows about that, since he’s in Intelligence. I’m also not surprised he feels nothing for the goblin hit squad. They failed, and goblins don’t treat failure nicely.
Cap grins and pats my arm where it’s resting on the table. “Rylae’s a good XO. Can’t do much better, unless she was a bit shorter and could fill out a miner’s outfit. But she’d look kinda dumb with a beard.” They all laugh. I chuckle so they know I get the joke, but thinking of myself as a dwarf just doesn’t seem very funny. Probably just still too tired. Maybe I’ll get it in the morning.
Admiral Shockpaw straightens in his chair. “Commander, we have reason to believe that the planned attempt on my life tomorrow will not be the only one. We are expecting at least one more assassination attempt to occur on Stenchstone. This may be against me, or against your captain, or against your ambassador, or against you. They may even come after Lieutenant Commander Darkmuck. We do not have any intelligence about this, but we have an expectation. Obviously, with the travel time between worlds, we have no way to validate this expectation, but there is something happening that someone does not want us interfering with. If it has already included an assassination attempt against King Damnation, and against myself, then it is reasonable to assume there will be more, as they have not yet been successful.”
At least now I understand why they woke me. I suppose I’ll forgive them this time. But… “Cap, why isn’t Calgonnel in this meeting? Shouldn’t he be here to know about this as well?”
Cap grunts. “We argued for a bit about that one. I wanted both of ya here, but Intelligence didn’t want either of ya to know! I finally insisted that an assassination attempt could get in the way of launch, and the Captain agreed to let me bring ya in. I think he also wanted to see a face to put together with all those reports he’s read about ya! He kinda had a glint in his eye when I brought up yer name. I figure he must like ‘em tall, pale & bossy!” He ends with a smile and a wink.
I repress a sigh. I’m definitely too tired for Cap’s jokes. But, looking closer, I can tell he’s really tired too. He may not have scraped cake off a ceiling, but he’s been dealing with mission details and Admirals non-stop the last few days. I can let him have his jokes.
Nodding, I smile back. “Thanks, Cap. You can just admit that you wanted to see my pretty face tonight and not have to make up all the rest of it.” He chuckles while I continue, “I assume I can let Calgonnel know after launch?”
Cap looks at me. “Calgonnel, Lada, Simon and Gimmir are the only ones who will be informed. The admiral’s security detail and staff don’t know, and we won’t share with the senior officers. If too many folk know, then whoever is behind all this could figure out that we know they’re comin’. We wanna catch ‘em off-guard to learn more of their game. Keep yer eyes open at all times, and notice the things that aren’t right. Maybe we’ll find the bigger plan and more of the players.”
Captain Darkmuck nods. “We need your staff to gather intelligence while also trying to stop a war. With the Admiral and Gravelhand working with Damnation and his staff, you and your ambassador should get what you can from the Overseer and keep your pointy ears open for anything else.”
A chime sounds, and Cap turns to the holoterminal. “It’s startin’ to look like bedtime. We’re off-world in twelve hours and should really get some rest before that. Captain, Rylae will show ya off the ship through the bay doors where ya came in. Admiral, I’ll show ya to yer quarters. On the way, we’ll stop by the mess hall and grab some grub. I understand the VIP room was just cleaned by hand in preparation for ya.” Cap looks at me from the side of his eyes, and I suppress a response. I don’t know whether to be impressed that he knows, be proud that I finished it, or sigh in exhaustion from all the work it took.
We stand, replace the chairs, and walk to the door. Captain Darkmuck and I exit first, then Cap and the Admiral leave. The security goblins fall in step with the Admiral, one in front of him and one behind. We split up at the crossway, and I lead Captain Darkmuck down the stairs and halls to the bay doors. We don’t speak, since hallways are insecure. I have some questions, but I don’t think I’ll have the chance to ask them.
Halfway to the doors, the captain chuckles. I turn to look at him, and he’s looking me over while he chuckles. He sees me looking and grins a big, evil grin. “That Firefork squad never even saw it coming. Now that I’ve met you, I can hardly believe it either. You look so easy to kill, and you don’t look devious enough to set traps. They were dumb to underestimate you. I hope they were thinking that while they burned.”
I smile, but I don’t offer anything in return. The official report is that I heard them coming and rigged the door with spellshooters. With all of the goblins in the hit squad dead, there was no one to contradict that report, and no one else claimed to be behind the failed attack. I know they weren’t coming after me, and I know that it wasn’t spellshooters they got hit with, but I won’t give up any more than that. She’s still relying on my protection.
As we get to the staging area, the goblin grabs my arm to stop me, and pulls me closer. “Commander Westiel, I don’t know what Spazkin is up to, but that side of the family is incredibly stupid. I want you to take care of him for me.”
I nod. Goblin families are very close, but they won’t accept screw-ups at this level. It’s not loyalty to King Damnation, or shame of failure, but there’s shame of getting caught failing at something stupid. If the LC is innocent, his family will take him back. If he’s released and guilty, the family will kill him before he gets home. I’m not sure if the Captain wants me to kill him first, or just wants me to take him home. Either way will take care of it.
I speak the command code to open the door and walk outside with the goblin. A landcraft is waiting by the door with two goblin security types waiting in it. Without another word, Captain Darkmuck walks to the landcraft and gets in. I take a quick look at the surroundings to ensure no assassins are sneaking onto the ship, then go back inside and close the bay doors.
I start back to my quarters, thinking about the mission. It’s possible someone may try to kill me, or Calgonnel, or LC Darkmuck. It’s possible they may even succeed. Once that completely sinks in, I shrug. I didn’t expect anything less from a visit to a goblin world. If you’re surrounded by goblins and they’re not trying to kill you, it’s probably because you’re already dead.
At my quarters, I let myself in, strip off my uniform and carefully place it back on the hanger. I was clean, and I only wore it for an hour, so I’m sure it’s fine. I think I’m already asleep before I’m completely on the bed.