Eric Olafson, Fleet Cadet 27

Chapter 27: Fornax Events Interlude

“Have we been hailed?”

Harris shook his head.”No not yet, but the sphere is transmitting genuine Union Transponder Codes .”

The screen changed and a hooded Narth became visible. The Comm. Officer looked at his console and shrugged.

The Narth spoke.

“This is the USS Narth. “There was a pause and the Narth moved his shrouded head as if he was looking at someone then he nodded and said.” One hopes to be forgiven, by the one who has command. One was uncertain of the correct address. It is the first time a Narth Sphere carries a name and is designated what you call a ship. One finds the designation ship quite confusing as it implies an artificial conveyance to be utilized upon a substance called liquid water.”

Another voice sounding exactly alike interrupted the Narth.” One disagrees with Narth, for ship could also imply a conveyance of goods and then there is the term space that can be used to further clarify what is meant and space ship is quite accurate.”

The speaker returned to the hail.” One again asks for apologies, Narth has limited experience in interaction and the Narth that is going to be a real Navy Officer has not completed his education.”

Stahl could not help but smile.” Never mind the formalities. The very fact to be hailed by a Narth sphere is of historic significance and it is us who are limited to communicate properly with Narth. Why don’t you come over and we can discuss and talk and I update you on the events here.”

“He who is in command has been on Narth Prime. He is not as limited as one would expect from...”

The graphite gray Narth sphere changed colors and turned to the same light gray of all Union ships and the Union Flag appeared next to the displayed ship name: USS Narth. While Stahl and his bridge crew stared in awe, two Narth suddenly stood on the bridge right before Stahl. One of them, Stahl could not say which said.” Your suggestion is accepted.”

Stahl bowed.” I hope you forgive my appearance. I had no time clean up, with great joy and truly felt honor I welcome you aboard.”

“An appearance can be forgiven? It would have to be offensive.”

“One needs to use his eyes; one has been given visual sensors. It is fascinating.” the other replied.

One of them sighed very humanly and said.” Admiral Stahl, as you see one is not used to interact with Non Narth. Until now only two of Narth have had prolonged exposure and while they both share all their experiences with Narth there is still much Narth must know and understand. However we have been dispatched by Narth Supreme as Union Citizens and thus want to open a new area of cooperation and Narth integration into this Union of Civilizations.”

Stahl had his chin on his chest what the Narth told him was truly historical.” I am humbled by this revelation and I know you can sense my true feelings and thoughts about this it will better convey the joy I feel than words.”

“Narth knows and understands friendship now and we are able to interpret your feelings much better and are equally humbled by them. One is here to assist in your stand against the Y’All or any other enemy.”

“I am not sure we are dealing with the same Y’All as we did before. They act different and there are physical differences. There are also Kermac that do not conform to our previous knowledge.”

“One agrees this is not consistent with previous encounters. One believes these Kermac are not associated with the ones of our Galaxy but have been made from DNA that had been taken 1500 years ago, during a time the Kermac had not achieved the whiteness of dermal tone they so desire.”

--””--

JUSTICE DONE

I was a bit disappointed that she had not come up with me, her dress and those fleshy globes under that thin velvet had excited me in a very ... male way, maybe there was hope for me after all. If I felt that way about women maybe all I had to do is get out a little more often.

The next day I had asked the Lobby manager of the Hotel about the attractions of this world and he pointed me towards a sparsely populated wall rack with brochures and said. “We do have a theater in town and a sports arena. There are a few Virtu show houses and a decent shopping mall. The locals go off-roading in wheeled vehicles and there are the water caverns under the city you can do a guided boat tour on, but if you really want fun and entertainment you can take the Inter-system shuttle to the second planet named Powell and they have casinos, clubs, amusement parks and a whole line up of sports and recreation attractions.”

I decided to stay, did an Off-road driving trip and learned to steer a four wheel drive vehicle, did the Water Cave tour and almost fell asleep doing it. I doubted even the tour guide believed the water filled caves very spectacular. There was nothing native alive on this planet, not above and not below. According to the local who had rented me the vehicle there were some abandoned ruins, but nothing mysterious, a collection of buildings belonging to an early colony that simply had given up and left a ghost town behind. Sleeping in and doing all this I managed to pass the day without getting to bored and most of all not in any kind of trouble.

Early the next morning I was summoned to the JAG building and when I reported in, a Lieutenant sat behind the desk and I saw the Ensign sitting in the chair where I had spent most of the day before. He glared at me but then resumed his study of the magazines.

Commander Gwen Hollow, this time in full dress uniform, instead of pants she wore a black skirt and heeled pump, greeted me with a smile and said.” The Admiral of the Fleet is here and we will proceed with the case as soon as possible. You cannot see the procedures until you have been called as witness and made your statement. After that you can remain in the court room and follow the rest of the hearing.”

She escorted me to an office and said as we entered in a quite tone. “Your friend Ensign Fainters was ordered to guard the rubber tree for a week.”

“An entire week?” I almost forgot she was now in uniform and a Commander and I added “Ma’am”

She didn’t react but her smile produced sexy little dimples in her cheeks and then she said.” You can wait right here until you get called.”

I waited for almost three hours before they did call me in. The court room was modern and sleek but still a court room, a panel of three High ranking officers, all Admirals sat behind a raised bench. Commander Hollow on the right side before them and Admiral Swybar and a Commander on a table on the left side. Commander Stone was there as well but he wore a bright yellow jumpsuit and cuffs and a marine stood behind him. He glared at me with open hatred. I resisted the impulse to show him my tongue; this would not have been seen as very mature.

The Admiral of the Fleet sat with a whole bunch of high ranking officers in the audience area.

I was called into the witness stand by commander Hollow. The Admiral in the middle instructed me to answer all questions truthfully and I was informed that a polygraph scanner was monitoring me.

I placed my hand as instructed onto the scanner plate and a computronic voice said.” Cadet Olafson Academy Rank Midshipman Captain, Eric. Service Number 10074999-EO-5643845633. Recipient of the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Iron Star, recipient of the Yaktnh, the highest military honor of the Yokuta, recipient of the Olive branch sixth class, honored with the Civilian Service Award by the Union Justice Department, Honor citizen of twilight, Honored as Special executive of Enroe Corp by Alex Enroe for bravery and High representative of a member species, the Narth.”

I felt humbled and embarrassed at the same time as the voice would list all that. Everyone including the panel of Admirals looked at me and I saw the Admiral of the Fleet, McElligott sitting in the first row leaning back with crossed arms, his naked gnarled looking knees protruding from under his red and green patterned skirt. There was a faint smile on his face and he almost unnoticeable nodded towards me and I could not help but feel as proud as a Tyranno Slayer, his little nod meant more to me than the medals and awards. He had kept word and I saw justice done.

Then I was asked by Commander Hollow to tell my side of the events. The presiding Admiral in the middle asked me several questions and I tried to be as vague as possible about the part when I found Narth dying. I recalled how I was arrested and what happened to me in lock up. A visual was shown of the actual hearing and also of my whipping. Seeing it from a spectators point of view made still made me feel every lash of the whip, but I felt a grim satisfaction of the fact that I had not screamed.

A Lieutenant who acted as court clerk stood and said.” Poly scan complete, system confirms that the statement made by witness Olafson was 98 percent accurate, allowing for system calibration it can be verified the statement was accurate.”

The Commander defending Admiral Swybar got up and smiled at me and it was the coldest smile I had ever noticed. He was human but had dark brown skin and black hair. With the friendliest tone he said. “Midshipman Olafson, it seems everyone wants to paint you as a genuine hero and looking in your file and the hearing all the awards and decorations you somehow managed to accumulate in such a short time seem to verify this picture.”

He gestured towards the Poly Scanner.” Who ever heard of a Poly Scanner result of 98 %? That is impossible.”

“Objection,” Hollow interrupted.” Commander Hammashannu is not an expert on Poly Scanners. The result was verified by the court appointed Poly Scanner Technician.”

The Admiral in the middle said.”Sustained, Commander Hammashannu you will abstain from making unsustainable subjective statements.”

The Defense Counselor kept smiling.” So we are here made to believe that a First Year Cadet managed to amass all these honors? His ribbon read out is more impressive than that of most senior officers. It...”

“Objection.” Hollow interrupted again.” The Commander questions the citations and honors received by the witness and besmirch both the meaning and reason these symbols are given.”

“Sustained. Commander do you have any evidence or proof that the witness received any of the citations listed in a questionable manner? I am just reading the text to the citations and they look genuine to me. The Admiral of the Fleet himself recommended three of these citations is present and can be called as a witness.”

The brown skinned Commander lost some of his swagger as he saw the stare he got from the Immortal Admiral and said.” Is it not true that you are not really the hero you pretend to be? Is it not a fact that you are a sick individual who pretends to be a female and likes to dress up as a little girl?”

“Objection.”

But the Commander kept going speaking even louder.” Is it not perfectly understandable that Commander Stone and Admiral Swybar wanted to remove such an abomination from the fleet? The so high decorated Cadet prances around in skirts and dresses and who knows what else he is hiding from us.”

I barely heard the angry calls of objection from Hollow. I felt as if I had been stripped naked in front of all these officers and I knew my career was over. I never felt more ashamed in my life, and I rather had received another flogging than feeling the pain and shame I felt right now.

My stomach knotted so tight I could taste the bitter bile on my tongue, unable to swallow.

I concentrated hard to retain my composure and not cry. That would give these men, Stone and Swybar the final victory.

McElligott got up with the sternest face and the residing Admiral slammed his gavel on a little pad and then pointed it at the Commander.” Only because I do not want a retrial and prolong this any longer I will allow you to finish, but I will charge you with disregarding direct bench orders after this trial. Should you continue this line of defense, I have you removed in irons.”

Mc Elligott growled.” I will have a word with you. I am wearing a kilt. So I am prancing around as well?”

The Judge pointed his gavel at the old Admiral.”Sir, I greatly respect you but you are just an observer, so please sit down and remain silent.”

Hollow was allowed to speak. “The condition of the witness is well documented in his file and none of the Psych experts have flagged it as anything but a private issue of the Midshipman. The Saresii are active members with many million serving in the Fleet and in the PSI corps making this condition a central part of their culture. There is no Navy regulation in place as what gender identity a Fleet member wants to display or feels.”

The Judge said to me.”Midshipman, you are dismissed from the stand.”

I got up and managed to get out of the court room with a steady pace. I had no desire to remain. The clerk who had summoned me said I needed to stay close by in case they would need me again.

I waited in that empty office and was certain I would be notified of my dismissal shortly. It was known to them. It was in my records. It should have not have been a surprise after all the tests, all the telepaths and all the evaluations I went through. If a doctor on Nilfeheim could identify the DNA markers and see the signs then the Navy specialists could too. I should have dealt with this curse before I even went to Arsenal.

I brooded and was in a miserable mood when Commander Hollow came. I got up and stood in attention as it was proper when an Officer entered the room.

She came close and said.”Don’t worry about formalities right now. Admiral Swybar and Commander Stone have been found guilty on all charges will be sentenced later today. Admiral McElligott sends his greetings but was in a hurry as there is a fire burning that requires his attention, those were his exact words.”

I didn’t even want to look at her and said.”He was most likely disgusted and appalled by what he heard about me.”

“He is around for over 3000 years, Midshipman. He has seen more of the human condition than all of us; he was upset because the defense councilor made fun of skirts. He wears his kilt everywhere and dare the soul calling it a skirt. Admiral Stahl is fighting dangerous Unknowns in the Fornax Cluster and that was on his mind and not you.”

“But everyone knows now.”

“Everyone always has and no one ever even thought of it as important enough to mention. This was a closed door court martial and the details of it are classified. Commander Stone and Admiral Swybar will be stripped of their ranks and executed. Commander Hammashannu right now wishes he had not tried his stunt. He is in serious legal trouble and more than just a little afraid after I told him you could decide to challenge him in a Gentleman’s affair. He knows of your duel on Maritime as it is part of your records.”

“This too is in my file?”

“It is not part of your official duty record but it is part of your security back ground file. No worries about that. It is all good.”

“I am not asked to resign?”

“I would not know why. What happened in there was nothing but court room tactics. In a civilian court and in front of a jury it might even have worked to some extent, but this was a Military tribunal.”

“Are there any other orders for me?”

“No you are done here and you are back on vacation for now. You can stick around for the executions or you can take the next space bus to wherever you like.”

“I had enough executions that last me a life time. What does the ‘for now mean’?”

“It means that I do have I orders for you. In four weeks from now you are ordered to go to Ross 248 and report to Gortha Docks. The details are on an order chip I am going to give you.”

“I am not complaining, but why is everyone else getting their full vacation and I am not?”

“Someone thought you might enjoy taking a brand new space ship from Gortha Docks to a Navy Base. It is only a Sturgeon Class courier ship, and does not really require a crew of more than one. It is a simple transfer, flying a little ship from point A to B. I am sure we can find someone else to do the job, if you rather have vacation.”

I actually snatched the Order chip out of her hand. “Commander you can tell that someone, these are orders I prefer over any vacation.”

She smiled.” It was anticipated.”

“Four weeks? That doesn’t leave me all that much time to get there. Isn’t Ross 248 real close to Terra?”

“Yes only a little over 10 light years I believe.”

“I would love to stay longer, Commander and get to know you better, but I got a ship to deliver and getting there by space bus, I better get started right away.”

“We will meet again Midshipman, I am sure of it and very soon.

“I sure hope so.”

The Starbase so I learned was serviced daily by Space Bus and I booked a passage for the next one to Blue Moon, it was leaving within the hour. From Blue Moon I planned to take a Fast Clipper to Alpha Centaury and from there it was not far to Ross 248. This would be my first trip into Old space as the fifty light year sphere around Earth was called.

--””--

WICHITA 4th Planet, Kansas System 264 LY to Terra

Almost a week had passed since I left Lorman’s Starbase. We were approaching Wichita, the last stop before the bus would reach Blue Moon.

The attendant robot made the usual speech.

“Dear passengers we are approaching Wichita Planet in the Kansas System. We will land at Topeka Port in 15 minutes. All passengers with destinations beyond Kansas System are asked to debark as well. This bus will terminate at Topeka Port for repairs.

“Passengers are asked to gather their personal belongings and prepare for debarking. Gray Lines Incorporate cannot be held responsible for items left behind. Passengers with tickets beyond Wichita will receive vouchers to the Holiday Inn Portel for free lodging until a new connection can be made.”

The bus was nearly empty, but one of the passengers barked angry at the machine:” Robot I have an appointment to keep. How long will we be stuck here?”

“This unit has not received a time estimate on the delay, Sir. Gray Lines maintains a staffed counter at the terminal. Please inquire there.”

While I wasn’t in a terrible hurry, I didn’t want to be late for the first navy Assignment I really looked forward to start. It was only a Sturgeon, but it was a real space ship, armed and shielded. Classified as a courier ship, that was exactly what it was mostly used for, to transport sensitive or important messages, passengers and small freight deliveries to places where it was too dangerous or too far for a D type long range shuttle. I had spent most of my flight time reading and downloading everything I could about that ship type. I wanted to know everything about my very first real command. While there was no crew, and technically you needed a Crew to command it was still considered a command in Navy Terms.

The Port Terminal was only slightly bigger than the one on Nilfeheim. The passengers of my flight numbered twenty four including me and when I reached the counter the human female behind it smiled with a bored expression in her eyes.” Gray Lines apologizes for any inconvenience this delay may cause you Sir. Here is your voucher for the Holiday Inn Portel. We expect a 26 hour delay.”

I smiled back.” No problem. I am not in a very big hurry.” I also thanked her for the voucher and went to the Shopping concourse where I went to Arthur’s for a burger. To my surprise the burger was quite delicious and tasted fresh. Since I was the only customer and there was a person server instead of a robot, I commented on the fresh taste. The young human grinned widely over his freckled face.” That’s because we don’t reconstitute here, we grill fresh on an old fashioned flame grill and no robots doing the cooking either. We’re quite proud of that.”

He pointed to one of the large windows. Outside beyond the space port where huge pens filled with brown animals as far as one could see. “What you see out there is only a month production out there. We ship ten thousand cows a day to anywhere in the Galaxy. That’s why our meats are fresh. Real beef not vat grown like they do elsewhere.”

He brought me a second burger on the house and after this short lecture on Wichita’s economy I went to the Portel directly attached to the port terminal and left my bag in my room and decided to tour the town, maybe they had something worthwhile seeing.

So I stepped through the automatic doors and a strong air curtain outside. After I passed through the down blowing air curtain the smell hit me like a hammer. The stench in the air took my breath away and I gagged.

Someone close by laughed:” It takes a while but you will get used to it.”

A man wearing a dark elegant business suit, holding a brief case had walked through the doors just like me. He looked extremely well groomed, wore dark eye glasses and had a little moustache above his lips. He looked a little out of place

“What is that awful smell?”

He pointed towards the animal pens. “Feedlots, hundred thousand cows, pigs and sheep. They all poop and pass gas. Most of the gas is used to generate electricity and most of the poop is shipped off planet, but the rest escapes and that is still a lot.”

“Why would they ship shi ... I mean animal poop?”

“Natural based fertilizer is highly valued by those farmers growing the high end food items”

I took that info and waved the hand before my nose. “How can people stand this?”

“They don’t even smell it anymore and for some it is the smell of home. For me it is the smell of money.”

“Pekunia Non Olet, eh?”

The man laughed. “It appears the academy still teaches classic Latin quotes. ‘Money doesn’t stink’. How appropriate.

“It teaches latin, because of the Pan Sarans.”

“Of course. So what is the Fleet doing here on Wichita? Opening a recruiting office or something like that?”

“No I am just a Midshipman with time to burn. The Space bus is delayed till tomorrow.”

“Well that explains it. I am Brian Solis, Argo-product purchaser for SII. I come here a lot. If you want, I show you the few things worth seeing here and if you can’t find a ride tomorrow, I came with a corporate ship and can give you a ride to Blue Moon”

“I am Eric Olafson from Nilfeheim. You don’t mind?”

He waved:” Heck no. I am always glad to break the routine a little. I even know Nilfeheim I have been there a few times to purchase sea weed and fish.”

He gestured me to follow and we walked past the taxi stand and underneath the Hertz Rental Project-a-Sign he pointed to a new Chrysler Land Speeder.” That is the one. Go get in, have you eaten?”

“Yes I had two burgers at Arthur’s.”

He swiped his ID implant under the reader and the Chrysler doors swung open and a voice thanked him for choosing Hertz. The Interior still smelled new and was upholstered with fine leather. He sat behind the controls and frowned. “Well Arthur’s isn’t bad here, but you should have waited. Cattle Baron Grill in downtown Topeka has the best steaks in the entire sector if not the galaxy and I should know I go to a lot of Agro producing planets.”

“Sorry.” Was all I could think of saying.

He laughed again. “I didn’t mean it like that Eric. You are going to be hungry later for sure. First I need to do some business. If you don’t mind tagging along you are welcome and I having someone to talk to”

“No I don’t mind. I’ve got nothing better to do.”

“Great. We’re going to Jesus Hernandez, biggest Cattle rancher on the planet. The Hernandez Hacienda raises free range cattle the old style. No growing vats, no cloning. His beef is in high demand.”

Brian steered the speeder to a higher altitude, skimming over muddy terrain and seemingly endless herds of brown animals. Robots and men feed them, guided them and wheeled carts of animal dung away.

“So what is it you do exactly? Buying those animals?”

“I am sure you heard about Schwartz Intergalactic Industries.”

“There’s probably no one in the galaxy that hasn’t. The biggest Mega Corp there is.”

He nodded proudly.” Indeed and I am the Chief Purchaser for the Agricultural product branch for this sector. I like to do my work in the field and not from a desk. It’s also a good way of quality control and developing a personal relationship with our suppliers.”

“I thought SII owns a lot of planets and makes its own products. I remember meeting an applicant from Harvest 12.”

“Oh SII owns quite a few planets and we also have bio engineering factories making food the modern way. We are the leading manufacturer of Nanite Food processors and also produce Vat-Meats in immense quantities, but the Galaxy is a large and hungry place and the demand for food is staggering and the demand for natural foods is growing every year.”

We approached a collection of one story buildings were we landed. Out here the air was fresh and clean.

We meet with the Rancher. He was a joyful character and it was clear he loved his life and was proud of his achievements. He was talking nothing but beef and the problems and challenges associated with that business, on a table where dozens of plates with fresh grilled and prepared beef and on another table plates with raw slabs of red beef. Brian tasted small pieces of the grilled beef and he encouraged me to do so as well. I was a fish eater all my life but I had to agree this stuff was truly delicious.

Brian also inspected the raw meat; he did not use any tools or scanners. He only smelled touched and tasted.

The meeting ended with Brian ordering 2 million heads of beef and paying for it right there and then. I never saw so much money changing hands.”

After that we went back to the speeder and Brian said.” Now it’s time for the sightseeing tour.”

The first stop was a valley between two mountain ranges. Huge strange objects strewn all around looking almost like abstract works of art. I immediately recognized them as bones of very large animals.

He explained:” This is Bone Yard Valley. There are millions of these enormous skeletons, found nowhere else on this world. They are not very old, but no one has ever seen one of these animals alive. It’s the Wichita mystery.”

We landed and walked between the towering bones.” How big where these animals?” I asked.” I’ve seen Tyranno Fin skeletons, these aren’t much smaller.”

“We are going to meet a friend of mine who can answer those questions much better. She belongs to your organization.”

A large rock formation not too far away turned out to have a door and a window. As we approached a very beautiful woman with long red hair wearing a tight fitting green jump suit stepped out with a big smile on her dark red lips. “Brian, are you bringing me the assistant I am waiting for?”

He smiled back.” Probably not.”

“Well step right on in. I just made some real coffee.”

The rock formation had been hollowed out, probably by Army Engineers using cutting laser. It was one large room separated into a living area and a lab set up with work tables, multi task consoles and shelves with instruments. The woman raised her hands. “Welcome to Exobiology Auxiliary lab Wichita, Science Corps installation Three thousand three hundred and four. I am Lt Commander Dr. Brenda Brown, but you can call me BB, all my friends do and out here we don’t stick to Navy Regulations much anyway.”

From a shelf she took three ceramic mugs with the Science Corps logo and poured coffee. Then she smiled at me. “I didn’t even ask if you actually drink coffee.”

“I do, black with sugar, if you have any.”

She placed a Plasti-tainer on the table. “All the sugar you want.”

Brian said:” Brenda makes the best coffee this side of the Sagittarius Arm.”

She grinned.” I should, I’m from Seattle as you know.”

She said that as if this was significant, but then I never heard of a planet called Seattle.

I sipped and had to agree. The coffee was strong and had an invigorating flavor.

Brenda looked at me. “I see you’re a Midshipman and from the looks of it a first year academy freshman. I assume you are not the assistant they promised me.”

“Sorry Ma’am. I didn’t even know there was a lab here. I am stranded on Wichita till tomorrow and Brian sort of picked me up to show me the place.”

“It’s just as well. I don’t really need an assistant anyway, who knows if I would get along with him or her. I choose this assignment because I like to be by myself.”

“You are here all by yourself?” I asked.

“Most of the time, I do have two Multi task bots keeping me company and I go to Topeka a lot.”

“You are researching those bones?”

“Yes I am here to gather data and maybe, just maybe solve the Wichita mystery of the Land walkers that way.”

“What exactly is the mystery?”

She put the cup down and said.”Wichita is a fertile garden world with all the right conditions to support Terran life forms. It was discovered 200 years ago, surveyed and cleared for colonization. It has native life and some of the bones out there are less than 50 years old, yet no one has ever seen one of these animals alive. There are no other bone yards like this anywhere on the planet as far as we know. The largest animal remains we found are 70 meters long and we estimate the beast to weigh over 200 tons when it was alive, such a life form would be hard to miss especially since this world has no extensive forests and the oceans are quite shallow. There is simply no explanation why those bones are here.”

The whole subject was quite interesting and I wondered.”Was any DNA found to reconstruct one?”

“Yes, the main lab on Venus grew one out of the DNA but it didn’t survive long. It simply died.”

I took another sip of the coffee and said.”What was the cause of death?”

“The being simply wanted to die I guess and did.”

“What are your findings or theories? Maybe they are not native to this world.”

Her smile vanished and she became serious.” That is exactly what we think. The animals DNA do not match the DNA pattern of life forms native to this planet.”

I tried to picture the galactic map in my mind and said:” We’re almost at the core of Union space. There are no non Union intelligent space faring cultures anywhere near, or are there?”

“Not to our knowledge, but there are large areas of Union space we haven’t really surveyed yet. Science Corps established this post to count and research these bones and basically wait for any new arrivals.”

She sighed and added.” Nothing happened so far.”

“Must be a pretty boring assignment then.”

“No not really. I am also cataloging local life forms and do research on them. Besides I like it. It is stress free and I can spend time on my hobbies.” She drained her cup. “Actually I could use an assistant for a few days. Do you have any pressing assignments?”

“I am supposed to be at Ross in three weeks.”

She took a sip of her coffee and Brian refilled his cup. Brenda leaned back.” Well maybe the business at Ross can be delayed a little. I sure could use you. But anyway how is the Navy life treating you? Have you decided yet what route you going to pursue?”

“Basic training and the first year were not as I expected it to be to be honest, but perhaps the second year is going to be better. I am not sure what specialization to pick yet.”

Brian interrupted.” What does that specialization thing mean?”

Brenda explained to him:” During the first year they teach you all the basics a new soldier and cadet needs to know and then in year two is where you decide what job you will do in the navy. You know logistics, personnel, weapons, security and a thousand other specialty fields. Year three is either at a dedicated school for that field or sometimes aboard an Academy ship. I did the basic training at Fort Fun club and decided for life sciences right at the start of year two. So I did the rest of my Academy time all remaining three years at the Venus Life Sciences and Xeno Biology and such a career move gets you in the Science Corps.”

Brian spooned sugar in his cup and stirred it with measured moves.”Now I am a bit curious, the Science Corps isn’t that separate from the Navy?”

“Yes it is technically. The Science Corps was started to have a distinctive and separate organization from the fleet that focused on military missions. It operates under the authority of the Science Council and not the Defense Department. It has its own ships and Science Explorers do not carry heavy weapons, but the crews and officers aboard science vessels are Navy personnel and the Science officer aboard every Navy Vessel is of the Science Corps.”

He nodded and thanked her and then said to me.” Well if you decide the Navy isn’t for you there is always room for a bright person at SII. There are thousands of careers to choose from just as well and we pay a whole lot better. SII has a fleet of space ships second only to the navy.”

“I was considering that.” I didn’t want to tell him I had a similar offer from Enroe. So I said:”I just don’t want to fly a freighter on established routes.”

“Oh you are mistaken, SII doesn’t have just freighters. We have corporate security Units that almost could go toe to toe with your battle ships and we have research vessels surveying areas of space that no Navy ship has seen.”

Brenda looked at her wrist unit.” It is almost time for lunch and I was planning to go into Topeka for a nice steak and do some shopping. Why don’t you two come along?”

Brian finished his second cup and said:” Sounds like an idea. I bragged to Eric about the steaks they serve at the Cattle Baron Grill.”

Topeka was an underground city as I found out. It was below all those Cattle pens and beef processing plants. Down here the air was clean and did not stink and the Cattle Baron Grill was part of a large shopping mall and the steaks they served there were the best food I ever ate right after fresh Tyranno Fin filet. It was juicy and the flavor was truly amazing. They served the huge 72 ounce steaks on a big wooden cutting board with potatoes, green beans and gravy. I was hard pressed to finish half and could not even try the Cherry cobbler, Brian recommended.

Brenda had gone for a few minutes, I assumed to the bath room and Brian said.” This pretty much concludes the sightseeing tour of Wichita, unless you like to see more cattle.”

“No I think I’ve seen all the cattle I care for to see, unless they are in form of a steak like these in front of me on a plate.”

He laughed.” Right you are.”

Brenda came back and sat down and looked at me. “So what brings you to Wichita in the first place? Normally Midshipmen go home after their first year.”

I pretty much told them the story without going into too much detail and said.” I am not sure what I will do after I have delivered the ship, maybe I check out Earth.”

“Both Brian and I are from Earth and it is a place every human should visit once. Lot’s to see there for sure.”

Brian had ordered him a glass of whiskey and tingled with the ice cubes.”Nilfeheim is a cold world alright. Lots of ancient traditions, it actually surprises me to see a Neo Viking away from that place and being in the navy. I always had the impression Neo Vikings rarely left their world.”

I frowned.” I am the only one I know of ever to sign up for the Navy and still only few go off world.”

Brenda pushed her wooden plate away:”Can I ask you why you decided to leave?”

“My father and I don’t get along and there was no future for me in any of the traditional occupations.”

She nodded. “I can relate to that, when I decided to become a woman, my parents didn’t like that much either and I haven’t been back or talked to them.”

I coughed and tried to hide my surprise.” You have been a man once?”

“In a biological physical sense, yes, but I always wanted to be female. My parents didn’t gene check me before I was born and then where to busy with their careers to notice my desire so they never opted for psycho surgery while they had the power to decide for me.”

Brian looked at me sideways.” Does this shock you? You know I am homosexual. I know this is very rare in these days but I am and I don’t want it any other way.”

I blushed and shook my head.” No it does not bother me or shock me.”

He laughed:” No worries. I haven’t picked you up for any adventures. I am happily married to a very handsome man for the last 20 years.”

I blushed some more.” I wasn’t even thinking that. It’s just I am a lot like Brenda and that is perhaps the main reason I always wanted to leave.”

Brenda leaned forward and placed her hand on mine.” I had no idea. Have you decided what are you going to do?”

“No, I am very confused about the entire thing. About my feelings and what I should do. Part of me thinks it is so wrong and I am sick and should seek a way to cure me from this desire but whenever I think about psycho surgery I hear these horror stories about it.”

“It’s a rare desire nowadays and usually treated either before birth or at an early stage. But it is not all that uncommon and I too felt confused. The best advice I can give is to be you. Experiment and see what you prefer. Besides I got to warn you about Psycho Surgery that late in life. To alter that desire in you they need to change basic DNA, replace hormone glands and implant a new personality base to eliminate your desire. Since you are living with it for so long they might need to delete key memory sequences. As you can see it is not exactly as easy and simple as it is often portrayed. Your decision for psycho surgery would also affect your Career as Officer, because you were accepted and tested based on your original personality. Basically you would need to start over again and I never heard anyone ever to be accepted as a Cadet after Psycho Surgery. However our society does not discriminate against folks like us and your career in the navy will be unaffected by it. Have you ever tried to live a woman for a while? That usually helps to make a decision much easier. Then you will know what side you like better.”

“No I haven’t thought of that. Deep down I always thought my society is right and that I am indeed a sick abomination.”

Brian said. “Well fate brought you to the right place then. Topeka is the capital of Cross gender issues so to speak, believe it or not. They have the annual Cross Dress Convention here and thousands like you or Brenda come here. There is the Drag Queen Pageant and the Dorothy Festival those events are very famous and transmitted life on GalNet every year. There is a museum and a Research Institute as well”

Brenda held up her finger.” Not like me, I am not a Cross dresser I am a woman now and what Eric is, it appears he doesn’t know yet himself.”

He made an apologizing gesture.

I asked “Why here?”

Brian shrugged.” I don’t know for sure, but I think one of the early Cattle Barons was like you and used lots of his money to start these traditions and now they make almost as much money on those events as they make on cattle.”

Brenda got up.” Since you going to be here three week anyway I am going to show you the Costume Emporium.”

I must have looked at her like one of those cows up there.”I am going to be here?”

“Yes, I just talked to Fleet Command and they assigned you to me as an assistant for about 20 days. It will be credited as extra time and you can get this time off as R&R during the next year.”

“But the ship, I am supposed to pick up.”

“I think you will get new orders for that any moment.”

She was right my PDD played the Thor song of Nilfeheim and in doing so I knew I was called. I was not sure I could hide the disappointment I felt when I took the call. A Commander of Fleet HQ was identified and came on the screen. “Midshipman Olafson, we received the request of Lt Commander Brown of the Science Corps to have you assigned to her for a special project she needs a second person for. You are hereby assigned to her Command for the duration of 21 days. After that you will proceed to Ross and do the transfer of the Sturgeon, your orders have been modified to accommodate the Science Corps request.”

I was greatly relieved and now I didn’t mind to stay. Three weeks would be over soon.”Yes Sir.”

I recognized the Commander to be the one in Elligott’s office who had talked to me before. He smiled and said. “You sure have a strange way to spend your holidays, Cadet. The Old Man himself has authorized to extend your Leave so you can catch up on some R&R after you done all those chores and errands.”

“Yes Sir, thank you Sir.”

“I have a personal message and direct order of Admiral Mc Elligott for you as well, you are not to take any assignments or fleet business after you done your chores on Wichita and delivered that ship and if he hears you spend even a day in Uniform during your vacation, he will personally send Marines to give you a vacation you will never forget.” The Commander spread his arms.” This was verbatim, Midshipman.”

“I give my word. I will go on R&R right after.”

He nodded with a light grin and cut the call.

Both Brian and Brenda had of course heard the call and Brenda said. “I never heard of any Midshipman who gets calls directly from the top floor of Annapolis tower or personal messages of the Old man himself.”

“Well he was the Admiral who had asked me to be at Lorman’s Starbase.”

Brian got up.” I think I leave you two now. I have two more business meetings.” He took my hand:”It was nice meeting you Eric. If you ever make it to Earth and I am there look me up.”

“Thank you for the tour, Brian.”

He swiped me his business card into my PDD and said:” Thank you for your company. Here is my card; my contact info is on it. I was quite serious call me one of these days and tell me how you’re doing, or if you decide to try SII for a career.”

I thanked him and promised I would do that.

Brian kissed Brenda on the cheek, waved at me and left the restaurant.

Brenda motioned me to stay for a moment and explained.” I asked for an assistant for quite a while, but never really pressed the issue because I do like my solitude, but you showing up presented me with an opportunity to tackle a project I wanted to do for almost two years.”

I nodded and sipped on the after dinner coffee.” I am here Ma’am.”

“It’s still BB if you want.” She brushed over a crease of the table cloth. “There is a cave entrance I discovered on the North end of the Bone Valley and I noticed tracks of the animals coming out of that cave but so far have not found any going in. I would like to explore those caves and map them and see if there maybe bones or if those animals perhaps live underground. I didn’t want to go Cave exploring on my own. Caves can be treacherous all on their own and it is always better to do something like this with at least one other person.”

“I understand.”

“Since there are bones there is even a slim chance we might run into living Land walkers and while I am not planning to kill one if we do, two blasters are better than one if we must.”

“I am looking forward to explore those caves. Sounds like fun to me.” I really meant what I said out loud. This is what our Navy was all about; explore the unknown and crawling around unexplored caves sounded like a nice little adventure.

She smiled disarmingly.” I am glad you think that way and I think while you are here let’s see if your female side is as brave as your male part.”

“You mean I...”

“Why not?”

The waiter told us the Cattle-Men Association had already paid for everything.

I followed her into the shopping mall to a large window front and the Project-a-sign read” Costume Emporium- Everyone you dream of being we can do.”

A Robot Mannequin was wearing an old fashioned looking dress in checkered blue and white, red glittering shoes.

“That is Dorothy Gale form the pre Astro 2D classic Wizard of Oz.” Brenda explained.

“And who is Dorothy?”

“Oh you don’t know? You simply must watch that show sometimes. It is what they called a movie.”

“Oh I know movies. I know many who love to watch those ancient story tapes. You just sit there and watch them.”

“Well this particular one was made in 1939. There are a dozen remakes and most recently a Virtu-Immerse production, but none of those can compare with that original. The character of Dorothy with the pinafore, those sparkly red shoes and pig tails is an icon for cross dressers for a very long time. They hold a Dorothy Contest here in Topeka and I kid you not, there were six milion coming to that contest last year all dressed like that.”

“I thought folks like us are rare.”

“Uncommon perhaps, but what are six million to a Union population of Centillions?”

“It does look nice.”

“Why don’t you go in and get one for yourself? We need to get you some normal things to wear as well.”

A strange feeling of excitement and expectation came over me as I agreed and entered the store.

A woman wearing red tube dress barley covering her voluptuous curves came from behind a curtain and smiled:”What can I do for you?”

Brenda answered for me.” Can you get him a Dorothy costume, the super deluxe version with all the extras?”

“But of course, do you want it complete with bio flex mask, body shaper and Robo-Toto?”

I nodded.” What is a Robo Toto?”

“A robotic dog, the animal you see in that basket over there. It is an essential part of the Dorothy Experience.””Well I do take it all but I don’t think I need a robotic dog.

“Step right in here. The Auto Dresser will take measurements to fabricate the desired costume and squeeze you into it. You are familiar with Auto Dressers?”

“Yes I am.”

The Auto Dresser looked different from the ones I had seen before. This one was blinking and had colorful panels, but it was doing the same thing. Robotic arms and nanites combined stock items and raw materials right onto my body. I felt constricted and something really tight took shape around me. Then it was done and I stepped out to see the result in a mirror and what I saw took my breath. It was as if something in my soul had broken and now came like a flood to the surface. I saw a young beautiful woman in the mirror. Any man would have looked ridiculous in a get up like this but on a female it looked simply charming and quite sexy in an innocent sort of way. Perhaps this was the allure that made this particular character so popular even after over 3600 years.

“How do you feel?” Brenda said quietly.

“It should be wrong but it feels so right. Somehow this is me and what I am underneath seems more like the costume.”

She smiled warmly. “I am glad you feel that way. Now let’s show the world. We need to shop for a few other things as well.”

The costume wasn’t cheap and cost over 12,000 credits, but I could have bought the store and not be significantly poorer. Still for this kind of money you could by a decent used flyer on Nilfeheim. I never was good with money, at first I never had any and now I had more than I could spend and didn’t really need it.

Outside the store I felt as if everyone was staring at me, but at the same time I got the feeling that there was something heavy taken from my soul and I couldn’t get enough seeing my reflection.

Two hours later I was another 5000 credits poorer and loaded with bags and realized I had no place to put all these things. I was on a planet I had to leave soon and there was no telling where I would end up.

Brenda noticed my sudden change right away.” What is the matter? You seemed to have fun and now you look as sad as a weeping willow.”

I told her what I just realized, she listened and sighed. “No wonder you are depressed. Well leave all these things with me and I can send them to you once you know, but for now we get you to a hotel and tomorrow I pick you up.”