Chapter 15
Anny followed Captain Vorstang off the shuttle and then turned to look at Chris Tropio who was right behind her. Immediately behind Chris were the eight other women from her hospital company. All of them gazed around in wonder at the sight of their first alien world. The planet was called Lengkeek and, at first glance, it appeared pleasantly terrestrial: blue skies, white puffy clouds, green hills.
"Everyone got their sunblock on?" demanded Tropio of the girls. "Kara, where are your glasses?"
"Uh, right here…"
"Put them on and keep them on!"
"Yes, ma'am," sighed the woman, fitting her glasses in place.
Lengkeek might look nice, but its atmosphere let in a much higher amount of ultra-violet radiation than was healthy for most humans. Anny, like the other women, was wearing issue sunblock that had about the same density as lead and a set of protective glasses. The locals, both humans and the imported plant and animal life, had adapted, or been adapted enough to tolerate it, but visitors needed to be careful.
And just at the moment, Lengkeek was seeing a hell of a lot of visitors.
The Fleet was a little over a month on its way to Novo Paveo and Lengkeek had been picked as the first of three stops for resupply and shore leave. They'd be staying here for ten days to let all the personnel rotate down for some R&R. A third of them had already come and gone and now it was the turn of the Barrayarans and a few smaller contingents. There were a dozen shuttles sitting on the pads of the small space port, disgorging people, and Anny knew that there were plenty more waiting to come down. She could see crowds of people in uniform from the last wave wandering toward the town of Stiversville in the distance. From what she'd heard, Lengkeek was bending over backwards to accommodate the influx. It was a small-population planet without a lot of industry or exports and the flood of off-world cash the Fleet would bring would be a bonanza. Mobs of locals had descended on Stiversville to greet the potential pigeons… er, customers.
"Lieutenant Payne," said Vorstang.
"Yes sir?"
"Are you going to be all right with your… charges?"
"I think so, sir. Shouldn't be a problem."
"All right then, I will leave you to it. Have fun, but stay out of trouble."
"Of course, sir. Enjoy your shore leave, Captain." Vorstang nodded and moved off into the crowd. Anny watched him for a moment and then turned to face Tropio.
"So, what would you like to do? We've got two days."
"You mean now that Ol' Iron Britches is gone?" asked Tropio with a grin.
"Vorstang's okay. He just doesn't like things that upset his routine."
"Then how does he manage to deal with you?"
"He's still working on that. But I ask again: what would you like to do?"
"Well, the first thing is for you to find Jer! I want to meet this guy—and you've been kept apart way too long."
"It hasn't been that long," protested Anny, although it seemed like forever.
"Yeah, right! You were making love to him in your sleep last night—again." The other women laughed but Anny blushed furiously.
"Sorry…"
"Patric will be with him, won't he?" asked one of the other women, a medtech named Lyra Gundsen. Lyra and Patric had been making eyes at each for a few weeks, Anny had noticed. And they weren't the only pair.
"And Sven Estaban?" asked another.
"And I want to meet that Alby Vorsworth you keep talking about—he sounds like fun!"
Anny looked at the women in consternation. "What am I running here, a dating service?"
"Just lead us to them! We'll handle it from there!" exclaimed Terri Burt and everyone laughed. Even Anny.
"All right! All right! The message I got from Jer said his battalion landed about an hour ago. He says there is some sort of tall monument or temple in the main square of the town. He and the others will be waiting for us there."
"So let's go!"
"Lead on, Lieutenant!"
Smiling, Anny headed in the direction that everyone else seemed to be going. Through some tree-like things, she thought she could see a large structure rearing up in the distance. That was probably where Jer was waiting. The thought of seeing him again soon set her tingling. The road leading from the landing area to the town was lined with commercial enterprises. Maybe a third of them were in permanent structures and the rest were clearly temporary tents and pavilions erected just for this off-world invasion.
Crowds of natives were also lining the street. The genetic manipulation that allowed the people here to handle the UV overdose gave them a skin that was almost a pure white with tinges of blue. Their hair was noticeably blue, too. The plant life was a deep purple for the most part, although other colors popped out here and there. It was pretty enough, Anny supposed, but she would have preferred green.
Anny stared at one of the natives and then said to Chris: "I would have thought that they'd have very dark skin. Isn't that the usual way for dealing with harsh sunlight?"
"Yes, usually," replied the medtech. "But I was reading up on these folks before we got here. Like you say, the usual response is to increase the melanin which darkens the skin color. But the UV is so high here that that just isn't enough. They had to take a different approach. Apparently they have a layer of cells under the skin that can actually reflect the UV instead of absorbing it. That's what gives them that white skin color."
"Huh."
"You can't see it except up close, but they also have modified eyes. An inner eyelid that acts like sunglasses." She touched the pair she was wearing.
"Wow, I'd heard about things like this, but it's the first time I've seen it firsthand."
"Yeah. And this is all pretty mundane, really, compared to some of the things humans have done to themselves to exist out among the stars. Makes you wonder just how far they can go before they stop being human anymore."
The group of women moved slowly through the crowd, taking in the different sights, sounds and smells. A lot of the establishments were selling food and drink; and were doing a brisk business. Shipboard food wasn't bad, but it did become monotonous after a while. Many of the other stands were selling handcrafted goods. Jewelry, pottery, clothing, wood carvings in some amazing colors, glasswork, all manner of beautiful object filled the shelves or the hands of the vendors, who were energetically thrusting them before the potential customers. Anny couldn't imagine that many of the larger items would find buyers; where would they store them once back on their ship? She had room for a few things in her cabin, but the enlistedmen's lockers were already stuffed to the brim with their gear. She wondered if the locals realized just what sort of people their visitors were?
Oops, maybe they do!
Several, well, quite a few, of the establishments were apparently selling goods that could be enjoyed on the spot and would not need to be taken back to the ships. They were not being displayed in quite as unabashed a fashion as they had been on one planet she'd visited on her apprentice cruise, but there was no doubt what was for sale. It reminded her a bit of the area around the main military shuttleport on Komarr.
And business seemed to be booming.
Lines of men in uniform were queued up outside. They were predominantly Barrayaran uniforms, but from what Anny understood, the Barrayaran forces would be the majority visitors for the next few days. There were some of the smaller contingents as well. The other big groups, like the Cetagandans, would have their own days, in fact the Cetas had already been and gone. She supposed that was partly to spare Stiversville having to host the entire expedition all at once, but mostly to keep former enemies from having to rub elbows too closely.
"You'd think those guys hadn't seen a woman in a year," tisked one of the medtechs. "It's been, what? A month since we left home?"
"Who do these women prey on between passing armadas?" wondered another.
"Probably every one of them on the planet is here," said Tropio. "The rest of the time they're more spread out, I guess."
"Wow, we should have brought a tent and set up shop, girls! After ten days we could all retire!"
The women all laughed and Anny forced herself to smile. She'd noticed that the Vivs were remarkably open when talking about sex and could make or take a dirty joke with the most ribald of the men. Their behavior, as far as Anny had been able to tell, was completely above board, but she supposed it was inevitable that their talk and humor would be like this. Thinking about it objectively, she realized that she wasn't really that much different. She had to maintain a certain level of decorum just because she was an officer, but she had to admit that some of her language and jokes would have shocked the Anny she'd been just four years earlier. Part of the job description, I guess.
They made it past the bulk of the fleshpots and into the town proper. The buildings were mostly brick or covered in stucco and few were more than three or four stories high. They had balconies projecting out from the upper floors which created colonnaded walkways at street level which provided welcome shade from the bright sunlight. The ground floors were also mostly shops, but these were permanent establishments, not the temporary ones set up to serve the galactic influx. Even so, they were nearly as crowded as the pavilions by the shuttleport. Uniformed men—and a few women, Anny observed with interest—filled the stores and spilled out onto the sidewalk. She might have been tempted to investigate a few of the shops if there'd been any room to get inside.
It was noisy and if her wristcom hadn't been set to vibrate she probably wouldn't have noticed the incoming call. It was Jer.
"What's keeping you, Anny?" he demanded. "We're all waiting."
"Oh, it's slow work making our way through the crowd…"
"Sightseeing, huh? Well, there's only one sight I want to see and that's you, love! Hurry up!"
"Okay," she laughed. "I can just see that big tower-building you mentioned. You guys still there?"
"We're in a little park out front, under some trees. There's a bronze monstrosity that I think is supposed to be a sculpture and we're right next to it. You can't miss it."
"Okay, see you soon."
"Jer?" asked Chris Tropio, with a grin.
"Yeah, he's getting impatient."
"Well, let's not keep the poor boy waiting. Come on, girls!"
They picked up their pace as much as the crowds allowed and soon came to a huge open area in the town. The tall building reared up at one end and, as promised, a park occupied some of the square. There were several sculptures that could have been the monstrosity Jer had mentioned, but by the process of elimination they found the one where Jer and the others were waiting.
Anny found herself suddenly short of breath at the sight of her man. They collided with a small thud and her lips found his. Completely unmindful of the hoots from the other officers and women medtechs, they kissed for a good half-minute. A very good half-minute, actually, despite the bitter taste of the sunblock on their lips. "Hi love," she gasped when they came up for air.
"Hi."
"Missed you."
"You, too."
"All right! All right, break it up you two!"
Anny turned her head and saw a grinning Alby Vorsworth. She disentangled herself from Jer and gave Alby a quick hug. "Alby! Good to see you!"
"And you! How have you been?"
"Not bad, but I've missed you and Jer. But heavens, I'm being rude! I've got some people who want to meet you, too!" She turned to beckon Chris and her brood forward. Introductions were made all around, although a few already knew each other, and the women seemed as delighted as the men. Several other officers from the regiment appeared to have attached themselves to the group, so the numbers were nearly even. But wait… who was that…?
Another young man had been lurking in the background and now Alby pulled him forward. His uniform wasn't Barrayaran and with a start Anny realized what it was: Cetagandan!
"Hey, everyone," said Alby, "I want you to meet my roommate: Ghem-Platoon-Chief Rad Benin. Rad, you probably didn't catch everyone's names—I didn't either—but don't worry. Say hello."
Anny stared at the man. He was tall, well-built and rather handsome. His hair was dark and cut quite short. The most striking thing about him was an elaborately painted design on his right cheek. Red, black and white lines swirled in a complicated pattern. She knew that Cetagandan ghem often painted their whole faces on formal occasions but she wasn't sure of the significance of this smaller design. Benin came up to about a meter away from her and made a stiff half-bow.
"Lieutenant Payne," he said. "Lieutenant Vorsworth has told me a great deal about you. It is an honor to meet you at last." He swept his eyes across the other women. "And the rest of you as well."
"Uh, nice to meet you, too," said Anny. Chris and her Vivs mumbled out replies, but were clearly as surprised as Anny. Alby had mentioned something about having a new roommate in one of his messages, but he hadn't said anything about this! He was standing behind Benin, grinning. He'd clearly been planning this—the rat!
"The Cetas don't have women in their army, either," said Alby, smirking. "So you're a novelty to him just like you are to all of us."
"Yes, I'm here to learn what I can about modern-day Barrayaran military procedures," said Benin. "I'm sure that observing you will be rewarding."
"I hope I'm an entertaining specimen," said Anny, not sure if she was amused or annoyed. Benin seemed to realize his misstep.
"Forgive me, I meant no offense," he said, bowing again, a little more deeply this time.
"And none was taken. We have things to learn about you, too, I'm sure."
"Anny is an experienced combat officer," said Jer, "not some… ornament."
"Indeed, yes," said Benin. "I have no combat experience at all, myself. A situation I hope to rectify on this expedition."
"Another damn fire-eater," growled Alby in mock-disgust. "I'm surrounded by 'em! But there will be no combat today folks! We're here to have fun so let's have some!"
"Yes," said Sven Estaban, "let's look around the city."
The group—almost two dozen of them all told—sorted themselves out and strolled. Anny noted that there was an almost immediate pairing off of the female medtechs and the male officers. Sven was hovering next to Chris Tropio. Chris had an amused smile on her face. The other women were chatting with the men.
"Major Vorglanov charged me with preventing shenanigans between the girls and the men," sighed Anny to Jer. "Managed to do it on the ship. Not sure I'm gonna be able to handle it dirtside."
"Yeah, especially with the very poor example you'll be setting for them tonight," grinned Jer, giving her a squeeze.
"Yeah…" She kissed him. "Missed you so much."
"But hey, Vorglanov can't seriously be thinking he can keep men or women from engaging in shenanigans while on shore leave! He'd have a mutiny if he even tried to enforce an order like that!"
"It does sort of fly in the face of tradition, doesn't it? But the hell with it. We're all adults here and the girls can handle themselves. I'm just gonna worry about handling you."
"That sounds good. In fact that sounds very good."
They wandered through the city with no plan or objective besides taking in the sights. They sampled the food and the drinks as the mood took them. As they got farther from the space port the crowds diminished a bit. Stiversville seemed to be a well-planned and well-maintained city. It was only a fraction the size—or the age—of Vorbarr Sultana, but it had its own charm and just strolling with Jer at her side was very pleasant indeed.
But as the too-bright sun started dipping toward the horizon Jer asked: "With all this mob ashore are we going to be able to find a place to stay tonight? I bet every hotel is jammed."
"Some of those tents we saw back near the spaceport were offering cots and showers for pretty cheap," said Sven Estaban. "I imagine that most of the enlistedmen will be choosing places like that to save their money for… other stuff."
"The weather's mild enough, we could just camp out in one of the parks," suggested one of the girls.
"Tish tosh!" said Alby, grinning in the way he did when he had Something Up His Sleeve. "We shall do no such thing. We have reservations."
"Reservations?" demanded a half-dozen people simultaneously. "Where?"
"Why right over there, if I'm not mistaken," replied Alby pointing to a large building a few blocks away.
"What's that?"
"I believe it's called the 'Stiversville Arms', or some such," said Alby. "But I'm told it's one of the best in the city. "I've reserved the Presidential Suite for us."
"That must have cost a fortune!" gasped Chris Tropio.
"A small one," admitted Alby.
"But how in the world did you arrange that?" demanded Anny. "With all the high-ranking officers and other VIPs in town I'd think all the best places would have been booked up."
"Well, as a matter of fact, most of them were, but the computer security on this planet is years out of date," grinned Alby. "And I'm sure the Polian ambassador will be just as comfortable in the Vice Presidential Suite."
"Alby!"
He just shrugged and said: "Follow me, folks!" He started off despite a chorus of protests, and everyone else eventually followed perforce.
"One of these days he's going to get himself into so much trouble!" said Anny to Jer.
"No doubt. But in the meantime, let's enjoy ourselves. I hope they have nice big beds at this place."
"We'll soon find out. Look, there it is." They reached the hotel which, like most of the larger buildings, was clad in a light yellow stucco finish. The entry was set under a deep canopy held up by stout columns and all the numerous windows had colorful awnings. Anny had noticed that the locals, despite their adaptations, tended to stay in the shade if they could help it and built their structures to provide shade. A faint tingling around her lips made her wonder if she'd kissed away her sunblock. Burning kisses were fine as long as it wasn't literally burning her skin off! She reached into a pocket and brought out a small container of the sunblock and smeared some on her lips. She handed it to Jer and he smiled and did the same, even though they entered the shade under the canopy just a few seconds later.
There was a native by the main doors wearing what could almost be called a uniform. He smiled and bowed courteously, but he blocked their path and said: "Many pardons, but the hotel is completely booked. Unless you have reservations, I must plead with you to look elsewhere for accommodations."
"No problem," said Alby. "We have reservations."
"Ah. Good, good. Your name, sir?" The man produced a computer pad.
"Vorsworth."
After a quick look at his 'pad the man snapped to attention. "Admiral Vorsworth! Welcome to the Stiversville Arms!" A half-dozen other natives appeared, as if by magic, and the whole party was ushered into the lavish lobby. Moments later they were in lifts taking them upward.
"Admiral Vorsworth?" whispered Anny, trying hard to suppress her grin.
Alby shrugged. "Gets their attention, doesn't it? And as long as I can pay, what are they going to care?"
"Good thing they can't read our uniform rank," said Patric.
"Well, I couldn't read that guy's rank either. He might have been a field marshal or something."
"Do they even have a military here?" asked Sven Estaban.
"A small one," replied Anny. "Enough to deal with pirates and raiders. They haven't got any significant resources here and with the UV problem, I guess they don't worry much about an invasion."
"Except from folks like us!"
The lifts stopped on the top floor which they discovered they had all to themselves. There was a huge central room with eight bedrooms off of it, a kitchen, numerous bathrooms and a large shaded roof garden with a small swimming pool. A dozen or more servants were waiting for them, but most were left with little to do as their guests had nothing but small overnight bags. Officers and med-techs quickly moved to explore the space.
"I like your friend, Anny," said Chris Tropio. "He's certainly got style!"
"Not to mention a touch of insanity," quipped Jer. "But this is paradise after a month aboard ship!"
Anny noted that a great deal of pairing off had already taken place and she looked uneasily at Tropio. "Uh, Chris, I've been made the Shenanigan Police by my boss and I… uh…" She gestured at the others. She knew it was hopeless, but she felt duty-bound to try.
Chris smirked. "Lieutenant Payne, we are all on leave and what my girls do on leave is no more my business—or your business—than what you and Jer are probably going to be doing in short order. Okay?"
"Uh, well, as long as they know what they're doing…"
"I assure you, they all know exactly what they are doing! And they've all got their implants, so stop worrying, girl!"
Alby appeared, grinning ear to ear. "We've got almost two hours until dinner folks. So relax and enjoy yourselves." Somehow his grin grew even broader. "Anny, Jer, that bedroom is yours. Enjoy."
"You heard the Admiral," said Jer, taking her arm and pulling her toward the indicated room.
[Scene Break]
A little over an hour later they emerged, holding hands and smiling at each other. About half their party was lounging about or in the pool, but a number of the bedroom doors were still closed. Alby was on a lounge chair, sipping a drink and watching the people in the pool. They went over to him and sat down. "How are the beds?" he asked, smirking.
"Very comfortable," said Jer, smirking right back at him.
"Glad to hear it. I might just…" he paused as faint chime came from the direction of the door. "Oh good!" he popped to his feet.
"Dinner?" asked Anny, looking around. "I don't know if everyone is… ready."
"Nope, I'm expecting a guest. Come on."
Puzzled, they followed him to the door. It opened to reveal a woman wearing a uniform—not a Barrayaran uniform. She also wore an amused smile. "Admiral Vorsworth?" she said, her eyebrows arching up.
"Field promotion. You know the sort of casualties those cocktail parties rack up among the high command! But come in! Come in!" Alby ushered her inside. "Anny, Jer, this is Lieutenant Commander Izabella Cresswell-Jones. She's from Earth. Izabella, these are Lieutenants Payne and Naddel—special friends of mine."
"Pleased to meet you," said Cresswell-Jones, extending her hand. Anny shook it and so did Jer.
"How… how did you two meet?" asked Anny.
"Oh, a chance battlefield encounter during that desperately catered affair on the Cetagandan flagship. I told you about that, I think. Very nearly bought it, we did," said Alby.
"And when the 'admiral', here, told me he had reservations at an actual hotel," said Cresswell-Jones, "Well, that was an offer I couldn't refuse! But Good Lord! Look at this place! How on Earth did you swing this, Alby?"
"Natural talent, m'dear! But make yourself at home. Dinner should be in about an hour, but there are plenty of snacks about. Can I get you a drink?"
"Please." Alby took the woman off toward the bar. He walked very close to her.
"Well, what do you think of that?" asked Anny.
Jer shrugged. "We're on shore leave."
"But what about Abigail?"
"They're not engaged or anything, and," he shrugged again and grinned. "We're on shore leave."
"Ah, I see," she said a bit tartly. "And can I expect that same attitude from you if for some reason you find yourself on shore leave without me, Lieutenant?"
"Anny… You know I didn't mean that!"
"Yes, I know. And I guess you are right. And in any case, it's none of our business." Privately she found that she was a little disappointed with Alby, although she couldn't really say why. They wandered out and found seats by the pool. Several of the girls were in there with several of the men, apparently playing some game which involved a lot of splashing and laughing, but no other objective that Anny could discern. Alby and Cresswell-Jones joined them after a moment with their drinks.
They chatted a bit about shipboard life, the trip so far, the mission ahead, the planet Lengkeek and Stiversville. But Anny's eyes kept being drawn to Cresswell-Jones' uniform. It was a blue so dark that it almost looked black. Instead of the high, stiff collar of Barrayaran uniforms it had an open collar revealing the shirt and necktie that was underneath. The cuffs had three gold bands, two wide and a narrow one in between. The upper band had a single loop. Lieutenant-commander, that would be about the equivalent of a major. She outranks all of us.
She.
Anny couldn't get over the fact that she was looking at a woman in uniform and it wasn't her in a mirror. She waited for a break in the conversation—she had to be quick because Alby abhorred a silence the way nature abhorred a vacuum—and then said: "Commander Cresswell-Jones, I guess Earth's militaries have had women in them for a long time, haven't they?"
The woman looked surprised by the question. "Sure. Centuries. Longer than that, I guess, since before space travel. And please, call me Izabella; we're off-duty here, Anny. But why do you ask? Oh!" She looked at Alby.
"Barrayar has about a thousand years of catching up to do," he said with a grin.
"Wow… that's a little hard to get my head around. I mean men outnumber women in the services a bit, but not by all that much. You're really the only one in your army?"
"The only one in a combat role," said Anny. "We've got a few in support roles like medical," she nodded toward the women in the pool. "And more will be coming soon. There are over a hundred more women in our academy." She stared pointedly at Alby hoping he'd remember Abigail, but if he did he made no indication. "But there aren't any problems in your military, Izabella? Men and women just… ignore it?"
Cresswell-Jones laughed. "Well, I wouldn't say we ignore it! But we get along. I mean we're all professionals with a job to do." She grew serious. "But from your question I guess things haven't gone that smoothly for you?"
"You might say that!" snorted Jer. "The Barrayarans tried to drive her out with every dirty trick in the book. But nothing worked. She showed them all!"
Cresswell-Jones eyed Jer closely and frowned. "You talk about the Barrayarans as if you're not one of them."
"I'm a loyal subject of the Empire. But I'm from Komarr."
"Ah, sort of like when I say I'm from Canada rather than Earth or the North American Union?"
"Something like that," said Jer.
"We Earthers have always been a provincial lot," chuckled Cresswell-Jones. "Guess we're not the only ones, eh?"
"Barrayar, itself, has only been unified for a little over a century," said Alby. "There are still folks who feel more loyalty to their district than the Imperium. And Komarr is… is…" he glanced at Jer.
"Komarr is still a work in progress."
They all looked up as Rad Benin came over to them. "May I join you?" he asked.
"Sure," said Alby. "Izabella, I told you about my roommate, didn't I? This is Ghem-Platoon-Chief Rad Benin. Rad, this is Lieutenant Commander Izabella Cresswell-Jones. Rad, don't stand there like you're on parade! Sit down! Have a drink! Unbutton your tunic! We're on leave!"
Benin perched rigidly on one of the chairs, looking anything but relaxed. Cresswell-Jones eyed at the man curiously. "So how is the experiment in interstellar diplomacy working out?" she asked. "There are countries on Earth that have just as much reason to hate each other as Barrayar and Cetaganda, but that was a lot longer ago."
"Working fine so far," said Alby. "Rad has no sense of humor whatsoever, but he's tidy and unlike Gilchrist, he doesn't hog the shower or snore at night."
Benin arched an eyebrow. "It has been most instructive so far. Lieutenant Vorsworth has exposed me to aspects of the Barrayaran military not to be found in our intelligence briefs."
Jer snorted. "I thought you said he didn't have a sense of humor, Alby!"
"First I've seen of one," replied Alby. "Must be the extra UV around here."
They laughed and the conversation became general again. As they talked, more of the missing people emerged from the bedrooms and either joined them or the people in the pool. As the light outside faded, dinner arrived and it was very good, although one dish was so spicy Anny's eyes started watering just from the smell of it. Most of the others gave it a pass although she noted that Rad Benin seemed to enjoy it.
There was abundant alcohol present, of course, and things got quite merry. The suite had an excellent sound system and as the evening wore on there was dancing and singing. Anny danced mostly with Jer, but there was a fair amount of partner swapping and it was really a great deal of fun. And quite a contrast with the oh-so-proper regimental mess back at Fort Vorolson!
During a break between dances Anny and Jer wandered out to a small balcony that had a clear view of the sky. Lengkeek was nearly 4,000 light years from Barrayar in a straight line and the constellations were very different. A luminous nebula filled a quarter of the northern sky. It was amazingly beautiful. She snuggled closer to Jer. "I love you," she said.
"And I love you." He was silent for a moment and then he asked: "Are you happy?"
"Yes. Yes, I am. Being back with the regiment, being back with you. Yes, I'm happy."
"Good. But it's late and it's been a long day and I want to try out that amazing bed again."
"Sounds like an excellent idea."
They drifted back into the main room and saw that many of the others had already anticipated them. The music was now low and only a few people still lingered. They went into their room and locked the door.
[Scene Break]
The beeping of her wristcom slowly brought Anny back to consciousness. "Damn," she muttered, fumbling to find the device. She cursed again when she saw that only a dim light was seeping in the windows. It wasn't even dawn yet? "Payne, here," she growled when she found her 'com.
"Lieutenant? Sergeant Kay. Are you… um, available?"
"For what? What's the matter, Sergeant?"
She could hear the embarrassment in her platoon sergeant's voice. "Sorry to disturb you, sir, but a couple of the boys have gotten themselves into trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" asked Anny, coming slightly more awake.
"Oh, nothin' too serious, sir. A bar fight. Some bruises, some damage to the place. The locals have them in lock-up and they won't let them go until we pay the fines and the damages. I'm not authorized to do that."
"Just fines? Nobody killed or anything?"
"No sir. Not by any of our lads, anyway. But it wasn't just our platoon last night! Looks like half a regiment under arrest down here. The locals seem a tad put out. Can you come down and bail our people out, sir?"
Anny sighed. The high command had anticipated the situation and all the officers had been issued credit chits for just this purpose.
"Sir?"
"All right, all right. I'll be down. Where are you? The city police HQ?" She wasn't sure where that was, but she assumed she could find it.
"No. sir, they couldn't handle the mob. We're at the city sports arena. You can home in on my com."
"Right. Are our people being treated properly?"
"Oh, yes, sir. They've chalked out holding pens on the grass and they're just sitting there waiting. Some of the locals have shown up to sell refreshments. 'Course most of our guys are still sleeping it off."
"Good. Then they can wait for a bit. I'll be down in an hour… or two."
"Right. Thank you, sir." Kay clicked off. Anny rolled over and went back to sleep.
Slightly more than two hours later Anny, washed, fed, and reasonably awake approached the Stiversville sports area. Jer and several of the other officers were with her—they had men to bail out, too.
"Good Lord! Look at this mob!" exclaimed Sven Estaban. "We'll be lucky to get out of here in time to catch our shuttle back to the ship!"
Anny was afraid that he was right, but they found that a system had been set up that was both quick and efficient. She just told one of the native officials what unit she was with and in a surprisingly short time five men from her platoon, escorted by a police officer and Sergeant Kay, were produced—along with a list of fines and penalties to be paid. Somehow she wasn't surprised that Private Kerbeck was one of the ne'er-do-wells.
"Wasn't our fault, sir!" cried Kerbeck the instant he caught sight of her. "There was a batch of… of… Cetagandans! Yeah! Cetagandans jumped us and we had to defend ourselves!"
Anny shook her head. "Private, the Cetagandans had their shore leave already. They're all gone."
"Musta been some deserters then!"
"Kerbeck, shut up!" snapped Kay. "Stubinski, why do you still have that thing?" Anny did a double-take. Private Stubinski was leading a small goat-like creature on a rope. It had blue fur and large liquid green eyes.
"Can't just turn her loose, Sarge!" protested the private.
"Where did you get that?" demanded Anny.
"Uh… not quite sure, sir. She was with me when I woke up this morning. Gonna call her 'Lulubelle."
"You can't take it back aboard ship, Private," said Anny. The man's face fell and Anny felt guilty. The thing really was cute. "Sorry, but it's regulations. And I'm sure she'll be happier here." She looked at the police officer. "Any mention of a missing… animal on your list?"
"Nope, not yet. But it's being updated hourly." The man shook his head. "I thought the Cetagandans were something, but oh! You Barrayarans!"
"We'll take that as a compliment. We all done here? Are my men free to go?"
The man checked his computer and nodded. "The payment went through, so yes. You can go."
"Any restrictions on where these men can go? Do they have to leave the planet?"
"No, since there were no serious injuries and as long as you folks can pay for the damages, they're free to stay."
"This is quite a racket you've got here. Isn't it?" The man just smiled and turned to the next officer in the line. Anny took her troopers aside and frowned at them. They looked back at her guiltily. "I ought to send you back to the ship," she said. "But… you've got another twelve hours of shore leave. Try to stay out of trouble, will you?"
"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" They saluted and moved off immediately before she could change her mind.
"And, Stubinski: find someone to give Lulubelle to!" she called after them.
"Thanks, sir," said Kay. "I think they got the worst out of their system last night. They should be all right for the rest of the day."
She let Kay go and then found Jer, who was bailing out a few men from his own platoon. Anny noticed a batch of local police bringing in a new load of troopers. Yeah, they had quite a racket going here.
They spent the rest of the day touring the city. Just walking and talking and enjoying each other's company. It was really nice. "A month until we see each other again," she sighed.
"Forty-two days, actually," said Jer.
"Counting the days?"
"Always."
They had dinner, took in a show with live performers and then reluctantly headed back to the shuttleport. They met up with Chris Tropio and her girls there. Everyone claimed to have had a fine time. They had to wait almost an hour but they spent the time together so they didn't mind. Eventually, Anny's shuttle landed and she kissed Jer good-bye and got aboard with the girls and a crowd of troopers from her battalion. They were in good spirits and had an amazing assortment of souvenirs. Many seemed to have replaced parts of their uniforms with native garb. The next inspection ought to be interesting…
Ensign Vorgard plopped into a seat next to her. "Hi Anny, have a good leave?"
"Oh yes. You?"
"Great! Really great! But boy, I think the locals got more than they bargained for!" He nodded toward the happy troopers.
"Yes, I think they'll remember us on Lengkeek for a long time."