A Young Girl's Outer Heaven

18

Commissioned by kyo amamoto.

Visha looked entirely too pleased with herself beside me. I vowed to get back at her in some petty way in the near future. In the meantime, I refocused my attention on Pedro, who sent me an amused and knowing look.

"Don't be too angry with them," he chuckled as one of the catering staff began bringing in plates. "I asked them to keep it a secret."

Letting out an annoyed huff, I turned a look on Visha. "You've survived. For now."

"Heh~!" the blonde laughed as our own plates were dropped off. "Ooh! Steak!"

My stomach growled at the sight of the slab of beef on my plate and I mostly ignored everything else on it to take up my knife and fork and start cutting a bite sized chunk off. It was like cutting through butter and the interior was a nice medium rare. "This isn't local grown," I pointed out and Pedro shook his head.

"No. My son's trade with the States is taking off well. He picks up a load of beef to bring back every time he flies up a shipment of fruit. This is Grade A American grown beef. If you'd like, I can let him know you'd like the opportunity to purchase it first. After me, of course," he grinned, and I nodded, too busy savoring the juicy meat to answer verbally.

"Unfortunately," Weiss spoke up, drawing Pedro's attention as he washed his own bite down, "the colonel did come with a purpose in mind for this visit. There's been a development with the Russy forces."

Pedro frowned, sitting up a bit straighter in his seat. "Tell me."

I did him one better and showed him, projecting a hologram over the table with all the aerial recon photos, the newly updated course projections, and the video with the mages training. "The Federation have sent reinforcements. Three regular sized battalions of aerial mages, an unknown but presumed large number of regular troops, and a lot of equipment judging by the vessels they've sent along."

The president sighed, stabbing at the vegetables on his plate with his fork. "More communists. Just what we need. I take it you have a plan?"

I grinned, nodding. "Of course. It's simple… We bomb the shit out of them."

Pedro laughed. "That is very simple indeed. Do you think you can take them all out?"

"Probably not," I shook my head. "But we can cripple them. Burn their fuel. Destroy their food stores. They'll be lacking critical supplies when they land. We know they don't have the supply lines set up to handle that many new troops. We can press our advantage while they're hungry and weak and do some real damage."

Nodding, Pedro considered his plate for a moment before looking up at me. "You now hold a bit of a unique position. You are both officially a part of the Brasa government and the head of your own private military group, effectively acting as our aerial mage corps until such a time as you can build one up for us. You also have the good Doktor Schugel providing you with wonder weapons. I've seen some of the things that have come out of that man's mind…" He shook his head. "Requisition whatever supplies, materials, and so forth you think you'll need using your office. I'll rubber stamp it. I trust you not to take advantage of your position."

I made a face at that. "Yes, it's a bit of a conflict of interests. Please, have a third party go over everything so that there is never a question of whether or not things are above board. I won't disappoint you."

"I don't think that's necessary—"

"It is," I denied immediately. "People will ask questions. They'll claim favoritism and cronyism. We have to be able to prove, beyond a doubt, every step of the way, that everything I did in this position was above board and never once crossed the line into questionable territory."

Sighing, Pedro smiled as he shook his head. "Very well."

"Good. Now, there was another thing I wanted to bring up. It's not exactly my department, but I'm not blind. The—our," I corrected myself, mindful of my new position within the country's government and military structure, "navy is lacking compared to others. Well behind in terms of technology, numbers, weapons—basically in every respect. We're not cruising around using sail power, but compared to the Americans, Commonwealth, Empire, or even the Russy we might as well be. We need to seriously increase the size and strength of our navy."

"I understand," Pedro murmured, "unfortunately, the reality is, we lack the production capacity to make more than we are at the moment. I've seen all of the various proposed plans for improvements and while I agree that they need to be done, we can't create infrastructure, and improve power generation, and lay communication lines, and build up our army, and build up the navy all at once. Never mind the money, the physical resources just aren't there."

"Doktor Schugel is already working on something for that," Weiss spoke up, drawing Pedro's attention. "Last I checked, he was tearing apart a tank and working on some kind of drilling device. Our resource problem might not be a problem for much longer."

Pedro hummed, considering it for a moment. "Alright. I'll look forward to seeing what else the good doktor brings us in the near future." Turning to me, he added, "We should work out payment for his services. I don't want to poach him from you, but he is doing quite the service for our country. As you know, I like to reward meritorious service."

"Later," I agreed. "But about the boats. We don't need resources to improve what we have now, just money. You see, if they haven't begun already, then very soon the Empire will begin selling off her assets. They have a perfectly good navy we could purchase and bring home. From there, well… I haven't told him yet, but once I do, Herr Doktor Schugel will likely salivate at the chance to play with boats."

Having our own aircraft carriers for magical aircraft like the Sturmvogel would be very handy in the near future. We had already seen how well the Imperial navy had done against the Russy Federation's own navy, so having those boats handy to defend our shores from future Russy vessels would be a good stopgap until we could start developing and building our own fleet on par with the Americans.

"By all means, send a representative to purchase a few to replace our aging fleet." He grinned and added, "Make sure to pick up something for yourself while you're there."

And this was why I loved working with Pedro. We understood each other. I smiled, nodding. "I already have someone picked out to send. We'll need crew, of course."

"I'll speak with the admiral in charge of everything and let him know he's getting some upgrades. He can work with his people to supply the men we need. Now, do you have a plan for the proposed first aerial mage academy?"

"I do," I confirmed, dismissing the current hologram and producing a new one for a building that the engineering corps had designed to my specifications. "Three hundred and thirty miles to our southwest is a small mountain range. The only thing of note there are a few neighboring villages and an old, abandoned mine. We'll be building a facility directly into the mountainside and using the surrounding terrain as training grounds for aerial, mountain, jungle, and urban combat training after constructing a mock urban environment.

"Other training for different environments will be conducted at different locations," I projected a new hologram of several locations around the state of Para. "From open fields, to trench warfare, marine operations, and training for other issues. We'll need to leave Brasa for cold weather and high elevation training, but we have the transports to make the trip south."

"How soon will you be able to train our first generation of aerial mages?"

I hummed at that. "That depends on them. The typical Imperial aerial mage basic training course was a one year program, with more training done on the job as it were. We can cut a lot of the dross out, but they'll still benefit from the experience of at least a year long course, preferably longer. That is assuming they make the cut and then are willing to put in the effort. Again, that part is up to them."

Pedro nodded at that before asking, "Lt. Col. Weiss tells me you would like to build a school for children?"

I resisted the urge to glare at my second in command. I was saving that one for when we were more established and had proved the bona fides of our training methods with the first batch of adult recruits! Instead, I could do nothing but push forward now that the idea was out there. "That's right. In addition to normal schooling, it would also provide training for those children with the potential to become aerial mages. That way, we have every future generation of mages trained in the use of their magic from a young age, with years of experience using it. If they then volunteer for service, or if we institute some kind of mandatory service period, then they'll have that much of an edge over other mages."

Considering it for a few moments as he leaned back and sipped his glass of red wine, eventually Pedro asked, "This is not something they did in the empire?"

"It's not," I confirmed. "But just because we're taking the best of what we've learned from our old home doesn't mean we can't improve on those things. That we can't innovate and find our own way forward, here and now."

Pedro chuckled and shook his head. "I underestimated your vision for our nation's future, it seems. Very well. I'll speak with some people and see about having a boarding school constructed here in Bellum to test this theory. That way, we can recruit students from all over the country. What age range are you aiming for?"

"Preferably as young as six to as old as graduation age. I understand that's fourteen here. I propose we raise it and add an additional three years of schooling, to bring us up to par with the Americans. If we recruit those in their final year, we can focus more heavily on mage training for the next three years."

"Whatever you believe is best."

"Standardized, mandatory, publicly funded schooling everywhere and the resources to make that happen," I answered immediately. "The commies had one thing right. Get them early and they're yours. In this case, we'll use it for good, to build up the foundations for a nation of smart, hardworking patriots all invested in making their country great." Pausing, I shook my head and smiled. "No, not great, but the greatest. We are some ways behind the Commonwealth or America when it comes to development, but we have them beat in magic technology. We'll focus on advancing that area and bringing everything else up to par with our contemporaries. Hopefully, by the time they graduate, they'll be ready to step up and begin helping us advance. Until one day, we surpass everyone."

Pedro stared at me for several moments, assessing. Finally, he said, "You believe it's doable."

"Absolutely," I nodded. "As long as we play our cards right."

The rest of dinner devolved into an impromptu planning session and Pedro outlining his own goals for what he wanted me to do with my new rank and post—which effectively boiled down to keep doing what I'd been doing, but with greater scope.

The days passed quickly and all too soon, we were seeing Edwina and our second pilot off as they took off with a load of bombs. I busied myself in my office, taking care of some paperwork. Some of it was for MSF while most of it was for the government—requisition forms that I myself had to fill out for materials, manpower, compensation, and so forth. Most of the MSF stuff was just signing off on a bunch of promotions and pay increases.

After my promotion to general within the Brasa military by the president, we agreed that a round of promotions was warranted within MSF to match. My own rank within the company was raised and I officially retired, while still claiming ownership of the company. Capt. Fischer was elevated to the rank of admiral, given that he would soon be working closely with the Brasa navy. Cmdr. Fuchs was promoted to captain and given command of the Ingrid and the pair of them worked to prepare for MSF's navy's expansion. Lt. Col. Weiss was promoted to full colonel and put in charge of MSF in my place, since I would be spending a lot of time working with the government very soon and we needed the layer of separation so it didn't seem as though his orders were coming directly from the government—while in reality, I would absolutely still be passing along orders. Grantz was promoted to captain and set to take Viktoriya's place in charge of the 203rd.

As for Visha…

I had some discussions with Weiss, Adm. Fischer, and Pedro about that. She was invaluable in her role as my adjutant but I needed her to be my proxy for a lot of things, since I couldn't be everywhere at once. I needed to be able to give her orders and have her pass them along, and have people understand they came directly from me—both within MSF and within the Brasa government. Everyone within MSF already understood this, of course—it was mostly for the benefit of the Brasa government.

That was why Visha got a promotion to major and her only duties were those I assigned her directly. On paper, the only person within the Brasa military capable of giving her orders was myself. I had effectively removed her from the chain of command while still keeping her as part of it. Aside from myself, Visha was the only other member of MSF with an official rank within the Brasa command structure and that's how it would stay, to keep us separated from the government and give Brasa plausible deniability for anything MSF did. Sure, it was a paper thin separation, but even that much mattered.

The other promotions, I would leave to Weiss to handle as he saw fit. That was his job now, after all. As for the government paperwork, well… Schools and things didn't build themselves. Also, since they were government buildings I could use the Brasa Army Corps of Engineers to build them, or just hire contractors directly—in this case, a newly formed construction company made up of German immigrants as the backbone with a lot of local labor and a few retired mages who had acquired new computation orbs to act as both security and using spells for some things that a formula would be faster at than using a piece of equipment.

That's right! This wasn't America or Japan! We didn't have to do silly things like put up bids for contractors, or pretend to encourage competition. We could directly hire the best people for the job or just use our own people for it. For this particular job, the army engineers would be building and/or improving roads and bridges between us and the mountains to move our heavy equipment up safely, while the contractors would do all of the work on site. No dragging of feet, no sitting on their asses for months, just a group of people who knew what they were doing getting the job done.

Glancing at my desk clock, I looked up just as someone knocked on the door then entered. "General von Degurechaff," Maximilian Ugar smiled as he snapped off a salute.

"Colonel von Ugar," I returned it with a grin of my own. "Please, sit," I gestured to the chairs in front of my desk.

"Viktoriya told me you had something for me?" he asked, crossing one leg over the other and resting his hands in his lap.

I nodded as my blonde adjutant came in bearing a tray with coffee and snacks. Visha began serving as I started to lay things out for Ugar, before taking her own seat. "Yes. We've got the go ahead. The orders will be typed up and in your office later today, but I'll go ahead and give you the short version now. We need you to start surveying and prepare to lay rail, telephone, and power lines. You have full access to our satellite feed for whatever you need to see it done. At the moment the Army Corps of Engineers are working on building some roads for us, but as soon as they're done with that, consider them yours to use as you see fit."

"That's good news. I was a bit bored, just sitting around at my desk. What sort of time frame are we dealing with? Budget constraints?"

I grinned sardonically. "Oh, you know how it goes. We want it done before we asked for it and we want it to make money," I rolled my eyes. "Just do your best, Max. I trust you'll deliver what we need within a reasonable time. You'll be cutting through jungle and going up and down hills most likely, so delays are to be expected. This is why I want everything surveyed thoroughly before we put the first shovel in the dirt. We want to get it right the first time. I know it's going to take years to build up, but it'll be worth it in the end. This project will likely outlast nearly everyone who has signed off on it, if we're being honest."

"What's my authority here? And am I approved to bring in civilian contractors?" Max asked after taking a sip of his coffee and thinking it over for a moment.

"You'll have full authority over the engineers and you're free to hire whatever contractors or extra labor you feel you need, for as long as you need. They know you're not in their chain of command, but they will follow your orders as though they come from me. MSF is acting as an independent, third party contractor in this ourselves, for the planning and management of the project."

"And my actual limit on funds?"

I made a face at that question. "Officially, try to limit spending as much as possible and attempt to cut corners where it's safe to do so. Unofficially, use what you need and I'll back your decision. Just try not to go wild, eh?"

Max chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good, good," I leaned back in my chair and picked up a cookie from the tray. "Now that business is out of the way, how is the family?"

"They're well, thank you for asking," Max took a moment to refill his cup before he relaxed back into his own seat. "The wife is expecting again."

Visha beamed a happy smile at that. "Congratulations!"

"Congratulations," I echoed, a smile pulling at my lips. "Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?"

"I think we'd like one of each. Someone to carry on the family name would be nice, of course," he nodded. "But I would be just as pleased with another daughter to spoil."

"You say that now, Max. Give it a few more years for the first one," I murmured, sipping at my cup. "Foreign land. Foreign people. Lots of beaches. Plenty of excuses to go around in shorts and very light or little clothing…"

Max got a constipated look on his face and the hand holding his coffee shook. Visha giggled. "Ma'am, stop teasing him! You'll have him making a gun collection to show any potential boyfriends at this rate!"

"That sounds like a good investment," Max muttered. He looked up and met my eyes, before blinking as a look of realization passed over his face. "I suppose you're at that age yourself now, Tanya. I sometimes forget…"

"Hm?" I hummed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Max looked a bit confused himself now. "Just that you're of that age where girls and boys start noticing each other."

"Yes, I suppose I—" I paused as what he was implying clicked and made a face. Visha covered her face, hiding a smile as her shoulders shook. "No. I," I cleared my throat. "While I can appreciate the aesthetic of the male form, it's not to my taste. I prefer…"

"Ah," Max nodded, a smile on his face as he glanced at Viktoriya for some reason. It took me only a moment to remember our living situation and realize that perhaps I had just opened a can of worms I would have been better off leaving closed. I would need to speak with her after this. "I believe you've just tanked half the betting pool."

"Excuse me? The what?!"

Visha whistled as she stood up and began refilling our cups, busying herself and doing everything she could to avoid looking me in the eyes. Max, on the other hand, seemed to realize his blunder and winced. "Well, that is, you see… There may have been some friendly wagers over when you would finally settle down and with whom."

"Is. That. So," I growled quietly. "My romantic and sexual life are the subject of company scuttlebutt, are they?"

"Ma'am," Visha quietly murmured. I looked up and met her eyes, only for her to look down at my hand. I followed her gaze down—specifically my coffee cup, where the liquid within had begun to boil. Taking a deep breath, I let it out in a whoosh and reigned in my mana. I put the cup down and looked over to see Max had paled.

"I apologize. I lost my temper," I bowed my head briefly. "It shouldn't be as annoying as it is, but… I've worked hard since joining the military to craft an image for myself." Gesturing down at myself, I continued, "For the longest time, I looked like a child. I still look younger than any of the officers, even if I'm growing quickly now. Something like this reminds people of my age—"

"It's a good thing," Visha cut in, and I shot her a questioning look. "It makes you more… approachable, outside of the office."

I looked to Max, who nodded. "It's humanizing. People talk about these sorts of things and are reminded that you're more than just a magic officer. More than just the rank."

I was abruptly reminded of a conversation I'd had with Weiss, not too long ago. My second most trusted subordinate saw me as something inhuman and implied that many of the company likewise thought of me as something different. Not necessarily something bad, but something different. And while some, like Weiss, obviously looked past it and took it well, others might not.

Perhaps… like the pomp and circumstance surrounding my promotion, I should let them have this. For morale. To, as Max said, allow them to better humanize me. I don't want to completely alienate myself from them, after all. That way lies losing their trust.

"Fine," I let the word out in a sigh, slumping a bit in my seat and picking up my coffee. It was a bit too hot still but I sipped it anyway—it's not like it could truly damage me anyway. Putting on a look of chagrin, I asked, "Who's the favorite to win?"

"It's—"

"Oh no, look at the time!" Visha blurted. "Max, aren't you late for your next appointment?!"

Max pulled out his pocket watch and checked it as a devilish smile pulled at his lips, all the while Visha fretted as a blush crept up her neck and cheeks for some reason. Looking up from the watch, he met her eyes and winked. A quiet, pained squeak escaped my adjutant's lips. "Yes, I suppose you're right, Viktoriya. I should be getting on so I can start working on that project." Turning to me, he said, "The wife asked me to invite you over for dinner one night soon. She's making rinderrouladen Friday night. Why don't you bring Viktoriya and we'll break out a bottle of wine?"

"That sounds good," I agreed. I looked to Visha and added, "You're free?"

"Of course!" she chirped, a happy smile coming to her face.

With that, we said our goodbyes and Max left my office. Visha spent a few moments tidying up as I thought and, just as she was preparing to leave, I asked, "Please stay a moment?"

"Sure! What do you need me to do, ma'am?"

Sighing, I reached up and unpinned my stars from my shoulders. Opening my desk drawer, I put them inside and closed it. Visha blinked at that, then blinked again as I stood and pushed my desk chair in. Grabbing my cup, I moved over to the small couch under the closed window—a window that would normally have been open, save that some absolute saint had installed Schugel's magical air conditioning the day before and now I could set it to a temperature more appropriate for hanging meat than smoking it. I was going to track down whatever go-getter had done it and make sure they got a raise.

Sitting down, I patted the couch beside me and waited, leaving the invitation open. Visha looked away and took a moment to refill her cup then grab a couple of chocolate covered cookies, before joining me. I took one of the cookies she offered and rested it on my pants leg. Looking into my cup for a moment as I considered my words, eventually I took a breath and forced myself to meet Visha's eyes.

"In his well-meaning worry over me as a friend, it seems Max has brought up an uncomfortable subject," I began. Viktoriya arched an eyebrow curiously and sipped at her drink, waiting for me to get to the point as she knew I had a habit of sometimes temporizing to buy myself time to think. Finally, I bit the bullet and spit it out. "We should start sleeping in separate quarters."

Viktoriya blinked, then frowned. It said something that she didn't bother hiding her own annoyance at my words. Then again, I had removed the burden of rank and for the moment, she wasn't addressing a superior officer, but a friend. "Why?"

"I'm getting to the age where it becomes a bit awkward and questionable—sexually, morally, and ethically."

Narrowing her eyes, Viktoriya asked, "Why don't you lay each one out and let's go over them?"

"Fine," I nodded, willing to give her that much at the very least. "I'm sure you don't want to be stuck in bed with a horny teenager hopped up on hormones from puberty. I'm sure both of us would enjoy some privacy for, ah, self-care as it were."

The older blonde rolled her eyes and slurped her coffee. The sheer sass in that expression! If she had looked at me like that while I was wearing my insignia, I'd have her doing PT until I got bored!

I kind of like it though. It's a side of her I don't get to see often, I mused.

"That doesn't bother me. Just don't wake me up. Besides, it's not like you notice when I do it," she shrugged. "You never have before."

"You—" I paused, before carefully retracting my foot from that verbal land mine before I set it off. No. I don't want to know.

Seeing as the ball was back in my court, I shook my head and brought up my next point. "You and I both know we're going to get looks the longer it goes on, both being unattached ladies. People are going to make assumptions. Even in the empire, both same sex couples and sex before marriage were frowned upon. It could hurt your reputation."

She nodded at that, before asking, "Do you care how it affects your reputation?"

"No. My results speak for themselves. I have the benefit of political power that you lack, however. If you intend to advance up the ranks, it would be best not to ruffle the feathers of those above you."

"The only opinions that matter to me are yours, Matheus's, and Pedro's. Those two are the only ones that matter for advancing my career."

I mouthed the name for a moment before remembering that it was Weiss's first name. Shaking my head, I asked, "You aren't concerned about allegations of cronyism?"

Viktoriya smiled and shook her head. "Nope~!"

"That brings me to my next point. There are reasons that it's against regulations for superior officers to have relationships with their subordinates. We may not have such a relationship, but such allegations will eventually emerge."

"That doesn't change my answer. I don't care what others think and the only ones whose opinions affect my career are Pedro and Matheus."

I sighed, taking a sip of my coffee. "That one is more on me. And it's not the allegations I'm worried about, it's that I don't want to presume, or come off as though I'm pressuring you."

"I'm a grown woman, Tanya. I can make my own decisions. I'm not worried about you pressuring me into anything. I trust you," she reached out and laid a hand on my knee… before stealing the cookie I'd left there and biting into it with a cheeky grin.

Rolling my eyes, I went for one last attempt at changing her mind. "Yes, you are a grown woman. And I'm not." At least, not physically. "You're twenty-one and I'm," almost forty, between both lives, "only fourteen. You're not worried that people will accuse you of taking advantage?"

At that, a smile I had never seen before pulled my adjutant's lips upwards, and for some reason… I suddenly felt cornered here on this couch. "One year, seven months, fourteen days," she briefly consulted her computation orb, "three hours, thirty-seven minutes, and… ten seconds. Nine, eight," she stopped counting and dropped her computation orb, where it fell back into place above her breasts.

I may have been born at night, but I wasn't born last night.

For some reason she had the exact time down to the second not just for my sixteenth birthday, but the second the clock would hit five P.M. local time and we would go off duty. It occurred to me that in the Empire, that would have been the day I came into my legal majority. Of age, that is. The day I'd have been allowed to enter the officers' bierhaus. Or when the age gap I mentioned would cease to be relevant.

There was also the little fact that Viktoriya didn't want me to know who the favorite to win the betting pool over who I'd end up with was, and hadn't exactly been subtle about shooing Max away before he could spill the beans.

Viktoriya sat back down across from me and crossed her legs—that tight little skirt taut on her thighs as it struggled to keep her modesty from this angle. I tore my wandering eyes away just in time to meet hers. Her eyes twinkled, watching me…

She caught me looking.

She calmly sipped her coffee with an amused little smile. Maybe even a little triumphant. I couldn't help but wonder…

Am I in danger?