Inadvertent Adventures (17 page)

"Captain, it's Balder. You need to return to the ship immediately. There's trouble."

"On our way," was Ann's only answer as she stood. "Sterling with me. You two enjoy your meal. Hopefully, we'll be back soon." Ann and Sterling strode away as Olaf and Denise settled back into their seats.

The trouble was evident as soon as they reached the dock. At least thirty System Security officers were gathered in front of the ship. "What's the trouble?" Ann asked as they walked up.

"Where is Katrina Von Rubenstein?" a florid-faced little fat man demanded as he pushed toward them. "What have you done with little Kitten?"

Ann looked at him for a moment without answering, then said, "Miss Rubenstein is our ship's cook and an apprentice spacer. She asked to be allowed to remain with the ship in Nepal, and I agreed."

The man all but screamed,
"Nonsense!
No Von Rubenstein would lower themselves to a common spacer's lot. You kidnapped her and forced her to serve you."

The leader of the System Security officers stepped forward and faced Ann. "Captain Stevenson, I'm Major Jacques Treben, Quebec System Security. This man has sworn out an Interstellar Kidnapping complaint against you in regards to Miss Katrina Alexandra Von Rubenstein, of New Frankfurt. I demand that you produce Miss Von Rubenstein immediately so that we may ascertain her condition."

Ann nodded and looked to the side. "Balder, sound recall." Turning back to the major, she smiled. "They should all be here soon."

"This is ridiculous!" the fat man shouted, pushing forward to face the major. "I demand that this woman be arrested immediately and forced to tell us what she did to Katrina."

"Who are you?" Sterling asked, and the man rounded on him.

"I am Otto Goral Von Frankel, DA-CC Manager for Nepal, you foul cretin," the man snarled, glaring at Sterling. "You've violated the wrong girl this time. Mister Von Rubenstein has powerful friends who will see that you are properly punished for what you've done to his daughter."

"Are you accusing me of something?" Sterling asked in a tone that made several of the security officers put a hand on their stunners.

"You know what you've done, and when Katrina testifies at your trial I'll see you properly punished," Mister Von Frankel snapped.

The sound of running feet drew everyone's attention to the dock as the four young crewmembers sprinted into view. They slowed to a walk and went directly to Ann and Sterling. "What's the trouble, Captain?" Amanda asked, but Mister Von Frankel pushed forward to grab Katrina.

"Katrina, Kitten, are you all right? Did they hurt you?" he asked as he grabbed both of Katrina's wrists.

Katrina looked into his face and suddenly went pale. Memories of a time nine years in the past rushed to the surface of her mind, and a ten-year-old-girl's scream burst from her throat.

"No! No! Please don't!" she cried as she struggled. "I'll tell my
father!
" she screamed at the top of her voice and her foot lashed out, just like it had nine years in the past, but this was not the foot of a ten-year-old child. Nine years of ballet and gymnastics had built strong muscle around bones that had grown proportionally longer.

The knees of every man on the platform snapped together in instinctive sympathy, no matter who they were or what they thought of the scene.

Mister Von Frankel let go of Katrina as he bent over, wrapped around his pain. Katrina spun and her foot came up, a move shared by ballet, gymnastics, and at least a dozen martial arts. Her heel crashed into Mister Von Frankel's jaw, shattering it and dropping him to the deck. Three female security officers rushed Katrina and swarmed her to keep her from killing him.

"You
bastard!"
she screamed as she struggled to get at him again. "You miserable, unmitigated bastard! Did you think I'd forget what you did? Did you think somehow I'd forget the pool house, and what you did when I was
ten
?"

Major Treben stepped forward and faced Katrina. "Miss Von Rubenstein, this man came to us claiming that you had been kidnapped by the captain and crew of the
Admiral Ann's Revenge.
Is this in any way true?"

"Kidnapped?
No!
Captain Ann let me sign on as an apprentice spacer after my oh-so-beloved father cut me off to force me to come home." She turned and smiled at Ann and Sterling. "They are giving me the chance to see the galaxy that my father denied me."

"And Mister Von Frankel?" the major asked, looking down at the man moaning on the deck.

"Mister Von Frankel? My dear
'Uncle'
Otto? He raped me in our pool house when I was ten." She transferred her attention to Von Frankel. "I told my mother what you did. She took me to the hospital and had me checked out. They had to put in
three stitches
to stop the bleeding because you tore me open so badly. She and the doctors told Father, but you were too important and he had to protect the company, so he promoted you off the planet, to a back-orbit world where you would have spent the rest of your life. Mother wanted you gelded and sent to a forced-labor camp."

She walked around him, circling slowly with her fists clenched. "It took years of therapy to push you to the back of my mind. I still haven't recovered fully. A man touching me from behind still makes me want to scream. Do you remember the music? The concerto that was playing so loudly in the house that no one could hear my screams? I do. It makes me want to run and hide every time I hear it."

"Kitten, I," Von Frankel tried to say, but Katrina's foot snapped out and broke his nose. The security women grabbed her again, but not as tightly.

"Don't call me Kitten. You
killed
Kitten that night."

"Miss Von Rubenstein?" Major Treben said cautiously, drawing her attention. "Miss Von Rubenstein, how old are you?"

"Twenty-one in New Frankfurt years. Nineteen by Old Earth Standard."

"Then you are an adult by both standards. Do you wish to press charges against this man?"

Katrina froze. "Charges?" she asked in a bewildered tone.

"You may, if you wish, press charges against this man for rape of a minor child not yet fourteen, child molestation, and sodomy. These are Confederacy Supreme Laws, and it doesn't matter which planet they occurred on."

Katrina paused for a moment, looking at the man on the ground like he was some bizarre insect. "Would I have to stay and testify?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so," the major replied.

"Then no. I like where I am far too much to let something like
him
get in my way." She smiled at Ann, then turned and faced the major squarely. "Sir, I was not kidnapped. I was accepted for apprentice spacer status by Captain Stevenson, and hired as the ship's cook. I would appreciate it if you would send--
that
--back to my father on New Frankfurt." She glared down at Otto and said, "Now I see why my father sent me to Nepal. I'd have run home begging for forgiveness as soon as I saw you."

The major nodded and turned to Ann. "Captain Stevenson, I'll see to it that the charges against you and your crew are immediately rescinded." At Ann's nod, he gestured two of his men toward Otto Von Frankel and then walked away without further comment.

I
T WAS THE NEXT MORNING BY
the station clocks when a tall woman approached the
Admiral Ann's Revenge.
Carrie-Marie was on watch at the port and stepped forward to greet her.

"May I help you, Ma'am?"

The woman stopped and nodded. "I wish to speak to Katrina Von Rubenstein," the woman said, looking straight into Carrie-Marie's eyes.

"Miss Rubenstein is currently asleep. Our ship time is--"

"That is of no consequence. Wake her if necessary, but bring her here immediately," the woman snapped.

"Ma'am, with all due respect, the only person who can give me an order like that and expect it to be obeyed is Captain Stevenson. As I was about to say, it is two o'clock in our ship's morning. If you would care to return after noon, station time, everyone will be up. I can take a message for her and set her queue to deliver it as soon as she awakens, if you would prefer."

"I am unused to dealing with low-level flunkies. You will awaken your captain and have her come to this place immediately." The woman stared into Carrie-Marie's face as if expecting instant obedience.

Carrie-Marie took a deep breath through her nose and silently counted to ten before answering. "Ma'am, I don't know who you are, but--"

"I am Countess Alexandra Katrina Von Rubenstein-Habsburg. Katrina is my niece."

Carrie-Marie paused, and then bowed stiffly from the waist. "Countess, if you had just told me that initially, I would have awakened Katrina immediately. Excuse me for a moment." She walked over to the in-ship com panel and pushed the button for stateroom twenty. She waited ten seconds and pushed it again. Another ten seconds and she pressed it again. "She's a really sound sleeper, Countess," she said as she pushed the button yet again.

Countess Von Rubenstein-Habsburg almost smiled, but caught it before anything more than a twitch of her lips showed. "I am aware of that."

The speaker came to life as she was speaking and the sleep-muted voice of Katrina snarled across the companionway. "If this isn't the captain or Sterling, you're fixing your own damn breakfast."

"Kat, there is a woman at the companionway who claims to be your aunt. Her name is Countess Alexandra Katrina Von Rubenstein-Habsburg."

"Aunt Alex? What's she--give me a second to get dressed and I'll be right down." There was a click and the speaker went dead, leaving Carrie-Marie to smile apologetically to the countess.

The countess just shook her head slowly from side to side. She sighed and said, "She has her father's impetuous nature."

Just a few moments later Carrie-Marie looked over her shoulder as someone slammed into the bulkhead at the end of the passageway. Katrina was rebounding off the wall and sprinting toward the lock. She jumped and landed with her feet spread, sliding down the passage like a skater. At the companionway she took two long steps and collided with the countess, wrapping her arms around the older woman and burying her head in her shoulder.

"Aunt Alex, I'm so glad to see you," Katrina murmured as she hugged her aunt.

"And I you, little Kat," the countess replied, hugging Katrina tightly. After a moment she pushed Katrina back by the shoulders. "Yesterday, what you said about Otto--?"

"It's all true, Aunt Alex. He raped me when I was ten."

"Is there some place we can talk privately?" the countess asked, and Katrina looked over toward Carrie-Marie.

"Can I take my aunt to my stateroom, CM?"

"I've
seen
your stateroom, Kat," Carrie-Marie said with a grin. "The wardroom would be more appropriate. No one is up except you and me right now, and I'm staying here."

Katrina's answering grin was impish, and held no trace of apology for the state of her room. "I'll fix fresh coffee while we're there." She took her aunt by the hand and led her into the ship while Carrie-Marie entered the countess' name in the visitor's log.

The wardroom of the
Francine Webber
class ships had been meant to handle twenty officers as a dining room and meeting hall. Now Katrina and Countess Alexandra took seats at the smallest of the tables, a table commonly called “The Nook”, where just four people could be seated.

Katrina automatically made coffee and served her aunt, then sat down across from her. "Father didn't want anyone to know about Otto and what he'd done."

"Brandi is a fool," Countess Alexandra snapped. "Covering up--denying--Otto Von Frankel is not so important to the company, and the damage would have been less if he had acted decisively and prosecuted the man. And the damage to you would have been much less as well, my little Kat." She smiled softly and took a sip of her coffee before she continued.

"I wish to bring our lawyers up here to take your statement. It may not land Otto in prison where he belongs, but it will let me force his dismissal for cause from the company. Now tell me how you came to be the cook on a small freighter. I'm sure Brandi will be appropriately appalled when he finds out."

Katrina giggled. "You're the only person I've ever heard call father 'Brandi', Aunt Alex."

"He is my baby brother. I will call him whatever I wish. Now, on to your story."

Katrina told her aunt the story of her rebellion against her father's autocratic rules and lifestyle. Her rejection of his choice of husband for her as well as her rejection of his choice of career. Her rejection of just about everything that Brandon Von Rubenstein stood for.

"…So in the end, he had Mister Hardin secure me passage on what he considered a tramp freighter to Nepal. He had to know I'd run into 'Uncle' Otto there."

"Indeed, he must have. I'm sure he counted on that to send you crying home to New Frankfurt, begging his forgiveness. But why a cook?" Countess Alexandra asked as her eyebrows knitted together.

"Because I'm pretty good at it," Katrina answered. "Carrie-Marie, the woman at the dock, is the ship's Supply Officer and was the cook. She's not very good at cooking, though." She grimaced. "I noticed that right away. When I started hanging out with her and lending a hand just to have something to do, I made a difference. When we got to Nepal and I found out that father had cut me off with just a thousand credits, I almost panicked. Then Bart said he wished I was staying, and it all fell together. Captain Ann said yes, and I started my apprenticeship."

Countess Alexandra smiled and nodded her understanding. "I'm sure your father will be absolutely furious when I tell him this. That will be
nothing
compared to the other things I'll be telling him."

"Miss Rubenstein, who is this?" Captain Stevenson asked from the doorway.

Katrina snapped to her feet. "Captain, may I please present my aunt, Countess Alexandra Katrina Von Rubenstein-Habsburg."

Captain Stevenson's eyebrows climbed into her hairline. While few planets in the Confederacy maintained an aristocracy, New Frankfurt did. "Countess, I am pleased to meet you," she said with a slight bow. "It would have been nice if
someone
had awakened me and let me know you were here." She looked at Katrina and scowled.