Valor At Vauzlee (3 page)

"I rather think that we all take after my father. He's retired now, but he was a frigate captain when he was separated from service at the mandatory space retirement age. Actually— we come from a long line of Space Command officers. My great-great-grandfather was a lieutenant on the Severance, the first ship to break the light speed barrier, during its space trials and first several years of FTL service. We're just following along in the family tradition. Andy and Jimmy are lieutenants, but both are on the selection list for lieutenant commander promotions. Richie's a lieutenant commander, and Billy's just recently made commander."

"That's great. I hope to make commander myself within the next few years. The exposure from your court-martial defense should put me in good stead with the Promotions Selection Board."

"I hope so; you did a wonderful job. I was most impressed, and I appreciate everything that you did for me."

"It was my pleasure. Ah, here's the restaurant. I think that you'll like this place."

The retro appearance of the restaurant compared favorably to the other dining establishments lining the promenade. Instead of the usual collection of floating ‘oh-gee' geometric lights, glitzy chrome, and flashing fluorescent colors currently in vogue, Gregory's had the subdued but elegant look of expensive restaurants from Earth's twentieth century. Real wood veneer had been brought to the station for the construction of the interior, and then stained to a red walnut color. The earth tones of red, yellow, and brown were pervasive throughout the establishment. One of the few visible concessions to modernity was the opposed gravity seating, but the upper assembles of the floating chairs still retained a traditional twentieth century appearance.

Upon entering the establishment, Jenetta and Zane observed that a couple of dozen people were waiting to be seated. From the bored expressions in evidence, it appeared they had been waiting for some time.

"It looks like we're not going to get seated early," Zane lamented. "In fact, we'll probably have to wait for quite a while beyond our reservation time. Would you like to go elsewhere?"

"Where else would we go?"

"I'll find out," he said as he extended a finger towards the Space Command ring on his right hand. When an officer touches his or her ring, it signals the station's computer to establish a voice transmission carrier wave. "Commander Jerrod Tomlins," he said, looking at Jenetta. After another several seconds, he said, "Jer, do me a favor. Check the current availability of seating at restaurants on the concourse."

"He's checking," Zane said to Jenetta, then, "Yeah, that's great. Thanks, Jer. Talk to you later. Spence out."

To Jenetta, he said, "Constantine's, the Greek restaurant just down the concourse, is seating patrons immediately. The food's not quite as good as Gregory's, but they give you a good meal for your credits."

Jenetta thought for a second before responding. "Let's wait for a few minutes and see how the queue moves here. It's not our reservation time yet."

"Okay."

"You employ your cranial transducer for personal use?"

"Not for extended communications, but in certain instances, like finding sustenance, no one is going to fault you. The computer will break in to report the fact if another caller is attempting to contact you, and priority messages will always override any call."

Jenetta nodded. "When my CT was implanted at the Academy, I was told never to use it except for important Space Command business."

"Yes, I know, but that's just to keep twelve-hundred plus kids from overtaxing the system at the Academy. They also have to monitor the communications there pretty closely to ensure that no one uses it for cheating on exams."

"Tell me about it! During my freshman year they caught two students from my dorm. They were summoned to the commandant's office, and we never saw them again. A store's clerk came to pack up their things because they had been sent home immediately; with emphasis on the immediately. We heard later that the pair had initiated a carrier before entering the test center, and were in constant communication during an exam, passing answers back and forth in Morse code by lightly tapping a pencil behind their left ear, where the CT would pick up the sounds."

Jenetta had been studying the interior décor of the restaurant as they stood talking in the foyer, and was musing about the effect of furnishings on the appetite when Gregory spotted them and hurried over. The short, dark-haired restaurateur was always on the alert for the presence of important visitors in his reception area, and at all times kept one or more tables in reserved status so that important persons, even those without the foresight to make reservations, would not have to be turned away.

"Commander Carver, congratulations on your promotion," Gregory said effusively as he approached Jenetta and Zane. "I just heard about it this afternoon. I was hoping that you'd come in tonight to celebrate, but I wasn't aware that you would be in Commander Spence's party. Come in, please, I have your table all ready for you."

"Thank you, Gregory," she said as they followed him to an empty table with a reserved sign.

"Here you are, Commanders," Gregory said, as he picked up the reserved sign and slipped it beneath his arm. "Your waiter will be with you in just a minute. Enjoy your meal."

They both thanked him and Gregory quickly hurried off to greet someone else as Zane seated Jenetta.

"Gregory always seems to know what the grapevine is saying, even before the grapevine is saying it," Zane said, as he sat down. "If he knows about your promotion, then I guess it's official."

Jenetta looked at him uneasily. "You didn't believe me when I told you?"

A pained expression immediately shrouded Zane's face, and he said ruefully, "Yes, I did. I'm sorry. I was just trying to be witty."

Jenetta, feeling guilty for being so quick to challenge, said contritely, "It's okay, Zane. I guess that I'm just a little too sensitive after what I've been through the past month, with so many people appearing to doubt my every word."

Uneasy after committing the solecism, Zane groped for a new topic of conversation. "I, ah, had no idea that you and Gregory were friends. I feel foolish for assuming that I was bringing you someplace new."

"We've only met once. Last Friday, after the verdict was announced, I came here for lunch with my friends from the Vordoth."

The waiter assigned to their table arrived then, and stayed while they selected from the menu, answering questions about the offerings and taking their order. He hurried into the kitchen to place their orders, but returned quickly with a bottle of wine.

"Complements of Gregory, Commanders," he said, as he made a flamboyant production of pulling the cork before pouring a small sample for Commander Spence to taste. The semi-dry Maulon wine from the Sebastian Colony was of excellent vintage, and Zane nodded after taking a sip and swirling it around in his mouth. The waiter then filled Zane's glass halfway before pouring Jenetta's wine. With that, he gently settled the wine bottle into the wine bucket beside the table, bowed deeply, and left.

Zane lifted his glass. "I propose a toast to your promotion, Commander."

"Thank you, Zane."

After they had sipped from their glasses, Zane asked, "What else did the admirals have to say today?"

"I've received a new posting. I'm to be the second officer aboard the Prometheus. We'll be returning to Earth shortly."

"Oh," Zane said forlornly, disappointment written across his face. "Congratulations. I knew that you had received a shipboard posting when I noticed the line officer insignia on your collar, but I had hoped that it might be to a ship assigned to this deca-sector."

"But it is," Jenetta said. "Following the ship's official launching and my medal ceremony, the Prometheus
will
call Higgins its home port."

"Medal ceremony? Haven't they already awarded you the medals? You're wearing the ribbons."

"I'm talking about the other one."

"Other one?"

"Yes, the Medal of Honor for infiltration of a Raider base, recovering the two stolen battleships, and then destroying their base of operations."

Zane's eyes grew wide. He had been swirling his wine gently in his glass. He put the wineglass down now and sat back in his chair. "Medal of Honor?! Why didn't you tell me about that?"

Smiling coyly, Jenetta said, "I wanted to save something to talk about over dinner."

"Now I'm really confused. They went to all the trouble to court-martial you, and then they promote you three grades and decorate you with the Galactic Alliance's highest honor. I'm beginning to wonder if I did such a marvelous job after all."

"Of course you did. Can you imagine the repercussions on morale if they just shunted me off into a corner after making such a production of my activities during the past year? You brought so much support my way from the Space Command personnel who saw the live vid broadcast that Supreme HQ didn't
dare
not reward me. They had to show that my contribution was appreciated."

"Perhaps," he said halfheartedly. "Did they say why they even court-martialed you in the first place?"

"It's not important. I'm so happy that I don't care anymore. I've been posted to the best ship in the fleet, and as second officer, I'll have the watch during part of each day."

"I'm happy for you. You seem to be getting everything that you've wanted. The medal ceremony will be held as soon as you reach Earth?"

"I imagine so. It's to be held preceding the official launching of the Prometheus. Then we go to Nordakia because
they
want to give me something called the— the Too-da-loo Medal, or something."

"Too-da-loo Medal?" Zane said chortling. "You mean the Tawroolee Medal of Valor?"

"I guess that could be it, I suppose. I've never heard of it before and my head was already swimming from the news of my promotion and new posting when Admiral Holt informed me."

"You probably haven't heard of it before because you were in stasis sleep when we made first contact with the Nordakians. Their home planet is quite remote and they stay pretty much to themselves. We'd never encountered them until one of our patrol ships observed a spacecraft entering their home world's solar system and followed along to investigate. They've only colonized the one planet, Obotymot, as a possible hedge against future food shortages as their population grows. It seems that their priesthood actively works to dissuade anyone from pursuing a career in space. You really should take some time to study their history, especially since they're going to be honoring you. Jen, the Tawroolee Medal of Valor is a
great
honor. It's
their
top military tribute. Like our Space Command Cross, it's second only to the Medal of Honor awarded by the Galactic Alliance Council." Scrunching up his face slightly, Zane said, "I can't recall ever hearing of any Terran military people being honored by the Nordakians before."

"I guess that I'm to be the first, according to one of my friends. I do intend to study up on the Nordakian culture, though. I'll have three months to read about it on the way to Earth and then almost four more before we reach Nordakia. That should be adequate time to learn about their society in reasonable depth."

The meal was superb and the couple continued to talk about the medals and the Nordakians as they dined. When they had finished their food and requested the bill, Gregory returned to the table.

"Did you enjoy your meal, Commanders?" he asked.

"It was simply wonderful, Gregory," Jenetta said. "Please extend my compliments to your kitchen staff."

"Thank you, Commander. Your meals are compliments of the restaurant tonight, in honor of your promotion and the Medal of Honor that you will soon receive on Earth."

"Thank you, Gregory. That's very nice of you."

"I was wondering if I might ask a favor. Could you pose for a picture that we might display here in the restaurant in celebration for your having visited us on this memorable occasion?"

"Of course."

"Wonderful. Just come over here please. You also Commander Spence, please."

A photographer was waiting and the image recording took only a few minutes. Each officer received a framed copy of the animated picture for themselves before they left.

The couple walked along the concourse for a while, talking and looking in shop windows but not entering any of the still open stores, and it was almost midnight when Zane and Jenetta arrived back to the lobby of the BOQ.

"I guess that I won't be seeing you again for a while," Zane said.

"We should be back in about twelve months. As I said, this is to be the homeport for Prometheus, so I expect that we'll be returning here after our trip to Nordakia. I hope that you'll still be posted here."

In an area of the lobby where they'd be unseen by passersby outside the BOQ, Zane put his hands on Jenetta's waist and pulled her gently to him. Her lack of even slight resistance conveyed the message that he should continue. With his left arm around her, he bent his head forward. She put her hands on his waist as she leaned her head back to look up into his eyes and they shared a long kiss, then separated, with Zane holding Jenetta's left hand in his right.

"Thank you for a wonderful evening, Jen."