Chapter 35

[Jim Vassilakos]

Look, this might be easy for you, but regardless of what you think you know about me, I am not an easy guy.

Define easy.

I wondered what the psychic image of nonplussed looked like from the other side. No way was I falling into that trap. How many psions have you trained this way?

I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.

The escalator flattened out and finally deposited us at a large portal with a sign that said Section H-1 in both Anglic and Vilani. Fortunately, I knew the Vilani alphabet, or I might have been confused, as the Vilani H looked like an I, whereas their I looked like an L, their L looked like a Z, and their Z looked like a coathanger. A security officer checked our visitor authorizations and let us pass, and I could soon see why. These were the front row seats. Fortunately, the air was breathable, as the entire stadium was capped by a huge bubble dome.

“Captain Plankwell,” someone called. “This way, sir.”

Another one of the security people had recognized me, and we were ushered into yet another corridor around the side of the stage.

“Straight to the back, sir. The admiral is waiting for you.”

Lt. Abbonette pushed me up against the side of the corridor as soon as he shut the door.

Easy? You’re calling me some cheap piece of low-life filth like I’m doing all this for shits and giggles? What makes you think I even have a choice?

“Lieut…”

Then she kissed me with a raw urgency that shot straight down to my loins.

Open wide.

I tried to cooperate, even going so far as to kiss her back, this time picturing myself as a child kissing my Great Aunt, but Aunt Arguaski never kissed me like this, and in my mind, the image of her smiling face transformed into the succubus, and this time I could clearly see it was Josefeen.

I’m a woman, Gus. What do you think is going on in my heart? Don’t even bother to answer that. I might as well be asking a blind man to describe the sunset.

Look, we are off on the wrong foot in so many ways. I will try and be mindful of what you are trying to do. But I don’t trust you, and relationships built on wet sand are bound to wash away at the first tide.

We’re out of time. Stop pretending I’m someone else! Just look inside of me, and let me look inside of you. It’s that easy.

She was a beautiful woman, I had to admit, but I’d never before been so relentlessly pursued. Indeed, I’d never really been pursued at all, and as she kissed me again, I focused on kissing her back, wondering if psionics had gotten involved with the pleasure cults I had heard about in school and if that was the real reason they were forced out of the public eye. Were the Zhodani a bunch of hedonists? It never really occurred to me. It was a little humbling, realizing that there was this vast other way of being that I had never even imagined.

I reached for where I thought the curtain might be hiding in order to draw it around Abbonette’s psychic appendage, wondering if that would help with the whole process, but she coiled her psychic snake around mine until the two became like one. All the while we were locked in a kiss, a real kiss, not just in our minds but with actual lips. And suddenly I could see inside of her, beyond her surface thoughts, which projected as the sound of speech consciously imagined. Open wide! Down below, I could peer into another part of her mind, and even feel what she felt.

I could see myself talking to her at the Intel briefing, telling her “I will see about making a house call in the near future.”¹ For your sake, the sooner the better. Later, she got a notification from some authority figure. He found the orb.

That didn’t take long.

“Something happened to me last night that I am not sure how to explain.” It was my voice. Intel had sickbay under surveillance. “I had some extraordinary… uh, dreams, I guess you could call them.”²

Then I went down to the surface. He’s hiding it. He’s going to fail. Oh, well. Another one bites the dust.

She read the apology I’d written, telling her I’d need to reschedule the visit to the Intel Pod due to admiral override and typed out a quick response: “Admiral override? Sounds like work. Take your time and don’t worry about Intel. I’ll be here whenever you’re ready. And remember to get some R&R while you’re down the well. I hear it’s good for the soul.”

Requesting permission to go down there and see if this can be salvaged.

Permission Denied.

The whole point of the test, after all, was to see if I could be trusted. If I didn’t come to them of my own volition, then the answer was clearly no.

Can we at least keep an eye on him? Where is he?

They tapped my communications, learning where I was meeting Kaz, and they even tapped her phone, listening in when her mother called.³

“Be careful. Navy Captains can’t be trusted. Where are you?”

“We’re at the Starwinds.”

“The hotel?”

“The ISC.”

“Oh, that membership place.”

“Yes, the membership place.”

“And he’s there with you right now?”

“Yes, he’s right here.”

“Doing what?”

“We’re eating fungus.”

“Fungus?”

“Rhylanori fungus.”

Later, she got backdoor access to the main computer at my hotel to see when I’d show up and spotted a woman hanging around my room through one of their security cameras.

Who are you?

She sent an agent down to snatch her, but by the time they showed up, she was gone.

Pass the image to IBIS and the HPSS as a person of interest.

I could feel her irritation. I was already asleep, of course, but she didn’t know that, and so she worried. She wondered if maybe the Zhos had tracked me to Grand Central Towers, so she sent the agent there, and he reported me leaving in the morning, shortly after sunrise.

So he spent the night with Miss Remshaw. I asked him to come in for a full briefing, and what does he do? He goes down to the surface and immediately starts chasing tail.

Well, you did tell him to get some R&R.

He’s probably using his psi on that poor woman.

That poor woman is a predator in her own right. Don’t fear for her. Fear for him.

So he likes predators, huh? Okay. I’m going to file that away.

Once I came back to the ship and settled down for a nap, she took the opportunity to rifle through my mind. Where was my heart, she wanted to know. Was I some degenerate case like Captain James, or was there some part of me that was salvageable?

Please don’t be some broken piece of woman-hating garbage.

<Beep> <Beep> <Beep> The alarm jolted us both awake. She knew she’d been caught. Just a dream, sweetheart. Nothing worth remembering, much less mentioning.

But I went straight to Dr. Willin who turned me over to Dr. Pugh.

“Captain to Lt. Abbonette. Report to Pugh’s office, urgent.”⁴

Cleon’s Crap! “On my way.” Does he suspect it was me?

Good Question. Find out.

In the spinal transport tube, she asked me about the dream woman, the succubus. “You said she was particularly voluptuous?”

“Yes, Lieutenant. Somewhat larger than your own presentation. That’s a purely subjective impression, you understand.”⁵

She’d smiled inside. Whereas another woman might have taken it as sexual harassment, she for some reason felt validated as well as mildly amused. But then I surprised her.

“I am sorry to have delayed our briefing. I feel if I had made different choices, this whole situation might not have occurred.”

You have no idea, Captain. You have no idea.

Of course, it was unusual for a Captain to apologize to a Lieutenant, but I’d so hit the nail on its head that she couldn’t believe I’d uttered those words, and so she remained quiet, not knowing how to reply. She was, in effect, flabbergasted, but in a good way. It was essentially the opposite of what she’d expected from me. And so when I showed her and Nizlich the now not-so-secret stash and told them I was experiencing telepathic episodes, she stopped me cold.

I decided I had to save you. So I broke cover.

1Chapter 13 in A&E #561.

2Chapter 18 in A&E #566.

3Chapter 24 in A&E #572.

4See Chapter 32.

5See Chapter 33.

[Jim Vassilakos]

I decided to add a little bit:

Please don’t be some broken piece of woman-hating garbage.

She delved into my subconscious, finding Vanista, ensconced like a princess in some lofty tower. She’d asked me to leave the Navy on the eve of war. Of course, I couldn’t break my service agreement, but she said there was wiggle room. Her family could pull strings. We could move to Mora, and they could get me assigned to base duty until the contract ran out, and then I could move into the merchant fleets after the war or stay in the Navy if that was my decision. “There will be no disgrace,” she’d insisted, but I knew better than that. Everyone I served with would look at me differently. My reputation would follow suit. Staying in the Navy would not have been an option, not if I ever wanted to make Captain.

“No,” I said, shaking my head.

“I don’t want to be a Navy widow,” she’d told me, on the verge of tears.

She’d had a long separation from a prior boyfriend that ended with him cheating. She could do weeks apart, months even, but not a year.

“We can start a family, Gus. We can go to Mora, have a baby, and wait out the war.”

I said no.

Josefeen was so enthralled, imaging the thunderous ticking noise of Vanista’s biological clock, that she forgot all about the one built into my gravbed.

<Beep> <Beep> <Beep> The alarm jolted us both awake. She knew she’d been caught. Just a dream, sweetheart. Nothing worth remembering, much less mentioning.

But I went straight to Dr. Willin who turned me over to Dr. Pugh.

“Captain to Lt. Abbonette. Report to Pugh’s office, urgent.”¹

Cleon’s Crap! “On my way.” Does he suspect it was me?

Good Question. Find out.

In the spinal transport tube, she asked me about the dream woman, the succubus. “You said she was particularly voluptuous?”

“Yes, Lieutenant. Somewhat larger than your own presentation. That’s a purely subjective impression, you understand.”²

[Conrad Rader]

I drew back from the kiss, but the psychic bond stayed in place. All my feelings of mistrust, the paranoia, the fear of being marked, was fading, or at least being shunted aside in favor of the truth of what I just witnessed. My eyes searched Josefeen's, marvelling at the depths.

 

"I take back everything I thought about the effectiveness of this training, Lieutenant."

The feeling of clarity was intoxicating. I could see how she used her talents through the connection, the memories. How she had closed off certain areas. I did not press. There was no need, just, understanding.

Thank you for not giving up.

I could feel my own mind, making revisions, incorporating new information, updating my mental landscape. I understood that I had been off center in a battlefield, that I had been fighting against my new circumstances, trying to get to a point of understanding and acceptance. But like one of those lo-tec black boxes, a good solid jolt of percussive maintenance had settled everything into place. I was not Jaye Sundrum, Psion Warrior (an old media show from before the Suppressions I had stumbled across when doing research in school) but my doubts of my effectiveness had been somewhat lessened.

I stood back and pulled my uniform into order. Started mentally cladding myself in the armor of a Navy Captain in the public view. I looked at her.

"We'll continue this after?" 

[[OOC: Bravo, what a great twist. I really appreciated the use of the third person narrative to clear up motivations. It's really effective to look at the situation from two viewpoints and gain understanding. I especially like how you used the times I was struggling to remain civil as the turning points in Josefeen's opinions and her decision-making. I am reminded of the movie "The Long Kiss Goodnight" for the realization of true identity and how regaining it makes you whole again. To a lesser degree the Bourne movies as well, but TLKG stayed with me longer]]

 

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[Jim Vassilakos]

I drew back from the kiss, but the psychic bond stayed in place. All my feelings of mistrust, the paranoia, the fear of being marked, was fading or at least being shunted aside in favor of the truth of what I just witnessed. My eyes searched Josefeen’s, and I marvelled at their depths.

“I take back everything I thought about the effectiveness of this training, Lieutenant.”

The feeling of clarity was intoxicating. I could see how she used her talents through her own memories. There were certain areas she’d closed, areas where I wanted to know more, but I deliberately didn’t press. There was no need, as what she’d given me was enough.

Thank you for not giving up.

She nodded.

We have to be careful. Durable psychic bonds are not without risk, so this will only be for a little while, long enough, I hope, to show you what it is to be a psion.

I could feel my own mind continue making revisions, incorporating new information, updating my mental landscape. I understood that I had been off center in a battlefield, that I had been fighting against my new circumstances, trying to get to a point of understanding and acceptance. But like one of those low-tech black boxes, a good solid jolt of percussive maintenance had settled everything into place.

I stood back and pulled my uniform into order, and started mentally cladding myself in the armor of a Navy Captain in the public view. I looked at her and could somehow see myself looking at her through her own eyes.

“We’ll continue this after?”

But I immediately knew the answer. Our minds were linked. And I suddenly realized what she had in that diplomatic case, the one she’d just brought through customs. It contained the psi orb. She had it, in part, because if we were psionically attacked, she wanted its power as a defensive bulwark, but mostly she just wanted to show me how much power a properly equipped psion could potentially wield. She wanted to blow my mind.

When we go in there, no matter what you hear them think, stay cool. A lot of people think a lot of bad stuff, and you just have to keep smiling.

[Conrad Rader]

My inner self grinned.

That, at least, is something I have had an extreme amount of practice in. Being a Plankwell in the Navy requires a thick skin.

I nodded to her and squared up. This I had some experience at.

Once I was inside, the Public Relations staff would tell us where to go, I would indicate that the Lieutenant was my aide and should remain nearby. I would give this eulogy, I would observe the forms of a Navy public event, and I would use my new abilities to learn more. I had a plan. And I was going into battle.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

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[Jim Vassilakos]

We entered a room with green walls, purple couches, and what looked like a well-stocked liquor cabinet complete with an autoserve, basically a robotic bartender. Admiral Karneticky, Captain Masa, and Canon Forklinbrass were all there, the first two engaged in conversation about the Countess and Olav — though I couldn’t hear what they were saying, I somehow just knew — whereas the latter stood off to the side, pretending to listen to the first two going back and forth, but I could somehow sense his real attention was focused on the cabinet’s selection of intoxicants, and he was growing thirsty.

[Conrad Rader]

I approached Captain Masa, carefully angling my approach so that I would not sneak up on and startle the Admiral. I nodded greetings to Forklinbrass as he finally came down on a devotional dollop over piety among the heathens, or at least that was the feeling I was getting from him. I could also feel the psi shields in the walls, great slabs of black glass, icy cold. In my mind's eye, I noted Lt. Abbonnette moving behind me, precisely where an aide should be. It was like seeing the room through my eyes and then there was an overlay of presences. If I focussed a little, I could see shrouds of colors around everyone, the brightest beeing Abbonnette, and the connection between us a bright line. It was a little freaky having 360 degree awareness without the enhanced virtual reality rigs we used in a fighter, but having that experience was helping me deal with this new perceptual sensation.

Do you see like this?

I opened the connection a little more, inviting her perception in further.

On Sun, Oct 8, 2023 at 12:51 AM Jim Vassilakos <jim.vas...@gmail.com> wrote:

We entered a room with green walls, purple couches, and what looked like a well-stocked liquor cabinet complete with an autoserve, basically a robotic bartender. Admiral Karneticky, Captain Masa, and Canon Forklinbrass were all there, the first two engaged in conversation about the Countess and Olav — though I couldn’t hear what they were saying, I somehow just knew — whereas the latter stood off to the side, pretending to listen to the first two going back and forth, but I could somehow sense his real attention was focused on the cabinet’s selection of intoxicants, and he was growing thirsty.

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[Jim Vassilakos]

I approached Captain Masa, carefully angling my approach so that I would not sneak up on and startle the Admiral. The last thing I needed was for him to have a heart attack. Then I’d have to give two eulogies instead of one. Predictably, however, he looked down at his wristcom just as I entered his field of view.

Where in Cleon’s hairy armpit is that damn Captain?

“Put me through to Captain Plankwell.”

Masa couldn’t see me, as I was approaching from behind him, but the Canon noticed me as I got within a few meters.

“Admiral?” he said.

“Just a moment, Your Grace.”

As my wristcom beeped, I couldn’t help but sigh.

[Conrad Rader]

Damn Captain? I thought, and after all I've done for you...

Well, so much for the cautious approach. Three quick steps put me in front of the Admiral and I ripped off a crisp salute.

"Yes, Admiral?"

The resulting startle was not as big as the previous scares, but it was there. I caught the Canon stifling a grin and as Captain Masa turned to greet me, he too had a larger smile than warranted. Word apparently had gotten around, and both were pleased to have seen the old man jump. I put on my best innocent face and awaited the Admiral's pleasure.

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[Jim Vassilakos]

Where in Cleon’s hairy armpit is that damn Captain?

Damn Captain? And after all I've done for you.

“Put me through to Captain Plankwell.”

Masa couldn’t see me, as I was approaching from behind him, but the Canon noticed me as I got within a few meters.

“Admiral?” he said.

“Just a moment, Your Grace.”

As my wristcom beeped, I couldn’t help but sigh.

Well, so much for the cautious approach. Three quick steps put me in front of the Admiral and I ripped off a crisp salute.

“Yes, Admiral?”

Masa turned around, startled, as Karneticky looked up, ever so slowly and with bulging eyes. The admiral’s mind briefly shot forth of cacophony of images and sounds, like some electronic device experiencing technical difficulties, but he managed to navigate his shock with a neutral expression despite the beeping noise still coming from my wrist.

“Belay that,” he finally said into his wristcom.

“Sir?”

Disconnect, damn you!

I dropped my salute to tap the answer button on my wristcom.

“Priority call from Admiral Karneticky.”

“Disconnect it. I’m in front of him.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

The line clicked dead, and the admiral started to return my salute but managed to stop before smacking himself in the face.

“Reporting for duty, sir,” I said, blinking innocently.

“Very good, Captain.” How does he do that? “Uh… have you met Captain Masa yet?”

Captain Masa either had a very broad smile or was unduly amused, but he extended his hand for a shake, all the while recalling my presence from the committee meeting.

[Conrad Rader]

I took his hand and shook it.

"Yes, we have crossed paths a few times. My compliments, Captain."

Unlike some of the other officers I had come across, Masa was competent, thoughtful and on top of his stuff.I appreciated that.

I stepped aside a little so that Abbonette was evident.

"My aide of the day, Lieutenant Abbonnette."

Sensitive for anything coming through the link, I turned to the Canon while Abbonette made her introductions.

"Your Grace"

I tried reaching out a little, to see if I could pick up anything more than moods from these people.

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[Timothy Collinson]

Hi there,

Trying to catch up but restarting work this week - even just at 2 hours a day - has been rather more demanding than I'd imagined.  Particularly as travelling into campus yesterday not only meant the two hours stretched into 4.5 but also included my first lecture since surgery.  Which was interesting.  So, generally pretty exhausting.

Anyway, great to see you've been keeping going while I've been 'away' and I've enjoyed going through the chapters which is a relatively neat, 'defined' job I can do at my own pace.

On Fri, 6 Oct 2023 at 07:25, Jim Vassilakos <jim.vas...@gmail.com> wrote:

“Captain Plankwell,” someone called. “This way, sir.”

Another one of the security people had recognized me, and we were ushered into yet another corridor around the side of the stage.

“Straight to the back, sir. The admiral is waiting for you.”

Lt. Abbonette pushed me up against the side of the corridor as soon as he shut the door.

I'm afraid that 'he' will need to refer to the 'someone' again (i.e. have a name for them, or make a thing of being a 'someone') because you've got Lt. Abonette referred to since the last reference to the 'he'.  (i.e. the 'he' refers back to Abonette which is obviously not correct.

So, something like "... side of the corridor as soon as security shut the door."

OR "... side of the corridor as soon as xxx shut the door."   (Where xxx is a name, or perhaps a rank - presumably a very low one).

OR "... side of the corridor as soon as the security someone shut the door."

Easy? You’re calling me some cheap piece of low-life filth like I’m doing all this for shits and giggles?

Cleon, I hate that expression.  Maybe because of the only person I know in real life who uses it and who I have to work really hard with to maintain any kind of relationship.  <sigh>  That's narcissists for you.

*I'd* say "... doing all this for the fun of it?" but I recognize that's very 'weak'.  As is another English version I've heard "... doing all this for laughs OR a laugh?"

 How about "... doing all this for ....

... you know, now I stop to think about it, I have no idea what this expression even 'means'.  What's the point of it?!

I'm going to try out, with said person above, the equally random "tea and turkey" (no idea why those words came to me).  But maybe we could SF it up for the Third Imperium: "...merchants and misJumps?"

Just a thought.

 

What makes you think I even have a choice?

“Lieut…”

Then she kissed me with a raw urgency that shot straight down to my loins.

Oh to be kissed like that...

:-)

 

Open wide.

I tried to cooperate, even going so far as to kiss her back, this time picturing myself as a child kissing my Great Aunt, but Aunt Arguaski never kissed me like this, and in my mind, the image of her smiling face transformed into the succubus, and this time I could clearly see it was Josefeen.

I’m a woman, Gus. What do you think is going on in my heart? Don’t even bother to answer that. I might as well be asking a blind man to describe the sunset.

Look, we are off on the wrong foot in so many ways. I will try and be mindful of what you are trying to do. But I don’t trust you, and relationships built on wet sand are bound to wash away at the first tide.

I love that expression!

(I tease my daughter moaning about going out in the rain that she's not the wicked witch of the west who will wash away in the wet, but maybe that's too much alliteration!

 

We’re out of time. Stop pretending I’m someone else! Just look inside of me, and let me look inside of you. It’s that easy.

She was a beautiful woman, I had to admit, but I’d never before been so relentlessly pursued. Indeed, I’d never really been pursued at all, and as she kissed me again, I focused on kissing her back, wondering if psionics had gotten involved with the pleasure cults I had heard about in school and if that was the real reason they were forced out of the public eye.

Hmmm, that's an interesting theory.

 

Were the Zhodani a bunch of hedonists? It never really occurred to me. It was a little humbling, realizing that there was this vast other way of being that I had never even imagined.

I reached for where I thought the curtain might be hiding in order to draw it around Abbonette’s psychic appendage, wondering if that would help with the whole process, but she coiled her psychic snake around mine until the two became like one. All the while we were locked in a kiss, a real kiss, not just in our minds but with actual lips. And suddenly I could see inside of her, beyond her surface thoughts, which projected as the sound of speech consciously imagined. Open wide! Down below, I could peer into another part of her mind, and even feel what she felt.

I could see myself talking to her at the Intel briefing, telling her “I will see about making a house call in the near future.”¹ For your sake, the sooner the better. Later, she got a notification from some authority figure. He found the orb.

OK, so the whole of the next bit is really interesting and, I suspect, 'right' and the thing to do, but can I confess to find it *really* hard to follow what's going on when as it seems to be dealing with things happening in the present, things happening in the past, things happening as a memory and maybe even things happening as Abonette wished they had happened or feared they would happen.

I think it's going to need some clearer signposting as to who/what/when.  Sorry about that.

 

--

[Timothy Collinson]

On Fri, 6 Oct 2023 at 18:20, Conrad Rader <conrad...@gmail.com> wrote:

I drew back from the kiss, but the psychic bond stayed in place. All my feelings of mistrust, the paranoia, the fear of being marked, was fading, or at least being shunted aside in favor of the truth of what I just witnessed. My eyes searched Josefeen's, marvelling at the depths.

 

"I take back everything I thought about the effectiveness of this training, Lieutenant."

The feeling of clarity was intoxicating. I could see how she used her talents through the connection, the memories. How she had closed off certain areas. I did not press. There was no need, just, understanding.

Thank you for not giving up.

I could feel my own mind, making revisions, incorporating new information, updating my mental landscape. I understood that I had been off center in a battlefield, that I had been fighting against my new circumstances, trying to get to a point of understanding and acceptance. But like one of those lo-tec black boxes, a good solid jolt of percussive maintenance had settled everything into place. I was not Jaye Sundrum, Psion Warrior (an old media show from before the Suppressions I had stumbled across when doing research in school) but my doubts of my effectiveness had been somewhat lessened.

I stood back and pulled my uniform into order. Started mentally cladding myself in the armor of a Navy Captain in the public view. I looked at her.

"We'll continue this after?" 

[[OOC: Bravo, what a great twist. I really appreciated the use of the third person narrative to clear up motivations. It's really effective to look at the situation from two viewpoints and gain understanding. I especially like how you used the times I was struggling to remain civil as the turning points in Josefeen's opinions and her decision-making. I am reminded of the movie "The Long Kiss Goodnight" for the realization of true identity and how regaining it makes you whole again. To a lesser degree the Bourne movies as well, but TLKG stayed with me longer]]

Will have to look out for that, thank you.

My 'find' over the last few weeks of recovery when I've not felt up to doing very much has been 'Sue Thomas F.B.Eye' (a deaf woman working for the FBI because she can read lips and help with things like what people are saying in surveillance tapes and across a room, apparently based on a real life Sue Thomas).  I just watched the last of season 3 yesterday and found it quite moving.  But this morning they started the cycle around again with the beginning of season 1 which I'd not caught and it had quite a clever way of feeding her motivations into the ongoing (double) episode in a series of flashbacks which, for once, were used very effectively.  Oh, and my watching it has nothing to do with the fact that I may just have fallen just a teency bit in love with the cute as a button Deanne Bray... ;-) 

tc

[Jim Vassilakos]

Timothy, thank you for those editorial suggestions. I'll see what I can do with them. And if you're up to it, please send me your A&E comments when you get a chance.

Also, I showed the previous chapter to my readers, and two of them suggested that we find some way to distinguish projected thoughts (those that are intended to be read/heard) from regular thoughts (those that might be read but aren't necessarily intended to be). So I decided to use «italicized double angle quotation marks» to denote projected thoughts, and I'll be using this going forward. Since these aren't on the standard keyboard, feel free to use some other symbol  (perhaps {curly brackets}) to denote this in the mailing list correspondence.

Captain Masa, amused, extended his hand, and I shook it.

“We’ve crossed paths. My compliments, Captain.” I remembered him from the committee meeting and was appreciative of the fact that he didn’t throw me under the bus, as it had been members of my crew who burned down that nightclub. Masa was competent, thoughtful and on top of his stuff, unlike some other officers I’d come across lately.

«I heard that.»

I stepped aside a little so that Abbonette was evident. “My aide of the day, Lieutenant Abbonette.” «I was thinking about someone else.»

«You had better have been thinking about someone else.»

She saluted the Admiral and presumably Captain Masa, and Masa returned her salute and shook her hand as the Admiral eyed the two geographic features on her chest. That Lucky Dog. Canon Forklinbrass, meanwhile, looked from me to Josefeen and back again as though able to sense our connection.

“Your Grace,” both she and I said in unison.

“I am pleased to meet you, Lieutenant, and to see you again, Captain, but the circumstances… not so pleasing. I am sorry for your loss.”

[Timothy Collinson]

On Sat, 14 Oct 2023 at 04:22, Jim Vassilakos <jim.vas...@gmail.com> wrote:

Timothy, thank you for those editorial suggestions. I'll see what I can do with them. And if you're up to it, please send me your A&E comments when you get a chance.

Yes, I'm on the case with those, even as I write.  Well, ok, I've taken a break for a moment as a couple of emails popped in that needed responses or I'll just be overwhelmed at work.  I'm about 2/3 of the way through and have a page of comments already (one is quite long) so I'm a bit worried I'll have too much when I'm done.

 

Also, I showed the previous chapter to my readers, and two of them suggested that we find some way to distinguish projected thoughts (those that are intended to be read/heard) from regular thoughts (those that might be read but aren't necessarily intended to be). So I decided to use «italicized double angle quotation marks» to denote projected thoughts, and I'll be using this going forward. Since these aren't on the standard keyboard, feel free to use some other symbol  (perhaps {curly brackets}) to denote this in the mailing list correspondence.

I did think that that was what was going on, but amongst emails I haven't caught up with I must have missed the key and was struggling to work it out by osmosis.  (I'm presuming you have a put a key for readers somehow).

Right, back to A&E.

tc

[Conrad Rader]

'On behalf of my crew, I thank you for your presence here."

Some deep memory moved me, and I bowed to the Canon, my hands clasped to my chest and I held the bow for a full count of ten. This was an old form of respect given when the honoree was deemed an important ally and given when there was some doubt about the strength of other allegiances present. Masa might pick up on it, I was fairly sure the Admiral would not, judging from how he performed during the apology. Abbonette would pick up the meaning from the link, which left the Canon, who might or might not know the level of respect he was being offered. I knew I had picked up on this during my cadet days when I needed to show up aristos who didn't know the forms as thoroughly as they should have.

As I stood from the bow, I smiled.

"I hope we will be hearing from you again during the ceremony?"

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[Timothy Collinson]

On Mon, 16 Oct 2023 at 20:15, Conrad Rader <conrad...@gmail.com> wrote:

'On behalf of my crew, I thank you for your presence here."

Some deep memory moved me, and I bowed to the Canon, my hands clasped to my chest and I held the bow for a full count of ten. This was an old form of respect given when the honoree was deemed an important ally and given when there was some doubt about the strength of other allegiances present. Masa might pick up on it, I was fairly sure the Admiral would not, judging from how he performed during the apology. Abbonette would pick up the meaning from the link, which left the Canon, who might or might not know the level of respect he was being offered. I knew I had picked up on this during my cadet days when I needed to show up aristos who didn't know the forms as thoroughly as they should have.

Nice.  I like that.

 

As I stood from the bow, I smiled.

"I hope we will be hearing from you again during the ceremony?"

Almost certainly if canons I have known are anything to go by.  It's usually more a problem of stopping them rather than getting them going...

tc

[Jim Vassilakos]

 “On behalf of my crew, I thank you for your presence here.”

Some deep memory moved me, and I bowed to the Canon, my hands clasped to my chest. I held the bow for a full count of ten.

One… two… three… four…

Oh, for Cleon’s sake! The admiral’s voice rang in my head. What now? Has he gone batty?

“No, Captain. Please,” the canon said.

Masa, meanwhile, though remaining silent, emanated both curiosity and amusement.

This was an old form of respect given when the honoree was deemed an important ally and given when there was some doubt about the strength of other allegiances present. Masa might pick up on it, but I was fairly sure the Admiral didn’t, both judging from how he performed during the apology as well as listening to his thoughts just now. They were spinning out from his mind so carelessly that I didn’t even have to look at him in order to sense them.

He cleared his throat, thinking: I’ve heard of senior moments, but this is getting ridiculous as five… six… and seven ticked by.

Abbonette would pick up the meaning from the link, which left the Canon, who I was pretty sure understood the level of respect he was being offered. I’d picked up on this during my cadet days when I needed to show up petty aristocrats who didn’t know the forms as thoroughly as they should have.

“Captain,” the Admiral said, “are you feeling quite alright? Should we summon a doctor?”

Eight… nine… ten.

As I stood from the bow, I smiled.

“I am unworthy of this honor you’ve bestowed,” the Canon said, wincing.

[Conrad Rader]

"With all due respect, your Grace, it is mine to give and mine to decide. A companionable word to a stranger lost, a gift of fortitude and wisdom offered. To a man such as myself, and the crew I represent, and the Navy I serve, these are welcome indeed to we who sail the black skies."

I winked at him with a bit of a smile, that I straightened out as I as I turned to Masa.

"Captain, if we could review the timeline so I know where I am to be and how long I have to get ready?"

[[OOC I am currently ignoring the Admiral until he either pulls rank to get my attention or interjects something I have to respond to]]

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[Jim Vassilakos]

This was an old form of respect given when the honoree was deemed an important ally and given when there was some doubt about the strength of other allegiances present. Masa might pick up on it, but I was fairly sure the Admiral didn’t, both judging from how he performed during the apology as well as listening to his thoughts just now. They were spinning out from his mind so carelessly that I didn’t even have to look at him in order to sense them.

He cleared his throat, thinking: I’ve heard of senior moments, but this is getting ridiculous as three, four, and five ticked by.

Abbonette would pick up the meaning from the link, which left the Canon, who I was pretty sure understood the level of respect he was being offered. I’d learned about this expression of respect during my cadet days when I needed to show up petty aristocrats who didn’t know the forms as thoroughly as they should have.

“Captain,” the Admiral said, “are you feeling quite alright? Should we summon a doctor?”

Six… seven…

“Sir,” Masa said, “Captain Plankwell is expressing Kalan Sishame.”

Eight… nine…

“Ah, I see.” Kalan Sishame? Never heard of it. He nodded knowingly. “We do it a little bit differently where I come from.”

Ten.

As I stood from the bow, I smiled.

“I am unworthy of this honor you’ve bestowed,” the Canon said, wincing.

“With all due respect, your Grace, it is mine to give and mine to decide. A companionable word to a stranger lost, a gift of fortitude and wisdom offered. To a man such as myself, and the crew I represent, and the Navy I serve, these are welcome indeed to we who sail the black skies.”

“Yes, but…”

“Your Grace,” Captain Masa interjected, “it is not simply to you the Navy offers respect but to all you represent.”

“You place a great burden upon me,” Canon Forklinbrass said.

“You placed it upon yourself when you chose to become a man of the cloth,” Masa replied.

“Indeed.” He nodded.

I winked with a bit of a smile and then turned to Masa. “Captain, if we could review the timeline so I know where I am to be and how long I have to get ready?”

“I’m afraid there’s a fly in the ointment, but it could prove in the end to be to our advantage.”

Karneticky nodded. “The Countess has requested we include the new Olav as a part of this ceremony. She wants us to allow him to speak.”

“And not in a pre-recorded statement,” Masa said, “but live.”

“Is he ready?” Karneticky asked.

“If he is, this could be a major public relations coup for the Navy.” Masa smiled.

“Or a PR disaster, if he isn’t,” the admiral said, crossing his arms.

[Conrad Rader]

Great Cleon's hairy armpit, will I never be free of the program?

{{Mmmph}}

I ignored the mental snigger from Abbonnette.

"It was in fine form when I last left it with the Countess. I cannot say what influence she has had upon it, but her household was growing fond of it last I saw."

"Would it be possible to add it to the end of the program? Spin it as the capstone so that we observe all the forms? That way, we have paid proper deference. If it succeeds, it's a triumph, if it fails, well, we did everything including offering an opportunity for a local noble to pay their respects however poorly."

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[Jim Vassilakos]

“It was in fine form when I last left it with the Countess,” I said, ignoring Josefeen’s mental snigger. “I cannot say what influence she has had upon it, but her household was growing fond of it, last I saw.”

“Fond?” Masa inquired, clearly wanting more details.

[Conrad Rader]

"I am not one to gossip about the behavior of nobles in their private lives, but..."

I leaned in conspiratorially.

"Do you recall the case of the declaration of union with the search agent?"

The case had been one of the few news events to race around the sector a few years ago. A noted Imperial News reporter and vidcaster had declared in public that he was forming a marriage union with his custom designed search agent program. That the agent was better than most people and he had researched all the applicable Imperial laws. His family, conservative, publicity shy nobles had waited for his return to his homeworld to apprehend him, charge him under planetary law (no one commented on the convenience of said planetary law having been passed just the past year before his return)  and petition the Imperium to dissolve the union claiming some sort of inheritance issue. There was some debate in the Sector Moot, but the issue quieted down once the reporter was discovered to have died in a grav ski accident.

I arched my eyebrow slightly, and nodded very slightly. To say more would be inappropriate.

"More to the point, has the Countess given any indication of why she wants to present Olav at this event?"

On Fri, Oct 20, 2023 at 10:29 PM Jim Vassilakos <jim.vas...@gmail.com> wrote:

“It was in fine form when I last left it with the Countess,” I said, ignoring Josefeen’s mental snigger. “I cannot say what influence she has had upon it, but her household was growing fond of it, last I saw.”

“Fond?” Masa inquired, clearly wanting more details.

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[Jim Vassilakos]

I arched an eyebrow and nodded very slightly. To say more would be inappropriate.

 “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Karneticky asked with a wrinkled nose and a grimace. He was picturing Amika and Olav engaged in some soft porn and cuddling.

[Conrad Rader]

I very carefully turned to the Admiral and gave him the blankest look I could muster.

{{Uch, Josefeen, how do I screen THAT out...}}

The faint shoulder shrug was the best I could do under the circumstances. I wasn't going to feed any more innuendo into that mind, I mean it was bad enough that he probably remembered Amika naked, but I was sure that Olav was not equipped like... that. I had seen the full body studies after all. I knew that image was more than a little grotesque.

{{I am beginning to take your meaning about what other people think.}}

I schooled my neutral face and returned my attention back to Masa.

On Tue, Oct 24, 2023 at 1:18 PM Jim Vassilakos <jim.vas...@gmail.com> wrote:

I arched an eyebrow and nodded very slightly. To say more would be inappropriate.

 “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Karneticky asked with a wrinkled nose and a grimace. He was picturing Amika and Olav engaged in some soft porn and cuddling.

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[Jim Vassilakos]

 “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Karneticky asked with a wrinkled nose and a grimace. He was picturing Amika and Olav engaged in some soft porn and cuddling.

I very carefully turned to the Admiral and gave him the blankest look I could muster.

«Uch! Josefeen, how do I screen THAT out?»

«Your admiral has a most vivid imagination.»

The faint shoulder shrug was the best I could do under the circumstances. I wasn’t going to feed any more innuendo into that mind. I mean it was bad enough that he probably remembered Amika naked, but I was sure that Olav was not equipped like… that.

«I am beginning to take your meaning about what other people think.»

«Just keep smiling.»

I schooled my neutral face, trying to smile as non-awkwardly as possible, which, given the circumstances, was impossible.

“Holy Cleon on a stick,” Karneticky slowly intoned, taking my silence as confirmation.

“I don’t suppose the Countess has given any indication of why she wants to present Olav at this event?” I asked.

“Planetary morale,” Masa replied. “And she’s not wrong. If the simulation were to prove cooperative, its benefit could be immense.”

“Would it be possible to add it to the end of the program? Spin it as the capstone so that we observe all the forms? That way, we have paid proper deference. If it succeeds, it’s a triumph, and if it fails, well, we did everything including offering an opportunity for a local noble to pay their respects, however poorly.”

We should make it generally known that it speaks on behalf of the Countess, Masa thought with a slight nod.

Karneticky, meanwhile, appeared internally deadlocked, his lips pressed together in a slight grimmace. Can’t afford to offend the Countess, not again. But what if it reverts to its old self? “Captain Plankwell,” he finally said.

“Sir.”

“You may convey our acceptance to the Countess as well as your idea for Olav to… uh… to be the capstone, talking at the end,” or wherever else she prefers. “But find out what he intends to say, if you can. And if there’s some problem, see that you correct it.” CYA accomplished!

Oh, thank you, Universe, Masa smiled. So much could go wrong, best to not volunteer. Safer to let Plankwell light the dumpster file, then clean up the mess after it’s over.

Josefeen wondered if I should ask the Admiral to direct Captain Masa to assist. «A scapegoat would be handy if he turns out to be right,» her voice crackled between my neurons.

[OOC: On the other hand, having Masa there might crowd your style, limiting your possibilities. On the other-other hand, he might be useful in other ways. The big-big problem is that he’d be the senior captain, so he’d technically be the one in charge.]

[Conrad Rader]

{{Nope, too many captains around and we will start swinging di...uhh.. interfering with each other}}

I tried mightily to suppress that particular image from my head, and Josefeen's full throated chuckling rumbling through my thoughts indicated that I had not succeeded. I glanced over and she was the very image of an attentive aide. How she managed that, II don't know.

{{That's right, you don't}}

"Yes sir. Captain Masa, is there a private room I could comm the Countess from? I will see if there's an opportunity to talk to Olav beforehand as well."

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[Jim Vassilakos]

 “Aye aye, sir. Captain Masa, is there a private room I could comm the Countess from? I will see if there’s an opportunity to talk to Olav beforehand as well.”

“Of course. Follow me.”

«Not that I want to duck out on you, but…» Did I want Josefeen to come with me or stay here and observe? She somehow conveyed the question all at once, without words, like some psychic hieroglyph. «We should be able to retain our psychic bond either way, and if you order me to stay, you’ll get to experience what it’s like being in two places simultaneously.»

[Conrad Rader]

"Lieutenant, remain here to represent us in the rest of the preparation, if you would. Comm me if anything urgent arises."

{{Two places at once? So many times I could have used that in the past.}}

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[Jim Vassilakos]

«Two places at once? So many times I could have used that in the past.»

“Lieutenant, remain here to represent us in the rest of the preparation, if you would. Comm me if anything urgent arises.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

As I followed Captain Masa down a corridor, around a corner, and into an elevator, I remained aware of the Admiral and Canon and, of course, Josefeen, who smiled shyly, as though nervous. The Canon, noticing, nodded warmly but then got distracted by the liquor cabinet.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked her.

“Uh… that’s very kind of you, Your Holiness, but I’m on duty, so I really shouldn’t.”

“Oh, well… let me know when you change your mind.” And then he ambled off in what was more or less the right direction.

By now we were in the elevator, descending, but in my mind's eye Josefeen remained keenly aware of the Admiral’s admiration, though not for any traits of hers that weren't readily apparent. I watched various sublevels go by.

“Subterranean parking,” Masa said by way of explanation. «Captain Obvious» careened through my consciousness.

Admiral Karneticky, meanwhile, looked at his wristcom, thumbing through his phone list, wondering who he should bother next, and specifically trying not to look at the gorgeous lieutenant right in front of him: Is that a regulation hairdo? Josefeen, however, was a woman of wiles and bent forward at her waist rather than her knees in a show of inspecting her shoes or perhaps the color pattern of the flooring material. Aside from giving him a good look at the top of her head, it was a golden opportunity for him to sneak a rather lingering peek at her other notable assets hanging below, and, of course, she knew he did so, and after a solid moment she looked up swiftly and met his gaze. His eyes went wide as saucers, the realization that he’d been caught apparent to him, but he could still play it off, and so he smiled and approached, keeping his gaze focused on her eyes rather than her chest.

“We’re going all the way down to VIP parking.”

The elevator stopped, its doors opening, as «You want to see how easily men are manipulated by their hormones?» bubbled its way through my brainwaves.

 “Hello there,” he said to her. “I don’t believe we’ve yet been properly introduced. I’m Fleet Admiral Bilem Geriol Karneticky.”

[Conrad Rader]

I felt a vague sense of nausea and wasn't sure it came from me or Josefeen. In any case, I needed to school my composure as Josefeen's idea of training me to be in two places at once was to demonstrate her wiles on a superior officer. No doubt an object lesson for me at multiple levels.

"Seems like a way to go for a private room, Captain."

I wasn't uneasy but I was familiar with the parking garage having left my speeder here not 20 minutes ago. Perhaps there was a secure facility in an out of the way area. I tried to listen to Masa's thoughts.

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[Jim Vassilakos]

Chapter 35 is ready for your suggestions and suggested edits.

PLEASE REMEMBER to change "EDITING" to "SUGGESTING" (near the upper right-hand corner) before doing any edits.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M9uXP7IKpMQmlaPGPtvUXXSK0vIbs0rL/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=113687616933633107445&rtpof=true&sd=true

The PBEM continues with Chapter 36, which begins here: https://groups.google.com/g/plankwell-pbem-s1/c/hqXB9htvw7Q/m/aZCsC6FzAQAJ

Timothy, I hope you're doing well. Let me know if you're up for running any NPCs.