The Admiral and the Assistant

The ISS Swordheart jumped into the Brolla sector, and quickly made its way into orbit around the system's only planet. From orbit, the planet looked dingy, all shades of gray. A dirty gray sea filled the majority of the globe, and gray-brown land filled the rest. The dim, fat red star shone down on the planet, pouring what little power it had onto the heads of the Brollans.

Admiral Stonefist left the bridge and headed for docking bay 12, Kinnit in tow. A squad of MPs in riot armor waited for him there. They saluted in unison as he arrived.

"Gentlemen," he said as he entered. "Today we're going to transport the most wanted man in the Imperium to Techterra to face justice. I want every protocol strictly followed. No slip-ups, no excuses. He's already killed dozens of people. Don't become his next victim by getting sloppy."

"Sir, will you be joining us?" one of them asked.

Grimthorn paused. He'd thought it over long and hard.

"I will not. You men know your business. If I were to go down, it might look like vengeance, or a taunt. I don't want to give even the faintest suggestion that the Imperial Navy is anything other than professional and competent. Especially with regards to this prisoner."

"Yes, sir," the MP responded.

Admiral Stonefist turned to the shuttle. Compared to Digger, it was huge-- twice as wide and nearly three times as long. It was covered in thick plates of ablative armor, and had three heavy-duty thrusters mounted, along with a couple of light blasters. The logo of the Imperial Marines was blazoned on the side.

Some of the Marines had been incensed that they wouldn't be allowed to transport Senn. Grimthorn had borrowed this shuttle from them, so that at least their equipment would be involved in Senn's capture. He hoped that would mollify them a little bit.

Grimthorn saluted as the MPs loaded up in the shuttle. He stepped out of the docking by so they could cycle air and take off.

The armored Marine shuttle lifted off the deck and flew out of the bay doors into the cold space over Brolla.

Grimthorn stood at the entrance to the docking bay. They left it open for the MPs to return with Senn. No point in pumping a bunch of air back into the docking bay only to vent it again in an hour.

There was a small, reinforced portal in the sealed door to the docking bay. Grimthorn stood in front of it, his hands clasped behind his back, looking out at the stars.

"Sir?" Kinnit said. "Should we head back to the office now?"

"I'll wait for delivery of the prisoner," he said. "I've fought this conspiracy for so long, and we're so close. I don't want to fumble it here right at the end. I won't be comfortable until he's ten stories below the most secure prison on Ceon 12."

"I'll wait with you, then," she said.

Grimthorn glared through the portal, tense, frowning fiercely.

"Have you thought about what we'll do after?" she asked.

"After what?"

She waved her hands around.

"All this. The conspiracy. The chaos. Maybe after the Navy."

His shoulders relaxed slightly.

"A little. I was thinking we could set ourselves up a quiet little place somewhere in the galaxy, just the two of us." He smiled slightly. "A place with pretty plants, and a quiet little pond, and peace."

"That sounds nice," Kinnit said, smiling. She nearly laid her head on his arm, but caught herself just in time.

Work time. Keep it professional.

They watched through the portal, out through the docking bay at the hard points of light that represented stars and galaxies burning thousands of light-years away.

Before long, the armored Marine shuttle trundled back into view. All the tension that had leaked out of Grimthorn's body as he thought about his future with Kinnit instantly returned. The shuttle slid into the docking bay, flaring and settling itself carefully on the deck. The shutdown sequence went through its proper rituals, the docking bay doors closed, and the docking bay filled with air again.

The hatch of the shuttle opened, and a gaggle of MPs stepped out. Chained between them was Sehren Senn.

Kinnit frowned.

"I expected him to look like a great villain," she said. "He looks like... a beatnik poet. Not a successful one."

Grimthorn snorted a laugh.

Senn was thin and pale, with messy black hair and sea-blue eyes. Instead of a look of defiance, his eyes were haunted, flicking around the docking bay as he was unloaded. The MPs handling him were not especially rough, but he flinched from every touch, every accidental brushing against him.

"He looks freaked out," she said.

"Mmhmm. Maybe the weight of the consequences of his crimes have finally dawned on him."

The MPs began marching him toward the exit from the docking bay. He stumbled along, twitching.

"Come, Kinnit. Let's get out of their way. We have no reason to face this criminal right now."

Grimthorn turned and walked away down the hall. Kinnit took one last look at the Imperium's most-wanted criminal, then followed.

"Sir, we have no prisoner transfer orders," came the nasally voice through the line.

Admiral Stonefist stood in the captain's dais on the bridge, Kinnit at his side. They'd made the journey through jumpspace without incident and had arrived in the Ceon system, and were now orbiting Ceon 12, waiting for clearance to send their prisoner back down to Techterra.

"It's not a prisoner transfer, it's a captured prisoner," Grimthorn said in the overly-clear, annoyed tones of one who was trying to get an ounce of common sense through to a stone-headed bureaucrat.

"We don't have an arrest record for a 'Sehren Senn,'" the voice came back.

"Arrest record? Do you not recall a massive explosion downtown? We have the man who did that!"

"Sir, that's not an arrest record. We cannot process a prisoner without proper paperwork in order."

Grimthorn ground his teeth.

"Look, contact Deputy Commander Kopos of CenCom," he said. "He'll validate our prisoner."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"This is not a Navy organization, sir. We're a civilian prison."

Grimthorn slammed his hand down on the console to disconnect comms, and barked an oath.

"I'd rather deal with pirates than bureaucrats," Grimthorn growled. "At least you can shoot pirates."

Everybody on the bridge worked at their stations with the kind of silent, exceptionally careful focus that kept them away from the boss' attention while he was angry.

Kinnit laid a gentle hand on Grimthorn's arm.

"It will be okay, sir. Senn is secure until we can get through this process. Maybe we can get in touch with Techterra Protection Force, to move the process along."

Grimthorn nodded, calming.

"You're right," he said. "We'll get him sorted out and off my ship. Comms officer, get me... whoever's in charge at TPF."

"Yes, sir."

It took only a minute for a voice to come through the comms.

"Chief Roeder here."

"Chief, this is Admiral Stonefist of the Ninth Fleet. I have a prisoner I've transported from Brolla. I'd like to offload him, but the prison is requesting arrest paperwork. Could I get that from you?"

"Ah," said Roeder. "You have the bomber. Good." There was quiet clacking from the other end. "That was Herin Kasra's collar. He hasn't filed his report yet."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means you have to wait until he gets back and files his report."

Kinnit could see Grimthorn's temperature rising.

"So when will he get back and file his report?"

"Not sure. He's returning on a commercial flight. Could be a couple days, hard to say. Then he has to file his report, then that has to get processed. The office will generate an arrest record that gets forwarded to the prison system, then they can take him off your hands."

"Wait, so you want the flagship of the Ninth Fleet to just hang around, holding on to a dangerous criminal 'for a couple days' so you can play games with your bureaucracy?"

"Could be a week. Look, I don't make the rules. That's just the way it is."

"I'll just push him out of an airlock," Grimthorn muttered out of range of the comms. "They can put whatever's left after re-entry into prison."

"Sir," she said. "Maybe a different form of persuasion?" She stood on tiptoe and whispered into his ear. He grinned.

"Very well," Grimthorn said into the comms. "Contact me as soon as the paperwork is processed and we'll transfer the prisoner," he said.

"Look, pal, I'm not your secretary. Call the prison to find out if the paperwork is ready."

"Of course," Grimthorn said smoothly. "Until then, we'll wait here in the Ceon system, doing some training exercises."

"Eh?"

"The Ninth Fleet. We need to regularly perform formation and combat exercises. I'll call them in and we'll just practice here in the Ceon system while we wait for this to get sorted out. If anybody complains about a thousand warships of the fleet clogging up shipping and transportation channels for one of the busiest cities in the Imperium, I'll forward them to you so that you can simply explain to them that that's 'just the way it is.'"

"Ah, wait, hold on, I didn't--"

"It's been a pleasure speaking with you, Chief Roeder. Admiral Stonefist out." He blipped off the comms.

Kinnit bit her lips to keep from laughing out loud while Grimthorn stood there looking almost, but not quite, smug.

It took only two days for the report to be processed. They received a call from Chief Roeder's office as soon as it was cleared.

Admiral Stonefist was gracious enough not to smile when the call came in, even though it was voice-only.

"We'll bring him right down," Grimthorn said.

"We want to send up some officers to assist the transfer," Roeder said.

Admiral Stonefist's mood evaporated.

"Our MPs will be sufficient to transport the prisoner to your prison," Admiral Stonefist said.

"We want to make sure that he is transported securely. Our officers will oversee the transportation protocols, make sure there are no gaps."

Grimthorn's face reddened, and he opened his mouth to respond. Kinnit tapped his elbow.

"Sir," she said quietly, "they probably just want some of their officers visible as they bring him into prison so that they can help improve people's confidence in the safety of Techterra. You know how important that can be."

Grimthorn carefully closed his mouth. His lips nearly vanished into a thin line.

"Very well," he said quietly to Roeder. "You may send up two officers."

"We'd like to send up no fewer than--"

"You may either send two officers, or no officers."

Roeder's voice paused. The comms fairly buzzed with his desire to negotiate, but Admiral Stonefist's tone made it exceedingly clear that he was in no mood to negotiate.

"Okay," Roeder said finally. "We'll shuttle them up. They'll be there in an hour."

Grimthorn carefully closed comms.

"I don't like it," he said. "Having civilians on a Navy ship never ends well."

Kinnit cleared her throat, a furious look on her face. Grimthorn started.

"Present company excepted," Grimthorn amended lamely. "I just meant, these police, they're not..." Kinnit's eyebrows rose. "Never mind. I just don't like it."

Kinnit spun on her heel and marched away from the captain's dais.

Admiral Stonefist and Kinnit strode down the hallway to the holding cells. A squad of MPs trailed them.

"I'd hoped to handle things without getting directly involved," he said, "but I won't have Techterra police running around loose on my ship. We'll monitor things and help load the prisoner in. Then the MPs and the officers can ride down with him and hand him off."

Kinnit nodded sharply. She'd maintained an icy silence since their interaction on the bridge.

Grimthorn looked at her sideways. He'd annoyed her somehow. He needed to make up with her. After they handed Senn off, he'd pull her aside and talk to her. Figure out why she was upset.

As they reached the entrance to the cell block, some of her frostiness melted, and she stood a little closer to him. It couldn't be easy for her to come back here. She had a lot of trauma tied up in this little area of the ship.

"If it's easier, you can stay out here," Grimthorn said quietly.

Kinnit lifted her chin and set her jaw.

"I'll be fine," she said.

Grimthorn opened his mouth to say something, but decided on the wiser course and closed it again.

"Open the cell block," he said to the Lieutenant on duty.

"Yes, sir."

The heavy, armored door slid aside, and they walked in.

Sehren Senn sat in his cell, staring blankly at the wall.

Grimthorn stood in front of the cell. He laid eyes on the man who had been the behind so much suffering and destruction in the Imperium. His hands suddenly itched to find the man's throat.

Senn looked up at Grimthorn and sneered.

"Well, well," Senn said. "If it isn't the luckiest, pettiest, most obnoxious Admiral in the galaxy."

Apparently a few days' bureaucratic delay had been enough to restore Senn's spirits.

"Please stand, turn around, and place your hands on the wall," Grimthorn said.

"Oh? And what if I don't?" Senn sneered.

"Then we will not be gentle."

Senn raised his eyebrows, but began complying, moving as slowly as he dared.

"This is police brutality," Senn said as he placed his hands on the wall.

"We are not police," Grimthorn said. "But we can practice the brutality, if you'd like."

Senn closed his mouth. Grimthorn gestured, and the energy shield came down. MPs streamed in, pinning Senn to the wall and shackling him. Chains ran between cuffs around his wrists and ankles. The MPs turned him back around to Grimthorn.

"You think this is the end?" Senn snarled. "You think this is some victory? Some kind of justice? This is nothing! You have no idea what's coming!" Senn began to rant and froth. "I will take the Cryptographers' role! When my time comes, I will take their technology that keeps the Emperor alive! We don't need sinister aliens drip-feeding us what they think we should know! In my galaxy, I will share the knowledge freely! And if you survive, and believe me I will do my utmost to make sure you survive, you will kneel before me, begging me for every favor, every scrap! I'll chain you at my feet, you with your idiotic, destructive ideals, your meatheaded, violent approach to problems, and your weird little relationship with your SS." He sneered at Kinnit. "And you, so smug. You're not even worthy of the Imperium, much less my new world! You think you've stopped a war? You barely stopped the Oryndrax! You'll never stop what's next!"

"Alright, let's go," said Grimthorn. He gestured to the MPs, who bustled Senn out of the prison block. He shook his head at Senn's back.

"What a nut," he said quietly to Kinnit. She nodded and hugged her scanner and slips close to her chest.

They marched him through the Swordheart. Curious eyes watched him shuffle by, shackled and humiliated.

They ended up outside the docking bay. It had already been vented, waiting for the TPF officers. The armored Marine shuttle squatted in the bay, waiting to take Senn away.

"TPF shuttle arriving, sir," called the deck officer.

Grimthorn nodded in acknowledgement. The TPF shuttle swept smoothly into the docking bay and landed lightly on the deck.

Admiral Stonefist and Kinnit stood at attention, watching through the porthole as the TPF shuttle debarked. The hatch on the shuttle opened, and two officers stepped out. They were nearly identical in stature, both dressed in the dark blue uniforms of the Techterra Police Force.

Everyone was watching the officers, so nobody noticed Senn practicing another one of the little skills he'd picked up from Koro.

One of his cuffs quietly clicked open.