The Admiral and the Assistant

Herin Kasra walked into Chief Roeder's office with a square package under one arm.

"Ah, Herin," Roeder said. He visibly relaxed. "Good to see you back safe and sound. Good work on collaring Sehren Senn."

"Of course, sir."

"You'll have a bonus in your next paycheck."

"My work is its own reward, sir."

"Yeah, about that... is there anything I need to know? Anything get messy?"

"Nothing that will find its way back to you, sir."

"Good. That's how I like it. Tidy. We got the bad guy, end of story." Roeder nodded at the package. "What's that?"

"I found something while I was searching Senn's house."

"You shoulda left that work for Forensics."

"On Brolla?" Herin said. "Forensics won't go there."

"They will if I make 'em."

"It's Brolla, sir. By the time they get there, anything of interest would already have been taken and resold or melted down for scrap."

"Fine, whatever. Done's done. What is it?"

Herin carefully set the box on Roeder's desk. He lifted out a device.

"I'm not sure. Some kind of laser transmitter. It was actively transmitting when I found it."

"So send it to Evidence."

"It seemed more important that that. Like something that should be looked at. Perhaps we could send it to--"

"Look, it's just some nut's science fair project. Give it to Evidence, and if there's anything we need off of it, they'll figure it out."

"As you say, sir." Herin repacked the transmitter and tucked the box back under his arm. He knew as well as anyone that Evidence was where evidence went to die. A calculating look crossed his face. "Will that be all, sir?"

"Yeah. Thanks for Senn, now get out. I don't want to see you again until the next time I need you."

Herin Kasra nodded and left the office.

Sehren Senn kept his head down and smiled to himself. The door to the docking bay opened, and he shuffled forward. The Admiral and the Assistant walked ahead of him, and the MPs followed behind.

The two TPF officers stepped forward.

"We need to check the prisoner for weapons and contraband," said one.

"Standard protocol," said the other.

Grimthorn frowned.

"Identification, please," he said.

"Certainly. I'm Officer Dunleavy." He handed over his badge to Grimthorn.

"Officer Varlis," said the other, handing over his badge as well. Grimthorn carefully reviewed the information, comparing the small holos on the badges to the men standing in front of him. He finally nodded and handed the badges back.

"Very well," Grimthorn said, stepping away. "Do what you must."

The two officers stepped forward and began patting Senn down. Senn took a step to his right, closer to Grimthorn and Kinnit. He stumbled awkwardly, because his legs were chained.

"Stay still, you," one of the officers barked, his eyes and his attention on feeling around through Senn's clothes for weapons.

"I'm quite unarmed, as you can see, officers," Senn said mildly.

"We'll make that determination."

Grimthorn stood, his arms folded, watching the proceedings with distaste. Kinnit was making notes on her scanner.

Senn's smile turned wicked.

He popped his wrists free of the shackles he'd unlocked earlier. Before anyone could react, he jerked Dunleavy's pistol free of its holster. He lunged over and grabbed Kinnit by one of her horns.

"Ow! Owww!"

They both tumbled to the ground. Senn yanked her close by her horn and pushed the barrel of the pistol against her skull.

Everybody started forward, drawing weapons, but Senn had already managed to cover his body with the Kobold.

He struggled to his feet, pulling Kinnit up with him. Everyone in the room had a gun pointed at him, except for Admiral Stonefist. Senn chortled darkly.

"Well, well. How about that? I've got your little Assistant." Senn kept the gun pointed at her. He shuffled backward, the chains between he ankles jingling. He pulled Kinnit along as he moved toward the Marine shuttle.

"We're going to go for a little trip," Senn said. He nodded at Admiral Stonefist. "Now, if I'd grabbed a cop, or one of these MPs, it'd be a coin flip whether you'd shoot through them to get to me. But you won't shoot your precious pet, will you?"

"I'm sorry, Grimthorn," she said, wincing as Senn pulled her along by one horn.

Grimthorn stood in a ready stance, his hands empty. His piercing eyes drilled into Senn's. Senn sneered back at him.

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"This could have been so much simpler," Senn snarled, still backing up. "All you had to do was exactly what you'd been doing for the last ten years. Nothing. But all of a sudden you took an interest. You wanted to make a difference. Why? Because of this one?" He yanked Kinnit's head around by her horns, forcing another cry of pain from her. "What does she matter? But you fought! And you kept winning! Now you get to lose!"

"What are you going to do?" Grimthorn asked, his voice strained, his eyes level with Senn's.

Senn snorted. The backs of his heels hit the edge of the boarding ramp on the shuttle.

"Here's what's going to happen," he said. "This SS is going to fly me down to Techterra, where I'm going to disappear. Don't worry, you'll see me again, when you bow down before me. Now, if anybody follows me, or tries to interrupt our flight, or disables the shuttle in any way, well..." He cut his eyes over to the pistol. "Nobody walks away happy. If I get to the planet surface safely, I'll let her go once I'm somewhere away from prying eyes. Understand?"

Grimthorn nodded slowly.

"I understand."

"Somebody throw her the keys to my ankle cuffs."

One of the MPs fumbled a ring of keys out of his belt and gently tossed it to Kinnit. She neatly caught them out of the air.

Senn shuffled up the ramp, pulling Kinnit with him.

"Grimthorn..." she said.

He looked at her, speechless.

"The biopod's empty, right?" she asked.

Grimthorn looked her, aghast. Senn yanked her into the shuttle and closed the hatch.

Grimthorn stood rooted for a moment, processing.

"Empty the deck!" he cried. "Vent the docking bay once everyone's clear. And get emergency med here, full priority!"

Everyone scattered away from the Marine shuttle, making for the exit to the docking bay.

Kinnit winced as Senn continued to yank her around by one horn. Once the hatch was safely closed, he flung her toward the pilot's seat.

"Take us down toward Techterra. We won't land there, but I'll tell you where to go when we get close."

"Yes, sir," she said meekly, sitting at the controls. "Beginning pre-flight checks and safety protocols."

"Hurry up. I don't want to give your Admiral out there time to think up a clever plan."

"Yes, sir. Um... Mr. Senn?"

"Hm?"

"I... I just want to let you know, I'm not a very good pilot."

"How do you get into the Navy without being able to pilot a shuttle?"

"I'm not Navy, sir. Technically, I'm a civilian contractor. Anyway, I-- I can fly, but it might be a little bumpy."

"So what?"

She swallowed heavily. She kept her voice soft and pliant.

"If you could... point your gun away from me, sir. At least while we're taking off. That's the hardest part for me. I wouldn't want my poor flying to, um... jostle your trigger finger in a way that would... um, leave you without a pilot."

Senn frowned at her. He moved behind her and sat down in one of the crew seats.

"Fine. Buckle your seat belt. If I see you so much as twitch out of that seat, I'll shoot you down and pilot this thing myself, best as I can."

"Yes, sir. I promise I won't leave my seat until we've landed." With slow, exaggerated movements, she strapped herself into the pilot's seat. She keyed the radio.

"This is Marine shuttle..." she looked at the plate screwed to the console "...A-One-Zero-Seven, requesting clearance for takeoff and priority traffic, destination downplanet."

"Bay is vented and doors are open. You are clear, A-One-Zero-Seven. You may depart when ready."

"Acknowledged." Kinnit took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Are you ready, Mr. Senn?"

"Let's just go," he said impatiently.

She nodded and powered on the engines, flipping a series of controls on her console. The engines hummed, whining with eager power. She plucked at one of her fingers while the engines warmed up, stretching it some. She put her hands back on the controls once the engines were ready.

"Mr. Senn?"

"Hm?"

"Grimthorn isn't the only one that comes up with clever ideas." And she yanked the controls straight back.

Grimthorn watched through the porthole as the engines cycled up. He clenched his teeth.

What lunacy was his fiancee planning?

"I want priority scans all over that shuttle no matter which direction it goes. Get TPF on comms, let them know what's going on. Get them descent vectors as soon as we have them." He frowned. Something about the engines didn't sound right.

"Those are the v-thrusters cycling up," he said, his brow crinkling. "Why's she--"

He spun around.

"Everybody get back! Rescue team, get the extrication equipment, now!"

He turned back to the porthole just in time to see the Marine shuttle's vertical thrust engines fire. It leapt directly upward at full power into the roof of the docking bay. The shuttle pancaked itself against the thick, armor-plated ceiling. The wreckage of the heavy shuttle dropped back toward the deck, raining armor sheets and fixtures. Debris splashed off the shuttle as it hit the floor.

"Seal the docking bay and re-pressurize!" Grimthorn yelled. "All MPs, weapons hot! Rescue, I want that can open! Pilot first!"

As soon as the docking bay was re-pressurized, Grimthorn ripped the door open and charged in with the rest of the crew.

Kinnit rotated silently in the biopod, her mangled body healing rapidly in the care of the most powerful medical technology in the Imperium. The deep sleep of the biopod, as always, threw her mind far into the past.

Young Kinnit sat at the edge of Lookout Rock in the dimming evening, one knee under her chin, gazing up at the stars. The cool fall air blew across her skin, raising goosebumps. She hummed quietly and rocked gently, staring into the depths of the sky.

"Kinnit? Are you out here again?" Dame Haffa stood behind her, fists on hips. "Come, it's getting dark. You need to be inside."

"Oh, Dame Haffa, just a little longer, please?"

The matronly Kobold huffed.

"Why you love the outside so, I'll never understand." Dame Haffa bustled over and sat next to the child. "All right. Just a bit more. But we need to get inside soon. Cool weather brings the cat-bears out."

"I know," Kinnit said. She leaned against Dame Haffa. "The sky is so beautiful," she said. "Don't you love seeing it? Doesn't it call to you?"

Dame Haffa stroked Kinnit's head, a worried expression on her face.

"They're just stars, Kinnit." Dame Haffa turned her eyes up to the sky. "We use them to remember our stories. To tell our history." She gave Kinnit a longsuffering look. "They are pretty, though."

Kinnit snuggled into Dame Haffa.

"Sing me a story," she said. Dame Haffa looked down at her with a stern expression. Kinnit looked back up at her with wide, luminous, pleading eyes. Dame Haffa's expression melted into one of exasperated affection.

"Okay. One story. Then you need to come in."

"Okay!" Kinnit smiled happily.

"Let's see, how about one of the stories of Brindletooth the deceiver and his tricks against Blacktail the Cat-bear?"

Kinnit giggled.

"You sang me one of those last night."

"Mmm. How about a story of Hammar of the trees?" She pointed at one of the constellations in the sky. "There he is, with his long tail."

"Ooooh, okay."

Dame Haffa hummed, warming up. She began to sing, a hooting, soothing nostalgic sound carried on the cool night breeze. Kinnit hooted along with her.

"Hammar of the trees,
Would not live in a cave,
Seeking always to be free,
Clever thief, clever Kobold.

"Furious Flamefoot, forest demon,
Eating trees, eating Kobolds,
Hammar pulled his tail,
Turning his eyes of fury away from the caves.

"Flamefoot chasing Hammar,
Through the forest, over ravine,
Under shadow, across streams,
To the Rockhold, cool and bare.

"Furious Flamefoot, stumbling on Rockhold,
Hammer trapping him with circle of rock,
Closing his fury in cold stone,
Now Flamefoot serves us in our home."

Dame Haffa rubbed Kinnit's back.

"And that's why we make a ring of stone around our fires, to keep Flamefoot from escaping again."

Kinnit's breathing slowed, her eyes drooping.

"I want to touch the stars someday," she said sleepily.

Dame Haffa gently scooped her up in her arms.

"The stars are as far above the mountains as the mountains are above us. But you go on and watch them and sing and dream, little one."

Kinnit was asleep by the time Dame Haffa got back to the cave.