AWF Chpt 58

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=Chapter 58=
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==A Warrior's Family==
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===New Years Surprise===
Monhegan
Federated Suns
January, 3030
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Hap got everyone and their luggage to the vehicle and Mark started driving them back to the company area. The van's seats were arranged so that two of the benches faced each other. Ashley and three of the guards sat across from Hap, the countess, and the other guard.
The countess sat next to Hap with the same rigid and perfect posture as Anastasia. The guards seemed to view Hap with indifference, but Ashley was giving Harold a look that had some unspoken accusation behind it. Harold debated how to respond, "Ashley, did I do something to offend you?"
"No." Ashley shook her head, and seemed to change her expression to appear more neutral, "I didn't hear why Anastasia could not be here, maybe it's time you explain her absence to the countess."
"We are safe, and in the privacy of the vehicle, Harold. You may speak freely" the countess said.
Hap glanced into the rearview mirror and his eyes met with Mark. Mark shrugged in response. "There was an incident." Hap began, "Anastasia's fine, but we think someone was trying to kill her. I was on a patrol and there was a mercenary tank lance hired to support a 'mech lance trying to eliminate us. They targeted the Valkyrie that was in our lance. It wasn't Anastasia's mech, but it's almost identical. They destroyed the 'mech and killed the pilot. It was brutal and efficient." As Hap spoke he could see Ashley staring at him intently.
"Do you believe they intended to kill my daughter? Do you know who hired the mercenaries or who piloted the 'mechs?" The countess asked calmly.
"I don't think we could prove anything, but we know it was ComStar." Hap said
"That's impossible." Ashley said immediately. Hap could sense she was deeply irritated with him. He hadn't felt this level of animosity from a woman since he had divorced his first wife.
"The MechWarriors had ComStar tattoos." Hap said, "I didn't see them, but our Commander mentioned it to the MRB representative when he came the next day asking about them. There was also this suspicious clause in their mercenary contract that offered a reward for the bodies and 'mech salvage. It was worth more than the savage, so any evidence we might have had we gave to ComStar. Kelly didn't think it amounted to enough to prove anything though."
"This is hardly definitive. My lady, I wouldn't put much stock in any of this, especially since it's obvious even the Mercenary commander doesn't really believe it proves anything. There are dozens of explanations for everything. What motivation would ComStar have to target your daughter?" Ashely paused as the countess regarded her, then she added, "It was more likely just the random act of the succession war." Ashley said.
"Given what I have heard and seen recently, I am not convinced Harold is wrong. I believe we should stop using ComStar's forwarding service. We will go to their offices at my leisure."
"My lady, there is no reason to stop using this service, it allows us to immediately address important things that may arise while we are traveling" Ashley said.
The countess leaned forward and snatched the bundles of papers from Ashley, "Let us see what we have then. I would be surprised if there was anything that needed my immediate attention."
Ashley tried to take the papers back but the countess was too quick. "What do we have that cannot wait?" the Countess said, "Annual review of our commodity prices. I see corn will need more subsidies. Here is a report from my regent." She paused to scan the report, "That is in order. A letter from Comstar. 'The Kit is dead. It was the work of some young crows and hired hands. Most of the crows and hirelings died in the work, but it is done, praise Blake.' What is this?"
Hap glanced down at the letter, it was written on ComStar official letterhead and had Rho/Rho written at both the top and bottom, and an additional string of letters and numbers that looked to Hap like the markings for specialized secret programs. This was clearly some type of official secret ComStar memorandum, but it didn't make sense. Aside from the paragraph about the kit, the second paragraph started, "Acknowledge the mother fox appears harmless and would never steal from the garden", and the third paragraph discussed how soon they'd need to look for a new home for 'the crow in the field'.
Ashley blushed, "That is…" She seemed to be thinking hard how to explain the note, "It's from my younger brother. He likes to send me notes of what is going on at home, but he is obsessed with being a ROM agent so he sends me notes in codes like this." She seemed to relax as she spoke, "I have no idea what that means, it usually takes a few days to decipher."
The countess looked at Ashley for a long moment then glanced back at the strange "note". She passed Ashley the bundles of papers, "I apologize for reading your personal mail. However, you did not tell me you had private notes among my official correspondence."
"Yes, my lady, I'm sorry."
The countess leaned back and removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes, "We will discuss this later in private. For the time being we will no longer use ComStar's delivery service, but we will try to visit their offices as soon as it is convenient when we travel. Agreed?"
"Yes, My lady." Ashley seemed relieved.
"That looks pretty real for the work of your younger brother." Hap said, "I don't know what ComStar's secret documents look like but based on what I've seen from AFFS, I want to know more about that document."
The Countess gave Hap a reproachful look, "I said I would discuss this with my assistant in private, Harold. Allow me to address this with her."
"Yes my lady, I apologize." Harold said.
"The only thing you need to apologize for is not calling me Je'anne, Harold." the countess said.
The rest of the trip was quiet. Ashley gave Hap another look that would have made his ex-wife's glare seem flirtatious. Mark drove the van onto the secure section of the starport, vouched for everyone with the security guards, and headed directly to the 'mechbay.
Kelly, Elinor, and Anastasia were waiting for them when Mark stopped the van. Kelly opened the door and offered his hand, "My lady." He said as he helped her out of the van, then kissed her hand. "I'm Commander Kelly McFinnigan, and this is my wife, Elinor. I know ye want to spend some time with your daughter, so I won't keep ye, but tomorrow ye can inspect the troops if ye like, and we'll have a formal dinner in your honor." As they spoke everyone else exited the van.
"Merci beaucoup, Commander." The Countess said. "I appreciate your kindness. I am pleased to meet you and your lovely wife." The Countess gave both Kelly and Elinor a hug and kiss like she had given Hap. "I will certainly look over your brave warriors tomorrow, but yes, now I want to see my daughter.
"Then we'll leave ye two to get reacquainted." Elinor smiled, and gently pushed Anastasia forward.
"One last thing, if I may, my lady." Kelly said, "We'd like to offer you and yours the state rooms in our drop shuttle. It has all the amenities of the nicest hotel, plus a good deal more security. Yer daughter will also explain why we'd prefer to keep in our company area."
"Splendid. Thank you Commander." The Countess smiled.
Ashley walked toward the countess, "My Lady, I had arranged for lodging in one of the local hotels."
"Ashley, please cancel the reservation. I'd prefer to maximize time with my daughter."
Yes, my lady." Ashley said it was clear she was annoyed but resigned to follow the countess's orders.
The Countess turned her attention to Anastasia. They hugged and kissed and then started speaking excitedly in fast and fluent French. Hap had never seen Anastasia quite this animated. They took a few steps away as they continued to talk. Hap had tried to learn a little French, but he couldn't keep up with anything they were saying. Their cadence made it sound almost like music. Hap still couldn't understand it, but he could listen to it all day.
"I don't think I've ever seen Anastasia this happy." Mark said.
"Well not in public." Hap replied.
Ashley stared at Anastasia, "I haven't seen the countess this happy since her husband was alive." Hap was surprised to detect a tone of regret in her voice.
Mark started pulling out the suitcases from the back of the van. "Ashley, how old's your brother?"
"My who? I don't..uh..he's..16 years old." Ashley said, "Can you help me find a phone? I need to make some calls."
"Aye, we'll go to ops. Are ye hungry?" Mark asked as he helped her with her bags and led her away.
Kelly turned to the bodyguards, "What about ye lads? Are ye hungry? We've got the galley in the drop shuttle ready." The security guards looked at Kelly quizzically.
"I think they only speak French." Hap said.
"Oh, aye." Kelly glanced over Anastasia and the Countess. "Of course." He clapped his hands and then started speaking in French, he got a few odd looks, but the men nodded and followed his directions.
Kelly stood by Hap and nodded as they listened to the Countess and her daughter. He pulled out his pipe. After a moment he glanced over at Elinor and exchanged knowing looks. He looked back at Hap and smiled when he realized Hap didn't know what the women were saying, "You don't speak French lad, do ye lad?"
Hap shook his head, "Not really."
"Oh wee lamb." Elinor said softly.
Kelly loaded tobacco into his pipe, "Oh I would have warned ye that ye should learn French before ye were married, but that's not lookin' likely, unless ye can learn in a day or two."
Hap watched Anastasia and her mother merrily talking, "The Countess said something about marriage."
"Well they're planning a wedding now lad." Kelly chuckled, as he lit his pipe.
Elinor walked toward the Countessa, "Beg pardon Mademoiselle." When the Countess turned to her Elinor curtsied and then started speaking in fluent French.
"Do I want to know what's happening right now?" Hap asked Kelly.
"No lad, this is the time when you and I just slink away, and whatever happens next ye jest say, 'yes my love' and do as yer told. Yer about to enter the wonderful institution of marriage. When all is right, it's as close as ye can be to heaven, but you'll learn there are other moments when ye find yerself at the beck and call of a woman that will, if ye allow her take up all yer time and energies to do something ye'd prefer wasn't done, and sometimes it gets much worse."
"Kelly, my darling" Elinor called out.
"Oh saints preserve us." Kelly whispered, then said kindly, "Yes, my love."
"Would ye find Roweyna? We could use my daughters help."
"Aye." Kelly said, he motioned with his head and whispered, "Now, we perfect our escape."
"'Arold." The Countessa called to him, "Can you drive?"
Hap nodded, and Kelly looked at him. "Well lad I'd love to give ye more marriage advice, but I have to find Roweyna and Kitty."
"No. Not Kitty." Elinor said loudly, and everyone gave her a questioning look, "Oh, she's good at finding men, but keeping them not so much. She's really not someone you want involved in a wedding."
"Oh, but Kitty would love to help." Kelly said, "Besides her father-"
"Don't speak to me of her father." Elinor snapped.
"Fine. I'll go get yer daughter, and jest yer daughter." Kelly said as he walked away whistling.
With Kelly gone Hap soon found himself drawn into the wedding plans. He couldn't understand half of what was being said, but he knew he'd be taking the Countess on errands to purchase or order things for the wedding that would be in two days.
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He signed out a smaller ground car and Hap, two of the body guards, and the countess drove out around the starport searching for a florist and the gourmet grocery store for certain exotic food stuffs. The countess also wanted to buy a new dress.
Hap found himself spending the afternoon shopping and talking with the countess. Hap was surprised at how gregarious and charismatic she was, it was a contrast to her daughter. The countess had a polite, kind, but firm, charm. At the gourmet grocery store the Sommelier kept trying to up-sell her on more expensive bottles of wine, but she kept describing her tastes and needs until he concluded she needed the wine that she had first asked about.
It was obvious to Hap that she knew her wine better than the wine expert. She kindly bought a few bottles of the more expensive vintage that he had wanted to sell her, but most of the wine for the wedding was significantly cheaper, but, she assured Hap, excellent wine.
For dresses the countess had a wedding gown made for Anastasia on New Avalon. Anastasia and the countess had similar measurements, so the countess had it made so that it could be fitted to Anastasia when they got to Monhegan. To the countess's surprise Elinor had offered her services to help with fitting the dress, and said the company could cater the wedding meal. She only asked the countess to purchase the food and wine. Elinor even volunteered Kelly to go and speak to the local bishop about officiating the wedding.
Throughout the shopping trip the countess commented on how surprised she was by the family like atmosphere she had already seen in the mercenary company. Apparently Elinor had convinced her that they had the skills necessary to put on a wedding in two days, and it would be better than anything the countess could hire or purchase. Hap explained how Kelly relied on everyone's hobbies, skills or just things they happened to know how to do to keep operating costs low and morale high in his company. Hap even told her about cooking with Anastasia. The countess thought it was a genius way to run his operation.
The countess took Hap to a jewelry store to purchase rings. Hap had a pretty good savings due to his deployments, time with the company and general Spartan lifestyle but he still felt conspicuous about how expensive rings were, and how little he had to spend. Graciously, the countess helped him select rings for Anastasia and sensing Hap's discomfort she told him, "it isn't the quality of the symbol, but the sentiment behind it that matters." Hap noticed that her engagement rings were plain and the single diamond was small. After seeing so many rings, Hap could tell the gold of her rings was of an inferior quality.
Later, they had lunch at the same French Café that Hap and Anastasia had discovered previously. The countess had Lobster Bechamel and Hap had another Croque Monsieur. As they ate Hap asked her, "My lady, I notice your wedding and engagement rings…um…forgive me, Ma'am, but they're…"
She held up her hand, "Yes Harold, they are humble. My Edmund could barely afford to feed himself and so I'm not certain how he could afford even these. Did Annie tell you how I met her father?"
Hap shook his head, and the countess smiled as she used her napkin to dab her mouth, "I was trying to encourage more business on Hazelhurst and so I had a small business conference where I would offer loans or grants to promising start-ups. There was this scruffy man and his older friend who wanted to build military communications equipment, radios, sensors, the like. It was the end of the day when I encountered them, I was tired, and so I told him I'd prefer not to bring more of the industry of war to our planet. He asked me what I did want, so I told him what I really needed was some way to educate children in the more remote villages and distant areas where it was hard to get educators."
She took a drink of wine and gave a sad smile, "The next day this same man came to offices and somehow managed to get through my staff and had an audience with me. He explained how he could alter his communications gear to cheaply provide audio video equipment to every major settlement's school to make a distributed distance education system. Even more surprising he was asking for a fraction of what others had quoted for a similar service. I gave him the money from my own accounts and put him in contact with my minister of education."
"By the fall semester, I was sitting with an elementary class in one of the most remote villages and I watched children receive their lessons, and interact with a teacher that was thousands of kilometers away. When I returned to the capitol I invited Mr. Vallois to compliment him and offer him the grant he had originally asked for, instead he asked me what other problem I had that needed to be solved. At the time I assumed he could only address technology issues, so I pointed him to the unreliable power system for the capitol's light rail system."
She shook her head, "To this day no one knows what he did, but within months the public transit was running reliably and on time. I quickly discovered Edmund just liked to solve problems. I was surrounded by courtiers and sycophants and people with demands for my time and attention and money, but this man just fixed things for me. There was no one like him in my life. It wasn't long before I looked forward to spending time with him. I'd invent reasons to have meetings with him. Eventually he realized my biggest problem was companionship, another thing he was exclusively capable of solving."
"As for the rings, my Edmund never had much money, not because he was foolish, quite the opposite. He was always reinvesting money into whatever project or thing he was working on. So when it came to these rings it represents the love of a man, not how much capitol he could spare. Annie's set may cost more, but mine are still priceless. I also know she'll feel the same way about these symbols of your love for her."
"Thank you, My Lady."
"Don't thank me, you've proved yourself just as invaluable to her, and please Harold, call me Je'anne."
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