Angel Joe by CJ Williams

Author:CJ Williams [Williams, CJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-10-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight – Rose World

WHEN HER technical training finished, Abigail and I both got orders to report to Ribeeoul Station, Dibbon Prime’s primary orbital hub for military arrivals and departures. We would join the rest of our newly assigned unit, the Fourth Air Defense Battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel Donaldson. Abigail’s orders identified her as the projected commander of Battery E with a hundred and fifty people under her supervision. I was still assigned as her batman.

A few of the officers we had met in training had similar orders and promised to track us down in the station’s officers’ club to share old times.

A shuttle carried us up to the station, and her tablet pinged the second we were aboard. She was to report to Room 2238 on deck forty-two to meet her new boss.

It was a busy place. Room 2238 was, in fact, a suite of offices where Donaldson was expected to put his battalion together. Young NCOs and officers went in and out in a steady stream. A wide reception desk, just inside the double door entrance, was populated with several administrative specialists. One of them guided us down a brightly lit hallway.

Inside an office labeled CO, Abigail introduced herself to another secretary who told us to have a seat and that the colonel was busy getting ready for departure.

For three hours, soldiers of all ranks moved in and out of the commander’s office, all of them looking frazzled. Bringing together nine hundred people with all their equipment was challenge enough. Getting it loaded onto a starship that might not dock for more than a few hours had to be like choreographing a live ballet during halftime of a major sporting event.

Donaldson himself left and came back more than once, and each time Abigail perked up and looked at him expectantly. However, by the end of the day, she still had not gotten a chance to report in. The secretary apologized and suggested she try again the next morning.

We went to the billeting office, where the supervisor complained bitterly about having to give Abigail one of the station’s prized family quarters just so she could billet her batman. At times like that, when everyone caused her trouble because of me, she gave me angry, frustrated glares.

Still, the quarters were nice. After settling in, we made our way to the military mess hall for dinner. Since the space station was always filled with transient military, and the officer versus enlisted ratio fluctuated daily, all facilities were open to all ranks. No one would give her a hard time about my presence.

Abigail’s erstwhile classmates were not to be found, but we did run into Olivia. Cooper had discreetly arranged for her to accompany the battalion so she could document Abigail’s activity. We caught up over dinner and then made an early night of it.

The next morning, we were back in our chairs, waiting for a chance to meet the commander, all while under the watchful eye of his secretary. Just before

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