John Ringo: East of the Sun, West of the Moon

“You’re detached from ops as of now, Herzer,” Edmund said, “and promoted to commander. Congratulations.”

“You said that,” Herzer replied. “I wish I could be happy. But we’ll get it done. One way or another. Oath of the Bull God we will.”

“What do you think?” Megan asked as they returned to the apartment in her carriage.

“I don’t know enough to think anything,” Herzer replied. “Except that we need to upgrade your security. And Edmund’s come to think of it.”

“I’ve got wards up to look for Celine’s little toys,” Megan said. “Don’t worry about them. And enough power to cover both of us in personal protection fields.”

“They can take those down,” Herzer pointed out. “But I get you. I didn’t know that, though.”

“I hadn’t thought about it,” Megan replied honestly. “But they’re there. Also to check the personnel. I knew that there was only one additional person present when you went to the door. If there had been more I would have told you. But I didn’t see any reason to bring it up before. It’s just… second nature at this point. I was thinking about the mission, though.”

“So was I,” Herzer admitted. “But until we get some sort of full briefing, I don’t think we can do more than fret about it. I wish I’d gotten some sleep, though.”

“Don’t tell me you were still awake,” Megan said. “You need to figure out some way to get to sleep better.”

“Well, there’s nature’s tranquilizer,” Herzer said, then grimaced. “Sorry.”

“Yes, there is,” Megan said, seriously. “And, damnit, I’m going to get back on the horse. Soon. I promise. It’s not fair to you and I’m tired of being afraid of it. I’ll be honest, I miss sex. Even bad sex, which was about all I got from Paul. It would be nice to find out if there’s such a thing as good sex.”

“Oh, lady,” Herzer said, pulling her into his arms. “I don’t know if I’m good enough, and it’s going to be hard to be… how I’ll have to be. But I’ll try, I promise.”

“You tempt me, you truly do,” Megan said, with a grin that segued into a grimace. “But that damned meeting…”

“Not tonight, love,” Herzer said. “You’ve got a meeting. I’m off duty. I’m going to catch some sleep until there’s more news. I suspect that sleep is going to be optional for a while.”

All of Megan’s staff were up and in the apartment when they got back.

“What happened?” Shanea asked. “We heard the knocking but when we got dressed you were already gone !”

“The Icarus team got taken out,” Herzer said, stripping off his jacket and yawning. “So for my sins they’re putting me in charge.”

“Oh my God !” Shanea wailed. “You’re going into space?”

“Looks like it,” Herzer muttered. “Is the coffee on?”

“I thought you were going back to bed?” Megan said. “Meredith, Ashly, spend most of tomorrow clearing my schedule. I’m going to be unavailable in a few days.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Meredith said, nodding. “May I ask why?”

“It turns out that there’s something unspecified that requires the presence of a Key-holder on the mission,” Megan said with a moue. “So that means me or Duke Edmund. Of the two, I’m less necessary at the moment.”

“You’re going?” Ashly said. “You’ve got to be joking!”

“I’m not joking,” Megan said. “What’s on the schedule for the breakfast meeting?”

“Vote count,” Meredith said. “The port upgrades, fleet budget and the new legion budgeting.”

“Make sure the linking sheet is ready with a list of hard votes,” Megan said, shaking her head. “Mirta… a gray suit, I think. The news will have gotten around fast. A touch of mourning clothes would be in order. Among other things it will send a signal that I knew about it before anyone else.”

“What about us?” Ashly said. “We’re not going with you, are we?”

“No,” Megan said with a smile. “Meredith will stay in Washan to keep an eye on things. Ditto Mirta to follow the rumor mill. I’d like you and Shanea to accompany me to the training facility. You to handle the reports from Meredith, and Shanea…”

“Because I’m nice to have around?” Shanea asked, bringing in a tray with coffee and some rolls.

“Exactly,” Megan said, smiling. “Thank you.”

“I’m going to have to start working out, soon,” Herzer said. “Mirta? Meredith? I don’t know which of you would handle it but I need a set of weights. Barbells from ten kilos to forty, bar weights from sixty to two hundred and a press bench. If you can find it, a legion weight-training system. I don’t know when we’ll be leaving town and I’m going to have to get started right away if the mission is in two months.”

“You look in pretty good shape to me,” Shanea said, grinning.

“That’s because you’ve never seen me actually in shape,” Herzer replied with a smile. “Even on the ship I was woefully out of condition. Sleep or workout?” he muttered, taking another sip of coffee and a bite of roll. “Ah, hell, I can sleep when I’m dead. I doubt anything serious will get done today; they’re going to have to get Evan down here from the training facility, he’ll have to get a brief together…”

“You’re not planning on starting today, are you?” Megan asked.

“Yeah,” Herzer said. “But I’ll need more breakfast than a roll. I’ll go get it from the deli around the corner.”

“The hell you will,” Shanea protested. “What do you want? We’ve got everything you could possibly need here.”

“Hmmm,” Herzer muttered. “Well, when I get back, I’d like six eggs, over easy, about six slices of bacon, four pieces of toast, coffee,” he said, waving his cup, “and if you’ve got it, a large portion of hash browns.”

“Ulp,” Shanea gasped. “All that?”

“All that,” Herzer said, standing up. “Megan, I’ll see you later, I guess.”

“You’re going now ?”

“Traffic’s light,” Herzer grinned. “Best time of the day.”

Herzer stumbled back into the apartment, fully aware of how badly out of shape he was. He’d only gone about twenty kilometers with the ruck and half of that had been at a walk. And it wasn’t a combat-loaded ruck. He should have been able to trot the whole distance if not run it. Either he was getting old or soft living in the capital was taking its toll.

“Are you ready for breakfast?” Shanea asked, then blanched. “Are you okay?”

“I will be,” Herzer gasped, lowering the ruck onto the floor of the entryway. “But right now I’d puke at the sight of food. I’ll be fine after a shower.”

“I’ll get started then,” Shanea said.

“Thanks.”

As he was finishing breakfast the weights started to arrive.

“I got everything you asked for,” Mirta said as the sweating workmen carried the material into the apartment.

“I have no idea where we’re going to put it all,” Herzer temporized.

“Meredith has offered the spare space in her office,” Mirta said with a grin.

“I hate to throw her out,” Herzer replied, frowning.

“Oh, you’re not,” Mirta said with a smile. “I said the spare space. She said she can work around you.”

There had been no further word from Edmund, and Herzer was well into his upper body workout when Meredith wandered into the room.

Her “office” was one of the spare bedrooms in the apartment. Each of the ladies had her own apartment in the building, which had been virtually co-opted by Megan, but she had an additional office in Megan’s apartment where she kept most of the records. The room was large, however, and the desk and filing cabinet only took up part of the space. The extensive weight equipment Herzer had ordered, however, could have taken up a much larger room.