Danika could see his point and the brig was really no more uncomfortable than the general barracks. She could see a potential problem, however. "I don't know about the women that were here when we got here, but the others didn't exactly volunteer to come. Housing them in the brig is only going to reinforce their belief that they're captives."
"I do not doubt it. It is for that reason, Captain Hart, that you will be in command of the female contingent."
Danika almost missed a step. "Captain?"
Reuel smiled thinly. "You are now a soldier in the cyborg army ... of which I am the general. I believe you have earned a raise in rank through combat."
By taking part in one exercise, which actually didn't amount to combat since not a single shot had been fired? She was now a commissioned officer instead of a grunt?
When she'd led the assault from the rear?
Not that she felt like quibbling. What was the point? Obviously, he needed officers to form a working army. And he needed someone to keep the women in line. "Thank you, Sir."
His smile broadened to a grin and then a grimace. "You may not thank me when you have dealt with the women for a while. As you pointed out, they feel like captives even though I am as certain as I can be that the men who brought them considered that they were 'rescuing' them from certain death. I also believe this. It is the reason I did not shoot the men on sight for breaking ranks and carrying out a raid without authorization.
"I am of no mind to reward them, however," he added grimly. "They will be punished and part of that punishment is to remove the women they risked their lives for--and everyone else's--from their care.
"They have become far too independent since the awakening and it is not something we can afford as a people--not at this time. Mayhap some day we will find a place for ourselves and lay down arms and explore what it is to be a race in our own right, but we will not see that day if we are not soldiers first."
"What about my own men?" Danika asked when they had reached the brig and began to inspect it.
Reuel turned to study her thoughtfully. "In what sense?"
"They didn't execute an unauthorized raid. They won't be punished for bringing me here? Or rather to the other base?"
"As you say. They had not joined us until they came with you. They had been given the opportunity when we left the base at Slaughter Ridge and ... declined. They came to me later and requested permission to bring you and join us." He paused. "Was it a raid?"
Danika felt her color fluctuate. "I thought you'd debriefed them regarding the situation?"
His dark brows rose. "I did. However, we have attained the facility of lying," he said dryly.
She shook her head, firmly tamping the horrible memory of the incident that had brought it about. "I came of my own free will. Honestly, I was deeply grateful they showed up when they did." She wrestled with her thoughts for a moment. "I didn't know we were headed here--to the base--because I didn't know therewasa base until I arrived."
"And you were unconscious when you did arrive and they covered their tracks well, which means they did not compromise the security of our base. This raid was a different matter all together."
Relieved, Danika merely nodded. It wasn't her business how he dealt with the men who'd compromised base security--and she felt no qualms that he intended to punish them.
The brig was much like the one at the previous base. There was one large, general holding cell and three others that were for a single or double occupancy only. They weren't exactly private, not in the sense of true privacy, but she'd gotten used to having very little privacy since she'd 'joined' the army of the Confederation. At least she would only be sharing the area with other women--still not what she would've liked, but better than being in general population in the barracks.
The brig was a self-contained area, however, walled off from the complex for security purposes, no doubt, but it would effectively give the women some privacy and security.
As she'd expected, the women weren't happy when they were escorted to the brig and told to pick a bunk.
"This," she informed them, "is the women's barracks."
Sergeant Sheila Whitaker, formerly of the army of the Confederation, curled her lip. "The brig," she muttered flatly.
Danika's lips tightened. "There were no facilities set aside specifically for female soldiers. It's the best we can do to allow the women some privacy."
"We--So you freely admit to being a deserter and traitor? You aren't even going topretendyou were captured and brought against your will?"
Danika narrowed her eyes at the woman. "I didn'tchooseto hang around until Master Sgt. Felton decided I knew too much and he'd be better off if I was dead! I'm guessing he didn't let you in on what it was he was feeding everybody?"
Sheila's expression went blank. "What do you mean by that?" she demanded.
"I didn't think so. I wouldn't have known either if I hadn't been sent out to check out the attack. That flesh came from the cyborgs and he knew because he'd ordered the men out to collect it. For all I know, they weren't particular about whether it was human flesh from the cyborgs or human flesh from the men that had been killed."
All of the women turned white and then green. Whirling, they raced to the toilets and fought over them to puke.
