The Princess Crisis

Well who did do it?

Joy made sure she was early even though she'd had to take a shuttle out to the base, gather her two first grade uniforms, and get back in time. Velga had neglected them and now she was finding she needed them. She'd managed about three hours of sleep before her internal alarm had her up and getting ready. When she came out of the sleeproom, again letting Velga sleep in, she noticed two cans of the caffeine drink and a mollea on the table. Then she noticed Guldi on the balcony doing a yoga routine in nothing but a man thong. Joy couldn't help herself, she stared for at least three minutes, watching his muscles tighten and relax, his butt flex as he stretched out. There was a growing urge inside her that was going to have to be satiated and soon, she thought. However, Joy put those thoughts into the back of her head and made her way to the Med Center.

Grimm was waiting for her, but unlike the previous day, there weren't any nasty looks. Grimm was in her Med Services first grade uniform, which was different from Joy's in that instead of the pants that Joy wore, Grimm had a mid-thigh skirt. She also noticed that Grimm had two Orders of Valor, and smiled when she saw that Joy had her's in the proper place. The other thing Joy noticed was how great Grimm's butt looked in the skirt, something the pants of her uniform didn't feature.

"Are you ready for this?"

"I'm not sure, I don't know what you have found ..."

"In due time, let's go, we don't want to keep the queen waiting."

Commander Grimm and sub-Lieutenant Joy were early for their audience with the Queen, however, the queen was running behind. They waited almost an hour before the senior private secretary ushered them into the Queen's formal offices. After marching in unison to two meters from the queen's desk, both officers snapped to attention, their heels clicking as they did, then bowing at the neck. "Your Highness," also came out in perfect unison.

The queen acknowledged their presentation and then waved to stand easy before she spoke.

"My apologies for the delay ..."

Joy noticed that the senior private secretary remained in the office, along with two handmaidens, and the Duke.

"I understand you've made your final determination?" This came from the Duke, who, it seemed to Joy was anxious to convict Bennett.

Grimm directed her response to the queen, not the duke, "Yes, your highness, I have ... " She then took her comphone out of a pocket, selected a file, and transferred it to the main display.

"As I advised on my preliminary determination, it was a poison that the princess succumbed to."

"Yes ... yes ... we know that ..." the Duke interjected. Joy noticed the glance he got from the queen, although she didn't say anything. "And it was Bennett that poisoned her?"

Joy also noticed that the Duke hadn't used Captain Bennett's rank when he made the accusation.

"Yes and no," Grimm replied. That garnered a smile from the Duke, as Joy's head snapped toward her in disbelief. Joy heard Grimm whisper out of the side of her mouth, "Easy Lieutenant."

"I knew it ..." the Duke exclaimed.

The queen reached out and put her hand on the Duke's arm, "Not so fast, dear ..." then directed her next question to Commander Grimm, "What do you mean by that, Commander?"

Grimm went on to discuss what Joy had found in her research, and that the poison was something that a military tech company located on Valzoth had developed. Joy noticed concern on the Queen's face when that planet was mentioned, there had been peace for five years, and the idea that they were involved worried her, as it did Joy.