Kate Returns Home Ch. 28
By Susan Greenway
[This story includes bodily functions as well as significant discipline. If any of this offends you, please read no further. This chapter will make more sense if you read the previous chapters first, but you don't have to in order to enjoy it. All characters are well over 18. My thanks to Leslie Jones for encouraging me to use her Women's Republic characters.]
COL Rachel realized that the report she was drafting on the current administration of Hergolia Camp was not going to be as simple as she had expected when she started this review. She had been impressed by what she heard from CPT Nicole and the other officers and cadre, but she continued to have some doubts about the overall approach the camp played in the Corrections Service of the Women's Republic.
"Hergolia Camp has a special place in the traditions of the Corrections Service. It is remote and has been regarded as what it has often claimed to be: 'the toughest camp in the Service'," she wrote. "It is not as clear whether this self-designation serves either the inmates or the camp leaders and cadre well."
Rachel had been contemplating the past records of CPT Nicole, the Commandant;1LT Cynthia, her deputy; and some of the cadre she had met there, including new SGT Geraldine and veteran SFC Linda, who had been sent there by Service leadership.
She also drew on her now-highly relevant experience since she had been previously sent by the Chief of Staff a while ago to report on the rebellion that had occurred at Hergolia led by Louise, Penny, and Nicole, all then barracks sergeants there. Rachel had succeeded in resolving their differences with the then-Commandant, CPT Helene, and the field first, SFC Robin.
Rachel had been impressed by then-SGT Nicole. She even recommended to then-MAJ Kate that she ask Helene to send Nicole to the Disciplinary unit to discuss her innovations at her barracks at Hergolia. Helene did send Nicole and although she was well received by the leadership and cadre, Nicole was sorely disappointed that she had not been offered a permanent position at the unit. CPT Elaine had warned Kate that Nicole was ruthlessly ambitious and was not a good prospect, which led Kate to decide not to offer Nicole anything permanent.
As a result, Nicole behaved extremely rudely to both MAJ Kate and CPT Elaine, and was punished, before being sent back to Hergolia, with a spell in the toilet box. Later, she realized she had made a major mistake in insulting the Commandant and Deputy at the Disciplinary Unit, and she apologized abjectly to Kate.
Rachel was well aware of this history and thus wanted to make sure she hadn't missed something critical about Nicole, as she apparently had on her first review of the camp. Even though it did look like Nicole had learned from her experiences and was doing a good job now, Rachel realized she had to handle this report with care. She did not want to be on the spot should Nicole lose control and lash out again. She also knew for sure that if Nicole got into trouble again, she would cite any positive report from Rachel in her defense or justification.
"CPT Nicole acquired a positive reputation serving as a barracks sergeant at Hergolia Camp. She was younger than the average age required to be a barracks sergeant. Both her physical attractiveness and assertiveness in managing her barracks won the respect of both inmates and even her much more experienced peers in the cadre," her report draft continued.
"However," Rachel then wrote, "her career has proceeded through major high and low points. She was severely disciplined for engaging in sexual relations in her barracks with an inmate, one, coincidentally married to a high-ranking officer in the Service at headquarters. Both she and the man she consorted with were placed in the toilet box, perhaps the most humiliating punishment at the camp, or even in the Service."
"She and 1LT Cynthia had been disciplined at the Disciplinary Unit at headquarters, where they were cadre, for having such relations with a male inmate whom they were responsible for readying for supervised release," the draft went on. "They were reduced in grade, physically disciplined, but eventually their punishment was concluded based on their subsequent good behavior.
"Nicole was also disciplined for behaving in a highly rude manner to the Commandant and Deputy of the Disciplinary and Retraining Unit when she had been invited to consult and lecture cadre there," the report continued. "She was apparently upset that she had not been offered a permanent position at that unit. Thus, she has been twice punished by serving time in the toilet punishment box, regarded as the severest disciplinary imposition in the Service."
"However, even in view of this checkered record, CPT Nicole is definitely a highly competent officer and has thus far performed admirably as Commandant of Hergolia Camp. She also participated in an advertising film for the Goose Cookers company, along with LTC Kate, which has resulted in positive feedback for the Service.
"She also did promote her old colleagues as barracks sergeants, now 1SG Louise and MSG Penny to be First Sergeant and Field First for Hergolia Camp. This has not caused resentment among the officers and cadre to whom I spoke because these noncoms were regarded as highly proficient, although they had participated in the rebellion with Nicole when I was dispatched to resolve the conflict. It should be noted that as part of the resolution of the conflict, all three were disciplined by the direction of the then-Commandant, CPT Helene, in her action following the resolution of the rebellion.
"Thus far, all has been going well at Hergolia, and both officers and cadre said they appreciated Nicole's support for them in her direct addresses to the inmates. I can report that there appears to be overall satisfaction with CPT Nicole's leadership at the camp. It also appeared to me that the assignment of SFC Linda to Hergolia for six months is working out well. She had been with Nicole and Cynthia in the cadre at the Disciplinary and Retraining Unit, and had not always seen eye to eye, but now they are cooperating and appear to be working well together."
COL Rachel was ready to transmit her report to GEN Annette, the Chief of Staff, and hoped that it would be regarded as helpful. Rachel was still bothered by MAJ Elaine's very negative feelings about CPT Nicole. Elaine clearly had had the most knowledge of Nicole's behavior over time during Elaine's command of Hergolia. Still, she felt Nicole deserved to be assessed on her current role, not her rather checkered career in the Service.
Rachel decided she would send Nicole a copy of the draft report confidentially and await her response before sending it to Annette. She wrote a cover letter to the Hergolia Commandant.
"My Dear Nicole,
"Please review my draft report and let me know of any revisions you feel are needed to provide a fair assessment of current operations and leadership at your camp.
"Yours in Service,
"Rachel"