“Yeah, I got my license.”
Kelly barely seemed to hear her. Her face broke into a smile. “I passed, and I’m into APT.”
“That’s great!” Andie tried to sound enthusiastic. But she was feeling worse by the second. It had been her dream for so long to become a skiff pilot, and to have her chances suddenly evaporate like this made her feel like she had been thrown out of a ship without a chute. What was she going to do now?
Kelly finally registered that Andie didn’t sound as excited as she should.
“You didn’t get into APT?” she asked incredulously. Andie shook her head. Kelly looked doubtful. “But that doesn’t make sense, Andie, your scores have been even higher than mine!”
Andie spread her hands open. “But there’s no letter, Kelly,” she explained. “What else does that mean?” Kelly just shook her head in disbelief.
The rest of the evening, Kelly spent in animated conversations with her friends and family, telling them the news. Andie lay on her bunk and stared at the ceiling, mentally rifling through her options. In the end, she decided she would try to get hired as a shuttle pilot. It didn’t sound wonderful but it was better than nothing. Shuttle pilots even made more money than Armada pilots, she tried to console herself. But it was poor consolation, and she found it very hard to fall asleep that night.
♦
In the morning she groggily lifted her head to find that she had slept in much later than she had intended. Kelly, exhausted from a late night, was still snoring softly in her bunk. Raiola was methodically packing a bag, and Marin was nowhere to be seen. Andie blearily rubbed at her eyes and swung her feet over her bed.
“Good morning,” Raiola greeted cheerfully.
“Hey,” Andie returned, as pleasantly as she could. “Where’s Marin?” she asked, stifling a yawn.
“Oh, she got up at dawn and cleared out her stuff. She was pretty upset—she didn’t get her license. Since today is moving day anyway, I think she just decided to get away before she had to explain to everyone.”
“Moving day,” groaned Andie, dropping back onto her bunk. She had been so focused on getting her license and then not getting into APT that she had forgotten that this was the last day they could use the bunkrooms. She had reserved herself a shuttle flight back to Dos Cientos several weeks before, but she had thought that her return home would be a little more temporary. Now she was going to have to face her parents for longer than she expected. At least until she had gotten a new job.
“At least you don’t have much to pack,” Raiola observed. “It shouldn’t take you too long.” Andie groaned again and pulled herself back up. Her bags were stuffed somewhere under the bunk, she remembered. Picking up her flipcom, she checked her inbox out of habit, wondering if she would get a comm from Casey or Jo asking if she had gotten into the APT. To her surprise, there was a text comm from her Uncle Mark asking her to stop by his office that morning. Of course she knew her uncle was here, but since he mostly worked with training officers on the other side of the campus, she had never seen him. Plus, she had been very careful to avoid any kind of contact at first, for fear that her uncle would spill the beans to her parents.
“I’ve got to run by and see my uncle first,” announced Andie. “Hey, will you tell Kelly if she wakes up to wait for me? I’m still going to the closing luncheon.”
“All right,” Raiola responded, rifling through some of her study papers.
After a few wrong turns, Andie finally found herself at her uncle’s office. Another young man was sitting in the chair just outside of the closed office door. To her surprise, she recognized him. She didn’t know his name, but she had seen him plenty of times before in all her surreptitious study of the pilots at Dos Cientos. He looked a few years older than her, probably 26 or 27, and he was extremely handsome. He had shiny dark hair, warm brown skin, and classically defined features. Right now he looked especially handsome in his pilot’s dress uniform. When she reached the door he looked her direction and smiled, his teeth dazzlingly white. “Are you here to speak to Captain Donnell also?” he asked in a friendly tone.
“Um . . . yeah,” she stumbled, immediately feeling out of her depth. He was so cute!
“He is meeting with another student for a few minutes but he should be done soon, I imagine. Take a seat,” he invited cordially. She took a deep breath and slid into the empty seat next to him. Her stomach jolted in nervousness even as her skin tingled in excitement.
“You look familiar. Have we met before?” he inquired, his face slightly puzzled.
“I’m from Dos Cientos. Are you stationed there?” she asked him, though she very well knew that he was. She even remembered that he was a skiff pilot, but no need to make the guy think she had been stalking him!
“I am,” he said in surprise. “What’s your name?”
“Andie Donnell,” she told him, waiting for the inevitable connections to be made. The guy was quick—his eyes brightened in understanding right away.
“So you must be the Vice Admiral’s daughter?” he confirmed. Andie nodded sheepishly. “And Captain Donnell is your . . .”
“Uncle,” she finished, watching his eyes carefully. She didn’t know if he was on good terms with her uncle or not. Not that he’d ever say! Even worse would be if he started sucking up to her to get in good with either her uncle or her father. She hated that. But to her surprise, his manner didn’t change at all.
“Well, I’m Scott Johnson. It’s always a pleasure to run into someone from home,” he said agreeably. “Are you a student here?” he continued curiously. Andie knew he must be wondering if that was so, why she wasn’t in uniform.
“I just finished the pilot’s license course. I got my license yesterday,” she told him, smiling shyly. It was odd to feel shy. Shyness was not one of her normal personality traits.
“Wow, that’s great!” he congratulated. “I remember I was so excited after I got my license I could hardly sleep.”
“Me too,” she admitted, though it wasn’t exactly excitement that kept her awake. She cringed at the next question she knew was coming. But before Scott could ask her if she was going on in the program, her uncle opened the door to usher out a uniformed cadet. Scott leapt to his feet to stand at attention. Andie got to her feet also.
“Andie!” greeted her uncle warmly. She stepped around Scott, and her uncle enfolded her in a tight hug. Her uncle had always been her favorite relative. Unlike her father, he had always encouraged her Armada ambitions. He had been willing to tell her story after story and answered her endless questions about what life as a pilot would be like.
“Excuse us, Johnson, will you?” her uncle asked Scott. “I’ll be with you in a moment.” Andie glanced once more at Scott, who had a slight smile on his handsome face, before following her uncle into his office.
Her uncle sat down behind his desk, his chair creaking loudly. He gestured at the chair in front of him, and she took a seat, looking around his office to avoid her uncle’s face for just a few moments longer. She didn’t know if he would be displeased that she had kept her training a secret or even hurt by it. To her surprise, he chuckled.
“What are we going to do with you, girl?” Andie looked up, her face a bit sheepish. Her uncle was shaking his head, but his eyes were twinkling.
“If you are going to be an Armada pilot, you are going to have to learn to follow orders,” he added in mock sternness. “Running away from Dos Cientos without telling anyone is a bit like going AWOL.”
“It’s not going AWOL when you’re a free adult,” retorted Andie. Her uncle just chuckled again. “Besides,” she added more glumly. “I can’t be an Armada pilot, Uncle Mark. I thought I did so well, but I didn’t get into the APT.”
“Only because your father had a bit of a fit and threw his rank around. Look at this.” Her uncle passed her a sheet of paper across the desk. It was a printout of the
flight school’s final class rankings.
“I’m number three?” gasped Andie incredulously. “That’s impossible!”
“Solidly number three,” affirmed her uncle. “Number four is a whole five points behind you.”
For a moment Andie’s spirits soared. She really was good at this! That had to count for something. Then they sank again. What good would it do if her father was set against her?
“It’s not the end of the world, Andie,” her uncle explained kindly. “Rank can go both ways. Here you go.” He slid another piece of paper across the desk to her. She glanced at her uncle bewildered, and then her eyes dropped to the paper.
It was an acceptance letter into the Advanced Pilot Training. It had her name on it.
“What?” she shrieked. Her uncle winced. “Sorry,” she apologized. “I don’t understand,” she added in confusion.
“I’ll have you know, I worked most of the night on getting you that paper. It took some maneuvering with Academy higher-ups, and some long conversation with your father,” explained her uncle. “He took awhile to back down. It helped that the commander of the APT was so adamant that he should get you in his class.”
“How did you get my dad to come around?” she asked in disbelief.
“I had to remind him of our own decisions to join the Armada. We had to go against our mother. Your grandmother said it would break her heart to have her sons enlist, yet you should hear her now. She’s so proud, you’d never know it.” Andie was surprised. She didn’t see her grandmother very often, but when she did, all the older woman could talk about were her two Armada sons and how well they had done in their military careers.
“You owe me big time,” her uncle admonished lightly.
“Uncle Mark, you are the absolute best!” They chatted for a couple more minutes about her program and what she needed to enlist in the Armada, and then she rose to go. Her uncle held open the door for her. Outside, Scott had jumped to attention again. “It was nice meeting you,” she told him, still flying high from her news. Scott smiled back.
“Are you going home today?” her uncle asked.
“Yeah, I’ve going on the evening shuttle,” Andie told him.
“To Dos Cientos?” clarified Scott. Andie nodded. “So am I,” he explained. “Would you like me to escort you?” he asked politely.
Andie’s uncle raised his eyebrows, looking from Scott to Andie. She pretended she didn’t see him. No doubt her father would hear of it before she even arrived home.
“Sure,” Andie agreed, a bit breathlessly, trying very hard to conceal just how enthusiastic she was. She didn’t want to scare him off.
After making arrangements to meet Scott later, she kissed her uncle good-bye and hurried off to her room. A pilot’s license to her name, the cutest pilot ever escorting her to the port, and two weeks of vacation ahead of her before she started the Advanced Pilot Training! Could life get any better than this?
Following the closing luncheon (which Andie enjoyed much more now that she felt like celebrating too), she and Kelly packed up the remainder of their belongings together.
“I’m glad we get to enlist together after all,” Kelly said, as she stuffed the last of her clothes into a suitcase. “I can’t believe that in two weeks we will be cadet pilots.”
“I’m so relieved,” admitted Andie. “I’m still a little bit nervous to face my parents, but now at least I’m not coming home without anywhere to go.” Kelly just shook her head with a smile. When the last personal item had been crammed into a bag, the two girls hugged each other tightly. “Are you heading to the shuttleport now?” asked Kelly.
“No, I’m going to check out, but one of the pilots from back home is going to the shuttleport with me.” Kelly noted the unusual enthusiasm. “And who is this pilot?” she asked suspiciously. “You didn’t tell me you were dating someone!”
“Well, I’m not dating him,” protested Andie. “He’s just going to the shuttleport with me.”
“Hmmm. But how well do you know him? Is it safe?” she asked.
Andie grumbled. “You sound like my mother. I’ll be fine, Kelly. My uncle knows him, and he didn’t warn me off. He seems like a nice guy.”
“He must be good-looking, though, to get this kind of reaction from you,” Kelly observed.
“To die for,” admitted Andie.
“Well, try to rein in the excitement,” warned Kelly. “He may be nothing more than a good-looking shell.” Andie promised, and she and Kelly parted for the next few weeks. She didn’t let Kelly’s paranoia dampen her excitement one bit. Kelly was a confirmed cynic when it came to men. In fact, Andie was so excited she was early to meet Scott. Though Scott arrived exactly on time, she had already waited in the lobby of her bunkhouse for more than half an hour.
“Well, are you ready to go?” Scott greeted with a smile. Andie nodded, slinging her bag over her shoulder and turning to grab the handle of her large rolling suitcase.
“I’ll get that,” Scott offered, taking the handle. “I don’t have any luggage of my own, just a small carry-on.” He stacked his small briefcase on top of her suitcase and started walking toward the sliding doors. Andie took a deep breath to calm the butterflies in her stomach and followed him.
“What brought you to the Academy?” asked Andie curiously, as they headed across campus to the tube that would send them to the shuttleport. “It must have been a short trip if you didn’t need to bring anything.”
“Just a one-day training seminar. I was the lucky one who got picked from my squad to come this year. They’re so boring that we take turns,” he joked lightly.
“I can understand that,” Andie agreed wholeheartedly. “Any time I have to sit down in class and try to listen to a lecture I really have to fight to stay awake.”
Their casual conversation about Academy classes continued all the way to the port. She grilled him about the courses she would be taking, the teachers she would have, anything she could think of. Scott answered her good-humoredly. Of course, she had to take a break while she was strapped into the magnetic tube capsule that delivered them to the shuttleport, but even while they waited for the shuttle her questions continued unabated. It was only after their flight was called for boarding that she realized that she had almost never let Scott speak a word about himself. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as they got up to join the queue forming at the gate.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I think I monopolized the conversation. You must have felt like you’d fallen into the hands of a compulsive interrogator.”
Scott laughed. “That’s OK. It’s been fun.”
“It’s too bad we don’t have seats next to each other,” Andie said ruefully. “I could let you make up for it.” She sighed in disappointment. The time had gone too quickly.
“I guess I’ll just have to make up for it another day,” he agreed, his eyes crinkling merrily. Another day! Maybe Scott was just being polite, but hey, she would take what she could get.
They boarded the shuttle, Scott sitting in the second row while Andie was near the back. If she leaned just right, she could see the top of his head. For once, the shuttle trip seemed so short she didn’t have time to get bored.
3. The Academy
Andie’s parents weren’t as hard on her as she thought they would be. Her father was gruff and silent, never even congratulating her on her pilot’s license, but Andie was grateful that at least he didn’t yell at her some more. Her mother was a little more congratulatory, but still, Andie could see that she wasn’t excited at the prospect of having her daughter out flying missions for the Armada. It was a very quiet vacation.
At least Casey and Jo were excited for her. She didn’t get to see Casey as much as she wanted—he was finishing up the last of his volunteer program before heading to Omphalos himself to start his first term at the University. She actually spent more time wi
th Jo, who was anxious for the excuse to get out of her own home.
“The boys are going through a screaming contest phase,” she explained to Andie, as she idly scanned the different video streams on Andie’s desk terminal for something entertaining. Andie looked up from the pile of clothes she was sorting through.
“Screaming contests, huh? That can’t be much fun,” she commented sympathetically.
“They just discovered that they can make these blood-curdling screeches, and each one tries to make himself heard above the others. It gives me a headache.” Andie rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a set of earplugs and tossed them at Jo.
“I had to use those in my bunkroom. One of the girls snored so loudly it kept me awake. But they’ll block out anything, even blood-curdling screams, I guess.” Jo smiled and pocketed the gift. “Hey, that way I won’t be able to hear my mother ask me to take them outside either,” she added playfully.
“Whatever works,” Andie agreed, holding up a shimmering black dress. It was her only fancy piece of clothing. She had worn it to her father’s advancement ceremony, but there didn’t seem to be much need to take it to Omphalos. She sighed and folded it up to stick in a box. Jo watched her with a frown.
“Aren’t you ever planning to go and do anything fun? A night on the town, maybe? You might need that,” she advised.
“Nah, if I do go out, I’ll wear something casual,” Andie decided, shoving some more clothes into the box. Everything she wasn’t taking to the Academy was being packed up so it could be shipped to wherever she got assigned.
“Come on, Andie,” Jo complained. “Don’t you ever intend to try and impress the guys? Maybe get a boyfriend for once?” Jo herself had been through a string of them in the last year alone. Andie had watched her incredulously, and a little bit enviously. Jo was so comfortable around boys, and she was learning just how to get them to pay attention to her any time she wanted it. Andie felt completely inept when it came to dating. She couldn’t flirt; any time she tried she felt like an idiot, and she wanted to laugh at herself. It didn’t exactly come off as sexy behavior. Anyway, most of the boys she knew bored her to tears, so it hadn’t really been a problem.
The Legend of Sirra Bruche (Roran Curse Book 1) Page 4
