Captain Moira McFadden took the podium then, a hologram of her new Corvette, sleek and armoured, appeared above her. “Representing the less savoury characters of the galaxy, I’m Captain McFadden,” she said with a smirk, her accent drastically different from the Admiral’s. She let the laughter die down and nodded at the twenty-eight Officers gathered. “I am kidding, of course. I’m legitimate, I promise. Haven Fleet cannot fight a war the way the British Alliance does. We will not be able to bring the same firepower, numbers, or experience to this war for some time. For us, it is an organized rebel’s fight. The British Alliance is giving us the time we need to get our people and our resources together so we can begin our campaign of surprise. I’m here today because my ship and fighter compliment just returned from a mission to Venice Major, a settled, secure Regent Galactic world that the Order of Eden thought was absolutely safe.” A diagram showing the secure solar systems in Regent Galactic and Order of Eden space appeared above her. A line was drawn inward, twelve light years behind enemy lines to a solar system with fifteen planets. “The Raven Fighter Squadron, transported by my ship the Raider, and accompanied by my personal craft the Morrigan, attacked the primary orbital construction centre there.”
The small stadium was filled by the sight of a massive shipyard with hundreds of slips. It orbited a large blue and green world that was teeming with orbital transports. The Raider was visible, along with the fighters launching from its main hangar and popping free of several airlocks, which suggested to Alice that the Morrigan was recording. The ships swept into range, firing hundreds of antimatter torpedoes, missiles and other explosive ordinances. While the structure of the construction centre shook and rattled under the barrage, the Morrigan charged in, slowed atop a Regent Galactic carrier, dug the claws of its maxjack into the forward armour plating, blasted the ship with an electromagnetic pulse and began accelerating into a wormhole.
Leaving fire and twisted metal behind, Raven squadron’s fighters re-joined the Raider, which was already on its way into its own wormhole. Most of the Officer Trainees were on the edge of their seats by the time the playback ended, Alice included. She found herself applauding along with everyone else. “As you can see, striking the enemy’s soft underbelly works. This strike was put together using intelligence gathered by the Warlord crew some time ago, and updated intelligence from a few brave scouts. The carrier we stole and are refitting for Haven Fleet was almost completely empty. There was a small finishing crew aboard working on the Officer’s quarters and a group of inspectors who were very surprised to see us. We will not be able to do this often, but Regent Galactic has manufacturing centres in dozens of systems, and the Order of Eden is ordering more ships than ever. Where they are going we cannot say, but our latest intelligence suggests that they are fighting factions in several solar systems far from here. Securing the sectors on the other side of the Iron Head nebula have also taken a great toll on our enemies, but the independent captains I’ve spoken to who have been there recently claim that the Order has hundreds of worlds under its control, and they are not expanding as quickly in those sectors, which means they are moving their focus to this side of the nebula. We must make life complicated for our enemies at home so they are too preoccupied to mount major offensives against the Rega Gain system and the allies we’re securing nearby. For now, Haven Fleet’s main missions are to grow while obtaining essential supplies, to win minor engagements of war, and to become the superior military force in the sector.”
Gambin scoffed and muttered something Alice didn’t catch. Captain McFadden’s hand darted out, pointing a finger directly at him. “You! Sing out so I can hear you, what’s your doubt?”
He stood uneasily, something Alice didn’t mind seeing, and cleared his throat.
“Loud and clear, Petty Officer, you will be heard right now or I will escort you to the airlock myself and you can drift home.”
“Ma’am, how are we supposed to become the superior military force in the sector, Ma’am?” he said, snapping to attention and speaking loudly. “Even with the War Forge, Regent Galactic must have a hundred times the manufacturing capacity, Ma’am. No offence intended but I just can’t see how we’ll do it, Ma’am.”
“By being underhanded, taking every advantage we find, following our priorities, and by individually being the best soldiers we can be,” she started walking up the aisle, drawing her sidearm. “If I gave you this gun,” he put it in his hand. “And pointed you to that door, where twenty Order of Eden soldiers were waiting, how many do you think you could kill?”
He glanced at the gun in his hand, then returned to staring directly ahead. “Five, maybe six.”
“Valent, how many do you think you could kill?”
She thought quickly, and realized that there was a loophole in her question. “I’d kill them all,” she answered confidently. Iruuk nodded enthusiastically, she assumed he saw the loophole as well.
“Tamrin!” Captain McFadden said, pointing at an Officer Trainee behind Alice, a tall, dark haired young man Alice had barely spoken to. “How could Petty Officer Valent kill all those soldiers?”
“She’d find another door, circle around, isolate them, and use whatever she could find to eliminate them. If she had to use your weapon, she’d probably convert the active power cell inside into a bomb and blast them to bits between blast doors. I don’t know about her, but I’d drop it from above, Ma’am,” he replied clearly, but as though he was bored. “Sound about right?” he asked Alice.
Alice smiled back at him and nodded. “Close.”
“That is what we call ‘Officer Thinking’ and we need every one of you to be so rich with it that you can teach it to the cadets, the crewmembers, the pilots, and the analysts you will come to command,” Captain McFadden said, taking her weapon back and shoving it into her holster. “How many points do you have left?” she asked.
“Eighty-one,” Gambin replied.
“What did you lose so many points on?”
“Tactical Theory and,” he swallowed hard. “Conduct.”
Captain McFadden looked at her comm unit, glanced up at Alice and shook her head. “Don’t have much respect for women in your class?”
“I was checking class medical records for an exercise,” Gambin said.
“Don’t embarrass yourself,” Captain McFadden said dismissively. “Can we afford to lose this man?”
“The question is: can you afford to keep him?” asked Admiral Charon, looking to the Governor.
Governor Anderson didn’t answer right away, but looked at his comm unit for several seconds. “We’ll see.”
Captain McFadden turned away from Gambin and walked back to the podium. “To finish my part of the update,” she said as stiffly as Admiral Charon. “The opportunities waiting for Haven Fleet out there are unbelievable. There is a frenzy of looters and salvagers across the galaxy right now because the Holocaust Virus struck, killed trillions of humans, and the antivirus followed some time later. It spreads much more slowly, but we can help it move to new worlds, recruit from the people stranded there, save many more, and take what no one needs. We need you and the crews that are training alongside you to take advantage of those opportunities, and to save those people. Work hard, learn everything you can this month because we need you to become legends.”
Governor Anderson took the podium once more. “There are other updates we didn’t share here, they are all on your command units. Please spend some time every morning updating yourselves on important occurrences. Everything you learn about what’s going on right now will help you integrate into the fleet when the time comes. Good luck on this phase of your training. Dismissed.”
“The style of the briefing is not normal,” Iruuk said. “This is a space in front of the stage where it is easy for people to mix and ask questions. It was also short of the allotted hour.”
“He’s right, there’s almost twenty minutes left,” Yawen said. “I’m going to catch Captain McFadden.” She hurried up, sever
al students who overheard her rushing after her as she got out of the seating and headed down the aisle.
“How are you guys doing?” Titus, a stocky, heavily muscled fellow Officer Trainee asked, looking at Alice then up to Iruuk.
“I’m content, but wish there were more Nafalli sparring partners,” Iruuk replied. “How are you, Titus?”
“Scrambling to keep up with you two. You know I lost a point on bunk inspection for the second time?”
“Yawen lost one,” Alice said. “Forgot to make her bed and she wasn’t there for inspection, so they tossed her bunk like a salad.”
“Ouch. You know who else lost points on his bunk?” he whispered.
“Listen, Titus, I try to avoid gossip, I’ll talk about anything else though,” Alice said. “I’d like to talk about a couple things I noticed you put up on the tactical theory board soon, the third qualification exam looks tough and I could use-“
“Alice,” Titus insisted quietly. “I’d love to sit down and talk, but I’ve got to warn you: Gambin is my bunkmate. He lost four points last week for having restricted imagery printed inside his bunk, it was a surface scan of you. He said he had to trade with a cadet to get a copy from an old backup civilian comm unit for it. You know me, I’m from Hyberon, they taught me to be a gentleman, so I didn’t look, but he lost points for whatever he put up. He’s crazy about you, but Nivee told him to keep his distance a while ago. The instructors have been keeping all this away from your,” he paused and corrected himself, “The Governor so all the disciplinary action is strictly by the book.”
Alice fought through the feeling of being violated, and the frustration that threatened to overwhelm her. “Thank you, Titus,” she said.
“How did you find out the instructors are keeping this from her Grandfather?” Iruuk asked.
“I know Lilly Morenea, she was on the same refugee shuttle coming to Haven Shore,” he replied. “She’s probably the one who nailed Yawen for not making her bed.”
“Yup,” Alice answered. “I think that’s all she does, goes from bunk to bunk watching for reasons to cost us.”
“Except for mine,” Titus said. “I get Senior Instructor Nanki, because I know Lilly. Consider yourself lucky.”
“I generally do,” Alice said, flushed with embarrassment and irritation.
“I can’t believe Gambin did that,” Iruuk said. “I keep imagining how I’d feel if he had a picture of me without fur painted inside his bunk. That is so strange, and embarrassing.”
Alice couldn’t help but burst into laughter, and neither could Titus. “I think you’re safe, Iruuk,” he told him once the shock of laughter subsided.
“What?” asked the Nafalli, running a hand down his long snout. “I’m not attractive?”
“Well,” Titus said. “Not to Gambin, I don’t think.” He waited until they were out of the room and the hall was mostly clear before looking to Alice. “I’m sorry I’m the one to tell you, how he tracked you is creepy. I just thought you should know before they do whatever to him.”
“Thanks for telling me,” Alice said. “I don’t blame you.”
“Okay, I’ll see you,” Titus said before leaving.
Alice leaned against the bulkhead and sent a quick message to Yawen telling her that they’d wait outside. “I know you don’t really get this, Iruuk, it’s okay.”
“I don’t get frustrated easy,” he said. “But this frustrates me because you are my friend and I don’t know what to do.”
Alice looked at the tall Nafalli, his blue eyes were filled with concern. “Maybe I just have to put it another way. You know how you can see me in a Ranger exercise outfit if you look at my profile, and watch me take an early version of their obstacle course? Those outfits are really small, and I even strike a pose in one.”
“Yes, you look very happy and powerful in that pose,” Iruuk said.
“But I like wearing the small ones because I feel free, and well, I know I look good in them. I know that I’m attractive in that pose, and that a lot of people who find that image,” Alice fought to find the word. “They find it alluring. It’s just like when a Nafalli woman makes sure her fur is clean, she trims around her nose and her eyes so they look bigger. If she’s confident and healthy, she can have her pick of eligible mates.”
“And then they tease us for weeks until they make up their mind?” Iruuk said. “I’m just becoming familiar. I’m of age now, so I’ve been grooming much better, practice just in case Haven Shore has a lot of Nafalli someday.”
“Okay, that’s all I’ll ever need to know about your grooming,” Alice said with a chuckle. “But you recognize when an eligible Nafalli woman has confidence and has taken care of herself?”
“Oh, yes,” Iruuk nodded.
“Well, that holo-image of me in front of the obstacle course is like that for me. I’m happy with the way I look, the way I felt in that moment, and I don’t mind people looking at that, or putting it up, or whatever. The medical surface scan that Titus was talking about wasn’t taken with my permission, and even though it was taken for the right reasons, it feels wrong to have it spread around because people will just look at it like a collection of parts. Even if they like it, the people who view it the most aren’t looking for the right reasons.”
“They dishonour you,” Iruuk said.
“Exactly,” Alice said.
“The surface scan was private, and you didn’t want people to look?”
“Yes, we even tried to have it deleted.”
“Oh, so Gambin knew you didn’t want anyone to have it, but he went out of his way to dishonour you,” Iruuk said, his shoulders hunching slightly. It was the first sign that a Nafalli was moving into a combat posture.
“I think you get it,” Alice said, patting his arm. “The thought of him with that picture makes me feel very small.”
“What do we do?”
“I have a feeling that the Governor is going to take care of this for me,” Alice said, trying to calm Iruuk down. “That’s okay because I don’t want to see Gambin.”
“You’re very civilized, Alice,” Iruuk said. “I’d want to challenge him.”
“I just want to forget it,” Alice said.
“Forget what?” Yawen asked as she came through the door.
“Titus told me Gambin dug up a copy of my medical surface scan and printed a copy inside his bunk.”
“Oh yeah, it’s life-sized,” Yawen said. “Reposed with a big smile on your face. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you’d get pissed and I didn’t want you to lose focus.”
“What?” Alice said, surprised. “Next time, tell me!”
“What? I could make a nude of anyone using general shapes and a program. I could even shave Iruuk here down digitally and put a picture of him up leaving nothing to the imagination.”
“I would not like that,” Iruuk said sternly.
“I know, it’s okay, I don’t want to see you out of uniform – so to speak – I’m just saying extrapolating a new image from casual images is easy. You never really know how accurate the results are, but that’s part of the fun, making what you’d rather imagine instead of getting every birthmark and mole. I don’t see the difference with what he did except for using an image source that was accurate. Well, then there is the regulation against disrespecting officers, I guess that covers images that are, well, uncovered and reposed in not-so respectful poses. Why, did Gambin get busted?”
“Yes,” Alice said.
“That’s it then, we’re losing a classmate today,” Yawen said.
“Not for having that image, that’s just four points for the hacking,” Alice said.
“Four for obtaining restricted material, and one for an act of disrespect to a classmate,” Iruuk corrected.
“Gambin asks me about you whenever I run into him, he watches every group study and test session you’re in if they’re publicly available,” Yawen said. “No, you have a stalker, Alice. I mean, with your looks you should have eight
or nine, but this one could get kicked out for it.”
“Thanks, that’s a sideways compliment,” Alice said.
“I wasn’t serious,” Yawen replied. She peeked through the double doors and her eyes went wide. “He’s coming, his uniform is different.”
Gambin emerged through the swinging double doors and stopped to stare at Alice. The hood of his suit was down. His uniform had been changed to white with a gold line across his shoulders, indicating that he was an Officer Cadet. “I’m being sent back to Tamber for review. If I’m lucky I’ll get into basic training with the nine-month program.”
“They disciplined you in there? The Governor must be pissed,” Yawen muttered.
“It wasn’t the Governor, it was that Headmaster, Black,” Gambin replied. “Good luck with her.” He looked to Alice.
“She doesn’t want to see you,” Iruuk said.
“I know it’s going to be a long time before I can see you again, but I just wanted to say, I love you, Alice,” he said, his chin quivering. “I never meant to bother you or anything.”
“It’s okay, just go,” Alice said. “Good luck.”
“No, I love you, I need to know that I’ll be able to see you again,” Gambin said, tears brimming.
Alice stepped back, absolutely unsure of what to do. She had barely seen him since the first day. “It’s not mutual,” Yawen said. “Just go, Gambin.”
“No, listen,” he said desperately, reaching for Alice’s hand.
Iruuk’s long hand got in the way, pushing him back then lifting him up by the collar of his uniform and walking him down the hallway. “She doesn’t want to see you!” He reached the corner and tossed Gambin down the broader highway there so hard that Alice didn’t hear him land for several seconds.
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10 Page 32
