by Linn Schwab
The first day was mostly orientation for the girls — learning how to navigate the academy, understanding the difference between classrooms and lecture halls, finding out where to check test scores and class schedules. The highlight of the day was a tour of the campus grounds, which included a quick stop at some piers on the beach. It was there that Robin first realized her true passion when one of the girls pointed toward the water and yelled, “Dolphins!”
Valhalla was a world of extraordinary beauty, with many wonders for the girls to see and experience. But nothing Robin had ever laid eyes on before had prepared her for being in the presence of these creatures. She’d seen pictures of them in the nursery, of course, and had often wondered what it would be like to see them in person. But it was only now that she could truly appreciate just how beautiful they really were. And when the girls were told that they could swim with the dolphins, the only one who beat Robin to the water was JoEllen.
Emotions. That was what made them so special. Robin picked up on it right away. These creatures expressed emotions like no other animal she’d ever seen. There seemed to be joy and happiness in them as they swam and played with their new acquaintances.
“Can you feel it?” JoEllen asked Robin in excitement. “They actually like being with us!”
Robin reveled in the realization that these animals actually trusted her. It was something JoEllen had likely grown accustomed to, but which Robin herself had never experienced before. She felt a special connection to the dolphins, almost as if they could understand what she was thinking. And when it was time for her to get out of the water, it was difficult to pull herself away from them. It was as if there was a voice inside of her, begging her to pay attention to something. But that voice was overruled by matters of scheduling; it was time for the evening meal to begin. So Robin sadly said goodbye to the dolphins and made a promise to herself that she would see them again someday.
During their second night at the academy, Robin’s girls slept in their new beds for the first time. It was warmer and softer than sleeping on the floor, although the previous night’s comfort of shared closeness was missing. Weary from her exploits in the ocean’s water, Robin had little trouble falling asleep. But later on, she experienced an unsettling feeling that woke her in the early morning hours. It was still dark outside. Sunrise was several hours away. But she could see the silhouette of a young girl standing by the windows, looking outward in the direction of the ocean.
Who could that be? Robin wondered. After quietly climbing out of her bed, she made her way over to the young girl’s side and could see by the moonlight that it was JoEllen.
“Are you alright?” Robin asked JoEllen, concerned by the empty expression on her face.
JoEllen didn’t respond to her right away, but seconds later she whispered, “I’m not strong enough.”
“Strong enough for what?” Robin asked her. But this time, JoEllen offered no reply. As Robin looked into JoEllen’s eyes, she was convinced she could see tiny flashes of light — like reflections of a distant thunderstorm. But when she turned to look through the outer windows, there was no lightning anywhere to be seen. Eventually, she led JoEllen back to her bed, believing her to have been sleepwalking. After tucking JoEllen in, she returned to her own bed and fell back to sleep, and didn’t wake again until late in the morning.
The first class period came up on Robin fast. She rushed her squad through their morning meal and hurried them to get to their classroom on time. The class was supposed to last for one hour, and it came very close to reaching that mark. But there was some kind of commotion in the academy’s corridors, and the class period ended up being cut short. As it turned out, one of the young girls had gone missing, and a comprehensive search for her was being organized. The officers were setting up directions for the search, and all of the students were being asked to take part.
First the academy was turned upside down. Every nook and cranny of the building was scrutinized. A call to the nursery turned up nothing there either. The search then expanded to the campus grounds, and the girls were instructed to fan out and form a line. As Robin advanced toward the forest with her squad, she heard some of the officers calling out a name. In an instant, the connection registered with her. The girl they were searching for was JoEllen.
The search went on for most of the day, letting up around lunchtime, then resuming again. Robin’s party searched deep inside the forest, but eventually the officers called them back in. Toward the end of the day, a quick assembly was called, and the students were all gathered together on the lawn. Commander Phillips took a moment to explain to them that if they hadn’t located JoEllen by now, it was likely they wouldn’t ever see her again. They were told just to follow their end of day routine, and that classes would resume on the following day. With that announcement, the search for JoEllen was concluded, and her whereabouts remained a complete mystery.
When Robin returned to her quarters in the evening, the room was still mostly empty and quiet, which suited her just fine at the moment. She was tired and she was upset over the loss of JoEllen, and she really just wanted to be alone for a while. But almost as soon as she stepped through the door, she noticed someone in JoEllen’s alcove. Someone sitting on JoEllen’s bed. Someone with the same pale wavy blond hair!
“JoEllen!” Robin cried out in joy, rushing over to welcome her back. But when she got a closer look at her face, she realized it wasn’t JoEllen after all. Just another young girl who seemed to resemble her.
Robin’s excitement turned to anger. She hated the girl. Hated her with a passion immediately. How dare she sit on JoEllen’s bed! How dare she presume that she could take JoEllen’s place! And why was she still wearing a nursery jumper? What made this girl think that she was so special?
“What are you doing here?” Robin snapped at her, incensed at the girl’s apparent lack of sensitivity.
“I … I’m Stephanie,” the girl responded, taken aback by Robin’s hostility toward her.
Robin immediately felt regret over the way she’d reacted to the girl’s presence. It was clear to her now what was really going on, and she realized her anger was misdirected. In the interest of keeping JoEllen’s squad at full strength, Stephanie had been called up from the nursery early, essentially robbing her of three months of her life. And Robin couldn’t help but have the feeling that a great injustice had been done to the girl. It sparked a bit of animosity in her toward the callous heartlessness of the academy.
Gently pulling Stephanie up to her feet, Robin embraced her and whispered an apology. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I didn’t mean to sound angry. I was just expecting you to be someone else.” The girl was shaking a little at first, but Robin managed to calm her down. “I think your squad’s in the cafeteria,” she said. “Come with me. I’ll take you to them.”
A few hours after nightfall, a powerful storm developed in the distance. The flashes of lightning were eerily reminiscent of the reflections Robin had seen in JoEllen’s eyes. As soon as the accompanying thunder began, Mindy crawled into bed with Robin and snuggled up against her under the covers. A sudden downpour blew against the windows with such force that it seemed as if a wave had washed over the building. Mindy let out an impassioned whimper, and Robin knew right away that it was meant for JoEllen — an expression of sympathy for their missing friend. If poor JoEllen was still alive, she was all alone somewhere outside in this storm, with no hope that anyone was going to find her.
In the days following JoEllen’s disappearance, there was much speculation about what could have happened to her. The older girls were quietly passing around whispers that the search for JoEllen was really just a ruse, and that she’d secretly been spirited away by the officers to be subjected to some form of experimentation. For their part, the officers seemed to be convinced that JoEllen had wandered too close to the ocean and been swept away by a powerful tidal current. It was an unsettling possibility to consider, but if that was actually what had happened to her
, it could explain why no traces of her were ever found.
Among the younger Sentinels, though, there was a stubborn refusal to give up hope. They took solace in rumors that JoEllen was living in the forest, caring for animals that needed her assistance. And many of them convinced themselves the stories were true — convinced themselves because they wanted to believe. Because they needed to believe. Because to believe the alternative was unthinkable to them. And for a while, there were even claims of JoEllen sightings by girls who’d been following paths through the woods. But no compelling evidence for this was ever found, and the stories remained unsubstantiated.
Days and weeks came and went at the academy, and Robin’s bonds with her squad mates grew continually stronger. They all seemed to share a fondness for the ocean and spent much of their free time along the water’s edge. Several months after JoEllen’s disappearance, a baby dolphin began to show up near the pier. Robin took to calling the pup “Jojo” because there was something familiar in the young dolphin’s eyes that distinctly reminded her of JoEllen. She spent a great deal of time swimming with Jojo, and searching the archives for information on dolphin behavior. On one occasion when the girls were swimming together, Jojo slipped out of sight for a moment and returned with a tiny creature in her mouth. She then swam directly up to Robin and presented her with a baby sea turtle.
Robin was intrigued by the dolphin’s gesture. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Was it just a matter of random behavior, or was Jojo trying to tell her something? Something that perhaps she should have been aware of? The possibilities ran wild in her imagination. Following the incident, she lay awake in bed for several nights, wondering to herself — Could it really be her?
Over time, as Robin grew closer to her squad mates, her feelings for them began to exact a heavy toll on her. The responsibilities of her position as their captain became a constant drain on her spirit. The thought that their lives might someday be in her hands was a difficult burden for her to bear. She often had difficulty sleeping at night, and frequently awoke to check on her companions and reassure herself nothing had happened to them — that none of them had gone missing like JoEllen. Her imagination conjured up nightmarish visions depicting them being torn away from her and perishing right in front of her eyes as she looked on, helpless to intervene.
After a while, when Robin’s emotions began the best of her, she would withdraw to the hallway outside her room so her tearful sniffles wouldn’t wake the others. Eventually, an older girl happened upon her during the return leg of a nighttime trip to the bath chamber. Seeing the distress on Robin’s face, the girl sat down with her and introduced herself.
“Hi, I’m Nikki,” she said, scooting herself close to Robin’s side. “What’s your name, little sister?”
“I’m Robin.”
“What seems to be bothering you, Robin? Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I don’t want my friends to die,” Robin said. “I’m worried I won’t be able to protect them.”
“I know how you feel,” Nikki empathized. “But there’s nothing we can do to prevent that from happening. This war is something we can’t escape from. The sad truth is, most of us won’t live past our twenty–fourth year. A third of us won’t even make it past the age of twenty. We just have to make the best of what little time we have, and perform our duties to the best of our abilities. Are you a captain, Robin?”
Robin somberly nodded her head.
“So am I,” Nikki said. “It can be tough sometimes in the beginning, but you’ll get used to it after a while. All you can do is be the best captain you can be. There will always be things that are out of your control, but you’re much better off not worrying about them. The best thing you can do for your squad is to focus on the things you can control. Pay attention to what they’re teaching you here. And make sure your squad pays attention too. That way, you can at least minimize the chances of ending up in a situation you can’t save them from. If you spend all of your time crying in the hallway, you may let them down by not being prepared.” She wrapped an arm around Robin’s shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Understand?”
Robin looked into her eyes and nodded. “I think so.”
“Good. Listen, Robin, I’ll be turning seventeen next quarter, which means my time on Valhalla is coming to an end. But I’ll be happy to offer you advice while I’m here. Feel free to come talk to me anytime.” She stood up and gently pulled Robin to her feet. “Now, go back to bed and try to get some sleep, little sister. A tired captain is never at her best.”
HORNETS 007
>>
The carrier Maelstrom remained on alert, along with the rest of the ships in her fleet. Her pilots sat in silence on the floor of the ready room, impatiently waiting for the call to stand down. For more than twelve hours now, the 7th Fleet had been engaged in an uneasy standoff. An enemy formation was hovering just out of range, posturing as if an assault was imminent, or perhaps just looking for some weakness to exploit. Both sides had exchanged repeated feints and bluffs, resulting in a series of minor skirmishes with no appreciable damage inflicted on either side. Whatever it was that the enemy was plotting, the Sentinels had them severely outgunned here, so the chances of a full confrontation were slim. That seemed to have become a recurring pattern of late. It was as if the enemy had lost their taste for serious combat.
Still weary from several earlier sorties, Virginia stretched and drew a deep breath. The ready room no longer intimidated her. Nor did the prospect of being sent into combat. She was a seasoned veteran now, with dozens of major engagements behind her. The Maelstrom was the seventh different carrier she’d served on during the five years since her first outing as a pilot. And over those years of flying and fighting, her new squadron had remained reassuringly intact. Only one pilot from the group had been lost in that time; and since that had occurred only recently, the memory was still fresh in Virginia’s mind.
Poor Maria, Virginia reflected, remembering the face of her lost comrade. She had died during a rather uneventful skirmish, falling victim to an unfortunate collision. Her replacement was a coquettish brunette named Suzanne — like Virginia, very young to be recruited by the Hornets. But she had proven herself to be a capable pilot. Certainly not as experienced as Maria, but still very much deserving to wear the black uniform and display the bright yellow bands on her plane.
A single bell sounded throughout the Maelstrom, signaling a change in the ship’s alert status. The pilots held their breath in anticipation of the announcement. Perhaps the enemy fleet had pulled back to safe distance and the Sentinels could finally stand down from alert. Or maybe they were close enough for the squadrons to deploy again. Either way, it was better than just sitting and waiting.
“Safe harbor, stand down,” a pleasant voice said over the intercom. A collective sigh of relief echoed through the carrier. “All squadron captains report to the briefing room.”
Commander Jensen looked out through the briefing room door as her squadron captains began to arrive. They walked single file past a bank of windows that looked out over the Maelstrom’s flight deck. Ten of them were wearing the standard gray flight suits, and the last two in line were dressed in Hornet black. As the line of pilots stepped into the briefing room, Commander Jensen intercepted the Hornets, holding her palm up to stop their progress.
“Captains McNeil and Sinclair,” she said, “would you gather your squadrons and stand by on the flight deck, please.” Jenny and Charlie glanced at each other, then saluted and headed off to round up their pilots. The commander then turned her attention to the captains who had already entered the briefing room.
“Ladies,” she began, “it seems we’ve successfully held our ground once again. The enemy fleet has finally withdrawn to a safe distance. I know this has been a long hard day, and I want to thank all of you for your efforts. You can pass my thanks on to your pilots as well. And now for the bad news.
“Now that things have cooled off a li
ttle, it’s time to resume our flight patrols.” She pointed to a chart on one of the walls. “Your new rotations are posted here. Please check the schedule before you leave. That’s all I have for right now. You can begin your new shifts immediately.” She stood back and observed the pilots’ reactions as they got their first look at the new patrol schedule. It didn’t take any of them long to realize that two squadron numbers were absent from the list. She could tell by the looks of concern on their faces that all of them suspected what was happening.
One of the captains remained behind after the others had left the room. She kept her gaze fixed on Commander Jensen, as if awaiting an explanation. “What about our two elite squadrons?” she asked, knowing she probably wasn’t going to like the answer.
The commander took a few steps toward the doorway. “The Hornets are leaving us, Amy,” she said. “They’ve been reassigned.”
Amy crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, disappointed to learn that her suspicion was correct. “I guess we knew it had to happen eventually,” she said. “That they weren’t going to stay with us forever. I’m really going to miss having them here, though. I’ve felt so much safer since they came on board. I’ve even slept better just knowing they were here.”
“I know what you mean,” the commander agreed. “They always seem so confident and relaxed. There’s just something that’s so reassuring about that. But hopefully a little of that has rubbed off on the rest of you. We’re on our own again now, Amy. Just like we were before they arrived.”
Jenny’s squadron arrived on the flight deck first and gathered near their planes to await further instructions. She already sensed she knew what was happening. It would have been obvious to any pilot who had flown with the Hornets for any length of time.
