Of Hearts And Stars (Classic Editon) (The Cadet Starship Chronicles)

by West, Edward

  “Hug me.” she said.

  Leoric did so was told without another word. He grabbed her by the shoulders and sat her up. She then looked at her son, her pride and joy. He had his father's jawline that made his smile seem so big and happy. He had her piercing eyes if only in size and shape, but not color, and when she looked into them she could see his strong spirit. She smiled to herself, amused, when she realized that he could use a haircut. All in all, she loved her beautiful, wonderful boy.

  He wrapped his arms around her and Marceline Swift hugged her son for the last time. She then whispered into his ear “Take care of your father...”

  “Mom don't die...please don't die...” he whispered back.

  “I love you...”

  Leoric buried his face in her shoulder and sobbed “I love you too.”

  Then her hands dropped and the leaves rustled no more. Now his home had begun to collapse the rest of the way. Swift hadn't noticed when Marvin came to stand by his shoulder, but heard him when he spoke.

  He hesitated, but reluctantly suggested “Hey... we should go.”

  These were complete strangers to Marvin, but this older boy had stopped to save his life when he didn't have to. He didn't want to rush him at such a sad time, but the situation was getting worse by the second.

  Leoric agreed with him. However he couldn't stand to leave his mother's body behind to be crushed or burned up by the fire that now began to spread throughout the house.

  Leoric turned to Marvin with tears in his eyes.

  “Help me get her outside? Please?”

  The two boys had a hard time moving Marceline's body through the wreckage of the living room. Marvin was smaller and struggled to keep his grip on her feet, yet they managed to make it out just before the house collapsed. They sat on the front curb for some time before a passing medevac spotted them. Marvin was sitting next to Leoric, who was sitting next to his mother's body with his tear stained face buried in his arms. A young paramedic approached them.

  “Is she still alive?” he asked them.

  Marvin closed his eyes and shook his head. Leoric let out a low sob.

  “What are your names?” the paramedic knelt in front of them.

  “I'm Marvin McCalister IV” Marvin said.

  “Leoric Swift.” Leoric grunted.

  “Thank goodness Marvin! Your parents are safe and sound at the bomb shelter Marvin. I'll take you to them.” The paramedic turned to Leoric and did not speak at first “...And Leoric Swift.” he said “That must mean...” A look of unease spread across his face. His gaze went from the body to the house and back to the two boys “That's Marceline Swift. I'm so sorry. Your father contacted us when the bombing first began, but we couldn't get here in time. The entire city was under siege. I'm sorry for this too but-”

  “Orphanage.” Leoric cut him off before he could finish.

  Stories like this have a way of spreading among children with parents in the military, so it was no surprise to him where he was going to live.

  “It's only until your father gets home.” the paramedic said.

  Leoric and Marvin said their goodbyes when the second medevac arrived. Marvin got in the medevac that would take him to the shelter, but Leoric didn't enter his own at first. He watched solemnly as they placed his mother in a body bag and loaded her into the back. It had been the last time he would see her again.

  -5-

  Leoric kept to himself during the first week at the orphanage and spoke very little. The boys there seemed a bit rough, with an airport's share of baggage. Leoric already had his own to shoulder, so he decided to fly solo until his father came to pick him up. It had been a few hours since he arrived, and he was sitting in the lobby reading a mystery novel when his father called.

  Ryan's loud and enthusiastic voice sent cheer brimming through the audio speakers “Leo! I've missed you so much!”

  “I've missed you too dad.” Leoric said, which was very true. Hearing his father's voice was a great relief that brought him so much happiness.

  Some of the cheer in Ryan's voice gave way to concern, and if there was a video display or hologram for this transmitter, then Swift knew that his father's face would be full of worry.

  “How are you holding up?” Ryan asked.

  Leoric really didn't feel okay. His mother was dead and only with him in memory. Plus he was stuck in this orphanage where he felt quite miserable and alone. Still he knew his father was on the battlefield and did not want to worry him any further. Since Leoric had never put much practice into lying, there was a subtle hollowness in his voice that Ryan's keen perception picked up on immediately “Yup yup! I'm fine dad!” he said.

  That enthusiasm, that flair had surged back into his father's voice “Well I'm worried as all get out here! So I'm coming to bust you out of there! Asap! Even if I have to steal a ship and fly it there myself!”

  “Dad...”

  “Dead serious Leo! Zach knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a ninja ya know? I've got connections.” Ryan declared with the utmost confidence in his ninja connections.

  Leoric laughed out loud and yelled “Dad!”

  It was a relief too, because he thought that he would never find laughter again after the bombing.

  “Really? A ninja?” he asked his father incredulously.

  “A flippin' ninja! Zach is on the warpath too! Says he's gonna take down a rebel ship for each and every bomb dropped.”

  Then some of the last words Leoric's mother spoke came back to him. Take care of your father.

  The hollowness that had outlined his tone earlier had vanished “I'll be okay dad, just get here when you can.” he said, and meant it.

  His father hadn't even gotten started yet, but it was a well known fact that sadness could not stand long against the likes of Ryan Swift.

  “They're calling in a replacement for me by the end of the week. Two weeks tops. I'll call you the second that I'm on my way.” Ryan said and paused for a moment “I love you son. I know how much all of this is hurting you, and I miss your mother too. Hang in there and be strong.”

  “I love you too dad. I'll be strong.”

  -6-

  One week had passed and by the second week Leoric was waiting by the phone everyday. Some of the other boys began to tease him for this, but he paid them no mind. There were others like him who were being taken home everyday. Soon there were less and less waiting, and eventually there was only Leoric. The caregivers had already processed him as a permanent resident by the beginning of week three, and by the end of it he no longer sat by the phone. Something was wrong. His father wasn't the type to just forget about him or allow himself to be too busy to even call. When a box came with a professional looking letter which contained carefully chosen words, words that explained the demise of his father, he wasn't surprised. He was devastated. He calmly folded the letter up and placed it back into the envelope. There wasn't anything he could do about this. There was nothing he could do about anything anymore. His life was over anyway. He set the box, which contained his father's personal belongings, in bottom of the wardrobe in the corner of his room and laid down. After a few seconds he curled into a ball and cried himself to sleep.

  The following weeks would be long and empty for Leoric. He had withdrawn and further isolated himself from the caregivers and other orphans. Zombie was the name the other orphans gave to children who would became silent loners that only ate and slept. It was also a way of marking them, letting the other kids know not to pick on them. Even at their young age the bullies at the orphanage knew that “zombies” were time bombs waiting to explode, and none of them wanted to be caught in the blast.

  During this time the orphanage's psychiatric counselor, Bob Hookanos, was called in for Leoric. In spite of being young and inexperienced Bob was sure that he could handle the job.

  Bob settled down in the seat across from Leoric and said “Hello Leoric. How are you feeling?”

  Bob briefly looked down at his clipboard to f
ill out some fields on a form and looked back up when Leoric did not answer.

  “Leoric?” He asked.

  Leoric, who was fixated on a particular spot on the carpet, looked at him with barely any interest.

  “How are you feeling?” Bob tried asking again while hoping for better luck this time.

  “Bad.” was all Leoric said.

  Looks like this wasn't going to be easy, Bob thought. He had read this kid's file and it sucked. The mother had been killed during a bombing and he had watched helplessly as she died. The father, military, had died in an attack on his transport ship before he could come home to get his son from the orphanage.

  “Would you like to talk about how you feel?” Bob asked.

  “No.”

  “Not with me?”

  “Not with anyone.” Leoric said.

  Bob jotted down some notes on his clipboard and went to his next step.

  “It must be a lot to deal with, having both of your parents die and leave you alone.” Bob smiled on the inside. That's what makes him a good counselor. He understands his clients. He knows exactly what they are going through. He likes to think of it as his special ability “Lots of people struggle through the sadness of losing loved ones. You're not the only one.” he said.

  Leoric stared at him for a few seconds without speaking. Then he raised his eyebrows and said “You sure know a lot. Yes, that's it. You've got it, so we're done here. This conversation is over.”

  He didn't need people to sympathize with him, or feel pity for him. It was no secret to Leoric that people were dying during a war. Quite the opposite. However he wasn't ready for this. It was too soon to have his parent's death shoved into his face. Leoric got out of his seat and started for the door. Bob was genuinely surprised, and wondered what had gone wrong.

  “You still have an hour left.” Bob told him.

  Leoric stopped, looked back over his shoulder and said “I have a lifetime left, but this conversation is over.”

  Leoric then walked out before Bob could say another word.

  -7-

  The orphanage has a strict dress code that every child is required to obey, and Leoric was no exception. The only problem was that due to budget mismanagement and cuts in government funding, the supply of uniforms was limited. Very limited in fact, to the extent that Leoric was issued a uniform two sizes too small for him. The cuffs of his pants rode high above his ankles and his shirt just wouldn't tuck, instead resting it's hem just below his belly button. Every time he put on his uniform he sarcastically said to himself, “It just doesn't get any better than this.” and buttoning the jacket was the deal breaker. He imagined it as a modern day torture device or inconspicuous restraint, because when he buttoned it up he found that he could barely move and that his breathing became shallow. That being the case he came down to the cafeteria for dinner one evening with the front of his jacket unbuttoned, and was stopped by a caregiver before he could even get his food.

  The caregiver poked him in the chest and shouted “You! Why is your jacket unbuttoned?”

  “It doesn't fit.” Leoric said and when he spoke it seemed as if every child in the cafeteria fell silent, their eyes on Swift and the caregiver.

  It was serious business when a zombie finally broke their silence, and especially interesting if they blew up on a caregiver.

  “Button up your jacket.” The caregiver ordered him.

  Leoric attempted to reason with the caregiver “I can't. It doesn't fit me.”

  He was beat on the spot and sent to bed without dinner. The next morning he woke up, got dressed, and slowly made his way with the other boys out of the main gate for school. More than a few laughed at him, and Leoric didn't blame them. When he walked, it looked like he was trying to wade through high water; his arms elevated from his sides and his shoulders moving with every step. Once he was away from the main gate and out of sight of the caregivers, he savagely ripped each button from his jacket and angrily threw them to the ground one by one.

  -8-

  On his way back from school Leoric stopped to look in the window of a hobby shop. He recalled a happy memory when he and his father had once built model ships together. Despite the smile on his face a sickening feeling of loss and emptiness surged down to the pit of his stomach. Just how in the hell did the universe expect him to make it through today, let alone tomorrow for that matter? Just as his thoughts began to slip down into a dark place, a voice broke the chain.

  “I know of a tailor who can help you if you tell him you're from the orphanage.”

  Leoric's face screwed up. He didn't want anyone's help and felt like saying something nasty, “Look smart a-” but he stopped when he saw that the voice belonged to a short, round faced boy with shaggy blonde hair. In his cupped hands were buttons, and Leoric also noticed that this guy's knees were dirty and his shoes scuffed.

  “Those are my buttons.” Leoric said.

  “Yeah.” the boy replied “They were all over the ground and under stuff.”

  Leoric looked at the boy's pants and shoes again. This stranger had been searching on hands and knees for those buttons.

  Leoric looked away and said “I'm sorry.”

  “Aw no man. You need your buttons.”

  Leoric put his hands into his pockets “Screw'em dude.” he said.

  The boy frowned and said in a cautioning tone “You'll get beat again.”

  Leoric looked down to where the buttons were missing on his jackets and grit his teeth.

  “I don't care.”

  The boy pleaded with him “Could you try a little? Please?”

  Leoric's angry grimace melted to a small frown. Why was this guy pushing the issue so hard?

  “Okay I will, but only because you looked for my buttons and said please.”

  The boy offered his hand and said “Thanks man. My name's Ollie by the way.”

  Leoric shook his hand and said “My name's Swift.”

  He had decided on the day his father died that he would no longer be go by the name his parents gave him. It was special to him.

  Awe dawned on Ollie's face and he exclaimed as if meeting a celebrity “Leoric Swift!”

  Swift huffed and looked away again.

  “Oh...I'm sorry?” Ollie apologized even if he didn't exactly know what for.

  “It's okay. Just call me by my last name.”

  “You've got it. Your father was a hero and one heck of a pilot if you don't mind me saying so. I never get tired of seeing his zero point strike in videos.”

  Swift heard him but said nothing.

  Knowing that it was still a sensitive issue, Ollie changed the subject “How about we go get that jacket of yours fixed?”

  -9-

  Ollie had suffered as well from undersized clothing due to the orphanage's lack of resources. One afternoon, just when he couldn't take it a moment longer, he met a gentleman named Mr. Taylor. A kind and sympathetic man, the tailor took pity on Ollie and re-sized his clothing for free while offering the same favor to any friend of Ollie's who might need help. When the two boys walked into the shop the tailor was sitting in front of a particularly complex looking dress. He had a threaded needle in each hand and one in his mouth. This impressed Swift.

  The tailor took the needle from his mouth and greeted the boys “Ollie! Long time no see young man. Are you well? And hello there! A friend of Ollie's?”

  “Yes sir. Friends since this afternoon.” Swift said.

  The tailor set his sewing needles down and turned his chair to face them “That's wonderful! Well Ollie what brings you two here today?”

  “It's his jacket Mr. Taylor. It's in critical condition.” Ollie said gravely.

  Mr. Taylor adjusted his glasses and had a look at Swift's jacket “My, my, my.” he muttered and gave his grim diagnosis “It's pretty bad. He doesn't even appear to have buttons.”

  “I ripped them off.” Swift said.

  “Ah! That might have done it.” Mr. Taylor got up and knelt in front
of Swift, removing a roll of measuring tape from his pocket before asking “May I?”

  “Yes sir.” Swift said.

  Mr. Taylor grasped both sides of the jacket and attempted to close it. Swift inhaled sharply and the sides just barely touched. Mr. Taylor shook his head, let go, and then measured Swift's abdomen.

  “Not good” he said “I'll have to operate immediately.”

  Ten minutes after Ollie handed the buttons over to Mr.Taylor, Swift walked out in a full uniform that fit. As a bonus Mr. Taylor had re-sized all of his clothing, but as a setback Swift had spent the duration sitting half naked in a dressing room.

  “Magical.” Swift said looking at his reflection of his clothes in the shop window. He had thanked Mr. Taylor no less than three times before leaving.

  “I know right?” Ollie said with a big smile on his face.

  Swift began to pull at his clothes excitedly “These can't even be my clothes though. Look at my shirt! It's like a gabillion times whiter than when I got it. I thought I had received the only beige polo they had!”

  “Not even gonna lie: I thought that your polo had been soaking in rusty water before being issued to you. But nah, aside from being the only tailor in the city, he's one of the few who still uses a blend of technology and sewing by hand.”

  “I guess in 20XX people throw out their old clothes and buy new stuff.” Swift said putting his hands into his pockets and then taking them out a couple of times. He was pleased with how well his jacket fit him now.

  Ollie looked at Swift with amusement “Not if those people are orphans in the slums. By the way, what are you doing?”

  They began walking towards the subway station and Swift said “Man. When I tried putting my hands in my pockets before I thought that if I relaxed my shoulders I'd just tear the front open, and the whole dang thing would fall apart.”

  -10-

  When Swift and Ollie returned they were stopped in the main hall by a caregiver with a sour look on his face who shouted at them with unnecessary malice “You're late! Where were you two?”