On Dagger's Wings (The Spiral War Book 1)

by SF Edwards

  Blazer thought back to the gash he’d seen in the asteroid shell. It correlated with Gavit’s account. “It looked that way.”

  “Did you get a chance to see what was left of the freighters?” Deniv asked.

  Blazer shook his head. “No. Those get pulled into the outer docks orbiting on the opposite side of the shell.”

  “You eat anything?” Arion asked, hopping down from his bed.

  “No. Do we have anything in the fridge?” he asked as his stomach growled.

  Deniv pulled open the fridge and looked inside. “Not much. We have some fruit, half a bottle of milk, and, ooh, hey! I forgot we had this,” he said and pulled out a steak they’d grilled a few cycles before. “Want me to heat this up? It should still be good.”

  “Yeah, sure. I don’t care.”

  Deniv ran into the bathroom and activated the sonic shower. During the break, the bunkmates had retooled their sonic shower with a trick they’d learned as buoy boys. It could now use sound waves like a microwave oven to warm up food placed inside it when so instructed by vibrating only the water molecules within.

  “I need to get cleaned up,” Blazer said a moment later and started peeling off his suit.

  “Not while I’m cooking,” Deniv yelled back from the bathroom. “You’ve had a hard enough cycle as it is.” Blazer couldn’t help but agree and flopped back into the chair.

  The silence was deafening. The sonic shower’s low hum only served to make the room seem even stiller as a singular question hung in the air since before he’d arrived. Bichard poked his head over the edge of his bunk. The movement drew Blazer’s attention as he made eye contact. “How is Marda?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t spoken with her yet. She’s OK, I think.” Everyone looked around quietly, not sure how to deliver the bad news. “What?”

  “We saw her getting taken off to medical,” Arion replied, sitting down next to Blazer.

  “No,” Blazer waved them off. “No. She’s fine. She was helping the medics. She was really brave on the decks by helping the injured as much as she could and directing others before the Medical Corps arrived.”

  Deniv walked out with the steak, placing it on a plate and handing it to Blazer. “Eat that and get yourself cleaned up and go to her.”

  “What?”

  “Go to her, man. Clean yourself up and go to her. We know what she means to you, brother, even if you won’t admit it.”

  Blazer looked around at his friends and comrades and then up at Arion. Arion nodded. Has Arion put aside whatever animosity he feels towards Marda? Ah who cares, it doesn’t matter.

  “Her squad has been literally decimated, guys. She needs to be with them…”

  “No,” Arion retorted. “She needs to be with you and you’re going to pass out if you don’t eat something. Get yourself cleaned up. You don’t want to go to her looking like some grease monkey.”

  Blazer reluctantly agreed. It felt good to get something on his stomach. All too quickly, he consumed the steak in front of him. Aching from the exertion earlier, he got to his feet and tried to check the time. “How long until lights out?”

  “About twenty pulses,” Arion replied.

  It takes five pulses just to get to Marda’s room. That left him no time to get cleaned up. He headed for the door.

  “Don’t get caught out after lights out. Try not to get caught in her room after lights out either,” Arion added.

  “Gee! So I have to charge over there, comfort her and beat feet back in less than twenty pulses? Thanks.” Blazer muttered as he ducked out in the hallway at a run.

  UCSBA-13, Dorm Room 116

  Marda’s room was two floors up from Blazer’s on the ground level. He rushed headlong there, taking two steps at a time as he climbed. He ran onto the floor. The unnatural silence pressed down on him. No one milled about in the passageways and no conversations penetrated the doors. This late in the cycle, it wasn’t uncommon for that kind of silence. Many cadets would already be asleep or studying quietly at their desks. However, someone was always out in the passageway. To see no one was unusual.

  As Blazer reached Marda’s door, he hesitated. He had no idea what he would say or do. Steeling his nerves, he reached out and knocked. She always prefers knocks. When no one responded again his mind raced. Where is she? Is she already asleep?

  As he raised his hand a third time an orb poked through the door. “You!” he said, recognizing it. “What are you doing here?”

  Before Blazer could say more, the orb disappeared back through the door. His two orbs had taken such a fancy to her. The door slid away and a moment later. Marda stood there in her rumpled underclothes. Her hair was a mess and her face streaked with tears. There wasn’t another living soul in the room. Oh Shreg, one of her roommates died, and the other had ejected, she’s probably still in medical. The last two bunks had been empty since before the break due to the previous owners washing out early on.

  He cursed himself as he rushed in, taking her in his arms. Her head fell against his chest and she began to weep. They were the plaintive sobs of someone who was nearly out of tears. Where are the rest of her squad mates? After a long moment he felt her legs weaken and walked her over to a desk. “How are you holding up?”

  “How does it look like I’m doing?” she shot back, anger entering her voice.

  “Where’s the rest of your squad?”

  “Some of them are still up in medical. I’ve only just got back. The rest of us were sent back to our rooms.”

  Blazer held her tight. Her head rested against his chest so that she could hear his hearts beating. He fought to slow them. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you! I couldn’t do this for you earlier.”

  “No! No,” she said, letting tears roll onto his chest. “You were doing your job. Who knows how many of them you’ve saved just by plugging those leaks and getting them out of their cockpits.”

  Blazer lifted her chin so that she could face him and brushed a hair out of her face. “You were the brave one there, Marda. No one expected you to help the injured after you landed. You could have just gone over to the rescue cart and waited. Instead, you waded back in and you helped your comrades.”

  Marda reluctantly nodded. “I didn’t see that I had a choice.”

  Blazer watched the two orbs circle the pair of them. “How long have these two been around?”

  “Ever since they found out. They’ve been the only ones here to help comfort me.”

  Blazer held back an involuntary shiver. The comfort of the dead can’t be helping her much right now. He held her close. She needs the warmth of another living, breathing person right now. “I’ll always be here for you. I want you to know that.”

  He felt her sniffle against his chest. Her body relaxed against him as she began to release some of the tension that had kept her going all cycle. “I wanted so badly for you to just say the Sheol with it and come to me. I wanted to call out to you and I, I’ve never needed someone so much before. I felt like some weak little girl.”

  “You weren’t weak. I wanted to say the Sheol with all of it too and to just take you and get you away from all of that carnage,” he said turning her face back up to his. “I wanted to let you know that it was going to be all right. But you and I both know that would have been a lie. People are going home after this. The two who didn’t make it, did they…”

  Marda shook her head and exhaled a sigh of relief. “No. They moved beyond. Sometimes with deaths like that the souls get stuck. They don’t realize that they’re dead. But they did and now all I can say is that they’ve passed beyond.”

  Blazer held her close again and the lights out call went out. Marda pulled away and wiped the tears from her face, trying to put on a brave front. “You need to go. If they find you out after lights out…”

  “If they find me out after lights out dressed the way I am they’ll assume I came from the hangar.”

  She looked at him and nodded. It was the first time that she’d
noticed the grease on his uniform. She felt the oil that smeared her face as a result. Blazer noticed it too and pulled a cleaning sheet from his pocket. He wiped the smear away. The move was full of gentle care and love. He stopped to stare into her eyes and slowly kissed her. She kissed him back. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have,” he said as they pulled away.

  “No. It’s fine. I wanted you to. I’ve wanted you to for so long. Stay with me. Just please stay with me this until the dawn.”

  He nodded and helped her up into her bed. He stood there watching her for a long moment. I can’t just leave her all alone like that. As quickly and as quietly as he could, he stripped out of his jumpsuit, leaving only his sweaty underclothes on and climbed up into the bed with her. She rolled to face him, forcing him onto his back and tried to kiss him. Her intent was obvious, she wanted to give over to her base instincts, but Blazer stopped her.

  “No. Not like this,” he said and kissed her on the forehead. “Believe me, I want that too but not now,” he continued. Pulling her close, he laid her head on his chest. She curled up against him, and as his arm encircled her, felt her tighten her grip on him. All too soon though the exhaustion of the cycle took hold and she fell asleep to the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. Soon, thereafter, so did he.

  Blazer awoke a few hects later to the insistence of the orbs. Marda lay asleep on his chest. Her head rose and fell with his breaths. So soft. So warm. He closed his eyes.

  The orbs flashed images at him; his body getting out the bed, dressing, and running to the door. He opened his eyes again. “What? What’s the big idea?” he whispered.

  A word came:

  Blazer’s eyes went wide with terror. Security must know that I’m out of bed, but how? Damn it. My macomm and its tracking beacon are still in my jumpsuit. The stupid thing saved you when there was an emergency. It ratted on you out when there wasn’t. I’m a fragging idiot.

  Blazer pulled himself free of Marda, struggled into his uniform, and snapped his boots closed, thoughts of dismissal flitting through his mind. Blazer slowly made his way to the door and stole one last look at her before he ducked out. He couldn’t risk her getting into trouble. I just hope that if they catch me looking the way that I do that I can avoid trouble. He crept down the darkened passageway with the orbs running ahead of him.

  “Is it a manual inspection or an automatic one?” he whispered to the orbs. The nearest one flashed an image of a security officer patrolling the halls. Good! A manual inspection means that they know someone’s out of bed but not where and maybe not even who. Still, something had to have tripped the alert, so why haven’t they found me?

  He grabbed his arm to check his macomm and found a mass of foam sealant there soaked into the material. The sealant had damaged his device; burning out the beacon if not the whole unit. He reached down and checked his leg pocket. His father’s macomm was intact.

  He turned on the old macomm, pulled up a homework list, and started working on it while he walked.

  The guard rounded the corner. “You! What are you doing out of bed?” he called out as he fixed Blazer with his light beam.

  “I, I just got off shift a little bit ago and I had to do my homework,” Blazer replied holding up the macomm for the enlisted security crewman to see.

  The guard looked him over. My uniform must look ready for the recycler. The feel of dirt and grime on his face told him that he didn’t look much better.

  “You were on the recovery?” the guard asked.

  “Yes. I’m sorry. I just lost track of time.”

  “Do you know what time it is?”

  Blazer looked down at the macomm and noted that it was nearly the end of the cycle. “Late, sir.”

  “Where’s your head, cadet?”

  “About to fall off my shoulders,” Blazer stated automatically. Why would he ask that question? Then it hit him. Chief Flind must have sent him to find me. Did he want to make sure that I’m OK after what happened? Is that a good thing, or not?

  “I’ll head back to my room. Sorry, sir. I just didn’t want to wake my roommates.”

  “Don’t stress it, cadet,” the guard said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You and the others did a great job this cycle. Now go get some rest.”

  Blazer nodded.

  “You know what? I’ll walk you back to your room just to make sure you make it back OK.”

  UCSB DATE: 1000.281

  Star System: Classified, UCSBA-13, Library Meeting Room 1

  I knew the mood of the academy would be a dark one this cycle, but I just didn’t think it would be this grim though. He watched over the intraweave as the academy laid two cadets to rest by shooting their bodies into the local sun as dictated in their wills. Only the survivors of Training Squadron Eleven and the cadre were physically present at the funeral. Blazer had a hard time not watching Marda through the hologram.

  The funeral was not the only thing darkening moods this cycle. Immediately following the funeral, the accident investigation board had released their findings. “It wasn’t a malfunction as rumored,” Blazer revealed to the team. “The official cause of the accident is as follows,” he read from the announcement on his macomm and eyed Gokhead in particular. “Cadet (former) Pali Toline has been found guilty of gross negligence and misconduct in the hacking of the flight control system of drone Freighter F13-16-2B on Confed date 1000.278. This intrusion into the flight control system caused the computer to initiate an unauthorized full engine burn that crashed drone Freighter F13-16-2B into drone Freighter F13-27-3A and resulted in the deaths of two fellow cadets and the severe injury of another. Names have been withheld.”

  The room fell silent as Blazer proceeded. “Cadet (former) Pali Toline is hereby sentenced by military tribunal to twenty annura hard labor, dishonorable discharge upon completion of sentence, and loss of Confederacy.”

  Deniv let out a low whistle.

  “Cadets (former) Quix Fain and Chise Delore, knowing full well of Cadet (former) Pali Toline’s intentions and making no attempt to stop him, will receive dishonorable discharges on Confed date 1000.281 and full loss of Confederate status.”

  The room sat in silence for a long moment as the squad considered the verdict. Blazer looked about and read their faces. “It sucks. Two people are dead and three careers are ruined because of this mess.”

  “Six,” Zithe interrupted. “Three of Squadron Eleven’s number turned in their 618-Gs.”

  Blazer nodded. “Six careers are ruined. Now we all just wait and see what happens with the rest of Squad Eleven.”

  “Sorry for being late,” Seri apologized. She was wearing her old blue fleet jumpsuit again. She hadn’t worn it since their first cycle at the academy. “You all know what happened to Training Squadron Eleven by now,” she continued.

  They all nodded.

  “The cadre is breaking up what is left of the unit. As you know; most of the Special Ops Candidate Teams have already taken losses due to washouts by either voluntary means or forced,” Seri lectured. “So let this serve as yet another reminder of what happens out in the real universe. Training accidents happen even in the fleet. Several happen because people poke their noses into places they shouldn’t be,” Seri stated with emphasis at Gokhead. She then turned her eyes to Blazer. “Tinkering can get you into a lot of trouble too.”

  Blazer looked across the table at his roommates. Did one of them tell her what he was up to with his fighter? Had Chief Flind? He kept quiet. He didn’t want to incriminate anyone.

  Sighing, Seri continued, “Anyway I was just released from a meeting with the cadre and all the squadron commanders received new personnel. They looked over our roster and made a determination about who we will be receiving from Squadron Eleven.”

  Everyone looked around curious. Please, let it be, he couldn’t even think her name for fear of jinxing it.

  “Currently the Blade Force has no one enrolled or even showing curiosity in enrolling in the Medical Corps,” Seri explaine
d. “It’s a big hole in our unit. Training Squadron Eleven, on the other hand, had three cadets enrolled in the Medical Corps. Two of them remain. Your new team member will be joining you shortly and that will give the Blade Force a full complement.”

  Blazer’s eyes went wide. He hadn’t thought about that. Looking across the table, he noticed Zithe sitting there tall and proud. Blazer sat up straighter in his chair as well.

  Seri looked at the two of them. “No. The time for that hasn’t come yet,” she stated with annoyance.

  Zithe’s face showed a mixture of anger and disappointment at the news, but Blazer just raised his hand and Seri nodded to him. “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “While the team is now at a full complement, I have yet to decide who will replace me as team leader. I will remain team lead until such a time as I make that determination.”

  Blazer and Zithe looked at each other. Zithe gave Blazer a simple nod which he returned, the game was still on.

  “I will also be taking on one of Squadron Eleven’s number as my future WSO. That cadet has already taken the WSO tests, indicating that as their preferred position. Both will continue with us in basic flight. So Cadet Railet Atair will be joining us as my wingman and vice squadron leader. When we transition next annura he will follow as my WSO.”

  Everyone nodded. Blazer had met Railet before with a few of the others. He’s a competent pilot but definitely a systems man. I think he still has the highest navigation scores of our class.

  “Now your new medic is standing outside those doors,” Seri continued.

  Everyone looked and noticed a female hominid silhouetted against the frosted glass window of the door. “I want you all to make her feel welcome. I know most of you already know her.” She pressed a stud on her macomm and the door opened a moment later.