by Taylor Smith
He set the bottle down between them saying “But that’s just another reason I signed the contract to sponsor you,” he said, meeting her eyes with worry. “We both have to get off this ship before that happens, so my entire share of bounty, from whatever marks we can catch, go toward paying Clew and the ship for your early release and citizenship. I read the contract several times to make sure it was proper before I signed it. One year,” he stated with confidence.
Asaya smiled at him, and he thought he saw the beginnings of tears before she leaned over and kissed him.
Chapter 2
Haley Marks… the admiral said across the loudspeaker. Heads turned her way as the voice echoed through the air.
Haley took a deep breath, placed her cover back on her head and rose from her chair. She was not nervous, she was proud of herself and her accomplishments, but she gained even more composure from the brief, reassuring pat from her best friend and classmate Saundi. She nodded to her friend, who responded with a wink, and made her way through the sea of tables toward the dais at the front of the reception hall.
She brushed past several silver and white streamers that hung in long trails from the ceiling. As she walked, she made a point to savor the full beauty of the famous Officer’s Formal. There were over a thousand graduates attending the event, each dressed impeccably in their officer white’s. She noticed the shimmer of silver each uniform’s trim produced as she passed.
In true Allied Fleet form, the night had been spectacular from start to finish. The festivity was designed specifically to honor and celebrate the cadets that worked so hard to graduate, and it didn’t fall short. Multiple speeches had been given, praising the attendees and encouraging each cadet to make them proud. The food had been five star, her favorite being the petit steak they served with wild mushroom gravy. The music had been a wonderful mixture of current hit symphonies, as well as the classic melodies from Earth.
After four of the hardest years in her life, Haley drank it all in savoring each bite, word and note.
The violins playing seemed to fade a touch as she climbed the steps toward some of the most powerful officers in the Allied Fleet. Coming to a stop in front of Admiral Jonas, Haley fortified herself as best she could and produced a proud salute to her superior.
The Admiral returned her salute with a slight upturn of the corner of his mouth and said, “Congratulations Ensign.” He then handed her a small box, opened so she could see the light gleaming off the silver pins denoting the rank of Ensign.
Haley accepted the box with as much control as she could muster and tried desperately not to quickly snatch the pins from his hand in all her excitement. “Thank you, Admiral,” she replied crisply. She knew her outward appearance was the chiseled perfection that the Allied Fleet demanded in an officer, but inside she was exploding with smile and joy.
The Admiral’s visage became stern and proper before he took a step back and stood straight and tall. He then handed her a sealed envelope that bore the Allied Fleet crest of the military branch. “Orders,” he said curtly.
Nodding, she took the offered envelope and saluted once more. “Yes, sir,” she said and then turned to make her way back to her seat. As she neared the other side of the dais, she stopped to shake the hands of the commanding officers of the Academy before she finally stepped back down into the sea of cadets.
It was when she finally returned to her chair, among the hundreds of tables in the ballroom, that she allowed herself to smile again. That thirty seconds she spent up among the Admiralty was everything she’d dreamed. She was awash with pride and couldn’t help but take satisfaction in the fact that this was what she was destined for.
Being the orphan of an Allied Fleet officer, she’d spent her entire life in the custody of the Alliance military. In one form or another, from the special orphanage until she was twelve, fleet preparation school and then finally the academy proper two years ago, the Fleet had been her mother and father. Now she was ready to begin her true calling. She was finally an officer in the Allied Fleet she loved so dearly.
“Well?” an animated voice came from beside her. “Open! Open!”
Haley laughed at Saundi’s excitement. “We’ll open them together.” Saundi had been with her from their first day at the academy when the two perfect strangers were assigned as roommates. Their fields of expertise had separated drastically when Haley chose tactics and Saundi started her communications track. Even so, they still shared everything and helped each other study for the ever increasing difficulty of their training. Saundi was an excitable and sometimes rash girl, but all that was completely overshadowed by her friendship and genius.
Saundi nodded in excitement and tore her envelope open with abandon.
Haley shook her head at her friend’s enthusiasm and carefully lifted the seal, taking great care to break it evenly. She wanted to savor each moment and save it all for framing later. She opened the envelope she drew out its contents. Carefully, she unfolded the thick sheet of paper. Before she could read her orders, she closed her eyes in anticipation.
She had the highest scores in her class. She’d done everything her advisors had asked to the letter and more. She’d even helped make some minor improvements in the latest tactical systems with Saundi’s help in the programming aspect of it. That’s what had catapulted them to the top. The Prometheus was hers, she knew it. To be assigned to the flag ship of the Allied Fleet was the highest prize she could think of.
She took a deep breath, and opened her eyes.
“What the hell?” came Saudi’s voice from beside her, looking at her own orders. “What’s the Valiant?”
Haley’s excitement deflated. The music, chatter and cheer seemed to drop into silence as she read her own orders. “Valiant…” she whispered. Not the Prometheus. What the hell, indeed.
***
Two days later, Haley stood patiently in the shuttle departure wing of Allied Fleet headquarters. Everything was perfect except one thing. All she owned had been checked thrice, then packed neatly into her duffle per fleet regulations and slung over her shoulder. She wore her service whites, pressed perfectly, boots and buttons shone just enough. Her orders were in hand. Her orders were the reason her expression was not regulation perfection.
She’d tried to tell herself that everything happened for a reason. Every beat of an insect’s wing or horrific solar flare had some purpose, but she still hung on the thought that she’d done something wrong to warrant assignment to any ship but the Prometheus.
“Haley!” came a familiar voice from down the corridor.
She turned and smiled, glad to see Saundi sauntering toward her. She noticed her uniform looked a bit below her own standards, but that was Saundi. Excitable, brash and would do anything for you even if it meant throwing herself into danger.
“Are we in the right place, Haley?” Saundi said, looking around the empty gate. “Where is everyone?”
Lost in her own thoughts, Haley hadn’t noticed this before. She looked around with her friend and realized she was right. They were the only two in sight. “I checked the board when I came in,” Haley replied. “The gate hasn’t changed. Do you think we’re the only two that were assigned to the Valiant?”
“Don’t know. Could be due to the Valiant’s mission, and all that,” Saundi said with a shrug.
Haley’s head whipped toward her friend. “What mission?” she asked.
Saundi’s shoulders dropped and she gave Haley an exacerbated expression saying, “You’re kidding me, Haley.” She sighed and shook her head. “You mean to tell me that you haven’t even looked the Valiant up?”
“No,” Haley replied with a frown.
The sound of a duffle being dropped to the floor echoed through the empty hall. Saundi set her fists firmly on her hips and stared at Haley through veiled eyelids. “You’re so bent out of shape about not being assigned to the mighty Prometheus so you could sit in orbit and do squat just looking pretty that you didn’t even care to do a l
ittle research into where you were headed?” Saundi threw her arms up and shouted, “What’s wrong with you, girl?”
Haley jumped slightly, losing her composure at her friend’s outburst and waved her hands in surrender. “Ok, ok,” she said, trying to keep her own voice down in hopes it would calm her friend. “You’re right, I am… was… upset.” She took a step back eyeing her friend wearily as she seemed to settle down. “What did you find out?”
Saundi’s expression shifted immediately to an excited smile. “Ok, forget that oversized bucket of bore in orbit, we’ve been assigned to…” she paused dramatically, eyeing Haley with a sly look before continuing “…are you ready for it?” Saundi looked around like she was about to share a galactic secret, then whispered, “A pirate hunter.”
Haley stared expressionless for a moment as her mind whirled. “A pirate hunt-“
“A pirate hunter!” The squeal from Saundi made Haley cringe. “Active! Pirate! Huntaaaaa,” Saundi drawled out and swayed back and forth, snapping her fingers as she said it. “It’s so exciting!”
Haley just gaped as her friend celebrated in front of her. On one hand, a prestigious assignment to Prometheus was lost to her. On the other hand, she’d been picked for an active combat mission assigned to a ship that was definitely not simply guarding a solar system and waiting for something to happen. A smile slowly formed across her lips as she looked back to her friend, still strutting around like a peacock.
The shuttle finally arrived, and the two Ensigns boarded without incident. There was no congratulatory welcome, or even a friendly smile from the pilot as he ushered them inside the shuttle. It didn’t bother either of them, though. They were more excited to see the warship they were destined for.
The small craft lifted easily from the ground and climbed quickly through the upper atmosphere of Adara until it finally escaped from the planet’s pull and shot toward the massive space station above.
Haley watched out the porthole as the shuttle neared the space station Zenith while Saundi sat beside her listening privately to music. Zenith wasn’t the largest station the Alliance held, but the single disk floating in space was still almost a kilometer wide. She could pick out the many ships moored to the outside of the massive structure. All sizes were present, from the smallest frigates, to cruisers all the way up to the massive battleship class vessels like the flag ship. Their hulls glistened white and their smooth lines running along their elongated forms seemed to tell the tale of how fast and dangerous they were. She wondered which one was the Valiant.
Joining the Allied Fleet was Haley’s dream. To be a part of something so big and to make a true difference in the known worlds was what she knew she was destined for. Thirty eight colonies sent their best and brightest to the academy. Out of her class, she had been the best. No one could take that from her, but once more she felt a slight pang of regret at not being assigned to the flagship.
Suddenly she noticed their flight plan was wrong for docking with Zenith. Then the shuttle banked slightly away from the crowded station and she saw where they were headed. “Saundi,” she said, elbowing her friend to get her attention.
Sitting just outside the lanes of station traffic, sat the dark shape of a heavy cruiser. Its lines were sharp, but its hull was discolored in random places from taking weapons fire, making it look even more menacing. Haley noticed the stark contrast between this one and the ships at the station, making the other clean, handsome vessels of the Allied Fleet look lazy and unused. The Valiant was war-worn and seemed to radiate pride because of it.
The pilot expertly maneuvered the small shuttle into the open bay doors and set the craft down with a resounding metallic thump. “Shuttle clamped and powering down. All set. Out ya go,” the pilot announced unceremoniously from the small cockpit in front of them.
Haley and Saundi began gathering their duffels and moved to the hatch, which soon hissed open and lowered itself to the bay floor with a light clank. As they walked down into the large hold, Haley took it all in. It was less clean than she imagined. Grease had accumulated in certain spots where tools and spare parts were scattered, and the clean lines on the floors and walls denoting different areas of caution or purpose were scratched and faded. The air was strong with chemicals and fuel.
“Are you Ensigns Marks and Adair?” a shrewd voice sounded from behind the shuttle.
Haley immediately rushed around the shuttle with Saundi to come face to face with a tall, wiry man wearing rumpled ships grays bearing Commander’s pins. She dropped her duffel at her side and came to attention as soon as they had both come to a stop. “Ensign Marks reporting for duty, sir,” Haley said as she performed a perfect salute. She shot a quick glance at his name on the right breast of his uniform to found that it read ‘Vitt’.
“Ensign Adair reporting for duty, sir,” Saundi said directly after Haley and mirrored her salute.
“Orders,” Commander Vitt said, plainly unimpressed, and held out his hand.
Both Ensigns drew their papers out as ordered with their left hands, while still holding a perfect salute with their right. Haley, even though her eyes were staring just above the Commanders head, thought she saw him roll his eyes.
Vitt flipped through the papers he was given, and without looking up or returning their salute said, “Follow me,” and began walking toward an exit at the far side of the bay.
Haley looked at Saundi and found her friend’s expression mirrored her own confusion and surprise. They both dropped their salutes and grabbed their duffels to follow the Commander.
“Commander Vitt,” Saundi whispered to Haley as they walked. “He has to be the XO.”
Haley nodded and was about to respond when Vitt spoke loudly over his shoulder, “Congratulations on solving that mystery, greenhorn. I’ll have to mention to the Captain how perceptive you two are.”
Saundi paused for a moment, unsure what to say and finally decide on “Thank you, sir,” then shrugged at Haley while silently mouthing “greenhorns?”
Haley decided that was as neutral an answer as you can give without getting into more trouble, so she simply shrugged back and kept her mouth shut. Her confusion only intensified and she hoped that when they met the Captain, if that was where they were going, everything would fall into place.
As they followed Vitt through the ship, Haley couldn’t help but grow excited. The Valiant seemed in good order even though she could tell it needed a little spit and polish, and she could feel herself relax slightly knowing her adventure in the Allied Fleet had begun. Now all she had to do was try and get on the command crews good side, including Vitt, and she could make this work.
Vitt finally stopped and pressed the call button at a door which, if Haley remembered correctly, was the ships war room, so the bridge was just another twenty or so feet in the same direction they were already headed. She was eager to see the bridge of the Valiant.
The door opened and Vitt lead the silent Ensigns into a well lit room with large tapestries of starscapes and nebulae on the walls. A very detailed model of the Valiant herself sat on a dark-stained wooden pedestal to their left. A large, elongated table surrounded by comfortable looking chairs was the room centerpiece. The chair at the very end was occupied by a great, bull of a man with slightly tussled, dark hair wearing ship grays adorned with Captain’s pins. He didn’t lift his gaze as they entered.
“Here’s the fresh meat, Captain,” Vitt said with a sideways nod toward the girls.
The large man looked up and shook his head saying “Fine. Give us a few minutes, Vitt, shut the door. And for all’s sake, get us out of this damned system.”
“Hallelujah,” replied Vitt and left the room.
Haley took a step forward and again, dropped her duffel and saluted. “Ensign Marks reporting-“
“Ok, ok I know who you are,” the Captain replied with a dismissing wave of his hand, eliciting the first outwardly surprised looks from both Haley and Saundi. “Sit down,” he ground out, obviously upset.
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Saundi recovered from her shock first, and sat quickly in the nearest chair. Haley was not far behind.
“I’m going to shoot straight with you two,” he started as he gathered and neatly stacked the papers in front of him and then leaned back with a sigh. “I don’t want you here, my crew doesn’t want you here and we sure as hell don’t need you.”
Haley reeled back in open surprise. Of all the things she expected, even the grunt work that comes with being the lowest ranked officer on board, she never predicted being trampled verbally by her first captain. It wasn’t even akin to the psychological practice of breaking someone down to build them back up. This was severe dismissal. “Captain, I-“ she began with a weak voice.
“We were two days from intercepting a highly active and dangerous criminal we’d been hunting for months,” he began with an unwavering gaze, “and we receive orders demanding that we break off and come pick you two up.” He slammed the papers back onto the table making the two ensigns jump, and stood from his seat placing his hands on the table. “Now I know that was out of your control, but if you notice a high volume of cold shoulders while you’re aboard, now you know why.”
Haley knew her demeanor was out of her control at this point, but she refused to lose control of her thoughts or break eye contact with the man. Nothing in her training had prepared her for this, but she chose then and there to make the best effort possible. And if this was the type of Captain she would be working for, then she better handle him wisely. She decided that if she gave him what he truly wanted, perhaps he would capitulate and end this madness.
