by Zen DiPietro
What did it mean?
She was curled up on her bed with an infoboard one evening while Drew sat at the voicecom doing who-knows-what to some computer network. It was their usual evening routine.
Her comport beeped, and his did the same almost instantaneously.
They shared a look before seeing to whatever had come their way.
Come to the administrative building, room two seventy-five, immediately. Krazinski.
“Two seventy-five?” Drew asked.
“Yep. Let’s go.”
“Should we, like, do anything first?” he wondered.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. I feel like we should dress up or wash our hands or something.”
She snorted and knocked into him on her way to the door. “Let’s go.”
EMIKO AND DREW made it to the room within minutes, but in spite of their haste, they had not been the first ones to arrive.
She immediately recognized the two other students sitting to the right of the door. It would be hard not to. The guy was a tank. He looked right about her age, but looked to be over two meters tall and probably even heavier than he looked. He had dark hair, tanned skin, and a rough-around-the-edges look that made him stand out at the PAC Academy as much as his size did. She had shared no classes with him, though, or exchanged any words with him.
The woman was big, too, but obviously a human from Zerellus. The colony included many people with dark blonde hair and tanned skin. Her height and muscular build were unusual.
Emiko wished she could put on that kind of muscle.
She noticed that they had taken the seats furthest from the door, leaving her and Drew no choice but to sit on the seats more exposed to the doorway.
It made her feel edgy.
“Good,” Krazinski said. “Now that we’re all here, I’ll get right to it. I have personally selected the four of you to be on a black-op team that I will run. I will be your sole commanding officer, though you will be expected to follow orders from other ranking officers as you would for someone befitting your rank. Exceptions apply, of course, in terms of classified information.”
Emiko wasn’t sure what to process first. On one hand, she was beyond elated to realize that she and Drew would be on the same team. Though Whelkin had said they were looking for a team of four, she hadn’t dared to hope that she and Drew would both make it, and both be placed on that team.
It meant that they could continue their relationship and the openness they’d only recently developed.
However, the two people on the other side of the room were not what she’d expected. They looked rough. More like mercenaries than officers. Would she be able to rely on them like she could on Drew?
She looked at their hard expressions and their standoffish postures and doubted it.
“Here are your covert identities. Study yours. Study those of your team. Learn to work together. If you make it through OTS, you graduate as a team. If you wash out, you wash out as a team. From this moment onward, there is no one more important in your lives than the people in this room. Myself included.”
After giving them all a long, hard look, he handed an infoboard to each.
Drew spoke first, which didn’t surprise her. “Avian unit. I’m Raptor.”
“Hawk,” the big bear of a guy said, his voice deep and gruff.
“Peregrine,” the woman said.
Emiko frowned at her infoboard. “This says…Fallon.”
“That’s Falcon,” Krazinski said.
“No, it says Fallon.” She hated correcting an admiral, but no amount of obedience could make an l into a c.
She handed it to Krazinski, and, after a moment, he huffed out an annoyed breath. “A clerical error. Inexcusable. I’ll get it corrected.”
It felt like an inauspicious beginning, to her. If she were one to buy into bad luck harbingers, this would probably count as one.
The admiral continued, “The four of you will begin training together soon. In the meantime, I recommend you spend as much time together as possible, getting to understand one another. Additional details will be provided when you need them. So, for now, I’ll bid you goodnight and leave you to get acquainted.”
He paused at the door. “Congratulations on getting this far. But I’m going to expect a great deal of you four, individually and as a team.”
Then he was gone, leaving her and Drew eyeing the other two.
They looked no more enthusiastic.
She started things off. “My name on campus is Emiko. My cover is a security officer. My specialties are piloting and combat.”
She saw instant disdain on their faces. They didn’t think she could fight.
Tamping down on her irritation at their disrespect, she looked to Drew.
“My campus name is Drew. I guess you’ll know me as Raptor. I quite like that name, I have to say. My specialties are hacking and system infiltration.”
“Aren’t those the same thing?” Peregrine asked.
“Similar. But not the same.” Drew answered with an easy grin, but it didn’t melt her icy demeanor.
“My name here is Poppy. It’s a stupid name. Peregrine is better. I specialize in small electronics and disguises.”
“Disguises?” Drew perked up. “Like, makeup and wigs and stuff?”
“It’s a lot more than that. It’s prosthetics, understanding and being able to reproduce accents, and changing your body language and the way you move. Complete immersion into another character.”
Her reproachful tone didn’t faze him. “Cool. I look forward to learning from you.”
That made her look more closely at him, and while her expression didn’t warm up, it didn’t look so glacial, either.
The tank glared at them. “Olag on campus. Hawk to you, I guess. I specialize in getting shit done.” His eyes narrowed, as if daring them to say something about his lack of specificity.
Drew grinned. “Awesome. I love getting shit done.”
Emiko remembered what Whelkin had said about being recruited as a leader. That meant she would have to lead these three very large personalities. Right now, that meant deferring to Drew to handle these early moments, because he was better with people than she was. If anyone could build a bridge to the two brutes on the other side of the room, it was him.
An important part of leading was letting others do what they did best.
Hawk frowned at Drew, but it was more a look of consideration than disapproval.
“Do you two know each other already?” Drew asked them.
“We’ve had some classes together,” Hawk said. “You two?”
“Yeah,” Drew said. “We met during our first year and have gotten to know each other well.”
“Right. Is there anything else we’re supposed to do here?” Hawk glanced around at the other three.
Emiko sensed that he’d had enough of being cooped up with them under these circumstances. “No, I think we can all go whenever we want. We’ll meet up again soon enough.”
She kept her tone unthreatening and straightforward, but not so soft as to be perceived as weak.
Hawk stood. “Good. Until whenever that happens.”
Then he was gone.
Emiko had expected Peregrine to follow in his wake, but she remained, eyeing them.
“He and I aren’t together,” she stated flatly. “We just know each other.”
A horribly awkward silence fell. Emiko wished Drew would say something to smooth things over, but he didn’t.
“Well, I look forward to getting to know you, too,” she finally said. “Is Hawk always this abrupt?”
“Generally. He had to fight to get here, and he fights every day to stay here. I think fighting is natural to him.”
Finally, Emiko felt they might have something in common. “Same here.”
Peregrine remained blank faced. Emiko decided this would be her role model in learning to do that, because Peregrine had it down cold.
“I guess we�
�ll see,” Peregrine answered. “Anything else you want to say here?”
Emiko felt like this was her moment to say something inspirational that would pull them together as a team. She didn’t come up with anything. “I’ve worked hard in an effort to be the best. That’s not going to stop. But now, I’ll work hard for all you three, too, to make sure we’re the best team.”
Peregrine flipped her long blond ponytail back over her shoulder. “I guess that’s a start."
6
Emiko struggled to keep an even expression. As the team leader, it was her responsibility to see that she and Raptor got to know Hawk and Peregrine.
They weren’t making it easy. Hawk refused any purely social situations. Asking him to dinner or have a drink or two failed every time. Since they hadn’t been given any specific training exercises together, that left Emiko at a loss. She kept trying, though. She even visited his room to try to glean a little information about him. Maybe being in his space would get him to let his guard down just a little.
She stood in the doorway to his room. From what she could see, although he was in a building on the other side of campus, his room was similar to hers, as if they’d been stamped out of the same cookie cutter.
“What about your studies?” she persisted after he turned her down again to join her for a meal. “Is there anything you could use a study partner for?”
He frowned at her, but his gaze dropped to the floor and his body swayed slightly. Aha. She had him.
“Final grades matter, you know. I heard of a guy who washed out even after getting an assignment because he failed one of his classes.”
She’d heard no such thing, but she said it with authority.
One side of his nose wrinkled, like a dog thinking about snapping at its handler.
“Which one’s giving you trouble?” she pressed.
“Math,” he growled, sounding as if the admission wasn’t easy for him. “Never been my strong suit.”
She didn’t smile. She sensed it would be the wrong approach for him. Instead, she maintained a no-nonsense expression. “As it happens, I’m damn good at it. Let’s get to work.”
He hesitated, and she felt a thrill of victory.
“I’ve got stuff going on today.” He’d returned to his gruff, forceful tone. “We can meet tomorrow evening. Dinner’s on you, Fallon, and don’t be skimpy.” He emphasized the use of her misprinted name.
The door closed in her face. If it weren’t mechanical, she was pretty sure he would have slammed it.
No matter. She’d made inroads with him, and that was what counted. Maybe she was cut out to be the team leader, after all.
Next, she had to figure out how to reach out to Peregrine.
AGAIN, Emiko found herself outside the door of her team member. Instead of being hostile, though, Peregrine looked bored. Inconvenienced.
“I don’t do study groups. Sorry.” When she moved to close the door, Emiko edged in, causing the mechanism to abort.
“Don’t come for the studying, then. But the rest of us will be there. Do you really want to be the only one not making an effort to be part of the team? I mean, it’s early. I don’t know how permanent these assignments are if there’s one person not making an effort.”
Peregrine’s chin came up, and she looked down at Emiko. Her expression remained blank.
Emiko really wanted to learn how to do that.
“Fine. I’ll come.”
“Great. I’m bringing Bennite food. Stew and bread are my favorite, but is there something you’d prefer?”
Peregrine frowned. “No. I love their stew and bread. Just make sure you get lots.”
This time, Emiko smiled. She had a gut sense it was the right thing to do. “I keep hearing that. I’ll bring plenty.”
EMIKO CALLED in the food order to the Bennite place and paid extra to have it delivered. She didn’t want to carry enough takeout for fifteen people by herself. The cost had been significant, and she was far from rich, but she considered it an investment in her career.
She needed this study session to go well.
They couldn’t meet in the library because of the food, and none of them had a dorm room big enough to be comfortable for four. She didn’t want to meet on the quad, either, because it felt indiscreet.
Instead, she’d taken time to set up the basement training room she used with Whelkin. She’d set up two folding tables and chairs, and tossed some blankets and pillows on the floor.
She had Jane and Val to thank for the blankets and pillows. They hadn’t even asked why she needed them. She owed them one. She’d miss them after graduation. Though she had almost nothing in common with them, they’d proven to be good friends over these past three years.
She met the delivery guy at the lift, and gave him a nice tip. Then she took the food down the hall to the room and arranged it on a table.
It smelled amazing. She fought the urge to dig in, and waited.
Drew was the first to arrive. No, she needed to think of him as Raptor now. She used the name Drew in front of others, but tried to remember to think of him as Raptor.
“Where are the others?” he asked, coming close to the food and taking a deep breath. “Mmm. Do we have to wait for them?”
“Dig in. I get the feeling they’d find it weird if we waited. I don’t think they care for formalities like that, but I felt odd starting on my own.”
He wasted no time grabbing a bowl of stew and a spoon. “Good thinking.”
“Plus, it means you can eat now, instead of later, right?” she laughed.
“Absolutely,” he said around a mouthful of stew.
“How did your practicals go today?” She sat in a chair and pulled a bowl of stew toward her.
“Good. I’ll be glad when they’re done, though. I feel like my brain is fried with all the memorizing I’ve had to do. It’s not practical. No one memorizes everything. You keep sheets of things you need.”
She carefully peeled the lid off her stew. Steam rolled out and condensation dripped off the top into her food. “It’s not about the things you’re memorizing. It’s about pushing you to the breaking point, and seeing how you do under pressure. It’s about finding the best.”
He nodded, his mouth too full to speak.
Hawk came through the door, instantly making the room feel much more populated. “Is this where you two train with Whelkin?”
She and Raptor exchanged a look.
“What?” Hawk said. “That can’t be a secret anymore.”
He had a point.
Emiko pushed a bowl of soup toward him. “Help yourself.”
Hawk picked up a chair and set it down further away from her. The chair wasn’t heavy, but he handled it like it had no weight.
She wanted to keep him talking, since he seemed inclined to. “Why do you think Whelkin hasn’t put us together to train?”
Hawk wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Easy. The class championships are coming up and he doesn’t want us learning each other's styles. The top brass wants to see how we approach each other as unknown quantities.”
Huh. That made perfect sense. What other clever insights might Hawk have?
Peregrine entered silently, picked up some food, then sat on the floor against the wall. She gave them a nod, but said nothing.
Emiko sighed inwardly. These two weren’t going to make this easy.
She looked to Raptor. He was the charming one.
Raptor hitched his shoulders up in a shrug. Some help he was.
Right. It was up to her. What could the four of them possibly have in common? They needed some interest or topic of conversation to break the ice.
She didn’t come up with anything.
They continued eating, and as she chewed a piece of bread, she decided to try asking them about their specialties. If they didn’t share any interests, then she could show interest in their talents.
“Peregrine, you said you’re into small electronics, is that right?”
&nbs
p; Peregrine looked up, swallowed, and said, “Yes.”
Emiko waited for more, but no such luck. “Repairing or creating?”
“Both. Anything. I used to do more modding of existing hardware, but since I got here, I’ve been doing more creating from scratch.”
Yes! Emiko had gotten an entire sentence out of her! Plus, it had yielded actual information.
Hawk turned to look at her, looking interested. “Modding as in typical stuff or as in illegal mods.”
Peregrine looked at him a long moment, as if weighing her answer. “Mostly illegal. At least, those were the fun ones.”
Hawk smiled. “Nice.”
“Why is that nice?” Peregrine asked.
“A lot of what I’m good at leans toward the not-legal side, as well.” He bit off a huge hunk of bread and chewed.
“Really?” Peregrine sat straighter. “Like what?”
He returned his attention to his stew. “This and that.”
Emiko thought he’d retreated back into himself again, but then he added, “I’m good at navigating dangerous places and dealing with dangerous people.”
He looked up at her. “How about you, Fallon?”
Drew—no, Raptor—chuckled at the use of her misprinted name, and it made her smile, too. Maybe Hawk would turn out to be funny, if he ever let his guard down.
“What about me?” she asked. “I already told you my specialties. Flying and fighting.”
“Flying what? Fighting how?”
“I’ll fly anything. If someone put wings on a clothes processor, I’d fly it. I can fly drones, too. Same thing for fighting. Hand-to-hand, weapons, anything.” She shrugged.
“She’s a heck of a knife thrower,” Raptor offered.
Hawk gave him a long, hard look. “How long have you two been a couple?”
Raptor blinked, but recovered quickly. “Since about halfway through the first year. Is that problematic for you?”
“Not unless you make it a problem, with fighting or whatever. Just keep your personal shit clear of our work.”
