Defender of the Empire: Cadet #1

by Catherine Beery

  There was nothing there other than a plant. I frowned. I had though there had been a shadow… I glanced up at the light and didn’t see anything that could have cast it. I guess it was possible for a bug to have flown by. But that would have been a big bug… and the movement had only been near the innocent looking plant. I stared at it some more. The leaves were still and I guessed that only a wind from outside would shift them in their sheltered spot. Only problem with that was the simple fact that the door hadn’t opened since I came in and that had been several minutes before. Long past when a wind should have moved the leaves.

  “Sorry about that. What can I do for you?” Ms. Porter’s voice distracted me from the mystery.

  “I just arrived today and I was told to come here after dinner for placement tests and an exam.”

  “Ah. Your name, dear?”

  “Rylynn Sinclair.” I said, leaning slightly on the desk.

  Ms. Porter’s eyes were once again drawn to the screen once again. I heard a succession of clicks. She must have found what she was looking for because she made a small sound of discovery. “Here we are.” She turned back to me. “We’ll start you on the aptitude tests before giving you your medical exam.”

  “Okay.” I said swallowing. Now that I wasn’t worrying about some shadow mystery I could now appreciate that the tests that would shape my future here at the academy were upon me. Nervous fear sat on my shoulders.

  Ms. Porter smiled as she stood up. Her well-proportioned frame made her look even more delicate. She led me to the room that was to the right behind the desk. She turned on the light before telling me how the test worked. It was a program on the computer. All I had to do was follow its directions and answer all questions as well as I could. I was told by both Ms. Porter and the program that I was strictly forbidden to use the hyper net. If I did use it, they would know and it would invalidate the test. I promised I wouldn’t. I figured I was safe because I didn’t even know what it was. It was probably one of those basic Citizen things that was exotic to a mere colonist like me.

  Forty odd minutes later saw me finished with the test. I hit the submit button. The computer sent the results to the printer at the secretary’s desk. It was also kind enough to show me my results. There were five types of skill questions they had asked me: literary and reading, Science, Languages of the Empire, cartography and the reading of maps and charts, math, and, finally, technology. I did very well at reading and knowing classic literature (Thank you Aunt Sylvie and your library). Science was another strong point, as I had known about most of what they had asked. I only had trouble with the really knitty gritty things. Of the many languages found throughout the Empire, I knew only Lenti and Trade/ Common. I was looking forward to learning others.

  In regards to maps, I could make and understand land maps. When it came to star charts I was pretty hopeless. It was another one I was hoping would be developed.

  Anything beyond basic math had looked like random gibberish to me. I figured that anyone who could make sense of and work with such craziness must be geniuses.

  The final skill set that had been tested was what I figured the test makers had expected to be the easiest. I hadn’t gotten any of it. My ignorance of basic technology available to Citizens was showing. There had been diagrams with all the various parts of some gadget that I was supposed to label. I was also supposed to name the gadget. The only ones that I was able to name were the Med-Comp, communicator, and computer. I was able to label the a few parts of the computer… the hard drive, energy source, body, and screen. . Of ten selected gadgets, that was all I could do. I felt so shamed by that.

  I exited the program and met with the secretary at her desk. She gave me a puzzled look over the results of the test. “We will have to fix that tech knowledge, hun.” Was all she said about it though. No kidding I thought as she printed out something, which she then handed to me. It was a class schedule. I was both embarrassed and happy to see that my first class tomorrow was a basic technology lab. “Now, you are going to follow Meghan here to you medical exam.” Ms. Porter said. I glanced over to the nurse who stood next to the desk. I startled, having not seen her arrive. She smiled at me and indicated that I should follow her down the hall at the left of the desk.

  Meghan showed me into a small room that looked like a high tech version of the clinic at home. There was the requisite chair that could be lowered into a table for the patient. Then there was the rolly chair for the doctor or nurse. Then there was the small desk with various medical trappings. It was the ceiling that was different. There was some kind of device up there. Given that it was over the patient chair, I figured it was some sort of scanner… or someone just wanted the patient nervous during exams and thus put a heavy looking metal contraption over their heads. “So the plan is this, Rylynn.” Meghan told me. “I am going to give you a basic exam. Then I am going to lead you to another room where we test your flexibility, reflexes, and strength. “

  I sat on the chair and she asked me to please hold still while the body scanner checked for any problems. So I was proved right. The big metal contraption over my head emitted light the tickled over my skin. It lasted only a couple seconds before turning off again. Megan studied the read out on the computer at the room’s desk.

  “Everything looks good.” She said. She frowned and turned to look “You don’t have a Medi- Comp?”

  I shook my head. “No. Didn’t have them in the colony.”

  Meghan blinked and glanced back at the screen as if to verify something. I would later surmise that she was trying to reconcile the truth from the expectation that colonists were usually unhealthy or had evidence of past injury. The truth was, I had always healed quickly, even after particularly horrible beatings from Ace and Carden or a run in with Telmicks that I had somehow escaped from. I was also rarely sick. Usually a day was all I needed if I did fall ill. My aunt would sometimes be out for a week or so.

  “Well,” Meghan said coming to a decision. “You are now part of Legion Fleet. Thus you need a Med-Comp. I’ll get one during your last three tests.” She stood and indicated that I should follow her once again.

  “What are the tests again?” I asked.

  “Strength, flexibility, and reflex. They’re computer run.”

  In the room she led me to where various exercise machines connected to the computer in the corner. There was also a clear section that had several openings in the wall and one in the floor. Once again the computer walked me through the tests. Meghan left me to the computer’s mercy. It had me doing curl ups and pushups like a drill sergeant. My wrists did not like the push-ups. The muscles didn’t have a problem with it, but the wrists screamed with pain. I pushed on until it was unbearable. Then the sadistic computer had me run back and forth at a beep. It was easy at first, than it just got insane. I did my best, but there is nothing more motivating than survival and right now, I wasn’t under threat. So my best was perhaps not what I could truly do in a tight situation. After a cool down, the computer had me trying to become a human pretzel to see how flexible I was. That was fun. It really was. I could do it... it was just ridiculous.

  The last thing was reflex testing which took place in the clear part of the room. The openings began pelting me with soft foam balls. The goal was not to get hit. I could deflect with only my arms in tight situations. The foam balls were slow at first. But, like the stamina running test, they came faster and faster. Pretty soon it was raining foam. It wasn’t until the foam was a veritable wall that I began to get hit. I had fun with this one. Only toward the end did the mouse join in, but that was mostly to celebrate the ‘elegance of my dodging’ as he called it.

  “Test concluded.” The computer said and the foam stopped flying. Panting I looked about the room. Was there another test?

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone get that far before in the reflex test.” Meghan said from the door way. There was an awed expression in her eyes.

  “Am I done?” I asked.

&nbs
p; Meghan nodded. “We will go look at the results in a moment. They will tell us which Order you are in.”

  “Order?” I asked.

  Meghan nodded and waved me over to a chair near the computer. “The Academy’s students are divided into groups of similar athleticism and character. There are seven Orders: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Light, Dark, and Mythic. It is the same classifications of the Spectrals. Each Order is broken up into three or four teams, each team is named for one of the Spectral animals.” She explained pulling out an injector. “Here is your very own Med- comp. We inject it as a group of nanites. They form the tiny computer on their own in a few seconds. Your arm, please.”

  Cringing slightly I let her stick me with the injector. Within seconds a metallic, feminine, voice introduced itself. “Greetings created child of the Divine. Please call me by my name. My name is M Dash Three One Zero Two Dash C Dash Four One Zero Two.”

  I shook my head and asked aloud in a small voice “I have to say the whole thing?” Meghan chuckled and told me that I could think at it and it would ‘hear’ me. So it is like speaking with the Spectrals.

  The mouse snorted PLEASE DON’T LET OUR MUTUAL, CRYPTIC FRIEND HEAR YOU SAY THAT. SPECTRALS AND COMPUTERS ARE NOT THE SAME.

  “Yes.” M Dash Three One Zero Two… something interrupted, answering me. It then turned its focus to the mouse. “And who are you?”

  VISITING. The mouse replied in an annoyed tone. WORRY ONLY ABOUT THE BODY YOU ARE IN.

  Before the crazy long named computer could reply I interrupted. Do you have a nick name?

  “Why yes. The computer said as if it had just been waiting for me to ask that. “Call me M Kit.”

  As in ‘medical kit?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  You seem alive… are you? I asked, somewhat unsure if I would offend it.

  And like the Spectrals, M. Kit proved able to read my thoughts. “Offense can only be given intentionally. There is no crime in asking. To answer your question, in a way I am alive. I am aware of myself and you. I can ‘think’ and feel for your pain. It helps me decide how best to help you in case of injury. What is your name, by the way?”

  Rylynn. I responded.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you, Rylynn.” As the three of us in my head talked (it was getting more and more crowded in here) I followed Meghan back to the front. Ms. Porter handed me my permanent ID that had my name and class and that I was assigned to the Order of Earth, Team Canine.

  The mouse saw the assignment through my eyes. He muttered so softly I almost missed it. It was something like “IF ONLY THESE FOOLS KNEW…” He didn’t repeat when I asked. It made me wonder why.

  Chapter 8 The Plan

  While Rylynn worked to complete her many exams another awaited for the results of something else. Admiral Adrian Knight stood in a relaxed ready stance, his feet at shoulder width and his right hand clasped about his left wrist behind his back. His gaze stared unseeing out his study’s window. Unseen was the hustle and bustle of the streets below the Legion Fleet’s main office building in the Imperial City of Lori’a. In the distance was the crystal Spectral Palace. The energy absorbed by the crystal powered the entire city and fed the ethereal Spectrals. Not only did it feed them, it also glimmered like one. Admiral Knight saw none of this.

  What he saw was death. Primarily the death of a woman who so richly deserved it. She, like the rest of her kind didn’t have the right to exist. She had been a Spectral Shade. A Shade was only redeemed when dead and their parasitic Spectral was locked up tight in the Lous-Eci’dalb, the black stone blade that he had been gifted with a long time ago. Trapped within its core was a monstrous Spectral.

  Adrian Knight was a reasonable, practical man. He did not hate the Shades just to hate them. There were plenty of reasons why. Good reasons, like they were the sign of how diseased their society was. A society that spied upon its own people. A society that said none would be punished (execution included) without trial, yet did so all the time. And these murders committed by agents of the state, the Shades, remained unpunished. Adrian had personal proof of this injustice.

  Many, many years ago on Coronaius, Adrian had had an older brother. Samuel Knight had been a brother worth looking up to. He had been confidant, intelligent, and charismatic. He had been a visionary without equal. Often, he would share his dreams with his young brother. “The Empire is stagnate, Adrian. Too long has it been ruled by forces that are inhuman. Too long has a human founded empire given equal rights to non-humans. It is time to shake things up and make friends with those whom the Spectrals say we should avoid.” Adrian had always listened with awed admiration. His brother had such passion. He had been driven and had been the driving force for an ever growing movement…

  Then, one night, the Shades had come during one of the Movement’s Leader meetings. They killed everyone at the meeting without trial. They had executed Adrian’s beloved brother right in front of him. They either hadn’t known or hadn’t cared that young Adrian had been there. He had been the only one left alive after the raid. Left in shock of having witnessed his brother killed like a common criminal. In front of him. That was where he learned that Shades were all animals that needed to be put down, their Spectral animals too. But one couldn’t kill a Spectral easily. So one just has to use them for something useful to make them pay.

  For his brother, Adrian lived to see his Samuel’s vision become reality. He also took his vengeance on any Shade he came across. And there had been many. More than anyone believed existed.

  Adrian’s brow furrowed. The only problem with his killing the Shade woman had been that there had been a witness. A witness that had gotten away. They had been small, like a child, and had run faster than Adrian. The results that he awaited were those that his chosen men would send any moment now.

  After he had lost the witness, he had called his aid to arrange for a clean-up. His aid believed in his brother’s vision as much as he did and was loyal. As were all the men he had under his protection. All served the Vision. He knew they would remove all signs of his presence and discover who had thrown the crowbar at the light.

  “Incoming communication.” Admiral Knight’s personal com-link announced.

  “Answer.” He said, moving for the first time since entering his study.

  “Sir, we have the situation under control.” One of his men informed him.

  “Good. And do you know who was also there?”

  “Yes… and no.” The man answered. His tone perplexed.

  “What does that mean? Do you or do you not know who we need to deal with?” Admiral Knight asked gruffly.

  “We have the DNA from the crowbar. We know that it is female and that there are genetic links to the Foréss and Raven families.” His man explained. “But there are no records of this exact DNA sequence. So we have the information, but no answer.”

  “Only that they are from a union of the Foréss and Raven noble families. So why is there no record?” Adrian muttered to himself.

  “Sir?” His man asked.

  Adrian shook his head before remembering the man couldn’t see him. “Is that all you have for me?” He said instead.

  “Yes sir.”

  “That will be all then.” And he ended the transmission. He accessed the hyper net in search of any record of Foréss and Raven unions. The most recent had ended thirteen years ago with the death of Lord Joseph Raven of Bresol and his wife Amber Foréss Raven. The Ravens had been a minor nobility for generations and the Foréss were so distantly related to the imperial family that the link had almost been forgotten. The Raven line had died with the couple’s death as they had no children.

  Reminded of their names, Adrian remembered them. Both Amber and Joseph had been Shades who had spied on his activities thirteen years ago. He had taken offence to their nosey ways and had them hunted down and killed. His aid had been invaluable for finding them. And Amber had died that night on the streets of Coronaius. Joseph had later flown into the sun of the Medrais
System. Upon hearing that, Adrian had gone on with his life.

  So how was it now that a young person had ties to both of them? Had there actually been a child?

  His musings were interrupted by the entrance of his aid. Adrian saw the thin man enter in the reflection of the glass. He turned toward the man. Aid Balen was an incredibly efficient man and, as Adrian had thought earlier, very loyal to the Movement.

  “What is it Balen?” He asked.

  Balen smiled, his black eyes gleeful. “There is a transmission from our friends on the secure channel.”

  “I was wondering when they would reply back.” Adrian said with an answering smile. “They are going to love this.” He said while mentally commanding his personal inner-com to lock onto the secure channel. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his aid initiate the dampening field around the study. No one but he and Balen would hear this conversation on their end. “Most High WarKing, Zar’Shash, it is an honor to hear from you.” He said once the link was established.

  “Admiral, I hear you have good news for Us regarding our mutual causes.” Zar’Shash, the WarKing of the Zar’daka clicked.

  “That I do. We have found the spear point for our operation. All we have to do is take it and shape it to our purposes.”

  “And what is this ‘sspear point’?”

  Adrian smiled. “The third son of Emperor Vailence, Gaelen. He has yet to reveal the Gift of the Imperial family and is young enough to be turned to our way of thinking.”

  “What is your point, Admiral? We have long thought he would make the perfect tool, but he has always been well protected.” Zar’Shash pointed out.

  Adrian’s smile grew larger. “That is no longer true, Honored War King. He has left behind his protection and has joined the Legion Fleet Academy in the guise of a normal student. This gives us ample opportunity to take him.”