Defender of the Empire: Cadet #1

by Catherine Beery

  There was a pause and then he heard Zar’Shash’s pleased purrs. Admiral Knight and Balen shared a smile. The day of the Movement was coming ever closer.

  ***

  Trapped within the core of the cursed Lous-eci’dalb, Kylesst sank into himself. His ancient mind sought for ways to counteract the dark plan his captors were hatching. The young prince was in danger, but how could he save the lad and the people of the empire? As pathetic as it was and sounded, he could not escape the knife as he was trapped under layers of other, unlucky Spectrals.

  No matter how he looked at it he could do nothing trapped in the blade. So, he just had to free himself. Easier said than done. He thought darkly. He could not break out with the blade fully charged with numerous Spectrals. He had tried many times over the years. It was an exercise in futility. Long ago he had rationalized that if he could peel off the other Spectrals and link them to something else, he could than weaken the blade’s hold on him and be able to break free. The only hitch in the plan was that he had nowhere to link them to… till now.

  For years he had languished in his very own hell. And there had been absolutely nothing he could do to stop the murders of Shades or to help his kindred. Their screams had grown louder and louder till he was nearly insane.

  Then this very day God had given him hope again. Rylynn. The only corporeal being he had encountered in hundreds of years who could hear him. As with any corporeal who could link to a Spectral, there had been a thin half link that a Spectral could connect to. But unlike normal, hers had already, somehow, been tied to him. Kylesst was not one to stick his nose up at a proffered gift from the divine. He had immediately strengthened it. Once he was free it would become a cord that could only be broken when one partner died. But for now it was a half link.

  Rylynn may have come too late to save the woman, but not too late for the mouse. Kylesst had been able to drape the mouse’s broken cord over his link with Rylynn. It wasn’t something most could have done. In fact, it had been thought impossible. But he had done it. And, looking at the writhing, wailing wall of imprisoned Spectrals, he would do it again. Each freed Spectral would pay him back by adding strength to the bond till he was either free or, at the very least, able to warn Rylynn of the coming trouble. And he wouldn’t need Knight to be close to her in order to do it. It would just take a lot of time to keep his plan from being noticed by the lurking Soul Shadow.

  Chapter 9- Trin and Winter

  It was early, even by Academy standards. But 1st Cadet Westley Trin wanted to arrive before his student did. So he walked briskly to the room he had been assigned to tutor the new arrivals in their classes. His first duty was to teach Rylynn the basic technology of the Citizenry. He suppressed a shudder, thinking that this may be a task in futility.

  That’s not fair. A small part thought whispered. You cannot judge what you yourself had not lived. Westley sighed. There were times when he wished that annoying voice did not exist. It made it hard to stay closed minded and be angry. To claim that it was all Rylynn’s fault for refusing to let him guide her to the Academy and to forget that he hadn’t wanted to guide her in the first place. He had not expected the little colonist to stand up to him and verbally force his feet into her small shoes. She had

  been so quiet and timid looking that he had easily dismissed her. And he had heard the stories from the other colonists the ship had picked up. They had called her a coward for running. He had been comfortable in thinking that Rylynn was a cowardly mouse. Westley didn’t want a coward wearing the uniform he had worked so hard to wear. So he had tried to abandon her in an environment so outside of her experience that she would realize she didn’t belong and go back to the hovel from whence she had come from.

  The irony of his current situation was not lost on him. He had never expected that he would have been the one sent back.

  You are such a fool, Westley. Even you know mice have sharp teeth! But he had forgotten. When the gray eyed Rylynn rounded on him and opened her mouth he had realized she wasn’t a simple coward. Worse yet, she made him unsure. What would have done if he had been in her position with a hunting pair of nine foot tall Telmicks bearing down on him? Would he have done the easy thing and followed orders? Or would he have made himself a target like Rylynn did? Being unable to answer those questions he had tried to make amends. But the girl had denied him and she had found her way, despite the testing detour that he had honestly forgotten to tell her about, to the Academy Branch. And they had reported that he hadn’t guided her there.

  Thus his demotion and reassignment.

  Westley reached the room assigned to him and slid his tutor’s card through the reader. The door clicked open and he absently turned on the lights as he remembered the meeting that had finished with him being kicked off the Hail Mary. Captain Wingstar had stared at him with hard gray eyes when he had entered the captain’s study. Westley had saluted and had stood at attention. He knew he had been in trouble. Captain Wingstar had never looked at him with such cold eyes before.

  “I understand that you did not escort Rylynn to the Academy Branch.” The captain had begun simply.

  He had swallowed uneasily. “That is correct, Captain.”

  “Why, pray tell, did you decide to go against direct orders? It was a simple assignment.” The captain had asked in a deceptively calm tone.

  “I had thought her a coward, sir.” He had confessed. “In the end, though, I had tried to guide her as ordered, but Rylynn would not let me.”

  Captain Wingstar had snorted. “I wouldn’t have either, ensign. Let me guess, you had changed your mind after she had told you about how she had saved her party by leading the Telmicks away. That she had been willing to trade her life to save the lives of others at the age of thirteen!” The captain had stood up then and turned his back on Westley in favor of staring into the depths of space that lay on the other side of the window. The Captain’s right hand held his left wrist behind his back.

  In the moment of silence that followed, Westley had struggled to understand why the captain was so angry. It was true that he had made a minor mistake, but it wasn’t like he made a habit of not following orders.

  “You disappoint me, Trin.” The captain had said softly.

  “Captain?” Westley had managed to ask.

  “Westley Trin, top of his class who had proven himself driven to succeed.” Captain Wingstar had murmured softly before turning toward him again. “Who would have thought that Ensign Trin would choose not to follow simple orders? What if he chooses to disobey orders again? Orders that could cost someone their life? It is for this reason that I demote you to Cadet 1st Class and reassign you to the Academy. You will ship out in an hour.”

  Westley had felt himself pale. He had expected a firm reprimand. Perhaps even menial duty on the ship. Not this. Never this. “Captain… I know I made a mistake sir. I’ll make up for it, I swear!”

  “I know you will.” Captain Wingstar had replied to his trembling promise. “You will do so by guiding Rylynn through her studies at the Academy.” The captain met his stricken hazel gaze and said in a warmer tone. “If you do what you can to guide her then upon her graduation I will promote you to lieutenant and have you assigned back to the Hail Mary. You are dismissed.”

  Westley had saluted and turned toward the door. He was in an intolerable situation, but there was hope. Just five years and he would be a lieutenant. Of course, that depended upon Rylynn graduating… “Sir,” He had paused, turning to look back at the captain who had always been like a father to him, even in that dark moment, “what if Rylynn washes out?”

  The captain had smiled wryly at him. “She won’t. It isn’t in her nature to give up.”

  Sitting at the table in the classroom, Westley wondered yet again how the captain could possibly know that about the girl. He had known her for only a week and had talked to her only once. And yet, he had seemed so certain. Westley, for his own future’s sake, could only pray that the captain was right.

&n
bsp; “Good morning, Rylynn.” He said five minutes later when the mouse with teeth entered. He almost laughed at her shocked face.

  ***

  “Ensign Trin?” I had finally been able to ask upon seeing the tall, handsome officer again. It had only been a day, but it felt like longer. And to be frank, he was the last person I expected to see here.

  “1st Class Cadet now.” He said with a grimace. He motioned for me to take a seat in the chair near him at the small square table.

  I frowned at him as I sat down. “Why?” I asked.

  He gave a short laugh. “You would ask that. It’s simple really. I disobeyed orders to guide you to the Academy Branch. In order to prove myself again I get to guide you in your studies. Do you have a problem with that?” He asked me with a raised eyebrow.

  I blinked at him. I struggled for a moment. How did I feel about it? He hadn’t wanted to guide me in the first place because he hadn’t thought I was worthy of the uniform. Now he had more reason to hate me because I was the reason he had been demoted. That could make life much harder for me then it already would be.

  “I don’t know. Do you blame me for what happened to you?” I asked him.

  His hazel eyes narrowed thoughtfully at me. “I want to.” He told me honestly. “But if I hadn’t refused to follow the orders in the first place this wouldn’t have happened.”

  Oh wow. I had really not expected that.

  Westley laughed at my expression. “You look about how I feel.”

  I could only imagine how that felt for the ambitious Westley Trin. “I dislike that little voice too some days.” I offered. “It makes it hard to justify the way I want to think about others and life. My conscience knows how to make me feel guilty for having such negative thoughts. It makes me angry that I can’t delude myself for a just a moment more.”

  “Got to hate being proven wrong. Even more so by yourself.” Westley added wryly. “Glad I’m not the only one who feels that way.”

  “I am sorry that you got sent back to the Academy, but I am glad that you are the one who is tutoring me.” I said.

  Westley tilted his head before nodded. He then took out some papers. He set them in various piles saying. “Well, let’s get started, eh? I hear you have next to no knowledge on basic tech.” Thus my first class commenced. Okay, so it was more of a lab than a class, but it was still very informative. Not only did I learn about all those technological wonders that Citizen’s had access to, I learned a bit more about Westley Trin. Once he decided to do something, he put everything into it. He was also a good teacher and seemed to enjoy it. Yes, it was the lab’s first time meeting, but when we parted ways, he seemed to stand taller as if proud of sharing what he knew. I left thinking that I could now fill out most of those tech charts in the test.

  Several hours later saw me walking into the dining hall. I was tired in a way I had never been before. It wasn’t physical exertion or lack of food since I had had breakfast this morning. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. My brain had been filled with information that made some sense, but there had been so much in such a short time that had expected some previous knowledge in order to understand fully and thus stick. I didn’t have that. Westley’s instruction had helped, but we had only had time for the most basic of systems before my first actual class: Science. They were discussing quantum mechanics. My next class was Studies of Prime Worlds; a course dedicated to understanding the basics of each of the twenty-five prime worlds of the empire. I had learned that each world was covered for several weeks. The time of the course allowed for only a survey of each world, its culture, language, trade importance, and historical facts related to it since the dawn of the empire. Perhaps even important facts from before the empire.

  The world of the last several weeks was the Prime World Felania. A hot, jungle like world. It was home to the Lanians. They were humanoid and fairly long lived. They were also a secretive race that didn’t actively participate in the empire politically. But they did export rare woods and oils from their jungles. They also sold beautiful fabric made of a shimmering, scale-like substance that was both very strong and flexible. It was called Eelfa’se. It was incredibly expensive and said to come from a dragon like creature that only the Lanians could find.

  I knew all this because I had come in on review day. Next class there would be a test on Felania. So, as a result, I had a lot of reading and studying to do in the meantime. I would be so lucky to start in the middle of term.

  I was also emotionally exhausted after my first morning of classes. I was tired of holding up a front that said ‘I-don’t-care-what-you-think’. News had apparently spread that I was not only new, but that I was not even a Citizen. There were whispers whenever I walked passed and it was like people were just waiting to see me foul up. I kept silent during my classes, following an old saying my aunt would say often “Better to be silent and thought a fool instead of speak and remove all doubt.” I didn’t yet know the social atmosphere and did not want to make any moves that would make me even more vulnerable.

  The mouse agreed that my strategy was a good one. M. Kit was, apparently, a more social entity. I think it has to do with being designed to link with a network. I had to beg her to stop trying to push me to do things faster than I wanted to. She had sniffed (who would have thought it possible for a computer to be able to sniff in distain?) and stopped speaking to me.

  I got my lunch and kept my eye on the people around me. I didn’t know if any of them would decide to be nasty and attack me. Call me paranoid, but I feel justified considering how some of them watched me. Perhaps one would follow in Westley’s old path and tell me I didn’t belonged in some way. I figured I had been lucky with a verbal announcement from Westley. There were a few here who I figured would be a tad more physical.

  This time, I was lucky. No one made a move to do anything more drastic than make it obvious I wasn’t allowed at their table. I couldn’t help my eyebrow rising at their nerve. I had made no move to sit with any of them since last night with my roommate and her friends. Okay, so I had chosen a path near Lassie’s table, but that was to avoid the large group of male students who were more threatening. I did not want to find out what they had planned should I come too near. One of Lassie’s girls had seen my raised eyebrow and seemed surprised that she hadn’t needed to sit hurriedly in a previously empty seat. The whole lot had been smiling in nasty triumph when she had made her move. But when I had just walked on by without even slowing they seemed to be at a loss. I almost felt pity for the fools.

  The goal I was heading toward was a nearly empty table in the far corner of the room. Its single occupant had watched the entire episode as well as everything else in the room. It was the boy I had seen at dinner last night. The one I had decided to sit with the next time I saw him so the loners could be lonely together. I noticed his eyes grow larger when I made no move to sit at any of the empty tables along the way.

  Up close, I could see that he had the most fascinating eyes I had ever seen. Granted, I have not seen all the eyes in the empire or galaxy, but I had never seen ones consisting of three distinct, vivid colors before. They were a mix of forest green, royal purple, and crimson. They were kind of pretty. Against his lightly sun bronzed skin and black hair they seemed brighter and I wondered how I had failed to notice them from a distance.

  “Hi.” I said upon pausing near his table. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

  He seemed surprised before shrugging and motioning me to my choice of empty chairs.

  “Thanks.” I said setting my tray down and sitting. Similar to him, I made sure to choose a seat with a good view of the rest of the room.

  “Why did you want to sit with me?” He asked. His voice was still young like a boy’s, but there was something about it, an undertone that suggested it would develop into something fascinating to listen to. I think it was because it was smooth and almost lyrical.

  “Like me, you had been sitting alone last night. I thought that perhaps we
could conserve sitting space by sitting at the same table.” I told him.

  He grunted at that and took a bite of his sandwich. I shrugged and followed his lead in eating. He swallowed before observing “You are new here,”

  “That obvious, huh?”

  His lips quirked in a slight smile. “You could say that. I didn’t see you before yesterday and people stare at you in a similar fashion to how they had stared at me the day before.” He glanced at me before continuing. “Though, they seem more hostile to you. Is it true what they whisper? That you are from Colony Lenti?”

  I nodded before tilting my head. “You said ‘more hostile’. Were they nasty toward you too?”

  “I guess you could say we are in similar circumstances. You are from a colony and I am a distant relation of a very minor nobility from a backwater prime world.”

  I frowned. “Forgive me, but how is that similar? You are a Citizen, same as them.”

  He laughed and it was a nice sound. “I think that is the only reason why they are more hostile to you. You see, being a Citizen means very little when everyone…er… most everyone around you are also Citizens. It is wealth and the prestige of your family that holds any weight to most of the students here.”

  “You gathered that in only three days?” I asked glancing around.

  “It’s everywhere. Don’t you see it?” He asked as if in shock. “I saw you watching last night.”

  It was my turn to smile slightly. “Oh, I saw it. I just hadn’t expected Citizens to know street power games.” I shrugged. “I’m sorry. That was a biased thought. It is just that I had heard my entire life that Citizens lived a life of luxury with all their needs and wants taken care of. When all you see is an indifferent heel from those who think they are better than you simply because of what rock they were born on they all start to look the same.”