Blake was stationed at entry. A young officer who kept his uniform clean and proper, yet was already starting to outgrow it. As soon as Kendal came into view, Blake’s eyes narrowed and something like a smile crossed his face.
Kendal kept his head down and tried to walk past him, but Blake stepped in the way and practically forced him to stop. Kendal could have pushed his way through, but that would have caused more problems than it was worth.
“What business do you have here?” Blake asked, trying his best to keep the cockiness out of his tone.
Lieutenants have bridge access, Kendal thought. “I was called by Vernan. Said to come to the bridge, which I did.”
Blake didn’t budge.
Kendal cursed under his breath and opened the message on his communicator, holding it up for him to see. Blake, the bastard, checked the identification number of the message to make sure it was actually from Officer Vernan.
“This looks like it checks out,” Blake said and gave the communicator back. He stepped aside and let Kendal pass.
The bridge was structured like a narrow ‘U’ with an elevated platform in the center and computer terminals around the sides. The outer wall was one long curved monitor that showed a camera feed from around the ship. The bridge looked like it was floating out in space, even though it was in the dead center of the Morana, nowhere near the hull.
Most of surrounding space was blackness, but Kendal could see a few of the other ships in fleet. If Kendal had been in a better mood, he might have been concerned that the admiral wasn’t at his post.
Officer Vernan was in one of the stations around the bowl of the ‘U’, out of sight from the entryway. A sickly man with a proper uniform and more badges than Kendal would ever have.
When Kendal approached, Vernan turned off his monitor and spun his seat around to face him.
There was a moment of eye contact before Vernan spoke. “I don’t think I’ll get used to you not saluting.”
“If you become captain one day, then I’ll salute.” Kendal had his hands hidden under his jacket so Vernan wouldn’t see them shaking. Vernan had a row of nine badges on his coat, each showing off a victory for the Union. Kendal had one badge, which was only for the privilege of being ranked lieutenant. “According to Union protocol,” Kendal said, “you should be saluting me. I could report you.”
“The day I salute you is a day I jump out into absolute-zero. If you want to report me to the admiral, then go ahead. I haven’t heard him laugh in a long time.”
Kendal held his tongue. If I was any other lieutenant this wouldn’t be happening. I should be supervising one of the command rooms, not this. “Why did you call me here?”
He took a small slip of paper from his desk, rolled up and sealed, and held it for Kendal to take. “It’s a note for Tenna in the communications rooms,” Vernan said. “It needs to be delivered as soon as possible.”
Kendal took the note and put it in his coat pocket. “Will there be anything else?”
“You’re relieved,” Vernan said.
Kendal didn’t waste any time in leaving. Eyes were on him as he passed rows of Union officers. Men and woman he’d worked with for years, and each of them either internally mocking or resenting him. The crew rarely cycled and most everyone working on the Morana remembered what happened. The admiral was keeping him in a death-grip by not transferring him to another vessel. There, he could earn the respect he needed to run a command deck, but not here.
The communications room was the first room to the right of the bridge. Out one door and in through another.
The sounds of dozens of voices all speaking at once, the hot air of machines, and sound of clicking keyboards hit him as he pattered down the steps and into the thick of the room. It was one was the busiest places on the ship, built into the exact center with all the communication feeds being swapped through this one room. Hexagonal in structure with aisles of switchboards, and switchboard operators, fanning out from the center. A buzz of Union officers all pulling and swapping analogue switches and re-routing communication lines. Pre-screening messages and approving call transfers. A mess of different people from all parts of the ship. All sorts of ranks swarming and struggling to process their work.
Kendal couldn’t hear his own sigh over the noise.
He walked through to the center, passing by row after row of officers.
Most shot him an eye. He was the only lieutenant in the room, after all. Several ranks above anyone else there. He swiveled and sidestepped around the people packed into the narrow rows, trying to reach Tenna’s station near the back end of the room.
He stopped at station seventy. He adjusted his uniform, then cleared his throat to get Tenna’s attention. She was busy patching through lines on the switchboard in front of her. Hands quick and mouth running as she pulled cords out and redirected them to the right places. She had to stand on her toes to reach the top plugs.
When she noticed Kendal, she set her signal to busy and took her headset off and let it hang off the back of her neck.
“You again,” she said, her voice loud and clean, yet with sublet hints of exhaustion behind her words. “I’m starting to think this is your favorite room on the ship.”
“I’ve been enjoying the bar a lot more lately,” Kendal said and handed her the slip from Vernan. “Message from some of the high ups.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” she said, putting the slip on her desk next to her other work, “but my communicator is on, and working. They could have just sent it to that.”
“They have to keep me busy somehow.” Kendal looked at the time on his communication. Ten minutes until his shift was over.
“Careful,” Tenna said. “You know I don’t mind the badmouthing, but you do that around the wrong kind of person you might find yourself in a world of hurt.”
He shrugged, then thanked her for her time. I’m already there. She gave him a smile before put her headset back on and returning to work.
Kendal struggled his way back through the thick of people to get out of the room.
He started to head back to the bridge, but stopped himself a few feet short. Letting Vernan know he message was delivered would have been the proper thing to do, but Kendal didn’t want to deal with Vernan, or Blake, or anyone else again until he absolutely had to.
With only ten minutes left on his shift, he decided to retire to his cabin for the night.
The silence and emptiness of his room was pleasant. No noise and no one telling him what to do. A moment of bliss before he’d have to return in the morning. He threw off his coat and let it hang off the back of his desk chair.
The bed and desk took up most of his room, but he had enough floor space to pace around when needed. As per all crew cabins, he had a monitor on the back wall designed like a riveted window which showed him a feed of nearby space. Only blackness at the moment, with a few dots of distant stars.
He climbed into bed, and just as his head hit the pillow, someone knocked on the door.
He’d walked from one end of the ship to the other, over and over, all day. His legs were sore and his forehead tight with a lingering headache. He did not need to do anything else that day, yet the knocking persisted.
Just go away, he thought. It can’t possibly be important enough that it can’t be started tomorrow.
The knocking ended, much to his relief. Then his communicator lit up and beeped. Kendal put his hands over his face and groaned.
“God damn it,” he muttered, and climbed out of bed. He put his coat back on and straightened his uniform.
He opened the door, and there stood Blake. Kendal wanted to speak, but wasn’t sure what to say. Blake’s eyes were drawn to the floor and he didn’t have his usual smug grin.
“You’re needed on the bridge,” Blake said.
“I was just on the bridge,” Kendal said. “Does Vernan want something?”
“The admiral wishes to see you.”
Kendal lost his breath.
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The admiral would never request to speak with him. Not after what happened three years back. Kendal only ever received second hand orders from him, and when he was on the bridge, the admiral wouldn’t even give Kendal the honor of eye contact. Now he was sending Blake to his cabin to collect him.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Kendal said. He needed to wash up and make sure his hair looked presentable. If he was going to speak to the admiral he’d need to look his best.
“I’m not here to deliver a message,” Blake said. “I’m here to escort you.”
Kendal swallowed.
Whatever Admiral Tearly wants it must be important, he thought, taking a moment to collect himself before he closed the cabin door behind him and let Blake walk him the short distance to the bridge.
As he entered, Kendal could feel his blood jetting, his heart racing, and his breath dry and rushed.
He tried not to look around the room at all the wandering eyes and open ears as he was walked up the step and into the bridge. None of the officers were overtly staring, but they had slowed their typing to a hum so they could hear the conversation.
The admiral was waiting, standing up on the center platform.
Kendal took a deep breath and climbed the steps, leaving Blake by the door, and approached the admiral. Tearly had his arms behind his back, his posture straight, and his eyes locked to Kendal’s.
They hadn’t spoken to each other in three years. Ever since Kendal’s suspension had ended and Tearly stationed him back on the Morana.
When Tearly summoned you, he spoke first. Didn’t matter how important the meeting was, or how much of a hurry you were in, he was the one to break the silence.
Kendal stood at attention for near a minute before the admiral spoke.
“It has been a while,” Tearly said.
“It has,” Kendal replied, a bit too quickly. “I was told this was urgent?”
“Your past is catching up to you,” he said, his tone carrying a faint accusation.
Kendal’s collar felt tight. The room was too silent for having so many people in it. “You mean Nova?”
“She’s been spotted in Union space,” Tearly said.
“Can’t be,” Kendal said. “She was exiled to the Ven Star system. I saw it.”
“If you have enough influence, and enough time, then it’s not impossible to get back on your feet. Exiling her was a mistake. The courts should have seen that.”
“She helped win the Nau Cedik battle which led to us winning the war. They thought it’d be insulting to imprison a war hero.”
“Us?” Tearly said. “I don’t remember you in any war.”
Kendal sifted air through his teeth and did his best to keep his composure.
“Rumors have been spreading for the better part of the year. We confirmed it two months back.” Tearly stepped forward, closing distance between the two. His expression was empty and his eyes cold. “She’s amassed an army, lieutenant. It’s nothing the Union couldn’t handle, if the ships were marked. But when there is a fleet of unmarked ships, and they have skilled commander with Union knowledge, that becomes a threat.”
“What do you want me to do about it?”
“There’s nothing you can do,” Tearly said. “The Union’s been tracking her, but we’re not able to get an ambush. We have an officer on the inside, but that’s only getting us basic intel and infiltration. We’re months away from any sort of backlash, and any attempt to halt her progress now would backfire on us.”
“Then why invite me here?” Kendal said, not realizing until it was too late how inappropriate it was.
“Watch it, lieutenant,” Tearly said. “Nova is planning an attack on Nau Cedik. She threatened the planet directly. Even though she left her intentions vague, our intel says that she was planning to destroy it. Destroy. What do you suppose that means?”
“It means,” Kendal said through a choked-up throat, “that there will be nothing left to Nau Cedik when she’s done. Maybe a few bits of rubble in space, but that’s it.”
“And you think it’s possible for her to do such a thing?”
Kendal was aware the whole room could hear their conversation, but he pressed on. “Nova’s not a liar. Neither is she delusional. If she says she can do, then she can do it.”
“You know her well,” Tearly said. It wasn’t a compliment, and he made sure he knew that. Kendal felt the resentment itched on the back of those words and they sent shivers down his spine. “But what I would like to know, is why she would attack a planet with such a low population and few resources.”
“I didn’t think Nau Cedik still had people,” Kendal said.
“It has less than ten-thousand, with its largest city having a population of seven thousand. I don’t see why such a barren spot would be a target. We’re setting up a small defense force there, with the Morana as flagship.”
“We’re not evacuating?”
“Watch your tongue,” Tearly said. “You don’t get to tell us what to do.”
“I’m only trying to…”
“I said watch it.”
Kendal nodded. He wanted to leave, but knew better than to walk off. Tearly had gone off on men who walked once they thought the conversation was over. Kendal would wait hours if he had to, and he thought Admiral Tearly might be in the mood to be so cruel.
“You’re to wait in the crew quarters until called upon. No leaving that sector, with only visits to the cafeteria and supply room unless I sent someone who tells you otherwise. Understood?”
Kendal nodded once more.
There was a slight tremble through him. Hands shaking and legs wobbly. His uniform stuck to him from sweat and his collar felt like it had shrunken in the last few minutes.
The two stared at each other, neither speaking until Tearly finally broke the silence.
“You are dismissed.”
Chapter 3
He spent the week thinking about her. Nova Ross. His former admiral. There was a time when that name rang sweet in Kendal’s ear. Now, it made him tremble.
He felt like a passenger. An entire week of sitting in his cabin, playing chess against himself, and eating more from the cafeteria than he should have. It felt lazy, and he knew the other crew were scrutinizing him for it. He could hear the whispers behind his back and catch eye of the looks they gave him. He stopped eating in the cafeteria after the first day and started bringing his food back to his room.
After the sixth day, he saw a planet displayed on the monitor. A murky green and blue marble with spiraling clouds all over. Nau Cedik, from the First War. He knew a little about the planet from history class back in school, but the details were vague. He checked the Union network, but it had little information on Nau Cedik that he didn’t already know.
On the seventh day, Kendal was sitting at his desk, moving pieces around on his chess board, when a knock on his door startled him. He bumped a few pieces over as he scampered to put on his coat and make sure his hair and uniform were up to standard.
The unusually heavy knocking persisted until Kendal opened the door.
He immediately stood at attention for whoever had knocked, then his posture dropped when he saw that it was a general. In the Union, generals were head of marine squads. They were part of a completely different unit than fleet officers. Kendal was surprised to see one in this section of the ship. Fleet and infantry never mixed. Not since the end of the First War.
“Good morning, lieutenant,” the general said. He towered over Kendal, shoulders broad and arms built for carrying heavy equipment. His hair was cropped tight, and he wore standard black marine combat armor with the white Union triangle branded on the chest plate. On his back was a kinetic rifle, and clipped to his belt was an EG-pack.
“I’m General Devon. It’s good to see you.”
“Same,” Kendal said. He looked down both ends of the hall, seeing that no one had come with Devon. “Can I help you?’
“I’m to escort you to the shuttle,
” he said. “Are you set to go?”
“What shuttle?” Kendal asked. “What are you talking about?”
“The shuttle to Benith Town?” Devon said. “Were you not informed?”
“I was not,” Kendal said. “Who set this up?”
“The orders are from Fleet-Admiral Tearly himself,” Devon said. “You’re stationed on Benith Town along with my squad.”
Tearly wants me to go to Benith Town? Kendal thought.
He tried to speak, but couldn’t find the voice. Nova was planning an attack, and Tearly wanted Kendal down there in the thick of it. A Union lieutenant with sparse combat training alongside marine grunts.
Kendal needed to know why.
He pushed past the general and didn’t look back. Devon, of course, followed after, keeping a pace behind and pleading with Kendal to follow orders. “This will only piss him off,” he said, in a way that was strangely sincere and worried. Yet, Kendal barely heard him as he left the crew sector and made way the bridge.
Blake was still standing guard at the entrance.
“Back for more messages?” Blake said.
Kendal didn’t even process the words as he pushed past Blake and pattered up the short few steps into the bridge.
Blake tried to stop him, but stopped as soon as Kendal was on the stairs to get up to the admiral’s platform. Blake wasn’t stupid enough to climb up without permission, even if it was to stop Kendal. Devon had followed as well, keeping his distance from the platform and standing at attention for no one.
The admiral stood in the center of the platform with his back to Kendal. He was looking up at the large center monitor with the captain from another ship projected on it. Tearly only gave the faintest look over his shoulder to notice Kendal.
“We’ll have to finish this another time,” Tearly said to the captain on the screen. The captain nodded and cut the feed. The screen quickly returned to a feed of surrounding space.
For once, Kendal wasn’t aware of the dozens of eyes glued to him, or the soft whispers behind his back. All he heard was his own breath. His heart raced and his mouth dry from panting. The admiral still had his back turned, not giving Kendal the courtesy of facing him just yet.
Cast of Nova Page 2
