Valor's Stand

by Kal Spriggs

  I let out a tense breath. “That’s a relief.” Ted’s disappearance and presumed death had haunted me. I’d thought he’d been killed because I’d gotten him involved in mysterious disappearances of Militia military equipment, just as I’d nearly been killed. “Can I talk to him?”

  “Yes,” The Admiral smiled. “We want to make sure he’s not carrying anything immediately contagious and then you can talk with him.” Her smile faded, “Just remember, we’re recording everything.”

  “Of course,” I answered. It wasn’t like I was going to try and slip him defense plans or anything. I just wanted to find out some of what had happened to him and my brother… and maybe to see if he could ever forgive me for getting him involved in this.

  “Get some breakfast, there’s a café two levels up,” The Admiral said after a moment. “We should be able to let you in the room after that.”

  I gave her a grateful nod and moved to the door. Opening it, I found my escort waiting outside. I paused in the doorway, looking back at my grandmother. She stood, looking through the window, her expression set. I couldn’t help but wonder if she secretly wished it was my brother sitting in that room, not Ted Meeks.

  For that matter, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that myself.

  ***

  Ted stood up from the exam table, his eyes going wide as he saw me. “Jiden? Oh my gosh, Jiden? I thought you were dead!”

  I froze, staring at him. I hadn’t really expected that kind of response, “Sorry, isn’t that my line?” I smiled slightly. “No, the smugglers who kidnapped you didn’t manage to kill me.”

  He shook his head, “Not that, I mean, not really…” He trailed off, seemingly at a loss for words. When he finally spoke, I could tell he was choosing his words with care. “When your brother, when Will, and I shared a cell, he told me that you’d been killed. They told me that Wessek and Vars had killed you when they killed his… that is, your family.”

  I gestured at him to sit, noting that he was trembling, and I took a seat in the room’s chair. “Up until a few weeks ago, I thought the same thing. That is, I thought the pirates who killed my parents had killed my brother, too. Just like I thought the smugglers who tried to kidnap me had killed you and dumped the body.”

  “They nearly did,” Ted whispered softly, his eyes going distant. Tears began to well up, but they weren’t tears of sadness, they were hot angry tears. “They treated me like an animal, threatened me daily. Beat me.” He looked down at his hands, “I didn’t fight them, I couldn’t fight them. I wish I’d been strong enough, or smart enough, but…” He trailed off. “Will was. Will got us out. Will kept us alive on the streets, got me an implant so I could get through the spaceport’s security…” He shuddered. “Will should be the one here.”

  “Hey,” I snapped at him, “Ted, look at me.”

  He looked up, his tired eyes red and tear-filled. “My brother isn’t here, but he got you out. That’s nothing to be ashamed of, and I bet you helped him along the way.”

  Ted shrugged, “I guess, I mean he was injured when we escaped, and I helped him some with a few things, but…”

  “Don’t count yourself out,” I told him. I had a hard time contemplating just how awful things must have been for him. He had survived long term as a prisoner to pirates who probably wouldn’t have hesitated to kill him if he wasn’t useful in some way. “You survived, you helped my brother to escape, and you got the word back to us. That’s several big accomplishments that you did there, Ted. Important things. I’m proud of you and I know your parents are going to be proud of you.”

  Ted’s eyes welled up and he nodded. “Yeah. I did do alright, I guess, huh?” He wiped at his face, looking sheepish. “Look, a lot happened, I’m sorry I’m kind of out of it, it’s just such a shock to be back. I half expect to wake up any second and be back on Wessek’s ship…” He shuddered.

  “Hey, you’re going to be alright,” I told him. I got up and patted him on the shoulder, giving him a smile. “I hear your parents are going to be here soon. I’ll give you a minute to collect yourself.”

  Ted flashed me a smile, “Thanks, Jiden. Thanks for everything.”

  I kept my smile up until I stepped out of the room, then I had to fight tears. I went back into the observation room. “Is he…”

  “He’s suffered a lot of psychological trauma,” The Admiral answered my unfinished question. As far as I could tell, she hadn’t moved away from the window. “He’s going to need a lot of counseling, a lot of help in general.” She sighed, “It’s not going to be easy for him to adjust, but we’ve got some experience dealing with escaped slaves from Drakkus and in many ways, what he went through there is pretty standard.”

  “God,” I shook my head. “Are they really that messed up?”

  The Admiral stepped back from the window and turned to face me, “They are. The Drakkus Empire has become a serious threat to not just us, but to all the systems in the Periphery. Which is what I’ll be testifying to before the Charter Council later today. It’s also why we are building military alliances with other systems out here.”

  “Who?” I asked on impulse.

  “That depends on who you ask in the Militia,” The Admiral said with a grimace. “Admiral Drien favors working with the Guard, out of Harlequin Military Sector. He’s put forward a plan to invite them to station a Task Force in orbit, to provide them food and fuel at no charge, to petition for Protectorate status.”

  “What!?” I demanded in shock. Century had been an independent colony since founding. The two times that the Guard had interfered on that had led to a lot of problems. The first had been when they forcibly settled the Seconds, the second wave of colonists, in Century’s southern hemisphere.

  The second had been when they’d briefly attempted to occupy the system during the Second Sweep. Both times, Century had opposed their actions, but we’d paid a price doing so. Giving up our independence didn’t seem like the way to go. After all, everyone had heard rumors about how the Guard ran protectorate worlds.

  “It’s got a certain level of appeal, if only because the Guard are stronger than Drakkus, and that might scare them off,” The Admiral said, her voice neutral. “Of course, that presumes that the Guard will accept the offer or that they’ll treat us fairly. Some of the word coming out of Ten Sisters has made the latter assumption invalid, in my opinion.”

  “What are our other options?” I asked, certain that my grandmother had an opinion or three.

  “The Mason Corvale Alliance and Erewhon Republic have been coordinating together for the past few years. I think working with them would be beneficial, particularly if we share military technology and coordinate patrols.” She gave me a slight smile, “Which is why I’ve sought authorization to begin an officer exchange program with them as well as cross training some of our Academy cadets at their training schools.”

  I considered that, “Sounds like it would be sort of a diplomacy thing, right? I mean, you’d have to trust whoever you send and they would need to try and build some kind of long-term relationships, if we want them as allies…” I trailed off. “Wait…”

  Her smile broadened. “Headquarters has signed off on the initial approvals. You and several of our other Cadets First Class will be assigned to ‘broadening’ tours with the MCA, with Erewhon, and,” she couldn’t hide the distaste in her voice, “with Guard Fleet. The new superintendent made that last one a requirement.”

  “They’ve selected a superintendent?” I asked eagerly. “Will you—”

  She shook her head slightly, a warning as much as anything. “I’ve requested assignment to our reservist Mercenary company. The Charter Council should approve the assignment this morning. I’ll be leaving for Hanet to take over the Centurions sometime in the next few days.”

  I swallowed, not sure how to take that. “Who has been assigned as the Academy Superintendent?”

  “Admiral Drien,” my grandmother answered, her voice neutral.

  “Oh.”
That made my stomach drop somewhere around my toes. Admiral Drien and my grandmother did not see eye to eye. In fact, our families had been rivals for generations, since the founding of our colony, from things I’d heard and read.

  Sashi Drien, Admiral Drien’s granddaughter, was a friend of mine. She’d been my roommate for three of the past four years of our attendance at the Academy. But she’d also shot me in the face with a training round at one point to try and show her grandfather where her loyalties lay. Then again, Sashi’s father and brothers had tried to force her to resign, so that hadn’t exactly worked out for her, which was why she was estranged from her family.

  I didn’t know how things would go for her, with her grandfather in charge. I was sort of afraid for her, but I was more afraid for me. My mother had quit the Academy her plebe year, after an “accident” had nearly killed her. She'd been certain that Admiral Drien, who'd been superintendent at the time, had been behind the attempt on her life.

  “I’ve been told that you’re likely to be assigned to either Erewhon or the MCA for your first semester this year,” The Admiral went on. I wondered if she’d worked out some kind of deal with Admiral Drien. For that matter, I wondered if I really wanted to know. “You’ll be representing not just yourself, but our world, Jiden. So, by all means, do your best.”

  She cleared her throat, “Now, I’ll need to stay here for when young Mr. Meeks’ parents arrive. Then I have some preparations to make prior to my departure to Hanet. In the meantime, I suggest you go home, get some sleep, while it’s still relatively early. I’ll see you later today.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I snapped a salute to her, it was the only thing I could think to do. She saluted me back and I turned and left. Somehow, I doubted that I would get any sleep no matter how early I got back to the house.

  ***

  Chapter 3: Sometimes Travel Just Makes You Want To Stay Home

  When things change, they happen pretty fast. The Admiral had departed within two days. My orders had come that same morning. I had to report to a merchant ship, the first vessel headed to Erewhon, five days before I would have reported to the Academy.

  I wasn’t the only one who had to rush. From what I’d heard, almost two dozen of my classmates were going to different assignments on other worlds. I’d looked through archived data on it, and this wasn’t the first time this sort of thing had happened. It had been taking place before the Three Day War and a couple times before that. The last time it had stopped because several of our cadets were assigned to Dalite’s military school, and after they’d gone to war with us, they’d been kept as hostages and prisoners. That had made the whole program a liability and after the war, no one had wanted to risk sending cadets to places where they might serve as hostages.

  Times had changed, though. Three of my classmates were headed to Dalite’s military school. Bolander and Sashi Drien were headed to the Harlequin Station Military Academy, the central military school for the nearest Guard sector.

  Alexander Karmazin had received orders for Erewhon. He and I would be headed out on the same ship. The Zahler twins, whose mother apparently came from the Mason colony, were headed to the MCA along with Ahmed from Tiger Company.

  Kyle Regan, my boyfriend, hadn’t come down on travel orders. He had been listed as the Regimental Training Officer, which was a pretty important position. When we’d realized that we’d be apart for five or more months, he’d offered to walk me to my ship.

  That had seemed sweet at the time. Now, though, as we walked along the outer wheel of Century Station, I sort of wished we’d said our goodbyes already.

  “I’ll message you every chance I get,” he told me. We’d pretty much said that every couple of minutes on the trip up, then as we walked through the station.

  “Yeah,” I told him, feeling uncomfortable. We hadn't really been apart, not for any real length of time. I was miserable and worried and at the same time, I couldn't fight down a thrill of excitement. I mean, I was going to another star. I'd never been outside of my home system and now I was going to Erewhon and I'd be there in a matter of days. More than that, I was one of only a handful of cadets chosen for it.

  That excitement, though, brought another feeling: guilt. I felt guilty that I was excited to go, because I was leaving Kyle behind. I felt like I should be more worried, more miserable. That guilt brought on another emotion, one altogether uglier. I resented Kyle for making me feel guilty, even though I was miserable that I was leaving him behind. It was an awkward, uneasy, and altogether unpleasant swirl of emotions that left me feeling off-balance.

  We came to the ship berth. Alexander Karmazin had messaged my implant a few minutes earlier to let me know that he'd already gone aboard. He'd come up on the same shuttle as us, but he'd given Kyle and I some space and gone ahead as soon as the shuttle had docked.

  “So...” I said, looking at Kyle. I felt like I should say that I didn't want to go. But I did want to go and I didn't want to be dishonest with him. It was a weird moment and my mind blanked on what I should say versus what I felt.

  “Five months,” Kyle swallowed nervously. His gaze went to the ship and he stared at it, almost as if it were the maw of some alien monster that was about to eat me.

  “Yeah,” I answered. I felt a bit of panic, wondering if I could say anything else.

  “I'm really going to miss you,” Kyle's voice broke a bit.

  “Yeah,” I swallowed. I forced out the words, “I'll miss you too.” That was true. I missed him already. We were in uniform, since my orders specified me to show up that way and we'd taken a military shuttle up to Century Station and all. Since we were in uniform, we couldn't kiss. We couldn't even hold hands. Both were against regulations.

  I wanted to kiss him, regulations or not. But instead I stood there, half a meter away. “I guess,” I felt miserable as I said it, “I guess that I should go report aboard.”

  “Yeah,” he answered, his green eyes going from the docking hatch to me and back.

  He let out a tense breath and then forced a smile. It was a good smile and for a moment, everything between us was right again. “Good luck, Biohazard, knock 'em dead.”

  I smiled back, “Thanks. You're going to be amazing as the RTO.”

  “Yeah,” his smile wavered. “I'd better go, got to catch the shuttle back.”

  He looked around, seeming to be looking for someone or counting heads, I wasn't sure which. Then, before I knew what he was doing, he leaned in, pulled me close and thoroughly kissed me. My eyes went wide and all I could think about was that we could get in trouble and how it would look... but I kissed him back even so.

  Kyle broke off the kiss, smirked at me, and then sauntered off without a word.

  I found myself flushing and looking around. No one was looking at me. No officer came out of nowhere to snap at me for breaking regulations. Still, I decided not to tempt fate. I picked up my duffle bag and hurried over to the docking port. I shot one last look over my shoulder, spotting Kyle's red hair as he walked away. For just a moment, my eyes misted up. I was really, really going to miss him.

  Then I stepped aboard the Maybelle Sooner, my thoughts going to the future.

  ***

  The Maybelle Sooner was a fast transport ship. I'd had a few days warning on my orders, so I'd read up on the ship as part of my background. It was a Marion-class fast transport, designed with reconfigurable cargo holds that could do everything from refrigerated bulk cargo to passenger quarters. It had been built by Champion Enterprises almost twenty years earlier and operated by them up until the company had faced fines and several senior employees had faced criminal charges related to the theft and illegal sale of military hardware and parts to a smuggling gang.

  I'd sort of been behind the discovery of that wrong-doing. I'd been too busy with my classes and duties at the Academy, plus the occasional person trying to kill me, to keep track of what had happened with Champion Enterprises in the fallout of all that.

  Leo Champion, the fo
under and Chief Executive Officer of the company had overseen the dismantling of a lot of the company's assets, apparently. The Maybelle Sooner and another two dozen of the company's trading vessels had been sold off in order to generate cash for paying the heavy fines that Century's government had levied against the company.

  The Maybelle Sooner had been bought by a family-operated company, who used the ship as their home and their source of income, much like my aunt and uncle had run their freighter, except the Maybelle Sooner was much larger and far newer.

  It was a strange feeling to step aboard the ship and realize that I had such an impact on things, far beyond what I would have ever considered. I'd seen first-hand some of the military implications... but this was something far outside of that.

  I saluted the transport's deck officer as I came aboard, but the merchant officer just gave me a wave. “You're the other cadet, then, eh?” She drawled.

  “Yes, ma'am,” I answered.

  “Your quarters are down on deck two, port side. You and the other cadet have a shared head, that's not an issue, right?” Before I could respond, she went on, “We'll begin disconnecting from the station in four hours, our hard line data connection to the station goes down thirty minutes prior to that, so if you have any comms traffic or have to download anything for your classes, I suggest you do it now, otherwise you can pay the transmission costs after we undock, and you won't get anything after we go to FTL warp, understand?”

  “Uh, yeah,” I answered. I'd already downloaded the course work I'd have to do prior to my return. Most of the Erewhon Midshipman Course work corresponded to my senior level classes, but there were a few that didn't, where I had to do correspondence work for turn in on my return to Century.

  “Good, now clear the hatch, I've got a load of contractors coming aboard in about thirty seconds to purge the slop tanks, so unless you want to help...”