“And who’s running the operation?” Sasha asked, suspicion heavy in his voice.
“Why, me, of course,” Laurie responded cheerily. “Who else should but I? It also means I get to create the gatherings and meet-ups. I assure you, they are much more gallant affairs than whatever droll events you have to attend.”
Sasha released a low chuckle. “Since you’re participating and are at the head of this little game of exaggerated bingo, I’m sure everything is set up fairly and you haven’t given yourself the slightest edge.”
The professor frowned and placed a hand against his chest. “Sasha, you must give me more credit that that. To blight this game of fun and tension with masterful strategy—though some would call it cheating—would be a disservice to the spirit of what we are trying to accomplish.”
He stopped typing and looked at his companion, then raised an eyebrow. After a silent beat, Laurie shrugged. “I may have given myself first pick, but to be fair, it was a round robin, so I didn’t get another choice until after the other thirty-two had gone.”
“There are thirty-three in total? That would mean for each of you to choose three teachers, it would only make ninety-nine in total.”
“There was a teacher left—Counselor Lupus, and no one wanted him. He’s made so many trades and faults that he’s almost dead last,” Laurie explained.
Sasha switched tabs on his monitor, looked at the League screen, and scrolled down to find the counselor. ”You seem to be right. He’s in ninety-sixth place, but he’s got a decent team… How many trades has he made?”
“Over fifteen. If I recall correctly, you can only make one trade and keep your score, then you lose points with every trade thereafter. He’s made so many that he went from the top twenty to almost dead last.”
“Is he trying to play some sort of long con? I can’t see any strategy that would help him in the standings at this point. Maybe he’s decided to forsake the game and simply build a strong team for the sake of the students.”
His visitor let out a loud, astonished laugh. “Oh, Sasha, you can be so hopeful and precious at times. The man has basically become a dealer. He figured out around the time of the Co-operative Test that this League could be far more beneficial to him without winning.”
The commander leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “He’s been making deals? With whom and for what?”
“The whom is almost fifty percent of the others in the League. The what is for whatever they want to barter,” Laurie stated. “He’s been making out like a hyper pirate on an unguarded trade route. Some have offered credits, others have volunteered to lighten his workload or traded almost everything from office supplies to making plans for him to have days off at their summer homes.”
“Sounds like he’s been quite the profiteer, but how has he accomplished this?”
“The old standby of supply and demand. He was able to get a pretty good group the first time around. Once the Co-op Test was coming up, he made some trades. Apparently, one of them offered him tickets to a blitz game along with a trade, and he not only took it but saw a…shall we say a different way of winning the league. At this point, he’s even trading the student’s points along with them, bringing him even more standing.” The professor’s laugh was openly snarky. “It’s a good thing this isn’t connected to the faculty’s employment. He’d be spending his time better if he was filling out applications rather than tending to his scoreboard.”
Sasha nodded and looked at the monitor again. He leaned forward and opened Lupus’ team sheet. Immediately, he saw something that interested him “Laurie, do you know where Counselor Lupus is at this moment?”
“He’s not on my network—”
“You must stop with the runaround when you talk to me, Laurie. You have the ability to trace any faculty member or student in this facility. Where is he?”
The other man snickered. “If you know that then weren’t you the one giving me the runaround first?”
“Perhaps, but if you don’t answer the question, I’ll be giving you the out-the-window.”
“Someone’s grumpy.” Laurie huffed dramatically. He withdrew a curved device from his pocket and slotted it behind his ear. When he tapped on it, a holographic visor formed around his eyes. “Let’s see here… Locating the counselor…shouldn’t be but a moment… Ah! He’s just arrived at a bar in town—Ray Legend’s Saloon.”
Sasha nodded, stood up, and walked toward the door. “I know the place. I’ll see you later, Laurie.”
“You’re leaving me? What happened to all that busy work you had to do?”
“Obviously, that didn’t deter you before, and it won’t deter me now,” the commander stated as he shrugged into his coat. “Please, do lock up for me once you leave.”
“You have a sudden spring in your step. Care to fill me in?”
The doors opened as Sasha stepped into the hall. “I can’t say for certain right now, but I believe that your interruption may have brought me something quite fortunate. It will also work out for you and your little game as my points climb higher.”
Laurie cocked his head and tapped his fingers on the commander’s desk. “How do you know I chose you? I could have chosen anyone,” he countered haughtily.
“First, is deduction. You started this game after we chose our teams and, seeing as you chose first, you could probably see who had the best odds. Second, I have Kaiden on my team and your stake in him—or faith, I suppose you would call it—is near obsession at this point. And third, you’re a smart man, Laurie, and you know that the intelligent move would be to bet on me.”
The professor beamed a glowing smile for a moment. “Why thank you, Sasha, that may be the first compliment you’ve honestly given me in quite some—”
“Although all that is mostly hypothesis. Much less concrete than seeing your signature over my name in the holo you showed me a few minutes ago.” He waved at the visitor as the doors closed. “Have a good evening, Laurie.”
As the doors closed, the professor could feel his eye twitch. He stood and then moved to open the cabinet in the corner of the commander’s office. “That shifty bastard! Just for that, I’ll drink what’s left of your most expensive— Whisky? Pah!” Laurie slammed the cabinet doors shut. “Uncultured lout.”
It was a slow evening for the Ray Legend’s Saloon, and only a few dozen patrons milled about the large area. The walls and floors were made of smooth, cleaned wood with various pictures of big game hunts and military memorabilia lining the walls. Sasha entered, removed his oculars, and scanned the bar. A man in a Nexus coat sat drinking alone at the bar beneath the skull of an ebonhorn. He made his way across the room, took a seat beside him, and ordered a shot of Golden Dust whiskey.
The man with long, matted blond hair and nonchalant green eyes looked at him with a wry, slightly tipsy smile. “You’ve got good taste my friend,” he slurred in a wavering voice.
“Appreciate it, Counselor,” Sasha responded, looking him in the eyes to see if the inebriated man recognized him.
Acknowledgement appeared after a few seconds. Lupus’ eyes widened for a moment before steadying, and he leaned against the bar while his smile widened. “Commander Sasha, nice to see you. Never pictured you coming to such a salty place as this.”
The bartender came over, a fairly attractive woman with curly auburn hair and dark eyeshadow who was dressed in a red, orange, and black flannel coat with the sleeves ripped off and torn blue jeans. She placed Sasha’s glass in front of him. “You’re kidding, right? Up until a couple years ago, he was a regular. That deactivated pistol on the wall is his,” she stated, pointing at the object on the wall a few yards away.
“Evening, Rosie, a pleasure to see you again.” He tipped his glass at her.
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked.
Sasha downed the shot. “Just a schooner of lager to nurse. I probably won’t be staying long.”
“Got a preference?”
“Peacemaker A
mber.” He looked at Lupus. “Care for anything, Counselor?”
His companion broke out into a toothy grin as he placed his chin in his hand. “Quite nice of you, Commander…turning out to be a nice night for me.” He looked at Sasha’s empty glass for a moment. “Gold dust sounds pretty good. I’ll take a shot if you don’t mind.”
Sasha took out his credit chip, placed it into the tab slot, and looked at Rosie. “Certainly. The Peacemaker and another shot of Gold Dust for my friend, please.” She smiled and stepped away as he turned his attention to the other man. “I’m actually happy to run into you here, Lupus. I’ve been wanting to request a trade seeing as the final tests are coming up.”
“Mixing business and pleasure? Good taste and style.” He gave a joyful laugh. “Buying me a drink is also a good negotiation tactic too. I applaud you…if only in spirit and not physically. My head’s a bit hazy.”
“A good way to end a Friday,” he responded mildly.
“No doubt,” Lupus agreed and Rosie returned with the whiskey and lager, gave them to their respective recipients, then moved to attend another customer. “So then, what can I help you with?”
Sasha pulled a tablet from his coat pocket, opened it to the counselor’s page, and showed it to him. “I’m interested in your engineer.”
“The Tsuna?” Lupus laughed a little too loudly. “This is a great night for me.”
“You’ve been trying to trade him then?”
“Trying but can’t get anyone to take the bait. Not because no one wants him, but for what he would cost…a bit too rich for most other leaguers’ blood,” the man explained dazedly. “You see, Commander, between you and me and—well, quite a few others, actually—I’ve found a unique way to make my winnings in this tournament of ours.”
“I’ve heard as much.” The commander nodded. “Aren’t you worried about your score?”
“No, no, no, you see…I may not have the high score on paper…uh, tablet screen. However, I’ve been making out like the bandit of the league. I got Roland Cohen, the Pilot workshop teacher, to give me tickets to last week’s blitz semi-finals in trade for one of the navigators I had. I thought I was up the creek when the Co-op Test came around because I hadn’t traded him off yet and he partnered with a mech jock of all things. But Cohen was able to convince him to link up with the pilot on his team and wanted to trade, but I had all the power. He sweetened the deal and I realized there was a much better way to ‘win’ this little competition.”
“I see, but what about the students in your finals group? Will they not be prepared?”
“That’s the beauty of it. Everyone is running around trying to finalize groups and get them to gel. My group is already pretty gelled merely because of chance. I got the Tsuna mechanist, I got an enforcer, and a sapper. That’s a pretty strong team.”
“Perhaps on screen, but it says nothing about their individual teamwork or group dynamics,” Sasha countered.
“You know the test brings people together and also blows them apart, but as I’ve explained, I’m not really going for the big points here,” his companion said with a smug grin.
Sasha pursed his lips. He certainly wouldn’t appeal to his ethical or strategist sensitivities. It looked like he would simply have to go with plan b then—should have started with it, to be honest. “I want to trade my battle-medic for the mechanist. She will make a welcome addition to your team and will help with the survivability rating as well.”
Lupus downed the shot of whiskey, his face contorting slightly from the strong flavor, then placed the glass down and frowned. “That’s great and all, but that’s not exactly what I’m looking—”
“I’m willing to barter,” Sasha interjected.
The man’s smile returned. “There we go.” He stood as straight as he could and faced the commander. “What do you got?”
“As I’m sure you know, I’m in the lead—comfortably so. Even if my team does not make top five in the Squad Test, I am almost certain to make at least top three in the League. Whatever credits I earn are yours.”
“So potentially…fifty thousand at most and, like, ten thousand at least?”
He nodded. “That is correct.”
“That’s damn tempting,” Lupus said with a furrowed brow. He tapped his chin for a moment. “I was kinda hoping to trade the whole lot to someone else for a big payday, but this could work out just as well.”
“You could potentially have both.”
“How so?” the drunk man asked.
“Simple. With my battle-medic on your team, it has support now. That’s a more rounded team than you had before. For a discerning League member, that makes the team more attractive and makes them more willing to trade for all of them.”
Lupus clapped his hands together. “That sounds fantastic. Nice thinking, Commander!”
“I’ve had a few years to figure out how to play the game well.” He took a long drink of his lager, then placed the glass back on the bar with studied care. “Many games, in fact.”
“All right, I know you’ll keep your promise.” His companion held out a hand. “We got a deal, then?”
He nodded, shaking the proffered hand. “Indeed, my thanks.”
“I should thank you.” Lupus beamed. “But it was a pleasure.”
Sasha clicked the offer to trade Initiate Ziegler for Lupus’ mechanist, Genos Aronnax.
The man accepted the trade and called Rosie over. “Since I’ll have some credits to burn in the future, how about I return the favor and get you something to drink?”
The commander downed the remainder of his beer. “Unfortunately, I have other business to attend too.” He stood and added a large tip to his total, then removed his credit chip. “Have a good evening, Lupus—you as well, Rosie.”
“Best of luck to your team in the finals, Commander,” Lupus called as Sasha departed.
“That’s why I do these changes and trades, Lupus,” he whispered as he opened to door to the spring night. “It’s so I don’t have to rely on luck as much as most.”
Chapter Five
Kaiden awoke groggily, rubbed his hands over his face, and shielded his eyes from the sunlight.
Wait, sunlight? His room had blackout curtains.
He blinked a few times and found himself in the compartment of a dropship. Across from him were Flynn and Cameron. He looked beside him to see Luke and Silas still dozing. They were all dressed in jumpsuits with the Nexus logo on them and strapped into their seats with a bar over their shoulders and chest, securing them in place.
“Hey, wake up,” he shouted. His friends stirred.
“Give me a few more minutes…mate,” Flynn muttered sleepily.
“Kaiden, what the hell are you doing in—not my room…what the hell?” Cameron stammered as his hands gripped the bars on his chest and he looked around frantically.
“What’s going on?” Luke demanded as he tried to pull the bars off him, to no avail. “Where are we?”
“Why am I in this damn tube-sock body-suit?” Silas growled, stretching the tight-fitting fabric.
“Chief, what’s going on?” Kaiden asked.
The EI popped into existence, looking around at the group. “It’s Wulfson’s proving-ground thing, remember? You guys signed up for it like a week ago.”
“Wulfson,” the group shouted in anger and unison.
“What do ya want?” Their instructor’s voice shouted through the intercom overhead. “You bastards are loud after you wake up.”
“Where the hell are we?” Cameron yelled.
“Why were we asleep in the first place?” Luke roared.
“Where the hell is my gun?” Kaiden snapped.
“One at a time, one at a time, by God,” the security officer muttered. “Where we’re going is a mystery until deployment. You were asleep because you were asleep when we brought you onto the ship, and I have your gun Kaiden…if you can call it a gun.”
“What is going on?” Flynn shouted, finally coming to.
“Calm down, you fretful lasses. This is the proving ground training I told you about. You all signed up for it.”
Cameron continued to pull fruitlessly on the bars over his chest. “I thought this was supposed to be an Animus thing. I don’t remember getting in the Animus.”
“Because you didn’t. We’re heading to a real environment, where the lot of you have to team up and use your combined skills to survive the elements and Raza,” Wulfson explained.
“Raza? He’s here?” Kaiden asked.
“Aye, I told him the year was almost up and he’ll return to his clan in a month or so, anyhow. Figured we’d have one more big going away bout of training and make the most of it.”
“What is it?” Silas questioned.
“The proving ground. I haven’t had a batch of trainees to run through it in a long while. I’m excited to see how it turns out.” The man crowed with almost malicious delight.
“You keep saying that, but we don’t know what it means,” Flynn retorted.
“When you pitched this to us you made it seem like it would be an Animus thing or that we would go into the mountains or something. This is not the mountains.” Kaiden growled his displeasure.
“To be fair, there are mountains around here,” Wulfson pointed out.
“Why is he being so damn vague?” Luke hissed.
“Because he wants to piss us off,” the ace muttered.
“It’s working,” Cameron sneered, now kicking his legs in an attempt to slip under the bars.
“Now don’t be like that, boys. This will be a great bonding experience,” their instructor claimed jovially.
“Yeah, we’ll bond over the different methods and ideas we’ll think of to gut you,” Flynn mumbled.
Kaiden sighed and looked around. A couple of dozen cargo crates and several other small boxes were stacked at the back of the ship. He felt around his body and found a small device in his ear. On taking it out, he realized it was a comm link. “Hey, guys, check your ears.”
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