“His family needed him. Those girls are his sisters. They commed him and told him they were starving.” Her face screwed up as if a sharp object had jabbed her. “His parents take all of his credits and were trying to extort more.”
I’d gathered some of that from the incident in the alley. My heart ached for Dax. What kind of parents treated their child like that? How had Dax turned out so good, calm, and kind coming out of that kind of world?
“The suffering unseen creates the kindest of hearts,” Amelie said as if she’d read my mind.
“Did you just think of that?” I asked.
Amelie wasn’t usually poetical, but maybe this was a side of her I’d never seen.
She snorted. “No. That’s from A. Ritter, a writer from the late twenty-first century OE.”
“Ah.” I sighed and allowed the tired to drift down on me and pull at my muscles. Then it struck me.
“Dax is AWOL. Can you fix this, Ethan? I mean, we’re on the train, but that doesn’t mean they’ll let him back into the Academy. Do you have enough pull to get him back in?”
A deep fear sprung awake in me. Dax was like a brother. Better than my actual brother. He’d supported me, and more than once, he’d saved my ass.
Ethan looked forward, avoiding eye contact. He doubled over, resting his elbows on his knees and placing his head in his hands.
“I don’t know. I’m already in deep with Gleason for even being here.” His resigned voice sank to an all-time low.
I frowned hard. What had Ethan risked helping us? Now I was worried about him too.
What kind of place was this where doing the right thing could be twisted into something wrong?
“I’ll talk to him.” I leaned forward to meet his gaze. “I’ll explain what happened. Dax should get a pass because of a family emergency.”
Amelie shook her head. “He didn’t go through the proper channels. According to the Star Defenders’ manual, passes for family emergencies must be issued by High Command after a review. Few exceptions are given.”
“But your mom calls the Admiral, and you get a pass.” Anger heated my blood as I looked down at Dax’s wounded, bruised body.
“Hey!” Amelie said so sharply that I jerked my head up. “I am not my parents. I didn’t create the system. Do not compare me to them. We have to figure out a way to get him back in. Blaming me or anyone else isn’t productive.”
“Damn, Amelie. I’m so sorry. I’m just angry at the situation.”
Tension crackled between us. Ethan raised his head and looked at both of us as if he wanted to be anywhere else.
Amelie’s face flushed. Her eyes remained fixed on Dax. Kenzie stirred across the way but settled back down against Binary’s shoulder.
No one was coming up with any answers, and we would be at the Academy soon. Even with Ethan's pull, it would be hard to get past security with Dax.
How did Dax even get out?
I never thought of him as a mastermind, but he had a way of surprising me. He probably discovered some chink in the Axis-mil armor. He rested at our feet, looking almost peaceful. We had to find a way to get him back in and out of trouble.
“Could we carry him in and say he got drunk on Hub whiskey, and we had to bring him back from the game? That would explain some of this. And maybe Binary’s pass will get us through.”
Ethan closed his eyes and shook his head. “He’s still a cadet at the Academy. Everyone needs a pass in and out, even off duty. If he didn’t check out, which he didn’t, he can’t properly check-in.”
“Nobody told me that,” I said.
“They did,” Amelie said. “In the briefing you got in the tunnel before you got into the place, all that was explained. You probably just tuned it out.”
She hadn’t forgiven me. I could hear the implication that I was just too stupid to pay attention.
Or I might just be touchy from the entire crap storm of my current life.
I wanted to pace, but there was no room in the small area between our seats.
Binary and McKenzie slept peacefully, not a worry in the world. What I wouldn't give not to worry.
I was worried about my parents, my friends, my entire planet, and even my stupid brother. What if I didn't get picked for the Atlantis mission? Not knowing was worse than anything.
I tilted my head until I looked straight up at the artificial lights and then let it drop into my palms.
We were silent again—no one throwing out any ideas.
After a full minute, Binary raised her head, looking very alert for somebody who’d just been asleep. Perhaps she hadn’t been sleeping at all but just listening.
“Teach, if you have access to the main computer, could you give your friend a pass, so it looks like he had it before leaving?”
It wasn't what I expected from Binary, the daughter of a starship captain. I expected her to be more of a rule follower. But after her behavior in the Hub, perhaps she was more of a rebel than a patriot.
Ethan bit his bottom lip, looking up to the sky as if it would rain down answers.
“I can't, but I know somebody who can. If she has my code, she could get into the classified documents and make some changes. What do you say, Amelie, are you up to take the risk?”
Everyone's attention shifted to Amelie. Her head jerked up, and her mouth made a perfect O.
“Why didn't I think of that? Brilliant. Of course, anything for Dax.” She still looked a little apprehensive even though she had so firmly agreed.
She put one finger up to the side of her mouth, and her eyes went blurry. All the worry evaporated as she went into deep-think mode. This was Amelie at her best, digging into information and solving problems using the knowledge she had stored somewhere in her giant brain.
“I can do it. But I need a few minutes at the main terminal.
“The East entry has a panel and very few guards, but we’ll need a distraction,” Amelie said.
Binary raised her hand. Kenzie groaned and shifted in her seat.
“I can be distracting,” Binary said. “It doesn't matter. I'm good at grabbing attention.” She gave Ethan a sexy smile and then turned it on me. She was very attractive and probably had no trouble fascinating anyone. She had vidclip-star level charisma.
“Okay, that’s settled. Binary, you distract the guards. With our help, it shouldn't be too difficult, and Amelie...I'm trusting you.” He laid out his hand in front of me toward Amelie.
A long string of symbols, colors, letters, and numbers appeared. Amelie reached out and made a few swipes against her wristlet, tapping, then let him go.
He rolled his hand into a fist and retracted it. He closed his eyes for a second. The boy was getting deeper and deeper.
It made me more worried about him.
If the Ax-Mil traced the breach back, he could be court-martialed, but that was nothing like what Gleason would do. Perhaps send him to Helios with no return ticket.
Ethan’s actions showed me more of his nature than I’d ever seen, and this time, hopefully, his real self. And...I didn’t hate it.
Chapter Sixty-Two
Ethan
Every technique I remembered from Phantom Ops training to keep myself from exploding jumbled through my head. Breathing exercises, tapping, mantras, compartmentalizing.
I reviewed again how many ways this plan could go wrong. How many people could just happen to walk by and notice what we were doing? What if Amelie left any traces in the system or triggered an alarm?
Unlikely. She was smarter than anyone I’d ever met. Plus, she had already busted through the military’s top system.
She had been detected that time, but I was positive she’d learned from her mistakes.
No one realized she had access to the comm system outside of the base. And this was the only way I could get Dax back into the Academy.
Gleason wouldn’t help. He had no time to be concerned about some Hub kid who went AWOL for his family.
I saw his side as well.
/>
As a leader in a large military force, he couldn't make exceptions.
If cadets could leave whenever they wanted, 90 percent of conscripts would leave and never return. There had to be strong consequences for actions against the good of the mil-station.
But I knew Dax. He’d never leave unless it was a dire emergency. And judging from the way his mother and sisters looked. They lived in a dire situation.
I was torn. If Vega hadn’t been there, I don't know what decision I would've made. Again, it always came back to Vega.
Hopefully, none of this would have repercussions, but a weary, tired certainty gripped me. No good would come of this.
The train stopped much too soon. Binary gave me a sideways smirk and shook McKenzie. Once awake, she leaped to her feet and blinked up at Binary.
“We have more adventuring before going back to the barracks. Play along,” Binary said.
McKenzie grunted and rolled her eyes.
Vega and Kenzie lifted Dax gently. None of us were breathing as we approached the half-moon East entrance. Amelie pulled Dax’s coveralls up/together to hide his bloody wound. I led the way with a determined stride. I’d be the first interrogated, and hopefully, Binary would work her charm.
A husky man guarded the door.
I don’t think any of us were breathing when we finally arrived. The guard must have been on sentry duty alone. Only one. One was good. He ambled toward us. I stopped, and the rest followed my lead.
“What happened to him?” He pointed a finger at Dax, lifting one eyebrow.
“Too much Hub whiskey,” Binary purred. Her whole body had shifted from ready warrior to simpering giggle-girl. She’d ditched the rifle and now stood almost eye-to-eye with the guard. A teasing smile altered her features into a full-on siren.
The guard shifted his feet, and his hand dropped to his side-arm. Warning alarms reverbed inside of me. I automatically assessed what it would take to take him down.
But I stopped. Fighting wasn’t an option. He was one of ours. What was I thinking?
“Lightweight,” the guard said. “Show me your passes.”
He maintained a friendly tone, but he was getting down to business—another strike against our plan. Maybe I should have just commed Gleason.
The guard left Binary to examine Dax more closely. Vega shifted Dax’s weight to Kenzie. She rolled her shoulders and looked ready to brawl. By Sol, how was I ever going to keep this girl alive?
Instead of taking a defensive stance, he smiled. A toothy smile that made him look like an OE alligator.
“Planetborn. I heard a lot about you girls. Never met one tho’. Where you from?”
No. Oh, no. He had targeted Vega. I mean, I couldn’t blame him. I’d been immediately attracted to her as well. But from my experience, Vega wasn’t the best at subtle social interaction.
We all waited for her response. She blinked twice and then smiled the most forced and artificial smile I’d ever seen.
“I’m from U170...big boy.” Her face twisted. I think she was trying to wink at him.
I closed my eyes to stop the ancillary embarrassment from making me flush.
Oh, she was terrible at this. So very bad.
Amelie, on the other hand, had remained on task and side-stepped to the main computer panel under the arch. Her hands moved with impressive speed. A small beep made her pause and glance over her shoulder at the guard.
But he was still focused on trying to figure Vega out. I wished him luck.
“U170. Nice. The blue mountains are there?”
“No.” She didn’t supply any more information, just a grimace smile.
“The terraformed planet with all the lakes?”
“No.”
Everyone looked uncomfortable now. I wanted to signal Vega to talk about something else. Anything else.
She must have caught my eyebrow movement because she changed tactics.
Popping out her hip, she put a hand on it, and her smile shifted into something that looked almost normal. Almost charming.
“We’re the one with the best sev grain, and we make the best bread in the galaxy.”
Proud and excited, she met my gaze as if waiting for a giant thumbs up from me. I wanted to drop my head into my hands.
But the guard just nodded. “Bread is...cool.”
Amelie tapped on the monitor furiously. Her eyes never strayed from the flat display.
The burly guard glanced at me and followed my line of sight. Shit, I’d made a rookie mistake, and now we were busted.
Binary stepped up again and put a hand on the guard’s chest.
His attention immediately shifted to her.
“Hey! I thought you wanted our passes.”
He shifted out of her reach and grunted, pulling out a small handheld.
Amelie rolled a hand in front of her as if it would make the machine do her bidding more quickly. She shot a look over her shoulder and gave me the barest of nods.
With a grunt, the guard ran the handheld over each of us in turn. Amelie had just taken two steps away from the display and was smoothing her wild curly hair when he got to her. The perfect 4-D image of innocence. That girl could make it in the spy game.
“Everything looks in order. Don’t know how a bunch of cadets got to leave after curfew, but it all checks out.” He motioned to the entry, and tension streamed out of me as if an O2 valve had been released.
Vega still had a weird, almost manic expression on her face.
Binary sauntered in as if she owned the Academy. I followed with a drooping Amelie. I offered her my arm, and she took it, leaning against me.
“I didn’t think I could do it,” she whispered. “Not so fast. Not with so much going on.”
“Of course you could. You’re one of the smartest people I know.”
That elicited an upturn at the corner of her mouth.
“Thanks.” Her eyes dropped to Dax. “It was for him.”
I sensed a definite pulse of affection. It had been there since I’d known them, but neither had been willing to bridge the gap. I guessed that had changed or would change from the softness in her face.
“See you later, Cadet. I’d love to try your bread,” the guard called.
I bet he would.
I cringed. So did Vega and followed it with an intense eye-roll.
“Next time!” she called, and I would have almost thought it was sincere except for the quiver that ran over her. “Never again.” She stalked passed me and Am.
She wasn’t happy, but I didn’t know how the situation could have turned out better. Everyone had gotten in. I still worried about Dax’s health and reintegration with the Engineering Brigade, but I had hope.
I’d made it out of the Hub again and back to the Mil-station. That old sense of comfort ran over me. The way Vega felt about U170 was the way I felt about the Academy. This was my home, and it was good to be back.
Chapter Sixty-Three
Vega
We passed the threshold and moved through the dim, empty atrium. My heart rate wouldn’t slow, and my palms remained clammy. I swallowed compulsively to keep the contents of my stomach down. We’d been lucky.
Damn lucky.
And continuing to depend on luck would only lead us straight to the brig. I pulled up my wrist com and searched for Hamzah. Funny. Everyone else on the list had full names, ranks, duties. Under Hamzah’s name, it read other. What the hell did that mean?
Dax wheezed, gasping for air. Real medics would require passes and approvals.
Hamzah had required neither. I just hoped he could handle Dax’s injuries, or we’d be forced to go to med bay...and explain, which would put everyone in danger.
The arrows glowed and guided us toward the training area. But we walked for a long time.
The place was massive. I still really had no concept of where anything was, and for a second, I missed the Lazarus.
Amelie and Ethan scanned the halls then looked back at me. “Where is this d
octor?” Amelie said at last. “Dax needs medical aid. He’s bleeding internally.”
“We’re almost there,” I said. I had no idea, but it couldn’t be that much farther.
The wall flared, illuminating the outlining of a door. I waved a hand over the panel and held my breath. Hamzah had said to come back if I needed him.
The door slid open.
We entered the apartment carrying Dax.
Hamzah stood calmly in the center of the room, shirtless, wearing trousers made of billowy pieces of cloth. Definitely not a uniform.
“Put him on the bed.”
Hamzah’s dark eyes flashed alert as he examined Dax. He lifted his hands to hover over Dax’s body and slowly moved them, not touching.
“What are you doing?” Amelie seized his wrist. “I have his readings here. His bp is—”
“I can help him if you allow me. I’m a healer, not a doctor. My methods differ from most traditional medicine. I’m from Quazar.”
Amelie dropped her grip and stepped back.
“You’re from Quazar? The Planet of Miracles?” Her brows knit then rose.
“Yes. Allow me to help your friend.”
Amelie shifted to look at us. Binary and McKenzie stood at the doorway, looking as if they might bolt.
Ethan shrugged. “I’ve heard of them in the Hub. I didn’t think they were real and didn’t know we had any here. Still safer than going to med bay.”
“He helped me, Amelie. Let him try,” I said.
“Okay. But I’ll be watching you. I have every med journal in my magnifier, and I’ll know if you’re doing anything suspicious.”
Hamzah didn’t smile, but his eyes seemed to brighten. “I won’t do anything suspicious.”
Dax groaned. Amelie’s shoulders collapsed. “Help him.”
“You may stay,” Hamzah said.
“As if you could keep me out.” Amelie stood beside him, arms crossed.
The healer pulled a thin multi-color tapestry across the room.
I allowed myself to sink into one of the pillow chairs. Ethan sat down next to me.
“We’re going,” Binary said.
I stood and put a hand on Binary’s and Kenzie's shoulders. “Thank you.”
Cadet: Star Defenders Book Two: Space Opera Adventure Page 30