by Kal Spriggs
“Sashi already earned their disapproval applying here,” Karmazin said. “Then, to top it off, she realized that they would see that she was not only here against their wishes, but that she was working with you, an Armstrong. She cracked under that pressure, because even more important than doing well was earning their respect.”
I mused that over for a while. I hadn't really tried to think through her motivations beyond the fact that she had to hate my guts to do what she had done. With how Karmazin laid it out, she almost sounded... pathetic. Sashi was caught up not just in our families' feud, but also in some kind of desperate attempt to garner approval. I knew she was smart, confident, and capable, probably every bit as much as her brothers, yet all of her statements about how her brothers had been treated better suddenly took on a much darker turn. It wasn't abuse, exactly, but it wasn't a healthy environment to grow up in, when her brothers could expect so much more encouragement while her parents wouldn't respect her accomplishments.
“Anyway,” Karmazin said, “she transferred out of Sand Dragon section and she's over in Tiger, now. I guess that was the section her brothers are in anyway.” I blinked at that, I hadn't realized that it was possible to transfer voluntarily. “She had to, no one in the section would work with her after what she did.”
I flushed at that. I hadn't realized that I meant that much to the others.
“So,” I asked, “How did you get so smart?”
He shrugged, “I've been doing a lot of thinking the past couple days. And I've a lot of experience thinking about family and pressures that come with it.”
“Oh?” I asked. “You've got something of an interesting family dynamic with the Champions, then?” Maybe it was the drugs they had me on, but I was tired of the mystery around him, I wanted to know what made Alexander Karmazin tick.
I saw him hesitate. “I'm not sure I really want to go into the details...”
“Oh,” I said, “come on. It's the question everyone asks, I know, but give me a break. I'm headed to Champion Enterprises in eleven days. At least let me know if I'm going to step on a landmine for dropping your name.”
“You might be,” he said with a grimace. For a moment, he got a mulish look, like he had said all that he would, yet he looked at me and I saw his face soften a bit. “Fine. It's not nearly as interesting as you might think, though.” He took a deep breath. “You already know that I'm from the Enclave. We're not under the colonial charter, we've our own government, our own community. We're independent, and have been since our ship arrived.”
I nodded at that, it matched what I vaguely remembered from history lessons. They had founded from exiles from the Dalite Confederacy. I didn't know the details, it hadn’t ever been important to know, so I’d never really paid attention. I remembered they had been granted a small area of land right on the edge of the deep desert, out near the Salt Flats from where Century’s equatorial sea had dried up over a million years ago.
“Well,” he said, “up until two years ago, we could still serve in the Century Planetary Militia, even though we have our own defense force. We made up about seven percent of the Planetary Militia, we had a disproportionate percentage of officers, though, almost ten percent. We had nearly a hundred cadets here at the Academy... and I'd just been accepted for the Prep School, for what would be last year's class.”
I frowned at that. “But if that was last year, why are you here?”
“Century's Charter Council passed a law, restricting who can serve. Only citizens can serve in the Century Planetary Militia, now. All of my people in uniform had to either renounce their citizenship to the Enclave and swear allegiance to Century or resign. The only exceptions are those who are born with dual citizenship, with one parent from the Enclave and the other a citizen of Century Colony.”
After a moment, I nodded slowly, “So your mother filed a paternity suit?”
He gave me a sharp nod. “She contacted my father, first, and he said to do it the fair way, through the courts so there couldn't be any official opposition. But it took time to figure out that loophole so I could attend and more time to set everything up, so then I was going to this year's classes... and then Leo Champion's other children found out about me.”
I frowned at that. Tony's father had seemed nice enough, but I remembered some of the nasty things he had said about the Planetary Militia. He might have been speaking out of ignorance, but I wasn't so sure, now. The Enclave was known for being militant, it was part of their independence charter, if I remembered right. On top of that, while he had to feel pretty confident in that he had earned his position at Champion Enterprises, it didn't mean that his father wouldn't reward his “new” child with part of the company.
“They went to the press,” Karmazin said in a low voice. “Who said some pretty horrible things about my mom and made me out to be a violent thug.” He shrugged, “I was in a fight last year, but it wasn't my fault. The Enforcer’s record was sealed because we were all juveniles... and the kids who attacked me were all from the same ship here at Duncan City spaceport, the Enforcers figured it was some kind of misunderstanding so they filed it away.”
“That's it?” I asked. “That's the big mystery? How did your mother...” I trailed off as I realized it wasn't the most delicate way to ask that question.
Karmazin flushed, “Look, it's not really a question I asked, okay? She works logistics for the Enclave, I figure they met that way. I don't really want to know.”
I shook my head, “Me either, I guess.” So much for the entire image I had of Alexander Karmazin. He wasn't wealthy, his mother hadn't filed the paternity suit for money, and it seemed like he really was a decent guy. I'm an idiot, I thought, I should have just asked him from the start.
It was good to know him, to really know him, though.
“What about you?” he asked.
“Me?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he shrugged, “you came here with almost no preparation, no idea what you were getting into... why? I mean, most everyone else has bought off on the whole story that your parents thought it would be “well rounding” but I don't think that's the whole truth.”
I looked away. The last thing that I wanted to do was to admit how I'd screwed up and ended up here. It wasn't that I regretted coming here, but I certainly wasn't proud of what I had done.
Still, he had told me the truth, I suppose that I owed it to him. Besides, I felt pretty sure that he wouldn't spread it around.
“My parents and I had an agreement,” I said. “I promised to apply for a broad spectrum of colleges and take certain extra classes in order to graduate early, so that I could start the Champion Enterprises Internship Program a year early.” I didn't mention that my reason for early graduation to be with Tony, who had started the program already.
“So why are you here?” Karmazin asked with a frown, “was this some of the extra coursework or something?”
“No,” I shook my head, “my mother would never have suggested that. She just wanted me to apply to the Archeological Institute. But I had heard that Champion Enterprises prefers exclusive applications, so...”
“Wait, you believed that?” Karmazin asked in surprise. “I mean, I know it says it on the application, but I'm pretty sure they just do that to scare some people out of applying.”
“Wait, you applied there?” I asked.
“Yeah, if I hadn't got accepted here, that was going to be a safe alternative,” Karmazin shrugged, “I wasn't really interested in a career there, but their ship handling course is enough to get my civilian license and then I could apply to the Guard's Harlequin Sector Military Academy.” I rolled my eyes at that. It was very clear that Alexander Karmazin really wanted to serve in the military.
“Well,” I said, “I didn't know the exclusive part wasn't real. I didn't apply to the other schools and I got in a fight with my Dad about it… and when he wouldn’t sign my application, I forged my mother's signature on the application to Champion Enterprises. My parents
thought I had given up on early graduation until Champion Enterprises notified them that I had been accepted.” I waited, acutely aware that I didn't want to see disapproval in his face.
Karmazin considered that for a long moment. “You forged your mother's signature... so they did what, ship you off here?”
“They dropped me off with the Admiral, my mother's mother. She decided to enroll me here,” I said.
Karmazin snorted, “I still think it's crazy that you call her the Admiral. I guess the rumors about her are true then, that she's not real close to her family. That's too bad.”
“I don't know the details,” I said quickly. It wasn't that I liked her exactly, but I felt uncomfortable to talk about her without her to defend herself. “But my mom only talks to her once a year. I think my uncle was closer... but well, he and his wife were killed. My cousins run their freighter so they only come through every now and again.”
Karmazin shook his head again. “That's too bad. She's such a hero, I mean, she's Admiral Victoria Armstrong!”
I frowned, “I hate to even bring this up, but isn't the Enclave made up of survivors from the Three Day War? You're political exiles because she helped to defeat you, right?” I was kind of guessing, but that sounded about right.
Karmazin waved a hand, “She didn't just help, she's the reason we lost. The Armstrongs, I should say, are the reason we lost. My grandfather told me the stories again and again...” he saw the look on my face, “Nanda, it is true, you really don't know, do you?”
“Know what!?” I snapped.
“Look, what I've heard isn't what they put in the history books. It isn't even what they put in your history books,” Karmazin said cautiously. “But on the third day of the war, the Dalites had two cruisers left and Century had a destroyer squadron and a corvette squadron left. The cruisers had control of Century's orbit, so they could pick off any reservists who tried to sally with fighters.”
I blinked at that, “Okay.” From our tactical classes, I knew that was a bad place to be. Warp drives had bad effects in atmosphere, so any ships trying to get off of Century's surface would have been slow moving targets for the Dalite ships in orbit.
“Your grandmother, the Admiral, was in command of the destroyer squadron: the Star, the Comet, and the Meteor. Your grandfather, Captain Brett Armstrong, commanded the Comet. Karmazin gave a shrug, “My grandfather was in command of the Dalite force, he's Admiral Karmazin.”
“Oh,” I said and blinked at that. Apparently our familial rivalries were even more complex than I could guess.
“Now, I don't know the details, but the commander of Century's corvette squadrons was Captain Toshi Drien. For whatever reason, he refused to accept your grandmother's orders to attack. The only other ships in the system were a pair of missionary vessels. Captain Hannity and Captain Anthony Champion commanded them. They were cruiser-sized, light armed civilian ships.”
I suddenly saw how our families tied in, at least somewhat.
“Your grandmother attacked one of the cruisers, the Confederacy. They were on opposite sides of Century in order to cover the entire planet. If one side were exposed, then the reservists could get into orbit and drive the Dalites out.” He shrugged, “The two missionary ships had deeper drive fields. The Confederacy thought they were cruisers and engaged and destroyed them, which gave your grandmother time to do some damage. At the same time, my grandfather returned fire with his remaining warp missiles, crippling the Star and the Comet and destroying the Meteor. The Comet began to fall into Century's atmosphere.”
My mind flashed back to the mural down in the lowest levels, the ship falling into atmosphere and breaking apart, even as it fired. Now that I knew the circumstances, I could understand it better... but I still shivered at the choice.
“The Admiral ordered her ship to ram the Confederacy, which knocked out its drive field and combined fire from her ship and the Comet brought it down,” Karmazin said. I could see his eyes alight, “It was a fight that my grandfather still talks about, one where honor and valor kept Century's Militia fighting long after any sane person would have given in.”
I thought about it for a long moment, “So Anthony Champion was one of Leo Champion's kids and he was killed?” I asked.
“His estranged brother, I think,” Karmazin said. “I'm fuzzy on the details. All I really heard is that he blamed your grandmother for his death. And Toshi Drien avoided any kind of punishment for refusing orders to fight, but he still suffered a lot of disgrace. People called him a coward for years later and his family still has a bit of a stigma, even after they've proven themselves during several pirate raids.”
A lot of things suddenly made sense, not just between Sashi, Alexander Karmazin, and myself, but also between my mother and the Admiral. My mother would have been a child, she wouldn't have understood why her father never came back.
Leo Champion, the head of Champion Enterprises, would blame Toshi Drien and the Admiral for the loss of his brother. It was a mess, one that it seemed I had to pay some price for. I didn't want to know about what nasty things our three families had done to one another in the years since. “Well, I'll be glad to be done with it all,” I said finally.
“You aren't going to stay?” Karmazin asked. I saw him bite his lip, “But you've done so well and I thought...”
I shook my head, “No, I'm done. I'll graduate and then I'm going to my internship. Why should I stay?” He stared at me and for a moment I thought he would give me a good answer. For some reason, I felt my heart race a bit and I felt a flush start to creep up my face.
Alexander Karmazin looked away, though. “Fine. I guess you should go, that's what you want, right?”
I very nearly told him that I wasn't so sure, but I didn't. I would be foolish to throw away the opportunities I would have at Champion Enterprises, just because I had made some friends here. I could stay friends with them, I was sure. I mean, in all likelihood it wouldn't be the same. They would focus on their studies and I would focus on my own. We would grow apart, but that was okay.
For some reason, I found myself tearing up a bit.
“Well,” Karmazin said gruffly, “I guess I'll see you around.”
“Yeah,” I said and my voice went a little hollow, “See you around.”
***
Chapter Twenty-One: Living The Dream
The graduation ceremony came and went. I received my certificate of completion, shook the Admiral's hand, and my mom and dad were there to hug me and tell me they were proud. Will was there too but he mostly spent his time staring around with big eyes. I wondered, then, if he got the idea to attend. Certainly it seemed like something that would interest him. I told myself I should tell him what I could to help him prepare, but there would be time for that later.
Tony couldn't make it. He told me he had a project due for his internship but he couldn't wait to see me when I got back to Duncan City. I told him I had a lot to do but I would see him once I started the internship. I wasn't sure if I was just a bit unsettled from what Alexander Karmazin had told me or if I was just suspicious after Sashi's betrayal, but I wasn't so certain that Tony was my friend. For that matter, he seemed a little less interesting and almost... boring. Not that he wasn't smart or funny, just that he hadn't done anything. He'd been virtually guaranteed a slot at Champion Enterprises because of his father's position there and the only other thing he did was stay on top of all the latest fashions and trends from offworld.
Still, maybe that wasn't entirely fair of me. Surely there was more to Tony than that.
I mean, we had met when his father came down to Black Mesa to work a research Gordon to my parent's archeology expedition in partnership with Champion Enterprises. I still didn't know what was important enough that one of their executives spent three years there at Black Mesa, but it wasn't something I really questioned. That was how I'd met Tony and why he and I had hit it off so well.
In fact, as I remembered, Tony's father had been very welcoming to me
that first year. He was the one who first broached the idea of an internship at Champion Enterprises. For that matter, he was the one who had invited me to several of his family dinners and social occasions. I'd felt quite the adult, they had shown me all the perks that money could bring...
My thoughts came to a crashing halt as I remembered just how suspicious my father had been. What if Tony's father had encouraged me as some kind of leverage against my parents? All the warnings from my dad suddenly took on a different light... including his agreement with my mother about me applying to other institutions. What if Tony's father had manipulated me as a way to get more access to whatever research my parents were conducting?
That made me feel sick to my stomach. I almost went right to my dad as I thought about that, yet it seemed too dirty, too underhanded for the genial man. I mean, he was a businessman, he had to know that manipulating someone's kid wasn't likely to build a good relationship in the long term.
And it wasn't as if Tony was cut from the same cloth, anyway. He and I had spent the past two years together. He wouldn't have done that just because his father had told him to do it, right?
I was desperately grateful to get back to my studies for the Internship Program, since it kept me busy and prevented me from second-guessing my decisions. I hadn't been able to do much work on it during the Prep Course, but after the intense pace there, the pile of work wasn't nearly as daunting. My parents had offered to take me back home after graduation, but I told them I was okay with staying with the Admiral for the last few days. I told them it gave me a bit more time to study and they seemed surprised but they didn't push me.
In truth, I had a host of questions I wanted to ask the Admiral, but I felt too intimidated to ask them. And I really did need the time to work on my assignments.
I spent most of the time in the small room that I'd stayed in before the Academy Prep School. I still didn't know who the clothing belonged to, whether it was a relative I hadn't met or one of the Admiral's friends. It was one more mystery about the place that I filed away for later consideration. Possibly I would even ask my mom, but some other time, I figured.