“Richard Stromweld!”
That’s when Eira stepped on my foot, “Stop flirting.” she hissed in my ear.
I gave her a shocked look, “I’m not flirting, I just told him my name.” I said innocently.
“For you that is flirting, and don’t pretend for a second it isn’t. Last thing we need is to be associated with ‘Freyja the Slut’.”
I suppose I should’ve been offended, but I giggled instead, “Yeah, secondary school was fun. Gods, why is this thing so slow?”
No one answered me which, if I’m being completely honest, hurt my feelings a little, but I lived with it. The Elevator didn’t make a sound as it ascended through the clouds, and it only became clear that we’d made the journey when the doors started to open, confirming Rich’s assumption. One obvious guide, from his civilian clothing and name tag, and six soldiers armed with assault weapons.
“Good day everyone!” the guide said in an annoyingly peppy voice, “My name is Harry, and I will be guiding you through the system today. And don’t pay any attention to the guards, I assure you they won’t be a problem for anyone here.”
Gods I hated him. Why the Hell did he get to be so happy while sending us to our doom? I wanted to hit him right across his clean-shaven face and knock the red highlights out of his spiked hair. Aaand that’s probably why they had armed guards.
“First off on the agenda,” Harry said as he walked with us in close tow, “is haircuts! Now I understand a lot of you Kaltjarnans hold your hair dearly, but look at today as a rebirth! Like you’re getting a whole new life to grow that hair right back out.”
I started to faze him out as we walked around the station. It was huge and continuing with the airport motif from the ground, except it was closer to the departure area than anything. It was militarised, sure, but from what I could see it still had a bar, a place to get food, and instead of sitting areas they had briefing rooms.
After what felt like a century of walking, Harry took us to the place that we were going to have our pride cut off.
My skin crawled as I looked into the military equivalent of a hairdresser. There was space for thirty people to get their hair done at once, and my siblings and I were among the first unlucky ones. Well, except for Mouse, she’d been sat down and had what little hair she had cut off before we could even enter the room properly, and was told she could wait in the corner until they were done with us.
The chairs had these little compartments on the back, were stiff, and I’m pretty sure were made of that stuff that old people use to cover their couches.
I rolled my shoulders as I sat in the uncomfortable chair, the cold metal pressing against my lower back as my shirt bunched up.
“Not comfortable, is it?” I heard someone say as I adjusted myself.
“Please, no talking.” I said calmly as the barber approached. He was a hefty, bald soldier with a leather belt laden with primarily straight-razors draped over his arm.
He chuckled, “Now, now,” he said in his strong voice, “you’re not at home anymore. There’s a chain o’ command and you ain’t at a link that gets to order anyone around.” The soldier spun my chair around so that the compartment on the back was to him.
“I understand the chain of command just fine,” I said spitefully, “but I’ve got a splitting headache and your voice isn’t exactly aiding with that.”
“Tough.” he responded gruffly, “Imma talk, and you’re just gonna have to listen.”
“Look, I’m warning yo-”
He laughed loudly and turned the chair so he could stare me down, he was clearly angry but hiding it behind an almost manic smile, “Warning me? Girl, you’re about to spend a looong time on this ‘ere boat with me. Ya best not be making any empty threats of this or that.”
Tyr decided that that would be the opportune time to speak up, clearly seeing that I’d started to clench and un-clench my fists. “Hey,” he said as he got to his feet, “we can all be civil here, let’s jus-”
“Si’down Pledge!” the soldier barked before snapping his attention back to me, “Listen, girl, I get one o’ you shits erry five minutes. Girls who shoulda stayed at home with their knittin’ and their dolls. But war’s the way o’ things now, and we need meat for the grinder.”
“I don’t know how to knit.” I mocked.
The soldier seethed, “That’s it, now you needa shut up. Coulda had a good ol’ conversation about whatever ya pleased, but you decided to be a stuck-up little bitch, and now you’ll be quiet or I’ll knock those pretty teeth from your ‘ed.”
I waited for him to finish, like the courteous person I am, while Tyr shook his head and sat down.
I really don’t like being called a bitch.
Haircut: Part 2
I flexed my arms against the leather straps that I hadn’t noticed were built into the chairs. Clearly the barber hadn’t been lying about me not being the first problem, but I reckon I was one of the worst which made me proud in a weird sort of way.
The bald and bleeding soldier continued to complain about his nose, “Now who’s the bitch?” I asked with a grin.
“You broke my nose!” he growled more toward the two guards who’d been stationed beside the chair than me.
“Eh,” I said with a shrug, “shouldn’t have been a dick.”
“What did he do that was so bad?” one of the guards asked.
“Called me a bitch, it’s not a name I’m particularly fond of. Probably has something to do with my great aunt Gertrude, I believe her real name was Bitch, at least that’s the name the family used.”
Both Tyr and Eira stifled a laugh at our in-joke, the others were less amused.
“Yeah, well now the little bitch is all tied up. So what’s the bitch going to do?”
“Say it to my face why don’t you.” I said laughingly.
He leant in close, dripping blood all over my nice clean clothes, “Bit-”
Idiot.
Haircut: Part 3
I tried to crack my neck, but found it proved to be impossible with how tightly my head had been bound to the chair, “You should really see someone about that.” I said to the barber who was busy spitting the final few chunks of his front teeth into a bin.
“Fuckin’ bit-”
“Uh-buh-buh. Before you finish that sentence I suggest you take a moment to think about the fact that, at some point, I will be let out of this chair and… well, I’m quite good at fighting and I’m not particularly fond of the idea of losing my braid.”
He growled and grumbled and stewed for a few seconds before shaking it off and coming over to work on my head.
I knew I’d pushed the boundaries of what I could get away with on Call day, but I also knew that they needed as many troops as possible. A little bit of aggression would be accepted, celebrated even, as long as no one died.
Day wasn’t over though.
When he was done and the bindings were removed I stayed there a while longer forcing myself not to cry as I stared at my completely bald head. Years of work for nothing, all shaved off because it didn’t fit into their rules.
I got up once I was sure I wasn’t going to embarrass myself and walked over to Eira, who hadn’t been so great at hiding her emotions. Even though she wasn’t sobbing or sniffling, tears were still running down her cheeks. I called over Mouse and Tyr, and we formed a sort of protective circle around her as we walked out of the room.
“All tidied up!” the guide said enthusiastically when we almost ran into him at the door, “Now head over to the armoury to collect your gear, and they will tell you where to go next. Stay safe!”
We stared at him for a few seconds before following the signs to the station’s armoury. ‘Stay safe!’ What bullshit. Little twerp had probably never left the station since getting his job.
“What ship do you reckon we’ll be assigned to?” Tyr asked the group in an attempt to lift the gloom that had settled over us.
When no one answered I shrugged, “To be perfec
tly honest, I don’t even know what ships there are.” I lied. I wasn’t trying to be argumentative, the opposite actually, but I didn’t like to admit that I’d done my homework, that would mean I knew we weren’t going to get away.
“There’s the FNDC Burning Sun, the Valkyrie, the Galrti, the Sereni-“
“Just tell us which one you want to be on.” Eira snapped as politely as she could.
Tyr was hurt for a second, but got over it with a smile, “The Valkyrie. I heard Captain Vyard took the helm recently. I’d give my right arm to serve with him.”
“And it does have the coolest name.” I joked.
“Right? Burning Sun is just so… bland.”
I sighed as we walked up to the titanium doorway with ‘ARMOURY’ engraved above it, the door that would’ve normally lifted when we stepped toward it held in place as a confused Pledge stood under it, looking around desperately for someone to tell him what to do.
“Maybe the military will help with that broken sarcasm register you’ve got Tyr. Any of you guys know what we’re supposed to be doing?”
The Pledge under the door shook his head, “There’s all these machines, and there’s no one else here, and I don’t know what to do, and I-”
“Mmhm, ‘scuse me.” I said as I led the others into the room before we could get flooded by the other pledges that were coming our way.
Just like that barber’s, the room had spaces for thirty people, a scanner and some kind of hatch built into the wall at each of the areas.
I walked over to the nearest scanner and pulled down my shirt so that it could read my tattoo which, to me, seemed to be the obvious thing to do. There was a ping and a computerised voice chirped “Pledge Nokri, Freyja. Confirm.”
“Confirm.” I groaned. The thing was no better than an ATM, and just as annoying.
There was nothing for a second, then a rumble and a thump as something landed behind the hatch. For a minute I stood in waiting before touching the panel and having the hatch fall open to reveal a very full blue duffel bag with my name, rank, number and ship assignment printed in black on the side.
“Looks like I’m on the Valkyrie.” I said as I slung the bag over my shoulder, “What about you guys?”
Mouse and Eira simply nodded, but Tyr was practically jumping up and down, “Yes! Words can’t… Yes! Come on, let’s go!” he shouted as he ran past the rest of us and pushed his way out the door.
Eira smiled a bit for the first time since stepping on the station and started following our brother, “You’d think he thought they’d leave without us.”
“Ha, if only. You surprised we’re all together? I know they usually keep friends in groups, but all four of us? That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?”
Mouse shook her head, “FNDC guidelines state that soldiers be shipped together with their childhood friends or siblings, whichever ties are closest. That’s why there’s such a focus on friendship in school. They like to get us ready.”
“And she talks!” I laughed. “I’m only teasing,” I said when I noticed Mouse had shrunk back down, “but you seriously read that whole manual? I thought you just pretended to do that so everyone left you alone.”
“Tasks can achieve two things.” she replied shyly.
Eira tsked, “See, now you’ve made her embarrassed.”
“Oh shut up. Mouse, tell her I didn’t embarrass you.”
She stayed silent and looked at the ground as we walked before mumbling “You did a little.”
I frowned and gave her a hug with my free arm, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
And just like that she popped back up with a big smile, “I know.” she said gleefully, “I was just messing with you.”
Eira stifled a laugh, “That was a bit funny.”
I screwed up my face and poked my tongue out, “You just think that because someone’s feelings got hurt.”
Eira nodded and started reflecting Mouse’s almost eccentric smile, “Yep, and for once it was you.”
The Valkyrie
It took a bit of exploring, but eventually we found a series of signs that led us to a hall labelled ‘DEPARTURE BAY 003’ which we’d been told to go to by a very helpful soldier. Shuttlecraft doors that looked like they belonged to military train cabins jutted out of the walls, with signs above each of them labelling their destination.
I looked at the end of the hall and smiled when I saw Tyr waving us over, “You took your time!” he shouted as we jogged to him.
“You’re the one who ditched us!” I shouted back.
Tyr got out of the way as we reached him, and let us enter the ten person shuttle, “Can’t blame me, can you? We’re going on the Valkyrie! It’s only just come into circulation, and I heard it’s got all the best tech the Federation has to offer.”
“Most of these ships have just come into circulation,” Eira said bitterly, “they keep getting blown up.”
The shuttle was actually kind of nice. It was like a small bus with its two rows of four forward facing seats with a split down the middle, the first half already occupied by blank-faced pledges, along with two seats up front for the pilots, which was separated from the rest by the entryway. I was still convinced I was going to have a terrible time, but at least the journey to Hell would be somewhat comfortable.
I shuffled down the middle of the aisle and got myself the wall seat beside Tyr while Eira took the opposite wall to Mouse’s great relief, the words ‘closer to the wall, closer to death’ being mumbled at some point when she sat down. When I finally managed to get comfortable I struggled to find out what to do with my bag, until I saw Tyr’s under his feet and did the same before strapping myself into the fear inducing chest harness.
“Where are the pilots?” I asked.
Tyr shrugged, “I’m sure they’ll get here. We were the first pledges to get cycled through.”
For some reason this made me somewhat antsy, and not because I thought we were in any kind of distress, no, it was because my mind started thinking bad things.
Hijack-y things.
I was right about to suggest it when two people, a young man and woman dressed in pilot jumpsuits, came aboard and faced us with their hands behind their backs.
“My name is Lieutenant Bellan,” the woman said sharply, “and this is Cadet Redshert, he’ll be flying us out today, so make sure those harnesses are good and tight. I don’t want to have to be scraping you off the walls.”
Something about the name ‘Redshert’ made me more than a little concerned, and the fact he was a cadet only made that feeling worse.
As he climbed into the pilot’s seat and put in his earpiece my nails dug into my knees, and by the time the doors had closed, opened, then closed again, my knuckles had gone white. Apparently he had trouble getting the mechanism to work.
There was a loud thunk and the hydraulic hissing and I felt we’d started to move, “This is Lieutenant Bellan, requesting permission to exit through departure bay three.”
I waited in silent prayer for them to deny, but then the Lieutenant smiled, “Thank you. You’re clear for take-off, Cadet.”
“This is it,” I whispered to Tyr, “this is how we die.”
The shuttle shifted sideways for a while, giving everyone who was looking out the front a great view of a dimly lit wall with red and white lights that went by every few metres, and then we were in a circular tunnel with a closed exit at the end.
Without a second’s hesitation the Cadet gunned it down the tunnel.
“I was wrong!” I shouted over the roaring that surrounded us as we shook around wildly in our seats, “This is how we die!”
The bullet that we were shot towards a blocked barrel, the pilot was obviously a Commonwealth spy or something sent to blow us all up. I locked my eyes shut and waited for fire.
But it didn’t come.
Instead, the turbulence stopped and the two up front started laughing.
I opened my eyes and the Cadet got to his feet, “Congratula
tions on not screaming. Most scream. How are we all feeling today?” when no one answered him he ripped off the Federation insignia on his left shoulder to reveal his true rank.
“Thrilled Lieutenant!” Tyr shouted back.
“Glad to hear it Pledge! Jadari, isn’t it?”
Tyr nodded excitedly, “Yes sir, one of them at least.”
The Lieutenant looked across the back row and found Eira, “And that must be fairer of the twins, correct?”
Eira went to speak, but stopped and swallowed the mouthful of vomit first, “Sir.”
“Good to have you two aboard, I’ve heard a lot about you. Sorry about the turbulence back there Eira, turned the shields down a bit for a laugh. Now, what say we get these windows open so you all can take a look at your new home?” he asked before returning to his seat.
I finally let go of my knees as the metal outside shifted and revealed most of the inside wall from my chest up was actually transparent. Tyr leaned over me so he could get a view of the vast nothingness that occupied my field of vision.
I’d just about given up on seeing anything interesting until Redshert rotated the shuttle and let us get a look at one of the most amazing things I’ve even seen. It was absolutely majestic, and no surprise that it wasn’t docked with the station.
Nova-Class Battlecruiser Valkyrie. A mile long and armoured beyond belief with at least 250 ion cannons each side for defence against small attack vessels, as well as six small Haelvich plasma railguns, with a big one just under the nose that could turn a city to slag. After seeing it I was certain of one thing.
We were definitely going to be safe.
The Lieutenant adjusted our course and put us on a trajectory for the ship, much to Tyr’s displeasure as he practically laid on me to try and get a better look.
When it was clear that she was out of eyeshot he fell back into his chair and shuffled into it, “Home…” he thought out loud.
I smiled a little then nodded, “Yeah… I think it just might be.”
Guardians (Æthyrium Rising - Guardians Book 1) Page 4