Star Man 2: Star Rise

Home > Other > Star Man 2: Star Rise > Page 28
Star Man 2: Star Rise Page 28

by I. G. Roberts


  Dave saluted and left to go find Julia. Dave was very lucky to be captured by these people and knew it. If he and Julia had been Federation individuals who were caught by most raiders from the Peschal Alliance, the treatment would have been much more brutal.

  Two weeks later back at the Training Center, Keg slipped away from his squad mates. He was a trainee, just like they were, but one of the training Sergeants was a good friend of his father. When he walked into the store room, Sergeant Dickenson was waiting.

  Dickenson asked, “You good Keg?”

  “Yes Sergeant, I’m good, no complaints.”

  “I saw Sergeant Robinson bawling you out earlier. What did you do to upset him so much?”

  “Nothing Sergeant, I was talking to my friend Dave and laughing when Sergeant Robinson came over. Some of the guys have been making some pretty cruel comments about that scar on the Sergeants face, I think he may have thought I was laughing at him. I wasn’t, but if he decided I was, then denying it would only confirm it in his mind, so I said nothing.”

  “Tell me about your friend Dave, what do you think of his loyalty?”

  “Dave’s got something to prove Sergeant. He was sent here because the courts said this was where he had to go but I don’t think he sees it as a punishment. I believe Dave likes it, mostly anyway, certainly more than a lot of the time servers here. He has a girl who was with him when Captain Gordon captured him, he bought her at the slave markets but said he never ever treated her like a slave or even thought of her as his property. Some of the others thought he was fair game at. First, I had to explain the error of their ways to them. If he’s loyal, and I believe he is or at least wants to be, then he’ll be a real asset to the Navy.”

  “Okay Keg, that’s good. Remember, while we’re watching him, it doesn’t mean there’s a problem, we’re just taking due care. I’m told DNI are happy that he’s good. They’re usually accurate with things like that. Now, you need to go before you’re missed.”

  “Yes Sergeant.”

  Keg quietly left the way he’d come into the store. Nobody saw him go in or come out. When he made it back to his training platoon, they just thought he’d been skiving off. Keg didn’t care what they thought. The people who mattered all knew Keg was pulling his weight and one of those people was Dave. There had been quite a few times when Dave and Keg found little traps in training scenarios, traps that were intended to test the team. Keg and Dave would usually be able to quietly steer the team around the trap, often by appearing to be trying to drive them towards it. Their classmates all thought Dave and Keg were idiots but the people who were watching them could see what they were doing. Many of those watchers thought Dave was the leader of this duo and that Keg was nothing more than a follower, just Dave’s dumb muscle. This opinion suited Keg fine, having people underestimating him made things easier in the long run. Dave came over to Keg and told him to ignore the others, they needed to prepare for the graduation ceremony. After they had graduated, they were to be given their orders and would know what their first assignments were to be.

  The training Commandant had been summoned to Headquarters to meet with Commodore Fraser and Commodore Nicholson. This was not an ordinary event for her, so she thought it was most likely something to do with Dave Bach. That Cadet was a problem, not because of anything he was doing, simply because of his background. As a Cadet, he was performing quite well, excelling in things like hand to hand combat and anything to do with ships, not quite so good with the ceremonial side of things. Dave was well behaved, disciplined, hardworking and very smart. The Commandant decided to take Sergeant Dickenson with her to give background because he had been keeping an eye on the situation with Dave Bach. On arrival at headquarters, the two training personnel were shown into the Commodores office to find both were there. Henry nodded an acknowledgment of the Sergeant, knowing he wouldn’t be here if he did not have a very real contribution to make.

  When everyone was seated, Sonya said, “As you’ve probably guessed, this meeting is about Cadet Bach. We have a small dilemma; Commander Gordon has expressed a wish for Dave to be assigned to his ship. It is a wish that we would be inclined to grant for several reasons. The problem is, the Commander is currently away on a mission, so we can’t just hand Mr. Bach over to him. This means we need to find a place to park the young man where he isn’t likely to get into trouble while he waits for his first real assignment. Do you have any suggestions?”

  The training Commandant looked at Sergeant Dickenson and nodded for him to give his opinion.

  Dickenson said, “Ma’am, Sir, we have a couple of people who’ve been trying very hard to be reassigned to ships. We could do that and assign Dave and Keg in there. It will look like those two didn’t do so well in the assessments to the other Cadets, so we should tell them before the assignments are posted.”

  Henry asked, “Keg?”

  “Yes Sir, Keg is Dave’s friend, they look out for each other. A lot of people, most, in fact, underestimate Keg. He is much, much more intelligent and more capable than he’s given credit for. Keg has been keeping an eye on Dave for me. Between DNI, Keg and my own observations, Dave looks to be legitimately trying to make his way here in Cambridge as a loyal member of the Federation Navy. Still, people know enough of Dave’s background for there to be suspicions. If we keep those two, for now, we can keep an eye on Dave, and they’ll be available when Commander Gordon returns. To be honest, from what I’ve heard of Commander Gordon, I suspect he will appreciate Keg anyway.”

  Sonya and Henry looked at each other briefly, then Henry nodded.

  Sonya said, “We agree with your assessment Sergeant Dickenson, the orders will be cut immediately, could you give Sarah the names of the two people who you think your two Cadets should be replacing. She’ll take the necessary steps to make it all happen.”

  The Commandant could see the meeting was over, so she rose and left with Dickenson following. Within thirty minutes of the conversation, there were two ratings at the training unit who received great surprises. They were reassigned to ships, effective immediately. Sergeant Dickenson met Keg again and told him what was going to happen. Keg didn’t care, he wasn’t particularly ambitious and was happy to do whatever and go wherever the command staff wanted. The Sergeant told him so Keg wouldn’t be blindsided by the orders when he finally saw them. That afternoon, the class had the passing out parade. Julia came to see Dave graduate, mostly because she was proud of him, but also because she wanted Dave to know he had her support.

  After the passing out parade was over, Dave took Julia over to introduce her to his friend Keg. When some of their classmates saw Julia, they started making crude comments about her. Dave tried to ignore them till two of them started talking about how they were going to take Julia off Dave. All this reminded Dave a little too much about how things were in the Peschal Alliance, it literally pressed his buttons. Keg grabbed Dave before he could hit them, at least out here in public.

  Keg whispered in Dave’s ear, “Challenge them to the Gym. That way, you can just say you were sparing rather than brawling. If you fight with them there, you can beat them to a pulp, provided they aren’t killed, they’ll have to accept the challenge or look like cowards, either way, you win.”

  Dave took Keg’s advice and made the challenge, he even picked the two worst offenders and told them he would take them simultaneously. Sergeant Dickenson saw and heard the whole thing, and he was not happy. If Dave and Keg hadn’t reacted so quickly, Dickenson would’ve had the two loudmouths on the carpet because you do not talk about young women like that, especially when the woman can hear you. Dickenson could also see the worried look on the girls face, Dave’s girl he guessed, but Keg seemed to have the situation under control for now. Dickenson noticed a few other NCOs paying attention and following as the group of newly minted ratings began heading towards the Gym. Sergeant Dickenson was the Senior NCO on the base, so he decided to follow along, just to make sure things didn’t get too far out of hand, t
hat, and to keep all the other NCOs in line if necessary. The last thing Sergeant Dickenson wanted was for either Dave and Keg to be beaten up by a mob. If that happened, the fallout for the school could be devastating. When they arrived at the Gym, the leading protagonists changed into clothes more suitable for sparing and made their way to the mats. Dickenson saw Julia, still looking worried and with unshed tears in her eyes. He went to check if the girl was okay.

  When the Sergeant asked Julia why she was so upset, she replied, “They told Dave they were going to take me away from him and he couldn’t stop them. In the Peschal Alliance, if somebody says that, it means the woman won’t have a say in the matter. Just before Commander Gordon captured Dave and me, two men tried to abduct me. Dave had to kill them to protect me.”

  “Don’t worry Miss, Keg has the situation under control. I suspect your man is about to teach those two a lesson they’ll never forget.”

  After Keg had spent a few minutes whispering in his ear, Dave called the two he planned to spar with onto the mats and repeated to them, he would take them both at the same time. The two loudmouths had evil grins on their faces. Apparently, they thought they were tough enough to give him a beating.

  One of them said, “So what’s in it for us if we win. I think your girl should have to spend some time with us.”

  When he heard this comment, Dickenson was almost ready to take these two idiots apart himself. Unfortunately, there were always one or two in every group. The Sergeant noticed Dave’s jaw working for a few moments before he could reply.

  When Dave was finally able to reply, he said, “Julia is a free woman. You can ask her if you want, but I doubt she would want anything to do with you, two idiots. Honestly, I’d never even tell her she had to speak to you. Julia is too good for the likes of either of you two, Lord knows, she’s too good for me.”

  Dickenson leaned closer to Julia and said, “If they win, and they try to tell you they won the right to you, tell them to go to hell. Somehow, though, I don’t think they’ll win, Dave’s going to wipe the floor with them.”

  From where he stood, Keg could see Dave’s opponents were trying to position themselves, so one was behind him while one kept him occupied him the front. Keg already knew these two were nothing more than cowards and bullies. On more than one occasion through this course, Keg saw these two dealing with other classmates in an aggressive manner. The one in front feinted toward Dave’s head to distract him while the other one closed in from behind. Both Keg and Dickenson were worried, they needn’t have been, suddenly there was a flurry of activity as fists and feet connected with the two thugs in multiple strikes as Dave whirled around the mat. Before anybody quite knew what happened, Dave was standing in the middle of the mat with the other two lying, one on either side of him on the ground. One of the men on the mat swept his feet around, trying to topple Dave. The young man must have heard something because he launched into the air, turned a somersault and landed back on the mat just out of range of his two opponents. They dragged themselves to their feet and started circling Dave again, looking for an opening. Dave was smiling as he fell into a loose fighting stance, waiting for the next attack. Dickenson saw somebody from the audience moving as if to take Dave from the side. The Sergeant was about to move to intervene when Keg acted and intercepted the fool before his feet ever touched the mat. At this point, Dickenson decided it was time and signaled for a squad of Troopers, just in case things got out of hand.

  Dave’s two opponents attacked again, one trying to kick him in the head while the other went low for the legs. Dave leaped in the air again, catching the leg aimed at his head, using the opponent's own momentum to push him off balance. Both Dave and his opponent crashed to the ground but Dave rolled and in one fluid movement was on his feet again, this time releasing a flurry of kicks and punches aimed at the remaining opponent’s head. By now these two were beginning to realize they’d bitten off much more than they could chew. They were arrogant enough to think Dave would be a push over only because he’d very carefully avoided fighting over the last eight weeks, except for when it was required as part of the training. The fools had never seen the sparring matches Dave and Keg indulged each other in when everyone else was putting their feet up. Dickenson knew about those matches, though, he’d even watched a few, surreptitiously of course. Even Keg didn’t know about that little fact. The Sergeant could see Dave was trying hard not to damage his two opponents too badly. Dave would have been well within his rights to seek to put one of them out of the match quickly so he could concentrate on the other one. The Trooper squad arrived, their NCO going directly to Dickenson to see what he wanted. The Sergeant explained the situation to him, and the Trooper NCO placed his Troopers with orders to restrain anyone who tried to interfere with the three on the mat.

  In the meantime, Dave and his two opponents were circling each other again, Dave watching to make sure they couldn’t get a lucky hit in on him, them looking for an opening. They made repeated feints toward Dave, but he always had him in view. Unfortunately for Dave’s opponents, by this time, they were becoming infuriated and had lost all sense of reality, they were simply no longer thinking clearly. Dave had made them look like fools in front of their friends. These two simply couldn’t touch Dave, he outclassed them in every way, and they knew it. Now they wanted to kill him, there was no reason behind it other than pure unadulterated hatred and anger. Even many of the bystanders could see it in their faces. Like all events of this nature, there were those in the audience who wanted to see blood, so they were fully focused on the fight. Once again, Dave’s opponents attacked him simultaneously. Again, Dave dealt with them comfortably, both of the fools ending up groaning on the mat. This time, they stayed down a little longer. Eventually, they slowly climbed to their feet, apparently ready for more.

  The Trooper NCO sidled over to Sergeant Dickenson and said, “You do know Sergeant Dickenson, that guy is just playing with his two opponents. I’ve seen him begin three killing blows now and on every occasion, he has either pulled or altered the strike before finishing so there wasn’t too much damage. Still, I think we need to stop this before it really gets out of hand, those two have lost all sense of reason because they’re way beyond angry now. If they land a lucky hit, they’ll keep going till they kill him or we stop them. Either way, you’ll end up losing three guys.”

  Dickenson gave the Trooper NCO a long considering look then just nodded. The two of them moved over toward the mat. The Sergeant caught Keg's eye to let him know it was time to stop the fight. Keg nodded then moved into position to interfere in case things went wrong. As with all situations like this, most of the people who were neutral at the beginning, were now firmly in Dave’s camp simply because he was clearly the winner and everyone likes a winner. Dave was also judged to have won fairly, even though his opponents were cheating. Even outnumbered two to one, Dave had come out of this with the other two barely able to lay a hand on him. Thankfully, when she saw the others moving in to intervene, Julia was smart enough to know to stay put till everything was under control. Even she could see what was happening and knew not to distract Dave till everything settled down.

  When Dickenson arrived at the mat, he stopped on the edge of the mat and bellowed in his best parade ground voice, “Attention!”

  Dickenson noted that Dave complied immediately, bracing to attention as soon as the order was issued. One of the two idiots Dave was fighting saw his opportunity and tried to rush his intended victim. The fool barely took a step when the Trooper NCO shot him with a stunner. The room descended into silence, and Sergeant Dickenson stepped carefully, all the way onto the mat. He nudged the man who’d been smart enough to stay down and told him to get up. Dickenson could see the fear in the eyes. This man could see Dave could have finished them off much quicker than he did. When the man was standing, Sergeant Dickenson pointed to three of the audience members then told them, to help the remaining conscious combatant to take their stunned classmate to the infirmary for
treatment.

  After the five had left the Gym, Dickenson said in a loud voice, “Alright people, the show is over, disperse now. For the graduates, I will talk to you in your quarters in thirty minutes, staff, I’ll speak to you about what has happened here after that.”

  Turning to the Trooper NCO, Dickenson said, “Could you keep an eye on the two idiots young Dave just fought with for an hour please, I’m thinking of charging them? This match took place because of their behaviour, and I have to do something about it.”

  The Trooper replied, “No problem,” then turned and left.

  Once he’d said what needed to be said, Dickenson motioned for Keg and Dave to follow him then headed toward the door, detouring only enough to respectfully ask Julia if she could come as well. The Sergeant took his little group to his own office. Dave was expecting to be in trouble, but there was no way he could allow anyone to talk about a woman, any woman, but especially Julia, like that. In the circumstances, if he was in trouble for fighting, that was a price he was willing to pay in. Dickenson’s office was quite crowded with the four of them in it. He cleared some training manuals off a chair before offering it to Julia, the other two, he left standing. There were a lot of photographs on the walls, many of them had the Sergeant with groups of young men and women. In some, the Sergeant was himself a young man. The Sergeant sat on the corner of his desk and looked Dave over, mostly looking for signs of damage or bruising before making a comment. Dave opened his mouth to say something but Dickenson raised his hand to silence the man before he could say anything.

  Finally, Dickenson said, “First, neither of you two are in trouble, as far as I’m concerned, you did nothing wrong. Dave, there were several times there where you could have done some significant damage, but you didn’t. Both the Trooper NCO and I could see you were pulling your punches, why?”

 

‹ Prev