My first thought was some kind of frequency being sent through the inbuilt speakers, but it wasn’t that kind of helmet, or it was and they’d just removed and replaced them with some kind of padding.
It wasn’t until I started running my fingers along the inside that I felt something sharp in the back. I held it up to the light and, as clear as day, a needle could be seen jutting out.
So they’d knocked me out, dragged me away, and taken the pack which had been filled with survival supplies.
“Great…” I said to the sky before dumping my helmet on the ground and looking for a climbable tree, finding one just a few feet away.
The dizziness had more or less passed by the time I got to the top of the tree, which barely took me a minute, so I got to enjoy the great ocean of green that made up everything I could see with the exception of a few mountains here and there.
“Fantastic…” I groaned as I tried to remember the layout of the map of Seros.
There were three forests like where I was on Seros, one was where the facility from my first mission was, the other was to the immediate south of a military compound, and the final one was to the east of another compound.
“North-west it is then.”
I found out my bearings and started marching, and, three hours later, finally reached the edge of the forest. Turned out that I was luckily in the one to the south, otherwise I’d have probably been walking for another few days.
Now, I know that all sounds very boring and that nothing much changed, I woke up in the woods, found my way to a compound, and then got picked up and taken back to the Academy.
You see, that’s where things actually started to changed.
“Take a seat Private.” Superintendent Lianna Wulin said in her calm, soft voice from behind her desk.
I did as I was told and desperately tried to keep my jaw locked in place. She was a very private person, and most assumed she wasn’t even on Seros half the time what with the fact that in the entire time I’d been there she hadn’t made a single address.
“And make sure to breathe.” Garrett said from the corner with a smile, “Last thing you wanna do is pass out.”
I’d have said something in response, but it seemed inappropriate in the present company… and he kind of had a point.
“Am I in some sort of trouble?” I asked nervously.
The Superintendent shook her head and smiled, “No, of course not. We simply want to have a discussion about your continued enrolment at the Academy. But first, can you tell us why you abandoned your helmet? Don’t worry about formalities, just tell us, in your own words, what made you do it?”
Before I could stop myself I’d already started speaking, “I was uncomfortable wearing the device that’d been used to knock me out.”
“And you’re aware that deliberately abandoning Commonwealth Armed Forces equipment is an offence worthy of a court-martial?”
I swallowed hard and nodded, “Yes sir.”
When I expected her to start screaming, the smile on her face widened, “So you are capable of acting outside CAF regulations, good to know. Not that it matters anyway, we found the helmet shortly before you arrived at Echo’s base, and were quite glad that you weren’t dead in it.”
“I… apologise. I didn’t realise I was supposed to wait.”
“You weren’t,” the Superintendent said, shaking her head, “you did exactly what we expected, you got out. Normally takes students at least two days, but not you. Or your team for that matter, did you know that they all got out of the forest less than hour after you did? Well, except for Daniels, he’d gone ahead and gone native. When he hadn’t moved in an hour we’d sent people and he’d… well let’s just say that he certainly knows how to lay a trap and leave it at that.”
May have been a bit daft of me, but I still wasn’t quite sure if I was in trouble, “So… I’m not to be punished?”
“Gods no!” Garrett said rather boisterously from the corner as he came over to the desk and leaning on it with both of his hands, “We’re lookin’ at puttin’ you and your team into a secret specialist team.”
“Seriously?” I said with a quick laugh and huge smile before quickly straightening up, “I mean, are you sure?”
“Course! You and your team are at a point where throwin’ you out on the frontline would be a complete waste of your talents. However there is... a thing.”
I did not like the sound of that, but the Superintendent was quick to say “I think she’s ready Field Master. Now get off my desk.”
“Sorry sir,” Garrett said before standing up straight, “but yeah, I agree. It’s gonna be somethin’ that might test you a bit though. The important thing is to know whether or not you think you’re ready.”
I was stuck. I wanted to go to the top, had since the night my dad told me I got in, but the secrecy side of what Garrett was saying didn’t sound all that appealing, not because I didn’t think I couldn’t handle secrets, but because it seemed that there wouldn’t be a whole lot of shore leave at home.
It was at that moment that I realised that I hadn’t seen my family in months as it was, and communication from the Academy was a strict non-option. I was already living my life in secrecy, I just wasn’t making a difference yet.
“I’ll do it, whatever it takes.” I said confidently.
“Knew you’d be up for it,” Garrett said with a smile, “but, as I said, there’s a thing.”
I waited for him to elaborate for a full five seconds before asking “What thing?”
“Maybe you should just take her,” the Superintendent said with a pained look, “it’ll be easier. Good luck Private,” she stopped and had a little laugh, “sorry, just getting in as many of those as I can before you leave. Next time I see you you’ll probably outrank me.”
She was so informal with me, like I’d met her a dozen times before but only she remembered. Guess that’s how it goes when you read up on someone as much as she must’ve before meeting me.
I stood up, gave a respectful nod, and followed Garrett out of the Superintendent’s office.
“Now you’ve got to listen to everything I say,” Garrett said once we were out of earshot of the office, “no matter what, alright? I’m gonna make sure you get promoted, no doubt about that, but I need you to make sure you listen. It’s just gonna make my life so much easier.”
My concern returned with a vengeance, but instead of showing it I gave another nod, my mouth far too dry to try and speak.
I had no idea what I was so nervous about, so far the only thing that happened was praise, though that only worked to fuel my anxiousness.
We eventually reached a wide but small room, like someone had cut it down the middle. A single lightbulb sat in the centre of the ceiling and, directly below, sat a pistol on a small table, my pistol.
It’d been ages since I’d last seen it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t as recognisable and unique to me as my own face.
“Pick it up.” Garrett said, a coldness presenting in his voice that I hadn’t heard him use before.
I did as I was told and instantly felt the weight of a full clip, “I-”
“Just wait.” he said as he walked over to the far wall before pushing a button that made the wall in front of me lift up into the ceiling, revealing that I’d been right that someone had cut it down the middle.
It also showed something else recognisable, tied to a chair, gagged, a clearly distressed. Without a seconds hesitation I turned the gun on Garrett, “Why do you have him!?” I roared as I pointed at my brother across the room.
Garrett stared down the barrel of my gun without fear, “Shoot him.”
I was stunned, so much so that I let my gun lower slightly, “What?”
“I need you to trust me,” he pleaded, “shoot him.”
He’d never led me astray before, not once, and he’d never done anything that he knew would ruin me. I turned my gun back to my brother, convinced that it was some sort of test, and went to
pull the trigger.
But I couldn’t.
I hadn’t seen him in what felt like years, and I was sure that he was somewhere else fighting the Federation on the frontlines, but everything about him seemed so real. I went to turn my gun back to Garrett, but before I knew what was happening he’d snatched the gun out of my hand and emptied the clip on Shen, then dropped the gun at my feet.
My blood boiled and I lost control, whaling on my Field Master before he could react. By the time the guards had gotten in there I’d slammed him in the ribs a good ten times, and they had absolutely no hope of getting me off of him.
It wasn’t until I followed where he was pointing that I saw what had actually happened, the body of my ‘brother’ slumped forward, sparking, while the wall behind ‘him’ had been covered in sprays of black. I stopped my attack and let the guards grab me.
Garrett, who was significantly winded, turned to me, a sore look on his face, “Get her on the next ship to the Cryser. You didn’t see me in here.”
“Yes sir.” came the echoed response from the two men who held my arms.
After making sure that Garrett wasn’t going to pass out, the guards released my arms and guided me out the door, and I watched Garrett over my shoulder as he walked over to my gun, his hand firmly pressed to his side, bent down, seethed for a second, then picked it up and shove it in his pocket.
I’d screwed up, I knew that, but I still wasn’t sure that I regretted my decision and, to be honest, I’m still not.
An Odd Punishment
Star Station Cryser. I honestly couldn’t believe where I was. I’d been taken to a shuttle just as Garrett had ordered, but then the guards left and the others in my class came to join me for the fastest shuttle ride I’d ever been on.
As I looked out the windows I grew to appreciate just how ambitious the designers must have been to get the station built in the first place. Cathedral-like structures jutted out from the eight corners of the truncated cube-shaped station which was covered in hundreds of vibrant lights and had several sizable hangar doors.
If it weren’t for the huge Commonwealth symbol painted on the side, it would’ve been like most other Feddie ships, grey, black, a few tinges of blue here-and-there, but overall personality-less. And the size? Only measurable on a scale of dwarf planets and, even then, it would be somewhere between Makemake and Ceres in Old Sol.
“Cryser was doing a standard cruise through the Outer Planets when the war broke out,” I said to the just as excited Jurol beside me, “but because it had next to zero defence systems, which there really wasn’t a call for back then, and literally no offensive capabilities it was easily captured by a defunct Threnian cruiser that had a railcannon crudely strapped to the top.”
“No way,” Jurol said with giddiness of a child, “where’d you hear about that?”
I smiled at his disbelief. It was an exact reflection of my own when I’d first learned of the battle. A ship no bigger than an ocean liner with barely enough men on board to fill it had taken on the station and won.
To be fair though, a sizable amount of the men stationed on Cryser were Outer Planet loyalists, but that’s usually left out of the story.
“I read all about it back home, before my sister went to war. I never thought in a million years that I’d actually see it. Let alone be on a course to board it.” I said a little more excitedly than I’d expected.
Juno scoffed, “Yeah, and I bet you never thought you’d be tried on it.”
I turned to face confusedly.
“Don’t give me that look. You know for a fact that the only reason they’re bringing us in is to try you for assaulting an officer.”
Everything she had said was wrapped in snideness until she got to the part about me being charged, from there she didn’t even try to hide her bitchy smile.
I hadn’t thought about that, that perhaps my actions against Garrett would have anything to do with bringing us to the station. I’d just assumed it was all a part of our training, especially considering that I hadn’t even been arrested.
After Juno decided to drop that on me though? I was sweating like a Pomeranian in an exhaust pipe.
I was so anxious that I didn’t even notice the ship docking with the station, so when the doors flew open to reveal Garrett standing there, apple in hand, I jumped.
“Come on then,” he said, looking directly at me, “we’ve got a lot to do. The rest of you can stay in the waiting area outside.” Without saying another word, he turned on his feet and started walking off.
I only just managed to get out of the shuttle in time to see him leaving the hangar through one of a three doors and chase him down, nearly running into him when I stepped through as he stood in waiting, “You comin’ or not?”
We resumed our walk and passed a dozen more doors in the hall that we were in that seemed to go on for miles.
As we neared the end of the hall Garrett pointed to a door with a big red ‘36’ printed on it, “This is us.” he said before thumbing the keypad on the door.
“Am I being shipped off?” I asked nervously.
Garrett smiled as the keypad flashed green and the door flew upward, “Something like that.”
He was being deliberately coy to ramp me up and I found myself asking whether he wanted me to hit him again.
“Come on,” he said as he stepped through the door and into a small room, “I’d like it if we could get this done in one hit. Cafeteria’s got meatballs on the menu, and I ain’t missin’ out on account of you.”
I couldn’t let him know how worried I was, that was for certain, so I stepped into the room and successfully blocked the urge to flinch as the door slammed down behind me and made a promise that I’d stop asking questions.
There was a long fluorescent bulb in each of the four-by-four metre room’s corners, the almost blinding light was accentuated by the white walls and low ceiling.
“Get on with it.” Garrett said gruffly to the room, “Wait… you haven’t got any metal on you, right? Otherwise this’ll be messy.”
I panicked and pat myself down wildly before grabbing my belt buckle, “Why didn’t you warn me before we got in!?”
“I just didn’t think you’d be- oh no…” he trailed off as the lights went red and an orange siren dropped in from above us, “Now you’ve done it…”
I spun in circles looking for a way out but found none. The door was sealed and there wasn’t so much as a vent in the rest of the room.
“No!” Garrett cried as red lasers began making their way down from the roof.
In a last-ditch effort to avoid dismemberment I dropped to the floor and tucked into a ball with my eyes locked shut. I waited in terror as Garrett’s screams filled the room. I couldn’t believe it, all of the training, the missions, and I was going to be killed by a room.
It was only when I finally accepted that I was going to die that I noticed something had changed about Garrett’s screams.
“You didn’t…” I said as I cautiously opened my eyes and looked up to see Garrett doubled over in laughter.
“I did!” he said between laughs, “You should’ve seen your face!”
“You… you… Tā mā de… húndàn!” I shouted as I slapped and punched him hard enough to make him shift but softly enough not to hurt him.
“Hey hey hey, let’s watch the language!” he said laughingly, “Besides, that’s the last trick I can play on you for a while now.”
I stopped hitting him, “What?”
The orange light disappeared and the lights returned to white, “Clear for entry, Field Master Garrett and acquaintance.” an obviously female AI voice said as a door on the opposite side of the room to the hall flew open.
Garrett walked through the door and gestured for me to follow, “Thanks Kell, keep the door open, would you? Gotta get back for lunch.”
“Of course.” Kell replied.
“Garrett!” I snapped without taking my eyes off him, “What do mean by ‘last trick fo
r a while’? Where are you taking me?”
He stopped but didn’t turn to face me, “I just don’t think you’ll be stopping off here any time soon. Not when there’s a whole big system out there waiting for you.”
“What do you…”
“Yeah, I don’t see you landing anywhere for a looong time. Say hello to your new ship.”
The New Ship
“What do you think?” Garrett asked as he and I walked around the ship, “I know it’s not much to look at, but the expectation is you’ll do your own little adjustments.”
I had no idea what he was talking about, the ship was easily one of the most beautiful things that I’d ever seen. It was a gun-metal grey T-Class “Turtle” Explorer, thirty-two metres long, thirty metres from one wing tip to the other and eight metres from the bottom of the largest part of the bridge to the top.
I always did love the shape of the things, bridge for the head, angled wings for the front arms, and rear thrusters made the back legs and tail.
Unlike most T-Class’s in the market, the one before me had kept most of its original façade and, as a result, looked like something that a Threnian collector would keep locked away.
Even its inaccurately named warp drive, which was more of a hyper drive than anything, was still in place. The creature of majesty was clearly put into circulation long before the Feddies learnt how to enter the Warp properly, and it looked as if it had stayed the same.
Upon closer inspection though, I started to notice small details that proved that the ship had in fact been heavily modified. The first thing I noticed were the shiny new thrusters, a primary and a secondary on both of the wings and two eight-by-two metre heavies on either side of the hyper drive, as well as two presently retracted take-off thrusters on either side.
Not only that, but there were intakes, that looked barely out of prototype stage, for both hydrogen and oxygen for when it traversed the stars and explored their surfaces. There was also a set of five state-of-the-art landing struts that were twice the size of me, four on the bulk of the body and one of the neck that connected the bridge to the body, all of which were covered in more hydraulics and vents than most basic craft have on the entire gear.
Spectres (Æthyrium Rising - Spectres Book 1) Page 11