In Death's Shadow

by S. F. Edwards

  Blazer didn’t wait for the priestess to finish before he kissed Marda. Pulling each other close, they locked in a passionate embrace, resisting the urge to do more. They sealed their lips together until their lungs burned for air, then pulled apart, never breaking eye contact. They stood there for a long moment as their families applauded them. Then, their arms still bound, forcing them to face each other, they retreated down the aisle. Spinning about as they proceeded, they all but danced towards the door.

  ***

  Derjin waited in the building across from the church. Concealed from view in one of the upper levels, he watched the doors to the church open. Blazer and Marda proceeded out to the grav car waiting to take them to their reception. He turned to the other men in the room. In silence, they trained their surveillance gear on the scene, watching the rest of the congregation follow the happy couple.

  Derjin turned his attention to Jell as she exited the church, her dress enticing his eyes and reminding him how close they’d become. Admiral Sadrick followed her and looked around at the surrounding buildings. He and his men made no attempt to hide—the protective glass they lurked behind made it impossible for the old man to see them. Their orders were clear. Make no contact with Blazer or Jell when the Admiral was present, lest the old man reveal them.

  Derjin pulled away from the window as Jell disappeared into a grav car. This wedding was not part of the plan, but they would adapt. They had people watching Blazer at the academy, though their agent there did not report to Derjin or his men. He worried about how far he’d allowed his relationship with Jell to progress and had to be careful not to let his leaders know just how far. Don’t fall in love with her, idiot.

  He looked back out the window as the last grav car headed away. Jell would be upset that he couldn’t be at the wedding, but it was all a part of the grander plan. He had to keep her safe and in the dark until the time was right. Let’s just hope it comes later rather than sooner. It was not Derjin’s decision. For now, however, he would continue to keep her under close observation.

  UCSB DATE: 1001.270

  Star System: Classified, Transport MLD-562P, Enroute to UCSBA-13

  Marda giggled as Blazer chased her up the spiral stairs onto the cafeteria deck. It was the first time they’d left their cabin since boarding the transport the cycle before, hunger forcing them to give up their bed for a time. When she reached the deck, she looked around. Recognition washed over her as Blazer wrapped his arms around her midsection, kissing her on the back of the neck. “This is where we first met.”

  Blazer looked up and scoffed. “Son of a bug, you’re right. I hadn’t realized it when we boarded.”

  Marda twisted about in his arms and kissed him again. “We were a little busy at the time.”

  “Hey, no PDA!” Arion called from a table near the window.

  “Besides, you two should have gotten that out of your systems by now,” Chris added from her seat across from Arion.

  Marda felt her face flush and noticed the other cadets in the cafeteria, all of them staring at the newlyweds. She turned back to Blazer and slipped his old autocook data card out of his pants pocket, taking a moment to tickle him. “Get me what you made me the first time we met.”

  Blazer smiled back at her, gave her a quick kiss and headed towards the autocook.

  Marda ran over to the table where her two squadmates sat and took a seat beside Chris. “I thought you two were heading back earlier.”

  Chris shook her head. “That was the plan. Then Arion and I met up at Torshen Transfer Station and decided to take a couple extra cycles.”

  Marda looked between the pair and smiled. “Does that mean you two are…”

  Arion almost gagged on his food and shook his head. “No, no. We just hung out and watched a bunch of bad movies.”

  “That, and we made fun of all the civvies who couldn’t figure out zero G. What about you two? Have you even spent more than a few pulses out of bed this whole time?”

  Marda blushed and looked at Blazer heading back with their food. “Only when we had to.”

  “Only when we had to what?” Blazer asked.

  Marda gave her husband an expectant smile as he slid a bowl of oatmeal with Tava Berries and brown sugar in front of her. “Good, you remembered.” She rewarded him with a quick kiss.

  “Your blocks are still in place, right?” Arion asked.

  Marda and Blazer both gave Arion an incredulous look. “Of course,” Blazer replied.

  Marda nodded. “It’s not in the cards right now. I mean, Blazer and I want to have children, but given our training schedule and regime, it’s too much to risk right now. Maybe after graduation and commissioning we’ll readdress it. But even then…” That thought struck Marda hard. To think that she wasn’t sure when they’d have children seemed against everything she believed in. Most Messiahists got pregnant within the first annura of their marriage.

  “Finally hit you, huh?” Chris asked.

  Marda felt numb and looked up at Blazer. “Yeah. I mean I’ve always wanted children. So has Blazer. And I don’t want to wait until I’m old, even with rejuvenation treatments. But at the same time…”

  “It’s the same thing every woman has to deal with. Have children when you’re young and better able to care for them physically, or wait until you’re older and your career is well established?”

  Blazer cleared his throat and took Marda’s hand. “We’ll know when the time is right. From the way you’re talking, though, Chris, it sounds like something you’ve put some serious thought into.”

  Chris nodded and looked away for a moment. “All the time. I may not seem like the maternal type, but I've always thought about it. It's distracting at times, but I've always been careful.”

  Marda scrunched up her face, looking at her friend and squad mate. She’d never thought of Chris as promiscuous. I know she’s dated at the Academy, even that Otlian guy, but I didn’t think she’d been serious about any of them. “What do you mean? You have your blocks.”

  Chris looked around the room. No one was within earshot, so she stole a glance at Arion. He nodded.

  Marda had no idea what to make of the exchange and waited as Chris slipped a non-descript pill bottle out of her pocket and slipped it to her. Marda examined the bottle. There were no markings at all and she didn’t dare open it. “What is this? I mean… you didn’t get this from the academy pharmacy.”

  Chris took a deep breath and looked around. “This doesn’t leave this table.”

  Everyone nodded.

  “Arion and I discussed this already. He was there when I got my resupply, so I had no choice. I’m technically a Chelot.”

  Marda almost dropped the bottle, but maintained her grip on it, her jaw dropping. “What, but how?”

  Blazer shook his head, incredulous. “That’s impossible Chris, I’ve read your file. You’ve met all your citizenship requirements and earned your confederacy too. You’re no Chelot.”

  Chris took the bottle back from Marda and hid it back in her pocket. “My file’s not been falsified, but the information is not entirely accurate. It’s a Chamalad thing. The bottle contains Nano probes. They make it appear that I have my conception blocks in place.”

  Marda had a hard time rationalizing that. She’d known Chelots in the past. Attending a private school, almost a quarter of her class were Chelots. Chelots were denied access to citizen taxpayer funded services like public schools, public medical centers (with the exception of emergency medical care), public assistance programs and so forth, so the only options were home-schooling and private schools. They had to pay for those services out of their own pocket. The only advantage a Chelot had over a citizen was that they did not have to pay income taxes, but few businesses would hire them, so income wasn’t easily available anyway.

  God, half the Chelot girls I knew were pregnant before they’d even graduated. I never wanted to run that risk, not before I had at least finished college. To learn that Chris was a Chelot,
in secret, terrified her, and she looked up at her. “Why? Why do any of it? Why run the risk?”

  Chris took a deep breath before she replied. “There are races and even subcultures within various Confederation races that have gotten special dispensation to opt out of some of the citizenship requirements. Back when Anul first started the Unintended Conception Prevention Program, the Chamalad were one of the first groups to sign up.

  “Our numbers had expanded to such a degree that, well, too many of us were on the social welfare programs and never contributed anything to society. So, the Chamalad elders agreed that in order to be a citizen, you had to have the blocks. But back in those early cycles, as a precaution, they didn’t install the blocks until you reached puberty. And because it was surgical in nature then, people would donate sperm or ova samples to be kept in government or private storage facilities, just in case. As the technology advanced, they used drugs, chemicals, and now the Nano probes.”

  Blazer scratched at his chin and focused on Chris. “I know what you’re talking about. Before the UCPP, social welfare programs were draining the government dry on Anul, as well as other worlds. Schools were overcrowded, the rates of child abuse, drug abuse, joblessness, all of it was through the atmosphere. But the proof that it works is right there. Within what, a generation, maybe two, the rate of all that had dropped. Yes, those problems still exist, but they’re at a manageable level.”

  It was a hot topic amongst Marda’s classmates and created something of a division amongst the student body. “This girl I went to school with still opposes the UCPP. She says it’s unfair to the poor and only benefits the elite.”

  Chris nodded. “I know. That’s total garbage. The requirements for parenthood are not all that severe. You have to prove that you want children and that you are aware what that means.”

  “I think the actual language is mentally fit enough to realize what raising a child entails,” Arion replied. “But you’re right. That is the biggest one and has prevented who know how many unwanted pregnancies and all the issues that go along with it.”

  “Right, then you just have to be of legal age. No problem there; you’d have to be stupid to want a kid while you’re still one yourself.”

  “I saw too many girls I went to school with having babies. I never understood why,” Marda replied. “All Confed races have agreed to those two requirements. It’s the financial requirement that’s always drawn the most issues.”

  Chris sighed. “Exactly, but even the Chamalad, poor as we were when the UCPP was first announced, we jumped all over it. I mean all you have to do is prove you can support yourself and your child without public assistance or prove that your family can help, to get your blocks out.”

  Blazer fingered the wedding knot on the back of Marda’s hand, tickling her. “Even the old marriage requirement was dropped, and none of the racial purity standards have ever gotten past the proposal phase.”

  Marda looked at Chris. None of that explained why the Chamalad refused conception blocks. “Then why have the Chamalad stopped using the blocks?”

  Chris fingered the bottle in her pocket. “Once the Nanite based blocks were developed, Chamalad women began to have difficulty having children after their removal.”

  Marda had never heard of such a thing, but she waved Chris to go on.

  “We kept it quiet within the community. But many of the children we managed to conceive after the removal of the blocks had deformities and birth defects, if they weren’t stillborn. It nearly ended the Chamalad as a people.”

  That thought horrified Marda, and her hand fell to her belly. “Have other groups had similar issues?”

  Chris looked around the room and motioned towards an insectoid alien at the food dispenser. “Some other races and groups have reported similar issues, and they’ve brought it up with the Confederation. Usually, action is taken to correct the problem, or to give waivers until a solution can be found. For us, our Chamalad pride kept us from going to the government for a solution.”

  “What about the sperm and ova banks?” Blazer asked.

  Arion scoffed. “What sperm and ova banks? The government no longer supports any, and there aren’t many private ones out there.”

  “Arion’s right. The only reason we survived as a people is because the elders had babies again and we used up the last of the sperm and ova in storage from previous generations. Now that the blocks are placed during childhood, having a sperm and ova bank would only reveal that we’re Chelots, denying us all full citizenship. For some reason, the way we Chamalad develop is just different enough that the blocks render us permanently infertile.”

  This is hard to believe—but Chris wouldn’t lie about a thing like that.

  “I didn’t know until I was a teen. Every time I went to the doctor, my mother would give me one of these,” Chris explained, fingering the bottle again. “The nanites inside would scatter, then gather in my uterus to convince the scans that I had a block in place. They just give the signal that they’re present and in a few cycles, I pass them.”

  “So you’ve risked getting pregnant your whole life?” Marda asked.

  “Yeah, and I almost did, once.”

  Marda sat back and locked eyes with Blazer. She knew the risks as well as Chris must do. She had witnessed the results of someone living without the blocks.

  “I was rebellious when I was younger, and I started hanging out with a rough crowd. I got into a lot of trouble with them and I didn't always think about the consequences. That's when my mom started to get worried about me and shipped me off to my grandma's. I hated her for it at first, but I learned that what she did was the best thing she could have done for me. I spent a full annura at grandma’s ranch. I learned what it really was to be a Chamalad. Had I done what my boyfriend at the time wanted and gotten pregnant, it would have ruined my life.” Chris looked up at Marda. “I could never have enlisted. I could never have applied for Confederacy because my record would show that I was Chelot, and it would implicate my family as well.”

  “But you could have had the blocks put in after that,” Blazer commented.

  “And lose my ability to have children forever. Plus, it would have drawn attention to the Chamalad.”

  Marda shot Blazer a hard look. “Blazer didn’t mean…”

  Chris waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. But it’s the risk that all of us Chamalad face, even the males. We’ve been hiding it for so long it’s become a part of our culture.”

  Marda had never considered what it took and what it meant to be a citizen, or what it cost some people. She looked back at Chris. “So what do you do now?”

  “I’m careful. I use other contraceptives. Companies still make them for those who’ve had their blocks removed but want to regulate when they have children.”

  Marda understood. Her mother had used them between pregnancies so that they didn’t have children too close together. After Marda’s youngest brother was born, though, she had her blocks put back in place.

  “I didn’t mean to burden you with this, but I thought after what you and Blazer have just done, that you should know. I thought I could trust you all.”

  “You can, and thank you.” Marda sat in silence for a moment, considering. To have children was one of the tenets of her faith, and the Messiahists had been one of the groups who’d fought the UCPP. The church only relented once they’d recognized what the UCPP had brought to society.

  “Your secret is safe with us, Chris,” Blazer added and took Marda’s hand. “Just try not to get pregnant before us,” he went on with a smile.

  Arion’s macomm chimed a moment later and he pulled it out. “We must be close enough to the academy to get a signal.” He opened up the message and his face scrunched up. “We have a squadron meeting once we land. It looks like someone volunteered to be our new commander.”

  UCSBA-13, Briefing Room 3

  The squadron gathered as ordered a hect later. Discussion and speculation ran rampant as they wait
ed. Blazer did his best to temper speculation, but even he had questions. Is it someone we know, or someone new to the academy? “Look, this is getting us nowhere. The academy staff must have picked the crew themselves. Why else would Tadeh Qudas have sent the message?”

  The briefing room sprang open and Trevis called the room to attention. All conversations ceased.

  “As you were,” Tadeh Qudas ordered as he entered the room, alone.

  Everyone sat down and looked about at one another. Why is he by himself?

  “There is a matter of some import that needs to be discussed with this squadron.”

  Blazer felt a knot form in his stomach. Hearing that from Tadeh Qudas did not bode well.

  “I’ve been in discussion with the Admiral since last cycle concerning the future of your squadron and the academy.”

  Blazer’s shoulders drooped and he felt Marda’s hand clasp his. Good news never began with issues about the future of the academy.

  “It is rare for two special operations teams to make up a squadron. Usually only one half of the unit is special operations.”

  Blazer considered that. Son of a bug, he’s right, we are the only squadron with two Special Operations teams on the roster. I wonder why they haven’t split us up?

  “Now. You have been without a squadron commander for two semesters while engaging with Special Operations initial training. During that time, your flight training has been all but pushed aside.”

  Blazer heard a snort from Gavit. Aside from their dropship crew, the rest of them had only flown simulator tests during the past two semesters. Blazer had only flown when Chief Flind had asked him to demonstrate his modified trainer to representatives of the fleet and Splicer Corp, before they hauled it away. He’d been so entrenched in the Special Operations regime, that he hadn’t even realized how long he’d been out of the cockpit.

  “With your impending return to the cockpit and competition for fighter type selection, it’s come down to me to decide your fate.”