Childhoods Lost (Sentinels Saga Book 2)

by Linn Schwab

  Commander Parks was listening to the transmissions as well, but because her knowledge of fleet operations was limited, she had trouble making any sense out of them. “What’s happening?” she finally asked Peter, searching for hints in his expression.

  “An enemy ship found out about one of our operations,” he explained. “We were trying to prevent it from escaping and alerting the rest of their forces to our plans. But apparently, that didn’t turn out very well for us.”

  One of the voices began reading off a list of ships that were presumed to have been lost in the battle. Peter frowned and slowly shook his head as he listened to the names of the missing vessels. “Sounds like we lost seven cruisers,” he said. “That was a very costly engagement.”

  Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice hailing the Alabama’s operator:

  “UES Melbourne, arriving on station. Awaiting staging instructions. Over.”

  “Copy, Melbourne. Run your numbers, please.”

  “Negative damage to hull or systems. Zero confirmed casualties. One pilot missing.”

  Peter was relieved to hear the report. He now knew that the Melbourne had successfully withdrawn in time to avoid the onslaught of missiles. And since he was obviously the ‘one pilot missing,’ it also meant the rest of his squadron had survived.

  “Melbourne,” the Alabama’s operator said, “Tops wants an update on Trafalgar.”

  “Total loss. That’s all there is to say. Trafalgar has essentially ceased to exist.”

  “Understood. Take up position just aft of the Belfast, and stand by there for further instructions.”

  “What is Trafalgar?” Commander Parks asked. “I’ve heard them use that word before. What exactly does it mean?”

  “It was a battle that took place in the nineteenth century,” Peter explained, uncertain how much he should reveal to her. “One of the largest naval battles in history. We were very close to staging something similar here. But that opportunity just went up in smoke.”

  “Oh,” the commander responded. “I was wondering where that word came from. I don’t know much about Earth, I’m afraid.”

  Peter reacted with a look of astonishment. The implications of what she’d just told him suggested she might not be from Earth. It now seemed fairly obvious to him why she’d been made the commander of this facility. “You were one of those kids, weren’t you?” he said. “Those kids in the nursery... You were born out here, just like they were.”

  The commander lowered her head and nodded. “Yes,” she said, sounding as if she was reluctant to admit it. “Yes, I was one of those kids. And now it’s my job to look out for their interests. To the best of my ability, anyway.”

  Peter was stunned by the disclosure. He looked at her now in a completely different light, knowing that she’d spent her entire life out here, having never once even set foot on Earth. From her appearance, he guessed she was only a few years younger than himself, which meant that at the same time he’d been attending grade school back on Earth, she’d been learning her ABC’s out here. It meant that while he’d been outside playing catch or riding bikes with his friends, she’d been confined to the inside of a space station as the minutes of her youth slipped away from her. Instead of feeling grass or sand beneath her feet, she’d never known anything but painted metal floors. Once again, he felt compelled to wrap his arms around her. Only this time, it was purely out of sympathy for her.

  The speaker on the console crackled again with the voice of the Alabama’s communications officer:

  “Alright, listen up, everyone. I need a comprehensive damage assessment from all of you. Tops wants a reboot ASAP. All ships in this vicinity must report in.”

  The instruction elicited howls of protest from some of the other operators:

  “What!”

  “You’ve got to be kidding!”

  “What is Tops thinking! We just got run through the shredder in there!”

  Commander Parks looked to Peter again to explain to her what was happening. “What’s going on? And who is Tops? They don’t sound very happy about something.”

  “Tops,” he explained, “is just communications jargon. It’s a term that’s just sort of taken root over time, so you won’t find it in any of the official manuals. It refers to whoever is calling the shots at the moment. Could be an admiral ... could be a commander ... it just depends on how things shake out sometimes. If the officer in charge is killed or incapacitated, the next person in line then becomes Tops. That makes it easy to properly address communications when it’s unclear who’s actually in command at the moment.

  “As far as what’s going on,” he continued, “it sounds like they’re planning to launch an assault on the same area our forces just withdrew from. That’s what the others were complaining about. Apparently they took quite a beating the first time.”

  “Then why launch another assault right now? It doesn’t seem like a very smart thing to do.”

  Peter shook his head, as though he was mystified by the decision. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe they saw a weakness in the enemy’s defenses that they want to take advantage of while they can. That’s the only reason I can think of. Unless it’s just an act of desperation. And I sure hope it hasn’t come to that yet. Especially since I’m stuck here on this station for right now.”

  “That might actually be a lucky break for you, Captain Straydel. It sounds like this assault may be ill–‌advised. Probably a lot of people on those ships would love to trade places with you right now.”

  “Yeah, probably so. But I came out here to help end this war. And there’s nothing I can do about it from here.”

  The radio crackled with another announcement:

  “UES Mona Lisa, arriving on station.”

  MORNING 051

  Hunger finally woke Mindy up in late morning, overcoming the fatigue that had put her to sleep. The room was mostly quiet and empty. The other squads had allowed ECHO 5 to sleep in. Sheri’s bed had not been slept in. Neither had Robin’s. She guessed both of them were in the infirmary. The rest of her squad was still asleep, recovering from the ordeal of their christening flight. Her stomach was aching for something to eat, but she didn’t want to go to the cafeteria alone. She looked around at each of her sleeping companions and tried to decide if she should wake one of them. All of them appeared to be equally exhausted. But if anyone had earned the right not to be disturbed, she realized it would have to be Caroline, after piloting the Wallaby for so many hours. That left her with Phoebe, Michelle, and Katrina to choose from, and there were traces of tension between Michelle and Katrina that Mindy did not want any part of. She stepped over to Phoebe’s bed and attempted to gently shake her awake.

  “Phoebe,” she whispered, “will you come to the cafeteria with me?”

  “Hoa–nhh,” Phoebe moaned, rolling over in her bed, “my stomach hurts.”

  “Mine too,” Mindy said. She grabbed one of Phoebe’s wrists and started pulling her up to her feet. “Come on, lets go.”

  Phoebe sighed and swung her legs out of bed, but even though her movements were relatively quiet, the others were already beginning to stir. Mindy watched them in silence as each of them sat up and rubbed the sleep from their eyes. She wondered for a moment if sparks were going to fly between Katrina and Michelle. If either of them was going to start an argument, it would most likely be Katrina. It was no secret that she was upset with Michelle, and it was difficult to blame her for feeling that way. But both of them managed to look at each other without showing any outward hostility. Apparently Katrina was content just to put the disagreement behind them for now.

  Without so much as even speaking a word, the five of them filed out of the room together and headed for the cafeteria. Caroline suggested they should stop by the infirmary to see how Sheri and Robin were doing.

  “Yes, lets do,” Michelle agreed. “I need to know if Sheri’s okay.” She glanced apprehensively at Katrina, expecting to be hammered with accusations of blame. But K
atrina remained uncharacteristically silent, leaving Michelle to punish herself by dwelling on her own feelings of guilt. Michelle pondered Katrina’s silence for a moment before realizing just how effective it was. I’m trapped, she thought, recognizing her dilemma. I can never truly absolve myself. It only has meaning if it comes from someone else. In this case, that someone else had to be Katrina. And forgiveness would never be granted to her if Sheri didn’t recover from her injuries.

  A short distance from the infirmary, the girls crossed paths with a station technician. When they approached the girl, she paused and greeted them with a smile. She stood off to the side so they could pass by her unimpeded and placed her right fist over her heart in salute. Surprised and confused by the technician’s actions, the girls simply smiled at her in embarrassment and continued on their way to the infirmary.

  “What was that all about?” Phoebe asked, directing her question at Caroline.

  Caroline shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s just confused or something.”

  The lights in the infirmary had been turned down, but there was enough illumination for them to find their way around. They found Sheri still peacefully sleeping on a bed, under the influence of heavy sedation. Virginia was still in the room as well — left to sleep off her exhaustion on an operating table. But Robin was nowhere to be found at the moment. Nor was there anyone else in the room who might be able to tell them where she was.

  “Maybe she’s in the cafeteria,” Caroline suggested. “Come on,” she said, gesturing toward the door. “We need to let Sheri sleep anyway.” Reluctantly, they pulled themselves away from Sheri’s side and made their way into the corridor again. As they approached the cafeteria, another technician stepped out of their way and greeted them with a silent salute. Again, the girls were puzzled by the salute, and they hurriedly moved onward toward their destination.

  “What’s going on?” Phoebe asked again.

  “I don’t know,” Caroline insisted.

  The cafeteria was noisy and buzzing with chatter when the girls of ECHO 5 entered from the corridor. Most of the tables were occupied by pilots and destroyer crews, and other members of ECHO 5’s battalion. In an instant, the chatter all came to a stop and everyone in the room suddenly got to their feet. They greeted the girls with a silent salute, then immediately began to cheer and applaud.

  Caroline blushed and tried to cover her ears. The noise from the cheers was almost deafening. As she cautiously made her way through the crowd, she paused near one of the fighter pilots.

  “What’s going on?” she asked the girl. “Why is everyone saluting us?”

  “It’s just to welcome you back,” she explained. “We saw your attack on the heavy cruiser. It was very inspiring!”

  * * * *

  Robin had long since lost track of the time as she stood looking in through the storage room window at the box that contained Commander Jeffries’ body. She found herself continually fighting back the urge to run inside the room and throw the lid open, in the hopes that she would find nothing inside. But her common sense told her the effort would be pointless. There’d be no reason to put the commander’s name on the box if her body wasn’t actually inside it. This wasn’t some heartless scheme to mislead her, or conceal the commander’s true whereabouts from her. It was time for her to come to grips with the fact that Commander Jeffries was gone forever.

  Pulling herself away from the window, Robin weaved her way through the hangar and made her way back to the infirmary again. She stood beside Sheri’s bed for a while, then sat down on a cot to rest her legs. The sound of approaching footsteps trickled in through the doorway. The person’s stride sounded familiar to her. That sounds like it might be Delia, she thought. She glanced over her shoulder to see if she was right, and saw Delia standing just inside the doorway, observing her with an empty stare on her face.

  “Captain Starling,” Delia said, “I was told I might find you here.”

  Robin looked at her in silence, surprised that Delia would seek her out. The two of them had not previously had much interaction. Why would she be looking for me? she wondered. The lack of expression on Delia’s face made it difficult for Robin to guess her intentions. Is she upset with me for some reason? she wondered. She always seemed friendly to me before.

  Delia moved a few steps closer to her. “I saw the footage from the Wallaby’s recorders,” she said. “I just wanted to say one thing to you.” Her expression now took on a look of disapproval and her voice became a little more forceful. “What the hell were you thinking, little sister? Attacking a heavy cruiser on your christening flight!” After allowing her false sentiments to linger for a moment, she quickly broke into a smile of admiration. “You girls are going to be legends,” she said, then raised her fist to her heart in salute. “The whole fleet is talking about what you did. It’s done wonders in raising everyone’s morale.”

  Robin shook her head in confusion. “But I failed,” she said, casting a glance toward her injured squad mate. “And one of my crew might die because of it.”

  Delia sighed and sat down beside her. “You fared better than I did,” she said, speaking a little more somberly now. “My first attempt at combat ended up costing me dearly.”

  “You lost someone?” Robin asked her.

  She nodded and closed her eyes for a moment. “I lost two of my crew,” she said. “Believe me, I understand what you’re feeling. There’s no greater pain I’ve ever had to endure. What I wouldn’t give to have both of them back...”

  Robin nodded in understanding. “So, what happens now?” she asked. “Are they going to assign replacements to you?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never needed replacements before. My crew is near the end of our tour on destroyers. We’re supposed to be transferred to fighter training soon.” She frowned and lowered her head in despair. “I came so close to getting all of my girls through this. It’s going to hang on my conscience for the rest of my life.”

  Robin looked toward the operating table where Virginia was still lying unconscious on her back. “Do you think they would’ve been good pilots?” she asked. “The two of your girls who were killed, I mean.”

  “It’s hard to say. You can never really know something like that until they’ve actually been exposed to it.”

  “Would all of you have ended up in the same squadron together?”

  “No. That’s not how it works. After your fighter training is over, your unit is split up and assigned to different squadrons. Unless you end up on the same ship with one of them, you’ll probably never see each other again.”

  Robin was saddened but not surprised to hear this. It was something Jenny had not shared with her, and she now had a sense that she understood why. It wasn’t something any squad captain would look forward to. Or any squad member at all, for that matter.

  A rumbling noise from Robin’s stomach caught Delia’s attention. She scrutinized the younger captain more closely. “You should probably get something to eat,” she said. “You look a little weak to me.”

  Robin remained silent and fixed her gaze on Sheri’s face.

  “Look,” Delia said, “I realize you’re probably reluctant to leave your squad mate right now. But it isn’t going to be of much help to her if she wakes up to find a corpse sitting here.” Robin appeared to be torn by indecision. Delia offered another solution. “I’ll bring you something from the cafeteria,” she said. “Don’t you disappear while I’m gone.”

  As Delia got to her feet, Robin caught a glimpse of the academic stars lined up so neatly across the front of her beret. It reminded her of something she’d been wondering about, and Delia seemed like just the right person to ask.

  “Delia,” she said, tugging at a fold of her shirt. “You’re really smart... There’s something I’d like to ask you.”

  “Yes?”

  “There was a test we took, the day we left the academy...”

  Delia nodded. She knew exactly what Robin was talkin
g about. “The one that had all those problems pertaining to space flight?”

  “Yeah, that one. Were you able to answer any of those questions?”

  “That test was just a bunch of gibberish, Robin. I’m surprised you didn’t figure that out for yourself. Its purpose wasn’t to test your abilities at all. It was just to put you in a deflated state of mind before they broke the news that you were leaving Valhalla.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “I’m not really sure. For some reason, senior officers seem to think it’s necessary to play mind games with us. It’s like they don’t have very much confidence in us. They seem to feel obligated to get inside our heads and manipulate our emotional state of being. It’s something they’ve been doing to us for a long time. Now that you’re aware of what’s happening, I think it should become pretty obvious to you. And you should always try to keep it in mind if you feel like they’re coming down too hard on you for something. Try not to take it personally. It’s just part of how they operate. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Good. Hang in there. I’m gonna go get you something to eat.”

  * * * *

  After inspecting the remains of Virginia’s fighter, Nancy made her way to her squadron’s sleeping quarters to share the news of Virginia’s return. In her hand was a tiny memory chip which she’d extracted from Virginia’s instrument panel. Jenny, she knew, was busy elsewhere at the moment. Virginia was still lying unconscious in the infirmary. The rest of the pilots in her squadron were just waking up when she entered the room.

  “Hey, girls,” she said, “I’m on my way up to the control room.” She held the chip up so all of them could see it. “Anybody wanna come watch this with me?”