Valor's Calling

by Kal Spriggs

  “You came to me,” the Admiral snapped back. “You are the one who asked for my help. And believe me, without the skills she learned here, you two would have had to bury her. Those skills saved her life--”

  “She shouldn't have even gone to that stupid internship—”

  “Ladies,” Dad said, “Sorry, but perhaps we should all be adults?” He jerked his head in my direction and then over at where Will stood, holding some kind of trophy, staring at all of us.

  Mom and the Admiral both pursed their lips. It was bizarre how similar their expressions were. “Yes,” the Admiral nodded. She let out a tense breath, “We should. I'm sorry.”

  My mom looked far less willing to let things go, but she moderated her tone into something a few levels below full meltdown, at least, “I'm not happy about the situation. I know that coming here was Jiden's choice,” she looked back at me, and for a moment, her expression slipped and I saw real concern, not just anger, but worry. “But I don't think she fully understands the situation.”

  “You can't protect her for the rest of her life, Joy,” the Admiral's voice was almost gentle.

  My mom glared at the Admiral, “I can be there for her when I can. And I don't think you've done a very good job of protecting her. You are the one who put her in a room with Toshi Drien's granddaughter.”

  The Admiral's expression slipped a bit, “I didn't arrange the rooms. The Cadet Instructors select those, you know that.”

  “You may not have set it up, but you didn't stop it,” Mom snapped. “I came here, I know that every decision cadets make come under a molecular microscope, every detail of this place gets back to you...”

  “Wait,” I blurted, “You came here? You came to the Academy?”

  My mom froze, her mouth dropping open and she stared at me. I saw my dad staring at her too, like he was waiting for her to go on. He knew, I realized, but he never told me either.

  That didn't make any sense. My parents had graduated from Nelson’s University with degrees in Archeology. They'd met in my dad's sophomore year, my mom had changed degrees from art to archeology after they'd fallen in love... I knew that. That was the story they'd told Will and I since we were born.

  “Your mother attended Academy Prep School and completed her Fourth Class Year,” the Admiral said, her voice detached. “When the time came to start her Third Class Year, and enter her contract with the service obligation, she resigned and transferred to Nelson’s University.”

  “What?” I looked between her and Mom. “You lied to me?”

  Mom's lips pinched together. “I didn't lie. Well, I didn't lie much. I transferred to Nelson’s University to pursue a degree in art, a few weeks after I did so, I met your father and then I transferred degrees to archeology.”

  My knees felt weak and I swayed a bit. My parents had lied to me. They'd never lied to me. The one time I'd ever did the slightest deceitful act, they'd shipped me off to the Admiral over it.

  “I did it to protect you… to protect both of you,” Mom looked between Will and I. “Look, Jiden, this all may seem like fun and games to you, but this is deadly serious. I didn't want either of you coming here because I didn't want you hurt.”

  “What are you talking about?” Will asked.

  The Admiral spoke, “While your mother was here, there was an... incident. Several cadets were injured. Your mother was nearly killed. A combat skimmer crashed. The official investigation ruled it was pilot error.”

  “Someone ordered the pilot to fly lower than the minimum safe altitude in a sandstorm, I heard it and I remember it, even if no one else had the guts to speak up. It was Toshi Drien and you know it.”

  “The investigation was inconclusive and no communications records survived the crash,” the Admiral replied. “And while I believe you, that isn't enough for a court of law. Especially not to overturn an official crash investigation findings.”

  “Wait, Admiral Drien tried to kill my mom?” My hands clenched into fists. I'd known about the grudge over the Three Day War, but this was something else entirely...

  “Don't go out and pick a fight just yet, girl,” the Admiral cautioned. She shot my mom a look, “She's a hot-head, just like you, Joy.”

  “I wonder where they get that from,” I heard Dad mutter.

  All three of us glared at him and he just raised his hands, “What, did someone say something?” Behind him, I heard Will snort with laughter.

  “The situation is complicated,” the Admiral went on after a moment. “And circumstances have changed here since your attendance. I'm the superintendent here now, for one thing. Admiral Drien's family doesn't have the connections they once had here. I'm taking precautions and I am protecting your daughter, even if some of those protections aren't immediately visible.”

  “Someone shot her out of the sky earlier, then there was this grav-shell crash,” my mom snapped. “Are you saying that you know the Driens aren't behind that?”

  The Admiral looked uncomfortable. “Joy, you're asking about an ongoing military investigation. I'm not authorized to discuss details to a civilian.”

  “This is my daughter, your granddaughter,” Mom hissed. “Tell me.”

  The Admiral glared around the room. “None of this leaves this room, am I understood?” We all nodded. Even Will looked somber. “The investigators believe this is tied to the smuggling ring that your daughter uncovered. They think that her attacker is a military officer who facilitated things from within the Militia. This attacker is either out for revenge or worried that she might be able to identify him somehow.”

  “Can you?” Mom asked of me.

  “I would if I could,” I said. “Three attempts on my life is more than enough for me, thanks.”

  “Three?” Mom asked.

  “There was an... incident with a burst pipe,” the Admiral shot me a look. “Any sign of sabotage is inconclusive.”

  I kept my mouth shut. I wasn't going to dig my hole any deeper. Besides, I was still trying to come to terms with the fact that Mom had attended the Academy. It made sense, what with how she'd known her way around and all, but still...

  I tried to picture her in the khaki uniform and I just kept drawing a blank.

  “I don't like this. I think it's best for her to resign,” Mom said.

  “I'm not quitting,” I snapped.

  “It's not worth your life!” My mom snapped in reply. “You don't understand, Jiden, the people that hate our family, they're willing to stab you in the back while they smile at you...”

  The Admiral's expression shifted, ever so slightly, “Joy, Jiden is not you and Sashi Drien is not Jotaro Drien.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Your mother was... close to Jotaro Drien,” The Admiral said.

  “We are not talking about this right now!” Mom interrupted. I had no idea what that was about, but I definitely had no desire to ask. “Look, Jiden, I really think its best that you resign. Let all this blow over. I know you seem to enjoy all this, but there's other things you can be doing! It doesn't have to be archeology, it could be engineering, science, whatever you want!”

  I swallowed. I hated to hear my mom plead like that. I hated how she was so worried about me. I wished I had a way to explain it to her, how I felt like I had to be here, that there wasn't any other place that I could be... this was a calling, not a choice. “Mom,” I said, “I can't leave. This is what I need to be doing.”

  Mom looked over at Will, then back at me, “Think about your brother. He thinks this is cool, he doesn't understand the stakes...”

  Low blow, Mom, I winced. I thought about the attempts on my life, about how I'd had to kill to protect myself, about the sick feeling I had when I thought about it and the flashbacks I had to the crash. I thought about Will going through that. I opened my mouth, not really sure what I was going to say.

  “It's my choice, Mom,” Will said. “And, sorry, but this is what I want to do, too.”

  I'd never felt so proud of my brother in m
y life. I couldn't help it, I walked over and gave him a hug. Before I knew it, my Dad was hugging me too.

  Mom stared at the three of us and then she said, “Fine.” She seemed to wilt a bit, then, and before I knew it, she came over and hugged the three of us too. “And I'm proud of you. Both of you. I just... God I wish there was some way to protect you from all this.... that's half of why I never told you any of it. I thought that if you didn't know...”

  I thought about how ignorant I'd been back at Academy Prep School. I thought about how everyone else had seemed to know all the details about my family's feud with the Driens... and how powerless and confused I'd been. My mom had done that to me by not telling me the truth. She'd done it to protect me, but it had only hurt me.

  I wished she'd told me the truth.

  I looked up and saw the Admiral staring at the four of us. For just a moment, her expression was unguarded. There was sadness on her face. Sadness for what she had lost. She's buried her husband and her son, I thought, thinking of my uncle and aunt who'd died offworld in some kind of terrorist attack. She's barely on speaking terms with her daughter.

  “Promise me that you'll take care of yourself, Jiden,” My mom murmured, squeezing me tight.

  “I promise, Mom,” I responded, squeezing her back. Maybe family wasn't so bad.

  ***

  Chapter Sixteen: Saying Goodbye Is Hard

  After Parent's Weekend, it seemed like the rest of the semester flew past.

  We had a few more big exercise events, one of which went the entire weekend. We had finals, and then everyone was rushing to get ready for the summer. With Academy Prep School going on during the summer, there weren't standard classes for the rest of us. Each class had separate duties. First Classmen, the seniors, went out on their five month tours with the Militia. Some of them went to ground forces, some to space, either to reserve or active Militia units. Since many of the Militia units conducted their big training exercises in the heat of the summer, there were lots of units for them to join.

  A handful also went offworld, mostly on exchanges with the Star Guard or one of our allies. A handful elsewhere, and it was quite the event when the seniors got the news.

  “Hanet!” Someone came down the hall shouting. “I got Hanet!”

  I popped my head out in the hallway. I wasn't the only one, there were quite a few people gathered in the corridor. I saw Alexander Karmazin smile, “Congratulations, sir, what ship?”

  “The Victory,” Cadet Commander Mackenzie grinned. “I'm so excited. I've got to leave in six hours to make all my connections. I should be packing, but...”

  Salter came running down the corridor, “I heard you got Hanet, that's awesome!”

  “What do they mean?” I asked Ashiri.

  “He's going to the mercenary company,” she replied. “They're technically Militia ships, operating under charter, and their crews are all reservists.”

  “What?” I asked, “That's crazy...” I didn't know much about the Hanet Mercenary Guild, but I'd just sort of assumed they were all no-neck thug types. I certainly hadn't imagined that they were part of our Militia. “Why's that?”

  Apparently I'd spoken louder than I'd realized. “Cadet Fourth Class Armstrong,” Mackenzie grinned, “Don't worry, you aren't the only one who doesn't understand.”

  Salter grinned, “Our mercenary company is a sort of open secret. Lots of Planetary Militias do it, it's a way to offset the cost of our forces and get additional combat experience for our people... without fighting a costly war at home.”

  “Oh,” I said. It still seemed crazy. Fighting and dying for money, rather than to protect our nation, our people. Evidently my expression showed my opinion of that.

  “Look, Armstrong,” Cadet Commander Mackenzie said, “we've got a huge amount of ships and equipment, far bigger than most Planetary Militias do, right?”

  I nodded. I'd picked that up when I'd been doing one of Commander Bonnadonna's research papers. Century stood out for that, most single planet star systems maintained far smaller forces.

  “Well, keeping them maintained and especially keeping them stocked with antimatter is expensive. We produce it on our own, but it's still massively expensive. Most of the income from our mercenary company goes to offsetting that cost. All the rest goes to buying the Militia more ships. So it's not like we're doing it just for the money. We're doing it for the experience and to keep the lights on.”

  I nodded in response. It made some sense, but it still struck me as an odd way of doing business. Then again, it wasn't like it was up to me.

  “You'd better get packing, sir,” Alexander Karmazin said.

  “Yeah, I know,” Mackenzie adopted a goofy grin, “but Hanet. This is going to be great!”

  He walked off down the hall and the crowd cleared out. “That's a good sign,” Karmazin said in a low voice to Ashiri and I. “They only ever send ten cadets to Hanet, at the very most.”

  “That's good,” I said. I had no doubt that Mackenzie was going to do well. I worried about him a bit, going that far away from Century, but he was so confident that I couldn't help but think he'd do great.

  “Cadets,” another voice snapped out as we stood there. We all turned and found Cadet Lieutenant Webster standing there. “Fall in.”

  All of us lined up. He wore a sour expression, like someone who'd just received terrible news. “I've got my orders, I'll be staying on as Sand Dragon's Cadet Training Officer through the summer. Which means that I'll be working with those of you who stay on as Cadet Instructors. I'll be helping to select those who get such important responsibilities,” he said. “Those who I help to select will end up working closely with myself and the Senior Cadet Instructor. We'll be setting the conditions for next year's Plebe Class, and I promise all of you, I won't be selecting any who don't meet my exacting standards, am I clear?”

  “Yes, sir!” We snapped back. Great, I thought, no way am I going to be a Cadet Instructor. Webster was the most distant of all the senior cadets in Sand Dragon, he barely seemed to tolerate any of us, and with me...

  He walked down the line and paused in front of me. “Some of you,” he said, shooting me a look of distaste, “Aren't going to meet those standards. Don't worry, if you've applied to be a Cadet Instructor and you aren't selected, there are plenty of other assignments for the summer semester. You are dismissed, fall out and good luck on your summer assignments.”

  As our formation dissolved, I felt a mix of disappointment and relief at his words. On the one hand, I'd wanted to see if I could do a good job as a Cadet Instructor. On the other hand... at least I wouldn’t have to deal with Webster. Five months more with him sounded about as miserable as could be. I couldn't help but wish Mackenzie was the one who'd been selected for Cadet Training Officer for Sand Dragon. I'd bet he would have selected me... and I wouldn't have minded spending five months working closely with him.

  But Mackenzie is going to Hanet. He'd be going to our mercenary unit. He might be going into combat... and he might very well die. I could never see him again.

  I felt a chill go over my body. I looked at my friends, “I'll be right back,” I said.

  I hurried down the hallway and found myself outside of Cadet Commander Mackenzie's quarters. As the company commander for Sand Dragon, he had a bit more space than the rest of us: he warranted his own room. He'd always had an open door policy and like usual, his door was open. His back was turned, though, as he was seated, cleaning and packing his gear on a folding table beside his bed. I hesitated, wanting nothing more than to run away, but instead I knocked on the door frame.

  “Yes?” Mackenzie spun his chair around, his expression distracted. “Oh, hey Armstrong, what's up?”

  “May I come in, sir?” I asked, still hesitating at the door.

  He gave me an amused smile, “Of course, what's up?”

  I took a hesitant step inside. I hadn't been in his room before. I'd tried to avoid being called in here for any kind of disciplinary reason
s and I hadn't felt I needed to talk to him in any kind of official setting before. We'd interacted on the grav-shell team so much that I guess I'd just felt that I could talk to him there.

  “Headed out soon, sir?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I need to start getting packed,” he sounded the slightest bit impatient.

  Seated, he was still tall enough that he was eye level on me. “Well, I just wanted to wish you good luck, sir,” I said. Before he could respond, I crossed the two meters between us and kissed him on the lips. It was sudden, it was impulsive, and as he went still, I regretted it instantly.

  I pulled back, my face flushing, feeling so embarrassed that I didn't know what to do or say. I backed away, and then, as he opened his mouth to speak, I turned and rushed out. I found myself running down the hallway and I took the stairs down to the lower level and just started running.

  I'm such an idiot, I told myself. What I'd done was stupid. It was more than stupid, it could get me in trouble for fraternization and it could get me expelled. Worse than that, it could get Mackenzie in trouble for the same reason.

  I didn't know what else to do, so I found a quiet section of corridor, far from everyone else and put my head against the wall. The cool surface of the bricks burned against the heat of my face. I wanted nothing so much as to melt into the wall, to forget I existed, to disappear.

  How could I have been so stupid?”

  ***

  I finally managed to get up the courage to return to my room later that night.

  To my surprise, no one seemed to be looking for me. There wasn't any messages on my datapad, no instructions to report to the Admiral's offices, and Ashiri didn't even look up from her datapad as I came back inside. “Hey, Jiden.”

  “Hey,” I forced myself to sound as natural as I could. “Did I miss anything?”

  “Not really,” she said, “lots of people shipping out to their summer assignments. Cadet Commander Mackenzie was only the first, the upperclassmen rooms are all pretty much empty. Word is that we'll get our assignments tonight...” She trailed off and I heard her datapad and mine both pinged at the same time.