I kept them up all night. At zero six thirty, we went to the obstacle course for our normal training. My exhausted squad fumbled through the course, and several failed to scale the new obstacle tower. It tilted from side to side as we climbed, then once reaching the top we had to attach a handle to a wire and slide down it to the ground.
I allowed the squad to eat their breakfast in peace, but lunch was a different story. Twenty minutes into their lunch break, I stood from my seat.
"Green squad, your mealtime is over. Move out!" I moved swiftly around the room and yanked the meal trays away from any slower-moving cadets.
We then spent the ten minutes left of our mealtime jogging. Dinner was the same, fifteen minutes into the meal I moved them out. I was doing my utmost to embody a mixture of both my mother and Lt Moore. We ran until zero ten hundred, and Lt Moore didn't even bother showing up for after dinner training. I watched as my squad fell into their beds in a state of exhaustion. I set my alarm for zero two hundred hours and slipped into my own bed.
At zero two hundred sharp, I woke the barracks, and we repeated the previous day’s run. I then had them stand at attention for an hour, waiting for Lt Moore to arrive. This time, I only allowed them ten minutes to eat for every meal. The remainder of the mealtime was spent running. The entire time we ran, I had the squad calling out the four values of the fleet.
"Discipline, loyalty, integrity, and respect!” I made them repeat that mantra again and again.
I needed to ensure that what happened during that challenge never happened again. I could not allow traitors in my squad, nor would Zander and I allow them in our crew. There were occasions when the other trainee captains would try to turn cadets into a spy in other trainee crews. There had even a been an incident ten years ago that had resulted in fatalities.
One of the trainee captains had ordered one of his crew to mess with the ship of an opposing crew right before the fourth-year competition. When the crew of the sabotaged ship had pushed their thrusters to full burn during planetary take off, there had been an explosive reaction killing three enlisted crew, and the engineering cadet who was acting as chief engineer.
The fleet had made some extreme changes after that, and each ship was carefully checked over by the engineering team on base before cadets accessed them. Each ship was also assigned a security drone that would only allow assigned crew on or near the ship. It had never been thought that cadets would go so far as to sabotage another ship. Though it wasn't unheard of for captains to try to infiltrate each other's crews, it was normally just getting cadets to leak tactical information or to cause discord in the opposing crew and spoil their morale.
It didn't take long for the squad to turn on Zaren, by the end of the third day she was gone. The relief on my squad’s face when they woke the next morning at zero five thirty without any late-night wake-up calls was palpable. Their experience of the last few days had changed the dynamic in my squad completely. Even the four cadets who I had come to consider my friends had changed. They no longer called me Ris or Aristeia, it was always Squad Leader or Squad Leader Kelras. We still spoke, and we remained relatively friendly, but there was a barrier of formality between us now.
It hurt, but I knew it had to happen, I needed to be their leader first and their friend second. My role as Zander's first officer would always come first, I would let nothing come in the way of achieving my goals. I was going to reach the stars, and if anything stood in my way, I would destroy it just like I had my uncle’s ship.
After the incident with Cadet Zaren, we won the next five challenges. Today marked the end of our seventh week of basic training. We had just won this week’s challenge. As a group, we entered the water tower simulation from the exam. My squad had nineteen members remaining at this point, and we had succeeded in climbing the highest in the tower. Our reward was two hours spent in the recreational area of the main campus.
Which also meant access to the food dispensary that sold a small variety of sweets. I was dying to get my hands on a chocolate bar.
Chapter 30
Lt Moore led our squad out into the main campus and towards the recreational area. I could feel the excitement building among my fellow cadets as they looked around the main campus. They would have run past it during their admission exams but would not have had any chance to look around. Even I was still a little in awe at the campus and I had been living on it before training started.
I gazed over at the hoverboard tracks longingly as Lt Moore explained the various facilities to the cadets. My grandfather still had my hoverboard and had told me I wasn't allowed it back until after basic training. There were a few cadets on the tracks and dozens of others milling about the recreational area.
As Lt Moore led our group towards the main building of the rec area, I smiled as I saw the familiar figure of Zander followed by Quinn and Hunter. He smiled back at me, throwing something silver in my direction. I caught it and I was unable to contain my squeal of delight. My actions caused my squad mates to look at me with shock. Cheeks flushing red, I refused to look at any of them as I opened the foil covered treat; I had worked hard to build my strong and composed image.
"Figured you might want that," he said, his eyes bright with amusement.
I nodded, not able to verbally respond with my mouth full of sugary goodness. Zander jerked his chin in the direction of the track and following him. I was delighted to see Zander's AI Alfred hovering there with both our boards floating steadily under his control.
"How?" I asked as I jogged to my gorgeous black and silver board, with Mo quickly darting forwards to take control of my board and settling himself on the front.
"Told your grandfather I needed to work on it a bit," Zander said, looking pleased with himself. "I did actually work on it, just a bit of fine-tuning. Worked out the issue with the speed controls being too sensitive."
Stepping up onto the board, I looked at Zander with a grin. "Race?"
"So keen to lose again?" he asked with a smirk in my direction.
I scowled, crossing my arms as he jumped onto his board, rising into the air, and matching my board’s height and position.
"I've won just as many times as I've lost. Orange track," I said as we flew over to the orange track.
I set the track controls, and we hovered in place, waiting for the timer to count down. I was tempted to race the red track, but as I was not wearing my Cloud Conqueror body suit, I knew it would be best to keep to a less dangerous track.
We flew through the track, dodging past obstacles and passing each again and again as we fought to take the lead. Noticing Zander coming up on my right at some point, I swerved towards him, causing him to jerk to the side and almost crash into a pillar. I laughed as I flew ahead, his cursing filling my ears as I flew past the finish line, followed closely by Zander, who had been close to overtaking me again.
Moving away from the track to give room for other cadets who wanted to use it, I sat sideways on my board almost twenty meters off the ground. Zander flew up beside me and mimicked my position, sitting on his own board as we looked out at the tracks.
"That was great," I said, watching as Quinn flew along the orange track, racing against Hunter. Zander nodded and looked down towards the main recreational building.
"The four in your formation’s front line, are they the ones you sent me the files for?" he asked, looking thoughtful.
"Mm, Luke Cormac, David Orson, Jetta Cain, and Fiona Ares," I hummed in agreement and named the four cadets, following his gaze, to see the four walking to the track.
"Which one is the scrawny one?" he asked, frowning slightly.
"Orson, why?" I asked, glancing over at him.
"Just curious," he said with a shrug, an almost unreadable expression on his face.
"I know he doesn't look like much, but he is intelligent. He scored ninety-eight percent on the academic exam. Though physically, he falls behind more often than not, but he has determination," I said as I swung my right le
g lightly back and forth in the air.
"What about the other ones you have been considering?" he asked, still staring down at the group.
"Janus Dowe, pilot program. A bit timid but has flight experience, probably the only pilot in the program I wouldn't clash with at the helm. Next is Tarron Reade. Stoic and prefers his own company, he is entering the engineering program. His parents own a small company that manufactures passenger transports, wants to be a chief engineer. I think you two would get along, he built his own hoverboard from spare parts when he was younger," I said, leaning back slightly on my palms and trying to find a more comfortable position on my board.
"The other is Peter Mills, tested in from enlistment, missed his exams last year. The ship he was on was attacked by pirates in the Riv'ari system. Apparently, pirates are a big issue there. It's actually where the FSS Scorpia was heading when they dropped me off. He is in the tactical program focusing on ship security, and boarding parties."
I glanced at Zander as I finished speaking. He nodded, his gaze contemplative as he stared down below us.
"Why Orson? We don't need a specialized weapons engineer on an escort class ship. It only has standard armament that a ship engineer can easily handle," he said, looking at me, and I frowned in confusion at the expression on his face. He looked annoyed and I couldn't understand why.
"Because we might end up with a patrol cruiser for our training ship. There are eight escorts and three patrols available for second-year crews. There is a chance we could end up with a patrol, so we need a weapons engineer for it. It’s standard for a patrol to have a ship and weapons engineer," I replied, not understanding why Zander would be annoyed at me for suggesting we consider Orson.
We didn't have to use him, but we shouldn't completely disregard him as a choice.
"Right, you're right," Zander muttered as he ran a hand through his hair, looking away from me.
"Zander?" I called his name softly in concern and he turned his gaze back to me. "Is there something wrong with Orson?"
I thought I'd made good choices in which cadets I thought Zander would find suitable for our future trainee crew. Zander sighed, looking away from me again to stare down at the group who were standing near the track watching the cadets fly.
"Do you like him, Ris?" he asked, voice hard. His hands clenched tightly on the edge of his board, and I jerked my head back, shocked by his question. I could tell from Zander's tone he wasn't referring to just liking David as a friend.
"No, of course not. I—" I bit my lip and looked away from Zander, cheeks burning. I had almost made a very big mistake.
"Good, that's good." I looked back at Zander as he spoke, relief evident in his voice. He was relieved? Because I didn't like David? He ran his hand through his hair again, messing up the short locks.
"Would it matter?" I asked softly.
We stared at each other for several long moments before he nodded slowly. "Yeah, Ris. It would," he said, and I felt like my cheeks would catch fire from how hot they felt.
I bit my lip, hesitating slightly before I spoke again. "Why?"
He was silent for so long that I didn't think he was going to give me an answer.
"Because I don't think I could just sit back and watch you with someone else. I like you, Ris. You’re not like any girl I've met. You don't care that I'm an Altair, you don't fawn over me or any of that pretentious crap just because my family has money. You’re smart, beautiful, and determined. When I saw the way Orson was watching you, and the way he glared at me when we left together. I felt—" he broke off and scrubbed a hand over his face.
I stared at him, my heart beating rapidly in my chest.
"I was jealous. I thought maybe there was something between you two. You've been in the same barracks for seven weeks," he said with a sigh, and I felt a smile creep over my lips.
"Zander, there is nothing going on between us. We haven't really even spoken much, he usually just tags along in the background. But you, I talk to you every night. Sometimes for hours. Do you really think I'd stay up till zero two hundred talking to you if I didn't like you?" I said, watching as Zander’s own cheeks turned red, likely matching my own.
We sat in silence for a while after that, both lost in our own thoughts. My wrist buzzed, and I looked down at it with a sigh.
"Our rec time is up. I have to go," I said to Zander, feeling reluctant to leave, but I knew I didn't have a choice.
Zander nodded, and as I was about to direct my board to descend lower to the ground, he reached out and grabbed my knee in a firm grip. I looked up at him in surprise as he moved his board so it floated closer to mine, our knees touching as he hovered in front of me. I stared into his bright green eyes as they looked down at me intently.
"Ris, you've covered romantic relationships in class by now, right?" he asked softly, and I nodded, reciting what we had learned in our behavioral conduct lessons.
"Yes, no public displays of affection, no allowing personal relationships to distract from duties, no—" my words were abruptly cut off as Zander pressed his lips to mine. "You know you just broke the first rule, right?" I said softly, as he pulled away from me.
He smirked and rested his forehead against mine. "I know the regulations, Ris. I also know minor offenses are mostly overlooked. I'll message you tonight, same time as usual. Next week when you leave basic training, I better see a gold squad patch on that uniform you’re wearing," he murmured and pressed another quick kiss to my lips.
Returning to the ground, Zander's AI flew over to take control of my board from Mo. As I started to turn away from Zander to look for my squad, I heard Lt Moore's voice call out from behind me and grimaced. Busted.
"Cadet Altair, Cadet Kelras, you should both be well aware of the fleet’s regulations regarding public displays of affection. Altair report to Lt Regis. Kelras, rejoin your squad."
"Yes sir."
Cheeks still flushed, I walked over to where my squad stood waiting. Ignoring the curious looks they gave me, I stood at attention in front of the formation. While the Federation didn't prohibit personal relationships, as it was a little hard to stop relationships from happening when you had ships that could have close to three thousand crew, there were strict rules regarding how such relationships were to be conducted. Relationships that were considered inappropriate were prohibited, such as those that resulted in distraction of duty. Displays of favoritism or inappropriate behavior were not permitted.
It was also frowned an upon for a commissioned officer to be involved with an enlisted crew. The fleet preferred to have a separation between its officers and the enlisted crew. It was also prohibited for cadets to be involved romantically with the instructors while studying on campus. Cadets were permitted to date other cadets, provided it did not interfere with study and cadets were to keep personal interactions to free time only and were not permitted to engage in sexual activity on campus.
The fleet would even make allowances for married couples like my grandparents to allow them to serve on the same ship. I knew there wouldn't be an issue with my relationship with Zander, so long as it didn't distract us. Even if he became my captain, we would just have to ensure we behaved in accordance with fleet regulation. My uncle and Captain Harris had been in a relationship since they were both in the academy and had no issues.
All female fleet personnel also were required to have a small contraceptive device implanted in their arm to prevent pregnancy, though, as my mother had learned, the device would not effectively work if you neglected to have it replaced on time. My mother had missed having her implant replaced by almost six months and the result was me. Yay, me.
Chapter 31
After returning to the basic training area of campus, I stood stiffly outside the green squad barracks. The squad had been dismissed, but a few loitered around the door. My punishment for my infraction was to stand the night in parade rest while also missing out on dinner. I had been standing for four hours already, and as the time for dinner app
roached, I could feel my stomach begin to clench in hunger. This would not be the first time I stood in such an endurance test, but it would be the first time I did so completely alone and for so long. Lt Moore hadn't even bothered to stay, simply leaving his AI drone behind to monitor me.
Zander had messaged me earlier, and I was thankful I had my optical lens as I stood with my hands behind my back, making it impossible to use my wrist display. He had gotten off lightly in comparison and only lost his access to the rec area for a week. Zander had been sympathetic to my plight, and we had been messaging back and forth for an hour before Lt Moore noticed my outgoing communications and cut off my network access. Hopefully, he would realize why I hadn't responded to his last message.
Six hours into my punishment and the cold was starting to set in, so I was thankful that I had been wearing my jumpsuit uniform. It didn't do much to keep me warm, but it was long-sleeved, so I could curl my fingers up into the sleeve. Turning my gaze upwards, I focused on the stars above me, doing my best to recall the names and constellations of those I could see.
Many of the stars in the Sovari system bore the names of those who had lost their lives during the war of Velsin, which had resulted in the creation of the United Astrum Federation. I had spent many nights since coming to Velante studying these stars, doing my best to memorize their names and locations, though I knew I would never remember them all, as there were thousands that had been named since the Federation’s creation.
There was one that held my attention above all the others, however, and that was the star whose name I shared. It had been named after Aristeia Lunari, a captain who had been awarded the purple star postmortem for her heroic actions in the Velsin war. Captain Lunari and her crew had been the ones whose heroic sacrifice had turned the tides of war when they had brought down the enemy’s battlecruiser at the cost of their own lives.
Striving for the stars (The Kelras Chronicles Book 1) Page 23