by Kal Spriggs
Despite her appearance, I wasn't sure I trusted this to actually be her. We could take on many appearances in this digital world. Ashiri and two other cadets had hidden theirs. In fact, they'd spun off digital simulacrums who they'd controlled to do their bidding, while appearing as other avatars entirely.
“I didn't want my grandfather to see us talking,” Sashi told me.
“I heard you guys had mended things up?” I jabbed back at her. If this was Sashi, then I wasn't going to let her off easy. If it wasn't, then pushing her was the way to go.
Sashi's expression hardened. “I was hoping I'd be able to talk with you before other people, but I guess not.” She shook her head, “Look, Jiden, the stuff that happened between my father and I--”
“Your whole family, right?” I asked. I had seen enough of how her family treated her to know it hadn't just been her father who treated her terribly.
“...my father and I,” Sashi went on, “was unfortunate, but my grandfather sees my capabilities. He made a special effort to allow me to go to the Harlequin Military Academy, for instance.”
“Oh, you couldn't have earned a place there, then?” I asked innocently.
“You know I could have, I just--” She broke off, staring at me. “You're baiting me. Of course you are, because things aren't going so great for you, I understand.”
“Things aren't going so great?” I asked, my eyes narrowing. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, you know, your grandmother's off on pretty much a joke assignment before she finally puts in her retirement, you lost the rest of your family, and everyone heard that you basically had a nervous breakdown when Kyle proposed...”
“Everyone heard?” I demanded.
Sashi met my eyes, “Well, the footage of it got circulated around the Academy. Hodges shared it with me.”
“Hodges?” I asked, “That jerk?”
“He's not a jerk! You just buy into that victim attitude of your boyfriend Regan,” Sashi sneered. “If you looked at things from both sides, you'd see that Hodges was the victim. Kyle Regan just gamed the system, which is why Hodges ended up setback.”
“Wow,” I took a step back, crossing my arms and staring at her. “You've bought all that, then? Next thing you'll tell me is that you're dating the loser.” Sashi's face flushed and she didn't say anything. “Oh. My. God.” I stared at her for a long minute. “I've fallen through an alternate dimension where my friend turned into an evil bitch, that's the only explanation,”
“Just because you can't accept that this is the situation--”
“Are we done here?” I demanded.
Sashi took a deep breath, clearly fighting to calm herself. “Look, Jiden. You are, you were my friend. But things have changed since you left. My grandfather's got a lot on his plate. He doesn't have time to coddle cadets. We got away with a lot of craziness under other people, but my grandfather, he values loyalty, respect, and obedience. I'm trying to warn you. Don't step out of line.”
“Or what, I'll end up under arrest like Alexander Karmazin?” I demanded.
Sashi looked away. “What happened with Alex... look, I'm sorry it happened, but he was way out of line.”
“I heard he was just calling home,” I told her.
Sashi glared at me, “The Enclave has been undercutting our planet's security. Don't forget, they started out as an invading force. It was only at the pressure of your grandmother that the Charter Council agreed to give them a place to settle and let them stay.”
“Okay,” I held up my hands, “neither of us were alive when any of that happened, so let's not argue about that. How about we get back to our friend? The guy you dated for over a year? You know, insufferably handsome, stubborn to the extreme, and sort of related to the richest guy on the planet?”
Sashi scowled at me. “I broke up with him, Jiden. I know him better than you. He knew what he was doing. He shouldn't have done it. He should have listened to me.”
“That's it?” I asked. “So when they cart me away for unspecified crimes, will you give Kyle the same lecture?”
“They'd probably cart him away with you,” Sashi snapped. She ran a hand through her hair. “Look, Jiden, please...” She closed her eyes, “Just please, keep your head down. Things are changing. We're almost done with the Academy. Graduate. Go work for Champion Enterprises. That's what you wanted to do in the beginning anyway. Go marry Kyle, have a few kids. Live a safe, happy life.”
“And give up all this?” I demanded. I waved around, not at the green grass and blue sky, but at the Academy beyond this simulated world.
“For your own good,” Sashi told me. “I've learned things, Jiden. Stuff that I wish I didn't know. We all thought that this business with the Drakkus Empire was the big deal, but it was just a sideshow. There are powers that want Century and they're not going to stop coming. We have to be strong, stronger than we've ever been, and my grandfather is working towards that. It's changes that need to come. You get in his way, and he's not going to stop. He won't hesitate.”
“You make it sound like he'd kill me,” it wasn't a question.
“He wouldn't notice you any more than a skimmer notices a bug,” Sashi told me. “Just please. Keep your head down. I don't even care how well you graduate. If you want top graduate, that's fine. But make this the end. Don't even try to pursue a commission.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“There won't be anything for you. Not for Kyle. Not for Ashiri, assuming she can graduate next year and she doesn't transfer out. Not for anyone who doesn't fit into this,” she told me. “It's just how it is, how it has to be.”
“Is that what he has on you?” I demanded. “Did he threaten you?”
Sashi looked away. “Don't dig into this, Jiden. There's nothing you'll learn that is safe to know. Just listen to me, okay? He's willing to let you graduate, to let Kyle, graduate. You guys can go anywhere, no service obligation. You're free. Go do something else, anything else.”
“He didn't threaten you, did he? He threatened me. He threatened all your friends,” I stared at her in shock. “He's using us to get you.”
“Whatever,” Sashi snapped. “Look, listen or not, I don't care anymore.” She cut the connection and the green grass and blue skies faded out of existence.
***
Chapter 21: I Have Time For Conspiracies, Plots, And Training To Save The World
“My fellow citizens of Century,” Admiral Drien began his announcement. It was one I had been waiting, wondering how it would be made. He'd chosen to do it in the evening, for Duncan City. It was very early in the morning here at the Academy. “The President has asked me to pass along vital news about the security and defense of our star system.”
“The alien threat, the species we know as the culmor, have begun attacks all along the Sepaso Sector. So far it looks like probing attacks only, but there is a high chance that they will have already begun full scale attacks, and the news just hasn't reached us yet.”
Given the time it had taken for the news to reach the Admiral at Harmony and then for me to travel here... Yeah, entire systems could have fallen in that time. Millions, possibly billions of people could be dead.
“Going into the next few months, I will put all Militia forces on a high state of readiness. We have to assume that any culmor attacks on Guard Space will include at least scouting forces out here in the Periphery. I have sent for assistance from the Harlequin Military Sector Guard Fleet Headquarters to assist in the defense of our world.” Yeah, good luck with that, I thought to myself. From what I'd seen of the Guard, that was kind of like inviting an escaped convict into your home to protect you from a sandstorm. Not only would they not stop the place from being destroyed, but they might well rob and kill you in the meantime.
I figured even if they cared enough about Century to want to bother to send anyone, they were probably stretched too thin at the moment. Every planet, every system, every tiny colony must be screaming for help. T
o date, they had never come to help us on the Periphery, why would they start now?
“In the meantime, our Planetary Militia will begin a heavy training routine and we will prepare to defend our world against any threats. Thank you for your time.”
The transmission cut out and I looked over at Ashiri and Kyle, both of whom were in my room. We'd been talking, discussing what all we knew and suspected. Ashiri had been back here a few hours longer than me, since she'd come straight back to the Academy, and she'd talked with a lot more people.
“We're in trouble,” I stated the obvious.
“That wasn't a terribly reassuring speech,” Ashiri noted.
“Planetary network is going crazy,” Kyle sighed, looking up from his datapad. “The stock market just plummeted and... yep, they just shut it down. Everyone's pulling out their money. Jeez, this is like watching a kicked anthill.”
“I don't want to know,” I told him. Leo Champion had a few hours prior knowledge, thanks to me. I wondered if he'd been one of the ones cashing out, or if he'd already made arrangements. For all I knew, he'd left everything in, figuring he'd buy up a bunch of other people in a panic.
“What are we going to do?” I asked. I was tired and stressed. I didn't want to make that worse by watching the civilians of my planet panic like frightened sheep.
“I don't know that we can do very much,” Ashiri mused. “I mean, we're still cadets. We're under Militia laws and regulations. It's not like we can just up and leave.”
“He might let us,” I said, not using Admiral Drien's name, even though I was jamming the monitors with imagery and sound of us talking about classwork for the rest of the year. After all, there were other ways to listen in. I'd already told them my suspicions about Sashi's deal.
“Yeah, but I'm not abandoning my home,” Ashiri said.
“You were born on Ten Sisters,” I noted.
Ashiri blew a raspberry at me, “That's not my home, not any more. The Guard invaded and took over. And in case you weren't listening, he as much as said that he invited them to come in and do the same here. We saw how well that worked out on Harmony, eh?”
I swallowed. “Yeah. But I don't see how we can fight.”
“We can message the Admiral,” Kyle suggested.
“How?” I asked. “That courier ship isn't headed back there. And you can bet he's monitoring any messages we send out. If I send an encrypted message to a civilian ship headed that general direction, then he's probably going to either intercept it or prevent it from going out... and then I wager he'll have me arrested.”
“Someone else, maybe?” Ashiri asked. “Someone in my family?”
“Do you want them arrested?” I asked archly. I had considered messaging Ted Meeks, but I didn't want to drag him into this. I'd also considered contacting Directorate Thirteen, but I had to assume they'd been compromised, too. Certainly I couldn't imagine them going along with whatever it was that Admiral Drien was doing. I had tried to get in contact with the digital version of me that lived in the planetary network. Worryingly, she hadn't responded.
“Well, my mom, maybe, on a bad day...” Ashiri mused.
“Yeah, not worth it,” I told her, “think of the lecture you'd get after the Enforcers come and arrest you and throw you in jail with her.”
“True,” Ashiri nodded. Kyle looked between us, as if he weren't sure if we were joking or not.
“So we can't get any messages out, not without being really tricky,” Kyle said. “What about getting Alexander out of jail? Do you think you could make some kind of deal for him?”
“I don't think Karmazin is the type anyone would want to let out of jail after arresting him on trumped up charges,” I pointed out. “I mean, there's a chance it was a misunderstanding. But I'd wager he knew the risks involved in whatever he was doing. He's probably going to go and do it again as soon as he gets out.”
“Which, if we worked some deal on his behalf, would get us arrested,” Ashiri nodded.
“Jailbreak?” Kyle asked cheerfully.
I kicked him in the shin. “You are likely to get us arrested for mutiny just for talking about.” Even a discussion of breaking someone out of a military jail was grounds for charges of conspiracy and mutiny.
“Right, right,” Kyle nodded, as if he hadn't already considered that before he opened his mouth. Really, Ashiri and I should have done this on our implants, since we knew it was more secure. But there was the chance that Sashi or someone else could tap in, anyway. And Kyle didn't have a quicksilver implant, just a normal tier two. I could send him encrypted messages that I was fairly sure only he could read, but with this business, that would look suspicious.
Still, it probably needed to be said. I realized that Kyle had probably brought it up as a way to make me shoot it down... which then meant that I couldn't very well suggest it now. I shot him a dirty look, but he wore an innocent expression.
“So what, we just go to classes, pretend that nothing's wrong?” Ashiri asked.
“For now,” I nodded. I glanced at Kyle, “How did that work last spring?”
He shrugged. “Hodges was out to get me the whole time. Guy is a real pain. But all the Regimental positions were so undercut... it was like the positions were just a status thing, anyway. The graduation ranking, too. A bunch of cadets who went along with the new staff, they got extra points here and there, not enough to make a formal complaint, but enough to bring them ahead of everyone else.” He made a face, “Guys like Hodges, they went from being mid-ranking but not at the top to, well, you see.”
I brought up a class ranking on my display. Ashiri blew a raspberry. “Hodges is in the top ten? He's a setback!”
“You're a setback,” I noted.
“Yeah, but he never was in the top half, and now he's in the running for number one?” She shook her head. “And Mardin and Bannak? I mean, really?”
“I didn't even recognize their names,” I admitted.
“Exactly!” Ashiri threw up her hands. “It's like they're rewarding the people who just do as they're told and don't step out of line.”
“That's sort of what I said they were doing,” Kyle noted.
“Well, yeah,” Ashiri blinked. “But I said it better.”
“Focus, guys,” I told them. I considered the class ranking for what it was: a way to measure up the potential of the graduates. “They're self-selecting,” I mused.
“What?” Kyle and Ashiri both asked.
“So, the group of officers around... him,” I said vaguely. “They're selecting cadets who remind them of, well, them. So we get snide, manipulative jerks like Hodges, who are like Commander... what's-his-name...”
“Leath,” Ashiri supplied.
“Yeah, that guy,” I said. “And we get cadets who just do what they're told and are grateful for any edge they can get out of it. They're not brilliant, they may not even be particularly bad, but they don't stand out, that's the other officers that he wants.”
“Cannon fodder and cronies,” Kyle noted.
“Yeah, that may be accurate,” I thought about Admiral Mizra. That had sort of fit his profile, the people aboard his force had probably been made up of his closest hangers-on and crew who were willing to do what they were told because they were hoping to get something out of it.
“Assignments?” Ashiri asked.
I switched the display over to that. Going by the pattern that we'd picked up on with the rankings, I started down the list, “Sashi is the Regimental Commander.”
“She's earned that,” Kyle admitted. “She apparently did really well at the Harlequin Station Military Academy. And she's always been up there in the top rankings.”
“Yeah, but she may have worked something out,” I reminded him. “So this could be either a reward, or a way for him to make himself look better. 'Look how talented the whole family is, even his wayward granddaughter made Cadet Regimental Commander.'”
“Hodges is her Executive Officer,” Sashi made a face.
; “Yeah, I thought he and Bolander were a thing?” I asked, thinking of how Sashi had reacted.
“She kicked him to the curb when she got back two weeks ago. She told everyone she caught him, uh,” Kyle coughed, glancing between Ashiri and I, “seeing a plebe.” I had the feeling that more than “seeing” had been involved. That was against regulations. It was fraternization.
“He and Sashi are dating already,” Ashiri made a face. “Ew.”
“Nothing happened to him, either. Even after she reported it,” Kyle noted. That was a bad sign.
Bolander was Regimental Training Officer, though that wasn't a down-check against her, necessarily. The big woman had shown that she was willing to speak out if she thought something was wrong. She'd warned me once when an older cadet had tried to stab me in the back during a training event.
Of course, she'd done it in a way to avoid anyone but Kyle and I knowing it was her. So maybe we had an ally on the inside. I highlighted her name and glanced at Kyle, who gave me a nod back, and I cleared that out.
“Naghi as Regimental Plans Officer,” Ashiri mused. “I looked him up on my implant and I still don't recognize him.”
“I had classes with him. He's not a bad guy, just sort of, well, a lump.” I answered.
“Duchan as the Regimental Logistics Officer,” all of us were stumped by that one. “Talk about captain boring,” Ashiri noted, “I even looked through my implant and I've got nothing on the guy.”
“Yeah,” I bit my lip as I looked down the list, “Me as the Regimental Contingency Response Officer.” That was either a good thing or a really bad thing. I'd been the assistant to the Contingency Response Officer last year. Contingency Response planned out real-world actions for the Academy, in case of a riot, or a natural disaster... or maybe in case the culmor invade in force and Admiral Drien needs to pin a disaster on a convenient Armstrong.
“He's got me as Dust Company Fighter Squadron Commander,” Kyle grumbled.
“It is a command position,” I told him.