RITZA ACADEMY
LIEGEDEN, EMPORIA
FEDERATED SUNS
8 APRIL 3150
0328 HOURS
By the time Private Klinemeier got Jasper back to his dorm building, it looked dead. Not a single light to be seen. But looks could be deceiving, and Jasper knew it. He bid the House Vogel private a good night and slipped into the Dewitt building. His hope for a direct route to bed died the moment he reached his floor.
Every door was open. Elias was waiting in his doorway. “He’s here. He’s back!” The loud whisper had cadets popping their heads out of their rooms. Then the hallway was full of cadets congratulating Jasper, pounding him on the back, shaking his hand, or hugging him.
Delany came up the stairs as word spread. “Sir Michael was chewing nails, but he didn’t yell at us except to demand the ‘few’ cadets who’d waited up for me to go to bed. I don’t know what Dame Emma said, but he’s not happy.” She gave him a hug. “You okay?”
Jasper nodded even though he felt sick. He was exhausted. He remembered Baron Vogel’s words. “You?”
She nodded. “Mostly.”
He agreed. “Mostly.”
Mia broke in. “Tell us what happened. We heard you rescued the captured nobles. That you killed some of their MechWarriors.”
The hallway quieted down as they all waited on Jasper’s word. He tried to downplay things. He really did. At first. “We didn’t rescue them. It was the infantry. We provided cover fire.” He glanced at Delany. “And Claire was killed. Her Watchman taken. By commandos.”
“You fought Commandos?”
Jasper shook his head. “Not the ’Mechs. Infantry in Kishi battle armor.”
“Battle armor versus ’Mechs?”
“Yeah. We’d never trained against them. It’s why Claire died.” Delany looked away, and Jasper felt terrible. “But we got the hang of it. Delany killed, what, six of them?”
She nodded. “Five. You got one.”
Jasper smiled. “I threw him at the Hatamoto-Suna.”
“A Hatamoto-Suna?” Elias asked. “Did you take him down?”
“Nadine’s bola and harpoons took it and a Quasimodo down. I only killed a Venom.”
“And saved Baron Vogel himself,” Delany added.
But Lady Shannon died, he wanted to protest, but didn’t when Ethan Goodryke pushed his way through the crowd. Jasper faced the taller teenager, not sure what to expect—an insult or a punch to the face, maybe.
They could barely see each other in the darkened hallway. Ethan stared at him for a long moment. The silence grew as Jasper waited.
Ethan offered his hand. “You saved my parents. Saved all our parents. I won’t forget it.”
Jasper shook the other boy’s hand. “I did my duty to Emporia. I’m glad your parents are safe.”
“Next time you decide to do something completely stupid, count me in. I’ve got your back.” Ethan raised Jasper’s hand in triumph. “To Jasper Roux!”
The hallway erupted in a cheer, and Jasper’s heart swelled. For the next half hour, Jasper and Delany told their war stories and basked in the glow of the compliments. They also lauded Claire, highlighting the jobs she did, how she helped hide the retreat of the ’Mechs, infantry, and rescued nobles with her pinpoint disabling of the sensors and radars. Everyone had questions and wanted a personal story.
Jasper and Delany talked until Noah came out into the hallway and whispered, “Sir Michael is on the move.”
Every cadet scattered back to their rooms. No one wanted to give the maths professor a reason to punish them. Especially when he was looking for one.
Major Leconte escorted Nadine back to her dorm and gave her a hug. “I’ll be just a shortwave away.”
Nadine hugged him back. “I’ll work on the treasures’ channel list tomorrow and spread it out. That way, we can keep on top of other shortwave networks to coordinate attacks against the Draconis Combine. We don’t want to stomp on anyone’s toes.”
“I’m really proud of you and Jasper, even if the outcome wasn’t exactly as you planned.”
She nodded and waved a good night, or in this case, a good morning. False dawn had lightened the black sky into bands of dark blue. In a couple of hours, true dawn would show itself, and if the academy cadre were as cranky as Baron Vogel said, they’d have everyone up by 0600.
The Robinson Dormitory was silent. No one waited for Nadine in the common room or hallways. Part of her was glad and wanted to sleep forever. The other part wanted the company of friends. We don’t always get what we want, she thought as she opened her door.
Her bed wasn’t empty. Lyric, clean and fully dressed, stirred then sat up. “Bastards kept you long enough…”
Or maybe you do.
Nadine sat on the bed and leaned into Lyric’s arms. “What are you doing here?”
Lyric hugged her tight. “I wanted to see you. To make sure you were okay. And…you know.”
“I know. Death makes you seek out the comfort of loved ones. I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad I’m here, too. You okay?” She peered around the side of Nadine’s shoulder to look at her face.
“Skull fracture. Tiny one. Nothing anyone can do anything about. And a single stitch above my eye. It’s the dissolving kind. As long as I keep my wound clean and take the pain pills, I won’t even have to go back.” Nadine got up and shrugged out of her overshirt. It was too dirty to sleep in.
“I’ll help you remember.”
She unlaced her boots and kicked them off. “Baron Vogel is alive and well enough. He told us not to let them make us heroes.”
Lyric shifted on the bed. “Them who?”
“You. The cadre. The other cadets.”
“You are a hero…but I understand. And don’t worry. All the sergeants are planning on making an example of us. Tomorrow is going to suck so, so hard.”
Nadine sat again and the two of them lay down, snuggled together with their foreheads touching. “Toothbrushes?”
“Toothbrushes,” Lyric confirmed.
They were going to be cleaning all the vehicles in the bay with toothbrushes. Again. “Okay. At least we know where we stand. It tells us we’re still alive and still academy cadets.” Nadine closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. If Lyric answered her, it was lost to the void.
Noah closed the door behind Jasper and watched him fall into bed. “Well, how’s it feel to be a hero?”
Jasper ignored the question. “You were on watch for Yaxley?”
Noah shrugged and leaned against the door. “Figured you’d have to sleep eventually. I’d get to talk to you then. No need for me to interrupt your triumph. You earned it.”
Jasper read his roommate’s subtext of “and I didn’t.” Gazing at the dark ceiling, he asked, “Are you mad at me for doing what I did?”
Noah moved to his bed and sat. The other boy’s hair stuck out in all directions and he clasped his hands together tight. “No. Are you mad at me for not going?”
Jasper swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. “No. Never. You stayed and did what you said you were going to do. Now that I’ve done this, I’m not sorry, but…” He shrugged, unable to find the right words.
“But part of you wishes you hadn’t?” Noah asked.
“A little,” Jasper admitted.
“I only say it because when I fought against the Draconis Combine, before I was good enough and smart enough to come here, every single thing I did against them, while it worked, brought nothing but pain. Kill a guard, they picked five people at random and shot them. Blow something up, they’d bomb a hospital.” Noah shook his head. “I couldn’t risk…I couldn’t be responsible for something like that again. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” Jasper reached out a fist. “You did what you had to. That was the best thing you could’ve done. I’m…glad you’re still here to tell me this.”
Noah bumped fists with him. “Sorry to hear about Claire.”
“Me, too.”
There wasn’t anything else to say. The two of them lay down. Jasper heard Noah fall asleep and start snoring. He sighed and wished his roommate hadn’t reminded him that the Draconis Combine always hit back twice as hard. He couldn’t imagine what they’d do to revenge the attack on the spaceport.
More than that, he worried about Vale. He hoped the sergeant major had escaped and was safe. He had no way of telling for a couple of days.
Jasper allowed himself a satisfied smile in the darkness. At least their plan had succeeded. If nothing else, they’d proven that academy cadets could defend themselves and fight. In time, the cadre would acknowledge it. Maybe not tomorrow, but it was something to look forward to.