Defender of the Empire: Cadet #1 (11 page)

             
Reminded of their names, Adrian remembered them. Both Amber and Joseph had been Shades who had spied on his activities thirteen years ago. He had taken offence to their nosey ways and had them hunted down and killed. His aid had been invaluable for finding them. And Amber had died that night on the streets of Coronaius. Joseph had later flown into the sun of the Medrais System.  Upon hearing that, Adrian had gone on with his life.

             
So how was it now that a young person had ties to both of them? Had there actually been a child?

             
His musings were interrupted by the entrance of his aid. Adrian saw the thin man enter in the reflection of the glass. He turned toward the man. Aid Balen was an incredibly efficient man and, as Adrian had thought earlier, very loyal to the Movement.

             
“What is it Balen?” He asked.

             
Balen smiled, his black eyes gleeful. “There is a transmission from our friends on the secure channel.”

             
“I was wondering when they would reply back.” Adrian said with an answering smile. “They are going to love this.” He said while mentally commanding his personal inner-com to lock onto the secure channel. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his aid initiate the dampening field around the study. No one but he and Balen would hear this conversation on their end. “Most High WarKing, Zar’Shash, it is an honor to hear from you.” He said once the link was established.

             
“Admiral, I hear you have good news for Us regarding our mutual causes.” Zar’Shash, the WarKing of the Zar’daka clicked.

             
“That I do. We have found the spear point for our operation. All we have to do is take it and shape it to our purposes.”

             
“And what is this ‘sspear point’?”

             
Adrian smiled. “The third son of Emperor Vailence, Gaelen. He has yet to reveal the Gift of the Imperial family and is young enough to be turned to our way of thinking.”

             
“What is your point, Admiral? We have long thought he would make the perfect tool, but he has always been well protected.” Zar’Shash pointed out.

             
Adrian’s smile grew larger. “That is no longer true, Honored War King. He has left behind his protection and has joined the Legion Fleet Academy in the guise of a normal student. This gives us ample opportunity to take him.”

             
There was a pause and then he heard Zar’Shash’s pleased purrs. Admiral Knight and Balen shared a smile. The day of the Movement was coming ever closer.

***

             
Trapped within the core of the cursed
Lous-eci’dalb
, Kylesst sank into himself. His ancient mind sought for ways to counteract the dark plan his captors were hatching. The young prince was in danger, but how could he save the lad and the people of the empire? As pathetic as it was and sounded, he could not escape the knife as he was trapped under layers of other, unlucky Spectrals.

             
No matter how he looked at it he could do nothing trapped in the blade. So, he just had to free himself.
Easier said than done
. He thought darkly. He could not break out with the blade fully charged with numerous Spectrals. He had tried many times over the years. It was an exercise in futility. Long ago he had rationalized that if he could peel off the other Spectrals and link them to something else, he could than weaken the blade’s hold on him and be able to break free. The only hitch in the plan was that he had nowhere to link them to… till now.

             
For years he had languished in his very own hell. And there had been absolutely nothing he could do to stop the murders of Shades or to help his kindred. Their screams had grown louder and louder till he was nearly insane.

             
Then this very day God had given him hope again.
Rylynn.
The only corporeal being he had encountered in hundreds of years who could
hear
him. As with any corporeal who could link to a Spectral, there had been a thin half link that a Spectral could connect to. But unlike normal, hers had already, somehow, been tied to him. Kylesst was not one to stick his nose up at a proffered gift from the divine. He had immediately strengthened it. Once he was free it would become a cord that could only be broken when one partner died. But for now it was a half link.

Rylynn
may have come too late to save the woman, but not too late for the mouse. Kylesst had been able to drape the mouse’s broken cord over his link with Rylynn. It wasn’t something most could have done. In fact, it had been thought impossible. But he had done it. And, looking at the writhing, wailing wall of imprisoned Spectrals, he would do it again. Each freed Spectral would pay him back by adding strength to the bond till he was either free or, at the very least, able to warn Rylynn of the coming trouble. And he wouldn’t need Knight to be close to her in order to do it. It would just take a lot of time to keep his plan from being noticed by the lurking Soul Shadow.

Chapter 9- Trin and Winter

              It was early, even by Academy standards. But 1
st
Cadet Westley Trin wanted to arrive before his student did. So he walked briskly to the room he had been assigned to tutor the new arrivals in their classes. His first duty was to teach Rylynn the basic technology of the Citizenry. He suppressed a shudder, thinking that this may be a task in futility.

That’s not fair.
A small part thought whispered.
You cannot judge what you yourself had not lived.
Westley sighed. There were times when he wished that annoying voice did not exist. It made it hard to stay closed minded and be angry. To claim that it was all Rylynn’s fault for refusing to let him guide her to the Academy and to forget that he hadn’t wanted to guide her in the first place. He had not expected the little colonist to stand up to him and verbally force his feet into her small shoes. She had
been so quiet and timid looking that he had easily dismissed her. And he had heard the stories from the other colonists the ship had picked up. They had called her a coward for running. He had been comfortable in thinking that Rylynn was a cowardly mouse. Westley didn’t want a coward wearing the uniform he had worked so hard to wear. So he had tried to abandon her in an environment so outside of her experience that she would realize she didn’t belong and go back to the hovel from whence she had come from.

The irony of his current situation was not lost on him. He had never expected that he woul
d have been the one sent back.

You are such a fool, Westley
.
Even you know mice have sharp teeth!
But he
had
forgotten. When the gray eyed Rylynn rounded on him and opened her mouth he had realized she wasn’t a simple coward. Worse yet, she made him unsure. What
would
have done if he had been in her position with a hunting pair of nine foot tall Telmicks bearing down on him? Would he have done the easy thing and followed orders? Or would he have made himself a target like Rylynn did? Being unable to answer those questions he had tried to make amends. But the girl had denied him and she had found her way, despite the testing detour that he had honestly forgotten to tell her about, to the Academy Branch. And they had reported that he hadn’t guided her there.

Thus his demotion and
reassignment.

Westley reached the room assigned to him and slid his tutor’s card through the reader. The door clicked open and he absently turned on the lights
as he remembered the meeting that had finished with him being kicked off the
Hail Mary
. Captain Wingstar had stared at him with hard gray eyes when he had entered the captain’s study. Westley had saluted and had stood at attention. He knew he had been in trouble. Captain Wingstar had never looked at him with such cold eyes before.

“I understand that you did not escort Rylynn to the Academy Branch.” The captain had
begun simply.

He had swallowed uneasily. “That is correct, Captain.”

“Why, pray tell, did you decide to go against direct orders? It was a simple assignment.” The captain
had asked in a deceptively calm tone.

“I had thought her a coward, sir.” He had confessed. “In the end, though, I had tried to gu
ide her as ordered, but Rylynn would not let me.”

Captain Wingstar had snorted. “I wouldn’t have either, ensign. Let me guess, you had changed your mind after she had told you about how she had saved her party by leading the Telmicks away.
That she had been willing to trade her life to save the lives of others at the age of thirteen!” The captain had stood up then and turned his back on Westley in favor of staring into the depths of space that lay on the other side of the window.  The Captain’s right hand held his left wrist behind his back.

In the
moment of silence that followed, Westley had struggled to understand why the captain was so angry. It was true that he had made a minor mistake, but it wasn’t like he made a habit of not following orders.

“You disappoint me, Trin.” The captain had said softly.

“Captain?” Westley had managed to ask.

“
Westley Trin, top of his class who had proven himself driven to succeed.” Captain Wingstar had murmured softly before turning toward him again. “Who would have thought that Ensign Trin would choose not to follow simple orders? What if he chooses to disobey orders again? Orders that could cost someone their life? It is for this reason that I demote you to Cadet 1
st
Class and reassign you to the Academy. You will ship out in an hour.”

Westley had felt himself pale.
He had expected a firm reprimand. Perhaps even menial duty on the ship. Not this. Never this. “Captain… I know I made a mistake sir. I’ll make up for it, I swear!”

“I know you will.” Captain Wingstar had replied to his trembling promise. “You will do so by guiding Rylynn through her studies at the Aca
demy.” The captain met his stricken hazel gaze and said in a warmer tone. “If you do what you can to guide her then upon her graduation I will promote you to lieutenant and have you assigned back to the
Hail Mary
. You are dismissed.”

Westley had saluted and turned toward the door. He was in an
intolerable situation, but there was hope. Just five years and he would be a lieutenant. Of course, that depended upon Rylynn graduating… “Sir,” He had paused, turning to look back at the captain who had always been like a father to him, even in that dark moment, “what if Rylynn washes out?”

The captain
had smiled wryly at him. “She won’t. It isn’t in her nature to give up.”

             
Sitting at the table in the classroom, Westley wondered yet again how the captain could possibly know that about the girl. He had known her for only a week and had talked to her only once. And yet, he had seemed so certain. Westley, for his own future’s sake, could only pray that the captain was right.

             
“Good morning, Rylynn.” He said five minutes later when the mouse with teeth entered. He almost laughed at her shocked face.

***

              “Ensign Trin?” I had finally been able to ask upon seeing the tall, handsome officer again. It had only been a day, but it felt like longer. And to be frank, he was the last person I expected to see here.

             
“1st Class Cadet now.” He said with a grimace. He motioned for me to take a seat in the chair near him at the small square table.

             
I frowned at him as I sat down. “Why?” I asked.

             
He gave a short laugh. “You would ask that. It’s simple really. I disobeyed orders to guide you to the Academy Branch. In order to prove myself again I get to guide you in your studies. Do you have a problem with that?” He asked me with a raised eyebrow.

             
I blinked at him. I struggled for a moment. How did I feel about it?  He hadn’t wanted to guide me in the first place because he hadn’t thought I was worthy of the uniform. Now he had more reason to hate me because I was the reason he had been demoted. That could make life much harder for me then it already would be.

             
“I don’t know. Do you blame me for what happened to you?” I asked him.

             
His hazel eyes narrowed thoughtfully at me. “I want to.” He told me honestly. “But if I hadn’t refused to follow the orders in the first place this wouldn’t have happened.”

             
Oh wow. I had really not expected that.

Westley laughed at my expression. “You look about how I feel.”

              I could only imagine how that felt for the ambitious Westley Trin. “I dislike that little voice too some days.” I offered.  “It makes it hard to justify the way I want to think about others and life. My conscience knows how to make me feel guilty for having such negative thoughts. It makes me angry that I can’t delude myself for a just a moment more.”