Defender of the Empire: Cadet #1 (12 page)

             
“Got to hate being proven wrong. Even more so by yourself.” Westley added wryly. “Glad I’m not the only one who feels that way.”

             
“I am sorry that you got sent back to the Academy, but I am glad that you are the one who is tutoring me.” I said.

             
Westley tilted his head before nodded. He then took out some papers. He set them in various piles saying. “Well, let’s get started, eh? I hear you have next to no knowledge on basic tech.” Thus my first class commenced. Okay, so it was more of a lab than a class, but it was still very informative. Not only did I learn about all those technological wonders that Citizen’s had access to, I learned a bit more about Westley Trin. Once he decided to do something, he put everything into it. He was also a good teacher and seemed to enjoy it. Yes, it was the lab’s first time meeting, but when we parted ways, he seemed to stand taller as if proud of sharing what he knew.  I left thinking that I could now fill out most of those tech charts in the test.

             
Several hours later saw me walking into the dining hall. I was tired in a way I had never been before. It wasn’t physical exertion or lack of food since I had had breakfast this morning. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted.  My brain had been filled with information that made some sense, but there had been so much in such a short time that had expected some previous knowledge in order to understand fully and thus stick. I didn’t have that. Westley’s instruction had helped, but we had only had time for the most basic of systems before my first actual class: Science. They were discussing quantum mechanics. My next class was Studies of Prime Worlds; a course dedicated to understanding the basics of each of the twenty-five prime worlds of the empire. I had learned that each world was covered for several weeks. The time of the course allowed for only a survey of each world, its culture, language, trade importance, and historical facts related to it since the dawn of the empire. Perhaps even important facts from before the empire. 

The world of the last several weeks was the Prime World Felania. A hot, jungle like world. It was home to
the Lanians. They were humanoid and fairly long lived. They were also a secretive race that didn’t actively participate in the empire politically. But they did export rare woods and oils from their jungles. They also sold beautiful fabric made of a shimmering, scale-like substance that was both very strong and flexible. It was called
Eelfa’se
. It was incredibly expensive and said to come from a dragon like creature that only the Lanians could find. 

I knew all this because I had come in on review day. Next class there would be a test on Felania. So, as a result, I had a lot of reading and
studying to do in the meantime. I would be so lucky to start in the middle of term.

I was also emotionally exhausted after my first morning of classes.
I was tired of holding up a front that said ‘I-don’t-care-what-you-think’. News had apparently spread that I was not only new, but that I was not even a Citizen. There were whispers whenever I walked passed and it was like people were just
waiting
to see me foul up. I kept silent during my classes, following an old saying my aunt would say often “Better to be silent and thought a fool instead of speak and remove all doubt.” I didn’t yet know the social atmosphere and did not want to make any moves that would make me even more vulnerable.

The mouse agreed that my strategy was a good one. M. Kit was, apparently, a more social
entity. I think it has to do with being designed to link with a network. I had to beg her to stop trying to push me to do things faster than I wanted to. She had sniffed (who would have thought it possible for a computer to be able to sniff in distain?) and stopped speaking to me.

I got my lunch and kept my eye on the people around me. I didn’t know if any of them would decide to be nasty and attack me. Call me paranoid, but I feel justified considering how some of them watched me. Perhaps one would follow in Westley’s old path and tell me I didn’t belonged in some way. I figured I had been lucky with a verbal announcement from Westley. There were a few here who I figured would be a tad more physical.

This time, I was lucky. No one made a move to do anything more drastic than make it obvious I wasn’t allowed at their table. I couldn’t help my eyebrow rising at their nerve. I had made no move to sit with any of them since last night with my roommate and her friends. Okay, so I had chosen a path near Lassie’s table, but that was to avoid the large group of male students who were more threatening. I did
not
want to find out what they had planned should I come too near. One of Lassie’s girls had seen my raised eyebrow and seemed surprised that she hadn’t needed to sit hurriedly in a previously empty seat. The whole lot had been smiling in nasty triumph when she had made her move. But when I had just walked on by without even slowing they seemed to be at a loss. I almost felt pity for the fools.

The goal I was heading toward was a nearly empty table in the far corner of the room. It
s single occupant had watched the entire episode as well as everything else in the room. It was the boy I had seen at dinner last night. The one I had decided to sit with the next time I saw him so the loners could be lonely together. I noticed his eyes grow larger when I made no move to sit at any of the empty tables along the way.

Up close, I could see that he had the most fascinating eyes I had ever seen. Granted, I have not seen all the eyes in the empire or gal
axy, but I had never seen ones consisting of three distinct, vivid colors before. They were a mix of forest green, royal purple, and crimson. They were kind of pretty. Against his lightly sun bronzed skin and black hair they seemed brighter and I wondered how I had failed to notice them from a distance.

“Hi.” I said upon pausing near his table. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

He seemed surprised before shrugging and motioning me to my choice of empty chairs.

“Thanks.” I said setting my tray down and sitting. Similar to him, I made sure to
choose a seat with a good view of the rest of the room.

“Why did you want to sit with me?” He asked. His voice was still young like a boy
’s, but there was something about it, an undertone that suggested it would develop into something fascinating to listen to. I think it was because it was smooth and almost lyrical.

“Like me, you had been sitting alone last night. I thought that perhaps we could conserve sitting space by sitting at the same table.” I told him.

He grunted at that and took a bite of his sandwich.  I shrugged and followed his lead in eating. He swallowed before observing “You are new here,”

“That obvious, huh?”

His lips quirked in a slight smile. “You could say that. I didn’t see you before yesterday and people stare at you in a similar fashion to how they had stared at me the day before.” He glanced at me before continuing. “Though, they seem more hostile to you. Is it true what they whisper? That you are from Colony Lenti?”

I nodded before tilting my head. “You said ‘more hostile’. Were they nasty toward you too?”

“I guess you could say we are in similar circumstances. You are from a colony and I am a distant relation of a very minor nobility from a backwater prime world.”

I frowned. “Forgive me, but how is that similar? You are a Citizen, same as them.”

He laughed and it was a nice sound. “I think that is the
only
reason why they are more hostile to you. You see, being a Citizen means very little when everyone…er…
most
everyone around you are
also
Citizens. It is wealth and the prestige of your family that holds any weight to most of the students here.”

“You gathered that in only three days?” I asked glancing around.

“It’s everywhere. Don’t you see it?” He asked as if in shock. “I saw you watching last night.”

It was my turn to smile slightly. “Oh, I saw it. I just hadn’t expected Citizens to
know street power games.” I shrugged. “I’m sorry. That was a biased thought.  It is just that I had heard my entire life that Citizens lived a life of luxury with all their needs and wants taken care of. When all you see is an indifferent heel from those who think they are better than you simply because of what rock they were born on they all start to look the same.”

His tri-
colored eyes widened again before he glanced about the room again. I looked around too to cover my sigh. It seemed every time I opened my mouth, something like this fell out. After a moment my companion turned back to me. He chuckled to himself. “You know, we Citizens don’t only
know
about ‘street power games’ we wrote a rule book on them.” He looked around the dining hall before turning back to me. In a softer voice he said “I think Ser’etten has the right of it, though. The only difference between ‘Citizen” and ‘Colonist’ is spelling. After all, both start with ‘c’. So, what is your name?”

“Rylynn Sinclair of Colony Lenti. You?”

“Jason Winter of Terress. What Order are you in?”

“Earth, team Canine.” I answered. “You?” I asked before finishing my sandwich off.

“The same as you. Which means there is a good chance that your next class is Navigation.”

My brow furrowed as I tried to remember what my next class actually was. My memory remembered seeing Navigation listed for today, just not when. So I reached into my uniform pocket and withdrew my folded schedule. I unfolded it and sure enough, I had Navigation next. “You’re right.”

Jason gave an ‘I-know-I-am’ shrug.

“Don’t expect a medal or something for it.” I told him with teasing stiffness as I tucked my
schedule once again into my pocket.

Jason gave me a hurt pout. His tri colored eyes glittered with fun as we stared at each other. Both of us trying to keep from being the first to drop the act. I, haughty indifference and he the injured party. In the end it was a draw as we both cracked up at the same time. It had been a long time since I had laughed
so carelessly. The last time must have been before my aunt had died.

For once, the Universe seemed to like me. Jason and I had the same lunch and noon schedule. We spent the next four hours in both navigation and math. Navigation was fascinating to me as we were learning how to read star charts. During an activity, Jason and I worked together and he was able to point things out to me. I was grateful that I wouldn’t need the professor leaning over my shoulder showing me how to read something that had been covered, at least in an overview, in grade school.

Math was a different story entirely. They were doing something called
‘differential equations’. I wondered what the professor had been smoking before the class. The room was full of thirteen cycle olds. How the hell did he expect the lot of us to know how to do something like this? I felt like my brain had been filled with hardened clay. No matter how many times the professor or Jason tried to explain something to me, the idea just couldn’t dig through.

And unlike what I had expected, I was the only one who didn’t get it. Jason had explained that it had been introduced during grade school. I hated being the ignorant, stupid one in the class. The amusement of Lassie and her friends did not help the situation.

So it was with a heavy heart that I entered the lab room that Westley and I used. Jason was done for the day and had asked to join me. Westley didn’t mind as long as we both worked on lessons. And did both Jason and I have lessons to be worked on. Since the two of us had missed most of the current term and there were tests coming up we both had a lot of reading and such to do. Westley helped me to clarify what I had from science and both boys helped me with the math. I acknowledge math has its usefulness, but I swore it had been partially conceived to confuse and frustrate students for all time.

At one point, I noticed that Jason seemed troubled by something he was working on. “What’s wrong?” I asked, happy as could be for an excuse to part from math for a short time of bliss. Westley, who had been
trying to figure out the issue alongside Jason, looked up at my question.

“
It’s a battle strategy problem.” Westley told me. “You are given the situation and your mission. Your job is to develop a strategy on how you would accomplish the mission without losing anyone under your command while following the ethical choice.”

Intrigued, I leaned forward. “
Can you read it aloud?” I asked.

Jason read in that lyrical voice of his
“You are the captain of an LFA class ship. You are on a mission to scout a system reported to be occupied by pirates. You are returning from scouting when you come across a merchant class frigate that is being attacked by three small, heavily armed pirates. What do you do?” Jason sighed. “I can’t decide if I should engage the pirates or not. There is one of me and three of them. If I attack, I could suffer heavy damage. If I do nothing, the people aboard the merchantmen are dead. I guess I could try to lure the pirates away…” He ended thoughtfully.

I frowned and turned to West
ley. “What is an LFA?”

“
A Legion Fleet Arrow. A small deep space fighter. Very fast. It is small with room for only four crewmembers. Anymore and you’re pushing it. Limited cargo. Limited weaponry: one laser cannon and two rail guns. It is mainly used as a scout ship or in tandem with a warship as an escort.” Wesley explained.