Defender of the Empire: Cadet #1 (5 page)

             
I grimaced. Of course, this whole thing may completely ruin whatever slim chance I had of convincing them to let a colonist join the Legion Fleet. My hand touched the pocket that crinkled softly with the letter the captain had given me. It was my only chance that they would consider me for the merest of moments. Maybe.

             
Don’t make yourself quit before you even get there.
I thought to myself as I spied the rental shop. And sure enough, just as Westley had said, there was the Academy Branch. My crowd weaving pace slowed as I got closer. I couldn’t help but think about how the next couple minutes were going to shape the rest of my life. Amazing how every single moment effects the next.

             
My hand pressed against the cool metal plate on the utilitarian door with the Legion Fleet Academy’s emblem frosted on the glass.

Chapter 4 Catching the Test

             
The utilitarian metal continued inside the front office of the Branch. A hard wood of some kind provided relief showing up as trimming and table surfaces. It warmed up the cold metal and made the place friendly… well
friendlier.
It’s hard to overcome that much intimidation. Especially since all the officers sitting on the other side of the desks along the side wall turned to stare at me. Some glanced down my form and narrowed their eyes. The security guard near the door stood up.

             
“Excuse me miss, but I must ask you to leave.” By his disgusted expression I knew it had something to do with my stocking feet. I really couldn’t understand why it mattered if I had shoes on or not. Before he could take another step towards me I pulled out the letter Captain Wingstar had given me. I took the necessary steps to hand the letter to the nearest officer. The guard growled and placed a beefy hand on my thin shoulder as the officer opened the letter. She raised a hand to the guard before he could drag me from the room.

             
“Wait.” She said. The guard gaped at her a moment before releasing my shoulder. I rolled it to make sure it still worked and turned to face her. She had the cat-like eyes of someone of mixed heritage between a human and one of the Leopard Kin. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a stern bun. Her pale green eyes were narrowed on me. “Are you truly the girl the good captain sent to us?” she asked.

             
“Yes.” I said slowly wondering why she was so suspicious. It made me very nervous.

             
“I don’t believe you.” She said flatly.

             
I blinked at her before gesturing at the letter. “He gave me that. I am Rylynn of Colony Lenti.”

             
The woman sniffed and said with forced calm “The reason I don’t believe you is that I know the captain would have made sure to provision you with proper footwear. We are in a station. It is difficult to lose one’s footwear.”
Seriously?! It
was
the footwear?

             
“I had the boots but I had to take them off in the dark sections of the station. They made too much noise. And I was carrying them un…”

             
DON’T! The male voice from earlier said sharply causing me to flinch just as the door opened and a uniformed officer entered. HE HAS POWER HERE. ANYTHING YOU SAY WILL ACCOMPLISH NOTHING. WAIT TILL YOU ARE SURE YOU CAN TRUST THEM. The voice said hurriedly at the same time as everyone in the office rose and saluted. I looked down glancing up between my lashes. The newcomer was a well-built man in his early forties and wore the navy blue of the Legion Fleet. A gold diamond winked proudly on his collar.

             
“Admiral Knight, welcome almost home.” An older woman said. I glanced toward her and saw that she was a petite woman with steel colored hair tied back in what was apparently an officer’s bun. She also had the gold diamond on her uniform’s collar. She came from the back of the room to shake Admiral Knight’s hand. Something about her bright blue eyes reminded me of the old woman in the hall, though that woman had been frail. This woman looked strong, only her hair gave any hint of her age.

             
Glancing around, I noticed that no one else had heard the voice’s shout. It was like back in the dark corridor.
Must be telepathic.
I thought.
That or I’m crazy.
Which was certainly a viable possibility.

             
I AM TELEPATHIC. My invisible, telepathic friend replied. Just before adding with obvious amusement AND YOU’RE NOT
THAT
CRAZY.

             
Who are you?
I asked silently.

             
SOMEONE WHO HAS WAITED A LONG TIME FOR SOMEONE TO HEAR. His voice, thankfully, had softened. But now it was also cryptic.

             
Are you with the man who had killed that woman?

             
IF YOU MEAN WILLINGLY THEN THE ANSWER IS NO. BUT AM I STUCK WITH HIM, SO YES. ALL THE TIME. HE IS THE MAN WHO JUST ENTERED. It took a lot to keep from jerking up and staring at the man. Even more to keep from running away screaming that he was a murderer. But I did look up through my lashes at him. The shadows had hidden much of his form, plus the mask made it impossible to know anything about his features. He must have also done something to alter his voice, because it took a stretch to recognize it. But the admiral was the only man who had entered.

             
The admiral, right?
I asked the voice. As I asked it, I began to panic. The admiral had been hidden. I had not been. In fact, I was still in the white clothes
and
I was barefoot.

             
DON’T PANIC. HE CANNOT RECOGNIZE YOU.

             
You did.
I pointed out. And the voice didn’t even have eyes.

             
BY YOUR THOUGHTS ONLY. I got the impression he was laughing at me. Movement drew my attention outward again. The female admiral (I am guessing since she also had a gold diamond on her uniform collar) indicated that Admiral Knight walk with her to what I guess was her office in the back. Life returned to normal for the rest of the officers. The voice’s presence began to fade, but not before he said cryptically WE WILL MEET AGAIN, I’M SURE. I was alone again with the officer who had a strange obsession with footwear and somehow I had to explain why I was bootless without giving the true reason. And while I was at it, I had to convince them to let me join the Academy. Fun times… Nothing like lying by omission during your first interview.

             
I turned back to the officer to whom I had been speaking. Her green eyes were narrowed again. “You still here?” She said in disgusted surprise.

             
I nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked her in return. Her cat eyes widened. “I was sent here. You are holding the letter that strongly advises that I be at least given a chance to be admitted. I ask that I simply be given a chance to live up to the recommendation.”

             
The officer’s eyes narrowed. If she didn’t stop doing that she was going to be stuck with squinty eyes. “You are correct. I am holding a letter of recommendation. One for a colonist, of all things, named Rylynn of Colony Lenti. However, we were given a heads up by Captain Wingstar. In which he gave a description of the person we were to expect. And while you do have the same height, dark hair, and gray eyes that was in the description, you do not have the boots that were loaned. Nor are you in the company of Ensign Trin.”

             
I sighed and leaned casually on the counter which, to my satisfaction, made her back up a tad. “The reason why Ensign Trin has not escorted me here was because he decided I should get lost.  Mostly because he didn’t think that a colonist should be given a chance to join the Academy. Imagine, an ensign deciding something that should be left to his superior officers…” I shook my head. “I pointed out to him that may not be the most appropriate action of someone given a direct order by his captain. After that, he graciously gave me directions to this place and even offered to be seen escorting me to it, but by then I decided that I would rather find it on my own then have someone who had already proven untrustworthy with me.” I shrugged at her look and softened my voice. “Trust, where I am from, is something earned and worth more than all the money and prestige that could possibly exist in the empire. Once lost, it is hard to regain. Because, where I am from, you have t09o be careful of whom you trust. Trust the wrong person and it could be a knife in your back. Especially since the war going on has depleted much of the resources in the cities. I’m sure you can see where I am coming from.”

             
“There is no war.” She said stiffly.

             
I raised an eyebrow at her. “You would think that, but then, you haven’t seen Telmicks stomping through your streets cutting down people who had the misfortune of being in the way. Nor have you seen the destruction of a once thriving city with its people becoming little more than thieves, because that is the only way to survive. There is nowhere safe within the walls and getting out is like playing a hardcore version of cat and mouse. If found and lucky, you are killed on the spot. If found and unlucky, you are tortured for who knows how long. But you are right, officially there is no war because certain interests have not been touched.”

             
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that everyone in the office was staring at me. I continued, ignoring them. “But that is neither here nor there. I made my own way here, though I was worried that I would have to disregard the directions because of the detour through the darkened halls of this station. But lo and behold, they proved to be right on the money anyway. Which makes me wonder if the whole point of the detour is to test the conviction of the person wanting to join the Academy.

             
“But you wanted to know about the boots. The honest truth is this, the boots were too loud. And in a darkened hallway where my eyesight was next to none, I had to take off the boots so I wouldn’t alert every possible hostile of my approach.” I laughed self-deprecatingly. “It was, perhaps, a bit over kill, but at the time I hadn’t known what I would have found around the next corner. So I left the boots behind in favor of having both hands ready to swing the crowbar I found just in case I came across someone meaning me harm. I felt I had to choose between fashion and survival. And, to be frank with you, survival will always win over fashion.”
              “And she is a mean one with a crowbar, as ensigns Edwin and Sven can attest.” A voice said from the back of the room. I frowned and turned to see the female admiral.

             
“Admiral L’Seral!” The cat-eyed officer straightened along with everyone else in the room. I pushed away from the desk and turned to face her. The woman was smiling.

             
“At ease.” She said coming forward. I studied her, not sure if I should do something like the others. Having no clue I looked down, but I did study her from under my lashes. I was getting quite accomplished at that. “And she did have boots at that point.” The admiral continued before focusing her attention on me. I definitely remembered her eyes.

             
“You were the old woman.” I said. “The one who was being attacked by the Comic Book thugs.”

             
She laughed. “I had never heard anyone call those lads a name like that. It was a novel experience for them too, I’m sure. Come, I wish to speak with you.”

             
“But ma’am!” The cat-eyed officer protested before she could stop herself. She still had my letter of recommendation in her hand.

             
Admiral L’Seral raised a steel brow at her before nodding. “You are right, lieutenant. I’ll take her letter, thank you.” She said taking the well-traveled paper from the baffled lieutenant. She then turned and walked back toward her office in the back. I hesitated for a moment before following her. I wasn’t sure where the other admiral, Admiral Knight, had gone.
Are you still nearby?
I mentally called. If the voice answered then I had a possible problem on my hands. That of course being that the voice had been wrong and the admiral
had
recognized me and now I was in danger. 

             
I didn’t get a response even as I walked into the office in the back. The wood that had served as trim in the front office had decided to take over here. The result was a homelier atmosphere. It wasn’t a terribly large office, but it wasn’t small either. An ‘L’ shaped desk and several comfy chairs were able to fit comfortably in the room without being cramped. Instead of sitting behind the desk as I had assumed, Admiral L’Seral sat in one of the chairs and gestured for me to sit as well.

             
“It is not often for someone to realize that the detour is a test of sorts until later. Mostly because there is an escort who comes along.” She began.

             
“I only realized that it had to be a test when the directions had been perfect, even though I should have been past them.” I admitted. I tilted my head. “Is the main test always someone being mugged?”