Ouroboros 4: End (9 page)

If the Academy publicized what was happening, there’d be panic.

Carson couldn’t and wouldn’t say a word. He tried for an unconvincing smile instead.

‘What? Has something come up? Are they going to send the Force on some kind of mission? Because I’ve got to admit, this couldn’t come at a more inconvenient time: things are just starting to work out with Alicia.’

Inconvenient time, ha? Yeah, Carson could appreciate that on a level Travis couldn’t begin to comprehend.

Rather than set his friend straight, Carson swallowed and tried to keep his expression neutral. ‘It’ll be awhile till I’m done with the Academy.’

‘Okay, whatever. Let me know when you’re ready to go out, though. I can’t wait to see the E Club when the worst recruit in 1000 years walks in hanging off your arm.’

‘Don’t call her that,’ Carson snapped. It was quick, it was harsh, and it underlined just how nervy he felt.

Travis’ eyes opened wide in surprise. ‘Ah, okay . . . touchy subject. I’ve got it. Anyhow, glad you’re home buddy,’ Travis moved forward and slapped a hand on Carson’s back.

Carson looked up into his friend’s face. ‘Yeah,’ he managed after a lengthy pause. ‘Good to be home.’

Offering him a confused look, Travis shrugged, moved off, and offered a nonchalant wave over his shoulder. ‘Good luck doing whatever you’re doing.’

He’d need it.

God, he’d need it.

Cadet Nida Harper

She was at a loss.

A total loss.

She stuck around outside the boardroom until someone dismissed her.

Now she simply wandered the corridors. She wasn’t sure whether she should return to her room in the medical bay, or whether she was free to go wherever she pleased.

Admiral Forest seemed confident the entity was in control. Nida doubted that meant she could head back to class, go out on the town, or resume her old life as normal, though.

She should stick around the Academy.

If she was lucky, Carson would come find her and tell her what they’d do next.

What had the Academy Board decided? Would they evacuate Earth? Would they set up a defensive perimeter around the solar system?

Would she even be told?

Forest had made it clear Nida was just a cadet, and cadets had no business discussing the fate of the Coalition.

Maybe Nida’s part in this journey really was over. Carson and the rest of the Academy elite would see to the protection of their home, while she twiddled her thumbs.

As she walked, she stretched a hand out, pressing her fingers into the wall beside her.

It was her left hand.

Only the faintest blue glow encased it. Her skin no longer danced with that light, nor did her veins bulge with its power.

She could call on it, though. In a heartbeat, in a breath, in an instant—she could force through the TI to the entity, and command its incredible power.

She could lift the metal from the wall she touched, she could pull the carpet from the floor she walked upon. She could send every person spiraling through the air.

The power was always there. Right at her fingertips.

With it was the ever present question: with this much power, couldn’t she save the Vex?

With those same old thoughts assailing her, she didn’t notice as someone walked up behind her.

‘Oh my god, where the hell have you been? What happened to you?’ Alicia dropped the datapads she carried and threw herself at Nida.

Surprised, Nida squeaked as Alicia wrapped her arms around Nida’s neck and hugged her tightly.

‘Nida, what happened to you? No one would tell us anything. That night the TI object almost impaled you at the E Club . . . God, I didn’t think I’d see you again.’

Alicia wasn’t the kind to blubber. She was the kind to smile like a calculating cat and get you to do her bidding with a huff and a pout.

No. That was the old Alicia. The one Nida had never really known.

Her flat mate had already proved she was a decent person. Without her help, Nida really would have died at the E Club.

Alicia pushed away and looked into Nida’s face, her eyes darting about as she assessed Nida carefully. ‘Are you okay? Where have you been?’

Nida opened her mouth.

How to begin?

Ah, she’d been thrown back in time by a guilty entity hell-bent on fixing the damage it had accidently wrought to an entire world’s timeline?

There was no neat way to summarize this.

She also knew she shouldn’t try; she wasn’t allowed to share any details of her adventure, nor the looming threat from the Vex, not until the Board decided what to do.

So Nida stood there and scrunched her lips together, trying to think of a good excuse.

Alicia’s eyebrows crumpled and she crossed her arms. ‘You’re not allowed to say, ha? I get it. But . . . Nida, I’m so happy you’re home.’

Alicia sounded and looked genuine. There was no haughty edge to her chin, nor a dismissive note to her voice.

‘Thanks, Alicia. It’s . . . good to be . . .’ she trailed off.

She wanted to say home.

She couldn’t.

She wasn’t home. Not really. A part of her—the entity—was still far away from where it belonged.

Alicia’s brow peaked in concern as she unhooked her arms and nodded. ‘Hey, I know you can’t talk about it, but do you want me to take you home? I wouldn’t really walk the corridors if I were you. You’re kind of a celebrity. No one has any idea what happened. Someone or something triggered the End Game Maneuver, Nida. It was insane. And I haven’t seen you since. I want to ask if you know something about it, but—’

‘Holy crap, it’s Nida Harper,’ someone said.

It was not Alicia, nor Carson, nor Travis, and of course it wasn’t the Admiral.

Oh no. As Nida turned, she recognized Bradley Marshall.

The same guy who’d given her hell that night at the E Club.

He was a bully, and he just loved picking on the worst and the weakest. Which was her.

Despite the fact she had the power of the entity, and could technically send Bradley shooting through the wall or out into space, she instantly felt sick.

‘Where on Earth have you been? If you’ve been on Earth, that is. And what the heck happened that night at the E Club? You screw something up again? Christ, they should have kicked you out of the Academy long ago.’

Bradley was drawing a crowd. Not only was he belittling her, he was doing it loudly.

‘What, you're not going to say anything?’ he challenged, chucking his head back and laughing as he did.

The last time Bradley had cornered her, Travis had come to her defense.

Travis wasn’t here.

‘Shut the hell up,’ Alicia hissed. ‘What’s wrong with you?’

‘Oh come on, it’s obvious. We’re meant to be in it together at the Academy. The people we train with, are the very same people we’ll rely on in space. We have to know they’ll have our backs. You need to know they’ll be competent enough to rely on. Harper’s the worst damn recruit I’ve ever seen. The minute anyone relies on her, she’ll get ‘em killed.’

‘How dare you,’ Alicia tried.

‘How dare I? Easily. You know I’m right. No one can rely on her. She’ll be a danger to any crew she joins. They should just kick her out now.’

Nida didn’t say a word. She didn’t rise to her own defense.

Why bother?

He was right, wasn’t he? She’d started this situation. By touching the statue on Remus 12, she’d started this.

A smarter recruit would have acted differently.

A smarter recruit would have fixed this by now.

A smarter recruit would have saved the Vex, too.

At her fingertips was the incredible energy of the entity, yet she wasn’t wise enough to use it correctly.

Nida curled the fingers of her left hand hard into her palm. It wasn’t out of anger, but defeat.

She couldn’t shake the feeling she wasn’t adequate. Someone else, anyone else could have figured out how to save everyone without condemning a soul.

For all the evil the Vex had committed, no race deserved their fate.

‘What, you aren’t going to say anything? You’re not even going to come to your own defense, are you? Because you’re weak, Nida Harper. A waste of goddamn Academy space. Quit already, give someone better a chance.’

She dug her fingers harder into her left palm. The only reason her fingernails didn’t pierce the flesh was the entity and the power it gave her.

Bradley had drawn a large crowd now. People were actually popping their heads around from doorways to watch the show.

‘You’re just going to stand there, aren’t you? You can’t come to your own defense, so how the heck are you going to come to ours? The Coalition would be better off without you. I pity anyone who has to rely on you. You’ll get everyone killed for sure—’ though Bradley’s voice was acerbic and brimming with indignation, suddenly it cut out.

It was as if someone had slammed a fist into his throat.

She was aware someone walked up to her shoulder, and she felt them lean down and pluck up her left hand.

Carson.

He pried her fingers from her palm and laced his own against hers.

Startled, she stared at him.

Silence spread throughout the hallway quicker than the speed of light.

Carson Blake was holding her hand. In public.

He turned to her, his lips drawn thin over his teeth, a compassionate look warming his gaze.

Her obsession with being unable to save the Vex lifted. All those repetitive thoughts flew from her mind.

His presence was like a gravity pool, tugging her from her problems as she concentrated on him instead.

‘Ah, what the hell?’ Bradley coughed.

She knew everyone was looking at her. She didn’t care. She kept staring at Carson Blake.

He was appraising her with the kind of gentle look that could not be mistaken for platonic.

‘Ah, Blake, what are you doing?’ Bradley continued.

‘We’re ignoring you,’ Carson said simply without turning from her. ‘You’re an idiot. You’ve got no idea what’s happening. You’re shouting your mouth off about your own hang ups, because you’re a coward. You’re the one who’s worried about others relying on you. And you should be. It’s an immense responsibility.’ Carson still didn’t shift his gaze from her. He might as well have been talking on a com line, rather than to the guy barely two meters to his side. ‘Some people can’t handle it. Some can,’ he smiled at her. ‘And there are some people who handle it so well, they can save everyone.’

Bradley spluttered.

Carson ignored him and continued. ‘I know who I'd want watching my back, Marshall, and it isn’t you. It’s Nida.’

Bradley made a strangled attempt at laughing. ‘You’re joking, right?’

‘No. I don’t find this funny. Nor will the Admiral. Come on, Nida.’

She let him lead her away by the hand.

To be honest, she was kind of dazed.

So was the rest of the crowd.

It wasn’t every day Carson Blake came to the defense of some random cadet, was it?

No. She wasn’t a random cadet; she was at the center of this, and so was he.

By misfortune, or maybe luck, they’d been thrown together.

And now, more than ever, she was thankful for his company.

There was something about his mere presence that could lift her mood, something that could force her to hope they could get through this.

They walked together until they were far away from that cursed corridor and their watchful audience. She didn’t look back, though she was sure Alicia gave a cheerful

‘whoop!’ at one point, probably insanely ecstatic Carson Blake was together with Nida.

They were together, weren’t they? That kiss hadn’t been an accident.

She tightened her grip on his hand.

Finally they reached a door, and Carson swiped his wrist over a panel, gaining access with a discordant beep.

The room beyond was messy. Really messy. There was a large desk in one corner, but you could barely see it from underneath a sea of datapads and broken gun casings.

Pulse batteries lay scattered over the floor, with broken devices littered amongst them.

Even the chair was covered in junk.

Nida made a face. ‘What is this place? Is this a storage cupboard?’

Carson gave an awkward laugh. ‘Ouch, no. It’s my office. It’s kind of a little messy, I guess,’ he muttered as he broke away from her and tried to clear a path through the junk.

‘This is your office?’ she questioned as she controlled her expression.

She liked it neat and clean. Clearly Carson didn’t.

Eventually he gave up on cleaning, as all he could really do was shift the mounds of junk around. Instead he stood a few meters from her, a couple of broken datapads in his hands as he considered her quietly. ‘You okay?’ he managed after a long pause, ‘just ignore that idiot Bradley.’

She brushed at her arms, turning from him as she pretended she was interested in the view instead. Picking her way over to the window, she stared down. ‘Wow,’ she mumbled, ‘you can see the whole grounds from up here. See that oak tree over there? That’s my favorite spot on the whole grounds,’ she tried to distract him.

She wasn’t successful.

Carson dumped the datapads right on the ground, kicked them out of his path with the toe of his polished boot, and walked up to her. Leaning against the glass, he turned towards her, locking his gaze on hers until she was forced to look up.

‘Nida, ignore what Bradley said. He’s wrong: you do deserve to be part of the Academy. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else by my side for this. You’re not the worst recruit in 1000 years, you’re the best. You should see how impressed Forest was at your speech to the Board. You pushed them into action, you made them appreciate the reality. My report was filled with facts, yours, the truth.’

She ignored him.

Or at least she tried to.

‘Hey,’ he shifted in, brushed her hair from her face with a quick movement of his thumb, and leaned down.

His proximity was impossible to ignore.

‘What is it?’ he asked.

She didn’t want to answer.

She wanted to keep her insecurities locked inside, along with the entity. If Carson knew she was still hung up on the fact she was too stupid and weak, he’d be so disappointed in her.