“And that’s it. That’s all they’ve got?” she ground out, a bitterness solidifying like gelatin in her blood. “Wait until Zane and Whistler get involved.” She didn’t imagine their pride would take so well to that.
“We’ll be fine,” Lee said, echoing his sentiment from this morning as they at last started over towards the main Heptagon to join the rest of the Academy.
So much for breezy.
CHAPTER 8: LEE
THE RUMORS sucked.
Lee was supposed to be lying low. Focusing on their trainings and completing the term while this all blew over. But a few days later, the circulation of their whereabouts during that Argos mission only seemed to flare, twisting and morphing with every whispered side comment. A smoking bonfire that wouldn’t burn out.
Curiosity certainly had a malicious side.
Playing hooky in the field?
Galactic screw-ups.
Missing your babysitter?
He’d heard every version by now.
Lee stopped at the end of the upper skywalk, stepping to the side as an IR cadet slipped past, carefully averting her eyes.
It would’ve been fine, they could talk. Except his wasn’t the only name being dragged through the ashes here.
He’d known this would be coming in some form or other, although, he’d almost assumed it would be lessened somehow, spread out by the fact that all four of the top cadets had been involved in the scandal. But their involvement only seemed to fuel the fire, drawing in attention from various corners of the ship. This unexpected fallout with the gossip had the potential to unravel everything they had built for themselves at theAcademy—everything he and Kat had built for themselves with their glowing, glimmering futures—some of its luster dulling a bit more each day. And they weren’t even permitted to defend themselves.
At least their attention took the brunt off the rest of their raider party.
He scanned his hyperband at his dorm, ducking inside for a protein bar.
He’d formed a bit of a routine these past few days. Squeeze in a workout early while the others slept. Run his trainings. Show his face in the Canteen long enough to make a statement. Then find Kat and getzappingout of there.
Tearing open a new box of energy bars, he stared down at the shiny wrappers, battling the panging and gnawing in his gut. What was the point of even being here if they had to hide out to get through the day? Maybe their Commander was right to evaluate their performance. And their aptitude. He’d thought it had been heroism that day they’d helped Gaia’s people escape. But maybe it had been short-sightedness. Idiocy. What was a people without their ship? Or a raider who’d lost sight of their mission. Maybe things could have turned out differently. Maybe they would have better served their cadets by sticking with blunt loyalty.
And maybe he should have boarded that transport right alongside Levy.
He shoved the protein bars to the side.
Kat was up a level, picking up her new suit this afternoon, the bright speck in the latest slodge of cadet life. Rather than spiral solo up here, Lee slipped back down through the stairways of the Heptagon.
He’d made it through the Hideaway doors when he ran into Jed. Hair-gelled and dark eyes shadowed, Jed met Lee’s eyes briefly, a hint of surprise or almost panic searing there before heglanced away to the paneled walls. His shoulders hunched down as he stepped to the side to let Lee pass.
Lee kept his feet planted, relaxing his stance as he nodded towards the bag tucked over Jed’s shoulder. “You look like you’ve been busy.”
Eyes averted, Jed shrugged.
“Kat and I haven’t seen you around much,” Lee prodded.
At the mention of Kat, Jed’s eyes shot back to him, almost glancing over his shoulder as if he’d see her coming through the doorway there.
Lee raised a brow as the shadows in his face flickered, a softer emotion sneaking in there.
“Yeah, well,” Jed said before he sighed. “They’re talking crap on you, on all of you.”
Lee pursed his lips. He knew that already. But he wanted to know what Jed made of it. So he waited.
After a few seconds Jed touched his free hand to the crunchy hair above his brow, his back straightening a little as he squinted down into the floor grates. “I don’t agree with them, the things they’re saying. It’s not fair, you know? They weren’t there. They didn’t see how real it all felt when those blasts came in.” His eyes flicked briefly over to Lee’s. “Some days I wish I’d never been on that raid.”
