Lee had turned to brace himself against one of the chairs.
“Hey,” she said softly. She trailed her fingertips over his hand. Not because she really had anything to say, she just wanted to be near him. But he looked up at her.
“We’ll be good. We’ll be okay,” she murmured, more to herself than to him. She still had no idea what she’d say to the Commander in a few minutes, or what would happen later. And just because she could, she brushed her fingers across his hand once more.
His eyes dropped down again to where her touch had been. “Yeah.” Lee swallowed past the roughness in his voice. “Yeah, we’ll be fine. Always are,” he said quickly, glancing up once more. He cut her a hint of a smile before letting it fall. Just a hint, but it was there.
And all too soon, it was time.
“You ready?” he asked, standing up straighter.
Zane scooped up Lee’s untouched green juice, tossing it back in two gulps before crushing the cup and banking it into the nearest bin.
Of course, she wouldn’t go quite that far. She tucked her drink gingerly into the nook of her arm as the four of themheaded up to the Command wing. May the green gods bring her all the luck and prosperity left in the universe.
Standing before the zagged-cut doors, Zane nodded to them with guarded eyes before sending a message, letting the Commander’s secretary know they were all here. Although no one had informed them of its revocation, it felt presumptuous, somehow, to assume they should still use their upgraded security clearance.
The silence was polarizing. Once again, they were the ship caught in the crosshairs.
It was another couple of minutes before Nolan strode through the doors. His face was bland and devoid of emotion as ever, although there was an added tightness as he waved his hand, hastily beckoning them follow. Tossing out the last of her drink with remorse, Kat followed him and the others back towards a room they’d visited only once before.
They were nearly there when Nolan halted, turning abruptly to face them. His voice dropped an octave, barely louder than a pin dropping as he spoke quickly. “There has been a slight change in schedule. General Narron has requested that an official debriefing be held this morning.”
“I don’t understand,” Kat said. “We’re supposed to meet with the Commander first—”
“Be on your guard.”
There wasn’t time to do more than glance between Lee and Zane and Whistler, her ears ringing hollow, before Nolan was again leading them towards Command’s Assignment and Briefing. They assembled before the door, before he stepped back to confirm something on his hyperband.
“We stick to the plan?” Lee asked Zane in a low voice.
“We stick to the plan,” Zane agreed, clasping Lee’s wrist.
Nolan returned, tapping his hand to the door. “They are ready for you.”
It was a good thing she’d brushed her hair this morning.
CHAPTER 2: LEE
LEE WATERS stood at attention with his back straight and his hands locked behind him, and his feet a steady, shoulder width apart. It was a form of respect, timeless and resilient. A form he had taken great care to perfect over the years. And the form they expected of him.
“Good morning, cadets.”
It was second nature to stand here at attention as their Commander addressed them, red-hair blazing and light-colored pantsuit as pristine as ever. But it took every bit of willpower in his arsenal to keep his focus on her with the daunting figure at the wall behind her.
General Marion Narron was here at the Academy. Again.
The Commanding General of the AMG was even more grizzled in person. From this proximity, his dark gaze pierced like daggers, his eyes the steel. And there was a scar on the side of his face that Lee had never noticed from his photographs.
At the Commander’s commencement of the meeting, a virtual transmission was accepted. Lee didn’t dare take his eyes off of the Commander and General to confirm exactly which holographic forms had joined their debriefing, but he could feel eyes on his back. Many, many sets of eyes.
Commander Blanche’s voice was tight as she announced the holographic arrivals. “We are joined this morning bythe Commanding Council, representatives of the Allies of the Mangorian Galaxy, as well as Commanding General, Marion Narron.”
‘Be on your guard’?FuckingNolan.
Again, Lee didn’t dare shift his gaze or let a single breath dip or stutter as he willed that frustration to cool, willed it to settle into something smarter, something calculating. The four of them had made a plan, and he intended to stick to it.
It had been roughly two days since they’d returned back to the Academy. And for those two days, he’d gone over all they’d seen and all they’d learned onboard Segura. The lab. The claims. The stakes. The possibilities…
