They could have used a couple more bodies in here with them to fill that space this morning. That extra line of defense at their sides to ground them and validate their suspicions.
At least she and Lee were on the same page.
Throwing her shoulders back, she tucked her arms into the practiced position, ready to withstand another mission as she awaited inspection.
A whisper skated the nerves of her spine as their Commander entered the room.
Commander Blanche looked poised as ever in one of her preferred, light ecru pantsuits. A crisp stack of badges lay against her chest, her red hair styled neatly at the base of her neck. She had her usual professional demeanor. But like Nolan, she also appeared agitated. There was a forced sort of calm in her blue eyes as they sprang briefly from Kat to Lee.
“Good morning, cadets. As dictated under statute 4A of the Academy bylaws, with respect to the Raider Program of the AMG, the Allies of the Mangorian Galaxy, I have recommended your squadron for the following mission.”
Kat shoved the intrigue aside as the Commander turned to the holoblock behind her, drawing up with her the representation of a star system from nearby Quadrant II.
“The De Myra Solida grouping has long played host to dark radiation. Our roaming, military-grade sensors consistently monitor the star system’s radiation spikes. However, the dark radiation was only recently confirmed among its outer reaches, including the rocky planet, De Zolar. With this assignment, you will be investigating the intermediate effects of dark radiation on De Zolar’s molecular-biological environment…”
Dark radiation. And they were back.
She blinked past the strain of her eyes, all other thoughts rushing from her head as she took in the star system, the grouping of De Zolar on the outskirts, and its neighboring planets and moons. More planets kissed by the dark rays.
She’d known this would be coming eventually. Their Commander would have to trust them with a dark radiation mission again, it was their galaxy’s number one threat. And as raiders in a galaxy riddled with it, they’d be encountering its presence many more times in their future.
What she hadn’t counted on was the helplessness that surged like an invisible wave. They were still no closer to finding a solution to the dark rays. If anything, she felt further from that secret than ever. She was the ship, adrift, lost outside her usual gravitational fields.
And yet, Commander Blanche plowed on with the discipline of decades before her. The fearless Commander who put even the AMG council in shadow.
“Your mission is to collect samples representative of De Zolar’s climes, canvassing at least a ten-kilometer radius. As these rays are highly charged and extremely dangerous, for this mission there will be a time allowance of six hours to support the shields on your spacecrafts. We expect you out of there before then. Any questions?”
Kat’s fingertips dug into her back as she counted the Commander’s usual three-second waiting period. But Commander Blanche didn’t wave them off. Instead, a fourth second passed before her gaze focused back on them once again. And it wasn’t quite a smile—Kat wasn’t sure the Commander had ever smiled on the job—but there was definitely some 175 degree action going on with her mouth as Commander Blanche once more addressed them.
“I said the same to a couple of your fellow cadets earlier this week. But I would like to express my personal enthusiasm atyour forthcoming Placement applications. You both have bright futures ahead of you, and I will be including my personal recommendation with your applications when they come through for the post of your choice. It’s been atryingyear, to say the least. But I have full confidence in your abilities to excel as raiders long after you leave the Academy walls behind you.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” she heard Lee pronounce.
Grasping for her own response, Kat echoed Lee.
It was almost too good to be true. Unless the latest updates had been a mistake, they were getting to graduate the program with top rankings. They had the endorsement of theirCommander,of all people.There was no longer anything standing in their way.
So why did it feel like she was celebrating a false victory?
It felt like opening her Placement application all over again. So much for pomp and circumstance. The pomp was still there. But the circumstance… her circumstance felt jumbled and scattered, like she’d been tossed onto a conveyor belt before she had all her wires attached and was now barreling out heading straight into the galaxy.
She barely listened as Nolan did the rundown on their raid files and mission reports. And when they were dismissed, she listlessly followed Lee back out to the hallway.
“We have her blessing,” Lee said.
Kat scuffed her boots on the grated floors, still barely believing her ears. She was breathless and wanted to burrow and scream all at once.
She settled on listening to the steady tread of Lee at her side as they grabbed their holoblocks, before heading back down to the Hideaway. They had their pick of the tables while everyone else was in trainings.
“So why were you almost late this morning?” Lee asked, reaching around her to set his holoblock down on the good table near the railing.
“Got distracted.” She eyed him, enjoying watching the acrobatics as he attempted to situate the tech with her still standing between them.
“Is it still alive?” Lee shot her a sidelong grin, guessing correctly at her reason for beingalmost late—yet again.
“Ha ha.” She sidestepped around him, cradling her holoblock in her arms as she perched in one of the chairs. “Yes, it’s alive. My star flower and I were just sharing a little one-on-one bonding time, is all.”
Lee’s grin tapered off a little as he sunk into the other chair, his too-perceptive eyes stealing over her again like he was piecing it together from her appearance from that morning. “What kind of a bonding time?”
