Revolution: The Ship Series // Book Two (10 page)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

You
can thank Captain Clueless over there.

Zax
followed the Boss into the compartment and fought back the overwhelming urge to
give Kalare a hug when he spotted her. Aleron sat in a corner of the
compartment and sported a fresh black eye. Major Westerick and Lieutenant Salmea
stood at the hatch to Westerick’s office, and Westerick appeared nervous as the
Flight Boss entered his domain. Salmea leaned against the bulkhead, indifferent
as always to everything going on around her.

Once the perfunctory greetings and introductions were
over, the Boss took Sergeant Bailee into Westerick’s office along with the
Waste Systems officers. Zax assumed it was a strategy meeting for the big
minds. And Westerick and Salmea.

Zax sat down for the first time since they had been
marched out of Engineering Control by the burly civilian. It had only been a
few hours, but it felt like a lifetime. Nolly sat next to him and when the boy
yawned Zax suggested he close his eyes and rest. Nolly took this as an
invitation to lay his head in Zax’s lap and was gently snoring within secs.

Kalare approached and grinned as she took in the scene.
She sat next to Zax on the side opposite where Nolly was sprawled. Zax spoke
quietly to avoid waking the boy.

“What happened to you guys? You were supposed to wait for
me and the Boss to return.”

“Tell me about it. You can thank Captain Clueless over
there. We—”

“I can hear you two perfectly well, you know!”

Aleron sounded more whiny than he likely intended and
Zax stifled a giggle. Kalare sighed dramatically but did so with a sly grin.

“I really couldn’t care less about what you hear or
don’t hear,
Captain Clueless
. As I was saying
,
we were waiting
for you guys and Sergeant Bailee was in pretty rough shape. I suggested we get
out of the tunnels and try to locate a medkit. He must have truly been feeling
horrible because he agreed without hesitation. The hatch closest to where you
left us opened onto an empty passage, so we went down the tunnel and tried a
different one where we saw there were a few nearby compartments.

“You told us we’d would be locked out of the tunnels if
we let a hatch close behind us, so we left Aleron at the access port and told
him to keep it held open while we searched. Not sixty secs later Aleron screams
like he’s being murdered. We run back and he’s jumping up and down, blabbering
about a giant rat running out of the tunnel. Of course, he’d managed to let the
hatch close behind him. We pounded on it for a while hoping to catch your
attention when you passed by, but eventually gave up.”

Zax whacked his forehead with the heel of his palm. He
and the Boss had actually listened to them pounding from the other side of that
hatch. Kalare continued.

“We were rightfully pissed about getting locked out, but
the sergeant went a little overboard and slugged Aleron in the face.”

Aleron brooded silently and missed how Kalare looked
over at him with a healthy degree of sympathy. Zax was taken aback by any show
of compassion for the bully and was about to challenge Kalare about it when her
expression shifted and she turned back to him.

“What happened with you and the Boss? Who’s this kid?”

Zax gave a recap of his journey from the point when they
had returned to the meeting spot and found everyone was gone. He described his
relationship with Nolly and how they came across the boy. He told her about
what happened when Nolly refused to go up the ladder. Kalare raised her
eyebrows at the realization there was a group of hostile civilians nearby.

“One more thing I almost forgot. The Boss awarded me
bonus credits at one point. Can you believe him? We’re in the middle of all
this craziness, and he’s awarding credits? To me, of all people!”

Kalare had smiled attentively throughout Zax’s
retelling, but at this point she leaned in and positively beamed.

“Credits! That’s awesome, Zax! Do you know what this
means? He’s warming back up to you. Remember all those credits he gave you when
we patched the breach in the panorama last year—can you imagine how many you
could earn for rescuing him from civilians? You can get right back to the top
of the Leaderboard and join me in the Flight Academy!”

Zax was shocked to hear Kalare draw the same conclusion
he had reached earlier. He gave her the same rationale which had led him to
immediately dismiss it.

“Are you nuts? I publicly accused one of the Omegas of
murder and the Boss has to know I was really talking about him. There’s no way
in hell he would ever award me anywhere near enough credits to make a
difference in my ranking! Besides, he probably blames me for all of this mess
in the first place given how I exposed the video of that human fighter.”

“Don’t be silly, Zax. When all this blows over, he’s not
going to have any choice. You’re right—he’s not going to
want
to support
you given the history between you two, but there’s no way he’d be able to let
the cadet who rescued him go away empty-handed. Working with him, I’ve come to
learn how much the Boss considers potential Crew perceptions when making
decisions. I’m pretty sure he didn’t immediately Cull you back then because he
didn’t want to give your accusations any more weight in the Crew’s eyes.
Rewarding you now will make people forget about those allegations altogether.
Most people prefer simple narrative and you’ll be transformed in their eyes
from the cadet who accused an Omega of murder to the cadet who saved the Boss.
You’re easily looking at five-figures worth of bonus credits!”

Zax disregarded the possibility of significant rewards
earlier, but if Kalare was reaching the same conclusion then perhaps there was
some validity to the notion. He clearly had achieved far beyond what would be
expected of a typical cadet through all of this ordeal. Kalare might be right
in thinking his actions would merit acknowledgement with serious credits once
this uprising by the civilians was over—even if it meant the Boss had to get
past his distaste for rewarding Zax of all people.

What about Zax’s distaste for the Boss? Even if Kalare
was convinced the man was innocent, Zax still held him accountable for Mikedo’s
death. Working in Waste Systems, however, was doing nothing to prove Zax’s
suspicions and make the Omega pay. Maybe if Zax could put aside his feelings
and get himself closer to the Boss again, he’d be able to learn what he needed
to see the man punished.

Zax’s deliberations were interrupted by the opening of
the hatch to Westerick’s office. Bailee walked out and looked at Zax and
Kalare.

“Come in here. The Boss wants you to hear this
firsthand.”

Aleron stood to join them, but the Marine shook his
head.

“Not you. Someone needs to stay here and keep an eye on
the civilian.”

Aleron was indignant for a moment, but then his face
brightened.

“That means I should get the blaster then, right?”

The sergeant turned back and grinned at the cadet. Zax
recognized the look as a dangerous signal, but Aleron once again lived up to
the “Captain Clueless” nickname as he held out his hand for the weapon.

“You’re saying you need my weapon to stand watch over an
eight-year-old boy. Who’s asleep. I’m sorry, cadet, but I realize now that I
must have knocked something loose in your head when I hit you earlier. Maybe
you need another punch to settle things back into place.”

The Marine smiled coldly at Aleron and the cadet’s face
went as red as his shirt. Zax extricated himself from beneath Nolly without
waking the boy and followed Kalare and the sergeant into the compartment. The
Boss looked up as they entered.

“Here’s the plan—”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

We
can pretend all of that silliness
never happened.

“A
Marine
garrison is located in the next section, and there will be a
significant force there to protect the armory. We need to reach them. I’m
certain the civilians are actively targeting me, and it’s critical for the
survival of the Ship that I get more protection as soon as feasibly possible.
Even though Salmea and Westerick can access their Plugs, the civilians have
blocked all communication. We can’t call the Marines to us, so we have no
choice but to make our way to them.”

The Boss looked at each of them for a few beats before
he nodded to acknowledge Kalare’s raised hand.

“Sir—why do you feel the civilians are targeting you? If
they wanted you that badly, why would their leader back in Engineering have let
you out of his sight?”

“That’s a great question, Kalare, but, unfortunately,
the answer is on a need-to-know basis. Let me assure you the civilians’
strategic situation has changed, and I’m confident they now see me as critical
to their plans to secure control of the Ship.”

The Boss let the idea of civilian control sink in for a
moment before he continued.

“With Zax’s help it should be easy to get most of the
way to our destination using the maintenance tunnels, but we can’t get all the
way there. For security purposes, the Marines blocked the tunnels that approach
their garrison so the last portion of our journey must be through the main
passageways. I’m guessing the civilians will be as far from the Marines as they
can possibly be. We aren’t likely to run into any hostiles, but you never know.
Keeping me safe is the most important thing any of you are likely to do in your
lifetime. Do it well, and I promise your efforts will be recognized.

“I need some time alone before we leave, so give me the
room. Zax—hang back, please.”

Zax had keyed in on the Boss’s mention of being
“recognized,” and Kalare must have as well because she gave him an encouraging
thumbs up as she walked past to exit the compartment along with the others.
Once the hatch was closed and they were alone, the Boss smiled at Zax for a few
long, uncomfortable moments before speaking.

“You must be able to appreciate the strange predicament
I find myself in here, Zax. I gave you an amazing opportunity a year ago. You
were on the verge of not only becoming a pilot but also gaining me as your
mentor. You took that opportunity and threw it away in nearly the most
disastrous way possible.”

Zax shuffled his feet. It had been easy to nurse his
hatred and distrust of the man over the past year when the Boss was a
never-seen figure who existed only in Kalare’s stories. It was entirely
different to share a compartment with the Omega while the man smiled and spoke
with him like a peer rather than a despised underling. Zax was being charmed by
the man and what made it painfully uncomfortable was how he found himself
liking it. Kalare had suggested that redemption was possible and against his
better instincts Zax wanted to grasp for it. The Boss leaned forward and spoke
again.

“These are extreme circumstances we find ourselves in,
and there’s no way I can ignore how admirably well you’ve performed so far. I
want to encourage you to reconsider whatever grudges you’ve held against me
during your year here in Waste Systems. Having spent all of fifteen mins with
your supervisors, I think I can appreciate what that time has been like for
you.”

The Boss paused and grinned, and Zax couldn’t help but
join in as well.

“So here’s the deal, Zax. I mentioned to the group how
crucial it is I stay out of the hands of the civilians. I can’t stress this
enough. If we get out of this mess and you play the critical role I need you
to, then you’re going to find yourself right back at the top of the Leaderboard
with me as your mentor just like you were a year ago. We can pretend all of
that silliness never happened. What do you think?”

The Boss’s grin had disappeared and been replaced with a
look of intense focus. Zax was conflicted. Hearing the Boss refer to everything
around Mikedo’s death, however obliquely, as being silly made him angry.
Leaving the hell of Waste Systems and getting his career back on track for the
Flight Academy, however, was a powerful inducement. Nothing was being served by
wasting his life maintaining the Ship’s sewers. He could never do anything to
rewrite the story of Mikedo’s sacrifice from down here. If he actually spent
time close to the Boss, then maybe he would discover the evidence that would
finally allow him to prove beyond a doubt the man had killed her. He would
always despise who he was making the deal with, but Zax was smart enough to
realize it was the right deal. He didn’t trust himself to speak so he just
nodded in agreement. The Boss smiled.

“Good decision, Zax. Please go join the others. I’ll be
out in a moment.”

Zax exited the compartment. Kalare approached him
immediately and whispered excitedly.

“What was that about?”

“Exactly what you were thinking. If I help keep him away
from the civilians, he’s going to give me enough credits to put me back on top
of the Leaderboard. I could get into the Pilot Academy. And he’s going to be my
mentor.”

“Holy crap, Zax! That’s amazing! Are you excited?”

Zax was excited but remained conflicted. The nuances of
the situation were impossible to convey with quick whispers, so he only nodded
in reply. He would share all of this thinking with Kalare at some point down
the road. Or maybe he wouldn’t.

She smiled and at that moment Bailee approached and
addressed Zax.

“Cadet—wake up your civilian, please. We need to talk
about what’s going to happen next, and I need him to hear it.”

Zax went to Nolly and roused the boy. He had fallen
asleep instantly, but waking him up proved a far more onerous chore. Zax
prodded the child repeatedly and finally spoke to him harshly before he opened
his eyes. Zax helped Nolly to his feet, and once the Marine saw the boy was
alert, Bailee started to speak.

“We’re making our way to a nearby Marine garrison. We’ll
keep the following formation. Zax is going to be on point, followed by the
civilian and Kalare. Then it is going to be me and the Boss. Aleron, then
Lieutenant Salmea, and finally Major Westerick will bring up the rear. We still
only have the one blaster, and I’m going to hold on to it. Remember—our goal
above all else is to prevent the Boss from getting captured by the civilians.
Is that all clear?”

The Marine sternly looked each person in the eye, and
everyone except Nolly silently nodded. Nolly was so intimidated by the man’s
glare that he buried his face in Zax’s side. The Flight Boss came out of
Westerick’s office and looked around the compartment.

“Move out.”