The Ninth: Invasion (2 page)

“You’re horrible.  Getting me worried just so you can steal a kiss.”

“You worry too much as it is.”

“Maybe you need to worry more.  You take things too lightly.  What if people thought we had slept together?”

“But we did sleep together,” Brent said mischievously.

“You know what I mean,” she said as her cheeks turned apple red.

“What do I have to worry about? You and I know nothing happened.”  He continued as he jumped out of the bunk and started stretching. “Who cares what anyone else thinks?”

“You are kidding, right?  Need I remind you of all the attempts on your life so far?  You’re not exactly the most popular guy on the academy.  You’d think all that would make you think about your image, at least a little.”

“Now don’t go and try to turn me into a worrywart like you.  Come on, let’s get going.  The stalls won’t wait forever.”

The trip to the stalls reminded Brent of his first night in the academy.  Long stares, quickly averted eyes, and quieted surprised whispers followed him along his path.  He tried to ignore the attention, but it greeted him at every turn.  About the only change from that first night was he knew his way around now.  He smiled to himself as he thought about his first night on the academy as a recruit.  It felt like a lifetime ago.

He had to pause as a few troopers crossed their arms and dipped forward.  He instantly recognized the bow of the tripods.  He wondered if the troopers had any idea where the gesture had come from.  He knew it was his fault, but wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do about it any longer.  He sighed as he thought about his first night as a recruit.  He had just wanted to get some rest.  Why did he have to mimic the Slashers from his exam from the Great War?  It had been only a momentary blunder when he had first bowed as the tripods did, but now anyone who followed his progress mimicked the bow as well.  Apparently the bow had finally spread even to most prestigious divisions in the single digit grades. He was famous all across the academy now.

He couldn’t stand the attention, but he had to admit to himself he couldn’t really blame the other troopers.  His squad had beaten the Gauntlet, which was apparently a very big deal.  Cain had gotten the word out and had the entire academy worked up over it.  Brent knew he was a successful bookie, but had underestimated his talents.  Once the squad exited the training room, every last trooper had been there to cheer.  As it turned out their newly formed squad had unintentionally beat a Commonwealth record that, as Cain told it, had been untouched for half a millennia.

That alone would have garnered quite a bit of attention, but Brent knew there was more to it than that.  He was a Weaver, but instead of being an evil little brat with the ability to stir up emotions in others, he treated them fairly – even defended them against his own kind on occasion.  Not that it meant anything to him.  His ability to sense emotions in others was anything but dependable.  It seemed to fail him every time he needed it, although, if Angela was right, that might have been a good thing.  Apparently large groups of troopers gave other Weavers headaches.  Brent wondered how badly the staring troopers were upsetting Angela at that very moment.

The solitude of the stall was exactly what he needed.  The silence granted by the walls, once they were secured to the ceiling, was far more refreshing than his morning shower.  The privacy offered by the facilities granted him enough time to collect his thoughts.  He wondered how the others were coping with their newfound popularity.  It hadn’t been his goal when he picked the training exercise, but their victory had thrust all twenty of the squad into the spotlight.  For better or worse, what was done was done.  Now he just had to face the consequences.  With his morning routine complete and a hint of hesitation, he stood still and waited for the stall to retreat into the floor.  He expected Cassandra to be waiting for him, eager to explain just how embarrassing all the extra attention was for her, but she waited at the entrance to the stalls.  As he approached her, she nodded politely and gestured for him to go ahead.

Instead of walking next to him, she kept a moderate distance behind him as they made their way to the mess hall.  He felt like a specimen under study.  Every time he glanced back at her, she’d look away but it was obvious she had been staring at him.  As they neared the mess hall, he came to a dead stop.  He waited, but Cassandra paused as well.  Turning back, Brent walked up to her, took her hand and practically drug her into the mess hall with him.  Her face turned a deep red as she reluctantly matched his pace.  He made sure to guide her past as few full tables as possible as they headed for their division.  For the first time their division was lively, a sight no one believed the stoic SW was capable of.  He could hear their banter from half way across the mess hall.

He found it hard to believe that only a few days ago the entire division had eaten in complete silence with military precision.  Even Valerie, the division leader herself, was making a scene as she loudly congratulated Tyra and pressed for more details.  The squad leader did her best as she reluctantly retold the story of their experience while Ronald, her second in command, did his best to fill in any details Tyra forgot.  It was painfully obvious she was overwhelmed by the attention.  The nearby troopers hung on Tyra’s every word as she recounted the Gauntlet.  Oddly enough, Cain was the only subdued one at the table.  He expected the bookie to be thriving off the attention.

Brent smiled when he spotted his friends from the placement exams.  He had managed to get some of his fellow recruits into the SW and they had more than proved their worth in the Gauntlet.  Dante was politely smiling as the seasoned SW troopers patted him on the back.  Hiroko was beaming under all the attention while perching on Owen’s shoulder.  Erin sat across from Hiroko and was sticking her tongue out at the other girl.  Dante was the first to notice Brent’s approach.  He raised an eyebrow and started to smile when he noticed Brent was holding Cassandra’s hand.  She quickly wrestled her hand free.  When Dante started laughing, the other troopers were caught by surprise.  One by one they turned to see what was so amusing.  They cheered as Brent and Cassandra took their seats.

“Would you tell him to cut it out?”  Angela asked Brent.  “He’s freaking me out.”

The sincerity in her voice was surprising.  He couldn’t remember the Weaver sounding anything but superior.

“Who?” Brent asked as he glanced over his plate.  The two squares of D rations were waiting for him.  Normally thought of as inedible, he had actually developed a fondness for them.

“Cain,” Angela said, folding her arms.  “He’s been downright polite all morning.  It’s kind of disturbing.”

“Creepy,” Mahoney added.

“Give it up; you’ll never pull it off,” Cassandra said with a smirk.

Brent stared at the two for a moment before he recalled their little wager.  Cassandra had bet Cain that even with Dante’s help he wouldn’t be able to keep from annoying Angela for an entire day.

“Looks like you are quite the teacher, Dante.”  Brent let out a laugh.

“Don’t look at me.  I didn’t teach him much at all, sir.”

Erin quickly shot an odd glance at Dante.

“Well,
whatever
it is,” Angela was very insistent, “tell him to cut it out!”

“Are you implying you preferred it when he was verbally sparring with you?” Dante asked.

“No need to be diplomatic; you can take her.”  Marie forcefully slapped Dante’s back.  “He thinks you’re sweet on Cain.”

“
What
?”  Angela thrust down her utensil.

“He’s not just skilled at judging a battle field; he’s pretty good at summing up people, too.”  Marie grinned at the fuming Weaver.

“How dare you treat me like some common little girl!”  Angela was blushing as she shouted.  “Take it back!”

“I don’t believe it!” Hiroko said with a gasp.  “Dante was right?”

“He couldn’t be more wrong,” Angela hissed.  “You honestly think someone like me would feel anything but contempt for someone like
him
?”

Cain smiled like a blissful idiot as she violently thrust her fork toward him.

“Then why are you blushing so badly?” Erin asked with a snicker.

“That’s enough,” Dante said sternly to Erin.  “I didn’t mean to insult you, Angela,” he said apologetically.

Angela violently stabbed at her meal with her utensil.  Hiroko and Erin chuckled to themselves.  Brent leaned over to Cassandra’s ear.

“Guess you’re not the only one he upsets,” he whispered.

“Hey!  No secrets this early, Owen said with a yawn.  “What are you two up to?”

“Cover your mouth!” Hiroko berated him.

“Let the boy be,” Rhea said with a wink.  “If you are too strict with him you’ll scare him off.”

“I’m sure you have plenty of experience with that,” Humphrey mumbled.  “I can’t imagine how many
you’ve
scared off.”

Kindra laughed as Rhea socked Humphrey’s arm.  Hiroko chuckled as she looked down at her meal, the faint hint of a blush edging over her cheeks.

“Now, now.”  Sanderson put a firm hand down on Humphrey’s shoulder before he could retaliate.  “Is this anyway for a squad to act?”

“Let them have their fun,” Penny said with a smile.  “Brent obviously knew what he was doing when he picked out the squad.”

As the squad continued their chitchat, Brent noticed a tall man approaching the table.  He wasn’t wearing any kind of uniform he had seen before.  The man wore a shirt and pants of dark blue with light red bands forming a “V” on the chest and knees.  There was a strange emblem on his left shoulder of orange.  The man leaned over Valerie’s shoulder and whispered something in her ear.

“You can’t be serious.”  She turned to face the man directly.

“Orders from the Administer himself,” the man replied.

“What is it?” Tyra asked.

“Your squad is shipping out.”  Valerie didn’t sound pleased.

“Where are we going?” Ronald asked.

“Deriso.”

Both Tyra and Ronald turned white.  The rest of the troopers exchanged confused glances.

“Hold on, we aren’t going anywhere.”  Cain addressed the man in blue.  “Active duty terms can’t start until every trooper in a squad has received at
least
six months of training,”

The entire division was taken by surprise along with the man in blue.  Dante cast a scrutinizing look at Cain.

“This isn’t an active duty assignment,” The man in blue spoke slowly as he thought.  “You are being assigned to Deriso as a temporary garrison – you will still receive training.”

“Irrelevant,” Cain countered calmly.  “All off-station training is to be cleared with the division leader one week in advance.”

“This is an order from the Administer himself.”

“It doesn’t matter
who
the order comes from.  Unless we are in an active state of conflict, no orders can be made in contradiction to previously established procedures.”

“Missions to avoid an active state of conflict can ignore minor procedures if the need is strong enough.”

“You’ll need a statement from someone
outside
the military to deem a mission as one to prevent conflict on a non-military world.”

“We have a statement from the Governor on file that makes it clear your deployment is to reduce civil tensions in the hopes of averting open conflict.”

“You’ve done your homework,” Cain said with an annoyed grin.

“So have you.  Any other problems?”

“Regardless of the Governor’s statement, the Commonwealth is not in a formal state of war, nor is the local region in a clear state of conflict or revolt.  We have the option to delay our departure by up to three hours to take care of ongoing concerns.”

The man in blue paused.  It was obvious he was deep in thought.

“Very well, you have three hours.”  The man in blue stomped off.

The troopers at the table couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“What was
that
?” Kindra asked in surprise.

“Ignorance of the law is no defense against it,” Cain said with a grin.  “The only way to truly be safe is to know it better than your opponent.  My dad taught me that.”

“You mean they were going to ship us off
now
?” Owen asked, startled.  “Before we’d even finished our meal?”

“There is probably a ship waiting for us as we speak,” Cain said with a nod.  “Sorry I couldn’t get us more time.  I didn’t count on them getting the support of the local Governor in advance.”

“Of course they have his support,” Tyra said, burying her head in her hands.  “He’s my father.”

Everyone stared at the squad leader as it sunk in.

“At least we have three hours; that’s better than nothing,” Brent said as he got up.

“Where are you going sir?” Dante asked.

“To pack.”

“We should probably
all
skip this meal,” Tyra said dejectedly.  “There will probably be some kind of meal awaiting us.  Take these three hours and take care of any loose ends.  I doubt we’ll be back any time soon.”