Axira Episode One

  Chapter 2

  “Alright people, move off to your respective teams. Your year reps will come and show you your dorms.” An officer waved us forward.

  I was standing in a group of new recruits. It was a different experience for me.

  They were chatting excitedly, talking amongst themselves, even giggling.

  I’d met Coalition recruits in battle before, and they usually had not babbled this much.

  I stood straight, arms behind my back, head held forward as I stared at the officer barking out his orders.

  Nobody else maintained such discipline. Instead, as a large human male walked past, he elbowed me in the face. “Sorry,” he mumbled as he walked off, another recruit at his side.

  Before I could react, I was jostled again, and then again.

  As a group, we all seemed to surge forward and through the massive doors before us. Despite the crowd pressing in on me, I took the opportunity to stare up at the building as we entered. It was so high it seemed to go on forever from my vantage. Just a stretch of sleek silver metal and windows, ending with a pointed white spire 50 floors above. It was one of the many buildings that made up Coalition Headquarters. It was also a place I would be spending the next five or so years. The Coalition recruitment program was long and arduous; there was a lot to train for, after all. Space was huge. And as I could testify, full of enemies. For every race of explorers, you could find a race of warmongers ready to exploit the weak for their own gain.

  “Which dorm are we heading to? Um, hello, does anyone know where new recruits assigned to Omega Team are meant to go?” A young woman in the crowd called.

  People appeared to ignore her; everyone streaming off in different directions, heading to their respective dorms to begin their orientation.

  “Ah hello, are you in Team Omega?” She latched onto the sleeve of a passing Tamarite.

  “Team Beta,” he snapped as he moved past.

  “Oh god, I’m going to have to call my brother, aren’t I?” She mumbled to herself as she screwed up her cheeks in apparent anguish.

  I watched with interest.

  Something the past 450 years had taught me was how to observe. I could stand in a room and stare at a wall for hours on end; I’d done it countless times before.

  This time, however, it was a mistake. As the crowd thinned, she made eye contact with me. In fact, it seemed as though she latched onto me with her eyes.

  She half ran up to me. “Do you know where Team Omega are meant to meet?”

  “Second floor, just outside the engineering lecture hall.” I turned to walk away.

  “Okay … do you know where the engineering hall is?”

  “It has engineering written on the door,” I replied.

  She began to blush, her neck dipping back. It appeared I had emotionally affected her. “I’m sorry to be a pain, of course it does. I’m just not good with directions.”

  I opened my mouth, ready to tell her that a lack of spatial awareness indicated she would be a poor recruit.

  “Elle, what are you doing? You’re meant to be heading to your team,” a man said as he walked up to us.

  We were now the only people left in the hall.

  I watched him as he approached. It took me a moment, but I recognized him. Jason Singh. Son of Admiral Singh. I had read his publically available file when I’d done my research on the Coalition Recruit Program. He was a decorated graduate, and he headed up an elite unit which operated under the watchful eye of Admiral Forest.

  “Brother, I’m so glad you found me. I have no idea where I’m going.” Elle, as I now knew she was called, flopped a hand over Jason’s arm and leaned into him.

  That was a lie; I had told her seconds before where she was meant to be going.

  “Damn it, Elle, I thought I already told you that this morning. I’ve walked you through these halls countless times, how have you forgotten already?”

  “I’m so nervous.” She flapped at her face and winced at him.

  “Alright, I’ll take you there, but we’ve got to hurry. I just found out your Team leader is Lieutenant Ma’tovan. And trust me, he isn’t going to like you being late.” Jason suddenly turned to look at me. His brow dented up. “What team are you? Are you lost too?”

  “Omega,” I replied evenly, “No, I am not lost. Your sister engaged me in conversation.” With that, I turned, nodded at them, and proceeded to walk down the corridor.

  “Follow us, I know a quicker route.” Jason waved me forward as he turned sharply on his foot, his regulation black boots squeaking on the polished floor.

  I hesitated for a moment. I had already memorized the blueprints of the Coalition Academy compound. I doubted his way would be any quicker.

  I followed nonetheless.

  “Oh my god, I’m so sorry for making you late.” Elle turned to me as she jogged behind her brother. Her face was already flushed with exertion.

  I had seen Coalition officers run far quicker and for far longer without showing such signs of exhaustion.

  “What’s your name, recruit?” Jason dropped back, grabbing at his sister’s arm to pull her quicker.

  I could have easily sped up and headed to the engineering lecture hall on my own. I knew the way, and Elle was holding me back. I doubted it would be a good idea to do so in front of Jason Singh, however.

  I knew that I had to keep a low profile. During my training and into the years to come, I had to keep my head down. Elle was apparently the daughter of Admiral Singh, the very same Admiral who headed up the recruit program.

  “Em,” I replied easily. Though we were jogging, my voice was unaffected.

  “I haven’t heard that name before, you human?” He asked.

  “No.” As I jogged my gaze darted around the corridor noting every detail I could. It was part of my nature. I logged every fact I could find. From the shape of the doors to the height of the windows, I made an internal map of every room we passed and every corridor we jogged through.

  “You kind of look human,” he noted as he ushered us up some stairs.

  I did. But in my case, looks were deceiving. “I am Taskarian,” I lied. I had already assessed that my bio scans were closest in resemblance to that race. There were differences, of course, but I knew how to mask them. I had spent the past two years tracking down a subcutaneous device that would make my biosignatures mimic that of a Taskarian. The device was apparently impossible to detect. Without it, I would never have been able to join the Coalition. With it, I had the opportunity to finish my training with the secret of who I was fully intact.

  “Wow, we don’t get many of your kind joining the Academy. Why did you join?”

  To bring down an ancient master who had enslaved the last of my kind to wage a never-ending battle with anyone who disputed him.

  I, of course, did not share this with Jason. Instead, I looked ahead, noted that the engineering hall was right before us, and I nodded toward it. “It appears our team has already left.”

  “Oh great,” Jason sighed, his breathing still relatively unaffected by his pace. His sister, however, had already fallen behind. “Come on, Elle, we’ve got to find out where they’ve gone. Knowing Ma’tovan, he’s probably taken everyone straight to the training ground.”

  “Oh no … how far away is that? We’re going to be in trouble, aren’t we?”

  “I’ll take you there—” Jason began but was interrupted by the soft chime of the device he wore on his wrist.

  It was a personal computer. It acted as a communication device, a scanner, it monitored bio readings, and could be used as an intrastella beacon in cases of distress. I had not received my own yet. When I did, I would be unsure how long it would take to convince myself to put it on my wrist.

  It would feel too much like my shackles had.

  “Singh, report to the armory, we’re running a test on the new matter disrupter rifles,” a voice emanated from Jason’s wrist device. “On the double.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jason
replied.

  I watched as his smile dented. He looked at his sister and shrugged expressively. “You are going to have to get there on your own. Now, the training ground is—”

  “Approximately 500 meters from the 2nd Dormitory Block,” I interjected, pointing in the correct direction, despite the fact we were inside and there were no windows around us.

  “Yeah, yeah it is. Damn, I’m glad you know where you’re going. Can you take her there?” Jason smiled hopefully.

  I looked at him, blinking, then nodded.

  This was not how I had expected my first day as a recruit would go. Though I had understood I would not be doing anything to fight my master straight away, shepherding admiral’s daughters had not been on the agenda.

  “Okay, I’ll come see you as soon as I can.” Jason backed off, turning at the last moment. “Just try to stay out of trouble. Oh, by the way, I’m Jason Singh, forgot to introduce myself.” He waved at me.

  “I know who you are.” With that, I nodded at his sister, informed her to follow me, and ran at a pace she could handle down the corridor.

  If I had not been with her, and I had known the coast was clear, I would have done a subspace jump. To do one, I simply had to open a subspace pocket, jump inside, and then reopen the pocket wherever I needed to be.

  The move had a limited range; I could usually only travel within 50 meters of where I was standing, more if I had a visual lock on where I needed to be.

  It was one of the only abilities still available to me, one of the few that was virtually undetectable. I could not, however, hope to pluck up my energy blade and start swinging it around; it had a unique signature that could be easily detected. If it was detected, he would find me.

  “Oh my god, I’m really, really sorry for making you late,” Elle puffed through a shaky breath.

  “You have already said this.”

  “I’ll let Lieutenant Ma’tovan know this wasn’t your fault. Hopefully, he’ll only punish me.”

  “Save your breath; run faster,” I commanded.

  She did not heed me.

  She continued to talk to me. I believe the humans called it chatting. It was inane. She talked about everything from the weather to who her bunkmate would be. She told me her mother was an admiral – recently promoted from captain – and that she really didn’t want to let her down. She told me her father was a biophysicist who was working on organic matter transportation. She also told me she wanted to specialize and become a doctor.

  I refrained from pointing out that medical professionals were usually less flustered. In fact, I refrained from talking full stop. She provided all the chatter, I simply listened.

  “Wow, you are hardly out of breath. How fit are you?” She stumbled at my side as she spoke, knocking into me on several occasions.

  I could finally see the training ground ahead. I saw a large crowd, and as we neared, I recognized several of the recruits from Team Omega.

  “You’re not even sweating. Do Taskarians sweat?”

  “Taskarians sweat. I suggest we sprint; our group is just ahead of us. We can make it in under 30 seconds if we increase our speed by a factor of 2.5.”

  Once again she ignored me. Rather than increasing her speed, she practically ground to a halt. Collapsing her hands on her knees, she heaved in breath after breath. “My brother told me there would be a lot of running about in the training program, but I didn’t think it would start so soon.”

  I looked from her to the training ground. I knew enough about Coalition discipline to understand that we would both be punished for arriving late to orientation. We would also become known.

  I could easily have left her behind. For a moment I hesitated, turning on the ball of my foot to calculate the advantage. I would be punished less, surely, if I arrived sooner. However, it would involve leaving the Admiral’s daughter behind.

  She looked up at me with a pleading face.

  I recognized that look. I had seen it many times before. I had never been able to do anything about it, though.

  I reached out a hand, grabbed her shoulder and hauled her forward. I could have carried her, but it would have brought even more attention.

  Instead, I pulled her forward, careful not to let my fingers sink too deeply into her arm.

  “We are almost there,” I assured her.

  What was I doing? What was the point of pulling this human forward? It was clear she was not suited to becoming a recruit. In helping her, I could compromise my own, far greater plan. I did not need to be reprimanded so early in the game; I knew that with enough official reprimands you would be expelled from the Academy.

  Still, I hauled her forward until we reached the training ground. I had hoped we could merge with the back of the group without anyone noticing, but I quickly saw the man in the lead turn to face us.

  He was Ravang, a warrior-like race renowned for their physical strength and resilience. They were also renowned for their inability to forgive.

  Ravang were huge, and Ma’tovan was no different. At eight-foot tall, he towered over most of the other races in the crowd. He had broad, bulging shoulders, and thick black skin punctuated by skeletal ridges. His piercing yellow eyes seemed to glow all the more in contrast to his dark skin.

  “Our two remaining recruits,” he spat, “Finally, you have joined us.”

  “It’s my fault,” Elle began.

  I kept my hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. It was an easy move, and she spluttered a little as she nearly lost her balance.

  She was no doubt about to tell him her excuse. A Ravang would consider an excuse nothing but an insult.

  “We acknowledge we are late. We are prepared to be disciplined,” I remarked.

  And that was it. I didn’t claim innocence, I did not choose to distance myself from Elle. I stood there and maintained eye contact, not with the Ravang, but at a point just under his left shoulder blade.

  He snorted. “You will not be disciplined, yet,” his voice rang on the word yet, “But you have just volunteered.”

  “Oh god,” Elle groaned from behind me.

  She said that phrase too much.

  Before I could point that out, Ma’tovan pointed us forward toward the track at the center of the training ground. It looped around in a circle, and the turf was made of a yellow gel-like substance that I knew could differ in the resistance it gave. Should you fall, it turned soft, should you run, it turned into rock. “This is your first day. This is your orientation,” Ma’tovan’s rigid mouth moved around his words. His voice was guttural and deep. “I will now orient you to the most important fact in the life of a recruit. Danger. If you wish to succeed in your training, you must face it. The Coalition fights many battles. We are under constant threat, no mission is ever safe.”

  I was sure not to make eye contact as I walked toward the track. I did, however, let my eyebrow raise a notch.

  The Coalition did many other things. It did not just fight battles. It studied and protected the cultural heritage of countless systems, it explored, it invented, and yes, it protected. Within the Forces was a security division, yes, but not every recruit would be destined to join it. We would all go through the same undergraduate training program for two years until we specialized.

  “There are races out there that have sworn to destroy us. Forces you will come up against. From Barbarians to Kore assassins to spacers, this galaxy is not safe,” he continued.

  I did not flinch. Not on the outside anyway. At the mention of Spacers, a wave of cold pushed through my chest. The memories returned in a flood, but they did not drown me.

  It was why I was here.

  I couldn’t forget that.

  “Spacers,” a recruit beside me sniggered, “They are a myth.”

  A mistake. Though the recruit was probably sure he was out of earshot, he was apparently unfamiliar with the auditory acuity of a Ravang.

  “I have faced one,” Ma’tovan’s voice dipped low, quiet. It was not a gentle move; it
felt like he was getting ready to pounce. “And I have faced no myth. This galaxy is full of danger, and if you wish to succeed in this program, you must show me you can handle it. If you are not capable, you will only be a liability. I will assess you all over the next five years. If at any point I believe you are unfit, you will be cut from the program.”

  I was aware of Elle as she trembled beside me.

  She would be cut from the program; it was the reasonable conclusion. She clearly had never faced danger, and she clearly was not capable of doing so now. Currently, the prospect of being late to class seemed enough to turn her into a trembling mess.

  I straightened up, hooked my arms behind my back as I had seen many Coalition Academy recruits do before, and I did not shift my gaze from Ma’tovan’s shoulder.

  He turned back to Elle and me. His stiff lips crinkled up into a sneer. “You will run around this track until you are exhausted and you fall. A Coalition Forces crewman will face exhaustion. If you cannot handle it, you will be cut from the program.”

  “Oh my god, he can’t do—” Elle began from behind me.

  I shifted in front of her and cleared my throat loudly, drowning out the rest of her sentence.

  Ma’tovan’s nostrils flared. “Recruit, do you question my orders?”

  “Exhaustion training is a standard element of the recruit program,” I interrupted before Elle could answer.

  Why was I still protecting her?

  I knew she would be cut from the program, and frankly, I thought that would be for the best. She clearly was not capable of performing at the level required. And though I disagreed with Ma’tovan’s methods, I personally understood how dangerous it could be out there in the galaxy. I understood, because I had been responsible for making it that way.

  “Correct, now engage in it. You will run around this track until you drop. You will be given no water, no food. You will start now.”

  I turned from him, nodded low in a standard salute, and began to run. Elle stood there, eyes wide.

  She was clearly horrified. She would also clearly not last long.

  Physically weak and mentally unprepared, I estimated she would only be capable of running around the track ten times before she collapsed.

  The feeling of the air rushing through my hair and pushing against my uniform stilled my mind. The movement of my body, free and of my own choosing, could still cause me elation all these years on. Right now it focused me.

  I needed to calculate how long I should run for. Too much and I would appear unusual, not enough and I would be under threat of being cut.

  I needed to tread a fine line. In order for my plan to succeed, I needed to come out of this program in a position of trust. If I barely graduated, it would be harder to guide the Coalition Forces against my master. If I, on the other hand, gained a reputation for being too competent, I would come to the wrong people’s attention. Questions would be asked. My physiology would be examined.

  Approximately 3.5 hours, without water, at my current speed and, considering the current ambient temperature.

  Once I had completed my calculation, I settled into my gait, allowing my mind to relax.

  I passed her several times. Each time I did, she looked more exhausted than before. Her face was bright red.

  She would not last as long as I had predicted.

  While we ran, Ma’tovan gave other tasks to the remaining recruits. None of them lasted that long, and soon several of them were back on the sidelines, watching us.

  As time wound on, several more appeared.

  It took approximately 32 minutes until Elle fell to one knee and then crumpled.

  She let out a whine as she did.

  Despite the fact she was the Admiral’s daughter, I assumed she would be cut that afternoon.

  With her head hanging low, she all but crawled off the track. Then just before someone reached out to steady her and hand her some water, she turned back to me. “Come on, you can do it,” she cheered, despite the fact she could hardly draw a breath.

  I turned to face her as I ran past.

  “You can do it,” she repeated as she swallowed gulps of her water.

  Why was she cheering for me?

  I ran another lap. She was still there when I returned. In fact, she stayed right there by the side of the track, sitting of course, cheering me on when she could.

  Suffice to say, I did not understand. It was hard to tune her out, but eventually I settled back into my gait.

  As time passed and the day drew on, the temperature increased by at least 5 degrees centigrade. It did not affect me.

  Despite how long I would run for, I would not sweat, and neither would I become dehydrated. Though my people could partake in food and drink, we drew our sustenance from the subspace field. As long as I was connected to it, I could continue. I simply had to be mindful to time myself so I dropped out when it seemed reasonable to do so.

  As the hours drew on, I was mindful of the fact that more and more people returned to the side of the track. Some had gone away only to return.

  Were they bored, had they been ordered there, or was there something entertaining about watching me run?

  Elle had not moved. In fact, her brother had now joined her. He was crouched low next to her. No doubt they were discussing whether her performance would result in her exclusion from the Coalition Academy Training program.

  Though I could fake an injury and pretend to be out of breath, I was limited in how I could display my exhaustion. I could not make my face red, and neither could I sweat.

  I hoped my acting would be good enough to hide these facts. Plus Taskarian biology would be unfamiliar enough that no one would question my apparent lack of symptoms too much.

  At approximately 3:21 I halved my pace. At 3:41 I reduced it again by three-quarters. And finally at exactly 3 hours and 50 minutes, I stopped. I mimicked exactly what Elle had done: I dropped to my knees, hung my head as if I was struggling for breath, and finally turned to face Ma’tovan.

  People started to cheer.

  Elle jumped to her feet, despite the fact she staggered and clapped wildly. “I can’t believe you ran for that long!”

  I took a deliberately shaky step forward.

  Someone rushed up to me and offered me a drink. It was the same recruit who had elbowed me that morning. He now considered me with a wide-eyed look of wonder.

  I took the water.

  “Stop,” Ma’tovan, who had been standing at the side of the track with his colossal arms crossed, stepped forward.

  The crowd’s cheers ceased immediately.

  “You have run for approximately 3 hours and 50 minutes,” he bellowed.

  It had been exactly 3 hours and 50 minutes, but I knew enough not to correct him.

  “In 30-degree heat, with no water, in substantial humidity,” Ma’tovan continued.

  My head ticked to the side as I considered that fact.

  Humidity. I could not feel humidity; temperature was relatively hard for me to detect, let alone humidity. I had not factored it into my analysis.

  I had run far, far too long. I understood why the rest of Team Omega looked so shocked now.

  Humans, Taskarians, any softer race that required water to live … would not have been able to run that long.

  I had just made a grave mistake.

  “You have lasted more than 3 hours longer than your friend.” He nodded down at Elle.

  She was not my friend; I hardly knew her. I did not clarify this fact.

  I waited. What would he do? Would he send me to the medical facilities immediately for some thorough tests? Would he question me as to how a woman of my size and race could last that long in this kind of heat and humidity? Now I understood it was humid – I could see the sweat lingering on nearly everyone else’s brows. Just not on mine.

  I had been very, very stupid.

  I could have just ruined my mission before it even began.

  If I had to, I could immediately do a subsp
ace jump and retreat. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but that escape plan was always a possibility.

  As I hardened myself to what would happen, Ma’tovan smiled. “You’ve passed the exhaustion test, but can you succeed at teamwork?”

  My head ticked to the side in confusion. It was a habit I had picked up in the past four years.

  “If you can run for another 3 hours and 50 minutes, you will save Recruit Elle Singh. If you can’t, she’ll be cut from the program. Only you can give her a second chance.”

  I stared over at Ma’tovan.

  Was he serious?

  I’d been expecting him to order me toward the nearest sickbay at once to undergo invasive biological scans to find out my secret.

  Elle sucked in a deep breath and snapped to her feet. “You can’t make her do that; she’s exhausted!”

  “I can do as I see fit. I am your commanding officer, and I am carrying out the training program of the Coalition Forces.” He turned his attention back to me. “This is your decision, Recruit Em. Will you push past your exhaustion to save a fellow recruit?”

  I understood what he was doing. While handling exhaustion was no doubt necessary training for the Coalition Forces, teamwork was more important. If you could not push past your own pain to save another, you had no place aboard a ship full of crew.

  Space was unforgiving. Unless you looked out for each other, you did not live.

  “It’s your decision,” Ma’tovan repeated.

  The track had suddenly become very quiet. All eyes were on me.

  I still held onto the water I’d been handed. I understood implicitly that if I took a sip, I would forfeit the challenge and Elle would be cut.

  She deserved to be cut.

  “Don’t do this, you don’t have to do this for me.” She shook her head, her cheeks still red. She had a mop of curly, red-brown hair that fell across her face.

  She seemed sincere. I had been manipulated and controlled for centuries; I knew how to spot it.

  I also understood that I was her only chance.

  She was not Coalition Forces material, so my decision should have been an easy one.

  She looked up at me. Her eyes shifted, and they filled with tears. “It’s okay. Take your drink. Don’t go out there for me. You’re exhausted.”

  I wavered. I’d seen that look so many times before.

  I had never been able to make a difference in the past.

  This choice, however, was up to me. No one else controlled my legs or my mind.

  But if I chose to continue my run, would I not seem even more incredible? Wouldn’t everyone’s suspicions run wild at why I was capable of such physical feats?

  “Recruit,” Ma’tovan snapped, “Don’t just stand there. You have ten seconds to make your decision.”

  She should be cut. I should not add to the suspicions people no doubt already held.

  I took a step back and placed the glass on the ground.

  This decision should have been an easy one. There was only one reasonable choice, only one path that would further my ultimate goal. And yet despite that, I did the one thing I should not have, and I turned and continued to run.

  As soon as I did everyone erupted into cheers.

  I could have run all day and into the night, but I didn’t have to. As soon as I had made it another five laps, Ma’tovan marched onto the track and snapped at me to stop. The challenge was over, apparently, and I had passed.

  Everyone cheered.

  I had never been cheered before. I’d heard screams of terror and despair, but never anything like this.

  Elle ran up to me and looped her arms around my neck, even though she had to jump to reach.

  “Oh my god, thank you, thank you, thank you, I can’t believe you did that!” She screamed in my ear.

  It was lucky I was not human. Otherwise her shrieks would have caused considerable pain.

  “Wow.” Jason walked up to me and handed me a water canister.

  Then the rest of the crowd flooded forward.

  I realized that I should not stand; a person undergoing my level of supposed exhaustion should collapse, so I made my way to my knees in an appropriately jerky fashion.

  Instantly Jason leaned forward and cupped my arm. “Steady there, don’t want to do yourself an injury. We should get a medical scanner out here,” he said louder.

  “Singh,” Ma’tovan stalked up behind him, “If you are finished giving orders to my recruits, I will take over from here.”

  “Ha, ah, sorry, Lieutenant.” Jason snapped a salute.

  “Medical scanner,” Ma’tovan roared, and his baritone voice shook twice as loud as Jason’s had.

  I sat there on the track until Ma’tovan ordered the rest of the recruits to back off and head to their dormitories for a tour. Though I could have joined them, I stayed there until a medical officer darted out to us, ran some scans, and declared I was fine.

  At that point, I was more than thankful for my subcutaneous device. Not only would it confuse all sensors into thinking I was a Taskarian, I could manipulate it to give the physical readings I chose. I could force it to show that my double Taskarian heart was beating at three times the usual pace, that my body was dehydrated, and that I was suffering from all the appropriate exhaustion symptoms. Nothing that would require intervention, but something appropriate for the situation.

  “For someone who has run for 4 hours in this heat,” the medical officer shuffled around in her case, “You are holding up fine. Taskarians must be hardier than I thought.” She grabbed up a device and pushed it against my neck. It released something into my system.

  My subcutaneous device would eliminate it immediately but would show the appropriate readings that it was working.

  “I … used to be a marathon runner,” I lied.

  “Oh.” The medical officer nodded. “That makes a lot of sense.”

  “Marathon runner, ha?” Jason Singh was still by my side. “We could use you on our track team.”

  “I’m so happy you’re okay.” Elle grabbed my wrist and shook it warmly.

  I reacted immediately. I jerked it back.

  It was automatic. Anything closing around my wrist reminded me of only one thing.

  I practically tugged her off her feet. Her brother had to rush forward to stop her from falling over.

  The medical officer doubled back, surprised.

  They all looked to me for an explanation.

  “I apologize … I have scars there, they are painful,” the admission was honest enough. When I had pulled my bracelets off almost four years ago, it had not been an easy task. They had been connected to me; tendrils had lodged through my skin, traveling up my arms and throughout the rest of my body.

  Pulling them out had been anguish, and it had almost killed me.

  Though the rest of my body had healed, my wrists never would. Those tendrils had been lodged in them for 450 years. They had done their damage.

  Now I was left with scars that ran the diameter of my wrist, with deep pockmarks interspersed at even angles.

  I often wore long sleeves to hide them. I had, however, already come to terms with the fact I would not be able to hide them forever. They could be explained away anyway.

  I pulled back my sleeve and revealed them to the medical officer. “I sustained them in a subspace field accident. The matter around them is unstable, and cannot be healed,” I clarified quickly before she could point out a simple dermal regeneration paste could fix them up, “The instability cannot spread, but I must live with the scars.”

  With that, I rose to my feet.

  The medical officer followed, gaze locked on my wrist. “Sounds nasty. I’ve only treated a few subspace field injuries in the past, and it’s never turned out well.”

  “I was fortunate enough to sustain my injury on a Taskarian transport. My people are adept at dealing with these injuries.” I pulled my sleeve down.

  No one challenged me. They all, apart from Ma’tovan, looked s
ympathetic.

  “I’m so sorry for touching your wrist, I didn’t know.” Elle put her hands up, and she crushed her bottom lip between her teeth. “I really hope I didn’t hurt you.”

  “It’s irrelevant.” I turned back to the medical officer. “Am I fit to leave?”

  “By the look of your scans, you’re fit to run at least another two laps. But I really don’t suggest it, Recruit; you’ve got to leave some reserves for the rest of your training. If you ever have any trouble with your subspace injuries, come and see me and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Actually, there is something.” I half turned from her to Ma’tovan. “I request leave, if it is possible, not to wear a wrist device. I would prefer something higher up the arm.”

  The medical officer responded first. She smiled through a laugh. “I reckon we could do that for you.”

  “It is not standard procedure,” Ma’tovan began.

  “The electromagnetic interference from our wrist devices would disrupt her injury. I’ll get your medical leave signed, and I’ll let the guys in the armory know you’ll need something different. Good luck, Recruit.” With that, she walked off.

  Apparently, the discussion was over, because Ma’tovan did not argue. He did, however, snap at Elle and me that we had to head to the 2nd Dormitory to be assigned our quarters immediately.

  He walked off.

  That had gone better than I had expected. No one, to my knowledge, suspected me of anything other than being a hardened Taskarian marathon runner with an old subspace injury.

  I went to jog to our next destination.

  Immediately, Elle stepped in beside me and looped her arm carefully around my arm, careful not to touch my wrist.

  “You must be exhausted. Let me help you, it’s the least I can do.” She smiled up at me.

  Her cheeks were still flushed. Her breathing had not yet fully returned to a calm rate. It had been over four hours since she had stopped exerting herself.

  And yet she had stepped to my side to offer me help.

  I did not understand her. Yet I let her help me toward the 2nd Dormitory.