Page 33 of Nova Academy

‘Okay, but what about tonight?’ asked Bromm. ‘We might be able to squeeze us all in here, but it would be a tight fit and not very comfortable.’

‘You make a valid point, but let’s contact the captain before making any more plans. We can decide what to do once we know where we’re sleeping tonight,’ Dorian conceded.

‘I can do that,’ Arty offered. The fact that he was participating in the conversation gave me hope that he’d pull through the funkhe’d been in since his chat with Brin. I wanted the Arty back that I’d started to know. It wouldn’t do to have the both of us sulking.

‘Perfect. While you’ve got that covered, let’s talk watch shifts,’ Dorian continued.

CHAPTER 16

Alexander

My announcement earlier had been necessary under the law, but that didn’t mean I was ignorant to the emotions it would stir amongst my crew. What I hadn’t accounted for was the blatant disregard to expected respectful behaviours from the cadets. They had not only attempted to assault their peers but had actively made the biggest mess I had ever seen in on my ship. Battles notwithstanding.

That was why I stood at the back of the room, flanked by Jorna who mirrored my stance while Markus watched from the door to the kitchens radiating disapproval. Arms crossed, brows drawn, lips pursed, angry glare. Complete and utter disappointment at the cadets under my command. They’d learn. By the stars, I would make them.

Everyone that was present during the incident was on their hands and knees, scrubbing at the mess they’d made. Moreover, since they thought it was acceptable to waste food in the middle of space would soon discover the extent of their idiocy when they wouldn’t have any. Well, it was illegal for me to withhold essential nutrients for those under my care, but that didn’t mean I had to let them like it.

Packed with essential nutrients, filling and cheap, nutrient bars were also bland, hard as a rock, chewy and difficult to swallow. Anyone who’d been on a covert mission or was running low on supplies knew the horror of living off Nutri-bars, but the newbies had yet to experience it. They were in for a shock, and I was looking forward to it.

My holo-tab pinged at my waist, alerting me of an incoming message. With one last glare at the pitiful excuse of cadets, I pulledit out to check. It was a request for an audience by none other than Arthur Mercer, and I had an inkling what it was about.

I turned to address my first lieutenant. ‘Jorna, I have something else I need to attend to. Will you be okay keeping an eye on these idiots with Markus?’

‘Of course, captain.’ She hadn’t always been aloof with me. After what she’d been through two solars ago she had retreated within herself and had yet to emerge. The only person she had really opened up to in recent solars was Markus, and that was only because he’d badgered her until she cracked. The change was slight but significant. He was good for her.

She saluted me as I walked by, and I ignored the formal gesture. I had stopped telling her off for it ages ago, my complaints bouncing right off her impenetrable walls. Instead, I just pretended like she wasn’t behaving as if we hadn’t studied and graduated the academy together or spent our entire military careers in one another’s company.

As I made my way down to the room I had embarrassed myself so thoroughly in only last week, I fought hard against the echoes of my emotions from that moment. It would probably haunt me forever, how I’d not only traversed the height of my ship in my underwear but exposed myself in such inappropriately informal attire in front of all those young men. Addy still laughed about it when we were together. I’m sure she had a little giggle to herself when we weren’t together, too.

Even so, I couldn’t help but double check my pants were indeed on my body before I knocked on their door.

No bare legs today.

It was lucky that it was standard issue for the doors on IU ships to revert into the walls, otherwise there wouldn’t have been any space for ittoopen. Crammed inside the small room were both teams. There wasn’t enough space for them all to sit, so despite the smallest boys sharing the bottom bunks and two more layingin the narrow space available on the top bunks, Foryk, Cadmus and Dorian remained standing. They separated to provide visibility for the others in the room, but there wasn’t any space for me to squeeze in. Instead, I stayed just outside, filling up the doorway with my own bulky frame.

I cleared my throat when no one greeted me. ‘Cadet Corporal Mercer, you requested an audience with me?’

The man in question leaned forward from his position on a bottom bunk, peering around the bodies but unable to stand. ‘Yes, sir, we wanted to request a different room. A larger one to fit us all, if there’s one available.’

Huh. That wasn’t what I had been expecting, but the concerns over their safety at night were one of the reasons I had assigned them a security detail. I hadn’t thought the situation would escalate to this degree already, though, and kicked myself for not thinking of it. ‘There aren’t many rooms on this ship with the capacity to house more than four people at a time, but I can try to find a solution. It’ll need some finagling, but it’s a good idea. Let me look into it,’ I agreed.

I still hadn’t gotten much further with it, but I had managed to apprehend that cadets that lied about Hastings’ involvement. I was keeping them in the room I’d originally used to hold Hastings, taking turns with Jorna to interrogate them. So far they had admitted that they lied about the unsub’s identity, but also that he had threatened them into silence. They’d refused to talk after that, too afraid of the real culprit to risk his wrath.

It was unfortunate and frustrating, their collective silence halting the investigation, but there was nothing else to do.

Another issue was the brother of the victim, Katira. He was afraid the unsub would attack her again. However, I got the feeling that the siblings knew him on a more personal level. Both of them far more afraid than if he were a stranger. I could sense they knew more than they were willing to tell, but I couldn’t force someone totalk when they didn’t want to.

Either way, the result was the same. No one was giving me any new information, and I was getting nowhere in my search for the truth.

What Icoulddo was rehome the cadets that had somehow gotten caught up in this mess. It would at least give us all some peace of mind that no one would track them to these rooms, which if this evening’s events were any indication would occur sooner or later. If I could prevent it, or at the very least postpone the inevitable, I would.

Unfortunately, the only room I could have housed them in was the empty suite on my floor that was currently in use by my prisoners. The only other option would be to kick someone out or keep them in my own suite.

Actually…

I sent a message to the one person I trusted above all else and waited for her arrival.

She didn’t leave me waiting long. Addy came running down the corridor in a streak of bright pink as she skidded to a stop in front of me. She didn’t stop in time and ended up crashing into me, but I steadied us. I took the opportunity to enjoy the way she pressed against me for a beat before releasing her.

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