Page 7 of Nova Academy

‘Cadets, at attention!’ he shouted, tension running through his muscles and causing veins to pulse in his neck and forehead.

They obeyed, albeit sluggishly, which seemed to rachet the captain’s blood pressure even higher. His face was turning a variety of distinct colours, from pink, to red, and now purple. This wasn’t going to go well.

‘I said,at attention!’

His anger and frustration seemed to snap the sleepy cadets out of their stupor, a few staring at him wide-eyed with alarm.

‘Let me make one thing clear,’ the captain began, his voice low and deadly. ‘You work on my timeline, not yours. You do as I say, when I say it, andpromptly. Understood?’

‘Yes, sir!’ they called, each and every one of them now fully awake with rigid postures.

‘Another demerit for the lot of you,’ snapped the captain, and I caught sight of Bromm and Foryk. Bromm’s throat working as he gulped and Foryk’s scowl deepened further.

‘Now, each Cadet Corporal is standing in order of your bunk assignments. There have been some changes. Find your corresponding Cadet Corporal and line up in front of them.’

Bromm noticed me first, so he grabbed Foryk’s wrist and dragged him along towards me. Both saw we were a man short when our line did not match the length of the others, and they shot me a questioning look. I merely held their gaze and awaited further instruction from the captain.

The two officers who had entered with Captain Hironimus, and whom had previously been standing to the side without any obvious task to perform, stepped off the raised stage and went straight to the lines with an additional person. After a quick conversation followed by some tapping on a holo-tab, one member from those teams moved towards those of us with an incomplete team.Still, I kept my gaze forward and focussed on Bromm and Foryk. At least until that open space was filled.

But it seemed I had traded one unwanted roommate for another, because he was none other than the silver-haired man from the gate.

CHAPTER 4

Dorian

Iwasn’t one for extreme displays of emotion, but I felt like the universe was at my fingertips ready for the taking. All I wanted to do was jump about and squeal like my sisters did whenever they got excited. Obviously, I refrained, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t doing a little victory dance in my head.

I couldn’t wait to talk with my family and let them know I’d received my first promotion on day one. Out of the two hundred and forty cadets here, only sixty of us had managed that feat, and I was beyond ecstatic. And all I’d had to do was walk through a door to eat a meal. I couldn’t understand how the other hundred-and-eighty cadets had already received two demerits –two! –when all that was asked of us was to follow. That was the gist of all his instructions so far, simply tofollow.

As I stood with my team lined up in front of me, I took the time to study them. They were an unusual bunch, each one a mutt, just like me, though everyone presented differently. I had a feeling these mutts weren’t as genetically diverse as myself, probably born from two pure-bred parents of different races. Two clearly had a Terran parent, but the last was very clearly a Griknot-Yu’Rom mix. Pointed ears and pale features combined with the beard of tentacles that were very much Griknot, though his seemed to be thinner than a pure-bred’s. It didn’t detract from the appeal I was sure captured the attention of those he came in contact with. Anyone with Griknot blood was notoriously amorous, and with good reason. I had never slept with a Griknot male, my sexual preferences leaning fully towards women, but I had overheard friends gossiping about the experience and, even if my knowledge was purely second-hand, their beards were a pleasurable wonder. My experience withwomen of Griknot descent was extraordinary to say the least. Definitely a favourite pastime.

Captain Hironimus’ voice broke through my thoughts with more instructions. ‘Holo-tabs will be available to team leaders. Cadet Corporals, it will be your responsibility to ensure that your team is on time, presentable, and obedient. Your failures and your team’s failures, and the whole team will receive a demerit. If you obtain ten demerits, you will automatically be demoted.

‘You will receive your orders through the holo-tab. Each team will alternate between assignments, shifts and classes. You will begin your formal training today. Your teams are now cemented for the duration of your military careers, so get used to seeing these faces indefinitely.

‘You will succeed as a team, or you will fail as a team. Trust is paramount. Use this time wisely to get to know one another before the real work begins. Understood?’

The entire room was shouted their confirmation which seemed to please the captain enough to lighten the load on his shoulders. Literally. His shoulders visibly relaxed as he gazed upon us, examining us with a keen, critical eye.

‘For the benefit of those who’s bunk assignments have been altered, you will have the rest of the morning to get properly settled. Your individual uniforms should have already arrived in your rooms this morning. Cadet Corporals, please keep a look out for an alert on your holo-tabs regarding your first assignments. Dismissed.’

Everyone began to converge at the doors, coming to a halt as the narrow opening was unable to accommodate so many trying to exit at once. I hung back, my team staying by my side like good soldiers as we waited for the bottleneck to disperse. Our neighbours hung back as well. The unusual man from the bunk next to mine was focused solely on his team, who casually settled around him as they waited for the foot traffic to clear. After hisreaction to me last night and this morning, I decided to make a little game of it, to see how awkward I could make him feel. Or maybe not awkward. I didn’t want to scare the man off. Perhaps I should just try to make him blush. Yeah, I liked that.

It amused me immensely whenever he blushed bright red and averted his gaze, as if I were shining sunlight directly out of my ass and he couldn’t bear to look directly at me. No one had ever reacted to me so strongly before. It was an amazing ego boost. I was curious what it was about me that had him so cowed. He was a thin man, not much muscle to him that I could see, but his movements were lithe and graceful enough to indicate a hidden strength beneath the cloth. He seemed particularly antisocial, I had yet to see him interact with anyone beyond formalities, and I wondered if he was even capable of behaving casually or if formal was his default setting.

An odd fellow, that one, but amusing all the same.

Sweet under all that sour.

The captain and his support officers watched the melee for a while, getting visibly more irritated the longer the traffic jam continued. I didn’t blame him. Military life was orderly and functioned like a well-oiled machine. Situations like this just didn’t happen. The deeper those wrinkles between their brows became, the harder they ground their teeth, and the higher their shoulders rose, the more ashamed I was of my association with them. They may have been rich, but that did not make up for their lack of brain cells.

That shame brought a heat to my cheeks that didn’t go unnoticed. My team cast me furtive looks, equally as appalled and just as antsy to remove themselves from the scene. Beside my team our neighbours stood stoically. Watching. Waiting. They seemed to be taking a page out of their Cadet Corporal’s book and were not only physically distancing themselves from the majority, but mentally as well. They, too, did not look particularly impressed byour peers.

Captain Hironimus’ piercing glare roved over us a moment later, processing how our two teams had disconnected from the rest, patiently (at least outwardly) awaiting our turn to leave. Something passed behind his eyes, and then he gave a decisive nod and beckoned us over. We approached, unheeded by those still struggling to exit through the doors we came in.

‘There is a staff elevator on the other side of the mess hall. It is typically reserved for ranking officers, but you might never leave this room otherwise, so I will permit your use of it this once,’ he offered, and I was taken aback by his act of kindness. He gave off a gruff, no-nonsense aura, so his extension of kindness took me completely off guard.

I prided myself on my ability to read people, to study them in order to determine their behaviours and predict their reactions. It wasn’t often I misread someone. Or perhaps I hadn’t misread him entirely. He was definitely gruff and strict, but he was more than his rank and title. He was a man under that crisply pressed uniform decorated with all those buffed-to-shine medals. A person. I resolved to adjust my perspective of him to fit.

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