Page 82 of Nova Academy

‘How long have you been waiting out there?’ I asked with a chortle. The image of him standing outside with all that food, staring at his holo-tab as he waited for me to give him permission to enter was both sweet and ridiculous. But he always had been two steps ahead of everyone else. He spent most of his life figuring out how things would play out and then waiting for everyone else to catch up.

His shoulders touched his ears before he dropped them again, a goofy smile on his face as he handed out lunch to every officer on the bridge. At least he had come prepared.

‘So what have you been blowing up my holo-tab for this morning?’ I asked when we were seated and working our way through his exceptional cooking.

‘Ah, right,’ he said, as if he had forgotten. I could guarantee he was simply waiting for me to bring it up first.

He produced a small envelope from his pocket, glanced around the room to check no one was watching, then handed it over to me. I frowned when I saw the wax seal on the back, pressed with the colonel’s insignia: three stars in the shape of a triangle.

‘What…?’ I began, my stomach dropping. The last time I had received one of these was when I had been sidelined to babysitting duty at the academy.

‘My instructions were to give that to you before we landed,’ Markus informed me, but I wasn’t really listening. My ears had gone funny and there was a sharp ringing. My chest constricted.

‘What’s in it?’ I asked, my voice uncharacteristically small.

‘Don’t know. Wasn’t my job to read it, just deliver it,’ he said nonchalantly, as if my entire existence wasn’t about to be turned upside down.Again. ‘You need to open it before we dock. That much I do know.’

I nodded numbly.

Realising I wasn’t going to be much fun now, he rose and clapped me on the back as he exited the bridge, taking his trolley full of plates with him. I sat there, staring at thatfuckingwax seal, dreading what I was going to find inside. But I didn’t have the luxury of taking a longer break. Lunch was just about over, and then it was back to trying to prevent a catastrophic collision between my ship and a metalfuckingplanet.

I didn’t think I had ever hated Nova Station as much as I did in that moment. Nothing good had happened there since before I’d graduated, and everything since had been one shitshow after the other.

I refused to give myself any more time to postpone the inevitable, so I tore at the envelope, the wax chipping and flying in different directions from the aggression within the action. Then I yanked the letter out, unfolded it, and began to read.

This letter is addressed to one CAPTAIN ALEXANDER HIRONIMUS.

I am writing to inform you that your presence is required upon your arrival on Nova Station. A meeting is being held in which your attendance is mandatory. An officer will be waiting to collect you at the gate.

Sincerely,

Colonel Granger

This was not good. It was an exact replica of the letter I had received after the mess with The Program mission. The one that led to the meeting where I was reamed out by my commanding officer, tossed off the mission and replaced while I was informed I was to instruct at Nova Academy or end my career.

Nothing good ever came from a sealed letter from the colonel. Especially when it contained a summons.

Physical letters were a rarely used form of communication, but they were necessary under the threat of hackers. Enemies from all over, including outside the Intergalactic Union, possessed the capability to hack into our servers and take whatever information they pleased. With the right skills and equipment, of course, which meant it didn’t happen all too often, but the threat was still present. So to counteract this, letters were written and delivered when sensitive information was being exchanged.

With such a vague letter, whatever information the colonel wished to impart on me was definitely too sensitive to be sent via holo-tab, and that also meant I was probably in deep shit.

The deepest of shit.

I stuffed the letter into my breast pocket, uncaring of the way it wrinkled. It didn’t help me feel better, but it was the only outlet I had right then.

The landing went as smoothly as could be expected. There were some miscommunications between us and Nova Station, making the docking a little bumpy, but we all survived in one piece.

The cadets had already been informed during morning announcements that they would be required to stay in their rooms until further notice. Mercer and Ituk’s teams were all in Addy’s old room, both to keep them together and to avoid any questions in case I ended up entertaining a higher official in my quarters.The prospect of my dismissal and what that would mean for them now loomed over my head like a dark cloud, but there was no point in concerning myself with the matter now. Everything that I could have done for them had been done, and I wouldn’t learn the purpose of the meeting with the colonel until it happened.

I should probably tell Addy,I thought to myself. She knew I was going to be busy today with the docking and welcoming the IU law enforcement on board, but now that I was leaving the ship I didn’t want to leave her without letting her know what was going on.

Maybe I wouldn’t tell hereverything, though. I didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily.

I didn’t have much time before I had to be at the hangar to greet the police, but I rushed down to deck two to catch Addy while I had the chance. Her workshop was like an entirely different room when I entered, the place clearer and more organised than even yesterday. I might have to hunt down the cadets that had assisted in the efforts to thank them personally.

Addy was by her table in the back corner, new piles starting to surround her, but at least the table was mostly empty besides what she was currently working on. Hunched over and hyper-focused, she didn’t notice me enter.

‘Addy,’ I called to grab her attention. She startled with a jump, twisting around to see who had called her name and knocking over the surrounding piles in the process. She winced at the new mess but brightened when she saw me.

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