Chương 7: They Also Serve

Academy Hill, Vidako Imperium Stellarum August 13, 2847"Come on, Rain, you can do it," Cassie urged her bunkmate. She wasn't particularly enthusiastic about stripping down to the plain gray underwear the academy had provided them either, but the Alu'kan girl was trembling.

"Maybe we can ask for an exception," Vee said. She was standing at the front of their little group of three, while Cassie brought up the back, so that Rain was sandwiched between them.

"We've already seen how much they care about making exceptions," Cassie grumbled. She was still nursing a grudge over the fact that Cadet Lynstan-Hanigata had flat out refused to even consider moving the LeShaii, C'rise, to a different room. To be fair, the psycher had been just as upset, if for her own reasons.

"The Alu'kan's thoughts are like spikes driven through my eyes," C'rise had railed, without much apparent concern for how the girl in question felt.

"You can't expect me to sleep, study, or live with a mind like hers!" It had all seemed rather hysterical, Cassie thought. Her own reasoning, on the other hand, had been utterly practical, and not based on her personal feelings at all.

"As a member of the Imperial Family, I have security clearances and access to sensitive information that she isn't cleared for," Cassie had explained.

"It's my responsibility to safeguard that information. I could be legally culpable if it's leaked. And I have no way of knowing what a psycher is pulling from my mind." And yet, faced with both entreaties, the RA had done little more than roll her eyes—while petting Flopsy with one hand.

"You can try to go above my head to the commandant," Karisa Lynstan-Hanigata had said, while they all stood in her room. Her single occupancy RA room, where she didn't have to put up with anyone sharing her space at all, except for a shadow-rabbit.

"But I can already tell you what Captain Marlowe is going to say," the older woman had continued.

"It's going to be the same thing she tells everyone who thinks they've got some special reason they need to change roommates.

'Personal conflicts are your responsibility to solve. As a part of fleet, you need to be able to work and live with anyone you are assigned to. Figure it out.' And she'll issue you demerits for wasting her time." Which was utter junk, because Cassie was willing to bet that neither the commandant, nor Karisa Lynstan-Hanigata had ever been forced to sleep in the same room as someone who could read their mind.

None of which helped them convince Rain to get ready for her examinations, or made Cassie feel any less angry.

"I'll snag the RA," Vee said, leaning out of line.

"She's right over there." The Torean girl waved her hands energetically. Unlike Cassie and the other women, she was bare-chested. It was a bit jarring, but Toreans weren't mammals, so they didn't have breasts, or even nipples—though a few had been known to get implants, for cosmetic purposes. There really wasn't any reason for her to wear anything, and she certainly didn't seem at all self-conscious.

"Well, if it isn't the three musketeers again," Karisa Lynstan-Hanigata grumbled, making her way over.

"Where's D'Artagnon?" Her shadow-rabbit hopped along at her feet, his nose bent to occasionally snuffle along the ground.

"Rain isn't comfortable undressing until she's in private," Cassie explained. Cadet Lynstan-Hanigata looked over the Alu'kan girl and sighed.

"Cadet Makani, I understand why you have a hard time, but you need to get over it right now. There's a reason we do this. The moment you stepped onto campus, your body became imperial property, and we will do with it what the emperor demands. Part of that is breaking you of whatever body-image hang-ups or self-consciousness you have. You don't get to wait for a female doctor when your leg gets torn off by a bad ejection seat launch. No one cares what kind of plumbing you've got in your pants."

Rain, however, hunched her shoulders and curled further in on herself.

"If you can't do this," Lynstan-Hanigata continued, "you wash out. And trust me, there's a lot worse coming. Look." Her voice softened.

"If you get your clothes off and into the tray, I'll let you hold Flopsy while you go through the line. How does that sound?" The shadow-rabbit's ears perked up, and he lifted his nose, then hopped over to press up against Rain's leg. Carefully, he rose up on his hind legs until he could reach her dangling hand with his head and pressed his nose into her hand. Then, to Cassie's surprise, he began to purr.

Rain's head gave more of a jerk than a nod, and she bent over just long enough to scoop the shadow-rabbit up into her arms and clutch him to her chest. Between Cassie and Vee, they helped her out of her boots and pants and transferred the rabbit just long enough to get the top of Rain's uniform off before handing the creature back. Cassie had a pretty good idea of what the problem was, even if she didn't know the specifics—and she wouldn't ask, not until Rain opened up on her own.

But it was clear the girl had been through something that left her thoroughly traumatized, and the fact that Senator Catalina was the one who'd sent her pretty much spelled it out—because Dorotea Catalina's pet issue was helping victims of trafficking. Her eyes drifted over to the other line, where the boys shuffled forward in their gray shorts. Pika, Arc's massive roommate, was easy to find, a little bit ahead. Just as she'd thought, Arc was in line right behind him.

Next to the boys who'd trained their bodies for years before they came to the academy, he was skinny and pale, and Cassie could tell that he was self-conscious. He kept his head fixed straight ahead as if afraid to look at the girls, and because she was behind him, he wouldn't have seen her even if he had glanced over. At least, she thought, he was doing better than Rain.

𝝮"Everyone gets the Morenan Pox vaccine," the orderly insisted, hypodermic needle clutched in her grasp as if she were only two seconds away from stabbing Cassie with it, like some primitive sacrificial dagger.

"You need to check your records." Cassie sighed. She was covered in dried sweat from all the physical tests they made her take, and it was all she could do not to rub her left arm and her rear from the vaccinations she'd already had.

"I have a Type IV toxin-neutralizing protein modification, direct from Morena, because that's where my family is from. Your vaccine won't help me, it'll only screw things up." The orderly frowned and grabbed the file packet that Cassie had been forced to lug from one station to the next.

"What was your name again, cadet?" she asked. Cassie hated doing it, but she didn't see any choice.

"Cascada Vega Sabran-Solaris," she said, letting a bit of her frustration leak out.

"I've probably got the most heavily modified DNA you're going to see all day, and I know what's in me better than you do. Clearly. So, I'm not going to let you mess me up."

"Is there a problem here?" a man's voice broke in, and Cassie turned to see a cadet with second class insignia on his lapel walk into the room, wearing a white coat over his gray academy-issued shirt. He was tall—taller than Cassie, with broad shoulders and piercing eyes.

"The problem is that taking that shot will mess with my genetics," Cassie said, turning to face him head on. She'd have preferred to be wearing something other than her underwear while doing it, but the RA had told them to get over themselves, so she was determined to do just that.

"Let me see her paperwork," the young man said, and leafed through half a dozen pages before nodding.

"She's right. No vaccine for this one—I'll sign off on it myself."

"If you say so," the orderly grumbled.

"If Doctor Seung hears about this —" Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"I'll tell her myself, and if she has a problem, it will be with me," the cadet said.

"Move along, Cadet Solaris."

"Yes, sir," Cassie said. She accepted her paperwork back, threw it on top of her clothes and her tray, and stepped through the door into the next station. To her surprise, the older cadet moved along after her.

"My apologies for that," he said.

"You've got the kind of genetics we've only ever seen here once or twice before."

"You've never seen genes like mine before," Cassie shot back.

"Because no one except for my brother and I have them."

"Fair enough." He smiled and extended a hand.

"Cadet Second Class Fletcher Radecki. I minor in battlefield medicine and TA for Doctor Seung, which is why I'm helping out today, and why I was able to smooth that over for you."

"Thank you, sir," Cassie said, juggling her tray into her left hand so that she could return the handshake.

"Not a problem, Cadet," Radecki said.

"Have them call me if there are any more problems, please. In fact, here—take my contact information in case you have any medical issues while you're at the academy." He released her hand with a smile, then pulled a tablet out of his coat pocket, unfolded it, and sent her his contact information. From within the tray, her own tablet vibrated. That done, he turned and left. Thankfully, that was the last problem she had.

By the time Cassie was finally dressed and dismissed, she had a new cover sheet attached to the top of her file, which she took a moment to look over before she turned the entire package in. Nothing there was a surprise: she'd been working toward the academy long enough to know exactly what they tracked. The numbers weren't quite as good as she wanted them to be—not yet.

Cardiac Health: 64th percentile Cognitive Processing Speed: 69th percentile Hand-Eye Coordination: 97th percentile Reflexes: 93rd percentile Spatial Intelligence: 66th percentile Strength: 47th percentile G-Force Tolerance (Head to Toe): 5.

5 Gs Genetic Modifications: Enhanced Coordination, Health, Intelligence and Reflexes; Enhanced NMDA Receptors; Hyper-Efficient Brain Flush; Toxin Neutralizing Protein For one thing, she knew that the moment the academy implanted her neural lace, that Cognitive Processing Speed entry would jump dramatically. And while she'd begged her parents to let her start a serious regimen of g-force training years ago, they'd insisted that she wait until she was at the academy.

Veteran pilots could pull as much as nine gravities without losing consciousness, Cassie knew, beyond grav field compensation, and that was where she wanted to be. After one last glance, she handed the packet to the waiting corpsman, and got dressed using one of the cheap, stackable chairs that had been provided. Vee and Rain were already long gone—Cassie assumed that neither one of them had been forced to argue over their vaccinations. As she was getting her boots on, C'rise stepped into the room and paused.

"I'll be out in a moment," Cassie said, wiggling her toes and getting her heel in place. Those eerie pink eyes examined her, and then the psycher spoke.

"I will not pry into your mind without permission. I can assure you of that. It is one of the agreements my people made in order to join the Imperium."

"I know," Cassie grunted and got to her feet.

"Of course I know that. Do you understand how many dinner table debates I sat through about the LeShaii, and what kind of new laws the senate was going to have to pass to deal with you? But here's the thing. I've got nothing but your word to go on, and I don't know you." She turned her back on the other woman and headed for the door, ducking out before the conversation could go any further.

As she hurried away from the infirmary, Cassie pulled her tablet out and swiped away the notification that a contact had been shared. Instead, she pulled up a map of the campus, so that she could find her way back to Tycho Hall in time for lunch. But just as she tasked the GPS system to provide her a path, the tablet vibrated again with another notification.

"Report to Commandant Marlowe's office," Cassie read out loud. Thankfully, the message included a location, and once she clicked on it the tablet began pathing automatically. She walked quickly, taking one turn after the next along the paved paths which ran beneath the oddly colored, native trees, and the Terran varieties which had been modified to survive beneath the orange-red light of the local binary stars. The commandant's office was in the administrative building—Montalban Hall.

It was also enormous, with floor to ceiling windows, carefully calibrated air conditioning, a plush wall to wall carpet, and a long table of polished oak upon which two places had been set, complete with silver and china. A covered platter at the center of the table awaited, and Cassie's belly rumbled at the scent of spiced and cooked meat, but she snapped a salute as neatly as she could and stood to attention.

"Cadet Fourth Class Sabran-Solaris reporting as ordered, sir," Cassie declared.

"At ease, and have a seat, cadet," Commandant Marlowe instructed.

"I won't be able to offer you any of the wine, my apologies for that. But once I realized I'd be cutting into your mess time, I thought it was only fair to have a second-place set." Marlowe took one chair, lifted the lid of the dish, and revealed some sort of roast that Cassie couldn't quite place.

"Leatherback. The local herding herbivore," Marlowe explained, as she sliced off a thin portion of meat.

"You should look up a picture, when you have a chance—they're rather odd. Adapted to get at the canopy, like a Terran giraffe or elephant. The local tree cats take them down all the same, though." Cassie did her best not to fidget.

"With your permission, sir, I was under the impression that I wouldn't receive any special treatment while I'm here."

"I'm afraid that we don't always get what we want, cadet," the commandant said.

"Take a seat. I won't send you on to the rest of your day hungry. I presume you're aware of the local duke?" Cassie grimaced, glared at the place which had been set for her, and then violently jerked the chair out and settled into it.

"Alvarez Velasco Montalban, cadet branch of the Montalban family. Married to Nicté Lucia Montalban, which was a bit of a scandal when it happened, from what I've been told. The heir is Santiago Xavier, and there's a younger sister—Itzia." She hated that she knew all of that, but reeled the information off easily.

"Excellent—though I'd have been disappointed if you didn't have at least some grasp of local politics," Marlowe said, putting a slice of meat on Cassie's plate.

"Less the politics than the names," Cassie said.

"The only thing really worth paying attention to in this system is the academy, and the duke isn't in charge of it."

"Something that drives him to no end of frustration, I assure you," the commandant said, placing the serving fork down.

"Go ahead and eat. The seaweed is local, and the rice is a genetically engineered breed, but the taste isn't too different."

"Duke Alvarez resents the fact that neither the space elevator, nor the academy, are located in his capital," Captain Marlowe continued. Cassie couldn't help but frown.

"They couldn't be. The elevator has to be on the equator, and New Toledo is too far north."

"You know that, I know that, and Alvarez Montalban knows that," Marlowe said.

"But that doesn't mean he has to like it. The duke would prefer that his capital remain not only the political center of Vidako, but the cultural and financial center, as well. The academy—and by extension, San Teodoro—threatens that. And while the duke has no direct control over us, it is within his power to either make my life a great deal easier, or by the same token much more difficult. Which is why, Your Imperial Highness, you will be attending one of His Grace's soirées."

"Respectfully, Commandant, I decline," Cassie said.

"Consider it an order." Marlowe leaned back in her chair and regarded Cassie with level eyes.

"While you are here, cadet, I will make use of you, and that means you will fluff His Grace's feathers and keep him happy, so that this academy can run smoothly. Is that understood?" There were a lot of things that Cassie wanted to say, but none of them were polite, and most would have been violations of the academy's code of conduct.

"I consider this service hours outside of regular class time," she said, instead.

"I want to be compensated with merits."

"Done," Marlowe agreed.

"I want to be separated from the psycher," she pressed.

"It's a security risk. I can't have her poking around in my head, even if it's an accident."

"I have been assured that not only will the cadet you're speaking about not take any liberties, but that she has exceptional control, and that there will be no accidents," Commandant Marlowe said.

"Furthermore, I cannot be seen to cater to your whims. Nor do I wish to endorse any anti-LeShaii sentiment that may be circulating by taking an official action. That request is denied—you're just going to have to extend a bit of trust to her."

"I need a pass to go into the city," Cassie continued. If she couldn't get one request, she'd push forward on another.

"I didn't bring the kind of dress he's going to expect me to wear. And I can't show up unaccompanied—I need to be able to bring an escort, and he needs to get everything I do. Merits, pass to get fitted, all of it."

"That, I can agree to," the commandant said.

"I look forward to seeing who you choose. I'm certain you know that whoever you bring will be a political statement."

"Whoever I bring will be splashed across the net on every world in the Imperium," Cassie grumbled.

"Because there's no way I can attend a duke's party without it leaking to the press, and they'll be there to film everything." It was everything she'd thought she could get away from, once she joined fleet.

"For what it's worth, cadet, I'm sorry," Marlowe said.

"I can do you this much of a favor: you have until the end of Hard Burn before you need to go. But we all serve the emperor in our own way—something I'm certain that you, above everyone, knows."