Revolution: The Ship Series // Book Two (20 page)

CHAPTER FORTY

I'm
making good on that promise.

“Cadet
—it’s
time to wake up.” Zax ignored the male voice. There was a dull ache from nearly
his entire body, with the exception being his right leg where the pain was more
intense. He had vague memories of civilians and blasters and klaxons, but
thinking about any of that seemed like it could wait until he had slept for a
few more days. Zax scrunched his eyes tight and wished he could somehow do the
same to his ears. He felt a transdermal injector against his arm and a moment
later his eyes opened with a start. Whatever drug he had been given took effect
and sent him into instant arousal.

A medic smiled down at Zax—the same man who had cared
for him a year ago when he came back from the alien planet and was subsequently
Plugged In. “Welcome back to the land of the living, cadet. You’ve been out for
thirty-six hours and only eight of those can be attributed to the effects of
the anesthesia we used. You’ve already been hit with five hundred demerits for
oversleeping, and I figured that was enough. Plus, someone really wants to
speak with you.”

The medic left the compartment and Zax took inventory of
his condition. His right leg was encased in an aerogel cast, and he thought
back to how it had been broken. The pain he felt must be the aftereffects of
the bone being knit back together. He found himself grateful for the idea of
being stuck in the medbay for a little while longer as it meant he could avoid
returning to duty.

Duty. Zax wondered what exactly his duty even was any
longer. The civilians had captured the Ship. Correction—the Boss had let the
civilians capture the Ship. Was Zax supposed to report back to Waste Systems
once he was healthy as if nothing had happened? The hatch opened and Sergeant
Bailee entered.

“How’re you feeling, cadet?” The gruff Marine continued
without waiting for any reply. “I’ve heard about what went down after I got
knocked out and wanted to commend you. I know how badly you wanted to shoot
that civilian and protect Kalare, but you did the right thing by not doing so.
I also wanted to assure you that no one blames you for missing your shot and
not killing the Boss. After all, it’s not like you’re a Marine or anything.
Maybe I’ll get a chance to beat some more training into you, and we’ll make a
proper marksman of you yet.”

The sergeant turned and walked out without a further
word. Zax was flooded with emotion. On one hand, he was dumbfounded by the
Marine’s words. Why had he made any mention of Zax getting “blamed” for missing
that shot? It was impossible for anyone to think Zax could have done anything
better. The Boss would surely be dead and the Captain would have successfully
ended the uprising by venting the Ship if the Omega had not revealed the
presence of Zax’s blaster at the very last moment.

The more dominant emotion was grief at the memory of
Kalare being killed by the civilians when he could have shot Rege and given her
at least a temporary reprieve. He chose his mission to save the Ship over
protecting his friend, only to see that mission fail due to the actions of its
intended target. He closed his eyes and fought back his grief. The hatch
started to open again, and Zax rolled over to face away from it. He desperately
hoped the medic would take the hint and come back later.

After a few secs of silence, a chair was pulled up next
to the bed and someone sat down. His curiosity finally got the better of him,
so Zax rolled over and came face to face with the Boss. The man smiled around a
cigar which was once again clamped between his teeth. As was often the case,
Zax didn’t think the expression quite reached all the way to the Omega’s eyes.

“Greetings, Zax. How do you feel?”

A million different potential responses flooded Zax’s
mind. The most prominent was jumping out of bed and killing the man with his
bare hands. That didn’t seem feasible given the state of his leg, so Zax simply
remained silent and stared blankly at the officer. The man’s expression
tightened slightly, but he maintained the smile.

“No need to say anything. I understand you’re probably
still feeling groggy from being unconscious for so long. Not to mention
whatever pain meds they have you on. It’s been a pretty crazy day and a half
around here while you’ve been recovering, though you probably could have
guessed that. I don’t have too much time because I’ve got a meeting with the
President, but I asked them to notify me as soon as you were awake so I could
come and formally thank you for everything you did.

“Before we left Waste Systems on our way to the Marine
garrison, I had promised you would be rewarded if you kept me out of the hands
of the civilians. I’m making good on that promise. We know things didn’t quite
go according to plan, but there’s no way you should be held responsible for the
final outcome.”

The Omega paused for a deep breath and continued. “I
will be awarding you 50,000 credits. I’d like you back in the Threat chair once
we finish getting Flight Ops restored, and I’ve arranged for you to receive a
spot in the Pilot Academy.  Finally, I’m offering once again to be your mentor.
I believe you have the capacity for true greatness, and I want to do everything
I can to be sure you achieve your potential. Hell, you might even get to be
Captain some day if we ever actually have one again. What do you say, cadet?”

Zax was speechless, but his rage had been displaced by
absolute shock. He quickly did the math and concluded that 50,000 credits would
move him all the way to the very top of the Leaderboard. Not only would he be
back working in Flight Ops, but he’d also be back on the path to achieving his
lifelong dream of being a pilot. It was everything he had fantasized about for
the past long year of working in that hellhole Waste Systems. Except—

“I hope you can understand my confusion, sir. I’ve been
sitting here worrying about how I didn’t accomplish what I was told was
critical to save the Ship. In fact, Sergeant Bailee was just in here a few mins
ago to reassure me that no one blamed me for missing the shot and not killing
you like I was supposed to. It seemed odd, though, how he thought I would feel
responsible given how the outcome of that shot wasn’t the least bit my fault.
It was yours.”

The smile faded from the man’s face. He appraised Zax
for a few secs before speaking.

“I told you at the time, Zax, that I didn’t expect you
to understand my actions and that’s still true. I did what I did with the firm
conviction I chose the best option for the Ship out of what was available. For
what it’s worth, the civilians have been true to their word and everything is
getting back to normal. Accept what I’m offering. Let me teach you the lessons
of true leadership and I promise that someday you’ll look back on all of this
and it will make perfect sense.”

For the second time in a year, Zax found himself at a
turning point in his life which entirely hinged on how he responded to the
Omega. Was he be capable of setting aside all of his concerns and doubts about
the Boss?

Was the man responsible for Mikedo’s death and did he
then try to have Zax and Kalare killed as well, or had that all been a horrible
coincidence? Kalare was convinced the Boss was innocent, but she’d never
provided an explanation sufficient to assuage Zax’s concerns. And what about
how the Omega effectively handed control over to the civilians without a
struggle? He claimed that Alpha initiated the order and he only agreed out of
his duty to protect the Ship, but Zax had a hard time looking past yet another
coincidence where the Ship’s interests also happened to align perfectly with
what was best for the Boss. Did Zax really want to ally himself with someone
who might ultimately prove to be a murderous schemer, someone prepared to do
anything to retain his power?

Last year Zax chose to stand by his convictions and
defied the Boss. He exposed the existence of the human fighter and revealed how
Mikedo was most likely murdered in an attempt to cover it up. What had
sacrificing his career back then achieved? It obviously triggered massive
changes on board the Ship, but it didn’t cause much impact on the Boss himself.
He just chugged along in power while Zax wasted a year of his life in Waste
Systems. Sure the civilians had taken over, but hadn’t the Flight Boss really
just traded one boss for another? If anything, his power had only increased
since he was now effectively in charge of the Crew and just dealing with
civilian “oversight” for the big decisions.

Why should Zax turn down the man’s offer again? He had
already suffered for a year and achieved nothing. He deserved to get his career
back on the track it was before. If anything, getting close with the Omega
again might allow Zax to uncover evidence of the man’s guilt which Kalare
missed during her time with him. Zax finally nodded his acceptance.

The Boss smiled again. “Good decision, Zax. I understand
you’ll be getting out of here tomorrow morning. Report to my conference room
after breakfast, and we’ll talk about what will come next.”

The Omega left and Zax closed his eyes to obsess about
that very same thing—what
will
come next?

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Not this all over again...

The
next morning Zax skipped the opportunity for a final meal in bed in favor of
getting out of medbay and checking out what was happening around the Ship in
the wake of the civilian revolution. His leg felt weak and he still required a
few days’ worth of physical therapy, but, for the most part, his body had
recovered from the shock. His mind, however, was a different story.
Particularly whenever he allowed his thoughts to slip back to Kalare.

His first destination was his berth for a new uniform.
He had been discharged from medbay into the same uniform he was wearing when
they brought him in, and it still reeked of Waste Systems. Zax was tempted to
burn it altogether and suffer the huge slug of demerits for wanton destruction
of resources, but he decided otherwise once he walked in and saw his name
listed at the very top of the Leaderboard display in the Theta berth. He wasn’t
going to do anything that would throw any of those hard-earned points away. At
least, not right away.

Zax’s breath caught when he noticed Kalare’s name a few
slots below his. He breathed deeply for a full min to keep his emotions in
check. Damn administrators. Leaderboard scores were always accurate since they
were updated automatically in real time, but there was often a delay in removing
names from the Leaderboard when Crew were Culled. Or in Kalare’s case, murdered
by civilians.

The Theta berth was empty, but otherwise looked the same
as when he had left to share his completed sim with Kalare over breakfast just
a few days earlier. Everything he had seen along the way, in fact, looked
exactly the same. Zax expected armed rebels to be roaming the passageways but
had not seen a single civilian. The only weapon was carried by a Marine who
looked like he was heading to guard duty somewhere.

Zax stripped out of his uniform and took a shower which
was regulation in both length and temperature. He got dressed and walked
quickly to the mess hall to grab breakfast before his scheduled meeting with
the Boss. Once again, everything along his path seemed as perfectly normal as
it had days earlier. Zax loaded up a tray with everything he wanted except for
his favorite pastries which were missing. If it hadn’t been for his limp and
the residual pain in his leg, Zax might have been convinced he had dreamed the
entire civilian revolt. And then, he saw incontrovertible evidence it had all
been real. 

Rege was sitting with a group of the civilians who had
been with him in Engineering. They were sprawled around the table with their
blasters jumbled in a heap at one end. Their trays were piled high with
half-eaten food. The civilians were talking boisterously, and Zax noticed how
the nearby Crew had left a buffer zone of empty tables all around them.

Zax turned to head off to a different section of tables,
but Rege noticed him and called out.

“Cadet Zax—a moment please.”

Rege’s hair wasn’t greasy like it had been, but rather
appeared freshly washed. It was also pulled back into a neat ponytail so it no
longer fell across his eyes. He wore his brother’s knife in a sheath on his
belt and his hand casually rested on its hilt as he approached and spoke.

“It’s amazing to see you up walking around cadet,
especially knowing how hard I crushed your leg the other day. It’s impressive
what Crew medical treatment can do. If a civilian had been hurt like that, he’d
have been crippled for months. Only the best for the Crew, though, just like
all of this amazing food. My friends and I could spend every minute of the day
in here for the next month stuffing our faces and still not catch up on the
calorie deficits we’ve dealt with for the past few years. Hell, just taking the
trash from some of your fellow cadets’ trays would feed a civilian family for
days.”

The man seemed like he was trying to bait him somehow,
but Zax maintained a neutral expression and stared back silently. The civilian
continued.

“Well, I’d really love to chat more, but I need to
finish up breakfast and get back to work. I’m leading the transition team for
President Imair, and we need to figure out how to start reallocating the Ship’s
resources more equitably. Be sure to enjoy your breakfast as I’m guessing
mealtime will start looking a little different around here soon.”

Rege turned to walk back to his table but then paused
and looked back. “By the way, we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other
in the future. Once I’m done with the transition, Imair’s promised me I can be
her representative in Flight Ops. I hear that’s where you’re getting assigned
as well now that you’re done with Waste Systems. I look forward to working
closely with you.”

 The civilian returned to his table where everyone
laughed uproariously at whatever he said to them as he sat down. Zax hung his
head and shuffled over to his usual spot. The excitement he felt at returning
to Flight Ops was shattered at the discovery he would have to work side-by-side
with the civilian responsible for Kalare’s murder. He plopped down in this seat
and picked halfheartedly at the food on his tray until footsteps approached
from behind.

 “Hey there, Zax! It’s great to see you! I hoped
I’d find you here. I just missed you this morning when I went to see you in
medbay. I was in to see you yesterday too, but you were still sleeping. It was
that same medic on duty who treated me last year. He said you’d been sleeping
for thirty-six hours. It was such a weird coincidence how you were in that same
bed again where I was the first time you came to visit me. Remember—after Cyrus
blew out my knee? My leg was in a cast that day and you were in there yesterday
with a cast on your leg! It seems crazy for someone with nothing more than a
busted leg to sleep that long. I’m the one who practically died, and I was
awake and moving around within twenty secs of the anesthesia wearing off. It
just goes to prove yet again how girls are tougher than boys. Why are you
looking at me like that?”

Zax had spun around as soon as he heard the voice, and
his eyes went wide at seeing Kalare in front of him. He wanted to interrupt and
ask a million questions, but she got so deep, so fast into one of her
monologues that he decided to just sit back and happily wait it out. As he did
so, his smile grew larger and more intense. When Kalare finally paused and
allowed him to respond he could only get out one word. “How?”

She beamed and lifted her shirt to reveal a massive scar
on her stomach. It was a shade of furious scarlet, but the borders were fading
and it would eventually disappear.

“I got this thanks to that oxygen thief, Aleron. We had
almost reached a Marine garrison when Captain Clueless stopped listening to the
corporal’s directions and bolted ahead of us. Of course, he ran straight into a
group of civilians. The corporal had no choice but to engage them in a
firefight which ended when he got shot. They took us prisoner, and we listened
as their squad leader called in for orders. It took ages, but I overheard when
he was finally told to kill me and Aleron and make it painful.

“The civilian didn’t hesitate before shooting us both in
the belly. I guess his plan was to have us bleed out slow since gut wounds are
supposed to be pretty nasty. He was about to shoot the Marine in the head when
the passageway lit up with blaster fire. We were close enough to the garrison
that they had heard the firefight and sent Marines in ChamWare to check out
what was happening. They got us back to medics pretty quickly, so here I am!”

Zax was flabbergasted. He had given Kalare up for dead
when Rege first gave the order and had relived that pain so many times in the
hours since. To have her show up looking and acting the same as always was
almost more than his heart could bear. He was trying to figure out what to say
when the screens lit up around the mess hall to show the morning newsvid.
Kalare squealed with excitement.

“Ooohhh, we’ve got to watch this! There haven’t been any
broadcasts since everything happened, but I heard last night that we’d see a
full report this morning about what ended the revolution and how things are
going to work around here now with the civilians in charge.”

She pulled up a chair and sat brushing against him. Zax
wanted to do nothing but bask in the warmth of her body so close to his, but he
forced himself to pay attention as the announcer spoke.

“We’ve got a special report for you today with the
full details of what happened recently along with initial information about
what you should expect to see moving forward.

“A group of brave civilians took decisive action
three days ago based on concerns which have simmered this past year regarding
the viability of our Mission. After evidence surfaced that additional humans
are traveling the stars, these selfless individuals concluded they must
influence a change in our Mission.”

Zax couldn’t believe his ears. The same announcer who
had spent the past year bemoaning the atrocious behavior of the civilians was
now describing them as heroes.

“Their goal was to avoid as much bloodshed as
possible while ensuring their message was heard and acted upon by the Captain
and Omegas. They only took this action after repeated attempts at peaceful
discussion through normal channels had been rebuffed. Thankfully, through the
calm thinking of their leaders and the eventual cooperation of a senior member
of the Crew, they were able to achieve their objectives.”

A picture of the Boss appeared on the screen. He was
bloodied and disheveled—the exact opposite of how he had looked right before
handing over the FTL engine.

“The final resolution became possible when the Flight
Boss determined he needed to step in to do what was best for everyone on the
Ship—Crew and civilian alike. He was initially resistant to the requests of the
civilians, as can be seen here with the physical evidence of how he withstood
their augmented interrogation techniques. In an exclusive interview this
morning, we learned the thought process behind how his conclusions shifted and
we will air that footage later. Suffice it to say, you’ll want to hear it
straight from his mouth.

“What I can tell you now is that the Boss realized
the Captain’s intent to vent the Ship and murder ten million humans was unjust
and unlawful. He halted his resistance to the civilian’s requests and
ultimately brokered a deal between them and the Captain. This deal included the
Captain’s agreement to step down, temporarily, pending a full review of her
actions. The Flight Boss is now in charge of all Crew matters, albeit within a
new command structure that includes much needed civilian oversight. It is this
new leadership structure that we are going to discuss first, starting with this
footage from an announcement that was made earlier this morning.”

Zax bolted upright. “That’s entirely a lie! None of that
happened like what they’re saying! The Boss wasn’t tortured, he didn’t broker
any deal, he just gave in to the civilians plain and simple and sold out the
Captain in the process. All so he could save his own skin and stay in charge!”

Kalare had become alert and sat ramrod straight with the
shock of Zax’s sudden movement, but after listening to his outburst she leaned
back, slowly shook her head, and sighed. “Not this all over again...”

If you liked reading about Zax and Kalare
and would like to read more about their adventures on the Ship, send an email
to
[email protected]
and ask for the first
5 chapters of Volume 3.