Keryn dreaded entering the training room. Opening the door meant that she had finally succumbed to the High Council’s wishes and accepted that she would never lead her Squadron on the attack against Earth. Some unknown affront left her with a new team on a mission that seemed so incredibly secondary to that of the rest of the Fleet. Keryn struggled to find any way to describe her feelings other than that she felt like she had just been slapped across the face.
Looking down at her watch, she knew she was late. The rest of her team would already be assembled inside, waiting for their unseen leader. Keryn had intended to be a few minutes late, ensuring she was the last one to enter. Somehow, though, time had slipped away from her. By now, her team had been sitting for nearly thirty minutes in the room, either getting to know each other or at each other’s throats. A part of her wished for the latter, so long as it meant that they would cancel her mission and reassign her as the Squadron Commander.
Frowning, Keryn realized she had stalled long enough. Entering her code, the door slid soundlessly open and she stepped inside. The interior of the training room was well lit from the few lights imbedded in the first half of the room. The ceiling in the second half, however, was covered with windows, presenting a phenomenal view of the star systems as they passed. The entire ceiling in that part of the room slopped gently downward, following the curve of the ship.
In the center of the room, in a mixture of sitting or standing, her team was gathered. Each wore an expression of impatience. Scanning the crowd, Keryn frowned again. Her new team looked rugged, as though many had spent the night before in the brig and were only just released to attend this meeting. The large Oterian had yet to make eye contact with Keryn, though even viewing the profile of his face she could see that he was nursing a new scar running the length of his cheek. Glancing around, Keryn saw a member of most of the major races represented: Oterian, Avalon, Uligart, and Pilgrim. Everyone on the team shared an open look of disgust, a feeling Keryn was all too familiar with. These were all soldiers who, like herself, had been pulled away from one of the most important missions in their lives to run errands for the High Council. And Keryn had now become the focal point for their combined frustrations. This was not a good start for her team.
As she finished her scan of the room, Keryn noticed another member of her team, detached from the others and standing near the large windows. His glossy black tail swishing back and forth in impatience, the Lithid had barely spared Keryn the recognition of her entrance. The other members of her team followed her gaze and turned to look at the ostracized Lithid.
“Don’t worry about him, sweetie,” a smug Uligart said, gesturing toward the Lithid. “He’s been doing that ever since we got here. Guess he’s just a loner.”
Keryn closed her eyes and scowled. This was going to be harder than she thought. Turning slowly, she faced the Uligart. “First of all, I’m not your sweetie. I have a name, and it’s Magistrate Keryn Riddell. For everyone else in the room, you can call me Keryn. For you, however, you can call me Magistrate Riddell or ma’am. Are we clear on that?”
The Uligart shrugged. “Crystal, ma’am,” he replied lackadaisically.
“And secondly…” Keryn began.
“I’m not a loner,” the Lithid replied in a familiar voice as he turned toward the rest of the group.
Looking up, Keryn smiled. “Penchant. How wonderful it is to see a familiar face.”
Penchant walked over and joined the rest of the group. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I know you’re lying. I don’t have a face.”
“Aw,” the Pilgrim male in the group replied as he leaned over a chair and threw his arm around the Avalon female sitting there. “I love a good group hug.” With interest, Keryn noted that the Avalon didn’t brush the Pilgrim’s arm aside.
“Knock it off,” the Oterian rumbled. The group seemed to respond to the Oterian’s order, something else Keryn mentally noted. Hopefully, that would be something she could use later.
Keryn nodded toward the Oterian in thanks. “You all may already know one another, but I don’t know you yet. Before we start introducing ourselves, let me explain something. Whether we want to be here or not, we’ve all been assigned to this mission. So long as I’m in charge, I don’t need this turning into some strict military operation. We’re going to be a team, stuck in close quarters for long periods of time.” She turned toward the Uligart before continuing. “Against popular belief, I don’t care about your rank or even what ship you came from. We’re going to become real friendly with one another before this is done, so we might as well start getting comfortable with one another now. My name is Keryn. I’ll be the team’s leader and pilot.”
She kept her gaze locked on the Uligart, who finally shrugged and took a step forward. “The name’s Keeling. I’m a small arms expert.”
The Oterian turned toward Keryn. She could better see the long scar that ran down the side of his face, reaching nearly from horn to jaw line. “Rombard. Heavy weapons.”
The Avalon and the Pilgrim smiled simultaneously as Keryn looked toward them. Even before she noticed the rings on their fingers, they body language betrayed their familiarity. “I’m McLaughlin,” the Pilgrim said as he ran a hand through his bright red hair. “I’m your demolitions man. This here is Cerise. She’s going to be our over watch.”
Keryn nodded and turned toward Penchant. “Penchant. Infiltration and espionage.”
She nodded and took in her team. Though they were rugged and she was sure they would intentionally test her leadership over the next few months, each seemed very confident in their assigned tasks. “Alright,” she said finally. “It looks like we have our team put together now.”
“Not completely,” a voice called from the doorway. Keryn turned to see Adam standing there, brushing his shaggy blonde hair from his forehead. “My name’s Adam Decker. I’ll be another heavy weapons specialist for the team.”
Adam walked into the room, smiling broadly as he passed Keryn and took his place next to Penchant at the end of the line. He turned and looked at her inquisitively, as though awaiting his next order.
“Well, we…” she stammered. Taking a deep breath, she regained her composure before continuing again. “We have a lot to do, but I’d rather we all get to know each other a little bit better first. If we’re going to be a team, we will need to be able to trust each other completely. Take a few minutes to get to know one another, then we’ll get back together and lay out our mission plan.”
As the others separated, Keryn walked directly to Adam. Grabbing him by the arm, she pulled him away from the rest of the team. “What are you doing here?” she asked harshly in a low whisper.
“I’m on you team,” Adam replied.
“No, you’re not. You see, I had pretty clear orders. My orders say that I’m in charge of a six person team. Penchant, McLaughlin, Cerise, Rombard, Keeling, and me. That’s six.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Adam answered as he pulled a sheet of vellum from his jacket. “I have orders assigning me to this unit as well.”
Keryn snatched the orders from his hand and reviewed the scrolling information. The orders were legitimate, but it was the date that struck her as odd. Everyone else had been assigned to the unit as soon as Keryn received her communication from the High Council. Adam’s orders, however, were dated the day after, almost as though his assignment was an afterthought. Or a special request, she thought grimly. Looking over her shoulder, she made sure the rest of the team was still sufficiently engaged and not prying into their conversation.
“You want to be part of this team?” she asked.
“Yes, I really do.”
“Then I have to be able to trust you. I’m going to ask you a question, and you’re going to give me the honest answer. If I think you’re lying, I’ll make sure you’re off this team.”
Adam hesitated before responding. “Ask away.”
“Did Yen put you up to this?”
Adam frowned, but his expression betrayed the answer. Keryn kept her stern gaze and watched as his resolve quickly melted. “Fine, yes. Yen put in a special request to get me reassigned. He thought you could use the help.”
“No,” she answered angrily. “He thought I needed a babysitter.”
“Stop right there,” Adam interrupted, his face suddenly flushed. “Do I look like a babysitter to you? Do I look like I have nothing better to do with my time and all my years of experience than to sit around with you, catering to your every need? I am a soldier, and have been one since before you entered the Academy. I’m good at what I do and I joined your group because you can use me, if you manage to pull your head out of your-”
“I’m sorry,” Keryn said before he could finish his sentence. “I’m just frustrated with the assignment in general.”
“Whether you appreciate it or not,” Adam said as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, “this assignment is important. I’ve been around for a while and I’ve never heard of the High Council contacting someone directly about a mission. If they gave you this assignment, it’s for a reason. Don’t take it so lightly.”
Looking over her shoulder once again, she saw a couple of the teammates laughing as they shared prior war stories. A level of camaraderie had already begun between the members, though she was still not included. Instead of spending time with them, like she should have been, she had let herself get distracted by Adam’s arrival.
“We should go rejoin the others,” Adam offered.
“Believe it or not, I’m glad you’re here,” she said as they began walking back to the rest of the team. “It’s just nice to have both you and Penchant here.”
“I’m glad I’m here too,” Adam admitted. “Somehow, the thought of invading Earth scared the hell out of me.”
The rest of the team settled down as Keryn and Adam rejoined them. They had pulled chairs together to better talk, and they now separated them so that everyone could see Keryn as she spoke. Though they still wore a skeptical look, the teammates still looked significantly more relaxed around one another.
“I guess we’re going to be a team of seven after all,” Keryn offered as Adam found a seat.
“So what’s the plan, ma’am?” Keeling asked.
Keryn smiled. “Alright, you can drop the ma’am now. Our plan is simple. Out there, on a backwater little planet called Pteraxis, there is an Oterian smuggler. Not only did he make one of the most spectacular discoveries in recent science when he found the chemical that was used to destroy the Vindicator, he turned around and sold this wonderful new technology to the Terrans. Our mission is to find this bastard and make him tell us where this new weapon came from.”
“And what if he will not tell us?” Cerise said condescendingly.
Keryn reached behind her and unclipped a pouch from her belt. “Well, I was given six of these little cases to make sure he would tell us.” Opening the top of the pouch, she reached in and pulled out a glistening scalpel. Her gaze fell on the scalpel, which she spun lazily in her hand. When she spoke, her voice took on a distant edge, as though fantasizing about the scalpel’s many uses. “Apparently, they’re going to teach us how to use these to the best effect.”
“You know,” Keeling said, “I think I’m going to like this job after all.”