CHAPTER 3: PARTNERS

ALEX

 

 

Dad places a sphere of an ice cube into a glass and fills it with hard liquor, a ritual I’ve often watched him perform over the years. I sit across from him, knees tightly together and hands in my lap. I still don’t know what to do with myself around him, but he doesn’t seem to mind my informalities as much.

“So,” he says, bringing the glass to his lips. “How did their first day go?” I sigh deeply, and I know I have to tell him the truth.

“They’re…undertrained,” I tell him.

“I’m not surprised,” he says as he glances casually out of the window at Ventra, glowing softly in the distance. “I’ve discovered that our allies are not exactly what they’ve advertised themselves to be,” he adds.

“What do you mean?” I inquire.

“When the Krillux offered their services to us, we thought they were sharp - a trained military. After reports from several training sessions similar to yours, we realized that this ‘army’ is actually an organization of traders,” he explains, a hint of annoyance in his voice. He never likes to feel as if he’s been tricked, and it’s sometimes a little scary when he does. My father has been known to lash out when things don’t go his way. His temper can even be extreme at times, but luckily it’s been a while since he’s done something rash. As I watch him take another sip of his drink, I study the wrinkles on his face; they ‘re a map, revealing the worn history of many battles and countless years of stress. It’s a glimpse of my future, and sometimes the thought of those wrinkles and the furrowed frown lines haunts me in my sleep. I can’t ever bring myself to live that way… forever unhappy, forever angry.

“I got most of them to cooperate yesterday,” I say, breaking the brief silence between us. “Except for one, a species I couldn’t recognize. He refused to fight. No matter how hard I tried, he wouldn’t budge. What am I supposed to do with that?” I ask.

Dad thinks for a moment, then leans forward, which I recognize as the posture he takes when he’s about to lay down some real talk. “Alex,” he says, “these people are never going to learn, and if they don’t want to, it honestly doesn’t matter. Most of the members of the Krillux are criminals, prisoners of war, and slaves a long ways from home.”

I wasn’t sure what he was getting at. He hands me another document - today’s briefing. “There are a few that are worth something, though, that we’ll try to keep. As for the others - I’ve seen enough reports to know where we’re wasting our time.”

I check my briefing papers. I’ve been moved back to my usual advanced combat training. But something feels off about my dad’s tone. “What do you mean when you say we’ll try to keep? What’s going to happen to the others?” I ask him. He gives me a flat look, but I can sense something strange. That he’s hiding the answer behind his eyes.

 

After being dismissed, I take my usual walk through the endless halls of the ship to the lift station. I think about the look on Dad’s face, trying to unwrap the secrets he could be hiding from me. If there were a written agreement between the Krillux and the Cordelia, surely he wouldn’t do anything to break it. I start to form hundreds of questions in my mind. Aren’t we a government-funded extraction project? Is our alliance with the Krillux even authorized? Of course, these are all questions I could ask Cal the next time I get him alone. Being an assistant to the higher-ups means getting to hear all the gritty details.

The advanced combat room is made up to look sleek, sterile, and futuristic; not much room for distraction or interesting details. I notice the cluster of my peers waiting for the instructor. Amongst them are some new faces, a few of the Krillux; different species of them peppered amongst the humans. I feel myself tense as soon as I recognize one of them as the uncooperative male from yesterday. What the hell was he doing in a place like this when he wouldn’t even fight? I try to contain my rage, as I find a place in the room as far away from him as possible.

Training begins as usual. The instructor is harsh with all of us, screaming orders for us to fight him, demonstrating what we’ve been taught over the past few months. The Krillux get to skip this part since they’ve jumped on board so recently. Despite the hard work and harsh words, I’m glad to be treated like an equal here. Nobody tiptoes around me just because of my background. Eventually we split up into pairs.

“McKinley,” the instructor announces as he checks his clipboard, “you’ll be with…Raeden? Is that right?” To my horror he looks over at the quiet alien that I can’t stand. The alien nods, affirming that he’s my partner.

I walk over to him with the punching pads, my stomach and my feet feeling heavy. What am I supposed to do with a partner that won’t even attack me? I decide to maybe set my uncertainty aside just for a moment. Raeden watches me with his glowing yellow eyes, unsure. I hold up the large punching pads attached to my forearm. I’m not sure if he’ll cooperate this time, but he’s being watched, and this instructor is far less tolerant than I am.

“Come on, let’s see you punch,” I urge him, expecting a blow. He just stares at me, and I can already feel my nerves shaking. I look around at the other pairs, none of them having this kind of trouble, which makes me extremely self-conscious. After a moment of pressing, I throw down the pads at him. “I’ll go first then,” I say, giving up.

Raeden takes the pads and puts them on. I decide to focus my frustrations on those instead, punching them swiftly, hitting the center of the target each time. In a guilty moment, I pretend I’m actually punching Raeden which makes the experience much more satisfying. The instructor passes by, inspecting my form. He approves, telling us to switch. I feel a slight hint of satisfaction. He’ll have to fight now that someone other than me is watching him. Raeden and I switch places as the instructor waits patiently. Raeden seems uncomfortable, but casually punches one of the targets, barely moving me back from my stance.

“Good, but I know you have more force than that,” the instructor says. He gives Raeden a few pointers before moving on. Raeden looks at me. To my surprise he keeps punching the pads, putting a little more energy into each one. At least we’re making some progress.

We move on to closer hand-to-hand fighting. I’m a little nervous about this; since I’m required to touch my partner, and he’s incredibly standoffish towards me. I don’t want to look bad in front of anyone, so I go ahead and go for an attack. I grab his arm first, just to test the waters. His skin is warm, with a hint of sweat, and I can just feel the smooth but leathery texture of scales, though they’re not that noticeable in appearance. He grabs my arm back, not sure what to do.

“No,” I explain. “Here, see? You take my arm, pull it this way, and that’s a counter-attack.” I go through the motions, trying to explain the best that I can, but he just keeps staring at me with those eyes. “Can you understand me?” I ask him. He nods. Oh, so he’s just being an asshole on purpose I guess.

I wait for him to attack me back, so I can show him how to block. Instead, he awkwardly grabs me, swinging me from side to side, as if trying to throw me on the ground. I look around and notice the others watching us, clearly knowing that something wrong is happening. I can feel my face getting hot from embarrassment, and I try to pry myself away from Raeden, but he keeps a firm grasp. Some sparring partners around us snicker at the sight of us, as if we’re learning how to dance instead of learning how to fight. Finally, the anger is too much for me, and it bubbles to a crescendo. I violently shove Raeden off of me, causing him to slam against one of the chrome walls with a loud clang. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” I hear myself scream. “If you’re just going to just be worthless, then why are you even here?!”

The room is dead silent, allowing my shouts to ring throughout the training room, to my dismay. The outburst has even me feeling shocked, but not nearly as much as Raeden. He recovers, looking up at me; his expression softer and devastated. I feel like I’ve really punched him in the face. The instructor breaks the heavy and awkward silence between all of us.

“I think we should call it a day. Let’s come back when we’re all rested.” He throws a glance over at me, and I feel horribly guilty for letting the anger burst out of me. Raeden is the first to leave, nearly pushing past everyone as if he could run from the things I’ve said to him. But the damage has already been done, and my gut does a violent twist.

 

I walk through one of the quieter wings of the ship, wanting to be alone for a while. My heart feels heavy with guilt about my outburst. I’ve never lashed out at someone like that. The only person I’ve known to do something so immature was my own father. This thought startles me, wrenching at my heart. God, I’m just like my dad; always acting out of anger. I start to think of that horrible frown he always wears, and I feel like it’s only a matter of time before I’ll be sitting in that chair, looking out at the emptiness of space, realizing that I’ve made a void of loneliness for myself. I realize I’m getting ahead of myself. I can’t be so dramatic. I’ll just have to find Raeden and apologize, next time I see him. I also still have Cal, whom I can talk to. I reroute my steps towards the bridge, hoping that maybe I can arrange another meeting with him.

The bridge is particularly quiet at the moment. I find Cal at his usual console.

“Hey beautiful,” he whispers. I smile softly at him, still feeling a little down from earlier.

“Where is everyone?” I ask him. He points towards a glass meeting room, the panels darkened.

“Meeting with the commanders. Captain’s orders,” he explains. I lean around to try to get a better view. “You can probably go in there with your clearance,” he tells me. He’s right, I pretty much have full reign on this ship, about as much as Dad does. I walk towards the door, which has been left cracked open. I can hear tense conversation happening inside.

“I have the agreement right here,” I can hear one of them say.

“Hold on, this is not a unanimous decision,” one of them, a woman’s voice, cuts in.

“Commander Thompson, what else would you suggest?” asks another.

“I suggest rethinking this whole thing before thousands of lives are lost.” The woman says, more angrily. My eyes widen. Whose lives will be lost? I look through the crack and see my father at the end of the extensive conference table, filled with important people from the ship. Even the head of engineering is there, and the other departmental heads that aren’t part of the command center. They’re all having a conversation with other officials via a hologram in the center of the room. They look different from the ones I’ve seen organize our mission.

“You’re forgetting who the captain of this ship is,” Dad’s voice rings out over the rest of the commanders and officials.

“Captain, this decision could have your title revoked for conducting actions outside of our restrictions for this mission,” someone warns.

I’m about to open the door to step inside and figure out what the hell is going on when someone comes up, noticing me through the door. They close it harshly, and I have to step back or else it would hit my face. Guess my reign isn’t as full as I thought. I walk out of the bridge, feeling hurt. This has been such a strange day, and I need to go figure some things out, such as who are the thousands of people, apparently at risk. Were they talking about the crew or something else? Whatever it was, it was too great for my own father to tell me, which in my experience usually means that something terrible is about to happen…