Legend
The Legend of Sirra Bruche (Roran Curse #1)
Chapter 1
The Dream
Andie reached the park bench breathless with excitement. Casey was already there; she could see his sandy head bent over the textbook in his lap. She dropped beside him and nudged him with her foot. “Hey!” she greeted cheerfully.
“You’re late,” he responded, without looking up from his book. Andie rolled her eyes.
“I had to get a printout and the machine was jammed. I ended up going into the lounge to get it,” she explained, dropping onto the bench next to him. At this his eyes raised to hers. “A printout? Of what?” he asked, his blue eyes puzzled.
She waved the paper toward him. “It’s a letter I got today. Read it.” Casey had been her best friend for years— if there was anyone who could keep her secret it was him. Casey reached for the letter warily, glancing at her once more.
“Am I going to regret reading this?” he asked heavily.
“No!” protested Andie, tossing her long brown hair. “This is really great news!” Casey sighed but unfolded the sheet of paper and began to read aloud: “Congratulations! You have hereby been accepted into the Pilot Training Program at the Armada Academy of Omphalos.”
Casey looked up from the crisp white paper, his eyebrows raised.
“This is a joke, right? Andie?”
She scowled. “Of course it’s not a joke. I just got the best news of my life, and you’re not taking it seriously!” Casey looked back to the paper and skimmed it silently. When he finished, he handed it back, his face expressionless.
“Well?” she asked expectantly. Casey was silent for a moment. Then he smiled and said, “Well, congratulations, Andie! I know you’ve always wanted to become a pilot!”
Andie took back her letter and read it through once more herself. Casey was right—she had dreamed about being a pilot since she was a small child. She had grown up here, on the huge military base of Dos Cientos, the biggest Armada station on the planet Zenith. Her father was a vice admiral responsible for the part of the fleet that protected the planet. From the time she was little she had watched people fly off in the shuttles, heading for other parts of Zenith, or even for deep space travel, and wished she could go too.
Over time though, the goal had gotten very specific. It wasn’t just any kind of pilot she wanted to be.
“So, you decided being a shuttle pilot wouldn’t be so bad, huh?” Casey asked, a shade too innocently. Andie rolled her eyes again. Casey had been her best friend for the last ten years. They were near inseparable, and it was only too easy to know what he was thinking.
“Seriously, Casey, you know me better than that,” she pointed out. “Where’s the fun in making the same boring trip back and forth to the same boring place?”
“Most jobs are boring, you know. That’s why they’re called jobs, Andie,” he quipped, flicking a fly from his arm. Shading his eyes from the sun, he gazed out in the direction of the landing pad. A streak of smoke trailed behind one of the shuttles leaving the base. Several times every day, a shuttle headed to the capital city Omphalos. Also, Dos Cientos was one of the few places on the planet where deep space flights took off. But there was no sign of a skiff today. Things had been pretty quiet.
“Your father is never going to let you be a skiff pilot, Andie,” Casey reminded. He could practically read her mind too.
“No,” Andie conceded regretfully. “He won’t ever willingly let me do it. My mother isn’t exactly a fan of the idea either.” She scowled at the ground. Her father had made his opinion very clear on the subject. He felt being a skiff pilot was too dangerous a job for his daughters. In vain had Andie argued that even the maintenance crew had had a fatality on the job before. Her father knew even better than her the number of accidents that skiff pilots suffered, and he had so far proved inflexible on the subject.
“Well, can you blame him? After what happened to Erik . . .” Casey began.
“Nothing is going to happen to me!” Andie interrupted him, her voice heating up. Why did Casey have to bring Erik into the conversation? Her younger brother had nothing to do with this subject. Casey took the hint and dropped it. Instead, he returned to her father.
“Well, if your father is never going to let you be a skiff pilot, and you don’t want to be a shuttle pilot, what exactly are you doing then?”
Andie glanced around. The park on base was fairly deserted at this time of day. She could see some kids playing on the far-off playground, but other than that the grassy field around the bench that she and Casey considered their own was deserted.
“I’m still going to try to be a skiff pilot,” she admitted. “If worse comes to worse, I’ll ask for a surveillance assignment. Either way I’ll be joining the Armada as a pilot. I’m an adult; I can make my own decision about it.”
“Really,” Casey commented drily. “And how exactly are you going to pull this one off? One call from your father to your uncle, and they’ll have your admission revoked.” It wasn’t fair, but she knew her father could do just that. Her uncle Mark was an instructor at the Academy. The Donnells were well-known in the Armada, and they could easily pull some strings and have her kicked out. In fact, though it was painful to admit, it was probably her family name that had gotten her admitted into the pilot’s training to begin with, since her school marks were so pathetically bad. However, she had planned for this also.
“My parents are leaving in just a couple weeks. My dad’s rotation came up, and he has to go do his time on the space station. My mother is going with him this time—I think she is going to do some kind of consulting work to justify living there. But I, of course . . .”
“Have to stay behind. No unnecessary personnel allowed on the space station,” finished Casey.
“Isn’t it just beautiful timing?” Andie waved at a couple of children running past. “I thought I was going to have to wait a year or two until I could come up with some excuse to move to Omphalos on my own, and here it’s been handed to me on a silver platter!”
“It’s disturbing, actually,” retorted Casey. “Have you really thought this through? You know as a skiff pilot you’ll have a horrible schedule—don’t you plan to have a family someday? How would that work?”
Andie took Casey’s arm and pulled him from the bench, and they started to walk down the path. “Of course I plan to have a family. I’m sure it will work out somehow—that’s way off in the future, you know, so why worry about it now?” She missed Casey’s sidelong glance at her and continued, “Anyway, who are you to talk? You’re planning on becoming an Armada officer, aren’t you? Same type of life, buddy.”
Casey ignored this, shifting his book to his other hand so he could break off a branch from a nearby bush. “Well, I bet you won’t even be able to survive the training. It’s really intense, I hear—and a lot of actual studying is involved.” Andie grimaced at this. Books really weren’t her strong point. “You don’t think I can do it?” she demanded.
“Nope,” replied Casey with a grin. Andie smacked him on the arm. Of course he was teasing. Mostly.
“OK, Mr. Wise Guy, put your money where your mouth is,” she challenged. “If I make it through, you have to buy me dinner in Omphalos. I fail, and I’ll buy you dinner.”
“You’re on,” accepted Casey, his eyebrows raised. Andie listened in excitement. Nothing was going to stop her from becoming a pilot, and Casey would soon find that out the hard way.
When they reached the residential complex, Andie waved to Casey before heading into the lobby of her home building. As children they had lived in neighboring apartments in Building 5, but when her father had been promoted to the admiralty, he had also received a new living assignment. It was a lavish suite in comparison to the regular family housing for officers. There were individual bedrooms for both Andie and her sister Jenna, a separate office for her mother’s work, and even a small conservatory in the center of the suite, where the family could enjoy their own private garden. Her parents’ bedroom even had a large balcony overlooking the residential common area. It was a beautiful place to live, Andie had to admit, but she did miss living so close to her friends.
At the door to the suite, she pressed her thumb to the pad and the door slid quietly open in response. A soft double chime announced her entry, and immediately her mother called to her from the kitchen. “Andie, come help me with dinner, will you?” Inwardly, Andie grumbled. Inevitably, every time she entered her home, her mother called out some request. A simple “Hi, Andie, how was your day?” would have been wonderful for once. Andie stalked to the kitchen. Her mother was programming the oven, her golden head bent over the panel. “Set the table, please,” ordered her mother without looking up. “Don’t forget to wash your hands.”
Just as if I’m still ten years old, thought Andie in irritation. As she scrubbed her hands in the sink, she realized this was the one thing she missed about Jenna being around. When her older sister had still lived at home, there had been two of them for her mother to order about, and Andie had someone else to share all the chores with. Still, it was a small price to pay to have such an infuriating older sister out of the house.
Jenna was the beauty of the family, the only one of the family to inherit their mother’s honey-golden hair and turquoise eyes. She had flawless skin and a slow, mysterious smile that seemed to leave every guy in a ten mile radius weak at the knees. In contrast, Andie was the plain one. She had her father’s mousy brown hair with just enough curl to it to make it an unruly mess. She had muddy brown eyes and average features, nothing that made any guy turn to look twice. Andie took out some dishes and started to lay them on the table, her forehead creased in a frown. Not only was Jenna the stunning one, she also had all the brains too. School had been a piece of cake for her, and she had easily been accepted into the University’s architecture program. Jenna was their parents’ pride and joy, her father’s all-too-obvious favorite, and Andie had resented it for years. At least now that Jenna lived on the other side of the continent, Andie didn’t have to hear the constant comparisons. “Why can’t you get school marks like Jenna? Why can’t you be more considerate like Jenna? Why don’t you behave better, like Jenna does?”
By the time the triple chime announced her father’s arrival, Andie had finished setting the table and was watering (at her mother’s request) the herb garden in the conservatory. She immediately put down the watering can and went straight to stand at her chair at the dinner table. If there was anything that was sure to put her father in a bad mood, it was having to wait to eat dinner.
Within just a few minutes, her whole family was standing behind their chairs. When they were all ready, her father nodded, and Andie sank into her chair in relief. Sometimes she felt like her dad just wanted them to pass inspection before dinner, but he insisted that it was only common politeness to all sit down together. Literally.
Andie halfheartedly pushed her dinner around her plate. In truth, she was too excited to eat. Soon she would be leaving all of this behind to start her own life, and she found the prospect exhilarating. Only a few short weeks and her parents would be gone, and she would be heading off to the Academy, on her own for her very first time.
“Andie?” her father repeated, with a frown. Andie jumped guiltily.
“Sorry, Dad,” she said sheepishly. “I didn’t hear what you asked me.” Her father put down his fork and took a sip from his glass.
“I asked you whether Joanna has gotten her acceptance to the University yet.”
“I haven’t heard, but I’m sure she will,” Andie replied, her eyes on her plate. Please, let him not mention the University again. If he would just get over the fact that she wasn’t smart enough for it!
“It’s too bad that your marks weren’t high enough to apply to the University, Andie. All your friends are going to be leaving you behind,” her father remarked offhandedly as he speared another vegetable.
“Well, Casey still has a full term before he can go, and even if Jo gets in, she’ll still have her service year to complete first. It won’t be too lonely around here just yet,” Andie replied, trying to keep her tone light. All University applicants had to be at least eighteen, and they had to spend a year in approved service to their community. It was considered an important way to help the students mature before they started the higher studies. For the last half a year, Casey had been helping rebuild and repair homes of the local miners in the nearby town of Rhindhol so that he could fulfill his service requirement. Then he would head off to the university in the capital city. But if all went according to plan, she would be there before him.
“Well, at least you won’t be completely alone while we’re gone,” her mother added, her eyes concerned. Andie knew her mother worried about everything. It had probably been the hardest decision she had ever made, to leave Andie behind for so long. Andie had argued and pleaded and reminded her mother over and over that she was an adult now, that she was perfectly safe living on base, that she would be fine working and living alone for the next year. Twice before her father had drawn the space station rotation, and both times her mother had stayed behind with her children, but she had been absolutely miserable without Andie’s father. Fortunately for Andie, her mother had finally decided that Andie was old enough to stay behind alone, but still, Andie worried that her mother might change her mind at the last minute.
Finally, dinner came to an end, and her parents moved into the conservatory to talk for awhile. Andie was left to herself while she cleaned up the dishes. As she was loading the plates into the steam rack, her flipcom buzzed. She pulled out the small electric blue flipcom and flipped it open. Jo was on the screen.
“Hey, Andie! I got my University acceptance today!” she exulted.
“That’s great, Jo!” congratulated Andie warmly, leaning against the counter. Jo Cruz was another of her good friends. They had been in the same class at school for the last several years, and gradually they had been spending more and more time together— especially this last year, while Casey’s days had been spent off in the mining town. Jo was another beauty, Andie thought wistfully as she studied her face on the screen. She had jet black hair that smoothly flipped back in the latest trendy style. Her olive skin glowed, her inky eyes sparkled, and she had the longest eyelashes Andie had ever seen. When they were younger, Jo had been a skinny, uncoordinated girl, but as they had gotten older she had grown into her good looks. Andie stifled a sigh of envy. It just wasn’t her fortune in life to look so good.
“I just wish you were coming, too,” lamented Jo. “I can’t bear to think of you stuck here forever, Andie.”
Andie hesitated, looking toward the glass wall that separated her from the conservatory. Quickly, she shut the steamer and headed to her room. “Well, I won’t be stuck here forever,” she whispered conspiratorially.
“What?” shrieked Jo. Andie winced and dropped the flipcom.
“Sorry, sorry,” Jo apologized in a lower tone of voice. “But what do you mean? Where are you going?”
“I got my acceptance today to pilot school,” Andie told her with a grin.
“Get out of here. Really? Which one?” Jo asked eagerly.
“The Armada Academy program,” Andie admitted proudly.
“I can’t believe it!” Jo exclaimed. “So you’re going to be in Omphalos too? How did you get your parents to come around?”
“They didn’t,” Andie admitted, flopping down onto her bed. “I haven’t told them.” Jo listened wide eyed as Andie explained about her plan to sneak off to school while her parents were gone.
“Well, I’ve got to hand it to you, Andie. Only you would think of doing this. Let me know if you need any help though,” she offered. “What did Casey say?” she continued curiously.
“He thinks I’m crazy. We made a bet though. If I make it through school, he’s got to buy me dinner in the city. My choice.”
Jo laughed. “Well, that’s one bet I wouldn’t have taken. Good thing Casey can afford to pay up. Nothing is going to stop you.”
“Nope. Here’s to freedom in a few short weeks,” declared Andie.
Those few short weeks were a lot longer than Andie expected. Her father’s departure date got delayed because of some technical problem with the docking port on the space station. Unfortunately for Andie, that meant that her report date for the Academy was the day before her parents were scheduled to leave.
Casey didn’t help matters. He laughed out loud when she told him her dilemma. They were sprawled in his living room listening to music while she explained her latest roadblock.
“I don’t think it’s funny,” Andie growled.
“You were so confident just a few days ago,” Casey returned with a grin. “Where’d all that determination go? Or are you just paranoid that you are actually going to lose the bet?”
“No, I’m sure there’s still a way around this. I just haven’t thought of it yet.”
“Why don’t you try telling your parents the truth?” Casey suggested, as if this was the obvious solution.
“Are you kidding?” Andie was horrified. “And watch my only chance to become a skiff pilot sail out the window? I don’t think so.”
Casey propped himself up on his elbow, his face more serious. “At some point, you are going to have to tell them. Your father could still throw his rank around later, and then where would you be? Stuck on the reserve list or permanently grounded. Nobody who actually wants to get anywhere in the Armada can afford to have anyone in the admiralty set against them, Andie. You know that.”
“I know that,” Andie admitted. But still, it was a risk she had to take. Would her father go so far as to wreck her career in the Armada just to keep her “safe?” When they were much younger, her father had always told them that he would be so proud to see his children serve in the Armada like him. Then after Erik’s death, that had all changed, but still, wouldn’t her father be proud of her deep down?
“Well, it’s too bad you can’t just ask to stay over here for a few days,” Casey offered jokingly. “Then you could take off without them knowing. But over his dead body would your father agree to that.”
“That’s it!” exclaimed Andie. Finally, a possible solution. Casey was a genius!
“What?” Casey asked bewildered. “I was joking, Andie. Neither your parents nor my mother would agree to us having a little slumber party.”
“Of course not. But they would let me stay with Jo,” she said excitedly, pulling her flipcom from her pocket. “She said she would help if I needed it.”
“Jo? And her mom is just going to let you head off on the shuttle without saying something to your parents?”
“Casey, Jo’s mom is so overwhelmed with taking care of her other kids that she is not going to notice if Jo announced we were going to the moon.” Andie started tapping a message to Jo on her keypad. Jo would still be at work right now, but Andie was sure that she would agree. Jo’s mom had two year old quadruplet boys with her second husband. Jo’s stepfather was currently on a deep space assignment, which meant that Jo’s mom was constantly short on sleep, short on time for her daughter, and perpetually distracted. In a way, Andie envied Jo. Her mother had so little time for her that it gave her enormous freedom.
The door chimed and Casey’s mom walked into the apartment. “Well, hey there, Casey. Look who had time to grace the house with his presence.” She dropped her bag on the chair. “And how are you today, Andie?”
“Hi Dr. Morten,” Andie greeted, as Casey scrambled to get up off the floor. He gave his mother a quick hug and then turned off their music. Andie moved to sit at the breakfast bar while Casey’s mom rummaged through the fridge. Dr. Morten was one of her favorite people. She always treated Andie like she was an adult. “So, off work already, Andie?” asked Dr. Morten as she poured herself a glass of juice. Casey raised his eyebrows at Andie as he slid onto the stool next to her.
“Uh, I was off today,” hedged Andie. When she had given her notice at her job on the maintenance crew, her original plan had been to work right up until her parents left so they wouldn’t realize she was quitting her job. Then, her crew chief had misunderstood which week she intended to quit, so she had not been scheduled for this week. Her last day of work had been two days before. In the meantime, she had been killing time away from home during her normal work schedule, hoping that no one would notice. Today, Casey had a break from his volunteer work so she was hanging out with him. Hopefully, Dr. Morten wouldn’t mention it to her parents!
“Lucky girl,” said Dr. Morten as she rinsed out her glass. “I’ve only got a short break, then I’ve got to head back. I’m covering for Dr. Curran, so I’ll be home late,” she added to Casey.
“Sure, I’ll fend for myself.” Casey shrugged. He was used to this kind of stuff, Andie knew. It came with being the son of a single parent who was also a base physician. Casey’s father had died when he was very young, and Dr. Morten had never remarried. It was odd to think that Casey had been born on Terra. Terra was the home planet, the center of the Planetary Union. His father had come from a family of extremely wealthy Terran politicians. After his father had died, Dr. Morten had joined the Armada and been assigned to Zenith. Andie idly wondered why a successful doctor decided to join the military. The Mortens sure didn’t need the money. Casey’s father had left him a huge trust fund, and Andie was sure that Dr. Morten was as well off. Maybe she had just wanted to escape.
“Well, you two, I’m going to take a quick nap before I go back to work. Keep it down out here, OK?” Casey’s mom requested.
“No problem, I’m just on my way out anyway,” Andie responded.
Casey walked her out of the building. Just outside the door, Andie pulled out her flipcom and found Jo’s reply.
“Perfect,” Andie said as she scanned Jo’s comm.
“You really think this is going to work?” asked Casey skeptically.
“Of course! Jo’s got me covered. This is just another minor obstacle, Casey. Nothing is going to stop me. You’ll see.”
That evening she broached her request to her parents.
“You want to stay with Jo Cruz the night before we leave?” her mother asked incredulously.
“I know, the timing is terrible, but Jo’s mom needs her to babysit, and she just doesn’t think she can handle all four boys by herself,” Andie explained, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“Well, I don’t see any reason why she can’t go,” her father interjected. “We’re going to have to go to bed early anyway, Marian. We have to make such an early start for the shuttle launch.”
Andie looked to her mother hopefully. “Oh, all right,” her mother conceded. Andie smiled in relief. Now she just needed her luck to last a little bit longer, and she would be on her way.
Her luck did last. The day before her supposed stay with Jo, she smuggled over the bags she would be taking to Omphalos, and no one noticed. The morning of her shuttle trip to Omphalos, she kissed her parents good-bye, explaining that she would be heading over to Jo’s right after work. The lie made her wince a bit, but she knew pretty soon she would be on her way, and it wouldn’t matter so much. It was all going to be worth it, right?
“Stay out of trouble while we’re gone,” ordered her father sternly.
“I don’t get into trouble,” protested Andie, a little too innocently.
“We mean it, Andie,” added her mother. “Behave yourself.” Andie nodded sheepishly. OK, she had been a bit of a troublemaker in the past. There was probably some reason behind why her mother had never left her before. Still, she was an adult now. What did they expect? That she was going to spend her evenings partying in the club? Getting drunk with the off-duty enlisted guys? Running through the mining town and throwing rocks through the windows? Sheesh!
When she finally managed to pry herself away from her mother, she raced to Jo’s house, where Jo was waiting with her bags. “You’re all set, Andie. I’ve got a long night ahead of me though—I’ve convinced my mother she needs a night off and we would watch the kids for her, but now I’ve got to tackle those boys by myself.”
“I know, I owe you big time,” Andie promised.
“Well, good luck! Comm me and let me know how it goes,” Jo told her. “I’ve got to take off, or I’m going to be late to work.” Andie quickly hugged Jo, and then watched her hurry off to the lift. It felt so weird. Saying goodbye to her parents and then to Jo had left her feeling a little bit lost. She sighed and then picked up her bags to trudge off to the lift herself.
Downstairs, Casey was waiting for her in the lobby. Together they made their way to the base shuttleport, where Andie’s flight was due to leave in an hour. At the port Andie couldn’t help but glance nervously around. Any minute she was expecting her father to storm up and demand of her what she was doing.
“I think you can relax, Andie,” Casey observed wryly. “You’ve become a much better liar than you used to be. Nobody has any idea.”
“That doesn’t sound very flattering,” remarked Andie. She quit glancing around.
“It’s not,” conceded Casey. “But I like you anyway.”
“Thanks,” Andie responded sarcastically. The nerves and excitement of several weeks were starting to get to her. Some part of her was beginning to wonder if it was really worth it. Of course it is, Andie reminded herself firmly. Being a skiff pilot was all she had ever wanted to do.
After she had checked in for her flight, she slumped into a seat next to Casey in the waiting area. “I didn’t realize it was going to be so hard to leave,” she confessed to him. “As I handed the agent my ID, suddenly I wanted to yank it back and run right out the door.”
“Then don’t leave,” Casey said simply, taking her hand. His hand felt warm and reassuring. “What am I going to do without you?”
“It’s only one term,” Andie reminded him. “Then you’ll be in Omphalos too.”
Casey dropped her hand and stared out the window. “But where will you be?” There was something in his voice that Andie had never heard before, and she couldn’t quite identify it. What exactly was bothering him? Normally, she could make a pretty good guess about what he was thinking, but this mopey behavior was completely unlike him.
“Well,” she answered brightly, “hopefully, I will still be in Omphalos too, doing the advanced pilot training. Eating at a fancy restaurant on your tab, right?”
Casey laughed in spite of himself. “Right. Well, I’ll believe it when I see it.” The playful tone was back in his voice, and Andie relaxed. This was the Casey she knew and loved.
They passed the hour with Casey telling stories about his volunteer stint in Rhindhol. He had a way of telling vivid stories, and Andie found herself caught up in his tales about superstitious miners and cantankerous housewives. Before she knew it they were calling her flight.
They stood up together. “Stay out of trouble,” Andie told Casey lightly, echoing her mother.
Casey smiled. “Easy. I only get into trouble with you around.” Andie swatted his arm, and then Casey pulled her into a tight hug. “Take care of yourself,” he told her quietly. He lifted his flipcom. “I’m only a comm away, right?”
“I’ll bug you so often you won’t even notice I’m gone,” promised Andie. He let her go and she pulled her bag onto her shoulder. Then with one final wave, she turned and headed for the shuttle gate. She felt like she was leaving half her self behind. What fun was growing up if you had to go away and leave all your friends?
Chapter 1
The Dream
Andie reached the park bench breathless with excitement. Casey was already there; she could see his sandy head bent over the textbook in his lap. She dropped beside him and nudged him with her foot. “Hey!” she greeted cheerfully.
“You’re late,” he responded, without looking up from his book. Andie rolled her eyes.
“I had to get a printout and the machine was jammed. I ended up going into the lounge to get it,” she explained, dropping onto the bench next to him. At this his eyes raised to hers. “A printout? Of what?” he asked, his blue eyes puzzled.
She waved the paper toward him. “It’s a letter I got today. Read it.” Casey had been her best friend for years— if there was anyone who could keep her secret it was him. Casey reached for the letter warily, glancing at her once more.
“Am I going to regret reading this?” he asked heavily.
“No!” protested Andie, tossing her long brown hair. “This is really great news!” Casey sighed but unfolded the sheet of paper and began to read aloud: “Congratulations! You have hereby been accepted into the Pilot Training Program at the Armada Academy of Omphalos.”
Casey looked up from the crisp white paper, his eyebrows raised.
“This is a joke, right? Andie?”
She scowled. “Of course it’s not a joke. I just got the best news of my life, and you’re not taking it seriously!” Casey looked back to the paper and skimmed it silently. When he finished, he handed it back, his face expressionless.
“Well?” she asked expectantly. Casey was silent for a moment. Then he smiled and said, “Well, congratulations, Andie! I know you’ve always wanted to become a pilot!”
Andie took back her letter and read it through once more herself. Casey was right—she had dreamed about being a pilot since she was a small child. She had grown up here, on the huge military base of Dos Cientos, the biggest Armada station on the planet Zenith. Her father was a vice admiral responsible for the part of the fleet that protected the planet. From the time she was little she had watched people fly off in the shuttles, heading for other parts of Zenith, or even for deep space travel, and wished she could go too.
Over time though, the goal had gotten very specific. It wasn’t just any kind of pilot she wanted to be.
“So, you decided being a shuttle pilot wouldn’t be so bad, huh?” Casey asked, a shade too innocently. Andie rolled her eyes again. Casey had been her best friend for the last ten years. They were near inseparable, and it was only too easy to know what he was thinking.
“Seriously, Casey, you know me better than that,” she pointed out. “Where’s the fun in making the same boring trip back and forth to the same boring place?”
“Most jobs are boring, you know. That’s why they’re called jobs, Andie,” he quipped, flicking a fly from his arm. Shading his eyes from the sun, he gazed out in the direction of the landing pad. A streak of smoke trailed behind one of the shuttles leaving the base. Several times every day, a shuttle headed to the capital city Omphalos. Also, Dos Cientos was one of the few places on the planet where deep space flights took off. But there was no sign of a skiff today. Things had been pretty quiet.
“Your father is never going to let you be a skiff pilot, Andie,” Casey reminded. He could practically read her mind too.
“No,” Andie conceded regretfully. “He won’t ever willingly let me do it. My mother isn’t exactly a fan of the idea either.” She scowled at the ground. Her father had made his opinion very clear on the subject. He felt being a skiff pilot was too dangerous a job for his daughters. In vain had Andie argued that even the maintenance crew had had a fatality on the job before. Her father knew even better than her the number of accidents that skiff pilots suffered, and he had so far proved inflexible on the subject.
“Well, can you blame him? After what happened to Erik . . .” Casey began.
“Nothing is going to happen to me!” Andie interrupted him, her voice heating up. Why did Casey have to bring Erik into the conversation? Her younger brother had nothing to do with this subject. Casey took the hint and dropped it. Instead, he returned to her father.
“Well, if your father is never going to let you be a skiff pilot, and you don’t want to be a shuttle pilot, what exactly are you doing then?”
Andie glanced around. The park on base was fairly deserted at this time of day. She could see some kids playing on the far-off playground, but other than that the grassy field around the bench that she and Casey considered their own was deserted.
“I’m still going to try to be a skiff pilot,” she admitted. “If worse comes to worse, I’ll ask for a surveillance assignment. Either way I’ll be joining the Armada as a pilot. I’m an adult; I can make my own decision about it.”
“Really,” Casey commented drily. “And how exactly are you going to pull this one off? One call from your father to your uncle, and they’ll have your admission revoked.” It wasn’t fair, but she knew her father could do just that. Her uncle Mark was an instructor at the Academy. The Donnells were well-known in the Armada, and they could easily pull some strings and have her kicked out. In fact, though it was painful to admit, it was probably her family name that had gotten her admitted into the pilot’s training to begin with, since her school marks were so pathetically bad. However, she had planned for this also.
“My parents are leaving in just a couple weeks. My dad’s rotation came up, and he has to go do his time on the space station. My mother is going with him this time—I think she is going to do some kind of consulting work to justify living there. But I, of course . . .”
“Have to stay behind. No unnecessary personnel allowed on the space station,” finished Casey.
“Isn’t it just beautiful timing?” Andie waved at a couple of children running past. “I thought I was going to have to wait a year or two until I could come up with some excuse to move to Omphalos on my own, and here it’s been handed to me on a silver platter!”
“It’s disturbing, actually,” retorted Casey. “Have you really thought this through? You know as a skiff pilot you’ll have a horrible schedule—don’t you plan to have a family someday? How would that work?”
Andie took Casey’s arm and pulled him from the bench, and they started to walk down the path. “Of course I plan to have a family. I’m sure it will work out somehow—that’s way off in the future, you know, so why worry about it now?” She missed Casey’s sidelong glance at her and continued, “Anyway, who are you to talk? You’re planning on becoming an Armada officer, aren’t you? Same type of life, buddy.”
Casey ignored this, shifting his book to his other hand so he could break off a branch from a nearby bush. “Well, I bet you won’t even be able to survive the training. It’s really intense, I hear—and a lot of actual studying is involved.” Andie grimaced at this. Books really weren’t her strong point. “You don’t think I can do it?” she demanded.
“Nope,” replied Casey with a grin. Andie smacked him on the arm. Of course he was teasing. Mostly.
“OK, Mr. Wise Guy, put your money where your mouth is,” she challenged. “If I make it through, you have to buy me dinner in Omphalos. I fail, and I’ll buy you dinner.”
“You’re on,” accepted Casey, his eyebrows raised. Andie listened in excitement. Nothing was going to stop her from becoming a pilot, and Casey would soon find that out the hard way.
When they reached the residential complex, Andie waved to Casey before heading into the lobby of her home building. As children they had lived in neighboring apartments in Building 5, but when her father had been promoted to the admiralty, he had also received a new living assignment. It was a lavish suite in comparison to the regular family housing for officers. There were individual bedrooms for both Andie and her sister Jenna, a separate office for her mother’s work, and even a small conservatory in the center of the suite, where the family could enjoy their own private garden. Her parents’ bedroom even had a large balcony overlooking the residential common area. It was a beautiful place to live, Andie had to admit, but she did miss living so close to her friends.
At the door to the suite, she pressed her thumb to the pad and the door slid quietly open in response. A soft double chime announced her entry, and immediately her mother called to her from the kitchen. “Andie, come help me with dinner, will you?” Inwardly, Andie grumbled. Inevitably, every time she entered her home, her mother called out some request. A simple “Hi, Andie, how was your day?” would have been wonderful for once. Andie stalked to the kitchen. Her mother was programming the oven, her golden head bent over the panel. “Set the table, please,” ordered her mother without looking up. “Don’t forget to wash your hands.”
Just as if I’m still ten years old, thought Andie in irritation. As she scrubbed her hands in the sink, she realized this was the one thing she missed about Jenna being around. When her older sister had still lived at home, there had been two of them for her mother to order about, and Andie had someone else to share all the chores with. Still, it was a small price to pay to have such an infuriating older sister out of the house.
Jenna was the beauty of the family, the only one of the family to inherit their mother’s honey-golden hair and turquoise eyes. She had flawless skin and a slow, mysterious smile that seemed to leave every guy in a ten mile radius weak at the knees. In contrast, Andie was the plain one. She had her father’s mousy brown hair with just enough curl to it to make it an unruly mess. She had muddy brown eyes and average features, nothing that made any guy turn to look twice. Andie took out some dishes and started to lay them on the table, her forehead creased in a frown. Not only was Jenna the stunning one, she also had all the brains too. School had been a piece of cake for her, and she had easily been accepted into the University’s architecture program. Jenna was their parents’ pride and joy, her father’s all-too-obvious favorite, and Andie had resented it for years. At least now that Jenna lived on the other side of the continent, Andie didn’t have to hear the constant comparisons. “Why can’t you get school marks like Jenna? Why can’t you be more considerate like Jenna? Why don’t you behave better, like Jenna does?”
By the time the triple chime announced her father’s arrival, Andie had finished setting the table and was watering (at her mother’s request) the herb garden in the conservatory. She immediately put down the watering can and went straight to stand at her chair at the dinner table. If there was anything that was sure to put her father in a bad mood, it was having to wait to eat dinner.
Within just a few minutes, her whole family was standing behind their chairs. When they were all ready, her father nodded, and Andie sank into her chair in relief. Sometimes she felt like her dad just wanted them to pass inspection before dinner, but he insisted that it was only common politeness to all sit down together. Literally.
Andie halfheartedly pushed her dinner around her plate. In truth, she was too excited to eat. Soon she would be leaving all of this behind to start her own life, and she found the prospect exhilarating. Only a few short weeks and her parents would be gone, and she would be heading off to the Academy, on her own for her very first time.
“Andie?” her father repeated, with a frown. Andie jumped guiltily.
“Sorry, Dad,” she said sheepishly. “I didn’t hear what you asked me.” Her father put down his fork and took a sip from his glass.
“I asked you whether Joanna has gotten her acceptance to the University yet.”
“I haven’t heard, but I’m sure she will,” Andie replied, her eyes on her plate. Please, let him not mention the University again. If he would just get over the fact that she wasn’t smart enough for it!
“It’s too bad that your marks weren’t high enough to apply to the University, Andie. All your friends are going to be leaving you behind,” her father remarked offhandedly as he speared another vegetable.
“Well, Casey still has a full term before he can go, and even if Jo gets in, she’ll still have her service year to complete first. It won’t be too lonely around here just yet,” Andie replied, trying to keep her tone light. All University applicants had to be at least eighteen, and they had to spend a year in approved service to their community. It was considered an important way to help the students mature before they started the higher studies. For the last half a year, Casey had been helping rebuild and repair homes of the local miners in the nearby town of Rhindhol so that he could fulfill his service requirement. Then he would head off to the university in the capital city. But if all went according to plan, she would be there before him.
“Well, at least you won’t be completely alone while we’re gone,” her mother added, her eyes concerned. Andie knew her mother worried about everything. It had probably been the hardest decision she had ever made, to leave Andie behind for so long. Andie had argued and pleaded and reminded her mother over and over that she was an adult now, that she was perfectly safe living on base, that she would be fine working and living alone for the next year. Twice before her father had drawn the space station rotation, and both times her mother had stayed behind with her children, but she had been absolutely miserable without Andie’s father. Fortunately for Andie, her mother had finally decided that Andie was old enough to stay behind alone, but still, Andie worried that her mother might change her mind at the last minute.
Finally, dinner came to an end, and her parents moved into the conservatory to talk for awhile. Andie was left to herself while she cleaned up the dishes. As she was loading the plates into the steam rack, her flipcom buzzed. She pulled out the small electric blue flipcom and flipped it open. Jo was on the screen.
“Hey, Andie! I got my University acceptance today!” she exulted.
“That’s great, Jo!” congratulated Andie warmly, leaning against the counter. Jo Cruz was another of her good friends. They had been in the same class at school for the last several years, and gradually they had been spending more and more time together— especially this last year, while Casey’s days had been spent off in the mining town. Jo was another beauty, Andie thought wistfully as she studied her face on the screen. She had jet black hair that smoothly flipped back in the latest trendy style. Her olive skin glowed, her inky eyes sparkled, and she had the longest eyelashes Andie had ever seen. When they were younger, Jo had been a skinny, uncoordinated girl, but as they had gotten older she had grown into her good looks. Andie stifled a sigh of envy. It just wasn’t her fortune in life to look so good.
“I just wish you were coming, too,” lamented Jo. “I can’t bear to think of you stuck here forever, Andie.”
Andie hesitated, looking toward the glass wall that separated her from the conservatory. Quickly, she shut the steamer and headed to her room. “Well, I won’t be stuck here forever,” she whispered conspiratorially.
“What?” shrieked Jo. Andie winced and dropped the flipcom.
“Sorry, sorry,” Jo apologized in a lower tone of voice. “But what do you mean? Where are you going?”
“I got my acceptance today to pilot school,” Andie told her with a grin.
“Get out of here. Really? Which one?” Jo asked eagerly.
“The Armada Academy program,” Andie admitted proudly.
“I can’t believe it!” Jo exclaimed. “So you’re going to be in Omphalos too? How did you get your parents to come around?”
“They didn’t,” Andie admitted, flopping down onto her bed. “I haven’t told them.” Jo listened wide eyed as Andie explained about her plan to sneak off to school while her parents were gone.
“Well, I’ve got to hand it to you, Andie. Only you would think of doing this. Let me know if you need any help though,” she offered. “What did Casey say?” she continued curiously.
“He thinks I’m crazy. We made a bet though. If I make it through school, he’s got to buy me dinner in the city. My choice.”
Jo laughed. “Well, that’s one bet I wouldn’t have taken. Good thing Casey can afford to pay up. Nothing is going to stop you.”
“Nope. Here’s to freedom in a few short weeks,” declared Andie.
Those few short weeks were a lot longer than Andie expected. Her father’s departure date got delayed because of some technical problem with the docking port on the space station. Unfortunately for Andie, that meant that her report date for the Academy was the day before her parents were scheduled to leave.
Casey didn’t help matters. He laughed out loud when she told him her dilemma. They were sprawled in his living room listening to music while she explained her latest roadblock.
“I don’t think it’s funny,” Andie growled.
“You were so confident just a few days ago,” Casey returned with a grin. “Where’d all that determination go? Or are you just paranoid that you are actually going to lose the bet?”
“No, I’m sure there’s still a way around this. I just haven’t thought of it yet.”
“Why don’t you try telling your parents the truth?” Casey suggested, as if this was the obvious solution.
“Are you kidding?” Andie was horrified. “And watch my only chance to become a skiff pilot sail out the window? I don’t think so.”
Casey propped himself up on his elbow, his face more serious. “At some point, you are going to have to tell them. Your father could still throw his rank around later, and then where would you be? Stuck on the reserve list or permanently grounded. Nobody who actually wants to get anywhere in the Armada can afford to have anyone in the admiralty set against them, Andie. You know that.”
“I know that,” Andie admitted. But still, it was a risk she had to take. Would her father go so far as to wreck her career in the Armada just to keep her “safe?” When they were much younger, her father had always told them that he would be so proud to see his children serve in the Armada like him. Then after Erik’s death, that had all changed, but still, wouldn’t her father be proud of her deep down?
“Well, it’s too bad you can’t just ask to stay over here for a few days,” Casey offered jokingly. “Then you could take off without them knowing. But over his dead body would your father agree to that.”
“That’s it!” exclaimed Andie. Finally, a possible solution. Casey was a genius!
“What?” Casey asked bewildered. “I was joking, Andie. Neither your parents nor my mother would agree to us having a little slumber party.”
“Of course not. But they would let me stay with Jo,” she said excitedly, pulling her flipcom from her pocket. “She said she would help if I needed it.”
“Jo? And her mom is just going to let you head off on the shuttle without saying something to your parents?”
“Casey, Jo’s mom is so overwhelmed with taking care of her other kids that she is not going to notice if Jo announced we were going to the moon.” Andie started tapping a message to Jo on her keypad. Jo would still be at work right now, but Andie was sure that she would agree. Jo’s mom had two year old quadruplet boys with her second husband. Jo’s stepfather was currently on a deep space assignment, which meant that Jo’s mom was constantly short on sleep, short on time for her daughter, and perpetually distracted. In a way, Andie envied Jo. Her mother had so little time for her that it gave her enormous freedom.
The door chimed and Casey’s mom walked into the apartment. “Well, hey there, Casey. Look who had time to grace the house with his presence.” She dropped her bag on the chair. “And how are you today, Andie?”
“Hi Dr. Morten,” Andie greeted, as Casey scrambled to get up off the floor. He gave his mother a quick hug and then turned off their music. Andie moved to sit at the breakfast bar while Casey’s mom rummaged through the fridge. Dr. Morten was one of her favorite people. She always treated Andie like she was an adult. “So, off work already, Andie?” asked Dr. Morten as she poured herself a glass of juice. Casey raised his eyebrows at Andie as he slid onto the stool next to her.
“Uh, I was off today,” hedged Andie. When she had given her notice at her job on the maintenance crew, her original plan had been to work right up until her parents left so they wouldn’t realize she was quitting her job. Then, her crew chief had misunderstood which week she intended to quit, so she had not been scheduled for this week. Her last day of work had been two days before. In the meantime, she had been killing time away from home during her normal work schedule, hoping that no one would notice. Today, Casey had a break from his volunteer work so she was hanging out with him. Hopefully, Dr. Morten wouldn’t mention it to her parents!
“Lucky girl,” said Dr. Morten as she rinsed out her glass. “I’ve only got a short break, then I’ve got to head back. I’m covering for Dr. Curran, so I’ll be home late,” she added to Casey.
“Sure, I’ll fend for myself.” Casey shrugged. He was used to this kind of stuff, Andie knew. It came with being the son of a single parent who was also a base physician. Casey’s father had died when he was very young, and Dr. Morten had never remarried. It was odd to think that Casey had been born on Terra. Terra was the home planet, the center of the Planetary Union. His father had come from a family of extremely wealthy Terran politicians. After his father had died, Dr. Morten had joined the Armada and been assigned to Zenith. Andie idly wondered why a successful doctor decided to join the military. The Mortens sure didn’t need the money. Casey’s father had left him a huge trust fund, and Andie was sure that Dr. Morten was as well off. Maybe she had just wanted to escape.
“Well, you two, I’m going to take a quick nap before I go back to work. Keep it down out here, OK?” Casey’s mom requested.
“No problem, I’m just on my way out anyway,” Andie responded.
Casey walked her out of the building. Just outside the door, Andie pulled out her flipcom and found Jo’s reply.
“Perfect,” Andie said as she scanned Jo’s comm.
“You really think this is going to work?” asked Casey skeptically.
“Of course! Jo’s got me covered. This is just another minor obstacle, Casey. Nothing is going to stop me. You’ll see.”
That evening she broached her request to her parents.
“You want to stay with Jo Cruz the night before we leave?” her mother asked incredulously.
“I know, the timing is terrible, but Jo’s mom needs her to babysit, and she just doesn’t think she can handle all four boys by herself,” Andie explained, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“Well, I don’t see any reason why she can’t go,” her father interjected. “We’re going to have to go to bed early anyway, Marian. We have to make such an early start for the shuttle launch.”
Andie looked to her mother hopefully. “Oh, all right,” her mother conceded. Andie smiled in relief. Now she just needed her luck to last a little bit longer, and she would be on her way.
Her luck did last. The day before her supposed stay with Jo, she smuggled over the bags she would be taking to Omphalos, and no one noticed. The morning of her shuttle trip to Omphalos, she kissed her parents good-bye, explaining that she would be heading over to Jo’s right after work. The lie made her wince a bit, but she knew pretty soon she would be on her way, and it wouldn’t matter so much. It was all going to be worth it, right?
“Stay out of trouble while we’re gone,” ordered her father sternly.
“I don’t get into trouble,” protested Andie, a little too innocently.
“We mean it, Andie,” added her mother. “Behave yourself.” Andie nodded sheepishly. OK, she had been a bit of a troublemaker in the past. There was probably some reason behind why her mother had never left her before. Still, she was an adult now. What did they expect? That she was going to spend her evenings partying in the club? Getting drunk with the off-duty enlisted guys? Running through the mining town and throwing rocks through the windows? Sheesh!
When she finally managed to pry herself away from her mother, she raced to Jo’s house, where Jo was waiting with her bags. “You’re all set, Andie. I’ve got a long night ahead of me though—I’ve convinced my mother she needs a night off and we would watch the kids for her, but now I’ve got to tackle those boys by myself.”
“I know, I owe you big time,” Andie promised.
“Well, good luck! Comm me and let me know how it goes,” Jo told her. “I’ve got to take off, or I’m going to be late to work.” Andie quickly hugged Jo, and then watched her hurry off to the lift. It felt so weird. Saying goodbye to her parents and then to Jo had left her feeling a little bit lost. She sighed and then picked up her bags to trudge off to the lift herself.
Downstairs, Casey was waiting for her in the lobby. Together they made their way to the base shuttleport, where Andie’s flight was due to leave in an hour. At the port Andie couldn’t help but glance nervously around. Any minute she was expecting her father to storm up and demand of her what she was doing.
“I think you can relax, Andie,” Casey observed wryly. “You’ve become a much better liar than you used to be. Nobody has any idea.”
“That doesn’t sound very flattering,” remarked Andie. She quit glancing around.
“It’s not,” conceded Casey. “But I like you anyway.”
“Thanks,” Andie responded sarcastically. The nerves and excitement of several weeks were starting to get to her. Some part of her was beginning to wonder if it was really worth it. Of course it is, Andie reminded herself firmly. Being a skiff pilot was all she had ever wanted to do.
After she had checked in for her flight, she slumped into a seat next to Casey in the waiting area. “I didn’t realize it was going to be so hard to leave,” she confessed to him. “As I handed the agent my ID, suddenly I wanted to yank it back and run right out the door.”
“Then don’t leave,” Casey said simply, taking her hand. His hand felt warm and reassuring. “What am I going to do without you?”
“It’s only one term,” Andie reminded him. “Then you’ll be in Omphalos too.”
Casey dropped her hand and stared out the window. “But where will you be?” There was something in his voice that Andie had never heard before, and she couldn’t quite identify it. What exactly was bothering him? Normally, she could make a pretty good guess about what he was thinking, but this mopey behavior was completely unlike him.
“Well,” she answered brightly, “hopefully, I will still be in Omphalos too, doing the advanced pilot training. Eating at a fancy restaurant on your tab, right?”
Casey laughed in spite of himself. “Right. Well, I’ll believe it when I see it.” The playful tone was back in his voice, and Andie relaxed. This was the Casey she knew and loved.
They passed the hour with Casey telling stories about his volunteer stint in Rhindhol. He had a way of telling vivid stories, and Andie found herself caught up in his tales about superstitious miners and cantankerous housewives. Before she knew it they were calling her flight.
They stood up together. “Stay out of trouble,” Andie told Casey lightly, echoing her mother.
Casey smiled. “Easy. I only get into trouble with you around.” Andie swatted his arm, and then Casey pulled her into a tight hug. “Take care of yourself,” he told her quietly. He lifted his flipcom. “I’m only a comm away, right?”
“I’ll bug you so often you won’t even notice I’m gone,” promised Andie. He let her go and she pulled her bag onto her shoulder. Then with one final wave, she turned and headed for the shuttle gate. She felt like she was leaving half her self behind. What fun was growing up if you had to go away and leave all your friends?
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