Academy Snippet 1

 So I am moving forward with Academy (finally!) It has been sitting on the back burner long enough.

I actually wrote it earlier this year before Horatio 5. I've been sitting on it for some reason.

Anyway, here we go.

Academy is a series of stories with interludes at a military wedding reception...

Tulip-Camper Wedding Reception, Antigua

 

“You have to admire them,” Commander Gregory Yeggi said as he watched the newlywed couple with a trace of envy and pity. Envy that they’d found each other, pity because he suspected he knew what was coming in their future.

The 2 humans were having a grand old time on the dance floor. It was their wedding after all, and it was high time to party. There might be a war on but that didn’t mean life stopped. Technically there were 2 wars going on, the Federation was at war with the pirates in Sigma and other sectors, and the Tauren Confederacy in Tau sector.

At the moment you couldn’t tell that from the atmosphere in the large room. He was grateful from the reprieve of crushing responsibility, no matter how small a time period it was. In a few days it would be back to work once more.

He was a chimera, a human with elven, alien, and neo genes. He sported long elven ears, a long slim frame and face, cat like eyes, and a series of spike horns on either side of his temple ranging back into his braided black hair. His skin was a golden color unblemished by tattoos or defects.

“How so?” the army officer sitting across from him at the table asked curiously. The wreckage of their meal had been swept up by the quiet catering team some time ago. Just the usual drinks and personal effects remained to mark where people had been sitting and may return.

“Sorry, you are…?” the Bekian asked. The army officer was a Neochimp male with a bit of a hulking presence. He had noted the Major at the party out of interest because the officer was in army green not the usual navy blue.

Their table was mostly deserted at the moment; many of the people were out visiting other people, dancing on the dance floor, or getting drinks at the bar.

The wedding had gone as expected. The blushing bride and blushing groom and all. The wedding party had been replenished in formal dress uniforms; there had been only the 1 stand out civilian on the side of the bride. A lot of the audience had been military too. The antics of the toddler flower girl and ring bearer had livened up the formal mood. Seeing the little kitten chasing flowers and then curling up for a nap had been adorable.

The reception had gone well with the usual speeches, antics, and photo ops. He had some good shots of his former boss getting cake crammed up his nose to share with the ship’s company when he got back on board.

He was heartily glad they were down to the fun part, to relax and enjoy without anymore crap. Just party. He glanced to the group going all out on the dance floor. The wedding had a very good DJ and planner.

His gaze shifted to the center of the dance floor to see the bride and groom tearing it up on the dance floor and snorted.  Dirty dancing indeed. They were breaking out moves that would scandalize quite a few people.

“Major Louis Chimpsky.” the Neochimp stated as he played with his drink idly.

“Ah,” the Commander replied with a nod. “I’m Commander Gregory Yeggi. To answer your question, they found love while maintaining a lifelong career,” he said.

The major nodded slightly. Anyone above a lieutenant’s rank knew how difficult it was to maintain a work life balance in the military, especially one at war. It got worse when one person was deployed for years at a time. If both people were in the military they could be sent to the ends of the Federation. Throw in the anxiety of not knowing if your partner was alive or dead and it was tough. The complexity of having kids eventually as well just blew all of that into the stratosphere.

Most careerists did not want the problem of a partner or kids; they wanted to rise through the ranks as rapidly as possible. It took a rare set to find each other in these trying times.

“Yeah, it is tougher for you spacers I suppose,” the major said. He looked around the room. There were a lot of formal jackets on the back of chairs. Everyone was loosening up now that the formalities were over. They would be seeing off the couple soon.

“So, how do you know the newlyweds?” Commander Yeggi asked.

“Ah?” the Major cocked his head. He had a bluff chiseled look to him. No nonsense, someone who had seen a lot.  He flapped his hands after a moment. “Sorry, I’m a plus one.”

“Ah.” the commander nodded sagely.

“What about you?” the major asked.

“Oh, I served with Captain Campers in two tours. I was his XO on the cruiser Hudson during our last deployment,” he said proudly.

“Ah,” the major said idly. “Do I hear a bit of a Bekian accent?” he asked.

“Yes,” the commander replied with a wary nod. Some people did not appreciate his kind.

The army officer studied him and then flapped a hand. “Nuevo,” he said.

The Bekian blinked. “Ah. I should have known, there aren’t that many army personnel here yet,” he said.

“No, we’re almost at a balance now. New Texas, Avalon, and the rest of the worlds in the sectors have been contributing personnel steadily. But the hard green core comes from Nuevo,” he said proudly.

The commander nodded. He thought the same thing about the navy but there were some who thought differently. There were a lot of people who resented Bekian superiority. He kept his counsel about it just in case someone was in ear shot. There were plenty of people around and some had hit the bar a lot.

“I heard that they put in for same duty assignments,” a female voice said. They turned to the human Commander who was sitting 2 chairs down from them. “Sorry to eavesdrop. Commander Katya Budnova,” she said as she indicated herself.

The 2 officers noted the woman as she took her jacket off and put it over the back of her chair. Her left lapel had wings so she was a pilot certified officer.

“Few,” she said as she took a sip of wine. “I’m half blind from the flash photos,” she said.

The other officers smiled in understanding.

“So, they put in to the same duty assignment?” the major asked. “And BuPers let them have it?” he asked dubiously. “Is that even possible?”

“Yeah, I know. BuPers is ruled by low and infernal people. Most have a twisted sense of humor,” she said with twisted lips. That earned soft snorts from the other officers. “Scuttlebutt has it that one or both of them went to BuPers to announce their engagement. They don’t share the same chain of command, so that isn’t a problem.”

“But it potentially could be since both are naval officers,” Commander Yeggi observed.

“No, Sheila is sitting on admiral Snake Charmer’s staff as her staff TO and captain Camper is a ship captain as you know,” she replied with a shrug. “I’m CAG on Decorum,” she said. They blinked and absorbed that news. She took a sip of her wine and then set it down. “That is how I know anyway,” she said by way of explanation.

“Ah.”

“BuPers tried to separate them, or so the story goes. One or both offered up their resignation.” That startled the other officers. “BuPers had a sudden change in heart and assigned them to the same fleet.” The pilot smiled a feral smile.

Commander Yeggi blinked and then his lips pursed in a thoughtful silent whistle. “I didn’t know you could blackmail BuPers like that. Usually if an officer offers to resign they get reassigned or allowed to resign,” he said dubiously. There were ways to get out of an assignment but a direct confrontation usually ended poorly.

“Yeah, but several high ranking officers intervened on their behalf. Scuttlebutt has it that it went up to Admiral Champion, possibly even to Admiral Irons.” Again the 2 other officers stared at her in surprise. The pilot shrugged. “What can I say? Admiral Sprite and Admiral Irons have a romantic soft core somewhere.”

That earned a snort of disdain from the commander.

Rumor also had it that Irons favored anyone not from Bek. He still held a grudge over the Childress insurrection supposedly. It sucked, Bekians should be getting their just due, and the Navy should be conforming to their long standing traditions not forcing them into an unwanted mold.

“So, they are in the same fleet? That doesn’t mean they’ll get to be together,” the Major said.

“Not sharing the same bed nightly maybe, but sharing the same fleet means they can communicate with each other more regularly. They can share leave together, that sort of thing,” the pilot said as she ran a hand through her short hair. Like all pilots she had short hair to fit under her helmet. The sides of her head had been shaved. They could see the faint glitter of implant jacks on either side of her head. That indicated she was a high level pilot.

Given that she was a CAG on a carrier she was no doubt quite highly skilled.

“What’d I miss?” another female officer asked as he sat next to the pilot. She downed her wine glass and then looked around for another. The small Neomutt looked a little… tired. She panted a little.

The men knew better than to point out that the pilot was a bit sweaty. Women do not sweat they ‘glowed’. Anyone who thought differently might get into trouble, especially if they were of the wrong gender who pointed such differences out.

“Have fun on the dance floor?” the pilot asked with a knowing grin.

The newcomer rolled her green eyes. “You know it,” she said with an answering grin.

“Going to take anyone home?” the pilot asked with a broadening smile.

“No, he’s taken damn it,” the newcomer said with a moue of disappointment. The pout had the pilot snorting in amusement. “You’re one to talk,” the woman growled. She turned to the others. “So, are you in Tenth fleet too?”

“Ah, no,” Commander Yeggi said with a shake of his head. He had been retained in Home Fleet. He’d thought he’d take over for the skipper but apparently not. He was to take up command of a tin can next week. It would be his first command.

“Obviously not,” the major said dryly holding up a hand. “Plus one.”

“Ah. I’d wondered,” the Lieutenant Commander said. She checked her jacket. The glitter of a cadeaus on her left lapel indicated she was a doctor.

“Sorry, this is Lieutenant Commander Dorothy Gayle, call her Stitches,” the pilot said by way of introduction to the newcomer. She then introduced the other officers in return.

“Stitches?” the chimera asked as he wrinkled his nose. It was a common nickname among surgeons but he was curious as to why. The short Neomutt didn’t look like a surgeon.

“If she doesn’t crack you up she might crack your sternum to get nosy and make adjustments to your soft bits just for the fun of it,” the pilot said wickedly. The medic opened her mouth to say something in protest, closed it and then lowered a glower on her partner.

“Low blow crop-duster,” she growled, green eyes flickering in challenge.

The pilot snickered. “Seen any ruby slippers or twisters lately Toto?” she teased back.

The medic turned away with a sniff as another officer quietly sat at their table. She turned to the commander and noted his ring. “Ring knocker?” she asked with a cock of her head.

He touched his ring and played with it. “Yes.” He kept the statement neutral. Some people did not like academy graduates. His homeworld was not popular among those who were not born there.

“Bek?” she asked as she cocked her head.

“Yes. A problem?” he asked in challenge.

She smiled. It was a warm smile that helped to put his defensive aura at ease a little. “So, what’s it like? I went to the academy in Antigua…”

“And now she teaches at it. Or did until she was assigned to Tenth fleet with the rest of us,” the pilot interjected.

“Hush,” the medic scolded, turning her head to her partner.

“Or?” the pilot asked.

The medic turned a look on her. She held it for a long moment and then took on a thoughtful evil look. The pilot put her hands up. “Okay, just teasing. No need to trot out the nuclear arsenal Stitches,” she said.

The Neodog just raised an eyebrow at her.

“Seriously, I’ll behave,” the pilot said in a small voice as she seemed to shrink into herself.

The Neodog snorted as did the others around the table. “That’ll be a first,” she teased with a grin and ear flick. She turned her eyes on the commander again. “So, what was the academy like?”

“Well, it was… different I suppose than what it is now…”

“How so?”

“Well, when I went to the academy Caroline hadn’t turned up yet,” the commander said. The others nodded. The light cruiser Caroline had successfully navigated the rapids to get into the pocket of space that Bek and Nuevo existed in, isolated and forgotten by the rest of the galaxy for centuries. Admiral Irons had visited during his time as a junior flag officer during the first stages of the Xeno war. He had been there to set up the star systems as a last ditch redoubt of civilization should the Xenos win.

Bek had built a massive navy to protect itself against the Xenos. Nuevo had gone in the other direction, building a massive army on its 2 inhabited worlds, primarily to fight a never ending war against the worms that infested the planets.

Bek had lost the ability to build hyperdrives until Caroline had shown up. It wasn’t the only thing that they’d lost though...