Of Hearts And Stars (Classic Editon) (The Cadet Starship Chronicles) (12 page)

PART THREE

Of Hearts And Stars

Jonas Curtswaddle is a man that Zachery Method tries to avoid contact with whenever possible. He is Arbalest Solar Academy's Dean of Admissions, Mission Coordinator for the Elite Student Crew Program, and an overall smarmy wad. Which is probably why you can't spell Curtswaddle without wad anyway. Despite having better things to do, like sleeping in the instructor's lounge or going back over this month's lesson plans, Zach had to speak with J-Wad about a mission that was currently assigned to ESC-1.

Mr. Method left his suite on the 76
^th
floor and began walking towards the elevator at the end of the hall. He recalled the day he first arrived at the Academy three years ago with Swift, and how the sheer size of the academy impressed them both. To this day Zach still believes it is possible that someone can get lost in the academy for days at a time. The floors and walls were composed of the same tungsten-glass compound that made up much of the infrastructure. White ceramic tiles had been placed underfoot with a triangle in the corners of each one, forming small black diamonds when lined up properly. The bottom half of the walls are tinted brown, and the upper half a cozy desert beige, done so in a manner that still allowed the surface to retain the look of brushed metal. Once he factored in the lighting, he decided that it all had a warm feel to it. Not the most exciting color scheme, but he wasn't complaining.

It was worth noting however, that areas designated for research, development, combat training, or any activities of the sort did not share the same earth tones or fancy ceramic tiles. This is most likely because these areas tend to sustain the most damage; be it from failed experiments, combat training itself, or even successful experiments in some cases. That being said the floors were simply brushed metal, and the walls painted haze gray.

He arrived at the administrative offices on the 82
^nd
floor and walked into the reception area, making sure to stop at the desk of Jenna Rivera, Curtswaddle's secretary.

“
Yo Jenna, is J-Wad in?” he asked.

Jenna had been typing one-handed at her console, but now turned towards Mr. Method with a cup of coffee in the other “Yeah, but he's busy all morning. At least that's what he says.” she answered.

“
Busy eh? Probably playing Farmville no doubt. I'm going to go have a word with him.”

“
Fine Zach, but no fighting!”

“
Verbal or physical?” Mr. Method asked.

“
Both if you can help it.”

“
We'll see.”

Mr. Method knocked twice and then entered. J-Wad's office is the kind that's dressed to impress; complete with fake wood panel walls, bookcases full of books that were never read let alone opened, and certificates hung in ornate frames, but upon further inspection only denoted participation in online courses. The wow factor in here is the equivalent to watching paint dry at a golf tournament.

“
Method? Didn't Rivera tell you I was busy?” Curtswaddle asked from behind his desk. Mr. Method tried to lean forward to see what was on his monitor, but had no luck.

“
She did, but then I told her it was an emergency.” Zach said and held up his hands in a dramatic gesture “Crisis upon humanity and what not.”

The buttons on Curtswaddle's tweed suit battled against his stomach to stay fastened. Method watched this silent, yet furious battle of buttons verses the bulge as Curtswaddle reached across his desk to grab a stack of memos from one side, shuffle them, and then set them in a neat pile on the other side. The balding Curtswaddle gave Mr. Method an impatient look.

“
Well? What do you want?” he asked.

“
I wanted to talk to you about the mission you assigned to ESC-1 LaCroix. Mission 12-0922.”

“
What about it?” Curtswaddle asked.

There wasn't anything about it really. An Imperial ship had sent out a distress signal, and was most likely in need of assistance for repairs. The location of the ship was a horse of a different color however.

“
The ship in distress, don't you think it's a bit close to the Belt Line to be sending cadets out to help?” Mr. Method asked.

The Belt Line was the name given to the asteroid belt after the war began, and artificial planets were created within. It was the line drawn in the sand, figuratively speaking, that separated Imperial and Rebel territory. Various ships of both factions navigated this dangerous place while doing battle with each other. Not to mention that the space stations and bases established on the many minor planets created a hostile atmosphere that even trade ships were reluctant to be in.

“
Method, the reason the Elite Student Crew program was created was to provide the Imperial fleet with support.” Curtswaddle said “A lot of money and time has gone into making this a reality, and we cannot afford to pick and choose our missions.”

The ESC, or Elite Student Crew, program was designed at first as a sort of varsity equivalent to the existing Student Crew program. Over time the capabilities of the cadets in the ESC's brought them to the attention of the Imperial Fleet, and it was decided that ESCs would be allowed to participate in certain missions.

“
That's only one of the reasons, and I don't know whose money, if any, goes to those cadets. Their ships were purchased as a group effort by the cadets in the ESCs, and are maintained by them through their own means.”

“
Much of those means are coming from the completion of missions.” Curtswaddle interjected.

“
Regardless, I thought we had an agreement that after RP-750 we will no longer send students on missions that have a high probability for combat or considerable risk to the cadets assigned.” Mr. Method said.

RP-750 is the codename given to an incident which occurred on the Red Planet, or Mars, during a mission carried out by cadets from Arbalest Solar Academy. The exact details are still debated, but it clearly resulted in the death of a cadet and the near death of another.

“
I don't see the high risk here Method. ESCs are sent on resource gathering missions, reconnaissance, escorts in Imperial territory, and AID MISSIONS.” Curtswaddle pointed out “This is an aid mission. It's not like I'm sending your precious nephew to the front lines- even though it seems that's where he wants to be.”

“
It's not the mission itself that poses the risk, but the location as I've already mentioned.” Mr. Method said “Haven't you seen reports from Imperial ships stating that Rebels have been capturing Imperial soldiers for slavery along the Belt Line?”

“
So what Method? You think that this is some sort of trap?” Curtswaddle asked and added “That's just silly.”

“
Well you have to ask yourself how Imperial ships are being so easily captured in their own territory.”

“
Incompetence no doubt. If LaCroix can't complete this mission who will? Should I reassign the mission to another ESC?”

“
No. If it's not safe for them, it's not safe for any ESC.”

“
Then would you go yourself?”

“
That's actually not a bad idea. I've got a friend who-”

“
No Method. I don't care if you were a captain in the fleet or whatever. You're an instructor now and you have your own work to do.” Curtswaddle said and shook his head “If LaCroix can't do the mission, disband them and I'll assign a different ESC.”

Mr. Method took a deep breath and exhaled.

“
Didn't we have this same conversation a couple years ago? Though I can't exactly recall what you said to the headmaster after Cadet Fisher was executed. It sounded like a lot of bullshit and apologizing if my memory serves correct.”

“
You're over the line Method!”

“
I'm over the line?”

“
Quite! Do you intend on keeping your job?”

“
If there is another repeat of RP-750, you'll lose a lot more than your job Curtswaddle.”

“
Is that a threat Method?”

“
No, because my intentions have been clear since the moment we met. It's a promise. A binding resolution. One more cadet dies, or is anywhere near it, I'm going to take you apart piece by piece. You can go back and tell the headmaster I said that and I bet he'll start shopping for your casket.”

The two men stared at each other for a few seconds, but Curtswaddle was the first to look away. Mr. Method smacked the neatly stacked pile of papers to the floor and turned to walk out.

“
You need to stop working with your heart on your sleeve Method.” Curtswaddle said from behind him.

“
Yeah? Get a heart, and then you can tell me anything you want about that.” Mr. Method said and walked out.

Jenna had just finished a phone call as Mr. Method stepped out of Curtswaddle's office and shut the door behind him.

“
How'd it go?” she asked.

“
Business as usual. He was doing that stacking papers thing again.”

“
You know, the top sheet is the only one with text. The rest are blank.” she explained “He only does it for show.”

“
Oh I know, so I smacked them to the floor.” Mr. Method said.

“
Oh man.” Jenna set her status to be right back – restroom and got up from her seat “I'm not picking that crap up.” she said and they both walked out laughing.

-
30
-

He sets his alarm each night for six on the dot, but Gin wakes up at five fifty nine fifty and shuts it off. Even two months after joining LaCroix; the excitement of being an ESC member had not worn off, and his internal clock often woke him up before the alarm did. Gin then runs through his morning routine of shaving what little whiskers he has and brushing his teeth in the semidarkness; so he doesn't wake his two roommates Pudge and Oatfield. They were in student crews as well, but even so, did not like waking up early and would go ape if disturbed.

He stood in front of his wardrobe and considered what to wear. As a special privilege, entitled to ESC members only, states; they can wear any clothing they wish as long as the clothing is not provocative in nature, of poor taste, or obscene. However, even after two months of being at the academy, he found that he didn't have much besides his cadet uniform and the ESC uniform issued to him.

“
This is so lame...” he whispered to himself in the dim light provided by his desk lamp.

His crew-mates often walked around like they stepped straight out of a manga or anime, so he really didn't like wearing either his uniforms. Gin found it funny that while he did stand out among his crew mates in them, he didn't feel like he was expressing himself very much.

“
Maybe these blue jeans...?” he said and put them on.

After looking some more he found a t-shirt with a video game character, Kunio-kun, that he liked. On it Kunio-kun was flexing a bicep and the text below said Work It. Definitely a weird t-shirt, and maybe that's why he liked it so much. Whenever he wore it he felt like working harder, better, faster, and stronger, and that's how he wanted to approach the day ahead. He tossed a black hoodie on over this and left the front unzipped. Once he got his sneakers on, he went to the door and got ready to start his day.

Gin had been fine tuning his morning routine so that he would be the first one to arrive at Ready Room One, but was always beaten by Revy. This was mostly surprising, because he had assumed that it took girls a little bit longer to get ready in the morning. Then again Revy was pretty quick and efficient at everything she did. This morning he found her reading a technical manual. In front of her was a banana nut muffin and a cup of coffee. She was so still that to Gin she looked more like a life sized doll than ever before.

“
But where are the doll joints...” Gin murmured, thinking out loud.

“
Mmm?” Revy looked up from what she was reading. She smiled and said “Good morning to you too Gin!”

Apparently, or rather luckily, she had misheard his bizarre comment “Haa...ha ha.” he laughed awkwardly while he scratched the back of his head.

Revy tilted her head and asked “Did I say something funny?”

Gin waved his hands in front of himself and said “Oh no no! I just remembered a funny show I saw the other day...it was...funny ya know?”

“
Hmm...” Revy studied his face and smiled again “You'll have to tell me about it sometime. I like comedy too.” she said.

“
Oh yeah! You bet!” Gin said cheerfully. Now he'd have to make up a funny sounding show later!

“
It's good that you're up early. You might need some extra time to complete your morning duty.” she explained.