Tessa looked up, caught the glance from Izzy, the look of shock and fear threading through her eyes. The Admiral’s words had come like a sharp slap, harsh and unavoidable. In the split second pause, something snapped in the air between Izzy and Tessa, shot a spike of arcing fear into the Lieutenant Commander’s mind so suddenly, so unexpectedly that it left her reeling, stumbling. One word flared within her, blossomed like a halo of blood and icy pain.
Dismissed?
“LC!” Someone breathed. Within the span of a blink, Cordova was there, reaching to catch her, to support her if she fell, but she caught herself instead, waved him away silently. Panem’s eyes hardly left the notepad, stayed as riveted to the roster in his hands as if he hadn’t noticed a single instant of the exchange. Tessa swallowed uneasily, forced herself to regard the bandaged Admiral calmly, quietly.
“Now, Lieutenant Izandra Copperfield,” The Admiral began, that same crooked smile spreading slowly across the ruins of her face. “As of this moment, you are hereby granted the field commission of Lieutenant Commander and the responsibility of leading Athena squadron for as long as you remain aboard the Wu Ang Hok.” The Admiral paused, waited for her words to sink in. “May it be yours for much longer than just that.”
Izzy swallowed, sputtered breathlessly, spared Tessa a fraction of a glance before taking an unconscious step forward. “Ma’am. I–” She swallowed. “Thank you.”
“Panem,” The Admiral made a loose gesture, caught the attention of the young technician. Absently half-nodding, he pulled a brassy, star-shaped rank pip out of his greasy uniform, crossed the office to Izzy and hesitated for an instant before gingerly reaching out to pin it to her uniform. Faith’s grin softened. “Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander.”
Izzy nodded, opened her mouth to say something, to put words to another thanks, but before she could speak, the Admiral turned her sightless gaze away, gestured again.
“Youseff, call in Bast and Athena.” She turned roughly back toward Izzy. “It’s time you met your new command.”
Izzy nodded quickly, swallowed nervously. Beside her, Tessa’s eyes had dropped to the deck plating, her features a cold and solid mask that hovered somewhere between shock and anger, as if her face had become a placeholder for the emotions that fought amongst each other deep within the walls that had risen to hide her heart. In the hallway, Panem read more names from the list. Stone, Moore, and Currie.
Lieutenant Stone was the first to enter, autumn sun eyes tracing a line back and forth across the room in a slow, surveying arc. Pilots shifted sideways, made room for the newcomers, and for a moment Tessa’s eyes met Stone’s in the barest of glances, passed a look that said nothing, betrayed nothing. Behind the Lieutenant, the average-looking shapes of Moore and Currie filed in, pressed themselves up against the wall, exchanging blank looks with Beaumann and Mondego.
“I believe you already know Izandra Copperfield.” The Admiral gestured vaguely in Izzy’s direction, gave the shadow of another smile. “As the only surviving elements of Athena and Bast Squadrons, your rigs will be reintegrated into the new Athena squadron with Acting LC Copperfield as your commanding officer.” She paused. “Unfortunately, that leaves your squadron short one rig, so I’ll also be assigning Captain Maxwell Cavanaugh to your squadron as well, assuming the doctor clears him for duty before you fly again.”
“Captain... Maxwell Cavanaugh.” Izzy glanced at Tessa, swallowed as she caught the look the other woman was still boring into the deckplating. She looked back, eyes searching the Admiral’s bandaged face for a moment, covering the hesitation, the pause that came before she spoke again. “Wait, you mean Mac? Captain Mac? The guy with the Slashdriver?” Izzy bit her lip, swallowed, hesitated again. “With all due respect, Admiral, you’re not serious, are you?”
“My technicians have looked over the Captain’s K-8 and they tell me that, with the modifications Cavanaugh has made to it in the last few decades and a few field upgrades installed by our own people here, it’s perfectly capable of handling the stresses that might be put on it during the course of duty.”
“But, Admiral...” Izzy tried again. “The Navy officially retired those things like forty years ago.”
“If you don’t like the idea, I’m sure I could find someone else to lead Athena squadron instead.” The Admiral’s response came simple, firm as iron. “Someone who already outranks you, someone like... Captain Cavanaugh himself, perhaps?” Izzy swallowed reflexively, opened her mouth, closed it, considered her words carefully before she opened it again.
“No ma’am.” She shook her head, forced strength into her voice. “It’s fine. I’m sure Captain Maxwell Cavanaugh’s Slashdriver will make an excellent addition to Athena Squadron.”
“Glad to hear it.” The Admiral cracked another smile. “Now, you’ll all be working with people whose talents and maneuvers in the field will be unfamiliar to you, so I suggest some serious bonding and tactics talk in the hangar bay while you still have a chance. There’s no telling how long the Coralate will leave us here or how much breathing room they’re going to give us, so treat every moment like it’s your last. Make every minute count.” Faith paused, gave time for her words to sink in, her tone to drop to something quieter, more serious. “We may be facing our death out here. The only warning we’ll really have if those two warships decide to start firing on the Hok is the spike in energy that our sensor network is primed to register the moment their ship-to-ship weaponry comes online. If it comes to that, it’ll be close. You’ll only have about fifteen seconds to get clear of the ship, so you’ll have to taxi out manually and watch your fellow pilots. Once you’re outside, I recommend going power off the instant you get clear and letting yourself float away with the debris until a rescue ship arrives.” She took a deep breath, put her bandaged hands gently together. “We’re counting on you. All of you. Even if the ship doesn’t survive, you have to.”
“Admiral...” Mondego tried, but her words faltered, fell short. Faith looked in her direction, gave her the edge of a smile.
“I know, I don’t like to think about it either, but ignoring the facts has never saved any lives.” The Admiral shifted sideways, braced herself against the desk as she hunched and shook over weak legs, teetered on fragile, corrupted bone. “With a little luck, we’ll only be scanned, and then the two warships will bend space back to wherever they came from, but in the event that we do end up facing a worst case scenario, I want all of you to be prepared.” She looked up again. “Are we clear?” The crowd of pilots nodded, answered her with a chorus of “Ma’am” and “Yes Ma’am.” A new smile cracked across Faith’s tortured lips, worked into something strong, almost inspiring.
“Good.” She nodded once. “Good luck, Lieutenant Commander Eisenherz, Lieutenant Commander Copperfield.” The smile spread, softened. “God knows we all need it and there’s not enough to go around.”
