A Most Unlikely Hero Volume 1 (Sample)

Chapter 1: The Girl From Outer Space - Part 1

Alex stood in his commander's office. The spartan room contained little in the ways of creature comforts, though that was not to say it was barren.

Situated in the middle of the room, immediately behind him, were two couches centered around a table. Sitting against the wall to his left, a bookshelf was filled with numerous old-fashioned discs. Beside it, safely locked within a glass case, an ancient record of something called The Beatles hung like a prized possession. On the other side, hanging from frames and sitting on displays, were the various awards that his commander had won.

His commander, a woman with blonde hair that descended from her head in drill-like curls and icy blue eyes, sat behind a desk. The look on her face, which could have melted durasteel, reminded Alex of a carnivorous predator that he'd once read about on Earth. What was it called again? A lion? Truly, Karen Kanzaki was a beast—a badass in every sense of the word.

Capital on the B.

"Alexander S. Ryker," the woman said, hissing out the S as if it was a poison. "In all my years of being an officer, I have never met a single soul who was as recklessly destructive as you."

"I don't think I'm that ba—"

"Silence!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Alex stood stock still. Sweat poured down his neck, thick rivulets that stained his shirt, making it cling to his skin. He wanted to fidget, but he dared not. Doing so might anger the deceptively pretty monster before him.

W-what a frightening expression...

"Do you know how much damage you've caused this time?" Karen asked. She didn't give him time to answer. "Aside from demolishing an entire bar, over six dozen people were injured in the process, ten private shuttles were destroyed, four buildings now have holes in them, and one of the smaller buildings will need to be completely renovated. You are the single most disaster-prone fool that I have ever met! And for what?! So you could try to play the hero?! If your father could see you now, he'd—"

"My father would have never let a criminal like that get away!" Alex shouted, silencing Karen, whose round eyes looked quite shocked. "He wouldn't have sat back while a criminal escaped. He wouldn't have let them go on to cause more suffering! He was a hero!"

Sighing as she leaned back in her chair, Karen regained her composure. "Look, I understand that your father meant a lot to you. He truly was a hero, just as you say." Her eyes hardened. "However, your father was also an officer of the law. He understood what it means to follow orders. You, on the other hand, can't follow a single one of my orders."

Alex didn't show it, but her words cut deep. Was he truly that bad? Surely that wasn't the case. He always did his best, training hard, studying hard, working hard, all so he could become a hero like his father. That had to count for something.

"I don't know what to do with you," Karen confessed. "When you graduated from primary and requested to join the police force instead of going to a prestigious university, I was pleased. You were a genius who only came once in a generation, and your athletics scores were abnormally high. Top grades. Excellent pedigree. Impressive physical conditioning. I had high hopes for you."

I sense a "but" hanging in the air...

"But," Karen continued, "All of my hopes appear to have been dashed by the very person I placed them on. I'm at my wit's end, Alex. The GDF is breathing down my neck. They've heard of you, and they're demanding to know why I let such a reckless idiot into the police academy."

GDF stood for the Galactic Defence Force. The Interstellar Police Force was a branch office of the GDF. Every planet within the solar system had at least several IPF offices, and all of them answered to the GDF's top brass. Alex had never met them himself, but he'd heard that the board was made up of heroes from the Secession War that happened 20 years ago.

"What did you tell them?" Silence met Alex's question. "Commander?"

Karen blew out a deep breath, as if expelling her anxiety. "There wasn't much that I could tell them, and after the ultimatum they gave me, the choice was taken out of my hands."

Alex felt like someone had stuck a taser down his throat. "Ultimatum?"

"If I keep you, they're not going to fund this office anymore," Karen stated bluntly.

The taser was turned on high. "Y-you don't mean...?"

"I do." Straightening in her seat, Karen gave him a stern yet wavering expression. For what it was worth, she did look genuinely remorseful. "Alexander S. Ryker, as of this moment, you have been officially expelled from the cadet academy. I expect you to return all of your gear to the administration bureau before leaving."

In that moment, at that time, and with those words, Alex's world came to an abrupt end.