Syarrhe [SPECTRA - BOOK ONE]

Part II - Chapter Nine

Syarrhe tapped her fingers on the wooden arm of the chair, her silver eyes taking in the office. It felt like it had been an eternity since she was here, and this time she truly had no idea why she was here.

"Beneath the surface of the soul the stars sleep and breathe, their life continuing ever-on under the cover of humanity."

She was back in the office of Commander Galst, and felt recent events had provided a bit more insight to the quote on the wall, though it still somewhat eluded her. It was a bit more spiritual than her tastes prescribed.

It was a month since the events of Ascuna re-shaped her worldview. Once Twel'Kijo was healed, Syarrhe took her for a walk, and they discussed the battle. Syarrhe learned some important things that day: Twel'Kijo had never enlisted- her position in the military was a court punishment for stealing food when she was a starving youth. Her sister had taken an apprenticeship with a historian, which meant the sisters were separated; Di'Ona had always promised to come back, but her return had been too late. Twel'Kijo was already sentenced before her higher-standing sister could vouch for her.

Syarrhe had her Skydian comrade pardoned, using half her reward money from the Ascunians to do so. Twel'Kijo was returned to Skydes and allowed to live in peace; Syarrhe received a letter two weeks after her return to Cerridwen saying Twel'Kijo now had an apprenticeship as a mechanic and, though her hometown gave her skeptical looks, she was happier than she'd been in years.

The date with Di'Ona went well as well. The two women discussed Syarrhe's unexpected victory and talked about things like their childhoods, their dreams, and their goals. Di'Ona was good conversation, intellectual without being condescending, and enjoyed Syarrhe's military humor stories.

Before returning to her home planet, Syarrhe had a final parting speech with her platoon, including Twel'Kijo, who hadn't been processed out yet. She thanked them for being an outstanding unit, citing their bumpy start and excellent fighting. She reminded them it wasn't their fault intel was misinformed, and that they did an amazing job even with the setbacks. They shared a final "hoorah" and parted ways upon landing on Cerridwen. Word had reached Syarrhe that Sylvester and Didawyn were promoted to corporal, and she took both out to a celebration dinner. Now that she wasn't their platoon sergeant, they looked at her as their first real-world teacher and had affection in their eyes as they reflected on her better qualities and laughed at what a hard-ass she was.

Commander Galst entered the office, removing Syarrhe from her reverie on what all had happened, and she watched him cross the desk with his familiar heel-toe-heel-toe, click-clack-click-clack stride. A lot had changed, but the office and the commander hadn't.

"Sergeant," he greeted her, nodding as he sat down.

"Greetings, Commander."

He shuffled through papers on his desk, neatly adjusted a stack, and then withdrew one paper from his stack and stamped it with the Cerridwen Military seal. He reached in a drawer and withdrew a folder. Syarrhe recognized it as the one containing all of her personal information and experience, and watched nervously as the commander flipped through it, humming softly under his breath as he checked minute details and happenings.

"Made it to a sergeant within two years of enlistment," he muttered. "Weight is good, BMI excellent. PT record, health record, mental stamina." He flipped to the chart rating her attributes in a wonky pentagon. "High enough intellect." He flipped closed the folder and handed her the paper he'd stamped, sighing. "Congratulations, Sergeant- you're getting promoted."

She gasped and looked at the paper, and then felt a queasiness in her belly. "Wait- wait, to an officer position? But I'm not-"

"I know. None of us thought you were officer type, either. You're rough and hard and like to be in the middle of the action, not sitting behind a desk filing paperwork and sending orders to a distant field." He clasped his hands, staring at her with dark eyes. "But the generals are getting desperate for a win on Shiuq and don't care to take sides anymore. We just want this bloody conflict over. Given your first field mission ended in a controversial compromise but a real victory, they found me immediately upon hearing news of it and decided you'd go up for officer candidacy." A weariness hung over him. "Congratulations; you'll be shipped to Officer Training Course on the other side of Cerridwen at Fort Churchill."

"Commander Galst, with all due respect, I think you and I both know this is a bad idea for me. I'm too headstrong and not fastidious enough to be an officer."

"Orders are orders, Sergeant. You still have to pass the training course, but remember if you do anything there to fail the course on purpose, you might also disqualify yourself for the military. Your contract for service is up in three years, and you've done too well for dishonorable discharge." He shook his head. "I don't like it either, but it's the way the military works."

She sighed and sat back. "What about the others on my mission? What happens to them?"

"They've received their medals and promotions where applicable, and have each gotten a hearty sum for returning from a successful mission. You'll leave tomorrow morning. Get your things packed- and good luck. You're dismissed."

She stood and saluted him, and he returned the gesture before she left.

In the hallway, it all came crashing down, feeling far too real.

^v^

Fort Churchill was an uppity, book-filled juncture in Syarrhe's life.

The food was more akin to earth food- steak, steamed vegetables, varieties of rolls from all around earth, and so on- and included alien delicacies. The dorms were singular suites, two-room affairs with individual bathrooms. The beds were huge with silk blankets and soft fabrics and a plethora of pillows. The whole fort was composed of high-tech areas fortified by expensive metals and machinery.

It was three months of grueling bookwork. Syarrhe went to class, studied, went to class again, did PT, and studied. She caught sleep when she could and it seemed every other day there was some kind of assessment. She was never without a textbook, notebook, and pen, and the tablet she was assigned was quickly filled with notes, diagrams, spreadsheets, and so on.

She couldn't say she passed her assessments with flying colors; in fact, 'barely passing' was the term most often applied to her. Syarrhe woke before dawn to work out, and went for a run at sundown each day. For the first week, there was so little PT and so much food that she began to lose muscle tone; she had to work out a strict schedule to keep her body as sharp as her mind was becoming. She learned the concepts, a difficult and time-consuming task for her, and she was constantly surrounded by those groomed over the past decade for this position. She took tutoring when she could get it and studied harder than anyone else, just to be toward the bottom of her class.

But damn it all, she did it.

Come the end of the third month, a large ceremony was held. She spotted Twel'Kijo, Di'Ona, Commander Galst, and Corporal Sylvester in the crowd cheering her on as she greeted Fort Churchill's Commander Lang and accepted the certificate that graduated her from OTC.

A large celebration dinner was held with those crowd-members she recognized, aside from Galst, and she received letters of congratulations from Kapler and Yael (both of whom she greatly missed). A transition week passed as they confirmed each officer in the system and began to out-process officers to their new duty stations and missions.

On Thursday of the transition week, by which time Syarrhe's comrades had gone home and she had spent several days roaming Cerridwen and working out, she was called to the office of Commander Lang.

He was all sepia, dark brown hair, amber eyes, and weathered bronze skin, and he was lean and intelligent. He had taught the leadership classes at OTC, a once-a-week affair which often resulted in someone crying.

"Lieutenant Syarrhe," he greeted her, "You've completed the grueling work of Cerridwen's Officer Training Course, and you have been officially promoted. New ranks for your uniforms will be provided on the way out, and you will depart for Shiuq in two days." Another damn space-shuttle. Hurrah. "If you choose, you can return to Fort Henry for those two days to say goodbye to your friends. Your position on Shiuq will initially be one of education, and then you'll be responsible to begin analyzing solutions and arranging peace negotiations to end the conflict on the planet. You'll be working with Major Grayson at Fort Tzu. Dismissed."

It wasn't the personal meetings she was accustomed to with Commander Galst, but it was quick, crisp, and poignant, the way military meetings should be.

Syarrhe saluted and exited, and exited the building. Standing outside staring at the violet atmosphere of Cerridwen, she wanted to scream.

Shiuq was no place for one of its orphans to return to.