Of The Stars

Chapter 4: Friends and Enemies

Keith was lost. The welcome packets had included a map of the grounds but he'd left his entire packet back at the cabin – like a fool! All of these halls were identical, every turn opening up to yet another clone of where he'd just been. The Blade bases were designed far more efficiently, stars even the Empire bases were better than this mess. He stared at the junction, looking to the left he could see 4 doors on one side and 5 on the other, while to his right there was only 3 on one side and 2 on the other. He groaned and pulled out the phone his dad had given him. Texting Nadia to ask for help, he paused just before hitting the send button when he felt a faint tapping on his right shoulder. Turning around he was greeted by the generally confused expression of Ina.

A lot had happened in the past two weeks. He had finished moving the rest of his things into his dorm, had submitted his report to Ms. Proxa (receiving a new assignment in return), found out Ina was actually a Human, and discovered the difference between the symbols on the bathroom doors. The last two had unfortunately been at the same time. He felt bad for Ina, but he felt worse for himself – he could go his entire life without ever needing to see that again! Luckily Ina was very forgiving and their friendship hadn't suffered because of it.

Ina and Nadia were roommates, so naturally the three of them hung out in the girl's dorm most of the time. The downside was that they both knew James from their time at the same 'Galaxy Garrison Summer Camp For Future Astro-Explorers', which meant he hung out with them from time to time. Since Nadia knew about his 'preferences' as she put it, the girl was constantly making little jokes here and there, or snickering if he said something that could be taken the wrong way. Keith was now constantly vigilant to ensure he didn't give away if he found anyone attractive, lest Nadia jump all over it.

Ina cleared her throat and Keith realized he'd been lost in thought. Shaking his head he smiled at her. "Got lost." Was all he said, but with Ina it was all he needed to say.

"Destination?"

"Commissary." She nodded at his direct response.

"Follow me." Nadia was a lot of fun. Now that he'd gotten to know her better, he found she was a mix of Regris and Marra rolled up into one bouncy Human package. But Ina was soooo much easier to be around. He felt more relaxed in her presence, like she wouldn't judge him for being himself. Which was nice because 'himself' was an actual alien who had no idea about any Earth culture, customs, or mannerisms.

They marched through the halls side by side as she led him in the right direction. "Can you find your dorm from here?"

"Nope." She snickered at that and handed him her map.

"I have committed the entirety of the Garrison grounds to memory and no longer require assistance. You may have my map if you'd like or, simply head to the resource center and acquire a new one." He stared blankly and blinked, why the quiznak hadn't he thought of that?

"Thank you, Ina." She nodded to him and left, walking back down the way they'd just come. He smiled after her, clearly she'd gone out of her way to help and it made him feel good, like she genuinely cared.

"You got a thing for Leifsdottir? Makes sense, you're both odd, except she's actually nice." He whirled around to find a smug looking James standing with a dark skinned young man. Thanks to his Blade training, Keith had made a file on each noteworthy person. Some people had files because he thought them to be potentially of use to him, others had files because they were prospects for the Blue Paladin, and others yet had files because he felt the need to keep tabs on them. James fell into the latter category.

Keith eyed him suspiciously and mentally flicked through his file.

Pilot Class: Fighter
Roommate: Ryan Kinkade
Personality: Dick
Weaknesses: Scared of getting in trouble with higher command | Rule Breaking | Failure | Peanuts
Allies: Ryan Kinkade | Nadia Rizavi | Ina Leifsdottir | Emma Sinclair | Dylan Meijer
Foes: Lance McClain | Keith Kogane | Matt Holt | Margret McConnell