Opalina Outpost

Chapter 14: Lightning Man

Ravi drummed an inktouch pen on his desk absently, staring at the same document he'd already read a thousand times. His slate illuminated him in a wash of icy blue light, glowing in the dark office. He skimmed through the list of entry requirements, even though he knew it wouldn't help him decide anything. Bonanza in Bastonar was open to all units, even those unaffiliated to a specialty branch, and Opalina would qualify for entry. Nothing on the rules and requirements page was going to tell him whether he was signing up his crew for an embarrassing mess if he enrolled them in the competition. But the deadline blazed across the top of the registration form reminded him that he couldn't keep waffling.

A buzzing like an angry hornet jerked his attention up from the screen. The alert on his desk vibrated again, letting him know someone was waiting at the door to the muster room. Ravi fumbled for the lights and rubbed his eyes while they crackled to life. It was too late to still be working, and his brain was useless grey mush. Better to sleep on the decision about Bonanza. There were still a few days left to submit their entry if he had a halfway viable plan for it.

He swiped the door aside to find Orvaska standing stiffly on the threshold. Fuck, he'd forgotten that he told Jossen to send the recruit to him as soon as he finished drilling. Long days and the lack of sleep were seriously catching up.

"Sorry for pulling you so late." Ravi pasted a smile over his exhaustion and stepped to one side to let Orvaska in. "I've been meaning to check in for a while, and it keeps slipping past me."

"It is alright, Com." Orvaska stood behind a chair until Ravi collapsed into one opposite him.

"How's Teres?"

Orvaska inclined his head, barely a nod. "Progressing. She is unschooled, but very determined. Good striking power."

"I'd like to get her set to take the first round of physical assessments as soon as we can. I'm thinking three weeks and see if she feels ready to register. What do you think?" He'd learned that if he wanted to hear Orvaska's opinion on anything, he had to ask for it directly, or all he got was silence.

"She's strong enough. Three weeks is enough time to prepare her for the initial assessments, yes."

"Excellent." Ravi looked down at his own palms, tapping his fingers against each other. He wasn't sure of the best tactic to broach the real reason he'd called for Orvaska. The twins were still the crew members he knew the least. "So." He cleared his throat. "About the slot canyons pairings."

Orvaska sat straighter in his chair, chin high, but his gaze dipped away from Ravi and fastened on the table between them. He looked as if he were waiting to get yelled at. His words came slowly. "I...that was not correct of me. To challenge you in front of the crew. I am willing to accept whatever you decide in terms of—"

"Woah, hang on, you're not in trouble for it. I just...I need to understand where that came from." Maybe it was just that one situation that had been the problem, or maybe it was a Vashyan tradition, or maybe it was always the way the twins operated. If he understood it, he could work with it.

The chair squeaked a bit as Orvaska shifted. He didn't look up, and he said nothing.

Ravi hunted for the right question. "You're pretty protective of your sister, right?"

"Of course."

He waited, got nothing more, and almost just put his head down on the table. This wasn't meant to be an enemy interrogation. Swallowing frustration, he tried again. "How did you and Onfenka end up at Opalina?"