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  Plinoa observed the personnel on the platform. N’Klaftin turned and walked toward the door. Finally, the superfluous ceremony conducted for the Connor was over. They were leaving the Transportation Room. While N’Klaftin’s signal was still very strong, Plinoa didn’t want to lose sight of her. She sent a message to her squadron to follow her. Plinoa attached a line to the rail and dropped to the platform below housing the pod retrievers. Reaching the platform, she tugged the computerized hook to release and ran across the platform toward the opposite edge, avoiding the pilots and technicians working on the platform. She had two more levels to drop. She needed to push it if she was going to follow them immediately through the door. Running back to the platform’s mid-point she turned and ran full speed, leaping at the edge. Plinoa hit the lower platform and continued moving at a full run, dodging personnel and vehicles. She ran toward the far edge, throwing her line forward to catch the edge in front of her. She jumped off the edge, allowing her line to drop her gradually to the next platform. Plinoa smiled as she executed a perfect descent, timed to begin as Connor’s entourage walked through the doorway, yet allowing her to remain invisible to them. She landed with a soft thud and tugged her line to store in its container. Plinoa estimated she was not far behind the group as she walked through the doorway with her tracer and turned left as indicated on the screen. She wouldn’t be able to approach N’Klaftin with the platoon of escorts surrounding her father and her. Plinoa and one of her squadrons could easily over take the platoon, but that was asking for trouble. It was a smart evasion maneuver on N’Klaftin’s part. Even though the platoon was primarily ceremonial and would dissipate immediately after they completed their escort duty, their presence delayed N’Klaftin’s capture. Plinoa frowned as she continued to follow the escort group to Senior Officer Quarters. The tracer showed N’Klaftin following her father into his quarters. She walked toward Connor’s quarters and stopped when the platoon leader escorting Admiral Griken blocked her path.

  “Major, do you have authorization to be in this area?” the somber faced Fleet chief asked.

  “I’m running an Evasion Exercise. I have a squadron following behind me.” She sent the authorization to both Admiral Griken’s and the Platoon leader’s tablets.

  Griken looked at his tablet. “It’s real. Let the major go.” He turned to the major, warning, “I won’t tolerate another outrageous stunt like this on my ship again.”

  Plinoa, unmoved by Griken’s threat, walked toward Connor’s quarters as the platoon moved to the side of the hallway. Plinoa looked at the tracer and confirmed the Major was still in Connor’s quarters. She walked into Connor’s quarters and saw only him sitting at a desk holding his tablet, reviewing a hologram of a planetary system. She heard a click as he laid his tablet down. “Sir, I’m sorry to disturb you. I’m looking for—”

  Connor cut her off immediately. “The commander left through another door.”

  Plinoa was confused. His daughter was a major. “Sir, excuse me, I’m not sure I understand you.” She looked at her tablet to see the signal had disappeared. She wasn’t sure what happened, but she now had two problems. It was one thing to run an authorized Evasion Exercise, but she had clearly lost her target and now couldn’t explain why she was in the Fleet Admiral’s quarters.

  “The commander left from another exit. You may leave where you entered.” Connor scanned his tablet before he stared back at her. “Next time you need to enter my quarters, request entrance, as you should have been taught at the Academy.”

  Plinoa, stunned at her misjudgment, stepped back and nodded a salute to Connor. “Yes, sir. Message received.” She stared at the blank tracer with disbelief, wondering how she could have screwed up as badly as she just had, as she walked out of the Connor’s quarters.

  As Major Ukpres stepped out, Connor picked up two thin wafer pieces hidden under his tablet and snapped them in his hands. He stood and threw the pieces into a recycle bin.

  Plinoa walked down the corridor to a main passageway, retracing her steps while staring at her unresponsive tracer. She turned the corner, hitting something like a cement wall. Squadron 3 Leader, Leevaal Stapernoin, “The Mountain,” glared at her with a disgusted look in his eyes. Stapernoin was a head-and-a-half taller than she, solidly built and more than once easily earning the nickname, The Mountain. He was dependable and a straight shooter and no one moved past him without his approval. For her it meant she couldn’t always depend upon him for her special assignments. She took a step back and composed herself. “Stapernoin, do you still have Major N’Klaftin showing on your tracer?”

  Leevaal was not happy about the Evasion Exercise. He grudgingly carried out his orders. “Major, we lost her signal in Connor’s quarters approximately two minutes ago. Did you gain entrance into his office?” He had his issues with Major Ukpres, but incompetency wasn’t one of them. While he didn’t want his squadron to fail the exercise, he was secretly hoping for Major N’Klaftin to succeed.

  “Yes, I walked in and the signal disappeared on my tracer. When I stated I was looking for his daughter, he informed me the commander had just left his office,” Plinoa shared. “Connor wasn’t happy to see me. I’m sure he was aware of the exercise, since the order didn’t include a security classification. I won’t make that mistake again.”

  “Which commander was he referring to?” Stapernoin asked.

  “I don’t know, unless he meant Commander Kiraine Janeque, who was also on the vehicle,” she answered in an equally questioning manner. She tapped a few commands on her tablet. “I want everyone to trace both Commander Janeque and Major N’Klaftin. Consider the possibility they may be on a vehicle flying around the ship.”

  Leevaal didn’t need to repeat the order to his troops, but knowing Ukpres’s tendency to micro-manage, he turned to them anyway. “Comply with the major’s order.” He looked at the tracer’s reading on his tablet, tapped a few commands and saw no response. He waited for his troops to report to him before he reported to the major. Looking at her, he suspected she knew what he was going to report to her. “Major, no one has been able to trace the targets.”

  “The transport vehicle’s log shows they were both on board when it docked.” Plinoa pressed her lips together in an unattractive manner. “Keep looking, and ensure the tracers have been tuned to overcome any electronic signal blocks or jams.”

  Leevaal thought they could be doing something else more productive, but if this kept the major happy, he would tap commands until the next shift to ensure she was not on his troops’ backs. He continued to tap then heard a chorus of chimes. He dissected the information on his tablet. “Commander Janeque has been traced to the bridge, next to Admiral Griken.”

  Plinoa nodded her head in response to the report. “Keep watching. N’Klaftin may show up soon.” Not long after she issued the order her tablet chimed. N’Klaftin’s signal had been located. The signal originated from the transport vehicle that reported her arrival. She stared at Stapernoin. “Who is in the Transportation Room?”

  “Squadrons 1, 2, and 4 are still running reconnaissance in the room,” Leevaal replied immediately.

  “Contact the squadron leaders, and have them station their squadrons around the vehicle and stand tight until I arrive.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Leevaal responded, his disgust evident as he rapped the orders on his tablet. I guess we can’t have anyone else taking credit for N’Klaftin’s capture, he thought. He turned to his squadron. “Alphas, follow the major. Bravos, follow me.” They would approach the transport vehicle from opposite sides to ensure the room was fully covered.

  Chapter 13

  Brad stood in front of the mirror inspecting his uniform one more time before he stepped out of the bathroom. The uniform of the day was battle dress. Battle dress meant a long sleeved black collarless shirt and matching self-belted pants. It was a far cry from Earth’s camouflaged battle uniforms. It gave him a clean, one-piece, put together look that made him feel more like a ninja fighter t
han battle ready. But that changed once he attached the Swarm Defender Trainee insignia, leaving him feeling somewhere between ‘here I come, universe’ and ‘make way for Junior?’ Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the passageway and walked toward the hatch with the ramp attached.

  Laco stood beside the hatch. He looked up from his tablet. “Your insignia is upside down.”

  Brad looked down at the right side of his chest and grinned sheepishly. “Thanks.” So much for saving the universe, at least for today, he thought.

  Laco watched him reposition his insignia. “When you meet your sponsor on the platform he will probably want to take you directly to your squadron. Insist on dropping your bag off at your quarters so you don’t find yourself going back and forth. Doing that will help you get started on finishing your training.” Laco watched Brad nod that he understood. “I looked at your orders and saw your team lead is Lenes Palscom. When you meet him, give him this package. Lenes is an old friend of mine from the Academy and is expecting this.” Laco held out a thin square package smaller than a dime.

  Brad took the package in his hand and looked for some place on his uniform to put it. Other than the tablet that attached to his uniform, without a special case or material like Velcro, there didn’t seem to be any other way to carry the small package.

  Laco reached over to Brad’s left upper arm and lifted a tab. “You can drop the package into this pocket.”

  Surprised by the sudden appearance of a pocket on his shirt, Brad asked, “Are there other pockets?”

  “You can program up to ten with this uniform. Didn’t you read the instructions when you were issued your uniform?”

  “Uh, it’s on my ‘to do’ list.”

  Laco shook his head and started swiping his tablet. “I can’t believe it. You can move through folded space as gracefully as a ballet dancer but you don’t know how to pull a pocket. I’m sending you a list of ‘to do’s’ to read when you’re off shift. Don’t put it off for another shift.” Looking sharply at Brad, Laco pointed to the vehicle’s doorway. “Get going. The Fleet is waiting for you.”

  Brad smiled and gave him a casual hand wave salute. He turned toward the opening. “Thanks again for everything.” He walked onto the ramp, and was struck by the sight.

  He gawked in amazement. He had seen the pictures and even flew in and out of the Transportation Room more than a dozen times in the trainer, but the simulation wasn’t quite the same as seeing it in person. The layered transportation platforms housing both space and planetary vehicles of varied shapes, sizes and functions seemed to go on forever. He held on to the handrail while stepping slowly downward, staring upward and across, taking it all in. He continued down the ramp, staring blankly as he realized he really was on a fighting space ship.

  As he reached the bottom and stepped onto the platform, he continued to look up, wondering if he would fit in, if he would be able to keep up with the training or would he be overwhelmed by it all. Hearing someone call his name he turned his head and saw a tall slender young man looking at him with a confused expression.

  “Are you Trainee Johnson?”

  Here we go, Brad thought, taking a deep breath. “Yes, I’m Brad Johnson, twenty-eight years old, and I only recently started rejuvenation.” He rattled it off, hoping that would cover most of his sponsor’s immediate questions and with that out of the way, they could move on to other subjects.

  The pilot stared at Brad as if he had two heads. He was probably surprised by the combination of the youthful age and much older appearance. “I’m Sperzs Drosey, your sponsor, roommate, and future copilot. Commander Deznoic and Silver Team Leader Palscom are looking forward to meeting you. Follow me with your bag.” He pointed to a large blue bag near the edge of the platform.

  Brad looked at the bag and wondered what had happened. His twenty-two inch carry-on bag was now thirty-six inches in height and had spinner wheels. “What happened to my bag? Did someone tell you that was my bag? It looks different from what I remembered.” Walking toward it, he confirmed the suitcase was definitely his. No one else on the Battle Cruiser would have a bag with a Samsonite label on it. But the size was throwing him off.

  “Pilot Benoggi brought it down and said it was yours.” Sperzs shrugged.

  Brad was curious about the contents of the bag and walked over to it. “There’s something different about it. I need to make sure everything is in it.” He unzipped the top and looked in then quickly zipped it back. “I need to stow this in my room before I meet with anyone. Which way are we heading?” he looked around the room, continuing to take in everything.

  “Stopping at the stateroom first is unusual.” Sperzs pointed to a metal box. “We don’t need to take the bag to the room. The robot valet can deliver it for you.”

  Brad’s expression hardened. “I want to deliver my own bag. Maybe next time, I’ll try the robot. Everything I love from my planet is in the bag and I’m not letting go of the bag until I reach my room.”

  Sperzs shrugged. “I’ll let you explain the delay to Deznoic and Palscom, if there are any questions. Follow me.” Sperzs walked to the entry of the contiguous catwalk just wide enough for them to walk shoulder to shoulder. Brad walked on the outside looking into the cavernous hangar room. “Is this your first time on a battle cruiser?”

  “Yes. Actually, this is the first time I’ve left my home planet. I’m still getting used to the newness of everything.”

  “First time off your planet, that explains everything. It must really be on the outer edges. Did your planet have any issues with the Aneplé?”

  Brad was uncomfortable going into too much depth since knowledge of Earth was still classified to most of the Fleet. “I was motivated to join CIG’s Fleet when there was a minor incident with an Aneplé spy on my planet. Otherwise I would have been happy on my backwater planet not knowing the difference.”

  Sperzs nodded his head in understanding. “It’s been happening more and more to systems on the edge. But your planet could not have been too much in the back waters, with your training scores.”

  Brad was surprised his scores were in the public database and thought he would just wing it with an explanation. “I spent some time on simulators on my planet. I once thought I wanted to go to the Academy but settled for a technical school on my planet.”

  “Looks like it did the job. You would not have been allowed to pilot a vehicle if your recruitment test scores did not support your proclivity for the field,” Sperzs explained, still walking forward. “I’m curious, when you were training on the transport vehicle, did you know who you were training with in the second seat?”

  Didn’t take long for word to get around, Brad thought. He would be better off giving a somewhat indirect response, since an outright lie would register on their tablets. “I was aware he was a friend of Admiral Griken’s who wanted to refresh his Swarm Defender training. However, I didn’t see much of him since I spent most of my time in the trainer and apparently he was on shift rotation flying the transport vehicle.” Brad must have satisfied Sperzs’ curiosity for the time being since he didn’t have a follow-up question. He stared upward as he walked. “What is that activity on the walkways?”

  Sperzs followed Brad’s stare. “Special Combat Teams are running an Evasion Exercise hunting for someone. Rumor has it this is being handled by their Golden Girl, Major Ukpres.”

  “They seem to be frantic. How are they doing?” Brad probed as he watched the heavily armored soldiers jogging on the catwalks forcing slower walkers against the walls.

  “They might be frantic. I’ve never seen an Evasion Exercise run this long. Whoever they are chasing has got the better of them.”

  Brad smiled. If he ran across someone participating in the exercise, he would stall them. Immediately after thinking that, he found himself facing a string of five people running toward him. His bad luck, as the person leading the group towered over his own six-four frame.

  “Move to the side. There is a team heading towa
rd us.” Sperzs flattened himself against the wall to make space while trying to grab Brad and pull him over, but Brad escaped his grasp. Sperzs winced as he watched Brad and the sergeant in front leading the Special Combat Troops collide. Sperzs gasped as the man gave Brad a glancing blow on his shoulder.

  The blow pushed Brad back. Note to self: avoid confrontations with the bigger guys, he thought. The impact to his shoulder hurt for only a moment, since the chip kicked in instantaneously to numb the pain. He stood there, staring at the big guy, refusing to give an inch. He almost handed Sperzs the suitcase, but at the last moment decided he could handle it. Hopefully the meeting wouldn’t go any further than a stall.

  Leevaal stared at Brad, clearly wondering where his common sense was. “Out of our way, trainee, we are running an exercise,” Leevaal bellowed.

  Brad stared at the oversized man and stood at his full height, chest out. “Out of our way!” He turned to Sperzs. “What is his rank?”

  “Sergeant Stapernoin, ‘The Mountain’,” Sperzs anxiously responded, pressing tighter against the wall, evidently hoping the confrontation didn’t get any worse.