Chapter 57

Chapter

Fifty-Seven

Volten

I thumped my hand against the black hull of the fighter as the sun glinted off the glossy surface. There was no better time to walk through the shipyard than when the day was young, and the light was still breaking over the horizon. Since the cadets were gone and even some of the instructors had taken time off, the expanse of stone that held the academy’s ships was deserted except for me.

A clang sounded at the far end of the shipyard, causing me to jerk to attention. At least, I had thought I was alone.

I tracked the sound, weaving around the hulking ships that remained silent and asleep. Who else would venture out this early, and who else would be meddling with my ships ?

My pulse quickened as it occurred to me that it might be Ariana. Of anyone, she was the most likely suspect to be poking around the vessels, although she usually came with me to the shipyard and didn’t sneak out without telling me. Especially since she’d told me she would be having breakfast with Fiona and then doing some paperwork.

Ariana did not lie. Not to me.

Another sound of metal hitting metal made me walk faster, as I homed in on the ship perched at the farthest corner. I rounded the pointed nose of a fighter and blinked at the vessel with its ramp down.

A transport ship? Who would be poking around a sturdy, but not combat-equipped, transport vessel? It was hardly the type of ship Ariana would fly, unless there was no other option.

I touched my waist, remembering that I didn’t carry a blaster or blade around the academy, especially when I was only checking on the fleet. Why would I? Of course, I had learned the hard way that attacks could come at any time, even if I had been lulled into a sense of security at the academy. It had not been long ago that the school and my home world had been surprised by a Kronock attack.

“That was because we had a traitor in our midst,” I said aloud. “That was before we improved our security protocols.”

I stiffened as I approached the ramp of the ship, holding my breath as I walked quietly up the incline. I was being paranoid, I told myself. There was no way this was anything but another Flight instructor or even one of the few remaining cadets .

I headed for the cockpit, pausing in the doorway and expelling a breath when I saw the Drexian sitting in the pilot’s seat. Then I realized that I didn’t know the Drexian. “Who are you?”

He twisted his head at my question. “Prax.”

I stared at him. That told me nothing.

“I brought the envoy from Earth,” he continued, as if reading my mind.

My shoulders relaxed. “You have been here all this time? My apologies. I should have greeted you sooner. We are always glad to welcome a pilot to the Academy.”

He shook his head and turned back to the console. “I did not stay after dropping off the envoy. I only returned in the night.”

This startled me. Why would the pilot leave and return for such a short visit? The fuel needed for that many jumps would usually preclude such quick trips. “Was your return always planned to be so close to your arrival?”

He grunted, the sound showing his general displeasure. “It was not, but I do not make the decisions. I only fly where I am told to fly.”

I understood that, but that did not answer my larger question. “Why were you sent back early?”

“That is not a question for me.” He flicked his gaze to me and to the insignia on my uniform. “If you want to know why the human is cutting his trip short, you should ask him, Lieutenant.”

Cutting his trip short? We had barely welcomed the man with a banquet, and now he was departing? I knew of the incident on the gauntlet, but I was aware of no other reason the human would have for leaving so quickly on the heels of his arrival. I did have a sinking feeling that it did not bode well for the human exchange program.

“You said you arrived in the night. When were you summoned?”

“Yesterday.” He frowned as he scanned the readouts scrolling across the shiny screen of his console. “The human is lucky that I had not traveled all the way back to the nearest space station. I had stopped at an outpost to refuel and rest. Otherwise, he would have had to wait until the original departure date.”

“He is lucky,” I mumbled as my mind swirled with questions. Perhaps the most crucial one was, who else knew that the human was planning to leave so soon? Had the admiral been briefed? Someone must have known, otherwise how had the captain sent a message to the pilot? “I assume you were contacted by the Academy Master or the officer at Earth Planetary Forces who arranged the envoy’s visit?”

He spun around again, his brow furrowing. “Actually, no. The human captain contacted me directly. He asked for a way to reach me before we arrived on Drex. He said that he hoped to achieve results quickly so he could return to Earth.”

Achieve results? Hadn’t he been at the academy to observe and assess? What kind of results did he mean? Unease tickled the back of my neck and even the nodes running along my spine prickled.

The Drexian pilot might be legit, and the human envoy might also have been on a genuine mission from Earth, but something felt off. As a pilot, I operated on plenty of gut instinct, and my gut was screaming at me that something was wrong .

“Do me one favor, Prax,” I said as I took a step back.

He met my gaze and inclined his head. “Ask it.”

“Do not depart until you have received authorization from me directly. No matter what anyone else might tell you. I am the senior Flight officer at the academy right now, and this shipyard is under my command.”

He gave me a curt nod. “Understood.”

I spun on my heel and strode off the ship toward the looming black towers. It was time to get answers.