ARC10

Chapter 16.2

Standing in the middle of the room as tense as a recently struck lightning rod, Hayomo stares hard into the distance just above our heads with her hands clasped in front of her.

I wait for her to look my way so I can reassure her that yes, it's done. Her pep-talk worked, and now things are rolling in the right direction. But she doesn't acknowledge me.

She pays more attention to the cuticle on her thumb than my gaze that is desperately trying to catch hers. I sit here, deranged from lingering anesthesia and wishing that she would have come over, pat my back, given me a thumbs up, a high-five, a fucking wink—anything to prove that I did what she asked.

"Slide to document three-ninety-four." Her sharp words jut through our group. "We will be discussing critical procedures and checklists for planet fueling-station missions."

I'm too tired to groan outwardly, but I think about it.

"None of the civilians will be allowed off the ship at any time during this mission. If they do manage to debark, there is a procedure in place to reacquire the civilian. We will go through discovery of that document tomorrow as well as other emergency procedures." She pauses for us all to get to the right slide on the tablets before moving on.

In the distance at the far end of the room, Kai clears his throat. "Ma'am, pardon the interruption, but are you saying that in all the five years we're en route, the civs are to stay aboard the entire time?"

A sharp intake of breath ricochets around the entire room.

Oh, Kai. No.

Even in my hazy state, I would never actually ask a question at one of these briefs. He's young, but he should have known better. You never ask someone as high ranking as Hayomo to clarify. That is not her job. That is not what she's here to do.

Hayomo turns slowly. "That is exactly what I'm saying, Chief Kamalani."

We all sit deeper in our seats. This is a side of Hayomo we knew was lurking near the surface but had never seen erupt yet.

Lying just under that confusion is a bubbling layer of terror. Does she walk around with grenades dangling from her belt? No, she doesn't, yet the nervous fear is persistently there. I can't explain where it comes from or why it goes right to my core.

Her body is so stiff, it may have turned to ice while we were all too busy shrinking away. "The civilians are to remain in the ships for the entirety of the journey. Each ship will be self-sustaining once fuel and other resources are acquired. As you've all noted from your extensive inventory work, there is no need for a single civilian to step off any of the ARCs. The universe is not safe for them."

She approaches my end of the room but avoids looking at me at all. "Out there—" she gestures to the ceiling with one pointed, gloved finger, "are societies so primitive, they will not question whether or not you were sent by the primordial version of their most evil gods. They will instead terminate your life with such gruesome practice, you will wish for a more merciful demise at the beams of the Invaders. There are societies so advanced, one wrong move and an entire ARC could be obliterated to cosmic dust before our insignificant neurons can process a single thought in warning."

The floor has disappeared beneath our group, and a wave of nausea seems to have found a home in my gut. Is this real? Why haven't we heard of any of these things yet?

Without pausing to exhale, she continues with a lowered glare, a piercing look so nefarious that I think Kai might be suddenly turned to ashes like the aforementioned ARC.

"To top this, there is also the overwhelming unknown population of the universe to encounter in tandem with violently foreign laws, edibles, weapons, atmospheres, and terrain. All of which you, the selected commanders of the ARCs, will not be familiar with. Do you imagine the every-day iron worker will know what to do when he's wandered into a den of Nagas?"

We wait in tense silence, not sure if the question is rhetorical or not. Kai doesn't blink. After a few seconds, she clicks to the front of the group, her back to the shadows that linger at the end of the room.

"Get your head out of your ass, and wipe the shit from your ears, Chief Kamalani, and stop wasting our time with your puerile need to hear yourself speak."

Kai doesn't lower his gaze, but we all see something inside him sputter into cold death.