Honor

Chapter 4: A Meeting

The room I'd been assigned was large. The grey, metal walls boring walls reflected the overhead light perfectly. In the corner was a surprisingly nice bed, fully made and ready for use. It looked out of place. Even more out of place was the black, clean couch that sat against the wall. And the green carpet. I took a moment to analyze it.

Out of all the quarters I'd slept in, this was by far the nicest. An alarm went off in my head at that, but I ignored it. I threw myself on the bed, letting my weary limbs finally rest. It's taken me a good half hour to find the damn place. Add the battle to that and I was beyond done. Part of me felt like dozing off, but I decided against it. Instead, I simply stared at the ceiling for a while.

It wasn't long before a soft beep told me someone was at the door. "Who's there?"

There wasn't a reply. I sighed, standing up and opening the door to reveal Asmine standing there. In her hands was a data disk, which she promptly held out for me.

I took it, looking curiously at it. "What's this?" I looked back, finally taking note of the small computer setup in the corner of the room.

She took out her tablet and stylus, writing "some important documents the Admiral asked me to give you. By the way, are you free later tonight?"

I blinked, looking at her, confused. NO, she's not asking you out on a date, you dumbass!

"Uhhh, yeah, why?"

Her face lit up for the briefest of seconds before returning to its normal position. "I'd like someone to talk with." She wrote.

Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief. She turned away, satisfied. I looked down at the drive and let my mind wander...

The bridge of The Hailstorm was more alive than ever. Outside the massive window witch stretched across the room, space flew by at inconceivable speed. I stood on the command platform, my hands folded behind my back as I observed the mass of good men and woman who worked tirelessly to ensure the ship's protection.

"How long until we have to return to normal speed again?"

"Around ten hours, Admiral." Came the reply from a senior officer.

"Good. Steady progress towards our goal."

And our demise.

This mission was pure suicide. In truth, I'd been surprised when the Council decided to give me the go-ahead to lead such a mission. I'd been even more surprised when the vote was in favor of the mission.

I hid my concern behind a serious face in these trying times. I looked out the window towards the stream of stars flying by faster than the speed of light itself. God help us all...

I heard a knock at my door. "Hey, it's Nick! You said you wanted to talk?"

I panicked, throwing myself up from my bed. Had I really fallen asleep? Crap!

Composing myself I slowly walked over and opened the door, revealing Nick. I bit down the urge to blush. Don't make a fool of yourself, not in front of him. He's too important!

I took out my tablet and wrote "yeah. Come in."

He strode in, taking in the room. It looked like somewhere from Earth, a hoarder's room. There were row upon row of stuffed animals and collectibles, some of them even dating back to the twenty-first century. My bed was well made, the head of it containing a few rows of favorite books I read in my pass time. My dresser stood near the door, random things, including food, spread about here and there. And to his surprise, and mine originally, the room actually had carpet. That was something that just didn't happen on spaceships.

"I'll be damned, the Admiral must really like you to give you this kind of room." He said.

"I mean, I am her niece after all."

That earned a strange look from him. "You sure don't look like her."

I didn't bite down the urge to blush this time. "That's cuz she's from Father's side. I have more of my mother's genes."

"That explains it."

There was momentary silence for a few minutes. They felt like forever and it tore me apart. Write something, write something!

"So, what'd you want to talk about?" He said, sitting at the edge of my bed.

I nearly blushed again, but quickly suppressed it. I carefully stepped over the various bits and bobs I still had to clean up at some point and laid down. He glanced at me, as if expecting me to speak my first words.

"I dunno. I just wanted someone to talk to."

Or kiss...stop thinking ahead damn it!

"Well then, I guess I'll start off. So, how'd the niece of the Grand Admiral herself end up getting sent on a straight-up suicide mission like the fine one we're on now?"

"It's a long story, but Elizabeth pretty much forced me along. She wanted to spend more time with me or something. Plus, she thought my tech skills would come in handy."

He shrugged. "Well, we've still got a long way to go before our mission even starts."

"Yeah. Drae is pretty far away. I'm surprised we even managed to discover it's existence as fast as we did. Anyways, what have you been up?"

He rubbed his back. "Just thinkin'. This mission is bloody insane. I'm surprised they even let a Councilman within three light years of it."

"Well, she's stubborn. Besides, she offered to lead it herself for a reason." I looked at him sideways well writing.

"Something wrong?"

"You need to wash your face. It's still covered in dirt."

"And blood." He pointed to the small red marks that made him look just shy of having chickenpox.

He sighed. "I need a bath."

I gestured towards an unopened door. "You're welcome to use mine. Just try not to waste all my hair products."

"You sure?"

I nodded. He went to the bathroom, leaving me with my thoughts. I threw myself onto the bed, taking a few deep breaths. To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure if he'd even come, but the fact he had whipped my mind into a frenzy.

Fantaties, some of which were quite twisted to my dismay, raced through my head. I took a deep breath, taking a moment to gather my thoughts. I sighed, pulling out a book and gently tossing my legs in the air thoughtlessly. Books were always a good way to pull your mind together.

I curiously looked to the door as it flew open, revealing Kowalsky. He was dressed in his white battle armor, and a rifle lie lazily strung across his shoulder. He eyed me without emotion. "Get to the bridge. We've entered normal space again, but we're light-years away from Drae. Three enemy ships are on their way."

I blinked, and even Nick peaked out from behind the door, rather shirtless. I sighed before writing "how in the name of God are they so close to home?"

He returned the sigh. "We don't know, and it doesn't matter. All we know is that they aren't supposed to be here and that there's ass to be kicked."

I threw myself off the bed and rushed out the door. So, this is our first mission. I'll be sure not to fuck it up...