Page 1 of Redondo (Mates of the Mylos #7)
CHAPTER 1
REDONDO
“Ondo, I was looking all over for you!”
I turned to find my childhood best friend looking at me in exasperation.
“Why?” I asked, turning my attention back to the gemna fruit vine I was examining for Mylinium rust.
“Because they’re announcing Fleet assignments!”
I shrugged. “You’re the highest rated pilot in our class, both for shuttles as well as fighters, and you aced the battle cruiser helm simulation. We both know you’ll get your preferred choice of assignment.”
Yllip sighed heavily. “I would have, yes, but I opted for a guaranteed buddy assignment instead, you big red idiot.”
I spun around, startled. “You didn’t!”
He inclined his head. “I most certainly did. I promised you as kids that we’d be best friends forever, me and you against the universe, and I meant every single word.”
I stared at him, aghast. “But I’m not going to get a first rate assignment. You know as well as I do that the Council’s Committee of Strategic Oversight has an entire subcommittee, most of whom are not Mylos, deciding where we cadets are posted. Top marked Mylos get one of their top five choices of available postings, and everyone else gets what’s left.”
“You were top in your field of science, Ondo. Environmental is key to being able to eat, stay clean, and breathe.”
“I deal with plants mostly,” I reminded him. “While proficient in things like food replication coding and air scrubber maintenance, in the end, I’m a glorified gardener who helps provide pretty things to look at which also serve practical purposes of providing some of the fresh foodstuffs and fresh oxygen. Also,” I pointed at myself, unfolding my sail-like wings from where they hid in pouches along my sides until called upon, “I’m a Mylos in name only.”
“You are as Mylos as I am,” he pushed back.
“Legally, yes. Physically and in the minds of several within the Alliance, not. They see only a Dragonii, the irritant in their side who refused to join the Alliance until five short years ago.”
“None of the Mylos representatives feel that way,” Yllip insisted. “In fact, they pressured the Dragonii to join in order to prevent another of their colonies from falling prey as yours did.”
“I’m aware I have been a political pawn,” I sighed wearily.
“No,” Yllip said, clapping his hand on my shoulder. “You’ve been a rallying cry. The battle cam footage of your fathers fighting the pirates still on the ground, then one of them finding you bloodied and abused by your would-be murderer, led to more unaffiliated worlds joining the Alliance. Together we are all stronger, as colonies and ships traversing the star lanes will not have to rely on thinly-stretched forces on a single far off world. And you know as well as I do - once a person is Mylos, they are Mylos, genetics be damned.” He looked deeply into my eyes. “Growing up, you only ever let me and your fathers in. It’s you who’ve held yourself apart, my brother.”
I reached up, placing my hand over his, sighing. “I know. But all the eyes always on me made me feel apart. I was the Dragonii kid rescued by the Mylos while everyone else died. The press were on me nonstop from the moment we debarked, following my hospital transport. When my fathers tried to put a stop to it, people tried sneaking in. In public, strangers would come up and ask, ‘Isn’t this the young who was saved?’ Such a tragedy. Everyone stared at my scars. Everyone except you.”
“I know it marked you inside as surely as the marauders marked your outside, but as everyone became used to your presence, you kept pushing them away.” I dropped my hand and he removed his own, using it to swipe down his face. “I often think that the only reason you let me in was because I was also in the hospital with you that second time, having contracted Jorellian fever.”
I snorted softly. We’d both been eight years old or so – no one was quite sure of when I was born or who my parents had been. “You kept sneaking into my room, so once they made sure I was immune, they put you in with me so you’d stay in bed. I had no choice but to put up with you.”
He grinned. “And we became brothers in spirit after that. You were too frightened of everyone to leverage those big dark eyes and sad backstory to get treats from the nursing staff. It was left up to me to bargain on your behalf.”
I laughed out loud then, remembering. “I seem to recall you got your fair share of candy and desserts.”
He shrugged. “But of course. They could hardly give only one of us the goodies.”
I gusted out a sigh, retracting my wings. “Fine, I'll come, but only because you did such a stupid thing,” I said in a chiding voice.
“I still put down preferred stations,” he said, throwing his arm over my shoulder as we fell into step, “I figured it wouldn’t hurt.”
“Yeah? Where?”
He grinned. “You’ll see. I’ll tell you if they assign us to one of them,” he chuckled. “I picked out the plummest assignments I could think of.”
“You’re incorrigible,” I told him as we walked towards the auditorium.
“If you don’t ask for what you truly want, you probably won’t get it because someone else will have.”
That was true enough. The audacity of him asking for both a choice assignment and a buddy posting was just so him. He’d probably done it because thus far, no one, not even our instructors, had found themselves able to refuse him. And if I got to keep my one true friend in the universe who was like a brother to me? I’d happily go along on his ride.
He didn’t drop his arm even once we arrived, instead using his free hand to wave cheerily at the underclassmen manning the door.
“Good luck. May the stars favor you,” one of them said, hero worship in their eyes for our class’s handsome ace pilot.
“Study hard and one day you’ll be right where we are now,” Yllip told him as we sailed through the double doors they opened to let us through.
His arm tightened around my neck as the hubbub of our entire graduating class broke over me like a wave.
“I’m here. These all are people who respect you as well as me,” he said in my ear softly. Many would like to be your friend if you’d only let them in.”
I licked my suddenly dry lips and nodded, taking a deep breath. I willed my spine to straighten and squashed down the uneasiness the presence of so many beings always brought me. I might prefer to hide out with my plants and only hang out with Yllip, but I was a warrior as much as the rest of them. I even had the scars upon my body to prove it, the price paid in blood as a child when I’d fought for my life and ran to hide from our colony’s attackers.
“You ready?” he asked me and I nodded. “Okay then.” He dropped his arm. “Top of our specialities, so we’re in the front center row.”
Which is exactly why I’d not wanted to come, that and the sheer number of people packed into this cavernous space. I was here now, though, and determined to see it through without disgracing myself, Yllip, or my fathers.
“Let’s do this,” I said, falling back into step alongside him as we walked up the long aisle to claim seats. The steward monitoring the seating section for the top students tapped our names into his data pad so that our presence would be noted. My gut tightened and my claws lengthened, digging into my arms. This meant we’d be called on and the cams would show our faces on the large vid screen behind the dais as our duty assignments were read out. Anyone not present wouldn’t have theirs announced here at the ceremony but instead posted on a list available to read on the announcement boards in every hall of the academy.
There were two empty seats at the end of the front row, everyone else first in their field already having been seated.
“You first, Ondo,” Yllip whispered softly.
I sat and he took the aisle seat. It was just as well. Now I could tell myself that I had no other choice, as my escape path was blocked. Since it was by Yllip and I found his presence grounding, that was fine.
I nodded to myself, mouth set firmly, shoulders and back straight as I forced myself to relax my fists.
“That’s right,” he said softly. “We’ve got this.”
I gave him a smile that almost, but not quite, reached my eyes. “Yeah, we do.”
And then Admiral Surkane came onstage and everyone ceased speaking.
“Welcome to Assignment Day!” he began, his voice booming out. “Today is the day the majority of you have been looking forward to the most, even more so than graduation tomorrow, as that’s a mere ceremony and today is the real deal. You’ll receive your very first set of official orders. First and foremost, I wish to congratulate each and every one of you for the years of hard work and study you’ve put in. This is the culmination of all your efforts, and once more, your instructors and I are proud to accept you among the ranks of the Mylos Fleet.”
It had begun.