I can't say thank you enough to all of my fans; I read and love every message!
This marks the first of the longer, more story-filled chapters of Orbital Academy; something requested by a huge amount of fans. I hope you enjoy this new direction, and hope you enjoy the latest update!
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*** Part 1 - A Change in the Orbit ***
General Hunter stared off through the wall of the elevator, lost in his thoughts. When the doors opened he stepped through on autopilot, flanked by two of his security force. Anger and worry warred in his stomach, but he kept his face calm as he reached the door to the Academy rookies' cell. *They didn't cause this mess.* He reminded himself. *They may've been the catalyst, but it's Auspus who is the root. This is Auspus' disaster. For whatever reason.* He entered the cell barely thinking about the rookies within.
"General Auspus is coming to Orbital Pivot to retrieve you." Hunter spoke even as he entered. The rookies sprang to their feet, but he didn't wait for them to get comfortable. "Is there anything you two think I should know before I meet with your General?" Of course there was nothing they could tell him. These were the lowest level of Academy, it was doubtful they'd even met General Auspus after their initiation; his true purpose was to see if they would give up the crystal that Errisa had seen them with. His eyes moved to the streak of blue in the girl's hair. Dorson, the files had told him.
"He has a crystal that he uses when alone." *She seems eager enough to give up the information.* "We think that's why he wants us killed, because we saw him using one. It's like this." The girl held out the blue crystal he had seen in the video recordings, and Hunter nodded to his guard to take it from her. "We got that one from the Terrans." She eyed the guard with worry as he carefully took the crystal in a protective glove, depositing it into the containment unit gingerly. Hunter nodded once, half to himself. *Of course, they would probably know the cells have security cameras, he mused, so them giving up the crystal is no proof they're on my side, but it's enough. My gut doesn't lie, they won't cause trouble.*
"You'll be brought to the hangar as soon as General Auspus lands." He spoke tersely."I'll have guards escort you."
"You're not going to turn us over-" Dorson began to protest, but her boyfriend put a gentle hand on her arm, interrupting.
"Yes sir, we'll be ready." he said quietly. Hunter nodded again, and then spun on his heel, already lost in thought again before he had even reached the door.
***
"Sir, I'm not sure I should have my entire security compliment present when the General boards." Hunter didn't have to look up from his screen to hear the note of concern in his Chief of Security's voice.
"You don't think they can handle themselves?" He asked, rerouting flightpath traffic to clear a hangar's schedule for later in the day.
"They'll carry out almost any command you give them to sir. Almost. But if the situation goes as bad as possible, I can't guarantee they'll open fire on General Auspus."
"I wasn't aware your security compliment had such loyalty to Orbital Academy, Kathryn."
"It's not Academy sir, and you know it." Despite the tension in his stomach, Hunter smiled. Promoting a select few trusted soldiers into Chiefs of staff was an unpopular idea, but he found it comforting to surround himself with men and women who would call him out when they had to. "My men are used to dealing with criminals and thugs, General Hunter. Even then, most of them haven't had to deal with anyone more dangerous than Tech-Major Skivens when he's had a few too many drinks. An order to break one of the covenants? I'm just saying that some of them won't follow that order, and I'd like to ensure that I'm surrounded by only the people who will."
"Kathryn, do you really think I'm going to order you to *shoot* General Auspus?" General Hunter allowed himself a smile, which turned to a frown when he saw that Kathryn wasn't returning it.
"Can't you promise me you won't?" she asked.
Hunter opened his mouth to answer, but paused, and Kathryn nodded as if it was all the answer she needed. He passed a hand over his forehead, trying to mentally prepare for the ordeal that was starting. *A few days ago, I wouldn't've thought I'd be opposing Auspus. How do I know how far things will escalate?*
"Gather the security who won't hesitate." He finally said. "I'm not preparing for a war, Kathryn." He added after a pause.
"Don't see why sir. It could be that Auspus is."
***
"You can't expect us to just wait out here while our daughter is handed over to guards, Hunter," Barnes was angry enough that he left the General's title off of his name, but Hunter didn't mind. *I'd be in just as bad a shape, if my daughter was at the center of all this nonsense.* His fierce gaze must've made the man in front of him pause regardless.
"General Hunter," Barnes corrected himself, "we'll stay out of your way, we won't make any noise, my wife and I just want to see our little girl."
"I understand that Barnes, I do." General Hunter worked hard to keep the scowl from his face. *I'm doing you a favor. You won't be doing your girl any favors, complicating a situation that's already too complicated.* Hunter didn't bother trying to articulate his thoughts. Instead he said "I'm keeping all civilians out of the hangar. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. Tensions are going to be high enough as it is. I'll try to give you the opportunity to see Samantha as soon as it's possible."
"Hunter, listen, you know me. You know my family-" Barnes began, but at a nod from General Hunter, one of his guards put a gentle but firm hand on the man's arm, leading him away. He turned back to the hangar door and stepped into the wide open space.
It wasn't one of Pivot's larger hangars, and Hunter appreciated the finer control the size gave him over the situation. His gaze traveled across the room as he put a small earbud into his ear.
"Chief of Information, talk to me."
"Good afternoon dear husband." Errisa's voice was clear in his ear, and even the sound of it did wonders to ease a small bit of the tension that had knotted up his stomach.
"Not sure if I can handle something this big." He muttered.
"Don't talk like that, especially not where your men can hear you." Errisa admonished, but her voice softened. "You didn't think you could handle a lot of things, my mighty Hunter. The mineral trade dispute, the Terran invasion, that horrible chef who tried to force those 'natural food' laws through. You've made it this far, haven't you?"
"Thanks to you." Hunter smiled. *I would never thought I'd make it this far. Maybe I can make it through this as well.*
"Thanks to the both of us. We make a good team, you and I, and don't you forget it. What does the child General think he can accomplish, going up against us?"
Hunter grinned, knowing the cameras would pick up the motion. Kathryn stepped up to his side as he gave the hangar a once over again.
"How's the setup?" He asked.
"I think we've got a good system in place here sir. Two groups, one on either side of the shuttle, ensure nothing comes out that we don't see. There are an additional squad in the hallway just outside, observing through the cameras. If you need them for intimidation or protection, lift a closed fist and they'll come through and line the back walls, flanking you. I'm not sure what we've got for tech security."
"I've taken care of it." Hunter said shortly.
"By which, of course, you mean you hope I've taken care of it." Errisa laughed in his ear. "Lucky for you, I have. The second the General's shuttle is in the dock I've got lockers and scramblers in place, it'll be cut off from all communication, so if we decide Auspus won't be returning, we can control exactly what Academy hears about the encounter." Hunter frowned, and his wife seemed to read his mind. "Don't give me that look dear husband. You need to come to grips with the idea that this meeting might go very, very poorly. You're not planning on giving into Auspus' demands, and Auspus is the type to take that personally."