Valterion: The Space/Arch? Mage

Chapter 53: Interlude 7 – Shay

Location: Estriduros Republic; Sequra System; ERS Flotina

The past years have been quite the experience for the young woman from Acordus 3. She joined the Space Rangers more than four years ago, and her special application isn’t the only thing marked in her file.

She stands before the mirror inside of her cabin on the Cruiser Flotina and smiles. Blue eyes, framed by shoulder-length black hair, stare back at her. Sergeant Shay Jensen is ready for today’s duties. At least she thinks so as there is no way she could have predicted what would happen today.

Being a Sergeant at age 22 is quite the achievement and she knows it. She didn’t get arrogant though and leads her squad of Privates with confidence. They all have been together for a long time and act like a well-oiled machine. From pirate subjugation over first aid after catastrophes to preventing terrorism. They’ve done everything and Shay is very proud, that she hasn’t lost a single one of her subordinates so far.

Shay steps out of her cabin, and heads for the common room of the Rangers. As the Flotina is scheduled to have a full day of flight, the Rangers have training day. This means running laps around the ship and pumping weights in the gym. The afternoon calls for tactical training as always.

She steps inside the common room and all the Privates already here nod at her in respect. “Good morning, Sergeant!” Salutations are for officers! At least that’s her opinion, and she stopped everyone from saluting her in her first week as a Sergeant over a year ago.

“Morning guys, anything to report?”

One of them, a tall, dark-haired man – Private Kurts – nods. “Yeah, one of the bridge guys was here earlier. Said Captain Turner wants to talk to you after lunch.”

Huh, why would the Captain of the ship want to talk to me? He’s not in my chain of command… I hope it’s not about that again…

“Okay, do you know what this is about?” She asks and the man shakes his head.

“Not a clue, he left right after. Probably afraid of the real men down here.”

Shay and the other female Rangers glare at him and he just chuckles. “You know what I mean…”

The morning passes as usual except Private Kurts is doing a lot of extra laps and after lunch, Shay finds herself knocking at the door of the Captain’s office right next to the bridge.

“Come in,” the deep voice of Captain Turner replies and the door slides open. Shay takes one step forward and stops to salute the Captain on the doorstep. “Sergeant Jensen here as ordered, Captain.”

The bald man in his early sixties with a short trimmed white beard and grey eyes smiles and beckons her toward the empty seat opposite him. “No need for the stiff formalities, Sergeant. Would you like some tea?” He points at the thermos flask on the desk.

Shay sits down and smiles awkwardly.

Ugh, I’m not good at acting informally with superior officers… Even if he’s Star Force and not technically responsible for me.

“I’m more of a coffee girl, but sure, I’ll take a cup if you’re offering.”

The man laughs. “Hah, the benefits of youth. If I had a coffee now, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at all tonight.” He grabs the flask and fills up two empty cups.

This is so awkward. It’s not the same thing happening again, right? That would be just my luck.

The Captain must have noticed her discomfort and lifts his hands after he finishes pouring the tea. “This is not what you think this is. I’ve read your file and I’m sorry for what you’ve been through.”

Shay lets out a sigh of relief. The last time a superior officer wanted to take advantage of her sexually didn’t end well for the man but also put a lot of stress onto Shay’s shoulders. Court hearings, endless questionings, and on top of it, transferal to a new ship. This was 10 months ago, right after her promotion to Sergeant. She can still hear the voices of her fellow Sergeants aboard the Estrella: “You just got promoted because you fucked him…”

She didn’t of course. Shay immediately reported the man when he tried to take advantage of her. Nothing happened between them, but that didn’t stop the rumor mill. In the end, Shay was glad to transfer, as she almost couldn’t take the comments from the others anymore.

At least her Privates stayed loyal. She was their squad leader before her promotion and luckily, they all joined her transfer to the Flotina after the whole affair.

She looks back up at the Captain. “Thanks for saying that… I just got a bit uncomfortable here… This is exactly like it started with him back then.”

The Captain grimaces. “Sorry, that wasn’t my intention… But unfortunately, the whole affair is why I called you here today.”

Fuck, it won’t leave me alone anytime soon… Damn, that fucking Major!

“Does it ever stop?” Shay shakes her head and sips on her tea. At least it tastes good.

“Ah fuck, I’m just going to say it,” the Captain shakes his head. “We received a message this morning stating that there are new developments in your case and that they need you back in court to do a few more hearings…”

Ah come on, I’ve already told them everything ten times or something. Isn’t this enough? Just lock that guy away and be done with it!

Shay hangs her head. “So much for I’m finally done with it… Are we heading back to Estriduros then?”

“I’m afraid not… I haven’t informed you Rangers yet, but the Flotina is heading for the Olovis System to join the war effort against Dakarti.”

“What does this mean for me then?”

Captain Turner lets out a heavy sigh. “It means I lose one of the most promising Rangers I have on my whole ship… Ranger Command is sending a small ship to pick you up this evening. I’m to officially release you from your duties aboard the Flotina right before that. I’m doing it right now, to give you a bit of time to pack and say your goodbyes. Again, I’m sorry.”

He stands up and straightens his uniform. Shay quickly stands up as well and salutes. “I, Captain Timothy Turner, hereby release you from your duties aboard the ERS Flotina. You may be at ease, Sergeant.”

Shay stops saluting and dips her head a little, sadness clear in her eyes. “I stand relieved. Thanks for having me here, Captain. Even if it wasn’t that long.”

The day passes quickly, and Shay says her goodbyes to the other Space Rangers on the Flotina. Everyone is sad, that she leaves and those who know her story get very angry. She’s now sitting together with her squad of ten Privates who stayed with her throughout the incident. They share stories of their past missions and laugh a lot. But most of all, everyone throws colorful insults at the asshole Major whose fault the whole situation is.

A while later Shay is back in her cabin and starts to pack her belongings.

At least I don’t have much stuff… Everything should fit inside my large Ranger backpack.

She packs her clothes and a few personal items. She’s never been one for jewellery, that’s why she starts a bit when she finds a small bracelet between two civilian shirts she kept for downtime on space stations.

Huh, that’s Sara’s bracelet! I wonder how she’s doing… I never heard from her again. At least I’ve got a bit of contact with Thomas from time to time, but she completely disappeared… I wonder why. She said she was going to come back to get it after her time at the academy. I’ve never found her in any military personnel file though. Maybe she’s employed somewhere else. But why did she never contact me? Hmm, well, I promised her to keep it, so I guess into the backpack it goes.

Shay finishes packing and sits down on her bed to wait. Half an hour later, she gets a ping on her tablet. Her shuttle is here!

A bit later she stands before the airlock, Captain Turner next to her to see her off. They salute each other for the last time, then the Captain steps back and Shay presses the panel to open the airlock. It opens with a silent hiss and shows her the connector tube beyond the outer hatch.

The door on the other side is still closed and Shay shrugs and steps inside. The door she just stepped through closes and only then does the outer hatch open.

I guess the principle of an airlock still applies even if everything is pressurized…

Then, finally, her way into the connector tube is free and she leaves the Flotina fully behind. The door in front of her starts to open, the moment she enters the tube.

I wonder why it wasn’t open already. Well, those ship people know better than me.

Another airlock cycle later and she is about to step inside her new ship, only to stop mid-stride.

What the hell is this? That’s no military ship! And it’s tiny?

Right beyond her vision is a small living room with a couch, a table, and a small kitchen counter at the side. To the right at the end of a room is a small hallway that ends with a door after a short distance. Left and right of the hallway is one door each. And right in the middle stand two smiling women in Space Ranger uniforms.

A Major! Holy shit and she’s so young… The other one’s a Sergeant like me and she looks the same age. Something’s off here!

Either way, Shay stands at attention and salutes them both. “Sergeant Shay Jensen reporting as ordered!”

The airlock closes behind her and She feels the tube disconnecting with a slight shudder. Only then do the others return the salute.

That’s sloppy as hell. Does the Sergeant even know what she is doing?

Before she can think further, the platinum-blonde Major with blue eyes smiles widely and addresses her without any kind of formality. “So you are the famous Shay, nice to meet you, I’m Maja and this is Alex.” She points at the black-haired Sergeant next to her.

What is happening? This is a joke, right?

“Uhhh…”

The Sergeant punches the Majors's shoulder and Shays's eyes go wide.

That’s not how you treat your superiors! Someone is pranking me. It must be.

“I think you broke her, Maja.”

“Oh well, everything will be clear in an hour…” She looks back at Shay and points at the table. “Are you hungry?”

Shay can’t hold it back anymore and blurts out, the consequences of offending a Major be damned. “What the actual fuck is happening here? Who are you guys? And why the hell did you come to take me who knows where? Fuck, I’m going insane!”

The Major, Maja, starts laughing. “Oh my, she won’t like your foul mouth at all… But anyway, you should see it for yourself. We’re almost at the main ship, just a little bit of patience. But I can assure you, that nothing’s going to happen to you.”

Shay just stares with her mouth agape. Then she shakes her head and sits down at the table.

I guess, I’ll have to sit it out… Even if I can take them both out, what do I do then? I don’t even know if there are more people behind the doors just waiting for me to do something stupid.

“I could eat something right now,” she mutters, and the Major brightens.

“Splendid! Your meal is coming right up.” She then rushes to the kitchen, grabs a can of something out of a cupboard, and puts it in the heater. Half a minute later it’s finished, and both women join her at the table. Shay starts to eat in silence but gets annoyed after a few minutes.

“Are you going to stare at me like that the whole time?”

The Sergeant shrugs. “What else is there to do?”

Shay scowls. “You could start by telling me what the hell is going on,” she lifts a finger to stop them from responding. “And don’t tell me you’ll see in an hour again. I want to know right fucking now!” She slams her fist down on the table to punctuate her sentence.

The two women share a look and both shrug. Alex, the Sergeant starts to talk. “Well, the gist of it is that we want to offer you a job. Our Captain asked for you specifically and here we are.”

The blonde Major continues. “But… Further details have to wait until you meet her, I’m sorry. If you decline what I don’t think you will, we can fly you back to your ship or wherever you want though.”

A job? And they were looking for me specifically? This gets weirder by the minute. But I have to admit, I’m also a bit intrigued now…

“Okaaayyy,” Shay stretches the word before continuing. “So when do I meet this Captain of yours?”

Maja, the Major looks to the side for a second, then replies. “We arrive in five minutes, then you can meet her right away.”

Pretty much exactly five minutes later, Shay feels the ship settling down somewhere and hears the engines powering down. Both women stand up and beckon her to follow them. Shay gets up as well and they all walk toward the airlock she entered the ship through earlier.

The moment of truth!

The airlock opens, this time both hatches at the same time and a small ramp extends to lead down to the bottom. Shay catches a glimpse of a few people standing outside, but the women before her block her vision to see more details. Then the Alex woman rushes forward and greets one of the people outside with a kiss. Shay notices him as one of three men standing there at the right. Then her gaze swipes further to the left, her vision now clear after Alex left.

Shay stops dead in her tracks and stares. Her thoughts grind to a halt as well. There right in the middle stands a young woman with light red hair, deep green eyes, a few freckles, and a big smirk on her face. She lifts her hand and waves lazily.

“Sara,” Shay whispers, not believing her eyes. Then they both rush forward and hug each other tightly.