Echoes of Harmony

“Command track, huh?” Lina said, nudging Skylar after taking a bite of what was supposed to be some sort of synthesized steak. A bit of gray goop sprayed from her mouth over the table in front of her. With a smile, she added, “And here I thought you’d be chucked out after graduation.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Skylar scooped a spoonful of mashed potato into his mouth and swallowed before the flavorless mass had an opportunity to touch his tongue. It felt like a weight dropped into his stomach. “Zorn did offer me that as an alternative.”

“I’m shocked.” She nudged him jokingly in the side with her elbow before stopping and glancing over at him. “I’ve got to say, if I knew it would get you eating, I would’ve told you to talk to that girl sooner.”

Skylar hesitated with a fork of the steak halfway to his mouth. He hadn’t given it much thought, but it was true that he was much more present at meals after meeting with Mian. The desire of needing to get endless training in subsided with the conversation they had. It was a change that he couldn’t quite account for.

“Maybe you just got through to me finally,” he said after several seconds of silence.

“After six years, something I said got through your thick head?” She smiled and shook her head. “I doubt it. Part of me wants to ask her what her secret is. So, when’s the next date?”

His face heated instantly. It took an effort to keep from choking on the potatoes making their way down his throat as they tried to make a detour into his lungs. Lina slapped him on the back, which hurt him more than helped.

“There wasn’t even a first date.” Even he knew his words sounded hollow and false. “We just talked and got to know each other a little bit.”

“Got to know each other over lunch.” Lina pointed her fork which held a piece of steak at Skylar before shoving it into her mouth. Chewing, she said, “Sounds like a date to me.”

“It wasn’t a date.” He felt the heat continuing to rise through his face and tried to resist the urge to shout. Then he wondered why he was feeling so strongly about it. Did he really hope that when Mian said it was a date, she meant it? Then again, why would she have called it a date in the first place? After all, they had just met.

“Alright, whatever you say.” Lina continued smiling weirdly up at him, as if she knew a secret he didn’t. He sighed and ignored her, returning his attention to his glop. After a few more seconds, she asked, “So, did Zorn say anything about me?”

“Yeah. Well, not until I asked him. I wanted to make sure you were given the same offer. And he said as long as you were a decent squadron leader, you would be.”

“Worried about me, were you?” she teased.

“No, more worried about myself,” he admitted, much to her shock as she stopped eating and stared for a moment. “We’ve been together so long, I can’t really imagine us being separated.”

“You know that can’t last forever, Skylar,” she whispered. “Eventually, we’re going to have to go our own ways.”

“Eventually. But that doesn’t mean we can’t last as long as possible. After all, we’ve been side by side for the past six years. Best friends since the start. And it’ll make going there much more bearable if I have you with me.”

“Sure you wouldn’t want Mian with you?” Lina grinned at him.

“Way to ruin a moment.” Skylar shook his head and cut another piece of steak, running it through his potatoes to scoop them up.

“I couldn’t help but overhear you talking about the Imperial Academy, Reid,” called out a familiar voice.

Skylar inwardly groaned as he turned to look over his shoulder at the trio of boys standing only a couple meters away. On the right was Jakob Breuer, flexing his arms in an attempt at menacing. Eric Horn stood on the left, a dumb look accenting his short cut hair. His arms were crossed at his chest, making him look more silly than anything. And in between the two was who Skylar saw as their little ringleader. Shorter than Erik or Jakob was Maxwell Dietrich, whose blonde hair was carefully parted to one side. His blue eyes glimmered with malice as he stepped towards Lina and Skylar, placing a hand on their table.

“You should know,” Maxwell whispered, leaning close to Skylar, “that the Imperial Academy is full of people that will want to kick your ass even more than I do.”

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“Is that what you’re doing? I thought it was more kissing.” Skylar glared up at him without raising his head from his plate. “I can’t remember the last time you kicked an ant’s ass let alone mine.”

Skylar was ready for the fist coming towards him. Jakob stepped forward and attempted a wild haymaker at Skylar’s head. He dodged backwards, sliding his seat with him and springing to his feet. Erik was next, aiming a kick for Skylar’s shin. The booted foot of the larger boy connected just below his knee. Skylar yelped in pain as he staggered back. He took a deep breath and danced to the side as Erik attempted a jab into his stomach. Without thinking, he feinted with his left hand at Erik before committing with a right hook. His fist slammed into Eric’s stomach, though the other boy hardly seemed to notice it. Maxwell watched on, as if the fight were nothing more than the latest holo. Skylar looked into the other boy’s eyes, and something snapped inside him. Mian’s words that day during lunch came back to him. Suddenly, he knew exactly what to do.

Gripping tightly, Skylar plunged the fork still clutched in his left hand deep into Maxwell’s, pinning it to the table. Blood sprayed out, the heat of several droplets hitting his face acutely palpable. Lina gasped in surprise and slid away from the table. Many others nearby did the same while others chanted their support of the fight. Maxwell yelled in pain, before pulling the fork free and dropping it to the tabletop. Small bits of muscle and flesh stayed attached to it while others dripped onto the metal surface. Flowing freely now, the blood oozed out of the four new holes bored into Maxwell’s hand and down the sides.

“Reid!” a voice yelled from the far end of the mess hall. Standing there was General Zorn, his face a shade of purple Skylar had never seen before. The room immediately went silent as Zorn stepped through the crowd of people. Each of the cadets parted for him, allowing him to the epicenter where Skylar stood breathing heavily. Erik and Jakob were standing well away while Maxwell desperately clung to his hand to stem the bleeding. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Protecting myself, sir.” Skylar said the words in a matter-of-fact way, as if Zorn had asked him the weather. There was an undeniable pleasure that had formed inside him as he watched Maxwell staggering towards the door clutching his hand. Jakob and Eric were close behind. Skylar looked up at Zorn and sneered. “That’s what we’re supposed to do, isn’t it? Seeing how the guards don’t care about protecting some of us.”

There was something akin to triumph in Zorn’s face. It was quickly replaced, however, by a scornful expression.

“You attacked a fellow cadet. As such, punishment is necessary in order to maintain discipline and a sense of unity.”

“Funny how you don’t care about that when they attack me.” Skylar felt his hand balling into a fist again, though he unclenched it before Lina had the opportunity to send a message.

“Your punishment is to clean the entirety of the mess hall for the next week,” Zorn continued as if Skylar hadn’t spoken. He turned towards the door and began taking slow, carefully measured steps to it. “And if you continue acting out, perhaps that offer I gave you will evaporate.”

Zorn disappeared through the door without another word. Silence reigned in the mess hall. Some of the other cadets continued staring at Skylar as if they were expecting him to stab someone else with the fork. He noted, where previously they looked at him with smug and hostile expressions, the glances at him were now fearful. After several seconds, whispers broke out among them, and Skylar grabbed a new fork from the food line before sitting back down next to Lina.

“That was… something,” she said, pushing her own food away from her. It was the first time Skylar could remember her not finishing a meal. She turned in her seat and looked at him with something bordering on fear. “You feeling alright?”

“I don’t know.” Skylar shrugged as he grabbed his spoon and scooped a small mound of potato and ate it. The muttered whispers around them continued unabated now that it looked like he was no longer going to be stabbing people with forks for the time being. “Just got tired of them, I guess.”

“That’s certainly one way to get their attention. Though probably shouldn’t have done it in front of her. At least, if you were hoping for a second date, that is.”

Skylar followed Lina’s gaze as she nodded her head to the door. He caught a fleeting glance of the medium length brown hair and back of Mian as she sped out the doorway. An immediate sense of dread and embarrassment went through him. He slumped in his chair and buried his face in his hands.

“Why didn’t you tell me she was right there?” he asked, the words muffled.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to stab Maxwell with a fork?” Her voice was similar to that of a teacher getting a pupil to come to their own conclusion.

“Because I didn’t know until it was happening.” He removed his hands and looked at Lina. She smiled, though he could easily tell it was sad.

“Yeah, and I didn’t know she was there until your fork was halfway in his knuckles. Hard to warn you about something after it’s happened.” She reached over and put a hand on Skylar’s. “It’ll be alright though. We can find you a new girlfriend.”

“Very funny.” Despite the horror and nervousness bubbling in his stomach, he couldn’t help but allow a small smile come to his face. “Even if that’s what I wanted, I doubt anyone would want a relationship with me after that display.”

“Well, seeing how neither of us seems to have an appetite anymore, how about we go back to the dormitory? We can work on some of that homework we got in history.”

Skylar didn’t answer, instead simply standing and grabbing both of their trays. They walked out together after he deposited them in the return bin. The entire walk back to the dormitory, he hoped Mian would be there so he could explain what happened to her. With each step closer, the nerves doing somersaults in his stomach seemed to grow heavier and heavier. It took all his effort to keep his feet moving forward.

When they arrived at the dormitory, Mian was nowhere to be seen.