“Attention!” ordered Major Montes when the door to the room opened, and Lieutenant Rivière walked in.
“At ease, cadets,” she said as she stopped in the center of the room.
Lieutenant Rivière was tall with a stern expression, but she smirked after ordering them at ease.
“Well done on the exercise, Major,” she continued.
“Thank you, ma’am,” said Montes.
“I’ve never seen cadets foresee the ambush before. Of course, many have responded appropriately, but you seemed to know where it was coming from.”
“That was all Corporal Steel’s doing, ma’am.”
“Oh?” said Rivière, turning her attention toward Joe.
“Good instincts, ma’am,” said Joe. “Something seemed off, and we happened to run right into it.”
“Whatever the reason, outstanding work, ensigns!”
“Ma’am?” said Montes.
The others looked confused, but Joe knew what the lieutenant meant. He fought to keep a smile from creasing his face, and he almost succeeded.
“That’s right,” said Rivière. “You’ve all passed the final test and will soon graduate. Congratulations!”
The new graduates wanted to start celebrating. Montes maintained his composure, and that helped to keep his team disciplined when Montes spoke next.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said.
Lieutenant Rivière nodded her head once before turning around and exiting the room.
Once the door closed behind the lieutenant, Beck let out a loud victory cry, and all of the others joined in. The new ensigns quickly gathered around in a circle and placed their hands on one another’s shoulders as they bounced around in victory. Even the quiet ones let down their guard, but only for a few moments.
“We have to do something?” shouted Beck.
“Drinks on me!” said Meinhardt.
“We don’t have permission to leave the base?” said Temitope quickly.
“Relax, Temey,” said Abbot. “She didn’t mean alcoholic.”
“They should give us permission, though,” said Meinhardt defensively.
“Next time hopefully,” said Otieno quietly.
“I’m beat,” said Mulloy with a heavy sigh. “That firefight was wild! I need to get out of this gear.”
“Let’s,” said Montes as he loosened the straps and unzipped his jacket. “Another test starts soon for the others. Clear out, team.”
“Yes, sir,” said Meinhardt.
After Meinhardt and Abbot followed Montes out of the room, Joe fell in line next to Hoàng. Joe had noticed Hoàng getting very quiet, more so than usual. Hoàng nodded in acknowledgement when he saw Joe next to him.
“You okay?” asked Joe.
“Yes, sir,” said Hoàng.
“Relax, Hoàng. We’re off duty now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Joe watched Hoàng for a few steps and then shook his head.
“Well, something’s bothering you,” said Joe.
Hoàng took a deep breath and relaxed. Did Joe even see a brief smile?
“I didn’t think I’d graduate,” said Hoàng. “It’s a family tradition to serve, but I failed every physical test at first. I didn't think this day would come, even when I did finally pass my physical and enlist.”
“Your family will be proud,” said Joe. He patted Hoàng on the back a couple of times to encourage him.
Hoàng nodded again.
“Thank you, sir.”
“At ease, soldier,” joked Joe with a chuckle.
“Enlisting is a family tradition for me, too,” said Darabi from behind Joe. “My brother and sister already serve.”
“That’s good,” said Joe. “You’ll have to let them know you’ll graduate soon.”
“I will,” said Darabi with a smile. After a moment, she added, “What about you, Steel?”
“Just happy to serve.”
“No family ties?”
“Not that I know, but I’ve seen the birds’ ruthlessness first hand. Someone needs to stop them. I’m anxious to graduate and do just that.”
“Alright, team. We’ll receive further orders in the morning, so enjoy the rest of your night, but don’t overdo it,” said Montes as the squad reached the floor for their quarters. Montes quickly added, “That goes double for you, Meinhardt!”
“Yes, sir!” said Meinhardt before joining in laughter with Abbot.
“Dismissed,” said Montes.
Joe smiled and laughed with the others as they each started for their own room. Joe’s palm was about to compress the lock on his door when Montes called his name.
“Steel, a moment.”
Montes waved Joe over, and the two started walking slowly down the hall.
“Sir?” said Joe.
“I want to thank you for what you did back there,” said Montes.
“Whatever it takes to complete the mission, sir.”
“And you’ve done it in so many of our field tests here. I don’t see why you weren’t made a major instead of me.”
“Don’t be that hard on yourself, sir,” said Joe. “I’ve had some moments, but you have, too. Remember your choice during the gamma test?”
“That was the point of the test,” said Montes. “Everyone deserving of command would’ve seen that.”
“And your choices at Tyson Beach?”
“You helped with that one.”
“Or the Osiris Mission?”
“Didn’t I recommend you for a promotion after that?”
“And at Southern Point?”
Montes paused for a moment before he said, “Yeah, I see that.”
“See? All you,” said Joe with a grin as if to end the discussion.
“My point is, you’ve been a big help. Your instincts are unmatched. I’m envious,” said Montes.
“Just something you learn from being beaten down by the birds your whole life,” said Joe.
“Well, I think you’ll get your shot at them soon.”
“Sir?”
Montes stopped and turned toward Joe. Montes looked up and down the hall before he spoke again.
“I think most of the graduating class will be joining the mission on Scincia. The birds are trying to take that planet, and the natives have asked for our help since the galactic government is still debating the matter.”
“I’ve heard the rumors, but…” trailed off Joe.
“So you’ll be getting your revenge on the birds soon,” concluded Montes.
“That's the whole reason I joined, sir.”