July 10, 2182 (Krygilis Modified Date)
"I respectfully decline."
The older man behind the desk looked up from the tiny screen in front of him, his calm expression darkening slightly. "I'm sorry?"
"I decline the assignment, Director," said the short, tan-haired woman as she crossed her arms.
The temperature in the small, cluttered room seemed to increase by another ten degrees as the man scowled and closed his eyes. "Wynette," he said, "let's talk about this privately. I don't—"
"Why would I feel comfortable traveling alone with a strange man? I don't see this as fitting protocol," Wynette said, taking a deep breath. "I shouldn't need to remind you that section 12(b) dictates that assignments involving only two individuals can be appealed if one or both individuals have an objection
to—"
"We will talk about this privately!" the Director snapped. "And Mr. Dawson, if you would step outside..."
The tall man standing behind Wynette cleared his throat. "Certainly, sir, but..."
The Director raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"If it helps, Ms. Wynette, I'm gay," the man said, smiling as he pushed a strand of dark, curly hair out of his face.
There was a long silence. Wynette took a deep breath. "Like, totally gay?"
"Wynette!" The Director's voice had reached a volume level she had never heard before.
"I mean..." The man shrugged and reached a tan, slender hand into the pocket of his pants. "I have my Gay Alliance membership card right here."
"There's no need to be so accommodating of Wynette," the Director said. "I hope you forgive her rudeness."
"Hey, I gotta watch out for myself," Wynette muttered, wiping sweat from her brow. "But whatever, I didn't expect you to literally carry a gay identification card. Nice to meet you — what was it? Laris?"
"Yes. Likewise, Ms. Wynette."
"Drop the 'Miss', please." She turned back to face the director fully. "Fine, I'll take the assignment."
"You'd better," the Director muttered as he straightened up. "Your formal documents are on the printer over there."
She snatched the papers from the top of the aged printer. "Still aren't allowed to just send them to our compads, huh?"
"No."
She turned to Laris. "Welcome to the Protectorate. Always the finest facilities and technology," she said, waving her hand at the single fan attempting to cool off the concrete room.
"Maybe if hell freezes over and you get promoted someday, you can try to do better," the Director said. "Now get to work."
Out in the hallway, Wynette stuffed the authorization papers into her heavy pack. "Alright, do you already know where everything is?" she asked Laris.
He nodded and hoisted his pack over his shoulder. "Yeah. Already got a tour."
"Great." She began walking down the narrow hall and motioned for him to follow. "And sorry if I came across as a jerk back there. Didn't mean to, you know, end up asking you to out yourself..."
Laris smirked. "Are you always that blunt with people? Not a great way to deescalate conflicts, you know," he said.
"I mean, not always with strangers, but I've known that guy for four years now. I can kinda say what I want to him."
"Four years?"
"Started out as a clerk. Became an escort specialist when I got old enough."
The two reached a metal door at the end of the hall, and Wynette stopped to hold her thumb against a scanner. There was a loud click, and she pushed the door open, stepping into another dimly lit hallway with Laris at her heels.
"So did being a clerk help you memorize the procedural code?" he asked.
"Only the sections that benefit me," Wynette said, shrugging. "You'd be best off doing the same. Some of these bosses like to jerk people around. This director is usually fine, though."
She abruptly stepped into a room to her right, where fluorescent lighting lit a windowless lab full of tall metal shelves. Several workers in white coats scurried about behind a counter, with two boxy, metallic robots looming over them.
"Oranos, I need 14 days for me and this guy."
A short young man stepped close to the counter, smiling broadly. "Cool. Who's the new guy?"
"Laris Dawson." Wynette turned toward Laris and motioned to Oranos. "Oranos is kinda a jackass, but he's my favorite jackass, and he'll get you the supplements and prescriptions you need while you're out for weeks at a time."
Oranos rolled his bright blue eyes. "Guilty as charged." He leaned over a hologram screen built into the counter, tapping away at a spreadsheet for a moment. "Laris, you in the system yet?"
"No idea, sorry."
"Not your fault," Wynette said, leaning against the counter and attempting to read the screen. "You can give us the stuff and update it later if he's not there, right?"
"Nope. Tighter regulations as of this month," Oranos replied. "But don't worry, he's here."
Laris smiled. "Great. Thank you."
Oranos turned to grab something from a nearby shelf, and Wynette leaned over and said to Laris: "Well, glad you're making friends already."
"Why the bad mood?" Laris said, his smile twisting into a smirk.
"Working here long enough will give you the proper attitude, too. Give it time."
"How old are you?"
"Hey, so much for you being polite!" Wynette snapped, causing Oranos to turn back around.
"Keep it down, or the Queen will get on ya. She's actually here today," Oranos said softly.
Laris tilted his head to one side. "Do I want to know who the Queen is?"
"No," Wynette muttered.
Oranos placed two large plastic containers on the counter, tapped on the screen a few times, and held a hand out to Wynette. "ID, please."
Wynette rummaged in her pants pocket for a moment and pulled out a plastic card. "You're supposed to have it around your neck, you know," Oranos said.
"Gets in the damn way," Wynette replied.
"Set a good example for the rookie, will ya?"
"Didn't know that was in my job description."
Oranos smiled at Laris. "She wasn't always this charming, you know. You should've seen her when she first got here."
"And you should've seen the conversation we just had with the Director..." Laris glanced at Wynette and smirked.
"I set a good example by sticking up for myself," Wynette said. "Too bad you can't seem to do that with Queenie, eh, Oranos?"
Oranos sighed, and Laris bit back a laugh. "Whatever. Both of you strong, tough ruffians can get these out to your floater without a cart, right?" Oranos asked.
"Of course," Wynette said, grabbing the first box with a grunt. "At least, I can. Don't know about rookie here."
Laris shrugged and grabbed the second box, hoisting it up onto his shoulder with ease. Oranos tapped on the screen a final time before turning away from the counter. "Let's talk at lunch," he said over his shoulder.
"Yeah," Wynette muttered. She nodded to Laris as she turned back toward the door. "Let's hurry up."
The Protectorate's headquarters on Krygilis was smaller than every other planet's headquarters, and also the most run-down, as far as Wynette knew. Though the organization basically acted as the planet's military, it was on a shoestring budget, and spent most of its time and energy acting as a security contractor for mining companies rather than fighting alien races or even protecting politicians. The ranks and other formalities were often regarded as a distraction, and only utilized in rare situations.
The old, metal-walled garage outside seemed small among the endless sand and pale blue sky surrounding them. Wynette flashed her ID at a guard by the side door and made a beeline for the nearest snow-white floater.
Laris raised an eyebrow at the sleek, four-person vehicle. "This is a pretty old model..."
"We can't afford much better," Wynette said, shrugging as she pressed her thumb to a scanner on the side of the floater. "Besides, the better ones are too quiet. Really creepy, if ya ask me."
The hydraulic door of the floater came upward with a gentle hiss, and Wynette climbed inside and threw her supplies into the rear cargo area. "Put your stuff wherever you want in there, and then go get lunch in the cafeteria. I got a meeting," she said as she climbed back out.
"With Oranos?" Laris said as he shoved his pack against the wall of the backseat.
Wynette smiled to hide her chagrin. "It's not what you think."
"Hey, I wasn't thinking anything."
She snorted and set off at a jog back toward the main building. "We're leaving in 40, so make it quick. Bring your food with you if you want," she said over her shoulder.
As she went back inside and passed the lab again, she almost collided with Oranos as he stepped into the hall. "Sorry," he mumbled, running a hand through his dark hair. "You wanna go to the stairwell?"
"Yeah," Wynette said, glancing around. The hallway was deserted for the moment, but they kept quiet as they made their way back down the hall, past the Director's office and down an even narrower corridor. Oranos shoved a metal door open and glanced around the stairwell in front of him, even peeking upward and around the corner of the stairs before finally taking a seat on the steps.
"You didn't hear anything about the changes in the States' fronts yet, did you?" Oranos finally said, closing his eyes. "They may be going after Reginald and Lancelot. Media picked up the story this morning due to leaked intel."
Wynette sighed. Oranos followed the war more closely than almost anyone else she knew. Krygilis was a neutral planet, and was home to residents who had previously been citizens of the American States, the Eurasian Union, and other, smaller factions. Their little planet had been left alone thus far, though Oranos had always worried that someday their luck would run out. There were only so many remotely habitable planets that weren't claimed by the benevolent aliens known as the Mravess, after all, and if the States or the EU wanted to occupy Krygilis and use it as a stepping stone for their operations, the Protectorate wasn't equipped to put up much of a fight.
"You still aren't convinced that the Interstellar Bureau would raise all hell if the States got us involved?" Wynette said.
"But would it be enough?" Oranos leaned back, propping his elbows awkwardly on the steps behind him. "That's not why I called you in here, though. Our bosses are talking about ramping up training for escort specialists in the next few weeks. Working you up closer to being security specialists."
"They'd have to give us a damn pay raise, then."
"That might not matter to them. They're gearing up for the worst-case scenario - to fight off an occupation, I think, even though surrender would be a much safer and wiser option."
Wynette frowned. Their planet was full of resources that were necessary for war - oil, titanium, and countless other materials beneath the surface. Many of the other habitable planets had resources of their own, though, and Krygilis didn't have enough food and water to sustain much more than its current population.
"Keep me posted," she said, shrugging. "I think this is way too far above my pay grade for me to be worrying about right now. Especially with the war so far away."
"Only three weeks by cargo ship, and less in a military ship."
"You know I hate speculating about shit with so many unknown variables," Wynette said curtly.
Oranos nodded, his expression unreadable. "I know. I just want you to be aware, and to let me know if you hear anything, too. We both got people to look out for, after all. And if anywhere is a target for armies, it's probably Tioria, with all the mining around there."
Tioria, their hometown, was a large city some 4,000 kilometers southeast of Protectorate headquarters. It was a dangerous enough place already, Wynette mused as she sighed. "You're right. Any sign of trouble, we gotta tell our people to hunker down."
"And consider hunkering down ourselves, too, even if it means dereliction of duty," Oranos said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I don't want us getting killed in a futile, useless fight that we didn't sign up for."
"That's fair," Wynette said. She shuddered and hoped the conversation would end at that.
Oranos stood up and dusted off his pants before smiling faintly at Wynette. "Sorry to bring up your least favorite topic, Wynette. I just feel obligated to give you the heads-up."
"Gotta watch out for each other, in case shit does get wild."
His smile grew wider, and Wynette stepped to the door. "Now I can see why you didn't wanna discuss this via message," she said softly before stepping back out into the hallway.
By the time Wynette shoveled down some food and got back to the floater, it was just after 1500. Laris was standing next to the closed floater hatch, looking annoyed. "I guess they haven't given me authorization to open it yet," he said.
"Sorry. Sometimes it takes a few hours to finish updating everything when you're fresh outta training." Wynette said, pressing her thumb to the floater's scanner again.
The hatch opened, and she barely hesitated before climbing into the driver's seat. "Autopilot should get us there just fine, right?" he asked.
"Yes, but I don't even trust you with that yet, so don't think you get this seat," she said with a sarcastic smile.
"Cool. Less work for me." Laris put his own pack and box of supplies into the back. "Do we need to do anything else before leaving?"
"Got the docs." Wynette motioned to the papers stuffed in her pocket. "Got meds and such. Nonperishables already loaded. What else do we need?"
He shrugged. "Like I would know. Just checking."
Wynette poked several buttons on the floater's dashboard screen, and the machine whirred to life. "Wynette Brown. Permission code 78B59," she said tersely, waiting for the floater to respond.
The dashboard beeped once, and she grasped the control wheel with one hand and the throttle with the other. "Cool, voice command decided to work this time," she muttered.
The floater took off gently, and she steered it out of the garage as soon as the dashboard flashed an "All Clear" message. She flew south over the wall around the base, feeling at ease for a long moment before realizing something.
"Did you put in the coordinates?" Laris asked suddenly.
Wynette sighed. "No. Send them from the compad."
"Did you forget—"
"No!" she snapped, gripping the control wheel tighter. "I'm testing you. You pass if you can do it without screwing up."
"Fair enough." He typed something into the compad, and the dashboard screen flashed green in recognition. "Thirteen hours, if we stop for fuel."
"Great."
That was the last conversation between the two of them for a full hour. The floater flew a dozen meters above the occasional wheeled vehicles below, passing them with ease, and Wynette suddenly appreciated that the ride could have been a lot longer if she didn't have her basic pilot's license. There was little to distract her from her earlier slightly unnerving conversation with Oranos, though. It was normal for him to be overly prepared for worst-case scenarios, and he was always slightly protective of Wynette and some of the other escort specialists. But he rarely brought up anything that directly involved the Protectorate, let alone the possibility that Wynette and the others could end up becoming conscripted soldiers themselves.
Laris stared out the front and side windows for a long time, turning to admire the view every time they flew near a little hamlet or refinery. "You fly in one of these much?" Wynette finally asked.
"Not often, and not outside of St. Adrian."
"You got family there?"
"Parents. I did university there, too."
"Huh." She held back a biting comment on how nice it must have been to be able to afford college. "So how'd you end up here?"
"Not much to do with a degree in health statistics around here."
She nodded. "Thought about going off-planet?"
"I'm scared of space."
There was another long silence. Then she muttered: "Are you always this blunt with people?"
Laris chuckled and leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. "I stopped caring what people think about that little factoid, so yeah, I'm blunt when it comes to that..."
"Well, and I don't blame ya. Especially with the war going on right now."
"That's another issue entirely for me. The idea of being in a tin box in a vacuum terrifies me."
"Hey, those are titanium boxes," Wynette joked.
He smiled and shook his head. "But seriously, why doesn't it scare you? It's a void. It's not like here—" He waved a hand. "Here, if you crash, you'll probably be okay."
"I mean, I've never been off-planet either, so I haven't had to confront that yet," she said, shrugging. "I just imagine it as another floater, but higher up, you know?"
"You haven't been off-planet, either?"
"Parents didn't have money for trips and shit, even before the war started and the prices went up," she replied.
"Ah." Laris fell silent. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes; people with money always had the same reaction after talking to her and finding out she didn't come from titanium money.
But then he spoke up again: "No university, either?"
"Nope."
"Smart. Look how useful it ended up in my case."
Wynette smiled. "Glad you're aware of your mediocre life choices."
The metallic hum of the floater filled the silence again for another hour. "Is there a media player in this thing?" Laris eventually asked, poking at the dashboard.
"Nope. Use your compad."
He shrugged. "Do you want me to put some music on?"
"I don't care." Truthfully, though, Wynette wanted something to fill the silence.
He obliged. When they arrived at a run-down refueling station near a small village, she glanced over at him, and chuckled when she saw he was asleep.
"You could theoretically get written up for that," she murmured.
He opened one eye. "Something tells me you won't snitch."
It was almost midnight when they reached their destination, a fuel refinery compound surrounded by massive stone walls. The floater's headlights guided Wynette to a safe landing outside the walls, next to a large, metal hut labeled "OFFICE" in painted red letters. A man emerged from it before Wynette and Laris could even disembark, and he waved enthusiastically as their floater door opened.
"Howdy," he said, peeking out from under an old-fashioned, wide-brimmed hat. "You're here to escort a shipment?"
"Yeah, to Medina," Wynette replied. "We leave at 0600?"
"Gotta push it back an hour." The man jerked a hand toward the walls. "Had a few technical problems in there."
"That's fine. We'll catch some shut-eye and be up at 0630." Wynette nodded and nudged Laris back inside the floater, and the hatch was barely closed before she exclaimed: "To hell with these guys! They're always late, and on the nights we have to sleep in the floater, too!"
Laris smirked. "You're mad about an extra hour of sleep?"
"Shut up, or I'll make you pilot in the morning." She pulled a blanket from her pack and climbed back into the drivers' seat, tilting it as far back as it would go.
"You gonna eat something before you go to sleep?"
"No."
There was a long pause. "Am I allowed to sleep now?"
"Yeah, we're not airborne or guarding anything right now, so we can both sleep," Wynette murmured, typing something into her compad before pulling her blanket up to her chin.
Laris stretched out in his seat and put his feet up on the narrow dashboard. "Okay. G'night."
"G'night."
The beeping of Wynette's compad was loud enough to wake the dead. She cursed loudly and slammed her hand down on top of it, blinking wearily. The sun wouldn't be up for another half-hour, but the sky was starting to brighten somewhat, and she turned to make sure Laris had woken up.
He wasn't there. She lurched from her seat and noticed the hatch was open. "Lar?" she muttered.
Laris came into view outside the floater. "Hm? Do I get a nickname, now?"
"Morning, dipshit," she said, half-crawling, half-walking forward. "You been up a bit?"
"Figured I'd freshen up." He had changed clothes, though his new shirt and pants were barely discernible from the old one.
She shrugged and reached into the floater for her pack. She was starving, and the collection of grain-based meal bars in her pack seemed much more appealing than usual.
As she munched on her breakfast, the man from the office reemerged. "G'morning! We'll be ready slightly ahead of schedule, if that's already with you," he called out.
Wynette snorted. It wasn't ahead of the original schedule, she thought as she swallowed the last of her second meal bar. "Thanks. We're ready whenever," she said.
Laris tossed his dirty clothes into the backseat of the floater on top of his pack. "You're ready?" he asked, shooting her a skeptical glance.
"I mean, I gotta piss, but after that I'm good," she said, climbing back out of the floater. "Get in. We got a lot of distance to cover, and I want a hot shower as soon as we're done for the day."