"I suck," Wong said.
The pair of us walked back from the shooting range. We had our first lessons with Kurt nearly three weeks ago. Since that day Carlos, Wong, Alec, and I lived and breathed nonstop training on hand-to-hand combat and weapons training.
All day, every day, was the same. Fighting. Guns. And strategies lessons. That's it.
We had no time for anything else. Even though we were supposed to have Sundays off to relax, we spent most of the morning in the gym or the shooting range.
Once the Sunday afternoons rolled around, we forced ourselves to go to the lake where we either studied over books and notes or we swam, which led to us having competitions of who could swim the deepest or the furthest out in the lake. I usually won both swimming competitions.
Despite our nonstop training, Wong struggled with shooting. Maybe because Kurt made him very nervous. Or perhaps he had bad eyes.
"You don't suck," I said, trying to sound encouraging.
"See." Wong pointed at me. "Your voice gives it away! You think I suck too."
Well, Wong really did have a bad aim.
"I'm not gonna be ready by this weekend," Wong said.
"You have time. It's okay."
"It's Thursday!"
In two days on Saturday, we had our first stimulation in the gym that would test our shooting and hand-to-hand combat. That's what Wong was nervous about. The simulation would test our skills so far. If we failed, we had to repeat the first three weeks of lessons while learning new subjects.
Although our days were filled with lessons and training, we usually had free time before dinner. When I asked Wong if he wanted to go to the practice shooting, he was extremely eager to. The idea to go to the shooting range was partly for me to practice my shooting and partly because Wong needed the practice.
The practice was supposed to be peaceful... But Alec overheard us and he tagged along to help. Though his intentions were good, Wong didn't really want him around. We tried to explain to Wong that Alec would be the best one to practice with. He was the best shot by far, with me close behind to my shock. Carlos struggled with shooting, but where he lacked in shooting, he made up for his hand-to-hand combat.
"I am not good enough," Wong moaned as we walked the forest trails alone. Alec left the shooting range twenty minutes earlier.
"You just need practice," I said and cringed.
That's what everyone told Wong the last few days.
"When do we get the technology side of basic training?" Wong asked. His feet stumbled over a branch, and I threw out a hand to catch him. He pushed my hand away after he straightened himself. "I hate nature! When I joined the Alliance, my big plan was to join the tech force after basic training. But I don't think I will survive training!"
"Well, you are a month in already." Was it really a month? I counted in my head. There was Hell Week, which was week one. We were now in the center of week three of training. That would be four. I shook my head. "It's crazy to think we have two more months to go."
Wong glared at me. "Let's talk about something else other than training."
"Umm," I said. What the hell was there to talk about other than training? I had no idea of what I talked about before the Alliance. Even letters to Old Jack and Jonah contained a ton of information about the training because they asked me about it. Before this past month, I would talk about the markets and how the fishing was. Maybe I talked about the town or market drama. But here... "I got nothing."
"What help are you?"
We turned onto another forest trail that led to the Mess Hall.
"Then what is your juicy drama or gossip then?" I shot playfully.
"There's something that has been bothering me," Wong said.
"What's that?"
"Does Collins seem familiar to you?"
"What?"
I turned to watch Wong, who studied the surrounding forest.
"I can't put my finger on it," he went on. "But Collins seems familiar. Like I had seen him somewhere before."
"I had that same feeling with me when I first saw him," I said. He seemed familiar in that meeting at the Alliance Outpost out of Chicago. I no longer had that familiar feeling. Now Ben was just Ben to me. He was my mentor and that was it.
The first building appeared down the trail. Wong went on, "It's been bothering me since the first few days. I just know I know him from somewhere. Maybe when I did research on the Alliance officers, I saw a photo of him."
"Research on the officers?" I asked, an eyebrow raised. There couldn't be such a thing.
"My dad is a researcher. When I got my letter, I asked to do some snooping on the Alliance to see if it was something I wanted to do. My other dad didn't like the idea."
The end of the trail poured us out into the warm light of the dying sun. "Dads?" I asked.
"I have two dads," Wong said. He did not hesitate as he went on, "My dads are married. They adopted me and my other three siblings when I was seven."
"Oh, you never told me you had dads and siblings," I said. Same-sex marriages are common nowadays. Thirty years ago, there were laws against it, but when King Roth took the throne, that was one of the first laws he threw away.
"We've been too busy to talk about our personal lives," Wong said. That was true. I know Carlos a bit more because he was here a few days before training started. But Wong... I didn't know much about him. I barely knew Ben and Grant.
We stepped out onto the dirt road. On each side were the large buildings that housed offices and classrooms. The Mess Hall was at the end. "So, your Research Dad let you look into the officers?"
"Yeah. Sort of illegal to do, but..." Wong shrugged his shoulders. "What I read wasn't anything secret. The Alliance doesn't throw their stuff out there for all to read."
A black car stopped in front of the Mess Hall at the end of the road before it turned onto the road we walked on.
"I wonder who that is?" Wong asked. We both stepped to the right of the road. We hadn't seen any vehicles drive around here in weeks.
The car parked in front of the second office building.
"It's probably no one."
The doors opened. Admiral Welch stepped out of the driver's side.
Wong grabbed my arm and stopped me. "That's Vice Admiral Welch. The leader of the Alliance. What the hell is he doing here?"
The Admiral smiled at us and waved at me. The grip tightened on my arm; Wong's fingers dug into my skin.
The other door opened, and a familiar face appeared. My heart leaped. The grin on my face was hard to contain.
"Admiral Sparrow?" Wong's jaw dropped. "I thought he retired."
I turned to Wong, my grin not fading. "What do you know about Admiral Sparrow?"
Wong's dark brown eyes didn't lift from the two admirals. "I know he is one of the best tactical officers and the youngest person to become an admiral. He performed the most successful missions. What the hell is he doing back?"
"Mel!" Dad called me.
"Ouch, Wong, your grip is too tight." I yanked my arm from his hand.
"How does he know your name?" His eyes turned to me, his mouth gaping.
"Hello, Mel Sparrow."
"You're his daughter?"
"Come on!" I grabbed Wong's arm and pulled his dumbfounded ass across the dirt road where Dad and Welch stood beside the car.
"Good afternoon, Admiral Welch," I nodded in welcome. He gave us both a welcoming smile. He seemed younger than the last time I saw him. My attention turned to Dad. He looked so different, yet the same. Someone other than him trimmed his hair and beard. Growing up he always sported a shaggy look because he cut his own hair with kitchen scissors.
"Hey, Dad."
"Hey, Mels." Dad's arms opened, and I hugged him tightly.
I took a step back to Wong a moment later. "Dad, Admiral Welch, this is Cadet Wong."
"Hi," he said in the tiniest voice I ever heard before.
The two men returned Wong's pitiful welcome.
"What are you doing here? If I can ask that." I glanced at the two older men.
"Here on some rebel business," Dad said.
The thoughts of the rebels that burned down our home hadn't crossed my mind in weeks. With everything happening with training, I had forgotten all about it. "Any news on Noah or the others?"
Dad thought for a moment before he said, "We may have something. We are here to talk to Cedar and Collins."
In my past life, I would have poked, prodded, and begged Dad to tell me. I was changing as a cadet because I easily said, "Sure. Collins may be eating dinner. Cedar, I have no idea where he is. We are heading to the Mess Hall. If I see him, do you want me to tell him you need him?"
Dad nodded. "That would be helpful. Thank you, Cadet Sparrow."
I smiled brightly. "You're welcome." I grabbed Wong's arm because he was too awestruck that he wouldn't be able to move by himself. Dad and Welch turned to the front office as I half-pulled Wong down the road. A thought struck me. I stopped and spun around. "Dad?"
Dad paused by the door that Welch had opened. "Yes?"
"I'm in Cabin Four. Visit before you leave?"
Though his beard was different, and his face seemed slightly fuller and healthier, his smile was the same. "Of course." The two went inside the office building.
"Your dad is Admiral Sparrow?" Wong hissed when we entered the Mess Hall. Wong finally snapped out of his trance.
"Can we not right now?" I turned to Wong; eyebrows high in warning.
Wong's face wasn't angry. No, he was in awe, almost giddy. "I have so many questions."
"Sit and I will be there in a minute."
The Mess Hall was full. As usual, the two tables on the sides were where most of the cadets sat. The cadets sat in clusters of their four. Most of them ate their dinner while studying their books and notes. The middle table was for the workers, mentors, and class instructors. Ben sat near the front with Cedar a few chairs down.
I walked up to Ben from the opposite side of the table. Cedar was two seats down from my right. "Collins?" I said, slipping into the seat across from him. Grant and the three other mentors paused their talking to watch me.
"Yes, Sparrow?" Usually, cadets didn't bother anyone at this table during mealtimes. Of course, the officers welcomed the cadets to speak with them. They even welcomed us to sit with them, but we cadets sat by ourselves. I felt another pair of eyes on me. Cedar turned to look at what I had to say.
"A car pulled up in front of the offices. It was my dad." I looked down at Cedar and shook my head. I couldn't call him my dad. He was an admiral and here on business. "I'm sorry. I mean, Admiral Sparrow is here with Admiral Welch. They were looking for you, Cedar, and you, Collins. I said if you were in here, I would let you know."
Cedar and Ben exchanged a look before they both got up and left their half-eaten plates. We watched the two leave without a word. The mentor sitting beside Grant leaned forward. "Are you talking about Dave Sparrow?"
I nodded.
"You're his daughter?" the mentor asked.
Confusion rushed over me. I glanced at the other mentors and found them all taking an interest in me. Sizing me up.
"Yeah, Mel Sparrow," I said. "I thought you all knew. Common knowledge."
Grant smiled and shook his head. "I know because I'm helping train you, but no one else does. It's your news to share."
I felt weird. The surrounding officers looked at me differently. All calculating. With how famous my dad was in the Alliance, there was no doubt they didn't know him. I assumed everyone knew. Since they didn't, I wish I hadn't blurted it out.
"Oh. Well..." I shrugged and stood from the table.
I rushed to where Carlos, Wong, and Alec sat. The seat beside Alec was open, and I dove into it.
"Ask her yourself!" Wong snapped to Carlos.
"Damn, let her sit first and get some food."
I eyed Wong and Carlos as I pulled the mashed potatoes towards me. "What?"
Carlos lowered his voice and leaned across the table. "Is your dad really Admiral Sparrow? The technical officer?"
"Yes," I mumbled into the mashed potatoes I heaped onto my plate.
"Wait," Alec said beside me, "I heard your dad was in Alliance. But I didn't hear he was an admiral."
I dropped my fork and eyed Wong, Carlos, and Alec before I spoke. "Yes, my dad is an admiral. He rejoined his rank after rebels burnt down our home. They tried to kill Dad and me because of what Dad did in the last rebel uprising. I didn't know my dad was an Alliance Admiral until about a month ago. I can't answer any of your questions about him because I just found out myself. And please, don't go around talking about it. I thought more people knew but apparently not and I don't want the extra attention, okay?"
"Can I just say one thing?" Wong said.
"What?"
"From what I know of your dad, he sounds like a cool person."
I rolled my eyes and forked an enormous piece of roast.
Friday afternoon, Ben and I walked through the second floor of the office building. I was heading to the gym with the rest of the cadets when Ben stopped me and asked me to go along with him to Cedar's office.
I was bursting to ask questions, but I kept quiet. Ben wouldn't answer them for me. Not when they would all be answered in a few minutes in Cedar's office.
I have wanted to ask questions since last night. Dad visited Cabin Four, which was a sight to see. Dad, Ben, and Grant talked like old friends even though this was the first time Dad met Grant. Wong was still awestruck, while Carlos didn't seem one bit awestruck and asked Dad question after question about his years in the Alliance. I didn't get to spend quality alone time with Dad like I had in the past, but I was content with sharing him with my new friends. Dad took time with everyone. He even took Alec to our bedroom to talk to him alone for a few minutes.
Ben stopped at an open door and knocked on the door frame. "Come in Collins. You have Sparrow with you?" Cedar said inside.
"Yes, I do." Ben stepped into the room, and I followed. I rarely entered the office buildings and have never been to Cedar's office. I imagined his office to be very relaxed, with comfy chairs around a wooden desk. And I was right. Dad sat in one chair to the right, leaving two open chairs for Ben and I. Cedar sat behind his desk, his feet resting on a pile of papers that flooded the desk.
"Take a seat, you two." Cedar waved at the open seats.
Ben had me take the middle one beside Dad and I felt very uncomfortable. "I feel like I am at a parent-teacher conference," I huffed to Dad.
The annual parent-teacher conference at my school never made me nervous because I was doing so well. Sitting here before Cedar, who was basically a school principal, and beside Ben, my teacher, I felt like a fish out of water.
The men chuckled.
"We are not here for your performance, which is excellent by the way," Cedar said and lowered his feet. "Sparrow wants to ask a favor of you and Collins." Cedar looked to Dad for him to explain.
Dad straightened in his chair. "We have been on Noah's trail for a few weeks now. He and his companion traveled west towards the Barricade and stopped in a Barricade Town called Charleston. That is where the trail runs cold."
"Okay," I said when Dad took a breath. What does this have to do with me? I wanted to ask but kept my lips shut. Dad would tell me soon.
"We have eyes on that portion of the Barricade to watch for anyone crossing it. We know Noah reached Charleston two weeks ago. However, he has yet to cross the barricade. His companion had escaped into the Waste, but not Noah."
"If he hadn't crossed yet, then what is he doing?" I asked before I could stop myself.
Dad nodded. "See, that's the thing. Noah is nowhere to be found. He didn't leave Charleston because we have eyes on every part of town. He must be somewhere inside. This leads me to why I am here. We believe that Mayor Fallon knows something about Noah's disappearance. Mayor Fallon is one of the more troublesome people to deal with, and Collins had a few run-ins with him before. We have asked Collins to go talk with Fallon. I would like you to go along. You know Noah, and he knows you. If you find him, you can convince him that we want to talk with him."
I watched Dad closely. "To talk to him?" My eyes bounced between Dad, Cedar, and Ben. "You just want me to talk to him?"
My training so far taught me that Alliance doesn't use harsh questioning tactics, but they will if they need to. "What do you need to talk to Noah about?" I asked.
"You said he wanted to work with us, right?" Dad leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
"Yes." That night weeks ago, Noah looked sincere that he wanted to work with us.
"We don't plan to hurt him; we just plan to talk to him. That's why we tried to catch him before he crossed the Barricade."
"But," I said, my eyes on the red rug below my feet, "Why has he tried to run back to the Waste as fast as he can?" My eyes lifted to Dad. "Why hadn't he stayed to talk to us?" Noah was running from something. Probably us because of the fear that we may hurt him and sentence him to prison or death for burning down twelve houses.
"We don't know all the reasons why, but we are led to believe the other rebels who were with Noah want him and his companion dead." Dad's voice was grave. "We caught the group that burned down the houses. They were following Noah and were hellbent on getting to him. When we questioned them, they blamed him for our escape. We believe that's why Noah rushed to the barricade. To escape the rebels."
"You caught the rebels that burned down our home?" I asked, not truly believing the words Dad said.
"We did, and they are in prison."
"Good." I thought over what Dad asked of me. To go with Ben to help search for Noah in Charleston. The idea of going intrigued me. It would get me out of the camp for a day or two and I could do something real. "I'll do it. When are we going?" I looked at Ben.
"You have your fighting and shooting simulation tomorrow that you can't miss. Sunday is our day off. If you don't mind, we will go then."
"That's fine with me."
The gym was a sea of cadets sitting in groups of four talking on the mats. I crossed the gym to the back corner where my group was. The boys pushed the mat up in the corner so they could lean against the wall.
"How was your meeting?" Wong asked as I sat.
"It was good. I'll tell you later." I didn't want to get into it now. "What are we doing?"
Carlos straightened his legs out in front of him. "Kurt explained the simulation tomorrow would be like a big capture the flag game. We must grab three flags from an opposing team that's made of officers. We are to use our weapons and hand-to-hand combat skills."
"So," Alec said, picking up where Carlos stopped, "We need to figure out a plan and we need to appoint someone to be a team leader. Any ideas?"
Silence coated us. Old Alec would have said he was the leader, but as I watched him, it seemed he had no intentions of being one. He changed in the past few weeks. At first, I thought the probation he was under was the reason. After Hell Week, they lifted the probation and he continued to be civil with me.
He was quiet too, which wasn't him at all. When we got mail a week ago. Alec almost didn't talk for a day. Wong and I chalked it up to being homesick. Though I wasn't too sure about that.
"Well, let's figure out what we want to do first and go from there," I said. "What are we good at?"
The group was quiet again. Across the gym, Kurt walked between the cadets. He stopped to talk to some of them before moving in our direction.
"Well," Alec chirped up, "I started those sniper lessons. Kurt mentioned there was a sniper rifle if we wanted to use it. There will be a sniper platform in the training."
I nodded. "That would be helpful. You can protect us from above and be our eyes up there. We are doing the simulation here, right?"
The guys nodded. "There will be different obstacles for us, and it sounds like there will be a tower of sorts," Alec explained.
"Okay, Alec, you're the sniper. Carlos?" I turned to him, who ran a broad hand through his blond hair.
"I'm not great at shooting, but good at combat. I could stay close to our base. We are stealing the other team's flag, and they can steal them back. I think we will need more hand-to-hand fighting back at the base."
I nodded. "Agree. Wong?"
Wong rubbed at his eyes and groaned. He didn't seem to notice Kurt walking over to us. "Well, I have a terrible shot and I'm equally terrible at physical combat. Just throw me over the ship because I'm useless."
"That's not very helpful to your team." Kurt's voice made Wong jump sky-high. A tiny smile stretched on the large man's face. The weapon's instructor seemed to make it an enjoyable pastime in scaring the living daylights out of Wong.
"It's not helpful," I agreed. "What else are you good at?"
Wong's eyes threw daggers at me. "I'm good at technology, but that's useless to us here."
"Damn it, Wong," I straightened where I sat. "You're like me. You're small and you're fast. You'll be a runner with me. Carlos protects the base. Alec covers us from above. We will be the one who sneaks over to get the flags. With luck, we can sneak across. How does that sound?"
The four pairs of eyes on me made me feel uncomfortable.
Above us, Kurt pointed at me. "You have your father's natural leadership skills. If you don't pick Sparrow as your team leader, you all aren't thinking right." Kurt left us.
"I agree," Alec said. "Sparrow should be the leader."
Never in my life would I have thought Alec would say that. He always fought to be number one. To be the sole person in the limelight.
"Agreed," said Carlos and Wong.
Pride swelled in my chest.
Pride of myself that my fellow cadets would see me as a leader. I never tried to take on the leadership role. Never wanted it in school. Especially not when I started training.
But now? As every day went by, I felt more comfortable in my shoes. While I trained and got stronger, my confidence grew.
Confidence that may someday let me have a leadership role like Dad. In the past weeks, I thought I would be a field agent like most Alliance officers. But maybe I could be a technical officer like Dad and lead missions.
"Okay, let's brainstorm some ideas for tomorrow," I said.