Gear Squad Anastasia

The only thing that was running through Alekai's brains at the moment was the thundering sound of their legs as they ran for the elevator shaft that would take them down to Engineering bay.

There was no time to talk. All they could do was run.

Once inside, there was no sound except for their breathing. And then they were released into the lowest deck of the Anastasia.

The difference in height between Alekai and Jesse meant he could not run at full speed or he would leave her behind, so he slowed down.

He thought for a moment about picking her up and running, but then the thought of her furious little face stopped him from acting on his thoughts. Unfortunately, he could not stop a smirk from hitting his lips.

"What are you laughing at? Is there something funny with the situation?"

"No no. I'm just hoping Tom will be able to do something useful while he's here. He truly is in the thick of things."

Sorry Tom. Alekai sent out a silent plea for using him as a shield.

The Gear had already moved out of its cube and was waiting for them with its seats lowered so they could climb in. Within minutes, they were back in fighting position.

Alekai touched his handlebars and all his presets and virtual windows appeared before his eyes. He glanced through, double-checking the statuses of the weapons, the power, and the energy levels.

He did not bother to check on life-supports and navigational systems as that was part of Jesse's purview.

As soon as their Gear was fully online and functional, Tom's voice came through the speakers.

"You kids stay inside the Gear and keep yourselves ready for anything. Keep yourselves plugged in so you don't use up the Gear's life-supports while idling. And don't forget to check on your weapons. Make sure everything is filled. Jesse, double check on the nav system and re-center your position if things seem off, and don't forget…"

As Tom ranted everything on the checklist, he sounded more and more like the Commanding Officer that he was.

As soon as they disengaged with Tom, the First Engineer's voice came online.

"Team Vartis. How you kids doing?"

"We're in Gear and ready for deployment, Sir." Jesse responded in her crisp clear voice.

As the only commissioned officer in the Gear, it was appropriate that she spoke up, but it brought a question into Alekai's mind. He waited until the First Engineer had signed off before asking her.

"Jesse, Why does he call us the Vartis Team?"

She laughed. "It's always the highest rank officer that gets the team's designation."

"I don't even have a rank." Alekai rolled his eyes.

"What are you talking about? You're a Prince. You outrank just about everybody here."

"Nobody knows that. I was kind of hoping nobody would."

Jesse was silent for a moment.

"Alekai. You're a Vartis whether you like it or not. That's one of the things we don't have a choice. We don't get to choose who our birth parents are."

"They are not my parents. The man stuck his male appendage into the woman who then squeezed an egg out of her abdomen."

His voice lowered to an almost snarl. "I'm just a stand-in to take the fall for their real son."

Jesse said nothing for a moment, but then her small silvery voice broke through his troubled thoughts. "But Alekai, you can use that name to your advantage."

"Jesse. That name makes me cringe with disgust."

"But you're a warrior. You can hide that disgust and just use it to your benefit. Everyone knows what the Vartis name represents. It opens doors that you can take advantage of."

Alekai sighed. Jesse was right. All he had to do was parade around his Prince title, empty as it was, he would be able to influence those around him to his advantage.

If his family was willing to use him, then he could return the favor.

The wait in the Gear did not take long. Within half an hour, they had been asked to join the rest of the Gears in the Engineering deck.

Alekai sat back as Jesse navigated the Gear from their terraced level onto the Engineering deck below. There were five other Gear standing around waiting for the First Engineer to arrive.

Jesse connected into the group visuals and the virtual monitor in front of Alekai immediately showed twelve images in three rows of the two-team members in each of the Gears on the Anastasia.

Alekai scanned the images.

Aside from their 'Team Vartis', there were also Team Hwang, Team Niles, Team Duran, Team Forbes, and Team Hara.

"Welcome to Gear Squad Anastasia, Team Vartis." One of the men from Team Niles spoke up.

"Thank you!" Jesse responded.

"For the benefit of the newest members, I'm going to introduce myself. My name is Jeremy Niles. I'm the highest ranking officer of this Gear Squad, with the exception of Prince Alekai Vartis who just joined us."

His eyes hardened. "Until Prince Vartis gets up to speed with everything, I will continue to command our group. I hope that this is acceptable to you, Prince Vartis."

Aleka smiled.

This was not a permission request. Jeremy was laying it on the line for him. But he did not care. He was not interested in the power jockey game within this group.

Alekai nodded. "Please continue."

Jeremy blinked. He looked a little crestfallen, as if he had steeled himself and prepared for a battle of wills against this new Prince who had somehow infiltrated into their tightly-knit Gear Squad.

For the new Prince to acquiesce with such a lazy tilt to his head and a sleepy look in his dragon eyes was something that Jeremy did not know how to counter.

Jeremy took a deep breath. "If any of you have not yet heard, a team of Gears from one of our sister ships, the Helena, has been deployed along with us to check out the conditions on the Krystabella. They are currently in direct communications with our First Officer and our acting Captain, Tom Duncan."

"Wait." A woman from Team Hara called out. "Why is First Officer Gloria Harding not the Acting Captain? Why is some unknown man our Acting Captain?"

"Because, Aiko, First Officer Gloria Harding is new to the job, and Captain Tom Duncan is actually a five-star General with four decades of experience under him. He outranks everybody except for Prince Vartis here…" he threw a careless thumb at the general direction of Alekai's Gear.

Aiko Hara said nothing, but her eyes were troubled. She glared at Alekai's direction but kept her thoughts to herself.

Alekai sighed. It was going to be a long day.