Chapter 8

Madam Sheev smiled, then let out a small laugh. She shook her head. "You are so like your grandfather," she said.

Sara started. "You know my grandfather?" She asked, leaning forward slightly.

Madam Sheev's eyes glazed over as if looking into the past. "Aye, I knew him. Several of our journeys overlapped, I consider myself one of his former companions." She focused again on Sara. "That is actually how I identified you, your grandfather and I remain in contact, and he updates me on all the happenings of his family, so I recognized you immediately." She leaned back in her seat in thought as she observed Sara closely, enough that Sara began to shift uneasily. Then she spoke. "This is the journey you have chosen for yourself? This is not an easy path, you could easily lose everything you own, including your life."

Sara met her eyes resolutely. "In my mind, I have nothing that isn't worth more than achieving my dream, and I have no plans of dying."

Madam Sheev looked for a long moment, then nodded. "Very well, I can do something for you. I won't hide you being with me from your family, but I can inform your grandfather first and foremost. Knowing him, he will support you all the way." Then she waved to the ship around her. "How would you feel about attending with us at the Cadet Academy? For what you desire, the foundation that we can provide you with would be the most effective in getting you started."

Sara once again gave a slight bow. "It would be an honor for me to join your school, I have much I would like to learn before I venture out into the realms of space."

Madam Sheev then turned to look at Jace. She was all seriousness again. "Now, boy. Let us hear from you. Unlike Miss Mortonesse here, I have no idea who you are or where you come from." Jace ducked his head, feeling the pressure of her expectation on him. He felt ashamed telling his simple story after the grand dream Sara had shared.

"He's-" Sara tried to cut in, but the officer raised her hand to stop her. "Let the boy speak, he has a tongue of his own."

Jace realized that his silence wasn't going to get him out of this one. He raised his eyes to meet hers, but was unable to hold her gaze, and glanced around the room. "I am-" His voice cracked from such little disuse. He cleared his throat then tried again. "My name is Jace." He said, his voice clear this time, though subdued.

Madam Sheev was like stone save her mouth. "Hello Jace, where are you from?"

Jace shifted uncomfortably. "I believe I'm from Pontilar, although I'm not sure. I never learned about the planet where I grew up. It was never important."

Madam Sheev brought up a holographic screen, then pressed some buttons, then flipped the screen around to face Jace. "Does this look familiar to you?" She said.

Jace looked upon the familiar cityscape of his hometown. Although it was taken from an angle he'd never seen it from before, he recognized the layout immediately. He nodded.

"Then you are indeed from Pontilar, A common planet that is nearly covered in factories and processing plants. Do you have any family here or those you call kin?" Her gaze was firm but not oppressive, expecting only candor from him.

He shook his head. "I have no family, I've been an orphan for as long as I can remember, living on the streets."

"You're pretty well-spoken for a street urchin."

That got a small smile out of him. "It's easier to gain one's trust if speaking with one who can talk with ease."

"Ah, I see. Well, What's your story?"

He gave a slight shrug. "I'm afraid I don't have much of one. All I know how to do is beg and steal. Nothing but staying alive has ever really crossed my mind until recently."

Madam Sheevs raised eyebrow conveyed her curiosity. "What changed recently?" She asked.

Jace finally looked her straight in the face to hope to convey his desire. "I wish to explore the stars ma'am. It was the final wish of a dear friend of mine." The thought of Stryker struck him, but he pushed it aside for now. "I wish to see what the galaxy holds for me, or even beyond."

This time both Madam Sheev's grey eyebrows rose in surprise. "Boy, you wouldn't last a millisecond in the jaws of space. The world out there would eat you alive."

The older woman's words struck fear in his heart, and he hurriedly ducked his head again. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. But the thought of going back to Pontilar after experiencing all he had, both good and bad, just to go back to the dullness of barely surviving day-in and day-out, filled him with equal dread.

Before he could sort through his thoughts, he heard Madam Sheev sigh. "sounds like you could learn a thing or two from Sara here." Jace glanced over at the girl and saw, though she tried to hide it, a hint of disbelief in her eyes. That hurt worse than any words Madam Sheev could've said. He quickly looked away, hiding even deeper in his metaphorical shell.

"Tell you what, Why don't I let you stay with me for now."

Jace quickly looked up and met Madam Sheevs metal grey eyes. He saw the hint of a gentle smile in the crinkles of her eyes.

"You've been through a lot lately, and this is a whole new world to you. When we return to Cadet Academy, I will let you stay there for a while until you figure out what you want to do with yourself."

He was unable to prevent a grin from splitting his face in relief. "Thank you, I would appreciate that." He wasn't one to turn down a kind gesture.

Madam Sheev nodded, then pressed a button in the arm of her chair. "Captain Sam, we have finished here. You and Charlie are to give our guests a tour of the ship, then take them to their quarters to get some proper rest."

After a few minutes, the door to the hall slid open, and the two led them out of the room. As they showed the two newcomers around the ship, thoughts about his future quickly fled from Jace's mind. He'd never been inside a ship before the slaver ship, and he wasn't able to see much of that. Plus, this being a Cadet academy ship, it was near the top of the line, so it had many conveniences that weren't very prevalent in common ships. Since this was a training exercise for the students, many of the amenities were cordoned off, but Jace was still amazed looking and the many functional only rooms, everything from the independently controlled turrets to the small dock where they kept a couple of the single-pilot ships like the one they'd seen when they had been picked up.

As they walked around the ship, Jace paid as much attention to their new hosts as the ship. When they weren't acting as captain and subordinate, he could see the two were good friends. Charlie talked the most, talking their ears off with way too much information and asking questions, then not waiting for the response. But even though her chatter filled their head, Sam didn't let her overwhelm him and made sure he was heard, overwhelming her many words with his clear and concise comments. Sam seemed to find a lot of joy in teasing Charlie, and her overreactions to his poking would bring laughter out of all of them. Jace was very grateful to have met them. He was at ease when he was talking with them or even just around them. He was excited to spend the next few days of travel with them.

Eventually, though, even the novelty of the new ship wasn't enough to hold Jace's tired eyes. Seeing this, Sam and Charlie led them through the maze of hallways back to their rooms. Sam showed Jace how to mark his room for privacy, though he explained that it could be opened in times of emergency by pretty much anyone. After the other three left, Jace crashed into his bed. Immediately the combination of lack of sleep, the emotional upheaval he'd been going through, and the excitement of the day hit him. He found himself tearing up, from being overwhelmed if nothing else. He silently cried for a while, it felt good to let out all of his emotions, like he was unloading a heavy load that he had unknowingly been carrying with him. In relief he quickly fell asleep, tears still streaming down his face.