Born of Defiance

Without a word and with a curled lip of repugnance over Talyn’s bald head, the guard returned his ID, saluted him, and stepped back.

Out of habit, Talyn returned the salute before the transport carried him to the duty office. With a tight knot in his stomach, he got out to see what fresh hell awaited him.

As soon as he entered, the DO contacted Anatole to let him know that Talyn was there. She then showed him into the colonel’s office, where Anatole sat with a smirk on his face.

This was the first time Talyn had seen the bastard since he’d been at their mercy. And it took every ounce of will he possessed not to attack him. Or to kick his desk straight into his chest.

Don’t do it.

He’s not worth a death sentence.

That’s what his common sense said. His sense of justice, however, begged him hard to do it, anyway, regardless of consequence.

The repugnant asshole hesitated before he returned Talyn’s salute. “You’re on KP and GP, janitorial duties. I trust neither of those will interfere with your recovery, Lieutenant.”

“No, sir.”

“Then welcome back. So nice to have you here again.” His voice dripping with derisive sarcasm, he shoved the orders at Talyn.

Talyn picked them up, saluted, and left immediately before he gave in to his suicidal urges. But as he looked over his new orders, he wanted to turn around and shove them down Anatole’s throat.

Whatever. He’d had worse, and this was leaps above what they’d done to him at the palace. At least the KCO wouldn’t torture him.

He hoped.

Heading straight for his new assignment, Talyn reported for duty in the hot, stifling mess hall where they were already preparing the night’s meal.

At first the major in charge sneered at him. Until he saw Talyn’s name on his file. He expected the light of recognition had come from his fighting fame.

Shockingly, that wasn’t the case.

“Batur… you related to Colonel Galene Batur?”

“Yes, sir. But she’s a deputy commander now.”

He skimmed Talyn with a frown. “Are you her boy?”

“Yes, sir. Proudly so.”

His frown melted into a friendly smile. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

There was something vaguely familiar, but Talyn couldn’t really place it. “No, sir. Sorry.”

He brushed it off. “You were just a small mite back then. I was the one who brought flowers to your mother while she was in the hospital after she’d been shot, protecting Cairistiona.”

Talyn nodded as he remembered the male finally. “You helped me with my homework, while we waited for her to come back from testing.”

“Aha! It really is you. Yeah, I did.” He glanced down at the orders and scowled again. “This puts me at one hell of a moral dilemma, Batur.”

“How so, sir?”

“I was told to expect a smart-ass, disrespectful lack-Vest bastard. A coward. And that I should make sure you regretted whatever it is you did that caused you to lose rank and be sent to the mess hall. But I owe my life to your mother. She took three blasts for me and the tizarah while everyone else scattered to save their own asses. And you didn’t seem disrespectful then, and you damn sure don’t look the part now. Who did you piss off?”

“I’m not at liberty to say, sir. I signed a nondisclosure on the matter.”

He cursed under his breath. “That answers it. Can you cook at all?”

“I can run a household MU and boil water. Most of the time without catching anything on fire.”

The major laughed. “That’s useless… Tell you what, change into your ATUs, and I’ll set you on refill duty and counter cleanup for the night.”

“Thank you, sir.” Talyn stepped back and saluted.

He returned it and dismissed him.

Grateful his new ACO didn’t hate him, Talyn headed for his barracks. While he didn’t relish refilling the meal stations, it could have been a lot worse.

As he reached his barracks, he was stopped by Captain Raohul. “Where you going, Batur?”

“My bunk and locker… sir.”

The captain snorted derisively. “You don’t belong here. You’re not a pilot anymore. You’ve been busted back to the gen-deck. Your belongings are in lockup there, pending your reactivation. Don’t forget to change out your rank before you put on your uniform. It’s a court-martial to misrep rank.”

Of course it was. Like he’d forget that?

But the captain wasn’t trying to be kind. The prick’s eyes gleamed with cruel satisfaction. “Thank you, sir, for the reminder.”

When Talyn stepped back, the captain grabbed his arm. “Did I dismiss you, Lieutenant?”

Talyn ground his teeth. “No, sir.”

“Then you stay planted.”

“Yes, sir.”

Glaring at him, the captain broke into Talyn’s personal space. Something that was much more offensive to an Andarion than a human. “Are you giving me attitude, Lieutenant?”

“No, sir.”

“No?” He all but touched his nose to Talyn’s. Of course, he had to stand on his tiptoes to do so. “I think I see rebellion in your eyes.”

“No, sir.”