Kryst

Kryst sighed, rubbing his forehead with frustration. The other Seniors looked to him for guidance on matters great and small. And saffron-clad, too, it seems. Damn that Jodiah Dalton.

He couldn’t give advice concerning Jodiah, at least not at this time. If he did, then it would seem he was shaping the other Firsts and Juniors opinions about the young man. Kryst wanted the others to form their own opinions about Jodiah. It was important to him that he be able to ask them their opinions when he needed them. In order for that to happen, I can’t influence them in any way. Puts me in one hell of a place.

To make matters worse, Second Class Ian Dalton cornered him in his office of all places and warned him to ‘stay away’ from his ‘little brothers’. That he didn’t know what ‘extra-curricular’ activities he held for the Apprentices but his siblings weren’t taking any part of them, and that it would be best if Jodiah were placed on a squad with his peers. Kryst had not been dressed down in a very long time and had never been talked down too even during a dressing down, and Ian just pissed him off. Which only made him fight the Provost more actively to be able to choose his own Junior, especially after the Pieter incident.

Pieter had been suggested to be his Junior after his previous misfortune. It worked out for a while, but it wasn’t a great fit. Then came exams. They had both gotten drunk, which was frowned upon. Then they had woken up nude in Kryst’s bed. Neither one remembered how they got there. Pieter claimed he had been raped. He was taken to medical but there was no evidence of a rape.

However, by that time, the rumor mills were grinding and Pieter and his family were convinced that it would be better for them to relocate. Kryst was actually glad to see him go. That way he would not have to be faced with his one lapse in judgment. He was also eternally thankful that Pieter was a top and that medical did not demand to do a work up on him that day.

Jodiah

The first weeks flew for Jodiah. He managed to make the family dinners and Kryst kept his distance during that meal so he didn’t have to explain to his father about their budding friendship. His new uniforms never arrived from the Quartermaster nor did his books that everyone else seemed to have gotten. He kept intending to look in on the matter, but there were constant tests to study for, drawings to get finished, and a multitude of other assignments that took up every minute of his waking day and most of his night. Then, when he thought he had a spare moment, his physics lab experiment went awry and had to be redone from scratch. Furthermore, Plebe Malee Darvan never let up his insistence that Jodiah was part of his squad and should be treated as such. Jodiah did his best to ignore him and set a good role model; yet, there were many mornings when every toilet had to be flushed at the same exact time while he was in the shower, or every shower was being used until there was no hot water, or when he attempted to dry off there were no towels – none – neither wet nor dry. Jodiah took it all in stride. They were just being boys and he was not playing with them by their rules. He understood, but still in rankled. However, the blushing, twittering, giggling, along with the looks on some of their faces the first morning he walked calmly back to his quarters buck-naked and dripping wet while they were mustering in the hall was worth the aggravation of not having a towel. He had survived being a plebe before; he could survive it again.

Question was could they survive a Third Class?

Frustrated with his second day of cold showers, a chemical burn from something they had managed to put in his towel, and just general irritability at not understanding the material he should be able to grasp without so much trouble, Jodiah decided to take action. Armed with his pocketknife and a wrench he managed to snag off a mechanic who was repairing something in the overhead, Jodiah headed to the bathroom at two a.m., removed all the handles to the showers, and placed them very neatly in the toilet tanks. That way, when asked, he could honestly say he knew nothing of their removal from the bathroom. Then he went to his room and to bed. Tomorrow would be interesting and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

---

When his alarm went off he got up and headed down to the showers as usual, reminding himself not to break routine — inside was chaos. Plebe Darvan was yelling at everyone, demanding to know who knew what about the broken handles, with tears streaming down his face. Around the poor boy, the other boys were yelling – some at him and some at each other. Jodiah shook his head. He had not expected a complete breakdown from protocol.

Wading into the fray, Jodiah grabbed Malee and pulled him out of the center of the pack. He did not seem to protest overly much; in fact, he almost looked thankful. “The rest of you Plebes muster up.” Jodiah told them, and did not accept no for an answer. They looked at Jodiah then at Malee and Jodiah grabbed the nearest one, “Are you refusing to obey a direct order given to you by a Third Class, Plebe?”

“N…No Sir.” He stammered as Jodiah let him go.

“Good,” he said to the one boy, then turned to the rest, “MUSTER UP.”

They were quickly in their lines. Jodiah turned to Malee, “Now you and I are going to go to the next hall over and you are going to very nicely ask to use their facilities as ours is broken.”

Malee nodded and gave the order to the Plebes. Jodiah took a deep breath and shook his head as the boys marched past. He took his place at the end of the line, to better watch over those who walked in front of him. The other Squad leader was not very willing to co-operate with Darvan, but Jodiah let him work it out on his own. When all was said and done, they were only a little late for breakfast.

---

The morning went well enough; he was beginning to understand some of the concepts covered if only by sheer power of his will. At lunch, he headed over to sit in his usual place, looking forward to a chat with his brother, but he saw that Ian was already seated with the Second Classes and would not be joining him today. Jodiah sighed. Ian only came over when directly invited by Kryst it seemed. And Kryst was busy over with the Plebes, probably trying to get to the bottom of the shower incident. He chuckled, certain that Kryst would get to him eventually. It was not unusual for Kryst to have duties at lunchtime and only stop by for a few minutes at a time. Jodiah usually took the extra time to study, but today he wanted company — any company. He looked over at the Apprentice tables and wished he could join them. He had classes with the majority of them at some point in the week, but that wouldn’t be exactly right. His eyes roamed over to the Third Classes. They were the thorn in his side. He had been here several weeks and none had made an attempt to introduce themselves, not even their Senior.

Jodiah recalled his promise to not make waves as his feet carried him toward the Third Class tables. He had younger siblings to think of at times like this. He thought they would understand. At least Jessica and Erin would; Micah and Liam would in time. He had no idea what Ian would think, and at this time, he rightly did not care. He chose a spot at a nearly full table and put down his tray, sitting almost immediately.

“You aren’t allowed to sit here,” the young man on his right said with a sneer.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Jodiah smiled and offered his hand. “Third Class Jodiah Dalton – recently transferred.” His hand was ignored; Jodiah withdrew it and started to eat his lunch. He had done all he could, but he was not moving.

The table fell into silence and Jodiah could feel the tension rising. He took a couple deep breaths and tried to eat calmly. They were all older than he was, bigger too, but he was ranked, and that should be all that mattered. Finally, the silence was broken by a feminine voice. “What is the yellow back doing sitting at our table?”

Jodiah refused to react, although he put his food down in the event he needed to react quickly.

“Seems he’s lost, Senior,” the young man to Jodiah’s left said. “Just walked over and sat down without so much as a by your leave.”

“Oh really?” She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around, “Just who do you think you are, yellow back?”

“Third Class Jodiah Dalton, Miss.”

“Ah, I’ve heard about you. Cross-training, in with the Apprentices, why don’t you go sit with them?”

“Because, Miss, they are not Third Classes.”

“Then you should go sit with your squad.”

“I am sitting with my squad, Miss.”

“Excuse me? I wasn’t aware of a change to my ranks.”

“There wasn’t a change to your ranks, my Squad Leader is Senior First Class Tavyl, and as far as I know I’m the only member of my squad.”

Her eyebrow quirked up at that news, “So basically, you are saying you see no reason why you can not sit here.”

“None, Miss.”

She glared at the other members of the table. “Neither can I, carry on.”

Jodiah sighed and quickly filled his mouth to cover the huge grin that was trying to explode across his face. Slowly, the conversation returned to the table around him. They made no attempt to include him, but they did not exactly exclude him either. As he was walking out of the galley, Ian caught up with him.

“What are you thinking, Jodiah?” he asked as he grabbed his brother’s arm roughly, spinning him around.

Jodiah just blinked. He had expected some sort of reaction out of Ian, but this?

“You weren’t thinking were you? Just like you don’t think when you attract the attention of the Senior First Class. I know father told you to stay away from him. Yet, you just do what you want to do and expect everyone to pick up behind you, smooth things over, and hope people soon forget. People are talking, Jodiah, and the talk isn’t pretty.”

“I just wanted to meet people, Ian.”

“Then stick to where you belong,” Ian growled.

“And where is that?” Jodiah nearly cried.

“Yes, Second Class Dalton, exactly were does Third Class Dalton belong?” Kryst asked.

Ian turned to face Kryst, “This is family business.”

“Doesn’t sound like family business to me,” Kryst said in soothing tones. “It sounds as if Third Class Dalton did something Second Class Dalton did not approve of at lunch time. Would this be a correct assessment?” Jodiah nodded. Ian glared.

“And since Third Class Dalton is in my Squad, it is your duty, Second Class Dalton, to report his transgression to me, and let me handle his punishment. So report.”

Ian looked at the floor. “It’s family business, Sir.”

“Third Class Dalton, report.”

“The Second Class is upset with me for having lunch with the other Third Classes today, Sir.” Jodiah glared at his brother. “It is not family business as the only family connection is he is my brother.”

Kryst nodded to both of them, then dismissed Ian, “Thank you Second Class Dalton, I will see to Third Class Dalton now.” Once he was gone, Kryst turned to Jodiah, “Would you happen to know anything about the problem with the showers in the Plebe hall this morning?”

“Showers have been having problems since I arrived, Sir.” Jodiah said with a straight face.

“Oh?”

“Yes, Sir, seems they run hot and cold at the most random times, and today they wouldn’t run at all.”

“Well, today’s problem has been fixed. I do believe the extreme temperature changes will settle down as well, but what I want to know is why you were sitting with the Third Classes?”

Jodiah looked at him, eye to eye. “I was lonely.”

“Ah, Jodiah, what am I going to do with you?” Kryst sighed.

“What do you mean?” he sounded confused.

“I’m supposed to be making this transition easier for you, but I don’t think that I am. It would really help if we could get this Junior business straightened out so I can give him about half of my responsibilities and start taking care of you.”

“I thought you said they assigned you one,” Jodiah said a little confused.

“Well, the review committee pulled up a list of candidates and ran into a little problem.” Kryst grinned, “We are working out a solution, but sometimes things like this take time.” Kryst shrugged. “I guess I’ll be finding out soon enough what they decided to do, so why don’t you have dinner with me tonight and we can talk?”

“Where should I meet you?”

“I’ll be at your last class when it’s over. Wait for me.” Kryst smiled. “Now you are going to be late for your class. Tell them I detained you if they give you too much trouble.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Jodiah said as he hurried off.

Kryst

Kryst watched him go, and then he turned to go back in the galley for his own lunch with the Provost and Quartermaster. They were sitting at their table when he arrived. He stood at attention until they acknowledged his presence and requested that he sit. The waitress brought a menu and he ordered.

“Kryst, are you really serious about this?” The Provost asked.

“Yes, Sir, we are.”

“Why?”

“Because if you make me take a Junior from that list, then the other Seniors will be re-ranked according to their percentages. That will put Ian Dalton as Senior Second Class, and Sir, I do not want to work with him.”

“But if you take a Third Class as your Junior, the entire rank of Second Class will protest.”

“It’s allowed for in the rules, and his percentages are high enough.”

“As a Linguist.”

“Discipline doesn’t matter when it comes to rank. That’s in there too, and it’s the reason why you had to let him keep his bar although he’s taking apprentice classes.”

“You’ve really been studying the law on this.”

“Yes, Sir.” Kryst smiled at the waitress who served his food. “I knew you would be tackling me with all the tough questions.”

“Why is he worth it?” the Quartermaster asked, and when he saw the confused look on Kryst’s face he clarified, “Why are you going through so much trouble to be close to this one boy?”

“It’s not…” Kryst blushed, “I like Alod and Taban, I trust them. Every other scenario puts Ian Dalton in Alod’s place, and that is what I am trying very desperately to avoid.”

“Are you sure that is all it is?” he pressed.

“Yes, don’t you think I’ve learned my lesson? Pieter was a mistake.”

“So you can honestly say you feel nothing for this boy.”

Kryst exhaled slowly. “I can honestly say I feel nothing more for him than I feel for Alod or Taban. I feel he is someone I can work closely with and trust.”

“And you are ready to make him your Junior,” the Provost said.

“As soon as you approve him.”

“I wasn’t aware Seniors needed approval to choose their Juniors,” the Quartermaster whispered to the Provost.

The Provost shrugged, “Me either, and he claims to have studied the law on this subject.”

Kryst blushed. “Then consider him appointed.”

“Aren’t you going to ask him first?”

“Is there another alternative?”

“Not really if you want to keep your group together.”

“Then he is appointed, he will adjust.”

“When do you plan on telling him?

“Well, I had planned on having him over for dinner tonight with the gang, so I guess I can do it then.”

The Quartermaster laughed and the Provost joined in. Kryst just grinned. The rest of their lunch was spent discussing spin control.

Jodiah

Jodiah was late, but his instructor didn’t say anything to him. He took his place at his drafting table and became engrossed in the lesson; before he knew it, class was over. Soldering flew for him as well, but instrumentation left him dazed and confused. No matter how he tried, he could not get the proper reading from the test equipment. Frustrated, he sat staring at the meter and the test board in front of him.

“You know, they don’t operate themselves,” Kryst teased.

“Best they did with my hands on them,” Jodiah snapped.

“What’s wrong?” Kryst pulled up a chair and sat, looking over the assignment.

Jodiah explained what he was supposed to be doing, and what he had tried, and showed Kryst the incorrect readings he had gotten. Then Kryst went over the lesson step by step with him, explaining each step and the reason for it.

Jodiah did each thing as directed and finally one of the readings came out with in the acceptable ranges. He whooped with joy and hugged Kryst. Kryst hugged him back, and then pulled away.

“Now do the next one,” he said softly. “I don’t know why you have been avoiding coming to my study groups, Jodiah, it seems you would have been benefiting from them.”

“I don’t know how to study this type of material. It’s so different. I’m still trying to get used to the idea that I have to study it.” Jodiah said as he worked through each measurement, this time understanding what he was doing. His results were acceptable and he grinned at Kryst. It was well into dinnertime when he turned in his lab report, but he was happy.

“Hungry?” Kryst asked.

“Very, but I can’t have dinner with you.” Jodiah felt the sadness wash over him. “My father… Ian… I have to go deal with what happened this afternoon.”

“Would it help if I went with you?” Kryst placed his hand on Jodiah’s shoulder.

“No. I have to do this myself, but thank you for asking.”

“I’ll be in my quarters all evening, if you want to come talk,” Kryst said softly, “You know where to find me?”

Jodiah nodded. He didn’t have the exact location, but he knew how to find the quarters of the Senior First if needed.

“I’ll see you later then.” Kryst gave Jodiah’s shoulder a slight squeeze, then let go to walk down the hall alone.

Jodiah headed to the galley feeling suddenly silly over not being able to have dinner with his friend. Why shouldn’t he? His father never seemed to have a problem with any of his other friends back home before, why did he have such a problem with Kryst?

The galley was full and noisy when he arrived, but the line to get his food was short, which was good as far as he was concerned. His family was sitting together at a small table tonight. Only Micha and Liam looked up when he put down his tray, their eyes wide.

Benedict did not acknowledge him, “Jessica, take your younger siblings to my quarters and do your homework.”

“Yes, Sir,” she said and the four of them stood, taking their half eaten dinners with them.

Jodiah hoped she found them a table and finished their dinner first.

“You’re late to dinner.”

“I had to finish my lab,” Jodiah explained.

“Do you always get the help of the Senior First when doing your labs?” Benedict asked.

“No, Sir.” Jodiah pushed his tray away; his stomach was churning.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay away from that boy?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“But you haven’t.”

“Yes, Sir,” Jodiah said. “He is my Squad Leader, and he sometimes checks up on my progress. Today was one of those times. I told him I was having difficulty and he helped me.”

“If you are having difficulty, you ask Ian or Jessica for help, you don’t ask any one else.”

“Why? He’s just a friend,” Jodiah complained.

“Jodiah, Senior First is a very young First Class, and very, very young to be Senior First. I’ve been hearing things about his progress through the ranks, and while there is no proof, some people seem to think he is someone’s project.”

“Someone’s project?” Jodiah looked confused, and when his father didn’t give any further explanation he looked at his brother, who made a very rude gesture. Jodiah blushed.

“Do you understand what Ian means?” Benedict asked.

Jodiah nodded, but he didn’t believe it. “People could be saying things about Kryst like they used to about me… and all I did was study hard with mama.”

“And people could be saying things about Senior First because they are true,” Ian said. “Look Jodiah, we just arrived, there is no reason to go jumping into a mess that was here before we got here.”

“Except he is the only one who has been at least a little friendly towards me; even you ignore me at lunch time. I don’t belong with the Plebes. I don’t have a Squad. I don’t want to sit alone every day. Why shouldn’t I sit with the other Thirds?”

“They don’t want you to,” Ian said breaking the news gently. “So long as you wear the saffron you are making yourself an outsider. You are different. You don’t belong.”

“I put in my uniform request, and I’m learning this tech-garbage because they don’t have a decent array of disciplines here. You’re right I don’t belong, but I will belong. It might take me a while, but I’ll understand what it is that you do, and then I will do it better, and that is the part that scares you.” Jodiah picked up his tray with his uneaten food on it and left them there.

---

“Third Class Dalton!” a voice boomed behind him. Jodiah stopped. It wasn’t his father or Ian. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” The Provost said as Jodiah turned around. “I thought for certain you would be with Senior First tonight…”

“I had to cancel our appointment, family obligations.”

“Ah. Well would you mind taking a walk with me?”

“No, Sir, I wouldn’t mind at all, let me just get rid of this.”

The Provost looked to see that Jodiah had a full tray. “Oh, you’ve not eaten, well then you should come join me and eat. We can talk just as easily over food.” He winked.

Jodiah sighed, he didn’t feel much like eating, but he couldn’t be rude to the Provost. “Yes, Sir.” He followed him through the main part of the galley and up a flight of stairs to a more secluded portion of the dining area.

The Provost sat and was given a paper menu by a young woman in a brown uniform. He told her what he wanted and she left them alone. “How has your adjustment to your new discipline going?” the Provost asked once she was gone.

“Slower than I had hoped.”

“Do you know what is causing you problems?”

“Yes and no. Mostly the instructors are good, except they expect a certain knowledge base, which I just don’t have. I’m constantly running into terms I have to make note of and look up later that the others seem familiar with. Add to that, it seems I’m just not very mechanically inclined, which causes no end of trouble in the hands on classes.”

The Provost nodded. “Which class do you like the best?”

“Programming.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s something I understand, there is a certain sort of logic to it. I just seem to get it easier.”

“Has Senior First Class Tavyl been helping you along?”

The waitress brought the Provost his dinner, placing it in front of him and leaving them alone.

“I’m not sure by what you mean. Today he helped me in my Instruments class, but that is all.”

“So you’ve not been attending his Apprentice Level study sessions?”

“No, Sir.”

“Excellent.”

“Excuse me?” Jodiah said. “Why shouldn’t I attend his study sessions?”

“Oh it’s not that you shouldn’t. In fact, you should. It’s just the first set of test scores came across my desk today, and I noticed a similar group of names at the top of many of the lists. I knew a few of them did attend his study sessions, I was wondering if you did as well.”

“Are you saying I’m doing well?”

“You are doing much better than many people expected, but you could do better if you let Kryst guide you more closely.”

“My father doesn’t seem to think that’s a good idea.”

“Oh?”

“No, Sir. Something about Kryst being someone’s project and that I should stay well clear of it.”

“Well, your father is somewhat correct, Kryst is someone’s project — mine. Only Kryst isn’t aware of it, and I would prefer it stayed that way. It seems that Kryst wants you to be his project.”

“They say there are some rumors…”

“All gossip. Kryst came here with the clothes on his back from a planet that no longer belonged to his people; all that stayed behind had been executed, including his parents. He had no familial ties to anyone here, so he started carving out his own family. I’m honored to be included in that number.”

“So I have a decision to make is what you are telling me.”

“Is that what I’m telling you?”

Jodiah gave the Provost a look. “I guess it comes down to if I’m a child or a man ready to stand on my own.”

“It seems to me you’ve been handling yourself very well since you’ve arrived,” the Provost said gently. “You’ve managed hanging on to your rank, getting your schedule changed for faster advancement, putting the Plebes in their place, and scoring in the top 5% of the Apprentice class.”

Jodiah blinked. “I think Kryst and I need to talk.”

“I think you do too.”

Jodiah moved to stand so he could go.

“Jodiah, tell Kryst I’ve already begun spin control.”

“Huh?”

“He will understand, just tell him.”

“Yes, Sir, and Sir, thank-you.”

“You’re welcome son.”

Kryst

Kryst arrived at his quarters without Jodiah, but the others had prepared for his arrival, not knowing that Jodiah was not coming. All of Jodiah’s belongings had been moved from his berthing to his new quarters and almost everything had been put away, the only exception being a few personal items, which were left in one box. Eight expectant faces watched as the door opened to be greeted by one dejected and rejected Senior First.

Alod wrapped his arms around his best friend in an attempt to soothe him, and the others followed suit. “Did he say no?”

“Never got the chance to ask,” Kryst sniffled.

“Never asked!” Taban exclaimed. “Then why are you acting like he rejected you?”

“Yeah, he’s nothing like Pieter.” Nostina added, “We would have figured that out by now.”

“Come on,” Eydis took his hand, “you need to eat, then you can go find him. He has no where to sleep, we sort of took his stuff.” She giggled and the other younger Seniors and Juniors giggled too.

“What do you mean you took his stuff?”

“Well, we knew he wouldn’t say no, who can resist you?” she pinched his cheek.

“So we got a code override, cleaned out his room, and moved all his stuff in here.”

“We also tracked down his missing things with the help of the Quartermaster, seems the Steward misplaced a few things, and so now he has them all.”

“He won’t come,” Kryst sniffled.

“He has no choice,” Alod reminded him, “remember what you have said, Kryst, what you – what we all – have put on the line to stay together. You can make him understand.”

Kryst nodded and Nostina pulled away from the group, “Dinner is getting cold so you all better come eat.”

Kryst looked at them, “You all go ahead… I’m not very hungry right now.” He gave them a sad look and headed into his bedroom.

Alod

Alod looked at the rest of them, “Well at least it will just be sulking this time, not working himself to death. Come on, let’s eat, he’ll come around.” The eight sat down to dinner in their usual places, but they did more talking than eating at their once weekly gathering. However, Kryst’s presence was sorely missed. They cleaned up afterwards and everyone but Alod let themselves out, expressing their condolences. Not a few of them intended to camp out by the Plebe halls.