The days were flying by, and a week had gone by and yet my energy was in abundance.
<
Rob waited for me outside the gym, “Sylvk’s concentrating on weights today, said I should take you out for a run.”
“Without Kerry?”
“Just us,” Rob said and indicated back out onto the academy grounds.
The academy was quiet in the early morning, the cold air biting at my face as we stretched and then set off at a light jog along the perimeter path.
It wasn’t long before my legs burned, and every breath felt like it froze halfway down my throat.
“I hate you for this,” I muttered, clutching my side. “Seriously, Rob. Who goes for a run in the cold this early?”
“People who don’t want to die in the next fitness test,” Rob said, jogging backward to annoy me. “And you’re welcome, by the way. I’m saving your ass.”
“By killing me in advance,” I grumbled.
“Actually,” Rob admitted, “I wanted to get you out, you and me.”
“Oh,” I said and paused before adding. “Sylvk mentioned you went to the LTC. What’s that about?”
For a moment, Rob didn’t respond. I glanced at him and caught a flicker of hesitation in his expression—barely noticeable, but enough to make me curious.
“Lieutenant Colonel Chezek wanted to chat,” he said finally, his voice casual. Too casual.
“About me?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
Rob shrugged, taking a sip of his water. “Yes you.”
I tried to keep pace with him, I really did, my side was killing me though. “Why?”
“Relax, Piotr,” he said, grinning. “Chezek’s doing their job. Asking questions.”
“So you didn’t ask him could I stay?”
Rob went silent for a moment and turned forward again as we rounded the corner near the powerhouse. “I didn’t think he’d mention it. Especially after the LTC shut me down.”
“He’s as honest as they come,” I said. “Speaks a ton to his character.”
“We all saw something in you, something we liked and wanted around.” Rob admitted. “It was a question I had to ask before we get any more invested.”
“Invested?”
“Losing Akers hurt.”
“I’m sorry.”
The academy’s massive powerhouse building loomed ahead, its concrete walls stark under the floodlights. As we passed, a flicker of blue light caught my attention through one of the windows.
“Wait,” I said, slowing down. “Did you see that?”
“See what?” Rob asked, stopping beside me.
“There—by the powerhouse,” I said, pointing. Another spark flared against the side of the building, brighter this time. A faint buzzing sound followed, rising and falling like static.
“Huh,” Rob said, tilting his head. “That doesn’t look good.”
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That could be a problem, but not a catrastrophic one. <
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There was no other answer, Rob was still running on.
“Hey,” I called him back. Aren’t some of the lower classes taking real exams today?” I was already veering off the path toward the building. “Come on.”
“Seriously?” Rob groaned but followed. “We’re not maintenance. Let’s phone it in”
“No, and no we’re not maintenance, but I’m not interested in the academy losing power mid-exams,” I shot back.
“They’ll have backup generators,” Rob tried.
I shot him a glare. “Not risking it.”
As we approached the building, the buzzing grew louder. Sparks flickered intermittently, casting quick bursts of light across the gravel. I crouched in front of an access panel, which was partially melted and reeked of burnt plastic.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“This doesn’t look right at all,” I muttered.
Rob leaned over my shoulder. “Think it’s a short circuit?”
“Could be,” I said, looking around and pulling out a multitool from a nearby bench unit. “But this isn’t damage. Look—” I pointed to the casing, where the bolts were freshly scratched. “Someone’s been in here.”
“What, like sabotage?” Rob asked, his voice dropping.
“Maybe,” I said, prying the panel loose. Inside, the wiring was a disaster.
<
Melted insulation, exposed copper, and—more concerning—a hasty patch job that rerouted power away from the main grid. “This shouldn’t be here.”
Rob crouched beside me. “What shouldn’t?”
“This wiring,” I said, tracing the lines. “It’s pulling power from the grid and rerouting it somewhere else. But there’s no reason for it to be set up like this.”
“You’re saying someone did this on purpose?” Rob asked.
“Looks like it,” I said, snapping the diagnostic tool onto the main connector. The device whirred to life, spitting out a stream of data. I frowned at the computers logs. “They’re drawing power from this sector and… sending it to an unregistered node.”
Rob’s brow furrowed. “Unregistered? You mean, like, not in the academy’s systems?”
“Exactly,” I said, narrowing my eyes at the logs. “It’s drawing a significant amount of power, but it’s not logged anywhere. Someone’s hiding this.”
“Any idea where it’s going?” Rob asked.
<
I frowned, adjusting the settings on the diagnostic tool. “Not yet. But…”
The power in the room dipped.
“The grid’s fluctuations are getting worse,” I said, checking my diagnostics. “If these power surges continue, we’ve got maybe fifteen minutes before the system overloads completely.”
Rob’s eyes widened. “And the first-year exams?”
“They’d lose everything. No backups, no recovery—just fail—”
My words trailed off as a set of coordinates flashed on the screen, buried deep in the data.
Rob tilted his head. “What’s that?”
“Coordinates,” I said, copying them onto my datapad. “But they’re incomplete. It’s like someone tried to erase them.”
“Erase them?” Rob said, his tone sharper now.
I traced the rerouted power lines with my fingers. “See this junction? It’s not just sloppy work—it’s deliberate. Someone modified the primary conductor to create an oscillating power variance. When it hits peak amplitude, it’ll trigger a cascading failure.”
“Can you fix it?” Rob asked.
I accessed my diagnostic tools, data streaming across my HUD. “The standard bypass won’t work. We need to create a power sink to absorb the excess energy before rerouting the main lines…”
“Who would do this?”
“Someone who doesn’t want to be found,” I said. “This isn’t sloppy work—this is deliberate.”
<
Two options glowed on my diagnostic screen: reroute the power immediately, risking a temporary blackout for the entire east wing, or implement a gradual fix that might fail if the sabotaged components overheated.
“We don’t have time for the safe option,” I muttered, fingers already flying across the interface. “Rob, I need you to monitor those temperature readings. If they spike above 180, we abort immediately.”
Before I could dig further, the buzzing stopped abruptly, replaced by a low hum as the system stabilized. I pulled the diagnostic tool away, my thoughts racing.
“We need to report this,” I said, standing and brushing off my hands. “Something’s not right here.”
Rob nodded, but his expression was serious. “The LTC’s going to love this.”
“Let’s head back, you report it, don’t mention me.”
Rob frowned, “We have a run to finish.”
I groaned, “Seriously?”
“I’m not letting you off the hook even if you saved some cadets asses.”
As we set off at a slower pace back toward the academy, Rob kept his voice low. “Someone didn’t want those exams to happen. Question is, why?”
“And who,” I added. “That wasn’t amateur work. The routing was precise—deliberate.”
Rob nodded, his expression grim. “I’ll file a full report with LTC Chezek. This kind of sabotage... it’s not just a prank.”
“I’m not sure I like that idea,” I replied.
“Don’t worry—I won’t mention your involvement directly. Don’t need people asking how you recognized military-grade sabotage so quickly.”
I shot him a grateful look. “Thanks. Let me know what he says?”
“What I can share, sure.” Rob checked his wrist display. “But for now, we’ve still got a run to finish. Can’t let something like attempted sabotage get in the way of your training.”
I groaned, but fell into step beside him. We jogged in silence for a moment before I worked up the courage to ask what had been on my mind for days.
“So, the team—Kerry and Sylvk. They seem like they’ve been together a long time.”
Rob’s pace slowed slightly. “They haven’t. We all met here.”
“You seem so natural together?”
“It happens, you know, some people you just click with.” Something in his tone shifted, grew more careful. “Why do you ask?”
I shrugged, trying to sound casual. “Just trying to figure out where I fit in all this. You three move like you can read each other’s minds. Even if you’ve no history, stuff like that isn’t easy to break into.”
Rob surprised me by laughing. “That’s what you think is happening? That we’re some impenetrable unit?” He shook his head. “Piotr, the day you arrived, Sylvk spent an hour researching your background. Kerry analyzed your CAR score against every cadet in the past decade. We’ve been waiting for someone like you.”
“Someone like me?” I nearly stumbled. “What does that even mean?”
“Someone who doesn’t just follow protocol—someone who sees solutions others miss.” He gave me a sidelong glance. “Like spotting military-grade sabotage in seconds.”
I felt heat rise to my face. “I’ve got good eyes. That doesn’t exactly put me on your level.”
Rob slowed to a walk, and I followed suit, grateful for the break. He turned to face me fully. “Look, when Akers left, it hit us hard. Not just losing a team member—losing someone we trusted. But what you did back there with the power grid?” He gestured back toward the facility. “That wasn’t just good eyes. That was instinct. The same instinct Sylvk has with weapons and Kerry has with science or tech.”
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“What about Andri?” I asked, the question slipping out before I could stop it.
Rob’s expression darkened slightly. “Andri Boutack is... complicated. Brilliant, sure, but there’s always been something off about his placement here.”
“Off how?”
“His scores are perfect—too perfect. And his family has connections that go way above my clearance level.” Rob started jogging again, forcing me to keep up. “Between us, Sylvk thinks Andri’s being groomed for something bigger than regular cadet training.”
“Is that why he’s such an ass?”
Rob barked a laugh. “No, that’s just pure Boutack charm. His whole family’s like that—brilliant and arrogant. But don’t underestimate him. Behind that attitude is someone who calculates every single move.”
We ran in silence for a moment before Rob added, “Just like you should never underestimate yourself. The team sees what you bring to the table, even if you don’t yet.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. The idea that these people—professionals with real skills and experience—saw something in me worth believing in was almost harder to process than the sabotage we’d discovered.
“Now come on,” Rob said, picking up the pace. “If we’re late for breakfast, Kerry will give us hell about proper nutrition, and Sylvk will add another circuit to your training tomorrow.”
I groaned again, louder this time, and Rob laughed.
“Welcome to the team, Piotr.”
My mind was still racing with questions about who would target the academy—and why. But for the first time since I’d arrived, I felt something else too: the sense that I wasn’t facing those questions alone.