“So, come here often?”
The middle aged woman looked up from the magazine she was reading at the
young man. She smirked at him, but he
wasn’t going to let that get under his skin. He had no idea why she was waiting
outside his professor’s office, but really it didn’t matter right now. He had his approach lined up, he had the documentation
to prove it, and then he’d be able to get out of this stupid history class.
“I don’t bite, much.
What’s your name, kid?”
“Mason Kadir.”
“I am Amelia Woods.” He
nodded back at her. Well that wasn’t
going to make this any easier. “So what
are you doing here visiting the professor?”
“I have already taken Star League history at home, I don’t
need to take it again.”
She nodded sagely. “So
you’re an actual student here?”
“Yeah, I’m a student.”
“What are you studying?”
“Mechwarrior Combat program.” He leaned back a little.
“Oh…I thought you were going to tell me you were studying
accounting, or business management.”
“Why would you think that?”
He stared at her, confusion written in his eyes.
“You don’t dress like a mechwarrior. You don’t really carry yourself like one
either.”
“You know many mechwarriors?”
“I know a few.”
“Well what’s wrong with the way I carry myself?”
“There’s a certain way that the great ones all carry
themselves. You swagger a little too
much when you walk. When you’re good,
you don’t know to swagger.”
“Huh?”
“See those two?” She
pointed out the window at a pair of mechwarriors on their way to the training
grounds.
“Yeah, so?”
“Which one do you is the superior officer?”
“Well…” he studied
the pair for a moment. They were about
the same height, but the mechwarrior that was closer to the two of them had a
bit more swagger in his step. “The
closer one.”
“Why?”
“The way he moves.”
“It’s overdone though.
He’s walking that way to convince the rest of the world that he is a big
damn deal. His hands are probably
tensing up under those gloves and he’s probably sweating up a storm under that
cooling vest.”
“You think?”
“Yeah, but I have a little bit more intel than you do on
this situation. That man with the smooth
walk further away from us. See how he
walks? He doesn’t have a care in the
world. He knows he’s a big damn deal,
and he’s probably about to be teaching some lessons in the school of hard
knocks.”
“How can you tell that by the way he walks?”
“It’s not just that, see that little Z insignia up by his
collar? He’s Zeta battalion, he doesn’t
give a fuck about anything but getting the job done. Since the kid next to him doesn’t have that
insignia on his collar, I’m guessing this is either an audition for the Zetas,
or he’s pissed them off somehow. That
leads me to think the man on the far side is probably J. Elliot Jamison, the
commander of Zeta battalion.”
“You can see all that by the way a person walks?”
“That and the way they carry themselves.”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?”
“Nothing, but you are dressed like someone who’s never been in
a mechbay in the field. Those shoes look
nice, but I can’t imagine running in them or trying to climb up a ladder to get
to your cockpit. The pants are okay, but
they’d ruined the first time you wandered too close to the technical support
crew. There are usually enough sparks
flying or fluids leaking that everything gets stained or torched somehow. The shirt is probably okay but you aren’t
going to want to wear anything that long sleeved in the hot box of a mech. The jacket’s nice, but it’ll cut too easy.”
“You know an awful lot about this…”
“I retired from being an active duty mechwarrior a few years
ago. My man takes exquisite care of me,
not that I need him to.”
“So you were in one of the big merc units?”
“Nah, mostly small stuff all over the periphery. Worked with some big damn deals in my time
though.”
“What were they like?”
“Just people, mostly.
Some of them live up to their reputations, but most are just people
trying to get through whatever shit life has put in front of them.”
“You know anything about the professor?” He asked her quietly. She smiled softly and turned the silver band
with the huge diamond around her finger
a couple of times.
“He may not look like it with his button down suit and soft
tone, but that man is a stone cold killer.
He’s a founding member of the Dragoons and served all the way up till
Misery where he headed off a head hunter attack by a DEST unit coming to kill
Jamie Wolf. He lost his arm in that
fight, and was so pissed off that he picked up his own arm and beat the last
special forces trooper to death with it.”
“What?”
“He’s also an accomplished musician, and he consults with
the Federated Commonwealth ministry of education. “
“How do you know all of that?”
“Does it matter?”
“Not really I guess.”
“People are complicated, and you can be a mercenary and a
bunch of other things, kid. Now I will
bet you a year’s tuition that he is going to deny your request to test out of
his class.”
“What? I got this in
the bag.”
“Well if you don’t want to gamble on a sure thing, then far
be it from me to take away your easy money.”
“Fine, you’re on.”
The door opened and Professor Kirov was dressed to go
out. He smiled at the woman and turned
his attention to Mason. Mr. Kadir, you
have caught me at the end of office hours.”
Another student emerged from the room, a kid he had only met in passing
a couple of times…Blaine, Mason thought.
“Thank you again for taking time to discuss that with me.” Blaine thanked him profusely.
“Read the books I suggested, you may find them enlightening.”
“Now Mr. Kadir, if you would like to come back this
afternoon…”
“It will only take a few minutes, Sir.”
“I do not believe that I have the time at this moment, Mr.
Kadir.”
“Oh come on, Professor, he is one of your students, shouldn’t
you make time.” Amelia said. Professor Kirov tilted his head softly and
looked at her.
“If you insist.”
“Thank you professor.” Mason crossed the distance and caught
part of the conversation between Blaine and Miss Woods as the door closed
behind him.
“So what did you wish to speak with me about?” The Professor sat back down behind his desk.
“My parents insisted that I study Star League history back
home, and I have already covered all of the topics in your history class, Sir.”
“Is that why you are pulling a C- in my class? I am not providing enough stimulus for your
young mind?”
“It is not that so much, Sir. I have letters from my instructors at home,
and they speak to the high marks of my academic accomplishments prior to this.”
“So you want to opt out of my class?”
“Yes, Sir. I do not
see a practical academic benefit for me continuing in your class.”
The old man nodded for a moment and spoke quietly. “I believe in a Test Out policy rather than
an opt out one. If you are willing to complete
the Test Out program, I will change your grade to an A for the semester.”
“What do I need to do, Sir?”
“take this book.” The
professor handed him a recent edition of a textbook. It was from the Star League Defense Force
Officer Leadership curricula. “Using
that book and any additional resources you can find, you will have to orally
present an argument to the question written on this card.” The professor handed him an index card from
the box on his desk. “You are excused
from history class for the next three sessions while you prepare for your
presentation.”
“Sounds good, Sir.”
“Bargained Well, and Done.”
The Professor escorted him from the office and Mason caught
something in the way he walked. When he
saw Miss Woods again his pace picked up a little. She smiled up at him and stood when they re-emerged
from the office.
“Hi baby, how is your day going?” She wrapped one of her hands around the
Professor’s arm.
“Challenging, but I am appreciative. How was your morning?”
“Good.”
“I am sorry, where are my manners. Mason Kadir, this is my wife, Amelia
Woods. Amelia, this is one of my
students, Mason Kadir.”
“We met briefly. He’s
a bit of a gambler.”
“that might be true.”
“Your wife?” Mason
finally managed to breathe.
“We have been married almost twenty years now.” She smiled at him and chuckled when their
hands moved towards each other. The ring
on her hand must have been magnetized because it pulled itself to the one on
his hand.
“I will expect you to be able to present your oral arguments
next week, Mr. Kadir.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
The professor nodded and the two of them headed down the
hallway. Mason turned the card over and
read it out loud to himself.
“In your opinion, what is the single greatest strength of
the Star League and what is its single greatest failure?”
He tucked the card into the book and headed towards the
library. This was going to be a long
fucking week.
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