I blinked, and darkness surrounded me. Not the dead blackness of night inside a ship's hull, but the sparkling panorama of endless space. For a moment, the illusion fooled me completely, and I held my breath. Seconds rolled past, and the rest of the class drifted into view. Quick stared, obviously as awed as me. Guy floated, motionless, staring at the point in space where Commandant De'Lann had stood relative to us.

He sighed, and I let my own breath flow out as quietly as I could. Unfortunately, I couldn't be quiet enough to fool augmented ears.

Really, Captain?

I ignored him and turned my attention to my First. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

He turned to me, startled. "Yes, sir. I never get used to it. I'd been admiring her, though."

I twisted to follow his gesture. Floating directly behind us lay Tiamat, her comforting bulk alight with a beautiful, ever-changing pattern of red and gold running lights. Too dim to see from any meaningful distance in space, this close they still took my breath away. We stared until the Commandant's avatar appeared before us.

"Cadet Dabig, you haven't been Armored yet."

"No, sir. I'd been waiting until my augments took effect, sir."

She grimaced. "You realize extensive appearance modifications by neoincarnates are frowned upon."

"I understand, sir, but they're also not specifically against regulations. I've checked."

"Normally I would discuss this with your parents," she shrugged, "but right now we've got a lesson to finish. Come see me after class."

"Captain?" Tiamat interrupted, the title question and reminder in one.

"What? Oh, right. Schedule an appointment with me immediately after class. Tiamat will let you know my schedule."

"Yes, sir."

"You asked about the recent tactical situation with the Insectoids. As you may remember from your arrival, the Admiral has the fleet on alert due to a large Insectoid force which has been, for months now, coalescing on the far side of the border."

All three of us nodded our understanding. She tapped an invisible control, and the four of us rose, stars shifting slowly around us as our perspective changed. In seconds we could see the plane of the elliptic spread out around us, friendly ships and squadrons picked out with green markers, gravity wells in shades of blue corresponding to their strength, and two virulent red enemy markers; one a simple directional marker indicating the last known location of the coalescing Insectoid force, the other a single scouting ship at the edge of the system, as far into the solar wind as Insectoid organic drives could shove a pocket.

"This was the situation when we first sighted the Insectoids in system. For this exercise, I've set up an expert system to model the 'Sect responses to your actions based on our past observations of them. Cadet Quick, you'll command Smaug, Cadet Delnot, you've got Glaurung."

"Yes, sir," came Quick's immediate reply.

Guy's carefully worded complaint arrived a moment later. "Sir, if we're going to have the escorts, what is she doing?"

"She's in overall command, which means she's also directing the actions of the support fleet itself." She turned her basilisk stare at me, pinning me in place against the stars.

"Yes, sir," I squeaked. I cleared my throat and repeated my answer in a more normal voice, and she laughed. For a wonder, no hint of cruelty marred the sound.

"I meant to try this with Cadet Delnot, but Doctor Andrews tells me you're qualified for it as well." I raised my hand, and she nodded to me.

"Why not Cadet Quick, Sir?" I feared I knew the answer already.

"Because only individuals with at least some latent telepathic ability are capable of using a Command Acceleration Unit. Sorry, Quick," she shot him a polite frown before returning her attention to me. "Worse, most developed talents are in Doctor Andrews' line of work, and of those who aren't, few are suited to command. Given what I've seen of the effects of a CAU in simulators, that's a real shame."

"You've never used one, Sir?" The moments the words left my mouth I wished I could call them back, but the commandant didn't bite my head off. She stared into space for a few moments before replying. "No, I haven't, Cadet. Despite your inflated opinion of me and my own reputation for mind reading, I do not actually have any latent talent at all. Now, if you're ready?"

Despite the commandant's obvious impatience, I wasn't ready, and unless she ordered me to start unprepared, I intended to get as much information as possible before I began my first fleet simulation in ATT. "May I ask what actions were taken by the supply train fleet commander during the actual action?"

"Up to a point. He followed protocol and engaged the incursion with his escorts, supporting them with his fleet supply ships, simultaneously moving his school, research, and medical ships away from the action with a small screening force of Carriers. Shortly thereafter the admiral ordered a general retreat of the secondary ships via emergency pocket jumps."

"So, we're presently unescorted?"

"We're one of three groups, actually, we're due to jump for rendezvous with the other two shortly." She held up her hands, forestalling Quick's next question. "Now, does anyone have any questions pertinent to the tactical problem you three are about to deal with?"

Even the dimmest Cadet could have heard the end of the commandant's patience drawing near. Given the Imperial Service policy which placed all pregnant women on school ships, the three of us weren't stupid enough to push it when one's patience ran out. We saluted in unison while chorusing 'no, sir'. She flipped an invisible switch, and the world melted away again.

***

Acceleration gel surrounded, supported, and sustained me inside my armored shell. A Marine didn't wear a suit of combat armor, a Marine became a suit of combat armor. I flexed, checking my claws, my weapons pods, my drives. Everything responded smoothly, and the stars shifted around me. Information from the surrounding fleet flowed to me, through me. I knew, without checking, the location of each element of my fleet.

With a thought I requested an active status update from each of them. The information flowed back to me. My Carriers reported nothing spotted by any squadrons on patrol, but I didn't really expect them to see anything; Carriers used supply train duty for 'triple R' time; rest, relaxation, and refit. The supply ships repeated the all-clear; when a thin skinned, fat bellied ship like that feels safe, the space around them is clear as crystal. Tiamat's report contained a fascinating, yet useless sidebar on unusual sunspot activity. Students noticed the oddest things.

Finally familiar voices reached my ears.

"Smaug here, Quick commanding. We've detected a pocket insertion out near the 'Sect limit. We've passed the information on to Glaurung, she's investigating."

I acknowledged Quick's report, noting the position of each of my fleet elements relative to the supposed contact. We'd been lucky to catch the scout at all; too much further away along the 'Sect limit, and we would never have seen the jump signature. That bothered me, but I couldn't quite fathom why. As I waited for Guy's response from Glaurung, I reviewed the known maneuvering capabilities of our nearest enemies.

Imperial ship drives could jump much closer to a star than the 'Sect biological equivalents. Of course, they managed to jump with far less power than we did, so in a way it evened out. At the end of the watch, however, it meant we had a bubble of space around each star where 'Sects couldn't jump into our midst. Of course, anyone could jump away from a star, no matter how close, but once inside the 'habitable zone', those jumps were increasingly inaccurate. Enough radiation to warm a planet meant enough radiation to royally redirect jump insertion pockets.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Guy's reply finally flowed into me. "We have long distance confirmation. One 'Sect light scout craft. I'm shifting my forward elements to prevent its escape."

I bristled at that; Imperial forces prized initiative, but I hadn't ordered an engagement yet. Of course, the odds that I wouldn't were slim and none; Mech' will talk if you obviously outgun them, and Vulg' will sit down to dinner with you if they're not in a fighting mood, but the only good 'Sect is a dead 'Sect. Before sending my reply, I prodded at my own reaction, trying to figure out why I'd taken offense at Guy's actions.

A few moment's puzzling left me no wiser than before, and the 'Sect wouldn't sit motionless for long. I sent Guy and Quick to kill the interloper, ordered the supply ships to support them, and pulled Tiamat and the Carriers in the other direction. Everything so far according to protocol. I decided to err on the side of caution and had two Carriers prepare message drones for dispatch. I'd get dinged for the maintenance cost, but I'd rather have and not need than need and not have.

That done, I addressed the one piece of hardware I'd never used before, not even in a sim. The CAU replaced my armor's central heavy weapons pod. Given how much information flowed through every single Imperial serviceman, especially the armored ones, I'd always wondered how much they could really enhance a commander's abilities.

Today I'd find out firsthand. The commandant hadn't ordered me to use it, but I wouldn't have a piece of equipment like that if she didn't intend me to try it out. I checked on Smaug and Glaurung's progress, then reached through my armor to activate my CAU.

It connected itself to my armor as it warmed up, becoming part of me as it did so. A veritable thicket of wormholes grew outward from me, each one in existence only for a moment, none of them directed. I checked my armor's power; the CAU unit contains a monster of an antimatter reactor, but even so the rest of my weapons couldn't fire at full power with it active. None of that mattered; my tentacles spread through space with speed only possible to things without mass. As they did, my perception of time, my perception of space itself...

***

...changes. I touch the nearest set of Armor, and it becomes a part of me, a new nexus of my ever-growing globe of connections. I sweep through the Armored unit, each one another platform, another found piece of myself. My tendrils sweep around the nearest ship and wash outward from it as well. Ship after ship, suit after suit, they become one with me, until I am a fleet encompassing a swath of space hours across.

I feel the curve of space beneath my questing tendrils, each ship, each suit, each speck of mass forcing reality to bend and warp, sending ripples outward as it moves. Imperial ships have mass detectors, but this... this isn't detection. This is awareness.

A pink light, steady as a rock, appears in the corner of my vision. Something is wrong with the simulation. It is not broken, but it is not right. Things are missing, but things are always missing from a simulation of a CAU. I feel them lurking within my mind; I know them, have them, when I need them, but that is not now, and now is where I reside.

I envelop Smaug and Glaurung just after. I feel the ripples moving outward from the 'Sect scout...

Scouts! The ripples are too many, too complex for a single scout. The scout my pickets chase is not alone; well beyond its single divot I sense the ripples of another. That unique pattern in mind, I sense it again, and again, and again, to the extent of my senses along the 'Sect limit of the system primary.

Worse, I feel the same pattern radiating from the other direction, inside our reliable jump limit. I cannot tell how many, but where there is one 'Sect, there are more. I pull my supply ships back to support the Carriers and order my pickets to return. Smaug and Glaurung remain outside effective 'Sect engagement range. I gather my strength to punch a hole in the 'Sect net.

The 'Sects react to my actions. Splashes through the fleet as they jump outward from inside us. Tiamat corrects the temerity of one who dares to jump close to her, parasites splashing away from the remains of the 'Sect mothership, one sticking to her spinning, striking hull. One Supply ship screams as a 'Sect drops out of the pocket pressed against her hull. My armor flickers through me, lancing sudden boils of 'Sects as they drop one after another from wormhole pockets. I kill them, but this is a diversion. I must move. A wave washes over me, too substantial to be a ripple.

I launch my message drones, one to the First Dragon, one to Imperial Fleet Command. My strongest units in system are the pickets. I swing them around...

Glaurung hangs motionless in space, unresponsive. No 'Sect Scout born could kill an Imperial ship of the line, but there she is, dead. I pull Smaug in to defend her...

Smaug is as silent as Glaurung.

Pickets or not, I am still an Imperial fleet. I lunge toward the edge of the net, The Carriers my haft, Supply ships my grip, and Tiamat my point. I am a spear, thrown to clear space...

***

I'm sorry, Dustie!

Doctor Andrew's voice blotted out everything else in my mind as she wrenched the sim connections free of my skin. I realized why a moment later, when an echo of the initial pain and nausea of being forcibly drawn from the CAU simulator hit me. I hunched over, gagging, trying not to lose my lunch. She pressed her palm to my forehead, and the nausea receded to manageable levels.

Alarms blared. The commandant stood in front of her slate, fingers flying, her lips moving in a barely heard litany of commands.

"What's going on?"

The commandant's glare washed over me for an instant, but she had no time to spare. Doctor Andrews pulled me out of the room; Guy and Quick stood in the hallway, waiting. Quick's uniform bore the same signs of retching to match my own. Guy, of course, looked handsome and pristine as always. I realized I could grow to hate that more than Quick's smirk.

The door closed. "Follow me. We're under attack by a large 'Sect force."

"The support fleet broke up, didn't it?"

Doctor Andrews stopped talking at my interruption but kept leading us deeper into the ship. Guy answered in her place. "That's standard protocol."

I tried to gather my sim-scattered thoughts. "They know that. The 'Sects. Trap. We're in one."

"Yeah, I think the commandant's figured that out."

"The Captain got pulled out two minutes after you. One after me. She knew they had us in a trap before the Doc told her. Short version, can it unless you've got something useful to say."

Guy bristled, but I cut him off before he could antagonize Quick further. "Both of you, cut it out. Doctor, did the Captain have orders for us?"

Tiamat shivered, and Doctor Andrews stood frozen in shock for a moment afterward.

"Sorry, grasshopper, just a little too slow." Tiamat muttered via the ship's com; her words obviously intended to boost crew morale. The lights dimmed for a moment. "Gah, sorry about the lights. That near miss has one of my projector banks sucking power like you wouldn't believe. Zapped us a big old bug, though."

Andrews shook her head to clear it, and I asked my question again.

"Not specifically, but she did order all Juniors and Middies to emergency stasis pods."

Quick and Guy both erupted, their protests tripping over one another. I focused my thoughts and sent them outward along with my barked command, "Enough! You will follow the commandant's orders, both of you. I understand you're both big bad warrior boys, but you are Imperial Cadets, and you will act like it!"

Despite protests and dressing down, we'd never stopped moving. By the time I finished my diatribe, the three of us stood before the final three stasis pods in the Middie emergency deck. I stared at Guy until he sniffed, muttered 'yes, sir', and stepped into a pod. It sealed shut over him, and air hissed from vents as it filled with stasis gel. I glanced at Quick, ready to bully him into his pod, but he stood at attention, offering me a parade ground salute. I returned it with a smile, and he stepped into his pod.

I turned to the Doctor. "Will you be getting in one too?"

"Afraid not. The Captain might need me."

"In combat? You're a Civilian!" We both knew I was stalling, but she didn't force the issue.

She shrugged and took my hand. "I'm a telepath, and the ship does have one of those Accelerator Unit things. I might find a way to make it or myself useful. Now..."

"I know. Doctor?"

"Yes, Dustie?"

"I'm afraid. I'm not supposed to be, but..."

She pulled me into a hug. I tensed; that pulled me closer to the pod, as well. She whispered into my mind, words for me and me alone.

I'll stay with you until you sleep. I'll be here when you wake up. I promise. I'll keep them away.

We both knew what 'they' she meant. My nightmares, the ones that found me alone in the dark. A stasis pod doesn't really stop time. It's layer upon layer of defenses with a human in essie induced hibernation at the very center. I didn't know if I would dream while asleep that deeply, but I didn't know if I would wake up as me, either.

She stared at me. She needed my permission to rob me of my nightmares, to steal away my chance to be strong. I stared into the hole, the one I'd occupy until the commandant gave me permission to come out. I tried to step in.

I couldn't make my feet move. I turned to Doctor Andrews.

"Please."

The terror of the moment before a fading memory, I stepped into the pod, turned around, and helped the doctor lower the hatch in front of me. Stasis gel, the particularly tough version of acceleration gel used in stasis pods, rushed into the area around me. I sucked it into my lungs, trying not to giggle at the tingle as the last air bubbled from my nose.

I'd never been able to do that on my own.

Thanks, Doc.

Even after a few seconds the stasis gel already blocked most of her signal. Before I could worry about my cowardice returning, my head packed itself with cotton and fluff. Just before I lost consciousness, one final thought came through.

I'm here for you, Dustie.

I fell into blackness with a smile.

***

I woke alone with my nightmares.