A few hours had passed since Alpha Team and I were captured by alien slave traders. I’ve had a lot of time to do absolutely nothing. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Been getting to know the infantryman sharing the cage with me. His name was Charles and he had been serving for several years before this incident.

“Why did you choose to join the military?” I asked.

“Honor and glory is what I’d like to say. It’s what we’re practically trained to say. My reasoning was a bit different, though,” Charles replied. He scratched his face and let out a small laugh.

“Which was?”

“I heard women like men in uniform, so I joined up. Never would have imagined enjoying it so much. Even through the bad times, I’m proud to be contributing to something greater,” Charles said. He looked at me quizzically.

“Why did you become a janitor?” Charles asked.

I hadn’t yet told anyone about reincarnating, so I chose to make something up on the spot.

“Oh, you know, big fan of toilets. That and cleaning. I guess you could say it’s a perfect fit for me,” I said. Would he buy it?

The infantryman laughed. “Well, you must have been doing something right to get accepted aboard the Hydra. We only take the best,” he said.

“What can you tell me about the rebellion on Mars?” I asked, trying to change the topic.

Charles sighed. “It’s a complicated situation and they haven’t told us everything. I just have a bad feeling about it. The colony on Mars has been secretive for many years now. We have no idea the extant of their power and influence. I don’t think it’ll be as easy as many of us think,” he said.

I nodded. Thought about the Hydra again. Would I ever be able to see it again? I chose not to ask Charles as I figured he was probably wondering the same thing. Nobody on Alpha Team would be able to answer that question. The situation was pretty hopeless.

Just after the thought, I heard a massive explosion. It startled both Charles and I. Looked around for the cause. Couldn’t see anything, but it definitely got the attention of everyone in the area. Another explosion, this time even louder. The ship began to shake. What was going on?

There were about a dozen aliens guarding the cages. After the second explosion, they all grabbed their weapons and left the massive room we were in. Must be something serious.

“What do you think is going on?” I asked Charles.

“We’re clearly under attack. Going off the reaction of the slavers, they must be losing,” Charles replied. He grinned at me.

Who would be attacking us? The ship shook again, nearly causing me to fall. The yellow lights began to flicker. I heard a various mixture of alien shouts and screams. What sounded like lasers in the distance began to go off chaotically.

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“Sounds like we’ve been boarded,” Charles said.

After a few minutes, the laser sounds stopped. It was quiet. Eventually, the sound of footsteps tickled my ears. They grew louder until the door to our part of the ship was opened. Infantrymen rushed into the room by the dozen. Upon closer inspection, I noticed they were from the Hydra.

“We’ve located the prisoners, they’re on the south end of the ship!” One of them said into his radio. I felt a massive relief. We were actually getting rescued.

What followed was a very straightforward process. The men from Hydra broke us all out of our cages one-by-one, asking if we were injured or needed assistance in some way. We were then escorted to a hangar where multiple transports were located. I felt pretty dumb for missing it the first time I tried landing there, but I chose not to dwell on it. I was too excited to be going back home. Boarded a transport with Charles and a whole bunch of civilians, which took us straight to the Hydra.

After we got back, the remaining men of Alpha Team and I were sent to an office near the hangar for questioning while the civilians were being processed. We were hit with a flurry of questions.

“What happened with the distress call?” Was the first one. Thankfully, Charles took charge and explained the situation thoroughly. The questioner sighed and grew a little sad once he heard the story. Nobody likes the thought of death.

Eventually, the questioner looked directly at me. “Do you know what you’ve done, janitor?” He asked.

Uh oh, I thought to myself. Now was time for disciplinary action. There was no way I’d be getting out of this one. I took a deep breath and began to prepare for what would happen next.

“Thanks to you, we were able to locate one of our captured admirals. I can’t thank you enough. We thought he was dead for sure,” he said.

Wait a second, that didn’t sound too bad. I was being thanked? What did I have to do with this?

“What do you mean?” Was all I could mutter in response.

“Allow me to explain. Most of the cleaning equipment aboard this ship are equipped with tracking devices. The supervisor of the Sanitation Center wanted to make sure his workers weren’t slacking off or going somewhere they weren’t supposed to. We tracked your mop directly to the slaver ship. They are part of a particularly ferocious bunch. The admiral was considered MIA after never returning from a meeting he had been invited to on another ship. We thought he had been killed, but now we know his transport was just captured. We rescued him along with several other high ranking officers. Not to mention countless civilians. Mostly merchants,” he said.

My mouth dropped. They tracked my mop? Why didn’t the Hydra have tracking devices on anything else? Like the infantrymen, for instance? I figured I would ask about that later.

“What is going to happen to me now?” I asked.

“You’ll be receiving a Medal of Valor for your assistance in the rescue. I also got word about a promotion. You’re no longer a simple janitor aboard the Hydra. You are now a combat janitor first class. Since you proved you could survive dangerous missions, you’ll be expected to join up with the infantrymen every now and then to provide hygienic support. Don’t expect to be called for duty right away, as you’ve been granted a temporary leave. You are to resume your normal duties until we summon you again,” he said.

I stood there, utterly confused and unable to come up with anything to say. Medal of Valor? Combat Janitor? What was this guy talking about?

The door to the office flew open, nearly giving me a panic attack. There stood my supervisor, red and sweaty as always.

“Thought you could get a free trip out of here, is that it?! Do you have any idea how long waited for you to come back? All day! You don’t deserve a single medal. You don’t deserve that promotion. You’re just a lazy slacker who took a nap aboard the transport and put everyone in danger!” He said.

This time, my supervisor wasn’t wrong. I chose to stay quiet.

“Report to the Sanitation Center at six in the morning tomorrow, you’ve got a lot of work to make up for! Unbelievable! Combat janitor. Medal of Valor. What a joke,” the supervisor said. He stormed off as quick as he came in.

I smiled. It was good to be back.