“You’re scaring me,” you say, squirming off Grisham’s lap. “What are you trying to say? What’s happening?”

“I don’t know what’s happening,” she replies in pseudo-calming tones as she stands up. “I’m just wanting to take precautions in case something does happen. I’ll talk to Surnow and we’ll decide if we need to take any other measures. For now, let’s get you into a less obviously out of place uniform.”

“Any other measures about what?”

“It’s probably nothing,” Grisham says. “It’s just your circumstances for being here are a little strange and we’ve seen similar… strange things go wrong before.”

“Like what? Is Terra going to hurt me?”

“Terra is honorable. If she pulled you out of the academy, there’s a reason, and I doubt it is to hurt you. There would be no point bringing you here and leaving you with me if that were the case. She’s left you somewhere with a lot of protection.”

“From what?”

“I don’t know,” Grisham says, after a long moment of thought. “But it might be that you didn’t actually fail those tests. They might have shown something you’re not aware of. That happens. Some cadets have qualities which set them outside the parameters.”

“I don’t understand.”

“A veteran like Terra doesn’t take a couple of cadets and a super soldier out of nowhere for no reason. Something is going on. I’m just taking precautions to make you look a little less out of place in case the wrong people come looking.”

“How could the wrong people come looking? This is a military base.”

“And some of the wrong people are on ‘our’ side,” she says. “Listen, military politics are confusing and sometimes dangerous. But all you need to do is follow my orders and don’t wander off again. I need to know where you are.”

She needs to know where you are, but it occurs to you that you don’t know where part of your unit is.

“Where’s Boris?”

“The male? Terra took him with her.”

“Why did Terra take him and not me?”

“I don’t know,” Grisham says. “Maybe it was because he was able to follow orders whereas you were in a cell for failing to follow them. I do know that pouting about it will only get you in trouble,” she adds sternly, before you can get too carried away with jealousy.

“She should have taken me with her,” you scowl, disregarding Grisham’s warning. “There’s no good reason for me to be here, being fussed over and getting into trouble for every single little thing I do. Whatever is happening, I should know about it. It’s my damn life… it’s…”

“No, it’s not,” Grisham replies, interrupting your little tirade. “The moment you signed up for the academy, you signed your life away. Your life belongs to whoever is commanding you. It was Terra. She left you in my command. So settle down.”

“I signed up to serve,” you snap back. “Not to join the mystery freakin’ theater. Sorry for asking questions! Sorry for caring about what happens to me, or trying to understand what’s going on!?!” Your arms flap with annoyance as you gesticulate. Two days ago you were just another cadet in the academy. Now you’ve been separated from your unit and you’re being told you could be in danger for no particular reason. That doesn’t sit well with you.

“I just let you off a thrashing,” Grisham reminds you, her jaw setting hard. “If you don’t settle down, I’ll reverse that decision. You’re way out of line.”

“I’m not out of line, you’re out of line,” you snap. “Tell me what the hell is going on already!”

Grisham takes one swift step forward. Her hands catch the front of your shirt and she lifts you off your feet and holds you dangling in front of her, nose to nose. There’s hardly any effort to it at all on her part and you feel the sheer power she has to command keeping you under control.

“I said,” she says calmly, yet menacingly, her dark eyes boring into yours as she speaks in a clipped growl. “You’re out of line, soldier. And being out of line with me means your ass is going to be useless for any kind of sitting for a long time, you understand? You don’t make demands of me. You don’t shout at me. You’re not in charge of what happens here and in all likelihood you never will be. All you can do is follow orders when I give them. That’s how you stay safe. Understand?” Her brow arches with the question, and you just know that anything other than an affirmative answer is going to make your life deeply unpleasant.