Galactiquest

A shipment of new faces had been gathered from a stop on the Interstellar Forces Moon Base. The Lunarian base’s more promising cadets had the opportunity to be transferred to the Virgo. It felt like mere weeks since Jun had been a young, simple cadet, mainly because it was. She couldn’t reminisce for too long, though. Aiden needed to be found; who could tell what he’d do if left to his own devices for much longer.

The rookie found him buying a snack from the vending machine near one of the shower rooms. So she thought. Upon closer inspection, he put a dollar into the machine only to snatch it out as soon as it registered the amount. He grabbed a bag of chips, and to add insult to injury, he received change for the dollar he didn’t pay.

Jun squinted at him. “Dude, what are you doing?”

“Eating chips.” the blond answered while eating chips.

“I can see that.”

“Then why’d you ask?” Aiden shook his head. “Wasting my time…”

“You know that’s stealing, right?”

“Puh-lease.” he said through another mouthful, before swallowing. “You ever think about where this money comes from? Where it goes?”

“It came from people who worked hard to get it, I can tell you that much.” Jun didn’t get why he had to steal. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the money, he got paid just as much as everyone else.

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. The suckers who gave money already got what they wanted. It’s not like I’m mugging people.”

Jun sighed.

“You’re half-right, though. There’s a scam going on, but I’m not running it.”

“Really.” The dark-haired ranger looked at him through tired eyes. “Tell me, o wise one, what grand schemes are taking place that you are most definitely not the source of?”

Jun waited for a response while Aiden poured the last crumbs into his hands and ate them.

“Think about it.” he began. “We do all of this work for the IF, and they pay us, right?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s not like we can spend any of this money outside.” He balled up the now empty bag.

Jun disagreed. “I spent some of mine back in Lunaria.”

“Besides that. We’ll be trapped on this ship for another month, month and a half? Add that to the return trip back to the moon, the month we already spent in orbit, and that’s 4 months we’ll be on this ship. These,” Aiden tapped the vending machine, “are the only places we’ll be able to spend money that entire time.”

“And your point is…?”

“Where is that money going?”

The rookie leaned her head back. “I dunno, to the chip companies?”

Aiden shook his head. “Sure. Some of it might. But the rest goes back into the IF’s pockets. These are donation boxes. Isn’t that funny?” He laughed. “We break our backs for them and they have the nerve to take it right back out of our pockets.”

“It’s not like they’re putting guns to our heads to buy overpriced chips. They already give us the food we need for free.” reasoned Jun. “And what if it does go back to the IF? They might be using it for charity or new technology or something. You don’t know.”

“You really think a US military branch needs to be defended on money of all things? Don’t worry, they’re getting funded.”

“I mean, yeah,” Jun had to admit he was kind of right, “but it is the IF. It’s not like people are as willing to give money to us, especially not the government. We’re not as useful to them as the Army or the Navy...” It dawned on the rookie how sad the situation was. The Interstellar Forces stood as the only branch of military that didn’t focus on fighting wars. Granted, that purpose more or less got stripped from them. Still, the general public and the government would rather give money to institutions that kill the unknown than one that seeks to learn about the unknown.

“True.” Finally, Aiden agreed with something Jun said. “But--”

Before he could finish, a boy from the shower room barreled into Jun. The boy couldn’t have been more than three or four years younger than her, 19-ish. He looked mortified, covered only in a towel.

“S-Sorry, I--” he began.

Snickering could be heard from inside the shower room.

“I thought I told you to grab his towel!” whispered a voice from inside.

“I didn’t have time!” whined another.

Jun opened the door to see three more guys inside, in uniform. Their uniforms didn’t have a star pin at all. Cadets. They froze mid discussion.

“You.” the dark-haired ranger addressed the toweled boy. “You can go back inside.”

He rushed into the shower room, past his three peers.

“You three.” She addressed the others. “Out here.”

They quietly entered the hall. One looked nervous, the other ashamed. The third guy had a look that said ‘I don’t see what the problem is, officer.” He might’ve been around Jun’s age.

“You know harassment is like, a policy we’re against in the IF, right?” Jun asked.

“Yeah…” the ashamed one looked down.

“I-It was just a prank.” the nervous one defended. “We’re sorry, you won’t hear any trouble from us again, sir.”

Sir. The dark-haired ranger had never been called that before. It felt nice. She suppressed a smile, noticing Aiden’s scrutiny.

The third guy gave his friend a look that said ‘Will you shut up?’

He then spoke to Jun. “I don’t see what the problem is, sir. We were just showing the guy how the IF operates.”

The rookie didn’t buy that for a second. “I’ve been here for a while and I’ve never seen any dudes walking butt naked through the halls.”

“You have in the rooms though.” Aiden added.

“That’s just you.” Jun grimaced. As if to make living with Aiden harder than it already was, he slept naked. “Ignore him. Anyway, I have a duty to report you guys for what you did.”

“I don’t understand!” complained the third cadet. “My uncle used to do that to his unit when they took too long in the showers.”

“Your uncle?”

“Yeah, he used to be a warrant officer on this ship. Murray? Ask any of the others, they’ll know who he is.” The smug look on his face annoyed Jun.

“Oh. Him.” Aiden didn’t seem to like this Murray character.

“See?” Murray’s nephew pointed at Aiden. “He knows who he is.”

“Huh, I didn’t know that…” Jun attempted to loosen up. “What’s your name?”

“Eric.” The cadet pointed to himself proudly. “Eric Murray. The Second.”

“Jeremy Sanders.” His nervous friend followed, looking a little happier.

The third one’s shame turned to confusion. “Brandon Reynolds?”

“Cool, I’m Jun Kim!” the rookie introduced herself.

Aiden gave Jun a dirty look. It was understandable why. It must’ve looked like she was letting them off the hook, but in actuality, the rookie was just trying to get their names to report later.

Cadet Murray turned back to his friends. “See? I told you guys things’ll work out.” He then offered Jun a handshake. “I’ll make sure to put in a good word for you with my uncle.”

“Are you just gonna let these guys off?” Aiden gave Jun a distrustful look.

“Wait a sec, Kelly, you’ve got it all wro--”

Before Jun could explain, Eric opened his mouth.

“You’re getting worked up over nothing.” He waved Aiden off. “If you’re so mad, then do something about it. Just try and report me, I guarantee they won’t--”

The cadet slammed to the floor before Jun could register that Aiden shoved him. The blond ranger picked him up and pinned him to the wall.

“I don’t need to report you to nobody.” Aiden towered over the bug-eyed cadet.

Jun walked toward them. “Kelly, knock it off.”

“Quiet, traitor, can’t you see we’re trying to have a conversation?” He turned back to Eric. “Ignore him.” He pounded the wall beside the cadet’s head, then reared a fist. “If I catch you or your little friends pulling anymore sh--”

The rookie had to think quickly to prevent the cadet’s skull from being cracked by Aiden’s fist. Jun charged into Aiden, pinning his arms behind his back a little further down the wall. Eric and his friends took the opportunity to flee the scene.

“If you had waited for two seconds--”

“I got my eye on you!!” Aiden shouted after them.

Jun pushed him back against the wall. “If you had waited for two seconds I would’ve turned it around on them!”

“Suuuure you would’ve. He called you ‘sir’ and you couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

He leaned his weight against Jun, toppling both to the ground.

“Ow!” The rookie pushed Aiden off of her.

He stood up, kicking Jun in the leg. “Did you get your power trip?”

“It wasn’t like that!” The dark-haired ranger sat up. “If you come with me to the Disciplinary Department, I’ll report them, I swear.”

“I don’t need your promises…”

Aiden went back to the vending machine.

The toweled boy from earlier poked his head out. “Did something happen?”

“He scared them off.” Jun nodded toward Aiden.

“Oh, thank you, sir!”

The blond ranger didn’t say anything at first, he just focused on the vending machine. A snack fell out, along with more change.

“Here.” Aiden tossed the package to the now-fully-clothed cadet, then walked away.

“What a nice guy.” the cadet remarked after he left.

Jun didn’t know if that was 100% true or not, but Aiden seemed to at least have good intentions. She changed the subject.

“Have those guys been bothering you for a long time?”

“Yeah--I mean, yes sir!” he corrected. “Mostly Eric.”

“I see.” Jun cradled the kicked leg. “I’ll make sure the DD hears about that. Let me know if they bother you again after that, okay?”

“Thank you, sir.” the cadet turned to leave, but turned back around. “Um, do you need help?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Uhh… could you not tell them my name?”

Jun grinned. “I don’t even know your name, kid.”

Later in the evening, Jun flopped onto the bottom bunk. A nap was needed after a day this long and weary.

Of course this is the time Aiden walked in.

“I reported them.” Jun didn’t even bother lifting her head up from the bed.

“I heard.” He grumbled. “You reported me too.”

The rookie turned over. “For assault.”

“I saw them when the WOs dragged me in.” He sat on the drawers. “Can’t believe they actually got in trouble.”

“Good.” For a moment, Jun worried that Eric was right.

“After I left, I heard some of the older WOs talk about that one guy’s uncle, Murray. Turns out they hated him too. Eric acts just like him.”

“Really? They let him get away with stuff like that?”

Aiden cocked an eyebrow at Jun, then went back to looking elsewhere. “He had the authority.”

“If the other WOs hated him, why didn’t they do something?” asked Jun.

“They got him moved. Now he’s some other ship’s problem.”

“That doesn’t sound helpful…”

Aiden shook his head. “They don’t care.”

Jun thought back to why Aiden said they assigned her to him. Since then, most of the warrant officers and some corporals have been breathing down her back, demanding some progress be made with him. Making someone they didn’t like into someone else’s problem fit perfectly with their actions.

The rookie felt the need to clear something up. “When I first reported you, that time you slammed mashed potatoes into that one guy--”

“Oh yeah!” Aiden laughed. “He was already getting on my nerves. Don’t think I did it for you.”

“O...kay.” Jun resumed the story. “When I went down to the Disciplinary Department, I didn’t know your names. They already guessed you were involved, but as soon as I told them that, they like, didn’t even care about the other guy. They never punished him or anything, even though he started it. They didn’t even care to ask how the fight went down! As soon as you were mentioned, they dumped me on you, just like that.”

He snickered. “Good thing I beat him up, then.”

“Anyway, I told you that because that’s why I was acting all buddy-buddy with Eric and his friends today. I wanted to get names this time.”

“Oh.” The blond reacted in dull surprise. “Huh... I still don’t know why you think tattling will solve everything. Especially for a guy like that? I can’t stand rich brats who know they can get away with anything.”

“He was punished, right?”

“Yeah, but only because they didn’t like his uncle as much as he thought.”

“Oh...Still, it kinda worked!” Jun insisted. “I dunno, I wanna believe that there are other people who actually care about justice.”

Aiden almost said something but dropped it.

"I want to believe in the IF's justice system."

"You'd do better believing in aliens."

“I don’t wanna fight anyone." Jun continued. "I don’t want any bloodshed if it can be helped. And maybe it can’t always be avoided but… I dunno.”

“So that’s what you think.” He seemed to be contemplating something. His eyes stared into space. “...You probably thought I was going to pound that guy’s face in. That’s why you tackled me, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” It surprised Jun that he caught on to that.

“I was trying to make him think that. The most I woulda done was slap him.”

That’s not too much better in Jun’s eyes, but better. “I guess we both misunderstood each other. Still would’ve tried to stop you.”

“Thought so.” He continued staring into space. “In my experience, it’s like this.” Finally he turned to the rookie. “People with power don’t listen to people who don’t have it. They think they’re too good for that. A slap in the face won’t change minds. A punch won’t solve every problem, but sometimes it’s the only thing you have to make them stop.”

“Huh…” Jun’s head bobbed. The rookie didn’t want to believe the world was like that but felt comforted knowing there was reasoning behind Aiden’s behavior. He wasn’t a bad person. Still, Jun had doubts about his logic. “Do you really think Eric had power in that situation? He was just a cadet.”

“He and his buddies had enough power to push that one guy out without clothes on, and he had enough power to think he could get away with it even if he got reported. He had it coming.” Aiden smiled. “I know what you’re thinking. I don’t trust your way of doing things, either.”

“I mean, I understand, it’s just… yeah…” Jun chuckled.

“Your heart’s… in the right place… I guess.” Aiden begrudgingly admitted.

“Yours too… I think.” the rookie hesitated. “I think we’re on the same page.”

He shook his head. “Nah. I wouldn’t go that far. Maybe in the same book. But since you said you care so much about ‘justice,’” He used air quotes, “then keep yourself in check. Ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. If you’re doing something for yourself at the expense of the weak, then you’ve already lost.”

“Yeah…” agreed Jun. “Yeah… My motto is not to use unnecessary force against people who can’t defend themselves.”

He nodded, then laughed.

The dark-haired ranger lifted her head up from the bed. “What’s so funny to you?”

“None of your business.” answered the blond ranger. “You do your thing, I do mine.”

“But my job now is to stop you from doing your thing.”

“Tough luck. I’m gonna do what I want, when I want, and how I want to, and none of you are gonna stop me. Got that?”

“Nah.” Jun replied, unfazed.

Aiden snorted in confusion, not really knowing how to react.

“Okay then, later... Weirdo.” After saying that, he left.

Jun wondered whether or not to follow him. Could anything Aiden said really be trusted? On the other hand, was he as dangerous as other people made him out to be? From Jun’s experience, possibly, depending on the situation. It was hard to answer. Maybe the real question was ‘Is Aiden a threat to innocent people?’ Jun didn’t see that being the case.

It had been too long of a day for the rookie to really process all these questions. Jun decided to sleep on it. ...Until her phone buzzed.

“Kelly spotted at the mess hall. You nearby?” texted Warrant Officer Lee.

“thanks for the heads up.” she texted back.

Jun finally remembered the real reason she needed to keep track of Aiden: It had never been her decision to make.