“You’re certified insane, Dixon,” Hajji said as they stood in the bedroom, packing up their bags.

  “You’ve mentioned that already,” Fletcher replied. He carefully placed his folded uniforms in the bag, ensuring they kept from getting wrinkled.

  “It’s not going to work,” his friend said. “It’s a terrible plan. Why didn’t you run it past me and Campos first so we could tell that to you before you dove headfirst into it?”

  Fletcher shook his head. “I already told you, Hajji. I’m set on this. I want to go somewhere where I can make a difference.” A lie.

  “There’s no difference to make as Vesi,” Hajji continued. “You’re throwing your entire career away before it’s even started.”

  He shrugged. “We’ll see about that.”

  If he was lucky, Hajji would be right, and going to Vesi Station would mark the end of his career in the Mixed military. That dream from a week ago had solidified his decision. He wasn’t going to participate in a war, no matter what his mother wanted. Thinking more about it, he was convinced that the analyst role was her way of warming him up to worse things. His only chance was to get away from her influence entirely, and Vesi was the perfect spot.

  There was a knock on the door, and they both tensed. Fletcher opened it and discovered Sergeant Gee there.

  “Captain Yusuf wants to see you, Dixon,” she said.

  He nodded and followed her through the barracks and to the Captain’s office.

  Knocking, he waited for a moment before the door opened and he walked inside.

  “Captain.” He saluted.

  “At ease, candidate,” Yusuf said. “Take a seat, kid. We’re stepping off formality for a moment.”

  Fletcher knitted his eyebrows together, worried about what would cause this kind of deviation from protocol, but he sat down opposite of his commander anyway.

  “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t beat some sense into you,” Yusuf started.

  “Well, sir, for one I’m not exactly sure why you feel that’s necessary,” Fletcher answered.

  “Cut the crap, Anders. I know who you are. I know who your parents are. And I’m not so sure that I’m willing to send their prized son off to some no-name station at the edge of the known world just because he wants to prove a point. A point that is very much lost on me.” The Captain stared at him, his eyes cutting into Fletcher.

  He swallowed. “Captain, this isn’t about making a point. It’s…”

  Yusuf raised an eyebrow.

  “It’s my way of paving my own path,” Fletcher finished. That sounded like a good enough excuse for his purposes. He could try playing this off like he wanted to make his own way in the military without worrying about his family interfering.

  “There are much better ways to do it.” Yusuf tapped a pen against the desk. “Family name aside, you’re a rather good officer, Dixon. I’d hate to see you throw that away due to something as petty as a little family drama. We’d be having this conversation even if you weren’t a general’s son. You’re too good of a soldier to waste in some place like Vesi. It’s not too late. I can get you a different assignment, one that will let you prove yourself in a way that actually means something.”

  Fletcher shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, sir. But I’m sure of my decision. I want to go to Vesi.”

  “You don’t have the faintest clue what you’re going into,” Captain Yusuf said. “I’m tempted to lie about your record here just to get you kicked into the remedial program to see if they can instill a little common sense.”

  “That would be difficult to achieve seeing as I already graduated, sir,” Fletcher reminded him.

  “Don’t test me, candidate. You’re not commissioned yet.” Yusuf sighed. “There’s no way I can convince you to take a different posting? Anything. I’ll give you that analyst role that you’re such an obvious fit for. Or a personal assistant job if you want something soft.”

  “I’m sure, sir.”

  The Captain shook his head. “Very well. I noticed you didn’t invite anyone to graduation.”

  “I want to be known for my own accomplishments, sir, not my last name,” Fletcher told him.

  “I understand that. Given the posting at Vesi is classified as urgent, you’re supposed to commission here and leave straight to it, but I’m willing to tug the rules a bit to give you a chance to go home and see your family first,” he said.

  “No. That’s alright, sir. I’m happy to leave immediately.” Fletcher didn’t dare go back to Finnack to face his parents. His mother would not take it well, and his dad would spend every waking moment trying to convince him otherwise. He wasn’t in the mood for that kind of peer pressure, so he wanted to get to Vesi and get settled.

  Yusuf sighed again. “I’m not trying to pressure you, but I hope you realize that you’re putting me in a difficult position too. I’d rather not lose my career because I got mixed up with some Anders family drama.”

  “I understand, sir. And I promise that this won’t blow back on you. I’m making this decision for myself,” he assured the man.

  Yusuf shook his head. “Fine, candidate. I guess we’re through here. I’ll see you at your commissioning ceremony later today.”

  Fletcher stood up and saluted. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

  “Dismissed.”

  He returned to his room to finish his packing. Afterwards, he grabbed a late lunch with Hajji and Campos—both of whom worked to convince him to abandon the Vesi posting. Then he went to his commissioning ceremony and officially became a Second Lieutenant in the Mixed Military.

  “Be safe out there, Lieutenant Dixon.” Captain Yusuf shook his hand.

  “Yes, sir. I will.” Fletcher smiled at him.

  Two hours later he was on the plane, headed to his new future.

  ***

  Fletcher nervously tapped his fingers against his leg as he stared at the call booth. It was one of the few ways to communicate with someone directly outside of letters, but it wasn’t cheap and the lines were always long

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  He was at Cape Town Coastal Base, right on the edge of what used to be Africa, waiting for his turn in the booth. He’d been there a full day already, but the only reason he mustered the nerves to get in line for the call booth now was because his flight for Vesi was leaving in two hours, and once he was at the station, his only option would be letters with a significant time delay on them given the limitations of the small outpost.

  Since he hadn’t been allowed to send letters while at training, his family had no way of knowing about his decision to go to Vesi, and they wouldn’t hear from him for weeks, maybe even months, if he didn’t reach out now while he was someplace that was equipped for such things.

  Being an officer meant he did get better pay, but calling like this was expensive regardless. Luckily, he didn’t think he’d have much use for spare cash at Vesi.

  The door opened, and a half-[Vanara] man exited. It was Fletcher’s turn.

  Taking a breath, he stepped inside and closed the door. It was a metallic box with an uncomfortable bench to sit on in front of a wide screen. A camera on top of it would send his video back. He’d already scheduled the call with his dad, sending the request that morning, but now that he actually had to follow through with it, he was doubting if it was such a great idea after all.

  Steeling his nerves, Fletcher tapped on the screen, scanned his id, and waited as the screen blinked, forming the connection. Within a few moments, the screen lit up with his father’s face, the background was his office back in Finnack.

  “Fletcher, it’s good to see you.” Sebastian smiled at him, though Fletcher wasn’t sure if it was completely genuine or not.

  “Hi, Dad. How are you? How are things going?” Fletcher smiled back, choosing to appreciate this moment that might be the last chance he got to speak with his father for months, maybe even a full year depending on how Vesi worked out.

  “Good. Good. But how are you? What are you doing in Cape Town? I figured you’d come back for commissioning before going to your next assignment.” His dad frowned at him.

  “I’m fine, Dad. I’m just passing through Cape Town on my way to my posting. It was an urgent one, so I took my commission back at Rwenzori. I’m sorry I didn’t get to go to Finnack first,” Fletcher explained.

  “So I guess you didn’t get that analyst role…” His father bit his lip.

  “No. I didn’t.” Fletcher half smiled. “But that’s okay. I still got one I did want.”

  “Really? Where at?”

  He sighed. “Don’t be mad.”

  “That’s not a good way to start this conversation.”

  “I’m going to Vesi Station.”

  “V-vesi? What do you mean you’re going to Vesi? Fletcher, what’s going on?” His father’s face was serious.

  Fletcher forced himself to remain casual. “I wanted it. I had the top choice of posting, and I went with Vesi.”

  “You ranked first at training?” his dad asked.

  “Yeah. And I decided I didn’t want the analyst role. I chose Vesi Station instead.”

  His father pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re not making any sense. What do you mean you didn’t want the analyst role? What do you think you’re going to find at Vesi, Fletcher? Did you even take a moment to think about this? At one point did you lose all that common sense I gave you?”

  Fletcher rubbed his face. This was going about as well as he expected, but it was better than sending only a letter to explain, even if that would have been easier. “Do you want me to give you the excuses I gave everyone else or the truth?”

  “Do you even have to ask?”

  “I can’t do it, Dad. I can’t be a soldier. I tried, but I can’t.” Fletcher shrugged. “It’s not for me.”

  “What do you mean you’ve ‘tried?’ You’ve spent a few months at training. That’s nothing like being a real soldier,” his father argued.

  “I got the gist of it,” he replied. “I’m sorry. I know I’m disappointing you and Mom, but I don’t want that life. I never have, and that hasn’t changed. I did try, though.”

  “Fletcher, you have no idea what you’re doing.” Sebastian shook his head. “You’ve made a huge mistake. Bigger even than going to Bren’it’p.”

  “I don’t think Bren’it’p was a mistake. I loved the life I had there. The only reason I’m not still there is because of Addy.”

  “Would you just think for one second? What’s in Vesi for you? What do you think you’re going to achieve there?” Sebastian asked.

  “It’s not what I think I’m going to achieve. It’s what I’m not going to achieve. Vesi doesn’t see any action. I won’t have to kill. I’ll serve my five years and be done, knowing that I chose what I believed to be right,” Fletcher answered.

  His father didn’t understand, but he never would. This was just like the arguments they had when he chose to become a teacher instead of pursuing research, and then when he decided to go to Bren’it’p His dad never trusted him to make these big decisions for himself, but as far as Fletcher was concerned, he wasn’t doing too bad of a job so far.

  “You don’t know that, Fletcher.”

  “Vesi Station hasn’t ever seen an encounter with Unhumans or Humans. Officially they’re there as an early warning outpost for a section of the Telra continent that is more or less unpopulated. Where else could I go where I could guarantee I wouldn’t be contributing to the death of innocents?” Fletcher stared at the video of his father, begging his dad to be understanding just this one time.

  “Death of innocents? Are we back to this? I thought you understood why the Mixed do what they do. Isn’t that the entire reason you joined early? Where is this all coming from?” Sebastian looked at him with a mixture of frustration and disbelief.

  “No. I do understand why the Mixed fight, but I realize now that whether or not I understand doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want to fight. I don’t believe in war, and I’m not backing down. Not this time. You can’t keep forcing me to give up who I am to suit your purposes.” Fletcher kept his face as neutral as possible.

  Sebastian rubbed his temples. “I’m going to talk to your mother, and we are going to figure something out. I’m not letting you do this. It’s not going to work out the way you think.”

  “Fine. Maybe it won’t. But let me do it anyway. You can’t protect me from everything. It’s my choice, Dad. If you think it’s that much of a mistake, then let me learn the hard way. I don’t want you to interfere.” Fletcher crossed his arms. “I’m doing this, whether you like it or not. I’m not you, and I’m not going to become you.”

  His father closed his eyes, his fingers still massaging his forehead. “Hazel was right. It was a mistake. Just one big mistake.”

  “It was her idea for me to join the military in the first place,” he pointed out.

  “I’m talking about having you at all, Fletcher. I thought having a second kid would make life easier given we were spies, but all you’ve ever done is add massive amounts of stress,” his father bit at him.

  “I didn’t ask to be born, Dad!”

  “No. But it’s a shame you were. Not only are you a mistake, but you’re a walking disaster who manages to ruin every life that comes in contact with yours. We would all be better off if you had stayed in Bren’it’p with you freak-girlfriend, or better yet, just not existed at all. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty though, as unfortunate as that is.”

  Six months ago, words like that might have brought Fletcher to tears. But after months away first at Bren’it’p and then for his various trainings, his heart was dulled to the blow.

  “Well, consider this burden removed from your life. You have Nora and Mom there in Finnack, so the three of you can enjoy that perfectly sized family.” Fletcher smiled bitterly at his father.

  “No. Wait, Fletcher. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

  “Don’t worry about it. Maybe I’ll see you around someday. Goodbye, Colonel.” Fletcher hung the call before his dad could say more. The screen went dark, leaving him completely alone in the call booth. Laughing through the shock of what just happened, Fletcher ran a hand through his hair—finally it was growing back so he didn’t look like a bowling ball—and left the room behind.

  On his way to catch his next plane, Fletcher stopped by the trash facilities and deposited one of his ID cards in the incinerator, staying just long enough to watch it burn so he knew it was destroyed. He still had the one with his cover name, a name he’d just decided to adopt permanently.

  Fletcher Anders was a thing of the past. It was time to move on to the life he was making for himself, without any ties back to the man who called him a mistake. He’d prove him wrong, one way or another.

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