The plane rocked, and Fletcher placed his hands against the boxes he was leaning against to steady them so they didn’t tip over on top of him. The small cargo plane barely had room for him amongst everything else it held, and his two bags were stuffed into various nooks as he sat with his knees pressed against his chest in the midst of boxes and bags.

  With all the turbulence, it was an extra uncomfortable ride, and he was half-convinced that he might get buried beneath the supplies and put an unglamorous end to his career—and life—entirely.

  “We’re about to land now, Lieutenant,” the pilot—Captain Walters—said from up front. She was nice enough, though she’d been smiling as though she was holding back some secret when they first met and she learned he was going to Vesi. That worried him a bit, but he kept reminding himself that this was the right choice, even if it didn’t feel like it right then sitting in the cargo hold.

  He nodded, though it was a motion known only to himself given Walters was upfront, far away from the boxes and bags that threatened to tip over at any moment. He tried to keep from panicking as he considered that once he was off this plane, there wouldn’t be a way out of Vesi for another two months with the resupply schedule. That meant if even he couldn’t stand it and wanted to shoot for another position, he’d have to wait a minimum of four months to send his request and then hear back. Some small part of his mind was echoing his father’s words, reminding him that this might very well be one huge mistake.

  The turbulence increased as Fletcher braced against the crates, his stomach dropping as the plane descended. He only relaxed once they were on the ground, slowing down on the runway.

  The vehicle rolled to a stop, and the rear door opened, revealing his first glimpse of daylight in nine hours.

  “Welcome to Vesi Station,” Walters announced over the speaker.

  Fletcher stood up and grabbed his bags from where they were buried amongst the other cargo. He slung one over his back and kept the smaller one in hand, a bit nervous now that he was about to see what his life would be for the foreseeable future. Not to mention he was going to have to meet the CO, and Hajji had warned him that he shouldn’t expect anything pleasant.

  But this was better than the alternative. Here he was guaranteed to do nothing to contribute to the war effort. He wouldn’t have to harm anyone, and he could finish his four and a half years of service out.

  Walters came from the cockpit into the cargo hold and grinned at him. She was a full Human from what he could see.

  “Come on, Lieutenant. Let me introduce you around the station a bit.” She pushed past him to exit into the open air first.

  Fletcher followed while his inner voice whispered that this was a terrible idea and he should just hide in the plane until it returned to Cape Town. He ignored it. He could do this. He wouldn’t give up so easily.

  Stepping into the morning sunlight, Fletcher blinked as he gazed at his new surroundings. They were on the small cement runway, full of cracks that looked rather unhealthy for a plane to go over—or any vehicle really. Chain link fence surrounded the area and through it he could see the desolate ruins of a city a mile or so off. Inside the fence, he noticed two bunker entrances and a single warehouse, but nothing more. Even without seeing the underground facilities, it was clear that the station was tiny.

  A strong breeze blew by, and Fletcher shivered. It was freezing outside, but from his understanding, that was how it always was at Vesi. This area was one of the ones most strongly affected by the Merger, going from a temperate area to one that cycled between cool and cold.

  A group of soldiers walked up to them. The man in the lead was a Mixhuman. His gray skin had faint abrasions in it that Fletcher recognized as the start of the decay that affected [Ghouls]. That was unfortunate for him. [Ghouls] had an incredibly short lifespan, so being Hexed even a little by it probably shortened his life by years, if not decades.

  “Sergeant Hugo,” Walters said. “This is Lieutenant Dixon, the newest addition to Vesi’s crew.”

  “An officer?” Hugo whistled. “Boy, you must have pissed someone real important off to get sent here, sir.”

  The others behind him chuckled.

  “Hugo is it?” Fletcher held a hand out, unbothered by the man’s prodding. “Pleased to meet you, Sergeant.”

  “Oh, he’s got those nice officer manners even. You must have had a really cushy posting before this.” Hugo slapped his palm against Fletcher’s, turning it into a high-five instead of a hand shake. “Alright, boys and girls. Let’s get this bird unloaded. We all know how ornery Walters gets if she has to waste too much time in our little armpit.”

  Hugo gave him a sarcastic salute. “And welcome to Hell, sir. We hope you enjoy your stay.”

  Laughing, the group walked away to the plane as Fletcher watched them go with a frown. Most of them weren’t even in uniform, and those that were, wore theirs in ways that made for some very egregious violations of dress code.

  “Don’t mind them, Dixon. They’re like that with everyone. That’s just the culture of Vesi,” Walters explained. “Come on. Let’s introduce you to the Major. That will be the real test.”

  Fletcher nodded. “Alright. Thank you, Captain.”

  Walters took the lead, guiding him to the closest of the two entrances. It took them into a small room which contained only a single set of stairs. He followed her down into the slightly warm underground.

  Fletcher grimaced as they walked through the hallways of the station, obvious signs of damage and neglect almost everywhere he looked. There were busted vent covers, loose wires, and cracked concrete throughout all the corridors, and approximately a fourth of the lights were flickering or completely dead. Okay, maybe the others were a little bit right. He didn’t expect it to be this bad.

  No. He wasn’t going to give into that kind of thinking. These were issues he might be able to help solve. He should look at this like a chance to make a difference and boost the station instead.

  They went down another series of hallways, and Fletcher realized that he hadn’t seen another soldier yet. Obviously he didn’t expect people everywhere in the small facility, but shouldn’t they have seen someone by now?

  A few more corridors later, Walters stopped before a metal door that was the hinge version instead of the automatic sliding version he was accustomed to at every other Mixed based—except the first outpost. That one had had hinged doors too.

  “Ready?” she asked him,

  Fletcher nodded again. “As I’ll ever be.”

  She knocked and then opened the door without pausing for the person inside to respond first. Fletcher followed her in, his apprehension growing.

  A severely Hexed man sat behind the desk. Given the white fur covering half of his brown skin and the black eyes, it was safe to say he was part [Yeti]. His Mixhuman heritage made it hard to place his age exactly, but Fletcher guessed he was in his forties.

  “Major Palacios.” Captain Walters saluted.

  Fletcher followed suit. “Major.”

  “Who’s this?” Palacios stared at Fletcher, his eyes curious.

  “Lieutenant Fletcher Dixon. Vesi Station’s newest officer,” Walters answered for him.

  “And what on earth did you do to end up in this hellhole, Dixon?” Palacios leaned back in his chair, a high pitched squeak hinting that it was as in poor repair as the rest of the base.

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  “I don’t know what you mean by that, Major.” Fletcher relaxed his shoulders as he noticed Walters dropping into a casual stance.

  “Come on. You know what Vesi is. It’s a place for the military to dump the soldiers who they can’t quite justify sending to prison. What did you do?” Palacios continued.

  “What did you do?” Fletcher countered. “Sir.”

  The man smiled at him, revealing pointed teeth. “I chose to save myself instead of dying alongside my men. The generals didn’t think that held the proper ‘Mixed’ spirit, but that’s not a true crime, so here I am.” Palacios nodded to Walters. “Captain Walters took a joyride in a jet during her first pilot posting, and she ended up losing the plane so they sent her to shuttle cargo to our little station.”

  “I chose to come here,” Fletcher admitted. “Right after training.”

  Palacios raised an eyebrow. “You’re either very stupid or very desperate.”

  “Desperate.”

  “For?”

  He bit his lip, thinking about how to phrase his answer so that it was true without revealing everything. “I decided I didn’t like the politics, and I wanted an out. Some place that I wouldn’t have to waste my life schmoozing my way to each promotion.”

  Palacios nodded. “You’ve come to the right place if your goal is to avoid promotion.”

  “I have the cargo list for you to sign.” Walters pulled a folded paper from her jacket pocket.

  The Major signed it without even looking over it. “Thank you, Captain. See you in two months.”

  “Looking forward to it, Palacios. As always.” She patted Fletcher’s shoulder. “Good luck, Dixon. I hope you find the peace you’re looking for here.”

  She exited with a snicker, while Fletcher remained in the room, staring at the smirk on Palacios’s face.

  “Go find Lieutenant Jana. She’ll show you around, get you to your room, go over your duties,” Palacios said, glancing back down at his desk, though there wasn’t any paperwork there. “Welcome to Vesi Station, Dixon.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Fletcher nodded and walked back to the door, wondering if it wasn’t too late to head back to the plane and get out of here after all. No. He could do this. This would be good. It would just take a little settling in, then he would be comfortable.

  He paused at the door. “Uh, where will I find Jana?”

  “It’s a small station. I figure you need to learn the layout anyway. Don’t go into the catacombs, and other than that, consider it yours to roam,” Palacios replied.

  “Right. Thank you, sir.”

  “Chose to come here,” the Major muttered, chuckling to himself. “What an idiot.”

  Fletcher hesitantly opened the door and exited back into the dingy hallway. He was just supposed to wander around until he bumped into this random lieutenant? That wasn’t protocol. He didn’t expect a red carpet welcome, but this was still more unorthodox than he imagined it would be.

  Hefting the bag on his shoulder to a more comfortable position, Fletcher set off on his first mission as a lieutenant at Vesi Station. It took a lot of wandering. And a lot of wrong doors. But he supposed it was effective at teaching him the layout of the station. He discovered the small messhall—it reeked of rotten food—the showers—which somehow smelled even worse and definitely hadn’t been cleaned in years, if ever—and the barracks—he noticed that it was nearly full of soldiers reading, napping, and other non-duty things. He was hoping that he happened to show up on what was everyone’s day off. He had a strong feeling that was not the case…

  Eventually he came to another pair of offices. One of them was empty, dusty, and covered in old crates of files. The other had a woman who wore most of a uniform, enough that he recognized her rank as a first lieutenant.

  “Lieutenant Jana?” Fletcher asked as he entered.

  “What is it? You know I’m not to be disturbed during the afternoon,” the woman muttered. She was laying back in the chair with a file over her face.

  “I’m Second Lieutenant Fletcher Dixon. I’m the new officer at the station. Major Palacios told me you could show me my room and assign my duties,” he explained.

  “You’re the new what?” She sat up, and the folder fell from her face. She was probably in her late thirties, with copper skin and purple eyes. Another Mixhuman like him.

  “New officer. I just arrived on the cargo plane,” he continued.

  “Sorry to hear that. What did you do to end up here?’

  Fletcher made a face. “I selected Vesi as my choice of posting after officer training.”

  She laughed. “That’s cute. Really, what did you do?”

  He shrugged. “I’m telling you the truth.”

  Jana laughed harder, unable to speak for several moments. Once she recovered herself, she wiped the tears that formed at the corners of her eyes. “Oh, man. Someone pranked you good. Nothing like new meat joining the pack, especially gullible meat.”

  “I knew what I was getting into.” Fletcher frowned.

  She grinned at him. “Trust me, pretty boy. You don’t have the faintest clue.” She stood up. “Alright. Let’s get to it. I have important business to return to.”

  “Like napping?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Besides, it’s not even the afternoon. It’s ten o’clock in the morning.”

  “Don’t get snarky with me, Lieutenant. What I do is highly classified. Come on, handsome. Let’s drop those bags off and introduce you to the unit. They’re going to love this.” She patted his cheek as she walked past him. “You don’t by chance have a thing for older women, do you?”

  “That’s against protocol.”

  Jana’s smile broadened. “Oh, yeah. They’re going to love you. Let’s go.”

  Fletcher didn’t appreciate any of the conversation so far, but he chose to accept that this was probably just some kind of hazing since he was the new guy. Another thing to endure for a couple of weeks before he got settled into a routine.

  He followed her into the hallway and through a bunch more corridors, making his best effort to memorize their path. The sooner he learned the layout of the station, the better.

  “Alright. Here are the officer quarters. Major Palacios has that door at the end, I’m in the room on the left, which leaves this lovely suite for you.” Jana opened the door and presented Fletcher to one of the least disgusting rooms he’d seen so far.

  Unfortunately that wasn’t saying much. It was in desperate need of dusting, and the mattress had some questionable stains on it, but the smell was nothing worse than musty, and it was large enough to be comfortable given the size of the outpost.

  He walked in, taking in the cracked walls and flickering light. As he set his bags on the thin mattress, he reminded himself that it could be worse. Probably.

  “Palacios gets his own ensuite. You and I have to share the other bathroom. I take long showers though, so be prepared. Oh, and my crap smells awful. You’ll want to let it air out for an hour or two after I go,” Jana said. “It’s that last door in the hallway. There’s a lock on it, so make sure to use it. Or don’t.” She winked at him. “If you’re all settled, let’s meet our enlisted folks. They’re something else.”

  “I’m sure,” Fletcher muttered. He gave one last sorrowful glance at his belongings and followed Jana back into the hallway.

  It was a brief walk and up a flight of stairs to the barracks. Jana seemed to know that was where everyone would be.

  She walked into the room and clapped her hands together. “Up and at ‘em, people. I have a super important announcement to make.”

  “Shut up, Jana,” someone shouted from their bunk.

  “We have a new officer joining the station.”

  That got people moving. A small commotion broke out as people got up from their beds and circled close, eyeing Fletcher with wide, interested eyes.

  “Meet Second Lieutenant Fletcher Dixon. Unlike the rest of us sorry losers, he chose to come here, so make sure to show him extra respect for that… brave decision. He’ll be handling… stuff. So if you have problems, go to him. Not me. Understand?” Jana glanced around the room. “Great.”

  Everyone continued to stare, and a few dared to wave at him. Fletcher waved back, wondering what exactly “stuff” meant.

  He was given a plethora of names and ranks that he could never hope to remember. From what he saw, about two-thirds of the personnel were Mixhumans, two of them were full Unhumans, and everyone else looked to be pure Humans. There was no sign of the five soldiers he met upon first arriving, those who handled unloading the cargo.

  “Jana, what exactly are my duties?” Fletcher asked as they exited the barracks.

  She smiled at him. “You get to be the buffer between me and the riffraff, meaning I get lots of time for my classified projects.”

  “Okay… But what does that mean?”

  She rolled her eyes. “There’s a manual somewhere in your office that details your ‘duties’ or whatever, but your number one priority is making sure I don’t get interrupted, okay?”

  “Fine.” Fletcher shook his head.

  Jana turned to him, still smiling. “Any more stupid questions? No? Great. I’ll see you around. Or even better, I won’t. Welcome to Vesi Station.”

  She walked away, and Fletcher got the sinking feeling that his dad really was right. This might have been one huge mistake, but there was no turning back now.

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