to let her down.
The major nodded. “You’re on a short leash. Prove yourselves and you’ll be given more responsibility. Fail and we’ll need to look into... other options.” She gave Solan a pointed look.
Lena had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but from the way Solan stiffened, he knew. Under other circumstances, Lena would have asked then and there, but they were about to go into the field and she didn’t want to risk the assignment being taken away. The major let them go after giving them the basics: they’d be the backup of the backup of the backup for a guard unit going to apprehend the head of a thievery ring that had been terrorizing Osais for months. If things went perfectly, they wouldn’t have to do anything.
Things rarely went perfectly.
Lena was even more excited a short time later when she got her uniform and saw it came with a blaster. Sure she had her wings, but she was still getting the hang of using them and feeling the reassuring weight of the weapon in her hand was a comfort she hadn’t realized she was missing.
She and Solan took a borrowed guard vehicle to their location, a narrow alley that smelled of rotting fish and urine. How could she be hundreds if not thousands of light years away from Earth if the alleys smelled exactly the same?
Solan leaned against one wall while Lena took a seat on a kicked over crate. They had at least an hour before the main team approached the building and it was time to get comfortable. “You don’t look too happy,” she said.
Solan played with a flap on his jacket, glancing toward the main street every so often. Lena had a clear line of sight to the street on the other side of the alley. If their perp came either way, he wouldn’t last long. “I’m glad we’re in the field, but this is grunt work. There are a hundred trainees they could stick here. We’re unlikely to do anything but waste a day where we could be training.”
Lena groaned. Training. Training. Training. She understood the need, but if they kept up their schedule for much longer she was going to go crazy. “I’ll take the break,” she said. She had her blaster out and was studying the power mechanism. It was more like a Taser than a gun, meant to be nonlethal and powered by electricity. As an extra security measure the grip was keyed to her and Solan, so if she lost it in a scuffle it couldn’t be used against her.
They lapsed into silence, but it didn’t last long. And somehow they got on the topic of Solan’s brother’s wedding. Lena listened in horrified fascination as he went through every detail. It sounded like every rich person’s wedding she’d ever paid attention to and she was more than happy not to worry about the planning.
“And on top of everything he’s inviting our father. He’s the last person I’d want there, but...” Solan shook his head and then looked back towards the main street as if he could summon a running criminal with his mind.
“Not a good relationship?” There was finally a fact to hold onto. Lena could describe the flower arrangements and the food for the wedding of a man she’d never met, but Solan had been tight lipped about anything that had to do with him. She assumed he liked his brother, if he knew so much about the wedding, but knowing he hated his father was more interesting.
She probably shouldn’t be interested. Concerned? Sure, that sounded better. Not that he could read her mind.
“It’s complicated.” He didn’t elaborate.
Why would he? If Lena prodded he’d close off, and they were finally talking. So she wrenched the conversation back on topic. “When is the big day?”
“Not for another two months. My mother is now obsessed with seeing all her children settled.” He shuddered.
Lena did not blame him. “I know that feeling! Every time I visited home I swear there was a nice boy waiting to have dinner with us. Total coincidence, my mom insisted. I thought she’d give up hope when I turned thirty, but that just made her more determined.” She’d laughed about the setups in college and been thankful for the reprieve when she was deployed, but it got old fast. And that old frustration quickly turned to sadness when she remembered her mother would never see her happily paired off. She couldn’t think of that now.