“You are right.” Zaera released her and stepped back. “What do you want me to tell the others? You know they are going to want to know.”
“Tell them that I was sent to end this war. Tell them I will fight until my last breath.”
Zaera pulled Jaiya into a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around her. “Give’em hell, Cap.”
* * *
Her conversation with Zaera took longer than expected. Jaiya hadn’t anticipated that Zaera would be so reluctant to take on the wing responsibilities. Instead of accepting what she had to say, her Wing Rear Captain had voiced her concerns, asking questions that Jaiya didn’t think she would ask.
A sense of heaviness lifted as soon as she left Zaera’s cabin. Now that she had told her that she would be gone for a while and to take care of the wing, she could breathe easier. While Zaera didn’t question the details of the secret mission, Jaiya wouldn’t put it past her to figure it out before she returned.
Jaiya refused to believe that the Daextru would kill her. Most of their attacks had been defensive, just like a swarm attacking an enemy harming its hive. Their recent tactic of only disabling ships in battle made her believe that they weren’t just cold murderers; they really wanted peace.
She hoped Aydin would be smart enough to listen to her and stay hidden, even if it meant sneaking away to their father’s lake cabin. She didn’t know what the higher-ups were thinking, assigning him on this mission. It was cowardly to send a junior diplomat on their first mission alone to end a twenty-five-year-long war, especially with his family’s role in the history.
It was a quarter past midnight, and there were only a few more hours before she had to report for her mission, if she were to actually escort her brother. If she wanted to leave the base without a hitch, she needed to leave during the next shift change at two in the morning.
Jaiya glanced at all of the travel cases on the hovercart near her cabin’s entrance, ready to go. Both her and Aydin’s IDs and mission holodisks were waiting on her table, next to the cape her brother usually wore when he traveled.
The only thing left to do was to cut her hair in his style.
Jaiya stared at her reflection in her lavatory mirror. Her long black hair almost touched her butt, as straight as hair could be. No matter what she did with it, the curls would always be gone within a few hours. In order to add character to her hair, she always buzzed her sides. Whenever she pulled her hair back into a tight bun while on duty, they would pop.
Gathering all of her hair, she tied it into a tight, high ponytail and grabbed her beamblade from her leg sheath. The star design etched into her buzzed sides was highlighted by the lavatory’s lighting. Taking a deep breath, she held her ponytail tight and lifted her beamblade to the band.
“My hair can regrow, but people can’t come back from the dead.”
In one swift movement, she sliced through hair, cutting it forever from her scalp. Instantly, her head felt lighter from the lost weight. Sheathing her beamblade, she studied the chunk of hair, shocked that it was almost the length of her arm.
Using both of her hands, Jaiya watched her reflection as she mussed up her hair to look more masculine. Other than the buzzed sides that peeked between the strands whenever she flicked her head, she could easily pull off looking like Aydin.
Now that the last task was complete, it was time for her to leave. She couldn’t dispose or store her chunk of hair on the moon base, in case something went wrong and someone snooped in her cabin. She would need to take the lock with her to the Daextru starbase.
Grabbing the evidence, Jaiya moved to her cabin’s entrance and opened a travel case. Shuffling the clothes around, she found the hidden compartment on the bottom and placed her chunk of hair into it. Quickly, she reorganized the garments and sealed the case.
It was time to leave.
She threw on Aydin’s black cape, pulling up its hood before placing both of their IDs and mission holodisks in its inside pockets.
Taking one last look at the cabin that had been hers for the last five years, Jaiya allowed herself a deep breath. This was possibly the last time she would ever set foot in this cabin—unless she returned a hero.
The seriousness of the upcoming mission finally settled.
While she would do everything in her power to create peace between their species, she didn’t know how things would go. Just like every battle, there were no guarantees.
One thing was for sure, she was happy that she had the chance to spare her wing and her brother from this fate, no matter the consequences she would face when she returned.
Jaiya opened her cabin’s door and checked the hallway before pushing the hovercart out. Sealing her cabin, she made her way to the hangar.
The residential halls were empty as she traversed them. It wasn’t until she took the lift down to the lobby that she came across residents. They minded their own business, as most were returning from a night out or leaving early for their shift. No one stopped her until she reached the hangar doors.
Two guards stood watch at the double door entrance, exuding a mixture of boredom and weariness.
“Hello, fellas. I am here early to start loading the belongings of my brother, Junior Diplomat Aydin Lian, for our mission. We are to depart at 0600, and there are still some things I need to do to prepare.”
The shorter guard looked down at his tablet and nodded. “Let us check your ID and you may proceed.”
Jaiya removed her own ID from her right pocket and swiped it through the scanning station. It lit up green as the most recent picture of her appeared on the screen.
