Zac dropped his pack on the floor of the locker room, taking time to clean and secure his equipment in his trunk. The debrief had been tense, Laila’s previously warm manner towards him all but frosty.
Had he ruined things? Again?
Seeing that a piece of webbing from a harness had frayed, he put it to one side to be repaired, and then sat on the bench to unlace his combat boots.
“How do you think we did?” T'arq dropped to the bench beside Zac, following suit and stripping off his soiled uniform.
Overall, they had impressed Zac. It was a no-win situation, and it had surprised him how far they had made it. He thought about the way Laila took command decisively and adapted the plan to suit the unexpected terrain and heavy assault they had been subjected to. “You heard Captain Storey’s views in the debrief.”
“Sure, but I asked howyouthink we did.”
Zac straightened, pulling one boot off, then the other. “I was impressed.”
T'arq stood and lifted his hands in the air as if hailing the sky, “Impressed? Oh, wondrous mighty one, the day has arrived!” Zac threw a sock at him, scowling as T'arq continued, “The stubborn Commander Zac Qu'Rell has, dare I say it, changed his mind!”
T'arq fell to his knees on the floor, laughing as Zac pushed him over.
“Stubborn?”
“Uh, have you met you?”
Zac's mouth lifted in a small smile at his friend's antics, at the same time remembering Laila’s stiff posture as she had stalked away from him in the sim suite.
“I don’t think I’m her favorite person right now,” he said.
“Oh?”
“I haven’t been the easiest person to work with,” Zac admitted. “And she was pissed about the simulation.”
T'arq laughed, and Zac glared at him.
“What are you going to do about it?” T'arq asked, continuing to unpack and clean his gear. Zac's silence caused T'arq to turn to him. “Remember when you had your first command, and you were desperate to prove yourself to your father?”
“This is nothing like that. Stop drawing comparisons where there are none.”
“It'sexactlylike that, think about it.” Continuing, T’arq added, “Laila needs to prove herself.”
She wasn't trying to impress her father. She was no green recruit. Her goal was much bigger than that. Zac grudgingly acknowledged that his friend might have a point.
“And you like the woman, so you're being grumpy and stupid around her,” T'arq said, shooting him a pointed look.
Zac avoided his friend’s eyes.
“Do you think you might owe her an apology?”
Zac cringed. He knew he was being an ass. He owed her an apology. “Yeah, I suppose I do.”
