"Cadet Sterling is here, ma'am," says the receptionist, an Ocean Patrol petty officer third class.
Cadet Private First Class Mirage Sterling walks through the open double doors and into the office of the Commandant of the United Earth Forces Academy's Corps of Cadets. The cadet sees Commodore Kamini Nijjar, dressed in her Ocean Patrol service khakis, sitting behind the large wooden desk. Sitting on two leather seats are Cadet Major Ayanna Harden and a Space Marine colonel.
"Cadet Private First Class Mirage Sterling, reporting as ordered, ma'am," she says, standing stiffly.
The room remains silent for a while. Mirage can only hear her heart beat.
"We've been told you solicited a junior cadet to cheat," says the commodore. "We were provided a data stick with exam answers and essays. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"Not at this time, ma'am," answers Mirage.
"Offering to help a cadet cheat is a violation of the honor code, Cadet Sterling. You should know I have the authority to convene an Honor Board to hear these accusation, and the maximum punishment is expulsion."
"Yes, ma'am. I learned my lesson."
The room stays silent. Mirage can once again hear only her heart beating.
"Cadet Sterling, you were an outstanding player. I was there at Santa Maria University, seeing you make that winning three-point shot. Your solicitation of that junior cadet to cheat could unravel everything, harm the reputation of this Academy, your team, your coach, me. Our public image could suffer. People all over the galaxy see us as outstanding citizens as well as outstanding scholars and outstanding athletes. What do you have to say, Cadet?"
"Nothing, ma'am."
Again, the only sound in the huge office becomes Mirage's heartbeat.
"Convening an Honor Board is still on the table, Cadet. But there is a way to minimize the damage to your reputation and this Academy's reputation. We will make you an offer. You will be removed from the basketball team, of course, effective immediately. And you will be separated from the Academy at the end of the semester. We will allow you to finish your classes here, receive academic credit. Your separation is non-punitive; this year, we were planning to separate twenty-five second year cadets for failure to demonstrate leadership potential; you will be the twenty-sixth,. As to why you are not on the basketball team, we can simply say there are health issues.
"Here is what you must do. First and foremost, you say nothing about what happened. If anyone asks you about your honor code violation, or our meeting, you say nothing about it. You have no comment. You and this Academy can part ways with no hard feelings. You will be able to transfer your credits to another university if you wish to pursue a degree. You may also choose to enlist in the United Earth Forces or the armed forces of your home country; your Academy records will not show a single blemish that would block chances of being promoted through the enlisted ranks. And second of all, no further honor code violations. We will not be able to discreetly handle further violations."
Mirage stays silent for a few seconds.
"If you do not agree, Cadet Sterling, I will convene an Honor Board," continues Nijjar. "There is a strong case for guilt, and a strong case for expulsion."
Mirage takes a deep breath. "I agree, ma'am. I thank you for your mercy."
"Don't say anything, and no more Honor Code violations," says Commodore Nijjar.
"A cadet must not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those among us who do," says the cadet. She looks at Ayanna. "Then I must report that Cadet Major Harden was the one who provided me with the data stick with the test answers."
Ayanna stands up. "What?' she asks angrily. "You lie-"
"Silence!" snaps the commodore. "Both of you! Cadet Sterling, you will not tell any more lies."
"With all due resp-"
"Any more lies and the deal is off! Dismissed!"
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" snaps Mirage.
Later that evening, Mirage is still lost in thought as she lies down on her bed.
Oooooo
On Friday, Mirage Sterling walks out to see another speaker at the auditorium While most cadets wear their gray workmen's uniforms on Fridays, for this occasion, Mirage and the other cadets are wearing their cadet service alphas. They all fill the auditorium.
Lieutenant General Andrea Vukovich walks into the stage. "Thank you for coming," says the Army general. "Today we have a special guest. He is not an alumnus of the Academy. That does not change the fact that his story, his experiences, can inspire us to reach new heights. He was someone who risked all, who would not let anything, not even dozens of hostile aliens, stand in the way. Let me introduce you to Captain Homer Kasselakis, United Nations Spacy Chaplain Reserve, and Medal of Honor Receipient."
A man with dark hair and olive-complected skin walks onto the stage. He wears the Spacy dress whites- a white tunic and white trousers. Medals telling the story of his service are pinned on the left side of his chest. Hanging from a silk ribbon around his neck is the United Nations Medal of Honor, the highest award available to United Earth Forces servicemen.
"Thank you for being here," says the chaplain. "I want to tell a story, my story. I wanted to, and became, a priest for the Greek Orthodox Church in Tiresia, ministering to the Greek evacuee community there. I had my calling when the first attempt to liberate Earth from the Invid failed. I went online and asked a recruiter how I can become a chaplain in the United Nations Spacy Reserve.
"I chose the Reserves because I still had an attachment to the flock of my church, where I still minister to this day. I attended weekend drills one week a month, and two weeks a year I would go to a space or surface installation to minister to crewmen, Space Marines, and others, and perform Mass.
And then I was called to active duty to be attached to a Space Marine unit. I was being trained in the Cyclone veritech motorcycle. I wasn't taught combat; as you know, we chaplains do not bear arms while on duty. My unit was deployed aboard a vessel, and the night before the battle was to begin, I was on a dropship, in full gear, with the rest of the Space Marines. We snuck past the alien blockade to reach our main forward base. And then, I followed my team to a firebase. I could see Reflex Point itself.
"The enemy launched an attack against our position with their armored mecha. The Space Marines fought bravely. Some of them were unable to fight because of their wounds, and someone had to get them to the rear area where they can be treated. I decided to become that someone. There wasn't time to think. My flock needed me. I was fueled by my faith.
"I felt pain; I knew I was wounded, but I couldn't stop. These men needed me to extend their time in this Physical Realm. I managed to extract four Marines when the enemy withdrew from our position. Maybe half an hour later, the enemy withdrew from the battlefield, withdrew from Earth.
"I got to go home a few months later. I was on deployment long enough to earn a p[aid-vacation, and I had that, tending to my church on Tirol, before I resumed oner weekend a month and two-weeks a year.
Six years after the battle, I was mobilized and ordered to Galaxy City so I can receive the Medal of Honor from the Secretary General. The Supreme Commander and the Chief of Space Operations and the Spacy Chief of Chaplains were there to witness it. Most importantly, some of the Space Marines I extracted were also there.
"Nobody in this physical existence forced me to become a chaplain. I had the choice to take the easy path. But there was the narrow, rocky path of the chaplaincy, and I set foot on this path. And when those Space Marines were wounded, I could have simply let other Space Marines or Space corpsmen rescue them. I took the burden upon myself, choosing the narrow, rocky path.
"and you yourself are cadets here. You chose to be part of something greater, the moment you first took the oath. You wanted more than a degree. You wanted to serve humanity.
"There will be times which you will be put to the test, as I have. You will be tempted to take the easy path. But this is not what you signed up for. So when you are challenged, physically, academically, morally, take on that narrow, rocky, winding path. You may not receive the Medal of Honor, but you will do good for your fellow humankind. Thank you."
Mirage and the other cadets all stand at attention at their chaplain and their superior officer.
"I thank you for your time, Chaplain," says the Academy superintendent. "We can all find inspiration In thew chaplain's words."
All of the cadets leave the auditorium. Mirage walks to a directory giving the layout of the Academy campus.
She knows she has to talk to someone about this.
Walking along the concrete pathways, she reaches this building with steep sloped roofs. This is the United Earth Forces Academy chapel, which offers prayer services and where the Chaplain office is located. A sign just a few feet in front of the building has a schedule of religious services of various faiths.
The cadet enters the main room, which has a high ceiling and wooden pews. There are no decorations, though it had been designed so that proper decorations depending on the faith can be set up. From what Mirage had learned, the chapel is one of two buildings- along with the Cadet Mess- which were still standing since the Academy was first opened decades before she was born.
She walks to an open door in the back.
"Hello, is anyone there?" she asks.
"I'm here," says a voice.
She walks through and sees two men. One of them has black hair, a short-cropped black beard, and olive-complected skin. He wears a light blue Mandarin-collared shirt and dark blue trousers; the shoulderboards on his shoulders indicate that he is a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. The other man is Captain Kasselakis, who had just spoken to the cadets minutes earlier; he still wears his dress whites and the Medal of Honor.
"Chaplain Kasselakis," says the cadet, surprised. "I didn't know you were here."
"Perhaps you will have the opportunity to practice his counseling skills, sir," says Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Hassan of the Air Force Chaplain Corps, the head chaplain of the Academy.
"God has given me another opportunity," says Kasselakis. "Explain why you have come here."
"Yes, sir," replies Mirage. She begins her story of how she was given copies of essays and exam answers by a cadet and teammate she had trusted.
The two chaplains glance at each other for a minute.
"First of all, Cadet Sterling, what you said to us is privileged," says Chaplain Kasselakis. "We can not tell anyone else. After you leave, I can not even talk to my colleague here about what you said."
"I understand, sir."
"You have been given an easy way out. Finish your studies here for the semester, apply to another college, move on with your life, and allow Cadet Harden to continue helping others cheat, and allow the Academy leadership to continue covering up cheating."
"That would be easy, Chaplain."
"I must ask you, Mirage. Why did you apply to the United Earth Forces Academy in the first place?'
The cadet stays silent even as she looks at the two chaplains. She takes a deep breath. "Well, sirs, I have a family legacy. My Aunt Dana attended this very campus. My dad had been stranded on Earth after the Invid Invasion, and spent thirteen years resisting their occupation. And my grandpa was stranded on the SDF-1 Macross with 70,000 other civilians; he chose to be a veritech combat space aviator."
"I have heard of your family legacy. And you wanted to honor their legacy."
"Yes, sir."
"Would it be fair to say that your family chose the easy path?"
Mirage stays silent for a moment. "No, sir," she says.
"Struggle," says Chaplain Hassan. "You and the other cadets knew struggle from the moment you took the oath. And your own family chose to struggle. Your father chose to fight the aliens who invaded Earth instead of just hiding in a hole somewhere. Your grandfather chose to go into the cockpit of a robotech combat plane instead of simply sheltering with the other civilians on board the Macross. So ask yourself, why did you struggle? Why did your family struggle?"
"You did not answer my question, sirs."
"Sometimes, the best way to counsel someone is for us to guide you to the right questions," says Chaplain Kasselakis.
"I think I get it, sirs. Thank you for your time."
"You are dismissed, Cadet," says Kasselakis.
"Sirs, yes, sirs!" snaps Mirage before she leaves.
She has an idea of how to get around the chain of command here.
Ooooooo
Galaxy City, the capital of the United Nations, is inside a space habitat at the L4 point between Earth and Sol. It is so large it makes robotech space battle fortresses look tiny. Inside the pressurized habitation chambers are buildings where people live and work and find entertainment.
One of the buildings is a large, comfortable residence. Inside the residence, a woman speaks on a telephone.
"I get it," says the woman "She's your niece. Normally, this sort of thing should be handled by the Academy's administration...I'm not a big fan of jumping the chain of command, but in this case back channel looks justified I should be able to spare some time...It is amazing. Thirty years ago, I thought your military career would end in a dishonorable discharge and a prison sentence...calling you a general is something I wouldn't have imagined back then. Me, I'm doing my part to keep the p[eace. I should put up some leave, and we can go visit you...I now look forward to supper with my family at home. I haven't had that in a long time. Talk to you soon."
Marie Crystal presses a button to disconnect the call.