Sweat ran down Henta’s face as she quickly shut and locked the door to her living quarters. She threw her ready alert bag over her shoulder and wiped the cool rivulets of sweat from her forehead with her free hand.

      She was in more of a hurry than usual because of a Bando game gone bad and she needed the extra time to field-dress a well deserved abrasion on her leg. The abrasion cut deep into her skin and bleed freely, so cleaning it required more care than usual. She opted to treat the injury herself rather than report to the dispensary and answer embarrassing questions as to how she received the bloody wound. Besides, now she could purposely neglect the wound and cause the skin to heal with a noticeable scar. The unsightly texture would be a permanent reminder to herself of the consequences of being an easy ambush victim.

      Henta wrapped the painful mess extra tight in a double bandage so that the blood wouldn’t seep through and stain her leather flight pants. The pressure suppressed at least some of the pain.

      She hurried around the corner and almost ran head-on into her Bando game opponent.

      “Hello, Officer Aeryn Sun,” Henta said formally with a friendly smile.

      “How is your leg, Henta?” Aeryn asked convincingly concerned.

      “You’ll get yours next time, Aeryn.” Henta replied.

      “I think not, Henta.” Aeryn shot back with certainty.

      They both hurried down the crew’s quarters hall smiling at each other until they came out into the busy passageway leading to the prowler alert bays. The passage swarmed with chatting techs and pilots and commandos weaving in between each other as they skillfully navigated the black and red halls. Many sections changed shifts at the same times which forced an overflow of crew in the sometimes inadequate passages.

      Henta knew every face. She grew up on the command carrier with almost all of them. Even the young recruits and conscripts that helped to fill the gaps in the ranks. They weren’t true Peacekeepers, not as she saw it. Unless you were born to it like she was, you couldn’t truly be of Peacekeeper blood – bound by every strand of being to the values and commitment of the corps and its traditions.

      It wasn’t to say that First Command or the Counsel itself felt the same way, many senior officers and captains rose from the ranks of those enlistees. Most of whom were recruited from backward farming planets to ensure that no political or military fallout would have to be dealt with later. Nothing could be worse for the Peacekeeper ranks than to recruit relatives of influential Sebaceans only to have them later organize into a powerful sub-culture with support from the political branch of Sebacean society. A complete and strict separation between military and political power was the key to their thousands of cycles of history. And as long as the Peacekeepers continued to produce vast revenues from their security contracts from unstable planetary systems and undisciplined and emerging cultures, both sides remained satisfied with the division.

      Her feelings on the matter were kept safe from all but her closest friends and she was reminded daily of how committed and influential recruits could become. The command carrier was commanded by a well known recruit from the farm planet of Cirus b, Captain Bialar Crais, and her wing commander Toval Crais, his brother. Henta was completely committed to both of them for having fought their way up through the ranks; each commanded her loyalty and respect for their commitment to the mission of the command carrier and the 50,000 Sebaceans living on board her. But still, they were not true Peacekeepers.

      And then, of course, there was her only real friend, Aeryn Sun. They were born on the command carrier into the service of the Peacekeepers. Aeryn was the one that she confided completely in no matter how personal or irrelevant the subject. She was the one that would always be beside her until she was killed in battle or they were both retired honorably from service. Henta could feel it.

      “We have time for a quick drink before going on duty, Aeryn,” Henta insisted as she guided Aeryn across the crowded hall like a ballistic shield, and straight towards the officers lounge entrance. “Let’s stop in real quick.”

      Aeryn protested briefly but finally admitted they did have just enough time. She squeezed her way through the bottleneck of prowler commandos taking their time leaving the lounge – all dressed in their shiny black flight suits and towing their alert bags behind them.

      The beverage counter was stacked with bottles of drink and momentarily emptied of customers after the last big exodus. They dropped their alert bags in unison on the floor next to the counter and looked over the selection before choosing a favorite flavor – both the same.

      “Hey, there he is.” Henta motioned her head towards a table in the far corner and snickered devilishly.

      “You remember, Officer ‘never again’.” Henta nudged Aeryn in his direction playfully.

      “That’s not fair,” she explained after realizing who Henta was referring to. “I was getting back from the Nebrizi campaign and hadn’t recreated for nearly half a cycle – I couldn’t help myself!” Aeryn laughed and hid her face away from the direction of the table hoping that Officer ‘never again’ wouldn’t see her.

      “Go on, go say hello.” Henta nudged her harder in his direction.

      “Stop that, Henta!” Aeryn whispered forcefully. “You are so lucky we have to get out of here.”

      “Not quite yet,” Henta insisted.

      “Yes, quite yet,” Aeryn insisted more. Henta laughed out loud as Aeryn grabbed both alert bags and pushed Henta towards the exit. From the corner of her eye, Aeryn saw the pretty young officer smile broadly and start to get up as if to greet her. Aeryn pretended not to see him and pushed Henta harder towards the exit, laughing all the way. Aeryn felt a great sense of relief as they popped back out into the passage and scurried towards the prowler alert bay.