Whatley stood and slapped Justin on the shoulder. “Now get out of here.”
“Yes, sir,” Justin replied as he put his tablet down and climbed out of the chair. “Thank you, sir.”
“Don’t think for a moment I’m letting up on you. I will push you harder than anyone ever has. I demand perfection in the cockpit and everywhere else. Because I believe you can be a leader.” Whatley’s voice was quiet, but it held the unmistakable sound of command. “Clear?”
Justin sucked in a breath. “Crystal.”
“Dismissed.”
Justin turned on his heel, strode out of the ready room, and made his way toward the mess hall favored by the pilots.
19
Seeing Feldstein, Adeoye, and Mateus gathered around a table in the busy officers’ mess, Justin waved. He was juggling a tray of food in one hand and his drink in the other. The steward had advertised the meal as fresh turkey with mashed potatoes and green beans, but Justin was sure it was freeze-dried. It didn’t matter—he was grateful for a hot meal and the chance to stretch his legs.
Feldstein waved back, motioning him over.
Carefully placing the tray on the table, Justin dropped into the remaining open seat. “Hey. How’s everyone doing?”
“Oh, peachy. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die in glorious battle against the League of Sol,” Feldstein replied.
Mateus looked down her nose and shook her head in between bites of turkey. “I thought I was the morbid one around here.”
“I am thankful to God to be alive,” Adeoye said, his voice barely audible over the noise of the mess hall. “It seems like a miracle that we’re all sitting here together, breaking bread.”
Justin ate a forkful of mashed potatoes. Compared to ration bars, it was like eating five-star gourmet food. “Or proof of highly improbable events occurring in the universe.”
Feldstein gave him a withering glare. “Oh, come on.”
“Just calling it like I see it,” Justin replied. “I’m grateful we’re all here.” He made eye contact with Mateus. “Thought we lost you for a few minutes there.”
“It’ll take more than that for those Leaguers to kill me.”
As they continued eating, the volume suddenly increased on the wall-mounted holoprojector, causing nearly everyone in the mess hall to turn toward it. The Oval Office came into focus, with President Nolan seated behind the desk. His voice carried across the mess. “My fellow citizens of the Terran Coalition, I come to you tonight as we celebrate our victory over the League of Sol.”
Justin noted that every eye around him was on the holoprojector.
“I first wish to thank the brave men and women of the Coalition Defense Force. We can all recall from the long annals of human history when small groups of people accomplished nearly impossible tasks. General Irvine, may her soul rest in peace, was one of those people. Under her leadership, two hundred ships held the line to stop a thousand.” Nolan appeared to be overcome by emotion. “We’re still pulling our honored dead and wounded from the ships and wrecks above Canaan, and the melted alloy from the League’s weapons hasn’t fully cooled. Yet we as citizens of our great nation know what is asked of us in the days ahead.”
“Maybe I should’ve voted for him,” Feldstein commented sotto voce.
Nolan stared directly into the camera. “I came into office thinking my hardest task would be to wrangle a balanced budget while getting Liberals and Liberal-Democrats to work together.” A small smile creased his face. “I doubt I’m alone in saying I wish that were our hardest task for tomorrow. But it’s not. A great man who sat in an office not unlike this one once said that freedom is only a generation away from extinction. My father knew that when he joined the CDF to fight the Saurians, who at the time represented the most significant threat we’d ever faced. I, like many of us, believed that with defeat of the Saurian empire, the Terran Coalition was the sole galactic superpower in our region of the Milky Way.”
Justin stole a few glances at his friends. They were all nodding. I wonder where he’s going with this.
“That belief was a mistake. We beat too many of our swords into plowshares and allowed too much of our defense infrastructure to be mothballed, where it withered away. It was my mistake not to do something about the structural problems in our military when I was sworn in as your president. I can only ask the forgiveness of the citizens of the Terran Coalition and pledge that I will do everything in my power to win this war. Together, we will beat our plowshares back into swords. We will fight across space, on our planets, in asteroid belts, and wherever else this enemy hides. What is our aim? Unconditional surrender of the League of Sol. To sum it up, we won’t stop until we reach Earth—and victory!”
Wild cheers broke out along with sustained applause.
“Shut up! He’s still talking,” Justin yelled, as did others.
The tumult died down quickly.
“Life will change within the Terran Coalition. Those of you old enough to remember the height of the Saurian wars will no doubt recognize some of the measures we’re considering—things like nationalizing manufacturing to prioritize weapons, armor, starships, and other needed war material. Though millions of our citizens are lining up to volunteer to fight, a draft must remain on the table. Let there be no doubt… this will be a long war. It’s a war worth fighting and the challenge of our generation. I plan to speak to you often over these next months, and I ask everyone to set aside our political differences to work together as citizens of the Terran Coalition. We will form a unity government by the end of the week that includes all major parties. I have asked the leaders of our major religions to come together and plan a week-long prayer-and-fasting event.” Nolan bit his lip. “To have any hope of
