Luckily, he wasn't the only one having a bad time. Aboard the Jade Rabbit, a whole crowd of his companions were in the same boat. Compared with his low spirits, everyone else seemed much more upbeat.
Miss Seluce even tried to comfort him. "You should look at it this way: this is clearly a test from His Highness and Marshal Ikenroga! Once you pass, your future will be bright."
It was a textbook example of workplace politics. The problem was, Sobaek didn't want dangerous superiors like these taking too much interest in him.
Captain Peggese tried another approach, citing a precedent. "Besides, it isn't an impossible mission. More than a hundred years ago, an Imperial captain named Lieutenant Colonel Juma Fiti flew the cruiser Tempest Silverhide from the Heavenly Reach to New Atlantis in just forty-five days. Even by average travel time, that was a tougher journey than ours."
"New Atlantis sector?"
"Yes, that's what the people of Earth call it. Back then, the entire Commonwealth was still Imperial territory!"
Sobaek had never heard that story before. He wasn't sure whether it was true, but it did make him feel a little better. Not much, though.
"Juma Fiti was defecting at the time. She had to reach the Valvon system in New Atlantis as quickly as possible to be met by Alliance smugglers," Miss Seluce said, exasperated.
"It's true. People always pull off miracles when they're running for their lives." Sobaek could certainly relate.
Miss Seluce was left speechless with frustration. She turned to Captain Peggese. "That name may not be forbidden, exactly, but you won't find her in most military histories. She's not even in the Royal Naval Academy textbooks, yet you know all about her. Captain, your thinking is dangerous!"
"I was just talking about the facts, Chief