Excerpt: Theta Six

"What's going on, Captain?" he called down to the man in deep red standing in the center of the large room, commanding his people.

The captain glanced over his shoulder at Page and the colonel was sure he heard the other man mutter something about him being on the bridge. More insubordination. Page recognized it easily. It seethed out of him without even trying so it was easy to spot in other soldiers. It was the reason he was on this blasted mission, the reason he was on this ship that now tossed and turned, his stomach mimicking the constant movement in a queasy dance.

Finally the captain turned to face him. "We're under attack. Sir." He added the "sir" almost as an afterthought causing Page to smirk. He wasn't supposed to be here. Not on this ship, not on this bridge. He wasn't part of this branch of the military, ferrying people and troops around the galaxy, getting into dogfights in space. He was a tag-along. He was supposed to be on the ground, getting dirty and shot at with gravity pulling at you and heavy gear to weigh you down even more.

He had flown fighters before. Back when wars were mostly fought on Terra firma but that was a long time ago when he was young and brash and dumb. With age comes great wisdom his grandfather used to tell him. He had accepted that. General Wes Page was the wisest person Page knew, aside from his Gram Lela. He fully expected, as he got older, to find this great wisdom, for it to just suddenly appear and he would be like his Pops and Gram but...things don't generally work that easily. The only thing Page found as he got older was that he was slower and hurt more after a mission and that he, unbelievably, got dumber. Because if he had gotten wiser, smarter he sure wouldn't be in this mess he was in now. He wouldn't be on this damned ship, under attack by the X while babysitting some damn kid that he chased half way across the galaxy.