She smiled to herself I wonder where I'll be assigned. I hope they don't keep me here at headquarters. Unfortunately, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and collided head-on with another officer.
"Oww...that smarts," the brown-hair young man she ran into complained.
"I'm so sorry," Devana apologized, "It was completely my fault. I should have watched where I was going."
He flashed her a smile, "No problem...it happens. By the way, I'm Lance Powers."
"Devana Gravas," she smiled back. "You're out of uniform..."
Lance looked down at his leather jacket, shirt, pants, and boots, "Well, guess a uniform isn't top priority where I'm headed. Kind of hard to keep 'em in stock in the Denubian Galaxy."
"You're part of Mission Arus..."
"How'd you guess?" he grinned.
"Simple," she smiled, "Arus is the only Denubian Galaxy assignment."
"Very true," he nodded as they started down the hall together, "And where have our esteemed superiors decided you will be sent?"
"I'm on my way to find out right now," she replied. "I just graduated from the Academy."
"Ohh...a rookie," he smirked.
"Well, this rookie graduated at the top of her class," Devana retorted. "They told me it's highly unusual for a 'rookie' to get whatever assignment they've picked out for me. They made such a big deal of it at graduation..."
"I'd like to see what it is..." Lance was genuinely curious now.
They turned down the hall towards Admiral Gravas', Devana's father's, office.
"Then why don't you come in with me?" Devana stepped in front of the door.
Lance was puzzled, "They sent you here to pick up your assignment?"
"Well," she smiled as the door opened, "I guess they thought my father would get a kick out of giving me my first assignment."
"Your father is Admiral Gravas?" Lance suddenly found himself very nervous, "I better be going....have to meet with the rest of my unit."
"Coward..." Devana called as Lance started back down the hallway.
She walked into the office and gave her father a hug.
"Devana," he smiled, "Your mother and I are so proud of you."
"My assignment?" she asked.
"Arus," he said, his voice filled with pride, "You've been assigned to Mission Arus."
Two days later, Devana was meeting with her unit for the first time. Won't Lance be surprised to see me.... she smiled.
She walked through the door of Meeting Room A, where they would be debriefed, and had the satisfaction of seeing Lance's jaw drop. She approached the young man wearing red, indicating he was their captain.
"Lieutenant Devana Gravas," she introduced herself formally.
"Captain Keith Weston," he replied, "please take a seat, you might as well be as informal as the rest of us. Formality makes missions like this difficult."
She took a seat between a young boy wearing green and a young man wearing black.
"I'm Pidge," the boy introduced himself and pointed to a hefty man, "and this is Hunk. You walked past Lance and the guy on your other side is..."
"Sven," the man in question turned and identifyed himself, smiling.
Devana felt her heart skip a beat. He's perfect...and I love that accent! I hope this assignment takes a long time....
Unknown to Devana, Sven was having a similar reaction. I fear this lovely lady will forever be haunting my dreams. I wonder what good thing I did to be graced by such beauty?
"Devana, the rest of us have already agreed to this...you do understand that this assignment could be permanent? We all may spend the rest of our lives on Arus defending it from the forces of King Zarkon." Keith spoke.
She nodded. "I understand."
Sven found himself constantly looking in her direction, trying to memorize her appearance. She was several inches shorter than himself with ash colored hair and dark green eyes. To hold her close would be heaven....pure heaven. But could she care for me? Sven sighed, wondering if, perhaps, love at first sight was the way to describe what was happening to him. They'd barely met, yet he felt so drawn to her. I must speak with her. Am I capable of speaking with her? What if she thinks my accent is silly? What if I mumble? No one has ever affected me like this before....
"Ok," Keith said, "Just so things are straight from the start...you all know I'm in command, Sven is second in line. Lance is third. Hunk and Devana hold the same rank and then we have Pidge. As you can see, it's a pretty loose chain of command."
Devana smiled, "I'm sure I'll enjoy working with all of you."
"Keith," Pidge piped up, "Not to be rude but why the sudden addition of a sixth member to the unit? It was supposed to be just us five guys."
"Well Pidge, I hate to say this but Galaxy Garrison decided to add another because of your age. Our last assignment was pretty mild and you are only a year out of the Academy. Truthfully, they had considered reassigning you and just having Devana take your spot but the guys and I managed to convince them to keep you on with the provision that Devana still be added to the group."
Sven cleared his throat, "At the time it wasn't certain if we would have Devana or someone else. There were several in the running...many seasoned officers and one final year Academy Cadet. The Cadet beat everyone else out."
Devana stood up, "Perhaps I should step out while you guys sort things."
Keith nodded his agreement. "We'll see you tomorrow at the space port when we launch."
Sven followed her out of the room, "Devana..."
She turned and smiled, "Yes?"
I want to kiss you... He nearly spoke it outloud. "I wouldn't be too concerned with Keith's talk with Pidge. Both of you will still go."
"Devana!" a raven-haired young woman in a light blue uniform called. "Did you meet with your unit yet? I just got back from my meeting."
"Lisa," Devana nodded to her former Academy roommate, "This is Sven. He's second in command of Mission Arus. Sven, this is Lisa. We were roommates at the Academy."
"And your assignment is?" Sven asked.
"Project Explorer," Lisa replied, "I'm part of the Sea Team."
"Very good," Sven replied, "Devana, I will see you tomorrow when we depart. Lisa, I wish you well."
The two girls watched him head back into the room before walking off.
"So Devana," Lisa grinned, "When do you plan on throwing yourself into his arms?
"Lisa!!!"
"Oh C'mon Devana. I saw how you were looking at him. You've fallen for him and you've fallen hard."
Devana smiled, "Lisa, I've always known that I'll only fall in love once. I wasn't expecting it to be love at first sight. I only met him earlier today."
"Well," Lisa tossed in, "He's definately noticing you. He was looking at you like you were God's gift to men...him in particular."
"If we're meant to be it'll happen on its own Lisa. He is gorgeous though isn't he?"
"And that accent didn't hurt any did it?" Lisa probbed. "He is definately your type."
"I'm not throwing myself at him," Devana decided, "If he wants me he'll have to come to me."