She always made it a point to sit front and center during Commodore McGregor’s lecture on advanced combat spacecraft maneuvers, hanging on to his every word. Her long red-gold hair would always be bound in a braid that cascaded down her back, a splash of color against the drab gray Academy uniform they were all forced to wear.
He had noticed her from the first day of class despite her diminuitive height, noting her delicate features, her graceful and confident stride, and her intelligent emerald green eyes.
Her name was Lt. Katherine Megrath.
“I don’t see what the big deal is, Montgomery,” Lt. Anthony Hawke, his roommate and best friend, whispered, elbowing him in the middle of one of McGregor’s lectures. “You have this thing with women, none of them can resist you. It’s almost the middle of the term, and you haven’t even tried to ask her name.”
Lt. Commander Zachary Montgomery shot Anthony a disgusted glance. “I already know her name, Hawke,” he muttered, slumping over his armrest in an attempt to get McGregor to ignore their conversation. “And I do not have a ‘thing’ with women, okay? We all have the same problems getting dates on Saturday nights.”
“Sure, Montgomery, your problem is picking which one of those practically lining up outside our door you should take out each weekend,” Hawke said with an expression of disgust. He glanced at Katherine and whistled appreciatively. “And here you are acting like a high school kid just because that gorgeous redhead has a reputation for brushing off anyone who musters the courage to ask her out.” Hawke looked him over in speculation. “Unless you’re just scared that your vaunted charm won’t work on her?”
“It isn’t that at all, and you know it,” Zach hissed, a little bit too loudly because this time he managed to catch McGregor’s attention.
“Yes, Commander Montgomery, I’m sure your less experienced classmates would like to hear your words of wisdom on what to do when an enemy fighter is locked at your tail and you are pursuing another on whom your missiles are locked,” McGregor asked in a sharp voice.
Zachary groaned. He and McGregor were good friends outside of the classroom, but within the classroom, he was a dragon to everyone. “I would… uh…”
McGregor gave him a smoldering glare and called someone else. “Lt. Megrath, kindly help Commander Montgomery while he is currently getting his tail blown in the process.”
“Fire missiles on target and, if air space allows it, pull up to shake off the pursuer and avoid debris at the same time,” Megrath replied without any hesitation, casting an amused glance at Zachary, who shrugged and grinned back sheepishly.
“That question was an easy one,” muttered Hawke under his breath. “What has gotten into you in this class, Montgomery? In simulation, you would’ve made the same decision without even having to think about it.”
“Shut up, Hawke, before you get us both into
more trouble,” he retorted under his breath. “Just shut up.”
It was two months after the McGregor incident that he finally met her.
Hawke had organized a rather large dance party in celebration of his twentieth birthday on a weekend, and he had rented a large function hall near the Academy campus to serve as a venue for his party. The entire batch had been invited – and then some – and the dance floor was teeming with people, the scent of people and just a little bit too much alcohol hanging in the air, mixing with the mobile’s fake smoke.
Zach was leaning against the wall near the refreshment table, hidden in the shadows. He was never much for dancing or drinking, but he had come because Hawke was his roommate and his friend – and he wanted to make sure that the birthday boy would be able to get back to their dorm in one piece. If it weren’t for that, he would have made his escape a long time ago, before some other girl classmate of theirs found him and dragged him back unto the dance floor.
That, and the fact that he had a pleasant view of Katherine Megrath’s graceful form as she gyrated on the dance floor in perfect command of the music and of herself, her red-gold tresses loose and brushing against her cheek with every move. She had the lithe form of a dancer and even if she had never formally trained in the art, which he doubted, she had a natural talent that he was sorely lacking in.
It was funny, he reflected wryly, seeing in his mind’s eye how he must have looked on the dance floor earlier, jiggling totally offbeat to the music. He was one of the most lethal combatants on the mat in almost all martial arts taught in the Academy – but his coordination seemed to disappear once he was asked to move to music other than the one playing within his focused mind during battle.
She excused herself from the person she was dancing with and made her way towards the refreshment table, a becoming glow on her face and a smile on her expressive face. Zach could feel his heart thud in anticipation as she approached and wondered once again what it was about her that made him act so out of character and like a high school boy again. Hidden from her by the shadows he was lurking in, he watched her take a cup of the liberally spiked punch and delicately sip from it, wiping her lightly sweating brow with the back of one hand.
Or so he thought.
“Commander Montgomery?” she said with an amused twinkle in her eyes, looking into his shadows and pinning him with her emerald gaze. “You shouldn’t be quite so anti-social, you know – and it also isn’t polite to stare, especially when you don’t allow the one you’re staring at stare back at you.”
Zachary reluctantly emerged from the shadows that he had retreated into, a disgruntled expression on his face. “I was not staring,” he muttered defensively, thinking she wouldn’t hear. But she did, and one of her gracefully winged brows shot up in a derisive manner. “And good evening to you, too, Lt. Katherine Megrath. Okay, fine, maybe I was – but how did you know I was here?” he asked, approaching the refreshment table and taking a cup of punch himself.
“You know my name?” she said, with a small, pleased smile. “From McGregor’s class, I suppose.”
He shrugged, neither confirming nor denying her statement. He wasn’t about to admit that long before McGregor began calling the roll during the second week of class, he had already pulled some strings with his registration assistant friends to find out who she was, where she came from, and if she was already spoken for. “You know my name.”
“That’s understandable, Commander,” she said, amusement creeping into her tone. “Everyone in the Academy knows your name, rank, academic history, and probable future.”
He grinned, pleased he didn’t have to do any impressing by himself – he hated that kind of thing but had the urge to do that with her anyway. “And are you duly impressed?” he joked, hoping she would say yes, but knowing she wouldn’t.
“On the contrary, I’ve always been of the opinion that reports about you are highly exaggerated,” she said coolly, but the twinkle in her eyes showed that she was teasing him – he hoped. “I mean, you can’t even slink off into a shadow without being inconspicuous – so how can you be the youngest cadet ever to be invited to an espionage training mission with the elite Stealth Corps?”
He was about to open his mouth to say that he had not only gone on the training mission but had also been invited to join the Stealth Corps as a trainee even before graduating, when he realized that she had been aware he had been in the shadows all along. His eyebrow went up considerably, and he stared at her in teasing speculation. “Ah. So that’s how you knew I was here – you saw me sneak into the shadows,” he said with a grin, nodding sagely. “Been watching long?”
He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw her blush before she sipped from her cup to hide her cheeks. She shrugged casually, “Of course it was rather difficult to miss the spectacle you had made of yourself on the dance floor,” she quipped. He flinched at that, and she put one hand to her mouth to cover a gasp. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “That was a mean thing to say.”
He managed a tentative smile, although he had to admit that his pride was rather hurt that he had seen him – dancing. He decided to play his hand. “Are you sorry enough to agree to go out on a date with me next weekend?” he asked, taking a step closer to her, and rather surprised to see her reflexively step back from him.
“No, not that sorry.” she said with an unrepentant grin, tossing her hair jauntily. “Besides, we have an exam in air combat maneuvers lecture the Tuesday after that. Not all of us are like you, you know, to whom it is all second nature. Good night, Commander – I’m going back to campus.” She put the empty cup on the table and turned around, walking away.
“No – even the weekend after the exam?” he persisted following her and relinquishing his hiding place. She kept on walking, but she glanced at him as she shook her head. “No – as in never?” He reached out for her elbow and she turned around to face him, the teasing look replaced by a more uncertain one.
She hesitated, and he saw it as a good sign. “No – not never,” she said slowly. She smiled mischievously. “Commander Montgomery, I promise to go out with you if you can take me somewhere where we can dance the night away.”
Zachary stood in front of her, stunned, his jaw growing slack and his mouth hanging open. “But you’ve seen me – that’s as good as saying never,“ he said with groan.
She shrugged, but he could swear he saw a flare of regret in her eyes. “Not really,” she said with a small grin. “Never is only what you make of it.” She gently took his hand off her elbow. “Good night, Commander.”
Zachary followed her with his eyes until she finally found her way out the door. If it weren’t for the small flare of regret in her eyes, he would damn her to perdition and find someone else to train his sights on – that and her smile, her wit, her… dammit it was everything about her! He gritted his teeth determinedly. He wasn’t the top student in their batch for no reason.
He was going to plan a strategy to win Katherine
Megrath’s heart.
A Christmas Waltz -- Katherine - Evasions