Chapter 19: How High the Price

22 December 2017 – Hilltop Road, Lancaster, Massachusetts

Any cadet who took part in Sabrina’s uprising learned what their punishment would be within two weeks of reporting back from Thanksgiving break. Though the Academy hadn’t dismissed any cadets, Sabrina still walked the knife’s edge on that. She would be gone if the Commandant heard one negative word about her before the end of the academic year.

The Academy stripped cadets who supported Sabrina by skipping class or ignoring Fairhaven of any honors standing they held. No firstie involved would graduate with distinction, regardless of their performance. According to the rumor, supporters might also lose their class ranking, meaning they would automatically rank lower than non-supporters.

Post-USAFA assignments for graduating firsties are distributed based on class rank. Cadets who were once all but guaranteed assignments near the top of their preference list now face receiving much less desirable postings.

Sabrina soon learned what silencing felt like. People she met in BCT wouldn’t talk to her. Most of her cadet chain of command spoke to her only when necessary during their official duties, and they ensured it wasn’t necessary often. People left their seats when Sabrina approached their table in Mitchell or Arnold Hall. Thank God Linda still talked to her.

The scream of the Citation’s engines had masked Sabrina’s cry of frustration into her travel pillow as the chartered jet sped down the runway of Colorado Springs Airport three days earlier. Gazing out the window at the Rockies as the plane gained altitude, she had wondered if she really wanted to return to the Academy after the New Year’s holiday.

Sabrina now sat on her parents’ couch, hugging a pillow to her chest and staring off into space. Six inches of new snow from a storm that began early last night and lasted into the morning covered the ground.

She’d normally love to see the new snow, but her thousand-yard stare while she considered her doubtful future at the Academy meant the view outside didn’t register. She knew well that doing the right thing wasn’t always easy, but it hadn’t ever been this painful before. She was sure that no one would give her an award this time.

Outside, the drone of the snowblower stopped. The sudden silence startled Sabrina. Now the busy ‘scrape, scrape, scrape’ sounds of a snow shovel drew near as her father finished the snow removal to his exacting standards. Sabrina heard the garage door open and close, followed by her father stomping the snow off his boots.

When he entered the house, the door to the back hall opened behind her. The swish of nylon reached her ears as he removed his snow jacket and pants. He appeared in her peripheral vision and sat next to her on the couch. Gathering her in a hug, Jeff kissed the top of her head. They sat together silently.

“You want to talk about it some more?” Jeff asked some minutes later. “Would that help?”

Sabrina shrugged in response.

“Do you think it was wrong to stand up for that girl?”

“No,” came her weak whisper.

“So why was it wrong to stand up for yourself, then?” Another shrug. “Sabrina, what you did was no different than when you stood up to Glen Oglethorpe in middle school or any of the other times you’ve done so.”

Sabrina couldn’t help herself.

“It’s called ‘junior high,’ you elitist snob.”

Sabrina loved to needle her father about attending a private college preparatory boarding school instead of a public high school. When the tickling started, she tried to twist out of his grasp, but Jeff was too strong. He also slapped her hand away when she tried to reach for his pressure points.

“Jesus, did you change your workout?” she asked when he released her. “Your grip’s way stronger than I remember!”

“A little,” her father admitted. “I’m working on a new project which requires good grip strength.”

“What sort of new project?”

“The secret kind. If I tell you, I have to tickle you to death.”

Jeff raised his hands as if he were about to tickle her again. She squeaked and scampered away.

“I’ll keep any questions on that subject to myself then, thanks,” Sabrina said. “When will Mom and Alex be home?”

Once again, Ryan wasn’t coming home for the holidays.

“They called while I was outside. They’ve already left Hanscom and will be home in less than an hour. The highways are mostly clear now, but the surface roads are still a little sketchy.”

“I hope there won’t be any big storms after Christmas. I’d like to try and catch up with my friends from high school again before I head back to the Academy.”

“So you’ve decided you’re going back after all?”

“It finally clicked why the Commandant was so pissed at me, Dad. I could have handled things better. I could have worked through proper channels before staging my little mutiny. Running away won’t solve anything.”

“From a legal standpoint, don’t say ‘my mutiny’ around anyone else, Sabrina. Not even your brother or your mother. Admit you did wrong, but don’t admit you feel it was a mutiny.”

“I’ve already kinda shot myself in the foot, Dad...”

“Have you? You can’t get out from under this if you keep your nose clean for the rest of the year?”

“Dad, friends I made during my first summer there won’t even talk to me! What I did and encouraged others to do is jeopardizing all of our careers! The Commandant is salivating in her hope of getting rid of me!”

“‘You don’t go into battle because you’re sure of victory. You go into battle because it’s the right thing to do.’”

Sabrina blinked. That quote came from a book by C.J. Redwine that she had read during her senior year of high school. She loved the book, but she had felt, correctly, that she would be too busy at the Academy to follow the series while a cadet. Had her father read the book? How did he know that quote? Jeff interpreted her surprised look.

“I looked up the title of that book when you started reading it. That quote popped up in the search results. It’s quite appropriate right now, as is one you might have heard me say from time to time: ‘With your shield, or on it.’

“For you, your ‘shield’ represents your commitment to this country and its citizens. Abandoning it would mean abandoning your honor in the face of an enemy. You were honor-bound to do what you did. Doing the right thing is often more difficult than turning a blind eye to the situation, Sabrina. It frequently costs us more than we expect and more than we deserve.

“Will your actions have consequences? Yes, because every action does, whether intended or unintended. What you did and why you did it says a lot about your character. How you face what’s coming next will say even more.”

Sabrina and her family trooped next door to the Jones’ house for a visit after their mid-afternoon Christmas dinner. Tommy was home this year, along with his older brothers and their families. Sabrina hadn’t seen Tommy since she left for the Academy. Their schedules had been out of sync the few times she’d been home. They traded the occasional email, but that had been about it.

Anne Jones hugged Sabrina tight when the teen stepped into her house for the first time in well over a year. She was proud of her boys, but she’d watched this little girl grow up and meet every challenge along the way, including some very big ones. Given how close she and Tommy were, Anne felt like Sabrina was part of their family, too.

“Hi, Mrs. Jones!”

“Sabrina. You look wonderful. The Academy’s treating you well?”

“It has its ... challenges,” she answered cautiously.

“Well, come in! Tommy’s back in the family room with his brothers and their families. He’ll be glad to see you.”

‘Glad’ didn’t quite describe it. ‘Gobsmacked’ did, however. Tommy stared at Sabrina like he hadn’t seen her in a decade rather than sixteen months. Sabrina hugged her best friend tight, which drew envious looks from his older brothers, John and Michael.

“Hey, TJ! I’ve missed your face!” Sabrina chirped while she molded herself to Tommy. He didn’t mind at all.

“Holy smokes, Sabrina, you look terrific!”

Tommy looked her over like he was trying to memorize every inch of what he saw. She would have been incensed had anyone else looked at her that way, but because it was Tommy, she didn’t notice.

“You’re looking pretty good yourself! Westfield State’s agreeing with you, then?”

“It took me a while to adjust to life there, but yeah, not bad. How’s the Academy?”