Don’t Shut Me Out

16 years ago Arinobu Kitazawa and Lawrence Aarons were friends. Fresh faced, eager to earn their place within the Cerberus Fleet, and always pushing each other to do better.

Arinobu still remembers their first meeting. Happening upon the broken door to their shared dormitory and a sheepish looking Lawrence.

“Sorry about the mess,” he had said.

Arinobu had smiled, inspecting the damage, and replied, “Don’t worry, we’ll get it fixed.”

11 years ago, Arinobu was waiting by a set of double oak doors, tapping his foot against the floor and glancing at his watch every few seconds.

“You’ve got another 5 minutes before we close the doors and start the exam,” a woman had told him, peeking her head through the doorway. She looked irritated but Arinobu ignored her in favour of glaring down the hallway.

At the three minute mark, he saw movement. A familiar figure jogged towards him.

Lawrence, out of breath and red in the face, slapped a hand against his arm. “Told you I’d make it.”

“Barely. Where’d you run from, Silver Campus?”

And Lawrence had just laughed as they stepped through the doors.

5 years ago, their worlds shifted.

Lawrence got promoted - the new Captain of The Stargazer - and Arinobu was left wondering where his application had faltered. He found himself leaning against the doorframe of The Stargazer’s bridge as Captain Aarons gave his speech.

“And to those of you who have stood by me all these years, I want to thank you for your continued support. It means the galaxy to me,” he had said, raising a glass. Then Lawrence had met Arinobu’s gaze, betraying nothing, but Arinobu knew he had done something to gain favour with those higher on the food chain. Call it a gut feeling. “Especially my good friend, Lieutenant Kitazawa. Without you I never would have made it this far.”

Maybe he had expected Arinobu to wither under the watchful gaze of the entire crew. Arinobu had other ideas.

“Chalk-shit,” he had mouthed, before slinking through the door.

1 year ago, Arinobu and Lawrence realised they were enemies. Sabotaging each other's efforts, playing political games that none of the crew seemed to be aware of, standing firmly on opposite sides of an ever growing conflict.

Arinobu had knocked quite forcefully on Lawrence’s door. Three thunderous bangs.

Lawrence barely opened it.

“Captain Kitazawa.”

“Major Aarons.”

A staring contest raged through the thin slit. Then Lawrence had grinned, looked down his nose at Arinobu with vicious mockery, “Why so upset? You could have had this too, you know, if only you’d stuck with the Ravagers.”

“I’d rather have sold my soul to a devil,” Arinobu had snarled and turned his back to the open door, “that would be a damn sight better than siding with the bastards trying to incite war.”