Lt. General Niah Sidney-Miles

Niah stared at herself in the mirror, inspecting everything. Not a hair was out of place, pulled back tight. Her makeup, minimal as it was, survived the humidity of Arlington. Her crisp new U.S. Space Force uniform looked immaculate as she straightened the pins on the neck. She gazed at the shoulders, trying to imagine how that third star would look. Niah, cleared her thoughts, stood up straight, and walked out of the restroom back into the Pentagon’s inner corridor.

Her aide snapped alert and rushed over to give Niah one more inspection. As she searched the back of the jacket for wrinkles or stray fibers she said, “Everything looks good Ma’am.”

“Good… or perfect?” Niah asked, turning to look her aide in the eyes.