Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10

by Randolph Lalonde

  “You will notice that she is much shorter than average, just over one point five metres, but she is in excellent shape. Seeing all of you people here did not distract her from her purpose, she did not show off, but took her practice runs before a timed trial. The course was not adjusted to suit any of her shortcomings, and it kicked her ass for the first week. She has never had a group or partner on this course, and makes the co-op section look like a walk in a meadow while she’s taking it solo. I encourage you all to try to solo the co-op section once in your off time sometime in the next month, just to see how good she is.”

  “There’s a co-op section?” Alice asked in a whisper.

  “Fourth segment,” Pip replied.

  Alice could have hit him, there was nothing marking that long section of the course as a co-op segment, and it was the most puzzling area. She wasn’t able to finish the obvious path through without falling into shock netting. Instead, she learned to go around in not-so-obvious ways, climbing posts, crossing supports, and doing a horizontal ladder climb underneath the last obstacle for that segment on bars that were so far apart she had to catch two of the middle ones with her feet and use her momentum to finish, something she still hadn’t mastered.

  Pip continued. “Valent is also studying full time and volunteering for the Peace Service part time as a solo patroller and guide. This is the kind of person who gets into an advanced program and will outrank you when you finish training. By the time you graduate she will have already seen things you cannot believe, have experience in command, and be able to kick your ass back into place without breaking a sweat. I do not expect you to surpass her example, but I will send you straight home if you ever stop trying. You just saw her set a record, and if it’s not beaten by the end of the month, I’m going to hold your class back until I’m satisfied that you are not soft. The good news is that you will not have to beat her record alone. You will have teams to practice this course with,” he said to the gathering. “You have six hours to complete it, anyone who does not is rejected from their program. You will have to apply again next year. I’m going to make sure that you’re good enough to serve under Alice Valent by the time your finished here, or you won’t serve at all. Now, group one, head in slowly.” He pointed at the group of Officer Academy Trainees and five of their vacsuits blinked several times before they headed down to the dark entrance of the obstacle course. “Your goal is to finish together, you will not finish this course solo the first time out, I guarantee it. Be careful, your suits will save you from most broken bones, but it won’t save you from the beating this course will give you if you do not pay attention.” Pip turned to her then. “Enjoy your last day as a civilian, Alice,” Pip said to her quietly, offering his hand. “I didn’t think you’d finish when I saw you here the first day, but you changed my mind on the second.”

  “Too short?” Alice said, shaking his hand.

  “No, I’ve never seen anyone take a beating that bad and come back unless it was a direct order. You must have a little masochist in you.”

  “Just trying to measure up to my own expectations, Sargent,” Alice replied. She pulled the tie from her straightened red hair and shook her mane loose.

  “Keep it up, you’re going to make one hell of an Officer,” Pip said.

  “Thank you, Sargent Markase. I’ll be back for my physical qualifier,” Alice said. “Install a few surprises before then if you can.”

  “Count on it.”

  Chapter 15

  The People of Freeground Nation

  Liara had the pleasure of seeing the supplies she’d brought with her delivered to the local warehouse at the centre of the dense community of Eagleton. They didn’t record how much went in on the Freeground computer system because they were afraid the food would be taken.

  Most of the residents were already receiving less than Liara had ever had to live on, and it was meagre stuff most people called ‘hot mush’ that was just solid enough so you needed a spoon. It still slipped between the tines of a fork, and it was too thick to drink. The supplies she brought were measured immediately and would be used to supplement the rations they already had, nearly doubling each meal for a week. It was super-dense forma, nothing special in terms of food, but using the processing machine and some water, it was amazing how much food that one ton of dry food could become. The fruit was given to the children and their joyful surprise would be a sight she and her companions would never forget.

  That evening, after the last meal of the day, Liara and Dotty were surprised to see Karmen join them. She was out of armour, in a civilian vacsuit that was plain in cut and dull green in colour. The woman’s big smile wasn’t. “I’m sorry it took me so long to come see you,” she said. “And that you’re seeing us like this.” Karmen gestured at the courtyard in front of the massive transparent bulkhead and at the worn balconies across from it. “I grew up in this community, it was cleaner, a better place then.”

  “We’re happy to be invited in,” Liara said. Her meal bar was almost gone, a chocolate thing that took a long time to chew but was still satisfying enough. All of her people dined on emergency provisions instead of taking a share of whatever was on offer, they didn’t need to add to the already problematic food situation in Eagleton.

  “I’m wondering, did you get any messages through to the common communication system?” Karmen asked.

  “I was sure I didn’t, everything reported access and restriction errors.”

  “Well, one of your messages was forwarded to me,” Karmen said. “Through a command priority address.”

  Liara looked to Remmy who was taking his time with his meal bar, a yellow thing that might have been lemon flavour. “Nope, wasn’t me. I tried a few of my old hacks but they closed those doors a long time ago.”

  “You might have a friend in the government, then,” Karmen said. “I’d keep your channel open. We wouldn’t have known anything about when and where you were being transported if there wasn’t a leak.”

  “That’s encouraging,” Liara said. “How much trouble are you going to be in for that kidnapping caper?”

  “There may be a new mark on my record, and Sig has been reprimanded by the Admiralty again, but he’s far from being demoted, and his career aspirations ended once he got his own ship. He’s a good friend to have. I use him too much.”

  “I don’t think he sees it that way. I’m impressed with the morale of the people here. Even with the food and sanitation problems everyone seems to be working together.”

  “I’ve been meaning to ask,” Dot said. “With all the garbage piling up, why don’t you send some of it through the airlock?”

  “It’s not the way we think. Everything can be converted to energy, or recycled into something else. Everything we have is already aboard, if we start throwing things away, we’ll have less. What we have less of doesn’t matter, only that there’s less of it.”

  “It makes sense,” Dot said. “I’m sorry I didn’t think of it that way.”

  “That’s the real Freeground way,” Karmen said. “We have to believe that we’ll have the opportunity to process all this, that we’ll see some normalcy again. In the meantime we work together. We share our neighbour’s burden, and celebrate each other’s successes. We’re all in a small can, drifting through a big universe, and we have to depend on each other if we are to improve our situation at all. I think that’s been forgotten by a lot of people, but not everyone. We still teach our children, we still work to repair what we can, and make sure that everyone has a chance to eat and rest.”

  “That sounds like Haven Shore,” Dot said. “Now I know where Ayan got the idea.”

  “I’ve been through the data you sent about Tamber and Haven Shore,” Karmen said. “It seems like an incredible place.”

  “It’s still early days,” Liara said. “We don’t help nearly as many people as we’d like to, but we’re expanding. The recruitment bases are becoming cities, and Haven Shore itself grows every month. It’s far from perfe
ct, but I wasn’t there long before I decided it was worth defending.”

  “And that’s why you wear a military uniform,” Karmen said with a smile, gingerly touching the Triton Fleet emblem on Liara’s chest. “I know what that kind of service is like. The need to give something back.”

  “That brings me to a hard question. My people have looked at the chances Freeground Alpha has at getting through the nebula, and they don’t like the conclusions they’re being led to. Knowing that, they are making contingency plans. They don’t have enough room on their ships to transport everyone on Freeground, but if they could shuttle you to a planet so the station could continue on as a distraction, then move groups of you from there, the chances of everyone getting to Tamber safely would be much higher. It would take less time too, because we could use the Triton. They have new faster than light technology, and room for thousands at a time.”

  “We may be more vulnerable if we’re bound on a planet, instead of a moving station. If the Order realizes that the station is just a distraction, they could turn and attack whatever planet we’ve temporarily settled on.”

  “That’s true, but still only one of a few plans they’re putting together,” Liara replied. “Another is to simply use our fastest ships to move people off the station right to Tamber, making many runs back and forth, reducing the pressure on Freeground Alpha and getting the most vulnerable people to safety first.”

  “That’s a plan I’d support.”

  “Would your people be willing to leave?” Liara asked.

  “I could convince most of them to go. Some of our military would want to remain behind to see if they could save the station, but the civilians have seen this station at its worst. Last week two hundred and seventeen died because of a life support failure. That’s going to happen again. This part of the station is too old, it was never meant to handle this kind of population.”

  “I’ll pass the word on.”

  “Good. I’m afraid I have bad news,” Karmen said. “There is a squad of soldiers on their way to rescue you. You would have had time to leave in your shuttle if I warned you earlier, but I wanted to use this time to meet you personally. Now I’m glad I did, Lieutenant Commander.”

  “Likewise. Are they here now?”

  “Any minute. I’m sorry, you’ll have to go with them. We could fight them off, but keeping you here for long was never my intention, so we’re going to take you to the transit station now, and you’ll have to go with them.”

  “They’d actually attack if we didn’t?” Dot asked.

  “Definitely,” Remmy said as Karmen nodded.

  “Then let’s get to the station. Thank you for your hospitality.” Liara stood and was joined by Remmy then Dotty.

  They made it to Eagleton Station just in time to see the doors burst open. A flood of heavily armed Freeground Marines pushed through. “Lieutenant Commander Liara Erron! We’re here to rescue you!” one of them shouted.

  “My hero,” Remmy snickered.

  “We’re coming, no one here will fight you,” Liara said, walking towards the doors. “We weren’t kidnapped, we were just visiting.”

  “Are you sure? You’re not being coerced into saying that?” asked one of the soldiers while the rest of them pointed their weapons at the broad hallway leading to the courtyard.

  “Leave these people alone, please,” Liara said firmly. “I’ll go with you.”

  “You three, stay here, make sure no one tries to follow,” ordered a Sergeant. “Shoot anyone who comes through these doors.”

  Liara, Dotty and Remmy were rushed down the transit station stairs, then pushed into a tube car. “We’re really fine,” Liara said. “It wasn’t a kidnapping. You don’t have to leave anyone behind.”

  “I’m sorry, you have no experience with these people, I’m the expert here,” the Sergeant said as his team finished rushing on to the car and he shouted; “Go, go, go!”

  “You’re a real man now, rescued us from the big, bad, family neighbourhood,” Remmy scoffed.

  Chapter 16

  Iruuk Murlen

  After finishing her History, Law and Fleet Regulation qualifier tests all in the same morning, there was nothing Alice wanted to do more than to shoot something. She breezed through the Fleet Regulation qualifier exam, scoring a ninety-seven percent, passed the Law qualifier exam with an eighty-one percent, and just barely made her qualifying grade on history with a seventy point three percent. Anything lower than seventy would have kept her from entering the Fast Track Officer Program for a year. She would have to beg her way into the normal, nine-month program and possibly take a history preparation class at the same time.

  Passing should have been enough, but the system showed her the test scores of everyone who passed all three of those exams while she was having lunch. She was in third place for the top Fleet Regulation qualifier score, middling on her Galactic Common Law qualifier, and had the lowest passing grade in History. Only ninety-six people managed to pass all three of those exams out of over two thousand applicants. She was astonished that she was competing with so many people.

  She still had four qualifier exams left. The physical qualifier didn’t worry her, the obstacle course would be different, but she knew she could handle it. The Combat Qualifier was a little frightening, she discovered that it would take place on a live course. The Common Systems and Engineering Qualifiers were terrifying. It was another holographic exam, and she had studied hard, but she had come to a point where she had no idea how much of the material she retained.

  That would keep until the next morning. Alice arrived at the obstacle course ready to take it on, only to find that applicants were being sent in teams of four. “What’s up with this?” Alice said to herself as she started stretching beside the observer stands overlooking the course field and the cliff beyond.

  She looked to the stands, where a number of uniformed Officers were sitting around Pip and Governor Anderson. Before she turned back to look at the line of people in training vacsuits, ready to attack the course with their group Captain Elson noticed her. She immediately shook her head and said something to Pip, who laughed and called a tall Nafalli trainee up. It looked like he was twice her height, with dark brown stripes over blonde.

  He found whatever Pip told him surprising, judging from the jerk of his long snout. It was Iruuk, Alaka Murlen’s son, who had undergone a significant growth spurt. She barely recognized him. Alice started walking to the back of the line, checking in on her command and control unit.

  Iruuk intercepted her, smiling. “We are being kept from this qualifier,” he told her. He fixed his deep blue eyes on her when she didn’t immediately respond. “You are Alice, yes?”

  “You are Iruuk, yes?” she replied with a smirk.

  His chuckle sounded like a deep huff-wuff, and he nodded. “I am, I didn’t think you’d recognize me though.”

  “I almost didn’t,” Alice said. “Are we getting tossed from the program?”

  “No, we are being kept from this qualifier because any team who they put us on would have an unfair advantage, so Captain Elson is passing us.”

  “What? We don’t get to record a score? I’ll go solo, I don’t care.”

  “We’re the record holders, and we have earned five points for taking the initiative and succeeding on our own,” he said, gently guiding her to a seat at the edge of the stands so the other candidates couldn’t hear. “No one was supposed to do this qualifier alone, but either one of us can beat their group records.”

  “Maybe we could do it as a duo,” Alice smiled at him. “You know, when everyone is finished.”

  “I’m not a show off,” Iruuk said, looking towards the field where a new group of four rushed the entrance of the obstacle course.

  She laughed at him for a moment then realized he was serious. “I’m sorry, I thought you were kidding. I guess I’m already used to competing for my spot. I’m still a little tense because I know what’s coming next.”

  “Com
bat qualifier,” Iruuk said. “That’s frightening, they wouldn’t let me run the course in advance.”

  “Rescue!” shouted Pip to a pair of Rangers. “Segment three, someone’s stuck in an electrified grabber.” The Rangers rushed towards the obstacle course.

  “Wow, how are they running this? I must have missed the instructions.”

  “They had to change it to make it more balanced because we got practice and passed on our own. Everyone is getting three attempts, but they have to finish today and they have to go with the team they are assigned to.”

  The Rangers opened a large access door, revealing a candidate who was pressed to the floor by a grabber arm in an enclosed section of the course. They deactivated the arm and rolled him out, pointing to the line. The burly applicant shook his head and limped away from the course. One Ranger shrugged then signalled that the applicant was withdrawing while the other closed the hatch so the teams inside the course could resume. “How long has this been going on?” Alice asked.

  “Nineteen minutes, everyone but us were called early,” Iruuk said.

  “Anyone make it through yet?”

  “No.”

  They watched as the first group of sixteen applicants finally made their way through. Nine finished the entire course, the rest bowed out or got trapped part way through. Alice felt for them, remembering what it was like the first time she tried the course, but she never got trapped. To her astonishment, one of the people who failed to finish was Nafalli, and she held her nose in shame all the way off the field. Iruuk watched her retreat silently, his sympathy for her clearly visible. He had a similar reaction when a Nafalli in the second group walked away from the course after falling into an electrified net.

  “This is going to go on for a long time,” Alice said. “Do we have to watch everyone else do –” she was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. Upon turning she was surprised to find herself nose to nose with Captain Elson.