by Jerry Aubin
Zax and Kalare gaped at each other for a moment, but then jumped up and sprinted to catch up with the Flight Boss. He must have heard their footfalls as they caught up because he spoke without turning around or otherwise acknowledging their presence.
“It sounds like someone is already calling the planet home though it appears to be a pretty bare-bones colony. I cannot imagine the Captain deciding to do anything other than snatching the rock out from under them by force. It has been far too long since we’ve been able to make Landfall and everyone is starting to go a little nuts.”
The Boss maintained his nearly double-time pace as he continued to speak. “If I’m right about all of this, then we’ve a couple weeks’ worth of scanning and scouting missions ahead of us to gather the intel we need. I want to use that time to run you two through some special training with the Marines. You may have seen on the newsvid this morning that I’m starting a search for someone new to mentor. The person I’ve been mentoring for the last few years just got promoted to replace Daedalus.”
Zax almost tripped over himself as the Boss stopped without warning and faced them. “I choose to mentor a single person at a time and always pick from the cadets in Zeta or Epsilon. You two caught my attention at just the right time with your panorama repair stunt. I’ve studied your files and both of you are far superior to the rest of the cadets your age across the dimensions I care about most. I’m going to use the next few weeks to evaluate you more closely and identify which of you deserves my mentorship. Don’t do anything stupid in Marine Country. I’ve got to grab a quick lunch before I meet the Captain. Dismissed.”
The Flight Boss resumed his pace and disappeared around the corner. Zax and Kalare looked at each other in amazement.
“Did he say he wanted to mentor one of us?” asked Zax, his voice bursting with excitement.
“Is it lunchtime already?” replied Kalare.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I just saw my mentor and he says hello.
“Forget about lunch!” Zax made no attempt to modulate his exasperation since there was no one around to witness his outburst. They had only walked with the Flight Boss for a short period, but his pace was so fast they were quite a distance away from the Flight Ops compartment. “The last member of the Crew who the Boss mentored was just promoted to command the air group. You understand that’s not a coincidence, right? Having the direct support of the Flight Boss is worth a gazillion extra points on the Leaderboard. And if we want to earn it, we’re going to have to train with the Marines. Have you ever even heard what their training’s like? I have—it’s nuts!”
Kalare cracked a smile as the excitement level in Zax’s voice rose. “I know, I know. That all sounds interesting. Come on, we should head back to Flight Ops.” They turned back as Kalare elaborated. “I just haven’t given any thought to what I might want to do with my career, so I’m not sure if the Flight Boss would be great a mentor for me. I understand it could be cool seeing as how he’s the second most powerful person in the Crew and all, but I’ve got no idea if I want to stay associated with Flight. It’s been fun in Flight Ops these past few days, but I figure I’ll give it another six months and then roll the dice again to decide whether I stay or try something different.”
Zax wanted to argue with Kalare on general principle, but her indifference was actually a huge benefit for him. It was impossible for her to appear better than him in the eyes of the Flight Boss unless she focused on giving 110% effort. If she didn’t care about winning, he wouldn’t say anything that might cause her to rethink that position.
Kalare turned her head back towards Zax to say something else as she led them around the corner. She collided with Aleron, and Zax was so shocked to encounter his longtime tormentor in such a random location that the presence of a stunstik in the bully’s hand did not register initially. The weapon discharged with a crackle and Kalare crashed to the deck unconscious. The butt of its handle jabbed into Zax’s belly an instant later with such force it drove the air from his lungs. He crumpled to his hands and knees with his vision spinning.
Zax gasped for air until excruciating pain diverted his attention to his hand. The heel of Aleron’s boot ground into his fingers and Zax grimaced up at the boy towering above him. The bully grinned as he spoke.
“Don’t worry—I’m not going to break anything. Just wanted to make sure you were listening. I won’t leave any damage which would prove something violent happened here. Do I have your complete attention?”
Aleron’s question was accompanied by a painful increase in the force applied by his boot, so Zax only managed a grunt in acknowledgement.
“Good. I just saw my mentor and he says hello.”
Zax was puzzled. If Cyrus had been Culled, how did Aleron just see him? The bully continued.
“I’ve always messed around with you because you were such an easy target and it helped relieve the boredom, but Cyrus—he truly hates you. He won’t be worried about leaving any marks when he catches up with you. You see, he’s got nothing to lose. He got picked for the Cull because of you, and now they’ve decided to skip cryosleep and send him down at Landfall instead.”
Aleron looked around to be certain they were still alone. “In fact, if Cyrus wasn’t stuck getting processed he would be here right now instead of me and you’d be dead. We debated whether he should maintain the element of surprise, but I convinced him it would be a lot more fun if you had to spend the next few weeks walking around in fear. I’m sure you’re thinking you can just tell someone and get him in trouble, but you’ve got to realize no one is going to listen to you.”
Aleron pointed at Kalare’s motionless form. “Your little girlfriend there never saw me and I will deny ever being here. No one, and I mean no one, is going to care about some crazy story made up by a sixteen-year-old cadet, particularly when the story is about someone who is getting dumped onto our new colony in a few weeks anyways. It’s been nice knowing you, Zax. I’ll miss you once Cyrus has finished you off, but there are plenty of other kids who I can mess around with instead.”
After one last grind of his boot heel, Aleron strolled off with a chuckle. It took Zax a min to catch his breath, but he finally crawled over and checked on Kalare. The stunstik must have been set on low power because she already stirred and soon opened her eyes.
“That was interesting—I’ve never been hit by a stunstik before. I know some training classes make everyone experience the effect, but my instructor only picked a couple of victims the day we learned how to use it. I’m still tingling all over. Neat! Wait a sec—what was all that about? One sec I’m talking with you and the next I’m knocked out. Why would some random person attack us? Did you get a look at whoever did it?”
Zax considered sharing the whole story with Kalare but concluded doing so would be pointless. There wasn’t anything she could do, and a long conversation with her about it all would be more annoying than it was worth. She’d probably insist on reporting Aleron, and Zax was dead set against doing that. If the Boss caught wind of the situation, he might decide that a cadet who couldn’t protect himself from an idiot like Aleron wasn’t deserving of his mentorship. He refused to risk giving Kalare the slightest edge in their competition so instead he lied.
“I never saw him. I got smashed in the stomach and wound up on the ground with all the air knocked out of me. I only saw his legs as he ran away. I suppose we should tell Security, but I don’t feel like answering all of their stupid questions when they won’t care about finding him anyways. What do you say we just forget about it?”
Kalare paused for a moment but then smiled. “Works for me. How about we grab that lunch we were talking about?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I'm going to be your tour guide.
Zax woke with reveille the next day and immediately heard a woman’s voice call out from the front of the berth, “Zax and Kalare—front and center!”
Puzzled, he jumped down from his upper rack, slipped into a jumpsuit, and
hustled past four hundred stirring Zetas to the berth entrance. Kalare was already there, and she smiled broadly as she spoke with an officer Zax had never seen before. The smile seemed odd given she was talking to an officer, but not nearly as odd as seeing the officer return the grin with equal intensity.
Zax saluted as he announced himself, “Zax reporting, ma’am.”
“At ease, cadet.” The officer’s smile widened even furthered. “I was just explaining to Kalare how today’s your lucky day. I’m going to be your tour guide.”
Zax’s befuddlement must have been clear because both the officer and Kalare laughed. Blood rushed to his cheeks in response.
“Don’t worry, Zax. We’re not laughing at you. I used that same intro line on Kalare a min ago and she had the same clueless reaction you did. I bet her ten chits you would understand exactly what I was talking about. Clearly, I lost. That said, Kalare, you should not be laughing at an officer—especially an officer who you expect to pay up on a ten chit bet.”
The last line was delivered with a wink at Zax as if he was in on the joke. He didn’t feel that way, but at least he no longer felt like the target of it. “Thank you for the clarification, ma’am.”
“Of course. Well, I’m glad you’re both already dressed. Calling your name right after reveille, I was afraid you might’ve been overeager and shown up in your skivvies. Let’s grab some chow.”
Zax followed two steps behind as Kalare ran her mouth at the officer. They had no clue what this woman wanted and yet Kalare was giving her the same download about her inability to stop laughing which she had shared with Zax a few days earlier. He tuned out Kalare’s spiel and instead contemplated who this officer was and what she might want with the two of them.
They arrived a few mins later and split up. Since Zax was still worried about keeping his stomach empty for the final Transit to the planet, he used the opportunity to visit the head instead. He emptied his bladder and then searched for Kalare and the officer. They had each grabbed a big breakfast and were sitting at an isolated table in the corner. He joined them and unwrapped a nutripellet which the officer immediately snatched from his hand.
“What the hell is this? A nutripellet? We’re not in any rush here, cadet, go get yourself a proper breakfast.”
“Ma’am—I’m not really hungry, ma’am,” Zax lied sheepishly.
“Actually, he’s just worried about throwing up later when we make an FTL Transit. It’s something that always—”
Zax’s glare was so intense its meaning actually penetrated Kalare’s impossibly dense skull and she halted mid-sentence.
“Thanks for that info, Kalare. Zax—I know you don’t have a clue who I am, but I’m going to explain all of it here shortly. In the meantime, understand we’ll be spending a lot of time together over the next couple of weeks, and I’m going to need you to develop absolute faith and trust in me. Let’s get our relationship off on the right foot by pretending some of that trust already exists and having you elaborate on what Kalare just tried to explain, OK?”
The officer spoke with such warmth and compassion that Zax’s hesitation dissipated. “Yes, ma’am. I suffer from a previously unknown condition that causes me to vomit whenever there’s an FTL Transit. I know we still need one more to reach the planet, so I want to keep my stomach empty.”
“Interesting. That’s a new one to me, but then you already knew it would be. I can understand, Zax, how that particular quirk might be something you wouldn’t want to share with every stranger you meet.”
Zax’s typical defensive posture melted as this woman spoke to him. She was in her late twenties with short brown hair cut to frame her perfectly oval face. She was short, standing a few centimeters shorter than him, but there was something about the way she carried herself that made Zax believe she should not be underestimated. Though her brilliant blue eyes sparkled when she smiled, Zax sensed cold steel underneath their shimmer.
“The good news for you,” continued the officer, “is that I know with absolute certainty we’re not going to have that last Transit any time in the next few days. Therefore, it’s safe for you to eat. Go and get a real meal, and I promise we won’t start talking about the important stuff until you get back. That’s an order!”
Zax didn’t hear the last words as his stomach roared in anticipation of its first solid food in days. He bolted from the table and returned a few mins later with an overflowing tray. Waiting for Zax while listening to another of Kalare’s monologues had provided the officer with enough time to finish her meal, so she spoke while the two cadets ate.
“My name is Mikedo. When we’re around anyone else, you should address me as Lieutenant, but I want you to use my given name whenever the three of us are alone. I know that’s out of the ordinary, but it’s critical given the challenge we have ahead of ourselves. We’ve got a lot to accomplish which is why I want to drop the officer pretensions so they don’t get in the way. I’m here to guide you through your Marine training. Our goal in the next few weeks is to give you two almost all of the same instruction that Marine cadets spend a year absorbing.”
This turn of events caught Zax by surprise. He hadn’t expected this woman to have anything to do with the mentorship contest since she was in the Flight corps and not a Marine.
“Ten years ago I was told by the Boss he would be my mentor if I beat out two other cadets for the slot. Needless to say, I kicked their butts.” Mikedo grinned and Zax couldn’t help but smile along as she continued.
“I always wanted to be a fighter pilot which is why I chose Flight, but then my height topped out two centimeters too short and that path got cut off. The Flight Boss steered me towards a post in the liaison office which coordinates activity between Flight and the Marines. My assignment there gives the Boss someone he trusts who is deeply enmeshed with the Marines while also providing the perfect outlet for some of my special talents—ones which you’ll soon get a chance to appreciate.”
Mikedo paused and grabbed a pastry off Zax’s plate. She gave him another wink. “We’ll talk a lot more later about what Marine training will be like, but let me leave you with the knowledge you’re about to get pushed harder than you can imagine. The Boss says he wants to pick one of you for mentoring, but you should realize the odds are neither of you makes it through to the other end and gets selected. If the Marines chew you up and spit you out, then you can kiss your opportunity with the Boss goodbye. Hell, there’s a decent chance one of you might actually die along the way since their training casualty rate is five times higher than ours.”
Mikedo waited for a long moment to allow her last admonition to sink in. “I’m guessing your heads are spinning by now. I’ve got a couple of things to finish up. Get dressed in training gear and meet me in 180 mins in compartment G-543 on the Marine training deck.”
She stood and picked up her tray. “One last word of advice. A couple of Flight pukes like you are going to stick out like turds in the punchbowl once you cross over into Marine Country. Keep your heads down and try not to call any attention to yourselves.”
Mikedo carried her tray to the disposal station and left the mess hall. As she predicted, Zax’s head spun so much he could manage nothing other than mechanical eating. He was pleasantly surprised that Kalare seemed to be affected similarly. They ate together in blissful silence as the morning newsvid droned in the background.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
This is where the dangerous stuff starts.
Almost 180 mins later Zax and Kalare entered a sector of the Ship where they typically would never have been welcome. The banner above the hatch suggested they still weren’t.
Marine Country
Be One of Us or Fear All of Us
Nothing could have reinforced Mikedo’s advice better, so Zax and Kalare marched quickly towards their destination with their eyes pinned straight ahead. Zax focused so much on blending in that he missed a foot darting into his path. He tripped and flailed forwards with such force he slammed into a
Marine sergeant walking ahead of him. The man’s coffee flew all over himself and the passageway.
“What is your malfunction, squib!?” The Marine’s eyes bulged out of their sockets and his face went a deep crimson as he screamed at Zax—a shade made even more impressive by its contrast to the man’s close-cropped, stark white hair.
“Sir—I’m sorry, sir!” Zax scrambled to pick himself up.
“Why are you calling me ‘sir’, squib? Don’t you see these sergeant’s stripes on my shoulder? Are you trying to tell me I look like some kind of lazy officer by calling me sir?” The Marine shouted with such vehemence spittle flew in all directions.
“No sir—I mean no Sergeant, sir—I mean, no Sergeant!”
Zax stole a glance around to get his bearings. Kalare stood behind the Marine and failed miserably at her efforts to stop giggling. More raucous laughter came from the group of Flight cadets who had approached from the opposite direction. They were passing Kalare and Zax when he was tripped. In the middle of the group was a single cadet who didn’t smile or make a sound, but instead fixated on Zax with a menacing stare. Cyrus. The laughter finally reached a volume where it drew the attention of the sergeant away from Zax.
“You all think this is funny! What are you Flight pukes doing in Marine Country anyways? The next person who so much as thinks about laughing is going to taste my boot!” The sergeant pointed at Zax. “You—clean up the mess you caused. The rest of you—keep your mouths shut and get out of my sight while you’re still capable of walking!”
Without anything else available Zax improvised and removed his training jacket to mop up the coffee. The sergeant hovered in as intimidating a posture as possible to ensure every last drop was cleaned.