Making the Grade (Omnia Online Series Book 2)

by Christopher Booth

  At the end of the class, Allacia gave everyone a warning about abusing mind-body control, “What you’ve learned today is meant as a tool for short-term use only. If used right you’ll speed up your bodies healing and recovery to a select part of your body. To use it, though, you must divert blood from the rest of your body. If you try to divert blood away from the rest of your body too long, you’ll suffer side effects. I’ve heard of people who ended up dying from failure of the kidney, liver or even the heart from reckless overuse of this same skill. So be mind-full of the rest of your body too, and don’t try to use this ability for more than a few minutes at a time.”

  “Please keep this warning always in mind when you use this skill,” said Allacia. “Ok, with that said, our training time is over for the night.”

  “Hold up, Drake, I want to speak to you now that tonight’s class is over,” said Allacia. Once she could talk to Drake with a little privacy, she went on, “The growth of your abilities has taken you in a different direction than the rest of the class. I think you might better benefit from one-on-one training.”

  Allacia paused, “And, not like you’re thinking,” she sighed, “Men, always thinking with their little head, the one with no brains.”

  “Maybe it would be best for you to have another trainer?” she asked, seeming to consider the options.

  Drake was used to this sort of response from his telepathic teacher. He had little enough control of the thoughts that passed through his mind, but since he began playing in Omnia, his libido seemed on overdrive. So his mind kept straying to the subject of sex. He felt like he was going through a second puberty sometimes.

  Drake sighed, “You wouldn’t be offended if you stayed out of my mind, which is something I need to train on still. Allacia, I like you, sure, but I’m not going to act on my attraction, you’ve never given me any reason to believe you felt any more for me than any other student. I would very much like to continue training with you since getting to know and trust another teacher would take time. Will you please continue on as my teacher? Maybe you could start by teaching me that mental shield skill you once mentioned to me?”

  Samantha had already loaded up on the next six most likely skills the group might learn, including mental shielding, telekinesis, sense emotions and a few others. So Drake felt ready if they started training in something new.

  Allacia looked at Drake for a few minutes.

  Whenever she did this, he always felt like she was looking into his soul somehow. Then she said, “Ok, Drake, we’ll make that your first lesson for our single group class. Your class will have to be in the morning though before my shift, so start showing up here at 7 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Oh, I also brought you a training puzzle ball.”

  “A what?” asked Drake.

  Allacia went to the duffle bag she brought with her to class and pulled out a metallic ball about a third of a meter in diameter, and tossed it to Drake.

  The metallic ball wasn’t light, it weighed about seven kilograms, and seemed to be made of metal, but it had no seams or openings of any sort.

  Allacia said, “What you’re holding is one of the puzzle balls we sometimes lend out to students. If you use your psionic senses, you’ll be able to detect a small bead inside the ball. Actually, since this one was reset the bead will start out at about the size of your thumb and be very light. You’ll also detect a maze in the ball, a miniature labyrinth. Your job as a student is to move the ball to the maze exit. If you succeed in solving the maze, it will reset, the bead will get slightly smaller and heavier, and the maze more complicated. If you just leave the ball sitting for more than a few minutes, the maze will reset at the same level of difficulty, but with a new pathway to the end.”

  “But I haven’t trained in telekinesis yet,” said Drake “how do you expect me to use this?”

  “Oh, telekinesis, I didn’t train too much in the skill, but it’s just an extension of the telepathic sense ability you’re using already. But you have to sort of solidify your ‘touch’ around the object, you wish to move. For now, if you can’t move the ball, just sense the ball and try to follow the path of the maze to the best of your ability.”

  As Drake took the ball and got ready to leave, Allacia reminded him, “So I’ll see you on Monday morning then?”

  Drake replied with a grin, “It’s a date, see you then.” and jogged off to find Sul-Fiona before she could respond with any grace.

  ***

  Drake found Sul-Fiona and with his new toy ball they headed back to his ship in a taxi.

  While the taxi drove them out to the spaceport, he asked, “Any news for me Samantha?”

  “I still don’t have enough information on the Narack poaching; just sufficient to agree that there’s more there than is being reported in the job listing. I should have more details by the morning, though.”

  Drake noticed Fiona’s eyes get wide as she listened to the conversation.

  “I did order the class three fabricator you wanted, but it came close to the top of the amount we discussed. There’s some sort of problem at the plant where they make the fabricators, so I had to make the purchase from a distributor. With the supply of Hansiung equipment drying up, the price for the unit was higher than normal. The Hansiung Class 3 Auto Fabricator, plus insurance and shipping all ran to 19,870 credits. After paying for your armor repair we’ll have 5380 credits left.” said Samantha.

  “So how long until we get the fabber?” asked Drake.

  “The good news about having to deal with a distributor is that the distance is shorter, and it should be here in less than two weeks.” replied Samantha.

  Drake sighed, “Well it felt good having a fat account while it lasted. I was thinking, though, if we wait for the fabber to get here, can we just fabricate some of the tools and things we need for the ship?” he asked.

  “If we have the part schematic, then producing something is no problem. I know Sidonia left us a lot of schematics to work from, but to make some things we might have to buy the rights to fabricate them. A large part of the cost of manufacturing anything is in who owns the rights, which is why so many of the schematics we have from Sidonia are a product of her reverse engineering.” said Samantha.

  Drake asked, “After I do a search could you check to see which items we should make ourselves and which we can fabricate? I have a feeling that we could save a few credits by being a bit frugal, and it would give me a chance to work with the fabber on some easy stuff before we need it for something complex.”

  “Ok, I’ll start researching the prices of schematics, and fabricator resources. We might save money on fabricator resources by taking a trip to a mining station. I’ll compare prices and sources and get back to you when I have more information.” said Samantha.

  By this point, they had reached Drakes ship, and Fiona’s look had turned from wide-eyed curiosity to something a lot more thoughtful. Drake didn’t know that women could get that dangerous thinking look at such a young age. The one they get just before asking for something that they know will make you uncomfortable. Like the dreaded ‘where do you think this relationship is going’ question.

  “You own a ship, an A.I., and you’re getting a class three fabber? Can I come live on your ship?” Drake was sure she was kidding.

  “No, remember, we’re going to find your mom, and then everything can go back to normal for you. Whatever that is, doesn’t include you living on my ship,” replied Drake.

  The girl got what Drake took to be a look of determination and said, “Your right, finding mom comes first.”

  Drake didn’t like that answer, it had an unstated ‘but then’ at the end. ‘This sort of thinking must be genetically encoded into the female brain.’ thought Drake.

  Before entering the ship, Drake took a look around him, and paused, as he considered this new world around him. He’d seen so little of it so far. On most days he just moved back and forth between the Guild Hall and his ship, especially since he no longer worked
at the gun shop.

  Of course the same could be said for the real world, how much time do people spend actually going to new places?

  Maybe it was just the sense of freedom he’d felt in Omnia, but he wanted to see more of this world. He took a few minutes in his jog to take a look at the underutilized spaceport around him. It still reminded him of an Earth airport, just drop in a few space shuttles and a few light star freighters and he could be looking at the Denver International Airport, without all the circus-like peaked roofing of course.

  As Drake looked, he observed a lighter making a landing, it would soon be offloading goods imported from distant worlds.

  Then he thought of the press coverage dropping one of those space going ships would cause if it landed at its Denver counterpart. The thought made him smile…

  Then he thought of all the Secrets Samantha seemed to be hiding and his smile went away. Just how long would it be, before a space going freighter did land in Denver, and what would it mean for Earth?

  So far whoever was in charge of Intelecom was doing right by Drake. He was getting physical, skills, and scientific training; so maybe Samantha was telling the truth when she said that the people behind this had good intentions? Drake certainly hoped so, he didn’t see much choice but to see where things were heading, in the meantime, he would enjoy the ride and keep his eyes open.

  After a moment Fiona asked, “Why are you just standing there smiling.”

  “Just thinking of things I need to do, little bird.” He said without even considering if his words would be taken as a racial slur. He was starting to think of Fiona as ‘the young girl,’ not ‘the young avian girl’ so it seemed natural to use one of the terms he used when talking to one of his young cousins.

  Fiona looked confused for a moment, then just stepped up to the where the side of the ship was opening to form a hatch and stairs.

  Drake then boarded his little ship; he had the opposite feeling from when he left. Instead of the sudden lightness, he felt fifty kilograms heavier, and Fiona gave out a surprised exclamation before falling to the deck.

  “Oh, shit, sorry Fiona I forgot that we’ve been running the gravity heavy as part of my training.” said Drake, as he helped Fiona up and into a chair, the one at the engineer’s station nearest the hatch.

  “Samantha please reduce the ship’s gravity back down to planetary standard.” Drake requested. He immediately felt lighter.

  “Are you ok?” Drake asked Fiona.

  She didn’t look damaged to Drake, and after a second to check herself over, she said that she was fine.

  Drake then gave Fiona a short tour of the ship. Very short since he requested Samantha lock down engineering and the cockpit access and give Fiona access only to the living area of the small ship. He pointed out the mess, auto-galley, the head, and the cabin. He then told her that she could take one of the bunks in the cabin for the night, and he would take one of the crew berths off the ships passageway.

  Drake was now glad he hadn’t made it around to clearing out the food storage of those selections reserved for Karurian’s. Since the last owners included one Karurian in their number, he had food Fiona could eat.

  Drake had eaten very few meals outside his virtual home, and it took him much longer to make a selection then it did Fiona.

  They sat down and ate their dinner together.

  After the meal, Drake told Fiona that she should make herself at home, but he was not to be disturbed until morning. But she was welcome to use the engineering station holo-display and terminal, with the warning that Samantha would be keeping an eye on her, so please stay out of trouble.

  After that, Drake locked himself in one of the berths and exited Omnia. He left with the thought that his next few days had just become a lot more complicated.

  ***

  When he left the Omnia game room in his virtual home, he thought of someone else he needed to communicate with.

  “Samantha, can you connect me to Gordon? Ask him ‘How is the Elf Hood?’”

  Gordon: Do you mean how am I doing as an Elf, or how is the ‘hood’ where I’m hanging out? Or are you calling me a hood, like Robin Hood?

  Kevin: Can’t it be all the above? I haven’t heard from you in a few weeks, still hanging out with the Rangers?

  Gordon: Still work with them sometimes, they can be a weird group, though. They claim that if you spend enough time in the woods, you can start to ‘feel the trees’ which I find strange enough not to want to spend too much time with the loons. I joined that Guild you mentioned and have been picking up a few odd jobs. So I’m doing much better now.

  Kevin: Did you sell your Arcania account like I suggested?

  Gordon: Yes, but didn’t get near as much as you got. But I dropped back to working part-time at the dealership.

  Kevin: I hope that doesn’t cause you to lose your job.

  Gordon: No, my sales are actually up. Ariel, my A.I., fixed my phone and tells me when a seller is serious about making a purchase, by doing a voice stress test on my clients. Between that and how fit I am since using the pod, I seem to have a far easier time selling cars these days. So my boss loves me. He wants me to take on more prime hours, but the other agents are acting a bit bent already, so I passed. The sales agents seem to think I’m somehow taking something from them, whenever I manage a sale.

  Kevin: Well, you said they were assholes, so don’t let them get to you. Are you planning on heading my way then? I looked up Gepinapaxia, and you're about two-thirds of the way to the other side of the Imperium from Hassan.

  Gordon: Why not come pick me up in that ship you were bragging up a couple weeks ago. Or have you lost it playing poker, cause I know how bad you suck at cards, you're like a walking stack of tells.

  Kevin: No, I still have the ship; I just have to finish learning to fly it. I wish I could just hop in the cockpit and go, but the Imperium actually makes you get a license or risk getting your ship confiscated, which would suck. So I’m working on getting a license and trying to figure out how to stock the ship with what it needs. I still haven’t even named the ship yet…

  Gordon: You could call it Kevin’s Flying Phallus.

  Kevin: Yeah sure joke, haha. I thought about calling it Dream Chaser since we’re in a kind of dream, but then I thought about it. That name sounded like something that should be painted with scenes of rainbows and butterflies. No, I think the first time I fly the ship, I’ll know what to name it… So how about it, want to come out here and join me, I could use someone to watch my back.

  Gordon: Don’t know bro, traveling that far sounds expensive. I’ll think about it and get back in touch.

  Kevin: Ok, think about it, but also think about how much fun it would be to take that ship of mine out and kick some ass. If you need a few credits to make the trip just ask. Ok?

  Gordon: I’ll get back to you. Later man.

  Kevin: Yeah, later, Gordon.

  “Well, better get back to work. Samantha, what’s tonight’s training schedule?” asked Kevin.

  That night's training mostly focused on space flight.

  Kevin recalled the previous six weeks.

  Samantha had taken Kevin through a lot of pilot training. He started with learning to fly a shuttle, like the ones that flew up to the space station. His pre-flight training included learning all the safety equipment, how to load and balance the craft and how to plan his route.

  Next, he learned take off, landing and docking procedures.

  The type of shuttle Samantha selected as Kevin’s virtual training craft had flight systems very similar to those in the cockpit of his new spaceship, without the systems needed to take the ship into hyperspace. So Kevin spent the previous few weeks getting a feel for how to pilot a small craft between the space station and the spaceport.

  With the use of antigravity, it didn’t take much thrust to lift a shuttle up into orbit. When Kevin discovered this, he started to wonder if making a perpetual motion machine was possible. But Samantha a
ssured him that the antigravity coils still used a lot of power as they worked to counter Hassan’s gravity, it was just that they were a lot more efficient than rockets, since they used electricity and created almost no heat.

  Kevin also had to get used to the effects of zero-gravity while learning to fly. Apparently, most small shuttles didn’t carry extra energy cells for luxuries like artificial gravity for the short flight’s they typically engaged in. Space stations and starships had space for their own fusion plants, but most shuttles relied on superconductive power cells to supply their power, as a cheaper and lighter way to provide the energy they needed for the short voyages they made.

  As a former engineering student, Kevin couldn’t help but ask questions about how the shuttle worked. And for the most part, the systems were something any well-trained engineer would understand; the thrusters were simply plasma-ion thrusters. They took in water, separated out the oxygen, for use in life support, and then superheated the hydrogen. After turning the hydrogen into plasma, it was then channeled out the thrusters as a focused stream of ions.

  Powerful engines like those on the Zenon 12 just required a lot more power to run than those on a shuttle. This is why a lot of spaceships had fusion power plants.

  Only ships using safe and dependable routes between stations, where the savings in mass could add to the ships earnings, could afford to go without their own power plant. There were freighters, designed just to travel between space stations that could get by only using power cells, but any ship trading out in the less settled parts of space couldn’t rely on always having a convenient place to recharge.

  This was why ships like the Zenon 12 had their own plants, but paid for this freedom in higher expenses. The extra weight, reduced space, and higher capital cost of owning fusion plant, were the trade off any ship capable of venturing into the less settled regions of space had to pay.

  Kevin returned his focus to his training.

  This Saturday night Samantha finally decided to let Kevin practice flying the Zenon 12.