Whenever I come out here it’s hard not to admire Alpha’s skyline. At night the massive city full of large, beautiful architecture shines through the dark skies, bringing out the beauty of the stars. It’s easy to get lost in the beauty of this world. Being out here, on a planet as marvelous as Alpha, it’s enough to make anyone want to stay and live here forever. That’s not me though, I’m not like most people. I yearn to see the stars, call me crazy but I don’t want to live my life confined to one planet, especially since there is an endless universe out there, ready to be explored.
Guards stand watch over the personal starships. In an open booth that the students here at the academy call “The guard quarters.” It’s an open, simply designed, glorified gazebo. These guards aren’t the only ones watching over the ships out here. There are also guards in the control room located inside of the Academy. In order to take a personal starship, you have to receive a written letter of approval from one of the instructors, or you can go above their heads and get one from an Admiral. Neither of the above options are going to happen. I’m going to need help. I haven’t made many friends during my time at the academy. I’ve met some good people but in the end we ended up drifting apart.
The one that stood beside me through the years is Aura. We met on the Helix shuttle which takes citizens of the Helix galaxy and transports them to the academy, there are different shuttles exclusive of different galaxies. Aura’s home world was the last stop. A planet called Zill. Aura was late to launch and the shuttle nearly left without her. Luckily she got there right in the nick of time, right as the pilot was ready to close the doors. She ran onto the shuttle, making her way through the doors, exhausted from sprinting to catch it before it left. Aura sat in the only empty seat that was left, which happened to be right next to me.
Her first words to me were “Boy am I glad to be getting off this dump.” She told me this as she pulled out a flask of, well, I didn’t want to ask. She was only twenty at the time, and the first thought that entered my mind after she told me her age was: “She’s only twenty and she’s already beginning to develop a drinking habit?” She later assured me that the only time she drinks is during a flight. “You’re going to be drinking a lot then. Considering Transcendence operates in space.” She shrugged off my comments.
We got into talking. Aura told me that her family told her she needed to get a job at eighteen so she picked the job that’s furthest away from her home world. “I take it you don’t like your family much?” I asked her. “It’s not that. I just want to get the hell off this rock.” She responds genuinely. We continued to talk during our time in the academy. She chose Exobiology as her focus, which led to her becoming involved with the medical field. She was a natural, her knack for the field was unmatched by the other cadets at the academy. She even gained an early stint in space last year, joining the Avarice crew on its maiden voyage.
The Admiral decided she wasn’t ready to join a full time crew. However, she is eligible for a full time run this year if the Admiral allows it. I haven’t seen her since the day before evaluations. I make my away around campus throughout the day trying my best to find her. She’s not in the dorms, or the medical wing. She doesn’t carry a personal Holo which pisses me off, I’m always stuck looking for her the old fashioned way. I don’t even find her in the gym where she practically lives. She keeps up with her fitness like an insane person.
I finally manage to track her down. As I step out of the Academy after finishing my last class for the day, She’s walking away from the Academy, surrounded by a nonsensical number of students. Her long, brown locks make her almost impossible not to notice in a crowd. “Aura!” I shout as I approach her. She turns back, not saying a word until I’m finally next to her. “Why are you running toward me, calling my name like a raving maniac?” She asks me, I’m not surprised that these are the first words she says to me. “Well maybe if you’d start carrying a personal Holo, I wouldn’t have to search every corner of the campus looking for you.”
Aura rolls her eyes, not wanting to hear it. Personal Holos as mentioned, are like cell phones only more advanced. They can be spoken into like an old-school cellular device, or you can speak to someone in the form of Holo imaging. This function pulls a Holo image of a person over the screen of the phone as if you’re speaking to a tiny version of them. “Let me guess, you were looking for me to tell me you’re going to officially become part of a Transcendence crew?” She assumes. “Admiral Richards turned me down. Said I’d be a liability.” I tell her. “Why am I not surprised? You did walk out of the Saavik test.” She is confident this was the main reason I was turned down.
“I didn’t walk out in the middle of the test, I walked out after I lost and realize the thing is rigged.” I become flustered with memories of the idiotic test. “Anyways. I need your help.” I continue. “With what?” She asks with mild interest. “Stealing one of those.” I say as I point toward the line of personal starships. Aura pulls my hand down nervously. “Are you kidding me? For one, why would you want to do something so stupid? Two, why would you talk about it out loud while pointing toward it?” Aura asks me in a serious tone. “Oh relax. No one’s even listening to us. Are you going to help me or not?” I ask her while returning her serious tone with one of my own.
“No. I’m not helping you with this. It’s crazy.” She tells me while beginning to walk away. I follow her, not taking no for an answer. “After everything we’ve been through the last three years?” I say. “Don’t do that to me.” Aura responds not wanting to hear it. “All I ask from you is this one favor. You can come with me if you want.” My words cause her to contemplate for a swift moment, is she really considering coming with me? “Okay fine. I’ll help. But don’t come crying to me if you get caught.” She states with authority. I smile at her with confidence. Aura rolls her eyes in annoyance as she walks away.
Aura and I meet up in her dorm room on a nightly basis for about a week. The dorm is big enough for the essentials of two people but that’s about it. The dorms here at the academy are the plainest part of this entire campus. The room has withstood a lot of wear and tear through the years but the academy has kept up with maintenance thoroughly. But the fresh paint on the walls and newly laid carpet on the floor that is replaced routinely, on a yearly basis is hardly enough to make up for its dullness.
Now when Aura suggested to meet in her dorm so we can develop our plan, I thought it was a terrible idea. Until she informed me that her roommate won’t be returning for about a month. I guess she had some kind of personal issues she needed to iron out so they allowed her to take a leave of absence. Either way, now that Aura is the only occupant of the room, it makes for a perfect meeting spot. Through our week of planning we need to address a few things: One, how are we going to slip passed security? Two, how can Aura help me without bringing attention onto herself? This is her main worry, she doesn’t want to be here and take the backlash from this “Ridiculous plan.” As she calls it. And thirdly, how the hell are we going to pull this off in the first place?
Before anyone can take one of the personal starships they have to deactivate the launch restrictions, the controls for this are in the control room. The trickiest part is that each ship has separate defenses. Which leads to another problem, I don’t know the codes. This poses the biggest problem, which is smothered in an array of other issues that are just as significant. “This whole damn thing is gonna be impossible. It’ll take a miracle to pull this off.” Aura tells me during one of our meetups. “We just need to work out a few kinks, that’s all.” I respond confidently. “A few kinks? We have about as much of a shot at pulling this off as a child trying to reach the top shelf.” Aura metaphorically states. She doesn’t normally do this unless she’s nervous about impending events.
“How about this. Give me another week to sort everything out. If I don’t have a plan when we meet next weekend, I’ll give it up.” Are you kidding me right now? I can’t believe I just said that. “Deal.” Aur
a agrees quickly. Typical. She knows this is going to be impossible. Hell, we haven’t even figured out a way to get passed the guards that stand watch over the ships on the outside. No, I can’t think about the negatives right now; I only have seven days to figure this out. So I’d better get started.
I’ve never believed in luck, or fate, or anything of that nature. I don’t think our future is laid out before us like we’re a bunch of robots programmed to walk a certain path. But looking over my assignments for the week, I’m beginning to believe in mere coincidence. And the fact that I’ve been assigned a personal mission is the reason for that. Now I could just take my borrowed ship and never return. However, there are restraints on each vessel. If you take your personal starship passed the boundary that is set, it enters autopilot and brings you back to the academy.
My hands are tied in that aspect. The Academy has very strict safety measures to prevent theft, or any other issues that might endanger, or in my case aid the students of the academy. No matter. This is still a golden opportunity to acquire launch codes for my assigned starship. The launch codes are only known by the Admiral, who transmits them over to the control room. Once transmitted, the codes are entered into the system where the guard can then deactivate the restrictions. This is where it gets tricky though. There is a channel the guards use to communicate. Every launch code sequence is transmitted to the guards on the ground near the ships.
The com channel is completely restricted and secure. Only certain people at the academy can access it. Like I said, they are very strict about this kind of thing. But through all these security measures there is one flaw which I plan to exploit. Seeing as though the guard quarters are poorly designed as I said before, someone that just happens to walk by might be able hear the given code once it’s transmitted and easily obtain it. And that person is going to be Aura.
Luckily I was able to set this up with Aura. Well after about an hour of convincing…and begging, she finally agreed to it. “How can I say no when all you do is ask about it every five minutes?” She told me before finally giving in to my persuasion. Not an easy task but a successful one either way. Phase one of the plan is set up. It seems simple enough, at least compared to the rest of the unpolished plan, but I’ll worry about that when the time comes.
Today’s the day that will set everything in motion. I’m followed by a class of four cadets as we begin to enter our personal vessels. I hop into the cockpit with confidence. The vessel is snug, buttons, switches, and levers surround the interior. The way to enter one of these personal vessels is through the window that completely covers the cockpit, a glass strong enough to withstand a substantial impact if necessary. It feels right, going into space like this. But to only be restricted to a small piece of the Nebula 9 galaxy is a complete tease. On the large screen that covers a dashboard VI in front of me, reads “Restrictions active.” The codes have not been entered yet, I look back at the guard quarters as I press the button that closes the cockpit window. I can see the guards listening for the transmission.
The board dings loudly which indicates the restrictions have been lifted. On the VI in front of me, a menu of options presents themselves. From “Turn on” to “Activate defense systems” the options seem endless. My experience flying a personal starship in the past contributes to the reason the menu’s contents don’t overwhelm me. I tap the “Turn on” option. A simple system created during the boom of VI. Instead of needing to flip switches, and press multiple buttons to turn on your ship, VI cleaned up the hassle for good. There are other switches around the cockpit but they are rarely necessary. Even firing weapons is done much more smoothly due to only needing to press a simple button to do so. It all happens on this screen. The only negative side to knowing these controls is that bigger starships have a different interface than these personal vessels. Same format, just a hell of a lot more to remember.
The ship idles as the engine roars. I grab the acceleration lever that is located next to me. This is used to control the speed of the ship, and also sends it into hyper drive. Unfortunately, the restrictions don’t allow me to go into hyper speed. I grab the lever in front of me resembling a stick shift from an old muscle car, which controls the direction of the vessel. It’s simple, especially compared to the first starships created. So many buttons, and difficult hand movements, it was just awful. I’m kind of a pro at takeoffs so it doesn’t take me long before I’m able to get off the ground and into outer space. About a mile ahead of the other cadets yet I’m supposedly not ready to join a Transcendence crew? Admiral Richards can kiss my ass.
I’m nearing the edge of Alpha’s atmosphere, the Academy and city look so small from up here, like ants building a hill. I continue to fly through the beautiful clouds emphasized by the sun reflecting off of them. They look different from up here. Big and fluffy, you might think you’ve seen the extent of their beauty, but truthfully, when you’re down there you haven’t seen the half of it. Flying higher and higher through the sky I finally make my way passed Alpha’s atmosphere and into the darkness of space.
The first thing I spot is the Academy’s space station. The place where all the crew issued starships are docked while not in use. There’s dozens of them, all unique in their own way. The space station itself is a rigid, chrome structure in the shape of a spinning top. I watch as a shuttle attaches to its docking station. I can’t help but think about the fact that those cadets are living my dream. I’m not afraid to admit I’m more than a little envious. And not because I didn’t get to join a crew, I’m envious because I know how much better I am than each and every one of them.
I turn away, unable to watch anymore. I was assigned a probing mission on the planet Naveen. Each recruit gets assigned a different planet to probe, tasked with circling the entire world in search of any elements that can be found. It’s simple. When I reach my assigned planet, I simply send out tiny, oval headed probes used to scout for resources. I don’t know what the Academy expects me to find, but whatever these probes are able to dig up is used in the science department. I find the usual stuff, mostly platinum and element zero. The academy is probably overstocked with this by now, I mean the amount the cadets usually find throughout Nebula 9 is just ridiculous.
I descending upon Alpha. The lush, massive world that looks a hell of a lot bigger when looking at it from up here. Coming back down is never as rewarding as going up. I guess the fact that I made it through this venture into space, and am able to return should be a rewarding experience. I land the ship without a single issue. I make sure to keep tabs on where I landed, surely knowing the location of this ship ahead of time will be of great assistance once I set my plan in motion.
That same night I meet with Aura in her dorm. She’s waiting for me, and not very happy. “I was almost busted sneaking around the guard quarters. They said, what the hell are you doing? Thankfully they noticed me after I got what I went there for. And the best part is they didn’t expect a thing.” She’s speaking in a hyper-active tone; her adrenaline is pumping. “Sweet.” I say as I grab the paper from Aura. The numbers are sloppily written; I can barely read them. “What the hell is this? I can’t read this.” Aura looks at me for a moment, I think I might have offended her.
“I just went through hell trying to get these for you, how about a, oh gee thanks Aura for sticking your neck out for me, I really appreciate it.” Yeah I definitely offended her. “I told you to write down numbers, not whatever this is.” I show her the paper; she knows her handwriting is on key with a kindergartener but luckily she can read it well. Her own handwriting is like a different language that only she can speak. Aura repeats the numbers to me. “22,34,66,99,12,56,66.” The code seems legit. Here’s to hoping they don’t change the thing before I get a chance to use it. The code is changed every 24 hours after all, which is why this needs to happen tonight.
Aura’s assistance is no longer needed, she’s done enough to help me already. Getting her caught in the middle of this is the last thing I want to do
right now, not after everything she risked to get me these codes. “I’ve known you for three years Stella. I thought it then and I know it now. You’re crazy.” Aura tells me with a chuckle and a smile. “Yeah well. I couldn’t have done this without you. You could still come with me you know.” I try my hand at one last attempt to get her to change her mind.
“Sorry. My life is here Stella. Maybe we’ll see each other again someday?” Aura asks with a hopeful tone. Something inside of me tells me she’s right. I turn and exit the dorms, venturing into the night. I planned this whole thing out, and I know exactly where the control room is located inside the academy. I should be out of here in no time. I’m not sure what will happen if I’m caught though, considering the only weapon I have is this pipe, which isn’t going to fare well against a rifle, or even a handgun. Maybe I should have thought that part out more thoroughly.
Guns have kept their name through the years. The namesake of our weaponry might not have changed, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t evolved. Guns have adapted in terms of appearance through the years. To go along with a new, sleek appearance, guns no longer require old school ammunition and fire lasers instead of bullets.
Starfall Page 2