"No, sir, I don't have any pain. I think the implant is working okay, but sometimes I feel a slight burning when I use it for longer periods of time. Chief Medical Officer Jiang said it was just some inflammation and would settle with time," I said.
I watched in shock as the woman—my grandmother, I mentally corrected myself—leapt from her seat and ran out of the room. I stared after her, wide-eyed and confused.
"Julian, go stop your mother before she drags an entire med pod in here or something," the commandant said, sounding exasperated. "Aristeia, please excuse your grandmother. She can be a little excitable. She will want to check you over herself. Will you allow her to give you a checkup?" I bit my lip and nodded. It was strange seeing them act so open and warm. I half expected them to be like my mother.
"Sir, I am not sure what to do. This isn’t—my mother—" I broke off and stared down at my hands.
"You are our granddaughter, and…" the commandant sighed before continuing. "Aristeia, I fear your grandmother and I are very much to blame for our daughter's behavior regarding your upbringing. When she was growing up, I served aboard the FSS falcon, and your grandmother was with me. We left Sol in the care of someone we trusted, believing she would be well cared for, only later did we learn such beliefs were false."
“The Federation was in dispute with the Gallarino Alliance for sometime before the war, and we did not have any chance to return during her childhood. When we later took positions planet side here on Velante, your mother was already twenty-three and serving in the fleet. Then we had your uncle, causing your mother to drift further away from us." I watched as he stood and moved to a cabinet, pouring himself a drink of an amber liquid.
"It devastated us when we found out about you. It was Solaria repeating the same mistakes we had made with her. I believe she doesn't see any wrong in leaving you because it was the same way she was raised," he finished, his face pained.
I stared down at the floor as I thought about everything he said. I guess it made sense, but it didn't change how much it hurt.
"I understand, but it doesn't make it any easier," I told him and looked at my hand as I opened my clenched fist. I stared at my now crushed leaf, feeling my eyes fill with tears. The leaf, much like my emotions, had been crumpled and crushed by a tight fist.
"Aristeia?"
I looked up at the old man as tears roll down my cheeks.
"I broke it, I broke my leaf."
I sobbed as I tried to smooth the leaf flat on my hand. My grandfather knelt before me and pulled my hand away to look at the leaf. Taking it from me, he rose, and I leapt to my feet, following him across the room as he went to a shelf on the far side. I watched as he pulled a strange rectangular object from the shelf. I gaped in shock as I realized he held a book. It was an actual book with paper pages. I had never seen one before. My grandfather opened the book and placed my leaf in the center before pressing it closed.
"Leave your leaf in there for a few weeks, little one. It will press flat and dry out, preserving it and keeping its green color," he told me, and I stared at the book.
"How?" I asked, confused. How could a book preserve my leaf?
"It is an old Earth method for preserving leaves and flowers. The weight of the book will press it flat, and the pages will absorb the moisture. It will be safe, I promise. We can check on it in a few days," he said.
I nodded, following him back to the lounge, and glanced over my shoulder to the shelf a few times before I sat again. I knew it was foolish to cry over a leaf, but I also knew it hadn't only been the leaf that caused my tears. It had just been the last thing to tip my emotions over the edge.
Chapter 12
It wasn't long before my grandmother returned with Julian, who was carrying a large bag. I watched the older woman and shifted awkwardly in my seat as she walked closer and held out a small black device.
"Aristeia, will you allow me to scan your implant?" she asked, and seeing the concern in her eyes, I turned my head to the side to allow her access to the implant’s small round port.
She waved the scanner over the port, and I accepted the connection. My grandmother stared at a datapad for several moments, then grabbed another device from the bag Julian had placed next to her on the floor and slowly waved it across and around my head.
"Officer Jiang, is correct. There is still some inflammation. Aristeia, I would suggest you avoid using any advanced programming until the exams. The more you use your implant, the slower it will heal. Jiang should have informed you of this," she said, packing her medical devices away into the bag.
"I understand, thank you for checking. Do learning modules count as advanced programming? I haven't finished the Fleet Protocol module yet and I will probably need it for the exams."
"Fleet protocol? Who gave you that module? You don't get that until after basic training," my uncle asked, his face an unreadable mask.
"Mother sent it to me, that and Diplomacy Basics," I told him, hesitating slightly. Would she get in trouble for giving me the modules?
"Those modules are taught in your first year, after basic training. We won't have anything to teach you if you keep jumping ahead. At least I can teach you on the pilot simulator. If you do well, I might even let you spend some time in the FSS Roan's cockpit after your first year," my uncle Julian said, shaking his head slightly with an amused expression on his face.
"Are the patrol cruisers a lot different from the battlecruisers? Lt Logan and Lt Brookes gave me some lessons with the Scorpia, they even let me help with docking at the station," I told him, smiling.
"Lt Logan, let you touch his Scorpia? He is pretty prickly when it comes to other pilots. He went through at least a dozen copilots before settling on Lt Brookes," my uncle informed me, looking a little surprised.
"He gave me some lessons in the cockpit and the fleet battle simulation. When we docked, I just watched the proximity sensor. I really liked the battle simulation, I only used a patrol cruiser once in simulator and it was more of brief lesson to show the different helm controls. I guess flying a patrol cruiser would be different as you have more mobility," I said thoughtfully as I contemplated the differences between the two ships.
The patrol cruiser was designed for high speed and had much less weaponry. They had a standard crew of close to sixty people and were sometimes used in low orbital engagement as well as deep space. In warfare operations they could carry an additional hundred soldiers, to deploy them planet side. The soldiers would be in cramped confines though, and it was not advised to travel for more than a few days at that capacity unless it was an emergency scenario.
"You used the battle simulator? Who gave you access?" Julian asked and looked over at the commandant, who shook his head, a contemplative look on his face.
"Lt Brookes did," I told him, feeling confused by his reaction.
"Brookes can't give you access, kid, only command can. Your mother would have had to approve your access," my uncle informed me matter-of-factly.
"I asked my mother if it was okay for me to be using it. She just told me not to brag about my privileges. I thought that meant I could use it," I said, and my uncle Julian groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.
"That's not exactly true, kid. But Sol's right about not bragging. The pilot cadets have their own battle simulation that works the same way. Other cadets have similar simulations directly related to their field. But we don't let cadets use the main simulators because it’s bad for their confidence," he told me with a small shake of his head.
"So, you don't let cadets use the main simulator, to prevent them getting overconfident? It makes sense, flying in a simulator is different to flying for real. If they think they can fly the same in real life, it could lead to issues," I mused, having learnt my own lesson about overconfidence on the Scorpia.
I had been getting a little cocky after my second defeat against Lt Brookes, and he had responded by showing me just how much he had been holding back. He crushed me in mere seconds and th
en spent the next hour lecturing me about the folly of pilots who become too arrogant. No matter how good you were, there would always be someone better.
Then when I actually sat in the real pilot’s chair on the Scorpia, I realized just how much more there was in real life piloting. In that moment I truly understood just how little I knew. The simulation controls were the same, but you knew it was a simulation and would easily make a choice you would not in a more realistic scenario. In a simulation, I could practice a maneuver over and over, and if I damaged my ship in the process I could simply reset and try again. In real life, there would be no resets.
"Ah, now that's not what I meant. The pilots are all trained fleet pilots with years of experience. A cadet could never beat them," he told me.
I stared at him in silence for a long moment feeling offended. Just because I could not beat Lt Brookes in a full-on battle didn’t mean I lost against all the pilots that I legitimately battled in the simulator. I had entered into the ranked battles and done rather well if what Lt Logan and Brookes had said was anything to go by. I currently had six wins, and twenty three losses in total.
Staring hard at my uncle, I accessed my implant, bringing up my battle simulation data. I sent a communication request to my uncle’s implant and once he had accepted I forwarded him the battle data, smirking slightly, as I watched him look down at his wrist, eyes wide. Julian looked at me and then at the commandant, who similarly glanced down at his wrist.
"Interesting. Aristeia, were these set matches or random selections by the simulator?" my grandfather asked, looking up at me.
"Random selections. I did some set matches against Lt Brookes. I only won a few times against him, but they don't count for my score because we were in the practice simulation and he was going easy on me," I told him.
"Kid, you flew twenty nine matches and won six? You were flying in the heavy cruiser matches as well? Blazing suns, you even beat Lt Kunitz from the FSS Gretna. Did you tell Sol you beat her pilot?" my uncle asked, his face filled with amusement.
"No, should I? Would she care?" I asked, confused by my uncle’s question.
Why would my mother care if I beat her pilot in a simulation? I had spoken about that particular battle with Lt Brookes, as it had been clear the other pilot had not been giving the battle much attention. Which was, as I had been informed, not uncommon for higher-ranked pilots when facing those not in the higher ranks themselves. It was that arrogance and lack of attention that had let me steal my win, much to Lt Logan’s and Brookes’ amusement, and now it seemed also my uncle’s. From the reactions, it wasn’t hard to guess that Lt Kunitz was not well liked.
"That her lead pilot got his ass handed to him by a kid not even in the academy yet? She would be pissed, she handpicks her pilots," he said and looked down at his wrist with a wicked grin. "Don't worry about telling her, kid, I'll send her your stats myself. Every time I lose a match to that prick Kunitz, she sends me a little 'you should train harder' message. Ha, this time it's her pilot who should train harder."
"Julian, don't provoke your sister," my grandmother said, shaking her head, before looking to me with a smile.
"Aristeia, it is getting late. I know you have only just met your grandfather and me today, but we would like you to stay here," she said, looking hopeful.
I hesitated. It felt a little awkward to stay with them. On the other hand, if I stayed, then I could learn more about my mother’s family, and maybe Julian would battle me in the simulator. He seemed a lot more friendly now than he did on the station.
"I'd like to stay, but on one condition."
"What's that, sweetheart?" she asked and smiled at me. Her eyes were soft, it was strange seeing it. Her eyes were the same pale blue that my mother and I had but I had never seen my mother's eyes looking soft or loving. They were always cold and hard.
"I get to fly against Julian on the battle simulation and if he loses, he has to take me to see the FSS Roan," I said, grinning in challenge at my uncle. I wonder what it would take to convince him to let me have a live test flight on his ship.
"You're on, kid, but I’ll take you to see the Roan regardless," he said, shaking his head in amusement.
"No simulators for a week, you can battle your uncle as much as you want once your implant is settled," my grandmother said firmly, and I nodded, remembering what she had said earlier about advanced programs.
"I'm going to start on dinner. Aristeia, is there any particular food you like?" she asked and I shrugged.
"I'm okay with anything. Would it be okay for me to change out of my body suit? I feel a little overdressed," I said, glancing down at the thick body suit I wore.
"Of course, Cyrus, will you show her to the room I set up?"
My grandfather nodded in response and rose from his seat. I stood, grabbing my bag off the floor, and looked around for my cases. They were by the door and as I moved towards them, my uncle stopped me.
"I got them," he said, and I nodded at him with a smile, then followed my grandfather down the hall to a door.
"This will be your room, Aristeia, and you’re welcome here as long as you want. I will warn you that your grandmother has gone a little overboard. She managed to pull your medical records from your time on the Scorpia and found your measurements. So, you will find some new clothing in there, and she will no doubt wish to take you shopping for more now you are here," he said, opening the door.
The room was roughly the same size as the quarters I'd stayed in on the FSS Scorpia, and had a large bed in the center. There was a desk to one side and a new looking simulation helmet sat on top of it.
"The ablution unit is just down the hall and the simulation helmet on the desk is yours, as is anything in the room. I will need you to give me the modified helmet and the flight module," he said, and I turned to look at him with a confused frown.
"I know my mother said I couldn't keep using the module, but why do you need my helmet?" I asked him, glancing at my large backpack which contained the helmet and module.
"The parts you used to modify it are from the stolen decommissioned unit. We need to recover them, for further investigation," he told me, I nodded in understanding then pulled my old helmet and the module from my backpack.
"Thank you Aristeia. Don't worry, you will be able to use the newer flight module once you start the pilot training program. The helmet on the desk is the new SimXi model. It is what we supply to all cadets, and it’s much better than this older basic model. You will also be allowed to keep it once you graduate, as it is the same model issued to active servicemen. Dinner should be ready in half an hour," he said and left me alone in my new room.
Chapter 13
My uncle had put my cases next to the door, and I moved them to the storage cupboards. After sliding my hoverboard case on top of the cupboard, I placed the drone case on the desk next to the helmet and opened the locks to retrieve my Fizmo-skinned drone.
Stroking the soft fur, I checked it over to ensure it had not been damaged during the trip. I knew it wasn't real, but I felt comforted by patting the little fluffy creature. Looking down at the chip for the drone’s AI, I decided I would ask my grandfather if I could awaken it. Technically, I was at the academy. The rules just said it needed the fleet coding before being awakened and if my grandfather was the commandant, then he could add the coding, couldn't he?
Putting my drone back down in the case, I moved to look in the drawers and small closet. They were all filled with clothes like my grandfather had said. I decided I would wear one of the fitted light blue jumpsuits. I also found several pairs of shoes in the bottom drawer and pulled on a pair of black boots. There had been some dresses and other outfits in the closet, but I was more comfortable in a jumpsuit. While the female cadet's uniform had a dress version, the dress was not compulsory, much to my relief, as that meant I could wear the jumpsuit styled uniform.
Grabbing my drone and the AI chip, I left my room and walked back down the hall. My grandfather and uncle
were in the lounge area talking softly, and my grandmother was cutting up a large chunk of what looked like a pumpkin. I had eaten pumpkin-flavored foods before but this was my first experience seeing one fresh.
Approaching my grandfather, I smiled tentatively as he looked up at me.
"What do you have there, Aristeia?" he asked, as I took a seat near him.
"It's my AI drone. The skin is a creature called a Fizmo. Mr. Altair gave me the skin after what happened with the counterfeits. He gave me an AI chip as well, and technically I'm at the academy, so I was hoping I could activate it," I said, holding the chip out to my grandfather. He took the chip and turned it over in his hand, then raised a brow at the inscription.
"This is a very high-grade AI. It is generally only used by the fleet’s best pilots."
"Yes sir, and that's what I am going to be."
"Is that so?" my grandfather asked, looking amused as he glanced over my shoulder.
Following his gaze, I turned to see a small drone fly over. It was wearing a utility skin and had two small servos. My grandfather handed it my AI chip, and it quickly flew out the front door.
"Watkins will take your chip to the technology department to get the coding added. He should return with it by the time we finish with dinner."
"Thank you, grandfather."
He smiled at me and I could see the happiness in his eyes at my use of the familial term.
"Strange choice of skin kid, you won't be able to use it around the academy though," my uncle said, eyeing my Fizmo.
"I know. Mother sent me the cadet handbook. I will have my AI set an automated protocol to disengage the skin when leaving my dorm."
"Good idea. What model drone you got in there? We should get you a utility skin for around the academy," he said, looking thoughtful.
"It's a modified Begleiter IX. I was actually thinking of getting one, but I wasn't sure which one to get that would fit regulations and my budget."
Striving for the stars (The Kelras Chronicles Book 1) Page 9