“Good morning cadets. I am sorry I could not be there in person to see you off, but rules are rules. In a few minutes, each of your names will be posted on the screen in the groups you will be completing the exam in. They are pre-selected, meaning there will be no switching or substituting of any kind.”
Ester threw Angel a nervous look.
“Read the directions carefully above the screen at the door of your testing room. Your positions have been chosen for you, once again no switching. You will have ten minutes to mentally prepare for the exam. Groups will go one at a time and the directions on the screen will tell you who is next. Follow the simulator and remember there is no wrong way to complete your mission. All that is important is that you work together. Good luck, cadets. May Rean be with you.”
The screen turned black then a blue screen appeared with three columns of names on it. All the cadets crowded around the screen as they looked for their names, pushing and talking loudly over one another.
“Shit.,” Ester cursed under her breath when she saw who she was paired with.
“Hey, Ester. I’m up first.” Angel turned to her with his bright blue eyes full of excitement and a little nervousness. “Wish me luck, though I shouldn’t need it because I wore my lucky Section 42 cologne today.” Angel patted Ester on the shoulder and was struck by how tense she was. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s him.” Her eyes were glued to the screen. Why couldn’t it be anyone else, anyone.
Angel looked at the screen, not sure what she was referring to. “What?”
“Looks like we’ll be on the same team.” Murk grinned, with Bue and Kiakit by his side.
Ester stared him down, but Angel stepped in front of her.
“And you better not mess this up,” Angel shouted making sure everyone heard.
That put Murk in his place, but he was fuming. Angel ignored him.
“Worry about yourself, brat,” Murk scoffed and walked off.
Ester clenched her fist. She was really getting tired of him.
“Don’t let him get to you.” Angel placed his hands on her shoulders. Samay and Fermit stood behind him, rallying behind her.
The list with the names on it moved and the first group was called. Angel and Hue were the only people Ester really knew in the first group. The nine cadets started to file out, but Angel lingered. He didn’t want to do this exam without Ester. Ester saw him and smiled.
“Angel,” Hue called.
Angel jumped then turned back to Ester and his friends. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck, you got this,” Ester mouthed as she watched Angel’s back disappear out the door.
***
It was eerily quiet as the numbers died down. After an hour, there were only ten cadets left. Ester was very nervous and trying hard to focus over the loud boasting of Murk and his friends. She sat next to Samay and Fermit in silence as the two watched the screen for their team to be called. It was almost unbearable, as there was nothing else to do other than stare at the wall. Ester’s leg shook up and down as she tried to focus on anything other than the clock. That’s when she looked up and saw Samay fidgeting with her hands.
“Hey,” Ester placed her hand over Samay’s. “We got this.”
Samay slowly nodded. She was a ball of nerves and so was Fermit.
“You hear me, Fermit?” Ester turned to him. “We’re going to pass this exam. I know it.” A small smile found its way to Fermit’s face.
The screen changed and flashed the final team of the exam. Samay jumped up, as Ester rubbed her on the back and the two nodded. Fermit got up as well and nodded to his friends as the rest of the class made their way to the door.
“Let’s go, lackeys.” Murk and his friends were the first out the door.
Ester rolled her eyes but followed. Now was not the time to think about Murk. The group followed the green arrows down the hall to the scenario room. The hall was all black, a stark contrast to the silver and white halls of the rest of the school. Lit only by tiny yellow lights on the ceiling, it made it feel like they were really walking down a terminal to a space ship. The green arrows carried them to a black door, and above it was a bright red light. They waited and looked around and then the light turned green and the door slid open.
Inside was a small room with just enough space to fit all the cadets. The floor was steel and the walls were white. There was one door in front of them with a red light above it, and a digital clock that flashed ten minutes. Once everyone was in, the doors to the hallway promptly closed, leaving them with nothing but the hum of the machinery behind the scenario door. A screen above the door turned on and the intercom crackled.
“Good morning, cadets. For today’s mission, you will be traveling to Nork Station orbiting Kees. You will rendezvous with Sergeant Jor for ship maintenance. Your positions have been selected for you. Complete your mission and return home.”
The voice stopped and then the screen flashed a list of ship positions just like Captain Pole had said. The clock started. They had ten minutes to get ready before the test would begin.
“Way to go, Fermit. You got captain.” Ester pat him on the back.
“Psh. That was a mistake,” Murk complained, but Ester and the others ignored him.
Bue was second in command; Murk was assigned to weapons and defense. Samay was assigned to ship maintenance, and Ester and Kiakit were assigned to responding officers. Others were assigned various support positions. As the clock counted down, others prepared as Ester noticed that Samay was shaking.
“You can do this.” Ester looked her in the eyes.
“I-I don’t know about this.” Samay was starting to sweat.
“You can,” Ester reassured her.
“Time’s up, babies,” Murk said as he stood at the door as the clock counted down to zero. The light turned green and the door opened.
The cadets hurried in but were shocked at how realistic the testing area looked. It really looked like they were on the deck of a Rean forty-seven. The deck was outfitted with high-tech command stations with touch screen displays and flashing panels. The floors were carpeted with light gray carpet and the walls were a milky white. The ship’s window showed an endless mass of stars cruising through space. Everyone walked to their stations as their eyes wondered everywhere.
“Damn,” Ester muttered to Samay, “Fermit didn’t say this place looked this nice.”
Samay nodded as she headed to her station
Fermit walked over to the captain’s chair and rubbed the smooth arm rest and sat down. This was his second time taking the test, and though the layout was the same, his position was not. He would have much rather preferred something less essential. Something to put him in the background, but since this was his second time he was sure it was intentional. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His classmates needed him at his best, and that’s exactly what he was going to give them.
Ester and Kiakit took their seats at the front of the deck behind their monitors. Both girls sat with their mouth agape at the smooth sleek design. It gave them chills. If it hadn’t been for the fact that they were taking a test this would have been so cool. Suddenly, all the displays on the deck lit up, bringing up course maps and status reports. The exam had begun.
“It looks like we are on course, Captain Doil,” Kiakit said to Fermit.
Fermit startled to attention and nodded as he watched the stars.
“Fermit, I-I mean, Captain Doil,” Samay called out. “It looks like one of the ship’s engines needs repair. It’s recommending that we take it slow.”
“Um, okay.” Fermit nodded.
“How fast can it take us?” Bue asked.
“It looks like about a 100 cosknots per hour,” Samay replied, peering at her screen.
“Are you serious? That’s way too slow,” Murk barked. “We won’t even last that long before the engine dies.”
“It-it’s true, Captain. The ship is using up too much power. It’s taking away from th
e support engine.” Samay turned and looked at the captain.
“Okay, let’s see.” Fermit pulled up the ships specs. “Maybe we can cut something.”
Another cadet working the life support station turn around and pointed to their screen. “We can cut life support to the decks we’re not using.”
“We can’t though,” Samay looked closer, “because the ship’s registration says there are people down there.”
“Let me see,” Murk left his station.
“Murk.” Fermit looked up at him. “You can’t leave your station.”
“Can it, Doil. It’s clear she’s reading it wrong.”
“I can read just fine!” Samay snapped back.
Bue laughed. “Are you sure? Because you practically have a jungle on your head.” He laughed and pointed at her hair.
“That’s enough. I need the reading,” Fermit said as a red light started flashing on the captain’s panel.
Murk pushed Samay aside and read the screen to Bue. “Hey Bue, looks like there are people there, even though we’re the only ones taking the test. How annoying.”
Ester rolled her eyes. “It’s supposed to simulate a real ship, dumbass.”
“What did you say?” Murk was getting riled up again.
“Go back to your station now, Neben!” Fermit called Murk by his last name this time. Murk growled, but ultimately did what he was told. “We need to save energy. What can we cut?”
Samay scrolled through the ships essential and non-essential functions. “We can cut weapons.”
Murk turned and glared at Samay, then looked at Bue.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Bue said.
Samay looked at the controls. “They would only be down until we get to the station which would be in a few hours or so,” she said. “It turns out the power from the engine always has the weapons charged up. If we disable weapons, we could save more energy, but we would still be able to use our weapons if we needed to.”
Murk looked between Fermit and Samay. “But we would still be defenseless. It’s common knowledge that it takes around twenty minutes for the weapons to come back online.”
“That’s true, but we still have our shields.” Samay turned and looked at Fermit. “It’s your call, Captain.”
Fermit felt the eyes on him, but somehow the extra pressure cleared his mind. “Do it.”
Fermit ignored the complaints from Murk and Bue. The ship needed more energy, and the scans showed that they were the only ship for hundreds of cosknots. With the weapons disabled, they were able to continue on their course without any issues and it looked like they had moved along quite nicely on the map. Fermit pulled up his captain’s panel, and all the systems were maintaining with accuracy.
“Kiakit, how long till we reach Nork station?” Fermit asked.
“Four hours, sir.” Kiakit clicked on her screen.
“Okay, thank you.” Fermit was starting to relax and watched the stars fly by on the screen. He turned to Bue. “I sure hope we don’t have to wait four hours in here. I don’t think my nerves could take it,” he joked. Bue just rolled his eyes.
“Captain Doil,” Ester called out. “I think I’m getting a distress signal.”
Everyone turned and looked at the front screen.
“And I think it’s a video message. Should I play it?” Ester turned and looked at the captain.
Fermit looked at Bue then back at Ester, as he fidgeted in his seat. “Um, sure.”
Ester tapped the button and the video message popped up on the screen before them.
“This is Second in Command Cordane Mechel of Joy Station. Our space station orbiting Kees has taken damage by a stray asteroid and has broken away from planetary orbit. Three of our four engines are disabled, and we have injured personnel. Can you assist?”
The video stopped, and the crew was shocked at the visuals they were seeing. The deck of the Joy was cast in red with blinking crimson lights going off everywhere. Commander Mechel’s face was covered in blood from a large cut on his forehead, and his crew didn’t look any better. The people aboard were native Keesians, tall and boney with deep orange skin, and the sight of their bodies bruised and broken were so graphic it turned their stomachs upside down. Everyone sat in silence. Fermit swallowed hard. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
“Um…Captain? What do we do?” Kiakit looked at him, and for the first time, her tough exterior faltered.
“Um, um,” he stuttered.
“We-we can’t stop,” Murk spoke up, but his voice was shaky.
No one said a word. They knew this was an exam, but it felt so real. Fermit raked his brain for what to do, but this was much different from the exam he took before. He didn’t have the answer. He knew one wrong move could deliver them bad marks on the test.
“We can’t leave them,” Ester blurted. “I mean if we’re seeing this, it must be important, right?”
Fermit nodded. She was right, but his gut still churned.
Bue turned to Fermit. “You can’t be serious?”
Fermit shook his head. rRanger protocol said that they were to prioritize people in danger and assist whenever possible. “Ester, how far is their station?” Everyone looked at him. He was dead serious now.
“About forty minutes away,” Ester responded quickly.
“Samay, how much power do we have? Do we have enough to make a quick stop?”
Samay hit a few buttons and pulled up the ships energy panel. “Only a little, but we’ll have to power a lot of things down to make it to the Joy in time.”
“Do it. Disable all non-essential functions.” Fermit leaned forward in his chair. “Ester, message the Joy and tell Commander Mechel we’re on our way.”
“Yes sir.” Ester spun around and typed the message.
Time aboard the ship sped forward to move the simulator along, startling some of the cadets. Fermit smiled. This must have been the right decision. When they arrived, they saw the damaged space station on the screen. There were darkened parts from fire around some areas of the ship, and half the lights were out. A message blinked on Kiakit’s screen.
Kiakit pulled up the message. “Captain, it’s the Joy.”
“Pull it up,” Fermit ordered.
“Thank you, thank you so much.” Commander Mechel turned to who was left of his crew.
“We are,” Fermit cleared his throat. “I am Captain Fermit Doil of the Rean forty-seven, twenty-twenty-four. We are here to assist you. What do you need?” The screen fuzzed in and out.
“Our bay doors are stuck. We need to open them to free our escape pods. They can only be opened from the outside, but we cannot access them as the system controlling the single exit terminal is down.”
“Okay, we’ll see what we can do. Hold tight.” Fermit held up his hand.
“Thank you, Captain.” Commander Mechel winced.
The screen went back to a picture of the space station. “Do we have some way to get that door open?” Fermit asked around.
A cadet monitoring their ship cargo area turned around in their seat. “Yes, Captain. We have smaller ships that I think are used for external repairs. They can be controlled from the deck.”
“Okay, do you think they can get that door open?”
The cadet looked through what was aboard the mini repair ship. “It has a tiny claw and a laser cutter that might help.”
“Okay, let’s use that.” Fermit turned to the screen. “Kiakit, pull up the section that is jammed. Let’s get a closer look at the damaged portion of the ship.”
“Yes, sir.” Kiakit zoomed in.
The shuttle door was dented, but it looked like it could be budged open. “Ester, contact Commander Mechel.”
“Yes sir.” Ester opened up the communication line.
“Yes, Captain?”
Commander Mechel was the only one on the deck, and it was obvious that their situation was deteriorating.
“We’re sending a repair ship to open the cargo bay door,
” Fermit said has he waved his hand to dispatch the ship.
“Thank you!”
The image faded in and out. Then suddenly a loud siren sounded on the deck of the Joy.
“What is it, Commander?” Fermit stood from his chair.
“Our-our life support is failing. We won’t be able to maintain power long enough to get everyone on board the escape pods.”
The video faded in and out.
“We need more power!”
The message cut out. Everyone looked to Fermit as he stood and paced the deck.
“What are we going to do?” Bue started to panic.
Fermit continue to pace. Their ship was low on power too, but if they could only find a way to transfer them enough power while they worked on the door. Fermit stopped dead in his tracks and turned to the cadet guiding the repair ship. “How long do you think it would take for the repair ship to open the door?”
The cadet guiding the ship looked up at the screen. “Maybe ten to fifteen minutes, maybe longer.”
Fermit nodded. “Samay, is there a way to transfer them power, like a jump start?”
Samay looked at her screen. “Yes, I think so, but it might be risky. With our support engine using up most of our power, we could be left dead in space.”
Fermit stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Murk turned and looked at Samay. “Dead in space? That would put us in the same position as the Joy. Doing that would strand us all.”
“Well, do you have any better ideas?” Ester turned and snapped.
“We can’t help them if we can’t help ourselves in the end,” Murk shouted back. “Use your brain.”
“Can it.” The look on Fermit’s face was intense now. “We’re not going to let them die.” Murk glared at him. “Yeah, our ship would be dead in space, but at least we can say we tried.”
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