Star runners, p.21
Star Runners, page 21
“All right, so those are the emergency steps required when you lose atmo in the cockpit. The details are being downloaded to your tablets. Study them. Know them by heart. I hope this doesn’t happen to any of you. You do not want to be caught in the vacuum.” Ryker glanced at the tablet. “Any questions? No? Class is dismissed for break. Be back here in one hour.”
Bear turned around as the other students stood to walk out of the class. “You see how hot she is?”
“No, Bear, I’m blind,” Austin said.
“Still can’t believe you shot her down.”
He stood. “Wouldn’t do it again, that’s for sure.”
“You wanna get some food?”
“No, I’ll wait till lunch.”
“I’m starving. I’ll catch up with Skylar. See you in a bit.”
Austin walked to the front of the class where Ryker typed into her tablet.
“A question already?” she asked, not looking up from the screen.
“Not really. I just wanted, well, I thought I’d introduce myself.”
She looked up, her dark eyes surrounded by flawless white. “Austin Stone. Call sign: Rock. Planet: Earth. Tizona Squadron. Recruit.”
“Well, yes.”
Ryker pulled the right sleeve down on her uniform. Austin saw the hint of a tattoo before she slid the sleeve over her wrist. “I know very well who you are, Recruit. I went on the Earth servers to test upcoming talent and provide reports to Command. You have a good instinct for flying, real raw talent.”
His face warmed. “Thank you.”
“You’re also brash, arrogant, and fly in guns blazing without using any finesse. Sometimes, a subtler action can achieve the same effect.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He lingered at the front of classroom.
“Was there something else, Stone?” she asked, her expression softening to allow a smile.
“No. Thank you for chatting with me. See you after the break.”
* * *
Austin slapped a spoonful of green noodles on his plate. They squished around while he walked back to the table with the other Tizona students. The food looked like dog vomit, and smelled even worse.
After an entire day of lectures and holographic presentations, the mess hall was louder for dinner than it had been for lunch. Bear and Skylar sat at the end of the table, engrossed in conversation while looking at their tablets. The only opening at the table was on the other end next to students he hadn’t met. To his left, a male recruit grinned as he approached. Across from the open seat sat a young girl with her red hair pulled back in a ponytail.
“Mind if I sit?” Austin asked.
“Go ahead.” The guy motioned to the chair. “I hear you shot our teacher down.”
Austin laughed as he sat. “I guess I did. My name’s Austin.”
“I’m Gan.” He pointed at the girl across the table. “That’s Etti.”
He nodded, noticing Gan’s mouth didn’t match his words.
“You guys aren’t from Earth?”
“No,” Etti said, her lips moving opposite of her words.
A memory popped. “I remember you now. You’re from Pacar and have flight experience, right?”
She nodded. Etti, with her porcelain skin peppered with freckles, looked thirteen years old. How young did the Legion recruit pilots?
Over the course of dinner, Austin discovered Gan was from Dizon, a dark world like Earth. He spoke of life there as if it were just another high school, not another planet. Austin asked him questions until he felt like he was interrogating the guy. After all, it was the first person his age he had met from another planet. Gan went to a private academy and had started playing his planet’s version of Star Runners a few years ago. Like Austin, he was one of the top pilots on his server. Gan asked similar questions of Earth and discovered they had more in common than Austin would have thought.
Etti Mar, on the other hand, had a much different situation.
“What do you think of class, Etti?”
“Elementary so far. We have to learn this from birth on Pacar. Flying is a way of life. We have to fly from our planet to the moon on a regular basis.”
Austin blinked. “Why?”
“Why not?” Etti shot back, her bouncy voice enthusiastic. “We have businesses there. Family. All of my friends went to school on Pacar but lived on the moon. It’s the way things are. Did you work on Searth?”
“You mean Earth?”
“Whatever.”
“Yeah, we work. My commute was much shorter than yours, though.”
Gan leaned forward. “So we figured you know more about Scorpion than we do.”
“What do you mean?”
“Since you shot her down, we thought you might know her. Tell us how to ace this class.”
He snorted. “I hate to disappoint you guys, but I don’t know anything about her. I didn’t even know she was a woman until today. Did Scorpion dominate your servers too?”
Gan nodded. “You bet. Some of the other guys this morning were saying she’s already been through several tours. They say she was recruited from a dark world like we were and that she’s one of the best pilots in the Legion.”
Austin thought of the gossip in high school. Some things never changed. “Well that’s probably true, I guess. Some of it has to be anyway.”
Skylar stood at the end of the table and carried her tray to the dispenser.
“I’ll be right back.” Austin hurried over to Skylar before she turned to leave the room. “Hey!”
She turned around. “Yeah?”
“You okay?” he asked, shifting his feet and burying his hands in his pockets.
“Fine. Why?”
He thought of their kiss the night before. “I was just checking.”
“Oh,” she said, widening her eyes. “Thanks for checking.”
She left before he could respond.
He walked back to the table feeling like he’d just been sucker-punched.
“That your lady friend?” Gan asked.
“No. Well, I mean, yes. Ah, we’re good friends.”
Gan stood to leave. “Might want to figure out a direct answer to that question, friend.”
* * *
Austin lingered in the mess hall until the lights dimmed for the station’s evening shift. The crew cleaned the floor while he read in his tablet about the emergency procedures during loss of atmosphere. Austin expected Ryker would give a quiz on this tomorrow after her continuous reminders to read this chapter.
“Studying late already, son?”
“Nubern? I’m sorry, Captain.” Austin moved to stand, but his mentor held out a hand to stop him.
He sat on the other side of the table as if he carried a great weight. “How was day one?”
He shrugged. “Another day of school, but this time I like the subject. Oh, and the school is on a space station, so there is that. Lieutenant Zyan isn’t what I expected.”
“What did you expect? Scorpion is the best there is.”
He paused. “I don’t know.”
“Oh.” Nubern eyed him. “You didn’t expect a woman?”
“No, sir.”
“I’m not surprised. Your planet has some baffling ideas of the capabilities of a female. Erase that from your mind. Scorpion is one of the best pilots in the Legion. We are lucky to use her talents for training and recruitment while she is available.”
Austin stared at the stars, thinking of the burning freighters under pirate attack. “Did you go out during the attack yesterday?”
Nubern’s face hardened. “Yes.”
“Do the attacks happen often?”
“More than we would like to admit.” He gazed out toward the nebula. “Tarton’s Junction has been a terminus for space travel for a thousand years. Maybe more. It’s a crucial point in Quadrant Eight. Pirates have always preyed on this location, but since Dax Rodan took over things have gotten worse. Yesterday, we were caught sleeping.”
Austin felt his face flush. “You shoot anyone down?”
Nubern eyed him for a moment with a cold look until his face thawed. “I’ve been in more conflicts than I can count. Somewhere along the line you quit etching your kills on the side of your fighter.”
Austin shut his tablet and sat in silence.
“I am sorry I didn’t tell you more before we arrived,” Nubern said. “It’s sometimes easier to throw it at students all at once. What do you think?”
“It’s a lot to take in.”
“We do not usually take recruits older than twenty-five. Very rare to take anyone older. Do you know why?”
“Fitness requirements?”
Nubern shook his head. “We have found it is easier for the younger minds to accept they are not alone in the universe. Unless there is a special circumstance, we try to recruit young.”
“Were you recruited?”
“Yes, but I was born on a Legion planet, not a dark world like you. It was always a part of my life. Let me ask you, do you agree about recruiting young?”
“Sir?”
“That it is easier to accept since you are younger. For instance, do you think your mother would be able to accept the truth?”
“Oh, I don’t know.”
Austin stared at the stars, thinking of Mom.
“I’m just a student,” he said barely above a whisper. “All I’ve ever wanted was to finish college for my father. That’s all. Now I’m here and expected to kill. I don’t want that responsibility. I’m still a kid.”
Nubern leaned over the table. “No matter what you try, no matter what you do, time doesn’t stand still. Things will change. They always do. You can take this opportunity, learn from it and excel, or quit. If you quit, you will regret it forever and wonder what might have been.” He glanced at his watch. “Class is in six hours. Better hit the rack.”
Austin nodded and watched Nubern march across the mess hall with a confidence he wished he felt. With his stomach in knots, he continued reading the chapter on what happens to the body in the vacuum of space.
* * *
Austin had been awake for twenty hours straight, and his eyes grew heavy. He sighed and left the mess hall.
He strolled through the empty halls and watched the bots polish the floors to a high shine until it looked like he walked on an icy surface. Outside the view ports lining the halls, the nebula sent its violet and red color palette spilling onto the reflective deck. Two Tridents flying patrol zipped by the window. He paused, watching them soar until they vanished out of sight. He smiled, imagining being in the cockpit, and continued walking.
He heard the sound of metal crashing, sending a ringing sound bouncing through the halls. He hurried around the corner toward Pod C when the noise rattled through the corridor again. One light beamed from the end of the hallway. Heavy breathing echoed, followed by a grunt. He stepped forward for a better view of the room that was just a short walk from the mess hall.
He gasped.
Inside the room, exercise equipment lined the walls. Digital readouts glowed from the elliptical machines, washing the room in a green and blue hue. The salty smell of sweat and putrid body odor smacked him in the face, but he didn’t mind. Sitting at one of the machines with her hair pulled back, Ryker performed curls. She wore loose-fitting green shorts and a black sports bra drenched in sweat. Her skin glowed, her biceps bulging.
She slapped another weight on the bar and glanced at the door. After placing a translator in her ear, she asked, “What are you doing?”
Austin’s mouth was dry. “Nothing, ma’am.”
“You up early or late?”
“I was heading back to my pod to sleep.”
“Class is in four hours.”
He looked down. “I know.”
She laughed. “Gimme a spot since you’re just standing there.”
Austin tossed his Tizona tablet on a bench at the door and stood behind her. She moved to another station and leaned back on the bench, exposing her bare stomach and legs. A black and red tattoo of a sword crossing a shield stretched the length of her forearm. She finished her reps and sat up to dry her hands.
“How long have you been in here?” he asked.
“Too long,” she said, grunting as she got back into position for more bench presses. “I can’t sleep longer than a couple hours. When I wake up, I’d rather come in here than toss and turn in my bunk.”
The bar crashed down as she finished. She leaned forward, her skin glistening with sweat, and took a long drink of water.
“Went through two tours in the Carmicha system dealing with the extremist revolt,” she said, her full lips not matching the voice he heard translated in his ear.
Austin paused. “What’s that, Lieutenant?”
“I saw you looking at the tattoo. It’s hard to miss, I know. Got it on my first combat tour.”
Austin blushed and forced his eyes on the wall. “Oh. So how did you end up here?”
“Was ordered back here when Dax Rodan and the Tyral Pirates starting flexing out in Quadrant Eight. Command wanted to boost training and recruitment.” Ryker shook her head. “In other words; what’s a girl like me doing in a place like this?”
“I didn’t mean that.” He wanted to jump out an airlock, but instead shut up and hoped for an escape route.
“It’s okay. I’m just kidding,” she said, wiping her face with a towel. “I was recruited by Nubern just like you.”
“You played the game, too?”
“Yes, that’s part of the reason why they use me to monitor the servers on a couple of planets when I have the time.” She stared at the nebula. “It was strange when I was recruited. I’m sure it is for everyone. My home, Lian, is dark like Earth but we are taught to fight from birth. It’s just part of our culture.”
“How so?”
“Wars I’d rather not think about. Wasn’t much time for anything else, but I always dreamed of being a pilot, so that is the path I resolved to take.”
“Not much of a life there, I guess.”
She glared at him. “What does that mean?”
“I mean, you know, you don’t have much time for fun on your home planet.”
Ryker snorted and prepared for another round of reps. “Waste of time.”
Austin shifted on his feet. “You like teaching?”
“We’re required to spend time in the classroom. I also have to spend time monitoring the sims. I’ve had Earth for a little while now. That’s how I met you.”
“You were so good,” Austin said without thinking.
She paused and gripped the bar. Her fierce exterior seemed to melt away for an instant. She blinked. “Were?”
He smiled. “Are.”
She looked at him for a moment with dark eyes. “You should probably get ready for class.”
He nodded. “I’ll see you there.”
He strolled to the hallway and turned back to see Ryker staring after him.
16
“You are lazy, incompetent newbs who will never be able to fly!”
Austin resisted the urge to glance at the other students, knowing it would draw criticism from Lieutenant Maddox. For the past three weeks, Maddox, with his brooding wide shoulders and closely cropped hair, had been barking orders at the students during their sidearm training.
Austin would have enjoyed firing the laser pistol at the station’s gun range if it weren’t for Maddox, who seemed to possess the powerful ability to make everything seem like a chore. Following the first week of class, Ryker’s flight instruction would dismiss after lunch into Maddox’s hands to learn the basics of firing a laser pistol. Whenever they flew on a mission, Legion pilots were required to carry their own sidearm.
Before the training, Austin had only fired his neighbor’s pellet gun. The laser pistol surprised him as it had little kickback when he fired it at the holographic targets. It was no different than firing the guns at an arcade. He even recorded the best accuracy one day.
Maddox screamed at the Tizona students as he marched them down a dimly lit hallway. He carried a black helmet under his arm and wore a dark leather flight suit.
“Admiral Gist has ordered us to attempt to train you and you all get the chance to fail! Everything up till this point has been paper doll time!”
Austin sighed, careful to hide it from Maddox. The past week of endless classes on thrust, pitch, yaw, power distribution, and emergency life support had finally led them to the primary hangar of Tarton’s Junction. Upon entering, he saw Trident fighters of various classes stretched for several hundred yards. Pilots and crewmen mingled on the flight deck. Off to his right, Josh spoke with six other pilots all clad in the forest green of the Lobera squadron.
Austin stretched and rotated his arm as Maddox continuing yelling about the dangerous nature of space flight. All he wanted to do was get in the cockpit. With his buzz-cut hair and weathered skin, Maddox looked like a man who’d spent his life in the desert, not the veteran pilot Ryker had told them to expect.
Austin stretched again, fighting the tightening blue flight suit. He gripped the matching helmet under his arm and felt the weight. Soon, he would be flying in the Trident. All those hours spent in his bedroom with an energy drink and packs of chips would pay off. He smiled at the thought. Who would have thought he would be able to say such a thing?
He glanced at the Trident behind Maddox and studied the two cockpits. He might not be flying solo, yet, but this was close enough.
“You’ve all been nothing but sim rats to this point,” Maddox said, his voice booming over the machinery of the active hangar. “Today, you get behind the stick. The Trident trainer was designed to have someone there to save your butt when you screw up. Take it seriously and maybe you won’t kill yourselves and your trainer. Remember your classwork and don’t try to show off. Recruits die that way.”
