Dragon Team Seven

by Toby Neighbors

  “July 22nd, 2075, The Great Trade is reached between the Peregrinantes and the human race. In exchange for a collection of animals and twelve humans of various races, humanity was given medical technology that changed our world forever. Obesity and disease were eradicated, and the average human life span tripled in length. As the world population increased exponentially, we began to spread among the planets, moons, and mining stations.”

  “What about the tech the Proxy wouldn’t trade?” Kal whispered.

  “They won’t share their secrets to hyperspace travel,” Jules agreed.

  “Why should they?” Ember said. “Keeping that tech for themselves is the only thing that keeps us from spreading out and trading with other races ourselves.”

  “Exactly,” Kal said. “They’re holding us back.”

  “Or keeping us safe,” Ember said. “Do you really think we wouldn’t start an intergalactic war?”

  “What would keep the other races from coming here?” Ty said. “The Proxy ain’t so bad, but if more species had the means to travel from system to system, we could be wiped out.”

  “At least the Proxy gave us help in some areas,” Nick said. “It could have been worse. They share some things.”

  “Only the things they want us to have,” Kal argued.

  “Maybe they know we aren’t responsible enough to have everything the galaxy offers,” Ember said.

  “Do you really believe that?” Jules asked.

  “I don’t,” Kal said. “We should have the choice. They aren’t protecting anyone but themselves.”

  Nick wasn’t sure what he believed about the Proxy, which was the slang term for the Peregrinantes and was based on their desire to hire humans to fight for them. Maybe they were simply being smart traders by not sharing the technology that would allow humans to travel between star systems. On the other hand, Nick knew the history of the human race was rife with examples of tyrants and terrorists making horrible decisions with powerful technology that affected the lives of thousands of people.

  “August 1st, 2075,” the hologram continued, oblivious to the whispering of the students. “Construction on the Space Exchange began. The Peregrinantes would make our solar system a regular stop on their trade route across the galaxy. As part of the peaceful trade agreement made between the nations of mankind and the Peregrinantes, thousands of jobs were created and invaluable technology shared that allowed us to build safe, productive colonies not just on Mars, but also on Luna and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. With the introduction of new building techniques, space stations were constructed in the orbits of Venus, Neptune, and Uranus. The solar power grid was established. Water, invaluable minerals, and rare elements were harvested from the asteroid belt and the rings around Saturn.

  “December 21st, 2078, the Space Exchange officially opens. What follows for mankind is the most productive and prosperous century in the history of our fledgling race. Governments laid aside their differences and the long litany of crimes from their past. The world merged into a single entity that encompassed every tribe, nation, and people group. For a hundred years we reached for the stars—but not all progress is beneficial. As our life spans tripled in length, the average family size grew from 2.3 children per household to 13.7. The wild places on our planet were tamed, and construction spread across the globe. Even the oceans were settled. Eventually, Earth could no longer sustain us. Reproduction laws were established and governmental controls set in place to ensure that no one suffered or was taken advantage of.”

  “No one with money,” Kal said in a snide whisper.

  “Or with the right connections,” Ty added.

  “Suffering is all most people know,” Jules added.

  “This guy obviously never worked in the ULU,” Ember said.

  Nick nodded. He understood the government’s need to cast its actions in a positive light, but simply saying that no one suffered was laughable. Most humans lived in deplorable conditions, scraping by on next to nothing for centuries. Illness may have become a thing of the past, but it wasn’t necessarily a good thing for humans to live three times as long as they had since the dawn of time.

  “Opportunities arose,” the hologram pontificated, “as we spread across the solar system, but a majority of humans preferred to stay on Earth, and the result was a strain on the world ecology and economy. The Golden Century ran headlong into a crisis we were not prepared for. And once again, the Peregrinantes came to our aid.”

  “Easy to fix a problem you caused,” Ty said.

  “The question is, did they know it would happen?” Jules asked.

  “You think they planned for our population to outpace our ability to provide?” Ember asked.

  “Makes sense,” Kal said. “We’ve been adjusting to the Proxy for a few centuries, but that’s a drop in the bucket to them.”

  “They gave us the ability to grow at an unprecedented rate yet failed to offer any real solutions for us to spread out,” Ty said. “That way, we’d jump at the chance to fight for them.”

  “Not a bad plan,” Nick admitted. “If they really did conceive of it. I still think it’s a coincidence.”

  “I don’t believe in those,” Kal said. “You’ll never convince me they didn’t plan this all along.”

  “Well keep that kind of attitude to yourself,” Nick said. “Nothing good can come from questioning their motives now.”

  “July 21, 2199, sensing that humanity needed relief from the confines of our overcrowded and impoverished planet, the Peregrinantes Military Corps was established,” the hologram said, with such pride that his entire expression changed. “In exchange for our help in fighting hostile elements along the Galactic Trade Route, the Peregrinantes would help humanity establish a colony outside our solar system. Elysium was the closest habitable world. It was what scientists called a ‘Goldilocks’ world; it was much like Earth, with a similar atmosphere and widespread native flora. Every man and woman who serves a full enlistment term of five years in the PMC is eligible for transport to Elysium.

  “The Corps is responsible for the salvation of mankind and our first colony outside the solar system. It is a military with proud and honorable traditions. Our aptitude for warfare, under the guidance of the Peregrinantes officer corps, has shaped the PMC into the finest fighting force our race has ever seen. You are now part of that Corps, with all its history and potential. Hold tight to the pride that being a Space Marine brings and you’ll excel in the incredible opportunity that has been set before you.”

  The hologram dissolved and the room lights came back on. Sergeant Gomez marched to the front of the room. Some of the recruits had fallen asleep during the lecture and were looking around trying to figure out what they had missed.

  “You’ll have access to data desks in the barracks after your training is complete,” he growled. Nick sensed the gruff sergeant was holding himself back from saying how he felt about the recruits falling asleep. “A large part of your time here this week will be spent in tactical training simulators. Follow me, recruits.”

  Nick and the others got to their feet. Sergeant Gomez walked briskly from the room.

  “Oh, man, I’m so sore already,” Ember complained.

  “Not me,” Jules said. “I feel like I could take another crack at the weight machines.”

  “Better drink whatever they give you next,” Ty said. “We can’t have you falling behind.”

  “She’s not the only one hurting,” Nick said, referring to several other recruits who were groaning and moving slow.

  “What do you think a tactical training simulator is?” Kal asked.

  “I don’t know,” Jules said, “but it sounds kind of fun.”

  “I guess we’ll find out,” Nick said.

  They followed Sergeant Gomez past the mess hall and the PT area. They jogged up a flight of stairs and found themselves in a huge room filled with odd-looking machines.

  “This is the TTS room,” Gomez said. “You’ve already been as
signed to a simulator. Get in, pay attention, and do what you’re told. You will be judged for your ability to follow orders as well as work the simulators. Good luck, recruits.”

  Nick walked down the central aisle along with the other recruits. Small displays on the backs of the oddly shaped machines had names on them. Ember’s was the first. She nodded to the others, then ducked into what looked like a large egg. Ty’s simulator looked like a ride from an old-fashioned theme park. When Nick got to a blocky simulator with his name on it, he stepped up to the small opening. The interior was pitch-black inside. He stepped through the hatch and, with no prompting on his part, the door shut. Nick’s heart rate sped up, and he feared that something bad was about to happen. All the rumors he’d heard about the Proxy raced through his mind. Perhaps it wasn’t a simulator, but rather some type of harvester. What if they tried to eat him or drain his body to power their technology somehow? It was all foolish, yet his emotions couldn’t differentiate between what was real and what was imagined in the dark room.

  It was suddenly hard to breathe, and Nick was certain he was going to die. Then something happened that changed everything. What happened next was completely unexpected, and Nick knew that all his fears and doubts were indeed foolish. He whooped for joy as the simulator began its program and Nick floated up into the air, completely weightless.

  Chapter 12

  Distant pinpoints of light appeared. Nick’s high school auditorium had been transformed into a planetarium one semester, so he recognized the projection of stars all around him. For an hour he did nothing but float in the center of the simulator, assailed with different emotions. His fears had disappeared when the program started. It quickly became clear that the simulator was mimicking the experience of being lost in space. He didn’t have a space suit or communicator. There was no way to call for help and no way to control his slow tumble. At first it was fun, but eventually he grew tired of the novelty of weightlessness. He looked all around him, searching for something, anything that might point to rescue. It felt wrong to do nothing at all, but there was nothing he could do.

  His emotions began to play tricks on him. He was helpless as long as the simulator held him in mid-air. What if it were some kind of alien jail? What if they never let him leave the simulator? It took an act of will to banish such thoughts. He did his best to focus on the challenge. Nick knew that simulators were built to train individuals on how to react to various situations. His simulator was obviously a catastrophe trainer, and losing his cool wouldn’t help him.

  After nearly an hour, the lights began to change in one part of the dark simulator. Nick had no way of altering his slow tumble, but he began to focus on the new light. He turned his head and tried to keep the new light in view as much as possible. After a few minutes, the lights changed again. It wasn’t starlight; it appeared to be the running lights on a ship or space station. Nick’s trajectory was going to take him by the craft. With no way to communicate with the beings on board, Nick tried to wave his arms and legs. If they were watching, they might catch sight of him.

  The craft drew closer and closer. Nick saw that it was a spaceship of some kind. He didn’t bother shouting. His voice wouldn’t carry in hard vacuum and yelling would only wear him out. He did continue trying to signal with his body. The zero-gravity tumble had been relaxing at first, but now that he was trying to connect with the people in the ship, his constant motion and flipping was beginning to make him feel seasick. He fought down the urge to be sick and the growing sense of despair that he would be missed by the spacecraft. For all Nick knew, he might drift for hours as part of the simulation. If he were really lost in space, he could die long before there was any chance of rescue. The thought of his body floating through space for all time was terrifying.

  He watched the ship pass him by and forced himself to stay calm. It’s just a training simulator, he told himself. You’re not going to die. But he felt an overwhelming sense of despair. It helped to remember that he was being observed. The Proxy were watching him. They wanted to see how he would react. Panic would be failure, and despair would only limit his options. He wasn’t dying. He wasn’t hurt. If the ship didn’t see him, there was nothing to be done but to keep looking for other options. Suddenly, a section of the ship opened and a long umbilical line was extended. Nick wasn’t sure what was a hologram and what wasn’t. The umbilical moved toward him and he twisted his body, giving himself the best possible chance of grabbing hold of the lifeline. When it looked to be within reach, he stretched out a hand. The zero-gravity tumble made it hard, as if the line were whipping around him. But with a little luck he managed to grab the line. It was a real, tangible object; just feeling the solid umbilical gave Nick a sense of relief.

  His body twisted around the umbilical line, but Nick used the object to stop his tumble. He continued to drift and bounce in the weightless simulator, but he wasn’t out of control. As the umbilical retracted, he held fast. It pulled him into a dark room of the ship. A yellow light flashed, and a mechanized voice sounded. It said a single word in several languages that Nick didn’t recognize before finally speaking English.

  “Stand by,” the voice said.

  He held his breath, still drifting. The return of gravity came slowly. He felt his body descending like a balloon losing helium. Twisting in the air, he managed to land on his feet and stand up. The voice spoke again.

  “This training session is now over. Due to the nature of the training, please do not reveal the details of the simulation to anyone. You may exit the simulator.”

  The door to the blocky room opened. Nick squinted at the bright light, surprised that the light didn’t reveal anything inside the simulator. He was drawn toward the light. It felt good to be on his feet and under full control of his limbs again. He ducked through the hatch and took a deep breath.

  “Nichols!” Sergeant Gomez said. “Come with me.”

  Nick looked for his friends, but they weren’t in sight. He could hear the other simulators. They puffed compressed air and whined as objects moved around or inside the training modules. Nick followed Sergeant Gomez up another flight of stairs. He was put in an empty room and left alone.

  He sank down into the plastic chair and stretched his legs out in front of him. The room was small, and soon one of the white walls revealed a large digital image. It was the PMC logo, floating and rotating. The image quickly changed and revealed a series of questions with multiple-choice answers. They were generic questions—some simple, others odd and more difficult. Nick reached out and touched the answer to the first question. It lit up, then disappeared. A second question rose up into the first’s place. Nick answered it, and the testing continued.

  By the time he finished, Nick’s stomach was growling. He was given instructions to return to the simulator room. Most of the others were waiting there as well. Nick found Ember, Jules, and Ty standing together. None of them were speaking.

  “Hey,” Nick said as he approached.

  “I hope they’re feeding us soon,” Ty said.

  “Me too,” Jules said. “I’m famished.”

  “Anyone seen Kal?” Nick asked.

  They shook their heads, but it wasn’t long before Kal exited a simulator and started toward the group.

  “Looks like that’s everyone,” Sergeant Gomez said as Kal approached.

  Nick looked around and noticed they were down two more recruits. He didn’t know if they had gotten ill or failed to pass some sort of test, but they weren’t part of the group.

  “Chow time. Make if fast, people,” Gomez warned them. “This isn’t social hour. Eat fast or you’ll do without.”

  They went back to the mess hall. Their lunch was a choice of thick sandwiches on hoagie buns or garden salads. Nick and his friends ate every bite without saying a word. It was still hot to Nick. His body seemed to be running like a performance engine.

  After lunch, they were given instructions for emergency evacuation of the space station. Once they finished, th
ey practiced emergencies on board space vessels. It was tedious and tiresome, but Nick understood the necessity of it. They were in space, after all, completely dependent on the life support the space vessels provided. If something compromised those systems, they needed to know how to get help.

  “Man, this is all intense,” Kal said.

  “We’ll be living on these ships for the next five years,” Ember said. “We have to know what to do in an emergency.”

  “Yeah, but I’ve been thinking about things,” Kal went on. “You know, about the fact that we might die. There are a thousand ways to die up here. It’s just a lot to process. My brain feels like it’s on overload.”

  “We’ll adapt,” Nick said.

  “Yeah, we went from being simpletons in the ULU who were told what to do and when to do it to being valuable assets.”

  “I agree,” Nick said. “I think the Proxy value the ability to think for yourself.”

  After the emergency training, they were taken to an empty room with a stripe on the floor. Sergeant Gomez lined them all up on the stripe, which was only a few centimeters from the wall.

  “You will stand here,” Gomez lectured them. “Feet together, arms at your sides, and backs straight. No talking. Face forward. This is what it means to stand at attention. You will practice this until I return.”

  He left the empty room, and Nick was beset with temptations. He wanted to look around, but he’d been ordered to face forward. He wanted to talk to his friends, but he had been ordered not to speak. After a few minutes of standing still, he was tempted to fidget or shift his weight from one foot to another. Still, he knew that doing so would get him in trouble. His muscles began to feel stiff as the minutes ticked away. He couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like some of the recruits were leaning back against the wall. It was only a few inches away, and the idea of leaning back was so tempting. He wanted to do anything to relieve the tension he felt, even just for a few seconds.