by Jake Bible
“They’ll be doing both if they ever land on Stavroff,” Linklater said. “I even gave the sim a solid option. This thing can actually chew them up and spit them out.”
“Why the fuck would you do that?” North asked. “Never mind. Just don’t activate it, okay Link?”
“Whatever,” Linklater.
“Thanks.” North’s eyes flitted from one scenario to another, finally resting on a fighter skiff simulation. “How’s the new TO doing?”
“How the hell should I know how the new Training Officer is doing?” Linklater replied. “You’re the one that should be evaluating that. I’m just the guy that makes dumb cadet pilots think they are actually flying. You’ll have to ask Captain Valencio yourself.”
“You know you’re supposed to be a help to me, Link, not be an asshole,” North grinned. “I am second in command on this station.”
“Not in here you’re not,” Linklater replied. “Know what would be a help to me? You getting the fuck out of my control room and being second in command somewhere else. I’m a little busy. Maybe go check on Captain Valencio in person and ask her how she’s doing.”
“I might do that,” North replied.
“Good. She’s in simulation bay one-oh-eight,” Linklater said. “By the time you walk there her sim will be done.”
“If I ever get transferred, you’re going to have a hell of a time dealing with a new Chief TO,” North said as he pushed off from the wall and stepped to the hatch. “You’re lucky I know how good you are at your job.”
“You’re lucky I’m good enough to make up for the slack from the rest of these dipshits,” Linklater said.
“Way to keep up morale, Link,” North said as he shook his head, looking at the roomful of insulted techs. “One day they’ll mutiny on your ass.”
“Then I’d be the lucky one and finally be done with this hell,” Linklater said. “Now get the fuck out of here. I have work to do.”
Five
“North! Hey, North! Hold up!”
North took a few more steps down the corridor then sighed and slowed. He turned and forced a smile onto his face.
“Hey, Metzger. Need something?” North said as Sergeant-at-Arms Coop Metzger came running up to North.
Thick of neck and arms, Metzger wore an all black uniform with Training Station Perpetuity’s symbol of Earth with interwoven rings of colony planets swirling about it, emblazoned on a patch over his heart. He had a slung scorcher on his back and a pistol on each hip with a smile almost as wide as the corridor.
“You are not easy to track down when you have your comm off,” Metzger said. “You know the security protocols, North. You have to have your comm on at all times.”
“Just taking a walk to bay one-oh-eight, Metzger,” North said. “Clearing my head a bit before the next batch comes in.”
“That’s what I need to talk to you about,” Metzger said. “The next batch is double what you told me and I don’t have the security personnel available to handle fifty thousand dumb assholes. You need to split the induction into two batches.”
“Double? That can’t be right,” North said. He pressed a small patch on the inside of his wrist until an image of a young woman appeared. “Corporal Ngyuen? Why is Metzger in my face telling me the new cadet numbers are double what we were told by recruiting?”
“I have been trying to call you, Major North,” the young woman replied, her image flickering slightly as it hovered above North’s wrist. “CSC gave recruiting permission to clear out the slums in Metro London and Metro Moscow. Two sweeps and the numbers were doubled. I just found out as the transports docked an hour ago.”
“Where the hell are we going to put the extra twenty-five thousand cadets?” North asked. “The next class does not graduate until Thursday and we already have two to a bunk as it is.”
“Yes, well, Commandant Terlinger says to make it three to a bunk for the new cadets and be prepared for—,” Ngyuen replied. She looked off to the side and cleared her throat. “Yes, Commandant, I will tell him. Uh, Major North? The commandant would like to speak with you personally about the increased numbers. At your earliest convenience, of course.”
“I was about to do a surprise inspection on Captain Valencio,” North growled. “Let the commandant know I’ll be there directly after.”
“He says now would be your earliest convenience,” Ngyuen stated. “His office in five minutes.”
“Son of a…” North sighed and squeezed his eyes together for a second. “Fine. I’ll be there in five. North out.”
He pressed his wrist again then rubbed his skin with the tips of his fingers and the image of Ngyuen vanished.
“See?” Metzger said. “Double. What the hell do you want me to do about it? That many scared wimps in one place is going to be trouble.”
“Nothing I can do,” North said. “I can’t grow new security guards for you. Do your job and figure it out, Metzger. Spread them out and make sure they are paying attention. The second a cadet panics or gets out of line then shove a stun baton up his or her ass and make an example of the pussy.”
“You know I’m your pal, right North?” Metzger smiled. “I’m on your side. You don’t have to bark at me all the time. I’m just trying to keep us all safe on Perpetuity.”
“Metzger, none of us are safe,” North sighed. “Not ever. If we were then we wouldn’t need a training station like Perpetuity, now would we?”
North didn’t wait for an answer from Metzger, just turned and stalked off towards the lift to the station’s top level and Commandant Lawrence Terlinger’s office.
Six
“Sit down, North,” Commandant Terlinger ordered as North stepped into the sparse office. “Take a load off.”
“I don’t have time to sit, sir,” North replied, standing at attention. “I’m already behind on my simulation inspections and I’m about to speak in front of fifty thousand cadets instead of twenty-five thousand. I really should be down level working, sir.”
“Sit your smug ass down, Bartram,” Terlinger snapped. “And can the attitude. You aren’t the only person that works his ass off on this station.”
“Sir, with all due respect—,” North started.
“Sit the fuck down,” Terlinger growled, hooking his thumb over his shoulder at the wide window behind his desk. “That’s an order or I’ll toss you outside the station myself. Understood, Major?”
North hesitated then stepped to the single chair in front of Terlinger’s desk and sat down.
“How can I help you, sir?” North asked, his back ramrod straight. “I live to serve.”
“You are a piece of work, North,” Terlinger sighed as he sat down in his own chair and swiped his hand across his desk, bringing up a schematic of the Perpetuity. “You are lucky you’re the most efficient Chief TO we’ve had or I wouldn’t be willing to put up with half your shit.”
“Thank you for the honor, sir,” North replied.
“Shut up,” Terlinger said.
He was a heavyset man, in his late sixties with thinning white hair that he kept slicked back against his scalp. He licked his lips incessantly, making them bright red and almost as slick looking as his hair.
“Level eighteen has been used for extra storage, but we are now converting it into cadet quarters,” Terlinger said as he pinched part of the station image with his fingers and enlarged it. “Most of the crap stored in there is old and outdated equipment, but we cannot afford to just toss it all out an airlock. With CSC quintupling recruitment, we’ll need every old suit, scorcher, and pair of boots we have on hand.”
“Quintupling?” North exclaimed. “What are you talking about, sir? I haven’t heard a word about this.”
“You are now, North,” Terlinger said. “Sorry I didn’t deliver the news on a lace doily.”
“Sir, my TOs and drill instructors are stretched thin already,” North protested. “There is no way they can handle five times the training load. There isn’t even enough time in t
he day to do that.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Terlinger replied. “I have faith in you. I have already informed CSC that you will double the numbers per training group and are cutting training time down from two weeks to one week.”
“One week?” North shouted, jumping up from his chair. “Sir, most of these cadets are backwoods colonists! The most time they’ve spent in space is on the trip from their hick worlds to Perpetuity! Not to mention the ghetto kids and lowlifes the CSC is shipping in from Earth! They need at least two weeks just to get acclimated to life in space, let alone being trained not to blow their feet off with their scorchers!”
“There are twenty-four hours in a day, North,” Terlinger said. “Use every single hour. Jam these men and women full of pharma and churn them through the sims. They don’t have to be perfect little soldiers, North, just able to fire their scorchers at DGs and not at each other.”
“I can’t guarantee that last part, sir,” North said. “Pharmaed-up cadets don’t learn nearly as well as straight ones.”
“You aren’t teaching ancient history, Bartram,” Terlinger snapped. “They don’t need to learn shit except how to fire and run in a straight line.”
“Sir, do we even have enough pharma on board?” North asked, his left eye twitching slightly.
Terlinger watched him for a second then looked towards the hatchway of his office. “Ngyuen!”
“Yes, Commandant?” a voice called out from the reception room.
“Did you check in the new shipments of pharma CSC sent us?” Terlinger asked.
‘Personally, sir,” Ngyuen replied.
“See,” Terlinger said to North. “Thank you, Ngyuen!”
“My pleasure, sir,” Ngyuen called back.
Terlinger swiped the image of the station from his desk and then brought up a swirling mass of stars. He pinched in again and again until he zoomed into the image of a cluster of planets orbiting a blazing blue star.
“Show battle lines,” Terlinger said and a set of bright yellow and bright blue lines appeared, splitting the star system in half. “Do you see those lines, North?”
“Yes, sir,” North nodded. “That’s Quel System, yes?”
“It was,” Terlinger said then grabbed the yellow lines and yanked them from the image. “It’s all Estelian territory now, so who knows what those abominations are calling it now.”
“Sir, that’s only five systems from us,” North said. “When did this happen?”
“Three days ago,” Terlinger said. “CSC is sending in a counter offensive to retake the system, but they are not optimistic. That’s why we need more troops, North. We are losing the ship battles, but we excel at the ground campaigns. They can fly around in their cruisers and destroyers all they want, but we are now going to carpet bomb each of their planets with green cadets and kill every last Estelian we come across.”
“Sir, but if their ships get past Boone System, then they are only one punch away from our solar system,” North replied. “It doesn’t matter how many of our outer planets we retake or how many of their planets we invade. If we lose Earth, then the war is over.”
“Now you see why we need to crank out cadets,” Terlinger said. “We have to not just to swarm the other systems, but keep the Estelians from swarming our home planet. If CSC has its way, they’ll turn every man, woman, and child on Earth into killers. I would like to avoid that. Let’s churn out some cadets and get them out to the other systems. The idea is the Estelians will back off from their course to Earth when they see they are losing everything they leave behind.”
“What if they don’t care?” North asked.
“Well, major, then Perpetuity will be the new front in this war,” Terlinger frowned. “We stop being a training station and become a command base. I’d prefer if that doesn’t happen.”
North rubbed his face and gave the commandant a weak smile. “That, sir, I can agree with 100 percent.”
Terlinger eyed North carefully. “You look like you could use some pharma yourself, North. Make sure you are up to the task I’m giving.”
“I will, sir,” North said.
“But do not take it too far,” Terlinger said. “I am well aware of your file, North. Let’s not have another Mendel situation, alright?”
“I have it all under control, sir,” North said.
“Good,” Terlinger smiled then waved at his office hatchway. “Dismissed.”
Seven
“Bank left, Cadet Pilot Mnuki,” Fighter Skiff Training Officer Captain Deena Valencio ordered. “Reduce thrusters to half and then turn a sharp right. Once you have their squadron in sight, then hit thrusters and take the fight to them.”
Valencio sat in the seat directly behind Cadet Pilot Mnuki, her eyes watching the young man struggle with his orientation and control of the fighter skiff. It wasn’t a large vehicle, only about thirty feet long by fifteen feet wide, with two plasma cannons mounted to each short wing and a battery of missiles locked into the undercarriage. But the cadet pilot was having a difficult time keeping the fighter skiff aimed in the correct direction.
“Cadet Pilot Mnuki, are you listening to me?” Valencio snapped, her voice harsh and raspy over the comm system. “Bank left! LEFT!”
The fighter skiff careened through open space, banking right then diving sharply, headed straight for the squadron of other CSC fighter skiffs flying directly below it.
“Mnuki! Pull up! PULL UP!” Valencio yelled. When the young man didn’t respond in time, she switched control of the fighter skiff to herself and yanked hard on the flight stick in front of her.
The fighter skiff pulled up fast, but it was too late. The tail end of the skiff smacked into one of the other fighters, causing it to lose control and crash into the rest of the squadron. The screams of dying pilots echoed over the comm system as one by one the fighter skiffs erupted into silent explosions.
“You stupid fuck,” Valencio snapped. “Did you hear a word I even said?”
All sensation of movement in the fighter skiff came to an abrupt halt and the bloody scene that surrounded them blinked out, replaced by the sterile walls of the massive fighter training simulator.
“Hey!” Valencio shouted as she shoved open the cockpit hatch and pulled herself out of the skiff. “I didn’t say to end the sim! I still have forty-nine cadet pilots running scenarios!”
She jumped down from the skiff and looked at the other mock fighter skiffs that sat on the simulator bay’s floor. One by one, cockpit hatches started to open and cadet pilots began to pull themselves out and look around.
“Did I say to get out of your seats, you morons?” Valencio barked. “Sit your asses back down and prep for the next sim!”
“There’s no next sim,” North announced from the hatchway as he stepped into the simulation bay. “I need this bay cleared so Linklater can refit it for ground troops.”
“For what? Ground troops? Where the hell am I supposed to run simulations?” Valencio barked as she stalked over to North.
A woman of average height, weight, and musculature, Deena Valencio turned heads because of her shock white hair and bright pink eyes. A true albino, Valencio gravitated to the comforting darkness of space at an early age, honing her skills in cargo skiffs and transports until she was of age to join the CSC fighter corps.
Her pink eyes glared daggers at North.
“Why the hell do you need another sim bay for ground troops?” she snapped as she yanked off her helmet and tossed it at North’s feet, causing the man to jump a couple feet back.
“New focus from CSC,” North said, bending over to pick up the helmet. He offered it to Valencio, but she swatted it away, sending it flying against the closest simulator skiff. “Okay. Don’t take it. It’s not my call, Captain. I’m just doing what’s needed to get the Perpetuity ready for the influx of recruits that’s about to overrun us.”
“I could give three shits about your influx,” Valencio growled. “I have cadet pilots to train. You do know
that we are fighting a space war, not just a ground war, right? Can’t really fight a space war without fighter skiffs! And fighter skiffs don’t fly themselves, North!”
“Come here,” North snapped and grabbed Valencio by the arm.
He pulled her away from the prying eyes of the fresh cadets, through the simulation bay’s anti-chamber, and out into the bright lights of the corridor. Valencio squinted her sensitive eyes then removed a pair of glasses from her uniform’s chest pocket and put them on. As soon as they were on her nose, the lenses darkened and blocked out the harsh corridor lights.
“Take those off,” North ordered. “I want to see your eyes when I’m talking to you.” He pressed his wrist. “Corridor ninety-three, dim to half light.”
The lights above dimmed on command, but Valencio did not remove her glasses.
“I’ll smack them off your face,” North warned.
Petulantly, Valencio yanked the glasses from her face and began to twirl them in her fingers by one of the stems.
“You’re new here, Captain,” North said as he glared down at the woman. “It takes some time to get used to how things run, I get that. But this is still CSC, Valencio, so what shouldn’t take time to get used to is the chain of command. It goes from CSC to Commandant Terlinger to me. If I tell you to do something then you do it. It is not that hard. Did the commandant give you contrary orders to mine?”
“No, sir, he did not,” Valencio grumbled.
“Then we shouldn’t have a problem,” North said. “I want those cadet pilots out of that bay this second so Linklater can get his techs in there and dismantle those simulation skiffs. I have neither the time nor inclination to get into a pissing match with you, Captain. So either comply or quit. Those are your options.”
“Where am I going to train my cadets?” Valencio asked, her face nothing but cold stone.
“Outside,” North said. “In actual skiffs, in actual space, in actual reality.”
“You’ve lost your fucking mind,” Valencio gasped, pointing at the simulation bay. “Did you see what I’m dealing with? All it took was one moron to choke and an entire squadron was wiped out.”
