The two officers approached us, each wearing the gray everyday-uniform, each with yellow sensor stripes on their forearms. 'Hearing me, cadet?' asked the captain telepathically. 'Aye, sir.' I answered the same way. 'Good. You'll be separated from the other 3, but nothing bad is going to happen. Don't worry.' That came with a feeling of reassurance and sincerity, so I trusted that statement. 'You read my feelings?' 'Yes, sir.' 'Amazing. That took me years of training.' Not knowing what to answer, I settled for 'Yes, sir.' Hearing a loud, mental snort I watched as the captain kept iron control over his face. It made him look a bit fierce, though.
On a side-note: The captain admitting to being sort of weaker than me may sound unwise. But, the link that all sensors share makes lying near-impossible between sensors. So, especially in these peaceful times and even nowadays, we don't usually bother trying.
"At ease, gentlemen. Lieutenant, would you please lead cadets Linuson, Johnson and Akiku to the shared quarters and assign a bunk to each, then take one of the crew-quarters for yourself?" "Aye, aye, SIR!" "Cadets Linuson, Johnson, Akiku! Follow me!" He did look at Johnson and Akiku, which meant that he was at least not displeased with Linuson. Then he thumped his foot and marched to the Brick, Linuson right behind him and the other 2 having to jog to keep up.
"Those 2 will have lots of fun with the Drill-lieutenant." The other officer, the not-captain, stated. "More like the other way round." grinned the captain. "Cadet, I am captain Jack Miller. This here" - he indicated the other officer - "is Commander Pator Praotoan. We separated you because you bear a total of 3 pips, even though you have not even begun training. Also, you are a white wizard. I got some free spots in my crew and passing up someone like you is never wise so I snatch you now before the others do." "Yes, like a prize bull." Commander Praotoan nodded to my thought. Then my facade shattered and I grinned broadly. "With pleasure, sirs."
After all, this was not a meat show, but the captain adding someone he believed would make a good addition to his crew after the academy. "Maybe even now. You are master healer, so you will first show yourself to a free crew quarter and then report to sick bay, where ensign Avalin Muller will take you under his wing for the voyage. We got to pay our respects to the Supreme Admiral on the way out to the Academy. So, the voyage will take a couple of days." He moved a bit to the side. "Aye, aye, sir!" With that I marched to the Brick. Just in case the Drill-lieutenant might be watching, in the academy he'd get me back after all. The Commander behind me could not stifle his snort.
Captain Miller had read my knowledge of the internal layout of a standard Brick, that's why he just told me where to go. I knew where everything was, at least on the blueprints. When I marched into the airlock, I took a deep breath. This was my future after all!
Marching through the inner lock, I had to stop for a moment. Lieutenant McGlennan was marching up the corridor with the three cadets, towards me. As I said earlier, a Brick was a 61-meter square. Along the outside wall there was a 2 meter wide corridor around the ship, so that people could take long, uninterrupted walks or runs in their spare time. I had read that during a mission there was almost constantly someone jogging around the ship, both to keep themselves fit and to serve as quick responder in case of an emergency. The Drill-lieutenant (by the way, that was not an official rank - lieutenant McGlennan had "earned" this name by putting many a cadet through hell and back.
Any way, the Lieutenant was marching the three cadets when I entered the Brick. To make way, I stopped in the lock. The little group stopped ("File - STAHP!") and stood at attention ("File - Ateeen-TION!"). "Cadet Linuson, report to your bunk and get settled in!" Lindan stepped out smartly and marched by me, winking a little bit. I let the right corner of my mouth twitch a bit, that's all I dared do. The Lieutenant turned to the remaining two, whose positions of standing at attention were showing signs of falling apart. "File double-left TURN!" They turned until they looked back down the corridor they had just marched through. "File forward-MARCH!" They all thumped more or less together and marched. That thump told me that they'd be marching up and down the corridor a number of times yet.
After they passed me, I quickly and smartly marched after them for a couple of steps and turned left into the 1-meter wide standard corridor, suddenly surrounded by the crew quarters. I saw a little corridor with 4 doors to the right and the entrances of 2 corridors to the left. The 24 crew quarters were arranged in a rectangle in the front right of the Brick. So, when you walked in through the frontal airlock, you were looking at the back wall of some of those quarters. All quarters had a little plate on the right wall right beside the door. Most were displaying a name, but some were saying "FREE". In fact, the third quarter down the little corridor said that. I walked there and entered through the open door. To my right, a monitor flashed alive with the text "Rank and Name?" Not knowing what else to do, I spoke out loud: "Cadet Xandrian Stone." The text changed: "Checking crew roster." "Cadet Xandrian Stone found." "Quarter is now assigned to cadet Xandrian Stone." Then the monitor went black again. Curious, I went and checked the plate at the door and it was reading my name. Cool!
The inner layout of a standard Brick was roughly like this: In the front right, the crew quarters. Front left was the shared quarters (for low-level guests, cargo or a mix of both - not comfortable, but it beat sleeping on the floor) and game room. Back right were the mess hall and the infirmary. Back left the training room, although a narrow portion of it ran across the Brick in the back. That made long-distance shooting practice possible for the weapons wizards. The center part held the bridge, navigation, shields, communication, the three engines (sub-light, rail and jump), storage and workshop.
Remembering the second part of my orders, I quickly settled in, straightened my uniform and left the quarter whose door closed automatically behind me. I turned right, walked deeper into the Brick and to the infirmary.
To my great surprise, there were a row of 7 gurneys along each wall of the narrow but long room (maybe 15 or so meters long, 4 or so meters wide). Given the nature of healing magic and my experience with it, I had expected a small room where the ship's healers would be on standby or something, not an actual infirmary. Okay, a very basic actual infirmary (just space, and the gurneys), but still. The officer lying on one of the gurneys got up, smiling. "You look surprised." "Yes, sir - do we really need gurneys?" The officer, an ensign, laughed at that. "That's a question only a master healer will ask. No, I am not making fun of you." I had frowned a tad bit before regaining control over my face. I noticed that he only had 1 pip on his healing ribbons.
"You know the exact difference between potential, able, master, adept and master adept ranks in healing? No? No wonder - you have not yet been at the academy. Let me give you a head-start then. First, there are no healers of user level - based on how healing works there are no runes that non-magical people can activate to heal. A potential healer will be able to heal small cuts, bruises, things that would heal on their own within a week or so. Able healers can take care of deeper cuts, large flesh wounds in general. Broken bones are the domain of master healers. Basically everything that can be healed can be done by you guys." He sat on a gurney, motioning me to sit opposite of him.
"The jump to being an adept healer is then a very significant one: Where masters can heal, adepts can regenerate. The difference is that an adept can take something destroyed, like a hand that was squished, and make it whole again. Master healers can only repair the soft tissue, the completely destroyed bones will never heal to their former forms. Eyes are another great example for that. Master healers will almost never be able to heal an eye, as when an eye gets hurt it will most likely require regeneration. Master adept healers can heal and regenerate even the most gruesome wounds. If you were to get blown to pieces but your brain was still intact and alive, a master adept could take your head and regenerate your body completely. There are even rumors of some in the past who were able to go even further then that, but those are just rumors. Listen, I have heard some wil
d story about a young man at Classification Day who allegedly regenerated both eyes of a classification officer?"
"Um, well, the classification rod had exploded in his face and I just reacted, sir." His laughter made me speechless. Why was he laughing at me? I think that I did nothing wrong back then. Strike that, I know that I did nothing wrong back then.
"Cadet, I am laughing because you seem defensive? Let me give you some numbers: Potential healers are very common, about 1 out of every 10 wizards is a healer. 99 out of every 100 healers is of potential rank, has no pips. 1 out of every 100 potential healers is, in fact, an able healer with 1 pip like me. 1 out of every 100 able healers is a master healer with 2 pips, like you have but I suspect that you were placed wrong. 1 out of every 100 master healers is an adept healer with 3 pips, which I believe you are. 1 out of every 100 adept healers is a master adept healer with 4 pips - there is no master adept healer alive at the moment. some 50 years ago, the last master adept healer, captain Lisa Thorne, died age 203. So, 1 out of every ten thousand healers is a master healer and 1 out of every one million healers an adept. That's how rare you are, cadet."
Now those were some numbers. "Now you understand why the captain hired you on the spot? While there are a bit less than half a million officers employed in the many barracks across the system there are only about thirteen thousand of us in the fleet. There are only 2 master healers in the fleet and no adepts. In fact, there are about 1800 master healers in the whole navy, and at present 17 known adepts. As there are a bit less than 7000 barracks across the system, meeting one is very unlikely even there. Captain."
Captain miller stood in the door, looking at me with big eyes. "Adept?" I looked at him. 'Look, sir.' and I opened the memory of the accident at Classification Day for him. "Astounding. Especially that nobody seems to have noticed, you'd never have made it here otherwise. They'd have given you a special promotion to lieutenant on the spot and kept you there otherwise." He smiled. "Lucky us! Now let's keep this under wraps as long as possible - I am no friend of those special promotions. Creates somewhat arrogant officers who are not really useful outside of their specialty." "I agree, although a special promotion would have been nifty I must admit. Sir." "Hah! Don't you fear. It will come out, probably sooner rather than later. You might find yourself out of the cadet accommodations real quick." He thought something over. "I should not say this, but even being a master healer would guarantee your promotion anyway. Being white would do the same, no matter how strong, even being an able sensor most likely would. Provided, of course, you don't manage to get yourself thrown out of the academy before it's over." "I'll give my best, sir." I grinned just a little bit. He snorted and left.
"Seems that I'll be calling you 'sir' in the near future. Until that time, let me shamelessly use my superior rank and order you all over the place?" I grinned. "Sir, the future is never really set. We know what is now, the rest will come one way or another." He nodded. "Good point. Now go, make the medical rounds." He sat again, starting to lie down. "Um, rounds, sir?" He smiled at me. "Exactly that. The medical officers go around the ship from time to time, to check if any healing is needed. Breaks the boredom we have otherwise and you'll get to know the ship and her crew." On an afterthought he added: "And they you. Now go, I do not expect you back until just before supper." Looks like I was just given the rest of the day off, basically. "Aye, sir. Thanks." With that, I walked out of the infirmary.
Not two steps into my first round, right at the door to the infirmary, I felt the urge to stop and wait for commander Praotoan who was closing to me from behind. I had chosen to walk left, towards the ship's back and the large training area. "Doing the rounds, cadet?" "Yes, sir." "Do not fear, everyone knows that medical officers usually have a very easy job aboard a ship. That is until some healing is needed, and everyone knows as well that healing is one of the painful disciplines. That you are ready to help even in the most painful cases has become common knowledge here. How the crew learned of your addition or your already impressive deeds I do not know - but nothing stays secret for very long aboard a ship." 'Your third healing pip does for the moment' He added telepathically. "Aye, sir." 'To both' I answered.
Smiling, the Commander led me back towards the front of the ship, away from the training area. "The captain feels that it is best if you get acquainted with the nerve center of a Brick. So, I'll walk with you on your rounds and show you around at the same time. Usually, a medical round starts at the bridge as all information gets bundled there." We reached the T-intersection and he turned us left. He padded the left wall. "That's the back wall of the captain's quarters, the only two-room quarter on the ship. Only the captain may enter, and whomever he invites. Today, that does not include you. He meets with the crew one at a time, to discuss if they have any ailments. Being the latest addition, you take the last place on the list as it stands today." He grinned. "Just after me, I was in there yesterday."
We continued a couple of steps and stood before a wide door that said "Game room". "What the label says. In there we spend the part of our off-time that is not used for training. Many consider training to be more fun than playing - except the passengers of course. Their quarter is on the other side of the game room. The three other cadets we picked up with you bunk in there." Looking right, I saw that the Drill-lieutenant was still marching Johnson and Akiku. "If they get their marching skills up to speed." The commander chuckled. "Yeah. You looked very militaristic, along with that other kid." I felt some concern from him. "Yeah, the Drill-lieutenant was my first official contact with the navy on Classification Day. I learned there that he likes precision."
Pointing, the Commander said "To the left is the epitome of any naval career - the bridge." He pointed through the door to our left at yet another wall. "That wall is there in case we get boarded - the enemy cannot shoot into the bridge directly. If that wall was not there, we'd be looking right at the captain's chair across the bridge."Which we entered.
The captain and I nodded, as there was no-one else in the bridge. Otherwise I'd have saluted. To my right, on the inside of the anti-shooting-while-being-boarded wall (which proved to work just fine later, but at the time I could not imagine that ever happening) there was a large floor-to-ceiling screen, black and inactive at the moment. The rest of the bridge was dominated by 3 pedestals, about one and a half meter high, with ball-shaped tops. I had read a lot about the control rods, but I'd never seen one face-to-rod. The rods were white, to indicate that any wizard could use it for their specialization. I'd read that the rods would glow in that wizard's color.
The captain's chair was also white and I'd read that it was also a control rod - made to look like a chair, to ensure that the captain could influence any part of the Brick that fell within his colors without delay. The captain patted it. "Once you get your own you'll be able to assume total control over the Brick, operating it all by yourself. That's what your training will prepare you for. That's also why it is imperative that you try to generalize. Your healing abilities aside, there are strong specialists if you need something done. You'll be the commanding mind, telling the others what to do." I may have looked a bit uncertain right then. "Do not doubt, you'll be made captain of a Brick in no time - maybe as little as fifteen or twenty years." That would be really quick. With an average lifespan of about 135 to 145 years, and entering the navy at eighteen, I would likely have a career of 80 to 100 years ahead of me. Getting a command after 20 of these years (even if only at the rank of lieutenant) would be, as I said already, really, really quick.
Captain is a rank, but also the label of the commanding officer of a Brick. A lieutenant who is made captain of a Brick will automatically be promoted to prime lieutenant, so that they outrank other lieutenants in the crew to make the chain of command clear.
After the little chat with the captain I was dismissed to go on my rounds. So I left the bridge and headed to the game room first, for it was closest. Entering it was a bit of a shock, honestly. First, it was huge. Almost
square, some 20 meters wide and maybe 18 or so meters long it was mostly empty, except the stockpile in the edge. Walking over there I saw dancing mats, stacked monitors with game controllers, a disco ball (of all things) and lots of other things to have fun with. "New guy! liking our stuff?" came a friendly voice from behind me.
Turning around, I faced a weapons wizard ensign with 1 pip. "Yes, sir. I did not expect the game room to be this large nor this well stocked, sir." "Forget the 'sir', mate. You are one of the Brick's healers, you only 'sir' the bosses. 'Sides, I see that you are master healer, so I won't be outranking you for very long." This friendly attitude was common in the fleet, after all it was a safe haven and an easy job at the time and everyone was happy to be a part of it. Healers were a weapons wizard's best friend, because in their training they had little accidents all the time. Especially in the hand-to-hand combat training. I smiled. "Okay, mate. How is this room being used, if I may ask?" "Sure you may. Every evening, after supper, the crew comes together in here to bond and generally have a good time. Mostly just the benches are being used, with card games, dice games or just to hang out and talk about stuff. Friday night is chaos night, everyone takes what they feel like and this becomes a madhouse. Those of us who prefer more quiet usually get together in the mess hall that night, so everyone gets what they want and have a good time."
Xandrian Stone Book 1: Beginning of a Legend Page 4
