Aspirations: A Near Future Sci-Fi Thriller

by Randal Sloan

  The President went on to say that he personally had been concerned for the people whose jobs would be impacted. He was going to initiate a free training program for those in the country that could show that they had lost their job because of either technology. He then went on to praise Space Tech, his pride that they as an American company represented us to the world, and that their technological expertise was by far the best in the world.

  The President ended the conference by reminding everyone of the significance of the announcement. The full implementation of their power systems would finally give mankind the solution to global warming that still seemed to elude them and the cheap power would be a big boon to the world’s economy.

  Questions were not accepted from the media during the conference, but Space Tech media and the Presidential Science Advisor made themselves available after the end of the prepared conference. Julie smiled and waved at the media reps, then quickly slipped out the back. She knew Zeke was on his way to meet her, but then she felt a presence. Stopping, Julie bowed as the Tibetan monk Master suddenly appeared next to her.

  “You’re getting better at that,” he told her. “And your aura has grown.” About that time Zeke came up, and he also gave the monk a bow. The Master continued, “So, you are the one. You two are alike, but different, although she has taught you much. And somehow you two are connected.”

  “Yes, sir, this is Zeke, and we are to be married as soon as my father returns. He is indeed like me, but I believe his calling is a little different, as you say. And yes, we are connected. Someday I will want to talk to you about that, but not today. He is still learning and is going to learn the American way for now. Maybe we’ll visit together. And some day, I will be bringing you my daughter to train too so you’d better age well.”

  The Master gave her a bow, “Indeed. I just wanted to see you for a moment and bask in your beauty once again, but I must be on my way. Take care, my dear one.” He turned and was gone.

  “I see why you like him,” Zeke told her. “And he would totally kick my butt. I can’t believe you beat him.”

  “Me either. I would say he let me win, but that’s just not the monk way. I think I’m already a little rusty. Maybe we can go there sometime soon, and I can work out with them a while. But don’t think I’ve forgotten your request. I suggest that we go to the Space Academy this afternoon and we can practice there together in their simulator. But right now I have a date with some data, unless you want to come with me too.”

  “No way,” Zeke told her. “I still don’t understand that stuff, even when I can peek into your head. I’m going to go play with my AI. Since we announced we would start selling them in one month, we have to get the assembly line started so we can have them immediately available when we announce the official release.”

  Going their separate ways, Julie slipped into her office and activated her VR interface. Before long she had mentally deep dived into the depths of the information she had on her father’s ship, and suddenly she saw it. That’s it. That’s what happened. They were sent several months into the future and at a tremendous velocity— that’s why we haven’t heard from them. Even if they are completely ok, we can’t hear them yet because it’s still not been long enough. But, that’s going to be my deadline. I’ve got to have the ship built by then.

  Thinking about what that might mean, Julie sighed out loud. No way. I can’t do that in time, so I will have to modify the other research ship and use it. No matter what, I intend to be ready to go get him as soon as we hear from them!

  #

  That afternoon, Julie and Zeke made the trip over to Space Academy to spend several hours in the VR simulator. At first Zeke was surprised every time he hit a target’s bullseye, but soon he was kicking his way through. Then Julie showed him the real world simulations, and within moments they were moving through them together. Each had only to think the next move to the other and they went in a near synchronized dance through the simulations. Eventually they wound down and the two finally stopped to rest before leaving.

  “Wow, that was fun,” Zeke told Julie, still breathing hard.

  “Yes, it was, wasn’t it?” she agreed, smiling happily. “We make quite the team, don’t we?”

  “I still need to practice a little on a real shooting range, but I think I’ve got the hard part down. What about the hand-to-hand combat? Can you come back to work with me tomorrow?”

  “I’m thinking of a different plan for that now. We should be able to buy you some good, really good VR training programs for that, and you can practice them at home. I want you to then go on to the mercenary training program next week. You should study their techniques first. That way you won’t be pre-disposed to do things a certain way. But when you get back, yeah, I’ll be waiting to kick your butt.”

  “Maybe I’ll kick your butt. Of course it’s a lot prettier than mine.”

  “That kind of flattery and five dollars will get you a cup of coffee, bud. Just be sure you’re talking about my butt when you buy that coffee.”

  Zeke looked at her and smiled. “Nowhere else will I ever find anything like this,” he said, kissing her deeply. “Tell you what,” Zeke said. “Let’s go see Emily and visit a few minutes. We can get back to work tomorrow.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  New Challenges

  Monday came a lot sooner than Zeke wanted. He was confident in his abilities, but he wasn’t sure about how to deal with a bunch of rough and tumble mercenaries. He knew that part of that was just in his head due to him not being able to practice except in VR. With the abilities he already had, he wasn’t really worried. But it was definitely a different world.

  He had received a VR telling him that there was a problem with his application the day before. Armed with the knowledge that Julie would be working on her side of things to help get that resolved, he went straight to the headquarters building. Since he had to wait several minutes, Zeke watched the man who was second in command confidently going about his business. He glanced at the name tag. Captain McPherson.

  Finally, he was allowed in to see the man in charge, Lieutenant Colonel Pectrock according to the name tag on his desk. Zeke immediately labeled him in his mind as Colonel Peacock. He was dressed in some kind of fancy uniform. Zeke suspected he hadn’t done a day’s work in his life. The man, who to Zeke looked like he should be running a showroom rather than a mercenary camp, glanced at Zeke’s application and told him, “No way! I reviewed your application and you don’t belong here. You’ve no training, no experience. I don’t care who sent you or what they say you can do, you’re not doing it here. Unless? Is there is something that I don’t know? Something you have to offer me?”

  Zeke smiled sadly and shook his head. “No. Your days of getting bribes to sit in this office and do nothing are over.” He turned around, walking out to make a VR call to Julie.

  “You were right. Looks like his financials were exactly what you told me they were. He wants me to offer him a bribe to get in. You’ll have to make that call and this guy has to go. Promote the second in command. He seems ok.”

  Zeke walked back in. “Why are you back?” the man screamed at him this time. “I told you to leave.” He was not only angry that Zeke hadn’t offered him any money, but more so because Zeke had walked out on him after calling him out on the bribes. He thought he had a good fish on the line, but it had gotten away.

  Little did the man know, this fish was a shark. “Sorry, but you need to take that call.”

  Irritated, he answered his secure VR phone. He sputtered when he saw Julie, who looked like just a teenage girl to those that didn’t know her. It must have been incredibly unbelievable to him when she told him, “I just bought your little school, and as your new owner, you’re fired.”

  She sent him the proof of ownership with the certified VR signatures, which he knew couldn’t be fooled. After all, in addition to encryption, one of the purposes of a secure VR line was to validate official documents.

&
nbsp; “What? Who are you? You can’t do that!”

  “I just did. If you’re not gone off my property in five minutes, I will have you arrested.”

  Red-faced and spitting, the man gathered his stuff. He stopped in front of an amused Zeke. “You did this. I don’t know how, but you did it.”

  Zeke just smiled and spoke calmly. “You did it to yourself. Between the bribes and your pure incompetence, I don’t know how you made it this far, but you won’t be back.”

  Zeke went back out to Captain McPherson. “You should have just been notified. Colonel Peacock is gone.” When the man somehow kept a straight face, Zeke went on. “You are now in charge, Major. Hope you live up to my expectations, since I recommended you.”

  “Who exactly are you?” newly-appointed Major McPherson had to ask. He had been blindsided by all this, but he immediately realized Zeke had something to do with what was going on.

  “Zeke Caldwell. Just another student as far as you are concerned. I just graduated from Space Academy with honors as a reserve officer. I’m here for your one week advanced course. You should see a note attached that I have been granted exclusive access to the shooting range tonight. I’m planning to test some new equipment, and it must be kept under wraps for now. But, other than that, I’m just here to learn.”

  The man so far was living up to Zeke’s expectations. He already had his file up in front of him. “I see all that here. I don’t have a problem as long as you can pull your weight. I don’t want you to get hurt, whoever you are. You have some lofty connections, but I don’t see any indication of experience in here.”

  “It won’t be a problem. I promise I am capable of handling your classes, and I know what I’m doing. I’m just here to learn and I was told your advanced course is the best.”

  “Well, we certainly think so. With the Colonel out of here, I can concentrate on making it even better. I’ve spent most of the last two years working around him.” He closed the file and looked back up at Zeke. “Ok, With your reserve rank, we will put you down as a lieutenant. Head on to the barracks and get settled in. Classes start early afternoon. Obviously, you will have to abide by our rules, or if we find a reason to question any of your credentials, we will revisit your status. But for now, Lieutenant Caldwell, welcome to our school!” He stood and extended his hand to Zeke, who immediately shook it.

  “Thank you, sir.” Zeke saluted him and quietly left the office. That was the proper reception he had hoped to get in the beginning. Cautious, practical and to the point. Maybe this would work out after all.

  Hurrying to the barracks, Zeke found a bunk to drop his duffle. He easily settled in, speaking to a few of the men there. Most of them seemed ok. He was only going to be there a week so surely he could handle this. He sent Julie a mental message. “Good, I’m settling in. Got shooting range reserved tonight. Gonna go for bullseye every shot like some person did before me.”

  Julie sent him a message back. “Behave now.” He could sense the laughter in the message. Then he got a more serious one from her. “Miss you already…” with a sad smile on that one.

  “Me too,” Zeke sent back. He was wishing now he had accepted the offer to ride the X-plane in every day and stay at home at night. But he knew that this way was the best.

  #

  Early afternoon Zeke, was on the shooting range, shooting for the baseline for the week. He very carefully shot considerably above average, but limited the bullseyes to an occasional one on the outside edge. When Sergeant Orick, the old sergeant who Zeke suspected ran things behind the scenes, gave him a thumps up, he was really pleased. The Sarge looked at him thoughtfully a couple of times, but he never said anything.

  The next class was the one Zeke most dreaded and yet most wanted — the hand-to-hand combat lessons. Having worked with a number of VR training programs, Zeke already knew all of the moves to perfection. He needed experience working with others and especially he needed to learn control. So he practiced them along with the rest of the trainees, trying not to stand out. He must have done it too well, because the old sergeant singled him out to practice on in front of the group.

  Not sure how to manage this without revealing too much, Zeke listened carefully to the spill obviously reserved for all students before they got their butts kicked. He nodded when asked if he was ready. He remembered Julie telling him about how she had to concentrate on slowing her reactions down, and he tried to do that. He thought he was doing ok until the old sergeant used a move that Zeke knew would be considered illegal both in competition and in accepted martial arts practice. That allowed him to hit Zeke with a grazing blow that triggered something automatic, causing Zeke to hit back with a full speed combination that staggered the sergeant.

  Realizing he had better lose quickly or it would get out of hand, Zeke deliberately staggered as if he had lost his footing and managed to let a couple of hits strike him enough that he could pretend to go down. The Sarge gave him a strange look, but he let it pass. Zeke gladly rejoined the ranks before the Sarge could change his mind, forcing him to pick another victim. This poor fellow didn’t fare too well and neither did the next two or three. Only one other man, Eric Olson, a big guy that Zeke suspected was trouble, managed to last longer than a couple of minutes. Zeke could tell the Sarge was mostly letting him last to prolong it. Unfortunately, Zeke could see that Olson didn’t know that little fact. He knew he was going to have to watch this one.

  The remainder of the afternoon was spent in a classroom learning logistics, strategy, and other tactics. To Zeke it was all simple, so he mostly spent his time thinking about Julie. He didn’t actually send her a message, but suddenly he felt her thinking about him and smiled. He must have been a little too obvious, because the instructor decided to pick on him, asking him a question about the strategy being discussed.

  Too surprised to think of a generic answer, Zeke answered the question in detail, plus pointing out a couple of drawbacks. That got him a surprised look from the instructor, who not one to pass up an opportunity, used Zeke’s discussion as a segue to the final points for the class. He stressed that no plan survived engagement with the enemy. He forced them to think about why that was always true and how they should prepare for that. To Zeke, that was easy too. Backup plans within backup plans. Always whatever you thought you needed of something, bring more, as much more as you could.

  #

  That evening after dinner, Zeke went out to the shooting range. He passed the Sarge working with a young recruit, giving him the finer points of guard duty. He suspected the poor lad was having to work out some infraction, but he gave the Sarge a wave as he went in. Making absolutely certain that no one was watching, Zeke set up for his run. He had wanted to try some of the things he had done in the simulator, but with real weapons. His plan was to shoot a series with the pistol, drop that and move to the sniper rifle, and finish with the obstacle course. He suspected this was going to be very different from his previous experience at school, where he had struggled to shoot well.

  In his excitement, Zeke moved extremely fast through his test. He fired several rapid shots with his pistol at one target, each passing exactly through the center of the bullseye. After emptying the clip, he rapidly reloaded, firing one shot through the center of each of the remaining pistol targets and then lastly hitting two targets outside the normal range of a pistol just to see if he really could do it. Zeke was in it so deep that he didn’t realize how fast he was firing the pistol.

  Safetying the pistol, Zeke placed it on the table. Picking up his sniper rifle, he dropped into sniper position. Having never set the scope, he fired one shot that was just slightly off from the center. He adjusted the scope and proceeded to bulls-eye each of the sniper targets. Carefully laying down the sniper rifle, he grabbed the semi-automatic assault rifle. Running through the obstacle course as rapidly as he could move, he killed all the bad guys and “saved” all of the civilians.

  Zeke broke down all his weapons and policed his brass. Totally
psyched out by his test run, Zeke was smart enough to retrieve all the targets, but he was distracted enough that he didn’t think anything about throwing them in the trash.

  #

  The old Sergeant had heard about all the controversy around Zeke’s first day. For that reason, he had been keeping an eye on him. It was good riddance to the paper Colonel who was what the idiots in management had put in charge. He and the Captain had been the ones who had gotten all the work done. He had watched the lad’s shooting and was impressed, but somehow he had the feeling the boy was holding back. He was one of the best shooters he had seen in a while, so he had no idea where the feeling came from. He was certain the boy had completely held back in the little impromptu self-defense session he had arranged, except for that combination he had thrown. That had gotten his attention, an unbelievable speed and precision he had never seen before except in that one VR video that was still circulating on the dark web. It was of some girl in Kinza who had fought the ninja wannabes, and had kicked their tails, four at once no less. But then it was obvious to him that the boy had thrown the fight to stop it before it went further.