Star Runners (21 page)

"Not anymore. I played a game, Austin."

"One you were very good at playing."

"So? This," she gestured at her surroundings, "this is too real. When I was playing the game, it was for fun. I didn't think about it. Everyone else in here got recruited for something real."

"How do you know?" Bear asked.

She lowered her gaze. "Scientists. Engineers. Chemists. Us? Gamers?"

"It takes some skill," Austin said. "Same ball park."

"Umm, hmm. Sure. Same ball park. Let me know how you feel when Nubern plops you in a fighter and they expect you to stay cool when something's shooting at you."

"Relax. They're going to train us."

Her words lingered as he watched the room empty. She was right. It hadn't occurred to him before, the reality of this situation. The Legion expected him to fly an interstellar fighter, which by its very definition, meant dog fighting and possibly being killed or being forced to kill. For the first time, his surroundings loomed. He shivered as a chill crept down his neck.

When the room cleared out, a dozen students remained. A red haired girl near the top of the room coughed and the sound echoed in the empty room.

Nubern stepped to the circle. "The rest of you should come down to the front of the room. I'm not going to yell."

When the recruits relocated, he continued, "Some of you know who I am. I am Captain Jonathan Nubern of the 32nd Tizona Squadron. I am your commanding officer responsible for your training. You will spend the next two years learning all there is to know about the Bren-8 X4 Trident. It is my duty to ensure the training is safe. You all will do everything - HEY!"

Two students, a dark haired guy and a blond girl, jolted back after whispering to one another.

"Is your translator working?" Nubern asked. "It is? Then shut your mouth when I'm talking. Do it again and your first night will be spent cleaning urine filters with your tongues."

Nubern cleared his throat. "Now that we've got that clear, you're here to take orders and carry out your tasks to the best of your ability. I'm here to train you and ensure you are safe. You are going to do everything possible to make me fail. You're going to screw up, mess around during class and generally be stupid. If you are still alive after you make your mistakes, you will wash out and be sent home. Got it?"

He stared at each of them as he turned. "Good. You will have access to communications with your family. You must not speak about where you are or what you're doing. Break this rule once and your communications will be terminated for one month. Break it again, and you are gone.

"It is natural to want to talk about what you are doing and what you have seen. Let me give you another reason to keep your mouth shut. You've heard we are in a 'fragile peace' with the Empire, but it is a cold war. Quadrant Eight is only minimally safe from Imperial agents because it is a backwater planet so far away that they don't want it ... yet. But do you want your friends, your family, your girlfriends and boyfriends back home, to be targeted by Imperial agents? The Empire would like nothing more than to give you reasons to wash out and deplete our supply of pilots. So, bottom line: shut up and eyes forward. Clear?"

Nubern nodded. "Good. You are the best of our new class of fighter pilots for the Tizona Squadron. You hail from different planets, but you will learn to fight as one unit. We are all on the same team now."

Bear, Skylar and Austin sat together. The other students also wore Tizona uniforms, but if he understood Nubern correctly, the other students came from other planets. Austin shook his head.

"Alright," Nubern said, clearing his throat. "We don't have much time so let me give you the situation briefing. Since your planets are still anchored, you all, well, don't know squat." He clicked his tablet and a hologram appeared over their heads. A cloud of blue filled one section of the holographic star field and a similar red cloud bumped up against it. As he spoke, Nubern highlighted the clouds with a laser pointer.

"As you've already heard, the Galactic Legion and Zahl Empire are the two largest governments in the known galaxy. There have been countless conflicts over thousands of years between us, but things are, for the most part, peaceful between the two. Tensions are always high at the border, so we must always remain vigilant. That is why you are here."

A student with his back to Austin raised his hand. "This might be a stupid question."

"No such thing during training. What is it?"

"Well, are the Zahlians made up of aliens?"

Nubern sighed. "Maybe there are stupid questions. Forget anything you may have seen or read from your planet about aliens or adventures in the stars. This is not science fiction or fantasy or Saturday morning cartoons. This is for real.

"Right now, you are all going to be dismissed to your quarters. Your room assignments are in the packet being handed out to you now. Chow's in one hour so don't be late. The first week you're here will be spent in classrooms and becoming acquainted with the realities of the X4 craft. After that will be time in sims, the trainers, which are two-seat versions of the X4, and the Rockshot competition. These classes and competitions will earn you points. Earn enough, and you will get your wings. If you are actually able to earn your wings and become a Star Runner, you will be among the greatest warriors in the galaxy.

"Most of you here are from Earth and Dizon. I believe one of you is from Pacar?"

A sheepish girl in the back raised her hand.

"So you are the only one not playing only the sim," Nubern said. "Actual flight experience. Impressive."

Nubern glanced back to his tablet. "There will be time for more questions later. I want to see our class sitting together at dinner people. You are a team now. That is all. Class dismissed."

Austin stood as the students around him grabbed their packets and spoke to one another, but he shuffled his feet up the stairs toward the exit.

"Austin, Bear and I have been assigned Pod B for living quarters." She flipped through her packet. "Where are you?"

"Pod C."

Skylar frowned. "Well, I guess we'll see you at dinner."

"Sound good."

She tilted her head to the right. "You okay?"

"Fine. Just taking it all in. It's all a little weird."

Bear laughed. "Another understatement."

With a smile and wave, his friends exited the auditorium.

He passed through the door at the top of the stairs, took a right, and walked down the corridor buzzing with activity. Another recruit jostled against his shoulder. Austin moved against the wall and glanced at the first page of his packet.

"I guess they're letting anyone in here these days."

Austin turned and blinked. Josh stood in the hall wearing a hunter green uniform, his arms crossed over his chest. He was leaner and his hair shorter, but it was definitely his friend.

*****

"I still can't believe you're here."

Austin twirled what looked like mashed potatoes around on his plate. Josh scarfed down his bread and potatoes like he hadn't eaten in weeks. The space station's mess hall was like any other cafeteria. The students lined up like animals in a feeding trough. But the sight to their left was much different. Like a living mural on the wall, a viewport revealed the freighters gathering in a line as they departed the space station. The freighters would carry the other recruits to quadrants across Legion space. Beyond, glowing red and purple like a fresh bruise, loomed the nebulae.

"I could say the same about you," Josh said, his mouth full of food. "I've felt bad ever since that last message."

Austin remembered back to the lost connection when Josh had leaned into the camera. "Yeah, what was that all about?"

He snorted and swallowed his food. "They cut me off. There's a delay on all outbound transmissions so they can monitor. I was about to tell you about all of this. I sent that message from my room here on Tarton. I lost communication privileges for a month after that."

"Oh." Austin thought of how mad he had been at Josh. "I'm sorry, man, I thought you were just being a jerk."

"There's always the possibility." He grinned. "No, I really wanted you to know about all this."

Austin watched the bulky freighters disappear into their individual curves in space. A brief flash and the freighters left one by one.

"How can messages travel back to Earth that fast?" Austin asked.

"There's a slight delay, but I think the military has some kind of accelerator and uses a communications curve to increase the message speed or something. I think it works like the tubes back home, you know the one they sent us to Atlantis on?"

Austin remembered his stomach twisting in the tube. "I won't forget anytime soon."

"I think they have a tube technology for audio and video images." Josh shrugged. "Besides, Earth is only a couple light years away."

"So let me get all this straight; you went to San Francisco?"

"Yes, the Lobera School. I'm in the Lobera Squadron." Josh flicked the wings on his chest.

"So you're a pilot?"

"I'm an officer. A second lieutenant. I technically can fly the Trident solo, but it will be another year before that happens. I'm still training, learning advance dog fighting tactics, things like that. Word has it I'll be shipping home in a couple months to visit Mom and Dad. How are they?"

Austin frowned and stared out the viewport as another freighter flew through its curve. "I really haven't talked to them. Mom said they were doing fine. They missed you and wondered why you didn't get to come home this summer."

"I really wish I could have. Missing Christmas, too."

Austin blinked. "I know. Christmas is next week!"

"Yep."

"Wow."

Josh frowned. "Seriously, man, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about this. After Kadyn left for school, it must have been tough."

"You've talked to Kadyn?"

"Just a couple short emails. She wrote me when she left for Savannah. I knew at that time you were on your own at home. She wrote me earlier today when you cancelled on riding back with her."

Austin nodded. "Yeah. I felt bad about that, but I would have missed out on this. Until I got recruited at the last minute, I thought I was going to have to work a year to save up for college or just go into debt taking a few classes at the community college."

"Your loans never came through?"

"Not like I had hoped." He shook his head. "Mom and I didn't think we could afford it."

They took a few bites in silence.

"Sure is beautiful here," Austin said, gazing at the nebulae.

"Yeah, I haven't really ever gotten used to it."

"So the game is really real?" Austin said in a quiet voice.

Josh nodded. "In good ways and bad."

"What do you mean? What could be bad about this?"

Josh stared at the nebulae, his eyes lingering without focus. "It's dangerous."

Austin frowned. "I'm sure it is."

Near the hatch entrance of the mess hall, Skylar and Bear lined up for food. She waved at Austin.

"Who's that?" Josh asked when Austin waved. "She's hot."

Austin winced. "She's my friend from school."

"Your friend, eh?" Josh nodded, still staring at Skylar. "Nice to have friends."

"So anyway," Austin said, "what's life like on this station?"

"Drills, training, class, drills, drills, class. You still get to spend a lot of time in the sims. If you're lucky, you get to fly every now and then, so that makes the boredom worth it."

"Can you believe this is happening?"

Josh smiled. "Not really. I still wake up in my bunk and can't believe it."

"I'm happy to see you, man, really, I am. But I don't know about this."

"What do you mean?"

"School's one thing, but the military? I mean, they've been at war here, Josh."

"War's going on all the time back home, too."

"Yeah, but I don't have to fight in those.”

“Somebody does.”

“I don't want to kill anyone."

“I’m sure it’s the same for those guys back home.” Josh shrugged. "That probably won't happen anyway. Just think about it, man. You get to fly the Trident for a living. They're not even at war out here. Biggest problem I've heard the seasoned pilots talk about is smuggling, Tyral Pirates and their leader, Dax Rodon."

"Tyral Pirates? From the game?"

"Yeah," Josh said, munching on a piece of bread. "They're a big problem in this part of space."

"You mean, Dax Rodon, the bad guy in the graphic novel you gave me for Christmas, is real."

"Unfortunately."

"Unbelievable." Austin thought of the freighters outside, full of students like him about to venture out on their own personal discoveries, as they continued their departures. "Where are the other recruits going?"

"Who knows? So much traffic comes through here I stopped caring about six months back. There's a big galaxy out there, buddy, and you and I are going to get to know all about it. Crazy, huh?"