The Next Big Thing
Indoraptor Year 378, September, three months after graduation day on Earth...
Summer season was about to end in one month, but the parents treated it as if the season's end was fast approaching. Businesses were busy filing reports for the Union's Overseers to examine, patiently waiting for their approval. The utility workers finished their jobs as fast as they could, as smooth as possibly, so long as the rainy autumn season had yet to arrive. With most schools having already done with their yearly activities, the Indoraptors were busy getting their offsprings signed up to new schools, drafting them to part-time duties, or even enlisting them to whatever vacant position the Grand Fleet had.
For the moment, Raizex felt content at being jobless. At least until the autumn start, he didn't have to worry about waking up late or dressing himself up in messy clothes. He already stated his intent on joining the military to his mother, going so far as to arguing with her about not giving a damn about his family's history, since what really mattered the most was his duty to his species and the Union. Thankfully, in the end, his mother relented and gave her blessing, as well as an advice to keep his distance from politics.
Just recently, he spent some precious time with his friend Lyra, lying down in a park surrounded by nothing but green grass and sheltering trees. No one was around, perfect for the two young couple to share their ideas.
"You're coming along right, babe? I'll buy you a drink if the others want to have some" Raizex rubbed his tail on his girlfriend's.
"What? Oh, of course not. I'm still waiting for my Post-Graduation Drill, you know."
"We can ditch it and come back later. I did it a month after the graduation day."
"Haha, I knew you did. Always the outgoing, rebellious youngster, aren't you? Not to mention ditching classes multiple times," Lyra teased with a huge grin. She sent a playful fist toward her friend's face, which Raizex evaded, his face turned funny as if pretending to be a martial artist.
"Ooooh, my babe hurt me, I'm so sad!"
"Heh, don't be like that. You wanted to enlist to the Grand Fleet, right? Do me a favor and be a tough boy, not the class clown you used to be."
"I can pretend to be tough, as long as my instructor turns his face on me."
The ever-defiant male he was, Raizex kept no secret when he told his classmates about his future. He was barely surprised when others nodded in agreement; the other males in particular looked to the same future as he did, and some did immediately accepted recruitment offers after the Post-Graduation Drill event. The Fleet expected more to jump at the chance to fill in their shortages, but they could work with what they had.
"If he slaps your face or calls you a weakling, what will you do?"
"I'll wait until he's not looking at me and then I jump on his back, and begin yelling like those humans do in the film archives. What do the scholars called it? Rodeo or something similar to it? Yeah, I'd certainly do it in a heartbeat!" the young lizard stuck out a tongue as he imagined the scene in his mind.
Lyra gave him a soft affectionate purr, enjoying the companion of the male Indoraptor.
"Okay, let's... put that idea away until you know what kind of job you really wanted to work in."
"Well, uh, I did say that I want to work outside of Earth."
Rolling her gleaming eyes in exasperation, Lyra added "Yeah, I get that. But the point is; where do you want the Fleet to put you in? Do you want them to train you in real combat situation, shooting and slashing enemies left and right? Would you rather be the combat analyst, working real time in front of those big fancy computers? Or would you enjoy being on the ground like in my case?"
"What is YOUR case? Farming? Building houses?" asked Raizex, tapping his hand claws on the grass.
"A computer programmer... I mean, not really a programmer, but more like someone who oversees the colony's internet connection and system analysis, making sure that we can still receive data and launch messages without delay. Nobody wants to be cut off from the internet."
"And where this colony would be?"
"Lemuria, of course. The shining beacon of our future!" the female Indoraptor dramatized that last bit of her sentence with pride.
Raizex sneered, "So you'll be a colony's Overseer, huh? And in the most popular colony to boot! You get to poke around everyone's privacy?" he asked vaguely, wondering if his girlfriend would someday become a control-freak. To his amusement, she shook her head and smiled gently.
"Hah, you wish. Being an actual Overseer requires you to dabble in the Union's politics, and I never really trust politics."
"You and me both, babe!"
"Exactly!"
Both rolled on the ground while hugging each other. After nuzzling each other's snouts, Lyra said goodbye to her boyfriend and went back home. Raizex sat on the ground watching birds and pterosaurs flew past in the sky, contemplating on his relationship which had been blooming for years since middle school. Sure, other females had been pretty suggestive when talking to him, even one of them once suggested Raizex to get married to her as soon as they graduated, but Lyra held a special spot inside him. And now, with the two of them willing to have occupations outside of their home planet, Raizex didn't need to feel alone.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Indoraptor Year 378, December, colony world Cognita...
The small office building that was originally a reassembled colony ship had been renovated into a proper planetary administration office. Although its construction was celebrated by the excited colonists, Overseer Mesana was anxious; she and her workmen suffered from shortage of efficient labor force. Two messages were e-mailed straight to the Admiralty Board, and weeks later there was no indication of more employees being sent to the rapidly-growing Cognita.
The official report she received instead merely spoke of the Board's need to divert some manpower to ensure an efficient flow of resources between the fledgling colonies. In the meantime, Cognita was told to work on whatever resources and manpower it had; the Chiefs and the Board promised to lend in their help if the opportunity aroused.
It was an unavoidable obligation, they said. A meaningless piece of data, she said.
What good is a decorative administration office if it wasn't staffed adequately?
As Mesana dolefully walked through the empty halls of the office, she noticed how the work tables, the computers, heck, even the cafeteria lacked the busyness of a typical office. Only a handful of janitors could be seen wandering about the halls, cleaning up any clutter left behind from the renovation work. At this point, she practically had no job and was at risk of letting the colony fell into maladministration.
The Overseer peered out of a window in a hallway. Outside of it, the overjoyed colonists were celebrating with festivals, traditional beverages, and grilling what looked like a large wild animal that is native from the colony planet. They must've hunted it down themselves, she thought.
The outside and inside atmospheres were so contradicting.
The disappointed Overseer scornfully contemplated the colonists' behavior as she observed the janitors leaving after ramping up their duty. They definitely wouldn't be that cheerful should the Grand Fleet station some of their best operatives on Cognita. The Admirals would, at best, allowed them some time to celebrate before getting back to work, or at worse, had everyone working day and night until everything was deemed 'acceptable' by them.
A final check in one of the hindmost rooms revealed that, yes, the office was collecting dust from the absence of employees. Nobody would be working there as long as Mesana had no staffs.
Ah, to hell with it. If Cognita's settlers insisted on going festive for the day, so be it. She might as well head back to her cabin and rest for the time being.
The Overseer briskly walked back to where she abandoned her mantle. Taking her torso plates away and left them cluttered on her table, she picked up her mantle and hurriedly left her office room, remembering to lock the room's door moments after nearly reaching the building's main doors.
Returning back to the exit, Mesana cursed herself for having to went through a detour. She gave the building one last glance before heading home. The sky was darkening; if the Chiefs declared curfew hours on the colony too, then she ought to return soon. No way was she letting soldiers march her all the way back to home.
Mesana did her night roster in a tight fashion; showering right after removing her clothes (remember to not waste too much water), making a simple microwave dinner (veggies with meat cut into tiny cubic shapes), store all of her work utensils in the proper cabinets (Be sure to differentiate between the magenta one and the lime green one), and lastly check her eraphone for any urgent messages before sleeping right away. She could use some free time to polish her claws and tail, however...
No info whatsoever, great. Either her request was really stacked into the 'trivial' mailbox by the Admiralty Board or there was some sort of connection blackout that she didn't aware of. Nevertheless, the tired Overseer saw no use to stay awoke expecting assistance that'd never come...
The time in the evening was nearly equivalent to 11 p.m. on Earth when her eraphone vibrated beneath her pillow. Jolting awake as if hearing a thunder out of nowhere, Mesana fumbled in the darkened cabin as she threw her pillows everywhere, trying to find the device before it stopped vibrating. It could be very serious, she assumed, or it could possibly be a prank call sent to incite her irritation. To be fair, it's more like the female Indoraptor angrily trashed her room for being woken up late at night. Anyone caught up in her situation would do the same.
It seemed that fate finally relented and gave a respite to the furious Indoraptor, as she got a hold of her eraphone right when it let out one last vibration. Turning it on, she spoke clearly into the speaker.
"Union Overseer Mesana Iteran here."
"Lady Iteran?! Good, good. This is Atrine Walmez, you know, the farming professor accompanied by two bumbling incompetent acolytes."
"Oh, you," Mesana breathed out in frustration. Surely the male from Hagalaz Institute couldn't find a more inappropriate time to make a call? "Listen, it's already night time here and I have no more business with the rest of the colony, not as long as the Prime Chief postpones anymore support I demanded from him." She was more than willing to cut the phone call if only Atrine Walmez didn't get right into the topic of their talk.
"Exactly what I wanted to talk about. Just minutes ago, I got an official message directly from the Chiefs!"
"No kidding? They actually responded?!" this got her attention.
"No kidding! Apparently, they must've mistaken me as a secretary of yours, but they are indeed ready to send in whoever you need to run the administration office! I'll forward you the message now. In the meantime, file a list of vacant positions and mail it straight to the Prime Chief."
"He wants it right now?!" Mesana practically jumped out of her bed at the thought of having to type down a list of potential applicants so late at night. Granted, she wasn't thrilled with it, but direct orders and requests from the leader of their Union were to be fulfilled straightaway.
"No, not now, lady. He knows it is night time here on Cognita. More or less you'll have to prepare it at sunrise. This planet's sunrise, no doubt."
"Consider it done. Thank you, Mr. Walmez, even though you nearly gave me a heart attack minutes ago..."
As she terminated the call, the female examined the clock in her eraphone, determining that she had between 9 to 12 hours left until sunrise / deadline. That left her with some 4 hours' worth of sleep, and maybe 6 hours or so to compile a document for the Prime Chief.
Unwilling to stand around doing nothing any longer, Mesana went about to fix all that pillows she discarded and head back to sleep, her eraphone was set to wake her up in four hours before being hidden underneath her favorite pillow.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Indoraptor Year 379, January, Washington's Nova Prospect Port...
"I'm sorry. I wanted to say so much thing to you..."
"I know, I'm sorry too... but time's short, we have to get you there first."
"Can't we postpone it a bit? I'd rather watch you go first then..."
"Raizex Valzack, listen to me! All of the recruits were already gathering there. You must NOT be late!"
"But there might not be a second chance!"
"This isn't the end. We can still see each other... right?"
The stressful day that Raizex dreaded had arrived. He never thought that he would finally be there; being drafted into full-time service and ready to put his skills to good use. He was so caught up in his own problem that he failed to notice that Lyra was leaving too. She'd be departing to Lemuria, she said. Amena, his mother, was certainly too happy and melodramatic at the same time to realize what was happening between them. The female Indoraptor had to yell it at her boyfriend when the latter was too busy packing up his casual clothes, new torso plates, plus his new uniform.
The uniform he got after completing the recruitment test to serve with the Grand Fleet.
Heavens, how time flew, she mused. One moment, she and Raizex's mother saw him returning home after he passed one week of testing at the mercy of highly objective captains of the Fleet. She herself just completed her job interview to work in Lemuria, too. A week later, both of them were granted the authorization to go to wherever the Union needed them; the Fleet's tactical information center for Raizex, and internet networking in Lemuria's colony for Lyra.
She felt the two of them weren't sincere enough with how they said goodbye. No joking, since both had to say lengthy farewells to their families and friends, not to mention the chaos that was denoted by Amena as 'paperwork arrangements'. To put it mildly, Lyra won't be calling Earth her home anytime soon; she'd be staying in the colony on Lemuria for quite possibly the rest of her life, even having an official ID identifying her as the colony's permanent resident. Raizex, on the other hand, would go everywhere he's ordered to, at the expense of not having residential rights unless he had a certified approval to remain at a specific place for a specific amount of time.
"Look out there, babe! The ships aren't even here yet! There's still time!" The distressed young Indoraptor tried to convince his friend to let her embark from Earth first.
"I don't care! Your mom and I can't afford to have you come late on your first day. Besides, who knows what kind of person in charge you're going to serve..."
"What about you then?"
"On Lemuria, you mean? Not sure about that myself. I've heard that I'd be accompanied by some genius named Atrine, but who knows. Overseer Langdon might be able to tell more later."
Raizex made a gesture as if wanting to kiss her, only for Lyra to stop him as she pointed her finger to the sky, "There, you see it?! The shuttles are here! I'll go find your mom, tell her to see you set off today." She was correct; a dozen metallic grey shuttles landed smoothly on the port, their doors slid open as soon as the shuttles touched the ground, ready to take fresh graduates to Adar Flam, the spaceport orbiting Earth.
Before anything else could be done, Raizex's right hand caught Lyra in a surprising turn of events; he gave her a long kiss of goodbye.
He actually kissed her, Lyra excitedly thought!
Just when Lyra wanted to respond her boyfriend's kiss with a warm hug, Raizex quickly backed away, his clawed hands carrying his black leather backpack.
"I'll be alright, sweetheart." he said.
"Look, you're right. I've got to go now and I can't say a long goodbye for you once you leave Earth. But take mom to the third floor; you'll both get a good view of the sky and the shuttles."
The dumbstruck Lyra could only stare as he scuttled to join his future comrades, hesitating to enter his shuttle to give one last look at her. Mentally slapping herself for standing still, Lyra ran back into the port's terminal to find Raizex's mother and get her to see him off from the topmost floor of the terminal.
Suffice to say that by the time the recruits departed from the planet, Amena broke down into tears of joy as she watched her son leaving to perform his future tasks at the spaceport. Both female Indoraptors stared at the sky for quite some time until they were ready to head back home.
On their way back, they found many other parents engaging in talks about their children, expectantly wishing for them to have a chance to serve under the Union's most distinguished officers.
"Are you hungry, sweetheart? I could make you something special, if you want."
"That'd be great, ma'am. I do have two days left before I leave for Lemuria."
"Then I probably will drag your parents along to see you off."
A smile formed on Lyra's face as she accepted Amena's offer. Her parents could perhaps find companion in Raizex's kind but hardworking mother.