Chapter 14 – Week 6
Space, MHQ, Dorms. Wednesday.
Puck woke up with a start as his alarm clock on his tablet rang next to his head. He sleepily found the tablet in the dark and turned it off.
"Why'd you put your alarm clock?" Zeph asked from under the covers in the bed across from his.
Puck yawned and stretched. "I don't remember…" he trailed off. "Oh, yeah!" he said, sitting up. "It's the Cap's Birthday today!" he kicked the covers away and sat on the side of his bed. "Come on!"
"Hmpff," Zeph mumbled. He pulled the covers over his head.
"Zeph, come on!" Puck urged, changing from his military-ordained pajamas to his uniform. He didn't put any socks or shoes on and pulled the covers away from Zeph. "Zeph, wake up, come on!"
"Puck, it's only five in the morning. We have thirty more minutes to sleep." He yawned. "Do you want to kill me?" he pulled the covers back up.
Puck sat on his roommate's bed. "Please? I just want to surprise her." He chuckled. "I stole some good-old fashion pens from my dad's apartment, last time I went there."
Zeph frowned. "What are you planning to do with them?" he sat up. Pens were interesting.
"Draw on her face and arms, of course."
"You do know I'm a tattoo artist, right?" Zeph said kicking away the covers. "I'm in. But I'm drawing."
"I was hoping you'd say that," Puck said, grinning. "Come on, let's wake the other guys." He and Zeph, after getting dressed, tiptoed down the hall and woke the other boys of their Unit, making sure not to wake up the others. But if they did, they would let them come along, too. Once the seven boys plus one or two others were on their way to the girls' wing, they silently opened the door to room 1, and tiptoed inside, making sure not to snigger too loudly.
"Here," Puck said, handing a pen to Zeph, who kneeled next to the bed and started drawing on Scar's face. Zeph didn't draw something obscene. Instead, he drew something really nice on her left cheek, a reindeer inside a geometrical shape. At some point, the birthday girl stirred in her bed, and the other roommate woke up.
"Are you guys serious?" Zola hissed. She was about to wake up Scarlet to warn her, but Uriah and Daveed prevented her.
"Come on, it's funny!" Daveed said.
"No," Zola said. "She might her lose her Captain position." Zola pushed the others away from the bed. "Zeph, as much as I admire your tattoo skill, and I'll definitely ask you for one at some point, this is not cool."
Zeph just shrugged and continued his drawing. "Let me at least finish it.".
Just then Scarlet stirred in her bed and opened her eyes and gasped. Upon seeing all these people right above her face, she looked like a scared deer in the lights of a car.
"Hey, Cap!" Puck said. "Happy birthday!"
"Happy birthday!" everyone echoed behind him.
"Scarlet," Zola said, "I'm sorry, but you might want to look in the mirror."
"What? Why?" she asked, sleepily. When she saw the pen Zeph was holding, she frowned. She reached for her tablet under her pillow and looked at her reflection in it. "The hell?! Are you serious?"
"It was just a joke," Puck said. "A birthday prank." He chuckled, and the other boys followed suit.
Scarlet kicked the covers away and pushed through her Unit for the door, Zola following behind her.
"Uh-oh," Puck said. "She seems pretty upset."
Jack yawned. "Yeah, I'd be too. Especially since it's earlier than normal." He stretched out like a huge cat. "By the way, Zeph, that drawing was pretty cool."
"Thanks," he said.
"Dude!" Daveed said. "You should give us all a tattoo. A Unit tattoo."
"The same you did on Scarlet's face." Uriah chuckled. "It would be a good memory to keep."
Just then, the door opened and a furious Scarlet stormed in. Her hair was a mess on her head, and her face was red, especially her cheek, where she had tried to scrub away the ink left by the pen.
"Get the hell out of my room!" she yelled. "Except for you two," she added, pointing at Zeph and Puck. Daveed, Uriah, Xian, Torin, and Jack quickly left the place and went back to the men's wing, mumbling some sorry excuses and making themselves tiny.
Scarlet was seething, her arms crossed over her chest. "Whose idea was it?" she asked the two.
"Mine," Puck said. "It was mine. The pen is mine, too."
"Good. I'm reporting the both of you." She huffed. "You're not getting out of this easily. Get the hell out." She pointed to the door. Puck and Zeph made for the door. "Wait," Scarlet said. "What kind of pen was it?"
"Indelible," the two boys said in unison before leaving the room for good this time. Scarlet slammed the door after them, and they walked on without stopping or looking at each other to their own room.
"Oops," Puck said once they had closed their door and changed into their workout clothes for their morning routine.
Zeph didn't reply.
"You're drawing was really neat, by the way," Puck tried again.
Zeph shrugged.
After that, Puck stopped talking and they headed to the training hall. Professor Nym Jynx was already there, waiting, and talking with none other than the General and his lieutenant son themselves.
"Just our luck," Puck mumbled. The other boys in their Unit joined him and Zeph, but Scarlet was still missing. She arrived a couple of minutes later, her hair undone, long down her shoulders and in front of her face, but changed in her workout outfit, with her Captain pin on it – they had to wear them at all times.
"Captain Smith," Lieutenant Vesper said when she came in. "Explain why your hair is undone? You know the rules."
Puck held his breath as Scarlet obeyed without a word, tying her hair in a tight bun behind her head, revealing the drawing on her cheek. It was now a bit more smudgy than before, but the skin was much redder.
Lieutenant Vesper walked towards her and turned her face, taking her by the chin. "Explain?"
Everyone was watching them, silent.
"I woke up like this, sir," she said. "A silly prank."
Before Vesper could reply or ask for more information and before Scarlet would root them out, Puck mustered all the courage he had and stepped out. "If was my idea, sir," he said. "My pen, my idea."
Vesper looked at him with a very neutral expression, which made Puck even more anxious. "Cadet Van Dommelen," Vesper said as if he was surprised. "I wouldn't have expected this from you."
"I did the drawing, sir." Zeph stepped out next to Puck. "It was supposed to be a birthday prank on our Captain, sir."
Silence met their words. Lieutenant Vesper was debating what to do. Good thing his father stepped in.
"Unit Captains are your superiors," the General started. "They're meant to be respected. Obeyed. This is insubordination and disrespect. You two will be punished accordingly." He pressed his finger to his earpiece, and Puck tensed. "Bring two officers to the training hall," he ordered.
Yeah, Puck thought. We deserved that.
"Happy Birthday, Captain," Lieutenant Vesper said to Scarlet before going back to his position, next to Jynx.
"Right," Nym Jyxn said after this disturbance. "On to your workouts."
Everyone got ready and Puck and Zeph were led outside. Only, they weren't going to solitary, like they thought they would. No. They were going to a place Puck had never been in this position: Director Thyndrel's office. He remembered a time when he used to just drop by and have a nice chat with the woman when he was a kid and a student in the Academy. Now, he was going there for insubordination.
How weird.
-x-x-x-
Space, Military Headquarters, Flight Simulation Room. Thursday.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, the ship is about to take off," Vaughn said through the general comms system on their simulation flight. As First Mate of the ship, his role was to be responsible for the safety and security of the entire ship and crew, and he took his role to heart.
"Shut up Dayholt," Edvin replied through his mike. "This is a simulation. Not a real flight."
"Yeah, I know." He shrugged. "Trust me, if you can get the simulations right, you can get the real ones right, too."
Vladimir Saints, Unit Captain and Captain of the ship turned to his First Mate. "Did you do lots of dune sims before riding a real quad?"
"Yeah," he said. "I had to do one thousand hours of simulation before I could touch a real quad. EVRIA is a dangerous planet if you don't know how to handle yourself out there." He paused and turned on some buttons on his dashboard, signaling the simulation that his crew and the ship were ready. "Get one rip in your suit when you fall, and you're as good as dead if they don't get to you on time. So you might as well know your vehicle and how to drive it before risking your life."
"Save the drama for later, Racer," Echo said from her pilot seat. "We're taking off."
"Yes Ma'am," he said with a smile in his voice.
"Dude," Vlad said. "As your subordinate, she can't talk to you like that. Remember what happened to Puck and Zeph yesterday."
Vaughn rolled his eyes. "Not my fault if they don't like Smith." He paused. "By the way, Echo was being super polite, there. She didn't yell at me or say–"
"Shut the fuck up, Dayholt," Echo cut him.
"Yeah, that," Vaughn said. He chuckled.
"Okay people, remember we need to work as a team," Vlad said. "Echo, no flying on your own again. We lost a lot of points last time because of that."
"I know," she grumbled. "Don't remind me."
"That scoreboard is rigged anyway," Nova said from her Data spot. "And I'll prove it."
"I'm with you on that," Echo said. "But not right now."
"Right," Vlad said. "Uh, Vesper, coordinates, please, before we leave."
"Yessir." Phoebe typed in the coordinates Professor Taylor had given them, without telling them where it was. It appeared on her screen and sent it to Vlad and the others. "We're going to BRYKE," she said.
"Good," Vlad said, trying to sound confident in his role. Vaughn tapped him on the shoulder.
"You're doing great buddy."
"Phoebe, calculate the jumps and trajectory."
Without a word, Phoebe quickly calculated the trajectory. "We can jump to hyperspeed five minutes from take-off and land ten minutes from landing to get to the right spaceport. BRYKE is huge."
"Edvin?" Vlad continued. "Are the propulsors for hyperspeed ready?"
"Yup."
"Can we get on with it? I want to fly!" Echo barked through the comms.
"Hold your horses, sweetheart," Vaughn said. "We take off only when we have all the data and tech ready, and it'll take as long as it takes."
"Bullshit," she replied. "Hurry the fuck up. Time is running out already!" She pointed at the countdown on the screen.
"She's not wrong," Thalia said. She looked over Nova's shoulder next to her. "From what it looks like, BRYKE is really far today. We do need to move."
"Okay, everyone ready, then?" Vlad asked.
"Yessir!" everyone replied in unison.
"Good. Echo and Asrial, do the honors. Edvin? Jump when it's time. Give us T minus twenty seconds."
And on it went. After six weeks of flying together, they were used to their specific roles and jobs, and it went smoothly. Twenty seconds before the jump, Edvin announced it and they got the ship ready for hyperspeed. It took them three hours to get to their landing point of the jump. During that time, Echo and Asrial were focused on the flight; Phoebe made sure they wouldn't crash into anything during their jump – because that would mean death, or at least game over – and the others chatted among themselves.
"T minus ten seconds for landing," Edvin said. "Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."
Everyone held on to their seats as their ship abruptly slowed down. "Damn, I think I'll never get used to that," Vaughn said, swallowing back his heart. "It makes me want to–"
"Woah!" everyone yelled as the ship almost did a flip on itself.
"Damn those people!" Echo said. "They landed right in front of us from hyperspeed!" She said a string of insults through the comms but directed at the other ship they had almost crashed into. "Nova! You were supposed to see if there was anything out there! Phoebe, radar?!"
Thalia worked her magic through the comms and reached out to the other ship, who had also done a flip to avoid them. "Guys, it was Unit 3. Sayler and Itxa were flying the ship."
"How the fuck are we in the same simulation?" Echo asked. "Are they real or they part of the sim?"
Thalia and Nova typed away on their screens, trying to figure out if Unit three was really in their simulation or not.
"We can't know that until the end," Nova finally said. "We'll ask them there."
"Everyone, calm down," Vlad said. "We don't have much time left, and we still have to find the Saharan Spaceport, land, take the load, and jump back to MHQ. Focus people!"
Every flight member went back to work with a stronger focus. But Unit 3 seemed to have the same destination as them. Vlad asked Thalia to communicate with their ship to see what they were doing and how they could complete both missions without impairing the other.
Clara Brightly-Choi was on the other end of the receiving line, and they quickly decided that they would land on the same port, but one in front of the other, so there would be enough space for both of them. Echo and Asrial managed the landing without too much difficulty and they had to wait for the virtual loading of the ship. Once that was done, they took off again, just a couple of minutes before the other ship, and went into hyperspeed before them. They were back into the hangar before U3 had even landed from their jump a few minutes away from the MHQ.
"Okay people," Vlad said, once the simulation was over, and the lights in the large SimPod turned on again. "Good job. Let's see what Tayler has to say about this, shall we?"
They all took off their seatbelts and headed outside. Byrd Tayler was waiting for them.
"Before Unit 3 comes out, I just want to congratulate you on your flight. Especially you, Cadet Vellena," she said. "You had some good reflexes when you saw that other ship. Had you crashed into them, you would all have died, in real life."
Vaughn looked at Echo who held herself a little straighter.
"Good job on the whole," she continued. "Phoebe, that was a good trajectory. Next time, though, make sure there isn't anyone on the landing spot."
"Yes Ma'am," Phoebe replied.
"Okay, here's U3," Byrd said, and Vaughn and the others turned around.
"Damnit, Saints," Solana said. "Your crew almost crashed into mine! Good thing we have an excellent pilot: Sayler saved your asses."
"Uhm, excuse you?" Echo said. "I was the one to avoid the crash."
"Yeah, that was Echo," Vaughn said, standing up for his First Helmswoman.
"Calm down, everyone," Byrd said. "Both pilots saved your asses. And as I said to Cadet Vesper, Ar-Ramlah you need to make sure the landing spot is free."
"I checked the landing spot," he replied. "I couldn't see them in hyperspeed."
"True, you couldn't," Byrd say. "But there is still a way. You can reach out to any ship in an area trough satellite and comms, even in Hyperspeed."
"That's… good to know," Thalia said. "I'll remember that."
"Good. You're all dismissed," Byrd said.
Everyone went to their rooms to change for the Unit Training. But Vaughn called after Echo.
"Hey, Echo."
"What, Dune Boy?" she said, not stopping in her steps.
"You think you can teach me?"
"Teach you what?"
"Flying. One solo lesson a week is not going to get me anywhere." He smirked, hoping his awesome smile would persuade her.
"In exchange for what?" she asked, businesslike. "From what I gathered, I'm better than you in pretty much everything.
That was unexpected. "Uh… I don't know…" he replied. Crap. He should have thought of something. "I, uh, stood up for you when Solana attacked you?"
Echo snorted. "I don't need a guy to stand up of me, Vaughn Dayholt," she said, surprising him with the use of his real name for the first time. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him straight in the eyes. He wasn't expecting that, either. "Sunday, 0800. Don't be late." With that, she walked away, leaving Vaughn alone in the hall.
He smirked. Vaughn Dayholt had a date with the Devil himself. Or the most beautiful girl of the Program, depending on who you asked.
-x-x-x-
Somewhere in Space, Military Head Quarters, Mess Hall. Saturday.
The sixth week had seemed very long and tiring to Clara Brightly-Choi. Confined on the ship – even though it was huge and she only stuck to the known areas – and always surrounded by people, she sometimes felt overwhelmed by it all. Like right now, in the Mess Hall, when it was so loud and her skull was about to explode. At least, dinner was almost over and she could escape to her favorite place.
As soon as she was done, she excused herself, put the blue box in the recycling chute, and made a detour by her room to get a few things from there, and headed to one of the environmental simulator rooms.
The room was bare. White floor, white walls, no windows. She scanned her hand on the monitor next to the door.
"Cadet Clara Brightly-Choi," the smooth AI voice said. "This is the fourth time this week in the environmental simulator. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she replied. "Just leave me alone."
The AI didn't reply, so Clara typed in the location she wanted in the simulation. The room started to transform and she quickly recognized the area. It was a bittersweet feeling, to be honest, but she needed this right now. It was the only place she felt okay in, at the moment.
"Simulation complete," the AI voice said. "ANGELES, Venice District, Long Avenue 18, Pond Playground."
Like the three other times, she went to sit under the slide, leaving some space next to her for the man she loved: Emerson Brightly. That night where it all started, in the playground, after the extravagant party her parents had thrown. Three years ago. It felt like an eternity, yet if was also just yesterday. So many things had happened since.
But being here without Emerson made a hole in her heart. She took out the paper photo she had taken from her room, a picture of her and Emerson on their wedding day. She wished she had taken more with her, but that was the only one she had. It was a little dented on the edges, but the image was still clear. She needed to look at it – at him – so she wouldn't forget his face. In her dreams, his features were blurred and there was a void in her chest when she woke up. That was one of the reasons why she had come here four times that week. She was securing him in her mind's eye.
A tear splattered on the picture she was holding and she quickly dried it away. She couldn't bear to damage the photo any further. In her arms, her teddy bear Clare Bear was being squished. She was crying like she hadn't in months. She wiped her tears away and took a deep breath. Slowly in, and out. Just like her therapist had taught her. It helped a little, but she still wasn't completely calm.
She focused on her breathing for some time, starring at the picture between her fingers.
She didn't hear the door open, or the footsteps of the intruder, though. The noises in the simulation copied those of the live city: ships, vehicles, people. There was always noise.
"Brightly," a man said, and Clara looked up, hoping it would be Emerson, even a hologram of him would be nice. It was not Emerson.
She dried her tears again. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought the simulations were private."
"They are," Lennox replied. "But they're also recorded for security measures. This is the fourth time this week, Cadet Brightly-Choi. And you always go to the same place, and sit. There is no exercise, no exploring, nothing." He paused and frowned. "Is everything alright?"
Clara shrugged. "Yeah, everything's fine." She stood to leave, but dropped the picture in the process, not realizing.
"You dropped this," he said, picking up the photo. He looked at it and gave it back to Clara.
"I'm just gonna go," she said awkwardly, her ANGELES accent coming through. She turned off the simulation before leaving the room, leaving Lieutenant Vesper alone.
"Wait," he said. "Clara!"
Clara stopped, surprised he had used her given name and not her recruit name. She waited, not turning around.
"It's your wedding anniversary this week, isn't it?" he asked softly, which surprised her even more. She nodded. "I was there, you know?"
This time Clara turned around. "What? Where?"
"At the wedding. Your parents invited my parents and me and Phoebe. I was the only one to go, all were busy or on the other side of the System." He paused and looked at the sad ANGELES girl in front of him. "It was a beautiful wedding, and you looked happy."
"I was," she said. She managed to hold in the tears.
Lennox swallowed before replying. "I really wish you can find that same happiness again, Clara." He paused. "And if you need to talk or anything, I'm right here."
"Thanks," she said, barely above a whisper. Then she stood straighter, saluted her superior and walked away, without stopping, back to her room. It was getting late, and she was exhausted. Now that she had grieved all week, she needed to turn the page and go forward in her life. This Program was what she needed, and she would make good use of it. No use longing for the past that was never going to come back, anyway. Emerson was gone, and she was still here, with all her life in front of her.
Maybe Lennox Vesper was right: she may find new love. Or at least a new purpose in life. And she would. She knew she would.
-x-x-x-
Outer space, Military Space Station, Women's Wing. Sunday.
Ash Murdock liked to keep certain things to herself. She hated when her roommate walked in on her when she was talking to her parents through her walkie-talkie necklace. Or when she judged the book she was reading. Or when she found Echo Vellena trying to open her puzzle box – of course she couldn't open it.
That day, her roommate, Echo, had been in her room all along, working on some classes. After the last scoreboard where the She-Devil scored only seventh place, she had been bent on working even harder, even on their free day, to get to the top.
Ash had found herself on the sixteenth spot, which was exactly in the middle. Her usual spot, to be honest. But she didn't mind. She knew with time she would make it higher, if not at the very top. And after a tiring week, she was missing her parents more than ever. Talking to them with Echo in the room was not an option, so she left the room and roamed the halls to find a private place.
It didn't take long, though. She went to the archives room, a place she knew would be desert this time of the week. On a Sunday and a free day, people tended to either sleep in, spend some time in the swimming pool, or hang out in the Mess hall. Some even went flying on simulations or experimented in the zero-gravity chamber. She sometimes went there with her Unit, but not that day.
She found a small alcove at the end of a rack of archives and sat down on the floor. She brought her knees to her chest and cleared her voice. She wasn't going to talk too loudly of course, in case someone came in, but she doubted anyone would.
She took the small watch hanging on the chain around her neck and opened it. She pressed on the button inside, connected the necklace to her parents' wedding rings, wherever they were in the System.
"Hi mom, dad. I really miss you…" she paused, thinking of what to say. "My day has been okay. It's Sunday, here, our only free day of the week." Again, she paused. "I hung out with my crew this morning, and we had a good time. They're all really nice, and I'm happy to be with them, and not some of the others…" she chuckled. "I'm glad I'm not in the She-Devil's Unit. They say she yells at them all the time." Pause. A long one, this time. "I miss you… so much," she continued. "And if you're somewhere out there, even if the chances are a speck of dust in the universe that you can hear me, then know that I-" she trailed off, choked by an incoming sob. "I love you… so much." She paused. "I should have said it more…" she trailed off and let the button go, cutting the connection.
She sighed and just sat there, in silence.
"Uh, you okay?" someone asked, poking his head around the corner.
Ash hid the watch in her hand and looked up at Gerome what's-his-name. "What are you doing here?"
Gerome Monarch Avenberrs-Harrison shrugged, his long, lean frame blocking the light to Ash. He casually held his hands in his pockets. "I like to hang out in this place. Reminds me of home."
Ash raised an eyebrow and looked around. Old books under UV and corrosion protection, rows of screens and big hard drives lining the walls. "Home? You live in an archives library?" she asked, half-joking.
Gerome chuckled. "No, but I work among computers and data. So yeah…" he shrugged again. He looked down at Ash still sitting on the floor. "What were you talking to? I mean, what device?"
Ash felt heat rising up in her cheeks. She slipped the necklace under her shirt and stood. "That's actually none of your business."
"I don't want to pry or anything, but if you're looking for your parents and you don't know where they are, maybe I can help you…"
Ash shook her head. "Thanks. But no thanks."
Gerome, again, shrugged his thin shoulders. "As you wish."
Ash was about to leave when Gerome started talking again. "Hey, did you know that everything is a conspiracy?"
Ash snorted. "Excuse me?"
"Yeah, they want us to think planets are round. But that's not true."
"What? You're joking right?" Ash asked. Was he being serious right now?
"Yeah. They're actually disks floating through space. There's an end, an edge, and people fall off if they're not careful." Gerome seemed to be extremely serious about what he was saying.
But Ash knew better. Flying around KOBOS and other planets, and landing on ECCARS proved her otherwise. No. Planets were not disks orbiting around another disk. They were round, and no one could tell her otherwise. "Whatever," she said, walking away.
On her way back to her room, she couldn't fathom how someone could still think that in 2235. There was so much proof lying around. You just had to look through a window – or find one, first, on the ship – and look outside. The planets orbiting their Sun were all round. And to make sure of what she knew was right, she went to the Bay, and saw three planets: ECCARS was the farthest, ANGELES the closest. And in the middle, INIDES, glowing green and blue in the starry darkness. Three perfect balls, round and smooth.
Gerome was wrong. Of course, he was.
Wasn't he?
Hey Hi Hello!
so sorry for the long wait, I was not in the mood of writing anything these past few weeks... but now it's coming back^^ I hope you enjoyed these 4 POVs! Also, forget about posting on Mondays. now I'll just post whenever I want LOL. updating schedule doesn't really work for me, do they? LOL. anyway.
can't wait to read your reviews, and see you soon!