Thank you all for your reviews! I've never quite been the stellar english student as you should already be able to tell but I'm trying :) Hopefully someday I'll improve.
blkbltbeauty: Haha yeah, I sorta belatedly realised the morph absence halfway through the chap and realised I didn't know how to fit him back him... -sheepish grin-
Courtesy: Thank you so much, I always value constructive criticism, so ironically I like english teachers... hope the plot is moving somewhere this time, I'm stillworking onfinding a balance between description and storyline.
Captain Amelia: Update here :P
Chapter 5
Timetable
Day 1
0700 – 0800hrs: Introductory lesson: Mechanics
0800 – 0900hrs: Introductory lesson: Exobiology
0900 – 0930hrs: Break
0930 – 1100hrs: Extracurricular activity tour: Sports
1100 – 1200hrs: Batch discussion
1200 – 1300hrs: Lunch
1300 – 1500hrs: Icebreaker games
1500 – 1600hrs: Facility tour: Wing A
Jim shoved his timetable back into his pocket and craned his neck to see over the hovering mass of first years. It was only 0645hrs but all 60 cadets had already choked down a quick breakfast and were crowding around the entrance of the lecture hall. He couldn't find either Jeff or Jade so contented himself with standing at the back, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet to scan the crowd. Suddenly a hand shot out from within the crowd to grab Jim's wrist, hauling up to the front.
"Hey dude! You're gonna miss the best seats standing where you were!"
Jim heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of his two friends, for a moment almost thinking that he'd somehow gotten into trouble again. They were pressed again the door to the right entrance of the lecture hall with barely any space to breathe. Suddenly a high and squeaky voice broke through the excited chatter.
"Come in cadets!"
And no sooner were these words said that the heavy doors swung open and the trio literally stumbled into the hall and secured some of the best front-row seats. Their mechanics teacher, Professor Fluxion, was a miniscule being of Velurian origin. His already big black eyes were further magnified by centimeter-thick glasses and gave the impression of a rather intelligent fly. Smiling broadly at the new students, he waved his short arms, indicating for the cadets to settle down.
"Good morning! I am, as you can see on the board, Professor Fluxion, and I will be teaching you mechanics for your four years with the Academy. I'm so happy to see you all so enthusiastic about your lessons! Now I do not expect all of you to be equally skilled in this subject because of your varied phenotypes, and each species is more capable in some areas than others. However, you will not be graded on perfection, but on your eagerness and to learn and grasp concepts which can be later applied with the aid of tools. Now, who can tell me the principle that all engineering was based on before we learned to untangle particles at the sub-quark level?" (A/N: I know nothing about quantum physics, I'm just plucking names here)
Instantly Jade's hand shot up. Fluxion did a quick profile match before calling upon her.
"Yes Ms. Triton?"
"Conservation of energy. Energy is equal to mass multiplied by the square of the speed of light. It is transformed from one form to another and can neither be created nor destroyed."
Fluxion beamed at her before awarding Altair its first 10 credits for the year. The lesson carried on in a casual manner, with Professor Fluxion advising students not to copy notes but to listen and absorb, because introductory mechanics was about concepts rather than details. Even Jim and Jeff had their opportunity to answer application questions about solar sails and surfers.
The class soon filed out of the lecture theatre in high spirits, glad to know that Academy classes weren't drab and boring, or at least mechanics class wasn't. Jade was busy listing down the plusses and minuses of taking mechanics at an advanced level while Jeff tried to ask their Velurian roommate more about theirs species' mechanical advantages and whether or not he like solar surfing. This left Jim free to wander around the rest of their cohort, occasionally chatting up students from other batches and generally getting acquainted. It wasn't long, however, before he once again bumped into Hiram Drake and his Tipocan bodyguard.
"Well, if it isn't Treasure Planet boy, Captain's pet," he said with a sneer.
So he's jealous? Jim thought, quirking an eyebrow and taking the opportunity to size up his enemy more carefully. Only this time, he realized that Drake wasn't entirely human as he'd first assumed. His eyes were vaguely yellow, and slanted up at a slightly unnatural angle, giving him a sinister, predatory cat look.
"No smart comebacks this time twerp? You know, things are happening at this Academy and you're already on the wrong side," he hissed into Jim's ear, before pivoting and stalking off, leaving Jim confused about the boy's words. Maybe he's just trying to unnerve me. Jim concluded, going off to find Jeff and Jade, feeling distinctly unsettled.
He didn't have the opportunity to tell his friends about the encounter with Drake before their exobiology professor entered the lab through what Jim had first considered to be the wall. Upon closer scrutiny, that section was in fact just a hologram wall with protective shields, supposedly to keep whatever was behind it away from the students. The gangly amphibious professor glided into the laboratory on his hoverboard, and surprised everyone with a telepathic greeting.
"Hello cadets, I am professor Nassum, please bring out the biology kits you were provided with and place them on your desks," the instruction boomed into their minds, making some of them wince. Clearly exobiology was going to be a no-nonsense lesson unlike the one they had just come from. Jim was momentarily grateful that Jade had reminded the two of them to bring all their supplies "just in case", although he didn't appreciate lugging the chunky kit around during the coming tours after lunch.
By the end of the lesson, all the cadets staggered out of the class slightly disoriented from constructing a comprehensive dichotomous key of all the species which had so far been discovered in the fifth arm of the galaxy. Within that one hour they had also traced the evolutionary lines of their own species to determine the location of origin of their phenotype. They had then painstakingly transferred all this into their textchips, with the watchful professor giving "advice" in the form of mind-blowing mental assaults whenever they lost track of which line they were supposed to be transcribing.
"I am NOT taking exobio at advanced if I were offered a million creds!" Jim lamented as they made their way to the cafeteria for their morning break. Jade quickly retorted with a long list of the advantages of learning about alien life forms, citing her planet's lack of such databank resources, thus receiving incredulous looks from her two companions.
"Well even if you knew all this stuff existed, what is the USE?"
"It's in the spirit of science!"
And so the exobio battle raged through the break, only pausing for the trio to take mouthfuls of some unnamed broth-like substance which tasted like macaroni in spinach sauce. Only at the mention of Proteus-1 did Jim remember that he'd left Morph sound asleep on the shelf in the dorm and raced back with crackers in hand to collect his chirpy pet.
As he plodded down the silent gray corridors to the now-empty dormitory, Drake's words once more surfaced in his mind. "Things are happening at this Academy…" What things? It seemed like such a safe place, well-guarded by the most advanced technology and situated in the middle of the Galaxy's thriving knowledge hub district. Furthermore, neither the captain nor the doctor had ever mentioned any form of conflict to tarnish the Academy's reputation, much less a looming threat during the time he would be staying here. Still, he did not like the glint in Drake's eyes as he said this, nor the knowing smirk he flashed in the split second before he stalked away.
Jim absently greeted Morph with the crackers he had taken from the cafeteria, allowing the shape-shifter time to nibble on his meal before diving into Jim's pocket to settle down into a warm slumber once more. Finding his friends patiently waiting outside the cafeteria for the Extracurricular Sports tour to begin, Jim silently motioned for them to join him, lowering his voice to tell them about his encounter with Drake earlier that day.
"Do you really think he means it? He could just be pulling your leg you know," Jade stated matter-of-factly.
"I say that slimy little insect has something up his sleeves. His family is one of the richest in the galaxy but no one knows where they get their money from. Furthermore I don't like his eyes," added Jeff in a conspiratorial tone.
"I know. Those eyes, they look… familiar," Jim mused, trying to recall where he'd last seen them. His musings were cut short when one of the older students stepped up onto a chair, calling for the first-years to line up according to batch to be taken on their sports tour. It turned out that there were four categories of extracurricular sports: Combat, racing, accuracy and traditional ball games.
The Altair first-years gathered in the front rows of the shooting gallery, watching the seniors demonstrate the use of various different weapons for various purposes and situations.
"The weapons we use for training are all blanks or stunners, meaning that no one gets hurt during practice sessions. Only senior third and fourth-year cadets are permitted to use actual artillery because they participate in inter-batch competitions meant to prepare them for actual Navy life. There have been cases, however, of younger cadets showing particular talent so they may progress to real weapons faster. Today, we will be using blanks to demonstrate one of our regular practice sessions."
The first-years collectively leaned forward, eager to see how a practice session would be carried out in what seemed like an elaborate simulated battlefield. One senior kept a running commentary of the non-stop action within the gallery, smoke emanating from the dozens of blanks fired at the same time. Suddenly, without warning, a training grenade landed amongst the spectators, the small metallic ball rolling to a halt in between Jim and Jade, a small beep barely audible above the 'battle' still raging in the gallery.
With his naturally sharp eye and gut-feeling, Jim barely had time to shove Jade out of the way before the grenade exploded full-force, throwing the 60 new cadets off their feet.
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Okay I feel evil but I might have to go on hiatus because of an international geography competition coming up which I very smartly haven't started studying for... Will still try my best to update!
