Chapter 1-Doing Their Part

June 5th, 2162

Florida, United States

My family has always had war in its blood. My ancestors fought in World War II, Vietnam, and Iraq. My father is a medic in the Navy, and my mother is an ONI operative. So when I told them that I was enlisting in the Marines, it was met with little to no surprise.

"That's my boy," my father said, "although why you would want to become a grunt and not a midshipman is beyond me."

He winked. My father was really passionate about being in the Navy, and he felt that there was no better feeling than zero-gravity.

" Leave the kid alone, Mark." my mother smiled. She was away a lot because of her 'work', but when she was home, she always made sure that I was taken care of.

Dad rolled his eyes and said, "When do ship out to start training, son?"

"Well it's not technically shipping out, I mean, basic is at Fort Osprey..."

"Don't be a smart-ass, you know what I mean."

"Okay, I leave next week, but I have a crap load of paperwork before I can travel."

My mom knows how much I hate paperwork. "Well that's ironic, isn't it? Didn't you say that you were enlisting to get away from all that bureaucracy?"

"Yeah, but it's a good thing that I have a great mother who will do it for me!"

"Think again, Jace. You're on your own."

"Crap!"

The next few days went by in a blur. School didn't seem as important to me, as I was looking forward to training. I couldn't wait to teach those Koslovics a lesson. I was sitting in my Earth Sciences class when Nick Gearhart tapped me on the shoulder.

"You joining up?"

That surprised me. Nick was really quiet and almost never talked, and I thought he didn't like me after I beat him out for the starting spot on the gravball team.

"Yeah, how about you?"

"Hell yeah, man. My cousins were on Io during the Jovian Moons Campaign. I'm gonna kill those damn communists."

"Excuse me, Mr. Stryker. Do you have something to share with the class, or do I have permission to go on with my lesson?"

Shit. I looked up at the teacher and mumbled something along the lines of 'sure go ahead' before he resumed his lesson on terraforming.

"One of the best examples of terraforming in the galaxy is Mars. Long ago, Mars was a desolate desert world that was uninhabited by life whatsoever. Due to the climate fluctuation and biological breakthroughs, Mars has become a bustling spaceport."

The bell rang and everybody filed out of the classroom.

The teacher's voice rang out above the din of shuffling feet.

"Remember to study for the test tomorrow!"

"Whatever!" somebody shouted.

The end of the day found me walking out into the bright North American sunlight. I started to walk home when somebody grabbed me from behind.

"How's it going, hot stuff?"

I turned around and smiled. Andrea DeSantis stood there in front of me. She was 5'9 of pure sweetness.

And she was all mine.

"Pretty good."

I grabbed her hand as we walked home together. Her dad had been killed in a car accident when she was very small and her mom was almost never home, so she always came home with me.

"Did you finish that textbook page yet?" she asked.

"Nah..."

"How come you never seem to finish any of your homework anymore?"

We turned on to Silver Creek Road.

"Well...I...uh..."

"Spit it out!"

"Andrea, I enlisted."

She paused to look at me. Her sea-green eyes filled my vision as she drew up close.

"That's great." she whispered. She gave me a hug and said, "Be careful."

We didn't talk about it anymore until we stopped at her house.

"You sure your okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, my mom's home today."

She kissed me goodbye.

Gravball is a game of speed. You have to be fast to compete. As a midfielder, it was my job to play both defense and offense and control the ball. Today I wasn't doing as well as I usually did; The defenseman stole the ball from me three times and I was 2/8 for shots on goal. After practice was over, I waited for my dad to pick me up.

So there I was, waiting in the blistering heat, when I was approached by Nick Gearhart. Nick was about 6'4, 205 pounds and solidly built. His silky black hair stuck to his neck in the humid climate.

"Hey." he said.

"Hi."

"Where are you getting basic training?"

"At Fort Osprey. What about you?"

"I'm at Fort Devens. You know Vinny Marquez?"

I nodded.

"He already shipped out. Went to some place in South America."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't he from there?"

"Yeah, he wouldn't shut up about it last week."

My dad pulled up and honked the horn.

"See you later."

I got in the car and mulled over what Nick had said.

Yeah, the men of Forestview High School was definitely doing their part to fight for their country.

I hoped that I could do the same.