"Tom, can you see any place to sit?" asked the brunette as her blue eyes scanned the large room. Other students were milling around, not really sitting, just standing and chatting away, talking with their friends or meeting new people.

Tom Corbett, standing more than a head taller than his pretty companion, held his eyes on one fellow before glancing around. He knew the real reason for the question, hence his refusal to sit down just yet. He knew she didn't want Ralph Clavering to sit by her, so taking a seat right now would not have been a good idea. Ralph could easily find a place to sit nearby. Tom leaned over. "I think we should hang around the back row for now, Linda. Ralph's heading closer to the front. And besides, I seem to have lost Dot."

That got Linda Carlton's head swerving. "Really? Where could she have gone off to? If it's the bathroom, I hope she knows it has to be quick, I can see that the principal wants to start getting things underway." She nodded towards the podium where the head of the university was fiddling with some papers and adjusting his glasses.

"You want to go check?" asked Tom, shooting a furtive glance at Ralph.

Linda winced. "I might, I don't want to miss anything either."

"I don't think missing the first five minutes of introductions is going to kill you," said Tom with a smirk. "I bet I can introduce them all faster than they can."

Linda chuckled. "Probably. Alright, save me a seat and I'll go check real quick."

"Ok, but just to let you know, I might be waiting for you to return so Ralph doesn't sit by us," replied Tom.

Linda laughed. "Fair enough. Be back in a bit!" She dashed off towards the restrooms. Tom took to looking around the room again. Some people were finally sitting down. He also noticed Ralph was looking around too, no doubt realizing that Linda wasn't there at the moment. He glanced at Tom and walked towards him.

"Where's Linda?" he asked, trying to be polite, but a bit of jealousy was showing through. No matter how many times Linda told him Tom was nothing more than a brother to her, Ralph seemed to be of the opinion that she preferred Tom's company to his simply because she unknowingly had a crush on Tom. It really was only because Ralph Clavering was a spoiled brat and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Tom nodded towards the bathrooms. "She went to find Dot."

"Oh, I see. Well, if you see her, tell her I've saved her a seat."

"Can't Linda choose her own seat?"

Ralph sniffed. "A woman of Linda's high ranking shouldn't be sitting with the likes of you, farm boy. Just because Mr. Carlton is paying for your college doesn't make you one of us."

"I never wanted to be one of you," said Tom with a low growl. "I prefer my friends to be more mature than that."

"Why you little . . ." He was interrupted by microphone feedback. The two glanced at the stage. A gray-haired man stood at the podium in a well-tailored suit. With him was a colonel in full military regalia. Behind them hung three flags, the one in the middle was the Earthen flag, it looked like the old Olympics flag, but the background was blue with the three top circles green and the bottom four had two white circles on the outside and two brown on the inside. To the left of the Earth flag was the Venusian flag, a peach background with orange and golden swirls. To the right of the Earth flag was the Martian flag, red with two white stripes.

"Testing, testing . . . may I have your attention please. We're going to start here in a few minutes to give everyone enough time to get back from the restrooms. I ask that everyone find a seat and give us your full attention when we begin. Thank you."

Ralph turned back to Tom. "We'll talk later."

"Obviously," muttered Tom. Ralph turned and walked towards the front of the room to sit with the rest of the rich crowd. Tom let out a huff to calm himself down before turning around to glance at the seats that were filling up quickly. He noticed a set of four seats in the far back, the only ones open in the row. He went to sit down in one. Next to him was a trio, two boys and a girl. They paused in their whispering to look at him. Both guys looked like they were surfer dudes, one had blond hair while the other had brown, and the girl looked like she was from the islands.

"Hey man, that was looking pretty intense there," said the boy sitting closest to him, the one with blond hair. "I don't mean to pry, but, do you know him?"

Tom sighed. "Unfortunately yes. We basically grew up together."

"What's his beef with you?" asked the other boy.

Tom could feel the pit forming in his stomach. "I'm not rich enough for their 'crowd', basically." He paused, and because he hung out with Linda a lot, and the rest of the rich kids, the kids of his own class shunned him as well. But they didn't need to know that. "And he likes a friend of mine, but thinks she has this unknown crush on me because she prefers my company to his."

The girl scoffed. "To be honest, I don't blame her. I didn't like the looks of that guy."

"Yeah, I'd have helped you beat him up," said the brown-haired boy. "Even more so now that I know he wouldn't have liked me either because I'm definitely not rich enough."

"So, how did you get into Sanford?"

"Oh, his parents," he replied, pointing at the blond boy.

"Oh, where are my manners. Here we are, taking your side against a guy we've never met, and we haven't introduced ourselves yet!" The blonde chuckled as he held out his hand. "I'm Robby Hoenig. My parents are marine biologists and they saved up enough for both of us to attend Sanford together." He pointed to his friend. "And this is my best friend Harry Smith. Technically we both could have gotten in on scholarships, but since my parents had the money, they used it." He pointed to the girl. "And I'm glad we didn't get in on a scholarship because then Harry's girlfriend, Irene Marshall, might not have gotten in either."

Irene scoffed and waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, please, I'm sure all three of us would have qualified. You're both just as smart as I am . . . sometimes."

Harry gasped. "Sometimes? I am as smart as you are! I just don't know as much as you do."

Irene laughed. "Good save." The two kissed.

Robby chuckled before turning back to Tom. "And you are?"

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm Tom Corbett. Pleased to meet you." Tom shook hands with each one in turn.

"Nice to meet you too, Tom," said Harry. "So what field are you going into?"

Tom beamed. "Astronaut! Linda, my friend, is too. We've already gotten our flight training in. But uh, I have a suspicion you guys are aiming more for the ocean-based sciences."

Harry grinned. "You got it. I'm aiming more for Oceanography myself. Robby here is following in the family business, and Irene is going for more of a marine veterinarian."

Tom grinned. "That's cool. We're certainly in the right place to chase our dreams!"

Robby chuckled. "That's for sure!"

"Ooh, Tom, who are your new friends?" Tom glanced up. Linda had returned with their friend, Dot Crowley. Linda looked small in comparison to Tom, but Dot looked tiny. She was no more than five feet tall. Her blue streaked blonde hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail and her hazel eyes sparkled with curiosity at the three people Tom just met. Tom quickly introduced them.

Dot sat down after the pleasantries ended. "Ooh! So the three of you are going into the sea and the three of us are going into space! This is cool!" She turned to Tom. "And thanks for finding us seats. This place is packed!"

Tom smiled. "No problem." His smile wavered a bit. "Though Ralph saved some for you too."

"But we heard him say he was only saving a seat for Linda, not Dot," pointed out Robby slowly. "You know, before he got on his high horse about you being friends with her."

Dot gasped as she glanced at Tom. "Ralph did it again?" She scooted further back into her seat. "Well then, we're not going up front, even if the rest of our friends are there. Ralph does not get the pleasure of our company, least of all yours, Linda." She paused as she realized Linda had not said a word and glanced at her friend. She was sitting with her arms crossed, and at first glance she looked like she was merely pouting, but Tom and Dot knew she was furious. "Linda?"

Linda glanced up at them, her eyes flashing with fury. "If Ralph seriously thinks he can get away with talking to someone I consider my brother like that . . ."

Dot patted her hand. "I think not sitting with the group is punishment enough for him. He'll eventually learn that he can't talk like that to your family."

Tom scoffed. "He sure is taking his darn time about it."

Linda scoffed in turn. "That's because he thinks that since he has Aunt Emily's seal of approval, he can do no wrong. Oh, and that he can just simply buy my love."

Harry grimaced. "Bleh, since when is that love? Has the guy ever seen a real couple?" Before anyone could answer, microphone feedback brought their attention to the stage. Just the colonel was standing there.

"Hello everyone, welcome to Sanford Institute!" A cheer went up. He chuckled. "I am so glad to hear your enthusiasm! I am Colonel Otis Drummond and I'm in charge of the astronaut program. Before I turn the orientation to our illustrious principle, Dr. Hugo Hoderlin," he indicated the gray-haired gentleman, who gave a quick bow of his head, "I wanted to explain how this is going to go. Dr. Hoderlin will give the full orientation, and once he is finished, everyone is free to go, except those for the astronaut program. You will stay here and I will give you more information before I let you go find your rooms. Understand?" Heads nodded. "Good." The colonel turned to the doctor. "Doctor? You have the floor."

Dr. Hoderlin rose from his chair and approached the microphone. "Thank you, Colonel. And on behalf of the staff of Sanford Institute, I welcome you to Sanford and I hope we will prepare you for the jobs you're dreaming of!" A cheer went up, a cheer that died as soon as it started. The doors to the room opened with a slam and a young man in a pilot's suit dashed towards the seats. He quickly plopped himself down next to Linda before peeling off his helmet, revealing a mess of sandy blond hair. He turned to the group and his grey eyes took them in quickly.

He grinned sheepishly at them. "Sorry. Is this seat taken?" he whispered.

"Um, uh, no," said Linda. She chuckled nervously. "You're more than welcome to it."

He smiled. "Thanks." He turned around, looking for someone. The doctor cleared his throat. Everyone turned back to him.

"Well, it looks like someone just came in by the seat of his pants." There was a soft chuckle, the young man's face turning red. "I think we can wait a bit longer for the young gentleman to take off his pilot suit. I'm sure that must be feeling quite uncomfortable right now since he's no longer in a plane."

The young man rose. "Are you sure? I don't want you to make everyone wait too much longer."

The colonel rose. "Are you here for the astronaut program?"

The young man nodded his head vigorously. "Oh yes sir!"

"Then we can continue on without you, I'll go over everything again once we split up."

The young man saluted. "Yes sir! Thank you sir!" He turned and dashed out of the room. A group of guys and gals a few rows over jumped up and cheered for a brief moment before sitting back down, high-fiving each other. One of the guys, though, seemed to glare after him. Linda committed his face to memory. He had almost platinum blonde hair and blue eyes, eyes that looked cold and cruel.

"Well, now that that's out of the way," said the doctor with a soft chuckle. "Let's get back to our orientation." He went into detail explaining the rules of the school, a brief history of both Sanford Institute and its neighbor, Cedar Ridge College, and how and why both colleges had a three-roommate system going on. After they separated, everyone would be handed their room numbers. While Cedar Grove was more open to allowing students in choosing their rooms and roommates, due to the astronaut program, Sanford separated by program.

As soon as the doctor finished the orientation, he called for all the students of other programs to join him and the other program heads out in the hall. The young man had returned long before then, catching the majority of the orientation. In the rush just following the end of the orientation, the young man quickly introduced himself as Mike Samson.

"Well, it was good to meet you guys," said Robby, shaking everyone's hands. "I hope we can see you all again soon."

Tom shook his hand heartily. "I do too. It was great to meet you!"

"And sorry for barging in like that," said Mike as he shook hands with them. "I was told in my letter that I had to report here for orientation or get kicked out of the program. And I didn't see the letter until this morning." He chuckled nervously. Linda and Tom shared a glance. They both figured there was a particular guy behind that. They glanced at Robby, Harry, and Irene, they probably saw the look on that guy too based on the look they gave them.

"At least you made it," said Harry, "though it looks like you broke the sound barrier to do so."

"Guys, we've got to go!" said Irene, pointing at the other students filing out.

"See you around!" chorused Robby and Harry.

"Bye!" They all waved before Robby and Harry dashed off to catch up with Irene and the rest of the students.

The colonel cleared his throat into the microphone. "Everyone for the astronaut program, please come sit in the first three rows." Mike, Tom, Laura, and Dot glanced at each other before moving up. The group of people who had cheered upon seeing Mike joined them.

"You made it! This is great!" exclaimed one of the girls, her dark brown curls bouncing with her excitement.

"You were cutting it close, though," said a fellow, his sharp, brown eyes looking at Mike with worry.

Mike chuckled. "So I did, but here I am!" He quickly introduced Tom, Linda, and Dot to Martie Sherrod from Georgia and Johnny Bluehawk, a Cheyenne. They were part of Mike's squadron back at the Air Force base. Mike pointed at the boy with the cold eyes, revealing that Rod Harger was the fourth man on the team. Tom and Linda shared a look. They now had a name to go with the face. Mike was going to introduce the rest of the group, but was interrupted by the colonel.

"Alright, we're all situated. Let me begin by telling you to look around. See how many people are here?" The students glanced around and nodded. Tom thought there were a hundred there, at least. "Half won't be here at the end of the year." The students looked at him in shock. "That's right, half won't be here, at least, not in the astronaut program. Some who don't make it through go on to work on the ships themselves or in the command center, others just go on to other degrees. The astronaut program is a tough, rigorous program and not everyone is set up for it, unfortunately. Not even all of the Venusians and Martians are set up for it, and many have traveled in ships before. I mean, that's how they got here." A few students chuckled. "But the astronaut program involves more than pleasure space travel. You are called to explore the rest of the vastness of space, to help in emergency situations, and to keep the peace. You are, to an extent, a kind of police force and a branch of the military. And I see a few here from the military, you've got a leg up on the others. Anyways, you will be getting the first glimpses for brand new tech and some of you might even get to test run the new tech." A murmur of excitement went through the crowd. "Yes, loads of exciting things, but you will be expected to work hard and keep a cool head about you. You will be separated into groups of three, and of those who are left at the end of this year will be paired up with two other groups in a team of nine with a captain overseeing your progress. Each of those teams will be assigned to a ship, and possibly a few will be selected to test the new tech. We shall see." He smirked. "That being said, welcome to the astronaut program at Sanford Institute, and good luck to all of you!"

(Author's Note: Hello my rosy readers! And ooh, what an interesting start to this story, huh? I wonder what Mike's story is? Why was he so late? If you've already read Mike Mars, Astronaut, you might know why. XD Linda Carlton, Air Pilot and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, are the other leads in this series, the majority of their books can be found on Amazon Kindle at a good price. Mike Mars, on the other hand, you will have to purchase as books, but they can be found at a good price on Amazon and eBay. Linda and Tom were published back in the 30s while Mike Mars is the younger one having been published in the 60s. But while Linda just wanted to fly, the boys wanted to go into space. I figured Linda might want to as well, so she's heading up with them, lol. The majority of the characters do come from their series, but there will be overlap from other series that will come into play, two being Robby Hoenig and Arden Blake as they meet them pretty quickly. Hope you like it, and I hope you have a wonderful day! God bless!)