Friday. 08:22 Lounge

John had finished his last final in seven minutes and thirty-two seconds. Not quite a record for him, that was set a couple of years ago. In any case, John was done with tests, as a cadet. He was not done with tests in general as a naval officer.

For now, though he could breathe a sigh of relief and relax. Unfortunately, they were still confined to campus. Which sucked because a cold beer at the Drunken Cadet would be so delicious right about now. Instead, John was watching a cornhole tournament as he bounced a handball against the wall behind the TV.

An officer then walked into the lounge, “Cadet Lief, there’s a call for you in the communications center.”

John jumped up, turned, and saluted quickly, “Thank you, sir.”

John followed the officer to the communication center. He’d been there several times throughout his time at the academy. Though he wasn’t sure who was trying to contact him this time around.

When they go to the center John opened the door for the officer and followed behind him. The officer walked behind the counter and began working at his terminal. He then looked up and pointed at a room behind him.

“The call has been transferred to room four behind you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The officer nodded and smiled, “Congratulations on finishing. Thanks to you I won the office bet?”

John grinned as he began opening the door, “What was the bet?”

“Whether or not you’d get to the finish line. Most figured you’d do something incredibly idiotic and get expelled.”

John laughed, “Who said I didn’t do many idiotic things?”

The officer laughed as John entered the room. He sat down on the chair and activated the terminal. He pressed the holographic green button to connect the call.

“John! Congratulations son. I am so happy for you,” Richard Lief was smiling.

“Thanks, dad. Been a hell of a journey.”

“That it was. I must say I dreaded reading about your exploits against the Alliance attack, but you and your peers did a masterful job turning that around on them.”

“I think it paid to have lady luck on our side that day. We were a pubic hair away from disaster.”

“Keep it up. Andrew wrapped up his residency at the end of April.”

“Wow, that was fast. What’s his specialty?”

“Bio-mechanical implants. He did his residency at the Wolf Augmentation Clinic.”

John looked impressed, “That is a cutting edge facility. He’ll be making bank for sure.”

“Marie is pretty settled into her law firm. She’s handling corporate contract law for now. I think she’s itching to move over to patent law though,” Richard was looking incredibly proud, “Lucas was getting burnt out on Anderson Station, so he got transferred the Ross system.”

“O’Neil station?” John asked.

“Yup, way less traffic to manage. Lucas said they were criminally understaffed on Anderson.”

John chuckled to himself, “That explains the clusterfucks we’ve had when docking there. So how many years do you have left till you call it quits?”

“I need three more years, but I might go five more since your mom has five till she retires.”

“I would bail after three and get used to retired life. Not like you couldn’t help out at a clinic or the station staff as a reserve officer.”

“My CO told me that exact thing. It was great seeing you again. Enjoy commencement and try to not make too much of a scene when you get to your ship.”

“Will do. Thanks for everything,” John said waiving to the screen.

It then cut out. John may not have had a close relationship with his adopted siblings, but it was good to hear that they were doing well. He stood up and left the room. He thanked the officer on duty and headed back to the lounge.

11:35 Drunken Cadet

The ten friends were enjoying cold beers to celebrate the end of the semester and their impending graduation. Once the morning final session was finished the Academy sent an email to the seniors giving them clearance to leave campus. Until 20:00 that is.

Andern immediately suggested they go get a greasy burger, fries, and beer for lunch. Something that was enthusiastically seconded and thirded by Kevin and Nathan. Thus here they were, enjoying cold beers, bullshit, and waiting for their cheap lunch to come out.

“No more tests. Forever. Thank god!” Andern said after he set his mug down on the table.

“Who wants to correct that statement?” Kristin asked as she rolled her eyes at her fiancé.

“What do you mean correct me? We’re done with tests.”

John sighed, “Yeah, we’re done with tests here. You think you aren’t going to have any certification tests or be tested on whatever it is your assigned to on station?”

“Why would we need to do that?” Andern asked.

“You, my friend, are what we call a dumbass,” Nathan couldn’t stop smiling, “Though we probably won’t have nearly as many written tests as we did in the past four years.”

“There is that,” Thomas said, “Are everyone’s dress whites ready to go for tomorrow?”

“Hold the fuck on, we’re not switching topics. Why would we need to take more tests?” Andern’s pee brain was focused on future tests.

“Because you’ll need to be certified to do certain things. So not only will you need to prove that you know what you need to know, but you’ll have to show practically that you can do the work,” Jessica said.

“That is such fucking bullshit,” Andern drowned his sorrows in more beer.

“I took care of shining my boots last night. Inspected the rest of the uniform over the past week,” John said.

“Because this big guy was doing that I got mine taken care of,” Alice said squeezing John’s arm.

“I have to shine my boots,” Nathan took a drink, “But everything else is set.”

“Haven’t even started,” Andern said.

Kristin rolled her eyes at him again, “Big shocker there. I have a couple of loose threads that I need to take care of, but otherwise, I’m set.”

“By the way dumbass, you can lose points at commencement. You may have that extra ribbon now, but if you show up looking all ragged then you could lose it,” Kevin said, “I’m all squared away. Crazy to think we’re done. Like actually done with the academy.”

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“I’m more impressed that John managed to avoid getting drummed out of the military. You managed to piss off a lot of people,” Jessica said with a laugh.

“Hey, I didn’t start anything,” John tried to sound innocent.

“Spoken like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar,” Brian was laughing.

“Hey, you think you’re going to get sent on an op to go after you know who?” Theresa asked.

John shrugged, “General Mizrahi let me know they are investigating everything but there are no leads on him anymore. Or rather, no leads that end in Confed space. The Union’s government is still protecting him.”

“Sounds like the short answer is the asshole is untouchable,” Kevin looked upset, “For now I suppose.”

“Yeah. Not really expecting anything for a year or two. And if I’m being perfectly honest I’m more focused on trying to fly under the radar on the Des Moines,” John then finished his drink.

“Did you ever find out about your assignment onboard?” Brian asked.

“Yeah, I got a follow-up message yesterday. Short, brief, and to the point I might add. I’ll be working in the intelligence department. Kinda makes sense as we’re the forward scouts for the attack wings.”

“At least your CO is using your abilities. I thought you might be up in engineering,” Kevin laughed to himself.

“He probably wouldn’t do that bad of a job though,” Jessica smirked, “Just has to read a book or two, and presto. Engineer.”

“The thought of that is actually more than a little frustrating,” Thomas said, “We spend years to learn the systems and this asshole just poofs it into reality.”

“I am really good at everything,” John grinned.

“Ok, you are not doing this. I don’t want to see or hear from smug John,” Alice elbowed him in the ribs.

“Fine fine, I won’t go all smug on y’all,” John shrugged.

“Hey, did you ever find out what the hell was going on with that module?” Kevin asked.

John took a large drink, “Yes and no. Learned a few things too.”

Kevin shook his head, “By all means, please go on.”

“It still functions because the anti-wave or inverse wave somehow remains synched with the device. That part I don’t get since it’s clearly a different wave but it is what it is.”

“That’s wild, any changes to the output?” Thomas said leaning into the table.

“It’s reduced as if the module is fighting itself with an input that is out of synch.”

Kevin started to laugh, “Man, you built into that module a wicked backdoor. Don’t tell me you did hat purposefully either.”

“Oh I didn’t, but I’m not disappointed by that surprise,” John did have a surprised look on his face, “Yeah, totally forgot, but when I was on that mission I had plenty of time to think and review stuff. Running that thing on the maximum setting was just stupid. It didn’t actually help the user beyond roughly fifty or sixty percent.”

“Oh for fucks sake,” Kevin rolled his eyes and took a drink, “Running full bore just added a strain to your mind and body that it couldn’t handle.”

“My body could handle it, but my brain couldn’t,” John laughed, “Looks like I found out something I couldn’t do.”

Alice slapped his arm, “That’s not even funny.”

“Sorry honey,” John tried to answer it sincerely.

Thomas looked at John, “So did you find out anything new about the amp in your current state? Anyway to heal what you damaged?”

“Beyond giving it some additional power, not much. Got some ideas about some energy-based weaponry but nothing ready to be put to practical use or test,” John said as sincerely as he could despite the fact he was lying through his teeth.

“What about healing yourself? Is that even possible?” Theresa jumped back into the conversation.

John shook his head, “If it’s possible, I haven’t discovered a way to do so. I'm not even sure I want any of that back anymore. Crazy as that may sound.”

“What is everyone else doing with their day off?” Alice asked, “We’re going to do some shopping then have dinner downtown.”

“We’re going back to campus to make sure someone is ready for tomorrow. Then wing it from there,” Kristin was giving Andern the stink eye.

“Yes, and I will apologize to her profusely for not planning accordingly,” Andern looked scared straight.

“I’m going up the road and picking up the last few things I want to bring with me,” Nathan said, “Going to have dinner with my family since they are in town.”

“Being boring,” Jessica said with a laugh.

“Same,” Thomas and Brian also said.

“Dinner with her family,” Kevin looked down at his watch, “Speaking of, we need to leave in twenty to meet them.”

“If we’re late, we’re late,” Theresa winked at Kevin.

The group of cadets continued to chat and enjoy the fact that they are done with tests, for now. One of them remained both annoyed and agitated that tests would not in fact be over. John figured that God himself could appear in front of Andern, give him the answers to anything, and he’d still find a way to be annoyed that he’d have to do something with those answers.

17:15 Taang ka Maans

Alice discovered this restaurant with a couple of her girlfriends while John was on assignment recently. She knew instantly that John would love it. John was pouring through the menu, practically wanting to order everything on it. She was just smiling and enjoying this rare date night for the couple.

John looked up from his menu, “You are practically floating right now.”

“I am on cloud nine,” Alice took a drink of wine, “It’s kind of hard to believe that we made it.”

John nodded in agreement, “We had more than our fair share of close calls. It’s been a hell of a ride so far hasn’t it?”

“That it has. Have you spent much time thinking about how long you want to be in?”

John set the menu down, “Well, we’re on the hook for a five-year tour. Because of your psych degree you are on the hook for two. So I’m in for two as well.”

“You want more than two don’t you?” Alice grinned.

“Right now it’s easy to say that. I do want those stars,” John grinned, “Maybe that is an insurmountable task. If it is, then we figure out an alternative plan and run with that. For now, though, let's enjoy this milestone, we’ve worked our asses off to achieve it.”

“Hear hear,” Alice rose her glass and smiled.

Their waitress appeared soon after and took their order. Alice ordered chicken tandoori while John ordered a lamb curry. Neither appeared that willing to push their limits this night.

They talked about this and that throughout the meal and kept the mood light. Both were incredibly proud of their achievement. It was something they should take pride in and enjoy the moment. In a short number of days, active service for both would begin.

After a leisurely, and luxury-filled, trip aboard a starliner. John began grinning at that. Something Alice noted after taking a bit of naan bread.

“Ok, what is that demented mind of yours up to?”

John laughed, “How we get luxury accommodations and everyone else doesn’t. In fact, most of them have to work.”

Alice squinted and glared at John, “So Theresa and I were talking about that. Did you do something? You have been known to do things.”

John looked squarely at Alice, “You know I’m not above doing something like this. I did not schedule that trip. I did upgrade us, and pay for, an upgrade to first class. Paid for it myself too.”

“Well, that’s a first,” Alice said sarcastically.

John finished his plate and set his utensils down, “You wound me deeply my dear.”

“Oh, look who’s being a drama queen now,” Alice laughed.

John looked at his watch, “Ah hell, look at the time.”

Alice looked at her watch, “Dammit, you’re right.”

The couple flagged their waitress down and paid for their food. The night ended by flagging a taxi down and hurrying back to the academy. This brief free time was far too short, but this was their life now.

Saturday. 07:15 Co-Ed Dorm

John was sitting down on their couch in their living room. His coat was resting over a chair while his hat was on the table. He stood up after tying his shoes and walked over to their kitchenette. There wouldn’t be any chow this morning, which annoyed John to no end, but he’d have to make do with a banana and a couple of granola bars.

Alice was still in the bathroom, still drying her hair. John smiled about having a short haircut. Getting ready in the morning was so much easier for him. Which was one of many reasons he insisted on getting in the shower before her.

He tossed the banana peel in the trash and then washed his hands. John walked over to the TV and turned it on. He flipped it over to the news channel.

The newscaster droned on about the news. Nothing much was memorable or event newsworthy, to John, about the comings and goings on Earth. John didn’t pay much attention to it. He was focused on inspecting his coat.

“Morning honey,” Alice said as she walked into the room.

“Rawr,” John said back.

“No. We are not going to do that,” Alice winked back at him as she turned to grab a bar to eat, “Nice try though.”

“Can’t say that I didn’t try,” John smiled.

“Can’t say that we didn’t do that last night either,” Alice shot back.

The pair laughed. John stopped quickly when the newscaster brought up the Piscium system. Alice noted that too and walked over next to him.

“Long-range scans from the Dawnbringer Station in the Piscium system into Alliance territory suggest a build-up of military vessels. The military believes it is either a weapons test or fleet training. We will update you with any further developments.”

Alice frowned as she looked at John, “What’s in the Piscium system?”

“A couple of planetoids. No life, besides our stations. Mining is pretty sparse out there, but it does have a massive amount of carbon and sulfur. Not much in the way of heavy elements or precious metals.”

“Probably nothing then.”

The couple continued to get ready for commencement. Twenty minutes later they were dressed and walking over to the stadium. It was a short stroll over, but their friends were nowhere to be found. It wouldn’t be surprising if a few of them were already there. For Andern he’d liking be treading it dangerously close.

Alice smiled as she looked up at the sunny sky, “What a beautiful morning.”

“Sure is,” John didn’t look up, but he enjoyed the warmth as the sun was rising in the sky.

“Hey, do you really think Andern thought we’d never have to take tests anymore?”

John laughed, “I do.”

“Honey, Andern isn’t that stupid. He really isn’t.”

“You are right. He’s not stupid,” John said with a grin, “But he’s a special kind of simple that makes it seem like he’s stupid.”

“Simple, yes that is our friend. Hope he never changes.”

The couple laughed as they continued toward the stadium. It was almost time to close this chapter. Soon they’d be officers. In two short hours, they would be just that.